Here is the fifth conversation Noelle has to have and the third with who she suspects is going to be a definite rival since realizing that she was in love with Asta. For those wondering this chapter takes place shortly after the events of episode 136 so there will be some spoilers from that and other earlier episodes so you have been warned. I do have a bit of administrative stuff to announce and that is that there will be a bit of a break (2 days) between this chapter and the next one. That is because my policy with this collection is to only edit and upload after the next chapter along has been drafted and while the 6th has been drafted, my schedule will prevent it from being edited. This is due to my other two active stories 'Avatar the Tale of Harry, Book 5: Duty' and 'Winning Takes Heart' are set for their next chapters' edit and upload days tomorrow and the day after so they will take priority for my edits but I will try and draft at least the 7th and hopefully the 8th conversations so that I can upload the 6th either Friday night or during the day Saturday. Sorry for the slight delay but those two series have set weekly schedules that I don't mess with. Anyway, that is all I have to say for now as there are no questions to answer or guest reviews to respond to so it is time to sit back and enjoy Noelle's latest conversation.
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to the Black Clover franchise.
Summary - Noelle had hoped that her gamut of rivals had come to an end after the mixer. Alas fate had different plans for her and her squad decided to go to the beach for training. Naturally that would be when Kahono needed the Black Bull's aid and afterwards proposed another double date to Asta and Noelle. Looks like Noelle has to talk to another rival and let her know who will win Asta's heart. Wait, what? That was not what Noelle expected.
The Songstress's Ruse
It was late at night after the Black Bulls second adventure to the Underwater Temple and Noelle was walking alone along the beach. They were going to stay for an extra few days for beach training after their little side adventure before heading back to the hideout as the adventure had distracted them, so they needed to make up what they had missed. Well, that and Charmy wanted more seafood and wouldn't leave until she had eaten enough to satisfy her.
That was perfect however for Noelle as there was something she knew that she needed to do while she was here as there wasn't another time to really do it. She hadn't expected to deal with this so quickly after everything, but she couldn't pass up the opportunity to sort it out once and for all and this was the best time of day to do it. That, and Asta was currently occupied with some strength training with the guys, so Noelle didn't have to fear him overhearing what she was going to say, she wasn't ready for that yet.
Noelle needed to find and talk to Kahono while she had the chance to do so. Not about the adventure they had just had or what the underwater guardian had shown her, Noelle would deal with the latter on her own and in her own time, but about something else that Noelle was finding herself dealing with a lot faster than she'd expected when she first realized what she felt. She had to confront Kahono about her feelings for Asta.
It hadn't even been a month since Captain Charlotte Roselei of the Blue Rose Knights had bluntly called Noelle out on her feelings for Asta. It had all been part of Charlotte's plan with a bit of information that Noelle needed to help clear Asta as the bait to get her to meet the older woman. Then, after giving the information and in an inescapable cocoon of briars, well inescapable if Noelle wanted to avoid destroying the building and fighting a Magic Knight Captain in the process, Charlotte had told Noelle that she knew Noelle liked Asta romantically.
Noelle had instinctively tried to deny it as she had been doing to herself for months, ever since she had first began to fall for the anti-magic using boy and didn't understand what was happening to her, but she had no way out. Charlotte was kind and supportive, giving her the time that she needed to push past her limits and face the truth that Noelle knew was there deep within her soul. Noelle Silva, a royal of the Clover Kingdom, had fallen deeply in love with Asta, an orphaned commoner from the forsaken realm with no magic.
While the realization and subsequent confession to Charlotte, the first of now 4 people to learn of Noelle's secret, Noelle had felt more at peace with herself because she now knew what her feelings towards Asta meant. Of course, it didn't stop her getting flustered around Asta and attacking him when they flared up when he did something she found attractive, in fact it was worse now because she was aware of them, nor did it stop her uncontrollable jealousy rearing its head around other woman who expressed interest in Asta. It was that jealousy that had led Noelle down the path she was currently on.
With her feelings for Asta now accepted, Noelle had an understanding of her past actions, many of which were irrational even in hindsight though Noelle still felt they were the right ones because they were done to make sure Asta was safe from other women. It also meant that she could at last confront the frustratingly large number of girls who had fallen for that amazing dork and let them know that not only was Noelle aware of her feelings but that she was going to beat them when it came to Asta.
