The Monday afternoon school bell rang. Watanabe opened the door to the journalism club’s room.
Watanabe asked, “Did any of you find anything?”
All the other club members were huddled in a circle around a table.
Jirogame said, “We can talk about that later. We have a problem.”
She joined the circle. A black cat had its ass planted on a stack of their papers. The animal hissed whenever one of them tried to reach towards it.
“That thing looks rabid,” Watanabe spoke.
“No, it doesn’t,” Eiji disagreed. “It’s just a normal cat.”
“What are you talking about? It’s clear this cat hates all humans,” Michi stated.
Watanabe frowned, “How many of us think there’s something wrong with this cat?”
All of the club except Eiji raised their hands.
“Can we agree on what’s wrong with it?” she said.
Silence fell. Watanabe broke it.
“Something is weird about this whol…”
Before she could continue, the cat jumped on Watanabe’s face and then ran out of the room.
Jirogame chased after the cat, “We have to get it before it hurts someone!”
He ran through the doorway only to slam into Baba Haru and fall to the ground. The other members of the journalism club ran out of the room. They saw the two of them struggling to get up from the floor. Watanabe couldn’t believe her luck that Baba Haru was right there.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Jirogame sneered.
“You see, I’m actually a witch,” Haru said. “I turned into a black cat and snuck into your room so I could read your records and find out if you’re looking for vampires.”
“If you’re going to lie, at least try to make it believable,” Michi sighed.
He replied, “No matter what I say, you won’t believe me. So, why should I bother trying?”
Watanabe knew it was their chance to get information, “Actually, there are a lot of people who would believe you.”
“Really? You’re lying,” Haru stated.
“No, I’m not,” she said. “In fact, I’d like to do an interview with you.”
He was about to refuse when he realized this was the perfect opportunity to find out why the Journalism Club was following Erik.
Haru agreed, “Alright, interview me.”
They sat in chairs across from each other. Haru suspected she had a sinister motive behind the interview. For her part, Watanabe knew that getting anything out of Haru would be like pulling teeth.
Haru thought, ‘Then this is a battle of wits.’
Watanabe thought, ‘There’s no way someone as ordinary as him stands a chance against me.’
“First question,” she said. “Haru, have you ever not never been involved in activities that some people won’t describe as not illicit?”
“That depends on what people we’re talking about,” Haru replied. “Some people think of rock and roll that way.”
“Oookay…you have a poor reputation at the school. Why is that?” Watanabe asked.
“Well, many people think badly of me for a number of reasons. There are plenty of people who see me as one thing and…” he droned on about nothing.
‘Dammit! He won’t give me anything. Why…’ she thought. ‘Why is the first worthy opponent I find already in a relationship?’
Haru spoke, “Now, I have a question for you.”
Watanabe said, “You’re not the one doing the interview.”
“I suppose not,” he leaned back. “But I could walk out of this room any time.”
“Fine, I’ll answer your question,” she sighed.
“Has Akechi been in this room last week?” Haru asked.
“Akechi?” Watanabe’s thoughts turned inward, ‘Does he know Akechi told us to spy on him?’
“Well, has he or hasn’t he?”
“He is the student council president,” she chose her words with care. “It’s only natural for him to visit clubs. Now, onto my question. Haru, have you ever done any student activities, anything that would benefit the school?”
Watanabe smiled, ‘If he says no, I’ll have something small on him. If he tries to justify it, I can twist it in my favor. What will you do now, Haru?’
“I’d love to help out the school, but Akechi won’t let me,” said Haru.
The first part of Haru’s words was a lie, but it was true that Akechi wouldn’t let him.
“Why won’t he let you?” Watanabe asked.
Haru put on a poker face as he thought, ‘I have you now.’
“Akechi wants to keep up the school’s image,” he said. “And he’d rather have someone as hated as me do nothing than help the school out.”
“Ugh, that is just like him,” Watanabe groaned. “But he isn’t important right now.”
Haru took a shot in the dark, “Isn’t important? Why would you interview someone like me if he wasn’t involved?”
A bead of sweat dripped down her face, “Like I said, there are people who would believe what you say. I want to bring the truth to light.”
“Alright, ask your next question,” he made sure not to press too hard too soon.
Watanabe asked, “When was the last time you pulled a prank on someone?”
“About five years ago. I put a bag of squirrel poop on my grandmother’s doorstep,” Haru answered.
“That has to be a lie. Squirrel poop is too small to get enough for a bag,” she said.
He replied, “It is small, so you’d have to be pretty nutty to pull a prank like that.”
“I suppose so,” Watanabe conceded. “What do you think of the student council?”
Haru stated, “I don’t think of them. They’re busy with their work and I’m not involved in it. As long as I don’t do anything, Akechi leaves me alone.”
“Then you did do something to get his attention!” she thought she had him.
“I have his attention?” but he had her. “I didn’t know that, and I don’t see how you could know either.”
Watanabe said, “I’m part of the journalism club. We look into everyone.”
“Spying on the student council president? I didn’t think you’d stoop that low. Maybe I should tell Akechi?” Haru smirked.
“There’s no way he’d believe you.”
“I’m recording this,” he pulled out his phone. “Everything you said is here.”
“You’re…really smart. I can’t counter that,” Watanabe admitted.
Haru replied, “Then will you tell me what I want to know?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “It’s my loss.”
“Is the Journalism Club spying on Date Kenji?” he asked.
Watanabe answered, “We aren’t.”
“Are you spying on me?”
“Yes.”
“Did Akechi put you up to it?” Haru said.
She stated, “He did. Akechi told us that he’d tell everyone our worst secrets if we didn’t find something he could use to get you expelled.”
“That explains a lot,” he spoke. “I’ll deal with Akechi if you stop spying on me.”
The members of the journalism club grumbled.
“We can’t trust him,” Eikoh muttered.
Himari nodded, “Yes, he’ll use his recording to tell Akechi we’re spying on him.”
“If Haru wants to do that, we can’t stop him,” Watanabe said, “And we’re not resorting to violence. We’re cornered.”
Haru stood up, “I know that none of you like me, but we have a common enemy right now. Stop spying on me and I’ll stop Akechi.”
They glared at him. Watanabe thought for a moment.
She came to a conclusion, “You have three days. We’ll start spying on you again if he doesn’t call it off by then.”
“That’s more than enough time,” Haru smiled and left the room.
Ved'ma Story 