Book 2: Seven Demon's Hearts

Episode 43: Restricted

Episode 43: R e s t r i c t e d

"No way..." Sera looked down at her quiz results.

"I was just as shocked." Miss K mumbled under her breathe and handed out the next quiz. "Aiko! One hundred, as usual! Amazing!"

"Thank you very much, Miss K!" Aiko sweetly smiled up at her. Beside him, Natella carefully watched his movements. She tried her best to keep her distance but at the same time not make him realize she was doing so. After all, Aiko was very sensitive to recognizing things and he often took it personally.

He looked back at Sera and her eyes looked back at him. Slowly, she turned the paper showing him the 86 on her quiz. Aiko's eyes widened with happiness and before he could say anything, Wonho grabbed the paper out of her hands.

"Wow! I can't believe this is Sera's paper. And you were so against doing what I advised you to do." He scoffed. Sera pouted and tried to grab her paper back but Wonho kept teasing her, lifting it higher.

"Hey! This was actually my own hard work. I studied so much my brain almost exploded!" She jumped up, her shirt accidentally lifting each time. Aiko's brows furrowed, noticing the slight angle that Wonho kept staring at Sera's body.

"You two! Sit down! The class isn't over yet! The bell has to--" The bell rang and everyone stood up, rushing to the doors.

Wonho ran off with her paper which caused Sera to grab her bag, chasing after him.

Doubtful, Aiko removed his hand from his pocket, looking down at the movie ticket.

"Good job." Natella startled him, causing him to shove it back in.

"Thanks, did you do well too..." Aiko's eyes trailed over to the bold score of a 100 on her paper. "Wow! Natella, you did amazing!"

She gave a tight smile. "Thanks, it isn't that big of a deal though. I'm used to this. School's kind of easy for me. Anyway, are you heading home now?"

"Yeah..." Aiko thought about the movie again, standing up and packing his bag. He had until five to ask Sera, but he wasn't sure if she'd even accept. He was starting to think it was a bad idea.

"Where do you live?" Natella suddenly asked him, catching Aiko off guard. He looked back at her silently. He didn't like lying and he also didn't do it very well--so he stood quiet. "I mean...I only asked because I was wondering if you wanted a ride home!" Natella quickly caught herself.

"Oh, it's fine! I can get there alone easily now." Aiko easily fell for her cover-up. She frowned, feeling slightly guilty by what she was doing. Damien had also ordered her to extract as much information as she could about Sera. If she really tried, she was sure it wouldn't be so hard because of Aiko's honest character. But doing that would almost feel like lying to a child about giving them candy--and that felt horrible. "Hey, are you mad at me?" He caught her off guard.

Natella's eyes widened before she collectively looked at him with a cool expression. "No. No, of course not. What makes you say that?"

"I don't know...hm," Aiko looked up, trying to put his feelings into words while observing the gap she was keeping between them. "You seem kind of distant lately. Did I do something wrong to you?"

Natella's brows scrunched up with disappointment at herself. "No. It's not you. I think I'm just feeling a little bit tired from studying all day."

"You can get tired of studying?" Aiko seriously asked.

"You probably won't, considering how much you love learning. But to others, studying does get draining Aiko. You can burn out from all the work you have to do." She smiled, missing how nice it was to explain small things again while walking off with him.