Later that night, Ichigo, Masaya, Minto, and Zakuro went back to Kimohama Girls' Academy. This time, Zakuro brought a small can of pepper spray and a small switchblade with her, just in case. As they walked to the spot where they were attacked, Ichigo pointed out to Minto and Masaya, "It was right here. Me and Zakuro pointed our flashlights to the second floor." She then pointed at the second floor of the school. "Then, as we noticed the shadow of a person up there, we got attacked."

Then, a voice called out, "Who are you people?!"

Ichigo and Zakuro jumped in fright as they both turned around and saw a young girl about 12 with blonde hair. Zakuro asked her, "Who are you?!"

"I'm a student here," the girl replied, somewhat frightened. "I'm Shirayuki Berii."

Minto asked her, "You're not with those guys that attacked my friends a few nights ago, right?"

"What?" Berii was confused. "No, I'm not involved in whatever you're talking about. I'm just here because I forgot something. Speaking of that, what are you talking about?"

"Me and my friend Zakuro almost got killed by two nutjobs," Ichigo replied as Berii came closer. "One was about 16 or 17 with long hair and the other was about 26 or 27 with short chestnut hair. Are you familiar with anyone around those ages?"

Berii shrugged and replied, "Not that I can recall." She then recognized Zakuro. "Say, aren't you Fujiwa-"

"Yes, I am," Zakuro replied. "Now, have you noticed anything odd around your school recently?"

"I mean," Berii replied. "Other than those two monster things that popped up near here that Tokyo Mew Mew took care of not too long ago, not really."

"I see," Masaya replied to Berii. "I wonder if-"

"Wait a minute," Berii interrupted as she remembered something. "I think I recognize the other man you described. He sounds awfully like a new teacher here named Mr. Akizuki. His first name is Yuzen."

"Thank you," Ichigo replied. "Has he been acting odd in school?"

"Not that I'm aware," Berii replied. "He seems like a nice guy to me."

May 6, 2003

After school that day, as Jurou walked away, he was suddenly confronted by Ryouta and Masaya while he rounded a corner. As he stopped in surprise, Ryouta said to him, "I know you have my Horus cards. Give them back, Jurou."

Jurou, pretending to act flabbergasted, replied with, "What? I would do no such thing, Ryouta."

"Ryouta found your fake Horus cards you swapped while he wasn't looking," Masaya said to him as he showed Jurou the fake Horus cards. "Give the real ones back." He then ripped the fake ones up and dumped them onto the ground at Jurou's feet.

Jurou, now annoyed, reached for his backpack and smacked Ryouta and Masaya across the face in one swoop. He shouted, "Enough, already!"

As Masaya and Ryouta stood back, Ryouta shouted, "You're gonna regret that!"

"Oh yeah? Try me!" Jurou readied his fists. "I'm not just good at card games. I'm also a pretty good fighter."

"Normally I'd stay out of this," Masaya said to Jurou. "But since you slapped me, too, I feel as if I have no choice but to intervene. You made the wrong choice when you decided to assault a Kendo player."

An hour later, as Ichigo tinkered with her pendant while doing her homework in her bedroom, she received a phone call from Masaya's phone. She picked up her cellphone and answered, "Hello?"

"Ah, Ichigo," replied Jurou on the other end of the line.

Ichigo, confused, asked him, "Wait, what? Why do you have Masaya's phone?"

"Meet me back at Daikan Junior High soon," Jurou replied with a sinister tone. "I need you to pick up your boyfriend and his friend." He then hung up.

Ichigo, now scared, replied, "Wait, what? What the hell are you-?! Jurou?!" She immediately got up, grabbed her pendant and her Duel Monsters deck, and ran out of her room.

About 20 minutes later, Ichigo arrived at her school. She looked around for a full minute outside in the front before Jurou beckoned to her from a corner, "Ichigo, come here."

Ichigo rounded the corner as he said and was met with a shocking sight. She immediately jumped back and screamed, "What the hell did you do to them?!"

Masaya and Ryouta had both been beaten up by Jurou, and Ryouta was bleeding from his nose. Masaya said to Ichigo, "He stole the Horus cards from Ryouta and then beat us up when we confronted him."

Ichigo, angered, yelled to Jurou, "How could you do this to them?! You're nothing but a worthless piece of trash!" The young girl was seething with rage.

Jurou ignored her name-calling and rushed at her, startling her and allowing for Jurou to land a punch square in her stomach, knocking her to her knees. As she fell and clenched her stomach with her hands, Jurou said to her, "Don't get in my way again, or else you all will know the true meaning of pain next time." He then brought out a sharp kitchen knife and showed it to Ichigo, Ryouta, and Masaya, who were all horrified. He then walked away from the gang.

Ichigo ran to Masaya and Ryouta, saying to them, "Masaya! Ryouta! Are you two alright?!" She also grabbed a napkin from her pocket and used it to wipe the blood off of Ryouta's face and nose.

Masaya got up and brushed himself off, saying, "He was a much better fighter than I thought. I almost never hate people in general, but I can definitely say for certain that I hate Jurou now." He then turned to Ichigo. "Ichigo, are you alright? You got punched in the stomach pretty hard."

"I'm fine," Ichigo replied as she helped Ryouta up.

After dinner at her house that same night, Ichigo went back upstairs to her room to continue to tinker with her pendant to try to get her mind off of Jurou. However, she noticed something different. As she looked into the pendant, she stopped herself and said to herself, "It feels weird now, as if I'm supposed to do something to the wires in this thing."

Ichigo decided to give it a try. She used a pen to pop off two of the wires and switch their end places. As soon as she did, she closed the pendant and turned it around to look at the front.

"Nothing seems different," she said to herself.

Suddenly, however, a bright light emerged from her pendant, startling her. As soon as it got going, a beam of light shot up into her forehead, implanting her Mew Mark onto her forehead as she was thrown back by the beam. She then slumped in her chair onto the desk, seemingly out cold.

Then, she awakened. However, when she did, she seemed... Different. She brushed herself off and looked around, as if she was unfamiliar with her own bedroom. She then looked at her pendant and put it around her neck before looking at her phone and her Duel Monsters deck.

Ichigo now spoke with a deeper voice and had a much different demeanor, saying, "That Jurou creep is gonna get the duel of his life." She then grabbed her phone and dialed a number into it, with said number being Jurou's. She had no prior knowledge of his number before.

Jurou answered it, saying, "Hello? It's like 9 at night, wha up?"

"Jurou," this other Ichigo replied to Jurou. "I challenge you to a duel at Daikan Junior High School soon. This is Momomiya Ichigo. Bring a spare Duel Disk with you. If I win, I will get the Horus cards. If you win, you can do whatever you want to me or my cards."

Jurou, startled at Ichigo's sudden confidence, replied, "I see. I'll meet you there, then. And yes, I will bring my old Duel Disk. Hell, I'll even let you keep it, even when you do lose, since you are going to lose."

"Now, now," the other Ichigo replied before she hung up. "Don't get too cocky, Jurou."

Half an hour later, as Jurou stood around, waiting for Ichigo to arrive, he thought to himself, "Where is she? I hope she didn't bail."

Then, the other Ichigo beckoned to him, "Hello there, Jurou. Are you ready?"

"Of course," Jurou replied as he handed his old Duel Disk to the other Ichigo, who then strapped it in and put it on before putting her deck in. "I wish you luck."

"Now," the other Ichigo began. "Before we start, I just wanna point out that this duel will have a twist at the end. You see, the loser of this duel will face a Penalty Game, as well as anyone who breaks the rules."

Jurou scoffed, "Whatever you say. I'm not afraid."