“There is something haunting in the light of the moon; it has all the dispassionateness of a disembodied soul, and something of its inconceivable mystery.”
―Joseph Conrad
…
Lunamor would usually show up for meetings between six or seven, so Hiro had decided to stay in his office after his student, Rachelle Grace, left before five pm and he had worked around that time frame in relative silence, the only sound in his office was the gentle clicking of his keyboard–not that he had actually any paperwork to do much because of his sudden schedule’s vacancy, no thanks to Megan–but this time, Hiro was wrong.
It was already fifteen minutes before the clock would strike eight. And Hiro stared at his phone’s clock for a few moments longer, thinking that he may be seeing it wrong… but it remained unchanging. He’d been waiting for at least four hours and Lunamor still haven’t shown up.
Standing up, Hiro stretched his arms for a moment, raising them high in the air for as far as he can reach, ignoring the slight pins and needles as he glared at his cell phone, watching the time change from 7:45 to 7:46 pm before he decided enough was enough. He immediately began to pack up his things, shoving them in his bag with more force than what was needed.
Hiro didn’t really care at the moment–he was too annoyed at being stood up for what feels like the nth time.
Why is Lunamor so freaking adamant at the importance of her time if she doesn’t even care about messing around with the schedule of others? Does she really have to be so damn selfish?
Well, then!
Since Lunamor’s too important to show up for office hours, then he’s going to go home now. She can just try to meet up for another time.
As he locked his office, Hiro suddenly felt very annoyed, more so when he felt like he’d been stood up by his date (he brushed those thoughts quickly aside) as he began to walk away… and for what seemed to be the second time, Hiro very nearly crashed straight into Lunamor in the hallway–luckily this time around, he had reeled back just in time before he could round into the corner where Lunamor seemed to have pop out of nowhere who seemed also taken aback to see him, more so when she saw him already holding his bag.
Hiro immediately spoke up before she could even think to open her mouth, “Oh, sorry. Didn’t see you there. I was just leaving, Ms. Lunamor. So, if you’ll excuse me…”
He tried to walk past her.
She blocked his path.
“Ms. Lunamor,” Hiro tried to glare down at her though it was relatively useless because they were practically the same height, “…it’s already late. You can schedule a meeting next Monday.”
Her brows furrowed, confused.
“I scheduled a meeting tonight,” she said, her voice terse.
“Yes, yes but as you can see, office hours are already over,” Hiro pointed out, feeling the embers of his annoyance flare to life again as he momentarily fixed his glasses, “I’ve waited for over four hours for you to show up and… wait a minute–why did the guards even let you in? Campus is closed for students at 7:30!”
“I said I’d come by later, didn’t I?” Lunamor snapped, obviously annoyed that he even bothered to ask about that because of fucking course, the guards would be too intimidated to say no to one Cassandra Lunamor.
Hiro though, was a bit surprised to note now that he was looking more closely at the very light make-up she had on.
He found his eyes quickly scanning her from head to toe, one eyebrow rising at the knee-length, blood-red dress she’s wearing, partially hidden by an oversized brown coat she had on (he hadn’t pegged her for the type to wear dresses, especially one that red) and not to mention, the matching red kitten heels.
Lunamor must have noticed him staring curiously at her outfit because she fidgeted at the large buttons of her coat.
“Do you have a date or something?”
She stiffened, “I’m not in a relationship.”
He raised an eyebrow at the severity of her tone, “Then what on earth are you wearing? Are you going to some sort of party after school?”
Lunamor actually winced at that, one gloved hand tugging lightly at the velvet-red ribbon holding her hair up into a stiff-looking bun, almost awkwardly, “No, I… well, I was. It was one of my business partners’ birthday… party.”
A snicker escaped his lips.
“What?” she snapped.
“Nothing, nothing–” at the glare Lunamor’s giving him, Hiro quickly relented, still laughing, “It’s just… no wonder you’re looking so unusually dolled-up tonight, wearing make-up. And heels…”
Her eyebrow twitched.
“…and you’re wearing a dress–”
“Not another word about the stupid dress, professor,” Lunamor had to growl the word out very nearly, making Hiro wheeze in laughter, “…not another word.”
Oh god, he’s gonna die.
Still grinning, Hiro reluctantly raised his hands up in a placating gesture, trying not to smirk at the slightly embarrassed look on Lunamor’s face, “Right, right, whatever… well, I’m sorry that you had to hurry back here but it’s already late and I need to get home. You really should have just stayed there and enjoy the party.”
