Chapter 234: Noah believes it’s going to go the way he wants.

The next day, Noah arrived at the agreed café a few minutes early.

He had chosen a fairly quiet place, with wide tables and a secluded area where they could talk without drawing too much attention, since, considering Stella was a famous actress, he had preferred to avoid the more crowded spots.

He approached the reserved table, then checked his phone, and Hikari had sent him a message.

[I’m already here.]

Noah blinked.

’Where?’

He looked around and then he saw her.

Hikari was sitting at a nearby table, where in front of her was a laptop, beside her an open notebook, and on the table rested a considerable amount of printed sheets.

Noah remained still.

"..."

’No way.’

He approached slowly.

"Hikari."

She looked up.

"Noah!"

He looked at the computer, then the notebook, and finally the sheets.

"..."

Hikari smiled.

"You made it."

Noah took a seat.

"Yeah... I made it..."

He looked at the documents again.

"Hikari."

"Yes?"

"What is all this?"

She looked at her belongings.

"My notes."

Noah blinked.

"...All of them?"

Hikari nodded.

"That’s right."

She picked up one of the sheets.

"I organized the questions according to the events in the movie."

Noah stayed quiet while she continued.

"First I wanted to talk about the character construction."

"..."

"Then about some script decisions."

"..."

"And finally about the differences between Stella’s performance and the personality described in the original material."

Noah brought a hand to his face.

’I told her it wasn’t an interview.’

Hikari looked at him.

"Is something wrong?"

He slowly raised his gaze.

"No, nothing."

"You sure?"

"Yeah... I think so."

Noah looked at the papers again and then asked.

"How many questions did you prepare?"

Hikari smiled.

"Fewer than before."

Noah felt a bit of relief.

"That’s good."

"Only twenty-four."

"..."

The relief vanished.

"Hikari."

"Yes?"

"Do you remember what we talked about yesterday?"

She tilted her head slightly.

"About talking casually?"

"Exactly about that."

Hikari nodded.

"Of course I remember."

Noah discreetly pointed at the documents.

"Then..."

She looked at them and then understood, so her cheeks started to turn red.

"Ah."

Noah smiled with a bit of awkwardness.

"I’m not saying it’s wrong to prepare."

Hikari lowered her gaze.

"..."

"But I don’t want Stella to feel like she has to answer an exam."

Hikari looked at her notes and for several seconds remained quiet, but finally she started gathering some sheets.

"I understand."

Noah noticed that her expression had changed, since she seemed discouraged.

’Great, now she thinks she did something wrong.’

He hurried to continue.

"Hikari."

She looked up.

"Yes?"

"It’s fine that you’re so interested in her work."

"..."

"In fact, I think Stella will be glad to know you’ve paid attention to her performances."

Hikari blinked.

"Really?"

"Of course."

Noah smiled.

"Just try to talk to her naturally."

She looked at her documents and then nodded.

"I’ll try."

"Good, that’s the spirit."

Hikari began putting some sheets into her bag, and Noah helped her organize the papers, and finally left the laptop closed to the side, so only the notebook remained on the table.

Noah looked at her.

"..."

Hikari smiled with a bit of embarrassment.

"In case I forget something."

He sighed.

"It’s fine."

At that moment, a familiar voice interrupted them.

"Good afternoon."

Both looked up, since Stella Lumina had just arrived, wearing casual clothes, a light jacket, and glasses that helped her not draw too much attention.

Her appearance was quite different from the one she showed during her performances.

Noah smiled.

"Hey, Stella."

She returned the greeting.

"Hey, how are you?"

"More than good."

"That’s good..."

Then she looked at Hikari.

"Hi, Hikari."

The student stood up immediately.

"G-Good afternoon!"

Stella smiled.

"You don’t need to be so formal."

Hikari lowered her head slightly.

"Sorry."

"It’s nothing."

Stella took a seat in front of them, then looked at the table and her eyes stopped on the notebook.

Then she looked at Hikari’s bag, from which several sheets were sticking out, and finally looked at the computer.

"..."

Noah felt a small bad feeling and Stella raised an eyebrow.

"Are you going to interview me?"

Hikari froze.

"..."

Noah closed his eyes.

’Of course she was going to notice.’

Hikari started turning red.

"N-No, of course not!"

Stella looked at the computer again and then smiled.

"You sure?"

Hikari lowered her gaze.

"...I just prepared a few questions."

"I see."

Noah intervened immediately.

"Hikari wanted to remember certain details from the movie."

Stella looked at him and then back at Hikari.

"Did you like it that much?"

