The car pulled up at a Michelin five-star restaurant.
As they stepped out, a young man approached them.
Dressed in a tailored high-end suit with an expensive watch on his wrist, his slicked-back hair gave him a sharp and professional appearance—an image of success.
As soon as Yuuki got out of the car, the young man immediately stepped forward with a smile.
"Uncle, you're here. The private room is ready. Let me take you inside."
Then, his gaze shifted to Asuna, who was getting out of the car behind him.
A glint of greed flashed in his eyes.
Asuna noticed the young man's presence and instinctively shrank back.
But soon, she thought of a good idea.
She quickly took small steps toward another car.
Haruto stepped out, and Asuna subtly hid behind him.
Seeing this, Haruto found it amusing.
At that moment, a pair of sharp eyes locked onto him.
Haruto glanced to the side and saw the young man glaring at him, his gaze venomous like a snake.
Though Haruto didn't recognize him at first glance, just from that look alone, he could already guess his identity.
Yuuki walked over with the young man and introduced him:
"Haruto, this is Nobuyuki Sugou, one of my most trusted men and a key developer of the full-dive game project."
Haruto nodded, his expression playful.
So, it really was this guy.
Nobuyuki Sugou—a somewhat talented but highly ambitious man, and quite the creep.
He was a classmate of Akihiko Kayaba, and after graduation, he joined the full-dive game project.
However, Sword Art Online was almost entirely Kayaba's work.
Sugou, at best, was just an errand boy, no different from an outsourced worker.
But since Kayaba was an eccentric who didn't care about fame or fortune, Sugou managed to maintain his title as a "developer" and got close to the biggest investor, Yuki Shozo.
Once he made contact, he began shamelessly sucking up to Yuuki, portraying himself as a promising young man.
As a result, Yuuki took him under his wing and even considered marrying Asuna to him.
Asuna had vaguely picked up on this.
But she never had a good impression of Sugou, and combined with her rebellious nature, she avoided him whenever possible.
Normally, in her father's presence, she would reluctantly entertain some small talk with Sugou.
But now…
Asuna was smart—she noticed how her father treated Haruto.
So, she simply hid behind Haruto, making it clear she didn't want to interact with Sugou.
And it worked.
Yuuki immediately dropped the idea of forcing Asuna to interact with Sugou.
After all, between a so-called "promising young man" and someone who could dominate the entire financial world, the choice was obvious.
Sugou noticed the shift in Yuuki's attitude and was filled with rage.
He had spent years flattering Yuuki, finally seeing a bright future ahead.
Marrying Asuna would be his ticket to the top.
But now, someone had appeared out of nowhere to steal everything from him.
It was more painful than death.
Yet, he couldn't afford to show his anger.
If he did, not only would he ruin his carefully crafted image, but he could also bring disaster upon himself.
He stared at Haruto, desperately wanting to know who this guy was.
While the atmosphere was tense, Haruto remained completely unbothered.
"Shall we go inside? It's just about time for dinner."
With that, Haruto took the lead and walked toward the restaurant.
Seeing her father's change in attitude, Asuna felt immense satisfaction and quickly followed after Haruto.
Sugou clenched his teeth so hard they nearly cracked, but he had no choice but to swallow his anger.
He could tell this young man's status was even higher than Yuuki Shouzou's.
Once inside the private room, everyone took their seats.
Shiro and Asuna sat on either side of Haruto.
The table was quite large, with over ten seats in a circle, making their seating arrangement feel rather intimate.
Yuuki, wanting to discuss business conveniently, sat directly across from Haruto.
Meanwhile, Sugou was about to sit next to Asuna.
But at that moment, Haruto casually said:
"Wouldn't it feel a bit cramped if we all sat too close together?"
Sugou's expression stiffened as he looked toward Yuki Shozo.
However, Yuuki simply gestured toward a seat at the far edge of the table.
Defeated, Sugou could only walk over and sit down, his face twisting with barely suppressed rage.
As a highly educated man who had climbed the corporate ladder quickly, he had never suffered such humiliation before.
Haruto, on the other hand, leisurely picked up the menu and handed it to Shiro.
