Escape!

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.

"Gray-san, normally meeting with Dr. Sara is almost impossible as she usually reserves all of her processing functionality for her research. She may be an AI now, but her memory becomes more and more fragmented with time. When I told her you had an old video with her in it, she was surprisingly responsive and wished to see it right away. She will allow you a few minutes of her time in exchange for the video, use it wisely as I had to use up the last of mine to get you this favor. I assume you will make good on your end of the deal. -Ginro"

"Way to come through Ginro!" Gray shouted to himself in his mind.

Yurika noticed Gray's excited expression and asked "Hey, what happened?"

"We get to have a few minutes with Dr. Sara Watts!" Gray said excitedly.

Yurika's parents both looked at Gray with surprise, then Yurika's mom said, "Seriously? That's unbelievable! Our entire family has never been given the chance to communicate with her, her time is invaluable to humanity and she is aware of it!"

"Why does she only work for the Alliance then if she is trying to work for all of humanity?" Gray asked.

"I don't know, ask her yourself!"

Gray sent Ginro a reply asking where and when he should go to meet her. Ginro's reply simply said that she would come to him when he was alone, but if anyone else shows up she will leave.

"What the heck, is she a fugitive or something?" Gray thought to himself after reading Ginro's last reply.

Another message came from Ginro shortly after that said she hates being around strangers. "Can Ginro read my mind?" Gray thought to himself.

"Yurika, I need to go, I'm sorry I can't stay longer." Gray said apologetically.

"It's fine, I'm glad you got to meet my parents, I wish I could meet yours but I have a feeling my parents won't let me see you in the virtual world again after today."

"Uh, why not?"

"Because she is marrying Stephen Seegall per our arrangement from years ago, and while I do feel bad about your situation, she is doing it for the sake of our family. I refuse to let you ruin it for us." Yurika's mom said adamantly. "Yes, this will be for the sake of the family..."

"Gray run!" Yurika suddenly said and she tensed up and jumped between Gray and her mother.

Gray didn't need to be told twice as he could feel the killing intent start to ooze off of Yurika's mother as soon as she finished her last sentence.

Yurika's dad had already reached the door before Gray, looked at him sympathetically and said, "Forgive me Gray, it is for the best." Yurika's dad then took a stance similar to the Sambo stances Gray remembered from old action movies with Russian military in them.

Gray figured that he only had one shot at getting past Yurika's Dad since Yurika probably couldn't hold back her mother for long. Gray ran straight at Yurika's Dad, pulled his fist back, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "FALCON PUNCH!!!"

Yurika's dad watched Gray's fist as without any decent martial training, Gray's punch was easy to read even without him announcing it like that. However, just as he was about to block the punch then counter it and knock Gray out, his vision went dark and he felt a debilitating pain come from his groin.

Gray ran by Yurika's dad then said with a whisper, "Falcon Kick!".

Yurika's Dad was so focused on the punch that he didn't notice Gray's foot hit him right in the family jewels.

Gray himself felt a little pain as he saw the grown man fall down from his cheap shot, but when your life is at stake one will do whatever is necessary to survive! At least that is what Gray told himself...

Yurika's mother finally flung Yurika off of herself and then reached in to her pocket and pulled out a communicator. "Front Gate, DO NOT LET-" Yurika's mother stopped when she felt that Yurika had crawled back over to her and then grabbed her ankle with tears in her eyes.

"Front Gate... let our guest go, but do not allow him to return, ever..."

Yurika finally smiled at her mother, then let go of her mother's ankle.

"Since it means that much to you... but know that I'm not allowing you to leave here until your wedding." Yurika's mother said sternly.

Yurika nodded and then decided to take a nap on the nice comfortable floor.