A/N: Surprise! Finally after... holy crap, a year and a half?! Yikes. Anyways, this story is finally back.
I apologize that this chapter took so long to get out. When it came to this chapter I had the worst case of writer's block I have ever had. And sadly I can't confidently say this chapter is my best work by any means either, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.
Now a lot has happened over the year and a half that's passed since I last updated this fic. As some of you may have noticed, I've begun a My Hero Academia fic as well, which includes some of the OCs that you know from my SAO fics. Feel free to give them a read if you haven't already.
Finally, future plans. this story is reaching it's end frankly with only a few chapters left. I've just lost a lot of motivation for this fic in particular. That said, I have been considering doing a rewrite of Blazing Generations, except having it set in Accel World, another of Reki Kawahara's stories that ties in with SAO twenty-ish years in the future. Let me know via comments or PM if you are interested in seeing this and I may end up doing it. Additionally, some of you may have heard that we are getting an anime adaptation of the SAO Progressive series, which is a retelling of the Aincrad arc floor by floor without major time skips like the original. As someone who has been reading the light novels for it, I can attest that Progressive is a great story so far. In honor of this, I am starting work on my own Progressive series involving Wyvern's Inferno in Aincrad. I plan to start that around the same time I finish this fic.
One more thing. I have also started working on my own original series. This series will include some of your favorite OCs from Wyvern's Inferno in a whole new world of adventure with their own brand new story. Since it is not a fanfic, I will not be putting it on this site and instead plan to use Wattpad for it. I will let you all know when I start putting it on that site in a future A/N. Hope you're looking forward to it.
With all of that out of the way, onto the chapter.
The birds chirped outside as Sayaka sat in her room. She looked at herself in the mirror as she fixed her hair. On her bed she had a formal dress laying on it. Tonight was a rather important night for her. As if it wasn't bad enough that she got nervous easily, she was doing something that made almost every girl nervous. Getting ready for her first date.
A little over a month had passed since Sayaka and Naoki had started dating. They had hung out together in ALO with just the two of them more often than usual, but none of those were what Sayaka would actually call dates. Tonight however, she and Naoki would be going out to eat at a restaurant. The virtual world was one thing, but Sayaka hadn't spent much time alone with Naoki in the real world. Hence, the intense amount of nervousness she was feeling right now.
'Is the dress I picked out good? Not too simple, but not too sexy either? Wait, would Naoki want me to go sexy? Should I go sexy? Would that send the wrong message? Oh, I don't know what to do!'
Sayaka was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a knock at her bedroom door. "Yes?"
"Can I come in?" her mother asked from outside the room.
"Yeah mom." Sayaka responded. The door to her room opened and her mom walked inside. One look was all she needed to tell what was going on in her daughter's head.
"Someone's having first date jitters."
"Is it that obvious?" Sayaka asked.
Rika showed a small smile as she walked over to her daughter. "Here. Let me help." She grabbed the brush and began gently brushing her daughter's hair. "You know, I was like this a lot when I first started dating your father."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Rika admitted. "Though if I'm being honest, I think your father was more of a nervous wreck than I was."
Sayaka let out a giggle. Hearing her mother talk about the love life between her and her husband helped calm Sayaka's nerves a little. She still had yet to tell her parents who her mysterious boyfriend was. It wasn't her father's reaction that worried her so much as her mother's. The bitterness between her mother and Naoki's father was still ever present in their lives. Neither her nor Naoki needed that sort of drama when they were still a relatively new couple.
"Alright. All done." Rika said as she put the brush down. "You look so beautiful, sweetie."
"Thanks mom." Sayaka said with a smile.
"Well, I'll let you finish getting ready for your date." Rika said as she walked towards the door. "I hope you'll let me meet your mysterious prince charming soon, Sayaka."
"Yeah… soon."
After her mother closed the door, Sayaka let out a sigh. She had never really been one to keep secrets from her parents, so keeping the identity of her new boyfriend a secret was causing her a little bit of stress. But she knew that soon the cat would have to come out of the bag.
