A/N: Same as the past few days. Here is a short story along with the Rewrite Version of Chapter 11!
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It had been a few days since Kiana's reunion with Theresa. The welcome had been warm—awkward in the beginning, but full of emotion by the end. Since then, Noah and Kiana had been staying at the dorms in Saint Freya Academy.
That morning, Noah stirred from sleep, mumbling something from a weird dream involving Koutaro, three rice balls, and a flaming pigeon. As his eyes adjusted to the sunlight peeking through the window, he noticed something odd.
His chest felt… heavy.
Looking down, he blinked. A mess of familiar white hair was resting against him.
"…She snuck in again," he muttered, cheeks already heating up.
Kiana had apparently declared his bed a second base of operations sometime between midnight and now. She was curled up beside him, deep asleep, mouth slightly open, and looking completely unbothered.
Noah sighed, more fond than frustrated. "What am I gonna do with you," he whispered under his breath.
But he didn't move her. Instead, he shifted just enough to wrap his arms around her gently.
Kiana's sleeping expression softened, a small smile tugging at her lips as she nestled even closer, her face burying itself in his chest.
Noah glanced at the ceiling.
"…Guess I'm not getting out of bed anytime soon."
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At the breakfast table, Noah was calmly cooking eggs like nothing was unusual. Kiana, on the other hand, sat at the table with her head down, cheeks bright red, practically steaming.
Across from her, Theresa and Himeko sat with identical deadpan expressions, staring at the two teens in silence. The awkward tension in the room was so thick, you could cut it with a butter knife.
"So," Himeko said under her breath, sipping her coffee, "they slept in the same bed. Again."
Theresa nearly choked on her tea. "I'm not ready to be a grand-aunt…"
Kiana's head snapped up. "W-We didn't do anything!"
Noah flinched, almost dropping the spatula. "Can we not say things like that while I'm handling hot oil?!"
The two adults exchanged glances, clearly enjoying themselves a little too much.
Kiana groaned and buried her face in her arms again, while Noah turned back to the stove, ears now matching the tomatoes he was slicing.
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Later, while they were having breakfast, Theresa glanced between the two teens and asked, "So, how are you both settling into life at Saint Freya?"
Kiana straightened up a bit and nodded. "It's been... nice. A little overwhelming, but everyone's been kind."
Noah added, "The schedule's packed, but we're getting used to it."
Himeko, ever the chaos agent, smirked over her coffee. "Well, they're probably fine. I mean, they're already sharing a bed."
"W-We are not—!" Kiana yelped, face going red instantly.
Noah nearly dropped his chopsticks. "You make it sound way worse than it is!"
Theresa turned a bright shade of pink and waved her hands. "H-Himeko! Don't say things like that so casually!"
Trying to recover the mood, she cleared her throat. "Anyway... Kiana, about what we talked about the other day."
Kiana blinked. "My dad?"
Theresa nodded, her expression softening. "I've looked into it. As far as we can tell… nothing new. It's a dead end for now."
Kiana's smile faltered for a moment, but she nodded slowly. "Thanks for checking, Aunt Teri."
"Don't worry, I'm still digging around," Theresa said, crossing her arms. "And when I find that idiot Siegfried, I swear—I'm going to give him a piece of my mind for leaving you like that. Maybe even a punch to the face."
Kiana let out a dry laugh. "Ahaha... Aunt Teri, you're kind of scary."
"Good. He should be scared."