Chapter 154: The Fiancée and the Childhood Friend.
Ren thought she already knew what was going to happen, and that was her mistake.
After Luna finished her introduction to Emma and Sarah, Aria sent a message to the group.
[Our turn is tomorrow.]
Ren read the message, then read it again, and after that she typed.
[Our?]
Aria replied almost immediately.
[Yes.]
Ren frowned.
[You already introduced yourself.]
Aria refuted.
[Not properly.]
Ren dropped her head, and Noah appeared in the chat.
[Please don’t do anything weird.]
Aria replied.
[We won’t do anything weird.]
Ren stared at the message for a few seconds.
’That means she’s going to do something weird.’
Yume typed.
[Remember you can’t use extra time!]
Luna replied.
[That applies to you too.]
Yume answered.
[I ALREADY FINISHED MY TURN!]
Iris typed.
[I’m muting this.]
Ren left the chat, since she didn’t want to think about it.
The idea, at least for her, was simple.
They would go to Noah’s house, knock on the door, go inside, Aria would explain something exaggeratedly formal about the engagement, and Ren would stay quiet.
Emma and Sarah would find out that she was one of Noah’s fiancées, so there would be questions, which meant Ren would try to survive and then leave.
All of that was already embarrassing enough, so they didn’t need to complicate it any further, but unfortunately, Aria thought differently.
The next day, Ren found Aria waiting for her near the high school.
Aria was dressed especially elegantly, not too formal, but enough for Ren to get suspicious.
Ren stopped in front of her.
"Why are you dressed like that?"
Aria smiled.
"Because today is important."
"We’re just going to Noah’s house."
Aria kept the smile.
"I don’t think so."
Ren frowned.
"What do you mean, you don’t?"
"That would be too simple."
Ren closed her eyes.
’I knew it.’
"Aria."
"Yes?"
"We’re going to Noah’s house."
"Not yet."
"What are you planning?"
Aria started walking, but Ren didn’t follow, so Aria stopped and looked back.
"Are you coming?"
"Not until you tell me what you’re planning."
"A coincidence."
Ren stayed still.
"That sounds bad."
"It’s an organized coincidence."
"That sounds worse."
Aria smiled with satisfaction.
"Emma and Sarah will be in a commercial district today."
Ren stared at her.
"How do you know that?"
"Simple information."
"What does simple information mean?"
"That I asked."
"Who?"
Aria kept walking, and Ren followed her.
"Aria."
"It doesn’t matter."
"Yes, it does."
"We just need to find them."
Ren sped up.
"What for?"
"To introduce ourselves in a natural way."
"Natural?"
"Yes."
"But you are organizing where they’ll be."
"That doesn’t eliminate the naturalness of the encounter."
"Of course it does."
"Not necessarily."
Ren brought a hand to her forehead.
"Just knock on their door."
Aria shook her head.
"Yume had her encounter with Emma."
"Because she was following her."
"And Luna impressed Sarah at the café."
"Because Sarah showed up at the café."
"Exactly."
Aria turned toward Ren.
"We also need something."
"No, we don’t need anything."
"Ren."
"I want to go to the house, say it, and be done."
Aria stepped closer.
"That would be boring."
"I want it to be boring!"
Several people looked their way.
Ren lowered her voice.
"I want this to last ten minutes."
Aria smiled.
"Too bad for you, this is going to last longer."
Ren sighed.
Aria’s plan was simple, according to her.
Emma and Sarah were going to pass by a home goods store, so Aria had decided that they would also pass by that store.
The idea was to coincide there, talk, and then let the conversation progress naturally, but Ren found nothing natural about it.
"We’re waiting in secret."
"We’re not hidden."
"We’re behind a pillar."
"Because there’s shade here."
"We’re inside a shopping mall."
Aria stayed silent, so Ren looked at her, and Aria answered.
"Then, because it’s comfortable."
Ren sighed.
They had been waiting for more than fifteen minutes, and Aria checked her phone while Ren watched people pass by.
For the first time in a long while, she wished she didn’t know Noah, not because she didn’t care about Noah, but because knowing him since they were kids made all of this so much worse.
Emma and Sarah knew her, they had watched her grow up, she had been in their house, eaten with them, slept there a few times when she was little, and for years they had treated her as Noah’s best friend.
Now she would have to appear in front of them clearly dressed as a woman and explain that she was not only a woman, but also engaged to their son.
’I want to leave.’
Ren took a step back, but Aria grabbed her wrist.
"No."
Ren looked at her.
"I didn’t say anything."
"You were escaping."
"I just stepped back."
"In the opposite direction."
"It was just a coincidence."
Aria smiled.
"How funny."
Ren tried to free her wrist.
"Let go of me."
"Not until you finish this."
"I hate you."
"Don’t tell me, I hadn’t noticed."
"Now I hate you more."
Aria raised her phone slightly.
"They’re here."
Ren stayed still.
"What?"
Aria looked toward the entrance, and Ren did too.
Emma and Sarah had just walked in, so Ren immediately felt like she wanted to hide, but Aria smiled.
"Perfect."
"No, it’s not fine."
"Let’s go."
"No."
"Ren."
"I don’t want to."
"You already agreed to this."
"I agreed to introduce myself, not take part in an ambush!"
Aria began gently pulling her, and Ren resisted.
"Walk."
"I don’t want to."
"They’re looking at us."
Ren froze, slowly turned, and saw that Emma had looked in their direction, the same as Sarah.
Ren went completely still, and Aria released her wrist.
"Now you can’t escape."
Ren looked at her with hatred, but Aria smiled.
’She’s enjoying this way too much.’
Emma looked confused, so she observed Aria first and recognized her quickly.
"Miss Celestia?"
Aria walked toward them.
"Good afternoon."
Sarah smiled.
"What a coincidence."
Ren closed her eyes.
’Sorry, but it’s not.’
Aria replied with absolute calm.
"Yes, what a coincidence."
Ren looked at her.
’You don’t know how to lie when you smile like that.’
Emma greeted Aria.
"What are you doing around here?"
"Shopping."
Aria answered without hesitation, and Sarah looked around.
"For what?"
Aria fell silent for half a second, and Ren almost smiled.
’They caught you.’
Aria replied.
"Several things."
Sarah raised an eyebrow.
"I see."
Then Emma looked at Ren, who felt her entire body tense up.
Emma observed her for several seconds, and Ren tried to smile.
"Good afternoon."
Emma didn’t answer right away. She looked at her face, her hair, her clothes, and then back at her face.
Ren started to worry, and Sarah also observed her, while Emma narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Wait."
Ren swallowed.
"It can’t be."
Ren wanted to step back, but Aria placed a hand on her back, and Emma opened her eyes a little wider.
"Ren?!"
There was silence in the place, and Ren lowered her gaze.
"Yes."
Emma blinked.
"Ren Aoyama?"
Ren answered even more quietly.
"...Yes."
Sarah looked at Emma and then at Ren.
"Noah’s friend?"
Ren closed her eyes.
"...Yes."
A silence followed, and no one spoke for several seconds.
Ren wanted to disappear, not leave, disappear.
Emma observed her again.
"But..."
Ren knew exactly what was coming.
"Yes."
Emma frowned.
"I thought..."
"Yes."
Sarah opened her eyes slightly.
"You were...?"
"Yes."
Aria lightly covered her mouth, and Ren turned toward her.
"Stop smiling."
"I’m not smiling."
"Yes, you are."
That conversation was going to be difficult.