Chapter 138: The Yuuki Family's High Climb
The next morning, on the second floor of a high end coffee shop in the Ginza commercial district of Tokyo.
Ashikaga Miwa lifted her cup and took a small sip. Then she looked across the table at Asagiri. As she removed her gold rimmed glasses, pulled a handkerchief from her pocket, and wiped the lenses, she spoke in a calm, faintly annoyed tone.
"You really know how to drag me into trouble. First you make me come meet your girlfriend's mother and then…"
Miwa paused. She put the cleaned glasses back on, adjusted the frame, and continued slowly.
"Isn't your seating arrangement wrong? I should be sitting with you. Yuuki Asuna should be across from you. Her mother should be across from me. That's the proper way, isn't it?"
"Just watch," Asagiri said with a smile.
He picked up the coffee in front of him and took a sip. The bitter taste of black coffee with no sugar or milk made his brows knit instantly.
"Assessment. Far inferior to iced cola."
"Then why are you forcing yourself to drink it?" Miwa asked, eyes half lidded behind her glasses. "I drink black coffee out of habit, but you… are you trying to look mature in front of your girlfriend's mother? That doesn't sound like the person I know."
Before she could finish, Asagiri slid the coffee aside. He calmly took out a can of frozen Coca Cola, popped it open, and drank deeply. When he lowered it, he exhaled like he had finally returned to the path of righteousness.
"Yeah. It has to be Coca Cola."
Miwa stared at him for a beat.
"As expected of you."
Just then, footsteps sounded from the stairs. Yuuki Asuna's slightly nervous voice followed.
"Mom, over there."
Asagiri and Miwa turned.
Asuna, wearing a white dress, approached with a middle aged woman beside her. The woman wore a red suit jacket and matching trousers, with a pure black top underneath. Her short flaxen hair and composed expression gave her an unmistakably serious aura.
"Hello," Miwa said first.
She stood, stepped out of the booth, and extended her hand.
"I'm Utsunomiya Asagiri's aunt. My name is Ashikaga Miwa."
The middle aged woman shook her hand and nodded with measured politeness.
"Hello. I'm Yuuki Asuna's mother, Yuki Kyoko."
Even after hearing Miwa's name, Kyoko showed no special reaction. That was normal. Miwa might be a descendant of a samurai noble family and the owner of several large companies, but she was not exactly a public celebrity. Most students at Shuchiin Academy did not even know their Year 1 Class A homeroom teacher was also a member of the school board. It was perfectly reasonable for Kyoko not to recognize her.
After the brief greeting, Kyoko's gaze shifted to Asagiri.
The moment she saw his face clearly, the meticulous university professor froze for the slightest instant.
So this was her daughter's boyfriend.
Kyoko did not care much about appearance. In her view, personal ability mattered most. Looks were irrelevant as long as Asuna liked him.
Still, there was no denying it.
Utsunomiya Asagiri was strikingly handsome. The kind of face that earned goodwill before he even spoke.
"Utsunomiya," Kyoko said.
"Auntie," Asagiri replied smoothly.
At that single word, Asuna quietly patted her chest and released a breath she did not realize she was holding.
Thank goodness.
She had been genuinely afraid Asagiri would do something absurd, like calling her mother Mom the moment they met.
Kyoko was serious, earnest, and had the habits of a professor baked into her bones. If Asagiri suddenly pulled an abstract stunt here, Asuna had no idea how her mother would react.
"Asuna, sit on the inside," Asagiri said, pointing.
"Huh?"
Asuna blinked, confused by the arrangement. But her trust in him was absolute. She nodded and slid into the inner seat on Asagiri's side.
"Ashikaga, you sit on the inside too."
"Okay," Miwa said casually, returning to her seat without complaint.
With that, the seating fell into place.
Miwa and Asuna faced each other on the inner seats, while Asagiri and Kyoko sat on the outer seats directly opposite each other.
Kyoko's eyes flashed with mild surprise.
Asagiri looked completely at ease, as if he had arranged this on purpose, and as if sitting across from her stern aura was nothing at all.
As a professor, Kyoko knew her face could turn cold without her intending it. Years of lectures and grading had given her an unconscious pressure, a strictness that made even adults straighten their backs.
