Chapter 4: A new day

Ruby's pov

'OH MY GOSH! HE KISSED ME!' those were my only thoughts as I lay on my bed, my hands wrapped around my face in disbelief as my mind kept replaying the memory, my lips still tingling from the sensation of his soft lips, and my heart beating out of my chest. 

'Why did I push him out in shock? I should've kissed him back, what the heck was I thinking? Should I go back and apologize to him? Will he be angry at me? What does he think of me?' My mind shouted, a thousand worries wreaking havoc on my poor mind. 

'Sensei cares about me so much! He hasn't changed at all, he's still the kind-hearted generation that I remember. If sensei really wants to see me that much as an idol, then I will show it to him, and maybe we could even do that in my idol ... AHH!' I screamed inwardly, my face bright red with embarrassment and my heart filled with love for the guy living next door who took it. 

'We're going to get married, he says he'll marry me at 25. Marriage. Marriage with sensei.' 

Instantaneously, images of our married life popped up in my mind, each one filled with fluff and love and causing me to shudder with excitement. As I continued thinking about our married life, I unconsciously started to fall asleep, my thoughts translating into full-fledged dreams with imaginary but realistic scenes of us going on dates, making out, having a baby, buying a house, and growing old together.

12 hours later

"Sensei ~ be gentle with me" I pleaded as he took me to the bed and started to shower me with kisses. 

"Don't worry my love I will never ... " 

Suddenly, my dream was rudely cut short by the extreme signals of pain blaring in my mind that originated from my empty stomach which had not received any nourishment for almost a full day. 

Groaning, I pulled myself out of bed while complaining " And I was just getting to the good part ... Ugh" 

Groggily, I stumbled my way through my morning routine, taking a short bath, and styling my hair before brushing my teeth and delicately applying some light makeup. Then, I slowly walked out of my room into the kitchen, planning to get some food, wholly unaware that it was already 10 in the morning and the dreamlike events that unfolded the previous night lying unforgotten in my mind. 

'Wait, isn't Miyako gone today for a shoot? Who's going to make breakfast for me? Ugh, I have to do it myself' I groaned inwardly. 

In that exact moment, a thought drifted into my mind 'I wonder if Aqua is still at home.' 

At the thought of my dearest brother, the memories of the previous night came flooding into my mind, his revelation as Sensei, his renewed vow, the kiss, the kiss, the kiss. The memory of him kissing subconsciously caused a funny tingle on my lips, and an eagerness in my heart to feel the same warmth of his love. 

'Sensei ... ' I thought blankly as visions of him popped up in my mind as if I had just searched for him on a search engine in my mind. 

All of a sudden, I came to a halt in my tracks, as I stood there in the hallway, standing at the familiar figure chopping vegetables silently over the counter. 

The person was a 17-year-old rising male star in the entertainment industry, with his handsome face plastered on multiple websites and wallpapers of fangirls all over the world. Right now, that exact same man was standing over the kitchen counter with a kitchen knife placed delicately between his thin white hands. As I looked closer, I was enraptured by his unintentional attractiveness and dazzle. The way his arm muscles tensed up as they contracted and sliced the cabbage smoothly into two, before mincing it, causing the chopping board to make small shouts of pain with each chop. The tenderness with which he kneaded the thin slices of meat before gently lathering each one of them with a thin layer of oil and butter and sprinkling some salt, pepper and paprika onto it. The way he brushed up his long golden hair every now and then, before wiping the colorless beads of sweat gathering on his forehead. 

'So attractive ... why didn't I see this before?' I thought to myself. 

I stood there for a few moments, starstruck by the handsome star in front of me, before I regained my senses and rushed forward to meet the man I loved. 

"Sensei!!!" I shouted excitedly as I ran forward, throwing my arms around his waist, and buried my head into his firm back, ignoring the rivulets of perspiration that soaked the back of his white t-shirt. 

Narrator's pov

Aqua let out a short yelp as his body shuddered with shock from being gripped by someone from behind. 

"Don't grip me from behind like that, it's dangerous, I could accidentally hurt myself, or hurt you," Aqua chided,

Yet the infatuated girl paid no mind to her beloved's scolding, rather continued snuggling into Aqua's back while muttering nonstop the word "Sensei", like a little girl embracing a stuffed animal that she loved. 

