It was a typical summer day. There were two more weeks for Sam to return, but at the house, something else was going on.
"Holidays!" Allya shouted, jumping on Kirito while he was still sleeping.
"Ouch!" Kirito shouted in pain. "Allya, what was that for?" "Oh, my dear brother, it's already 8:00 AM," Allya replied.
"So what? Let me sleep. Reno already made breakfast, so go and eat; don't bother me," Kirito said.
"Wake up, wake up... dear brother, wake up!" Allya sang while sitting on Kirito.
"What do you want?" Kirito asked, frustrated.
"That is exactly what I wanted to hear," Allya said with an evil smile. "Today is my P.T.M. (Parent-Teacher Meeting)".
"I know that," Kirito said.
"If I get a rank in the top 10, you will buy me a drone," Allya said.
"Why? Why did you make me promise that?" Kirito asked. "First of all, you need to get the grades".
"No, you are going to buy it for me!" Allya insisted.
"Fine, only if you are in the top 10," Kirito agreed.
With joy, Allya jumped down from the bed and left the room.
"Ouch... when will she stop doing things like that?" Kirito muttered as he finally woke up.
Allya was jumping around the house, confident she would get the rank.
"Allya, stop dancing around and come eat," Reno called to her.
"Good morning Allya," Reno and Asuna said as they came out.
"Good morning everyone!" Allya chirped.
"Huh? Reno, where is Kirito?" Asuna asked.
"He is still in his room," Reno replied.
Kirito opened the door to his room and came out for breakfast while Rika watched them from the kitchen window.
"The architect of this house was good; you get a proper view of the hall from here," Rika thought while taking a sip of coffee.
Suddenly, Sam's phone began to ring.
"Hello, Sam?"
"Good morning, brother," Rika said.
"Good morning. What's the matter? Why did you call so early, and how are you even awake?" Sam asked.
"I changed my routine," Rika replied. "By the way, today is Allya's P.T.M., so a guardian should go with her, right?".
"No, you don't need to go. Her brother can go. I have to go to the Academy first to complete some paperwork," Sam said.
"Yes, sure... I always have to wait," Rika sighed, putting down her cup. She ended the call and went to take a shower.
At School
"What in the world?" Allya was totally shocked after seeing her results.
"Well done, Allya. You are a new student, but your progress is fantastic. Keep it up," Allya's teacher said.
"Thank you, Ma'am," Allya replied.
Allya had ranked 12th in the class. All her confidence was shaken. As they left the school, Kirito took a breath of relief.
"Your result is good. Keep it up, and you can get into the top 10 next time," Kirito encouraged.
"I don't get it! How did I get 12th rank even after getting 89percent?" Allya kicked the wheel of the car.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch!" Allya shouted in pain.
"Who told you to take your anger out on the car?" Kirito asked.
Kirito then saw a message on his mobile. Yuki was calling the whole of Batch-2 to the Academy.
"Why are they calling us in the middle of the holidays?" Kirito wondered.
Kirito dropped Allya at home, picked up Asuna and Reno, and headed toward the Academy.
At the Academy
"Everyone, fall in!" Yuki commanded.
"I know your summer holidays are ongoing, but the Dark Knight never rests. Today, I will announce the teams for different missions:
neutralization, patrolling, research, and scouting. You will have 4 days to complete your mission. To pass this semester, you need 180 points. This mission carries 50 points upon completion, 30 points if 75% complete, and -20 if you fail. Any questions?" Yuki explained.
"No, sir!" everyone responded.
Yuki began declaring the teams and their leaders.
"Team 24 members will be: Lucky Chattni, Kirito Kaizawa, Asuna Akabane, Reno Tachibana, Pragyanjali Sen, Lucious Velgard, David, and Ansh Upadhya," Yuki announced
They all belonged to the same class and met there. One question remained: since they were all in one category, who would be the leader? "Guys, I think Lucious should be the leader," someone suggested.
"Yes, because only those two were not with us before," another added.
"Do you think we will follow his orders?" Kirito asked.
"Never!" they all replied.
"Then the leader of the team will be Kirito," someone decided.
"Yes, Kirito!" "We are done here," Pragyanjali said.
"Everyone already gave us -20," Lucious noted.
"Yes, we are talking about something else, Pragyanjali," another said.
Once the teams wereseparated, Yuki declared the missions and handed over the reports and objectives.
"So, ours is neutralization," Lucky noted. "Where do we have to go?"
"Orcha, a heritage site," Reno answered. "It is almost 220 km away".
"Let's see what we have to do," Kirito said.
"We have 4 days to neutralize 10 targets," Kirito read from the paper. "Our search radius will be 10 km. We can choose our supplies from the gear house. We get 1,200 per person for living expenses".
"That means we will have around 24,000," David calculated.
"We can use our own money too," Lucious suggested.
"You didn't read the brief properly. Using your own weapons, money, or supplies is strictly forbidden. If caught, you will get -50 points," Reno warned.
"When do we start?" Ansh asked.
"On the 18th of May," Runa replied.
"Let's make a plan for it," Kirito said.
"Yes!" everyone agreed.
At home Allya's face was blown up like a balloon.
"Why is she like this?" Reno asked.
"She's upset because she didn't get the rank," Kirito explained from the kitchen as he took the car keys from the table.
"Let go!" Kirito ready to leave.
"Where?" Allya asked, still angry.
"Hmm... I promised my cute little sister that if she got above 85, I would buy her anything she wanted," Kirito tease her.
Allya jumped from the couch and hugged Kirito so hard he lost his balance.
"Thank you, brother!" Allya cried, full of joy.