Flow escorted Aura home.
She lingered by the door, and as she turned to leave, someone called out.
"Hey, do I know you?"
She turned to see one of the students standing there. Veil.
"You do not," she answered, formally.
She then bowed and began walking away,
"Wait," he said. For some reason, she felt compelled to listen. "You were one of the guards when we were locked up." Flow frowned.
"You weren't locked up," she corrected. "We had to transport you quickly and didn't have time to explain. That's why you had to be restrained." Veil stepped closer, a wide grin spreading across his face,
"Last I checked, locked up and restrained were synonymous." She huffed and looked away from him,
"Think what you want," she replied sharply, contrasting with her usual composed appearance. "I'm leaving."
She began stomping away. She heard him chuckling behind her, but refused to give him any more of her time.
Yet—somehow—she met him again the next morning at a cafe. He was sitting with Vision and whispering, but when he noticed her, he turned and smiled,
"Hey, Flow!" She wrinkled her nose at his greeting. When she didn't respond, he shrugged and went back to quietly conversing with his brother.
She left the store gripping her coffee tightly,
But surprisingly, she met him again, this time at the weapons training facility in the afternoon.
"Are you stalking me?" she accused. Veil glanced over and scoffed.
"I was here first, so shouldn't I be asking that?" he replied in a mocking tone. Her face heated up, but she bit her tongue, moving to the furthest side of the room.
"Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for signing up for my class," Mr. Falcon greeted. "Since it is our first day, we'll be practicing strikes with standard bamboo swords."
He clapped. "Everyone, grab a sword and line up!"
The class consisted of everyone repeating sword thrusts, while the teacher corrected their stances and posture. He had criticism for everyone until he got to Veil.
"Your form is already so polished, you don't look like a beginner."
"Oh," Veil began, "My family owned a dojo, so I was taught from a young age." Falcon's eyes gleamed,
"That explains it! I actually don't have a lot of help, would you mind assisting in class sometimes?" he asked enthusiastically. Veil hummed,
"No," he said firmly, with a smile.
Mr. Falcon asked this question many more times within the same hour. Veil's answer remained unchanged.
Mr. Falcon was sulking as he dismissed the class,
"I'll see you all again tomorrow,"
"Yes, sensei!" they replied at once.
"Oh, and Veil—"
"No."
Mr. Falcon recoiled from the emotional damage and took a moment to recompose himself,
"I was going to ask—" He cleared his throat, "if you wish to move into the advanced class?" Veil eyed him silently. Time stretched with no response, but then Veil smiled and said,
"No," then he promptly exited the building.
Flow trailed after him. They'd walked a few blocks before he turned and smirked at her.
"Now who's following who?" he remarked. She gritted her teeth and avoided his eyes.
"Forgive me." Flow then bowed low. "I would also like to request that you help Mr. Falcon." Her voice shook slightly, but she continued, "He teaches several courses, and I know it wears him down, so if you could lighten his load, it would be greatly appreciated."
Veil said nothing but strode back towards her.
"Lift your head," he commanded. When she looked up at him, he snickered.
So she glared, "What is so funny?!" Flow shouted.
"You," he responded, gently tapping her nose. Flow pouted. "I guess there is a way to persuade me," he added between chuckles.
"Helping out is an honor and a privilege," Flow replied through gritted teeth.
Veil snorted, barely able to contain his laughter. "What is so funny?!" Flow shouted again, this time stomping her foot.
"I'll do it—I have formal training in multiple sword styles... to be honest, I'd probably even enjoy teaching them to other people," he replied with a shrug.
Flow let out a sigh of relief.
"But—" he began again, "from now on, I want you to acknowledge me when I speak to you."
"Is that all?" she asked, shocked by the simplicity.
"For now... well, bye. See you in class tomorrow," Veil answered cheerily, then he restarted his walk.
Flow turned the opposite way, skipping home and humming her favorite song.
The next morning, she saw him again, this time standing outside the coffee shop with his brother. He glanced in her direction, so Flow swallowed her pride and said,
"Good morning." He smirked, but didn't reply. Flow waited for a while, but when he continued to ignore her, her face reddened, and she burst into the shop to order her drink. Veil's eyes trailed after her, and he covered his mouth to stifle his laughter.
