Dark News

The next school day he arrived early as usual and he was already drawing. Vanat and the Small Shining Knight were hunting a huge ghostly cat in an enchanted forest. In reality, he was doing this to avoid Leo, who sent messages all weekend that Ren didn't respond to.

But now, even while drawing, it would be much harder to avoid him.

"Hey, buddy, are you ignoring me?" Leo was already standing next to Ren, with an intimidating presence.

"No, Leo, of course not..."

He was interrupted by a loud noise; Leo had hit his desk, drawing the attention of the other students. At least, the desk in front of him was empty, as Aria always arrived just in time.

"You've pushed me to the limit, Ren! You go off hand in hand with Aria to the middle of the park and don't tell me what happened? You're pushing your luck, kid. Tell me everything now!"

Ren had never seen his best friend so serious, and maybe he could take advantage of the fact that Aria hadn't arrived yet.

"Okay, but don't go spreading rumors."

Leo's expression didn't change; he wouldn't give Ren room to make demands.

"We kissed..." Ren said, blushing.

Immediately, Leo's expression turned into a big silly smile. His friend was back to normal, hugging Ren with intensity.

"You did it! That's my boy! So, are you two dating?"

"Well, that's not very clear. We left the park holding hands, but we didn't talk after that."

Leo loved the holding hands part, but didn't like the rest of the sentence.

"You didn't talk to her? The whole weekend after you kissed?"

Leo's concern started to infect Ren.

"No... she didn't talk to me either... Did I do something wrong?"

"But of course, you did! You should have texted her, at least. You have to show her that you're interested, or she'll think you're just a flirty kisser!"

If Ren had stopped to think, he would have realized that what Leo was saying was nonsense. They had already talked about a future date, but his friend's words made him increasingly anxious. He didn't even remember mentioning that he had studied with Aria during childhood.

The two of them were chaotic in the classroom until they heard a timid voice.

"Excuse me."

Aria wanted to sit at her desk, but Leo was partially in the way. Immediately, both of them fell silent. Aria sat down, and Leo returned to his seat.

Ren and Aria were quiet, and what made Ren more tense was just seeing the back of the girl's head without knowing her expression. Should he ask her to be his girlfriend to solidify the relationship? Or were these just more wrong ideas that Leo put in his head?

"Good morning," Ren said, attempting to make contact.

"Good morning," she replied.

The response was so short that Ren believed there was indeed something wrong. She had said it was okay that he didn't remember her, but maybe Aria had changed her mind.

The teacher was already in the classroom, and Ren couldn't stand a whole class without knowing if they were okay with each other. To his surprise, it was Aria who turned around, holding a long piece of paper.

"I'm going to participate in a piano competition. I hate these things, but my mother forces me to do them. Anyway, I'd feel better if you were there."

He took the invitation and was glad that she still wanted his company. She just seemed nervous to ask. But then he remembered his dream; now he knew there was nothing supernatural about his relationship with Aria, so he didn't think it could be a vision of the future, something he might have believed a week ago.

"Of course, I'll go!" he said with a smile, which made the girl happy, although the subject of the competition was obviously delicate.

He wanted to tell her about his dream, mention that he remembered a bit more, check with her if it had indeed happened and try to understand why they hadn't seen each other on the last day. However, the teacher started the class, and there was nothing he could say.

The best he could do was draw a picture of them holding hands with a white cat between them. During class, he poked Aria and handed it to her. They couldn't talk, but he could see a smile on her face, and that made it all worth it.

When they finally had a break to eat, once again Ren couldn't find a moment with Aria. Erika burst into the room like a jet, confronting the two.

"You guys are ungrateful. After everything I did to get you to have a date, you disappear and don't tell me anything; that's so unfair."

Being confronted next to Aria was a thousand times worse. The relationship was still forming, and exposing it like this didn't seem like the most natural way to evolve things.

"Aren't you going to tell me anything?" Erika questioned, while Leo also approached, with a mischievous smile directed at Ren.

Ren and Aria exchanged glances; neither of them was willing to have this conversation. Then Ren felt his phone vibrating and thought he had been saved by the bell.

"Everything's fine, Erika. Thanks for the invitation," Aria said, seeing that Ren had escaped the conversation.

"Fine? No, no, that's not enough. I want details, and then I want to be invited to be the maid of honor at the wedding."

Each of Erika's words made Aria more and more uncomfortable, but when she turned to Ren, everything changed. He had his phone to his ear, with a very serious expression. He jumped up and went to the classroom door without saying anything.

Everyone noticed that the matter seemed serious, and Erika stopped demanding explanations. Leo was the first to follow him, but the girls quickly joined in.

"What happened, man?" Leo asked, following Ren through the school hallways.

"My dad," he said in a serious tone.

Leo and Erika exchanged looks, and only Aria seemed not to understand what was happening.

"We need more information, buddy," Leo continued, determined to help his friend.

"He's at home, right on my mom’s day off. She told me to stay at school until late today, and she'll take care of it, but I can't."

Ren reached the school gate, preparing to go to his house. Aria was still watching everything with attention, but Leo and Erika were walking alongside Ren.

"What are you doing?" Ren asked.

"Going with you, silly. We won't leave you alone," Erika replied.

"But there's still class today; you can't leave."

"If you leave, we leave with you," Leo replied with a smile brighter than usual.

Ren turned to his classmates, not wanting help, but very happy to have their support. Nothing he said would change their minds. Then he looked at Aria.

The girl still didn't exactly understand what was happening, but she noticed it was a very serious matter for Ren. While they exchanged glances, she nodded her head, determined to help Ren too.