Chapter 215: Ayane was interrupted by Luna.

Noah remained by the door, since he expected Luna in her invisible form to leave, and even though he couldn’t see her, he imagined she had already taken the chance to slip away.

Then Ayane spoke.

"Noah."

He looked back at her.

"Yes, Ayane?"

Ayane looked nervous, far more than before, and even clasped her hands in front of her body.

"There’s something I wanted to tell you."

Noah raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?"

Ayane glanced toward the living room, where the voices of Reina and Misaki could still be heard at a distance, then looked back at Noah.

"I wanted to talk to you without them."

Noah smiled.

"Sure."

Ayane took a deep breath and her face began to turn red.

"Noah..."

He waited, and Ayane lowered her head slightly.

"Ever since we met..."

Noah blinked.

"Yes?"

"You’ve been very kind to me."

"Well..."

Ayane continued.

"Even when you had no obligation to."

Noah remembered the day he helped her in the library.

"I just did what was right."

Ayane shook her head slowly.

"To me it was important."

Noah stayed silent as she lifted her gaze and her cheeks were completely red.

"And after everything that’s happened..."

She paused.

"I realized that..."

Noah began to suspect.

’Wait.’

Ayane took a small step toward him.

"Noah, I..."

Then it happened.

A figure suddenly appeared beside Noah and it was Luna, but Noah barely had time to turn his head.

"Lu...?"

She gently took his face in her hands and kissed him right in front of Ayane, so Noah’s eyes went wide while Ayane froze completely still.

The kiss lasted a few seconds until Luna pulled away, looked straight at Ayane, and her expression was calm, too calm.

"By the way."

Ayane didn’t answer and Luna continued.

"The girlfriend spots are already taken."

There was silence.

Noah remained motionless, Ayane did too, Luna looked back at Noah and smiled slightly.

Then she activated her invisibility and disappeared.

"..."

Noah stared at the empty space.

’What did she just do?’

He slowly turned his head and Ayane was still standing in front of him.

Eyes wide, cheeks red, and an expression Noah couldn’t interpret.

Neither of them spoke and several seconds passed, so Noah opened his mouth, closed it, then tried again.

"Ayane..."

She reacted immediately.

"Yes!"

Noah stayed silent.

’What do I say now?’

He didn’t know how to explain what had just happened.

Much less when Luna had just appeared out of nowhere, kissed him, and vanished again.

Ayane looked at the place where Luna had been, then at Noah, and finally lowered her head.

"...I understand."

Noah frowned.

"What?"

Ayane shook her head.

"Nothing."

Her voice sounded strangely calm, so Noah felt a bad premonition, but before he could ask anything else, Ayane started walking.

"We should head back."

Noah watched her and then nodded slowly.

"Yeah."

Both of them went downstairs in silence and, when they returned to the living room, Reina immediately looked up.

"Finally!"

Ayane didn’t answer, so Reina looked at Noah, then at Ayane, and smiled.

"What did you two do?"

Noah almost choked on his own saliva.

"Nothing."

Reina raised an eyebrow.

"That was quick."

Misaki looked at Ayane, who sat down quietly and said nothing, so Reina watched her.

"Ayane?"

Silence.

"What’s wrong?"

"Nothing."

Reina smiled.

"Did you confess?"

Ayane didn’t react while Noah felt like he needed to disappear and Misaki looked at Reina.

"Stop bothering her."

"I was just asking."

Ayane picked up her drink, took a sip, and then set the cup back on the table while Noah remained seated in silence.

’This is Luna’s fault.’

He didn’t know where she was, but he suspected she was probably still inside the house.

Invisible, watching, and quite pleased with herself, so Noah sighed.

The rest of the visit continued with relative normalcy.

Emma returned to ask if they needed anything else, to which Reina answered immediately, but Misaki corrected her and Ayane thanked her politely.

But she spoke much less than before, something Noah noticed just like Reina, and even Misaki began watching her with a certain curiosity.

Finally, after several minutes, the three of them decided to leave and Emma walked them to the entrance.

"It was a pleasure meeting you."

Misaki gave a small bow.

"Thank you very much for having us."

Reina smiled.

"The food was delicious."

Emma laughed.

"I’m glad."

Ayane also gave a bow.

"Thank you for everything."

Emma smiled.

"Come back anytime."

Noah’s eyes widened slightly.

’Don’t say that.’

Reina smiled immediately.

"We will!"

Noah closed his eyes.

’Of course.’

Ayane looked at Noah and for a few seconds seemed like she wanted to say something, but in the end she only spoke.

"Take care."

Noah smiled.

"You too."

Ayane lowered her gaze.

"Yeah."

Then she left while Reina and Misaki followed her.

Noah watched them walk away and sighed.

’What a day.’

On the way to the station, Reina walked beside Ayane while Misaki stayed a few steps behind, and for several minutes none of them said anything.

That was strange, very strange, since normally Ayane would have already started talking about the pending meeting, about the expenses, or about the unit’s responsibilities.

But now she simply walked looking straight ahead, so Reina watched her.

"Ayane?"

"Yes?"

"What did you do with Noah?"

"Nothing."

Reina smiled.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Did you confess?"

"No."

"Did he reject you?"

Ayane didn’t answer and Reina raised an eyebrow.

"Ayane?"

She kept walking and Misaki moved a little closer.

"Leave her alone."

Reina looked at her.

"But she’s acting weird."

"I know."

"Did you see how she came back?"

"Yes."

Reina looked at Ayane again.

"Normally she would’ve scolded me three times by now."

Misaki thought.

"That’s true."

Reina approached her leader.

"Want me to buy something?"

Ayane shook her head.

"No, thank you."

Reina blinked.

"Cookies?"

"No."

"Candy?"

"No."

"A dress?"

"I told you no."

"An engagement ring?"

Ayane kept walking, without reacting, so Reina stopped.

"..."

Misaki did too, and both of them watched Ayane walk a few steps ahead, so Reina frowned.

"That’s actually concerning."

Misaki nodded slowly.

"Definitely."

Reina started walking again, moved closer to Misaki, and spoke in a low voice.

"What do you think happened to her?"

Misaki watched Ayane, who continued walking in silence, gaze lowered, not paying attention to the jokes, not scolding them, not even mentioning the budget Reina had spent on cookies.

Misaki frowned slightly.

"I don’t know."

Reina looked at Ayane again.

"What the hell is wrong with Ayane?"

Misaki didn’t answer because, for the first time in a long while, she didn’t have the slightest idea either.