Episode 5: Noh's friendship mission.

It Was a beautiful morning.

The sun was shining.

The birds were singing.

And Noh had made an important decision.

She needed more friends.

Not because Cenji wasn't enough.

Cenji was great.

Mostly.

When he wasn't being a walking stone statue.

Still, Noh wanted more people to talk to.

More people to play with.

More people to ask extremely important questions like:

"If a fish drinks water, does it get thirsty?"

So, with the confidence of a tiny warrior marching into battle, Noh skipped through the village.

"La la la~"

Her white hair bounced as she hopped down the road.

Then she spotted her opportunity.

A group of children were gathered around the village well.

Some were tossing little stones into it.

Others were talking and laughing.

Noh's eyes sparkled.

"Friend candidates!"

She immediately marched over.

"Hello!"

The children looked at her.

Their smiles disappeared.

Noh ignored that.

"My name is Noh!"

Silence.

One boy awkwardly coughed.

A girl suddenly looked toward the sky.

"Oh wow."

"What?" another child asked.

"The clouds."

"What about them?"

"They look... cloud-shaped."

Everyone nodded seriously.

"Amazing."

Then one of the boys stood up.

"I should go home."

"Me too."

"Same."

"I remembered I have chores."

"I remembered I also have your chores."

Within seconds, the entire group scattered.

Noh blinked.

The well was empty.

"..."

She stared at the road.

Then at the well.

Then back at the road.

"They vanished."

A passing villager snorted.

Noh crossed her arms.

"Fine."

If she couldn't make kid friends...

She would make adult friends.

Her eyes narrowed.

"New plan."

She dramatically pointed forward.

"I shall befriend the grown-ups! >:3"

Nobody was around to hear her declaration.

That didn't stop her.

A few minutes later she arrived at a small bread stand.

A woman was arranging fresh loaves on display.

Perfect.

Noh approached confidently.

"Hello!"

The woman looked up.

"Oh."

"Hi! I'm Noh!"

The woman immediately looked past her.

"Oh my."

Noh turned around.

"What?"

The woman continued staring.

"What is it?"

"A bug."

"A bug?"

"Yes."

Noh looked.

There was indeed a tiny bug flying somewhere far behind her.

The woman became incredibly interested in this bug.

Possibly more interested than any person had ever been interested in a bug before.

The insect flew left.

The woman's eyes followed.

The insect flew right.

The woman's eyes followed.

The insect disappeared.

The woman continued staring into the distance.

Noh slowly turned back.

"...You don't want to talk to me, do you?"

The woman suddenly became fascinated by organizing bread.

"I need to sort these loaves."

"They're already sorted."

"They need to be sorted again."

"Oh."

Noh sighed.

Another failure.

She walked away dramatically.

"Rejected by children."

She raised one finger.

"Rejected by adults."

She raised another finger.

Then her eyes widened.

There was still one option left.

She spun around.

"Animals!"

A grin spread across her face.

"Animals can't reject me!"

Fate immediately decided to challenge that statement.

A few moments later, Noh found a tiny frog sitting beside a puddle.

The frog blinked.

Noh crouched beside it.

"Greetings."

The frog remained silent.

"My name is Noh."

Silence.

"Would you like to be friends?"

The frog stared.

Noh nodded.

"I'll take that as a maybe."

The frog continued staring.

"Do frogs have favorite colors?"

Nothing.

"Do you pay taxes?"

The frog suddenly jumped away.

Right into a nearby bush.

Noh gasped.

"HEY!"

The frog vanished.

"That was rude!"

She stood up.

"I wasn't finished interviewing you!"

Unfortunately, the frog seemed uninterested in continuing the conversation.

Meanwhile...

Across the village...

Cenji was sitting quietly beneath a tree.

Reading.

Or at least trying to.

A blur of white hair shot past him.

"Noh?"

"I'M BEFRIENDING ANIMALS!"

Before he could answer, she disappeared around a corner.

Five minutes later—

She sprinted past again.

The opposite direction.

"Noh."

"THE FROG REJECTED ME!"

"..."

She vanished.

Three minutes later—

She ran past once more.

"Cenji!"

"What now?"

"I'M GOING TO TRY A CAT!"

"Good luck."

"THANK YOU!"

Gone.

A few minutes later—

"Noh."

"THE CAT BIT ME!"

"..."

"It wasn't a hard bite."

"Good."

"Now I'm trying birds!"

She sprinted away again.

Cenji slowly closed his book.

A bird suddenly flew overhead.

Moments later Noh came chasing after it.

"COME BACK! I JUST WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND!"

The bird flew faster.

Noh ran faster.

Cenji watched her disappear into the distance.

A minute later she returned.

Walking this time.

Defeated.

She collapsed beside him.

"The animals don't like me."

Cenji looked at her.

"You chased them."

"I was pursuing friendship."

"You screamed at them."

"I was enthusiastic."

"You ran after a bird."

"I was committed."

Cenji nodded slowly.

"That explains everything."

Noh groaned and flopped backward onto the grass.

For a while neither of them spoke.

Then Noh sighed.

"Maybe I only have one friend."

Cenji looked at the clouds.

"Maybe."

Noh smiled.

"Good thing you're a pretty decent friend."

"..."

"...Cenji?"

"...Thanks."

Noh's eyes widened.

"WAIT."

"What?"

"Was that a feeling?"

"No."

"IT WAS!"

"No."

"YOU ALMOST SOUNDED HAPPY!"

"I didn't."

Noh laughed so hard she nearly rolled down the hill.

And for the rest of the afternoon, the village echoed with her laughter while Cenji sat beside her pretending he wasn't smiling.

Pretending very badly.

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