'Mom… I hope you'll give Naoki a chance once you know how I feel about him.'
Naoki finished adjusting his tie as he looked at himself in the mirror. It was getting close to the time he needed to leave to meet Sayaka at the restaurant they were going to. After making sure his hair was neatly combed, he walked out from the bathroom and headed downstairs.
Lilina smiled as she looked at her son. "Well don't you look handsome?"
"Thanks mom." Naoki said. "I should be home by 10 the latest."
"Are you ever going to introduce me to this girl you seem so smitten with?"
"Maybe another time. She's kind of nervous about meeting the parents and all. You know how girls can be."
"Mhm." Lilina said. She wasn't blind. She knew her son. He put some attention to looks whenever it came to girls. But this was different. He seemed to have put even more thought than usual into his appearance for tonight. Whoever this girl was, it was clear she was different from his previous love interests.
"Bye mom. Bye dad. See you later." Naoki said as he walked out the door.
Hyde waited about a minute after his son had left the house before turning off the television and getting up off the couch. "Alright, let's get going."
"Going? What are you talking about?" Lilina asked.
"I'm taking you out to eat tonight." Hyde told his wife with a grin.
"Aw, that's so thoughtful of you." Lilina told him with a smile.
"Yeah, I know." Hyde said. "I already have the perfect place too. It's-" Hyde didn't get to finish talking as the second he got near his wife, she grabbed his shirt, pulled him in close and shot him a knowing grin.
"You just want to spy on Naoki and his new girlfriend."
"Wh-What? Spy? Honey, I'm offended you- ok, fine yes." Hyde admitted. "How did you know?"
"Oh please. You are many things Hyde, but sneaky is not one of them." the red-haired mother said. "I saw you looking at Naoki's phone earlier. You found out the restaurant he made reservations at based on his call history, right?"
"... Maybe."
Lilina rolled her eyes. "Hyde, I know you're doing this because you care about Naoki, but he's a grown boy. He can choose who he dates without needing his parents' approval. Much like a certain someone when he was younger."
"Ahaha… fair point." Hyde said, knowing his wife was referring to him.
Lilina leaned in and gave her husband a kiss. "Hurry up and get ready. I don't want to eat too late."
"Wait what?" Hyde questioned. "You just said we shouldn't spy on him."
"That doesn't mean I'm not curious." Lilina said as she headed upstairs to put on something fancy. "I don't plan on involving myself, but I at least want to see this girl's face."
Hyde stood dumbfounded in the kitchen. It didn't matter how long he and Lilina had been together, he still never truly understood what went on in his wife's mind.
The calming allure of the night brought with it a refreshing atmosphere as Naoki and Sayaka walked into the restaurant together. It was a full house, making Naoki glad he had made reservations in advance. The two of them were quickly seated at a table. After ordering their food, the two began to talk.
"So… um… This is nice." Naoki said, not really knowing what to say.
"Yeah…" Sayaka agreed. "This is my first real dinner date though. What do you usually talk about with the girls you've asked out for stuff like this."
"Well… Usually we'd talk about ourselves to get to know each other, but that's a bit redundant for us since we've known each other forever." Naoki said.
Sayaka narrowed her eyes slightly. "You seem nervous. Is everything ok, Naoki?"
"I guess so. It's just, this is different than what I'm used to."
"Sorry." Sayaka said with a slight frown. "I know I'm not very sociable."
"No, no, that's not what I meant!" Naoki assured her. "I usually woo girls with a bunch of pretty words and a charming smile. They don't know the real me before that though. Half the time I'm with another girl, I'd get by on petty compliments and other stuff. But it's different with you. You know what I'm really like. So I really don't know what to say."
"Well… how about you just say what feels natural?" Sayaka suggested. "You don't need to put up a facade around me, Naoki. Like you said, I already know the real you."
Naoki showed a soft smile upon hearing those words. "Thanks, Sayaka."
