Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Wait a Moment, Is This a Date?
Luna and Noah walked to a park near the high school. It was a clean place with wide paths, neatly aligned trees, and several benches occupied by students.
Noah noticed that Luna seemed familiar with the spot.
"Do you come here often?"
"Sometimes."
"To train?"
"To be alone."
"Oh."
Noah thought he might have touched on a sensitive subject, but Luna continued.
"But today you’re here."
Noah looked at her.
"Does that ruin the purpose?"
"Not necessarily."
"Not necessarily?"
"I’m still evaluating it."
Noah stayed quiet while Luna walked with complete seriousness.
’Was that a joke?’
Noah didn’t know whether to feel offended or laugh, and before he could decide, he spotted an ice cream stand near the park entrance.
"Want some ice cream?"
Luna looked at the stand.
"Yes."
The answer was immediate, which made Noah smile.
"That was fast."
"I like ice cream."
"I wouldn’t have guessed."
"Why?"
"I don’t know, maybe because you’re so serious."
"Serious people eat ice cream too."
"I didn’t say they didn’t."
"But that’s what you implied."
Noah raised his hands.
"Alright, I won’t underestimate your relationship with ice cream again."
"Good decision."
They bought two ice creams. Noah chose chocolate and Luna chose vanilla.
They walked to a bench and sat down.
Noah tried his.
"It’s good."
Luna looked at her ice cream.
"Mine too."
"Do you really like vanilla?"
"Yes."
"Do you always order the same thing?"
"Yes."
"Don’t you get bored?"
"No."
Noah waited for an explanation, but none came.
"Is that it?"
"Yes."
"What a short answer."
"It was a simple question."
Noah let out a laugh, and Luna looked at him.
"Was that funny this time?"
"Maybe..."
"At least you’re getting better."
"At what?"
"At spotting my jokes."
Noah froze.
"Was that an intentional joke?"
"No."
"Then?"
Luna ate a bit of her ice cream.
"It was just the first thing that came to mind."
Noah covered his face with one hand.
"I don’t understand your jokes."
"Still managed to make you smile."
Noah opened his mouth but didn’t respond while Luna kept eating her ice cream as if she had just said something completely normal.
Noah kept chuckling softly.
’I wasn’t expecting this.’
Luna wasn’t visibly smiling, but there was something in her gaze that seemed more relaxed. It was almost imperceptible, but it was there.
They continued walking through the park while eating their ice creams.
A child ran past them and nearly collided with Noah. Luna took a step to the side and dodged it easily.
Noah watched the kid run off.
"That was close."
"Yeah."
"Would you have saved me if he hit me?"
Luna answered without hesitation.
"No."
Noah stopped.
"No?"
"It wasn’t a serious threat."
"I would’ve fallen."
"Probably."
"And you weren’t going to save me?"
"You need to build resistance."
Noah stared at her, and Luna kept walking.
"It was a kid."
"A fast kid."
"Not that fast."
Noah couldn’t help laughing again.
"Luna, that was cruel."
"No, it was indirect training."
"So my potential fall was training?"
"Yes."
"How convenient."
"Thanks."
"That wasn’t a compliment."
"I’ll take it as one."
Noah kept looking at her.
’Now I get why Yume gets so frustrated with her.’
But unlike the training sessions, this time the interaction didn’t bother him. It was strange, sure, but also light.
They reached an area with several benches facing a small fountain where Luna stopped and looked at the water.
Noah finished his ice cream and tossed the wrapper into a nearby trash can.
"This park is peaceful."
"That’s why I come."
"Does it help you think?"
"Sometimes."
"And today?"
Luna looked at him.
"Not today."
"Why?"
"You’re talking."
Noah stood still while Luna looked at him with the same serious expression, and it took him three seconds to react.
"Was that another joke?"
"I don’t know, you tell me."
"Luna."
"Yes."
"You can’t tell me you don’t know every time I ask."
"Yes I can."
"That doesn’t help."
"It does for me."
Noah sighed, but he was smiling.
"Fine, I’ll talk less."
Luna stayed quiet.
"I didn’t say it bothered me."
Noah looked at her.
"But you said you can’t think because I’m talking."
"That’s different."
"How?"
"If it bothered me, I’d tell you."
Noah didn’t know what to do with that answer.
"So... do you want me to keep talking?"
Luna turned her gaze toward the fountain.
"You can."
Noah felt that word carried more weight than it seemed.
’You can.’
With Yume, almost everything was obvious, like when her emotions came out strong even if she tried to hide them. But with Luna, a single word could mean a lot if you listened carefully.
