Chapter 8: An unforgettable day

Aqua's pov

The horizon. The lining which splits the earth and the sky. And when the sun falls beneath this lining, a splitting occurs again but this time amongst the hearts and minds of people. 

The pessimists gaze at the darkness that befalls upon the land and the lack of visibility and curses the world, blaming the night for the problems and plagues that stain this world. 

On the other hand, some peer upon the night sky, and praise and rejoice the night, seeing the darkness that occurs during the night as something that highlights the bright stars that litter the sky, turning the mundane blue background of the sky in the day, to a gorgeous canvas at night. Every night, these folks set aside some time to survey the night sky and take in all its wonders, letting the day's worries pass them by as they appreciate the surreal beauty of the night. Although surrounding these pretty orbs of light is the chilling darkness and behind these shining beacons of illumination lie a horrifying curse, boy do these stars shine and glow proudly in the night sky. 

In my case, this was my day. Watching a burning star shine bright. This day was perfect, albeit not having done any work like I have been doing incessantly for decades, and although there were some hiccups, I can truthfully say that I thoroughly enjoyed the day I spent with my cute little Ruby. 

Upon closer inspection, I realize now that the problem within Ruby is deeply rooted, and very hard to prune.

When I first saw her, she was pretty much in ... hell. Her family left her alone with a hopeless illness which brought her pain and suffering. And every time she gains a new light, it is stolen away from her. Honestly, the fact that she is still able to show that bright smile of hers and still have this playful and joyful personality of hers after going through all this is astounding.

The only problem is because of all these incidents of her world collapsing in on her and being shrouded in darkness, she is not used to being in the light or being happy. This causes her to have an innate fear within her when she is happy that things are going to be taken away from her again, which makes her overthink and be overly cautious. She has also wrongly associated all the times in her life when her joys were stolen away as events that resulted from her faults, causing her to have many insecurities and be self-loathing. 

She somehow has this miserable perception of hers that she is not satisfactory and is rather the opposite. If only she could see her life from my perspective she could see that she is perfect. Even in my last life, where I openly rejected her at times and pushed her away, she kept loving me and even died for me. And that is one of the reasons why she is the ideal partner. Through it all, she keeps smiling and loving even though she hates herself and is suffering through the most hellish kinds of pain deep inside her. And it is because of her smile, that she can invigorate everyone around her, and she can be a star. Her cute actions also make her extremely likable, combined with her flawless face, figure, and captivating eyes, what else could I possibly ask for in a woman?

I would die for her, like she did for me. In the past, she got to it first before I could. This time, I'll make sure that I take care of her and treat her like she so rightfully deserves. 

Plus, it's kind of fun to be loved, just watching her cute little habits and actions throughout the day fills my heart with indescribable joy. Like when we watched that film earlier in the day, she would occasionally rub her head against my chest and purr, just like a cute kitten. The reactions she has on her face throughout the film are also just adorable, you can tell exactly what she is thinking and feeling. 

Placing my hand over my chest, I just relished the feeling of peace and joy in my heart which filled me each time I thought of her and thought to myself. 

'yep I'm in love' 

"Sensei~ dinner is ready! Come eat!" Ruby shouted, while simultaneously running up to me and wrapping her arms around mine. 

"Thanks for cooking dinner Ruby," I thanked. 

"No problem, it was as easy as pie! I'm really really good at cooking, you know?" She replied with a smile. 

'Look at how much she stresses how good she is at cooking, she is definitely hinting at something. I just can't wrap my finger around it though.' 

Unsure what her intentions were, I simply remained quiet and nodded my head while making my way over to the dining table. 

"Mmm Sensei, you're so warm" Ruby commented while rubbing her cheek against my arm. 

Her clinginess, albeit cute and enjoyable, was actually weighing me down in this case, making me move very sluggishly.

'How do I tell her in a way that will not affect her?'

At that moment, a perfect thing to say popped into my mind. 

"Umm ... Ruby ... You're kind of weighing me down," I complained. 

Instantly, she backed away and hit me roughly on the arm, causing the entire area to be sore. 

