A girl with long pink hair emerged from the car. Dressed in a beautiful one-piece dress, her cute, somewhat dorky face wore a smile.
After getting out, she walked directly up to Yusei.
Under the puzzled gazes of the trio, she suddenly bowed deeply.
"Thank you for last time."
The girl's bow and thanks were directed at Yusei, causing the two girls beside him to look his way.
But Yusei himself was also confused. He didn't think he had met this girl before, had he?
Seeing the blank expression on Yusei's face, the girl couldn't help but cover her mouth with a light laugh, then offered a hint.
"Last time, in that alley..." As she said this, a faint blush and a touch of shyness colored her cheeks, as if that alley held some secret not to be spoken of.
"Alley..." Utaha's eyebrow twitched slightly beside them.
Shrio, holding onto Yusei's arm, also seemed to tighten her grip slightly.
Feeling the change in the two girls beside him, Yusei smiled wryly internally. But the pink hair and the hint did make him remember something.
"It was nothing. Last time I was just passing by and happened to chase off those bad guys for you."
Yusei clarified the matter, partly to explain to his senpai and his sister.
The pink-haired girl glanced at Utaha, the smile in her eyes undiminished. Seeing that Yusei remembered, she didn't say more.
"Kazami... Yusei, right? Yusei-kun, I look forward to our next meeting."
With that, she waved goodbye to Yusei and got back into the black sedan.
Yusei watched the car drive away and couldn't help but sigh in relief. He was naturally happy that a girl had specially come to thank him, but he had his senpai right beside him now.
It was one thing to eye another pot while eating from your own bowl, but it wasn't great to eye another pot before you'd even started eating from your own.
At the very least, one should finish one before moving to the next, right?
At the same time, he had recognized the girl: Fujiwara Chika, a good friend of Shinomiya Kaguya.
But what he hadn't expected was to run into Chika so soon after meeting Kaguya today, plus SAO launching in a few days...
'Just how many anime were mashed together in this dimension?'
Thinking this, Yusei couldn't help but look at his adorable little sister.
'She wouldn't get pulled into another world by some strange god while we were playing, would she?'
A week had passed since Yusei won the individual championship at the Kendo Tournament. During this week, he received what could be called king-level treatment at school.
First, the principal of Toyogasaki Academy personally awarded him a scholarship. Second, he received special admission offers from prestigious universities like the Tokyo University and Kyoto University.
This meant he didn't need to take the entrance exams, and he could go directly to university.
Kendo had always been a valued art in Japan, and the weight of a National Youth Kendo Championship was self-evident… he was deservedly the number one high school Kendoka.
In addition to the 50,000 Yen scholarship from Toyogasaki Academy, there was the 1.5 million Yen from the Kendo Tournament.
At the same time, the launch date for SAO was getting closer and closer.
Yusei had been worried about whether he'd need to survive on nutrient solutions for a couple of years, but after communicating with Kayaba, he managed to get the time ratio between SAO and the real world changed.
It was no longer 1:1. This way, his SAO journey would likely only last a few months.
Doing the math, that would be right around the start of the next semester, his third year of high school. Everything was going according to plan.
But before that, Yusei planned to go to one more place to take care of some business.
…
In front of the RECT Progress.
Employees getting off work in small groups began leaving the company. On a bench across the street, Yusei, wearing a hood, occasionally glanced at the people coming and going, as if quietly waiting for something.
Suddenly, Yusei's eyes narrowed slightly. A tall, thin man emerged from the company entrance, wearing glasses and carrying a briefcase, looking very scholarly.
A faint, eerie smile appeared beneath Yusei's hood. He stood up and slowly began to follow him.
Sugo Nobuyuki was very happy today. He had gained his boss's appreciation. As an elite talent, he was very popular.
Not only were the young women in the company making eyes at him, but the boss was even planning to arrange a meeting with his own daughter.
As an ambitious talent, he naturally wouldn't be interested in ordinary girls. He planned to win over the boss's daughter first, take control of the company, and then advance step by step.
Moreover, he'd heard the boss's daughter was quite beautiful? This stirred his lustful heart, thinking he could gain both wealth and beauty.
Unfortunately for him, he probably never dreamed in his wildest dreams that he would never get such an opportunity.