Upon returning to the hotel room, Hachiman collapsed onto the sofa.
"The rest is up to Tomomori-san. Aside from that, it looks like I'll have to face off against that old geezer tomorrow... But this is Kaede's wish. I have to make it happen, no matter what."
With those thoughts drifting through his mind, Hachiman eventually faded into sleep.
Hachiman woke up to a soft, squishy sensation.
It seemed night had already fallen; outside the window, the neon lights of the city were glowing.
(Mmm, did I fall asleep? Even so, what is this...)
There was definitely someone else in the room. Whoever it was had lifted Hachiman's arm and was doing something to him. Realizing this, Hachiman slowly cracked one eye open.
"I guess you really do need to check these things morning and night... Hmm, maybe like this?"
(Asuna?)
What Hachiman saw was Asuna, pressing Hachiman's hand against her own chest. Her expression was dead serious, leaving Hachiman at a complete loss for how to react.
Then, as if bound by fate, their eyes met perfectly.
Asuna froze stiff.
Silently, she lowered Hachiman's hand. She straightened her clothes, composed herself, and then turned a beaming smile toward him as if absolutely nothing had happened.
"Ah, you're up. Good evening, Hachiman-kun."
"...Hey, Asuna."
"What is it, Hachiman-kun?"
"Just now, you..."
"What is it? Hachiman-kun?"
"No, nothing."
"Yep, that's right. It was nothing."
They sat side-by-side on the sofa and filled each other in on their day.
"Nothing much happened on my end. There were quite a few people staring with nasty looks, but Father casually explained who you were and acted as a guard for me."
"Those unpleasant guys from before, huh? Good grief, it seems there isn't a decent person in that family besides Komao."
"Komao-kun was there too, actually. I quietly let him know about Shino-non's Hecate II. He seemed totally fired up to upgrade it and said he'd look into a bunch of things."
"I see. That worked out perfectly then."
"How was your day, Hachiman-kun?"
In response to Asuna's question, Hachiman explained his chance encounter with Kaori and Chika.
"Oh, really? Maybe I should give them a call."
"Yeah, I'm sure Orimoto would be happy to hear from you."
Asuna called Kaori and chatted happily for a while. Then, saying "Just a second," she suddenly turned to Hachiman.
"Hey, Hachiman-kun, did something happen at lunch?"
"Hmm? I treated the two of them to a kaiseki lunch, but what about it?"
"Ahh~ so that's it..."
"Hm? Is something wrong?"
"Well, I asked if they wanted to join us for dinner on your treat, but they were super hesitant. I was wondering why."
"Ah, naturally they'd hesitate. Well, tell them opportunities like this don't come often, so they should just shut up and let me treat them without worrying about it."
Asuna apparently had the phone on speaker mode, as she spoke toward the device.
"He says so. Yep! Yay! Okay, we'll come pick you up at your hotel, so wait for us there."
Asuna hung up and began changing into more formal clothes. Hachiman followed suit and started getting ready—though for him, that mostly meant making sure he didn't forget his wallet.
When they arrived at the hotel where Kaori and Chika were staying, the two were waiting outside. Asuna waved and ran over to them.
"Asuna!"
"Kaori, it's been a while! Ah, Nakamachi-san, nice to meet you. I'm Yuuki Asuna. Please, just call me Asuna."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Nakamachi Chika. Please, call me Chika too."
The three hit it off immediately. Hachiman honestly felt happy to see Asuna making more friends her own age.
"Right, so what do you guys want to eat? I don't mind whatever it is."
"Since we had kaiseki for lunch, maybe something a little heavier for dinner?"
"Totally feeling that!"
"Hmm, I'm fine with that too. Actually, I was forced to attend a party during lunch, so I haven't really eaten much."
Attending a "party" was hardly a normal occurrence for the average person. The two women looked at Asuna with suspicion.
"Um, actually, is Asuna a rich young lady from somewhere?"
"Asuna is the daughter of the CEO of Recto," Hachiman interjected.
"Y-yeah, technically."
"Ehh!?"
"No way!"
Asuna certainly carried an air of elegance, so they had suspected something, but they clearly hadn't expected her to be the daughter of a major corporation's CEO. They were simply stunned.
"The wife of our President is the daughter of Recto's CEO... I wonder if there's going to be a merger or something?"
"I wonder... Wait, 'our'?"
Asuna caught on to the beginning of Kaori's sentence. Saying "our" implied a specific connection.
"Actually, Orimoto passed the interview for my company and has been informally promised a position at the reception desk."
"Ah, so that's it!"
"Well, apparently it's thanks to Hikigaya's connections, though," Kaori said with a wry smile.
"'Apparently'?"
Asuna looked puzzled by the ambiguity, so Hachiman explained the sequence of events.
"Ah, the interviewer at the time was seemingly Argo. She probably researched beforehand that Orimoto and I were in the same class in middle school. Apparently, she decided to hire just Orimoto right then and there. Neither Orimoto nor I knew about it, hence the 'apparently'."
"So that's what happened."
"Well, even Argo wouldn't choose someone randomly. I'm sure that among candidates with similar qualifications, it just became the deciding factor. Something like that."
"Soleil is a meritocracy, after all."
With that settled, and to celebrate Kaori's job offer, they decided to splurge and went to a very high-end yakiniku restaurant.
"Come to think of it, this is my first time at a yakiniku place."
"Ah, mine too, maybe."
