Chapter 218: A doubt starts to bother Ayane.

Misaki said to Ayane.

"Noah didn’t tell you he didn’t want to go out with you, right?"

Ayane shook her head.

"No."

"Did he ask you to stop talking to him?"

"No, of course not."

"Did he tell you he no longer wanted to see you?"

"Neither."

Misaki nodded.

"Then you don’t have an answer from Noah."

Ayane remembered Noah’s expression after the kiss, and he had also seemed surprised.

He had even tried to talk to her, but she had interrupted him before hearing what he wanted to say.

’Then...’

Her cheeks began to turn red.

’Do I still have a chance?’

Reina smiled.

"She’s thinking about your wedding again."

"I’M NOT THINKING ABOUT MY WEDDING YET!"

"Then how many kids do you want to have?"

"REINA!"

Misaki gently hit the table.

"That’s enough."

Reina sat back down.

"Alright, alright."

Misaki looked at Ayane again.

"Now we have a more important problem."

Ayane tried to regain her composure.

"What?"

"Luna’s invisibility."

The atmosphere changed and Misaki crossed her arms.

"We know that magical girls possess capabilities that surpass our usual detection methods."

Ayane nodded.

"That’s true."

"But if Luna can hide completely and remain next to other people without being discovered, our situation is much more complicated."

Reina left her cupcake on the table.

"Are you saying she could be here?"

Misaki looked around the room.

"We have no reason to believe that."

"That doesn’t answer my question."

"No."

"No what?"

"We can’t rule it out."

Reina immediately looked behind her chair, then under the table, and Ayane frowned.

"What are you doing?"

"Checking."

"Checking what?"

"That there isn’t an invisible girl listening to us."

Misaki sighed.

"Looking wouldn’t do any good."

Reina stayed still.

"..."

Then she slowly returned to her seat.

"Good point."

Misaki continued.

"If Luna was invisible during the conversation, it means she could have heard everything Ayane said before appearing."

Ayane slightly opened her eyes and remembered her words.

The way she had thanked Noah, how she had started to tell him what she felt, and how Luna had intervened exactly at that moment.

’Then she heard everything...’

She covered her face again.

"How embarrassing..."

Reina observed her.

"Ayane."

"What?"

"We’re talking about security."

"I know!"

"Then stop thinking about your confession."

"I’M NOT THINKING ABOUT THAT!"

Misaki decided to continue before another argument started.

"If a magical girl can enter our facilities without us detecting her, she could also listen to our meetings."

Ayane slowly lowered her hands.

"That would be serious."

"Very."

"They could know our movements."

"Yes."

"Our reports."

"Also."

"The orders we receive."

Misaki nodded.

"Exactly."

Reina raised a hand.

"And our expenses."

Both looked at her and Reina smiled.

"I just wanted to make sure you considered it."

Ayane remained silent, then looked at the receipt Reina had left on the table and, for the first time that morning, her expression became slightly stern.

"Reina."

The one addressed straightened up.

"Yes?"

"How much did you spend exactly?"

Reina turned pale.

"..."

Misaki smiled slightly.

’Finally.’

But Ayane lowered her gaze again before continuing.

"Forget it, we’ll check it later."

Reina collapsed onto the chair and Misaki lost her small smile.

’She’s definitely still not okay.’

The conversation continued for several minutes.

Misaki proposed reviewing the unit’s security measures, especially the methods used to detect magical presences.

Reina suggested placing small alarms at the entrances, but Misaki pointed out that that wouldn’t work if Luna could enter through the windows.

Reina proposed closing the windows, to which Misaki reminded her that magical girls could destroy walls.

Reina fell silent and finally raised a hand.

"Then I propose something."

Ayane looked at her.

"What?"

"Not holding important meetings."

Misaki closed her eyes.

"What a useless proposal."

"If we don’t hold meetings, no one will be able to spy on them!"

"Because we won’t be able to work either."

"Exactly!"

"Reina."

"Yes?"

"Stop talking."

Reina made a gesture of disgust, but Ayane, however, was barely paying attention, since there was something that worried her more.

For a long time she had obeyed the organization’s orders without questioning them.

She had completed missions, led her companions, and accepted her superiors’ decisions, but ever since she met Noah, some things had begun to change.

First there was the order to capture him, then the consequences of not fulfilling it, and now...

’If the magical girls can watch us without us knowing...’

Ayane lowered her gaze.

’What will happen if they consider us enemies?’

She remembered the visit to Noah’s house, where Emma had received them kindly and Noah had treated them as guests.

He had even allowed them to spend time with him despite everything that had happened previously, and yet her organization still considered Noah someone who needed to be captured.

Ayane slightly clenched her hands, since that contradiction was starting to bother her.

"Misaki."

Her companion raised her gaze.

"Yes?"

"Do you think Noah should continue to be considered a target?"

Misaki remained silent and Reina stopped playing with her phone, since the question had been unexpected.

"Why do you ask?"

Misaki replied, to which Ayane took a few seconds to answer.

"Because he doesn’t seem dangerous."

Reina smiled.

"That depends."

Ayane looked at her.

"On what?"

"On how many girls in love he has after him."

"Reina."

"Alright."

Misaki rested her hands on the table.

"Noah is related to several magical girls, so from the organization’s point of view, that makes him someone important."

"I know."

"And you already know what the orders are."

Ayane nodded slowly.

"Yes."

Misaki observed her carefully.

"But..."

Ayane raised her gaze.

"But?"

"It doesn’t mean we should act without considering the consequences."

Reina looked at Misaki.

"That sounds pretty dangerous coming from you."

Misaki ignored her.

"We’ve already seen what happened when we tried to confront the magical girls directly, and we also know that Noah has been injured during our conflicts."

Ayane immediately remembered that Noah had been shot, and although time had passed since then, it was still unpleasant for her to recall what had happened.

Misaki continued.

"I don’t think repeating those mistakes is a good strategy."

Ayane slowly lowered her gaze.

"I agree."

Reina observed her companions and, for the first time all morning, she didn’t seem to feel like making a joke.