"Now then..." Said the young man with his eyes closed, a stern tone in his voice "Who should start?"

A slight silence fell over the room, remaining still for a moment before one of the CPUs finally spoke.

"If It's okay, I'd like to go first" Said Vert with a confident smirk and her eyes closed before opening them and looking forward "My name is Vert. It may have been a rather sudden and unexpected meeting, but it's a pleasure to make your aquaintance,ma'am"

"N-No! The pleasure is all mine!" Replied Kenji's mother with a bit of nervousness in her tone "Also, there's no need to call me ma'am! Naomi is fine!"

After returning to his original dimension, the young man managed to reunite with his mother in a rather heartfelt way. Unfortunately, the moment didn't last long, as it was interrupted by the arrival of the CPUs who, unintentionally, ended up being warped along with him. It was a rather shocking situation for him, and it didn't seem like the CPUs could find it very amusing either. Well, except for Neptune, who didn't seem all that worried or shocked. On the other hand, she looked like she was in quite a good mood.

Putting everyone's mood regarding the current situation aside, there was an important matter to attend to. That matter being explaining things to Kenji's mother in a way that she could understand without thinking they were nuts. Fortunately, she was more than willing to hear them out, and even allowed them to go inside in order to talk more comfortably.

Now in the living room, the four CPUs sat down together on one couch while Kenji and Naomi sat on the other, which was facing it. And while the latter took a short trip to the kitchen to prepare something to drink for them, the young man took the chance to make sure to tell the CPUs not to tell her anything about the power of HDD or them being Goddesses. Mostly because she would either think they're crazy or go into a panic.

It was a given it would be slightly difficult for the CPUs to introduce themselves without mentioning their status of Godesses, and this worry lingered within Kenji's mind, but it quickly dissipated away after Vert took the first step and began the introductions in a more than proper way. This, in turn, motivated the other CPUs to introduce themselves.

"(She talks in such a polite way, and she's even dressed like a princess! Maybe she's from an European country?)" Thought Naomi while looking at Vert with a pensive expession before focusing on a rather hard to miss detail "(But moreover...They're huge...!)"

As a woman with a slim, yet average body shape, Naomi couldn't help but feel a bit shocked about the massive size of Vert's chest, along with feeling a bit low as well. This was something that didn't go unnoticed by Leanbox's CPU, who sweat dropped after feeling her piercing stare and seeing her sudden drop in mood.

"Well, I guess I'm next then" Said Noire with a smile while looking at her "My name is Noire, it's nice to meet you...Also, I'm sorry about what happened earlier."

"Please, don't worry about it...Also, it's nice to meet you too" She replied with a smile before going into pensive thought once more "(She's also really polite too, but why is she dressed like that? Or rather, why is the skirt so short? Isn't she worried someone may see her undies?)"

"I'm next..." Said Blanc this time, her monotone expression now focused towards her "I'm Blanc..."

A short moment of silence fell over the room at that moment. Everyone seemed to wait for her to say something, as it didn't feel like she had said everything she wished to say. Perhaps she was trying to think carefully about what to say, and decided to take a moment.

"...Nice to meet you..."

"(Eh!? That's all!?)" Thought Kenji's mother with widened eyes while sweat dropping, slightly surprised about the time Blanc took to say just that "(We-well, maybe she's just shy or something like that...Also, she's really small and cute, but she seems to be dressed a bit oddly too...Maybe she's also a foreigner?)"

"Hey...Is it just me, or is she...?" Asked Noire, who seemed to take notice of Naomi's constant pauses to dwelve into pensive thought, while sweat dropping

"Yeah...She's analizing us" Replied Blanc, who didn't seem all too bothered by it

"It seems she also has the tendency to get lost in thought easily, especially when analizing people" Added Vert with a weak smile and sweat dropping "They really are alike in that aspect"

After hearing them talk about her, Naomi managed to snap out of her train of thought and realize all stares were now on her. All clearly thinking about her little analisis.

"Ah!" She said while quickly panicking and putting both hands in front of her, along with a concerned expression "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean anything bad by it! It's just a bad habit I picked up at my job! I'm really sorry!"

"No, please don't worry about it. We were just surprised by how similar to Kenji you were just now"

Kenji's mother lowered her head once more to apologize while Vert tried to convince her not to feel bad about it and Kenji looked at both of them.

"(I...I don't look like that when I think about stuff...Do I?)" He wondered with slight concern in his expression while sweat dropping

"Okay! My turn now!" Said Neptune with a perky smile while raising her hand high up like a student in the middle of class, causing everyone's attention to be diverted towards her "My name is Neptune! And I'm...!"

At that moment, Kenji, Vert, Noire and Blanc broke a cold sweat. They were worried Neptune was about to say she was Planeptune's CPU, and she almost did before recalling Kenji's words. Unfortunately, it was too late to take that last part back.

Naomi's curious expression showed she wanted to know what the perky CPU was about to say, and she wouldn't be able to change the subject so easily. At least not in any way she knew.

For a moment of thought, Planeptune's CPU wondered what to say, completely out of ideas, before looking at the young man and suddenly getting the perfect idea, or at least what she considered the perfect idea, of what to say.

"...I'm Kenny's lover!"

At that moment, silence fell over the room once again, but for a completely different reason.

The three CPUs looked at her with a blush and widened eyes, unable to believe what she just said out loud. Kenji's expression was one of even more shock, with his mouth wide opened in a rather funny, almost cartoonish way. Kenji's mother didn't seem that shocked, but it was probably due to her brain not being able to process what she just heard. She merely looked at Neptune with widened eyes before the words finally seeped in.

"Eh?" She said before blinking twice, giving a head-start to everyone's reaction in an almost perfect synch "EHHHHHHH!?"

"Lo-Lovers!?" Said Noire with shock

"Oh, my...How blunt!" Added Vert, who seemed to have recovered the most, while blushing with slight surprise

"For that Neptune to say that...Unbelievable...!"

While Neptune believed that to be the perfect thing to say since she considered it to be true, her words came as a rather heavy shock due to how blunt they were, and the impact proved to be even more severe on Kenji's mother of all people.

"Lo-Lo-Lo-Lo-Lovers ! ? ! ?" Said Naomi in a rather concerning panic while stuttering, as if unable to form the word properly for a moment, before turning her head to look at his son "Kenji!? Is that true!?"

"Tha-That's wrong! We're not lovers!"

"There you go again, being all shy like that!" Said Neptune with a blush and a perky smile

"Kenji, I never thought you had that sort of taste!"

"I'm telling you that's not it!" Snarled the young man with a strong blush and a slight irritation while looking at her mother "Why does everyone keep saying that!?"

"Wait a moment, Neptune! What are you even saying now!?" Asked Noire with shock

Although Vert and those who lived in Planeptune were quite aware of the little relationship forming between Kenji and Neptune, along with the other CPUs getting suspicions, none of them actually thought they were solid and properly established lovers for real, which was part of what made such a blunt confession so shocking.

"I mean, I was worried about saying it before 'cause my fans may get sad and all, but everyone's really liking the romance stuff, so we may as well say it to the readers now!" Explained Neptune through her own logic "Besides, we've been living together for a while now, too!"

"Li-Living together!? You've been living together!?"

"Yeah! And not only that!" Replied Planeptune's CPU while recalling everything she and Kenji did together ever since they met "We've been living together, eating together, sleeping together, bathing together...!"

"Ba-Bathing! ? ! ?" Said Naomi and the CPUs, who were none the wiser about it either

"We even raised three kids together!"

"Wai-!"

With every word that came out of Neptune's mouth, the situation, along with the growing panic within Kenji's mother, got worse and worse. But it was the last one that truly broke everything beyond recovery.

"Ki-Ki-Ki-ki-Ki-Ki-Ki-Ki..." Muttered and stuttered Naomi while sweating profusely, her skin as pale as a ghost and her body shivering in fright

Right now, one could think Kenji's mother went through something traumatic rather than merely being told something shocking just by looking at her. Then again, the words she heard right now could very well count as something traumatic if misunderstood, which, unfortunately, is exactly what was happening right now.

She kept stuttering and mumbling, both shocked and terrified at the words she just heard, for a moment longer as her eyes seemed to become swirls before all of this insane flow of news was too much for her mind and heart to handle, resulting in her brain shutting off and her consciousness fading away as she passed out and flopped down on the couch.

"Mom!?" Said Kenji while quickly looking at her, feeling rather concerned about his mother's mental well-being "Hey, mom! Are you okay!? Hey!"

The young man shook his mother by the shoulders for a moment or two, trying to wake her up, but it was no use. Naomi was out cold.

After that short burst of crazyness, a few hours passed before Kenji's mother finally regained consciousness.

"Hmmm..."

Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw everything blurry at first. Once she managed to get rid of the initial drowsyness, Naomi noticed she was looking at the roof, most likely her room's roof. The room was dimly lit, with only the light from the hallway coming out through the door. And for some reason, her forehead felt wet too.

"Hmmmm...?"