"Eh, really?"
"Then Kaori has to be the Meat Master!"
"Got it, leave it to me!"
Kaori began ordering with practiced ease, though perhaps out of politeness, she avoided the most expensive items. Hachiman caused a minor scene by changing every order to "Special High Grade," but the four of them spent the time indulging in meat, meat, and more meat to their hearts' content.
During their post-meal chat, Kaori asked Hachiman a question.
"By the way, I didn't ask properly earlier, but why are you two in Kyoto?"
"Umm... how should I explain this?"
"Yeah..."
The circumstances were too complex to explain in a single sentence, but Hachiman managed to boil it down to two main points.
"It's hard to explain simply, but essentially: resolving a family succession crisis and helping someone out."
"Helping someone? Is someone sick or injured?"
"Yeah. Her name is Kaede, a relative of Asuna's. She's suffering from a pretty serious illness. I've made some moves, but whether the surgery will be successful or not is... Anyway, we provided our special VR technology and played with Kaede inside the VR environment the other day. Then Kaede said she wanted to play with her grandfather too. So, we plan to storm the place tomorrow and force that eccentric old geezer into the game."
"Force him...?"
"That's where the family feud stuff comes in. Asuna's family is actually a branch family. The head family is here in Kyoto, and the current head—the eccentric geezer—is retiring soon. We're currently pulling strings to ensure his successor is someone sympathetic to our side."
"Wow, a real-life power struggle."
"What is that? That's hilarious."
"But the geezer is dangerous. He's the type to suddenly slash at you with a Japanese sword."
"Wow, that is not hilarious."
"W-was it okay?" Chika asked Hachiman worriedly.
Hachiman showed Chika the collapsible baton he usually carried for self-defense and grinned.
"It's fine. I used this to subdue him. Incidentally, Asuna and I did it together."
"Ehh? Both of you can do stuff like that...?"
"It's easy inside a game, but practicing to use it effectively in reality was definitely a bit tough."
"I can't handle weapons very well yet, so I used bare-handed strikes. But I can handle the footwork at least."
"Whoa, you two are amazing..."
"Well, Chika, these two are from SAO... Ah, sorry. N-nothing."
Asuna realized what Kaori was about to say and why she stopped. She exchanged a look with Hachiman, and upon seeing him nod, she spoke to Kaori.
"Kaori, it's fine to say it."
"Eh? Is it okay?"
"Well, it's basically an open secret at our school. I don't think there's any problem telling Chika."
Hearing Asuna's words, Kaori—who had clearly been itching to tell Chika—happily started explaining.
"Okay, so, Chika? These two are two of the three people who contributed most to clearing SAO."
"Ehh!? You mean those three who are treated like heroes on the internet?"
"Yep, exactly."
"Silver Shadow, the Flash, and the Black Swordsman, right?"
"That nickname really is a bit embarrassing... I'm Silver Shadow, and Asuna is the Flash."
"Wow... knowing heroes... I think I kind of understand how people feel when they brag about being friends with celebrities..."
Hachiman smiled bitterly at Chika's words but added a correction.
"Well, actually, it was four people who contributed, not three."
"That might be the first time I've heard that."
"The last one didn't have a nickname, so I guess word didn't spread. Incidentally, we just reunited with him in Kyoto the other day."
"Oh, that's a happy event!"
"It was a coincidence, but yeah, it's good."
"totally get that!"
"So, what were we talking about...?"
The four of them pondered for a moment, but Kaori quickly chimed in.
"I think it was from when Hikigaya said, 'I beat up a geezer holding a Japanese sword!' right?"
"Right. Actually, I have to beat that geezer up again tomorrow. Thinking about facing a real katana again is a bit of a pain..."
"Hey, can't you do that inside the game?"
Kaori suddenly dropped the suggestion.
"Inside... the game?"
"Yeah. Fighting in reality is dangerous, right? So, provoke him or give him slightly favorable conditions—just guide him into fighting inside the game. If it's inside the game, Hikigaya is invincible even with a handicap, right? Wouldn't that be an overwhelming victory for us?"
The two were caught off guard by the idea.
"I didn't think of that..."
"Ha, haha, hahahaha! I never thought of that. As expected of someone who—despite just being a receptionist—secured a job offer from us all on her own. Well done, Orimoto."
"Ha! I am honored, Mr. President!"
Kaori said this jokingly, then added:
"Besides, look, if you get him to connect to the game under that pretext... even if, by some one-in-a-million chance, Hikigaya loses, the objective of getting him to play with Kaede-chan is accomplished, isn't it?"
"Orimoto, are you a genius...? You're right. I might have been relying too much on force lately. That's something I need to reflect on."
"Was I helpful, Mr. President?"
"Yeah, this is worth a bonus, Orimoto-kun."
"The two meals today are plenty reward, President!"
The four of them looked at each other and laughed happily.
"Alright, if that's decided, I guess I'll provoke him relentlessly tomorrow."
"Hachiman-kun, you are good at aggravating people, after all."
"Oh, leave it to me. It's my specialty."
"Hikigaya, do your best!"
"We'll be rooting for you from afar."
Thanks to the hint from Kaori, that evening's dinner turned out to be incredibly meaningful for Hachiman in terms of avoiding unnecessary risk.
Next time: "Hachiman Bares His Fangs, and the Bell of Battle Rings"
The events leading up to the battle will be told. Look forward to seeing Hachiman get serious!
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