Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Shit, Noah, you’re going from bad to worse.
Noah was exhausted, and that wasn’t just a figure of speech. He was genuinely exhausted.
Both his legs and his back ached.
He was even pretty sure there were muscles in his body whose existence he hadn’t known about until that moment, and all because of two magical girls, or, more specifically, because he had tried to escape from two extremely jealous magical girls.
"You look horrible."
Noah looked up and saw Ren sitting across from him on the train.
"Thanks."
"It wasn’t a compliment."
"I know."
Ren observed him for a few seconds.
"What happened?"
"Not much."
"You look like someone who survived a war."
"It wasn’t that bad... I think..."
"Then tell me why you’re so tired."
Noah remembered the chase from the day before when Yume and Luna had been looking for him all over the training area, the interrogation that had lasted hours, and him escaping every time he found an opportunity.
"I haven’t run that much since phys ed."
He murmured.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Ren crossed his arms.
"Did you exercise?"
"Something like that."
"That explains a lot."
Noah nodded, since it was technically true because he had run quite a bit, but he omitted mentioning that he had been running for his life.
The train kept moving forward and shortly after they arrived at the high school.
Classes began and Noah spent a good part of the morning thinking about an important problem, one that involved Yume and Luna.
’How do I avoid Yume and Luna?’
He had no intention of facing them yet.
He still didn’t know how to explain the accident with Reina, because it had clearly been an accident, but he was pretty sure neither of them wanted to hear explanations.
Especially Yume, since the last time he had seen her she had a smile that was terrifying.
’I need time.’
That was the conclusion he had reached: people calmed down with time... maybe.
That’s what he hoped.
’Please.’
The teacher continued explaining the lesson, but Noah barely listened.
His mind was occupied because he needed a hiding place for recess.
A safe place where no one would find him and where he could survive.
Then he remembered something.
’The library!’
His eyes lit up.
’Perfect.’
It was huge, quiet, and full of shelves.
It would be impossible to find someone there because it was practically a fortress, and for the first time all morning he felt hope.
Finally, the bell rang and Noah shot out of the classroom.
"Noah."
He heard Ren’s voice.
"Huh?"
"Why are you running?"
"Because I love education?"
"That doesn’t make sense."
"I don’t have time to explain."
And he disappeared down the hallway.
Minutes later he reached the library, entered, and was impressed.
It was enormous, much bigger than he had expected.
There were endless rows of shelves, reading tables, private rooms, specialized sections, and thousands of books.
Noah observed the entire place.
’This is perfect.’
It was impossible for anyone to find him there.
He could hide for hours, days, years, or even until graduation.
He began walking between the shelves and became more and more convinced that he had made the right decision.
Then he turned a corner and collided with someone.
"Ah!"
"I’m sorry!"
A mountain of books flew everywhere, the volumes fell to the floor, and Noah reacted quickly to pick them up.
"Sorry, I wasn’t looking."
He looked up and froze.
In front of him was a girl with jet-black hair that reached her waist, while her eyes were a beautiful violet-blue color behind a pair of glasses, and a blue ribbon held part of her hair in place.
But none of that mattered because Noah recognized her immediately and his eyes widened.
’No.’
His brain took several seconds to process it.
’No, this can’t be possible.’
It was completely impossible, but there she was.
Ayane Kagetsu.
The final villain and the one responsible for the disaster that happened at the end of the anime, the same enemy who had forced Yume to sacrifice herself, was standing in front of him.
Wearing a school uniform, holding books, and wearing glasses.
Noah stood motionless and Ayane did too.
The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds.
Ayane blinked and finally seemed to realize something.
It was a boy who had spoken to her, was looking at her, and was less than a meter away.
Ayane’s face turned red. Very red.
"A-A-A-A..."
Noah tilted his head.
"Are you okay?"
That was a mistake because Ayane’s face turned even redder.
"N-No..."
"No?"
"I-I-I-I..."
She tried to speak but failed.
She tried again and failed once more.
Her brain seemed to have stopped working.
"You don’t have to get nervous."
Noah said, but when Ayane heard those words, her face reached a new level of red.
"N-N-N-Nervous?"
"Yeah."
"B-B-Because of y-you?"
"Well..."
Ayane took a step back and her hands began to tremble.
"Are you sure you’re okay?"
Noah asked, to which Ayane opened her mouth and tried to respond, but no words came out.
Her eyes rolled, her body swayed, and she fell backward.
Noah reacted immediately and caught her before she hit the floor.