"Oh, are you awake already?" Asked Vert's voice

When hearing the voice next to her, Kenji's mother turned her head and saw Vert sitting on a chair next to her bed. At first she felt confused, but looking at Leanbox's CPU suddenly made her remember what happened.

"Kenji!" She said quickly while sitting up, the wet piece of cloth on her forehead falling down onto her lap

"Please, take it easy" Replied Vert in an attempt to keep her calm while placing one hand on her shoulder to keep her from moving too abruptly "It's bad for your body to move so suddenly after what happened"

"Wha...What happened?"

"You lost consciousness during our conversation, so Kenji brought you up here to rest for the time being" She explained while grabbing the piece of cloth and putting it away.

After losing consciousness, Naomi was brought up to her room by Kenji to rest in a more comfortable place while Vert offered to look after her and try to explain what happened after she woke up.

"Oh...I see..." She said, seemingly still confused and slightly disoriented from just waking up, before looking at her "Where's Kenji?"

"He's downstairs having a...talk...with Neptune about what just happened" Replied Vert with a weak smile

As she said it, both women were suddenly able to hear the disscussion taking place downstairs, along with sounds of something being stretched in a very brutish way.

"Nepuaaaaaaghhhhh! ! !" Yelled Planeptune's CPU, her voice seemingly altered by the stretching of her face "Ke-Khena! Shtaaaaap!"

"Are you trying to give my mom a heart attack or something, you friggin' idiot!?" Replied the young man, clearly irritated quite a lot right now "The hell did you think was gonna happen if you said that!?"

"A-Am shorryyyy!"

The rather lively conversation lasted for a while longer as both women listened to it, each one with a different reaction of their own.

"And as you can see, he's indeed there" She replied with a smile, seemingly unconcerned about the nature of said discussion

"Erm...Will she be okay?"

"You mean Neptune?" Asked Leanbox's CPU while opening her eyes and looking at Naomi "I wouldn't worry too much about her. She may not look like it, but Neptune is quite a resilient individual, and I doubt Kenji would be rough enough to hurt her"

Once again, almost right after Vert said it, Neptune's yelling and incomprehensible rambling suddenly became much louder, seeding a slight concern within kenji's mother even more.

"We-Well...At least not in any severe way..." She said while sweat dropping with a weak smile

"I-I see..." Replied Naomi while sweat dropping as well for a moment before a thought suddenly ran through her head "Oh...Now that I think about it..."

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"Do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Of course. Go right ahead"

Kenji's mother was relieved to know of Vert's willingness to answer her doubts, but seemed a bit hesitant for a moment before finally asking the question that lingered within her mind.

"About Kenji and that girl...Are they really...like that?"

Vert didn't answer the question right away, as she was wondering whetever she meant the way they were arguing right about now or about Neptune's words. It didn't take too long for her to realize the answer was the latter.

In all honesty, it made her glad to see Kenji's mother held such an honest concern for his son, despite whatever may have happened between them before.

"That's...a bit of a complex question" She replied with a bit of a weak smile

"Complex?"

The answer seemed to take Naomi by surprise, if not confuse her slightly as well.

Leanbox's CPU wanted to give a clearer answer than that, but not even she could do such a thing. At least not that easily, since the relationship betwen Neptune and Kenji wasn't an easy one to explain in few words.

"I'm not fully sure about the answer myself, but I think there is indeed something between them" Replied Vert calmly as she tried coming up with a way to explain it without confusing her even further "From what I've seen, Neptune does have honest feelings for Kenji...I also think Kenji shares these feelings for her as well, but has yet to fully realize it himself"

"So...They love eachother?"

"I think so, yes...But both of them have to fully realize this, or rather, Kenji has yet to fully realize this"

"I see..." She replied before something else came to mind, which didn't seem all to good from the way her expression changed in a rather concerning way "The-Then, they don't really have any ki-ki-ki-ki-"

"N-No, no, no! They don't! It was just a phrasing mistake! A misunderstanding!" She said quickly while placing both hands in front of her and sweat dropping "You see, the thing is..."

For a moment, it seemed as though Naomi was about to have another panic attack after recalling Neptune's words, but Vert quickly spoke once more to calm her down and proceeded to give her a somewhat reasonable explanation. It was a rather difficult task, considering she had to explain things that happened between different dimensions and distorted timeframes in a way that would make it rational for an average person, not to mention everything she heard was all fragments from conversations with Kenji, Histoire and Neptune, but all those years spent playing alongside hardcore roleplayers in RPG and reading roleplay message boards gave her the ability to create convincing stories quite fast, making her able to handle this situation rather smoothly.

Instead of saying the story as it actually happened, Vert simply told her those two were actually helping look after the children of one of Neptune's relatives for a while, which wasn't exactly a lie if Plutia's status as a CPU of Planeptune was taken into account, and that they lived together initially not because of their relationship, but rather because Neptune offered Kenji a place to stay out of kindness after seeing him in need of help, as well as telling her about how Kenji helped her out whenever they were in a pinch quite a few times, which eventually resulted in them developing their current relationship.

She didn't quite make up a story to explain the bath part, but Kenji's mother didn't seem quite as bothered about it as before. Or at least she wasn't focused hard enough on it to be affected.

"And that's what really happened..."

"I think I get it now..." Said Naomi while looking at Vert and lowering her head slightly "Thank you...Also...I'm sorry about making you look after me..."

"Please, don't let it worry you. It's just natural for a mother to panic if they suddenly had to hear such things about their son"

"I-I guess so" She replied with a weak smile after raising her head and scratching her right cheek with her index finger

A moment of silence fell as Naomi lowered her head to look at her lap, a mixture of nostalgia and pensive thought mixing up into somewhat distant smile on her face as she reached one hard towards her chest, placing her fingers over the necklace hanging on her neck, or more specifically, on the sapphire connected to it.

"Finding the people who need it the most...I guess that's always been his specialty" She muttered to herself in a low voice

"Hm? What did you say?"

"N-No! It's nothing! I was just thinking outloud!" Said Naomi with a weak smile while looking at Vert once again and placing both hands in front of her

Vert couldn't help but feel curious about those words she muttered, but the expression on her face proved it wasn't something all that good, and that perhaps it would be better not to press on the issue.

As her mind tried to come up with something else to talk about, she diverted her eyes to look at the room and happened to notice a framed picture on the nigh table which caught her attention. Naomi was able to notice this and went ahead to point it out.

"Are you interested in that picture?" She asked, a more uplifted expression appearing on her face now "You can take a closer look if you want"

"Thank you...If you excuse me" Replied Vert with a smile before reaching out for the framed picture and looking at it more carefully.

Now that she could analize it more carefully, she noticed three people standing together, one of them being Naomi. Although her appearance wasn't quite that different, she seemed much younger in it, which meant that picture was most likely quite a few years old. Among the other two, one was a rather small and cute child wrapped in her arms, probably between 3 to 4 years old. He had clear blonde hair and big brown eyes, along with a wide and very heartwarming smile. Vert felt like she could stand there, looking at him almost the same way she'd look at the pictures of Rom she had secretly stashed in her room.

"(So this is how Kenji looked like at a young age...He was quite cute)" Thought Leanbox's CPU, who didn't need too much effort to figure out the child's identity, with a smile

After looking for a bit longer at the younger Kenji, Leanbox's CPU finally focused on the third and last one.

It was a middle-aged man. He had a rugged-face with a few wrinkles around his blue eyes, along with a dark blonde beard and hair, quite similar to Kenji's except that his hair was shorter. He was quite tall, perhaps even taller than Kenji by a head or so. Even though he was wearing a shirt, Vert could tell he had a burly, muscular build that could easily put even people half his age to shame. Despite this manly and hardened appearance, he had a calm and friendly smile that emanated a feeling of safety and confidence.

"Erm, excuse me for asking, but is the man in this picture..." Asked Vert while raising her gaze to look at Naomi

"Yes, that's Kenji's father...His name was Joel..."

"Joel..."

Leanbox's CPU focused on the picture once more, looking at the man who was Kenji's progenitor. On hindsight, he shared a lot of features with the young man. The only exception being his eye color and shape, which were slightly more similar to Naomi's.

In the middle of her analisis, though, Vert suddenly noticed something concerning about part of what Naomi said.

"Wait...Was?"

Naomi didn't reply for a moment, she simply lowered her gaze, focusing on the picture as well while recalling the man in it with a melancholic expression. This silence lasted for a moment or two before Kenji's mother was finally able to answer Vert's question, although without diverting her eyes from the picture.

"Kenji's father...Joel...He died in a car accident a few years ago" Replied Naomi with a slight, yet notable sadness in her tone

Leanbox's CPU's eyes widened in front of this revelation. She had imagined Kenji may not have shared a good relationship with his father due to how little he spoke about him, but this was far from what she imagined, or at least from what she hoped, to be the answer.

"Oh...I'm sorry..."

"It's okay. It happened a long time ago..."