"I hate you! Baka!" Ruby screamed furiously while stomping off to the dining table by herself. 

"Well that was not the reaction I was expecting," I murmured before chasing after her. 

'What did I say wrong?' I pondered. 

'Oh wait, did she think I was inferring that she was fat? Shit!'

Realizing my mistake, I dashed straight over to the dining table, taking a seat beside Ruby who quickly scurried away upon seeing me, her eyes red from all the crying and a single tear sliding down her cheek. 

"I'm sorry Ruby, I didn't mean it like that, I was just trying to say that it was hard to move around if you cling to me like that. Not that it feels bad or anything or that I dislike it ... it's just hard to express myself, I'm not a very sociable person," I apologized, admitting my flaws in front of the person I loved. 

After saying that, there was a brief moment of silence between the two of us, as if the guillotine had just dropped between us, cutting off the flow of the conversation. 

'Did I say anything wrong?'

As I went bare in front of my lover, a burning feeling started to spread on my cheeks, forcing me to look down to avoid the discomfort of sharing eye contact with her. 

"Yeh ... you're not a sociable person, you're just an idiot. But at least you're my idiot," she replied while wiping away the tears from her face, her lips starting to curl up into a smile. 

"I'll forgive you, on one condition, you call me Sarina when we're alone together," she added, staring at me with scary eyes filled with relentless obsession. 

"Umm ... sure" I agreed. 

'what other choice did I have?' 

"Sarina ... " I tried.

"Sensei~" she replied while moving closer, her face turning beet red. 

Seeing her adorable reaction, I decided to tease her a bit more.

"Sarina~" I cooed. 

"Sensei~" she answered coming closer again, with a gaze so full of love it entranced me.

"Sarina" I repeated.

This trend repeated a couple of times, her moving ever so much closer each time before she was finally in front of me.

"I love you Sensei," she confessed, before tiptoeing and attempting to bring our lips together.

"Remember your promise Sarina, we can't," I sternly reminded as I placed a finger gently on her lips to stop her in her tracks. 

"hmm," she pouted angrily.

All of a sudden, I felt a cooling and moist sensation enveloping my finger which caused me to retract my hand immediately. 

Upon looking up, I found the culprit smiling at me mischievously, even cheekily licking her lips. 

Taken aback by her sudden actions, I stared at her blankly, staring deep into her red eyes. 

However, the more I looked into her seemingly endless crimson, the more I felt myself drawn to her as our eyes met, thoroughly captivated by her loving stare. 

Fortunately, I realized this before it was too late and our lips were about to make contact. 

Coughing loudly and awkwardly, I quickly turned away from her in embarrassment and she did the same, both our faces steaming from the shame and awkwardness.

Thus came the second moment of silence that was cast over us that day, as we both sat there reeling from the embarrassment. 

"Let's eat!" Ruby announced, while slowly moving her way over to me and sitting on my lap, her face still crimson red. 

Yet this was not the biggest surprise of them all, in fact for the first few seconds I didn't even take note of her actions, because my eyes were transfixed on the wonderful and strange dinner placed at the center of the table. 

There was a white porcelain plate in which stood a giant steaming, glistening egg spread over some delicate grains of rice beneath it. But it wasn't the enormous size that befuddled me, but rather the abnormal fact that that was the sole dish on the table. 

"You're not eating Ruby?" I asked curiously.

"I am," she replied quickly. 

'What does she mean by that? ... Ohhhh ... This girl' 

It took me a while to realize her antics. 

'What the heck was she thinking?' 

"What do you think you're doing? We are not eating from the same plate," I declared firmly. 

"Well, I'm not allowed to kiss you directly, but for our lips to make indirect contact is alright is it not?" She shot back with a devilish smile on her face. 

'She can be really smart when it comes to things she cares about. Remind me not to get on her wrong side,' I thought to myself, making a mental note and storing it down in my mind's archive. 

"But are you sure this is even enough for you?" I questioned. 

Hearing that, she gave a chilling smile. 

That night, I truly found out the reason why people with mental disorders are prone to mental disorders in the first place.