Chapter 229: Noah has a response pending.

After discovering that he had been followed during the entire walk he had with Ayane, Noah remained silent and for several seconds simply watched his girlfriends until he finally sighed.

"Did you hear the confession?"

The five of them stayed quiet, and Noah slowly raised his eyebrows, knowing that silence confirmed his suspicions.

"..."

Yume looked away, Luna stared at a shelf, Iris opened her book again, Aria adjusted her clothes, and Ren closed her eyes, so at that Noah sighed once more.

"I see."

Then they heard a voice behind him.

"Noah..."

Everyone turned, and Ayane was at the end of the hallway with her face completely red, since she had heard enough to understand the situation.

"..."

She looked at Yume, then at Luna, then at Iris, Aria, and Ren, and finally back at Noah.

’THEY WERE LISTENING TO EVERYTHING!’

The embarrassment was immediate, since she had gathered all her courage to confess, to tell him exactly what she felt, and now she discovered that five girls had overheard her words from behind a bookshelf.

Ayane slowly lowered her head, so Noah turned toward her to calm her down.

"Ayane, I’m sorry."

She immediately raised her hands.

"Y-You don’t have to apologize!"

Yume tried to approach.

"Ayane, we..."

But Ayane took a slight step back.

"It’s fine, really!"

Her voice came out much louder than she intended, so several nearby people started looking at her, and a librarian looked up from the other end of the hallway.

"Quiet, please."

The six girls immediately lowered their heads.

"Sorry..."

Noah closed his eyes.

’This is ridiculous.’

Ayane took a deep breath and then looked at Noah.

"I think I should leave."

He frowned slightly.

"Are you sure, Ayane?"

So Ayane nodded.

"Yes, it’s for the best."

Noah looked at his girlfriends and then back at her.

"We can continue talking somewhere else if you want."

Ayane slowly shook her head.

"No, there’s no need."

"..."

She smiled with a certain awkwardness.

"I already said what I wanted to say."

Noah remained silent while Ayane lightly gripped her bag.

"And I’m glad I did."

For a few seconds the two of them looked at each other, and then Ayane moved a little closer to him.

"Noah."

"Yes?"

She discreetly glanced at the other girls.

Yume looked completely embarrassed, while Luna kept her usual calm expression, though her eyes remained attentive to every movement.

At the same time, Iris had stopped pretending to read, while Aria watched the situation with a polite smile and Ren seemed to be wishing she could go home.

Ayane looked back at Noah, then leaned slightly toward him and brought her lips close to his ear, so Noah stayed still as she whispered softly.

"I’ll wait for your answer."

Noah’s eyes widened slightly, and Ayane pulled away with her cheeks completely red, but this time she managed to smile.

"See you, Noah."

He nodded.

"See you... Ayane..."

She gave a small bow and then quickly left down the hallway.

Noah watched her walk away and for several seconds remained silent until he finally sighed.

’Now I really have a problem.’

When Ayane disappeared among the shelves, Noah slowly turned back to his girlfriends, and the five of them were still standing in front of him.

None of them seemed particularly interested in starting the conversation, so Noah finally crossed his arms.

"Alright, do you have anything to say?"

Yume straightened up immediately.

"We can explain!"

Noah looked at her.

"That’s what you said before."

"..."

Luna raised a hand.

"We didn’t interrupt the conversation."

Noah looked at her.

"Luna."

"Yes?"

"That’s not the problem."

She slowly lowered her hand.

"Understood."

Iris closed her book for good.

"I think we should apologize."

Ren nodded.

"I agree."

Aria sighed.

"Yes, it was inconsiderate."

Yume clasped her hands in front of her body.

"We’re sorry, Noah."

Noah looked at each of them and finally sighed.

"I’m not saying you can’t worry about me."

The five remained silent.

"But I personally explained to you that I was going to meet with Ayane."

Yume lowered her gaze.

"We know."

"And I also told you that I wanted to talk with her alone."

Aria nodded.

"That’s true."

"So I don’t understand why you decided to follow me anyway."

Ren raised a hand.

"To be fair, I tried to convince them that it wasn’t necessary to do this."

Noah looked at her.

"And why are you here then?"

Ren stayed quiet, but then answered.

"Because I didn’t want to leave them alone."

Noah closed his eyes.

’Excellent explanation.’