Of course, the one problem with that was Asta's extreme density when it came to women, but Noelle had a plan for that. However, that was something she'd address in time and required other conversations. First she had to deal with her main rivals so that they were all aware of Noelle's intent to win.
She'd started with the most convenient girl and one who wasn't a confirmed but only potential rival in her teammate Nero. She was most convenient because they lived in the same hideout, so the moment Noelle had an opening she had gone to the girl's room and discussed her feelings for Asta with her, while also confirming her own for him though Nero had already figured them out thanks to her constant observation of them as a bird.
Alas the confrontation hadn't gone the way that Noelle had wanted. She had wanted confirmation that the girl from another time period who spent most of her time as a bird that perched on Asta's head was not into him romantically so that Noelle's jealousy could be assuaged. While Nero hadn't confirmed that she had romantic feelings for Asta, she hadn't ruled them out yet as she did believe in Asta, and he reminded her of the first Wizard King who she had been in love with but never got to tell him that. She was loyal to Asta and was going to be by his side until the end, but she hadn't fallen for him, yet.
That meant, and Nero had told Noelle as much, that she was still someone who Noelle needed to consider a rival. Noelle did just that and kept getting jealous of the cute girl whenever she inadvertently did something adorable that might win Asta's heart before Noelle could win it herself.
As fate would have it, the moment Noelle confronted Nero a chain reaction seemed to begin that led Noelle to having her chance to confront two confirmed rivals for Asta in her cousin Mimosa and then a commoner from the village of Nean called Rebecca. Mimosa had been the first when Mimosa's cousin Mereoleona Vermillion had kidnapped Noelle and Asta for the third time, and right after the second kidnapping, as they had been invited to a special party at the Vermillion residence to celebrate Sister Theresa's 15th anniversary of joining the sisterhood.
While that was a whole other adventure for Noelle, anything involving Mereoleona Vermillion had a 100% chance of devolving into violence, it had been the aftermath that had given Noelle the chance to talk to Mimosa. It had been too late to return to the hideout so Noelle and Asta had spent the night with the Vermillions and that had meant a nice bath in their gendered baths where Noelle got a chance to confront Mimosa while Mereoleona punished Kirsch and Gauche for various transgressions.
During the bath, Noelle had successfully flustered her cousin until she finally got to admit that she loved Asta to Mimosa and declare her a rival for him. Mimosa had already known of her own crush on Asta but had been surprised that Noelle liked him, though she had had her fears at times, and had accepted the challenge with the grace expected from a royal.
Of all her rivals, Mimosa was probably the biggest threat as she saw Asta the most besides Noelle and would likely be in the Heart Kingdom with them in a few months so Noelle's one big advantage over Mimosa was lost. Well Nero saw Asta most, but she wasn't more than a potential one at the moment, not that Noelle would ever let her guard down around the Sealing Mage.
That said, Noelle knew that she couldn't rule out the threat her other major rival posed her. Rebecca was the most similar of them to Asta with the same background of common birth, multiple younger siblings who she looked after, and a hard work ethic to provide for her family like Asta did. The advantage that Noelle had on her though was that Asta didn't often see her.
Of course, that didn't mean that he didn't and in fate's cruel ways, Noelle had been forced to deal with Rebecca only days after Mimosa when Finral persuaded Asta to help him train his heart to get stronger and abandon his sleezy, womanizing, ways. Naturally, that meant using a mixer to resist his urges but of course a mixer meant going to Nean which meant Rebecca who was of course Asta's date to it and had brought the other two girls for the event.
Noelle had done the only rational thing she could think of, she'd gone undercover as a waitress for a second time to spy on the date and make sure that the redheaded vixen that was Rebecca didn't scoop Asta up for herself. Nero had also decided to be a waitress for her own unknown reasons, and she looked too adorable to be legal to Noelle in her waitress outfit, which had caused additional problems, but Noelle dealt with that while trying not to destroy the bar with her jealousy.
It had been a rollercoaster of an evening for Noelle's poor heart around Asta, starting with the surprise of Rebecca as Noelle had forgotten about her at first as she was too focused on making sure Asta didn't fall for his date to notice that she was his date. Add in some of the conversations which Asta was oblivious to the deeper meanings of, mainly Rebecca's shameless flirting with him, and Noelle was irate. However, she was just glad that it would be one night, and she wouldn't have to deal with Rebecca other than to confront her privately and tell her that she would beat her to Asta's heart.
