"Mom."

A word he had not said in years, a word which of the past, a word which had lost all weight, no longer meant anything to him. Ryo looked up, barely being able to see anything. The blurred figure which stood in front of him replied.

"It's me."

---

"How are this year's candidates?" Mori asked curiously.

"Hmm...It looks to be the usual, some are falling behind while some are struggling." 

A reply came.

After gathering his thoughts Mori asked another question, "No promising candidates then, Lord Third?"

The man who was only focused on the screen which lay in front of him, showing all the candidates and their respective simulations, turned around to stare at Mori for a moment before replying yet again, "The test has only began Head Examiner, you seem quite eager this year."

Flashing a smile to hide his train of thoughts Mori spoke faking an exciting tone, "I just seem to be feeling good right now."

---

Still standing Ryo spoke in a quiet and broken voice, "I- I missed you mom."

"I'm sorry."

The voice sounded broken as well, Ryo's vision still blurry made out her figure slightly bending, bowing. He began wiping away his tears and saw a face he couldn't recognise hadn't seen in years.

Barely making sense of his thoughts he spoke, "Why did you leave me alone? Why did both of you leave me alone?"

Her voice, still broken, replied in a unfamiliar and cold voice warm voice, "Would you like to sit down first?"

"A-Alright-"

His mother walked up towards the sofa throwing away all the pages on it and sat down before she patted the cushions telling him to sit down as well. Without speaking a single word, he quietly sat near her and turned to her waiting, anticipating something. 

As he did so his eyes turned towards the pages which were thrown away, one of the pages had a bold heading on them. It read out "Real World", as he saw it, he had a sudden epiphany. His face became cold, stoic. 

He turned to his 'mother' and asked, "Mom... do you remember the name of the story I used to tell you? The one I wrote on these pages?"

His mother's face which was still not visible warm took a slight turn, she looked down and spoke in a quiet voice, "I- I don't remember... I'm sorry."

"Is that so?"

Ryo looked up, staring at the ceiling becoming lost in his thoughts.

After a moment he spoke in a quiet voice, "Hey mom, you never said sorry to me, what's with that?"

As he finished his sentence he 'giggled' a little seeing this his 'mothers' mood warmed up slightly. She opened her mouth of speak however, she was caught offguard.

She was pulled towards Ryo as he hugged her, his hands trembling once again as his breathing too became unstable. 

Ryo looked up to stop tears from falling down, as he calmed the storm of emotions which swirled in his head, he pushed his mother back with a pained expression and a smile which conveyed the feeling of loneliness and mourning.

"..."

As he did so, the holographic display appeared once again in front of him.

---

"So this is the child huh, Head Instructor." 

"Whatever could you mean, Third?"  Mori replied the the question in a slightly playful manner. 

Before Mori could gather his thoughts, he felt that his breathing had gotten rougher and the air around him had begun to feel heavy. An immeasurable amount of pressure crushed him. 

The Third spoke in a serious voice, "Tell me honestly Head Instructor no, Mori, did you give him any intel on the tests?"