March 2026 — Japan
The 2025 season had finally come to an end.
For the past several months, Kirito and the others had worked relentlessly toward their respective goals. Now, with everything they could do already done, there was nothing left but to rest and wait for the results.
But before Kirito could move on to the next chapter of his life, there was one final responsibility he needed to fulfill.
It was his last day of high school.
Karasuno High School — Badminton Club
The familiar sound of badminton shoes scraping against the gymnasium floor echoed through the hall.
Players moved across the court, their rackets flashing as they continued their daily practice. The atmosphere was energetic, but there was also a faint sense of finality in the air.
Kirito stood before the gathered members alongside the other third-year players.
"So, is everyone here?"
"Yes, Captain!"
The club members answered in unison.
Kirito looked across the group for a moment. These were the people he had spent countless hours practicing with, competing alongside, and occasionally arguing with.
Soon, he wouldn't be standing here as their captain anymore.
"Before I officially announce the retirement of all the third-years, as your captain, I want to say something to you all."
The chatter died down.
"Just as we won the Nationals last year, I have the same expectations for you this year. Don't let me down."
A few of the younger players straightened their backs.
Kirito smiled faintly.
"And now, finally, I'll announce the name of the new captain."
He paused.
"This time, there will be two separate captains—one for the girls' team and one for the boys' team."
The moment those words left his mouth, the club members stared at him in surprise.
There had always been a single captain responsible for both teams.
Kirito turned toward one of the boys.
"Ai, you will be the new captain of the boys' team."
Ai froze.
His eyes widened as he pointed at himself.
"Who, me?"
"If not you, then who?" Reno replied immediately.
"Yo, bro. You're the one calling the shots in the club now," Nanase added.
"Hey, why are you making me even more nervous?"
Ai's voice trembled, and tears had already begun welling up in his eyes.
A few members laughed.
Kirito then turned toward the girls' side.
"And the new captain of the girls' team is..."
He paused for dramatic effect.
"Nagisa."
"Yes!"
Nagisa jumped for joy.
"Just watch me work my magic!"
Kirito couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm.
"You two take good care of everyone."
"Yeah," Ai replied.
"Absolutely," Nagisa said confidently.
With that, the responsibility of the club had officially been passed on.
A short while later, Kirito met Neji outside the club.
The two stood beside the school gate, enjoying one of their last conversations as high school students.
"So, what happened with the house?" Neji asked.
"Oh, that..."
Kirito scratched the back of his head.
"I still can't figure out who bought it for 880 million yen."
He gave a small smile, though the mystery still bothered him.
"And the stuff?" Neji asked.
"I had it sent to Grandma's place. She said she had plenty of room there."
Neji nodded.
Then his expression changed slightly.
"Hey, are you really leaving?"
"Leaving for where?"
"You're going to India for your studies, right?"
Kirito stared at him for a moment before laughing.
"Hey, why are you talking like a girl? It's not like I'm leaving forever. I'll keep coming back now and then."
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"Yeah, I know. Where else would you run off to?"
"You've been talking a lot of nonsense lately, you know."
"Yeah, but it was your idea to set off the fire alarm before the exams, wasn't it?"
Kirito's expression turned sheepish.
"Yeah, but I didn't say we should set all of them off at once."
The two burst out laughing.
After their laughter settled, Neji suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, and I saw Sherry at school."
Kirito immediately raised an eyebrow.
"What is that Egyptian mummy doing at school?"
Neji stared at him.
"Hey, you wrapped bandages all over her hands and head. You're the one who turned her into a mummy."
"Hey, you can't call that 'first aid.' You don't use that much bandage just to cover a small cut."
"But still, remember when she was on bed rest and then got summoned because of that fire alarm incident?"
Kirito sighed.
"And Kiyora had a great comeback too."
Neji grinned.
"She said she wasn't exactly going to flee in a wheelchair."
"That was pretty good."
The two continued laughing as they stood outside the school, reminiscing about the chaos of their final year.
Just then, Reno approached them.
"Hey, Kirito. Come take a look at the farewell party setup first."
"Yeah."
Kirito nodded and started walking toward him.
Neji called after him.
"Hey, make sure to meet up before you leave."
Kirito looked back.
"Hey, I wouldn't leave without telling you."
With that, he followed Reno back inside.
Meanwhile, in the Consultant's Office...
Sherry sat in the chair opposite Sam, a glass of water resting in her hand.
"Sir, if you wanted to discuss something personal, you could have just called."
Sam raised an eyebrow.
"So, it's 'Sir' now instead of just Sam?"
"Well, you are 'Sir' right now."
"I was actually planning to talk outside, but I didn't have the time, so I called you here instead."
Sherry leaned back slightly.
"Then let's talk like we always do—in private. Calling you 'Sir' isn't really my style."
"When did I ever say no to that?"
Sam settled comfortably onto the sofa.
Sherry picked up her glass and took a sip.
"Then why did you call me here?"
Sam's expression became more serious.
"You left the Dark Knights two years ago. Why do you want to go to DKA now?"
Sherry quietly placed the glass back down.
"Do you think I enrolled there just for fun?"
She crossed her arms.
"First of all, I was supposed to study abroad. But when I found out Kirito was going to DKA, I decided to enroll in an Indian engineering university instead."
Sam's lips curved into a knowing smile.
"Let me guess, then. You appeared for the JEE Advanced exam, and seeing the paper made you break into a cold sweat?"
Sherry gave him a look.
"And what do you mean by 'you too'?"
