The Start of Something (PART 1)

“That what secretly flows between us today, will gleam tomorrow, the way full moon does.”

— Rafy Rohaan

…

Looking back on it now, it was honestly kind of inevitable for other people to not notice his seemingly constant presence around Lunamor's life, especially when they were in the academy. And considering how she had managed to set herself apart from the rest of the student body even before she managed to step a foot in the premises... which didn't really stop many of them from constantly watching her every move.

Then came along the youngest professor of said academy who was noted by many to be interacting with her more often than not—even outside school hours! (Which is seriously supposed to be a one-time thing back then)—and even if Hiro didn't always talk to her, they still manage to gravitate around each other's space quite a lot, especially after that dumb rumor went out of control.

... and now they were having this farce of an affair.

Ah, yes.

Their quote-unquote relationship.

...Which was still the latest, hot issue of the academy's rumor mill.

People who always needed something to talk about had wanted to know what was going on between the two of them. Even though it was really none of their business, by the way.

Hiro wasn't stupid.

He had always suspected that many of his students and even some of his fellow professors were curious, had often wondered exactly why Lunamor would let him be anywhere near or even around her sacred space... and it most probably didn't really help that he had denied so vehemently being involved with her—only for Lunamor to be seen in public with him not too soon after.

But to begin with, Hiro has never been the talkative type, wasn't the type of person to sit down and start spilling all of his life stories to just about anyone, even to his closest friends.

What was he even going to say? That Lunamor didn't really have a choice in the matter since he had been her professor, and he just sat and spoke with her these past few weeks, discussing (which can also be read as debating) about mathematical theories and equations?

They might not believe such a boring tale (even though it was actually the truth) since that was seriously all there was to it but... but after hashing out some of their agreement with Lunamor in Mt. Moon, it already goes without saying that Hiro would not be allowed to share the real details of their 'love story' to the adoring public, even if it's the easiest thing to do to stop this madness.

But... yeah.

Hiro supposes the two of them are technically (but not really) dating now. Or as the kids say like to these days about their relationship status: it’s complicated.

And since Hiro was no longer her professor (Lunamor was most likely planning to get online classes or transferring to another academy by the end of this semester), she had made it a point that it's safe for the two of them be at least seen interacting together in a natural setting... such as eating lunch together in order to make sure their fake-dating story continues to fly safely, just until the crowd gets bored and moves on to the next story.

So naturally, Hiro was seriously confused as hell as he wondered if he should be surprised, or at the very least… should he act offended when he spotted another man already sitting right next to Lunamor at the cafeteria this Monday.

Even from the distance, Hiro can see how Lunamor's eyes were narrowing into a thin glare at the other student who was sitting way too close to her than what was proper, jaw stubbornly clenched as he stared right back at her, looking just as miffed, if not a bit more... and Hiro can only guess that Lunamor probably just said something offensive to him.

The probability of that is high.

Forget about worrying if his fake girlfriend is being hit on, these two seriously looks like they're going to start a fistfight any moment now.

That just won't do.

Hiro quickly made a beeline to their direction... before pausing at the edge of the table by Lunamor's side. “Hi, sweetie,” he immediately greeted a bit too loudly, followed by a quick, one-armed hug (like hell he’s gonna give her a kiss), all teeth and false cheer before he turned to look at the other with wide eyes, “So… who's your friend?”

“I have no idea who this person is.”

Hiro’s stare flattened.

…wait, what.

Now, the other man looked clearly insulted by that.

“What are you, senile? I just literally introduced myself—”

“Didn't I just tell you that I don't care?”

“No. You told me to shut up.”

“Which you aren't doing,” she observed.

For a moment, Hiro was completely at a loss with what he should do. He’s a teacher, he should be seriously stopping this… right?

Right.

Lunamor must have noticed that Hiro wasn't planning to sit down anytime soon with this unexpected plus one because she glanced up at him for the first time since he showed up. If possible, Lunamor's eyes looked even angrier when she turned to look at the other student now.

“You're in his seat.”

He scoffed, “Doesn't have his name on it.”

Whelp, he has a point.

It didn't.

Well... if this idiot wasn't planning to get out of their sight any time soon... sighing, Hiro reluctantly placed his stuff down on the table next to Lunamor's bag and studied her face for a moment as he did so.

She was still glaring at the other student over the top of her laptop, looking increasingly vexed the longer this (whatever this is) goes on. He couldn't really blame her; lunch time is only for an hour and Hiro can only stay for less than thirty minutes. Hiro seriously didn’t have any time for this nonsense...

Well, whatever.

Apparently peace was never an option.

“I guess you guys leave me no choice then.”

Before any of them could even ask what the professor could possibly mean by that, Hiro suddenly sat and squeezed in right next to Lunamor and all but leaned right next to her space without a warning until he was practically sandwiching her in between his body and the wall.

She was obviously startled by the sudden action, judging by the way both of her shoulders practically rise up in defense, limbs tensing as if bracing herself to or for an attack.

He raised an eyebrow at her.

That’s… not actually the reaction he’s looking for.

But it will do.

For now.