The next day...
Around 3:50 PM, Taro was on his way to meet Jessica at the cafe after school. Behind him, Yukiko followed.
"Yukiko... you didn't tell me anything about your plan," he said. "What are we going to do?"
Yukiko smirked, then explained:
"Just be normal. When I enter, I'll act shocked like you cheated on me. Then–"
"Don't continue, Yukiko," he interrupted, unimpressed. "Not just you'll ruin everything, you'll make everyone call me a cheater now."
"Ah... kōmen," she whispered, shocked.
Taro paused, then added:
"Everything will be fine if we just say the truth normally. She'll be convinced and stop. Simple, isn't it?"
"No, it's boring..." Yukiko responded.
"Hey hey," he muttered.
When they entered, they found Jessica on a table sitting, drinking her coffee. Instantly, Jessica saw them.
"Taro~! Over here~!" She exclaimed.
"Oi, why is she talking like that?' Yukiko asked, giving a skeptical stare.
"Beats me, ask her yourself," Taro responded.
They joined Jessica, and she asked:
"Umm, who is this girl?"
"Oi oi, I'm in the same class, are you blind?" Yukiko replied.
"Ohhh, you're that new girl," she responded. "Sorry, I didn't know you were friends."
"She's not my friend... not anymore," Taro said.
"She isn't? Then... your cousin? Or your sister?
"Neither, I'm his girlfriend, and he's mine, baka!" Yukiko responded, grabbing his arm.
Taro froze, then asked:
"Y-Yukiko... why did you...?"
"Eh? Taro never mentioned anything about having a girlfriend like you," Jessica replied.
"Oi, what do you mean like me?" Yukiko asked with a deadly glare.
"No offense, but I don't know why he would pick a foreigner," she responded.
"Believe it or not, I'm even living with him," Yukiko replied, teasing.
Jessica paused with a smirk, then said, laughing:
"Really? So you were homeless and Taro pitied you?"
"Oi temee! It's not–" Yukiko began.
"How cruel the world didn't welcome you," she continued teasing.
"Y-Yamero..." Yukiko muttered, hiding her face.
"Where are your parents? Do they know what's happening with you? Or were they the ones who caused this mess?" She kept asking.
"Enough!" Taro exclaimed.
Silence filled the atmosphere for a few seconds. With a cold glare, Taro said firmly:
"First of all, Yukiko and I are engaged, which means... our relationship is legal. Second, unfortunately, Yukiko's parents passed away when she was young. Unlike you, she had struggled in her life, and still got irritated by others... but because what? Because she's a foreigner? It doesn't matter, she's a human just like us. No one deserves to be bullied, harassed, or looked down on."
Then, he added:
"I liked Yukiko because I felt that she was just like me... and we could understand each other. Yukiko isn't pathetic, and I don't care about other people's opinions. Not Yukiko who needed me, but I needed her."
"Taro... I–" Jessica began.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Jessica," he interrupted, "but I didn't like you... or even have feelings toward you. I tried to say that long ago, but you didn't give me a chance."
Instantly, she grabbed her wallet and paid for the coffee.
"Sorry for this mess," she said quietly.
Then, she headed outside.
Yukiko was silent, then noticed how he was ashamed.
"Ne, Taro, daijobou?" She asked.
"I'm alright, Yukiko, but what about you?" He responded. "You heard unnecessary things..."
"Don't worry," she comforted, "I'm used to it. So... do you want to have a small chit chat and drink something?"
"Sure I guess... this might fix the atmosphere around," he replied, smiling.
Jessica, meanwhile, was on her way to return home. On the way, she found a mysterious necklace on the ground.
"Huh? Where did it come from?" She wondered, picking it up.
The moment she wore it, a massive red energy burst out of it. Her look changed, her hair became bigger, and she was floating midair. Apparently, she wore a Devilish Witch Necklace.
She began blasting red cursed energies downtown. Whenever she witnessed a person or an animal, she instantly shot toward them. Citizens started panicking, and policemen weren't able to stop her.
Suddenly, she saw a giant rock thrown toward her. She instantly destroyed it in half with a cursed beam, evading the incoming rock.
The one who threw it was Vincy, pumping his fists to activate {Berserk Mode}.
"Again and again, you monsters don't stop ruining my day," he complained. "Now what exactly are you?"
She didn't answer, and instantly shot toward him more blasts. He blocked it completely with his hands crossed.
"Sheesh, it burns," he muttered. "I wonder what would happen if I didn't activate my power."
Without hesitation, she kept blasting cursed beams toward him, laughing hysterically. Vincy kept evading it for a few minutes.
Wait a second... that uniform... it's from our school! He thought, shocked. This girl probably lost her mind.
While he was distracted with his thoughts, she blasted a massive beam.