"..."
"..."
Noah looked at the unconscious girl.
’What just happened?’
Minutes later, in the infirmary, the nurse observed Noah.
"Thanks for bringing her."
"It was nothing."
"You can leave her here."
"Perfect."
Noah said goodbye and left quickly, since he had no intention of staying.
He already had enough problems and didn’t need to add another future villain to the list.
The door closed and silence returned for an hour.
Finally, Ayane began to wake up.
She slowly opened her eyes, looked at the ceiling, then the walls, and finally the room.
"Huh?"
She sat up slowly and the nurse looked up.
"Oh, you’re awake."
Ayane blinked.
"Where am I?"
"In the infirmary."
"How did I get here?"
The nurse smiled.
"A boy brought you."
Ayane froze.
"A-A boy?"
"Yes."
The nurse nodded.
"He seemed pretty worried."
Ayane’s brain stopped listening to the rest of the conversation because an image appeared in her mind.
Her unconscious and a handsome boy carrying her like a princess while running worried, protecting her and saving her.
Ayane began to turn red again.
’Th-This can’t be!’
The image continued.
She imagined wind, petals, romantic music, and Noah holding her carefully, looking at her with concern.
Saying things like:
"Hang in there."
"I hope you’re okay."
"Please, don’t leave me."
Ayane’s face looked like a fire alarm.
’Did that happen?’
Her heart beat faster and faster.
’Did he carry me the whole way?’
The nurse kept organizing papers, oblivious to the mental disaster happening in front of her while Ayane brought both hands to her face.
’Wait.’
Another thought appeared and it was worse.
Much worse.
’Did he carry me pressed against him?’
Her brain began working way too fast.
’Does that count as physical contact?’
Her breathing quickened.
’What if he carried me for too long?’
The panic increased.
’Do I need to take a pregnancy test!?’
Ayane’s eyes widened.
’Can people get pregnant like that?!’
Her knowledge about relationships came mainly from romance novels, and those novels were not exactly reliable sources.
The nurse finally noticed her expression.
"Are you feeling okay?"
"Y-Yes!"
"You seem nervous."
"I’m not nervous!"
"Sure."
The nurse smiled and Ayane looked away.
"Wh-What did he look like?"
"Who?"
"The boy."
"Oh."
The nurse smiled.
"He was pretty cute."
Ayane felt her heart skip a beat.
’Cute!’
"He also seemed kind."
’Kind!’
"But what stood out was that he was worried about you."
’Worried!’
Ayane was already imagining a wedding.
The nurse continued watching her and then asked something casually.
"Is he your boyfriend?"
Ayane answered way too fast.
"Not yet."
Silence filled the room.
The nurse blinked and Ayane did too.
Then both processed the answer.
"Not yet?"
The nurse asked.
Ayane turned into a statue, her brain stopped working, and her soul temporarily left her body.
"I-I didn’t mean that!"
"Sure."
"I really didn’t!"
"Of course."
"I don’t even know who he is!"
"I understand."
"I’m serious!"
The nurse seemed to be enjoying herself way too much, but Ayane got up abruptly.
"I’m leaving!"
"So soon?"
"Yes!"
"Good luck with your boyfriend."
"He’s not my boyfriend!"
"For now."
"AAAAAHH!!"
Ayane ran out of the infirmary, crossed the hallway, went down the stairs, turned a corner, and only then stopped.
Her heart was still racing, so she leaned her back against a wall and breathed deeply.
’Who was he?’
That question appeared immediately.
She remembered his voice, his eyes, that he was a boy, but the nerves had destroyed the rest of her memories.
’Ah...’
She brought both hands to her face.
’My Prince Charming.’
Then she froze.
’Why did I think that?’
Three seconds passed.
’Well... because he saved me.’
Another three seconds.
’And he carried me.’
Five more seconds.
’And he was worried about me.’
Ayane closed her eyes and her imagination started working again.
Romantic scenes appeared once more: dates, confessions, marriages, families, and happy endings.
The girl covered her face.
’I’m losing my mind.’
But she couldn’t help smiling because for the first time in a long time she felt curious.
She wanted to know who he was, see him again, thank him, and she definitely didn’t want to admit that she also wanted to check if he was really as handsome as she remembered.
Meanwhile, in another part of the school, Noah sneezed.
"Huh?"
He looked around and saw nothing strange.
’How weird.’
He had no way of knowing it, but he had just caught the attention of another future villain and, considering his recent track record...
That was exactly the kind of problem he needed the least.
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