I know I said it was impossible for me to lose, but now I'm starting to rethink the accuracy of that statement.
During my five years in isolation, I still kept up my regular workout— A routine from back in my child actor days. I also learnt some self defense, taekwondo and wing chun from watching videos online. At the very least, my body should be capable of reacting to what my mind reading picks up.
Still though, he defeated a master at karate and judo yet here I am trying to take him on with my a bit above average skills and a little bit of foresight..... Not just that, he's got a knife!
My chances of survival get lower the more I think about it.
I was slowly approaching the first floor and could tell Sean was climbing the stairs to make the back to the second floor.
We'll come into contact in 5 seconds.
I slapped myself on the cheek to psyche myself up.
"Calm down, you're overthinking the situation and making him appear more dangerous than he actually is. First off, he's definitely injured from his fall and second, this is a one on one fight and there are no traps around. I did well against lizard boy so I should be fine here as well"
The moment Sean saw me on the stairs, he tried to attack with his knife but I parried and kicked him back down to the first floor. Mind reading prediction + higher ground advantage for the win.
"You just love getting kicked by me, don't you lizard? Were you a sandbag in your previous life? "
I said as I got down the last step. We were now on the first floor— Me, defending the stairs to the second and Sean burning a hole through me with his enraged gaze.
"Get out of the way, Adam"
"This is usually the point where I'm supposed to say 'i'll defend this stairway with my life' or 'you'll have to get past me first', however, it's pointless to say that. After all..."
I looked at him dead in the eyes
"You can't beat me, Sean. That is a fact"
He charged straight at me. Alright, predict his moves
Left, right,left,left, right, right, right,kick, left, right, punch from below, high kick from the right, swing, center, left, right
So fast. Dodged them all though.
Thrust, thrust, swing....
I parried the swing the used the momentum to spin my body at his right side putting all my weight in my right foot.
Then I landed a solid kick on his cheek. He fell to the floor.
"Is that it? Ha, pathetic"
"Your techniques.....are just barely above average... So why? Why haven't I been able hit you a single time?"
"That's the thing about geniuses, Sean. We're just built different"
That's right, let my provocations rile you up, get mad.... Once you're angry, you start making mistakes.. mistakes I can exploit.
He charged towards me once more, full of anger but I kept my cool. My strategy was simple— dodge, parry, counter and trashtalk. I'll gradually wear him down with accumulated damage from my counters till he drops or Liz is done.
Liz appeared to have disarmed 2 big bombs already.... however, there are still 9 big bombs and 16 small ones on the third floor. Hang in there, Liz.
After a series of parries, I landed a counter punch in Sean's abdomen and followed it up with a front kick straight in the chin.
"And that's another kick for me, little sandbag. Are you a masochist or something? At least try to fight back"
He got up and assumed a fighting stance
"Huh? What do you think this is? A tournament? Well, if that's the absolute best you can do, come at me. I don't need to assume a fighting stance when crushing a lizard"
He moved on the offensive, struggling to keep his cool—he had figured out I was deliberately riling him up to get the upper hand and was trying to calm himself.
However, that proved to be counter productive. He was genuinely angry and trying to calm himself down to regain control— In the process of trying to keep your emotions in check, you use up an amount of mental focus that would've been better spent on the fight, effectively splitting your attention.
In layman's terms, an amount of the attention that should've been on the fight was now being spent on regaining composure. He was distracted.... and I took advantage of those openings
I used a sweep kick to knock him of balance then spun round and gave him a flying roundhouse kick straight into his sternum
"Finishing move..... FLYING CRANE OF DESTRUCTION!!!!"
He flew straight into an aquarium, crashing and breaking the glass.
I guess I got a little carried away.....because I made a big mistake kicking him to that specific place.
Sean noticed the gun he had when he fell to the first floor on the ground right in front of him. He grabbed it and turned to shoot me.
There was no way I'd make it in time to stop the gun if I charged at him, my only option was to dodge the bullets the best I could with foresight.
I managed to dodge all but two of the bullets.... and they both hit me right where I was stabbed by his accomplice few hours ago.
Liz's stab proof vest prevented fatal damage but my wound had reopened, and I was losing blood.
Sean ceased that opportunity to attack. I still managed to parry for a bit but I was still losing blood and my movements were getting slower. Even if I know where he'll strike, it's useless if I can't react to it.
As my movements were getting slower, a few of Sean's attacks started getting through... One slash, then two, then a couple more, all negligible.
But then there was that one. One I tried to block but couldn't reach in time which levelled the playing field.
Sean's knife went straight through my reopened wound, making me lose a lot more blood.
I grabbed a hold of his hand, locking him in place then used that opportunity to remodel his teeth before letting go.
"Looks like the little sandbag has lost his weapon. What are you going to do now, Lizard?"