Asuna, who had been sulking, noticed the menu being passed over.
Normally, in such settings, she was the one who ordered since her father doted on her—despite his habit of making life decisions for her.
Shiro took the menu but wasn't particularly interested.
Restaurant food just didn't compare to what they had back at the apartment.
At home, either Haruto or Tohru cooked, and the quality was far beyond what any typical chef could achieve.
Still, knowing this was part of the social routine, Shiro casually picked two dishes.
Then, the menu was passed to Haruto.
Asuna, still pouting, was surprised when the menu ended up in her hands.
She looked up at Haruto, only to see him smiling at her.
For some reason, Asuna blushed and quickly lowered her head, starting to pick dishes.
Yuuki saw this and made a mental note.
If these two truly liked each other, it would be the best possible outcome.
The Yuuki family had money, but compared to the top two financial conglomerates, they were nothing.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, Sugou's face had turned an unhealthy shade of green.
It wasn't just Yuuki's attitude that enraged him.
It was also Asuna herself.
She was an absolute beauty, and Sugou had long desired her.
But she had always avoided him.
Before, there was no real comparison, so he had remained confident. Now, seeing Asuna blushing and acting like a shy maiden…
It was obvious how much she had disliked him all along.
In an instant, Sugou felt as though his very existence as a man had been denied.
Asuna finished selecting a few of her favorite dishes and sneaked a glance at Haruto.
"Um… Haruto-senpai, do you have any food preferences?"
Originally, she had resisted calling him "senpai."
But with a certain disgusting toad sitting at the other end of the table, the comparison made her decision easy.
"I don't have any particular dislikes. If I had to pick something, I'd say I'm not a fan of raw or cold dishes."
Hearing this, Asuna's eyes lit up.
"Me too!"
Before long, the menu was set aside, and the two of them were happily chatting about food.
Asuna is a girl who liked cooking, this is also reflected in later parts of the story.
For example, in Sword Art Online (SAO), Asuna maxed out her cooking skill.
She even complained that SAO's cooking system was too simplified, removing much of the fun of actual cooking.
Talking about cooking seemed to strike a chord with Asuna. For the first time, she truly opened up and started chatting freely.
Meanwhile, Yuuki Shouzou and Sugou were completely ignored.
The difference between them was clear—Shouzou was delighted, while Sugou was gritting his teeth so hard his eyes looked like they might pop out.
The meal was quite enjoyable.
Haruto and Asuna had a great time talking and laughing at the table.
Shouzou tried several times to bring up the topic of investment, but he couldn't find an opportunity to interject.
Of course, Haruto had no interest in investing in SAO.
That game was doomed to be a financial disaster—unless, of course, Kayaba Akihiko miraculously decided to stop being a madman and actually manage the game properly.
Finally, there was a small pause in the conversation.
Asuna looked genuinely happy, her face full of joy.
Just as Shouzou saw his chance to bring up investment, Haruto suddenly asked,
"By the way, Asuna, which high school are you currently attending?"
Hearing this, Shouzou, though a little confused by the question, replied:
"She's studying at Elite Academy."
Elite Academy was one of the top-ranked schools in Japan, but it wasn't part of the "Big Three".
Haruto pretended to frown and asked curiously,
"She didn't get into one of the Big Three? While Elite Academy is a great school, isn't it still a level below the Big Three?"
Asuna should have been an academic genius—this was a bit surprising.
Hearing this, Shouzou let out a deep sigh.
"It's my fault for holding Asuna back. When we were filling out applications, we chose Shuchiin Academy as our top pick. But Shuchiin's admission requirements were far too strict, and she didn't make the cut. In the end, she got into Elite Academy instead."
For the Big Three schools, students could only apply to one—they couldn't apply to multiple schools at the same time.
After hearing this, Haruto immediately said,
"I'm currently studying at Shuchiin Academy. The student council president is a friend of mine, so maybe we can try applying for a transfer. Would Asuna be interested in transferring to Shuchiin? The resources of the Big Three are definitely better than those of regular high schools."
Upon hearing this, Shouzou's eyes widened in shock, his face filled with excitement.
The offer Haruto had just made was almost impossible to refuse.