Chapter 189: Noah no longer even has to try.

The day after Hikari’s disastrous first attempt at talking to Stella, Noah was still thinking about what had happened, but he hadn’t managed to find a satisfactory explanation.

While he sat in his seat inside the classroom, he rested one arm on the desk and looked distractedly toward the front.

’What exactly went wrong?’

He had gone over the conversation several times.

Hikari had arrived prepared, so prepared that she had even gotten her hands on a limited-edition of Stella’s movie, she had managed to talk to her, and for the first few minutes everything had gone fairly well.

Then she had mentioned Haruto, a character Stella had played, and from that point on Stella had started acting differently.

Noah had thought the problem was that Hikari had talked too much about Stella’s male performance, but the more he thought about it, the less convinced he became.

The reaction had started before Hikari made the mistake of calling her a man, and that was what bothered him the most.

’There’s something I’m not remembering.’

"Noah?"

Ren’s voice made him lift his head.

"Yeah?"

Ren was watching him from the nearby seat.

"You’re being really thoughtful."

"I’m not being thoughtful."

"Yes, you are."

"No."

"You can’t fool me."

Noah sighed.

"I’m just tired."

Ren looked at him for a few seconds, clearly not believing him.

From the seat next to him, Iris had also looked up, having noticed the conversation, and was now watching Noah with a certain curiosity.

"Is something wrong?"

Iris asked.

"No, nothing."

The answer came out too quickly, and Ren narrowed his eyes.

"That sounded suspicious."

"It’s not suspicious."

"I know you pretty well, you know?"

"I’m just thinking about a few things."

"That only gives me the idea that something went wrong for you."

Noah opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, the classroom door opened and the teacher walked in with several documents in her hands.

"Good morning. Please take your seats and keep quiet."

Ren turned his attention back to the front, and Iris did the same.

Noah let out a small sigh and settled into his seat.

’Alright, I’ll think about it later.’

Even though he knew perfectly well that he would probably keep thinking about the same thing throughout the entire class.

When recess came, Noah decided to put some distance between himself and the rest of the students, since he didn’t particularly feel like talking and, besides, he needed to eat.

He found a relatively quiet spot inside the building and started walking toward it with his food when he heard several voices coming from the hallway.

"Where is she?"

"I think she went this way."

"Check the other side!"

Noah stopped.

’What’s going on?’

It didn’t take him long to find out.

A group of students was moving through the hallway while talking among themselves.

Noah immediately recognized some of them, they were the ones who normally stared at him from a distance.

’You’ve got to be kidding me.’

He kept walking and, after turning down another hallway, found a person hiding behind a corner. It was none other than Stella herself.

Noah froze for a moment.

Stella was wearing fairly simple clothes and had part of her hair tied back, since she seemed to be trying to avoid drawing attention, though there wasn’t much she could do about that.

When she saw him, she also went still.

"Ah."

Noah raised a hand.

"Hey."

Stella looked toward the hallway he had come from, then back at him.

"Aren’t you going to say anything?"

"Ah... No?"

"Not even ask what I’m doing here?"

"It’s none of my business."

Stella blinked, then smiled.

"Wow, I already like you."

Noah didn’t know what to say as the students’ voices rose again from the other end of the hallway.

"I think she was around here!"

Stella tensed slightly, and Noah pointed to a nearby door.

"There’s an empty classroom over there."

"Can I?"

"Sure."

Stella slipped inside quickly, and Noah followed her.

The classroom was empty. Stella closed the door carefully and leaned her back against it.

For a few seconds she said nothing, then let out a sigh.

"Finally."

Noah watched her.

"Is it always like this?"

"Depends on the day."

"And today specifically?"

"Today it seems like they decided to search every corner of the high school for me."

Noah smiled slightly.

"That must be exhausting."

"It is."

Stella sat down on one of the desks.

"I just wanted to eat in peace."

Noah held up the food he was carrying.

"Same here."

Stella looked at him.

"Can I eat here?"

"I don’t mind at all."

"Then I’ll stay."

Noah sat at another desk, and for the first few minutes both of them ate in silence.