A short moment of silence lasted between the two women as both tried to come up with a way to break it. Vert couldn't help but feel bad about bringing back such a sad memory and wished to say something to lift up the mood, but no words came to mind.

In the end, it was Naomi who broke the silence.

"By-By the way, you wouldn't know the hour, would you?" She asked with a weak smile, speaking the first thing that came to mind after looking out the window and noticing it was already getting dark.

"Eh? Erm..." Replied Vert after snapping out of her trance and looking around her at the window, then back at her "I'm not fully sure myself. But if I had to estimate, I'd say it's already past seven o' clock"

"I imagined it could be so" Replied Naomi before making a more uplifted smile "Say, would you and your friends like to join us for dinner?"

"Are you sure? I mean, we're quite a large group, after all..."

Vert was happy by Naomi's kind offer, but she couldn't help but feel concerned about the high costs of feeding so many people.

Just by looking around, it didn't seem as though Kenji's family suffered any economic difficulties. Even so, feeding six people would be difficult and cost quite a lot for a middle-class family such as this one.

"Of course I am!" Said Kenji's mother before moving the blankets off of herself and sitting on the edge of the bed ""Food is always better when shared with more people...And besides, I want to know more about the time you and Kenji spent together"

"I see...In that case, I'll gladly take you up on your offer" Replied Leanbox's CPU with a cheerful smile before it suddenly became a weak one as she sweat dropped "(With that said, though...How should I explain the events that transpired?)"

As the worry of how to create such a convincing story for everything that happened lingered within her mind, the two women went downstairs to find Kenji and the four CPUs sitting down on the couch. Noire turning her head from one side to the other to look at her surroundings, seemingly curious about the house itself while Blanc distracted herself with a book she borrowed from a bookshelf laying against the wall just a few feet from them. Kenji simply laid down on the couch in the same way he always did on Planeptune's couch while Neptune laid down on it as well with her head resting on the arm, both her cheecks red like tomatoes as she rubbed them to try and make it heal faster.

"uuuuuuuhhhhh, my poor cheeks...You're awful, Kenny!" She said, a slight sadness in her tone before it became irritation "What'cha gonna do if my cute face gets all swollen!? How am I gonna explain that to my fans!?"

"I'm sure you'll find a way"

"You demon! devil! eggplant! Generic character!"

"What was that?" Asked Kenji while turning his head to look at her with a rather scary stare in his eyes

"Nothing!"

"I see...Then it's okay"

While the two talked without a single care in the world, Vert and Naomi looked at them after going down the stairs.

"See? They're already getting along again" Said Vert with a smile

"I-I see..." She replied while sweat dropping with a weak smile "(I'm not all too sure if you could call that "Getting along", though...)"

Somehow, Kenji's mother couldn't really feel the "love" part showing between those two, but she could certainly feel good synergy between them for some reason. Perhaps this was merely just a petty argument typical of couples? One way or the other, it was too soon for her to discern this merely by looking at it.

While Vert approached the others and told them about having dinner together, Naomi made her way to the kitchen to make something to eat.

Some of the CPUs asked if it was okay, just the same way as Vert did, but Leanbox's CPU assured them it was indeed okay with Kenji's mother, as she was the one who suggested it.

Nearly an hour went by as sounds of fire and grilling kept coming from the kitchen before suddenly stopping, most likely meaning Naomi was done.

Although they couldn't help with the cooking, the CPUs and the young man helped set up the table. Well, or at least Noire and Vert tried to while Neptune laid down on the couch and Blanc remained with her focus on the book she currently had, which seemed to be about an 80 day adventure across the world, according to what could be read from the cover.

Once everything was set and everyone sat on the table, Naomi proceeded to serve what she prepared. It was smothered hamburgers with mashed potatoes, all of it smothered in brown gravy.

At first she couldn't help but worry that she couldn't make anything better for her guests, but the CPUs were actually quite happy with this dinner, especially Neptune, who didn't hesitate to stuff her mouth as full as she could.

"Sho good! Thish shtuff ish sho good!" Said Planeptune's CPU with a muffled tone due to everything inside her mouth being in the way.

"Don't talk with your mouth stuffed" Said Kenji, who was sitting next to her, while looking at her and sweat dropping with a somewhat exhausted expression

"That's right, Neptune! That's terrible table manners!" Added Vert while looking at her and speaking with a scolding tone before turning her head to look at Blanc "And you too, Blanc. Reading on the table is also unpolite"

"It's okay, I'll find a good stopping point soon..."

"Urgh...Green Peas again...Why did it have to be green peas?" Wondered Noire while looking at the green peas on the side next to the mashed potatoes

Among this ruckus of conversations, scolding and oppinions, Naomi looked at the CPUs and at the young man instantly tagging along with the flow.

Within her mind, she couldn't help but remember those times she had to eat by herself in silence or with Kenji, who at the time would eat quietly, without saying a word and leaving right away. Unlike those gloomy times, tonight's dinner was just as lively as if it was a party, filled with voices and people sharing some time together and talking with each other, and Kenji forming part of it as well. It honestly made her remember those time back when Kenji's father was still with them, and it made her happy to see this. Nonetheless, she couldn't help but feel a bit left out as she was hardly doing anything to contribute to this liveliness. Even so, she wasn't quite sure what to talk about either.

"Mom?"

Naomi's train of thought was spiraling deeper and deeper by the moment, but it got suddenly cut off by Kenji's voice calling out to her.

"Yes?" She said quickly by turning her head to look at him

"Are you okay?"

"Ah! So-sorry, I was kind of thinking about some stuff!" She said with a weak smile

Kenji couldn't help but feel she wasn't being fully honest, but pressing the matter probably wouldn't help anyone.

"Oh, okay..."

"Erm, by the way, Kenji..."

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"I didn't notice this before, but you seem to have gotten a lot more muscular"

"Now that you mention it, I guess I did" He said while looking at his arms, then at his torso

"You didn't notice up until now?" Asked Noire while looking at him and sweat dropping

Although she wasn't able to notice due to the heartwarming reunion and the chaos from before, Naomi came to realize Kenji's musculature changed a lot since the last time she saw him. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he became more or less twice as muscular as before. Kenji didn't really keep check of this nor worried about it too much, so he hardly felt bothered by it.

"I've been wondering this, but what have you been doing this last 3 months?"

"Three months?" Asked Kenji while looking at her "(So that's the amount of time that went by since I left, huh?)"

"Kenji?"

"Ah! So-sorry! I've got kind of lost in though for a moment there!" Replied the young man with a weak smile before trying to come up with an answer "Well, I've been...erm..."

"He's been practicing boxing" Interrupted Vert

Once again, it was Leanbox's CPU who jumped in to save the day.

Although Kenji had a hard time coming up with something that could explain his growth of muscle in such a limited span of time, Vert was quick to take a reference from one of her dating games. And on hindisght, it was the perfect alibi.

Boxing was a sport that required quite a lot of training and dedication, resulting in an individual developing quite a stunning increase of body musculature through enough time.

"Boxing?"

"That's right!"

"Huh...I never though you liked boxing..." Said Naomi, quite surprised with the news, before worry suddenly showed in her expression "Wa-wait! Isn't boxing dangerous!? People usually get broken bones and concussions when boxing,don't they!?"

"Well, I can't deny getting a few punches is usually a downside of such a sport, but you don't need to worry about any severe injures. Protective gear is a strictly-followed rule when training, after all" Explained Vert to try and ease her worry "And Kenji here has proven to be actually quite a skilled fighter"

"That's right, that's right! Kenny beats all the baddies in a flash!" Added Neptune with a perky smirk

"Even so..."

Looking at his mother, Kenji could tell Neptune and Vert's words didn't fully erase her worries. This made him feel a bit bad, but it's not like he could lie and make it convincing without a bit of a downside.

"(If that's bad, then she'd definitely get a heart attack from hearing the truth)" Thought the young man while sweat dropping as he recalled the severe and sometimes horrible injuries he received while fighting against the strongest of enemies

After that somewhat difficult explanation, everything else went rather smoothly. Most of the conversation circled around questions about Kenji's time spent with the CPUs, but they weren't that hard to answer, and some of them didn't even need to be made up either. Pretty much the largest changes were about them being CPUs, instead being human girls and instead of being a hunter for the guild, Kenji got a part-time job as a waiter at a restaurant.

Although hastily made and lacking a bit of deeper explanation in some parts, Kenji's mother believed it nonetheless. Seemingly more interested in the life Kenji has been building up for himself rather than worried about his "passion" as a boxer.

They kept talking on and on about these stories until everyone was finally done eating. And by the time the dishes were all washed and stored tidly back in place, the CPUs all gathered on the main hallway.

"Well, I guess we should take our leave" Said Vert with a smile

"Eh? Are you sure?" Asked Naomi while looking at her with a surprised expression "It's already gotten very dark out there"

"Don't worry about it, we can look after ourselves when we're together like this"

"And just where are you gonna go anyway?" Asked Kenji this time

"Well, we don't have any proper place to stay, so I guess we'll go to an hotel or something of the sort"

"There's no hotel anywhere in this part of town"

"Eh?"

