Having fun?"

Her heart skips a beat as a voice suddenly breaks the silence in the room. She turns around abruptly, her grip tightening on the sword in her hand.

Standing at the entrance of the weapon room is Toji, his arms crossed, and a smirk on his face. He leans against the doorway, watching Helia with a mixture of amusement and curiosity.

As Helia realizes who it is, her heart rate slowly returns to normal. However, she can't help but feel a flicker of annoyance when she sees the smirk on Toji's face.

She straightens up and returns his gaze with a glare, but she lowers the sword, keeping a wary distance between them two.

Toji lifts his eyebrow as Helias glares at him, his smirk widening. He steps closer, the sound of his footsteps echoing faintly in the room.

"Is that how you treat the man who just saved your ass? With that nasty look?" He asks, his tone casually sarcastic.

"I've already thanked you for saving my life, sir." She says in a tone less polite than she had hoped.

He moves closer, his strides casual and relaxed, his gaze fixed on Helia. He closes the distance, stopping a few steps away, still sporting that irritating smirk on his face.

"Yeah, you did." He concedes. "But that doesn't mean you need to look so pissed off all the time." He crosses arms over his chest, his eyes intently studying her.

Helia quickly puts back the sword to where it originally was. He chuckles softly, his eyes flitting from the sword to Helia and back again.

"Oh, were you playing pretend with that sword?" He teases, his tone laced with mockery. "Pretending to be a knight in some fairy tale?"

Helia can feel her embarrassment and anger rise. Why won't he just leave her alone? "No, I wasn't!"

He lets out a low chuckle, enjoying the fact that he's managed to get under her skin. He studies her expression, noticing the slight hint of embarrassment in her eyes.

"Oh? Really?" He taunts, his tone mocking but playful. "Then what were you doing, hm? Just admiring the pretty sword?"

He circles around her, his steps light and deliberate, his eyes studying her.

She can feel her anger rising. Whenever he's around her, it seems like she can't control her anger. And this time she doesn't keep her voice polite when she answers him.

"I was just cleaning the room."

He raises his eyebrows, surprised that she didn't call him 'sir' this time. But he continues to move around Helia, his gaze locked with hers, his smirk still intact.

"Oh, cleaning the room?" He replies, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "And picking up swords and wielding them like a knight is part of your cleaning routine, is that it?"

She shots him a dark glare. Why does he care about what she's doing anyway? Doesn't he have better things to do than pissing her off?

He stops his circling. He notices the anger in her expression, but he seems unfazed.

He continues, his tone somewhat mocking. "Wanting to be a knight, huh? Wanna learn how to use that sword properly, little maid?"

Of course, she wanted to be able to use a weapon after last night's attack. She wanted to be able to defend herself alone, without anyone coming to save her.

But she doesn't answer him, he would probably just make fun of her anyway or find it ridiculous that a maid would want to learn how to fight.

He studies her for a moment, his gaze lingering on her face, as if he's trying to read her thoughts.

"You want to learn how to fight huh? Defend yourself, protect yourself from harm?"

"I won't answer your questions." She spats.

He smiles victorious, it was clear that she wanted to learn how to wield a sword or she would have just said that she didn't want to.

"Ah, so you do want to learn how to fight?" He says, eyeing her with interest. "What if I was to teach you?" He says, his words hanging in the air as he waits for her reaction.

She scoffs and raises her eyebrows. "I didn't say I wanted to learn how to fight and even if I wanted to, I would not do it with you."

She'd rather die during a possible next attack because she doesn't know how to use a sword than having to train with him. She doesn't even know why he would want to help her.

At first his smirk drops replaced by a frown. But he quickly regains his calm and respond in a bitter tone.

"Why wouldn't you want to train with me? I'm an expert swordsman, you know. Why don't you take advantage of the opportunity to learn from the best? Or are you scared, little maid? You should be grateful that I offer you my help after that you nicely got me locked up for weeks."

She smiles as he reminds her of his imprisonment, the thought making her feel nostalgic.

She was very proud of that and those weeks when he was locked up were actually the best weeks she had had in a long time.

However, she thinks about his offer. It's true that it is very tempting to learn how to defend herself and no one else would ever propose that to a maid like herself.

But at the same time, she really doesn't want to train with him, she would be fine with anyone but him.

"Why would I want to train with you. How do I know you won't try to kill me during training?"

He throws his head back and lets out a loud, hearty laugh. He seems genuinely amused by her accusation, which only increases her anger.

"Is that what you think of me?" He replies, still chuckling slightly. "That I'll just try to murder you during a training session? You really think so lowly of your savior?"

Yeah, right, her 'savior'. If he hadn't been ordered by his father to clean the maid compound of any intruders, he would have never saved her.

"Although, the thought of killing you is pretty exciting, I promise you that I won't do that." He adds.

He really knows how to comfort people... But she can't blame him for having dark ideas, Helia herself was thinking about hurting him every time she saw him.

"And you would train me just like that? Without asking anything in return?"

