"Are you crazy? Let Asuna decide for herself? If you can't be a man about it, then I'll decide. Asuna may have a good impression of this boy named Seiya, but that was just in a game. I'll question him, and you just sit there and keep your mouth shut. Follow my lead." Kyouko knew her husband had wanted to marry Asuna to Sugou, who turned out to be a scumbag. It was normal for him to feel guilty, but letting Asuna completely do as she pleased was not an option.
"I really think Seiya is a good kid. He not only saved Asuna, but she also likes him a lot. And don't let his age fool you. I've spent time with him, and he's much more mature than others his age. To be honest, I'm not worried about him not being good enough for our daughter; I'm worried about whether he'll even look at Asuna..." Shouzo felt he knew Seiya better than his wife. Could a mere millionaire or a high-ranking official compare to someone with supernatural power? He knew that if Seiya wanted a partner, many powerful families would be lining up for an alliance. Their daughter, Asuna, was beautiful, but there were countless beautiful women in the world. Now that there was a chance to connect with a mysterious being like Seiya, his wife was trying to stop it. She had no idea what she was doing.
"Regardless of what Asuna thinks, we need to find out what kind of person this Seiya is. Are you trying to push your daughter into a fire pit again?"
Kyouko was surprised by her husband's high praise for Seiya. While he had made a mistake with Sugou, Shouzo had held a high position for many years and rarely praised anyone like this, especially a boy.
That evening, the Yuuki couple insisted that Seiya stay for dinner. The Yuukis were a wealthy family, and the dinner was to thank Seiya, so the dishes were extravagant. Shouzo even hired a professional chef and opened a bottle of wine he had been saving for a special occasion. Seiya looked at the lavish spread and sighed at the luxury of the rich. He then began to slowly cut his steak. After being trapped in a game for two and a half years, he hadn't eaten a proper meal. He'd been eating real food for the past couple of days, but Suguha's amateur cooking had limited him to just porridge, and his taste buds were desperate for flavor.
"Mr. Yuuki, I'll pass on the wine. I'm underage, and it's illegal to serve alcohol to a minor in this country, isn't it?"
Seiya's address as "Mr. Yuuki" made Shouzo's heart swell. He quickly replied, "Oh, right, right, right. I almost forgot you're a year younger than Asuna. If wine is out, how about some juice? Our juice is pretty good." Shouzo gestured, and a sharp-eyed maid quickly poured Seiya a glass of juice.
"Seiya, since you're Asuna's friend, is it okay if I call you that?" Kyouko asked.
"Of course, Mrs. Yuuki. You're Asuna's mother. It would feel awkward for you to use honorifics with me."
Kyouko nodded in satisfaction. She looked at her happy-go-lucky husband and sighed, thinking that men were useless. Then, she asked Seiya, pretending to be casual, "Seiya-kun, what does your family do? And how did you meet Asuna?"
Seiya was momentarily stunned by Kyouko's questions. He looked at Shouzo with a strange expression. As Asuna's mother, it was normal for her to be curious about him. But Seiya found it odd that two or three days had passed since he visited Shouzo, and Shouzo hadn't told his wife anything about him.
Seeing Seiya's look, Shouzo immediately understood. But he couldn't be blamed for this. Seiya had warned him not to tell others about his powers. How was he to know if "others" included his wife? As for investigating Seiya, Shouzo didn't dare. The power Seiya had shown him was like that of a god. If he had known Seiya and Asuna were close and that he was so easy to talk to, he wouldn't have been so anxious for the past two days.
Seiya looked at Shouzo's expression and guessed what was going on. He was amused. His previous actions had clearly terrified Shouzo. To ease their fears, Seiya briefly explained his background and how he met Asuna in SAO. To avoid making Kyouko as anxious as Shouzo, he didn't mention his supernatural abilities.
Even with just the basic information, Kyouko was impressed. Leaving aside his family background, Seiya was an outstanding person for his age. He had won a national kendo championship in middle school and was a top student before the game. He was also well-mannered. His refusal to drink showed his strong self-discipline. She figured his family was from China and might be an ancient, cultured family. Even if it had fallen on hard times, it would still be a family that others couldn't look down on. Although their time together was brief, Kyouko found Seiya to be impeccable in every way. When she started talking about boring cultural and academic topics, he was able to discuss them at length. Kyouko looked at him like a mother-in-law eyeing a potential son-in-law and became more and more satisfied with her daughter's choice.