“She and the moon could always be found playing in the darkness.”
— A.J. Lawless
. . .
Doctor Florentino briskly led Cassandra and Anderson to Hiro’s room, and Cassandra was torn if she should call security or snap on the spot when she saw one of the nurses sitting in a chair next to his bed.
Luckily, Anderson spoke first.
“Hi,” her professor greeted as he quietly stepped inside before standing on the other side of the bed, “How is he doing now?”
“Better than earlier,” the nurse answered.

Cassandra's eyes narrowed.
Judging by how the two spoke and acted towards one another, she deduced that they somehow knew each other and are good terms… could this woman be one of the nurses that Akihiro usually sees and speaks with in the hospital whenever he comes here to visit his sister?
Most likely.
Now, Cassandra was irritated that someone was allowed into Akihiro’s room before her… and Anderson. Shouldn’t they have been the first one allowed to see the patient? What the hell happened to that hospital policy bullshit?
Before Cassandra could open her mouth to complain to the doctor just about that, the nurse suddenly turned and met her eyes.
For a split-second, Cassandra was a bit alarmed at the clear anger and accusation written all over the other woman’s face as she bolted right out of her chair to point at Cassandra’s face, “YOU! This is all your fault!”
“Wait, Gia—”
The nurse–Gia, was it? –ignores Anderson’s protests and roughly pushes past the old doctor just to scream closer at Cassandra’s face, “What’s so special about you, huh? What the hell did he even see in you?! Hiro’s too good for entitled rich brats who are nothing but trouble!”
Cassandra raises an eyebrow at her.
It would have been rather impressive how the older woman is yelling at her (it’s been years since someone actually does that) if it weren’t for their ridiculous age gap–Gia could barely even reach her jaw. For some reason, this feels like being yelled at by some hapless chihuahua.
And what did this woman call her again?
Entitled? Trouble?
To a certain, extent, yes.
But at least Cassandra’s aware.
“–If you just leave the poor man alone, he wouldn't have to put up with any of your shit! He already has so much as on his plate!” Gia rages on even as Anderson tries to pull her away, “And your mafia dogs won’t be doing a hit on him!”
“Gia, please,” Anderson tries, “Lunamor’s not even had anything to do with that! The kid’s just trying to help–”
“Are you stupid? You really believe that?!”
Cassandra scoffed, “…And just who do you think you are to have a say on his affairs? What do you even know?”
The woman faltered, ever so slightly (although Cassandra’s eyes zeroed in immediately at the faintest show of weakness–how interesting), before those clear brown eyes flicked angrily against the too bright lights, “I’m his FRIEND!”
This time, Cassandra did not bother with the niceties (then again, when did she ever?) as she bared her teeth into a cold, arrogant grin–every inch of the entitled, rich brat this woman who knew absolutely nothing about her just accused of her being–as she forced herself in on the nurse’s personal space, even bending her head down just to literally look down at the other:
“And I’m his girlfriend.”
Cassandra wasn’t even embarrassed to admit that she takes great satisfaction in seeing up close the dismay in the woman’s eyes at that.
“Y-you’re lying…”
She almost rolls her eyes.
“Call security,” Cassandra told the doctor instead, not even bothering to defend herself. She doesn’t owe this ‘friend’ of Hiro’s an explanation.
“N-No… NO! Don't you dare have me kicked out–HE NEEDS ME HERE!” when Anton took a step forward, Gia suddenly grabbed onto her collar, fingers curling into a tight fist, making Cassandra very nearly flinch, “Just you wait–as soon as Hiro opens his eyes, I’ll tell him to break up and steer clear from the likes of you!”
“GIA!” Anderson screams, appalled.
At her professor’s tone, her bodyguard immediately swooped in and tried to shove the nurse off of Cassandra, although Gia’s grip didn’t even budge.
“Ma’am, please step away from the lady.”
“FUCK YOU!” Gia screams at him, to Cassandra she hisses: “You think I’m scared of your goons, huh?!”
“No,” Cassandra answers lightly just as she reaches up to grip at one of Gia’s hands until the nurse gasps out loud in pain, abruptly letting go when Cassandra continued to apply pressure, “…but you should be.”
“You can’t just kick me out! Doctor–?!”
“Technically, Ms. Lunamor can,” Doctor Florentino sighs, looking equal parts put out and disappointed by Gia’s behavior, “Her family is one of our hospital’s top sponsors and it wouldn’t do well for one of our staffs to attack her, after all…”
Security arrived and escorted Gia, kicking and still screaming, out of Hiro’s room while Cassandra took a moment to readjust her coat before she looked over at Anderson.
“Go check on her.”
“But–”
“Leave.”
Wincing, Anderson hurried over to comply while the doctor followed after him (but not before giving her a look that… Cassandra can’t even decipher) with Anton just hovering by the still open doorway.
She didn’t bother to face him even as she feels his stare drilling at the back of her head, “Tieni d'occhio quella donna,” Cassandra told him, before deciding to add: “E assicurati di aver avvisato le guardie di Akira Zen–sbarazzati di tutti gli individui sospetti in agguato vicino a lei.”