After hearing Kenji's blunt reply, the CPUs all replied at the same time. It seems none of them knew of this little detail.

"As far as I know, the closest hotel is around two hours away from here, and that's if you take the bus"

"We-Well I guess we'll have to-"

"Also, how are you even gonna rent a room without a single penny?" Interrupted Kenji, further proving his point

Just as the young man said, the closest hotel was too far away for a trip at this late in the night, and the CPUs wouldn't even be able to rent a room even if they made it all the way there since this world had a different kind of currency focused around dollars rather than credits.

"...I guess there's no choice" Said Vert while sweat dropping with a weak smile

"With that said, though, where are we even supposed to sleep in?" Asked Noire this time.

In the end, the CPUs gave in and decided to stay. Now the problem was where they'd sleep, as there was only one guest room, and the bed could only fit one, probably two people at most if they stuck together closely.

"You can sleep in my room if you want, I'll just use the couch here or something" Said the young man while pointing at the living room

"That won't do, Kenji" Said Vert, this time her gaze diverted towads him with a slightly more stern look "I do appreciate the gesture, but making you sleep on the couch of your own house while we take your room wouldn't be right at all. And besides, it's not like your room can fit all of us anyway, right?"

"We-well, I guess that's true" Replied Kenji while sweat dropping

"Oh, I know! How about we get lots of blankets and make one big bed on the floor!" Suggested Neptune "Kinda like a classic japanese bed or a big sleepover!"

Everyone's gaze focused now on Planeptune's CPU and thought about what she said. Although somewhat simple, it was actually quite a decent idea.

"Hm...Now that I think about it, that doesn't sound like such a bad idea!" Said Vert

"Making the best out of the little space we have available...A classic custom of eastern people indeed..."

Once everyone agreed on this, Naomi picked up a few extra blankets and bedding along with a few cushions from the couches as pillows to make a few makeshift beds on the guest room. Surprisingly enough, they made for a rather decent and comfortable set of beds.

Certainly, they were not like the beds the CPUs were used to, but there was something oddly amusing about sleeping all together in such a way, and they could just move down and use the couches if it got uncomfortable anyway.

While the CPUs set themselves up in the guest room with Naomi's help, Kenji went into his room.

"Man, it's sure been a while since I've been here" He muttered to himself while walking inside

It didn't seem quite as small as he recalled, but still somewhat smaller than the room he was given back during his stay in Lastation. The floor did seem a bit cleaner than before too. Perhaps his mother tried tidying up a bit while he was gone.

One way or the other, he didn't put too much thought into it. He had a rather long day and only wanted to lay down and sleep.

*Scene*

"Seriously, Twinkie...You're always so serious" Said a female voice softly before it changed into a somewhat playful tone "Then again, I guess that's part of what I like about you"

The voice then giggled, as if she found her own words funny. Perhaps because of the slight contradiction in them.

As he came to, Kenji realized he was once again reliving the memory of him sitting cross legged with a girl on his lap, leaning her back gently against him as he wrapped both arms. The first memory that began to linger within his mind and the one that began all of this. An odd and fragmented, yet clear and very warm memory that kept repeating itself quite few times already.

Surprisingly enough, this time something was different. Not only could he feel her warmth, but he could also hear her voice. He couldn't quite recall where he heard it before, but it felt soothing, calming, almost like a lullaby, or even a sweet song. Just hearing it made a strong warmth emanate from his chest, making his body move on its own and wrap his arms tighter around her.

Just who on earth was this woman? Why did she make these feelings surge from within him? And most importantly, just what was this woman to Kenji?

It was hard for him to think clearly for some reason, but he could tell one thing. She had to be someone important to him if just one memory of her was enough to alter his heart in such a way.

Kenji rested his head on her right shoulder and closed his eyes,dwelving deep into this calm for a while longer, but it was then that a new voice echoed from within the darkness, breaking the silence with words that etched an eerie sense of dread within him.

"I'm sorry, Cocoa..." Said a voice that sounded exactly like kenji's

At that moment, the young man quickly opened his eyes and saw the roof of his room. The light of the sun coming in through the window's glass, signaling it was already daytime once more.

"(Whe-Where...?)" Wondered the young man, seemingly confused about his whereabouts for a moment or two before the drowsyness faded away, allowing his mind to recall the events that took place so far "(Oh...Right)"

Slowly, Kenji sat up and looked out the window, seeing the streets and other houses outside. The light of morning falling upon them, bringing a start to a new day.

"(I made it back here...To my own world)" He thought while looking at the world outside

The trip back to his world, the reunion with his mother and the events that took place yesterday. All of these memories flashing back within his mind as his stare remained focused on the outside. This moment of pensive thought was interrupted after Kenji suddenly realized the odd feeling circling around his waist, almost as if something was wrapped around it.

"(Hm?)"

Out of curiosity, the young man lowered his head and removed the blankets.

Right next to him, sleeping soundly, was Neptune. Her arms wrapped tightly around his waist as she pressed her head against him, seemingly using him as if he was a hugging pillow, or something of the sort. Her hoodie nowhere to be seen, with her underwear as the only thing covering her.

"(Oh, it's just Neptune...)" Thought Kenji with a slight sense of relief while raising his head to look forward, remaining calm for a moment before his eyes suddenly widened after his mind processed what he just saw "(Wait...)"

Once again, the young man looked down at Planeptune's CPU, this time reacting more properly. And by properly, I mean with shock.

"Wha-What the hell! ? ! ?" He yelled loud enough for probably the whole house to hear him

"Hmmm?"

Due to his loud reaction, Neptune mumbled for a moment before waking up and opening her eyes slowly. At first she was too drowsy to notice anything around him, but it slowly faded away as she sat up as well and looked around her, with Kenji being the first thing she noticed.

"Good morning, Kenny" She said with a clumsy smile while looking at him

"Don't "Good morning" Me!" He replied with a slight irritation "When the hell did you get into my bed!? Or rather, why are you even in my bed to begin with!?"

"Seriously, why are you so loud this early in the morning?" She replied while looking at him with certain exhaustion "You're gonna go bald and wrinkled if you get angry this early in the morning"

"Don't dodge the question!"

Out of all the things he expected to happen the following morning, this was not among those Kenji expected, and it was clear by his irritated tone that he didn't like Neptune's sneaky infiltration into his bed at all.

"I mean, we're lovers and this fanfiction's OTP, right?" Said Planeptune's CPU with a perky smile and a blush while placing both hands on her hips, now fully awake once more "It's just a given we'd do fanservice and romantic stuff like sleeping together!"

"I really can't keep up with your logic sometimes, you know?"He replied while looking at her and sweat dropping before closing his eyes lowering his head slightly "Well, whatever...Just go back before the others wake up. Last thing I need is to give everyone else another misunderstanding"

"Seriously, you're no fun, Kenny! At least try to amuse the fans every now and then!" Said Neptune while getting up on her feet on the bed

"Well, sorry for not being the funny type"

"It's okay! Not everyone can be prime main character material like me!"

"Just go back already!" Said the young man with a popped vein mark on his forehead.

"Aye sir!"

Planeptune's CPU began walking towards the edge of the bed to get off, but her foot suddenly got caught in the blankets, causing her to lose her balance and fall forward towards Kenji, who got pushed towards the edge of the bed as well and fell down.

"Whoa!?"

"Nepu!"

Both of them fell down to the floor while tangled up in the blankets, causing a loud crashing sound as they fell down on the ground.

"Owowowow..." Said Kenji while scratching the top of his head

At the same time, the door suddenly opened, revealing Naomi walking in.

"Kenji! I just heard a loud sound! Are you oka-?"

After hearing the loud crashing sounds coming from within the young man's room, his mother couldn't help but worry something bad may have happened. This led her to go into the room and check out if he was okay. Unfortunately, that would do anything but help.

As she opened the door and looked inside, Kenji's mother saw him lying down on the ground with Neptune sitting on top of him, with her lower half quite close to his face, to be more precise. The fact this pose could easily be misunderstood by a rather indecent act and the fact Kenji was half-naked, along with Neptune being in nothing but her underwear, opened path for a rather bad outcome.

"Ah..."

"Eh?" Said the young man while opening his eyes to look at her, slightly confused by her expression, before noticing Neptune's current position and realizing what was probably happening right "Ah!"

"Ah! Good morning, Kenny's mom!"

A short moment of silence went by as both people remained still, looking at each other in complete silence, unable to come up with what to say. Except for Neptune, of course, who didn't seem to even understand the situation right now.

"S-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s" Stuttered Kenji's mother for a moment with a strong blush before suddenly yelling it out with her eyes closed "Sorry for interrupting!"

As suddenly as she arrived, Naomi quickly shut the door closed and ran away from the scene, her face red as a tomato due to what she just witnessed, or rather, the misunderstanding she just ended up with.