“I don’t even like parties,” she muttered.
Hiro busted out laughing again at the more-or-less petulant look on Lunamor’s unusually dolled up face, “Yeah well that’s nice and all but not my problem… I really should be going home now.”
“Fine,”
The sudden compliance instantly sobered him up. Hiro stared at Lunamor with wide eyes for a moment, wondering if she was messing with him or not because what the hell is with the sudden bout of obedience.
He wasn’t expecting this… at all.
No, this is actually kind of disturbing, especially coming from Lunamor. Shouldn’t she be arguing about the importance of her schedule or some shit about wasting her time and whatnot?
Still, Hiro wasn’t one to complain.
He gave her a light, tight-lipped smile and tried to walk past her… only for her gloved hand to suddenly grab him by the arm and roughly drag him back until he was right in front of her again.
“Now what–?”
“Are you headed to the parking lot?”
“Uh, I am. Why?” he squinted at her suspiciously, “You… you don’t need me to drive you back to the party, do you?”
She still wasn’t letting him go.
“…I’ll tag along the way,” she informed him.
Hiro’s eyebrows shot up, “What? But why–?”
“Someone may be stalking you.”
His face instantly turned blank, “Sorry?”
“You heard me.”
“Lunamor, be honest with me, is Professor Anderson putting you up with this? Are we being recorded right now?” he demanded, “Blink twice if you need help.”
“…I’m being serious right now.”
Hiro scoffed out a derisive laugh, forcefully pulling his arm off of her grip at that, “Oh, come on! Don't be ridiculous, Ms. Lunamor. As if someone’s gonna make a move on me or something. And even if they did, so what–it’s not like they can actually kidnap me.”
Lunamor gave him a look.
“…You’re a bit of an idiot,” she tells him, her tone sounding like even she was actually surprised at the discovery.
He gritted his teeth, “Look, I honestly appreciate the concern but I’m a grown man, Ms. Lunamor. I can look after myself.” There’s a reason why I was captain of the judo club in college, after all.
“I beg to differ.”
“Whatever,” he tried to walk past her again.
But Lunamor blocked his path again, “I’ll go with you.”
“Why?” Hiro snapped.
Lunamor’s face suddenly twisted into a scowl, pinching the bridge of her nose as she silently exhaled for a moment, like she was trying to expel all of her frustrations out into carbon dioxide. For a moment, Lunamor looked like she was going to snap at him, she looked like she wanted to rage but obviously decided against it as she leveled him with a cold glare.
And when she spoke, her voice sounded clipped and yet just packed with as much frustration as he felt: “Because of those baseless rumors spreading about in the academy, a bunch of reporters had a field day with it, especially with the kind of story they can make about us.”
What.
What ‘us’?
Hiro’s brain seemed to have shut down then restarted in that one moment, any rebuttal or witty remark he can think of turning into a very eloquent: “Huh?”
“Reporters think we’re dating.”
Hiro waited for her to take that back.
She didn’t.
“Please tell me you’re joking.”
“Does it look like I’m joking? Does it look like I have the time for that?!” she suddenly snapped, making him take a step back, “Some of them were even camping in their cars around my house and around Luna Enterprises–some of them even tried to get in twice if it weren’t for my household security! I couldn’t even sleep at night without worrying if one of them would try to climb up in Cyan’s room again!”
“…Is that why you’re absent?” Hiro asked.
A tired groan, deep and true wormed its way out of Lunamor’s mouth as she rubbed at the space between her eyes, “…Unfortunately, yes.”
Well, that makes sense but…
“Then why didn’t you tell anyone about it? We could have tried to help you, you know! Does your older brother know? Did you even report this to the authorities?” Hiro demanded, suddenly feeling a bit freaked out by that. Is someone going to sneak in to his place too? What about his sister? “You should have–”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” she hissed.
Hiro made an affronted noise at that, “Well… excuse me, you ungrateful brat, I was just trying to help here–!“
“Excuse you. I couldn’t even get out of the front door within two meters without getting a migraine because of their flashing lights and loud, incessant probing–I could have actually been mobbed if Dante hadn’t personally threatened them for trespassing and harassment!”
“Harassment, what are you -?”
“They’re harassing my brother at this point,” Lunamor snarled, “Asking and pestering a little kid about my boyfriend who was said to be a math professor thanks to a not-so-anonymous tip.”
Hiro paused, feeling his face growing pale–oh shit the rumor! He had almost forgotten about that… “Why are they even taking that so seriously? It was just a stupid rumor… we… we’re not even interested with each other,” he can feel his face growing ridiculously warm, “…like that!”