"The same thing happened to me. I completed my high school in India while staying with my elder sister."
Sherry's expression softened as she remembered.
"Oh, I'd forgotten that you went to India to train with Aunty."
"Yeah."
Sam shrugged.
"But it didn't matter. I didn't get into IIT anyway."
He then returned to the matter at hand.
"Never mind me. I still don't get it. If you couldn't clear the Advanced exam, why DKA specifically?"
Sherry smiled.
"My dear Sir, what is the other name for DKA? After all, they can't run such a massive campus just by training rookies. Didn't you ask Yuki?"
Sam's eyes widened slightly.
"Yeah, I know."
He paused.
"Now I understand exactly which exam you took."
The Dark Knight Academy was the world's only full-scale Dark Knight training academy.
But it wasn't merely an institution for Awakened students.
It was also one of the world's top universities, attracting thousands of students who dreamed of studying there.
The academy conducted separate entrance examinations for Awakened students and ordinary humans.
Since Sherry no longer had any connection to the Dark Knights—having resigned from her position as Vice-Captain of the 11th Division two years earlier—she had taken the standard entrance examination.
That allowed her to enroll without drawing the attention of the Dark Knights.
March 20th
"Kiri, where is my swimsuit? I need to go to the pool!"
Allya had somehow managed to turn her entire room upside down in her search.
Clothes were scattered across the floor, drawers had been left open, and several items had been pulled from their places.
Kirito appeared in the doorway.
"Do you ever manage to find anything on your own?"
He walked over to the wardrobe, opened the bottom drawer, and pulled out the swimsuit.
He held it out to her.
"Oh, so it was here."
Allya immediately took it.
"Alright, I'm off. You can tidy up the room."
And just like that, she left.
Kirito stared at the disaster she'd left behind.
"When will this girl ever learn?"
With a resigned sigh, he began picking up the clothes.
Then his phone vibrated.
A notification appeared on the screen.
A devil had been detected.
Kirito glanced at it.
"It's been a long time since I found a devil I could handle on my own."
He placed the last few clothes back into the wardrobe before heading outside.
The moment he stepped into the corridor of his apartment building, he found the devil waiting there.
Kirito looked at it.
"So, that's why they told me to handle this one alone."
He didn't even bother locking the door.
Mana gathered around his hand as his slime transformed into a sword.
The instant the devil sensed Kirito's mana, it charged at him like a wild bull.
"Let's wrap this up quickly. I need to head out too."
Kirito stepped forward and swung.
His blade narrowly missed the devil's core.
"Tch."
He backed away as the devil recovered.
"Ugh... I really need to work on my aim."
The devil charged again.
Kirito raised his hand.
"Water Jet."
A razor-thin stream of water shot forward at incredible speed.
It sliced straight through the devil's body.
The creature split in two.
"Aah..."
Kirito immediately focused on its core.
"I need to destroy its core before it heals itself."
He moved in and crushed the core.
The instant it shattered, the devil's body began disintegrating, breaking apart into dust before vanishing completely.
Kirito stared at the remains.
"So, that's what Sam meant. When the devil's core is destroyed, its remains return to Grigon."
His phone began ringing.
Kirito answered.
"Yeah, I'm on my way. Where are you?"
"Right downstairs."
It was Neji.
Kirito glanced back toward his apartment before locking the door properly.
That Same Evening
"Hey, everyone, listen up!"
Allya came running out of her room, her phone clutched tightly in her hand.
Kirito looked up.
"What happened?"
"Your results are out!"
She shoved the phone directly in front of his face.
"Yeah, yeah. I saw it."
Kirito gently moved the phone away.
"You saw the results?"
Sam immediately stood up from the sofa and walked over.
"No. I just saw the notification that DKA had announced the results."
Allya lowered her phone.
"Well then, let's check the laptop to see how they've fared."
Sam returned to the sofa and opened his laptop.
Everyone crowded around him, peering at the screen with barely contained anticipation.
Sam entered both roll numbers.
The results appeared.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then—
"Oh, yes!"
Asuna rushed forward and hugged her older brother.
"Well done, Asuna," Ren said.
"You should ask those two what their results were, too," Ren added.
"Yeah."
Asuna immediately called Sam.
"Hello?"
"Asuna-chan!"
Allya answered Sam's phone.
"Alya, what were their results?" Asuna asked.
"They both got selected. What about you?"
"Me too."
A wave of relief passed through the room.
After months of preparation, the waiting was finally over.
A little later, Sam looked around at everyone.
"Alright. Get ready."
Everyone looked at him.
"Today's party is on me. You guys worked so hard, after all."
"Yeah!"
All three shouted together, their excitement filling the room.
For the first time in months, there was nothing left to worry about.
They had made it.
April 1st
The cemetery was quiet.
A gentle breeze moved through the trees as Kirito and Allya stood before their mother's grave.
Kirito remained silent while Allya carefully placed flowers against the headstone.
She looked at the grave for a moment before speaking with a small smile.
"It's really been a tough year without Mom, hasn't it, Kiri?"
Kirito looked at the headstone.
"Yeah."
For a moment, neither of them said anything.
Then Kirito smiled softly.
"But she'll always be with us—in our hearts."
"Yeah."
Allya stood up and moved closer to her brother.
She rested her head gently against his shoulder.
Kirito didn't say anything.
He simply remained there beside her.
The two of them stood quietly before their mother's grave, watching the flowers sway in the spring breeze.
The year had been difficult.
But they had made it through together.