Three weeks has passed since I was coerced—sorry, decided to join the occult research club and...
Nothing's happened.
Just what the actual f**k?! This was supposed to be a club where supernatural incidents were investigated and according to Sara, there are a whole lot strange events that occur in Stone Valley everyday.
I should've at least gotten some action right about now so why.....
Why the hell am I a gofer to some girl one year younger than me!
"You're late"
The girl in question said with her usual emotionless voice.
"Yeah, yeah..... Here's your super deluxe chocolate milk and the limited edition explosive mint chocolate bar"
The 4ft 8 inches underclassman stretched out her hand refusing leave her seat. I headed over and handed it to her.
"Just how long is this going to last anyway!"
"..."
She no longer had any reason to acknowledge my existence now that she had received her 'bribe' of the day. That said, I was at the end of my rope with this sh*t and that led me to slam the table
"Hey!"
"Leave me alone, perv"
She replied while flipping through the pages of her manga with those cold, empty eyes.
Hearing her words however, reminded me of how I got in this mess in the first place and hinted on the fact that she wasn't going to set me free anytime soon.
But then again, it's my fault I'm in this mess— I made a thoughtless bet and lost, so now I'm facing the consequences. I guess you could say my problems started 3 weeks ago, when I joined this stupid club.
***********
★★ Three weeks ago ★★
"Welcome Adam... to the occult research club"
Contrary to stereotype of a dark room with it's club members dressed in black robes and holding a crystal ball, it was actually just your regular old room with chairs, tables, a couch,a few books and other miscellaneous items lying around making the place look a little like the messy room of a shoujo high school boy.
The only thing that stood out was the huge desk at the end room with a rotating chair, most likely for the club president, and the two people seated inside the room— a relatively tall guy with silver hair, an athlete's build and mean looking face as well as a petite female student with short brown hair and eyes who appeared to be reading a shonen manga while seated with her feet on the chair's seat in a way that kinda reminded me of Holmes or Lawliet.
"We actually have three more members although, two are away preparing for a funeral so they won't be back till next month and my VP is on suspension"
She just said that so casually like it isn't a big deal! Just what am I getting myself into?
While I was processing Sara's words, the tall guy walked up to me with an air of intimidation and his menacing look in my personal space.
"Ya the new member?! You better not cause any trouble for the prez, got that! The name's Adrian by the way, nice to meetcha"
It took all I had not to burst into laughter after witnessing the discrepancy between his actions and his actual thoughts. For someone so intimidating, he sure is a real wuss.
"Holy crap, I'm so dead! I just picked a fight with the legendary delinquent who beat up over 30 guys, dead eyes Adam. I wanted to show off a little since I'm the only guy present and protecting the ladies is a man's job but I think I went too far. Mom, Dad, I'm sorry for not cleaning my room when you told me to, I'm sorry for ditching farm work for soccer practice, I'm sorry..."
The guy's internal last will and testament just keep going on and on so I decided to try and stop him for my own mental health.
"Relax, I'm not going to kill you"
I said putting my hand on his shoulder, trying to ease his mind. However, it had the opposite effect. The poor boy passed out due to fear.
"Fufufu, that was hilarious. What do you have to say for yourself Mr delinquent?"
"You know full well that story isn't true!"
She replied with her usual mischievous smile. In contrast to the jock on the floor, the girl didn't seem to care about my existence. It wasn't like she was just ignoring me, even her thoughts didn't seem to care about me either.
"Well, I've seen the club so I'll be going back to class, later"
"Be sure to come back after school!"
"Sure"
Yeah, right. I headed home immediately the bell rang. As much as I wanted to find a way to break my curse, the idea of taking orders from her turned my stomach a little.
I planned to do the same the next day however, I was hounded by someone other than Michelle for once.
"Ya headin' to da clubroom? Let's go together!"
It was Adrian and his impression of me seemed to have gone a full 180. Reading his mind, I was able to surmise the reason for his sudden change of heart.
Like all my problems this past week, the root cause was Sara. She had a little chat with him about me and managed to convince him that I was a "good guy". At least he got me away from Michelle so I have one less complaint.
Honestly, is her curse brainwashing or something? Brock's impression of me also changed after she spoke to him. No, she could've just brainwashed Miguel instead of going through so much trouble to end his relationship.
"Still though, her social skills are impressive for an ice queen". I thought to myself.
Just then I received a message from the demon in question.
It was a guideline on the dos and don'ts of an occult research club member with a PS at the end.
"PS: I won't be able to make it to the club for the rest of the week so play nice with the other members, okay? Use this as an opportunity to make a friend, wasn't your aim reintegration into society or are you a bigger wuss than I thought, fufu?"
She really knows how to push my buttons.
Well, the last part wasn't really a bad idea. Adrian seemed like a nice enough guy, I might as well use this opportunity to make a new friend.
