14Chapter 3: Club Meeting
It was another normal day in class, following the night of the Ghost Club's investigation that Nate had been… 'persuaded' into joining in on.
Nate let out a small sigh as he slumped in his chair, doing his best to listen to words of his teacher, but couldn't help it as his mind drifted back to the previous night, and the chilling encounter with that spider yo-kai, 'If I hadn't been there, Lina and Zoey might have…' the boy couldn't stop his mind from considering the worst of possibilities as he recalled that battle; of the trance both of the girls were in, while that massive spider loomed overhead, if nobody had been there to fight it off…
Feeling the strange sensation of someone staring at him, Nate quickly glanced over to Lina's seat, but if she had been looking at him, she was quick to hide it. From what the boy could tell, Lina was keeping her full attention on the teacher, but he was sure he had seen her staring at him just out of his peripheral vision, moments before.
"Hm, can't take your eyes off young Lina now, can you?"
Nate resisted the urge to groan at the sound of his butler's voice, turning to glare at him, speaking in a quiet voice, "It's not like that, Whisper."
Whisper crossed his arms, making a 'tsk' sound in response to his master's rebuttal, "Now Nathan, I know it's embarrassing, but young love is a beautiful thing, and refusing to acknowledge the existence of this infatuation from either end will not do you or Lina any favors."
"Whisper, shut up…" Nate hissed at the ghost in a dangerous tone, though this time not quite enough…
"Mr. Adams, is my class boring you?" Mr. Johnson questioned as he looked towards the boy with a critical eye.
"N-No, I just… have a lot on my mind, sorry…" Nate muttered stiffly, lowering his head as several of the other students tried to hold back laughter.
Mr. Johnson kept an eye on Nate for a few more seconds but seemed to accept this as he turned back to the blackboard, "Alright, I'll let it go, but try to pay attention if you don't want detention."
"Yes sir," Nate nodded with a shameful tone to his voice, keeping his head low.
"Really, Nate, you should know better than to get so distracted in class," Whisper unapologetically chided the boy, shrugging as he drifted over his shoulder.
Nate subtly glared in the yo-kai butler's direction, but wisely chose to say nothing.
Unknown to Nate, Lina was staring at him once more, a suspicious frown on her face…
"Nathan, where are you going?" Whisper questioned as he followed the boy through the lunchroom.
"Um, to sit with my friends," Nate commented plainly; unlike usual, he did not carry a lunch tray, for some reason his mother had decided to make him lunch today (he was sure it had something to do with her perception of his 'date' last night…) and had given it to him in a bento box, currently being carried in his hand. The boy kept his focus on the table he usually sat at with Eddie, Bear and Katie as he kept moving forward.
"But Nate, that's rather rude, don't you think? Shouldn't you be eating lunch with Lina?" Whisper pointed out with a disapproving tone.
Nate just groaned in response to the butler's stubbornness, "For the last time, Lina and I are not dating, nor do I believe she wants to date me! Would you please just drop this!?"
"Nate, who are you talking to?"
Nate blinked, turning to see Eddie standing before him, staring with a slightly concerned look. Nate quickly gained a nervous expression as he scratched his head, "Uh, well… you know; nobody, just… myself!"
"Okay…" Eddie didn't seem entirely convinced, but also didn't seem interested in pressing the issue further. "Well, come on, Katie and Bear are already at our table!"
Nate nodded, "Alright, I'm com– "
"And, where do you think you're going?"
Nate suddenly found himself unable to move forward, both of his arms being held by two more pairs. Looking left and right, the brunette boy gulped, seeing Lina and Zoey on either side of him, smiling mischievously.
"If you recall, Nathan, you are now a member of the Ghost Club," Zoey stated, holding back a chuckle.
"And, as a club, we must take this time not only to eat, but to discuss our upcoming plans," Lina's smile widened as she looked at the frightened boy.