I let the knife remain stuck in my body for two reasons— first, with the way it was shoved in, if I pull it out, I might lose blood even faster with my moving around. And second, it stands out on my body so my opponent's attention would get drawn to it at times, other times, he'll try to get it back. I'll use those openings to counter and keep dealing damage.
Our fight continued and it was now a battle of attrition—i had lost all my advantages entering the fight and the accumulated damage from my strikes and the fall was finally catching up to Sean.
We kept going for almost ten more minutes until one of us finally dropped to the ground.
And that person was me.
"And after all that talk...*pant pant— you're the one.... losing right now"
"*pant pant— Don't get cocky, lizard. I'm just resting"
"You'll have plenty of time to do that once you're dead"
He said while approaching me. I smiled
"The reason.... I'm resting *pant pant— is because I've already won"
*BANG BANG
A bullet to Sean's right shoulder and left thigh. The source.... Second floor, shooter.....Lizbeth Andrews.
Liz had filled me in with her thoughts so I fell to pull his gaze to me and the ground so he doesn't notice Liz.
Sean took cover behind an aquarium.
I got up and slowly staggered towards the staircase while Liz provided cover fire. Her bullets finished before I could reach there though so she had to initiate her plan a little early.
She threw the 16 small bombs to the first floor targeting the aquaria. They blew up the glass filling the first floor ground with water.
She then threw her tazer modified to max output into the water, electrocuting Sean while I remained unharmed.
I guess Liz's rubber socks really did come in handy.
I made it to the staircase where Liz supported me as we moved to the second floor.
"*pant pant— I guess this ended in our victory"
"You idiot..... You're near death's door"
She said, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Relax, I texted River before I got here. They should've disabled all the traps by now. *pant pant— help will be here soon enough"
"Still though, there's no guarantee they'll make it on time"
"Don't be so pessimistic. I promised I'll break your curse, didn't I?"
She set me down in one of the rooms
"I'm going to go get a first aid box, hang in there, Adam"
Her voice was shaking.... She started rummaging through the chemicals in the room looking for anything she could use to treat my wound. She gathered them in front of me and started performing first aid.
I'm getting quite sleepy, just have to rest my eyes for a sec.
"Adam? Adam? Stay with me, please. ADAAAMMMM!"
I drifted off to unconsciousness.
********************
The first thing that caught my attention upon waking was the IV stand beside me. Next was the bed I was on and hospital clothes on my body. Finally, I noticed Liz sitting on a chair beside my bed reading manga, her eyes glued to the pages as well as a bag with what appeared to be my belongings right beside her chair.
"About time you woke up..... It's been 9 months"
"Quit messing with me, I know I've only been out a couple hours.... Mind reader, remember?"
"Tch—"
Don't you 'Tch' me!
"I see you're angry cause I passed out"
"I'm angry because you almost died! Again! If backup hadn't arrived when they did.... I...."
Her face had a sad, frustrated expression plastered on it as tears trickled down her eyes
"But they did"
"That's not the point!—"
"—Look at it this way. I didn't die because I wasn't meant to die yet, which proves your curse doesn't kill people and you're not responsible for anyone's death, right?"
She didn't reply
"Besides, there was something good that came out of all this"
"Really? And what's that?"
I flashed a winning smile
"You finally called me by my name"
She immediately turned her head trying to hide her beet red face.
"Y-You were still way too reckless"
"Sean using that gun was a cheap move. I'm still unstoppable in a 1v1 fight"
"Whatever you say, perv"
"Ofcourse, if a mob ganged up on me, they might give me a little trouble..."
She quickly caught on to what I was getting at then smiled softly.
"But would you lose?"
"Nah, I'd win"
There was a pause, then we both laughed simultaneously. We made some pointless small talk for about 15 minutes before I made a request.
"Hey, Liz"
"Yeah?"
"There should be something in my trousers back pocket. Could you help get it?"
She looked through my belongings and brought out a jewelry box.
"You're switching from closet perv to cross-dressing perv? Neat"
"I-It's for you, obviously!"
"I don't see how that's supposed to be 'obvious' "
"*Sigh— Just open it"
Inside the box was a black choker with a blue rose decorated on it— It was the ornament she had her eye on when she stopped in front of the jewelry store last week, on the day of Munroe's murder. I bought it for her before heading to catch Sean's accomplice
"At least it's not a ring, you scared me for a second there—"
" —Liz, listen..... I know it might be inappropriate with all that's happened today and you probably wanted to hear it more from the old man than from me, but...."
I looked straight into her eyes intently
"...Today's the 18th of March, Happy 16th Birthday, Liz"
Tears welled up in her eyes....the emotions she's been bottling up this whole time, the wave of sadness she locked away without shedding a single tear for the sake of her duty as a detective, all came rushing out in a single, uncontrollable wave.
"Waaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh....."