Adrian and I talked and slowly became good friends. He was also on the soccer team so he mostly came to the clubroom whenever he wanted to ditch practice. This left me alone multiple times in awkward silence with the girl who probably didn't even know I exist.
********
★★ Two weeks ago ★★
Sara returned to the clubroom to meet me and Adrian playing cards—Well, me annihilating Adrian was more like it and the female otaku in the same spot as usual.
Although, for the first time since my joining this club, I heard her speak. Similar to her monotonous expression, her voice was rather cold and emotionless
"Hey, Sara.... I'll be taking my usual break two weeks from now"
"You sure? Mid terms are coming up"
"You know full well I have no need to study, I'm counting on you to make up an excuse for the teachers"
She stood up and took her leave.
From the flashes in Adrian's thoughts, I found out she always took a 1 week break every month to take care of something on the 18th. As for what that was Adrian didn't seem to know and Sara was unreadable— maybe she's visiting the grave of a loved one or getting a monthly check up. Either way, it was none of my business.
"What did she mean she didn't have to study?"
I asked Adrian out of curiosity
"Huh? Her wealth of knowledge far exceeds the high school curriculum, everyone knows that"
"Everyone?"
"Wait, you mean you have no idea who she is?"
"You can think of Adam as the most ignorant person in Stone Valley"
Sara said, butting into our conversation. I gave a small frown then directed my attention at Adrian
"Enlighten me"
"You asked for it"
It took a second for me to get what she meant by that. Yep, I walked right into that landmine.
"She's the teenage detective and pride of stone high, no, stone valley itself, Lizbeth Andrews. She serves as a consulting detective to the police and has solved 352 murder cases in the state with the coolness and finesse of a pro. That earned her the title 'Stone Valley's Holmes' from everyone who's seen her work. Not just are her powers of deduction out of this world but her vast wealth of knowledge in various fields have been said to shock even experts in said fields...."
This man kept rambling on for almost an hour and I had to sit there and listen through it all. It didn't take a detective to deduce Adrian had a huge crush on her. Too bad his existence holds about as much importance as a rock in her eyes, just give up bro.
That said, I was actually kinda intrigued. I've only ever read of detectives in novels and manga but never actually seen a real life Kudo Shi**chi— all the private detectives I've seen in real life just go around stalking their targets with a cheap camera.
If I had to guess, she's the "sleuth" Ms Milligan was talking about back in the music room incident and the 'troublesome person' Sara would've used to beat the grand casino.
How intriguing, I wanted to see her powers of deduction with my own eyes.
I tried for several days to interact with her but she ignored me, same as always—No matter what topic I brought up, she never acknowledged my existence.
I eventually decided to switch tactics from attack to observation—To watch and assess her thoughts with the purpose of finding a weakness I could exploit to get her to talk to me.
★★ Last week ★★
I spent the past week observing Lizbeth Andrews and found something I could use.
Today's the day she'll talk to me, I guarantee it. My preparations were ready, Adrian was headed to soccer practice and Sara headed to karaoke with library girl to ease her friend's broken heart, which meant we'll be alone.
I headed to the clubroom and Lizbeth wasn't there yet, as expected. The 'problem' she's facing might keep her a while. I decided to read my shounen magazine to wait.
Ten minutes passed, twenty, thirty.....holy crap, she's persistent. Didn't expect that from someone with such an indifferent face. No matter, the result will still be the same.
Forty minutes passed and I started worrying.
"Did I overdo it? she may decide not to show"
My worries quickly dissipated when I heard the frustrated thoughts of stone valley's Holmes headed in my direction. I flipped the pages to another manga title and tried my best to act natural.
*Creak....
She opened the door rather calmly and sank into the couch with her usual cool expression. Someone who couldn't read minds won't know she was ready to throw a huge tantrum.
"Rough day, huh?"
"....."
"I heard from Adrian that you're some kind of detective, that true?"
"...."
It's like talking to a wall with this girl! But so far, things are still going as expected.
"I would like to see your deductive reasoning in action. So, why don't we play a game?"
"...."
"Ofcourse it won't be be much of a game without a friendly wager. So, how about if you win...."
Now then, let's get this show on the road
"... I'll give 312 dollars and 16 cents"
She turned to face me with the eyes of a detective— eyes that saw through the fact I was responsible for her current frustrations.
"What are the rules?"
"The game is actually pretty simple, all you have to do is deduce something about me I've never discussed with anyone. You only get one chance though"
"And If I lose?"
"Hmm.... I haven't really thought about it. How about you do any one thing I say"
" 'Kay"
She didn't really care about my conditions because she had no intention of losing. After all, she wasn't just playing a game, she was out for revenge against the person who caused her to waste 40 minutes of her time and sent over a week of preparation down the drain.
Over the past week, I learnt three things about the underclassman known as Lizbeth Andrews.
One— contrary to her emotionless exterior, she is quite short tempered and has a relatively strong sense of justice, the reason why she's determined to beat me.
