Chapter 141 – Fishing Trip with Mr. Nishida
"Yo, Asuna, long time no see! It's so great to see you again."
"Mr. Nishida, I've been waiting for you! I'm so happy too!"
"How are you? Has your body recovered well?"
"Yes, thanks to Hachiman-kun's help, my recovery has gone very smoothly."
"Mm-hmm, that's good, that's good."
Today was the day Mr. Nishida had arranged to visit Asuna.
Ever since learning from Hachiman that she'd be seeing Nishida again, Asuna had eagerly looked forward to this day.
"I only saw some reports about that situation on the news—it really was a sudden and terrible misfortune."
What Nishida referred to as "that situation" was, of course, the trouble caused by Sugo in ALO. Incidentally, Sugo was intermittently confessing his crimes and was under heavy public criticism—he had, in a sense, become the most "infamous" man in Japan.
"Yes, it was really tough at the time… but Hachiman-kun and the others saved me!"
"Mm-hmm. Having such a reliable partner—Asuna, you're very fortunate."
"I am! Very happy!"
"By the way, Mr. Nishida, are you still fishing these days?"
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Hachiman proactively shifted the topic.
"Ah, fishing. My rehabilitation training finally ended, and I've secured a new job, so I'm planning to take it up again."
"Oh, right! Congratulations on finding a job!"
"Thank you. Miss Haruno was kind enough to take in this old man—I'm really grateful."
"You'll be in charge of ALO's network maintenance, right, Mr. Nishida?"
"That's right. I failed to fulfill my duties during SAO, so I want to do it properly this time. You two can enjoy ALO with peace of mind."
"Understood!"
"Thank you so much, Mr. Nishida."
The two happily nodded to Nishida.
"By the way, Mr. Nishida, I wanted to ask you something..."
"Hmm? What is it, Asuna? As long as it's something I know—"
"Can girls fish too? I want to try it in real life."
At Asuna's sudden question, Nishida fell silent for a moment.
"Well… you do occasionally see female anglers, so it shouldn't be a problem. But some aspects might be a little troublesome—especially when it comes to bait."
"That's totally fine! Once I regain my strength, let's all go fishing together!"
"I don't mind at all."
Nishida glanced at Hachiman. In truth, he was concerned whether Asuna could handle live bait. Sensing this, Hachiman voiced the concern for him.
"Asuna, we'll be using worms as bait. You're really okay with that?"
"Yup! Worms, maggots, ragworms, water fleas—Hachiman-kun will put them on the hook for me, right?"
"..."
"Oh, but I can handle dough bait myself! Stuff like steamed sweet potatoes is no problem at all!"
Hachiman was stunned by this response.
"O-oh… You sure know a lot, Asuna."
"Actually, I got interested in fishing after Hachiman-kun talked about Mr. Nishida."
"Fishing, huh… sounds pretty fun."
"Yeah! I think I could manage lure fishing, but fly fishing seems pretty hard. I mean, I can probably do a downstream cast, but I can't really imagine techniques like gently tapping the water's surface… Mr. Nishida, do you think I can manage?"
Nishida stared at Asuna in surprise, then suddenly burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! For beginners, it's best to start with live bait and build up from there. But with Asuna's smarts, I'm sure you'll pick it up quickly. And with Hachiman helping with the bait, there shouldn't be a problem."
"Yup! I'll do my best! Catch and release! Ah, but I also want to try fish rubbing prints."
Listening to Asuna's nonstop enthusiasm, Hachiman stared blankly and said:
"You're really into this… But since when did you know so much about fishing? You said you had no idea before."
"Oh, that? Actually, I learned from reading manga."
That unexpected answer left Hachiman speechless.
"Aren't I amazing? Praise me, Hachiman-kun!"
"Yeah yeah, amazing, amazing."
"I got super excited when I read about the discovery of kokanee salmon in Lake Saiko in real life!"
"You even looked up related info…"
"Hehe~"
Asuna scrunched up her nose proudly, and Hachiman interrupted with a wry smile:
"Alright, alright, let's stop here for today."
"Aww~ I still had so much more to talk about."
"Looks like you're really hooked… I'll listen more next time."
"Mm!"
"Hahaha."
Listening to them, Nishida couldn't help but chuckle.
"Seeing how enthusiastic you are, I'll go ahead and make some plans with Hachiman-kun. But first, make sure you fully recover, okay?"
"Got it! Please take care of it! Hachiman-kun, you help too!"
"Yeah, yeah."
Nishida looked at the two warmly and said with feeling:
"Seeing you two so happy—it's really wonderful."
"Yes! We're really happy right now!"
"Yeah. I feel really happy too."
Nishida narrowed his eyes and added:
"You two are like my own grandchildren. Including Kirito and Lizbeth, that makes four grandkids now."
Suddenly, Hachiman remembered something he hadn't mentioned.
"Oh right, Mr. Nishida, maybe you don't know this, but Lizbeth was also one of the final 100 rescued, like Asuna. If you're available, could you visit her too? I'm sure she'd be really happy."
Nishida was surprised but immediately nodded.
"Is that so? Of course, no problem. Can you tell me which hospital she's in?"
"Thank you so much!"
"Liz will definitely be thrilled!"
"Alright, the hospital address is..."
After Hachiman gave the details, Nishida confirmed:
"It's right near the station on my way home. There's still time—I should be able to visit today, depending on whether it's convenient for her."
"Just mention 'Rika's room' and they'll direct you."
"I'll call Liz right now!"
Asuna quickly dialed the number:
"Hello? Ah, Liz? Mr. Nishida is here now. If it's convenient later—"
As Asuna explained, she gave an OK sign to Nishida. Just then, Kirito sent a message, and Hachiman relayed it:
"Kirito says they're together right now."
"Then I'll go visit. You two, I'll come see you again another day."
"You're always welcome!"
"Looking forward to fishing with you both. Goodbye for now."
"Goodbye, Mr. Nishida!"
"I'll work hard at rehab! See you!"
After Nishida left, Asuna happily said to Hachiman:
"Mr. Nishida is happy too. That's wonderful, Hachiman-kun."
"Yeah. Seeing him so energetic is a relief."
"I'm really looking forward to fishing!"
"Better start preparing our gear early."
Asuna suddenly stuck out her tongue:
"Oops! I totally forgot about that."
"Let's ask Mr. Nishida about rod lengths and stuff next time."
"I'll leave that to you, Hachiman-kun. Oh, by the way—"
"Hmm?"
Asuna suddenly put on a serious expression and asked:
"Do you think giant monster fish really exist?"
Hachiman sighed deeply:
"Yep… she's really fallen into the fishing world."
"Mm! You're not allowed to sleep tonight!"
"Even if you say that in a sexy voice, it's still a no. I'll chat with you, but I'm going home at curfew."
That night, after returning from the visit, Hachiman had just gotten out of the bath and was lying down when he received a call from Kirito.
"Yo, Kirito. Did you see Mr. Nishida?"
"Yeah. Liz was super happy."
"That's great."
"But then..."
Hearing the heavy tone in Kirito's voice, Hachiman asked worriedly:
"What happened?"
"..."
"Is something wrong with Liz?"
"She said, 'I want to go fishing too! Make you put the bait on for me, Kazuto!'"
Hachiman facepalmed and sighed: "You too, Liz? Seriously?" He replied:
"Nothing wrong with that. I'll handle Asuna's bait."
"But I'm scared of bugs!"
"You'll have to get over that."
"Damn it... Wait, did Asuna say something to you?"
"Probably not."
"If that's all, I'm going to sleep."
...
Hachiman promptly hung up and drifted off to sleep.