Fate again screwed her over with that one, unfortunately. Rebecca had noticed her thanks to an outburst at the redhead's flirting and then a separate distraction caused by a screaming Charlotte Roselei, yes because she had to be part of all this as well to add another layer to the situation, changed everything. It also revealed to Noelle that the man Charlotte loved was none other than her own squad's Captain Yami but that was a secret Noelle kept from the others as Charlotte had kept her secret about Asta safe.
That distraction caused the bar to effectively close until a combined effort from Rebecca and a Blue Rose Knight called Puli Angel kept it open for a double mixer between the 6 Black Bull men present and the three Blue Rose Knight women joined by Rebecca. To make up the numbers, Noelle who'd been outed by the redhead, and Nero who Noelle refused to let get away without the awkward embarrassment of half the team seeing them as serving wenches who'd suddenly gotten jobs the day of a mixer with Asta, had joined the other 4 women.
Rebecca had tried to get Noelle to be more forward with Asta and while she wanted to deny it she couldn't and finally had a brief confrontation with the taller woman in the bathroom. There Noelle confirmed what Rebecca clearly already knew about Noelle's feelings for Asta and declared her full intent to beat Rebecca making them acknowledged rivals at last.
The rest of the dinner was supposed to be the first challenge but between Finral apologizing to Asta, Asta himself being a dense idiot just having fun at the mixer, and Yami being just as dense with a flustered and frustrated Charlotte at the other end of the table nothing came of it. Thankfully, that had been the last time Rebecca had appeared and Noelle hoped to not see her for a while as she was more aggressive than her or Mimosa, the kiss she had given Asta still gave Noelle nightmares.
After that incident Noelle had hoped that the stress of dealing with multiple rivals so quickly one after another would be over but then someone had suggested a beach training trip and the whole squad went there to train. Noelle did bring her bikini again with hopes of getting a complement out of Asta, especially now that she knew why she wanted that dork to notice how hot she looked in it, but she had to train first as that was the reason why they'd come here in the first place.
It was during that training that Kahono decided to show up because of course she would, though it was about an emergency at the Underwater Temple so not Asta related this time. That had been what they'd spent the day doing with Noelle and Finral helping Kahono, and her brother Kiato pacify an angry water guardian who turned out to just be protecting her child. It had been a rewarding mission on multiple levels and Noelle had even learned a new skill on it, so it had been a worthwhile trip for her.
It hadn't been until a few hours later, on this beach and long after the adventure had ended, that Kahono had sparked Noelle's jealousy again and need to confront her. That was because the priestess had suggested another double date between her, her brother, Asta and Noelle.
Asta, in his usual stupid obliviousness, had immediately accepted and been punished accordingly by Noelle for it while she ranted at him about it. Not because she didn't want to go on a double date, she did but only with Asta as her date, but because he'd accepted for her, and it meant she was with Kiato who she wasn't interested in because he wasn't Asta. Noelle still remembered the last double date at the Star Awards Festival and how close Kahono was and how rampant her jealousy had been that night.
She also remembered what Asta had said about her after Noelle had helped a poor lost commoner girl and declared the festival for everyone on matter their social status. That memory still warmed her heart even if she wished that she could now go back and confess to Asta as well and not send him sky high with a blast of water and into Magna's fireworks because of how deep in denial she was about her feelings for him. That had led to other adventures involving Jack the Ripper's rivalry with Yami, but Noelle didn't need to think on that now.
No, now she was going to the rocks at the end of the beach where she could just make out the faint notes of a soft melody that was certainly Kahono practicing in the moonlight. This was her chance to finally confront her friend and get to the truth of her feelings for Asta, while also telling her that Noelle would be the one to claim Asta's heart, not Kahono.
It didn't take long to find Kahono standing on a rock looking out over the moonlit ocean singing one of her songs as the wind blew her long ponytail wildly behind her while wearing her normal beach attire. Noelle was always struck by how amazing her voice was and just stood there in silence as she listened to Kahono sing, not wanting to interrupt the songstress until she was done.