The girl slowly raised her head.

"...Yes."

Stella smiled.

"I’m glad."

Hikari’s eyes opened slightly.

"Really?"

"Of course."

The actress placed her bag next to the chair.

"It’s always nice to meet someone who enjoys the work we do."

Hikari seemed to relax while Noah smiled discreetly.

’Good.’

Stella continued.

"Although I wasn’t expecting to find a computer."

Hikari turned red again.

"I’m sorry!"

Stella let out a small laugh.

"I’m kidding."

Noah sighed in relief, since the meeting had started in a rather awkward way, but at least Stella seemed to be taking it with humor.

After ordering their drinks, they began talking about the movie, so Noah started the conversation with a simple question.

"There’s something I didn’t fully understand about the ending."

Stella looked up.

"What is it?"

"The main character’s decision."

The actress nodded.

"Ah."

Noah continued.

"For a large part of the story he seemed to have a pretty clear opinion, but in the end he changed his decision."

Stella smiled slightly.

"I’d say it was deliberate."

Hikari immediately looked up.

"Because of the character’s development?"

Stella nodded.

"Exactly because of that."

Hikari seemed excited.

"I knew it!"

Noah smiled while Stella looked at her with curiosity.

"You also think it’s like that?"

Hikari nodded quickly.

"Of course."

Then she took her notebook.

"In fact, there was an earlier scene that seemed to foreshadow it."

Stella tilted her head slightly.

"Which one?"

Hikari opened the notebook, searched for a page, and then began explaining it to her, while Noah remained attentive.

Hikari talked about a conversation that appeared near the middle of the movie and, according to her, that scene showed that the character was already considering changing his mind, even though he still didn’t want to admit it.

Stella listened to her with interest and, when she finished, she smiled.

"That’s a good interpretation."

Hikari froze.

"..."

"In fact, with some colleagues we talked quite a bit about that scene."

Hikari’s eyes widened.

"Really?"

"That’s right."

Stella began explaining what she thought of that part of the script, in addition to talking about what the director said in interviews and the different interpretations she had considered.

Hikari listened attentively and, for the first time since they had arrived, she seemed to have forgotten her nervousness.

Noah looked at both of them.

’This is working.’

Stella finished her explanation and Hikari nodded several times.

"Now it makes a lot more sense."

The actress smiled.

"I’m glad."

Hikari lowered her gaze to her notebook and then hesitated, so Noah noticed that she wanted to ask another question, but she also seemed worried about coming across as too insistent, so he decided to help her.

"Hikari, didn’t you want to ask her something about another character?"

She looked up.

"Can I?"

Stella smiled.

"Of course."

Hikari’s eyes opened slightly, so then she searched for another page and this time asked a much shorter question, to which Stella answered naturally.

The conversation continued and little by little, Hikari began to behave in a much more relaxed way.

After talking about the story, the conversation ended up focusing on Stella’s performances, to which Hikari seemed especially interested in learning how she prepared her characters.

"I’ve always wondered something."

Hikari commented, so Stella looked up.

"What is it?"

"Is it hard to play someone with a personality completely different from your own?"

The actress remained thoughtful for a few seconds.

"It depends on the role."

Hikari nodded and Stella continued.

"There are characters with whom it’s easy to identify certain emotions, but others require quite a bit of preparation."

"I understand."

"That’s why I usually read the script several times before starting to rehearse."

Hikari raised her eyebrows slightly.

"How many times?"

Stella smiled.

"I don’t keep count."

Noah let out a small laugh and Hikari seemed embarrassed.

"Sorry, I guess that was too specific a question."

"Don’t worry."

Stella took a sip of her drink.

"I like talking about my work."

Hikari looked up.

"Really?"

"That’s right."

Then she added.

"As long as I don’t have to answer thirty questions during a single meal."

Noah almost choked while Hikari turned completely red.

"T-They weren’t thirty!"

Stella raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, no?"

Hikari lowered her gaze.

"...They were twenty-four."

There was silence, then Stella started laughing and Noah did too, so Hikari covered her face with both hands.

"How embarrassing!"

Stella smiled.

"It’s fine, Hikari."

She slowly raised her head.

"Yes?"

"I’m glad you’re so interested."

Hikari remained still and Stella continued.

"Just remember that we can also talk about other things."

The student nodded.

"...Understood."

Noah looked at both of them, since that was precisely what he had wanted to achieve.

A natural conversation, without pressure, neither Hikari feeling like she had to take advantage of every second to ask questions, nor Stella having to act as if she were granting an interview.

’Everything is going well...’