"I, um…" Nate quickly glanced between the two girls, who, before he knew it, were already dragging him off, "Gah!? Why are you–hold on–sorry guys! I guess I'm going this way now!" the boy gave a hasty wave and apology to his three usual companions, before he was pulled out of the cafeteria.
Eddie, Katie and Bear stared after their friend blankly, before turning to each other.
"Uh… since when did Nate hang out with Lina and Zoey?" Bear questioned slowly.
"Lina was asking about Nate the other day, did something happen?" Eddie looked thoughtful.
"Oh yeah, I remember," Katie gained a small smile as she recalled that encounter, giggling a bit to herself, "Looks like she took the initiative, good for both of them!"
Eddie and Bear both looked at their female friend with confusion.
"What do you mean by that…?" Bear asked slowly.
"Sorry, not my place to tell," Katie giggled again, making a zipping motion over her lips.
"Oh, come on!" Bear cried out in protest.
"Where'd they take him anyway…?" Eddie muttered questioningly, staring out the exit to the cafeteria the creepy girls had taken their friend…
"You know, Nate, it's a good thing you didn't get detention for that little 'moment' of yours in class," Zoey smirked as she stood at the front of the Ghost Club's room.
"Haha," Nate gave a sarcastic laugh, sitting at one of the club room's tables, setting up his lunch to be eaten. "Are you bringing that up for a specific reason, or is it just to make fun of me?"
"Why does it have to be one or the other?" Zoey chuckled.
Nate gave the black-haired girl an annoyed look.
Lina held back the urge to giggle, sitting a few seats to the lone male's left.
Zoey's chuckling died down, before she smirked again, "It is important, since we're going to need you for our next investigation!" her smirk widened a bit, "And this time, the location is a little more out of the way than school!"
"Out of the way?" Nate rose an eyebrow in suspicion at that wording.
"Speaking of that little 'moment' of yours, Nate," Lina interjected, looking to the boy with a mysterious smile, "I couldn't help but notice; you seemed less like you were spacing out, and more like you were just focused on something else… something nobody else could see."
Nate wiped away a bit of sweat that was starting to form on his brow as he felt Lina's gaze on him, even with her hair covering her eyes. "Um… what do you mean by… uh, that?"
"Hmm, now that you bring it up," a gleam flashed across Zoey's glasses as she narrowed her eyes, "It did seem like you were muttering about something, or was it… to someone?" the black-haired girl grinned as she stared at the boy in way that caused him to visibly squirm in discomfort. "Was it, perhaps, a spirit!?"
"Huh, these girls are more perceptive than I thought," Whisper commented, drifting over Nate's right shoulder.
The boy resisted the urge to respond to his butler's useless comment, doing his best to gulp down any nervousness he felt and speak calmly and clearly, "You two are being ridiculous, how could I have possibly been talking to a spirit? And why wouldn't you two have noticed a spirit if I did?"
"Hmm, that is a good point," Zoey admitted, putting a finger to her chin as she hummed thoughtfully.
Lina frowned, keeping her unseen gaze locked on the boy, "Interest does not equal affinity. Though Zoey and I have investigated the supernatural for a long while, the most we've been able to for sure detect on our own is strange energies… that is, until our investigation last night…"
Zoey groaned, crossing her arms as she sent her friend an annoyed look, "Do you have to say it like that? We don't want the new guy getting a big head already!" she gave a huff, before her expression turned thoughtful again, "Though, that is a good point…"
Nate felt his blood run cold as his body stiffened, "That… Those incidents had n-nothing to do with me! You experienced them to the same degree as me, and we couldn't conclude what they were in the first place."
"But we didn't experience them to the same degree as you," Lina corrected, her line of vision unmoving from the brunette boy's form. "You heard things we didn't, activity only seemed to occur in your presence…"
Feeling the pressure of the two gazes on him, Nate made a move to try and change the subject, "Um, Zoey; what was that you were saying about the next place we'll be investigating…?"
