“Perhaps the crescent moon smiles in doubt at being told that it is a fragment awaiting perfection.”
—Rabindranath Tagore
. . .
A bit spooked, Hiro jogged a bit to follow Lunamor into the building and trailed behind her without a word as they made their way to the elevators which Hiro eyed warily for a second before getting in when Lunamor raised an eyebrow at him while some of her employees hurried out of the way for them.
Hiro shook his head at her wordless question though he ducked his head when he noticed many of them were shooting him some… strange glances.
It shouldn’t be that strange to him–this is literally the first time Lunamor brought him to her family’s company, though not the first time he was probably seen with her on public. The media had done a fine job leaking whatever information they could grab their hands on about him… despite Lunamor’s not-so-veiled threats.
Good thing they had nothing on his family.
The two of them were now standing in an otherwise empty elevator. Lunamor hits the button for the top floor and swiped a card against a reader which made Hiro’s eyebrows shot upwards.
“What is that card for?”
“My floor,”
“You have a secret lair?” he blurted out without thinking.
She gave him a look, “…You watch too many movies.”
He grinned, “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
The doors closed.
The elevator began to rise up and Lunamor glanced over at him, her gaze finally meeting his since they entered the building though her eyes suddenly landed at his hands. Without another word, before he could even ask, she suddenly reached out and took his hand.
He tensed, “Luna–?”
“They will see this. Bear with me,” she murmured just as the doors opened and Lunamor pulled him along as they both left the elevator, not bothering to look at the employees who were subtly casting looks at their conjoined hands.
Hiro pointedly kept his eyes forward.
Meanwhile, Lunamor had to swipe her keycard to open another set of doors and it was only then Hiro found himself looking over at Lunamor’s office for the first time.
The entire space was bigger than any of the rooms in his or any of his friends’ houses–and that was saying something since most of them were all pretty well-off. Lunamor even had a massive window with a view of the entire city!
With barely contained excitement, Hiro gently let go of her hand (not that she seemed to mind) as he hurried over to the window.
Could he see his apartment building from here?
Oh, he could see AST academy!
Hiro let out a chuckle, placing his palm against the cool glass and noting that he can slightly see his and Lunamor’s reflection against the clear glass.
Lunamor’s cardigan is such a brilliant white against the sleeveless, black turtleneck and matching pants she was wearing today. The contrast was so stark but pleasing to the eye. It literally made her stand out.
She looked so young but capable, so in charge…
A swell of pride lit up within him.
Compared to Lunamor (who seriously looked like she was getting ready for photo-shoot, but he chalked it up to her pretty face) Hiro was just wearing a black hoodie with white frost-like designs splattered messily over the neckline in indiscernible patterns. And jeans.
It was kind of weird how Hiro had seen Lunamor show up in class dressed in casual wear, but not even once did it even made her appear less formal.
Talk about intimidating.
Curious, Hiro looked back and noticed that Lunamor still wasn’t paying any attention to him despite the blatant staring. She was at her large, mahogany desk, typing away on… one of her computers. Just how much things do she need to look through? On a Sunday, mind you?
…workaholic.
Hiro shrugged and looked back at the view.
“It must be quite a sight at night…” he murmured.
“If you’re an uranophile, then yes,”
Hiro’s eyebrows shot upward in surprise. He had been thinking out loud. And he had assumed she wasn’t paying attention. “Well yeah, I guess I am.”
“Do you even know what that means?”
“What do you take me for, an idiot?”
She opened her mouth, most likely to retort.
“That was a rhetorical question,” he huffed.
“…For a second, I thought you’re lying.”
His expression flattened.
Seriously, is Lunamor teasing him?
“You’re not the only one with brains,” Hiro rolled his eyes heavenwards at her monotonous tone because really, Lunamor has a wonderful view up here.
For a moment, Hiro found himself wondering if she ever stopped working to admire the view, the skies… but knowing just how much of a workaholic Lunamor is, he doubted that. Hell, he couldn’t remember the last time he stopped to looked at the moon.
She suddenly called: “Akihiro…”
Startled, Hiro turned and found he was staring directly at Lunamor’s face. Then he blinked. “What now?”
She held up her hand. “Let’s go”
“Where are we going?”
“The roof,” she answered, curtly.
Hiro stared blankly at her gloved hand for a moment, half-wondering to himself why she was even wearing one in the first place. It’s not that cold. Or maybe she actually has a thing for dirt? Though that sounds highly unlikely, it’s still possible…
Then Hiro instantly felt like smacking himself when he immediately realized she was expecting him to hold hands with her again.
Idiot.
He took her hand without a word, grateful that Lunamor didn’t said anything as she led him up to the roof.