Seeing how his stern warning did not seem to affect this girl, he pushed her hands off of him and turned his body around, dropping the knife that he was holding at the time, and changed his inflection in order to take on a different and more gentle appeal to confront the girl. 

"Sarina ... " Aqua called. 

Hearing her name being called, Ruby let out a little squeal of excitement embraced her dear Aqua once again, and looked up at Aqua with a besotted expression. 

"Yes, sensei?" She asked, continuing to stare at Aqua with a smitten expression on her face. 

"You can't surprise someone like that okay? It's dangerous," Aqua cautioned with a gentle tone, as if he was talking to a little girl except the little girl in this case was just the beguiled Ruby. 

"Okay. I'm not a kid you know ... stop talking down to me," Ruby replied, taking note of the doctor's change in voice. 

With the jig up, Aqua replied with a short "Okay, Okay, I will stop."

'I mean it works ...' Aqua thought with a smile, recalling all the dear interactions he had with the girl in front of him when she was still a hospitalized young girl. 

"Good morning sensei," Ruby greeted as she tried to tiptoe to kiss Aqua only for her lips to be met with a soft but firm finger. 

"Good morning Sarina," Aqua replied with a smile, seeing the girl's attempted act of love. 

"I want to kiss you," Ruby pouted as she moved back a little, looking at the doctor with puppy eyes. 

' I really can't believe that the mature female idol that has shown up on so many television shows and advertisements would actually have such an immature and childish side to her.' Aqua thought, his heart slightly happy that Sarina had not changed one bit even as Ruby. 

"Nope, you have to wait for another two months as per the agreement" Aqua answered with a stern tone. 

"What?" Ruby complained, "But I want to kiss you now Sensei ..."

"You agreed to the agreement, and we just kissed yesterday," Aqua reminded with a reddened face, turning his head to avoid staring at Ruby as he recalled the not-so-distant memories of the past. 

~growl~

Unable to bear the senseless and childish bickering of the two, their empty stomachs let out a growl of dominance and authority to remind them of the current famished situation the two were facing. 

"Sit down, breakfast will be ready soon," Aqua commanded with a gentle tone as he turned back to continue cooking.

'At least she isn't upset at me kissing her out of the blue' Aqua thought as he let out a sigh of relief. 

"Sensei, I'm going to hug you while you cook," Ruby announced softly before wrapping her hands around Aqua again. 

"Ruby ... it's dangerous here," Aqua scolded. 

"Well then I will be here to protect you," Ruby countered, continuing her actions. 

'There's no stopping her' Aqua acknowledged inwardly as he let out a short sigh of relief, overlooking Ruby's reckless and slightly annoying actions out of love for the girl. 

'Sensei~' Ruby repeated in her mind over and over again like a broken recorder, 'will we be like this every day when we are husband and wife? I quite like it actually.'

Thus, without a word, Ruby continued to indulge in her one-sided act of love, relishing the firmness of Aqua's back, while Aqua simply resigned to his fate, continuing to cook breakfast as fast as possible to appease his growling stomach. 

Welcome to a step-by-step tutorial on how to make breakfast with Aqua. 

Firstly, Aqua added the seasoned and chopped slices of beef to the frying pan, causing a sizzle to erupt from the pan. 

Next, Aqua stuck a meat thermometer into the thin slices of New York strip (type of beef), waiting until the thermometer showed 57.2 degrees celsius, before using some thongs to pick up the meat and distributing it equally amongst the two plates. 

Afterward, Aqua poured the yellow egg yolk that he had gathered into a metal bowl earlier into the frying pan which was filled with a layer of melted butter, using a red spatula to stir the eggs around gently, until they were a little runny before adding them equally to the two plate with the steak, using a metal spoon. 

Following that, Aqua paused for a moment as Ruby squirmed about, causing a tingling sensation to run down his back. 

Lastly, Aqua distributed the minced cabbage between the two plates. 

"Okay Ruby, breakfast is ready," Aqua announced as he brushed the girl's hands off. 

"Sensei, stop calling me Ruby, I'm Sarina. Sarina, only you can call me that, so call me Sarina when people are not around," Ruby commanded. 

"Okay Sarina, let's go to the dining table and eat," Aqua said. 

Balancing the two plates between his two arms, Aqua walked to the round black dining table, intentionally letting Ruby choose her seat first before sitting opposite from her, tired of her antics. 

