Lord of Perverted Ladies

The room felt strangely quiet after the others left.

Their voices faded into the hallway, followed by the distant noise of students heading toward the cafeteria. A moment later the club room door clicked shut, leaving only the soft ticking of the wall clock and the muffled sounds drifting in through the open window.

Noah stood beside the window with one hand in his pocket, watching the courtyard below. Students crossed the campus in small groups, laughing about classes or hurrying toward lunch, completely unaware of how tense the atmosphere inside the club room had become.

I waited.

Noah wasn’t the type to rush into a conversation. Whenever he had something important to say, he always took a moment to organize his thoughts first.

Eventually, he turned around.

"...Can I ask you something?"

I nodded.

"You already did."

A faint smile crossed his face.

"Right."

He pulled one of the chairs away from a desk and sat down, resting his elbows on his knees.

"I need you to answer honestly."

"I’ll try."

He studied my face for several seconds before speaking again.

"...Have we met before this semester?"

That wasn’t the question I’d expected.

I frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly what I asked."

He didn’t look suspicious.

He looked... confused.

"I know we were enrolled at the same academy."

"I know we’ve shared classes."

"But every time we talk..."

He paused, searching for the right words.

"...It feels like you’re talking to someone you’ve known much longer."

I forced myself to stay calm.

"What makes you think that?"

"You anticipate my answers."

He said it so casually that it almost sounded like an observation rather than an accusation.

"You finish my reasoning before I explain it."

"You recommend books I’ve never told anyone I wanted to read."

"You knew I’d create this club before I announced it."

I stayed silent.

He continued.

"And the abandoned toy factory..."

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"You weren’t surprised when we found it."

"You acted like you already expected something to happen."

A bead of sweat rolled slowly down my neck.

Noah noticed details.

That had always been one of his strengths.

I just hadn’t realized how many he’d been collecting.

"I’ve been thinking about it for days," he admitted.

"At first I assumed it was coincidence."

"Then more coincidences kept happening."

He leaned back in the chair.

"So..."

"Either you’re incredibly lucky..."

"...Or you know something I don’t."

The system remained completely silent.

No helpful windows.

No sarcastic comments.

It had decided to leave this one entirely to me.

I let out a slow breath.

"I don’t know the future, Noah."

That part, at least, wasn’t entirely false anymore.

The future had already started changing.

He watched me carefully.

"I didn’t ask whether you knew the future."

"...You didn’t."

"I asked whether you knew something."

I couldn’t answer that.

Not because I didn’t want to.

Because I had no idea how I could.

"Look."

I rubbed the back of my neck.

"There are... things I can’t explain."

"I figured."

"But none of them are meant to hurt you."

He nodded slowly.

"I believe that."

That surprised me.

"...You do?"

"I do."

He folded his hands together.

"If I thought you were dangerous, I wouldn’t have invited you into this club."

Another silence settled between us.

Finally, Noah spoke again.

"You don’t have to tell me everything."

"I know everyone has things they’d rather keep private."

He looked toward the whiteboard covered with our exhibition plans.

"But if whatever you’re hiding puts the others in danger..."

His voice became noticeably firmer.

"...I need to know."

Ryan.

Marcus.

Daniel.

Ethan.

Images of the factory flashed through my mind.

If I’d arrived even a few minutes later...

They might not have survived.

"I understand."

Noah nodded once.

"I thought you would."

He stood up and walked toward the whiteboard, uncapping a marker almost absentmindedly.

"You know..."

"There was another reason I asked you to stay."

I blinked.

"There was?"

He wrote a single word in one corner of the board.

Patterns

Then he turned back toward me.

"I’ve noticed something strange."

"What?"

"Our club."

I looked around the room.

"...What about it?"

He tapped the word with the marker.

"Think about everyone who joined."

I did.

Ryan.

Daniel.

Marcus.

Ethan.

Me.

"What do they have in common?"

I frowned.

"...We’re friends?"

"No."

He shook his head.

"You became friends surprisingly quickly."

"But that’s not what I mean."

He pointed toward me.

"You’ve experienced something unusual."

The marker moved.

It pointed toward his own chest.

"So have I."

I felt my heartbeat quicken.

"What do you mean?"

Noah looked out the window again.

"For the past month..."

"I’ve had dreams."

Dreams?

"What kind of dreams?"

"They’re difficult to explain."

"They always start the same way."

"A city."

"Burning."

"People running."

He looked uncomfortable talking about it.

"I don’t recognize the place."

"I don’t recognize the people."

"But every time I wake up..."

"I remember one feeling."

"What feeling?"

"That I was too late."

The words hung in the air.

"I thought they were just nightmares."

He smiled weakly.

"Until they started repeating."

"Over and over."

"The same city."

"The same fire."

"The same feeling."

I remained completely still.

This...

This had never happened in the game.

Or at least...

I didn’t remember it happening.

"I haven’t told anyone."

"No?"

"They’d think I’m losing my mind."

"...Probably."

He laughed quietly.

"Exactly."

For a few moments neither of us spoke.

Then Noah asked another question.

"...Do you ever have dreams like that?"

I hesitated.

The honest answer was yes.

Just not those dreams.

I dreamed about another world.

Another life.

Another name.

"Sometimes."

He nodded.

"I figured."

The academy bell rang outside, signaling the end of lunch.

Students immediately began making their way back toward the classroom buildings.

Noah looked at his watch.

"We should go."

I picked up my backpack.

"...Noah."

He looked at me.

"Thanks."

"For trusting me."

He smiled faintly.

"I haven’t decided whether I trust you."

"...That’s fair."

"But..."

He opened the club room door.

"I’d like to."

We stepped into the hallway together.

Students streamed past us in both directions, talking excitedly about the exhibition and complaining that lunch had been too short.

Everything looked completely ordinary again.

Almost.

As we walked side by side toward the classroom building, a familiar blue notification quietly appeared at the edge of my vision.

______

[Observation Recorded]

Noah Walker has begun questioning story inconsistencies.

Current Awareness Level:

12%

Warning:

Further deviations may accelerate awareness.

______

I kept walking without reacting.

Twelve percent.

I had no idea what happened at one hundred.

Somehow...

I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out.