“I know,” Lunamor said, sighing, “I know… but as far as I am aware, they did not know your identity yet, thanks to my…” she averted her gaze, “interference.”
“Uh, thank you?”
Surprise flashed on her eyes.
Lunamor clearly didn’t expect to be thanked, “Well you’re welcome, I guess… but that’s not going to last for long. And until then, I would have liked to ask you to lay low and keep your doors locked and bolted until this insanity is sorted out.”
“Why can’t you just tell them that we’re not, you know…?” Hiro cleared his throat, “In a relationship, I mean?”
“I’m not in a relationship.”
“Ever heard of lying?!”
Lunamor’s eyes flashed angrily against the light as she glared at him, “Why do I have to lie about my status for something like this?! Besides… as long as they got a good story out of the rumor, real or not, do you really think they would care?”
“Then have a live interview or something about your status!”
She scowled, “You made it sound like they will listen.”
Hiro groaned, leaning against the wall as he ran a hand over his face, “Oh, for god’s sake. Who spread it, anyways?”
“No one you need to know.”
“Oh come on, I want to know!”
She spared him a side-long glance as she tugged her ribbon off, her long locks of platinum blonde hair easily tumbling down her shoulders and Hiro glared in turn, trying not to stare.
“Well?” he prompted.
“Does it even matter at this point?” she scoffed, pushing her hair off of her shoulders, “I already dealt with them, the real problem is the reporters… and what will they try to say about us.”
“Fine, what’s your plan?”
She shrugged, “I would have hidden you somewhere safe until this fiasco is all done and over or I would have assigned a bodyguard or two,” At the look on his face, she added: “…just in case.”
Somehow, he didn’t believe that.
“No!” Hiro protested.
“Well, do you have any better ideas?!”
“Lunamor, that’s too much!”
“Cyan has a bodyguard–” she argued.
“He’s a little kid and he’s your brother, of course Cyan obviously needs one!” Hiro pointed out, face-palming. “Which reminds me to ask… why don’t you even have a bodyguard?”
Her lips twitched, “Who says I don’t?”
Hiro blinked, looking around the deserted hallway suspiciously before frowning back at her, “Well, I don’t see anyone.”
“Forget about that. Look, I’m just trying to help. Really, I–” Lunamor fidgeted with the ribbon in her hands, “…after all, though I am loathe to admit, I… I suppose it is kind of my fault as well.”
“Why is that?”
“…perché mi piaci.”
“What?”
She sighed, “Never mind,”
“Well, I thought you said you don’t care about their opinion, that we should let them think what they want,” Hiro fired back her own words, thinking back on the day he had confronted her about the rumors.
She winced, “I did…”
“Then what are you doing?”
Hiro raised an eyebrow when she suddenly walked right past him without another word, crossing his arms.
Because well, at least her heart was in the right place… even if her ideas were kind of irritating and a little bit over the top, he thinks Lunamor might have honestly felt kind of guilty for getting him involved in a mess that could have been solved much, much earlier had she not underestimated just how troublesome rumors could be.
Is this seriously how Lunamor had handled her reporters turned stalkers back in Italy? No wonder her brother had wanted her to be away from their home, her safety and privacy had been at risk… but it seems that the problem had just manifested itself yet again.
As they went to the parking lot, they were both silent by then. Hiro had kept expecting her to bring up whatever she'd wanted to discuss to him about (probably the classes she missed) but Lunamor returned to being mute though even he could tell that she looked both distracted and wary, her eyes occasionally shifting here and there, her entire body stiffening at the slightest bit of sound–as though she’s expecting someone to pop up and pounce on her any moment now.
But by the time they got to the parking lot without further issue, the silence was already so normal that Hiro couldn't really think of anything to say to break it.
Hiro went over to his car, well-aware that Lunamor was standing not too far from him, her eyes as piercing as ever as she watched over him like a hawk, “Well, this here is my ride,” he said, suddenly feeling silly, “What about you? Are you staying or do you…”
Lunamor said nothing to him, simply turning around to walk back silently inside again, leaving Hiro to stand there awkwardly with his mouth still half-open, wondering for half a moment if she had forgotten something and had gone back for it before realizing she just wasn't going to say anything at all in response.
So Hiro slid into his car and closed the door.
What a weird kid…
While Hiro was starting up his car, he suddenly froze… eyes wide as he stared at the man, partially hidden around the school’s parking lot gate, holding up a camera aimed right at him.
The flash was blinding.