Rivals

Memories

As I was strolling past the roadside with Jackie and Riko on my side, my eyes fell on a violet, flashy jacket. I giggled. It reminded me of that time with Jayden. . .

Flashback

"Everybody get out of the class! There's a fire!" There was chaos everywhere. The teachers evacuated us fellow students, while Riko and me were lost in our world.

"Hahaha, I knew this would've happened!" Riko shrieked.

I rubbed my temples and sighed. "This isn't funny! We almost caused a disaster."

"Well, we weren't the ones who did it, the bully did." She winked.

"Well, if we wouldn't have used that electro skill {Genshin Impact reference!}, there would've been none of this! I told you it was way too risky!"

"But if you didn't use it as a distraction, she would've gotten in our business and figured out many secrets!" She had a point.

"But still we weren't. . . It's not like. . ." I was confused. Maybe what we did was right. She started laughing again like an annoying kid.

"You are impossible." I ended. We were now outside the school building with a hoard of other students. There was chaos and confusion.

"Move. . . aside. Move away!" A cute voice said.

"Huh? Joichiro?" I patted his shoulder.

"Eh!? Ayako? How'd you know it's me? Anyway, where is Jayden?"

"The way you ask makes it sound like he's always with me." I said, half annoyed. He giggled and smirked mischievously. The tense expression he had a few moments ago was replaced.

"Whew. Let's search for him, okay?" Riko said from behind. We began our search.

"Okay. . ." Mumbled Joichiro. "You search left--"

"There he is!" I shouted.

His jaw dropped, "How did she...?"

"Leave him to her, she finds him in nanoseconds!" Riko remarked.

I decided to call out to him, there was no other way to let him know we were searching for him in this crowd.

"Jayde-" Suddenly, something burned in my throat.

What the? What kind of curse is this!?

I coughed loudly, nothing worked. That's when I realized, my jacket had caught fire. I was too distracted to realize it. I was so mad at myself but then wasn't the time for that. I quickly yanked the jacket out of my arms and threw it on the ground. I stomped at it until the fire extinguished. Riko and Joichiro joined me too, as soon as they noticed.

"Oh my god, good grief, Ayako!" Riko exclaimed, "You've burned to a crisp!"

"As if," I scoffed. It was all over. The sun was setting already. The pain in my throat was because of the smoke deriving from the fire.

"Have you ever thought about this, Ayako?" Riko asked me on our way home. "Why do we always find ourselves in crazy situations?"

"Well, that's simply because we're special. We're adventures on our quest to-"

"Hey, Ayako. Here's your jacket." Jayden handed me a violet, flashy jacket.

I gasped in horror as I realized that the jacket that has burned was actually Jayden's. "Omg I'm so sorry, Jayden. I burned your jacket! I'm so careless."

For a second, I thought I saw Jayden smirk. But as soon as I blinked my eye, I realized it was probably my imagination.

"Take care next time. That's all I can say." He said and went his own way.

Present Day

"Now that I think about it, Jayden had actually exchanged our jackets on purpose. I know I saw him looking my jacket with weird intentions." I explained.

"But that is not enough proof, maybe he was just wondering how you both have the same jackets." Jackie mumbled.

I slammed the table and yelled, "No! I don't believe a single thing about him anymore. He's such a fake."

A waiter came marching out, "Excuse me, miss. Please don't disturb the other guests."

"I get it, I get it." I grumbled. Soon, the ice creams arrived.

"Speaking of which," Jackie spoke while sipping on her milkshake, "What makes you think Jayden's from the Dark Realm?" There was a moment of silence. "I mean, you just woke up and suddenly held your head and-"

"I'll explain." I ended. I sipped on my cold coffee. There was a lair of foam above my lips. And of course, Riko was the one to point it out.

"You look hilarious!" She teased.

"Ah, did I ask?" I smugly replied.

I had forgotten about everything for a while. I was enjoying with my pals when I felt somebody's eyes on us.

"Hey. . ." I spoke softly, "That blue haired over there." Jackie took the hint, straightened her back and acted causual.

"So, yes guys. Let's. . . Go to the park next."