"By the way…" Sayaka added. "When do you think we should tell our parents about… us?"
Naoki brought his hand to his chin as he thought. "Well let's see… it's Saturday so… two years from now should work."
Sayaka pouted in response to her boyfriend's joke. "I'm serious!"
"Okay, okay, sorry!" Naoki apologized. "Ugh… honestly, I'm terrified to let them know. My mom and your dad would probably be ok, but my dad and your mom? Not so much."
"I suppose you have a point." Sayaka said. "But we can't keep this a secret from them forever."
"I know." Naoki let out a sigh. "Geez, between my dad and my cousins, I'm not sure who's going to act crazier when they find out we're dating."
"Your cousins?"
"Yeah. The ones on my mom's side I mean. Though I guess second cousins is the right term for it." Naoki nodded. "You remember them, right? The lookalikes that were cheering for me during the tournament in ALO."
Sayaka widened her eyes, remembering the group of cheerleaders that were going nuts for Naoki at the time. "Oh right! I remember them now!"
"I'm the only boy relative most of them have around their age, so they tend to dote on me a lot. It was nice as a kid, but nowadays they tend to end up embarrassing me more often than not."
Sayaka let out a giggle. "They just care about you is all I bet."
"Yeah, I guess. Though get ready. When they find out about you, they'll probably interrogate you like crazy to see if you're good enough for me in their eyes or something."
Sayaka flinched back a little upon hearing that. "That… sounds a little scary I'll admit."
Naoki let out a chuckle. "Don't worry. I'll try to keep them reined in for you."
As the teen couple continued chatting, they were unaware of the fact that they were being watched from a distance. Sitting at another table were Hyde and Lilina, eyeing their son and his date who they were surprised to see the identity of.
"Is that… Sayaka?" Lilina asked. "Wow. I never thought she'd end up being Naoki's mystery girlfriend."
"Ugh, why her?" Hyde groaned. "Our little Naoki could do way better than her kid."
Lilina eyed her husband. "Hyde, you promised you wouldn't intervene in this. I expect you to keep your word on that, regardless of how you feel about Rika."
"Tch, fine." hyde said with a roll of his eyes.
It wasn't just Naoki's parents who were watching from a distance though. At another table, both Rika and Yuya were watching from afar. And after discovering the identity of her daughter's mystery boyfriend, Rika was finding it very hard not to lose her cool.
"H-Honey, relax." Yuya said, trying to calm his wife down. "I know this isn't what you were expecting, but-"
"This is way past what I was expecting!" Rika said in a raised whisper. "I mean Sayaka's a smart girl. She should know better than to fall for… for… someone like him!"
"Look, I understand that you and Hyde aren't exactly on… good terms… but don't you think Naoki at least deserves a chance?"
While both sets of parents were dealing with their own drama, Naoki and Sayaka continued to enjoy their dinner. Conversation was becoming more and more natural for them to the point where they were both genuinely sharing small laughs here and there.
But of course, not everything could end up going as planned. For in the corner of his eye, Naoki just barely made out a familiar set of adults. He let out an annoyed sigh. "You've gotta be kidding me."
"What is it?" Sayaka asked.
Naoki took one last glance, not wanting to let the duo know he was on to them if his intuition was right. "I'm pretty sure my parents are here spying on us."
"Wha-" Sayaka covered her mouth with her hands before her voice could get too loud and cause a scene. "Are you sure?"
"Pretty sure." Naoki nodded. He ran his hand through his hand. "Ugh, this is the worst. How did they even know this was the restaurant we were going to?"
"Wh-What should we do?" Sayaka asked.
Naoki thought to himself. If he was being honest, he just wanted to get up and leave but they couldn't do that since they were still in the middle of eating and hadn't paid yet. "Let's just finish eating. After that, I'm going to teach both my parents a lesson."
With that, the meal continued. But Naoki and sayaka found it difficult to get any genuine conversation going between them with Naoki's parents watching from afar. Finally however, the time came to pay the bill and leave.
