A/N: For those who read the notice; problem solved, the chapter is complete again. For those who haven't, problem solved, I updated :D! Enjoy the read!

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


Yumi was glad it was weekend. After the events of the day before she had rather not run into more nonsense again. She wished she could stay asleep for 48 hours, but her routines were already engraved within herself.

Another ten minutes and it would be nine o' clock in the morning. She had already been awake for an hour and had been reading a book whilst lying on her stomach. The ringing of her doorbell decided to ruin her quiet morning and she groaned when she got up. Her elbows were hurting from having to support her in the position she had been in. Yumi rubbed them and stretched her arms as she walked towards her front door.

She carefully checked the hole and saw her neighbour standing there. "Good morning," she greeted the older woman upon opening her door. "Good morning dear. Did I wake you up?" The woman glanced at her attire and gave her a smile. "Oh, no, I have been awake for a while. Is there a problem?" Yumi politely asked.

"I have a tiny favour to ask of you," the woman began. "You see, my son is taking part in a tennis tournament today. Normally, I would have brought him there and support him, but I have to fill in for someone at my work. I tried to refuse, but my boss is really strict. I can't risk getting fired," she was fidgeting with her fingers while she spoke. "It really saddens me that I cannot see my son enjoy a supposedly great day. Could you possibly take him there? That way, he won't feel alone on the way to the event. I will come to pick him up right there as well. You wouldn't have to do that," she requested.

Yumi sympathized with the woman. A part of her was very reluctant to do the woman a favour. However, she saw the benefits of it as well. It would serve as a distraction. One that was welcome now. "It's okay, I don't have any plans today. I'll take him. Just tell me what time I need to get him there and where I need to be," she assured the woman. "Thank you so much. The tournament starts at 11:00 AM and it's here," her neighbour handed her a flyer with all the information on it. "The trip takes about forty minutes." Yumi smiled. "Good luck at work. Tell your son I'll be ringing the doorbell in an hour."

"Really, thank you a lot dear. I guarantee you will be getting some delicious cookies again soon!" The woman looked grateful and hurried back to her own apartment.

Two seconds later Yumi closed her own door as well. "So much for relaxing during the weekend."

A while later she was walking outside with the young boy, Lucas. "I'm sorry that you have to take me there," he spoke up. Yumi looked at him. He was wearing simple trousers, a green T-shirt and a red vest. He was also carrying his sports bag. "I didn't have anything to do. Besides, yesterday was a very busy day for me at work. This is a nice change of pace for me," she winked at him. "So, you don't have to worry." Lucas smiled. "Thanks. I have a few friends who play tennis too, but they live quite far. So they couldn't pick me up today," he explained.

"What categories did you sign up for?" Yumi asked him. "Only doubles," Lucas said. "Are you nervous?" She anticipated his answer. "Maybe a little? It's my first official tournament." He grinned. "It's good to be nervous before a fight," Yumi said. She paid attention to their surroundings again to see if they were heading in the right direction. "A fight?" Lucas was confused. "Yes. When you're standing on the court, you are fighting for a place at the top. Aren't you? If you're nervous, use that energy to get your adrenaline running. You'll be hyped up in no time. Eventually your concentration will take over for you," Yumi reassured him.

"I see. That makes sense. Now I just have to do that," he was talking to himself.

They arrived at a bus stop. "If I recall correctly, your mother told us to take the bus from here to here," Yumi said while pointing at two dots of bus line number 200 on the map. "And it looks like the bus will be arriving in two minutes, meaning we're just in time."

Yumi and Lucas successfully rode the bus toward the sports centre that hosted the tournament. "Good luck." She pat him on his shoulder before pushing him forward a little. Lucas smiled, adjusted his bag on his shoulder and went to confirm his registration. Yumi's phone rang the minute Lucas entered the restricted area for participants.

"Hey Ulrich," she answered.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" He sounded tired.

"I woke up a little early. Other than that it was fine. Did you have a sleepless night?" She started worrying.

"Not entirely," was the reply.

"Ulrich.."

"I'll catch up with my lost sleep later," he opted.

Yumi wished with all her might that his father would leave him alone for at least a few days. "Can I come by later?" She asked. There were some noises on the other side of the line. "Ulrich?"

"Yeah sure. Sorry I'm calling with my earphones plugged in. I just dropped them," he responded. "You can come over now, if you want to."

"Oh, it will have to be later," she told him her morning's story and how she planned on staying to cheer Lucas on. "His friends are probably there, but if they have matches too then he might be a bit lonely without other supporters. I promised to take care of him, so I think I'm going to stay until Lucas is done with all of his matches."

"That's too bad. I was already looking forward to it," Ulrich said.

She chuckled. "Try to get some rest, okay? I'll see you later."

"Bye Yumi. Have fun."

"Bye."


