We Are Friends?

(Third Person Pov)

Julianna looked at the boy standing in front of her, his dark aqua-colored hair and eyes felt captivating but that alone wasn't what had gotten the hold of her interest.

She had already seen someone way more handsome.

Hm? Still, those blank creepy eyes sure are a deal breaker...

She quickly dismissed her thoughts. 

"I am sorry! Are you alright?" The boy asked, offering her his hand, and looking directly into her eyes.

And this action was exactly what had gotten her interest.

After bumping into him, her hoodie blew away, no longer covering her face, and even after that the boy in front of her looked at her with concern evident in his eyes.

Well, that makes him another person who doesn't seem to be affected by my burnt face but unlike Noah's who I don't know what he is thinking, this guy is easy to read, and he truly doesn't seem to care about my appearance.

She thought as she stood up on her own, quickly covering her face using her hoodie.

"I am fine"

Hearing those words, the boy took back his hand, awkwardly, not knowing what to say, he once again apologized

"I am really sorry!"

Julianna felt a bit taken aback by the earnest apology, a bit flustered she hurriedly replied.

"It's fine, really. You are in a hurry, right? You should get going" Julianna said.

The boy remembering the matter he needed to attend to, widened his eyes, apologizing again and then running towards his intended direction.

Heaving out a sigh, Julianna too decided to move on but before she could, she noticed a picture lying on the road.

She picked it up and looked at it.

"Uh-huh"

Saying so, she looked in the direction the boy had left and started walking.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

After a while, Julianna decided to swing by the convenience store before going back to the dormitory.

The cafeteria's food isn't bad but I still would love to cook for myself... and this way, it will cost less.

Thinking so, she took the basket and started going through each section of the store.

"So, what are you going to do to them?"

"Nothing."

Just when she was about to go to the next section to buy shampoo and such things, she heard two hushed familiar voices, thanks to the fact she had her active Hearing skill.

The black-haired boy and that red-haired girl from yesterday... that girl is a beastfolk, isn't she?

She thought, activating her Silent footsteps skill and taking back a few steps, she stood silently, pretending to inspect the items on the shelves despite having no intention of buying them.

"What do you mean?"

"As I said, nothing. The seniors have already given us the necessary information we needed to know about. Besides, the more forceful we will get with them the more chances of them to file a complaint against us, that's what I think. Of course, it doesn't mean, they will get away unharmed but I would rather not take any risks, for now, we will leave them be"

Seniors!? How did they manage to talk with them!?

Julianna thought recalling an important piece of information, the academy was divided into 3 sectors, one consisting of 1st years, 2nd consisting of 2nd years, and the last one consisting of 3rd years.

It wasn't like they weren't allowed to go into the other sectors of the academy but it was prohibited by the school for the 1st month.

She had concluded that it was to stop the flow of information from 1st years.

She had momentarily considered sneaking into the sector of seniors but in the end, decided against it, the school on admitting them had given them a bracelet, one that they should wear all the time.

She was sure that the bracelet kept track of her movements throughout the school.

That was the reason she had decided against it.

There were some places common for seniors and first years where they could meet but it was a place filled with instructors, like the training grounds, and it didn't seem like the seniors were eager to share the information with them.

Thus leading her to her current confusion.

How did those two meet seniors!?

Wait! No, it can't be!

Suddenly she realized something as she thought back to her yesterday's duel with Noah.

Noah wasn't wearing any bracelet on him!

The reason for that was simple, he simply broke it.

At least that's what he had told her, he broke the bracelet and asked the authorities to provide a new one.

The new bracelet will be given by the weekend, it wasn't a normal bracelet but a specialized one made for each individual, and as a penalty one had to pay the cost of breaking one which was quite huge, that alone goes to show just how wealthy Noah truly is.

So for now, Noah roamed around the school without the bracelet.

Julianna decided to move towards the next section, towards the section those two were at.

She wanted to confirm her assumption but before she could take a step forward she felt a presence just behind her, her body tensed.

"Are you planning on shoplifting?"

On hearing, the monotonic whisper her body relaxed just as fast as she had tensed, and she turned around.

"What gave you the idea that I plan on shoplifting?" She asked arching her left eyebrow.

"...No sane person would buy stuff like you are, that's why?"

She tilted her head in confusion and so did Noah tilt his, unable to understand what part she didn't understand.

"And how am I buying it?" She asked

"While listening to other people and being completely focused on them? Just so you know, there are cameras in the store, people aren't the only thing you should be worried about"

..Was I acting that out of place?

Julianna asked herself.

This wasn't her first time eavesdropping on someone's conversation but it sure was her first time that someone called out to her and caught her!

