Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Ren Aoyama.
The train moved through the city and Noah watched the scenery from his seat.
He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he could get kidnapped and trafficked.
It wasn’t easy to process.
’This world has serious issues.’
The car was quiet.
The handful of men onboard rode in peace.
Some were on their phones, others were reading.
Nobody seemed worried.
That made Noah wonder if his family’s warnings had been overblown.
Then he remembered they’d handed him pepper spray before he left the house.
’Right. Probably not overblown.’
While he was thinking that, someone appeared in front of his seat.
"Noah."
Noah looked up.
A light-haired boy was smiling at him.
He looked about the same age, wore the same uniform, and carried himself like someone who’d known Noah for years.
Noah felt an immediate alarm.
’Who is this guy?’
The boy sat down across from him.
"I thought you’d missed the train."
Noah tried to keep his expression neutral.
"Almost."
"That’s what I figured."
The boy settled into his seat.
"Your sister always cuts it down to the last second."
Noah forced a smile.
"Yeah."
’Who the hell are you?’
The boy didn’t seem to notice anything off.
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"How are your moms doing?"
Noah felt another problem coming on.
’I have no idea.’
Nobody had mentioned names at breakfast.
He had no way to answer.
Luckily, the boy kept talking.
"Is Ms. Emma still cooking just as well as ever?"
Noah blinked.
’Emma.’
He had a name.
He nodded quickly.
"Of course."
The boy smiled.
"Knew it."
He crossed his arms.
"I will never understand how she cooks that well."
Noah decided to stick to nodding.
The less he said, the fewer chances he had to mess up.
The boy let out a small laugh.
"Though I’m still more scared of Ms. Sarah than any teacher."
Noah blinked again.
’Sarah.’
Perfect, second name acquired.
Emma was the one who cooked.
Sarah was the one with the newspaper.
Noah quickly ran through breakfast in his head.
Emma had the chestnut hair.
Sarah had the black hair.
It all lined up.
"Sarah definitely commands respect."
Noah said it casually, and the boy nodded hard.
"Exactly. I still remember the one time she looked at me for three whole seconds."
"And?"
"I felt like I was going to die."
Noah nearly laughed.
That actually matched the impression he had of Sarah perfectly.
"I think you’re exaggerating."
"I am not exaggerating."
The boy pointed directly at Noah.
"You’re used to it because you’re her spoiled little favorite, but it’s not the same for the rest of us."
Noah decided not to argue.
The conversation was working.
He was getting information without raising any red flags.
’Good. I’m surviving.’
The boy looked out the window.
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"Do you know which homeroom you got?"
Noah went still.
"Not... really."
"You haven’t checked yet?"
"Didn’t have time."
The boy let out a sigh.
"Me neither."
Noah took the opening.
"Then we’re in the same boat."
"I guess so."
The boy smiled.
"When we get there, we’ll check together."
"Good idea... hey, what was your full name again? Just in case I need to find you on the board..."
The boy looked surprised.
"You seriously don’t remember my name?"
"It’s just that I never really called you by your name, so it kind of slipped my mind..."
Noah was sweating on the inside.
’Please buy it. Please buy it.’
The boy sighed.
"I can’t believe you don’t know your own best friend’s name... It’s Ren Aoyama. Full name."
Noah felt instant relief.
’Thank you.’
He finally knew who this was, though he remembered them differently from the anime.
’That’s weird, I could’ve sworn Ren was a girl... then again, looking more closely, he could pass for one...’
Then it hit him.
’Wait, has he always been a guy but just likes to crossdress?!’
"Right."
Ren raised an eyebrow.
"Right?"
"No, I mean..."
Noah corrected course quickly.
"Right, we’ll head over together."
Ren studied him for a few seconds.
Then nodded.
"I thought you were still half asleep."
’So did I.’
The rest of the ride went smoothly.
Ren talked a lot while Noah listened and occasionally offered a simple response.
Little by little, he picked up more information about his new life.