Iris intervened.

"In my case, I felt curious."

Noah looked at her.

"Curious?"

"That’s right."

"About what?"

Iris thought for a few seconds.

"About whether Ayane was really going to confess or not."

Noah sighed while Aria smiled with a certain awkwardness.

"I have to admit I was also curious about that."

Yume immediately lifted her head.

"I was worried about you!"

Noah looked at her.

"I know."

"Ayane belongs to the Great Mother’s organization!"

"I know that too."

"So I didn’t want anything bad to happen to you!"

Noah stayed silent, at which Yume slowly lowered her gaze.

"...Although I also wanted to know what she was going to tell you."

Luna nodded.

"I suspected it would be a confession."

Noah looked at her.

"I already knew that."

She slightly averted her gaze.

"I understand."

For a few seconds everyone remained quiet, so Noah finally took a deep breath.

"Come on, let’s get out of here."

The five lifted their heads.

"You’re not angry?"

Yume asked, and Noah answered directly.

"I’m a bit annoyed."

Yume immediately lowered her head.

"I’m sorry."

"But I also don’t want to start an argument inside the library."

Aria nodded.

"That would be bothersome for everyone else."

Ren looked at the books that had fallen to the floor.

"First we should pick these up before we leave."

Iris crouched down immediately.

"Alright."

Between all of them they put the books back in place, then walked toward the exit with Noah, who went ahead of them.

Yume tried to take his hand, but stopped before doing so, looked at him discreetly, and then slightly lowered her gaze.

Noah noticed the gesture, so he sighed and finally held out his hand, which made Yume look up in surprise.

"Noah?"

He looked at her.

"Let’s go."

Yume smiled slightly, then took his hand, and the others continued walking behind.

However, Noah barely paid attention to the conversation they had started, since his mind was still focused on Ayane, on her confession, and on the last words she had whispered to him.

’I’ll wait for your answer.’

Noah slowly lowered his gaze.

Ayane had been completely sincere, she had told him how her feelings had started, gathered the courage to confess despite how nervous she was, and she hadn’t demanded an immediate answer.

’What should I tell her?’

He thought about his girlfriends, about the relationships he already had, about the problems he still needed to resolve, and also about the fact that Ayane still belonged to the Great Mother’s organization.

That complicated the situation quite a bit, since Noah knew that Ayane wasn’t a bad person.

At least, the girl he knew had shown herself to be kind, responsible, and quite clumsy when it came to romantic matters, but he also knew that her connection to the organization could cause new conflicts.

’I can’t ignore that.’

He discreetly looked back.

Yume was walking beside him, Luna stayed close, Iris was talking with Ren, and Aria seemed to be explaining something to them about how inappropriate it had been to follow him, so upon seeing that Noah sighed.

’Besides, I already have enough relationship problems.’

However, he also remembered Ayane’s words and the expression she had had when she confessed.

He didn’t want to answer her only out of pity, nor did he want to reject her out of fear of complicating his life even more, so he needed to think about what he truly felt.

’This time I want to make the decision myself.’

While they walked toward the exit, Yume looked up.

"Noah."

He turned.

"Yes?"

She hesitated for a few seconds, but then asked him.

"What are you going to answer Ayane?"

Noah remained silent, Luna also looked up, Iris stopped talking with Ren, Aria watched Noah attentively, and Ren waited calmly.

The five of them wanted to hear his answer, so Noah looked toward the library door for a few seconds and then looked back at them.

"I still don’t know."

Yume slightly lowered her gaze.

"...I understand."

Noah continued.

"But I’m going to think about it."

None of them answered immediately until a few seconds passed and finally Ren nodded.

"That seems fine to me."

Aria smiled.

"It’s the right thing."

Iris also nodded.

"You should decide calmly."

Luna stayed quiet for a few more seconds, but then spoke.

"I trust you."

Yume looked at her companions, so she finally sighed.

"...Me too."

Noah smiled slightly.

"Thank you."

The six of them left the library, and the afternoon continued as usual, but Noah knew that he still had an important decision pending.

Ayane was waiting for his answer, and he still didn’t know what to tell her.

’I need to think seriously about this.’

With that thought, he continued walking alongside his girlfriends, but without imagining that, somewhere in the city, Ayane was probably just as nervous as he was, though for quite different reasons.