"Phew, I never expected S-grade ingredients in SAO to be so delicious." After everyone finished dinner, Yusei lazily leaned back in his chair, patting his stomach.
Asuna smiled gently and stood up to clear the dishes, "Shouldn't you be praising the chef instead? Even the best ingredients need an excellent chef, right?"
"Mhm, you're absolutely right." Yusei sat up straight and suddenly looked directly at Asuna, "I find I don't want you to leave anymore."
Yusei's seemingly bold and blunt words made Asuna's hands, which were clearing the dishes, freeze instantly. Her face turned bright red, and her eyes darted around, "Wh-what are you saying..."
Asuna was extremely shy, unable to look at Yusei.
Yusei looked at Asuna amusedly and teased, "What are you thinking? I'm saying you should come over after work in the future to cook for me. I finally caught a culinary master; I can't let this opportunity slip away."
Hearing Yusei's words, the shy blush on Asuna's face immediately disappeared, replaced by a stiff expression.
"You... you just want me to come over and cook for you?!"
"Not just for me, but for Shiro and Kanna too. None of us three can cook. We usually have to eat at restaurants."
A visible [#] mark seemed to appear on Asuna's forehead. She clenched her small fist and, under Yusei's expectant gaze, gave his chest a light, playful punch.
"Do it yourself!"
Returning to her own home in the city, the lights were on, indicating Kaguya was already home.
Asuna's mind was still filled with what happened earlier at the Kazami Residence. Her face carried a slight blush, but her expression was somewhat indignant.
"That guy says something so easily misunderstood, and it turns out he just wants me to cook for him."
"Hmph, if you want to eat, cook it yourself! I'm not going!"
Of course, that's what she said, but just before leaving the Kazami Residence, Asuna hadn't been able to harden her heart enough to refuse Yusei and had agreed to go cook for him.
Pushing the door open, Asuna habitually called out, "I'm home."
Then, Kaguya, who had just finished her bath and was wrapped in a towel, appeared in the living room, her face showing a hint of a pitiful expression.
"Asuna, you're finally back. I haven't had dinner yet."
"Eh? You didn't go eat at a restaurant outside?" Asuna was surprised.
Kaguya shook her head, "No. None of them are as good as your cooking, Asuna."
Asuna looked helplessly at her friend, "Alright then. Let me take a shower first."
After taking a shower, Asuna cooked a simple meal for her friend Kaguya, then sat in a chair watching Kaguya eat.
The dish wasn't complicated... but with Asuna's master-level culinary skills, it was incredibly delicious.
Perhaps Kayaba was a foodie too, because the 'eating' aspect in the SAO was exceptionally well done.
Kaguya didn't mind Asuna sitting beside her. She was more curious about where Asuna had been in the evening.
Although she guessed it was leveling on the 32nd floor, it was still just a guess. Nothing was more real than hearing it from the person involved.
"Asuna, where did you go this evening? I heard from people in the guild that you disappeared right after the raid."
Asuna's mind was still occupied with the events at the Kazami Residence earlier, sometimes sighing helplessly, sometimes smiling gently. Hearing Kaguya's question, she snapped back to reality.
"I was at the Kazami Residence, cooking for him. Didn't he save us last time? I wanted to thank him properly, so I took some A-grade ingredients and cooked a meal for him, Shiro-chan, and Kanna-chan."
"Kazami Yusei?" The spoon in Kaguya's hand suddenly froze. Her expression shifted slightly, then she said with a faint smile, "With your cooking skills, Asuna, I bet he almost bit his tongue off."
"It's not that exaggerated. But I didn't expect him to have so many S-grade ingredients. S-grade ingredients are indeed much better than A-grade ones." Asuna smiled gently.
"Oh, right, Kaguya, you should come next time too. He still has a lot left. I've already promised to help him cook all his S-grade ingredients."
Kaguya's face looked stunned. Staring into the clear soup in her bowl, she seemed lost in thought.
"Kaguya? Kaguya? What's wrong?" Asuna, seeing Kaguya spacing out, asked worriedly.
"Ah, it's nothing." Kaguya forced a smile at Asuna, then shook her head, "I'll pass. There's still a lot of guild work recently. You go ahead."
"Is that so? Then I'll bring some back for you when I go."
"Mhm, thanks."
For the next several days, lunch and dinner at the Kazami Residence were prepared by Chef Asuna. This caused the residents of the Kazami Household to lazily lounge in their chairs all day, becoming quite lazy.
Asuna, wearing her apron, came to the living room to call everyone for dinner, but seeing this scene, she couldn't help but sigh, placing a hand on her forehead.
"Honestly, you're all turning into little piggies. Get up and move around a bit before eating."
Yusei looked at Asuna, "It's mainly because your cooking is too delicious. While waiting, I don't feel like doing anything else."
Asuna rolled her eyes at Yusei and went over to adjust Shiro and Kanna's chairs properly.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"It is a compliment."
After lunch, Asuna finished clearing the dishes and stretched vigorously, her curves quite alluring.
"So tired. But I can't stop yet, I have to go to the labyrinth area with the Capture Group." Asuna sighed.
"If you're tired, then don't go." Yusei shrugged.
"I recently saw a quest and took it. Do you want to come along?"
"What kind of quest?" Asuna asked curiously.
"After you left yesterday, Shiro and I went to the front lines to level up. I saw a person in the plaza there constantly entrusting others with a task, looking utterly wretched and desperate. After learning about the situation, I found out he's the guild master of a guild that was destroyed by red players."
Hearing it was about 'red players', a serious expression also appeared on Asuna's face.
"In this place where the law can't reach, the darkness in people's hearts bursts forth limitlessly. What are you planning to do?"
'What am I planning to do?' Yusei originally thought about just killing them and being done with it. But looking at Asuna's beautiful face, he hesitated and swallowed his words.
"Let's see first. If they resist, we'll try to capture them and send them to jail."
This wasn't because Asuna disliked killing, but because Yusei felt Asuna was an ordinary rich young lady, without the same deep-seated background as the Shinomiya Family.
So, when it came to darker matters, Asuna probably had very little exposure to them.