"You really are completely hopeless as a man, you know?"
"What now?"
Noah was complaining to Corvin again.
"We just came back to the Institute and you are starting a fight now?"
"No, you are the one who did!"
"What? Didn't you just call me 'hopeless'?"
"Because you are!"
"What did I do?"
"What do you mean 'What did I do?'? Why is she carrying her stuff to her room and why are you here?"
"That again?"
"What, no isn't this just a man's duty? We came from a long journey, so you should carry the lady's bags to somewhere close to her room at least!"
"Who said that?!"
"You...."
Amy, who came from behind stopped the two's arguing.
"It's okay, Noah. This is what I wanted to do... Since, you know... You forced him to carry half of your stuff as well..."
Noah blinked in surprise before retorting.
"W-Well... He is my guard, so he should do that much, right? I need to make sure these paintings don't get damaged, after all."
Amy glared at him with pity and muttered "Right, right." and walked past the two without turning back.
"Sigh~, Just shut up and walk dude...", said Corvin while looking at Noah with the same expression as Amy and walked away.
Noah stood there and muttered in despair.
"Why do you guys hate me..."
Just as he almost fell on his knees, he saw someone running towards him.
"Hm? Who..?"
At first, he thought it was Corvin who came back for him, but because of the white one piece dress she wore, that was obviously a girl. As she got closer, he could distinguish her bright red ponytail swinging behind her.
"Hmm...", he grinned as he straightened himself.
Clair, who finally walked towards him stared at the lonely guy and asked.
"Where is Corvin?"
"Hm? Who are you?", he asked with a suspicious look.
"Huh?"
"Do I know you?"
"Huh?"
Clair stood there without moving.
"U-uhmm... Noah?"
"Yes? That is me, but who are you?"
"Did you lose your memories or something?", she asked slightly fearfully.
"Oh, were you someone I used to know?"
"Y-yes...", she said as she clenched her hands into a fist.
"Oh, I am sorry then miss. Appearently, I lost my memories after fighting some kind of big monster. Even though she tried to find a cure, she couldn't find one."
He emphasised the words when he mentioned a female. Hearing this Clair gave an awkwards smile and asked.
"D-do you think you are fooling me? Haha....ha... There is no way you forgot about me!"
Noah stared at her with a slightly sad face and muttered.
"I-I am sorry..."
Clair brought her fists to her chest and tried to hold her heart that was trying to get out of it's place.
"E-even though... I was going to..."
She tried to say something, but couldn't and she just ended up lowering her face. Noah smirked a bit and laughed. He walked towards Clair and hugged her tightly.
"Hehehe, I am sorry Clair. It was a joke, I would never fight myself when Corvin is with me!", he said with a stupid smile.
Clair lifted her teary face and when she saw his stupid smile, she got angry. Really angry.
"You..!"
She suddenly punched Noah in the stomach, who fell to the ground after getting hit.
"Don't make a joke like that! You don't know how believable your acting is! I thought I was going to faint!"
She said as she kicked his leg, although a lot kinder than the punch. As she got ready for another kick, Noah got down on one knee and pulled out a small black jewelry box from his pocket. Seeing the box, Clair froze and took a step back with a completely red face while her brain was working overclocked.
'A ring?! B-but isn't it too early... But, but-'
Before she could dive into her fantasies more, Noah opened the box. Inside the box were a pair of green earrings made out of seraphinite.
"S-sorry about that. You know, boys sometimes like to be mean to the girl they like, right? Look, I bought this for you, it is made from a gemstone that is found in the north. I thought they looked like your eyes. Would you forgive me?"
"I-I won't forgive you because of a bribe!", she said and turned away from Noah.
Noah froze completely. Even though this was the first time he confessed his love with words, it was completely ignored. As he fell into depression and despair, Clair suddenly jerked and turned back to Noah with a red face.
"W-w-what did you just say?"
"Hm?"
Noah suddenly felt like he could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it was too early to make a move.
"A-about what?"
"A-about w-what boys l-like to do...", she said as her face got redder.
Noah took in a deep breath. He could smell the scent of flowers somehow, even though winter hadn't end properly yet. He tried to calm down his heart but just breathing would make it beat faster. Without understanding why it smelled like flowers, he managed to mutter out some words.
"W-we l-like to be mean to the girls we l-like?"
As he said it, both of them lowered their faces towards the ground. They could hear eachother's heartbeats and stood there silently for a minute.
This time, it was Clair who managed to mutter out some words.
"Do-does that mean... y-you l-li..."
But before she could finish her sentence, her voice got quieter and quieter and became inaudible. Noah understood what she meant, so he prepared himself to answer.
"Y- Uu.... Eee...."
He couldn't get his words out while struggling to even breath calmly once. Gritting his teeth, he took a step away from Clair and punched himself in the stomach.
"Gah!"
"Noah!?"
"I DO!"
"Huh?"
Clair stood there dumbfounded as Noah shouted at her.
"I DO LIKE YOU!"
Clair held her heart and she stared at Noah with a completely red face.
"Y-You aren't joking this time, right?"
At her response, Noah held his chest in agony and answered.
"Gah! Am I that untrustworthy?!"
"Are you really asking me that after making a joke like that?"
Noah stared at her face and straightened up after stopping acting heartbroken.
"Y-you are right, I am sorry."
"You better be."
"Cough~, A-anyways... Uhmm Clair..."
"Y-Yes!?", she shouted suddenly.
"W-wha- No, you heard it already. Your answer?", he said while looking at her dark green eyes.
"Do you need an answer?", she asked with a smile.
"Wha-"
Before Noah could ask something, she closed the distance between them and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"Aren't we already engaged, my future husband?", she whispered with a mischievous smile and took a step back.
"Come on, we need to go to the dorms.", she said and left Noah behind, who was stuck in a daze.
'H-husband...'
Those words stuck in his mind as he touched his cheek while looking at Clair leave. He noticed her red ears coloured similarly to her hair as her hair swayed left and right.
"That girl... Even though she is as embarrassed as I am...", he said with a smile, and walked after her.