Yet Asagiri did not flinch. He had chosen to sit across from her directly, and he did it with confidence.
Kyoko's evaluation of him rose several points.
"What would you like to drink?" the waiter asked.
"One black coffee," Kyoko said immediately, then added without hesitation, "and one orange juice."
"Understood."
The detail was small, but it was telling.
Kyoko was the kind of parent who made decisions first, naturally assertive, naturally used to controlling the pace.
After the waiter left, Kyoko looked at Asagiri and spoke in a low, steady voice.
"Utsunomiya. Regarding your future with Asuna, what are your plans?"
Asagiri's answer, however, went far beyond what Kyoko expected.
"Tomorrow, Monday, the new Student Council election at Private Shuchiin Academy begins," he said. "I will serve as the Student Council vice president, and Asuna will also become a member of the Student Council."
He continued without pause, voice calm and confident.
"You should know the Shuchiin Academy Student Council is not the same as the ones in ordinary high schools. When it comes time to apply to university, having Student Council experience from Private Shuchiin Academy is a major advantage."
"With that on her record, plus Asuna's grades, she can enter any university she wants. Even a top school like Todai won't be a problem."
"As for me," he added, tone unchanged, "there's no need to repeat my grades. Wherever Asuna goes, I will go with her."
Kyoko stared at him for a brief moment, then responded slowly.
"Utsunomiya… I didn't expect you to think as far ahead as university."
"Isn't that normal?" Asagiri chuckled softly.
"If I just said empty lines like I'll be gentle with Asuna, study together, support each other, and make progress, wouldn't that be meaningless?"
Kyoko's lips lifted into the faintest smile.
"That's true."
Across from them, Asuna saw it clearly.
Her mother was satisfied. Not just polite satisfied, but genuinely pleased.
The stone pressing on Asuna's heart finally loosened.
"Ashikaga," Kyoko said next, turning her attention toward Miwa with a casual smile.
"Based on your attire, are you also in education?"
Kyoko was not digging for family background. She already knew Asagiri's parents had passed away. And at this point, she was more than satisfied with him as her daughter's boyfriend, or rather, her future son in law.
This was simply small talk.
"Education…" Miwa said, pushing up her gold rimmed glasses. A rare smile touched her face.
"I suppose you could say that."
"I'm a teacher in Year 1 Class A at Shuchiin Academy. Which means I'm Utsunomiya's homeroom teacher."
Kyoko blinked. "A teacher at Shuchiin Academy?"
"Yes," Miwa replied lightly. Then she added, as if it were nothing important, "Of course, I also have another identity."
"I'm a member of Shuchiin Academy's board of directors."
"Board of directors?"
For the first time since arriving, Kyoko's composure cracked. Shock flashed across her face.
She had assumed that Utsunomiya Asagiri, a student who had lost both parents and shared the same mixed race background as Asuna, did not have a family situation worth mentioning.
She had even thought that even if his circumstances were poor, it would not matter as long as he married into the Yuuki family someday.
But now…
It was the opposite.
His backing was several levels above theirs.
Someone at the level of a Shuchiin Academy board member was not a person you could casually meet. Not for a university professor like Kyoko, and not even for her husband, Yuuki Asuna's father, Yuki Shozo, the CEO of a major electronic instrument manufacturer.
In that case…
Was the Yuuki family the one reaching upward?
…
Several days later, after school on Thursday, at Iwanaga Kotoko's home.
Asagiri opened the Glasses icon app on his phone, tapped Active Registration, and confirmed the Dungeon tied to the keyword Hunt.
Yuuki Asuna, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Kato Megumi, listed as his friends, also confirmed they would team with him to enter the same Dungeon.
After all four registrations were complete, they were about to set their phones down when a new prompt appeared.
[This Dungeon is a super large Dungeon. The time required to clear it will exceed twenty four hours at minimum. Please handle all affairs in the real world before Saturday]
Meanwhile, in the master bedroom of a luxurious mansion that resembled a castle.
"A Dungeon that takes at least twenty four hours to clear…"
Kaguya Shinomiya frowned slightly as she read the prompt on her screen. Then she turned her calm red eyes toward Hayasaka Ai, who sat beside her.
"It seems we need to come up with a reasonable excuse."
.....
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