Tournament

"Well done Emily." Auralia exclaimed as the tired girl walked over to her. "I'm proud of you."

Emily smiled, taking the water bottle and towel Auralia had been holding out for her. "Thanks Coach…"

Auralia could see the disappointment in Emily's eyes but couldn't blame her. The girl had lost her final match.

"Don't worry about it." Auralia said, pulling the girl into a side hug. "You did pretty well out there. The match was quite never-raking. I'm sure there'll be scouts looking for you."

"Emily Hastion." A voice called out.

The two turned to look at who was calling out the girl's name to find them looking at a woman in a black suit.

"Yes, that's me." Emily murmured.

"My name is Christina Jameson. Head Coach of M University." The woman said, holding out a hand. "I was impressed by your performance and would like to discuss some things with you."

Emily turned to look at Auralia in surprise. Auralia smiled knowingly, having seen Coach Jameson eyeing Emily earlier.

"Go ahead. I need to go check on the boys' matches." Auralia said, patting the younger girl's back. "You know where to find us when you're done."

Emily nodded, hurrying off to go talk to the coach about joining M University's BJJ team and maybe getting a scholarship. Auralia meanwhile walked a few meters away to where Alexander was standing watching the boys' matches.

It had been a week since the awkward family dinner, but surprising Auralia and Alexander had kept constant contact with each other. Auralia felt it was mostly due to Alexander wanting to come to the tournament.

"How are the matches going?" Auralia asked as she stood next to Alexander.

He lowered his sunglasses and stared at Auralia. "I have no idea. It just looks like a tumble of bodies to me."

"I guess that's true. BJJ is a little different from other martial arts seeing there is not punching or kicking." Auralia chuckled. "You can't really tell who's winning unless you have a keen eye."

"So, who's winning then Miss Expert?" Alexander murmured, leaning closer to Auralia.

Auralia looked over at the match before them. It seemed the guys on top had the advantage, but Auralia noticed the slight moments of the guy below. 

Auralia smiled, knowing the move the kid was going to pull. "I'd say the kid at the bottom will win this round."

Alexander looked at her surprised. "Really?"

"Yip…See the way he's moving his legs?" Auralia pointed out just as the kid made his move, flipping the other kid.

"I see…" Alexander murmured. "Guess you'll have to teach me."

"You really want to learn?" Auralia asked, raising an eyebrow. "I won't go easy on you."

"I am being serious and don't worry about going easy on me." Alexander smirked.

Auralia nodded in understanding. "Alright, I guess I could teach you a thing or two. Just remember my students take priority over you."

"Wow, you know how to cut a man deep." Alexander exclaimed, clenching his chest as if in pain. "No wonder your students were surprised we were dating." 

"So, that's why the Drama King wanted to come." Auralia rolled her eyes. "But serious that's not the reason they're surprised."

"It isn't?"

"Yeah. It's probably because the guys I dated before were athletes." Auralia explained.

And dating wasn't happening with all the problems the dojo was facing. I had no time for that, but Alexander doesn't need to know that part. Auralia thought to herself.

"That makes a lot more sense." Alexander mused. "But why agree to marry me if I'm not your type?"

"Let's just say it was a favor to your mother to thank her for helping me reconnect with my family." Auralia sighed, using the reason Maria and her had come up with a few weeks back.

"I see…" Alexander said with a blank look on his face.

"And you? What's your reason for agreeing?" Auralia asked.

Auralia didn't want Alexander to think too deeply about her answer and ask more questions so decided to direct the question at him instead.

"Well, I guess I have the same reason. My mother is the reason I can do acting so agreeing to this was kind of my thank you to her." Alexander explained. "Also having you around has it's perks."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Alexander smirked. "I've noticed a decrease in people asking me out since everything came out about us dating."

"So, what I'm your woman repellent now?" Auralia teased.

Alexander smiled. "I don't think you can complain about it. I recall someone saying they were my knight in shining armor. Aren't you supposed to protect me from harm."

"Alright, my damsel in distress. I will continue to protect you as a knight should." Auralia teased.

Alexander was about to respond when someone suddenly called out to Auralia.

"Coach!!"

The two turned to see Emily running towards them with the biggest smile on her face. When she got to them, she jumped into Auralia's open arms and cried.

"Coach! I got it. I got the scholarship." The girl cried in joy. "I can really go to college."

Auralia smiled at the girl, hugging her tightly. "I'm so proud of you kiddo. I knew you could do it."

They pulled around and Emily looked up at Auralia. "I'm really thankful to you Coach. You really helped me."

Auralia patted the girl on the head. "Of course. Now you just need to work hard."

Emily nodded before running off to tell the other students the exciting news. Auralia turned to look at Alexander who had a weird expression on his face.

"What now?"

"Oh nothing…" Alexander shook his head. "I just suddenly remembered we're getting engaged tomorrow."

Auralia was confused. "What?"

"Your students? Are you going to celebrate tonight?"

"Why you want an invitation to that too?" Auralia smirked. 

"Yes." Alexander answered seriously.

"Alright but don't complain about the food. We're ordering some cheap takeaways."