The bespectacled girl blinked at the question suddenly being directed at her, but grinned all the same, eager to explain her plans.
Lina, however, did not seem nearly as happy as the other girl, "Nate, you're dodging our questions."
Zoey didn't seem to notice, and/or care about her friend's misgivings, as she began speaking, "I'm glad to see you're integrating into the club well, Nathan! As for where our next investigation, we're going to need to wait until the weekend before we can put it into action, so we have the rest of today and tomorrow to plan out the investigation!" Zoey's grin turned slightly sinister, "And on Saturday evening, we'll meet up to investigate; Nocturne Hospital!"
Despite her annoyance over being cut off from questioning their newest member, Lina seemed to perk up a bit with interest at the mention of the next location for investigation.
Nate, however, seemed less interested in the prospect, "Um, by 'Nocturne Hospital,' do you mean that spooky, abandoned hospital, over by Shopper's Row…?"
Zoey let out a chuckle at the boy's questioning, "What's the matter, Nate, scared?"
Nate averted his eyes, going a bit red from embarrassment, "N-No, of course not, but…" 'I'm pretty sure a place like that would be crawling with yo-kai…' that last thought of Nate's went unspoken.
Zoey just chuckled again, "What's wrong? Did you really not think we'd be investigating some spookier locations than just our school?"
"We are the 'Ghost Club,' you know," Lina added mischievously.
"You can't tell me you didn't think about the possibilities of exploring an abandoned hospital when you joined the club," Zoey crossed her arms with her smirk widening.
Nate wanted to argue further against the idea of him being 'scared,' (he definitely wasn't!) but at that moment, felt the need to point something else out, "Er, you know; I didn't exactly 'join,' right? You guys kind of forced me into this…"
"You didn't need to accept Lina's invitation to join our last investigation, and if you hadn't you wouldn't have become part of the club," Zoey quickly countered, her smirk unchanging.
Nate felt the urge to point out that he wasn't really given a 'choice' when it came to Lina's 'invitation' either, but thought better of it…
"Really though, surprised you accepted that in the first place," Zoey laughed as her eyes narrowed. "Ghost hunting's never really seemed like your 'thing,' but perhaps… did you maybe think Lina's invitation was for something else…?" despite how impossible it seemed, Zoey's smirk managed to grow even wider and more mischievous at that inquiry.
Nate and Lina both just seemed confused
"You continue to say strange and confusing thing, Zoey; what else could he have thought my invitation was for?" the blue-haired girl questioned with a slight frown.
"Yeah, what are you talking about? She was pretty clear about what she wanted," Nate muttered, scratching his head.
Zoey let out an annoyed groan, "Great, now Lina is managing to suck the fun out of teasing you too, Nate…"
Nate blinked, exchanging another confused look with Lina.
"Are you really that dense, Nathan?" Whisper suddenly spoke up as he floated up behind his human master.
Nate tried not to look in Whisper's direction.
Despite being, obviously, ignored, the yo-kai butler continued, "Young Zoey is referring to the true nature of Lina's request to you, of course, which you have still ignorantly refused to pick up on!" the white ghost did a twirl as he moved to the human boy's other side. "You know what I'm talking about, of course! The D-A-T-E!"
Nate's eyes widened as his face went slightly red, but he still refused to acknowledge the ghost who had reinserted the flustering thought into his head.
However, the signs of Nate's discomfort were enough for Zoey to latch onto and, willfully, misinterpret. Smirking widely, the black-haired girl gave a cackle, "Oh, I stand corrected; maybe you're not quite out of my teasing range yet, Natey!"
Nate's eyes widened, before he quickly started shaking his head, "W-Wait, no! Zoey, you don't understand!"
This, however, just further fed Zoey's enthusiasm, "Oh, I don't, do I? Well, what exactly is your relationship with Lina?"
"Same as my relationship with you!"
"Same as me, huh? Pretty confident to think you can handle two girls, Nathan," Zoey's laughter intensified.
