The phone rang for only about three minutes until someone on the other end picked up. Immediately, a middle-aged woman came into the camera's view and Ryosuke slightly bowed. Rio, Daiki, and Amu followed his actions not too long after. 

"Hi mother" Ryosuke greeted, his heart racing through his chest.

"Hi everyone." His mother responded back. "Oh, hi Amu-chan... and I'm assuming.. Rio-san and Daiki-san?"

Everyone nodded and greeted with a bow back. Meanwhile, Amu felt the most uncomfortable. Rio was obviously closer to Ryosuke, yet his mom was casually calling Amu by her first name and Rio by her last. Amu has met Ryosuke's parents before since they were close to Amu's parents. However, this was all new to the other two so they took this iniative to introduce themselves. 

"Nice to meet you." Rio and Daiki replied. 

"Oh, no need for politeness. I'm grateful to everyone for keeping my son accompanied. "I was worried that he would have a difficult time adjusting to this new school." 

"About that.." Ryosuke addressed. "Is father around? I need to speak with the two of you."  

"He's actually right here... honey!" His mother called for him and within a few seconds, he appeared on the screen. 

"Hey son. Hey everyone." Ryosuke's father slightly bowed into the camera and everyone returned the favor. "So what is it that you have to speak to us about?" 

Ryosuke glanced at Rio for a brief second and tightened his grip around her hand under the table.

"I'm in love with someone else... and it's not Kitagawa Amu as you hoped." He paused before placing an arm around his girlfriend. "It's Yamada Rio." 

The four of them felt their hearts beat against their chests as silence filled the room. Ryosuke's parents exchanged concerned glances and they paused for a while, trying to find the right words to say.

"Ryosuke..." His father began.

"Does Amu's parents know about this?" His mother asked.

"N-no, they don't but.." Amu began but was immediately cut off by Ryosuke's father's proposition to suddenly include her parents in the video call.

Amu glanced at Daiki in worry because they weren't expecting this video chat to include her parents. In fact, the four of them were planning to consult Amu's parents after Ryosuke's. 

Unfortunately, they hadn't planned this far ahead and before they knew it, Ryosuke's mother had called Amu's. To make matters worse, both of Amu's parents were present at the time of the call.

"Hello, everyone" Amu's mother cheerfully greeted and everyone greeted back with sulken faces.

Things were obviously bad and everyone was nervous but nobody felt as worse as Daiki. He felt as if his heart was about to explode- he was meeting is girlfriend's parents and afterall, they despised him.

"We have to apologize on behalf of our son." Ryosuke's dad told Amu's parents. "Apparently, he's in love with your daughter's best friend."

"WHAT?!" Amu's father exclaimed. "Do you mean Rio-chan?" He asked, referring to Amu's best friend who he had known for years. Amu and Rio would always hang out together afterschool and Amu's parents had always admired Rio because she was always there for her. They never would've expected that their daughter's suitor would end up falling for her best friend. 

"H-Hai..." Rio nervously responded, her eyes glancing down to avoid the strict gazes. 

"Is this the reason why you wanted to invited Rio-san, specifically?" Ryosuke's mother asked Amu. "Because you knew they liked each other?" 

"H-Hai..." Amu replied this time. 

"Well if that's the case.." Her father deeply sighed and continued in a low voice. "Then you and Arioka-kun are..."

"We're together." Daiki suddenly cut in. "We've always have been. I'm sorry for keeping this from you for all these years but we both want the best for Amu and I know for a fact that I can make her happy."

Amu held Daiki's hand and smiled softly at him. He could tell that Amu grately appreciated his gesture but they were worried about what her father would say. However, after a minute of silence between the eight people in the conversation, her father finally began again, this time with a much softer tone. 

"Amu's mother and I have known that you two were together but for the sake of our family's business, we held onto that small piece of hope that you two weren't dating. Just like you said, we want the best for Amu but we don't know how to exactly give her that without going bankrupt."

"AndI know how to solve that. I have a proposition for both companies" Rio s