"He-Hey! Wait a moment! You've got it all wrong!" Yelled the young man while trying to reach towards the door, with to no avail

"This is bad, Kenny! We got found out by your momma!" Said Neptune witha blush and a slightly embarassed, yet playful expression

"No, we didn't!" Snarled the young man while looking at her again "We weren't doing anything to begin with, and get off of me already!"

After that unfortunate accident, Neptune quietly picked up her hoodie and shoes and went back to the room where the other CPUs were staying at. Meanwhile, the young man got dressed and went downstairs, hoping to find a way to clear the misunderstanding.

The rest of the morning was a rather awkward time, so much that Kenji even decided to go out on a short trip to a grocery business to buy some extra groceries for lunch just to get away from that atmosphere for at least a little bit.

"(Man...It's not even mid-day yet and I'm already tired)" He thought while sweat dropping with his eyes closed and sighing "(How am I even gonna explain what happened back there?)"

"Oh, what's wrong, Kenji? You don't seem to be doing very good today" Asked Vert while looking at him as she walked alongside him

"I just had a rough morning, that's all" He replied calmly

"Is that so?"

Naomi didn't make any mention of what she saw earlier during breakfast, but her silence and expression made it rather easy for Leanbox's CPU to realize something was off.

"Could it have something to do with whatever you and Neptune were doing together earlier this morning?" She asked with a playful smirk while leaning her upper body forward

Vert's sudden question caused the young man to blush strongly as he turned his head to look at her, quite shocked by her knowledge about the events that took place without her prescence.

"Ho-How did you-!?"

"Oh, Kenji. You should already be aware of this, but I've got my ways of knowing things such as these" Replied Vert with confidence

Although she didn't get to see both of them together, Vert caught a glimpse of Neptune sneaking into the young man's room in the middle of the night while she was coming back from a trip to the bathroom. And not only that, but she also caught a glimpse of her coming back, still in her underwear, before Noire and Blanc woke up. Seeing Naomi's expression and the awkwardness between them during breakfast was the last confirmation she needed.

"I understand you're still in the most passionate stages of your relationship, but to think the two of you would do such a thing right under your mother's roof!"

"We didn't do anything! It's a misunderstanding!" He replied with a bit of a panic

"Well, if that's what you say. I'll just have to take your word for it" She replied while walking forward with both hands behind her back, along with her eyes closed and a rather satisfied smirk on her face "But you shouldn't worry so much about it. There's nothing wrong about having special tastes, after all"

"Like I said, It's a misunderstanding! And for the millionth time, I don't have any special tastes!" He said with his eyes closed and an even stronger blush "Is that turning into a running gag or something!?"

In front of his panic, irritation and embarassment, Leanbox's CPU gave a slight giggle. She was already aware that the couple most likely didn't do anything erotic, but she couldn't help but want to tease him a little. After all, Purple Heart wasn't the only one that enjoyed getting such reactions out of him.

Planeptune's CPU did it because she found the discrepancy between his manly body and attitude and his rather innocent reactions and tendency to get embarassed easily cute, but Vert did it mostly because she found it amusing. Not as much as when doing it to Nepgear, of course, but it certainly helped to put the mind and heart at ease, along with being a good way to get some daily enjoyment.

"By the way, Vert...Mind if ask you something?"

"Hm? What is it?" She asked after snapping out of her train of thought and opening her eyes to look at him

"Why did you tag along? And more importantly, why are you dressed like that?"

"Oh"

Although he was still slightly embarassed about Vert's little tease, Kenji's mind was able to take these facts into account. And out of curiosity, along with the hope they'd be a good way to change the subject, he decided to ask.

Unlike her usual princess-like dress, Vert was now wearing a long, with a black stripped blouse under a denim jacket and grey, thight jeans that reached down to half her calves, along with a pair of white shoes.

"Well, there's not much to do in your home at the moment, so I thought learning a bit more about the surrounding areas would be useful in case we needed to move about by ourselves in the near future. Besides, it's always good to stretch one's legs by taking a walk every now and then"

"I see...I guess it makes sense" Replied Kenji while thinking about her answer

"And regarding these clothes, your mother was kind enough to lend them to me when I told her I'd go along with you" Explained Vert to him before lowering her head slightly and taking a look at her chest while using one finger to pull on the top "With that said, though, they're a bit...tight...around certain areas. Especially my chest"

True to her words, Naomi's clothes seemed to fit Vert's body surprisingly well due to both of them having a slim build. Unfortunately, they were rather tight around the chest area, and also a bit around her hips. Kenji couldn't help but blush slightly at this rather tempting view, but tried not to stare too much, as it would only give Vert yet another chance to tease him.

"Somehow, I get the feeling she won't be able to use those clothes anymore..." He said while sweat dropping after coming to realize just how stretched that top would be afterwards

"Yeah...I suppose I'll have to apologize about that later as well..." Replied Vert while sweat dropping with a weak smile.

Along with the obvious stretching making those clothes no longer usable for his mother, the young man couldn't help but feel like this large difference of womanly proportions may come up as a low blow to her self-esteem as a woman.

The two of them kept walking and doing small talk for a while longer before finally reaching a grocery business.

It wasn't quite a big place and the selection wasn't very varied like in larger supermarkets, but the location just outside of of the residential area made it quite convenient for those that didn't want to make a long trip to a supermarket downtown or had no car nor anyone with one to accompany them.

Using a small list given to the young man by Naomi, the two of them split appart and searched for the goods. Fortunately, the store had everything they needed, making it rather easy to gather everything in the list before regrouping on the counter and paying for the groceries.

On the way back, Kenji carried most of the bags while Vert carried a couple as well. And as the two of them walked back, the young man's mind thought about a box of twinkies he passed through while searching for groceries, which in turn made him think about that memory once more while making a pensive expression. This was something that Vert didn't fail to notice.

"(Cocoa...Why did I-?)"

"Kenji? What's wrong?"

"N-No, nothing" He said quickly after snapping out of his trance and turning his head to look at her while sweat dropping with a weak smile "I was just thinking about something, that's all"

"May I ask what?"

Leanbox's CPU wasn't exactly that curious about it, but Kenji didn't get lost in thought unless it was something bad, or at least moderately serious, and she couldn't help but feel concerned about this.

The young man looked at Vert for a moment, seemingly thinking about something in silence before looking forward again and answering her question.

"Not much, really. I was just thinking about a dream I had last night"

"A dream?" Asked the surprised CPU "What kind of dream?"

Vert was partly surprised Kenji hardly hesitated to tell her, but the young man didn't think too hard about it. He knew she didn't mean to pry in any bad way, and telling her a lie wouldn't make any sense either, especially when she was so skilled at detecting them right away.

"Do you remember that memory I told you about? The one where I'm hugging a girl?"

"Yes"

"Well, it was about that one"

"I see..."

Vert looked intently at Kenji, thinking about his words once more.

Back when the young man visited Leanbox and told her everything about his mother, he also did mention the gap in his memories with some of them randomly popping up lately every now and then at random, with that one in particular appearing quite a few times ever since he first saw it. Mostly in his sleep or when he began to daydream. At the start this seemed like a good signal since it meant Kenji's memory was starting to restore itself, but this was a subject of worry for Vert. Or rather, something regarding this was worrying her. The core of the concern being not the memories themselves nor his amnesia, but rather the cause behind the amnesia in the first place.

According to a medicine and psychology expert Vert knew from her MMORPG's guild, memory loss was in no way something common or that should be taken lightly.

For an individual's memories to be affected, he or she had to suffer some sort of physical or emotional trauma strong enough to force the brain to blur or forget a certain memory of the event in order to protect itself. In the worst of cases, causing the individual's mind to completely erase his memories in order to avoid the psyche from collapsing entirely. And even then, the person's emotional state would definitely end up suffering a serious blow in one way or the other. This seemed to be the case for Kenji, and it was clear in his behavior when they initially met.

At that time, Vert thought he was merely an extremely stubborn and reckless man, but she quickly came to realize this wasn't bravery, but a strong apathy. In other words, an utter lack of concern for one's own well-being or safety. Whetever it was living, fighting, getting hurt, breaking bones or even dying, it was all the same to the young man. He didn't care in the least about it, or rather, he was unable to care about it. This definitely was, according to that expert's words, the result of a traumatic event that shook the young man's mind right down to the very core, forcing him to kill his ability to feel for the sake of retaining his sanity.

The missing memories suddenly beginning to resurface were most likely the result of his memory starting to heal due to his psyche improving over the time he spent with the CPUs, but the worry that hit her was that whatever they were hiding, it could most likely be a horrible trauma, an event so gruesome, so horrible and so devastating, that it was possible his psyche could suffer some severe damage once more if he were to remember everything. And it was this that arose a question within her.

If those memories really enclosed such a horrible past, such a horrible trauma capable of turning a cheerful and happy child into a wretched and apathetic man, were they really worth remembering? Wouldn't it be better to just let them locked away? lost within the darkest, deepest corners of his mind and past?

