Chapter 90: Noah and a Scare That Felt Good.
Noah slightly opened his eyes when he heard Luna’s proposal.
"Luna."
"You know I live alone, so no one is going to interrupt us."
"I know, but..."
"You wouldn’t have to head back this late."
"But that’s exactly why I’d have to head back."
"You could do it tomorrow."
Noah shook his head.
"My family would worry."
"You can text them."
"That would make things worse."
Luna seemed to think it over.
"You can say you’re with Ren."
"I’m not going to start another chain of lies."
Luna watched him for several seconds and, although Noah expected her to insist, she finally let go of his wrist.
"I understand."
"You’re not mad?"
"No."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
Luna stepped closer once more and gave him another kiss, even shorter this time.
"Then, sometime this week."
Noah stayed still.
"I’m not promising we’ll do it soon."
"Good night."
Luna started walking.
"Luna..."
She raised a hand without turning around, and Noah sighed.
’She definitely took that as a yes for another day.’
He continued on his way home.
He had walked several blocks when he began to feel that something wasn’t right, so he looked behind him, but there was nothing.
He kept walking.
Then he heard footsteps, so he stopped and the footsteps stopped too.
Noah felt his body tense up and immediately remembered the women who had seemed to be following him days earlier, so he slipped a hand into his pocket.
His phone was there, and he was also carrying the self-defense device his family insisted he keep on him.
Then a figure stepped out from a side street, and Noah took a step back.
"Who’s there?"
The person was wearing a cap and dark glasses, which made Noah recognize her a second later.
"Iris."
His tension vanished and Iris approached.
"Hey."
Noah looked at her in disbelief.
"What are you doing here?"
"Waiting for you."
"Since when?"
"For a little while."
"I thought you’d left."
"I left the café."
"That normally means you went home."
"I didn’t say that."
Noah put a hand over his chest.
"You almost gave me a heart attack."
"Sorry."
"Why didn’t you come out when I finished my shift?"
Iris stayed quiet, so Noah waited until she answered.
"I had to make sure."
"Of what?"
Iris looked away.
"Of something."
"But of what?"
"It doesn’t matter."
Noah narrowed his eyes, but Iris ignored the question.
"Come with me."
"No."
She stopped, and Noah pointed in the direction of his house.
"I just turned down exactly that line."
Iris looked at him, confused.
"What?"
"Ah... nothing."
"I want to show you something."
"Where?"
"At a manga café."
Noah blinked.
"Right now?"
"Yes."
"What for?"
"To talk."
Noah checked the time and he could still get back without his family starting to worry too much.
"Is it far?"
"Ten minutes."
Noah hesitated, but finally agreed.
"All right, but we can’t take too long."
Iris nodded and the two of them walked together to the manga café, which was located in a multi-story building near a commercial area.
The place had private booths, computers, drinks, and shelves packed with manga.
Noah looked at the prices and then at Iris.
"This is pretty expensive."
"I know."
"Do you have money?"
Iris looked at him, and Noah raised his hands.
"I didn’t ask to offend you."
"Yes, I have money."
"I just wanted to make sure."
"I make enough, you know?"
"From where?"
"Tournaments."
Iris started listing things off on her fingers.
"Prize money, events, some collabs, and streams."
Noah stopped.
"You stream?"
"Yes."
"Since when?"
"For years."
"And you never mentioned it?"
"You never asked."
Noah followed her into a private booth that had two computers, a small sofa, a table, and enough isolation to talk without other people easily overhearing.
Iris set her bag down.
"That’s exactly what I wanted to talk to you about."
She turned on a computer.
"About your channel."
Noah sat down right away.
"So you did think of something."
"Of a lot of things."
Iris opened a notes page that had a list, so Noah leaned toward the screen.
"You prepared all this?"
"Last night."
There were several categories.
Components, budget, peripherals, software, security, and lastly, content for the channel.
Noah started reading.
"Processor, graphics card, memory..."
Iris pointed at the screen.
"You don’t need to buy the most expensive stuff."
"That makes me happy."
"But don’t buy anything too cheap either."
"Now that worries me."
Iris started explaining the options.
She showed him which parts mattered most for streaming, which ones he could upgrade later, and which ones were unnecessary expenses at the start, so Noah took notes on his phone.
"So first I need the computer."
"Yes."
"Then the microphone."
"Yes."
"Camera?"
Iris shook her head.
"Not necessarily."
"I figured it would help."
"Yeah, it would help a lot."
Noah looked at her.
"And that’s a bad thing?"
"In your case, yes."
Iris turned toward him.
"Basically because you’re a guy."
"Thanks for the reminder."
"If you have a camera, the wrong people will try to figure out who you are."
Noah stopped joking, since that made sense.
"So it’s better if I hide my face?"
"At the beginning, yes."
Iris opened a new section.
"You could use an avatar."
"Like a VTuber?"
"Exactly."
"But if the appeal of my channel is that I’m a guy, completely hiding myself would be contradictory."
"You don’t have to hide your voice."
"That’s true."
"You can also use a limited camera."
"How?"
"Point the camera only at your hands or a shot from the neck down."
Noah looked at her.
"That sounds dangerous in a different way."
Iris stayed quiet for a moment and then nodded.
"You’re right, I hadn’t thought of that."
"So an avatar?"
"Yes, an avatar is better."
They continued.
"Channel name."
Iris said.
"Do you have one?"
"No, none..."
"You need one that’s easy to remember."
Noah thought.
"Something related to games?"
"Too generic."
"Something with my name?"
"Don’t use Reed."
"For safety?"
"Yes."
"Noah?"
Iris thought.
"It could work if you add something else."
They started writing down possibilities.
Noah suggested bad names, so Iris rejected them, and Iris suggested ones that were too serious, which Noah made fun of.
Then they moved on to content.
"Competitive games."
Iris said.
"I could also play new stuff."
"Yes."
"Reviews?"
"Once you have an audience."
"Guides?"
Iris looked at him.
"You’re not good enough."
Noah went quiet.
"That hurt, you know?"
"But it’s the truth."
"You could’ve said it another way."
"There’s no better way than being direct."
Noah smiled.
"Then you could show up to teach me."
Iris froze.
"On the channel?"
"Yes."
"Together?"
"Of course."
Iris looked away.
"Maybe I could."
Noah kept writing.