Selena's (part 1)

“And he beholds the moon; like a rounded fragment of ice filled with motionless light.”

―Gustave Flaubert

…

Selena’s was a cozy-looking café that just recently opened about a month ago. It was located a few blocks away from AST’s campus, so Hiro usually had the time to stop by to pick up some coffee along the way... but since he had no reason to be early today, he decided to buy something to eat for breakfast as well.

Usually, Selena’s was filled with a decent number of customers that were a mix of familiar-looking students and just about anybody who could appreciate strong caffeine.

And Hiro was, without a doubt, a lover of black coffee ever since. He was grateful to have the chance to get his morning cup of coffee unlike yesterday (last night, he had seriously enjoyed chugging that traitorous clock to the nearest bin) but today was different.

He'll make sure of it.

Sighing almost dreamily at the familiar heavenly scent and rich blends of caffeine as he entered, Hiro went straight to the counter and the pretty barista, Clara, who also happened to be one of his students last year, smiled upon seeing him, “Buon giorno Professore Hiro, I didn’t see you yesterday... the usual, big black?”

“Yeah,” Hiro said, his eyes glued to his cell phone, scanning through some of the emails he may have missed, “My alarm clock was such a snake you know… oh, and some waffles to go with that, Clara.”

“Uh-huh. Maple or strawberry syrup?”

“Maple, please.”

“Sure thing, sir.”

Hiro hummed in approval as he moved to the side and waited patiently for his order, looking around the café in quiet approval. It was quiet, compared to normal, probably because this is the first time he came here at 7:30 instead of 8:30.

...huh.

Maybe he should be glad that Megan did take away one of his classes… since it was his first class for the day that was scheduled at 10 am. What did she say again?

Oh right... one less stressor.

Look on the bright side, Hiro thought, turning his head to watch Clara busy herself with his order, a smile growing on his face as he fondly watched his old student work, at least I didn’t have to wake up so early anymore. At least I didn’t have to bother myself with that–

Meanwhile, Clara suddenly straightened, now staring right back at him, her face growing pale with shock written all over her face, “Oh, uh,” she swallowed, looking a bit nervous, “… buon giorno, Signorina Lunamor.”

No, Clara was not looking at him; it was through him, right past him–Hiro quickly realized as he turned immediately around only to blanch as he met the piercing eyes of… Lunamor… who was quite literally standing behind him. Wait, what is she doing here and since when was she standing right there?!

“Sai cosa voglio,” Lunamor told Clara before tilting her head, nodding almost imperceptibly to his direction, “…pagherò per quello che ha preso.”

Nodding, Clara immediately scurried away to get something from the back and Hiro nervously swallowed the lump already forming in his throat when her gaze never wavered from his. Without thinking, he blurted out: “…Are you stalking me?”

She raised an eyebrow.

That was supposed to be a joke... although as soon as Hiro said it, he realized that was the wrong thing to say because Lunamor slowly took a deliberate step towards him, their clothes brushing slightly at how close she is right now to him–personal space becoming nonexistent in that one moment–and Hiro drew in a sharp breath, unable to look away as he watched those dark eyes (huh, her eyes really looks like they have glitters up close…) narrowing into a thin glare. The faint dark circles ghosting underneath her eyes making her glare appear sharper, deadlier than it had any right to be.

“…non dovrei dirlo?” Lunamor muttered in a deceptively soft voice, both of her gloved hands suddenly reaching out towards him.

Unadmittedly, Hiro freaked out there and then because he honestly thought she’s planning to grab him, pull him in for a kiss maybe so he quickly screwed his eyes shut in panic, almost on instinct… but her hands gently moved past his head, her gloved fingers weaving slightly through his hair.

And when he hastily opened his eyes again, Lunamor was already taking a step back away from him, tilting a large mug filled with steaming hot black coffee towards him, the other holding a large mason jar filled with (judging by the smell) cappuccino as though everything was normal and she just didn’t nearly drove him into a heart attack a second ago and… nothing just happened.

Dazed, he accepted the cup.

“Grazie, Clara.”

“…Nantekotta i?” Hiro blurted out.

What the fuck?

Lunamor slowly turned away from him, blowing lightly at the thick steam of her mason jar before saying over her shoulder: “Language, professor.”

“Ha–? Oh. Wait… sorry about that, Clara. Here,” Hiro turned to face Clara, about to pay for his order but she shook her head almost frantically at him, her eyes darting to Lunamor’s direction pointedly and meaningfully because she’s subtle like that.

Hiro raised an eyebrow, “… What?”

“On the house,” Clara shrugged.

“What?”

He sounded like a damn parrot.

“It means it's already paid,” Lunamor answered.

Hiro blinked at that, turning to stare at Lunamor as she settled into one of the seats near the window… and that was when he noticed an expensive-looking black laptop already propped open, viewing a finished English essay with two notebooks stacked neatly on its left, a barely eaten sandwich and Lunamor’s brown messenger bag.

She’s been here for who knows how long.

Quickly, he followed after her, mindful not to spill any of his coffee as he stood in front of her table, “Uh, you know, you really don’t have to– “

“Its fine, I own the place.”

She placed her drink on the table (and now that Hiro’s paying attention, whoa, that’s a lot of whipped cream), looking up at him expectantly, as if that simple fact should have been obvious all along and Hiro…

Hiro almost felt like face-palming right there and then in front of her when it finally made sense to him because of fucking course… the café’s name–Selena’s–is another name for the moon. It should have been a glaring clue and around the time the cafe had been opened, Lunamor was already attending classes in the AST University.

“Thanks for the coffee,” Hiro muttered.

Lunamor nodded, looking away and Hiro almost turned around to walk away from her because he thought that was the end of it when she suddenly spoke up, not bothering to look at him.

“The email…” she murmured.

Hiro paused, throwing her a questioning look, but Lunamor’s gaze stubbornly remained on the view outside, the faint morning light making her skin look less pale, lips a shade of pale pink, her eyes bloodshot, with a far-away look in them but for some reason, despite looking like she was on the verge of falling asleep, he still thought she looked kind of pretty.

Then, Hiro realized she was in the middle of saying something... and he turned around properly, waiting for her to speak up as he watched her gloved fingers curling into a fist around her mason jar.

“The email,” she repeated.

“Yes?” he prompted.

“…Was it true?”