Two— she's rather impatient and has a short attention span, rather ironic considering her 'vast academic knowledge'. That's why I was surprised she spent so much time on that problem. I'm starting to feel bad.
Third and most importantly— she was desperately looking forward to trying the super expensive limited edition ultra deluxe mint chocolate milk that was being sold at the cafeteria's special vending machine at a whopping 312 dollars and 16 cents. So much so that she was saving up for the day she'll get to buy and try it. She planned to drink it while reading her manga in the clubroom.
Today was that day, unfortunately for her, the drink got stuck in the machine after taking her money and she spent the past 40 minutes trying to get it out without raising suspicion but to no avail.
As she accurately deduced, I tampered with the machine early this morning to ensure that drink got stuck whenever someone ordered it. She can't dismantle it in broad daylight so I expected her to give up on it sooner. However, she spent 40 minutes desperately trying to get it out. I guess I underestimated just how much she wanted that drink.
I simply wanted to see her skill then reimburse her for the trouble. However, I had no intention of making it easy— if she'd responded earlier I wouldn't have had to pull such a stunt to get her attention.
"Naturally, it has to be something I wouldn't tell anyone— maybe a dark secret or a traumatic past I don't want to share, the choice is yours"
I was baiting her to try and deduce my curse— one of the don'ts Sara gave me when I joined was asking the other members about their curses because it represents a traumatic past they'll rather forget.
With Liz in an agitated state, she was likely to fall for this bait to deal the most damage.
However, since I've discussed my curse with Sara, it doesn't qualify as something I haven't told anyone
"I understand"
She said as her thoughts went into overdrive. She was analyzing everything around me as well as her vague memories of me and eliminating various possibilities at a speed that felt illegal. Her processing speed was so fast that I could barely keep up with her thoughts.
In less than 3 seconds, she gave me her answer, it was one I didn't expect.
"I deduce..... That you're a pervert!"
"Huh?!"
What did this brat just say to me?! I calmed down and asked her to elaborate. She did so with her usual unchanging expression.
"From the creases on the pages of the manga you were reading, I can tell you hurried to switch the manga title you were reading before I walked in. That wouldn't usually be a problem, however, the manga you hurriedly switched from was Ero Knight, a manga that has received several complaints due to it's... excessively questionable panels"
"Hey! I was reading it for the plot—"
"— That manga has no plot! Besides, if that was true, you would've had no problem reading it with I, a fellow otaku who doesn't even care about your existence in the room. It'll be a a different story if it was Sara or the other guy..."
Damn Adrian, she doesn't even remember your name.
".....the only reason you did that was because you were conscious of the ecchi panels while reading"
"Still though, to call me a pervert from just that is —"
"— The day you first entered this clubroom, every time you looked in my direction, your gaze shifted to my thighs. I bet you were trying to see if you could see my pant*es with the way I was seated"
Eek, she knew about that? Her memory and spatial awareness are quite impressive, she wasn't even paying attention to me that day.
Still though, in my defense, I was just curious if she was sitting that way on purpose with guys in the room. Even though I had just entered, Adrian was already there, perhaps she was seeking attention?— while thinking about it my gaze naturally wandered to confirm
Probably because her thoughts were moving too fast I didn't notice she wasn't actually sure about her accusation. She took a gamble and my reaction proved her right
"Disgusting perv"
She said with zero changes to her expression which made it all the more embarrassing.
"Also—"
"—Stop! Okay, you win"
Good thing my mind reading caught this one. She was about to explain in detail every single dirty secret she could deduce. I gave her the money.
"I'm not satisfied!"
"Huh?"
What's this girl saying.
"I'm sure you don't want a certain someone to find out about your perverted ways, so you'll be buying me the limited edition ultra deluxe mint chocolate milk tomorrow as well"
She was right. While I didn't mind Adrian finding out, there's no telling how dangerous that information could be in Sara's hands. I reluctantly agreed to her demand.
★★ 6 days ago ★★
It was a usual boring day in class when I received a text from an unknown number. It read
Get me two super high grade steakburgers, a sponge cake and a donut with my order or else.
- Your cute underclassman, Liz.
What the hell! Oh well, it's my fault for losing, might as well treat her just for today, right?
Wrong.
The next day, she made even more ridiculous requests holding her dirt on me over my head like some kinda politician. She did the same the day after that and the one after that as well.
And that brings me to the present. Adam Graves, a slave to the whims of the emotionless underclassman who appeared to have rather emotional thoughts.
The cost wasn't what bothered me though, I was swimming in cash after the grand casino incident. It's the idea of being blackmailed by this 4ft 8 bratty detective that pissed me off and I was at the end of my rope.
I needed a way to even the playing field, some dirt on her I could use to balance things out. So far, the only lead I had was the gap week she takes every month. There has to be something there I could use to get out from under her thumb.
This has all the makings of a stakeout, just you wait, Lizbeth Andrews.