(“Keep an eye on that woman. And make sure you've notified Akira Zen's guards–get rid of any suspicious individuals lurking near her.”)
Cassandra couldn’t be too sure, but she could have sworn she heard her bodyguard mutter under his breath something along the lines of: "Non vengo pagato abbastanza per gestire la metà di questo.” (“I do not get paid enough to handle half of this.”) before leaving.
Whatever.
As Cassandra heard the door closing shut behind her, she forced herself to finally look at the person she came here for.
Akihiro.
Cassandra never thought that she’d come to a hospital, not after… no. In the first place, she doesn’t have to come here.
If only this doesn’t happen.
It doesn’t even have to happen.
As Cassandra finally took in that dreaded smell–antiseptic, a little bitter, with undertones of the artificial fragrance which came from soaps and cleaners–she sees her younger self, looking over her mother’s, her father’s body. The two of them.
And just like that, rage took over.
As she stared and stared at the tube connected to Akihiro’s arm before drifting to his sleeping face that was filled with some scratches here and there, she swore that she would find out who was responsible for very nearly killing him and personally ruin their life, she’d make them regret for even entertaining the thought of hurting him.
She wouldn’t just have them be handed over to the authorities just to go to prison in the end, no, that would be too merciful.
And she was not taught mercy.
Cassandra pulled up another chair and sat down next to his bed. She glanced at his hand, limp, pale and then, at her’s… before slipping out one of her gloves as she reaches out to hold his.
“…Hiro,” she calls.
His hand was cold.
Cassandra closes her eyes.
…Mi dispiace.
. . .
When Cassandra felt his hand twitching underneath her lax grip, she instinctively pulled her hand back and hastily put her glove back on before her consciousness even caught up to her.
There was a tired groan.
And Cassandra blinked the sleep out of her eyes just as Akihiro slowly opened his, “L-Luna… mor… d-doko…?” (Where…?) his voice was hoarse and cracked halfway through the question and Cassandra wanted to berate herself for not having the foresight to at least bring something for him to drink.
“SkyCare hospital.”
Cassandra wanted to interrogate him and ask if he saw or even catch a glimpse of the shooter, but for some reason, even as she opens her mouth to do just that… looking over him, at his tired eyes squinting at her without the aid of his glasses, she finds herself faltering.
Later, then.
Meanwhile, Akihiro’s eyes widened a bit, “Wait. Am I high on medicine or something? What are you doing here?”
“…Professor Anderson called,” Cassandra answered a bit tersely, feeling a bit ticked off at his reaction. She was torn if she should be pleased that he’d still think of her even if his mind’s filled with drugs or annoyed that he had genuinely thought she’d only appear in delusions.
“A… Ander…? Oh, SHIT STE–was he hit too?!” Akihiro flailed for a few seconds before he reached out to grab her arms. “Is he okay? Is everyone okay?! No one got hit right?!”
Cassandra blinks at him.
Then, she reached out with to squeeze at his hands in what she hoped was a reassuring gesture. “He’s fine. Nobody’s hurt, Akihiro.” No one but you, that is, she thought, angrily.
“R-Really?”
“Mm, you got him out of the way.”
A small, pleased smile curls at the edges of his lips, making his face look light, while she watched as his entire body relaxed back into the bed. And Cassandra… just wasn’t sure if she should be annoyed by his lack of care about his well-being or admire him for his selflessness.
“Good,” Akihiro sighs as he closes his eyes, rubbing at his face, tiredly, “That’s good… I was worried I’d wake up with Steven’s ghost lurking around.”
Cassandra winces, “That’s scary.”
He snorts at her remark, but his smile immediately turned into a frown. Without his glasses, Cassandra thought that he looks fairly younger, less serious looking without it. Maybe it’s the novelty of seeing Akihiro without eyeglasses–something she thought to be his trademark look.
His eyes are such a profound shade of blue though, with so much depth, and it’s a really strange thing to get caught up in at this particular time, but here she is, getting caught up in it.
“Did something happen?”
“I thought you were dying,” her eyebrow twitched when he only gave her a look. “That, and your lady friend just told me she’s going to tell you to break up with me.”
Akihiro rolled his eyes at that, and Cassandra was almost sure he thinks she was joking about the last bit, “No. Not that. I mean, you. What’s wrong with you? You looked like you’re going to pass out. Are you okay?”
Cassandra squints at him. Here he is, laying in a hospital bed, with bruises and scratches over his skin and he was the one asking her if she is okay.
Spoiler alert: she isn’t.
Still, Cassandra found herself resisting the urge to touch her face. She wouldn’t be able to check her temperature, anyway. “I’ve always been pale… and you?”
“What?”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I’ll live.” at her stare, he chuckles, although the look on his face comes more across as a grimace, “Actually no, that was awful. I swear to God, I feel like the shots are still ringing in my ears or something.”
“Gia says it’s my fault,” Cassandra muttered.
“Gia…?”