"No, wait! That's not what I meant! ZOEY!" Nate quickly backpaddled as his embarrassment increased.
"Huh, he really has no idea how to handle girls," Whisper shook his head/body in disappointment as he watched the boy flounder about against Zoey's psychological assault.
"Hmm…" Lina was paying little attention to the conflict between her two clubmates, staring in the general direction of Whisper, a curious expression on her face.
Hearing the blue-haired girl's hum, the yo-kai butler glanced in her direction, and suddenly felt rather nervous from how she seemed to be staring at him, 'She… she really can't see me, right?'
Lina kept staring for only a few more moments, before she gave a shrug and turned her attention away from the unseen yo-kai's spot.
Whisper couldn't help giving a small sigh of relief and wiping some sweat from his forehead.
"Teasing you two aside, it is important for us to make a plan for how we're going to go about our investigation of Nocturne Hospital," Zoey spoke calmly as she paced at the head of the room. "Unlike with our case of investigating the school, I doubt we're going to be able to just get permission to look around an abandoned building at night…"
"Do we need to do it at night? On the weekend we could probably look around during the day," Nate suggested in an unsure tone. 'Plus, there will probably be less chance of some unruly yo-kai disrupting the whole thing…'
"Don't be a baby, Nate, everyone knows there's far more chance of ghost activity at night," Zoey gave the boy a dismissive wave.
'That's exactly what I'm afraid of!' Nate held back from saying, just giving a defeated sigh as he sunk into his chair, "And how exactly do you intend to get our parents to allow us to go out, late at night, to explore an abandoned, potentially dangerous, hospital…?"
"That's, an excellent question, Nathan!" Zoey exclaimed confidently.
"… You have no idea, do you?" Nate deadpanned, letting out a small groan immediately after.
"I have several thoughts," Zoey's confidence was unshaken. "Though, we do need to discuss them to decide our best course of action…"
"We also need a plan for how we're going to go about investigating the hospital," Lina smiled as she looked towards the boy, "With Nate with us for the planning, this time, things should go a bit more smoothly than last time… and hopefully his affinity for spirits will grant us some notable encounters!"
Nate sighed, looking away from the girls, "I don't have an 'affinity' for spirits…"
"I still have doubts, but we'll see," Zoey shrugged, snickering a bit at Nate's discomfort.
Nate released a longer sigh, his head drooping, "So, I suppose there's no 'I don't want to do this' option available to me?"
"Wow, you're catching on faster and faster," Zoey held back her chuckles behind her faux-impressed tone.
The lone boy's head fell further, unable to come up with any words in response.
"Nate?" Lina seemed a bit concerned as she looked towards the boy, "Come on, we do need to discuss our plans for the next investigation!"
Nate sighed louder, raising his head back up and putting a hand to it, "I don't know, how are we supposed to convince our parents to let us go to some abandoned hospital at night anyway? It's not like we're just going camping, or something!"
Both Lina and Zoey paused, looking towards Nate, Zoey's eyes visibly widening.
"Wait, what did you just say?" the bespectacled girl asked slowly, raising a brow.
Nate gave a strange look back, "I said; it's not like we're just going camp– " the boy's eyes widened as the train of thought going through the girls' heads suddenly became obvious to him, "Hold on, you're not– "
"Thank you for your contribution to the planning of our next investigation, Nathan Adams!" Zoey voiced loudly, walking over to the boy and slapping him on the back with a chuckle, "I had a feeling you were more valuable than you let on!"
"No, wait– "Nate's protests went ignored.
"So, we say we're going camping…?" Lina pondered thoughtfully, before a small smirk came to her face, "No, we will go camping, but we'll investigate Nocturne Hospital while we're camping!" the blue-haired girl clapped her hands together happily, "Excellent idea, Nate!"
