Young men and women who spent enough time together were bound to create a few sparks sooner or later.
Besides, in Shouzou Yuuki's opinion, Yuto actually suited his daughter rather well.
That was why, during their conversation after the banquet, Shouzou had begun subtly encouraging Asuna to take the initiative and grow closer to him.
Naturally, Asuna understood exactly what her father was implying.
Her first reaction had been annoyance.
How could her own father say something like that so casually?
At the same time, however, she had been deeply embarrassed for a much more troublesome reason.
Because somewhere in her heart...
She really did have thoughts along those lines herself.
By the time the conversation ended last night, Asuna's mind had been such a complete mess that it took most of the following day for her to finally calm down.
Then, that very afternoon, her father called her over for another conversation.
Shouzou casually asked whether she planned to visit Yuto that day.
Asuna, already embarrassed by the question, hesitated before saying that she still needed to finish her schoolwork first.
Her father merely nodded.
"Then go see him once you're finished."
That response left Asuna feeling both helpless and faintly amused.
It was precisely because of this second conversation that all the feelings she had only just managed to suppress came rushing back again.
And that...
Was why she had been acting so awkwardly the moment she saw Yuto tonight.
...
"All right. Here you go."
Yuto returned from the kitchen carrying her butter rice and placed it gently in front of her.
Asuna lowered her head.
"Mm. Thank you."
She picked up her chopsticks and began stirring the small piece of butter into the steaming rice.
As she mixed, the butter gradually melted, its rich golden fat spreading through the warm grains until the two blended completely together.
Asuna lifted the first bite to her mouth.
The moment she tasted it, an unconscious smile appeared on her face.
All the restless emotions that had been tumbling around inside her seemed to settle at once.
The embarrassment remained somewhere in the background, but the nervousness gradually faded, replaced by a quiet sense of peace and a faint warmth in her chest.
This taste.
This feeling.
It was still as comforting as ever.
...
"So Sugou Nobuyuki got transferred to Africa..."
Yuto could not help reacting when Asuna later told him what had happened after the banquet.
He had expected Kaguya to deal with Sugou somehow.
What he had not expected was for her solution to involve sending the man all the way to Africa.
Africa...
Just thinking about the transfer made the punishment sound unpleasant enough.
"Your father didn't say anything about it?"
The question slipped out before Yuto thought it through.
Almost immediately, he realized how pointless it was.
Who would dare interfere with an arrangement made by the Shinomiya family?
Sugou might have been an employee of the Yuuki Group, but Shouzou certainly was not going to oppose the Shinomiyas over a single insignificant employee.
"Well..." Asuna hesitated. "Strictly speaking, Kaguya-san's arrangement could technically be considered dealing with one of her own employees now."
Yuto blinked.
For a moment, he did not understand what she meant.
Then the implication finally clicked.
His expression changed.
"Don't tell me... Kaguya bought the Yuuki Group?"
Asuna fell silent.
That silence was already a fairly clear answer.
Yuto drew in a slow breath.
Well.
What could he even say to that?
As expected of Kaguya Shinomiya!
"She did acquire the group," Asuna eventually admitted, looking rather helpless herself. "But Kaguya-san hasn't interfered with the company's overall operations. She's still allowing Father and the existing management to run everything the same way as before, so in practice, not that much has changed."
Asuna unconsciously scratched the side of her head.
Truthfully, even she still found the whole situation somewhat surreal.
"But why did Kaguya buy the Yuuki Group in the first place?" Yuto asked curiously. "Was it because of SAO?"
Asuna thought about it for a moment before shaking her head slightly.
"I think Father's actions may have made Kaguya-san angry."
That only confused Yuto further.
"Angry? What did Mr. Yuuki do?"
"Kaguya-san originally had no intention of attending yesterday's banquet. She only agreed to come because of me." Asuna sighed softly.
"Once Father learned that she would be there, he deliberately used her attendance to attract more influential families and build connections with them."
She paused before adding more carefully,
"There was definitely an element of using Kaguya-san's reputation for the Yuuki family's benefit. I think that's probably what annoyed her."
Even before the banquet began, Shouzou had hinted that he wanted Asuna to make use of her friendship with Kaguya to elevate the Yuuki family's status.
In simpler terms...
He wanted to borrow the tiger's skin to frighten everyone else.
There was just one rather obvious problem with that plan.
What tiger would happily allow itself to be used like a prop?
Even cooperating with a tiger required caution.
Trying to use one for your own purposes was something else entirely.
Naturally, that came with a price.
To a certain extent, Shouzou's scheme had actually succeeded.
The Yuuki family had managed to impress and intimidate many influential families because everyone had personally witnessed Kaguya Shinomiya attending their banquet and speaking casually with Asuna.
But in another sense...
Shouzou had failed rather spectacularly.
The Yuuki Group, which formed the foundation of his entire family's wealth and influence, had simply been swallowed whole by the very "tiger" whose name he had tried to borrow.
At that point, there was not much meaning left in obsessing over the Yuuki family's prestige.
After all...
Their house itself had already been eaten.
"I see..."
Yuto nodded thoughtfully.
"Still, Father really was too impatient for results."
Asuna sighed helplessly.
Human greed and dissatisfaction had a habit of inviting trouble.
Sometimes, simply being satisfied with what you already had was the harder lesson to learn.
"Oh, right, Asuna." Rimuru suddenly joined the conversation. "When is SAO officially launching?"
For Rimuru and Ainz—two people who had gone so far as to conquer entire worlds merely to create enough free time for gaming—the release of Sword Art Online was an extremely important matter.
They were hardcore SAO fans.
Rimuru even still had a piece of meat hanging from his mouth as he asked the question.
Ainz turned toward Asuna as well.
Although it was difficult to read anticipation from a skeletal face, the two points of light inside his eye sockets had noticeably brightened.
"It was originally scheduled for tomorrow," Asuna explained, "but the person in charge apparently came up with some new ideas recently, so the open beta was delayed by two days. It should officially launch on Friday."
"Friday?! Great!" Rimuru immediately perked up. "Do you know the exact time?"
"Probably around nine or ten in the morning."
Asuna thought about it briefly.
Most previous product launches organized by her family's company had been held around that time, so SAO would probably follow a similar schedule.
"Perfect!" Rimuru practically bounced with excitement. "I'm definitely going there in person to cheer it on!"
Ainz was just as enthusiastic.
"I will attend as well."
Seeing the two of them react so seriously, Asuna covered her mouth and laughed softly.
"All right. There should be some kind of VIP or indoor tickets available. I'll bring some for both of you."
"Yes!"
Rimuru immediately cheered.
Yuto watched the scene from behind the counter and helplessly shook his head.
Why did Rimuru somehow seem even more childish than before?
Could it be...
That this was a side effect of reincarnating into another world?