What's up with Noah?

At the same time the girls were meeting, far away on the opposite side of the city, a man walked out of a public bathroom stall. He walked to the mirror and started combing back on his black fluffy hair shaped like a perfect sphere.

Another man beside him washing his hands looked at the man with horror and repulsion. The person next to him was a fashion disaster. His hairstyle was from a century ago, the moustache and beard that only grew from his chin didn't help. He then wore bright red sweats and socks with sandals. Then accessorised with fake bling; the gold chain and silver watch on him were atrocious.

The man uncaring moved on to comb his moustache and beard. Feeling that they looked good enough he walked out of the restroom.

He then stopped a taxi and had it drive him to the place he was supposed to be meeting.

Noah got off paying with cash, he then looked at his watch, 'I arrived right on time,"

Hunching his back he walked in the most casual way he could. His usual sharpness was nowhere to be found. Through crowded streets, Noah walked to the location. His outfit attracted attention but it wasn't meant for going unnoticed, it was for hiding his identity.

Simple masks, hats and sunglasses never worked. For some reason, fans and even regular people could recognise that he was a celebrity. So when he really wanted to go noticed he would go all out in disguising himself.

All the things he had him were all for deterring people from recognising him. The oversized sweats hid his body shape, then everything else was just a distraction from his face. From the socks and sandals on his feet to the afro, bling and bright red of the tracksuit. He was sure that even if he talked to people for hours they wouldn't recognise him.

Noah stopped at a store and looked at its glass window showcasing figurines. He wasn't looking at them, instead at his reflection. He took out the comb from his pocket and started fixing his hair again.

From the crowd of people passing behind him, a man stopped near him looking into the window as well. He wore a long brown coat and hat. He looked like a detective from old films. His hat tilted forward so only his mouth and chin were visible.

"When I said to disguise yourself, I meant it in a more inconspicuous way." The man said lightly so that only Noah could hear him.

"Says the man-" Noah about retort looked to the side and saw that the man had disappeared. Even looking around for a bit he couldn't see him.

Noah shook his head, there were many mysterious people in the world. He then turned around and got in a taxi to take him home. He put his hand into his pocket and found a memory card inside that wasn't there before. The man he met had put it unnoticeably inside his pocket. It was what he had come all the way here to get.

...

Alice came down soon, in the park she saw Kira sitting on a bench and went to her.

"So what happened?" Kira had suddenly called telling her she was in the park. It seemed like her mood was low. Alice sat down next to her.

Kira looked around, "Noah didn't come with you?" She hadn't invited him, but Noah would always accompany Alice.

"He went somewhere earlier, do you need him?"

"No it's better he isn't here, I'll be able to speak more comfortably," Kira laid her head on Alice's shoulder. "You know I used to crush on Noah, right?"

"Didn't everyone have one? At least you never treated me differently and stayed my best friend." Alice answered.

Kira expected such an answer, "You know when you Noah left, I had actually been kind of happy. I used to get annoyed seeing you so cuddly with each other. It was only when I saw you crying did I realise how bad of a friend I had been."

Alice remembered that moment well. It was a few days after Noah had left, she had been crying at their secret location. Kira had found her tried to cheer up, but she wasn't in the mood so they got into a fight. Kira who would normally never apologise suddenly started crying. The two of them had made up after that and never fought since.

"When I heard your parents had passed away I was resolute to never leave your side, so when I couldn't help you I felt so guilty that I never wanted to face you again. If Noah never asked me too, I never would have looked for you or tried to apologise."

Alice frowned she didn't understand what Kira was getting to."Why are you telling me all of this?"

"I just wanted to get those off of my chest. Do you hate me?"

Alice looked away with a humph, "A little."

"But if we're confessing I have something to say as well. I used to get jealous of how you could relate to Noah so much on martial arts, so I told Joshua that you had a crush on him, which was why he would always follow you around."

"You minx!" Kira was astonished, "I was grouded for a week because I beat him up to stop him. My parents considered having me drop martial arts."

"I know, which was why I felt really bad afterwards so I asked my parents to go and convince yours to not stop you."

"You!" Kira sat up and looked back, she was the one getting rid of her guilt why did it seem like Alice was worse than her. But looking Alice in the eye she started laughing remembering everything that happened. As if contagious, Alice started laughing as well.

Kirs wiped the tear in her eyes after all the laughter, "So the reason I'm actually here," Kira got serious again. "I asked Noah to help Vince recover, did he tell you?"

"He didn't," Alice said, "It's good, Vince got hurt while standing up for you so he deserves the help."

"What do you think of Vince?"

"Uhm... I barely knew him, we sat next to each other for a while. We then stopped talking, so I can't say for sure. He also seems to have changed a lot over the course of two years. Why are you asking? Do you like him?" After seeing him protect Kira, Alice didn't hate him anymore so gave a vague answer. She genuinely felt like he might have changed.

Kira could see Alice was saying that she wouldn't intervene anymore.

"Vince told me what he did to you. I can see you and Noah don't like him. I didn't think he would be so cowardly." Kira said, "As for whether I like him, I am not too sure myself. I still don't think he's a bad person. I can relate to not having a way out. If we ever went out would you stop me?"

"I wouldn't stop you," Alice answered. It was Kira's decision she didn't know Vince well enough to make any substantial claims. Although she didn't say it she didn't support the relationship either.

Kira felt relieved to know Alice would support any decisions she made, "Thanks." As she hugged Alice she saw a taxi stop and a man in red sweats and an afro walk out of it. The man then walked to the door of Alice's apartment building.

"Hey, do you know that man? he looks kind of suspicious." With the increase in crime, anything that seemed a bit off needed to be cautioned against.

Alice turned around and saw the back of the man, "that's Noah..."

Kira would have contradicted but no one knew Noah better than Alice so it was probably true, she just had her jaw drop in shock, "Is that how he normally dresses outside?"

"He doesn't, looks like he had something special to do today."