January 21, 2026: With the help of Kirito and his classmates in his mechatronics course, Asuna allows Yuuki to come visit her school via a special device: a "Bidirection Communication Probe", a shoulder-mounted device Asuna wore that would allow Yuuki to experience Asuna's school via a camera and converse with her and her classmates via a microphone and speaker. Yuuki quickly becomes the center of attention in Asuna's class, with her classmates curious about her.
After school, Yuuki asks Asuna for a small favor. The two travel to an old white house, where Yuuki used to live for a brief time as a child. Yuuki reminisces about her memories at the house, and wanted to see it one last time before it was torn down. Asuna suggests that Yuuki marry once she is of age, so she can preserve the house. Yuuki suggests that she marry Asuna, but only if Asuna was the "wife" and herself the "husband", so she wouldn't have to change her name to "Yuuki Yuuki".
Yuuki then talks of how when she lived in the house, her mother would take her and her sister to church for prayer. Yuuki's mother once stated that God would not give them trials if He did not think they could bear it. While she didn't believe it at first, now she realized how fortunate she was to be alive, so she could live and meet amazing people like Asuna. Asuna wishes she could be able to understand her mother, and her mother understand her. She asks Yuuki how she could be so strong. Yuuki claims that she's not as strong as she seems: she just smiles her way through life, even if she has to fake her smiles, so she would be honest with herself.
When Asuna returns home, she asks her mother Kyoko to put on an Amusphere and Fulldive, so that she could share how she truly felt. Reluctantly, Kyoko agrees, logging into ALO through Asuna's alternate account as a Sylph named Erika.
At first, Kyoko is not too thrilled about Fulldiving. Asuna then shows her a view outside of her cabin home. The snowy forest outside quickly brings back memories of Kyoko's home growing up, where her parents, Asuna's grandparents, used to live. Asuna tells Kyoko of how much her parents treasured her, and how proud they were that she left for university, graduated, and made a name for herself. Kyoko's father, Asuna's grandfather, wanted to keep keep their house so that if she ever felt tired and needed a rest, she could always come home.
Asuna explains that life is not simply about oneself, but how one can be happy through the happiness of others, hence why she wishes to remain at school with her friends. Kyoko is slowly moved to tears, much to her embarrasment. Asuna explains that no one can hide their feelings in the virtual world: the tears she shed were just as real as in the real world.
The following morning at breakfast, Kyoko, moved by Asuna's message, allows her to continue attending school with her friends from SAO on the condition that she keep her grades up enough to attend university later. Asuna offers her thanks to Kyoko, as well as to Yuuki.