That came a few moments later as Kahono finished her song and closed her eyes, likely saying some silent prayer to the Sea God she served. Noelle just waited for Kahono to finish before she began to approach but as she did Kahono opened her eyes and turned to see Noelle there.
"Noelle, what are you doing out here?" Kahono asked with a smile as she came down from the rocks and over to her friend. "Training, or are you waiting for Asta for a romantic moonlit stroll on the beach tonight?"
"What, no, neither." Noelle said immediately going red and into denial mode even if she really did want to walk hand in hand with Asta down the beach at night, that sounded so romantic to her that she was definitely going to do that if she ended up with Asta but that was for later, she was her to talk to Kahono. "I actually came to see you as there is something I want to discuss with you in private."
"Oh, looking for some healing magic." Kahono said before winking. "You know my prices, adjusted for royalty of course."
"No and you are as shameless as ever Kahono." Noelle said with a smile at her close friend's antics, the woman was shameless when it came to things like that. "I actually came to talk about your double date idea."
"Oh that, yes we should totally do that again as soon as we can." Kahono said with a grin, she'd used it to try and get Noelle to finally confess her feeling to Asta, or at least confess them to herself as that girl really needed to get over her denial and accept her feelings. "It will be so much fun."
"Yes about that." Noelle said not sure how to phrase it but deciding to just dive into it as that was what she'd done with Nero so it should work with Kahono as well. "I want to know, what are your feelings towards Asta?"
"Asta?" Kahono asked a little confuse but suddenly realizing that she had something to finally get through Noelle's defenses and get her to admit her feelings for him. "Well, he is an amazing guy for sure, any girl would be lucky to be his woman because he'd treat her right. He's dedicated, hardworking, loyal, and never gives up no matter what happens. It's mainly thanks to him and his influence that the Temple was saved, and I was able to come to the mainland and begin my dreams of becoming an idol."
"Yes he is all that and more." Noelle said with a sigh, it looked like Kahono was a rival after all. "Looks like I will have to decline the double date offer. I already did but Asta wouldn't understand so I'm doing it again just between us, so you know I won't accept it."
"Huh? Why?" Kahono said feigning confusion as she pushed a little, she could tell that she was close. "Is there something preventing you from going on a date with Kiato? Do tell me what it is Noelle."
"It's simply because I don't like your brother that way." Noelle said as she took a deep breath to steel herself for what she had to do and then diving head first into it. "I love Asta so that makes us rivals for him and thus I can't do a double date with you two."
"You love him?" Kahono asked, she was sure she hadn't heard right and needed to confirmation that Noelle had finally gotten over her denial. "I did hear that that correctly, right?"
"Yes, deeply, truly and with all my heart." Noelle said as she let it all out and again felt a little wait lift from her shoulders at being able to admit the truth of how she felt about Asta to someone. "I am in love with Asta, and I will defeat any rival I may have for him, even if I am friends with her. I don't care how long it takes me to get past his denseness, but I swear I will do so and get Asta to see me the way I see him."
"Noelle." Kahono said as she looked at the royal who was clearly nervous having admitted it to her before she beamed at the silver haired girl, her eyes became stars and she lunged at her friend to pull her into a tight embrace. "Finally! You have finally admitted it! I can't believe it! I honestly didn't think you would ever do this; you were in so much denial, but you've gotten past it. I am so proud of you girl."
"Wait! What?" Noelle said completely thrown by Kahono's reaction as she stood there frozen in the other girl's arms, this was the exact opposite of what she'd expected. "You're supportive? You're not going to respond to my challenge?"
"Why would I?" Kahono asked stepping back but keeping her hands on Noelle's shoulders as she continued to beam at Noelle. "I have been trying to get you to admit this since I first noticed you liked him after you guys saved the Temple. I knew you had feelings for him back then and that they were so deep, this just confirms that the only guy for you is Asta."
"So, you don't like him like that?" Noelle asked still trying to process what the hell was going on. "You don't have feelings for him?"
"No, Asta is just a good friend who I will always be indebted to for healing my throat and for saving the Temple, but I don't have romantic feelings for him." Kahono said shaking her head. "Same with you and the rest of the Black Bulls for that matter as without them our Temple would have likely been destroyed. You two are my friends and I want you two to be happy together, you're perfect for each other. I fully support a relationship between you two."