"Sensei ... Why are you sitting opposite from me, come sit with me. We can even sit on the same chair if you want sensei." 

"Nah, I'm good thanks," Aqua answered, afraid of what the girl may try next. 

'Please just let me eat in peace. I'm starving' Aqua prayed as he stared at the toothsome meal laid out on the table, and started to consume the palatable food on the plate with a unsatisfiable hunger. 

'Hmph! What's up with sensei today? Why won't he accept my love? Wasn't he the one who said all those loving words and kissed me yesterday? Does he want me to make the first move this time? Oh my gosh, is he feeling shy? Sensei has always been so timid to make moves on me, even in the past. Surely, this must be it, right? Whatever, I'm going to do my all to show my love to sensei, I'm not going to waste my time shared with him this time' Ruby steeled herself, as she slowly edged herself towards Aqua. 

Meanwhile, Aqua was busy wolfing down his food, recalling all the time he learned this recipe in order to impress a manager in order to stand a chance to get a job working at Kamiki Productions where that abhorrent father of mine worked, only to be rejected because the person wanted to sleep with him as a secondary condition. 

'Still tastes as good as it should be, all those hours and money spent turned out to be worth it after all huh,' Aqua thought happily to himself as he continued ravishing his meal. 

'Slowly. Slowly. Wow, Sensei must really be hungry, he's really devouring his meal man, if only that was me ... Ugh, what am I saying? I wouldn't mind it tho ... Another topic, we have to stay on track, we can't get spotted and miss this opportunity. On a side note, where did he learn to cook like that? I wanted to prepare him a meal though. Well, maybe next time ...' Ruby thought while she slowly moved her seat closer and closer to Aqua, taking extra care to not drag her chair across the wooden floor and lifting her plate gently so it will not make a sound. 

Eventually, her efforts paid off, and she successfully made it to Aqua's side without being spotted, in other words, her plan went off without a hitch. 

"Sensei~ Let me feed you," Ruby offered while grabbing Aqua's right hand, and pulling it up to her face. 

'Ahh sensei's gentle touch, how I've missed this. I didn't get to experience this much in the hospital you know,' Ruby thought to herself, satisfied at having felt the doctor's gentle touch one more time. 

'I want to feel his touch every day, I want to cuddle and do all the things couples do together, all the things that I have dreamed of with sensei in that hospital, I can do it now, I mustn't waste a single moment to be with my sensei, our lives are only so short after all,' Ruby mused, while smiling. 

"Sarina, I'm trying to eat, can you please not disturb me right now?" Aqua asked his voice with a slight hint of irritation. 

"It's okay, I can feed you, a good girl should do that for their boyfriend after all right?" Ruby said whilst using her fork to poke a small piece of beef that lay on Aqua's plate, positioning it right in front of Aqua's mouth and telling him to "say aah"

'What is she doing? I really can't eat in peace, can't I? Ah whatever, if she enjoys it, then I might as well indulge a little too.'

"Aah" Aqua said as he opened up his mouth, giving in to the requests of his lover. 

Shoving the spoon gently into his mouth, Ruby's mind went into a dopamine overdose, stuck in her delusional, self-absorbed happiness at being able to feed her endeared sensei, something she had wanted to do for a long time ever since she got fed by sensei for the first time in the hospital. 

'HE'S SO CUTE!' Ruby screamed internally, as she took that exact same fork and started to eat her meal with it. 

'An indirect kiss, if Sensei won't let our lips touch directly, then I guess an indirect contact shall do," Ruby thought to herself with a big smile plastered on her face, her heart and stomach both satisfied. 

'Is she going to keep this up all day?' Aqua asked, knowing no one could hear him, now having satisfied his stomach with his own cooking.

Gazing upon the golden-haired beauty's wide grin, her smooth forehead, wide Ruby eyes, and soft-angled eyebrows, Aqua could not help but think 'Damn she's pretty', as he extended his hand out and wiped a small morsel of food off her face, causing her to redden with embarrassment. 

'She's pretty cute too. How lucky I am to have such a girl in love with me. I wouldn't mind her advances all day actually, it's pretty cute if I am, to be honest.' 

Little did he know how much he would come to regret this thought after the few hours that followed with this supposed angel.