Surprisingly Lucas lasted longer than one would have suspected from the conversation on the way there. Yumi watched him play. The young boy had a lot of vigour which he used to take down almost all opponents. The last match proved too much for Lucas' partner. Even with the little knowledge she had of the sport, Yumi could see that Lucas and his partner were matched in strength but not in playing style. Neither complemented the other. She frowned. "You'd think their trainer would have noticed that," she mumbled to herself.

It was already 04:00 PM by the time Lucas was finished. Yumi looked up from her watch and saw Lucas standing in front of her. "Hey, how are you feeling? You were awesome. Second place in your first official tournament," Yumi gave him a compliment. "Thanks ," he said. "But you aren't satisfied, are you?" Yumi said. "I am, I am. I just wonder if there is a way to improve our teamwork," Lucas glanced back at his friend, who was currently talking to his father.

She nodded. "I noticed you had some miscommunications. You used your willpower to get through it, but it wasn't enough in the last match. Maybe you should talk it out with your trainer," she suggested. "I think the trainer might be the problem," he revealed. "Why?" Lucas pointed behind him. "His father is our trainer."

"Oh." Yumi didn't know what to do. "But that's okay. My tennis partner doesn't like it either. We're going to start training by ourselves soon. That way we hope to be able to improve," Lucas was firm about his decision.

"That's admirable," Yumi complimented him once more. "To be honest, most people would rave on about how the trainer would be the one to blame. You're tackling the problem first-hand. Well.. done," she said, then trailed off. The situation suddenly seemed very familiar to her. "Yumi?" Lucas called her name.

"Yeah," she shook her head. "Next time, you will be champions." Lucas nodded enthusiastically. "You bet!"

Yumi checked her phone. "Your mother said she'll be here in ten minutes." The young boy started to rummage in his bag. "What are you looking for?" She asked him. "Nothing, nothing, just, something. Ah. Here it is." He fished out a small plastic bag from his bag. "My mum told me to give this to you," he said and handed it over. "We wanted to express our gratitude for always helping us out when we need it."

"Thank you," she accepted it. Lucas got called over by his friends. "I hope you like it." He smiled at her as he got pulled along by his friends.

Not long after that his mother arrived. She also thanked Yumi for the umpteenth time and let her know that she was welcome to stay for the get together after the tournament. "No," Yumi declined the offer, "I have to be somewhere today. However, it was a fun day. He plays really well."

Yumi left the building a few minutes later. She immediately set out for Ulrich's apartment, hoping he would still be at home.

Ulrich heard his doorbell ring. "Hey Yumi," he let her in. "You haven't rested at all have you," she eyed all the paperwork on his coffee table. "I just wanted to go over some things. I couldn't sleep anyway," he said, closing the door.

"What do you plan to achieve by doing this?" Yumi crossed her arms.

"I'm trying to find a way to stop my father from interfering in our lives," he revealed. "I mean, there has to be a way. I'm sure there is," Ulrich was stressfully pacing to and fro next to the small table in his living room.

Yumi sighed and sat down on the sofa. "I understand that you want to resolve this. Although you must realize that it takes more than simply wanting the obstacles to disappear. You need a plan. Sitting here, staring at this," she pointed in front of her, "isn't going to work."

He sat down next to her and she continued talking. "Just a while ago someone much younger than us told me that he wasn't going to blame anyone for his problems. Instead he's going to approach things differently by applying his own methods. At that moment he was much more mature than the average adult. You can be determined Ulrich, but don't lose sight of that what you already have." She put her hand on his briefly before reaching out for the papers on the table.

"My father is a big problem for us, but he is not necessarily an enemy for the company. It's unfortunate that I cannot even quit my job and go somewhere else. His network is large enough, so he'll find a way to at least keep an eye on me. More importantly, he would not let go of the chance to reprimand me about how irresponsible I would have been. On the other hand, it's vexing that he is never satisfied with anything I do," Ulrich started venting his frustrations again.

They were silent for a few minutes. Both of them felt like they were trapped in a locked maze.

"Will you please rest now?" Yumi asked him eventually. She had categorized all the paperwork and stashed them neatly. "It's 05:15 PM," she told him. "It might be early, but I'll make some dinner for you. Eat it, then go to bed and sleep. You don't have to figure something out by yourself. I'll be with you. We're a team right?"

Ulrich nodded. "Yeah, I know. Thanks Yumi." She smiled. "I'll be right back then." She went into the kitchen, where the smile vanished from her face. Yumi took ingredients from the fridge and started cooking. Her thoughts, however, drifted somewhere else. It was obvious that Ulrich was getting desperate to overcome his father's pressure. Yumi wanted him to be free as well and she would support him to the best of her abilities. To do that, she needed to stay strong.

"Step one, Ulrich has to de-stress. If only a little."

And she already had the perfect plan for it.


A/N: Chapter 40.. This will be five times longer than my very first - and longest until this story was posted - multi chaptered story, bonus chapters excluded. It's still autumn, but it feels like early winter already. Stay warm!