A/N: Enjoy the read!

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko! Only my imagination :)!

The following day Yumi got up early. She washed up and was ready to make breakfast for her younger brother as well as herself. While making tea she heard rustling noises inside the bathroom. "Guess I don't need to wake him up," she concluded, yawning afterwards. Hiroki sauntered into the kitchen after fifteen minutes.

"Good morning sis," he greeted her normally. "Good morning. Since when do you rise and shine this punctually?" She asked. He focused on getting out the plates before giving her a reply. "Ever since the start of high school." Yumi looked confused for a moment until she realized. "Is your homeroom teacher Mr. Morales?" She saw Hiroki nod dreadfully. They were not talking about the Physical Education teacher, but his brother. Mr. Morales had a real military history and it seemed his strict methods of teaching were a remainder of that. "Poor you," Yumi sympathized.

A while later they had finished their breakfast and prepared to go out. "So you'll find your way?" She double-checked if Hiroki remembered the route to his destination. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine. Worry about yourself," he said as he grabbed his bag from the sofa. "I know how to commute to work, thank you," Yumi told him. "I meant, are you going to tell your colleagues? Or is there some kind of dating prohibition?" Hiroki explained.

"Ah, no, I don't think so. At least, nobody ever told me. And I don't know if we'll immediately spring the news on everyone. We're busy. It's not the most important thing in their world. But I'll definitely tell Kelly during lunch," Yumi decided. "Good luck then," Hiroki genuinely wished. "Let's go or we'll be late," Yumi quickly opened the door.

Once outside, the siblings each went their own way.

When Yumi arrived at work she saw a few people standing in front of her office door. She noticed Kelly wasn't in her seat and walked straight toward the group. They were all team leaders. "Good morning, what's going on?" She calmly asked.

"Ulrich's father is paying him a visit," someone commented. Yumi frowned upon hearing the sentence. "You would think that's not a good enough reason to form a crowd for. Well, may I pass?" She asked after subtly hinting everyone was better off if they would pick up their work again. "We heard some arguing, so we wondered if they were alright," Emily pitched in. "I don't see how that's your business," she eyed them all. "Unless you want in on an awkward encounter with your boss' father, I suggest you all leave," Yumi fiercely brought across her message.

Some of them gave her strange looks. Others couldn't care less and immediately walked away, having had enough drama in the still early morning. "And what makes you think you can go inside then," Emily's sudden jab halted Yumi in her steps. "Of course, I will politely confirm whether it is okay for me to enter. It's my work place after all. I don't like loitering too much," she responded, then turned away and firmly knocked on the door.

Emily stared at her for a few more seconds until she too turned around to head for her desk. This prompted the remaining colleagues to leave as well.

Yumi breathed in before opening the door. "Hello, is it alright if I start up my computer? I need to check some files," she asked. Ulrich's eyes enlarged upon seeing his girlfriend enter their office. His father was visibly annoyed by her intruding. "Good morning, sir," she greeted him, trying not to be intimidated. His father took in her appearance and turned back to Ulrich. "Don't fail me," he said and abruptly left the office.

Yumi quietly put down her stuff and sat down. While entering her password she noticed Ulrich hadn't left yet. "Do you want coffee?" She asked him. "No," he got out. Yumi hesitated. "Pretty much the entire team was standing outside the office when I came in. From what I've heard, it must not have been a happy conversation," Yumi began. "Ah, so you take their word for granted?" Ulrich sounded pissed off, but Yumi understood that was caused by his father.

She shook her head. "I'm not. In fact, I told them off pretty well," she grinned. Ulrich's expression returned to a neutral one. "So.. what did he say?"

"It's nothing special. He wants our results to improve. The company needs to strike a few more deals to help it grow. According to him, we're stagnating. It's funny how he's not even part of this company, but he starts meddling anyway. The director didn't even address this issue. Of course I know there are many opportunities," he stopped talking.

"But it's not solely your responsibility," she finished.

Ulrich remained silent for a moment. "It doesn't make sense. I should give up wondering about when he'll stop expecting excellence from me 24/7. Normally when you see someone trying, you'd support them. He just hammers on and on about having to perform best."

"Can't you talk to the director about how persistent he is?" Yumi suggested.

"Do you really think anyone can persuade him to change his ways?" Ulrich looked at her directly.

Yumi didn't have an answer to that. Then another issue came to her mind.

"Uhm, did you tell him about us?" She carefully spoke up.

"I didn't," he immediately replied. "Saying it won't take me long to tell him would be a lie. Besides the fact that I hardly ever see him, it's.. I..," Yumi cut him off.

"No, that's okay. I think I understand what you mean. Despite my calm demeanour, I am actually quite stressed out about all these people using me as their perfect stress reliever. To be honest, I found myself weak for thinking this. But we both seem to be holding the same feelings regarding this," she sighed before continuing.

"Sometimes I forget that we're only in our early twenties. I guess they are right when they say it's not always a good thing to want to mature quickly. Unfortunately, our circumstances don't give us another choice. But that doesn't mean we need to precisely follow the book of adulthood. We have our opinions which won't dissolve just like that. The point being, I don't feel comfortable about telling them about us even if it's sort of the right thing to do," she revealed.

He nodded. "And it's just me putting of another discussion with my father, since he mentioned it once before. I've had enough of that scowl of his for now," Ulrich explained.

"If we would have been friends with everyone, it would be a lot easier. Also tiring, but definitely easier," she got up. "Speaking of friends, I told Odd and Jeremie," he said. Yumi grinned. "Aelita and I went shopping yesterday, so I told her as well. Kelly is next, though I guess she already knows."

"Great. Glad the easy part is over," his sarcasm was evident. Yumi smiled a little.

"Do you want coffee now?" She asked him. "Yep, let's go," he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the office. Ulrich let go before they walked passed the doorstep.

As there was a row in front of the coffee machine, they waited patiently for others to finish. Ulrich smiled at Yumi when he saw her adjusting her necklace. He whispered something to her and she couldn't contain her blush. Ulrich snickered, but it earned him a poke in his left side. Yumi smiled contently as she faced forward. He did as well.

At the same time, however, they failed to notice their surroundings.

Particularly, the judging stare in the background.

A/N: Thanks for the follows and favs :)! A lot has been written. Scrolling through my Word document takes much longer now :O! Well, see you next time :P!