Hyde watched the couple get up and leave, causing him to get up as well. "Alright, time to see what's going on."
"Hyde what are you doing?" Lilina asked him. "We haven't paid yet."
"I'll leave the bill to you honey. Meet you out front."
"Hyde?! Wait you-... augh!" Lilina did her best to keep her rage quiet due to the fact that she was in a public place. She let out an exhausted sigh and raised her hand. "Waiter. Check please."
Hyde walked out the front door of the restaurant. He had given the kids about a thirty second head start so they wouldn't notice him. This had to be a mistake. Maybe Naoki was taking pity on Sayaka and this was just a one time thing. Maybe he lost a bet. There had to be some good reason for this.
However, waiting for Hyde as he walked out the door and turned to the side was not what he was expecting. He found Naoki and Sayaka standing there. And the fact that they were looking right at him and the disapproving expression on Naoki's face made it all too clear they were waiting for him.
"Hey dad. Fancy meeting you here." Naoki greeted, his voice drenching with sarcasm.
"O-Oh, h-h-hey kiddo. What a coincidence huh? To think you were going to this place for your date."
"Drop the act, dad." Naoki told him. "What are you and mom doing here?! Do you not have any sense of boundaries?!"
"Are you accusing your own parents of spying on you?"
"YES!"
"Well that is… ok fine, it's exactly what's happening." Hyde finally admitted, unable to keep the act going any longer. "But keep in mind this wouldn't have happened if you had told us who your new girlfriend was."
"That wasn't exactly an easy thing to bring up, given how much you hate Sayaka's mom." Naoki argued. "Who, might I add, had the decency to NOT spy on her kid's date!"
"Hurry! We can still catch them!"
Just like that, Naoki's statement was proven false as Rika rushed out of the restaurant, followed by her husband. They turned to the side however, only to find themselves smack in the middle of the scene going on.
"Mom?! Dad?!" Sayaka exclaimed with an embarrassed blush.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Naoki groaned.
Rika rubbed the back of her head. "O-Oh hello Sayaka. What a surprise seeing you here and-"
"Don't even bother. I already tried that." Hyde interrupted.
Just like that, Rika found her presence there even harder to explain. "Ok I know this looks bad, but-"
"Are you kidding me?!" Sayaka exclaimed. "This was an important night for me and Naoki! Our first real date! And you both had to go and ruin it just because of your feud with each other?!"
"Ok in my defense, I did not know who Naoki was dating until tonight." Hyde said. "But seriously son, are you sure about this?"
"Oh don't you dare, Hyde! Sayaka is a perfect girl! If anything, it's your son I'm worried about-"
"That's enough!"
Out of nowhere, both Hyde and Rika were silenced as both of their ears were yanked by Lilina, who had finally made it outside after paying the check.
"You two better shut up and listen." Lilina told the two adults. "Rika, I don't want to hear you badmouthing my little Naoki, got it? And Hyde, Sayaka is a perfectly well-mannered girl. You do not get to stick your nose in their relationship just because you have a petty feud with her mother. Is that clear?"
"Yes…" both Hyde and Rika said together.
"Good." Lilina said before finally releasing her grip on the two ears. She walked up to Naoki and Sayaka. "I'm sorry about ruining your date." The mother reached into her purse and pulled out some money. "I know this doesn't make up for it, but why don't you two go out and see a movie. Try to salvage the night."
Naoki sighed as he took the cash from his mother. "Fine. But none of you are off the hook for this yet, got it?"
"Noted. Now go have a nice night."
With that, both Naoki and Sayaka began walking away. This was certainly not the way they had been hoping for their parents to find out about their relationship. But there was nothing they could do to change that anymore. Regardless, there was something far more important that they had right now.
They had each other.
A/N: again, sorry if this isn't my best work. Writer's block was a killer for this chapter. I will do my best to have the next chapter out in a reasonable time, hopefully around a month or two at the longest.