Noah sat on a nearby bench, and Luna sat beside him, leaving a prudent distance.
For a few moments they said nothing, and then Noah spoke.
"I’m glad you invited me."
Luna looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because we almost always see each other during training, at school, or in complicated situations, and this is different."
"It’s a park."
"Exactly, a park with no threats."
Luna looked around.
"I haven’t checked the whole place yet."
Noah slowly turned toward her.
"Don’t say that."
"There could be one hiding."
"Are you being serious?"
"The chances are low, but never zero."
Noah looked at the nearby bushes.
"Luna."
"Yes?"
"Don’t make me tense."
"It would be good training."
"I disagree."
Luna observed him for a few seconds.
"Understood. I won’t make you tense."
"Thank you."
"Unless we get attacked."
Noah closed his eyes.
"Luna."
This time Luna lowered her gaze just a little, and Noah noticed something minimal in her face, it wasn’t a full smile, but almost.
Noah pointed at her.
"That one was on purpose."
"I don’t know what you’re talking about."
"Yes you do."
"You can’t prove it."
Noah smiled.
"Alright, I can’t."
Luna looked back at the fountain.
The silence returned, but now it felt different.
Noah realized he wasn’t waiting for Luna to talk more, nor did he feel the need to fill every pause. The conversation appeared and disappeared naturally, with dry comments that forced him to think twice before responding.
It was a different dynamic from the one he had with Yume.
With Luna, he felt like every sentence was a test of attention, because if he didn’t listen carefully, he could miss the meaning. If he took everything literally, he’d get confused, but if he assumed everything was a joke, he could also be wrong.
It wasn’t easier, just different, and that difference was starting to feel pleasant to him.
Luna spoke without looking at him.
"You seemed less worried today."
Noah was surprised.
"Really?"
"Yes."
"I didn’t notice."
"I did."
Noah rested his hands on the bench.
"Maybe because we didn’t destroy anything today."
"That helps."
"And because Yume is resting."
Luna stayed silent for a second.
"That too."
Noah looked at her.
"Are you worried?"
"Yes."
The answer was immediate.
"But I won’t say it in an exaggerated way."
"That would be weird coming from you."
"Correct."
Noah smiled while Luna asked.
"Will you text her later?"
"Yes."
Luna paused.
"You can tell her I had ice cream with you."
Noah raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"So she knows about the outing we had and gets jealous of us."
Noah looked at her.
"Luna, that doesn’t make sense."
"It does to me."
Noah looked at her for a few seconds and then started laughing again while Luna watched him calmly.
Noah wiped away a small tear that had formed from laughing.
"Your sense of humor is dangerous."
"Yes... my humor..."
They spent a while longer in the park, and at the end of the afternoon both walked toward the exit.
Noah looked at the sky and then at his phone.
"We should text Yume."
Luna nodded.
"Yes."
Noah opened the chat and typed.
[How are you feeling? Luna and I went to a park after class. We got ice cream.]
He showed the message to Luna before sending it.
"Is this okay?"
Luna read it.
"Add that I had a lot of fun with you."
"No."
"It might reassure her."
"No, that’ll just confuse her."
"Then leave it like that."
Noah sent the message and Yume’s reply came a minute later.
[You went to the park?]
Noah felt a small chill when another message arrived.
[Just the two of you?]
Luna looked at the screen.
"Wow, she’s alive."
Noah looked at her.
"That doesn’t help."
"But it’s good news."
Noah couldn’t help smiling, even though he knew he’d have to explain to Yume that nothing strange had happened, or at least nothing he considered strange.
He put away his phone and looked at Luna.
"Thanks for inviting me."
Luna observed him.
"You can come again."
Noah nodded.
"I’d like that."
Luna looked away.
"Good."
Noah thought the conversation would end there, but Luna added.
"Next time we can go somewhere more private."
"No."
"I’ll try again another day."
"Someday your jokes are going to cause misunderstandings."
"I can neither confirm nor deny that."
Noah laughed again while Luna walked beside him with a calm expression.
To anyone watching from the outside, it didn’t look like they were sharing anything special, just two students walking after class. But for Noah, that afternoon made one thing clear.
Luna wasn’t just cold and serious.
She had a strange way of getting close, a way of speaking that seemed rigid until you started listening to her better.
For the first time since he met her, Noah felt like he was seeing a side of Luna that the anime had never shown in so much detail.
That seemed important to him, even though he still didn’t understand how much.
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