She was bawling her eyes out. The detectives stationed outside the door didn't come in to interrupt. They understood her pain, her loss and her struggle and wanted to give her a moment to herself.
Just for tonight, Stone Valley's Holmes was just a regular 16 year old girl, grieving the loss of her loved ones.
Just for tonight, she had a shoulder to lean on as she cried herself to sleep on my lap.
And thus, the Munroe mansion murder case was finally closed.
****************
I was back at school on Monday with mid-terms were just a week away, yet I was on the roof playing a co-op FPS with Rachel..... Also—
"You said you were going to try getting along with your classmates..... So why are you here, you little brat?!"
I was referring to the 4'8 ft underclassman lying on my lap co-oping with us for some reason.
"I'm here for Rachel, not you. Quit taking your anger out on me, it's not my fault you suck"
"I do not suck! The two of you are just insane"
Seriously, are all girls in this school pro-level gamers? First Sara, Rachel and now Liz?!
"Nope, you actually suck....you think so too, right Rachel?"
"Well... he's actually... able to keep up, so..."
She fumbled through her words trying to make me feel better but her thoughts agreed with Liz. The bratty Holmes gave a little smirk upon noticing the results of my mind reading.
"So how did you like the anime I recommended?"
Liz asked Rachel, changing the subject
"It was really good! And I didn't expect that plot twist at the end! I stayed up all night to finish the whole season, I barely got any sleep"
"Even sleep deprived, she's still better than you at video games" Liz thought, intentionally trying to taunt me.
"I can recommend a lot more if you want.... I'm basically this guy's senpai when it comes to games and anime"
She said, pointing at me. She wasn't wrong though, I only started watching anime during my 5 year isolation. Their gist went on for a while with me as a third wheel, chiming in every now and then
Seriously, how did these two get so close?
I was discharged from the hospital on Saturday the 21st and after talking over the case with Detective River, I took Liz to Daiki Mall to celebrate my recovery and her belated birthday.
We spent time at a manga store for a bit before going to catch an anime movie on the big screen. After that, I tagged along with Liz as she went shopping for cosplay and watched her dominate at the arcade.
Finally, we settled down at maid cafe to get a bite to eat.
We chatted for a couple minutes before I noticed that someone I knew was in the area and she had spotted us.
My first instinct was to run away, however, I quickly dismissed that possibility. Due to the location of the cafe, even if I and Liz left immediately, we'll still bump into each other and that'll be worse.
Running away would make me look guilty so I silently accepted my fate.
"Adam.... What a coincidence to run into you here. So, who's this?"
It didn't take a mind reader to see Rachel was pissed, it was written all over her face— a mind reader could tell she was trying to calm herself. A mind reader could also tell everyone at the cafe thought I was a two-timer who just got caught.
While it's not like we're dating, we did go on a "date" last week. Seeing me having lunch with another girl would make anyone mad.
Still though, she's trying her best to keep cool, I can use that to defuse the situation.
"Yeah, what a coincidence. Since you're here, why don't you join us"
"Huh?!"
She was about to blow her lid.
"This is my junior from the occult research club, she was actually asking me for advice and...."
"...why will I come to you for advice"
You're not helping Liz! I ignored her and continued.
".... and we were also celebrating her birthday. She has zero friends you see, so I was doing what any respectable upperclassman would so she wouldn't be lonely on her special day, don't you agree?"
"Well..."
Rachel calmed down a little bit but not completely. More importantly, Liz couldn't refute the "having no friends" part. Take that you little brat!
"Anyway, come sit with us. The more the merrier"
Rachel joined us for our meal, although, the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
I expected this to result in that harem protagonist situation where his waifus are at each other's throats and he says "now, now" with that oblivious face despite the fact that he's probably relishing his harem king status somewhere deep in his heart.
HOWEVER—
They actually hit it off and started getting along!. The situation felt less like a harem and more like three people playing house— where Liz was the kid.
There goes my harem dream,does my author hate me or what?
The three of us spent the rest of the day together with the two of them dragging me to all sorts of places to carry their stuff.
Rachel naturally has insane levels of stamina so she doesn't notice when I fall behind. However, whenever she does, she tries to slow down for me— at least, that's how it would've been if Liz wasn't here.
In order to get back at me for the "no friends" comment, she stubbornly kept up with Rachel's pace to make it seem like I was the one being lazy.
And if you stack up her nasty inconsiderate streak, it felt like straight up bullying. We all had a fun day despite the negatives and Rachel exchanged contact info with Liz, somehow, they were best friends by Monday.
"Her indifference might not be gone, but at least she's she's showing a lot more expressions now. That's a good thing"
I said to myself smiling as I strolled down the stairs..... And right before I put my game face on to go meet a certain someone.
After all, there was one final loose end to tie up before I could close the chapter on that case.