"But, I didn't…" Nate whimpered a bit, looking back and forth between the two girls, who were still praising him for 'his' idea, and how the investigation was 'no doubt' going to go smoothly. After a bit, the boy gave up, "Can we just eat now?" he questioned with an annoyed grunt, putting his lunch box up on his desk, "I'm really hungry…"
"Sure, why not," the glasses-wearing girl shrugged, giving a slight snort of amusement, giving both Nate and Lina a sly look, "You two want me to go eat in the cafeteria, and leave you alone?"
Nate flushed at the repeated insinuation, and opened his mouth to protest, however, the other girl spoke before he could.
"Yes, please," Lina nodded, sending a firm look to her friend.
Nate froze, gawking at Lina in befuddlement.
A teasing smirk crept onto Zoey's face, "Huh? Didn't think you'd actually go for that; starting to admit to yourself what's going on here, Lina?"
Lina frowned, "I want discuss something with Nate privately, I'm still not sure why you keep making all these accusations of other 'motives,' I've been nothing but honest with you!"
"Yeah, yeah, sure you have!" Zoey laughed, not sounding at all convinced, before she stepped over to the door and waved back at the other two club members, "Well, I'll leave you guys to that!"
Nate raised his hand, and attempted to speak once more, but Zoey was already out the door and slammed it behind her.
Nate slowly lowered his hand back down, the words of protest he had thought dying before they could even leave his mouth, and an uncomfortable silence filled the room…
Lina didn't seem bothered by the silence, a small smile coming to her face as she picked up a bento box from the ground, setting it on her desk.
Seeing no other option, Nate opened his own bento box, to see the lunch his mother had packed for him; a small smile made its way onto the boy's face at how carefully arranged the contents of the box were.
The sound of shuffling caught the boy's attention, turning; Nate found that Lina had somehow seated herself at the desk beside his, in the short amount of time he had looked away from her. The blue-haired girl didn't seem to notice the boy looking at her, she just stared at her unopen lunch box with anticipation.
Nate couldn't say why Lina hadn't yet opened her lunch, she seemed like she might have been waiting for something…
Clearing his throat, the boy decided to break the silence, "So, um… you brought your lunch from home today, too?" Nate almost kicked himself from how awkward he just sounded.
Lina seemed to take this as her cue to open her bento box, taking the lid off. "Whenever there is a club meeting during lunch, it's better to bring food from home, rather than attempt to take a cafeteria tray in here…" the blue-haired girl spoke calmly, not sparing even a glance Nate's way.
"O-Oh, I… guess that makes sense," the brunette boy coughed, glancing away with embarrassment.
"I always do things for a reason, Nathan, you know…" Lina spoke carefully, finally turning her head to face the boy.
Nate felt an uncomfortable sensation dance down his spine, in response to Lina's unseen gaze. Gulping down his nervousness, the boy spoke carefully, "So… what was the reason for asking Zoey to leave us alone…?"
Lina's mouth turned into a tiny frown in response to the boy's question.
Nate flinched as he felt the uncomfortable tension in the air tighten, "Um… Lina?"
"Nathan, eat your food…" Lina spoke in a quiet, yet almost commanding, tone of voice.
Nate started to sweat a bit, putting the lid back on his bento box, "A-Actually, I think I should go eat my lunch in the cafeteria, I-I'll leave you alone and– "
"No," the creepy girl put both hands on her desk, before speaking in an almost pleading tone, "Stay… please…"
Nate remained silent in response to this plea, but he halted in any attempt to leave, slowly taking the lid back of his bento box, and staring at his food…
"Hmm, seems little Lina already has you wrapped around her finger," Whisper commented with an amused chuckle.
Nate pointedly ignored the butler, picking up the sandwich from his lunch box, and taking a bite out of it.
Lina carefully used a pair of chopsticks to remove a mini hotdog from her lunch and plopped it into her mouth.
For a good moment, everything was quiet once more; the only sounds within the room being the munching of food from the two students, both of which only occasionally stealing a glance at each other, but never openly turning to face the other, or attempt to start any form of conversation…
"Nate…" Lina spoke, after what felt like an eternity, glancing over at the boy, her expression unreadable.
