"Come in. Ahh…", Haruyuki answered to the oncoming person at the door, who was none other than his own mother, Arita Saya.

Usually she used to come in at late night, but this time, she had arrived much earlier than expected. This might've been good for Haruyuki, who did feel a bit lonely without his mother around, but this time Kuroyukihime was there as well. If she had known about the surprise timing, she might've left early as well, but now they were stuck in an awkward situation.

"Well, it's about time anyway. I did pass by her a while back, but now I suppose it's time for some proper introductions.", Kuroyukihime neurospoke.

"M-Mmm…", Haruyuki nodded.

"Good thing Niko isn't here at the moment, else things would get even worse. Now."

Come to think of it, Niko had come over for the Territories and only left an hour ago after Kuroyukihime threw a huge fuss… but now was not the time for that. Haruyuki cleared his mind and said:

"Ahh, Mother, let me introduce you. This is… my…"

Even after all this time, he was still hesitating to get the word out, but this time, Haruyuki mentally forced down the block in his throat.

"My girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Kuroba Sayuki, a third year in Umesato Junior High. I have been… dating your son for about half a year now."

"I see… Well, sit down."

"Y-Yes…"

Both of them were quite stunned by this. They had expected Saya to be a little bit surprised, but after countless visits (done mostly in secret), she would have had to catch on to something lying around during them, especially with the members of Nega Nebulas having regular meetups in the Arita household.

October 26, 2047.

The time was around 7:30 pm, somewhat close to dinner time.

Saya and Kuroyukihime were about to talk a fair bit about themselves, but the conversation had eventually gotten so deep that Haruyuki himself was unable to jump in. From what he was able to make out however, it was mostly about how Kuroyukihime had met him, but of course, she couldn't tell her about Brain Burst.

He didn't mind that however, as he had finally gotten to experience a dinner with his mother, which he hadn't felt in a long time, not since… that moment seven years ago.

It seemed Saya thought about the same thing, because though she seemed stoic at first, there was a bit of unease showing in her face.

As far as Haruyuki himself knew, he had lived a relatively comfortable life with his father and mother in this apartment. All he knew since then was that his father divorced on grounds on infidelity, but deep down… that wasn't all there was to the story.

It turns out that Saya had bad relations with her family and moved from Yamagata to Suginami. Of course, Kuroyukihime was the same. She herself came from Minato to Umesato Junior High because of a very dangerous incident, though she didn't feel loved by her family in the first place.

No matter how much Haruyuki tried, he could never bring himself to ask Saya about that subject, partly because it might upset her. But deep down, he felt he might not have liked what he heard.

After all this time, he finally realized the reason behind his shell. He felt he would have rather gone off to a happy and free world, and wanted to shield himself from the bad things that happened to him. But in doing so, he was unable to see the pain that others were hiding. Yes, that was why he was unable to properly respond to Kuroyukihime's confession until recently.

But now was the time to break free of such shackles. He had since learnt that if he wanted his own happy ending, he would have to fight for it.

"U-Umm… Mother…", Haruyuki almost got his words out when he noticed her startle.

Just then, Kuroyukihime glanced at him, as if to say "We should just hear what she has to say for now."

"Mmm…", Haruyuki nodded mentally.

"To be honest, I'm quite surprised. I never thought you would get a girl like her, Haruyuki. I'm truly proud of you.", Saya said as she placed her hand on Haruyuki.

"W-Well…", he put his finger close to his cheek in a shy way.

"It's just… I can't stop worrying about the challenges you two will face eventually…"

Just then, her hands started trembling.

"I mean, who can blame me… after what happened with him… with Nozaka-san… Maybe someday, you two also…"

"…!"

There it was. The name of Haruyuki's father he had once forgotten. But now he had to know. Why was it his father had left him? Surely it couldn't have been a simple divorce. It can't have. After all, he did take him out to play various arcade games when he was young.

"Games… That's it."

It suddenly dawned on him. There was in fact one game he used to play since then, which he had forgotten about until recently. It was Cosmos Corrupt 2040, or Trial #3, the third of a series of games that took place in a dimension known as the 'accelerated world'.

That said, he wasn't sure about how to break the news to her. Especially since that game – and the accelerated world that was a part of it – was supposed to be a secret that only children had access to, along with its developer. His father might have known some of the details, but Haruyuki doubted he would've told her.

However, in a surprising move, Kuroyukihime took hold of Saya's trembling hand and said:

"Okaa… no, Saya-san. It's true Haruyuki-kun has gone through a lot. But… this past year, I've been the one supporting him on his journey, and I intend to do so going forward."

Saya looked up, seeing a strange sort of light sparkle within Kuroyukihime's eyes… a light that signaled the beginning of a new path.

"…Got it. In that case, I'll trust you. Just promise me that you'll protect him all the way through."

"Yes."

With that reassurance, the three of them finished their dinner. Thanks to Saya's generosity, Kuroyukihime was allowed to stay in that night.