Sekai pushed himself up with some difficulty due to exhaustion and approached the girl who had fainted. On the opposite side of the girl, Jessyka was still on her knees, staring at her bracelet in confusion. When he got closer, Sekai bent slightly to look at the red-haired girl.
"Hmm… Jessy? Are you okay? Did that dark energy hurt you?" Sekai asked, confused and worried about the situation.
"I… I don't feel anything different, I think I'm fine. The only thing that's strange is that one of the pearls on my bracelet is black now." Jessyka said, still confused.
"Hmm… maybe this bracelet works as protection."
"What do you mean?"
"We found it along with my necklace, right? Maybe it's some kind of way to protect you from these spirits, I don't know."
"Did one of the pearls turn black because it protected me…? I don't know, Sekai. Then why didn't it work before when I was on top of the girl?" Jessyka asked, still staring at the bracelet.
"I don't know… maybe it needs some kind of activation or something…"
"Ah! You know what, whatever! We're not gonna figure anything out by standing here! I'm fine and that's all that matters!" Jessyka said, frustrated and irritated for not understanding the situation.
"Haha!" Sekai let out a small laugh. "I'm glad you're okay then! Let's go home, our uncle won't be happy with the time we're getting back…"
Jessyka looked at Sekai, opened her arms, and said nothing.
"…"
She stared at him. The boy looked back, confused.
"Ahem!" Jessyka cleared her throat, clearly waiting for Sekai to do something.
Sekai blinked, confused.
"For heaven's sake, boy! Pick me up!" Jessyka said angrily.
"Ah! Sorry!" Sekai hurried to her, wrapped his arms around her, and lifted her up from the ground.
"Hehe!" Jessyka snuggled closer into the embrace. "You know, Sekai… so much happened today. Not just today—everything's been crazy for a long time now. I thought my life had ended when I lost my father…"
Sekai listened quietly and hugged her tighter.
"I don't know what you really think of me, Sekai… but to me, you're the most important thing in my life. I don't know what I'd do without you. My heart tightens when we're apart, and seeing you in danger hurts me…" Jessyka's eyes filled with tears as she hugged him even tighter.
"I… I'm so happy you're okay…" she said, trying to hold back the tears, though they still slid down her face.
"Me too, Jessy… me too…" Sekai hugged her warmly.
After a few silent seconds, they pulled away. Jessyka wiped her tears.
Sekai looked around the gym. A locker in the bleachers, tons of broken seats, the girls' locker room door completely destroyed—not to mention the chaos inside.
"My God, how are we supposed to explain this…?" Sekai put his hands on his head, panicking.
"Oh! Leave that to me, Sekai! I've got this!" Jessyka began walking toward the girls' locker room.
"Jessy? What are you going to do?? Jessy?" He called after her, but she ignored him and kept walking.
Jessyka entered the locker room. A few seconds later Sekai heard a metallic sound.
CLANK!
A few seconds after that, Jessyka walked out normally toward Sekai.
"Glk… Jessy… what did you do…?" Sekai swallowed hard, looking at her. Jessyka pushed back her red hair and crossed her arms.
"I broke the gas pipeline."
"YOU WHAT??!!"
BOOM! KRR-SHHHHH!
Right after Sekai's scream, an explosion followed by the hiss of gas echoed through the gym.
"OH MY GOD, JESSY! WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Sekai shouted in despair.
"Oh, come on, Sekai, it's not that big of a deal. There are no cameras here—and best of all, now we have an excuse."
"But Jessy, if they find out, we're screwed…"
"There's no one here except me, you, and the unconscious girl over there. So if nobody opens their mouth, we're safe."
"I don't know, Jessy…"
"You're such a goody two-shoes, Sekai! Nothing's gonna happen, relax!"
"Fine… if you say so…"
Sekai sighed and looked at the girl lying unconscious on the floor. With more calm now, he could examine her properly. She had short black hair, about shoulder length. She was short—probably a first-year like them.
She's way smaller than she was while possessed… he thought.
Jessyka suddenly appeared in front of Sekai.
"What are you staring at? Already trying to flirt with Sleeping Beauty over there?" she asked, arms crossed.
"What?! No, Jessy! I was just worried about the girl…"
"Sure…" Jessyka narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Sekai.
The gym doors were still open—it was already night outside.
"All right, Sekai! Let's grab our stuff and get out of here!"
"But Jessy… what do we do about the girl?"
"Leave her there." Jessyka shrugged and headed to grab her bag.
"We can't just leave her, Jessy! We have to take her out!"
"Oh come on, Sekai! She's gonna wake up soon. Or someone will show up and grab her."
A few seconds later, two middle-aged men appeared outside the gym—security guards in blue uniforms holding flashlights.
"I think the explosion came from he—my God!" The first guard stepped in, stunned by the wreckage.
"See, Sekai? Didn't take long at all!" Jessyka smirked.
"Haa…" Sekai sighed.
The second guard entered behind the first one and spotted them.
"Hey! You two! Are you okay?!"
"Yes! We're okay!" Sekai answered.
The two guards quickly approached.
"Young ones, we heard an explosion and came to check. What happened here?"
"Well…" Sekai scratched his head, embarrassed.
"The girls' bathroom gas pipeline exploded," Jessyka said calmly.
"My goodness! And you're both okay?!" the second guard asked, worried.
"Yes, today I had a match with another student, and and afterwards I decided to take a shower to cool off. But one of the gas pipes exploded and sent a locker flying through the bleachers."
"But a gas pipe wouldn't have the strength to—" the first guard began, but the second interrupted.
"My God, you poor things! That must've been terrifying!" the second guard says, sympathizing with the situation.
"Yes, it was so scary! I cried so much! If it weren't for my handsome, strong, and brave cousin, I would've been done for!" Jessyka said, faking fear and distress.
"This skinny kid he—" the first guard tried to speak, but the second cut him off again.
"What a hero! What a fine young man! Good thing you were here!" he said, gripping Sekai's shoulder.
"Ah… well… I…" Sekai didn't know how to react.
"My cousin helped bring out another girl—looks like she was in the locker room and a locker fell on her during the explosion. She's unconscious."
"A locker fell on her in an explosion like this? But she doesn't even look hur—" the first guard started but was interrupted again.
"MY GOD!!!" the second guard screamed. "She's unconscious! She must've hit her head hard!" He ran toward the girl.
"Come on, help me with the girl! Hey, sweetheart, can you hear me…? Hey…?!"
"Ah… whatever. You two, I don't know what happened here or if you're telling the truth, but it doesn't matter. It's late, so get going. We'll take care of the girl."
"Right, sir, thank you," Sekai said with a respectful bow.
"Heck yeah!" Jessyka said cheerfully.
The two grabbed their things and left the gym. Even though the day had been hot, the night was cool and pleasant. They walked toward the school gates.
"Our uncle must be furious…" Sekai turned on his phone—and found dozens of missed calls and messages.
"Haha, he was definitely worried," Jessyka laughed.
"This isn't funny, Jessy. We're gonna get scolded when he—"
Before he finished, he saw a black compact car parked outside the school gates. A tall man in blue shorts, a white T-shirt, and black hair was looking at his phone. The man raised his head with a furious expression.
"Oh, it's Uncle Tom," Jessyka said.
"Yeah… it's Uncle Tom…" Sekai muttered, a chill running down his spine.