Chapter 44: An Offline Meet-up.

Tokorozawa General Hospital, Saitama.

Kirito was walking into the Hospital to visit Asuna, he parked his bike and walked to the reception to ask the receptionist if he could visit her today.

Getting an okay from the receptionist, he was about to walk off but his shoulder was grabbed from behind. He turned around to see a face that he never thought he would meet so soon, there stood a charming young man with golden locks and beautiful ice blue eyes, smiling brightly at him.

"It's been a while, Kirito." Aster extended his hand which Kirito took and pulled him into a one-arm hug.

"It's been a while, Frost, how have you guys been?" Kirito asked with a nostalgic smile.

"We are doing good, getting nice returns and making some nice money, what brings you here to a hospital out of all places?" Aster asked.

Kirito's eyes clouded with grief, pain, and regret, Aster knew that he was here for Asuna, but he could not let Kirito know that.

"It's Asuna..." Kirito sighed.

"What is she doing here? Is she doing alright? Oi, receptionist-nee chan! Get the girl he is here to visit upgraded to the best suit we have." Aster spoke to the receptionist who looked it up.

"She is already in a VIP room, Frost-sama. But we can upgrade her to the prime suits, should we?" she asked.

"Do it, and make sure she gets the best treatment, oh and add the cost to my tab, make sure that the ledgers are properly maintained." Aster nodded.

"Hai~ We will surely keep the ledgers proper Frost -sama, Dragon-sama taught us a lot, we can't disappoint him!" she replied in a peppy manner.

"Sure!" Aster nodded.

"Frost, are you a young master?" Kirito asked with a twitching left eye.

"Nah, I don't have parents, nor a sect or a hidden family clan. So, I don't think I qualify for the title." Aster chuckled.

"How did you guys do this, last I remember you guys were opening a cafe," Kirito asked as they walked towards Asuna's room.

"We did and the investments we made with all of Ryu's inheritance two years ago, paid off. So, we had a decent amount to start playing with and then we started dealing in stocks, real estate, gold, liquor, tobacco, and even tech."

"We bought over and short sell-ed a lot of companies, gold, and a lot of tech companies that were in the slumps after the SAO incident was bought by us, and ever since the 'SEED' came into the play, we made a lot more. So we decided to expand the business, eight months down the line, we became big shots. So, what's up with you?" Aster asked with a smile.

"I don't know how to reply after something like that, I mean I was recovering and rehabilitating while you guys were busy making money. Seriously, you two never change... Even back then, you guys were making money way before the people even managed to clear the First Floor, so I guess it's kind of expected from the black-bellied merchants." Kirito chuckled.

They reached Asuna's room and Kirito swiped the visiting card he received at the reception to gain entrance, while Aster received a call. He attended the call while Kirito walked in, and just as he was about to close the door behind them, they saw a man walk in with a bouquet of flowers, "Oh, you are here Kirigaya-kun, thank you for visiting her so often," he smiled.

Another man walked into the room, a man nearing or in his thirties with a face that screamed, 'OSSAN !' and a build that was very normal. Mr. Yuuki introduced the man as their Laboratory Chief Nobuyuki Sugou.

"My name is Nobuyuki Sugou, nice to meet you" the man introduced himself politely. He then behaved like a fanboy as he shook Kirito's hand seeing that he was the famous Black Swordsman. Mr. Yuuki introduced Sugou as the son of his right-hand man, who was like family to him, and then decided to drop the bomb, that this man would marry Asuna in a few months.

Kirito who was still in relapse from the shock, was shaken awake by Aster's voice when he came in, "Hey, Yuuki-san, what are you doing here?" asked Aster with a doubtful voice.

"Frost-sama! it's nice to meet you but that question should be mine... This is my daughter's room, so..." he drawled on expecting Aster to answer him.

"Oh, I met him down at the reception and came to meet Asuna when I heard that she was here, didn't expect you guys to be related. Anyways, I upgraded her to a prime suite and took it under my tab, so don't pay a cent if any idiot dares to send you a bill." Aster smiled cheerfully.

"You shouldn't have Frost-sama," Mr. Yuuki wanted to refuse.

"Don't refuse, I did that before I knew she was your daughter, and besides she is still my friend before she is your daughter to me. Anyways, Ryu will come to get to those documents somewhere by the next hour, tell him to buy some marshmallows before coming back." Aster smiled while Mr. Yuuki could not help but smile and accept.

"You young people talk among yourselves, I have to return to the office." Mr. Yuuki excused himself.

"Aster, how do you know Asuna's father and why was he calling you with a 'sama'?" Kirito asked.

"Well, we kind of own somewhere around 40 percent of his company. The reason he hurried off to the office was that Ryu was supposed to be there to finalize the paperwork. Anyways, let's talk about money... Oh, who are you again?" Aster stopped to look at Sugou who was almost twitching because he was ignored from the moment Aster walked in. Like he was an extra that he truly was.

This hit the man in his inflated ego but he still knew how to keep his head low, now that he heard that the boy standing before him owned a good chunk of their company, so much so that his boss had to address him with due respect when the person in question was being informal.

"My name is Nobuyuki Sugou, the Laboratory Chief of..." before Sugou could continue, Aster exclaimed, "oh, I heard about you... yes, you were Aki's underling right?"

It did not take a rocket scientist to figure out who the boy before him was referring to. Sugou's left eye looked like it was on a glitch with how fast it was flickering, as he desperately tried to keep himself sane, "yes, that would be so. But, I can assure you that I am in no way affiliated with him."

"I know, you are not smart enough for that. Aki would have eaten a bagel with marshmallows rather than handing you a project as big as managing the core files of SAO. Regardless, I have been hearing a lot of bad reports against you, especially from the female underlings of your department, how do you explain that?" Aster asked with a cold stare.

"I-It's slander, I have done no such thing that could besmirch me or my family!" he complained.

"Very well, I will leave it at that, but listen to this and remember well, don't you dare insult Aki's legacy, I will leave it at that." Aster growled.

"Yes, sir." came a weak response.

"Good, now get me those old files and records which hold the Nerve Gear data, and I want all of it and make sure that there are no flaws in them, I want the work swift and precise, am I clear?" Aster asked.

"Yes." Sugou left the room with sweat covering him.

"Wow, that was intense. I thought that it was just in the game, but this was something else." Kirito was so excited that the fact that Asuna was going to be married, had left his head.

"So, what was that bloke doing here?" Aster asked bringing the subject back to the track.

"That was the person who is supposed to marry Asuna, she is not even back and he wants to marry her. That bastard, I am sure something is wrong with him!" Kirito spoke with silent rage as pain filled his senses.

"Well, I think I can help you with that... You see, my maid brought me an interesting picture last night." Aster smiled and handed him the picture of the birdcage.

A birdcage the players of ALO found on top of the World Tree, and in the birdcage was a beautiful woman with orange hair.