Chapter 10: Chapter 10: The table is already set.
Noah had reached a conclusion.
The situation was serious.
Sitting at his desk, he watched the clock, saw that there were only a few minutes left until lunch, and that meant another important event was about to happen.
One of the most important ones.
’This time for sure.’
He had been thinking about it all morning and this time he wouldn’t make any mistakes.
He remembered that scene perfectly.
Yume was eating lunch alone when suddenly Luna appeared, sat down across from her, and they started talking.
At first it was a simple conversation, nothing spectacular or dramatic, but that moment was important, because it was the real beginning of their bond.
That was the point where they started getting to know each other and the story between them began to move forward.
Noah wasn’t going to ruin it, not again.
The bell finally rang and students started getting up, but Noah did exactly the opposite.
He waited and let everyone else leave before abandoning the classroom.
’This time I’ll be smart about it.’
Noah arrived at the cafeteria several minutes early.
He carefully scanned the place and spotted the table, which he remembered perfectly.
Yume should be arriving soon and then Luna would show up.
Everything was set.
Noah looked for a spot to hide and finally found one in a corner where he could watch without drawing attention.
’Now I just have to stay put.’
For the first time since arriving in that world, he felt confident.
He couldn’t fail, literally, he wasn’t doing anything.
’There’s absolutely no way I can interfere, absolutely none.’
Then he heard a female voice.
"Noah?"
Noah closed his eyes.
’This can’t be happening, please, no.’
He turned slowly and found a student behind him he didn’t recognize.
’Must be from another class.’
She seemed nervous, very nervous, and that was already a bad sign.
"Noah..."
She repeated.
"Y-Yes?"
The girl took a deep breath.
"I need to tell you something."
Noah felt a chill run down his spine.
’Please don’t let this be what I think it is.’
The student clasped her hands together and then lowered her head.
"Ever since I saw you..."
Noah started backing away.
"Wait."
"I think you’re really kind..."
’No.’
"And also really cute..."
’No.’
"And I wanted to ask you if..."
"No."
The girl froze.
"Huh?"
Noah kept backing away.
"No."
"But I’m not done yet!"
"You don’t need to be."
"Yes I do!"
"I said no!"
"I say yes!"
"I already told you no!"
The student started moving toward him and Noah started to panic.
"Why not? I promise I’ll hold myself back as much as I possibly can with you."
He recalled the words of Emma, Sarah, Ava, and Luna.
They all agreed on one thing.
’I have to get out of here!’
The girl took another step forward with an expression that could only be described as unhinged.
"Relax, it’ll only hurt at first..."
Noah made a decision, spun on his heels, and bolted.
"Wait!"
She shouted, but Noah didn’t wait, he ran through the courtyard, between buildings, and through the hallways with no idea where he was going, only wanting to escape.
Behind him he could hear the footsteps of the student still chasing him.
’Why is she chasing me?!’
The situation was absurd, but that didn’t stop it from being very real.
Rounding a corner, Noah spotted the cafeteria entrance and got an idea.
’I’ll hide in there.’
It was a terrible idea, but he didn’t know that yet.
He went inside, glanced behind him, and saw that the student was still closing in.
"Noah!"
’Why is she so fast?!’
He looked ahead and then he saw something.
Yume was arriving with her lunch tray, exactly as it was supposed to happen.
’Good!’
Then he saw Luna, who was also making her way over.
’Perfect!’
For the first time, everything was working, Yume was walking toward the table along with Luna.
The scene was beginning.
Noah felt a wave of relief right up until he clipped a chair, lost his balance, and tried to stop himself, but it didn’t work.
Then he tried to grab onto something, but that didn’t work either, and he ended up falling directly onto the table.
’What?!’
Trays went flying along with drinks, several people screamed, and the entire cafeteria went dead silent.
Noah stayed motionless for several seconds with his face pressed against the table.
"..."
’No.’
He slowly lifted his head to find Yume standing there, staring at him along with Luna.
The event was dead, again, and with no hope of recovery.
Noah wanted to disappear.
"Are you okay?"
Yume asked immediately.
Noah felt that somehow made everything worse.
"Yeah."
He answered.
"Totally fine."
He was not totally fine, he was emotionally destroyed.
The student who had been chasing him appeared behind him, stopped, took in the scene, and decided to flee, probably out of embarrassment.
Noah envied her, because he wanted to flee too.
Luna crossed her arms.
"Why were you running?"
Noah opened his mouth but couldn’t find an adequate answer.
"Exercise."
He lied, but Luna looked at him in a way that made it clear she wasn’t buying it even a little.
Yume looked worried, which didn’t help either.
Noah got to his feet.
"I’m sorry."
He quickly gathered his things and disappeared before anyone could stop him.
Minutes later he was sitting alone behind a building with his head in his hands.
’Twice!’
This couldn’t be a coincidence anymore.
Two important events and both had ended exactly the same way, ruined by him.
Noah started going over everything that had happened since he arrived and little by little he began to notice a pattern, a horrible pattern.
’Every time I try to bring them together...’
He lifted his head.
’They become more interested in me.’
The silence stretched on for several seconds.
That conclusion implied something terrible.
His mind went back to the conversations with the goddess, the bet he’d made with her, the constant warnings he’d received.
Everything was starting to fit together.
’No.’
He rejected it immediately, he couldn’t give up, not yet, but for the first time since making that bet, he began to wonder if he was really fighting against something he could actually win.
Because every step he took to bring Yume and Luna closer together seemed to bring them closer to him instead.
Noah looked up at the sky and then let out a long, slow sigh.
"This is a disaster."
For him, unfortunately, it was only just beginning.
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