Chapter 182: Noah and a New Opportunity.

Noah waited until training was over to talk to Hikari, since he didn’t want to do it in front of the others, not because the topic was especially secret.

But after what happened with Stella’s promotional photo, he knew perfectly well what would happen if Yume, Luna, Iris, or Aria overheard the conversation.

Yume would tease him, Aria would use it to provoke, Iris would dig for private information about her, and Luna would probably end up joining in.

So Noah let the others leave first, but Yume was the one who took the longest.

"Why are you staying with Hikari?"

Noah sighed.

"Because I have to talk to her about the mission."

Yume looked at Hikari and then at Noah.

"Is that all?"

"Yes, just that."

Luna spoke from behind.

"Yume."

"What?"

"Let’s go."

Yume didn’t seem convinced while Iris was already looking at her phone, so Noah pointed at her.

"Don’t look anything else up."

Iris raised her gaze.

"I didn’t do anything."

"I don’t believe you."

"Whatever."

Aria smiled before leaving.

"Don’t take too long."

Noah looked at her.

"That sounded weird."

"Because you wanted to interpret it that way."

"Of course not."

Aria laughed and left with the others, so they were finally alone.

Hikari was still packing her things and Noah watched her for a few seconds, which she noticed.

"What’s up?"

"We need to talk."

Hikari went still.

"About Stella?"

Noah raised an eyebrow.

"You said that way too fast."

"It doesn’t matter."

"Yes, it does."

Hikari closed her bag.

"You already know I know her work."

"Not exactly."

Hikari looked at him and Noah smiled.

"I just want to know how much you know about Stella."

She stayed quiet and Noah crossed his arms.

"Hikari."

"What?"

"Your phone has a promotional photo of Stella as the lead in a BL movie."

"That doesn’t prove anything."

"Really nothing?"

"That’s right."

"But it was your wallpaper."

Hikari adjusted her glasses.

"It’s a well-composed promotional image."

Noah just stared.

"Sure."

"I’m serious."

"So am I."

Hikari avoided his gaze and Noah continued.

"You also recognized her name immediately."

"She’s famous."

"And when Iris wanted to look up the movie, you almost panicked."

"I didn’t panic."

"It was a little obvious."

"No, you’re just imagining things."

Noah smiled.

"Then tell me the truth."

Hikari stayed silent, and for a few seconds she seemed to be calculating how much she should admit, and finally she sighed.

"I like several of her works."

Noah’s eyes widened slightly.

"Several?"

"Yes."

"How many?"

"It’s not important."

"It is now."

Hikari frowned.

"Why?"

"Because I have to recruit her."

That changed her expression, so Hikari went quiet and Noah continued.

"And if you know her work, you can help."

Hikari looked away.

"Depends."

"On what?"

"On what you need."

Noah smiled.

"That means you do know quite a bit."

Hikari didn’t answer and Noah stepped a little closer.

"What was the first movie of hers you saw?"

She looked at him.

"You don’t need to know that."

"To know how much of a fan you are, yes."

Hikari closed her eyes.

"It was an adaptation."

"BL?"

"Exactly."

Noah smiled.

"Of course."

"It was good."

"I didn’t say anything."

"The direction was competent."

"It’s fine."

"And Stella played the role well."

"I get it."

Hikari continued, as if she needed to justify it.

"The original character was hard to adapt."

Noah nodded.

"And she did it well?"

"Yes."

"Really well?"

Hikari hesitated.

"Better than I expected."

Noah smiled wider and Hikari saw it.

"Don’t start."

"I’m not doing anything."

"You’re smiling."

"Because you just confirmed something."

"What?"

"That you’re her fan."

Hikari stayed silent, so Noah waited and finally she answered.

"Yes, that’s right."

"Are you too much of a fan?"

"Not excessively."

Noah raised an eyebrow and Hikari corrected herself.

"Enough."

"Do you have merch?"

There was silence, and Noah’s eyes widened.

"Of Stella too!"

"Keep your voice down."

"I knew it!"

Hikari moved closer quickly.

"Don’t yell."

Noah started laughing.

"What do you have?"

"I’m not telling you."

"Figures."

"No."

"Posters."

Hikari didn’t answer and Noah smiled.

"So posters."

"One."

"Just one?"

"Well... two."

Noah went quiet and Hikari pressed her lips together.

"That doesn’t matter."

"Anything else?"

"No, I..."

Noah watched her and she lowered her voice.

"I just have a limited edition of one movie."

Noah smiled.

"The one from your wallpaper?"

Hikari didn’t answer.

"So that’s the poster."

"Maybe."

Noah started to understand that this could be useful and then remembered something he hadn’t thought about in so long he had almost forgotten.

In the original anime, Hikari and Stella ended up together.

Noah went still and Hikari noticed.

"What’s wrong with you?"

Noah didn’t answer right away.

He remembered several scenes where Hikari was the more reserved one and Stella was the more confident.

In the anime, the two of them started with a pretty strange relationship.

Stella always seemed to take the initiative while Hikari tried to keep a serious attitude, but little by little they began to trust each other and in the end...

’Wait.’

Noah felt something he hadn’t experienced in a long time, which was hope, a very specific hope.

’What if it works this time?’

Since he had arrived in this world, almost all the original relationships had changed and all of them had ended up getting closer to him.

What he had wanted to avoid from the beginning, but both Hikari and Stella still didn’t know each other and Hikari was already a fan of Stella.

That meant there was a prior connection that wasn’t love, not yet, but at least there was interest.

Noah smiled and Hikari frowned.

"What are you thinking?"

"Maybe I have a plan."

"That doesn’t reassure me."

"This time it’s a good one."

"That doesn’t either."

Noah ignored the comment.

"Listen."

Hikari crossed her arms.

"I’m listening."

"I shouldn’t approach Stella first."

Hikari raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Because I’m a stranger."

"That’s correct."

"If I go directly and tell her I want to turn her into a magical girl, she’ll probably think I’m crazy."

"That’s also correct."

"And if I try to get too close, she might think I want something from her."

"You’re right."

Noah pointed at her.

"Exactly."

Hikari looked at him.

"So what are you proposing?"

Noah smiled.

"My solution is you."

Hikari went still.

"Me what?"

"You approach Stella and..."

"I refuse."

The answer was immediate and Noah blinked.

"I didn’t even finish."

"I don’t want to do it."

"Hikari."

"I said no."

"Listen."

"Noah."

"What?"

"It’s Stella Lumina."

"I know."

"I can’t just approach her."

"Yes, you can."

"No, not even in my dreams."

"You’re a fan!"

"Exactly."

Noah sighed.

"That helps."

"It doesn’t help."

"Yes, and a lot."

Hikari adjusted her glasses.

"If I approach her with no reason, it’ll be weird."

"You do have a reason."

"What?"

"You’re her fan."

Hikari stayed silent and Noah continued.

"You tell her you watched one of her movies."

"..."

"You ask for an autograph."

"..."

"A photo."

"I definitely can’t do that."

Noah started laughing.

"Are you embarrassed?"

"No, I just don’t want to act weird."

"That’s completely normal for a fan."

Hikari shook her head.

"She might think I’m annoying."

"If you’re polite, no."

"She might be busy."

"You wait for an appropriate moment."

"She might reject me."

"Then you try another day."

Hikari looked at him and Noah kept smiling, so little by little she started to seriously consider it.