Chapter 93: Ren almost finds out what happened the night before.
When he arrived at the classroom, Noah walked toward his seat and then saw Iris, who was sitting in her usual spot holding her phone in her hands.
She looked completely focused, so Noah approached.
"Good morning."
Iris lifted her head and her eyes widened, and her body tensed as well.
Noah stopped.
"What’s wrong?"
"N-Nothing."
Iris immediately lowered her gaze, while Noah set down his backpack.
"Good morning."
"You already said that."
"I thought you hadn’t heard me, since you didn’t answer."
Iris put away her phone.
"Good morning."
Her voice was quieter than usual.
Noah sat down, but Iris avoided looking at him, so Noah watched her for a few seconds.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes."
"You seem off."
"I’m not off."
"You haven’t looked at me since I got here."
Iris turned slightly and her eyes reached Noah’s face, but then they looked away again.
The truth was that Iris had been thinking too much about him since the night before.
When she had returned home, she tried to play to distract herself, but it didn’t work, so she tried watching a stream and that didn’t work either.
Finally, she went to bed and that made things worse, because every time she closed her eyes she remembered the kiss.
After that, her imagination had started altering the scene.
First she imagined another kiss, then a longer one, then she imagined Noah visiting her at home, sitting next to her, playing in her room, staying late, and after that she had thoughts that forced her to bury herself under the blankets.
Now Noah was sitting next to her and he was too close, so Iris clenched her hands under the desk.
’Don’t think about that.’
Noah tilted his head a little.
"Did you sleep badly?"
"No."
"Then..."
"Did you get home okay?"
Noah blinked, surprised by the sudden question.
"Home?"
Iris nodded, so Noah answered.
"Yes, I didn’t have any trouble even though I got back a little late."
"That’s good."
"Did you get home okay too?"
"Yes."
Iris kept her gaze down, so Noah smiled slightly.
"Thanks for yesterday."
She looked at him.
"For the computer?"
"For everything."
Iris’s face started to heat up, but Noah didn’t seem to notice.
"The list turned out pretty well."
"Yes."
"I was reviewing it last night."
"Me too."
"Do you think I should change anything?"
"Maybe the graphics card."
"Why?"
Iris started to answer and, for a moment, talking about hardware managed to relax her.
"Because the one we picked is fine to start with, but if you’re going to stream certain games..."
A voice appeared behind them.
"What did you two do yesterday?"
Noah and Iris went still, because Ren was standing next to their desks.
Noah looked up.
"What?"
Ren crossed his arms.
"I just heard that you both got home late."
Iris lowered her head and Noah tried to answer naturally.
"We were talking."
"Until late?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
Noah hesitated.
"At a... manga café..."
Ren looked at Iris, then at Noah, and back at Iris.
"Just the two of you?"
Noah felt something bad starting.
"Yes."
Ren narrowed his eyes.
"Until what time?"
"It wasn’t that late."
"You just said you got home late."
"I didn’t say that."
"You said you got back a little late."
"Th-That doesn’t mean completely late."
Ren pointed at Iris.
"And she asked because she knew you were going home alone at a dangerous hour."
Noah opened his mouth, Iris remained completely still, and Ren leaned in a little.
"What were you doing?"
"P-Playing videogames."
"For hours?"
"We also talked about computers."
"And all of that alone?"
"You already asked that."
Ren ignored the answer.
"Why is Iris red?"
Iris lifted her gaze.
"I’m not red."
Ren looked at her.
"Yes you are."
"No, I’m not."
Noah decided to intervene.
"Ren."
"What?"
"Believe me, nothing serious happened."
Iris slowly turned toward him and Noah realized the problem too late.
’That sounded worse.’
Ren raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing serious?"
"I didn’t mean..."
The bell rang, which made Noah feel immediate relief.
The teacher entered.
"Everyone to your seats."
Ren looked at Noah and then at Iris.
"We’ll continue this later."
Noah pointed at his seat.
"Go."
Ren returned to his place and Iris waited a few seconds before whispering.
"So nothing happened."
Noah turned toward her.
"You know what I meant."
"Yes."
"Then don’t look at me like that."
"I’m not looking at you any particular way."
Noah sighed and the teacher started taking attendance.
Class proceeded normally for several minutes and, before beginning the main explanation, the teacher left some documents on her desk.
"Before we continue, I have an announcement."
Several students lifted their heads.
"As you probably already saw, the campaigns for student council president officially began today."
Some started talking and the teacher raised a hand.
"Quiet."
The conversations stopped.
"During the break, the first debate between the main candidates will be held in the central auditorium."
Noah remembered Aria while the teacher continued.
"Attendance is not mandatory, but I recommend you go."
A student asked.
"Can all of us vote?"
"Yes."
"Even first-years?"
"Yes."
Another student raised her hand.
"Will Aria Celestia be participating?"
"Of course."
The answer generated more murmurs.
"They say she’ll win."
"My club already supports her."
"Her campaign is everywhere."
The teacher asked for silence again.
Noah looked toward Iris, expecting some reaction, and he found one, but it wasn’t the one he expected.
Iris had lowered her gaze and her expression was serious.
She didn’t seem nervous about Noah; it was something else.
The teacher began the lesson, so Noah tried to pay attention, but he couldn’t help thinking about Aria.
When break finally arrived, almost the entire class started heading out toward the auditorium and Ren approached Noah.
"Let’s go."
"To the debate?"
"Yes."
Noah stood up, then looked at Iris, but she was still sitting.
"Are you coming?"
"No."
Noah blinked.
"You don’t want to see the debate?"
"I’m not interested."
"Aria Celestia is going to participate."
Iris put away her things.
"And what do you want me to do about it?"
Her answer was too quick, so Noah watched her.
"Do you know her?"
Iris went still and Ren looked at her too, but after a few seconds, Iris stood up.
"I don’t want to go."
"You’re not going to answer..."
"Noah."
Her tone made him stop and Iris adjusted the strap of her bag.
"Go if you want."
"All right."
Iris walked toward the door opposite the auditorium and Noah followed her with his eyes, while Ren moved a little closer.
"That was weird."
"Yes."
"What’s going on between them?"
"I don’t know."
Noah did know part of it, because in the original anime, Iris and Aria had an important story, but Iris’s reaction indicated that that story had already started earlier than he expected, or maybe something different had happened in this world.
Noah looked toward the hallway where Iris had disappeared and then remembered Aria’s engagement to Ren.
He looked at his friend, who was still watching the hallway.
Noah frowned, because for the first time the three pieces were too close.
Iris, Aria, and Ren.
Noah still didn’t understand which part of the canon remained intact and which part had changed.
"Let’s go."
Ren said.
"The auditorium is going to fill up."
Noah nodded, so both of them started walking and, as they moved among dozens of students heading to the debate, Noah made a decision.
He needed to observe Aria, understand why Iris didn’t want to get close to her, and he also needed to find out what had happened with the engagement he remembered.
Because if Aria Celestia still had some relationship with Ren, then there was something very important about his supposed best friend that Noah still didn’t know.