Vert wanted to ask him this, she wished to suggest this to him, but there was no way she could do it. The young man had already made his mind up to restore his memory, and she had no business in it. She had no right to reject nor deny him of his past, and she knew it.

"It was kind of similar to before, except that this time she talked with me" Said the young man, breaking Leanbox's CPU out of her train of thought

"She talked?" Asked Vert, her eyes widened with surprise after hearing this piece of information "And what did she say?"

"She said something about me being too serious all the time"

"Anything else?"

"Not really, though...She did call me by an odd name, though" Replied the young man with a pensive expression while raising one eyebrow and looking upwards to the sky

"What name?"

A short moment of silence suddenly fell between the two of them before Kenji finally broke it.

"You promise not to laugh?"

"Eh?"

"You have to promise me you won't laugh...Otherwise I won't tell you"

"Erm...Sure?"

Vert was slightly confused by his sudden request, but it seemed important to him for some reason. So much, that he was even trying to make her promise to keep it a secret.

"That didn't sound very honest, you know?"

"Kenji, I won't laugh, I promise...So please, tell me"

Seeing the young man wasn't playing around here, Leanbox's CPU decided to make a more honest promise. With everything that was coursing through her mind right now, she didn't really feel like whatever Kenji said would be able to make her laugh, though.

"...Twinkie"

"Eh?"

"She called me"Twinkie"..."

A short moment of silence went by as Vert looked at Kenji with widened eyes and he looked away from her, his expression impossible to discern from her angle, but the slight blush in his face still noticeable. She kept looking at him for a moment or two, the word repeating itself in her mind once more before a little smile formed on her face as she held back a bit of a laugh. Unfortunately, this didn't go unnoticed by the young man.

"Hey. You laughed just now, didn't you?" He asked bluntly while turning his head to look at her

"N-No, I didn't" She replied while trying to hold back the laugh, but failed to do so completely

"You did laugh! Or rather, you are STILL laughing!"

"M-My apologies, Kenji! It's just..." Said Vert before being unable to hold back anymore "It is, in fact, quite a fitting nickname"

Truth to be told, Leanbox's CPU didn't laugh because of the name "twinkie" itself, but rather because of how cute and surprisingly fitting it was, consideing Kenji's blonde hair could indeed be thought to make one think about a twinkie's yellow-ish color.

Kenji didn't find it very funny, though. In fact, he was feeling quite embarassed right about now.

"Ah, forget it! I knew I should've kept my mouth shut!" Said the young man with an irritated tone and a strong blush as he turned around and walked faster

"Ah! Wait, Kenji!"

Leanbox's CPU quickly hastened her step to catch up to the young man, whose blush was still brightly red.

By the time they made it back to Kenji's home, Vert managed to stop laughing and he had calmed down a bit, but he still made sure to make Leanbox's CPU promise she wouldn't tell anyone about it. Little did either of them imagine what would happen once they went back inside.

"Hey, we're back" Said Kenji after opening the door and going inside

"So cute! !"

"Hm?"

"Oh? That sounded like Neptune..."

After hearing Planeptune's CPU yelling so loudly, both Kenji and Vert followed the voice into the living room, where they saw her, Noire, Blanc and Naomi gathered around, seemingly oggling something intensely. And whatever it was, they seemed to be enjoying it quite a lot.

"Look at this one. It's one of my favorites" Said Naomi cheerfully while pointing at something hidden away among the circle they were making

"Ahhhhh! He's hugging a little bear!"

"(Bear?)"

Out of curiosity, the young man walked a few steps forward and leaned towards them to look over Neptune and Noire's heads. What he saw made him break a cold sweat and go blue from sheer shock.

Laying down on the table, there was a large book opened. And in it, there were dozens of pictures of a small baby dressed in blue pajamas. Among those pictures, one was of the child sleeping peacefully on his crib or while leaning onto his mother's chest, another one of him hugging a teddy bear that was almost his size, and another was of him simply sitting down on the floor, looking up at the camera with a tilted head and a curious expression. Truly, the little child's cuteness and innocent look were more than enough to charm any woman, and the CPUs seemed to have already fallen for this charm.

Putting all of that aside, they didn't seem very shocking or capable of disturbing an individual in the way they were doing to Kenji right about now, or at least they wouldn't if it weren't for the fact the young man recognized those as the old pictures his mother took of him back when he was still a toddler. Not exactly something he'd want to show to everyone.

"He-Hey! The hell are you all doing with that!?" He asked loudly, causing everyone's attention to be diverted towards him

"Ah, Kenji! Welcome back!" Said Naomi with a cheerful smile after noticing his son's prescence

"Don't "Welcome back" me! What the heck are you doing showing that to them!?"

"Oh, you mean this?" She asked while looking at the picture album "Your friends happened to find it while helping me tidy up the living room, and they were really curious, so we took a break to look at it"

"So cute! Baby Kenny is sooooo cute!" Said Neptune while blushing with a smile "I'd totally be okay with you getting an OC power that turned you into a baby so I'd get to cuddle you!"

"Who the hell would want an useless power like that!?"

"I honestly imagined you'd look grumpier as a toddler...but I guess I was wrong" Said Blanc without diverting her attention away from the pictures, a small smile appearing on her face.

"It's kind of a shame your face went so grumpy over the years" Added Noire while looking at him with a smirk

"The heck is that supposed to mean!?" He asked with an irritated tone and a blush while looking at Lastation's CPU "Either way, stop looking at them already!"

"Looking at what?" Asked Vert while walking closer "What is everyone looking at?"

"You stay away!" He quickly said while turning his head to look at her

"Ah, Vert! Good timing!" Said Neptune while turning her head to look at Leanbox's CPU "Come look! There's a lot of Kenny's baby pictures!"

"Really!?" She asked, a strong interest easy to notice in her tone, before suddenly moving past Kenji and leaning forward "Let me see!"

Since just a picture of him back when he was four years old was enough to strike her fancy, baby pictures would definitely be even better. With this in mind, Leanbox's CPU didn't even hesitate to leap forward and get a good look at them.

"Ahhhhh, you're right!" She said with a smile and a blush "There are so many pictures! And they're really cute too!"

"Right, right!?"

"Yes, they're all really cute" Added Kenji's mother with a smile before turning the page and pointing at one "But this one is among my favorites!"

"Oh!? You're giving him a bath on this one! And it's on the sink too!" Said Neptune, a mixture of surprise and happyness in hertone

"WHAT! ? ! ? ! ? ! ?"

"No way! He could fit on a sink!?" Added Noire with widened eyes

"Yes, he was very small back then, and I always feared he could drown on a bathtub, so the only way to give him a bath was by using the sink" Replied Naomi "He always seemed to enjoy it, though"

"You people...!" Said the young man while clenching a fist with his eyes closed, a rather thick vein popping on his forehead along with a very strong blush, before yelling loud enough to make the whole neighboorhood hear it "STOP LOOKING! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !"

*Scene*

"So everyone made it through safely?" Asked Histoire over Kenji's portable device

"Yes. Fortunately, none of us got harmed during the procedure" Replied Vert while looking at the oracle "And we managed to regroup rather quickly as well"

"I see...Itseems luck was on our side this time around" She said with a relieved expression before something caught her attention "by the way, where is Kenji? It's rather unusual for someone else to answer in his stead"

"Well, about that..."

Vert made a weak smile and sweat dropped for a moment, causing Histoire's curiosity to increase, before moving her head slightly sideways and showing the young man just a couple of feet behind her. He was sitting on the edge of his bed with both hands placed on his lowered head while the elbows were rested on his thights, along with a gloominess emanating so strongly from within him that one could almost see the black aura of despair emanating around him.

"They saw...They saw everything..." He muttered with a very heavy and gloomy tone

"Is that...Kenji?" Asked Histoire with widened eyes and a bit of a surprise in her expression from seeing him in such a state

"Yeah..."

"What on Earth happened to him?"

"Well, I guess you could say he took a bit of a debuff earlier" Replied Leanbox's CPU with a weak smile

"And it was super effective..." Added Blanc while looking at him with a monotone expression

"I-Is that so?" Asked the tome while sweat dropping

Due to the revelation of Kenji's pictures from his years as a toddler being shown to everyone, including those which showed some of his most embarassing moments, the young man caused quite an uproar, and it probably would've lasted far longer if it weren't for the fact Kenji's portable device suddenly received a call in the midst of it all.

As impossible as it may have seemed before, the Oracle used her knowledge of interdimensional travel, along with the previously set coordinates, to send a signal across dimensions hoping Kenji's device would be able to receive it. In other words, almost the same as a satellite and a TV or a radio device, except that in an interdimensional scale.

Eager to talk with the tome, the four CPUs made haste upstairs and into Kenji's room along with him to answer her call. And once the young man calmed down, the irritation and embarassment turned into a gloom, and quite the intense one at that.

"Erm...Is he going to be all right?" She asked with a slight concern in her tone

"There is no need to worry, I'm sure he'll recover shortly afterwards" Replied Leanbox's CPU calmly before making a weak smile and sweat dropping once again "At least...I think he will..."

