You're looking for meaning, a mystery, a secret where there isn't one, so what if Noji tells Nika that he and Amber and the rest of the book club have known each other since they were young? What will Nika get?
Dude. I'm reading the VN and I have a certain interpretation of what I read. Since the conversation was originally about the plot, I shared my vision of the plot. This is only my opinion and maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong - with the new chapters we will find it out.
And here are you, explaining to me that I'm looking for meaning, mystery, a secret where there is none. Wow, really? You saw the script of the game from beginning to end? Or maybe you are a co-author with Ocean. Or Ocean himself. For some reason I find it hard to believe.
I understand that you were disappointed with the game, you are not interested in it anymore (according to your own words, I did not come up with this!). Therefore, perhaps for you everything in the script is simple and unambiguous and there are no mysteries. But I like the game, so I read the script with attention and try to analyze it.
For example, this is a dialogue between Nika and Noji when they return from the book club:
m "I saw it wasn't really your thing, [name]."
d "Noji..."
d "If you try to drive me away again, I'm going to engage in coitus with Anna- or Jenna- Or both."
m "WHAT?!"
d "Do you think I'm stupid?"
m "Of course not!"
m "But [name] you-"
d "It's obvious that you don't want me there because of them."
m "That's not-..."
m "Okay! Fine! Yes, I don't want you there because of them!"
d "Well, tough luck."
d "You said it yourself, I'm an adult... Not a little boy that needs protection."
n "You should probably use protection, though."
n "..."
d "Sorry Noji, I'll stay."
m "It doesn't matter what I say, you won't change your mind anyways."
d "Correct."
Perhaps the dialogue simply means what it seems. Nika is angry that Noji considers him not mature enough, tries to control him and therefore he rebels against her.
But personally, I think that the meaning here is much broader.
Many of the previous scenes in the game indicated that Nika behaves very reserved in most cases, tries to calculate his actions and says certain things and does certain actions with some purpose, and not just giving in to emotions. Lots of examples:
- Provoking Bella about her sister, to gauge her reaction.
- Deliberately fighting with Sai, to use him through Nami
- Making a bet with Zara, to change her hostile attitude and make her ally.
- Answering Zara: "I prefer to speak when necessary, and not waste time with useless filler talk."
And a bunch of other situations. So, sure, he can sometimes give in to emotions and act impulsively, but I doubt he would act like a rebellious teenager around Noji. He would rather despise himself for such a display of weakness.
In my opinion, he's provoking Noji, trying to get a straight answer from her, or at least a hint about her true motives.
And Noji almost blurts it out at first, but then quickly pulls herself together and covers it with stupid concern because of the couguars:
d "It's obvious that you don't want me there because of them."
m "That's not-..."
m "Okay! Fine! Yes, I don't want you there because of them!"
Although this "That's not-..." looks like nothing, it is not and Nika reads it. And he hardly believes Noji's explanation that she is worried that old ladies will corrupt the innocent boy. Because before that there was a conversation with Emilia, during which we were shown Nika's train of thought:
d "You visited us on New Years Eve years ago."
emilia "Wow, I'd never thought you'd remember that."
d "I do remember because afterwards, I made some jokes about your breasts being as big as my head."
"She laughs."
d "You never came around afterwards, but you and Noji are apparently still bestie's."
emilia "Yeah, we were just busy with work but Noji and I kept contact."
d "(Bullshit.)"
d "(The Cheeto doesn't pay enough attention to realize what's going on... But she's also lacking some information.)"
d "(Noji knew Amber, but when they first met they acted like they didn't even know each other.)"
d "(Is that the real reason why she doesn't want me here? Because she knew I might pay attention?)"
He had already stopped believing in the nonsense about couguars and thought that it was just a cover that Noji used so that he would not start digging deeper.