Noah had seen Stella several times in the anime, but seeing her like this was different.

She wasn’t in front of cameras, or signing autographs, or playing any fictional character, she was simply Stella.

"Can I ask you something?"

She asked.

"Yeah, of course."

"Why don’t you seem surprised?"

"Why should I be?"

"I’m Stella Lumina."

"I know."

"Wow. Normally people get nervous when they see me."

"Should I get nervous?"

Stella smiled.

"Not necessarily."

Noah kept eating.

"Then we’re good."

Stella let out a small laugh.

"Yeah, I guess so."

A few seconds passed.

"It’s pretty strange."

"What is?"

"That people know me more for the male characters I play."

Noah stopped eating while Stella looked at her food.

"At first I thought it was fun, but then it became part of my career."

"You don’t like it?"

"I didn’t say that."

Stella rested her arms on the table.

"I like playing those characters, since they’re different from me and that makes working with them interesting."

Noah nodded.

"But it must be tiring when people expect you to be like them."

Stella looked up.

"That’s right."

The answer was immediate. Noah didn’t say anything, and Stella continued.

"When I’m working, it doesn’t bother me, since that’s my job, but when I finish a movie, I’m still me."

"Of course."

"There are people who talk to me as if I were still one of my characters."

Noah thought for a few seconds.

"That must be uncomfortable."

"A little."

Stella smiled.

"That’s why I like it when someone just treats me like a person."

Noah answered without thinking.

"Then that’s what I’ll do."

Stella stared at him.

"Just like that?"

"Yeah."

"You don’t want to talk about my movies?"

"If you want to talk about them, I can listen."

Stella smiled.

"And if I don’t want to?"

"Then we’ll talk about something else."

Stella’s expression shifted slightly, as if she had expected a different answer.

"That’s pretty simple."

"I don’t see why I’d have to complicate it."

Stella let out a small laugh.

"Now I understand why you weren’t nervous."

"Does that mean I’m doing something right?"

"Not necessarily."

"Perfect."

They both continued eating, and the conversation carried on naturally.

Stella talked a little about the difficulties of being recognized all the time, about the events, the interviews, and the number of people who expected to get a few seconds of her attention.

Noah simply listened. He didn’t try to impress her, didn’t try to talk about her movies, and didn’t try to connect her to her characters.

When Stella made a comment about how hard it was to find a quiet place to eat, Noah simply replied.

"You can eat here whenever you want."

Stella looked at him.

"Are you offering me this place?"

"I’m just saying it seems quiet."

"Then I’ll remember that."

Eventually both of them finished eating, so Stella stood up and adjusted her clothes.

"Thanks."

"You don’t have to thank me."

"Yes, I do."

"I didn’t do much."

"You listened to me."

Noah stayed quiet, and Stella smiled.

"That’s already a lot for me."

Before leaving, Stella stopped by the door.

"I hope I see you again."

Noah looked up.

"Yeah, we’ll see each other."

Stella opened the door and quickly checked the hallway.

It seemed the fans had disappeared, but before she left, she looked back at Noah.

"And thank you for not treating me like a celebrity."

Noah blinked.

"You’re welcome."

Stella smiled and finally left.

Noah remained seated for a few seconds, then slowly rested both hands on the desk.

’Wait.’

His expression changed.

’No.’

He looked toward the door Stella had just gone through.

He remembered the conversation, the way Stella had spoken, how she had said she liked being treated like a person, and then he remembered the original story.

’Another one...’

Noah closed his eyes.

’You’ve got to be kidding me.’

He had tried to help Hikari get closer to Stella, organized the meeting, tried to analyze the situation, and without realizing it he had achieved exactly the opposite.

Hikari had had a perfect chance to get closer to Stella.

But Noah had watched that chance fall apart, and now, by pure coincidence, he himself had had a much better conversation with Stella.

Noah slowly opened his eyes.

’I just ruined another canon pairing.’

He stared at the ceiling.

’How many is that now?’

He had no answer, and considering what had just happened, it was probably better that he didn’t.