Black Clover - By My Side (Asta X Noelle)

Chapter 8: Star Festival (Part 1)

[It appeared as though humanity would be destroyed by demons. But a single mage saved them all. He was called the wizard king, and he became a legend.]

Noelle POV:

The sound of birds chirping combined with the bright sun rays woke me from my slumber. I don't know why, but I feel more refreshed than usual. I open my eyes, and at first glance, I don't realize where I am. Then, the memories from last night flood into my mind. OH MY GOD, I SLEPT WITH ASTA! I try to move my head when I realize Asta's still sleeping. His head is resting on top of mine. My heart starts racing, realizing that this is how we slept. I hope nobody came in and saw us. I refrain from moving so that I don't wake him up. I guess I can let him sleep like this for a while longer. Not because I want to stay like this, but its rude to wake someone up. I relax once again, close my eyes, and drift back into a peaceful sleep.

A loud thud on the door wakes me up. However, Asta is still asleep like a log. The loud bangs on the door continue.

"WAKE UP KID, I'M TIRED OF CALLING FOR YOU!"

Oh crap, It's Captain Yami! He sounds pissed. What should I do?

"THAT'S IT IM BREAKING DOWN THIS DAMN DOOR!" After one last loud bang, the door breaks off the hinges and falls to the ground. The sound it makes as it slams onto the ground echoes through halls. Captain Yami walks through the empty doorway and stares at us.

"Oh," he says while removing the cigarette from his mouth, "this is awkward." He scratches the back of his head while turning around. "Just hurry up and get ready, we're leaving soon." Captain Yami walks back through the doorway, "Oh, and if you take too long, I'll kill ya." And with that, he disappears into the hall. I CAN'T BELIEVE THE CAPTAIN JUST SAW US. SO EMBARRASSING! I begin to squirm as I wallow in my embarrassment, and its enough to wake Asta up.

"Good morning Noelle," Asta says as he covers his mouth while yawning. "I'm surprised you woke up before me. Normally I'm always the first person to wake up."

"Haha, yeah, well, some things happened," remembering the wrath of our captain, I get off the bed and run to the doorway. "Anyways, get ready right now! We're going to the capital, and everyone is waiting for us."

"Okay!" He says, rising from his bed, "I'll be ready in five minutes!"

I leave Asta's room and start to walk towards mine. Upon arrival, I look in my wardrobe to find clothes to change into. What should I wear? What would Asta think I look cute in? My face starts to heat up while wondering what he would like? I begin looking through my clothes and start visualizing how outfits would look on me. When I don't like what I see, I toss them to the side. After multiple tries, I'm finally left with two outfits. I have no idea which one I should wear. Maybe I should ask Asta which one he likes? But then he'd know I'm trying to impress him. I lay down on my bed, holding both outfits in my hands. Why is this so hard?

In the end, I went with my regular wear. As I walk to the common room, I can't help but wonder what the day will be like. I get to spend a day at a festival with Asta. We'll be able to play games and eat food together. It'll be so much fun! I can't help but have a smile on my face. I walk into the common room, and immediately I can tell something is wrong.

"Morning, Noelle," says Vanessa, smiling and trying to hold back laughter.

"Good morning," I respond, "Is something wrong?"

"Nope, not at all."

She says that, but her body language says otherwise. However, I decide not to pry on the matter. 

"Looks like we're just waiting for Asta," Magna chimes in. He then looks at me, "You were with him last Noelle. What's taking him so long?"

Suddenly my body goes stiff, "W-W-What makes you think I was with him?" I mutter.

Magna starts laughing hysterically, "The captain came in and told us all the news. He was laughing his ass off too!"

I feel my face flush red. Everyone knows that Asta and I slept together! I turn around to walk back into the hallway to spare myself the embarrassment, and I bump into Asta.

"Oh, sorry, Noelle. You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I look away from Asta, embarrassed that we slept together and over the fact that everyone now knew.

"Noe-"

"Well, it looks like everyone's here," Captain Yami interjects, "Yo Finral, open a portal now."

"I'm on it," Finral says as he rises from his chair, "I can't wait to flirt with girls from the capital!"

Finral opens up a portal, and just like that, we're in the capital. I look around to see if anything cool is happening, but we got here way too early. Most stalls are still being set up. 

"Alright, everyone, today's your day off, so make the most of it. We'll be at the festival all day, so go have some fun." Says Captain Yami, encouraging everyone. Everyone scatters to do their own thing. Now it's just Asta and me.

"Well, it looks like places are still setting up. Do you wanna do anything in the meantime, Noelle?" Asta says as he looks toward me.

"Nothing in particular. We can walk around or something." I respond

"Okay, let's go!" 

Asta walks off in a random direction, and I follow. I wonder why the captain made us come so early. Nothing is set up, so there isn't much to do besides walking around. I guess it's not that bad. I blush as I look over to Asta. At least I'm here with him. As I walk side by side with Asta, I wonder if it would be weird if I grabbed his hand? Maybe I should go for it. I slowly reach over to grab Asta's hand, but something feels like it's holding me back. Why am I so scared? I reach for Asta's hand once again, but I freeze. I put my hand back at my side and continue to walk. What's wrong with me? 

"Are you hungry, Noelle?" Asta asks, out of the blue.

"No," I mutter, "not really."

Asta stops walking, but I don't realize at first and keep walking on my own. 

"Noelle," he says sternly, snapping me back into reality. 

I stop walking and turn around, "yes?"

Asta walks up to me and grabs both of my hands, "something is wrong. Please tell me."

My heart flutters as he stares right at me. He holds eye contact, but I gaze away to break it. Has Asta always been this direct? I know he cares for me, and yet I'm acting so weird. I should answer him, I guess.

"Everything is okay. Can you let go, please?" Wait. Why did I say that?

"Alright," Asta says as he lets go of my hands, "let's go find a bench to sit on."

We walk to the nearest bench in silence. Part of me feels dumb for being so scared to grab his hand. Another part of me feels even dumber for making him let go. What's my problem? I want to be with Asta, I know that for a fact. But it feels so weird right now. We sit down at a bench and watch as people walk by. We don't exchange any words.

"Are you embarrassed of me?" Asta says finally breaking the silence.

His words echo in my mind. At first, I don't even process them. Then the weight of what he said finally sinks in. 

[Chapter 8 end]