Title: Flare

An anger mark appeared on Lal's forehead as dark aura swirled around her. The aura soon changed into blazing, orange flames, showing her determination to pursuit someone. Sparkling a deadly glare, Lal flashed a menacing grin.

The atmosphere was purely dangerous.

An hour ago

There was a knock on the door before Lal called for the person to enter. When she looked up from her desk, one of her trainee was standing at the side of the door, tensed.

'I-Instructor Lal Mirch, someone told me to lead you to Room 307. I-It's urgent.' The trainee stammered. The way he talked was obvious that he's afraid of Lal. Her strict training and character had drilled fear into them whenever they noticed her presence.

Geez...am I that terrifying to everyone? The female instructor thought while sighing. Well, maybe except for one...She blushed.

'Erm...instructor?' The trainee spoke cautiously. Lal blinked and diverted her attention back into the situation.

'Fine, lead me to the room.' She ordered, changing back into her usual character. The young trainee, of course, led his instructor to that room. The way he walked was so stiff that it was, again, obvious that he's afraid of her. The trainee pictured in his mind as though there was a demon behind him waiting for an opportunity. When they had reached the front door, Lal took a quick glance at it and did not seemed to recognise the room. However, since it was urgent, she did not hesitate to enter the room. Lal twisted the doorknob and took a step in.

In an instant, a bucket of water fell onto her head with a loud thud, followed by a splash of water, causing Lal's midnight blue hair and cape to be soaked. The female instructor was startled by the sudden prank. To make matters worse, the room was empty and dusty, which means that it was all a lie. Her confusion immediately changed to anger.

'Eh? What? Colonnello didn't informed me about this. I...GYAA!' The trainee panicked and sprinted off. Lal gritted her teeth and cursed Colonnello for his childish prank. She decided not to let this matter make her lose her cool, so she pushed the humiliating situation to the back of her mind and went back to her room.

After drying her hair and cape, Lal stared at a pile of documents and facepalmed. She was not in the mood to complete any of those, so she decided to go to her private training room to have a timeout. No one knew about that place except for the one time where Lal was spotted by Colonnello. Thinking about him made the instructor blushed again. Almost immediately, the images of her being knocked by a bucket flashed in front of her, diminishing her feelings for that arcobaleno.

'Hmph! Who would care for that idiot.' Lal pouted, facing at the other direction. Once she had arrived, she gazed suspiciously at the door. No. To be more specific, the object behind it even though she could not really see it. Twisting the door knob, she forcefully pushed it opened without entering.

There was an awkward silence before Lal sweatdropped. What am I doing?...I guess Colonnello wouldn't go that far, Lal thought, strolling into the training grounds.

'!' Upon entering, she felt a string-like object touching her ankle as she pushed against it. Lal grinned while moving to a corner swiftly. As she expected, a bucket dropped from-somewhere-above. However, the only difference was that there was no water in it. Feeling satisfied, Lal turned away and shifted down her goggles to prepare for training.

In a split second, an object fell from the same spot. Thanks to the instructor's advanced goggles, she detected it earlier and dodged over before history repeated itself.

'Colonnello...' She murmured in a dark tone. Her top priority was to search everywhere and anywhere for him, the ''prankster''. She sprinted off to the first location, Mafia Land.

Meanwhile, Colonnello was sitting under a tree, gazing at Falco swooshing past the fluffy clouds and riding the wind. Laying back against the tree trunk, he listened to the wind whistle across the vast scape of green. It was not long when he heard a commotion outside the apartment.

'Eh? The tormentor is around this area?' A trainee whinced.

'Yes, and someone told me that she's searching for-' Another trainee replied, stop dead halfway when he noticed a pair of eyes glaring coldly at him. The other trainee gasped and cautiously turned behind, praying hard that it was not what he thought. He completely froze when he saw instructor Lal Mirch. He followed his instincts, grabbed his partner with one hand and zoomed across the path as though there was no tomorrow.

What is wrong with them? Am I really that frightening? Lal sighed. The truth was, the icy glare that they saw was their own imagination. She did not even glare.

Seeing this from afar, Colonnello can't help but cracked a smirk. As expected of my Lal, kora. He continued watching the trainees run in amusement. When he realised that his former instructor was no longer at the same spot, he gave a slight gasp and immediately turned sideway.

'There you are, you stupid ex-student!' Lal snapped while sending a flying kick from beside, which Colonnello managed to stop it in time with one hand.

'Didn't I told you not to take off your eyes off your opponents? Have you been slacking off?' She continued to bash a few punches and kicks rapidly while he prevented getting hit easily with his reflexes. Amidst all these, Colonnello could notice a very faint smile on Lal's face despite her giving an emotionless expression.

It had been a while since they came across each other after Collonnello took charge of the training ground behind Mafia Land. In truth, they had been lonely not being able to meet each other for months and were expressing loneliness in their own way. Not giving any warning, Lal raised her hand and sent 13 fan smacks on Colonnello's face for his naivety, which caught him by surprise. Doing a backspin, Lal focused all her strength on her fist to prepare for a finishing blow. She hastened forward and finally thrusted it towards Colonnello. The impact caused a light gush of wind to sweep across their faces, over the green scape of land.

'I haven't been slacking off, kora.' Colonnello spoke, tilting his head upwards while grinning a mischievous smile. His hands had caught her fists. However, the great impact forced him to shift behind slightly, scratching the ground. Despite being amazed by his ability to stop the attack without getting hurt, Lal still put on a grim expression.

'Heh! You have done well.' The female instructor told in a tone of satisfactory. Just when she was withdrawing her hand, she felt his grip tightened. Colonnello pulled Lal towards him, wrapping his arms around her waist and whispered.

'You made me wait, kora.'

Lal's ruby eyes widened, astounded by the sudden embrace. Every word that he said were repeated in her mind. A breeze, as though playing along with the mood, brushed passed them, allowing their hair to sway gently.

'...' Lal was speechless. She wanted to push him back but failed to do so. It's as though her strength was being absorbed by the warm embrace. Although she cursed herself silently for being ''weak'', deep down, she actually wished for it to last forever.

Eventually, Collonnello loosened his grip and grinned gleefully at her. Avoiding eye contact, Lal turned to the other direction. Her face was blushing so furiously that she hoped colonnello did not noticed it.

'I hate you.' Lal said in a stiffened voice, which made Colonnello chuckled.

'Hate is an emotion Lal expressed to someone whom she couldn't resist, kora.' He smirked, leaning his back against hers.

Before he completely turned his back, Colonnello noticed an adorable smile on her face.

Ayano: Owari! Thanks for reading. Lal obviously forgot her purpose on coming to Mafia Land XD ...but that doesn't matter. I hoped you enjoyed reading this as much as I wrote. Reviews are welcomed!