Nate nervously gulped down the last bite of his sandwich, before slowly turning to face her, "Um… yeah, Lina?"
"Why are you so nervous around me?" the blue-haired girl questioned, her expression changing to a slight frown.
"… Huh?" Nate blinked, looking a bit taken aback by this question.
"You keep averting your eyes from me whenever I glance your way," Lina stated in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, "You become visibly uncomfortable whenever the subject of your, 'potential,' supernatural affinity is brought up, which is also the only time you seem to be in denial over the possibility of paranormal activity…"
"I…" Nate glanced down to the floor, sweat starting to drip down from his forehead, "Er, I… um… am not sure what you…"
"Nate, you're doing it now," Lina pointed out, bluntly. "The inability to form coherent sentences when under pressure is not very convincing, by the way…"
Nate nearly froze up in place, now seeming unable to speak as he tried to think of what he could even do to halt this line of questioning…
Lina kept staring at the boy, her frown deepening as the possibility that Nate had just 'shut down' entered her mind. Letting out a sigh of defeat, the curious girl decided to change the subject, for now. "So, what do you have for lunch?"
The sudden change of inquiry type caught Nate off guard and knocked him out of his mental block. The boy shifted in his seat a bit nervously for a moment, before forcing a friendly smile, and picking up his bento box. "Well, my mom made me a peanut butter sandwich… which I ate already," he let out a small chuckle. "She also packed me some rice balls, carrot sticks, and… a cream bread."
Lina noticeably perked up at the last item on that list, "Did you say… cream bread…?"
Nate paused, glancing over at the girl cautiously, "Er… yes…?"
Lina seemed to be trying hard to maintain her cool, collected nature, but something was scratching, just at the corner of her mind; a desire, different from her innate curiosity, "Would that, perhaps, be a cream bread… from Banter Bakery…?"
Nate slowly glanced between his lunch, and the girl who seemed to be battling to keep her composure, "Do you… want it?"
Lina's whole body went stiff for a moment, an incomprehensible look crossing her face, before she quickly started waving a hand, "O-Oh, no, that… that's generous of you, Nathan, but I wouldn't want to deprive you of your treat!"
Nate sighed at the girl's attempts of denial, before he picked up the baked good and presented it to the other student, "Here; take it."
Lina paused, "I, don't really…" she seemed unsure of how to finish her sentence.
The boy gave a friendly smile, still holding the treat out, "Go on, you clearly want it, and I'm really not that hungry anyway."
Lina kept her gaze on the cream bread for a couple of moments, briefly glancing to Nate's smile a few times, before carefully reaching out and grasping it, "W-Well, if… if you insist, I suppose I could take it off your hands," the blue-haired girl gave a few fake coughs, a small smile and a slight embarrassed blush coming to her face. "… Thanks."
Nate chuckled a bit as Lina took the cream bread, coveting it in her hands for a bit, before she started to nibble on it, 'She can actually be kind of cute sometimes, I guess…' as soon as that thought crossed his mind, the boy quickly started shaking his head, 'WHAT THE HECK AM I THINKING!?'
Ignorant to Nate's inner-struggle, Lina gave a bit of a happy sigh, before taking a larger bite out of the cream bread, 'So good!' she resisted the urge to giggle, feeling an immense joy at being provided one of her favorite treats, 'That was really nice of him… maybe I should let up on the questioning a bit…'
There wasn't much conversation between the two children while Lina ate the cream bread, and Nate consumed a few more items from his lunch.
After finishing the last bite of the cream bread, Lina thought to herself on what sort of thing she could say next, given her resolve to ease on the questioning on the boy's possible supernatural connections. Eventually, a thought came to the girl, which had her grinning, "Say, Nate…?"
"Um… what?" Nate was reluctant to speak, not looking up from his lunch.