When the train finally reached its stop, both of them got off.
The station was packed with students.
A huge number of girls, very few boys.
Noah was already starting to get used to the imbalance.
They walked with the crowd, and then he saw her.
Pink hair, school uniform, and a radiant smile.
Noah froze.
’Yume?’
It was her.
He recognized her instantly.
He’d watched all one hundred and fifty episodes of the anime, there was no way he could mistake her for anyone else.
His heart started racing.
’It’s really her!’
The magical girl protagonist was alive and walking calmly toward school.
Noah reacted without thinking.
Without meaning to, he grabbed Ren by the arm and dragged him behind a nearby tree.
Both of them ended up hidden behind the trunk.
Ren blinked several times.
Then he looked at Noah, then at Yume, then back at Noah.
His eyes went wide.
"No way."
"What?"
"Don’t tell me you’re about to do that!"
Noah frowned.
"Do what?"
"Confess your feelings!"
Noah nearly choked on his own spit.
"What?!"
Ren pointed at Yume.
"Noah..."
"Yeah?"
"She’s cute."
"Yeah."
"Really cute."
"Yeah."
"But don’t do anything stupid, you have no idea if she’s a creep who’ll try to do things to you."
Noah immediately shook his head.
"I’m not confessing anything!"
Ren let out a long breath of relief.
"Thank God."
"That wasn’t even on my mind."
"Good."
Both of them stayed hidden for a few more seconds.
Then Ren spoke again.
"If you’re not confessing..."
"Yeah?"
"Why are we hiding?"
Noah opened his mouth and stood there thinking.
He couldn’t tell the truth.
He couldn’t say he’d yanked them behind a tree because he’d just spotted an anime protagonist in real life.
That would be impossible to explain.
"Precaution."
Ren went quiet.
"Precaution?"
"Yeah."
Ren looked at Yume, then at Noah, then back at Yume.
His expression turned serious.
Very serious.
"Noah."
"What?"
"That girl isn’t bothering you, is she?"
Noah blinked.
"Huh?"
"Because if she’s been harassing you, you need to say something."
It took Noah several seconds to catch on.
When he did, he nearly facepalmed.
’He jumped to the wildest possible conclusion.’
"She’s not harassing me."
"You sure?"
"Positive."
"Completely positive?"
"Yes."
Ren seemed to relax.
"Okay, good."
Noah decided to end the conversation there.
Yume was already walking away.
’She’s exactly the same.’
He couldn’t believe it.
He was really there, watching Yume with his own eyes, which meant Luna had to be somewhere nearby too.
The excitement came rushing back.
’I’m going to see it.’
After all those episodes. After that ending.
Now he’d get to watch it all from the very beginning.
They came out from behind the tree and kept walking.
The high school appeared before them.
It was massive, much bigger than Noah had imagined.
Hundreds of students were streaming through the main entrance.
Ren pointed ahead.
"The bulletin board’s over that way."
They pushed through the crowd.
Groups of students were talking everywhere.
Noah barely paid them any attention.
His mind was somewhere far more important.
They finally made it.
A large board took up an entire wall.
Dozens of students were scanning it for their names.
Ren started looking and Noah did the same.
A few seconds passed before he found something.
[First Year: Noah Reed.]
Noah felt a jolt of excitement, but kept scanning the other names until he found them.
[First Year: Yume Hoshino.]
[First Year: Luna Tsukino.]
Noah’s eyes went wide.
’First year.’
That confirmed something important. Extremely important.
He remembered how the anime’s story began.
Yume and Luna officially met during their first year of high school.
That meant they hadn’t crossed paths yet. Their story hadn’t started.
He was still in time.
Noah clenched his fists.
An enormous smile spread across his face.
’I’m going to see it happen!’
The birth of a friendship. The beginning of a romance.
This time, he’d be there from the very start, and nothing would stop Yume and Luna from ending up together.
Absolutely nothing.
The story had only just begun.
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