Later in class, Veil gave Mr. Falcon the good news, which brought the man close to tears.
"Thank you so much!" he shouted. Then he cleared his throat, reached under his desk, and handed Veil a black gi. "You should wear this from now on."
"Fine," Veil replied nonchalantly, leaving the room to change.
Flow's chest felt warm, happy to have eased Falcon's burdens just a bit, until—
She realized how strict a teacher Veil was.
If your stance was too wide—
WHACK.
He corrected it with his bamboo sword.
If your grip on the sword was slightly off, or if any little thing was out of place—
WHACK.
The room echoed with his corrections. Flow had been hit twice, and as he stepped closer, her legs shook. He looked her over, the tension rising as time went on.
".... That's much better," he said coldly, moving on to another student. Only then did she relax.
Mr. Falcon stood back,
Veil divided the class based on skill and had all of the students doing sword strike drills. If they faltered, he made them run laps around the dojo.
Flow's arms burned from swinging, but even then, he urged her on, saying,
"Yes, just like that. Fifty more times." She groaned, screaming internally.
Only three students were left standing when it ended, but all were sore and drenched in sweat.
Flow was sitting on the floor, back against the wall, and chugging down an energy drink when Veil made his way over to her.
On instinct, her body tensed, but he sat next to her with a sweet smile on his face,
"How was the lesson?" he asked.
"It was—" she looked around at her fellow students who were struggling to even walk out, and some had to lean on another for support. It was a rough class, but he was still an excellent instructor. So flow said, "I think it went well."
Veil blinked in surprise at her answer, then he grinned.
"I was surprised... You take direction so well," he noted, looking at her as if he just gave the highest compliment imaginable.
She turned to him and replied,
"I fought in ALPHA before coming here... I had no choice but to learn to follow orders well."
"Oh, okay," he responded quickly, as if what she said didn't interest him at all.
There was a brief silence.
"I... always wanted to learn swordplay," Flow admitted, while leaning back and closing her eyes, "and I feel like I learned a lot. So thank you."
"Wow... wasn't expecting you to be thanking me, either..." Veil replied, tapping his chin.
"Well, I'm grateful," Flow replied, cracking her eyes open and peeking at him.
"Let's get lunch before class tomorrow," he offered.
Her heart fluttered, and her eyes widened.
"Like a date?" she asked in disbelief.
"No, not like a date. A date." Veil replied, tilting his head, making eye contact, and smiling.
"I... It would be inappropriate to date a teach—"
"I can quit," he said, intercepting her sentence.
"I'll go! I'd love to go with you!" she replied, her voice desperate. She got laughter in response.
"Do you want to go... or no?" he asked once his amusement died down.
His question stunned her into silence. Her eyes searched his, and he stared back unwaveringly. An uncomfortable amount of time passed, but he patiently waited as she thought deeply for an answer.
"... I do," Flow muttered quietly. She gripped her chest, unable to believe it herself.
"Then I'll meet you at your place," he said, while rising to his feet. "See you then." Veil waved once more before leaving.
Flow refused to move until everyone else was gone. Then she stumbled outside with wobbly legs.
She woke up early the next morning to sift through her clothes.
"Has he... been flirting this whole time?" she muttered to herself, while holding a dress against herself in the mirror. She blushed brightly, then tossed that dress aside and held up another one,
"No, that's impossible! There's no way... "
She settled on a sky blue dress with matching accessories.
Flow then applied pink lipstick and put her hair into a high bun.
She waited outside on her porch, feeling anxious and clutching her purse tightly in front of her with both hands.
"Wow," said a familiar voice. She looked up to see Veil approaching with his hands in his pockets.
He was wearing a loose, white button-up shirt and dark blue jeans.
"You went all out, Flow. You must be very excited for our date," he commented once he stood before her. Her cheeks reddened all the way up to her ears.
"Th-that's..." she searched for the words to refute him, but none came out, then he reached out and grabbed her hand, lifting it so she'd step closer.
"You look pretty."
Flow's eyes flung open, and her heart stuttered.
She began mumbling to herself incoherently, with a nervous grin.
Veil smirked and tugged her along to their next destination.