"Well, nothing in this world is really free, is it?" His tone slightly mocking. "So how about we make a little deal?"

Of course, Helia knew that he wouldn't offer his help out of the goodness of his heart. She doesn't say anything, she just glares at him, waiting for him to propose his 'little' deal.

"Alright, then listen up. Here's the deal. In return for me training you, you will clean my toilets twice a day, without complaint, and you will never refuse an order from me. Can you handle that, little maid?"

Helia restrains a laugh at those absurd conditions. "Cleaning your toilets twice a day? That's ridiculous they don't need to be cleaned that much."

"Oh, is that so?" He replies, his tone lightly mocking. "Well, I like my toilets sparkling clean. That's the deal, take it or leave it."

If only she could slap him right now and erase that stupid smirk of his, it would really calm her nerves.

Why was he asking something so ridiculous and useless when he could have asked for anything else? She stays silent, slowly starting to consider this deal.

"Come on now, you want to learn how to fight, don't you? Learn how to defend yourself so you don't have to rely on anyone? It's a small price to pay for lessons from a master, isn't it?"

She rolls her eyes at his confidence. But he isn't wrong, she really wants to be able to defend herself.

She's suddenly reminded of her mission to spy on Toji. Training with him could be beneficial. She could gather information on him to report it to Naobito and at the same time receive some training to defend herself.

And even if the idea of cleaning his toilets twice a day doesn't really enchant her, it would still give her more time to spy on him and find things about him in his room without raising any suspicions.

When she thinks about his offer in this way it's more appealing.

She's extracted from her thoughts when he speaks up. "So, have you made up your mind?"

She hesitates for a few seconds before answering. "Alright. I accept your help but only if you promise to train me properly. Don't play any tricks on me."

His smirk turns into a full-blown grin. She just hopes that she didn't make a mistake by accepting this.

"You'll clean my toilets twice a day, and I'll teach you how to fight. No tricks, no bullshit, just a straightforward agreement. Deal?"

He extends his hand, waiting for Helia to shake it. She looks at his hand with disgust, she doesn't want to have to shake his hand to seal the deal.

But seeing that he doesn't take his hand away, she reluctantly shakes it.

"Deal."

He looks satisfied with the agreement. He grips her hand firmly, sealing the deal.

"Good, then it's settled. You're officially my trainee, which means you'll be my personal little cleaner, and you'll learn how to fight. Exciting times ahead, huh?"

She takes her hand away from his grip, restraining herself from wiping her hand on her clothes.

He continues, unbothered by her action. "We'll train three times a week, at night, starting in two days. Be there at 9 sharp. And don't be late, I don't like to be kept waiting. I'm a busy man, you know."

She sighs, she's already regretting this. "Alright I got it. You can go now. I have to finish cleaning the room."

She just wants him and his stupid smirk out of her sight. God, she hates that smirk.

He chuckles at her irritation, seemingly enjoying the fact that he gets under her skin so easily.

"As you wish, little maid." He says, still smirking. He gives her a mocking salute, then turns around and gets ready to leave the room.

But he stops at the door, his hand on the doorknob, turning to look back at Helia.

"You know, I just realized I don't even know your name." His tone curious. "Seems a bit strange, considering we run into each other quite often these days. So, what's your name, little maid?"

She mutters. "Helia."

"Helia, huh?" He repeats, testing the name on his tongue. He puts on that annoying smirk on his face and adds.

"See you in two days then, Helia."

With that, he turns and exits the room, the door closing behind him quietly. She hates the way her name sounds in his mouth, and she wishes that he will never pronounce it again.

She goes back to cleaning the room, still frustrated and angry at him. She can't help it; his mere presence is annoying. As she continues to clean angrily, scrubbing she mutters under her breath.

"Asking me to clean his toilets twice a day. What is he?! A child?!"

Her anger and frustration persist, but in the middle of her resentment, she reminds herself of the reason she agreed to Toji's deal in the first place.

She didn't accept it because she wanted to train with him, but rather because she sees it as a necessary part of her mission, a means to an end.

She takes a deep breath, reminding herself to keep her emotions in check. She has a job to do, and letting her anger get the better of her won't help her accomplish it.

[...]

As she finishes to clean the room, an idea crosses her mind, comforting her a little.

Maybe during training, she could unfortunately and without doing it on purpose at all, hit Toji in a very sensitive area.

The idea of causing him a bit of discomfort, even for a moment, provides her with a small dose of revenge for the frustration and humiliation he's put her through.

It would probably not match the pain she felt while getting whipped, but it was better than nothing.

She gets out of the room, closes the door behind her, a small smile on her face as she mentally pictures the potential accident she might cause during training.

She tries to hold onto that shred of satisfaction as she moves on to her next task, still determined to make the best of this frustrating situation and find a way to get back at Toji for his arrogance and mockery.

•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•

Hi! How are you doing?

Just as Toji said there are going to be exciting times ahead! Let me know how you find this chapter!

See you in the next one!

Sarah ☆