Urged on by the sound of her alarm clock, Asuna sleepily crawled out of bed.
After rubbing her eyes, still unaccustomed to the brightness of the day, she walked over to her desk and switched off the alarm on her phone.
December 31, 2025.
Catching a glimpse of the time on her phone screen, Asuna sighed softly.
“It’s already been more than a year since we got out of SAO, and I still dream about it…”
After washing up and shuffling downstairs in her slippers, she was surprised to see Akimi sitting in her entryway, taking off his shoes.
“Akimi-kun? What are you doing here?”
Seeing the cute, slightly dazed expression on the just-awakened Asuna’s face, Akimi couldn’t help but chuckle.
“What do you mean? Didn’t you call me yesterday and tell me to come over early today? Besides, my dear parents went out to visit others early this morning.”
Asuna blinked, finally recalling.
“Ah… right, I think I did…”
When she looked back at him, she saw that Akimi had already finished taking off his shoes and was staring at her with a hesitant, conflicted look.
Following his gaze down at herself, she realized the problem—
She was still wearing her pajamas, and at some point the top button had come undone, revealing a patch of fair skin, even a faint glimpse of cleavage.
Not saying a word, Asuna quickly turned away to avoid his eyes, fastening the button in a hurry.
When she turned back, Akimi was rubbing his nose awkwardly, with an expression that seemed oddly complicated—like he was a little regretful, almost reluctant to look away.
Although Asuna’s expression stayed calm, the redness on her ears betrayed what she was really feeling.
Just then, a cool, feminine voice drifted from behind Asuna:
“Oh? Akimi-kun, you’re already here? I’m sorry to trouble you on New Year’s Eve like this.”
At the sound, Akimi put on a polite smile, nodded slightly toward the voice, and said:
“Not at all, Auntie, it’s no trouble… Ah, by the way, this is a gift for you for New Year’s Eve.”
As expected, he would be coming again tomorrow with the proper New Year’s gift and greeting card.
While speaking, he handed a gift bag to Asuna mom, Kyoko Yuuki, who was slowly walking over, and then pointed to a few other bags at the side:
“These ones are for Uncle and for big brother Kouichiro.”
Seeing the courteous and well-mannered Akimi, Kyoko nodded in satisfaction, smiling.
“Akimi-kun, you haven’t had breakfast yet, have you? Why don’t you go chat with Asuna for a while? Breakfast will be ready soon.”
“Ah, yes, thank you very much.”
After expressing his thanks, Akimi let Asuna pull him upstairs.
—————–
To be honest, Asuna still harbored a tiny bit of resentment toward her mother.
Shortly after leaving SAO, she, Akimi, and the other SAO players who were still in middle and high school were transferred to a special school.
Kyoko was not pleased with this arrangement.
She thought the people at that school were all troublemakers, like idle delinquents, and so she forcefully demanded that Asuna withdraw and return to the prestigious all-girls school she had personally chosen for her.
What Kyoko found hardest to accept was that her daughter insisted the person she liked was at that school and didn’t want to leave.
This led to a major argument between them, during which Kyoko even commanded Asuna to break up.
However, when Kyoko discovered that the person Asuna liked was actually the eldest son and sole heir of the Tomioka Group, she fell silent.
When Asuna again expressed her reluctance to leave, Kyoko didn’t know whether to argue, and in the end, she reluctantly acquiesced.
After understanding the full context, Akimi could actually sympathize with Kyoko’s mindset.
As a mother who had risen from a rural background to become an economics professor at a prestigious university, she had undoubtedly faced countless struggles and didn’t want Asuna to suffer the same hardships she had endured.
Kyoko was even willing to deny her daughter true love if it meant finding her a husband with a suitably strong family background.
But what Kyoko did not anticipate was that Akimi’s background was far greater than she had imagined—even surpassing that of the main Yuuki family in Kyoto.
After further consideration, Kyoko realized that in every aspect, Akimi was superior to the other young men she had originally recommended to Asuna.
Once she confirmed that Akimi was truly someone worthy of her daughter’s trust, Kyoko quietly accepted him in the end.
After being pulled upstairs by Asuna, Akimi was left outside the room with only one sentence from her: “I’m going to change clothes.”
Looking at the closed door, Akimi let out a helpless smile and muttered, “Even though we’re already engaged, she still acts like she’s guarding against thieves—no basic trust at all, huh?”
Back in August, under the urging of Tomioka Yoshiko, Akimi and Asuna had already gotten engaged.
The wedding date was tentatively set for September of the following year—Yoshiko had originally wanted it a bit earlier, but Akimi had insisted on postponing it.
Meanwhile, inside the room, Asuna was standing by her wardrobe, carefully sliding her fingers over the winter-appropriate clothes, unsure which one to wear.
Finally, she sighed, took off her pajamas, pulled a white knitted sweater from the wardrobe, put it on, and then went to the door.
She opened it and promptly dragged the dazed Akimi into the room.
Perhaps it wasn’t that she didn’t know which clothes to choose, but that she wanted to see which one someone else most wanted to see her wear.
However, when Asuna said, “You help me choose,” Akimi’s face displayed even more distress than hers just had—he always had trouble making decisions, even about trivial things.
“Hmm, this one looks nice… but this one over here is also pretty… so hard to choose…”
Now it was Akimi’s turn to have a headache.
In the end, he spent even more time and still couldn’t complete the task of helping Asuna pick an outfit.
Just as Asuna was about to give up and pick one at random, Akimi suddenly said:
“Anyway, Asuna looks good in anything, so I’ll just pick randomly—hope that’s okay?”
This made Asuna pause for a moment, then she looked at Akimi and nodded helplessly.
Feeling quietly relieved at her agreement, Akimi closed his eyes, extended his right hand toward Asuna’s wardrobe, waved it randomly, and began reciting: “Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe.”
When Akimi opened his eyes, his finger had landed on a white coat.
However, the coat didn’t seem to belong to Asuna—it was much larger than her size.
Moreover, Akimi felt that this coat looked vaguely familiar…
After examining it for a long while, Akimi pinched his chin and asked with some puzzlement, “Asuna, why do you have the same clothes as me in your wardrobe… and in the same size, no less?”
“Because it’s yours,” Asuna said, looking at Akemi’s dumbfounded expression.
“You forgot it here before.”
“Ah? Really?”
Akimi froze at her words, and after a moment of thought, he finally remembered—last week on Christmas, he and Asuna had been out playing until nine at night.
When he brought Asuna home and was about to leave, her future elder brother-in-law, Yuuki Koichiro, persuaded him to stay overnight.
In truth, the Tomioka residence wasn’t far from the Yuuki household; both were in the Setagaya district, and it took only about twenty minutes on foot.
But Akimi couldn’t refuse Koichiro’s request and stayed.
They ended up playing ALO together the entire evening, and the next morning, when he left, he completely forgot his coat at Asuna’s house.
While Akimi was still recalling this, Asuna silently slipped into his coat.
When he finally came to his senses, she was looking at him with a radiant smile.
Although the coat didn’t quite fit her, it gave Asuna an aura that Akimi had never noticed before.
“Hmm… it feels pretty comfortable…” Asuna tugged at the slightly long sleeves to reveal her small hands.
“How do I look… good?”
Before she could even finish asking, Akimi stepped forward and pulled her into his arms.
“Beautiful— I’m not talking about the clothes, I mean you.”
— The end of the Chapter–
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