The Brawl

The plant monster is creaking loudly. Even though it is immobile, it is clear that it wants to flee. This enormous white bloom has numerous teeth on the corners of its petals. There is a blazing dark green liquid where shackles have injured its flesh. The monster almost looks like it's bleeding. It moves all of its teeth continually, as though it can't wait to devour someone.

We are startled by a loud scream. We can tell by the volume that the individual who screamed is fairly close to us.

Fulvius stands up and says, "Hinata stay here, I'm going to check in the direction where the voice came from."

"Emiko you are so stupid, he heard you screaming. See how he is already coming towards us. We must depart now!" Hideki says in a furious tone.

"Put the camera away. Even if he finds us, keep the camera secure. We must have that video," Emiko responds.

"I've already on it. Take it, Mitsuko-san, and try to exit the forest with Emiko. Let me handle the rest!" Hideki exclaims as he hands the packed camera and its pedestal to Mitsuko.

"What the heck are you doing here, Hideki-kun? Why did you come here in the first place?" Fulvius becomes enraged the moment he sees Hideki.

"I followed you to find out the truth since I didn't like how many things you withheld from us," Hideki responds cynically. 

"Do you believe that to be a good pretext for spying on us?" Fulvius pushes him angrily.
"No, but I don't need to make any excuses. We were meant to be a team. Without keeping any secrets from one another." Hideki remarks, a little taken aback by Fulvius' violent behaviour.

"You have a point, but you have just proven shady, as I have always suspected of you," Fulvius says while giving him a threatening glare.

"Fulvius, if you want to fight, let's go further away otherwise your beloved Hinata might hear your girly screams when I beat your ass. I have been wanting to give you a good beating for a while now." Hideki smirks and rolls his sleeves up.

"You will be the one screaming after I am done with you, " Fulvius states concealing his anger.

Hideki starts to walk the opposite direction of where Emiko and Mitsuko ran off in a hurry and then adds, "We will see about that."

"Who is behind this?" Fulvius asks directly after they have reached a location far enough from Hinata's ears.

"Nobody. I'm handling this on my own," Hideki responds.

Without even bothering to listen to what else Hideki has to say, Fulvius punches Hideki in the face. "Something tells me not to trust a single word you say," he says.

"You little shit, who are you defending? Emiko, maybe?" Fulvius asks, and he punches Hideki in the face once more. It was a fairly strong hit, enough to injure Hideki's face and split his lip.

Hideki stutters while wiping the blood from his lips, "No, I'm not covering for anyone."

"Stop lying to me. I know you have a thing for her and would do anything she asks. But sadly for you, she prefers females." Fulvius deliberately provokes him.

"How did you find out? Who told you that I have a thing for her?" Hideki's face turns scarlet, but he is also so enraged by the truth about Emiko's preferences that he hits Fulvius in the stomach as hard as he can.

"I have my ways of finding things, but I am not as transparent as you are," Fulvius says this while grinning, hiding any signs of discomfort on his face.

"You are an arrogant son of a bitch and I have always disliked you. You are a serpent with your undercover skills and you are manipulative with girls. I've always detested that kind. I learned about the ritual. That's the only thing I was interested in. Whatever happens, I don’t want to talk to you again." Hideki brushes him off.

"However, even if you wanted to, you wouldn't be able to perform the ritual. It is only possible for a true mage. You'll never find out now that you have gotten on my bad side," Fulvius remarks.

"Huh. You are so full of yourself. You believe that in every way, you are the best." Hideki responds.

"Who says I'm not?" Fulvius shouts and attempts to kick Hideki in the leg. Hideki blocks the kick and punches him in the chin which causes Fulvius to become dizzy.

"You are not and I am going to show you," Hideki tells him right in the face. Then he punches Fulvius in the stomach harder than he previously did, causing him to collapse to the ground.

"You just have a false sense of power because Hinata adores you. You are so high up you don’t even know where the ground is. So I am going to show you. " Hideki sits on top of Fulvius, grabs his collar with his left hand and with the other he starts punching him ruthlessly.

"You scumbag!" Fulvius screams as he spits out blood. "I'll let Emiko know you like her. I would never hide my true feelings out of something as silly as fear of rejection. And you've been doing that since you were a kid." Fulvius tries to invert their positions by grabbing his right side of torso and pulling him to the ground.

Hideki punches him in the head after Fulvius’ weak attempt to get out of unfavourable position. He keeps going. It's as though something is controlling him. Fulvius weakens and his hands fall to the ground. His face is all swollen up and bloody.

"You are not going to say anything. You have no right to sever our peaceful friendship!" Hideki exclaims.

Hideki blows up. He is so enraged that he stands up and begins booting Fulvius without considering the consequences. He keeps kicking him until Fulvius is knocked out and has a bloodied forehead. Then, seeing Fulvius all messed up and unconscious, he stops and looks at the pitiful state he is in.

"Besides, you don’t know anything about me," he hisses through his teeth.

Hideki suddenly feels sorry for Fulvius and after a few seconds he departs in a direction Mitsuko and Emiko went.