Selena's (part 2)

“I’m in no hurry: the sun and the moon aren’t, either.”

— Alberto Caeiro

. . .

Her gaze met his against the faint reflection from the window but still, Hiro found his eyebrows shooting upwards in surprise because… was it him or Lunamor sounded upset about that?

“Yeah, it’s legit,” Hiro shrugged, averting his gaze as he took a careful sip on his coffee, barely registering how hot it is or having the moment to savor the rich and strong blend because for some reason, he found himself unable to meet her gaze, “Not my idea though. I love teaching that class and all but…”

At that, her eyes snapped up to his direction, her lips curling into a small frown as she glared at him, “Aren’t you going to sit down?”

“Uh, you want me to–”

“Sit down, Akihiro.”

Hiro bristled, “Don’t call me–”

“Here’s your order, sir!” Clara suddenly chimed in, carefully placing his meal on Lunamor’s table, effectively breaking the sudden tension, making Hiro turn to stare at Clara in surprise while Lunamor tore her gaze away from him to take a sip from her cappuccino, barely hiding a smirk.

Defeated, Hiro sat down across from her.

“You were saying?” Lunamor raised an eyebrow.

He glared, “That’s professor to you.”

If possible, that thin eyebrow rose higher even more.

“Didn’t you just said you’re not my professor anymore?”

“Right,” Hiro winced, “No thanks to you, by the way.”

She paused, “How is it my fault?”

Hiro bit his lip, considering if he should tell her why.

After a moment's thought, he mentally shrugged, deciding ah to hell with it, before beginning to dig into his breakfast, averting his gaze from her to focus on eating.

Lunamor only stared, watching him.

Hiro tried not to be conscious of her unmoving gaze as he swallowed, “W-Well, after I let you run your mouth in front of my boss during lunch break, she thought… if I can’t stop you from mouthing her off then it’s safe to assume I can’t handle you in class once you decide to be incredibly rude to everyone as well. So yeah, here we are.”

He… he could have honestly worded that one out better… but oh well. He’s not even obligated to tell her anything at all. It wasn’t really her business although she was largely at fault for it.

Lunamor frowned at his answer, now looking over at her laptop with a glare while he took a bite of his waffle, watching her for a moment, wondering what she will say or do… and he was faintly sure her laptop is going to end up combusting into flames at the scathing look she was currently giving it if she doesn’t quit it.

Suddenly, she hissed under her breath: “...quella puttana buona a nulla. Who does that talentless woman think she is? Vagabondo non professionale!”

Hiro raised an eyebrow at her, intrigued.

Lunamor’s voice sounded way smoother, richer even, when she speaks Italian… filled with emotion compared to how it was when she speaks in English, “I’m sorry Miss Lunamor… but what was that? What are you saying just now? I don’t speak Italian.”

She frowned at him, “Do you even want to know?”

“…I’m pretty sure you were either badmouthing or cursing my boss right now. That is very rude by the way,” When she stayed resolutely silent at that, not even looking the slightest bit sorry, he finally sighed, “What were you doing here so early, anyways? Classes don’t start until 10 am.”

“I had a meeting.”

His eyebrows shot up, “Here?”

“No, at Luna Enterprises,” she grumbled, looking at him like he was an idiot and Hiro paused, wondering to himself just when did he get so good at reading her mood... he immediately tried not to go down that line of thinking because that was a rabbit hole he wasn’t willing to jump in.

“Isn’t it too early for that?”

“My brother doesn’t care.”

“Your brother was there?”

“No,” she wasn’t looking at him now.

Hiro said nothing, staring at her intently with a curious look on his face. At his unspoken question, she flicked her long hair over her shoulder and closed her laptop with a barely audible click.

“…it was just a Skype meeting,” she relented.

He can feel his brows furrowing at that.

Surely her brother could realize that his little sister was already stressed, and sleep deprived to boot so why… “Couldn’t you have done that at home?”

“It was with board members.”

That... explains everything and nothing at all.

“Well then… that explains the outfit” Hiro shrugged, understanding that she no longer wanted to talk more about it, “…but that doesn’t explain why you’re here, though. As far as I know, Luna Enterprises is literally the other way–”

“I like coffee,” she muttered.

“They don’t have coffee there?”

“I prefer taking it here.”

“No,” Hiro felt his lips twitching into an amused smile, “I mean… Selena’s doesn’t have a branch near your workplace? You know, for promoting your own brand of coffee?”

She blinked, “I... haven’t thought of that yet.”

“Oh wow,” Hiro snickered, “What a coffee addict!”

Lunamor paused… and suddenly looked kind of sheepish when she ducked her head a bit. Hiro blinked, confused and curious as he watched her fingers tugging at the material of her gloves a bit.

...wait, is she fidgeting?

He had never seen her look the slightest bit of embarrassed or nervous before... the proud, quiet, rich kid Lunamor who can roast and toast professors several years older than her during discussions turned debates, is embarrassed at being called out for being a coffee lover.

It was kind of… well, cute, actually.

And Hiro was faintly aware that line of thought could be considered inappropriate. Any other moment, he would have mentally kicked himself for even thinking that one of his (former) students is even remotely attractive even if it’s a fact.

…but not today.

Hiro grinned, “That makes two of us.”

A faint smile played at her lips.

That’s better, he thought.

There was a lapse of silence (that was for once, wasn’t awkward) as he continued to eat his waffle in peace while she sipped at her coffee from time to time.

Suddenly, Hiro was very aware that some of the customers were curiously glancing their way, obviously realizing who he was since most of them are students and here he was, one of the youngest professors in the university… and not to mention, he’s sitting here with not only one of the wealthiest students, but it also just has to be Lunamor–

Hiro immediately felt like wanting to hide under the table at the very judging stares, but he decided he’d look undignified if he went through with it.

“Do you come here often?”

Hiro blinked at the sudden question, not knowing if he should be surprised that he was still here or that Lunamor was still bothering to make small talk with him... she was usually content to play mute for the most part, after all.

“Yeah…literally almost every day, the coffee’s that good.”

Her eyes twinkled.

She looked like she was actually about to smile.

Hiro quickly cleared his throat, “Besides, it’s near the campus.”

She nodded, a smirk settling at her face as she picked up her coffee, her eyes crinkling with both a mix of pride and satisfaction, “Well, as the owner of this quaint establishment, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

His heart suddenly skipped a beat.

...fuck.

What the hell is wrong with him?

“Well,” Hiro felt very uncomfortable now, his eyes darting to the other customers and back to that unusually happy face, “…as much as I love to stay and chat, I think I have to go now, Ms. Lunamor–”

She raised an eyebrow as she took another delicate sip at her coffee, her piercing eyes never leaving his as he suddenly fussed over with his things, anything to avoid her gaze, “You just told me you don’t have classes at ten am anymore. Why are you in such a hurry?”

He should have taped his big, fat mouth shut.

“Because…” Because this is beginning to look like the two of us are out on a date–but it wasn’t! Hiro found himself gulping inaudibly, suddenly regretting that he even told her anything at all in the first place as he picked up his stuff, deliberately not looking at her, “…uh, yes, but I still have work to do. And don’t you have classes to attend?”

“It’s too early,” Lunamor scoffed (obviously not buying his half-hearted excuse) but when Hiro stood up, she suddenly mirrored his actions, picking up her laptop while tossing her notebooks inside her messenger bag in one, fluid movement as she shouldered it, looking at him with a more or less amused gaze, “…but I guess I’m willing to make an exemption today. Solo per il mio professore preferito.”