"I don't think he'll be recovering any time soon, to be honest" Added Noire, who looked at him and sweat dropped as well

Just looking at the young man's current state made the tome wonder just what on earth could cause him to end up in such away, but her attention was suddenly taken by something else.

"Anyway, Histoire...There is something I'd like to ask you" Said Vert while diverting her gaze once again towards Planeptune's oracle, her expression now stern "Do you have any idea what could have happened to cause the warp's malfunction?"

"Ah, yes..." Replied Histoire, now her gaze once again focused on Vert and her expression just as serious as hers, except that slightly more apologetic "I'm afraid I can't tell for certain what went wrong, but I do have a few hypotesis that could partially explain it"

Planeptune's oracle couldn't come up with an explanation that could make sense out of everything that happened, but she could make a group of conjectures about the multiple events that took place.

"For starter's, the fact I was unnable to stop the process in any way wasn't merely the raw power of the warp was too much to handle, but because I was denied access to it"

"Denied access? Is something like that even possible?" Asked Noire, surprised by the tome's words

"I'm not sure...Such a thing has never happened to me before, and I couldn't find anything that could explain this despite searching through the interdimensional section of my manual for the last three days"

"Three days? But it's only been a day and half at most over here" Said Vert

"I explained this before, but time flows differently in each dimension" Replied the tome "It seems time flows at around half the speed of ours in that dimension"

The CPUs, with the exception the young man and Neptune, who was nowhere to be seen, were very surprised by this information. They did hear about this from them before, but it still felt unreal to experience it in the flesh.

"As far as I'm concerned, there are two possible scenarios. Either there's some detail about the process or of my limitations which I'm still unaware of, or some outside force forcibly interrupted my ability to interfere"

"So someone sabotaged us...Is that what you're saying?" Asked Noire

"It is a possibility, but I don't think that what happened was entirely this external force's doing"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Whoever this individual was, he didn't disturb the process, he merely kept me from stopping it...For whatever reason, I'm not sure of, but it wasn't the initial cause"

"Then, what was it?" Asked Blanc this time

"Most likely, the malfunction of the warp was Kenji's doing..."

"Eh?"

After hearing his name being called in accusation, the young man raised his head and looked at her with a confused expression.

"Kenji's...doing?"

"Wa-wait a moment, what do you mean by "my doing"!?" He asked while getting up on his feet

"Of course, I don't mean you did it intentionally. If anything, I think it may have been by accident"

It was just a given Kenji would show some concern if he was suddenly accused of doing such a thing as dragging the other CPUs along with him, and even they felt bewildered by this, but the tome made sure to explain her reasoning as best as she could to clear out any possible misunderstandings.

"During the procedure, Kenji used his shares to activate the catalyst and power up the warp. I'm sure you remember this, right?"

Everyone nodded in agreement, giving the tome the chance to keep on.

"As you know, shares are usually quite haphazad due to their strong connection and dependency to an individual's emotions and psyche" She explained in even further detail "If my hipotesis is correct, there was a moment during the procedure where Kenji's emotions went into desarray or his focus was disturbed, causing him to lose control over the flow of shares and pour far too many into the catalyst, making the warp go out of control"

"When he got distracted..." Said Blanc as she recalled that moment, and then suddenly remembered Neptune "Didn't Neptune call out to him half-way through?"

"Now that you mention it, I do remember remember her saying something to him" Added Vert as the words of Lowee's CPU refreshened her memory

"I see...That could indeed make sense" Replied the tome "Since you were all warped to the same world and relatively close, Kenji's memories and emotions remained steady. So it means the most likely cause was Neptune breaking his focus"

"So this is all that idiot's fault, after all" Said Noire with irritation in her tone and expression while sweat dropping

"Yes...Unfortunately so..." Replied Histoire once more while sweat dropping with some level of dissapointment in her tone "But either way, that's not really the important matter right now"

"Certainly...What really matters right now is to find a way for us to go back to the hyperdimension" Said Vert

"Right now, I can't say I have any plans, unfortunately"

Due to the lack of a tome in Kenji's dimension, Histoire lacked someone to properly make a connection with in order to open a portal just in the same way she did back in the Ultradimension, and the fact interdimensional or teleportation technology was next to non-existent as well, the oracle was pushed with quite a troublesome puzzle to solve.

"But don't let it worry you...It may take me some time, but I will definitely find a way"

"How much, exactly?"

"I'm not certain yet, but if I had to roughly calculate, I'd say about three weeks"

"Three weeks...In other words, a week and half over here" Said Blanc after taking the different timeframes into account

"I don't mind the wait, but how are we supposed to stay here for that long without any money or a way to earn it?" Asked Noire this time

Although the time given by the tome wasn't that long, it would be rather difficult to withstand without any economical backup. And without the guild or quests, the CPUs had no means of gaining money to support themselves in this world. Getting a job wasn't an option either, as no one would take them as employees when they didn't even have any document to identify them.

"Certainly, without the guild nor any proper qualifications, I doubt someone would give us a job" Said Vert while sweat dropping with her eyes closed "And I can't say I like the idea of constantly relying on Kenji's mother to put money out of her own pocket for us"

"I see...that is something to be considered as well" Said Histoire while going into pensive thought before diverting her attention towards the young man "Kenji. If it's not too much trouble, could you explain to me how the economic system in your world works?"

The tome looked at the young man, but he seemed to be thinking about something.

"(She called out to me...)" He thought while placing one hand on his chin "(Just what did she want to say at that moment?)"

Back during the warp, Kenji remembered her calling out to him, but he wasn't sure exactly what was it that she tried to say. Nonetheless, he felt like it was something very important.

"Kenji? What's wrong?" Asked The tome while looking at him

The first time he didn't respond, but after she called out to him once more, the young man snapped out of his thoughts and looked at her.

"Ah! So-Sorry! I just spaced out for a moment" He said with a weak smile

"There's no need to apologize, I've grow accustomed to it already"

"I know the whole pensive thing ain't exactly my best trait, but could you please not say it like it's a bad thing either?" Asked the young man while sweat dropping

"Excuse my bad phrasing, I didn't mean for it to offend you" Replied the tome with a slightly apologetic tone "But putting that aside for now, I would like to know if you could teach me what you know about your world's economic system..."

"You mean, like how money works around here?"

"Yes..."

"Erm...Sure, I don't mind..." Replied Kenji while scratching the back of his head "To be honest, though, I can't really say I know a lot about it..."

"That's perfectly fine. Even the slightest piece of information will do"

According to Histoire's request, Kenji explained to her how economy worked in his world, or at least what little he knew, such as how, unlike the Hyperdimension or the Ultradimension, money wasn't given right away to an individual for completing a job, and instead was put in their bank account for them to collect it at any time they wished through either talking with a cashier or using an ATM, also known as an automatic teller machine.

It was through this explanation that Histoire came up with an idea how to solve their economical situation. For starters, this plan required a debit card, which the young man borrowed from his mother. Once she carefully analyzed everything she could from it, the young man went to a bank with it.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Asked the young man while walking towards the ATMs

"Do not worry, Kenji. I'm confident this will work"

"No, that's not exactly what I mean..."

Once he finally stood in front of the machine, Kenji discretely took out a plug from his device, which was hidden away in his pocket, and connected it to the card slot.

"Okay, we're connected. Now, please give me a moment..."

After three minutes of silent processing, which felt much longer to the young man, the ATM suddenly acted up, opening up with a welcome message before popping up the various options.

"Good, it seems like I managed to access the machine's system smoothly" Said the tome with a certain relief in her tone "Now then. It's your turn, Nepgear"

"Yes! Leave it to me!"

"Don't raise your voice!" Muttered the young man to the device in his pocket

After quickly looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching him, he gave a relieved sigh. If anyone, especially a security guard, were to see what he was doing, the consequences would be quite dire.

"So-sorry..." Replied the CPU candidate with an apologetic tone "Anyway, just leave it to me...I'll do what I can"

After taking control of the console, Nepgear went ahead and began thinkering with the ATM's software, causing a large amount of 1's and 0's to appear on the screen, which somehow made the young man feel worried someone may notice.

"What? I thought their system would be harder to crack than this...It's kind of a letdown" She said with slight dissapointment

Kenji couldn't help but sweat dropp when hearing that. Even if the bank branch he was on right now wasn't exactly a very big one, it still belonged to a large nation-wide company that ranked among one of the top-ten financial services in the country, if not half the planet. And these type of services usually employed some of the most powerful cybernetic security systems in the world, created by hundreds profesional engineers that dedicated many years of third-degree studies and effort to develop them. The fact Nepgear could crack it open like an egg as if it was children's play and even feel bored about it to the point of dissapointment once again proved just how terrifying her skills with technology truly were.

"(I guess that pink bastard motivated her more than I thought)" He thought with slight concern, realizing just how much Anonydeath's technology and hacking influenced the growth of her skills with software during their time in the Ultradimension, and also feeling inmensely relieved she was not an enemy.