Lina was undeterred, "You heard about the new Space Wars movie that's coming out, right?"
That had the boy's attention, "Wait, you like Space Wars…?" Nate questioned with a bit of surprise, looking over at the girl.
Lina's grin widened, "I don't like Space Wars, Nathan. I love it!"
Whisper perked up with interest as he continued to listen to the conversation, 'Oh, what's this? Some unexpected common ground?'
Nate's enthusiasm notably increased when the topic of one of his favorite film franchises was brought up, "Really? So, you're also looking forward to– "
"–The upcoming, and highly anticipated, release Space Wars Episode III?" Lina finished for the boy, smirking widely. "Of course, I am! It's the climax of the trilogy, after all, and supposedly it will reveal the true identity of my favorite character; Emperor Krill!" the blue-haired girl raised a fist with excitement after that statement.
Nate rose from his seat in surprise and excitement, "Wait, your favorite character is Emperor Krill too!?"
"Surprised?" Lina let out a bit of a giggle, "Well I'm a bit surprised he's your favorite character too, you seem more like the type to like– "
"–Lark, yeah, I've gotten that before," the boy nodded in understanding, "And yeah, I get why people would think that; I'm the 'average' guy, after all, and he's the main character, but…" a small smirk came to the brunette's face, his eyes shining a bit, "What's a hero, without a good villain?"
"I know exactly what you mean!" the blue-haired girl nodded excitedly, "Yeah, we know the hero needs to win in the end, but the villain is such an important aspect to that type of story!"
"Yeah, I don't understand why so many people hate the villain for playing their part well," Nate laughed, "Of course Emperor Krill does a lot of horrible things, that's all the more reason that Lark's quest to stop him and his empire is so important!"
Sharing a cheerful laughter over their shared interests, the two kids continued to discuss Space Wars…
"Wow, Lina, I gotta admit," Nate smiled, just after the two had finished talking about their favorite scenes from the previous two Space Wars films. "I never expected you of all people to be such a Space Wars fan!"
"And why's that? Is it because I'm a girl?" Lina gave a teasing grin.
"No, no, it's not that!" Nate quickly denied, waving his hands a bit nervously, "I know not all girls are the same, Katie likes a lot of stuff you wouldn't expect just from looking at her. But you just always struck me as the type who preferred more… 'spooky' stuff, and mysteries, rather than sci-fi," the boy let out a bit of chuckle at this statement.
Lina stared at the boy silently, her smile falling.
Nate's chuckling died down soon, with him realizing that the girl at his side clearly didn't find his comment very funny. "Um, Lina…?"
"… I do like that stuff," a bit of a smile returned to the girl's face when she spoke, but there was something off about it. "But, I also like Space Wars, the story and characters appeal to me in a number of ways," her smile turned a bit mysterious as she looked to the boy again, "There's more to me than being 'spooky,' just like how there's more to you than being 'average.'"
It took a moment for Lina's words to really hit him, but Nate's eyes soon widened as he realized exactly what she was saying, "Oh, I… I'm sorry, Lina. I spoke without thinking, and ended up hurting your feelings…"
"At least you realized your error, though the fact you made such a blunder in the first place shows you still have a long way to go," Whisper shrugged with a bit of a sigh, "Though, I am a bit proud you owed up to it, and apologized."
Nate didn't acknowledge his yo-kai butler, keeping all focus on Lina, for the moment.
Lina's smile turned a bit more genuine in response to the apology, "It's fine, Nate, I admit; I didn't think much of you beyond 'average' until quite recently, a fact I myself am a bit ashamed of."
Nate blinked, noting that Lina's smile turned a bit embarrassed, before he smiled back at her, "That's okay, Lina, we've never talked much, before recently; what else could you have thought?"
"Same to you, I suppose, tee-hee!" Lina giggled, putting a hand to her mouth.
"Ah, I love a good resolution!" Whisper blew his nonexistent nose on a tissue, which he had pulled out from nowhere, "I'm so happy to see the development of this budding relationship!"