Sure, Noah doesn't seem to know that she is trying to focus on two particular students but that still doesn't change that Noah had easily seen through her.

Was she out of touch or is Noah simply good at reading body movements?

She didn't know the answer to that but she felt that uncanny feeling once again about him that she had when she had fought him.

Noah might look harmless but during the entire duel yesterday she had felt it, the reaper's hands looming over her. If Noah so wanted, he could have killed her, no matter which path she would choose all she saw were dead ends but what shocked her the most was that it was just a duel! She couldn't comprehend why she would feel death looming over her!

Alas, she didn't know, Noah is always and at all times ready to kill people around him or escape from the people around him, even currently he had already run enough simulations in his mind to kill those around him... just in case.

That is simply how he lives.

That is the only way he could live.

He is weird!

Julianna thought to herself as she saw the two individuals she had been listening to leaving towards the counter without the bracelets on their wrists which confirmed her suspicions she turned her skills off and looked towards Noah.

"I am not shoplifting! Just bought my groceries. What about you? What brings you here? Shouldn't you be training with your slimes?"

"I am here to buy some snacks," Noah said raising his left hand and shaking it a little, showing the contents inside the polybag.

"I thought you bought everything you needed already?" Julianna asked recalling Noah's prior words

"Duh, I did, it's not for me, someone else"

"You are running an errand for someone?"

"More or less"

"You aren't being bullied, right?"

"Don't know. I have never been bullied so even if I got bullied I probably still won't know"

"...We are throwing hands tonight. Take me along with you. I wanna see who asked you for this errand."

Julianna said cracking her hands and her neck.

"Uh.. okay"

Noah said confused by the newfound surge of emotion he saw in Julianna.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Anyway, so who is this fucker who can't be bothered to buy snacks on his own?"

"A senior of ours from the training grounds."

Julianna stopped in her tracks, Noah too stopped and looked towards her to know the cause of her sudden halt.

"...You talked to a senior, isn't that prohibited?"

"Well, he was the one who wanted to fight me, well, more like a duel and one of the instructors was there watching us all the time, I guess they are fine with seniors interacting with, the juniors under certain conditions," Noah said shrugging.

"That so..."

"That so"

Julianna once again started walking alongside Noah, lost in her thoughts.

"You still think I am being bullied? You know, he gave me the Points required for the snacks, so I am not buying it from my pocket"

"Well, a senior has no business to ask for a junior to have a duel, does he? Besides, even if he gave you the money he could run the errand for himself." Julianna said with a huff.

And maybe I could find something more helpful about the academy.

She thought and suddenly came to a halt with her thoughts as she looked at Noah.

"Hey, do you know about the academy?"

"Know what?"

"I don't know, like what's the deal this AP, and academy ranks and all that?"

Noah looked at her in confusion and then began to speak.

"I do."

"Really!?" Julianna asked completely surprised and excited

"I am not telling though"

"WHY!?"

Her joyous expression crumbled as she asked.

"...I don't want to ruin your little detective game, I guess" Noah answered, that wasn't the truth but not a lie either. A misdirection? Certainly.

What Noah wanted was to see her skillset and uses and with the help of the system tailing her, he can just see all that but she needs to be in a situation where she is doing actual work if all she does every day is to buy groceries and eat food, Noah isn't going to learn shit about her.

On the other hand, trying to discover the working mechanisms of the academy gave her a task to show her skillset.

It was as simple as that.

"You think I am enjoying it?"

"You aren't?"

Julianna didn't say anything but she didn't admit to it either.

Soon they both arrived at the training grounds.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey! Here" A boy around 6'1 feet with green hair and eyes waved towards Noah with a smile on his face

Noah in return waved back while Julianna looked at the boy as her eyes squinted, scrutinizing him.

They both started walking towards him.

"I thought you wouldn't be coming back and took off with my points!" The boy laughed.

"For a mere 100 points?" Noah replied.

"You will see how luxurious those mere 100 points are" The boy replied and instantly his bracelet buzzed a little, to which the boy muttered something under his breath, most likely, cursing.

Julianna's ears perked as she noted the word luxurious and what just occurred.

Does this mean, it will become hard to get the points in the future? And what's with the bracelet buzzing?

The boy turned his gaze towards her as he asked.

"And who might this lady be? A friend of yours?"

"No"

"Kinda of" 

Noah and Julianna both answered at the same time respectively

"...Haha" The boy laughed awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

"We aren't friends?" Julianna turned towards Noah.

"We are?" Noah asked in turn.

