Mid April

An Unpleasant Encounter

It was the morning two days before Odd and Sissi's wedding, and Jeremy and Aelita entered the coffee shop the group had agreed to meet at. The plan was for all six of them to get light breakfast and spend the morning together, then break off into two groups for Odd and Sissi's bachelor and bachelorette parties. The two geniuses arrived before the others, but the shop was starting to get crowded. Glancing around the busy shop, they spied an empty booth along the wall that would fit all six of them.

"Jeremy, how about I go hold that table while you get our orders." Aelita offered.

"That sounds like a good idea," the young man agreed. "Would you like black tea with honey and a croissant?"

"That sounds wonderful, Jeremy." The pink haired young woman replied, smiling sweetly.

Aelita sat down and messaged Yumi and Sissi, informing them that her and Jeremy has arrived.

"Hey there, haven't seen you around here before." A low voice said, startling her. She looked up and saw a young man with dark hair who was dressed in mostly black. He also had a few facial piercings and a couple tattoos on his exposed forearms. He moved as if starting to sit down with his back to the door.

"I'm sorry, but I'm saving this table for some friends who are going to be here shortly," she said with forced politeness.

"Ah, come on! If they're anything like the guy you walked in with, then they're definitely holding back a girl like you. How about this, you ditch them and I'll show you some real fun!" Aelita glanced down at the rather modest white and yellow daisy-print sundress she was wearing, then over to Jeremy while she sat in confusion, wondering what he meant by 'girl like you.' After a few moments though, she groaned as she realized that he must have thought she dyed hair out of some sort of rebelliousness.

"No, I think I'd probably prefer to spend time with my friends, thank you." She glanced back to Jeremy and was thankful that he was hurrying over.

"Hello, can I help you?" He asked with the same forced politeness that Aelita had earlier.

"This is Jeremy. We're getting married in a few months," Aelita said forcefully, glaring at the stranger. He squinted at Jeremy in bewilderment before letting his gaze drift back to Aelita.

"That skinny nerd! A cutie like you needs a real man to take care of you!" Jeremy scowled and opened his mouth to retort, but never got the chance.

"That 'skinny nerd' is ten times the man you'll ever be... Jacques!" The dark haired man's eyes shot wide open at Yumi's voice, who had just arrived. She walked around from behind him and planted herself firmly between Jacques and her friends. It took him a second to regain his composure, but when he did he smirked.

"Hey there sweetheart, missed..."

"Don't 'sweetheart' me!" Yumi interrupted. "How come you're not still in prison? You were sentenced to five years and it's only been half that!" He scowled and abandoned any pretense of being nice.

"I just got out on parole. I still owe you for that," he spat. With a jerk of his head a couple of people from a nearby table started making their way over. Yumi recognized them as two of the guys that ambushed her with Jacques a couple years before. "If you and your friends don't wanna get hurt, then you're gonna come with us... and they don't look like they'd put up much of a fight."

"I don't think so," Yumi snapped.

"There's no bodyguard here to save you this time," he taunted.

"First: this is a pretty crowded room and even you're not that stupid to try anything here. Second: I think you're referring to my husband." All the blood drained from Jacques' face faster than Yumi or the two geniuses thought possible. "He's out parking the car, so you should probably leave before he gets here," she added with a smirk before glancing over his shoulder toward the door. Ulrich has just walked in, along with Odd and Sissi. "Too late..." The large man saw the confrontation taking place and hurried over to his wife.

Jacques' two friends watched Ulrich put his arm protectively around Yumi's waist and they paled noticeably before quickly returning to their seats. When Jacques saw that his backup abandoned him and Ulrich and Yumi both staring him down, he whirled around to try to run away and found himself practically nose to nose with a tall, very powerfully built woman... Sissi.

"I remember you from when I went with Yumi to court," the tall woman hissed. "You're Jacques." He gulped. "You should leave... now."

"Ok..." he whimpered.

"And stay away from my friends. If you don't, I'll find you and break your legs!" She growled before stepping aside. He took advantage of the opening and turned to run, but almost immediately fell flat on his face! Odd chuckled and glanced down at his foot that was sticking out, which was what caused Jacques to trip. The dark haired man scrambled to his feet and left as quickly as possible without even looking back.

"Who was that guy?" Asked Odd. "You were all glaring at him so I figured he was bad news and tripped him anyway!" The short blond said with a laugh.

"That was Jacques, the guy who ambushed me with a few of his buddies a couple years ago." Yumi replied mirthlessly, causing Odd's grin to twist in anger.

"Well I think we probably scared him off for good this time," Sissi said as she shot a glare at Jacques' two friends that were trying to sneak away quietly. When they noticed they'd been spotted they rapidly picked up the pace.

"Maybe you should still file a restraining order or something," suggested Aelita.

"Probably not a bad idea," replied Yumi with a sigh.

After the group watched the two goons leave, Jeremy glanced around and saw that the little altercation was quiet enough that it thankfully didn't cause much attention from the other patrons in the shop, so he turned the conversation to a much more pleasant subject.

"Alright, Lets just get some breakfast and then head out." The rest of the group murmured an agreement and placed their orders at the front counter and soon the encounter was all but forgotten as everyone was having a good time hanging out!

"So, where are we going?" Sissi asked Yumi when breakfast was done. The Japanese woman grinned.

"We've got a full day at the spa!" She exclaimed, causing Sissi to squeal in excitement.

"That's great!" Agreed Odd, "Some pampering would be good for you because you've been pretty stressed out lately!" Sissi snorted, but didn't disagree. He turned to Ulrich. "What about us?" The large man smirked with a gleam in his eye and said one word.

"Paintball..."

Jeremy groaned.

A/N: I know this on is really short and a day late, but I've been working a ton of hours lately. The hours are going to continue until further notice, but I'm going to try to keep to my bi-weekly update schedule as much as I can. I hope you liked the chapter.