Nate's eye twitched, emitting a low growl as he placed a hand to his head.
Lina noticed the shift in mood, her smile fading as she gave the boy a quizzical look, "Nate… are you sure it's okay? You seem a bit… irritated…"
Nate quickly forced a smile, not wanting the girl to think he had any issue with her (when his issues were with Whisper), "It-it's nothing, Lina! Really, I'm not mad at you or anything… my mind was just elsewhere, for a moment."
Lina let out a curious hum, her unseen eyes drifting to the boy's wrist, "There's been something different about you lately, Nate… ever since you started wearing that strange watch, in fact…"
The boy's eyes widened, and a nervous frown formed on his face, his hand unconsciously moving to cover his yo-kai watch, "M-My watch…?"
Whisper even looked a bit concerned, "Hm, your little girlfriend here might be a bit more perceptive than initially thought, Nathan…"
The yo-kai watch-user released a low hiss, glaring at his butler out of the corner of his eye.
Lina impatiently tapped her fingers on her desk, smirking a bit when Nate's attention returned to her, "You keep drifting off like that, Nate… almost as if there's something you see, that I can't…"
Nate gulped, his hand still firmly covering his watch, trying not to glance in Whisper's direction.
The yo-kai butler himself was starting to sweat a bit, noting how Lina was paying more attention to the spot he was floating in, "She is actually rather, erm, intimidating…"
Lina only briefly kept her vision on Whisper's position, her attention quickly turning to the boy who currently held so much of her interest, "Come on, Nate, what's the matter? I merely pointed out your change of demeanor correlates with when you started wearing that watch, though that doesn't necessarily mean causation, but they way you're responding to my questioning…" despite the girl's blue locks obscuring her eyes, the gaze that she kept on the boy seemed to intensify…
"It… it's important to me, my grandpa made it," Nate quickly explained, rationalizing that it wasn't technically a lie. "That's all, really."
Lina's intensity lowered a bit at the mention of the boy's late grandfather, though she was still clearly suspicious, "Is that so…? Might I ask what it is used for?" the girl's mouth became a tiny smile, her gaze fixated on the watch, "It doesn't seem to have the capabilities to tell time, and I've noticed you shining a light from it around often…"
Nate's body froze up, once more, and his face paled, 'How does she do that!? Nobody else notices anything I do; how long has she been 'observing' me!?' the boy struggled to find an appropriate sequence of words to rebuff the blue-haired girl's questioning, but nothing came out of his mouth.
Whisper continued to hover at his master's side, a concerned look clear on his face.
Lina kept looking at Nate, her smile slowly changing to a straight line, "Nate…?"
"Lina, I…" Nate released a defeated sigh, lowering his head and removing his hand from the yo-kai watch, "I just… can we just, talk about Space Wars some more, or something? I really don't feel like being 'interrogated' right now."
Lina frowned at her companion's word choice, "I'm not interro– "the girl suddenly paused in her rebuff, taking notice of the boy's tired expression, "… Alright, Nate; let's talk Space Wars!" the girl's smile returned, while she internally buried her burning desire for answers, behind the equally powerful desire to discuss one of her favorite franchises with a fellow fan.
Seeing his request being acknowledged had the boy briefly look up with surprise in his eyes, which was quickly overwhelmed by enthusiasm as he sat up straight and looked directly to his female companion.
Just outside the door to the clubroom, one bespectacled girl was standing, her ear against the door, a disappointed growl escaping her mouth.
Pulling away from the door, Zoey crossed her arms with a huff, "What's with those two? Not a single bit of interesting dialogue, even when left to their lonesome!" she grumbled a bit more, leaning against the wall, before her expression changed to a more sympathetic one, 'Still, nice they're getting along… I guess,' a frown came to her face after a moment, 'But… why didn't I know that Lina liked Space Wars…?'
And, new chapter up! About time I finished this!