"But what about the Star Awards Festival?" Noelle asked. "You were all over him, linking arms and helping him with the game when he needed. Plus, the date was all your idea. I'm so confused right now."
"Yes it was my idea thanks to that punk on your squad, it was all part of my cunning plan to get you to open up to Asta about how you felt towards him." Kahono said with a grin. "I wanted you to get over your denial and admit your obvious feelings for Asta to him. I tried to make you jealous at first and while that worked to get the feelings going it failed to get you to open up."
"I was used to be jealous around other women and denying why I was jealous." Noelle admitted. "That had no hope of working."
"I figures as much which was why I changed tactics." Kahono said. "After that I tried the haunted house to scare you into his arms but you two just destroyed it. Lastly I got Asta to admit he liked you a lot when I asked him what you meant to him. I thought I had you with that one, until you blasted him into the sky that is. That's when I realized how hard it would be for you to get over your denial and for Asta to stop being so damned dense, but I swore I would try again for your sake."
"All of that was part of your plan to get me to accept what my feelings were and admit them to him?" Noelle asked struck by the lengths Kahono had gone to in order to try and get Noelle to admit what she had been in denial about at the time. "And not because you have a crush on Asta too?"
"Yup, it was all part of my plan to help you guys out because you would make an amazing couple." Kahono said with a pleased nod. "I don't have feelings for Asta that aren't platonic, I just wanted you to admit them and get over your denial so that you could properly pursue him. I am totally in support of you two becoming an item."
"Kahono." Noelle said softly as it all hit her what her friend had done, and Noelle's anger manifested in a way normally only Asta could achieve, and she grabbed the songstress around the throat and started the strangle the woman while violently shaking her. "You. Annoying. Meddling. Woman. How. Could. You. Play. With. My. Emotions. Like. That. I. Was. So. Fucking. Jealous. That. Day. Because. Of. You. And. While. I. Loved. What. Asta. Had. Said. It. Was. Still. Too. Much. For. Me. To. Deal. With. Back. Then. And. Now. I. Find. Out. That. It. Was. All. A. Fucking. Ruse. To. Get. Me. To. Admit. That. I'm. In. Love. With. Asta."
Noelle was so furious at Kahono that she made sure to emphasize every word with a shake of the other woman as she let it all out in an instant. She had come her nervous because she had to admit her feelings for Asta to a close friend and confront her on her feelings for the boy she loved only to find out that not only did Kahono know how Noelle felt for Asta having figured it out before Noelle did, but she had also been trying to play cupid for her.
That whole double date had been a show to get Noelle to admit what she couldn't to herself, what took her being trapped and directly called out to acknowledge. Not even Asta had ever made Noelle this mad before, even if she was relieved that Kahono was not a rival but a huge ally for her.
"Noelle." Kahono wheezed out as Noelle choked her. "I need my voice and I'm not into being choked. Remember, my magic comes from my throat."
"Right, sorry." Noelle said forgetting about Kahono's magical affinity and letting go so that Kahono could collapse to her knees gasping for air as Noelle panted over her still irate at the Song Mage's actions. "That doesn't excuse what you did. Do you know how much stress that caused me that night? How bad my jealousy was when you were all over Asta? I came to find you to confront you and you drop this on me. As grateful as I am that you aren't a rival, playing with my heart was not fun for me."
"Well, as you said, it is better than me being into Asta because I am not your rival now." Kahono said as she swallowed a bit and let out a few notes to make sure everything was ok which it was, Noelle had clearly held back out of fear of hurting her, the strangling had just been a way to vent. "Plus, I am totally on your side, I want you to be the one who ends up with Asta and will help in any way I can."
"Yes that is much better, I will admit that." Noelle said calming down and offering a hand to help Kahono up. "Sorry, I didn't mean to over react like that. I kinda just snapped after learning the truth, it was a shock to say the least."
"Understandable." Kahono said rubbing her throat as Noelle had still left a bruise even if there wasn't any damage. "Though next time just punch me of blast me with water, don't strangle me as I do need my voice. Losing it once was one time to many for me."
"Will do." Noelle said and she had a feeling that this may not be the last time she had to attack Kahono for the other girl's love antics, though she did feel bad going for her throat as it was important to the singer. "Next time I'll just slug you for it."