"Oh no..." Vincy muttered.
However, an {Alternative Shield} appeared in front of Vincy, blocking the beam completely before vanishing.
"You came just in time, pal!" Vincy exclaimed.
Taro and Yukiko joined him. Then, Taro asked:
"What's going on, Vincy?"
"I don't know, I heard that girl shooting everywhere and on everyone so suddenly," Vincy explained. "Something is odd about her... she's from our school!"
Taro and Yukiko took a closer look, and they were shocked the moment they recognized Jessica.
"Oi... masaka...!" Yukiko muttered.
"T-That's Jessica!" Taro said.
"SHE IS?!" Vincy exclaimed. "She's the one crushing on you? Sheesh, that's wild. Seems like she exploded when she knew about your relationship."
"No, I don't think so," Taro disagreed.
Jessica started shooting them again with cursed energies. Taro unleashed another big shield.
"Why don't you think so?" Vincy asked.
"I mean... nobody would destroy the town because they just got rejected," Taro responded.
"Oh yeah, makes sense," Vincy muttered.
"Along with that, look closely at her neck," Taro added.
Vincy recognized the necklace.
"Hey... I saw that necklace before," he said.
"You do?" Taro and Yukiko asked.
"Yeah, I fought a witch wearing a red dress a few days ago... and she was wearing that necklace," he explained.
"What happened to that witch?" Yukiko asked.
"I and Ema defeated her, but we had no idea where that necklace went," Vincy responded. "Anyway, what're we going to do?"
"We need to find a way to remove and destroy that necklace," Taro answered.
"You've got a plan? Because I'm not sure how to deal with that mini gun..." Vincy replied, mocking.
"I think we need to go in different directions," Taro suggested. "Make sure not to hurt Jessica, guys... especially you, Yukiko."
"Wakarimashita," she muttered.
Instantly, the trio went in different directions. Jessica followed Yukiko and began blasting toward her. Yukiko evaded and blocked with her dual katanas at the same time.
Moments later, Vincy grabbed her attention by activating his {Berserk Mode} once again. From behind, Taro unleashed several {Azure Slashes}. He missed some on purpose to grab her attention after, then unleashed some more toward the necklace.
After a few tries, he managed to remove it. Instantly, Vincy ran into it and smashed it. With that, the necklace broke into pieces, and all the cursed energy vanished.
At this moment, Jessica returned to her normal form, hitting the ground. Fortunately, she was unconscious.
"Oh yeah! It worked!" Vincy exclaimed.
"Quick, Yukiko," Taro called. "Use your spell before she wakes up!"
Immediately, Yukiko used her {Equip Spell} and wore their school uniforms again. A few minutes later, Jessica restored her consciousness.
"Oi, daijobou ka yo?" Yukiko asked rudely.
"W-What happened?" Jessica asked back, rubbing the back of her head.
"No clue, we found you in that situation," Vincy answered, lying.
She paused, then stood and faced both Taro and Yukiko, saying:
"Taro... Yukiko... sorry for everything I said. I shouldn't have spoken too cruelly like this."
"It's fine," Yukiko replied.
"No worries, Jessica," Taro comforted, "and sorry for... breaking your heart I guess..."
"Oh no, none of you did anything wrong," she replied. "So... can we be friends, Yukiko?"
Yukiko paused, then smiled and answered:
"Mochiron, Jessica-chan!"
After that, both Yukiko and Jessica hugged each other.
"Okay... this is boring," Vincy muttered. "I honestly wanted to see some chaos around."
"Oi oi, you want some trouble?" Yukiko asked with a deadly stare.
"Umm... you know what? On second thought... it seems everything's great," he responded, giving a fake smile.
After that, Taro asked:
"By the way, Vincy... what are you doing here?"
"Umm... hang on a second," he responded.
He checked his watch. It was at 5:49 PM.
"Oh no..." Vincy muttered, completely shocked.
"What's the matter?" Taro asked.
"I promised the bird-lover we'd have lunch after school in the new restaurant," he responded, referring to Ema.
"Are you late yet?" Taro asked.
"She told me she'd be there at 4:00 PM," He said, panicked. "She'll cook me for dinner today..."
"Well, you better hurry up before she... HANGS you on the wall..." Taro suggested.
"Too late, Abodo," a voice replied suddenly.
Ema was behind Vincy, putting her hand on his shoulder.
"So... do you know what that 'bird-lover' will do to you, VincenzoGiannsoni?" She asked with a scary tone.
"W-Will it be something painful?" He wondered, freezing in shock.
"Correct~!" Ema answered, smiling innocently.
For a few moments, Ema began beating Vincy up. Meanwhile, Taro, Yukiko, and Jessica witnessed, completely shocked. Then, Jessica whispered:
"I'm glad I haven't dealt with Ema...!"