Shotaro's parents, always busy with the ryokan, entrusted a few areas of the house and grounds for their son to play in, and checked in on him whenever work allowed them a few moments' break. But sometimes, a few hours would elapse between those few moments they could steal to check on their son, and over time, he knew when those hours would be. These were the times when, intuitively knowing that his parents wouldn't approve of him walking the streets without a grown-up, he snuck out, and ran to meet Lexi. To him, it was all a game, like tag or hide-and-seek. When he came back, he played with the children of the guests of the ryokan as if he didn't have a friend that they didn't know about. He wasn't hiding it, per se, just playing the game. And if his parents heard the name "Alexandra" or "Lexi" thrown about, they thought that Shotaro was referring to just another guest's child.
But the next day, December 26th, 1989, he asked his parents if he could have a friend over. They looked at each other, unaware that their son had a friend who wasn't staying at the ryokan, and, hesitantly, obliged. He smiled, and later, still playing the hide-and-seek game of waiting for his parents to be preoccupied, he left and brought Lexi – Kyouko – to his home. He introduced her to his parents simply as "Kyouko." They accepted her easily, and never had any reason to doubt that her name wasn't Kyouko.