The previous night was difficult as Yusaku had trouble going to sleep with the pressure of going to meet his parents on his mind, but after some soothing talk from Aoi, both went to sleep. Once the two had woken up, the only thing to do was to eat breakfast and get themselves ready for the big event.

"Here you go Yusaku. I made Bacon and Eggs for us today." The brunette said as she placed the dishes containing the food on the table, one set for herself and the other for her boyfriend.

"Thank you, Aoi. You really have become good at this." Yusaku tried his best to put on a smile for his girlfriend as he said that.

"This is nothing though. I'm still an amateur at this. One day though, I hope to become great enough to cook anything for you." Aoi had become accustomed to cooking but she still struggled to do certain things and often made clumsy mistakes. Not that Yusaku minds it as he's happy to see his girlfriend always trying so hard to make him happy.

"Yusaku… you're still worried about meeting up with your parents aren't you?" She asked.

"Unfortunately yes… I just don't know what to say to them after all this time. It's been 11 years now after all…" This was the first time that Aoi saw Yusaku so uncertain about what his next move should be since she started living with him. As a result, she wanted to do what she could to make the situation easier for him.

"Yusa… I love you." Aoi said as she moved and kissed her boyfriend on the lips before he could put more food in his mouth.

"Aoi…?" The young man was confused about what the reason was for the sudden kiss and for her to call him Yasu again. He had to admit though, that he was now feeling a bit better because of it though.

"How was that? Feel any better now?" The brunette asked her boyfriend as she showed a warm smile on her face.

"Actually… yes. Thank you, Aoi. I love you." He then stood up and returned the kiss to his girlfriend. Once the two had finished breakfast, they got themselves cleaned up and dressed in their usual casual outfits. Aoi thought that the two should wear something special for this occasion but Yusaku declined as he didn't see it as being necessary. Luckily for them, their current apartment is close to the city center so they didn't need Art to drive them this time. They thanked God for this since the last thing they want is to experience Art's crazy teenage-style driving again. After arriving, they saw Kusanagi and his younger brother doing their usual hotdog selling.

"Oh, Yusaku, Aoi, good morning." Kusanagi greeted them. "What brings you 2 around here?"

"Well… we're here to meet… my parents…" Yusaku struggled to say.

"Your parents?!" Kusanagi echoed in shock. "Here? Today?"

"Shhh! Not so loud! This is hard enough for Yusaku so don't make it any harder by shouting it out to the whole world!" Aoi said annoyed.

"I am sorry," Kusanagi said. "This is bound to be important, so for this little meeting the food is on the house."

"Thank you, Kusanagi," Yusaku replied as he sat down with his girlfriend and started eating. They only had one each since they already had breakfast but it was still nice to have nonetheless.

Jin came over. "What can I get for you 2?"

"Just some water, please. You Aoi?" Yusaku asked.

"Same." She replied.

"Coming right up" Jin left and then returned with their water, but he had to work, so he couldn't stay and chat. The two teenagers finished their food and walked around for 15 minutes when two adults approached them. Yusaku instantly recognized who they were and started to sweat.

There stood a man standing with a tall, and slightly muscular built who seemed to be in his late thirties, possibly early forties with black hair, but a pink strand being visible on the side of his hair. He was wearing dark-blue jeans with black boots and a white undershirt covered by a brown jacket opened at the front. Next to him stood a woman with long blue hair wearing light-blue jeans along with a shirt that covered her upper half, a small vest added as well which was opened at the front. She seemed to be in her late thirties as well, but Yusaku noted that, despite their apparent age, they seemed somewhat younger. Maybe supplements and yoga helped?

"Yusaku… is that you?" The father asked in shock. The young man said nothing though as he just didn't know what words to use here so he instead looked down towards the ground to hide his face.

"Oh my gosh… Yusaku, it really is you! I recognize that adorable face of yours anywhere!" Yusaku's mother said as she then ran up to her son, lifted his head, and cupped his cheeks with her hands.

"You've become such a handsome young man haven't you? But to me you're still the same adorable Yusaku from 11 years ago!" She continued to play with his face and pinch his cheeks, much to the young man's annoyance. It was then that Aoi made a fake cough to grab their attention.

"Oh yes, how rude of us. My name is Yuhiro Fujiki. My wife here's name is Yukina Fujiki. We are Yusaku's parents. I'm guessing you're a classmate of my son's? I guess he doesn't have any girls to hang out. When I was his age, I knew plenty of women, although the only one I liked was of course Yukina here." Aoi was now annoyed because she was referred to as a guy and wanted to just walk away right there but she did her best to keep her cool.

"Actually… I am a girl… and I am Yusaku's girlfriend. My name is Aoi. It's… a pleasure to meet you." She said with a vein of irritation showing.

"Wait wait wait! You said you're a girl?! And Yusaku's girlfriend at that?! Yusaku, you have an… interesting taste in girls my boy. Personally, I would have picked one a bit more… well, you know." Yuhiro said. Aoi was now truly annoyed at the comments.

"Okay, it's not my fault that I- "Aoi was cut off.

"Enough! Stop talking badly about Aoi! I don't care even if you are my parents! I won't let you make fun of her!" Yusaku said in anger as he moved away from his mother.

"Oh, don't worry about him, dear. Your dad is just a jokester at times. I'm sure he didn't mean anything rude by it.

"Your mother is right, son. I suppose you must still be in your rebellious phase. I remember that when I was your age." The father said. The two adults then sat down to order hotdogs. Once they finished eating, they stood up and called out to Yusaku.

