For a few moments, both parties looked at each other, Midory was the first to act, bowing her body, waving.
"Her disciple pays homage to her mentor" she spoke.
Eros blushed moving one of his hands.
"Don't be so formal, do it when we are training, right now we are two acquaintances who see each other again" said the older one lightly, his posture leaned back raising his chest, he looked excited, the young woman recovered her posture nodding.
Midory at that moment was at peace, just a few moments before she had sorrow in her heart, but now that she was with her master, she was filled with indescribable happiness.
She had convinced herself to try it, she believed that her teacher would support her.
"So Midory, I wanted to tell you the address where you can find me, if you have any problem..." before finishing the sentence the young woman bowed again, taking the elder by surprise.
"This disciple wishes to apologize for her actions yesterday, I paid her kindness with contempt, I beg your forgiveness" she commented, closing her eyes, she couldn't ask for her Master's help knowing what she had done, she felt uncomfortable and wanted to remedy it .
With an indescribable look, his mentor spoke.
"Your teacher doesn't hold a grudge against you, get up, what you did yesterday didn't make me angry, you are free to make the decision you want" he said trying to alleviate the guilt.
The minor refused to move.
"I appreciate your leniency, but I have learned from my mistakes, I was disrespectful in refusing your help and even so, you gave me a gift that I will not be able to repay you, because of that, I would like you to allow me to request a selfish wish from you as respect for your solidarity "Eros's face widened in surprise, he did not expect such a change of attitude from his disciple, although he knew her very little, he thought he could understand the minor, now he realized that he had been very naive to think that
"Speak, what do you want to order" he commented recovering his composure, his face was serious, expecting what he would hear.
"I want the master to train me in his fighting styles, I know that it goes against my actions from yesterday, also that I cannot use techniques, but I have decided to follow that path after thinking about it, I want to fight even if it is impossible" she answered kneeling down, this time Eros could no longer remain in doubt, he wanted to know why his disciple had such thoughts.
"Before I give you my answer, tell me one thing, why did you change your mind?" She asked her with narrow eyes, she was curious about that fact.
Had he changed his mind? It seemed as if she was hiding something else.
The minor thought about her answer, she wanted to be honest, but talking openly about how she felt was difficult for her.
"Today I learned that I have made many mistakes, I would like to remedy one of them while I can" he commented avoiding saying more. A look of understanding crossed Eros's eyes.
"So you are ashamed of the way you have lived" considered the eldest, he understood that feeling, he had said something similar when he was young, he could empathize with the minor, helping her was possible.
He placed his hands behind his back and nodded.
"Midory, I see that you have learned something very important, if this motivates you to continue, I am willing to train you, let's start" with a gesture both entered a barrier that the major had created.
No one who didn't feel the energy would notice the barrier and to feel a barrier they had to be within a meter of his location. They were safe.
The girl's eyes shone with complex emotions, they had moved until they were in the shade of a tree, she put her bag aside standing in front of her teacher.
"This apology is motivated to achieve it, even if it is difficult, I hope you can guide me with your wisdom" the serious tone in the young woman's voice made the older man sigh.
So much respect for him moved him, his perception of Midory improved, he saw her as someone capable.
"In exchange for your favor of being trained by me, I will take care of you, now listen" her authority was expressed in the following words, the young woman paid attention.
"I know you want to train my fighting style, under your conditions, it's the only way to have an offense, however, learning a style requires a lot of effort" Midory nodded.
"I understand" she said, Eros smiled and without being able to avoid it he caressed Midory's head, the young woman was embarrassed although she didn't say anything.
After everyone expressed their concerns and clarified the risks, they began the training.
With better energy, Midory stretched her body on orders from the elder.
In a few seconds, the atmosphere became heavy.
Both of their faces were rigid, they seemed to have complex ideas.
Eros imagined that it would be difficult to train a normal person in fighting styles, but the minor bordered on that line.
Starting the stretches I was already grimacing with pain, sometimes I had to stop to breathe.
He tried to convince himself that this was normal for someone who didn't exercise.
However, the sigh he let out caused his annoyance to be reflected.
The young woman understood what her master might be thinking and lowered her head in shame, she wanted to give up, but she had agreed to train in this way.
The problem was simple: Midory was lousy at physical activities.
With sports she was one of the worst students in her grade, surpassing even the boy sitting next to her who was always sick.
Jumping reddened his face.
Running made her breath hard.
Stretching was a wincing contest.
A disaster in all aspects, and even so, he had to fight against his worst flaw to improve.
Both of their moods remained bad during the stretches, after which Eros ordered them to first run around the meadow.
