Chapter 120: An Unexpected Confession.
After the battle, the high school took quite a while to regain some semblance of order.
The auditorium had been damaged, with several rows of seats destroyed, part of the stage cracked, remnants of magical barriers and attack marks everywhere.
The staff was evacuating the last students while some teachers tried to organize lists to make sure no one was missing.
Noah was exhausted, not physically, at least not too much, but rather from everything that had happened in less than an hour.
Aria had obtained her powers, Ren had discovered the existence of magical girls, several units from the organization had tried to capture him, and on top of that, Aria still remembered perfectly that Noah had promised to do whatever she wanted as long as she accepted the star.
’I definitely have to fix that.’
Yume was talking with Luna several meters away, while Iris stayed close to Aria and the two were arguing about something related to the battle.
Noah couldn’t make out the exact words.
Aria was gesturing with one hand and Iris seemed to be explaining that she had no right to give her orders, to which Aria replied that technically her ability worked precisely through orders.
Noah decided not to get involved and then someone lightly tugged on his sleeve.
Noah turned and Ren was standing behind him.
"I need to talk to you."
Her expression was serious, so Noah looked around.
"Now?"
"Yes."
Noah understood the reason immediately, since after everything Ren had seen, that conversation was impossible to avoid.
"All right."
Ren pointed toward one of the side exits.
"In private."
Noah nodded.
They found an empty classroom in another building.
Most of the students were still gathered in the designated areas after the attack, so the place was completely unoccupied.
Ren entered first, while Noah closed the door and for a few seconds neither of them spoke.
Ren remained standing near a window and Noah leaned against one of the desks.
"Well."
Ren looked at him.
"Magical girls exist."
Noah answered immediately.
"Yes, they do."
Ren blinked.
"Just like that?"
"You just saw four of them."
"I thought you’d try to invent something."
"What could I invent?"
Ren crossed her arms.
"I don’t know."
"It was all a stage play."
"There were explosions."
"Those were special effects."
"A woman threw magic at me."
"A projection trick."
"I saw Yume transform."
"Advanced cosplay."
Ren looked at him and Noah raised both hands.
"I have no excuses. Yes, they’re real."
Ren let out a slow breath and then sat down.
"So this whole time..."
"Yes."
"All the girls you’ve been involved with."
"They’re magical girls."
"Even Aria."
"As of today, yes."
Ren stayed silent and then looked up.
"And you?"
Noah hesitated.
"I have some abilities."
"Are you a magical girl?"
Noah looked at her and Ren held the serious expression for two seconds, but then smiled faintly, at which Noah sighed.
"Very funny."
"I needed to check if you could still get annoyed over something normal."
"After today, I don’t know what counts as normal."
Ren turned serious again.
"How long have you been mixed up in all this?"
Noah carefully considered his answer.
"For a while now."
"Months?"
"Yeah, more or less."
"And you never told me?"
"I couldn’t."
"Why?"
"Because it wasn’t just my secret."
Ren lowered her gaze and Noah continued.
"It would have been dangerous for you too."
Ren let out a small laugh.
"Today I faced a woman with powers using a chair."
"Exactly because of that."
"It worked, didn’t it?"
"Ren."
"I know."
She raised both hands.
"It was a horrible idea."
"Thanks for understanding."
"But you were in danger."
Noah stayed silent alongside Ren and the words hung between them for a few seconds, until Noah decided to return to the main topic.
"I need you not to tell anyone."
Ren looked up.
"Anyone?"
"Anyone."
"Not even my family?"
"No."
"Not even teachers?"
"Not them either."
"The police?"
Noah shook his head.
"This is more complicated than it looks."
Ren stared at the floor.
"I already noticed that."
Noah continued.
"There are people hunting the magical girls."
"And you."
"Yes."
"The organization that attacked today?"
"That’s right."
Ren clenched her hands slightly.
"Have they attacked you before?"
Noah didn’t answer immediately and Ren understood.
"Several times."
"And you hid that from me too?"
"I didn’t want to drag you into it."
Ren looked up.
"I was already involved."
"Not until today."
"I’ve known you for years, Noah."
Noah stayed still while Ren continued.
"If someone tries to kidnap you, I’m involved."
"That’s not a rule."
"It is for me."
Noah watched her for a few seconds and then sighed.
"All right."
Ren settled into the chair.
"Then I won’t say anything."
Noah raised an eyebrow.
"Just like that?"
"Yes."
"I thought you’d ask for something."
"I don’t need to."
Ren paused.
"But you can’t keep hiding everything from me either."
Noah shook his head.
"I can’t promise that."
Ren frowned.
"Why?"
"Because there are things I can’t tell without involving other people."
Ren thought it over and then nodded.
"Fine."
Noah held out a hand.
"Then we have a deal."
Ren looked at his hand and then shook it.
"Silence."
"Silence."
Ren didn’t let go immediately and Noah noticed, just as she did, so she finally released it.
Another silence fell and Noah thought the conversation was over, but it wasn’t.
Ren remained seated and didn’t seem inclined to stand up, so Noah waited.
"Is there something else?"
Ren lowered her gaze.
"Yes."
Her tone had changed and Noah went still.
"About Aria?"
"In part."
Ren breathed slowly.
"I don’t want to go back to her."
Noah understood.
"To the engagement."
"Exactly."
Ren pressed her fingers against her legs.
"My family might still try to revive it."
"After everything that happened."
"Precisely."
Ren looked up.
"Now that Aria is trying to get engaged to you, they could change the conditions again."
"That would be absurd."
"My family already pretended for years that I was a guy to escape the agreement."
Noah couldn’t argue with that.
"Fair point."
Ren continued.
"I don’t want to go back to that situation."
"I understand."
"No."
Ren shook her head.
"You don’t understand everything."
Noah frowned while Ren looked toward the window and for several seconds said nothing.
Noah began to suspect that this conversation was heading in a different direction.
"Ren...?"
"Do you remember when I explained why I didn’t tell you I was a girl?"
"Yes."
"I told you I was afraid of losing our friendship."
"I remember that."
"It was true."
Ren paused.
"But it wasn’t the whole truth."
Noah stayed silent and Ren kept looking outside.
"There was another reason."
Noah waited while she closed her eyes briefly and then looked at him.
"I’m in love with you."
Noah didn’t answer and Ren didn’t add anything more.