Chapter 121 - Escape! (1/2)

Yurika's father looked at his wife, slightly confused.

”Ah, I guess we weren't able to hide it.” Gray said while still lying on his back on the table.

”I saw the way she looks at you and you at her, it's the same way we looked at each other when we started to like each other a lot.” Yurika's mom walked over to her husband and held his hand. Now that she was on the other side of the table, she finally noticed Gray's Super Mario socks since his sandals had gone flying when he was thrown.

”Pfft...” Yurika's mom actually started to laugh when she noticed them.

Yurika face-palmed and said, ”Yeah, you caught us, and this is what I have to work with...”

Yurika's mom lifted up her yukata slightly and exposed her socks. She was wearing socks with Princess Peach on them! ”We do have something in common at least!”

”Mrs. Winchester, I didn't know you liked video games!” Gray said surprised.

”Who doesn't? Besides, we're trapped in this virtual world for now so it's the best escape!”

”That's surprising because Yurika doesn't seem that in to them.” Gray said while looking at Yurika with a slightly disappointed expression.

”She does sometimes, but we have to be careful because she tends to destroy hardware when she gets frustrated.” Yurika's dad said with a wry smile.

”Shut up! I know I have a temper! I consider it a blessing!” Yurika said while getting angry at her father.

”How was she when she was a child? I picture her being a bully for some reason.” Gray said, bracing himself for a slap from Yurika.

”She was adorable as a child! She used to have pig tails and these pinch-able cheeks that I just couldn't resist!” Yurika's dad said passionately, remembering Yurika as a child.

”I can see that! How was Erika with her classmates?” Gray said, trying to make it seem natural that he called Yurika by what he suspected was her old name, Erika.

”Little Erika was as big a troublemaker then as she is n-” Yurika's dad's face went white when he realized his mistake, not from fear of Gray finding out, but from the killing intent he felt from his wife. ”S-Sorry dear... I just got caught up in the memories.”

”Don't feel too bad Mr. Winchester, I was 99 percent sure Yurika was Erika, so all you did was make it 100 percent.”

”Well, honestly I don't see what you could do with that information.” Yurika's mom said bluntly.

”Actually, what we wanted to know was if you remember a little boy that probably used to have a crush on her.” Gray said to Yurika's mom.

”How could we forget... little Stephen adored her, so much so we had to pull her from school because he was hitting anyone else that got near her. We changed her name and hair color once we entered the virtual world because we didn't want to risk him finding her in here.”

”So... it never occurred to you that the Stephen Seegall that she is marrying could be the same 'Little Stephen' from the real world?” Gray said, folding his arms across his chest.

”Of course not, Stephen Seegall looks nothing like that Stephen. Plus, Stephen Seegall is much older than that guy.” Yurika's mother said, ”I would do anything to protect my child, so you can be sure I did my research on him.”

”Fair enough... I'm still confused about who Edward Teach is though... I feel like he is both the CEO of Alterra Corporation AND the heir to the CEO.” Gray said while trying to piece together everything still.

”Edward Teach is the CEO of Alterra Corporation, whomever is the CEO becomes Edward Teach, they just take his name. They claim that it is because Dr. Sara is picky and her AI logic only lets her work with Edward Teach, hence the name change.” Yurika's mother said to Gray.

”So... Stephen Seegall is NOT Edward Teach? I'm confused...” Yurika said, ”You told me he was Edward Teach!”

”He will be, he is inheriting Alterra Corporation the same day as your wedding and the current Edward Teach will go retire in the real world. It doesn't make sense honestly, so I just told you that to minimize the confusion.” Yurika's mom said while shrugging.

Yurika and her mom started to argue and her dad was doing his best to try and mediate. Gray suddenly understood why Yurika tried to be as calm and reserved as possible around her mother as they both seemed to have a temper.

Gray heard a ping that he just got a private message and thought to himself ”Weird, I shouldn't be getting any messages from anyone while I'm in the virtual world.” Looking at the message, he saw it was from Ginro and remembered that he had messaged him awhile ago asking if he could help him get in touch with Dr. Sara.