"You have my contact info, knows my name, and we are neighbors in the classroom, I think that should be enough to warrant me as a friend"

"...That so? Guess, we are friends then" Noah replied, he wasn't good with his stuff.

When does someone become your friend from being an acquaintance? He didn't know.

All Noah did in his world was indulge in watching anime, reading novels, and playing some visual novels. He went to school only to take exams.

That's how he lived.

Like a shut-in. He had thought of starting going to high school this year but he ended up transmigration into this world, and maybe that was a good thing, at least it gave Noah a reason to attend high school instead of shutting himself off the world.

"My name is Kotaro Mishima, a second-year and a D Ranker. You?" The boy introduced himself to dispel the awkward atmosphere.

"We talking about this later," Julianna grumblingly said to Noah to which he only nodded his head as she turned towards the second-year boy.

"I am Julianna, a first-year, in the same class as Noah, an F-ranker"

A D-ranker? Noah had a duel with a D-ranker? What the hell were instructors thinking!? ...Well, Noah doesn't seem to have any injuries on him, so it's okay? I don't know.

"F-ranker? That's not bad. You are strong, normally the first-years are mostly around G+ ranked like your friend... well, he doesn't seem to be a normal G+ranked though" Kotaro said the latter part of his sentence in a mumble enough to be audible.

"Right! He is the weird one, isn't he!"

Julianna said remembering her duel with Noah yesterday.

"He sure is" 

They both laughed.

"You guys bonding over me being weird is even weirder" Noah chimed in.

He felt so left out, he didn't even know the fuck he was supposed to do.

The only thought running through his mind was to go back to his training.

 Deciding he had nothing to talk about Noah simply handed over the snacks.

"Oh, yeah! Thanks again!" Kotaro said with a smile on his face as he took his snacks.

"...Oh, it's yours, I thought Noah bought it for himself," Julianna said and Noah simply looked at her.

What the fuck's wrong with her memory?

Julianna decided to ignore Noah's gaze.

"Ah, actually I asked him to bring me the snacks. I felt pretty drained after our duel" Kotaro replied.

"Oh, you don't say. I thought a G+ranker would find himself to be more exhausted against a D ranker." Julianna didn't fail to show her hostility through words, the hoodie was still covering more than half her face but Kotaro still could feel her piercing gaze even though her eyes weren't visible.

On a side note, Julianna could see everything even with the hoodie covering half her face.

A skill of her own developed over the years.

"Uh-umm, actually I have been here since the morning, so maybe that's why I felt more exhausted? That's all the reason I asked him to bring the snacks for me" Kotaro replied, a bit taken aback.

He wasn't lying though, the exhaustion from the entire day's training had taken a toll on him and Julianna didn't know the extent of the duel that took place between Noah and Kotaru, if anything she didn't even know the true extent of Noah's prowess.

Kotaru had barely managed to win the duel against Noah and it's still when Noah was trying to get all his components to synchronize with each other and has been experimenting with them, Noah is still in the stage of trial and error.

If Noah hadn't been bothering himself with trial and error, he most likely would have won the duel.

Of course, to think a G+ranker winning against a D ranker was absurd, and didn't take a genius to know that Noah had gaslighted Kotaro into thinking that he only had trouble winning against him because of the sheer exhaustion from the entire day's training.

Well, anyways back to the current situation, Julianna didn't buy a crap said by Kotaro.

"My, to ask a G+ranker for a duel and get exhausted in it? Maybe D rank isn't as great as I had thought. Well, exhausted or not I hope you won't ask my fri- classroom neighbor to run errands for yourself. I am sure you are a respectable senior, so please act like one" 

Julianna said with a dead tone, similar to Noah's monotonous one but for reasons unknown, her voice felt cold, incredibly so.

Noah's tone was monotonous but not cold rather it had some gentleness in it.

"Y-Yeah, I-I understand," Kotaro said, stumbling over his words.

The poor guy didn't even do anything. It was Noah who gaslighted him in that direction, he wouldn't have asked Noah to bring him anything but he did because Noah led the conversation in such a way.

Casual conversations weren't something Noah could hold but a conversation with a specific purpose in mind? Well, now we are talking.

With that, Julianna turned towards Noah.

"What are you going to do now?"

"Train a little?" 

"Well, don't mind if I join"

Leaving behind Kotaru they both went to their training.

Julianna decided to train and use her time here to talk to some seniors under the pretext of some guidance while trying to find out about the academy but whenever she tried to turn the conversation in that direction the seniors dodged the question or if they did gave subtle hints their bracelets buzzed just like when it happened with Kotaro's.

Once done with her observations of the day, she called it a day and decided to head back to her dormitory.