"Mastering a style implies having a strong body" the young woman agreed to her mentor's words, trusting that not getting tired inside a barrier could remedy her embarrassing start.
The barriers were convenient for her.
Eros was distracted in his thoughts leaving Midory alone, he was devising a way to apply the styles on someone who will not use the energy, however, a noise distracted him, the older man looked at Midory who was on the floor.
His expression was confusion.
"Why did you fall?" she asked her calmly, he didn't think it was something bad, surely it had been an accident.
"I tripped" she said stammering.
A cold wind passed by the back of Eros.
"Did you trip? How old are you?" she complained the most in her mind, she took a deep breath letting out the bad thoughts.
"Keep running" she mentioned wanting to ignore what happened, the young woman accepted embarrassed, she stood up wiping the dust off her uniform and continued the exercise.
Eros returned to his ramblings.
"Perhaps I should use the special techniques…" A noise stopped the older man's thoughts, he looked back at his disciple who was lying on the ground.
"Again, does she have atrophied muscles? Why does she fall over? She takes being bad at sports very seriously, by the Saints!" questioned the eldest mentally, he counted to ten to avoid screaming in frustration.
"Now what happened?" the tone of her voice had risen a few notches, showing her annoyance.
"My feet slipped," she whispered, looking away.
The older man's mouth opened, he couldn't believe that something that should be easy would be complicated by something like that, it seemed ridiculous.
"Get up and continue" she said in a serious tone, watching the minor with avid eyes, Midory paid attention with nerves in her body, that they will look at her did not help.
He took a few steps before falling again.
This time Eros raised his hands in surrender, turned around and began to stamp his feet in annoyance.
"Damn it! Why is it always the same?! Are we reenacting a comical scene?! I want a normal training! For the Saints!" shouted at the top of his lungs the eldest looking at the sky, he dropped two tears of frustration before kneeling on the floor, disappointment invaded him cursing, he hit the ground with one of his hands.
Midory saw the scene confused, she had expected to be yelled at for her incompetence, but all she received was a scene of her teacher complaining in a childish way, this change of environment made the minor laugh, her teacher's tone of voice, the exaggeration in his expressions and the way he moved his body seemed very funny to him.
From giggles to guffaws, any embarrassment he had was gone, replaced by comforting grace.
Unable to stop, the minor was still trapped between laughter, she covered her face hoping to stop the noise she was making, however, it continued.
The eldest stopped his blows when he was aware of the ridicule he was making, taking a deep breath and calming his mind he managed to calm down, he observed his disciple making fun of him, he sighed before approaching, he had a neutral expression, difficult to decipher.
Midory stopped laughing when her mentor walked towards her, nerves invaded her body thinking that she would be scolded, she closed her eyes waiting for the sermon.
"On your feet, the training is not over yet" upon hearing her teacher's words, the young woman opened her eyes, a hand stretched out waiting for her to take it, she observed the older man's face who had a slight smile and his gaze expressed warmth.
They maintained eye contact for a few moments.
"I'm sorry about before, I got carried away by my frustration that things went well, if I really want to help you, it's better if I train with you, I promise not to let you fall" a wink in the eye accompanied that smile, that distinctive gesture made Midory felt different, someone was willing to put himself in his place, no one had done it before, he always had to give up because of that, however, his teacher was someone unique, he wanted to continue despite everything.
A look of gratitude expressed the eyes of the minor taking her mentor's hand.
She felt valued, comforted by a friendly hand, the doubts she had dissipated the more she squeezed that skin that held her.
Both began to run, each lost in their thoughts.
Midory tried to control the movement of her feet, but in an oversight, she almost fell, however, some arms held her, the younger recovered her balance thanking the older, they continued the exercise.
For half an hour the young woman stumbled several times and at all times her teacher protected her from getting hurt, both had gotten used to it, they smiled every time it happened, trying again
They talked during training to distract themselves, making Midory's nerves lessen, Eros tried to make the minor laugh, who without realizing it, had stopped falling.
When they had spent an hour running, they stopped, this time Eros ordered Midory to run alone.
The young woman fearfully accepted, taking a deep breath, she started walking, then she took a slight jog until running was the only thing left for her, she turned around looking for the eldest.
"Everything is fine, however you do it is fine, I believe in you" yelled her master waving his hands, a smile furrowed Midory's lips, letting those feelings fill her heart.
Her fear diminished, the minutes passed without her falling, happiness was reflected in her eyes, she heard her master's cries of victory.
"I did it, I really did it" Midory whispered happily.
"All thanks to him" she said to herself filling herself with courage.
Eros smiled into the distance.
Next Chapter: Incomprehensible Lessons.