On hindsight, maybe Hiro should have asked why Lunamor wanted to take him to the roof since he just came here to discuss their next move about their fake relationship… he had assumed she chose Luna Enterprises because it was her territory, she had absolute authority here–and most importantly, they have privacy to speak and debate their next move without unwanted ears.
So… what.
What the hell.
Hiro immediately dug his feet into the ground and refused to go any further the moment he saw a freaking helicopter on the rooftop, marked with the same crescent moon symbol he sees all over the building.
“Are we getting on that thing?!”
Her grip tightened in answer.
“NO!”

“…Hai.”
Shit. Shit. Shit–
“Sure, cool but no… no, nope riding a helicopter seriously looks like a bad idea, Lunamor,” Hiro tried to pull his hand free, but she pulled him sharply to carry on walking to that… that fucking death trap.
“It’s the fastest way to get to where we’re going,” Lunamor insistently tugged at his hand again, but Hiro adamantly refused to even budge, not a single step. Her brows furrowed as she stared, “I thought you liked views? You don’t seem to be scared of heights earlier…”
He gulped, “I am not scared!”
‘Then get going already.”
His feet stayed resolutely in place.
Lunamor frowned. “What is it now?”
“I just think it’s perfectly normal for any sane human being to be extremely worried when they’re in the presence of someone about to lure them in a helicopter, kill them while they were both so high up in the clouds, then get rid of the evidence by dumping the corpse in the Pacific Ocean to be feasted upon by sharks and everyone will be none the wiser,” Hiro deadpanned, still holding his ground miraculously from her constant tugging.
“You see a helicopter and that’s where your brain goes?” her face turned blank when he said nothing, “…You seriously need to stop watching movies.”
“What? I was wrong?”
“…Of course you’re wrong!”
“W-Well… why won’t you tell me where we are going in the first place then?!” Hiro demanded trying to pull his hand free from her with more force this time.
She scowled, “If I did, you wouldn’t come with me.”
“You got that right, now let me go right this–!” Hiro suddenly successfully released her grip from him. He was about to grin when Lunamor took a step back, frowning at something behind him.
“Go get him,” she muttered.
For a moment, Hiro was confused.
Then he turned around quickly to get the hell out of there–only to bump face-first straight into one of her guards (since fucking when–?!) and then, Hiro found his world flipping upside down. It took him at least two seconds to realize he was being carried towards the helicopter like a useless sack of potatoes.
“Wait a moment,” Hiro blinked, before realizing what the hell just happened, “Wait a moment–fuck, no! Hey, put me down! Put me down! LUNAMOR!!!!!”
He was dumped inside the helicopter.
“That’s not what I mean and you–oh, what the hell, fucking forget it!” Hiro grunted as he hurriedly scooted over to a seat nowhere near the opening.
He wasn’t lying when he told Lunamor he wasn’t scared of heights. But falling out of the helicopter… or crashing or drowning or exploding and dying on this death trap in a mess of burnt flesh and bones was a completely different thing.
Hey, don’t get him wrong, he enjoyed views alright.
It’s just that… Hiro had read and watched a lot about people dying while they were flying on air. There’s a difference between admiring the view and being on said view.
Lunamor got in as well and passed him a set of what seemed to look like headphones before taking her place in–Hiro can feel his face turning as white as a sheet of paper almost instantly–…because excuse him, why the hell is she sitting on the pilot’s seat?!
He chuckled nervously.
She glanced at him, questioningly.
“Hey, Lunamor you… y-you are not going to… you know, d-drive this… this thing, are you? Please, for the love of God, tell me you are just sitting there for now? We are waiting for a real pilot to show up right?”
“…I am the pilot.”
He snorted, “Yeah, and I’m the President.”
“Good thing I’m not American.”
Hiro seriously debated jumping right out of the helicopter before she could even think to start the engine but decided against it when he saw her bodyguard staring at him.

“You know what I mean, Lunamor,” Hiro snapped, clenching his hands into fists to keep them from shaking, “You are not a pilot. You’re a businesswoman and you… you’re still a student for god’s sake!”
“…I also have a pilot’s license.”
He scoffed, “Since when?!”
“Since I turned twenty.”
…What.
“Wait… you’re twenty?!”
Lunamor ignored his not-so-private panic attack as she slid over to him and silently reached for the straps, pausing as if to see how he will react, and Hiro obediently sat still as she strapped him in, slowly, to show him how it was done.
(Hito wondered if Lunamor’s was somehow planning to kill him by giving him a heart attack or crashing the helicopter on purpose.)
After she was done strapping themselves both in, Lunamor immediately started the helicopter–Hiro couldn’t be sure if she really knows what she’s doing or she’s just fiddling with whatever she could reach but sure enough, the engine roared to life and the blades began to whirr as they circled high up in the air.
Hiro held on to the straps for dear life.
“I…” Hiro declared shakily, his voice completely lost to the noise, “… am never going anywhere with you ever again.”