Although Nepgear's ability with hardware was always her strong suit, the hacker's influence and skill as a sage made her realize just how lacking her ability with software really was. This, in turn, motivated her to develop her knowledge of software as much as she could, and although her skills still paled in comparison to those of Anonydeath's, she had improved beyong imagination, and this just now was the proof of it.

"There, I'm done..." She said, making him snap out of his trance

"Let's see..."

With the process now completed, Kenji checked to see just how much money they put into the account. Initially he imagined a simple number like five or ten thousand, perhaps even twenty thousand at most, but little did he imagine the number was far, far different from what he imagined.

"(O-ONE MILLION! ? ! ? ! ?)" He shouted within his mind as his eyes and mouth opened widely when looking at the massive number

"Now then...That slight amount should help all of you withstand the stay without any inconveniences..."

"(That's WAY more than just a little!)"

Although Histoire and Nepgear probably didn't think too much of it, one million dollars was actually quite a large amount of money in Kenji's world. In fact, it was a massive amount for anyone that was middle-class or below, even in the Hyperdimension.

"You should be able to access it from any bank from now on using the card from before. But please, try not to use it all up too fast"

"I don't think I could, even if I wanted to..." He replied to her while sweat dropping before diverting his gaze to look at her "More importantly, I'm pretty sure this is a crime..."

"Oh? Whatever you may be talking about now?" Said Histoire with an innocent smile "If my knowledge about legal procedures is accurate, then there are no laws covering actions taking place across different dimension...As far as anyone knows, all we did was just a small deposit"

"Again, I seriously don't think this is just "a small" deposit" He replied while sweat dropping again before thinking about what she said "(On hindsight, I think she's right)"

Kenji couldn't help but feel like what they did just now easily broke over a dozen laws that could put him behind bars for a couple of years, if not decades, and in a way he was right. Then again, they did need the money, and Histoire's claim about no existing laws being able to apply to a hacking coming from other dimensions was right. Still, it didn't completely erase the feeling that this was, in one way or the other, a dishonest act. Nonetheless, Instead of arguing about this, the young man simply decided to accept the tome's "charity" and disconnected the device from the ATM before walking out of the bank and into the street, where he met with the CPUs.

"Oh, so you're finally back..." Said Vert after seeing him coming out and smiling at him "So? How did it go?"

"There weren't any problems. Those two got us some money...Maybe a bit too much, though"

"I knew my little sister would be able to make this possible for us!" Replied Leanbox's CPU with a proud smile

"Wait, Vert! Nep. jr is MY little sister!" Snarled Neptune with an irritated expression and tone

"Oh, really now? Because it seems to me like she likes spending more time with me than with you..." Replied Vert with a smug expression while placing both forearms under her chest before making it bounce "...For obvious reasons..."

"Why, you...!" Snarled Planeptune's CPU with even more irritation than before

While the CPUs of Planeptune and Leanbox argued over who truly deserved to own the title of Nepgear's older sister, Kenji looked at them and sweat dropped for a moment before suddenly realizing that, among the CPUs, one was missing.

"By the way, where did Noire go?" He asked while looking at Blanc

"Noire went back to your home shortly after you went in there...She said something about people's stares making her uncomfortable"

"People's stares, huh?"

Just by looking around him, Kenji could see quite a few by standers and people passing by turning their stares towards the CPUs more often than not. Most specifically, at Blanc and Neptune, since those two were the ones dressed in their normal clothes instead of "normal" ones like Vert. Of course, most of these were merely short gazes rather than long stares, as their clothes weren't really that peculiar, and could easily pass by normal outwear with a few alterations.

For Noire, though, whose clothes were by far the most peculiar of the four, she would definitely get endless stares from the people that thought of her as weird. And for somone like her, who cherished that image of pure perfection with all of her life force and terribly feared to be seen as a weirdo or a geek, that was probably unbearable to the point of even making her go back to Kenji's home at full throttle.

"(We're definitely gonna need to do something about that...)" He thought while sweat dropping before diverting his stare towards the two CPUs "(Hm?)"

Surprisingly enough, the two CPUs stopped arguing rather fast and were instead now focused on a book. On closer inspection, it seemed to be a comic book or doujin of some sort, and the blush on both their faces proved it couldn't be a very "safe for work" type of genre.

"Hey, what are you two watch-" He asked while getting closer to them before seeing the pages "(Eh?)"

Just as he imagined, the book was not a very family-friendly type. In fact, it was the complete opposite. An ero doujin, or a porn magazine, to be more precise.

"Hey, you two!"

Without even the slightest hesitation, the young man quickly snatched the daring piece of adult art away from them. Needless to say, there weren't happy about this in the least.

"Hey, what'cha doing, Kenny!?" Said Neptune while looking at him

"That's right! Taking something away from someone in such an abrupt way when they're using it is a rather rude thing to do!" Added Vert as well

"That's my line!" Snarled the young man while looking at both of them "The hell do you two think you're doing looking at a porn mag in the middle of the street!?"

"What's the big deal!? It's just a little peek!"

"It didn't look like a little peek to me!"

"Come on now, Kenji. There's no need to be unreasonable. We were just trying to gain a little insight of your world's culture"

"Just what part of this is culture, exactly!?"

"Of course, adult culture!" Replied Vert with a confident smirk and look in her eyes

"Hey, now..."

Kenji couldn't help but look at her and sweat dropp. He understood she probably just got too absorbed by her perverted curiosity and that she doesn't feel the need to keep appearances that much since no one from Leanbox would know, but it still felt like this was going a bit overboard.

"Either way, just where on earth did you get this from?" He asked with a more calmed tone

"From your room" Replied Neptune bluntly

"What?"

"Yeah, I found it under your bed while everyone was talking with Histy about something..."

After hearing her explanation, the young man took a look at the doujin once more. Although he couldn't remember it with perfect precision, he could indeed recall his ownership over it.

"(So this is why she was nowhere to be seen earlier!?)" He thought with a shocked expression while looking at his belonging and recalling the earlier conversation before yet another thought came to mind "(More importantly, why did she find it under the bed!?)"

"And from what I could see, you seem to have quite a strong fancy for well-endowed chests and animal ears, especially those of the feline type" Said Vert while looking at him with a smirk and a little blush before it turned into a somewhat dissapointed expression "But to think you'd hide it in a clasic location such as under your bed...That's being a bit too careless, if you ask me"

"Well, this is Kenny we're talking about! Of course he'd go for the generic option!"

"Damn it, Neptune! Stop calling me that already!" Snarled the young man with an irritated expression before his gaze diverted towards Vert "And I don't hide my porn under the bed, I hide in behind my closet!"

When suddenly realizing what he just said, Kenji quickly placed one hand over his mouth as if to avoid saying anything more, but it was already too late.

Usually, he kept his stash safe within a hole behind his closet, of which his mother had no knowledge of. The fact they found that one under his bed was probably due to him forgetting to hide it away before leaving and Naomi finding it, then hiding it under his bed out of embarassment.

"Ohoh? So that's where they are?" Said Vert with a pleased expression "I've got to admit, that is a bit more orignal than under the bed, if nothing else"

"You two tricked me into it, didn't you!?"

"Oh my, whatever you may be talking about? All I did was give you my oppinion. You were the one to willingly tell us about it" Replied Leanbox's CPU with a smug smirk before leaning forward and whispering to him "And we are quite thankful to you for being such an honest man...So thank you very much, twinkie"

"Wh-why, you little-!" Muttered the young man with a strong blush as he twitched an eyebrow, the embarassment clearly showing in his face due to being called that rather playful and tasty name

"His blunt honesty and lack of self-control were his own undoing..." Added Blanc before closing "Truly, a textbook example of a fish dying for opening his mouth..."

"Oh, goddamn it!"

Truly, just as Lowee's CPU said it, this was no one's fault but Kenji's. Even if Vert took advantage of it, his lack of control over his own irritation and straightforward attitude caused him to just snarl it at them without any second thoughts. And now that his secret hideout was revealed, the treasures hidin within were no longer safe, especially from the hands of Leanbox and Planeptune's CPUs, who would definitely make sure to read every single one they found from start to finish.

"Oh!? I bet we're gonna find lots of stuff there!" Said Neptune with excitement at the thought seeing all the books Kenji was hiding away before looking at Vert "Come on, Vert! Let's go find that treasure stash!"

"Yes...I'm sure this should be a rather fruitful search!"

Without even giving Kenji a second, the two CPUs turned tail and headed back towards Kenji's house, eager to begin their treasure hunt and to discover what sort of things striked Kenji's fancy, while the young man chased after them at full speed. His face red as a pepper and a popping vein clear as day.

"Hey, hold it there you two! Get back here right now!"

As Kenji chased after Vert and Neptune at full speed, Blanc looked at them getting away, yelling as the people around turned to look at them with confusion or while sweat dropping, for a moment before walking towards them at a more calm pace, already able to imagine the ruckus that would take place for what remained of today.