Covered Relationship

"Goddamn I told you not to look," Fulvius shouts, ripping what has grown from my bit of ivy with his bare hands. Having sensed that it is going to be destroyed, the ivy plant attempts to strangle me, beginning with the area around my waist.

"It aches so bad! Please take it off me." I scream and attempt to halt the constriction, but instead, I feel a severe burn on my fingertips. It seems as though the plant is emitting electricity.

He directs both of his palms at my waist and exclaims, "Be patient Hinata. I'm going to take its bodily life energy." The stem slowly but surely starts to lose its vitality and turns brown. It is all dried up now, dead and torn into pieces.

"Thank you. I am grateful. However, I'm feeling a little worn out, so perhaps I should just return home," As a result of his initial anger against me, I respond without trying to hide my chilly emotions. I'm very pissed off at him.

"You can't walk outside in this condition, foolish Hinata. You have lost a ton of energy as a result of this process," Fulvius chuckles as he speaks.

I'm not sure how this is supposed to be funny.

"Just lie down on my bed, and I will put a blanket on you later. As you can see, I was able to handle my role, and I wasn't choked by the plant," he continues. In the meantime, I give Fulvius a nasty stare.

"Whatever," I say, and lie down on his bed as he suggests. I'm allowing myself to nod off in the same room that is still covered in Fulvius' magic stem as my eyes flutter shut. I am so worn out from the spell that I can barely move.

"Hideki-kun, found anything interesting?" Mitsuko inquires while picking at her brow.

"No, there are only a few extra school books, sadly. I suppose they are keeping what we are looking for somewhere else." After responding, Hideki-kun silently gets off the chair. "That's it for today," he concludes as he begins packing up in order to leave.

"How do you mean that's all there is to say for today? Even the potential subject of their research is unknown to us. Come on Hideki-kun, you can do better than that." Emiko tries to persuade Hideki to help them despite her obvious dissatisfaction.

"I apologize, but this is the best I can do at this time. Try to spy on them or something, perhaps. Like, just follow them wherever they go after school," Hideki replies as he exits the lab room, closing the door behind him.

"No, we can't! They stated that today is the final day they will not be coming here." Emiko shouts.

"Emiko, calm down. We will come up with something." While attempting to focus, Mitsuko makes a remark.

"Hideki-kun suggested spying on them, what about that? When the club meeting is over, you let me know, and I follow them, right?" Mitsuko queries.

However, it's less likely that they will travel anywhere to learn more about their mystery topic on the days that they take part in club activities. More importantly, if we don't go inside, we won't be able to hear them." Emiko grumbles.

"That is true. However, we can still watch them closely. Find out where one of them, if not both, lives. I was never very good with Hinata, and I never found out." Mitsuko is becoming fairly stirred up.

"Mitsuko, this is starting to feel a little strange. Should we really go into their personal life and snoop on them like that?" Emiko expresses her reservations about the idea.

"What's wrong? We will learn a little bit more about them in this way. Actually, Emiko, you are correct. Unless we really get access into their homes which is far too risky, we won't hear a thing." Mitsuko's enthusiasm begins to wane.

Emiko solaces Mitsuko as she strokes her cheek, "Lighten up, Mitsuko."

"I am well aware of your interest in their research topic. Who wouldn't be, knowing that they use genuine magic? Moreover, I am aware of your strong dislike for Hinata. You agreed to go so far as to pretend we broke up, officially cancelling abstract arts club for this reason alone. I'll do my absolute best," she adds.

"I knew you wouldn't let me down, Emiko. It's starting to get boring here, let’s leave," Mitsuko recommends that Emiko and she walk outside on the schoolyard.

They haven't spent much time in the lab room after school, so school yard is still full of students who have more classes or spend some time in their clubs. They overhear gossip concerning Hinata's new romance while they walk. About what kind of guy Fulvius is and his family issues. Rumour has it that Fulvius and his mother were kicked out from the house when his father and mother separated last year. At the moment, they are residing in his aunt's house.

Emiko asks Mitsuko, "Do you believe those rumours are true? " She then moves in front of her and grabs both of her arms by the elbows. They have already walked out of the schoolyard.

"They could be true. As far as I can tell, Fulvius is a pretty awful person. He may play with Hinata, that much is feasible. It's a shame that the location of his aunt’s house wasn't mentioned. Damn." Mitsuko places her hands on Emiko's neck and pulls her closer. Their faces are now hardly separated from one another.

She requests Emiko to kiss her.