"Hey son, since it's our first time in this city in so long, can you show us around?" Yukina asked. Although reluctant, Yusaku decided to agree since he didn't know what else to do with them. The two teenagers showed the parents to places such as the local arcade, movie theatre, restaurant, and even Den High School. Once that was finished, the 4 went to Yusaku's and Aoi's apartment.

"Hey, are you two gonna stay for dinner? I can cook us all something." Aoi asked. She secretly didn't enjoy the idea of sharing a meal with two people she didn't even know, especially after the rocky way they met, but she wanted to act as politely as possible out of respect for the fact that they are Yusaku's parents.

"If you would be fine with it then we would be happy too" Yukina replied. The brunette was forced to cook a much larger meal than she was used to but she did enjoy the challenge so she wasn't complaining. After finishing, she placed the food on the table.

"My my, you really have a nice girlfriend, dear. She's nice, respectful, and she can cook. I'm glad that you were able to find someone like her. I need to ask though, When can I expect grandchildren?" The mother asked which shocked everyone else, including her husband.

"Dear, it's far too early for me to be a grandfather! Son, please tell me you aren't gonna do that!" Yuhiro almost begged.

"Of course not, for three reasons! First, I and Aoi are too young and not mentally ready for that sort of responsibility! Second, the two of us are still in Highschool and we need to focus on that! Third, we don't have the kind of financial resources to support a child! So get that out of your minds!" Yusaku practically shouted out. Aoi on the other hand could only simply stand there and blush, her whole face red as a tomato because of it.

"Oh, my~ Your girlfriend here seems to be blushing hard. I guess you two have already gone all the way?" Yukina asked.

N-No! I-i'm telling you we didn't!" Yusaku struggled to say as he was losing his composure fast. Aoi meanwhile was twiddling her thumbs.

"Got you! I knew you two had done it! It's only natural since you both live under the same roof." Yukina said with enthusiasm.

"That's my boy! You've become a fine man! Although I still question how you can like such… assets…"

"Aoi's breast size has nothing to do with it!" Yusaku replied annoyed.

"Ahem… can we please change the subject?" Aoi asked.

"So how did the two of you meet? And how long have been together?" Yusaku's father asked.

"Well… we met in Link Vrains about a year ago," Yusaku replied.

"Yeah, and we've been together for a couple of months now," Aoi added.

"I see. How exactly did you meet though?" The father asked.

"It was just a coincidence really. We happened to meet at the same place at the same time. Wait, do you even know about Link Vrains?" Yusaku replied.

"Of course we do. It's pretty widely known even outside of Den City after all. So I'm guessing you two dueled then?" Yuhiro asked.

"Yes. I ended up winning. It was a close duel though and I'm not sure which of us would win now." The young man said to his father.

"Come on Yusaku, you know I'm no match for you. You'd destroy me if we fought again." Aoi said.

"That's not true. You're far better than you were before and there's every chance you could beat me." The young man said with a smile.

"Awww, you two are just so cute together! I can see why you're both happy with each other. Now then, it's been fun you two but I and my husband have to go. We wouldn't want to intrude on your "alone" time." Yukina added enthesis on the alone part to show what she really meant.

"Wait! I need to ask… why did you two abandon Yusaku? And why didn't you search for him? He and I deserve to know before you leave." Aoi was hesitant to bring up this topic since she knew it was one that would hurt Yusaku but she still felt that the two of them needed to know.

"We didn't abandon him! An incident occurred and we ended up losing him. We tried our best to find him but we ran out of money and even went to debt so we had no choice but to go abroad to earn money to pay it back. That's what led us to now." Yuhiro replied. Yusaku said nothing as he didn't know exactly what to say in this situation.

The two adults then left the apartment after eating and headed back home.

"Yusaku, your parents were… interesting," Aoi remarked.

"Ugh… I'm going to bed. I don't feel so good after all that." Yusaku said.

"Alright. Goodnight Yusaku." Aoi replied.

Unknown to both Yusaku and Aoi, as Yusaku's parents were walking on the streets of the city, the street lights illuminating their path, a certain someone came forth from the alley.

"So, I take it you made contact with Playmaker and Blue Maiden?" Queen asked, being dressed in a coat and wearing sunglasses to hide her identity. After she lost her position at SOL, her reputation went down with it. "How did it go?"

"We were surprised to see our son having a girlfriend, but the 2 were quite nice," Yukina replied, sounding somewhat bored. "I can see why he has chosen that girl, however, seeing who her brother is."

"Indeed," Yuhiro added. "Didn't know he was so close to a person with a good bank account."

"Oh, shush, you two," Queen said. "Remember, you were there only to help us find their new house. Playmaker changing his house address affected our plans, and we had no idea where their new home was. It was surprising to learn that he now dates Akira's sister, but that will work in our favor."

"I still can't believe that boy became such a bigshot while we were out of the picture." Yuhiro said. "But he was stupid. He should've surrendered that Ai when he had the chance, not make enemies of people beyond his reach."

"But then again, he was out of yours too, right?" Yukina said, making Queen narrow her eyes. "You were unable to track him or figure out his identity for a long time. You only found out from us a while ago after we saw the news."

Queen scoffed. "He has proven he is tricky and hard to catch, but not invincible. As they say...A mother never forgets her child's face - even when in VR, it seems"

Yukina giggled. "He had barely changed it, really. There were some subtle changes that would fool anyone else, but not me." She looked at Queen with a predatory gaze. "Then again, I always did have a good memory. Don't you agree, sis?"

Queen giggled."Indeed. Just they wait. The chessboard is set, and the Queen is moving out."