"Fair and now that that is out of your system." Kahono said grinning at Noelle. "How did you finally get over that denial of yours? It was so bad that I feared that it might be hopeless for you."
"Yeah I had a few issues with insecurities, lack of experience with love, social status, and pride to get over before I could accept how I felt for Asta." Noelle admitted a little shameful that she'd let all of those things cloud her judgement and make her deny that she was in love with him. "But someone in a similar situation sat me down and made me confront my issues head on."
"What do you mean?" Kahono asked confused, she'd never considered going for the direct approach with Noelle. "Someone else figured out that you had feelings for Asta?"
"There's someone I know, I won't say who, who has a similar attitude towards the man she loves." Noelle said being deliberately vague for Charlotte's sake. "And due to a series of statements from Asta, she deduced that I liked Asta based on how he described our relationship and compared it to her own one with the guy that she liked. She used some bait I couldn't resist to get me to visit her and while there she cocooned us in her magic to ensure our privacy. Then, when she was done with what she had to say, she called me out on my feelings and pointed out that the biggest difference between us was that she knew she was in love, and I was in denial over it."
"Huh, I never thought that being direct would actually work on you." Kahono said surprised. "I would expect you to just deny it and resort to violence to get away from it."
"I did deny it at first, but she countered all the things I used to justify my denial." Noelle said remembering how prepared Charlotte had been when they had had tea. "And as for violence, well I was in her place, drinking her tea, and she outclasses me in terms of skill so I couldn't fight my way out of it. I just had to accept my fate and address my feelings for Asta honestly for the first time. I confronted them, pushed past my limits, and realized that I am in love with Asta."
"Well, that is excellent to hear." Kahono said with a grin. "Now we can plan how you will land him without having to deal with your denial of your feelings."
"Wait, isn't that too soon?" Noelle said her eyes wide. "I am still like I am with him, worse now that I know how I feel in fact because it makes me extremely love shy whenever he does something I like."
"You have rivals for him right?" Kahono asked. "This is Asta we are talking about; I'd be shocked if you were the only one that has fallen for him."
"Yes, I have at least 2 confirmed rivals who have feelings for Asta and one complicated one." Noelle said. "And there's a fourth girl who probably likes him, but her current status makes her less of a threat I think, though I will deal with her as well if I ever see her crazy eyes again."
"Complicated?" Kahono asked confused and deciding not to ask about a girl who Noelle described as having crazy eyes. "How so?"
"She doesn't know if her feelings are romantic or platonic and due to past losses she's hesitant to open her heart." Noelle explained vaguely again to protect her friend's secrets. "But she does know how jealous I am of her and is aware of her closeness to Asta, which is on the same level as me if not more due to other factors I won't go into as they'd take too long to explain, so she did make it clear that I should consider her a rival. I do and am still cautious and jealous of her whenever she is a threat."
"Ah, that is complicated." Kahono said getting the gist of what Noelle was talking about. "But right now, you have an advantage on that one and likely the others as you are always with Asta. That is why we need to make a plan to land him girl. Well, several plans as this is Asta we're talking about, and he is the king of denseness."
"A plan?" Noelle asked confused. "Am I really ready for one?"
"Yup, now come here." Kahono said putting her arm around Noelle's shoulder and whispering for effect. "This is how we will hook you up with the man of your dreams. First…"
For the rest of the night Noelle listened in a mix of amazement, embarrassment, and horror at the extent of Kahono's multiple plans to get Asta to overcome his denseness and realize that Noelle was the one for him. Still, it was nice to talk to a friend about Asta in such a way without worrying that she was a rival and Noelle couldn't help but get involved in the fantasies that Kahono was creating for her. Just for tonight, Noelle fully embraced her love for Asta and worked with Kahono to figure out how to win his love for her and wishing that it was reality.
I feel like that is a nice place to end it with a little tease to let y'all's imaginations determine what plans Kahono would come up with. It is nice for Noelle to not have to deal with a rival though and the pleasant surprise that Kahono was actually helping her and not challenging her. Still, Noelle's actions are completely justified even if she now has an ally. That is all I have for y'all though, there is only one more rival confrontation coming but that is not the last of the conversations so don't worry there is still plenty in story for y'all. As always, please let me know what you think in your reviews and PMs as I do like hearing from y'all and don't forget to follow and favorite my work.
Stringdog