At the clear confusion on his face, Cassandra sighed before telling him everything about what transpired just now, starting from Professor Anderson’s panicked phone call, to Cassandra coming straight in this hospital and filling up Akihiro’s forms, her brief conversation with Anderson about what happened and following to finding Gia (who Akihiro does confirm being a nurse stationed in his sister’s ward) in his room, the nurse’s fit and threats, which Cassandra ended with assuring him that she has bodyguards posted around his sister’s… just in case.
To which he simply says:
“I see…”
What?
What did you see?!
“I suppose I should thank you for everything then,” Akihiro tells her, smiling a bit. His smile equal parts of grateful and shy, and the earnestness of it all baffled her. Seeing him smile so genuinely was one thing, but having it actually directed to her feels like her brain has temporarily vacated the premises.
“…I’m sorry?”
“Don’t be,” he tells her, misunderstanding the question for what it is, “You dropped everything as soon as you heard I was in trouble, you got me the best doctor you know to patch me up… and m-my… sister… you know… thanks,” Akihiro ducks his face down a bit and something in her warms at the sight, “I appreciate that. Really,”
As lovely as seeing him like this and hearing him say such nice things, Cassandra thinks he’s missing the point because she doesn’t deserve his gratitude.
That, or maybe Akihiro has also hit his head… hard.
“Were you even listening?” Cassandra bursts out, the suddenness of her voice, practically making the room vibrate and Akihiro tense, “Akihiro, Gia was right, okay?! You got shot because of me! YOU COULD HAVE DIED BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU ARE TO ME!”
“And what am I to you?”
If he wasn’t injured, Cassandra would have throttled him there and then for even asking. “What the hell do you think?!”
Akihiro looked taken aback by her outburst and Cassandra bit at the inside of her cheek as she reigned in her temper, “Okay,” he finally says, looking and sounding like he was watching lightning from afar, “… so, do we have any leads on the shooter?”
“The person who shot you was most likely one of my grandfather’s many cronies…” she finally admitted, her voice no better than a ghost of a whisper, “I knew he would retaliate, especially about the publicity of our ‘relationship’, no matter how temporary that had been, I was expecting it… but I swear, I’d never imagine that he’d go so far, so quickly–”
And now that she thought more about it, she should have expected it, really. Playing dirty and having his underlings do the dirty work even outside the country was her grandfather’s speed.
He was called the ‘Puppeteer’ for a reason, after all.
She should have known.
She should have seen it coming.
But worst of all, somehow, in some way–all because of her arrogance, believing she was so far away from him–Cassandra wasn’t able to… all because she wasn’t capable of imagining the things her grandfather was willing to go through just to meet his goals.
And that was probably what Cassandra was most guilty of in regard to this oversight that could have been avoided… a failure of imagination.

“Okay, I get they are not going to be a fan of you dating your prof, but don’t you think you’re overreacting? What if they had nothing to do with this?” Akihiro winced when Cassandra shot him a look as he tried to shift a bit, “Worst case scenario, you’d be blaming your grandpa for nothing and that’s just not nice, Lunamor.”
You don’t know how my grandfather’s mind operates, was on the tip of Cassandra’s tongue but for the sake of his peace of mind, she bite that down.
If he doesn’t believe her, fine, but he sure as hell can’t accuse her that she didn’t warn him about her family (especially her grandfather) in the future because she did–on two separate occasions, actually…
But then again, for Akihiro, the idea of family actively seeking out to hurt you must have been entirely foreign to him.
Her shoulders slumps.
…sometimes I wonder who is the lucky one between the two of us.
He must have noticed that this was still bothering her because he suddenly asked: “You know I would never intentionally do anything to make you or your family look bad, right?”
“I know that.”
“Then, they have nothing to be worried about me.”
(That’s where Akihiro’s wrong… like amongst other things regarding her family but she’d blame that on ignorance.)
Cassandra hated that he even felt the need to remind her of this. She wouldn’t choose him if he was a terrible person, after all… “Do you remember the person you saw before you pushed Professor Anderson out of the way? Anything noteworthy?”
This time, it was Akihiro who started talking. He told her about everything–from how he just happened to turn his head because something had happened to glint against the edge of his glasses (that were the first to receive the shot and were most likely broken and still in pieces in Anderson’s apartment floor) to pushing his friend out of the way because his friend would have been free game if Akihiro simply moved out of the way or was a second too late to react.
Everything had happened too fast for Akihiro but luckily, he managed to remember that the shooter had some sort of tattoo on his face.
At hearing this particular tidbit, Cassandra swiftly resisted the tempting urge to stand up and personally hunt down that person… but figured she can do better than that. Better to let them think they had won, that they had gotten away because they most likely thought that Akihiro doesn’t bother (or hadn’t survived) to remember their face.
Yes.
She can do that.
She’ll rain hell on them.
Later.
For now, though…
“Hey,” she called.
“Hm?”
“What’s the grade of your eyes?”
He blearily stared at her–or at least, Akihiro seemed to think her left was her face or something as he continued at the wrong direction with a serious face and squinting eyes.
“My what now?”
…Cassandra really needs to get him new eyeglasses.