When Helia arrives at the training grounds, she notices that Toji is already there, standing in the center of the room.

He seems to be engaged in a few light warm-up exercises, stretching and limbering his muscles in preparation for their training session.

As she enters the training grounds, Toji looks up and notices her approach. He stops his warm-up and turns to face her.

"You're on time Helia. Good." He comments, his voice neutral. His gaze rakes over Helia once, assessing her presence.

He watches as she makes her way to the center of the training grounds, moving with fluid grace. Once she's standing close enough, he speaks up again.

"I hope you're ready. We won't be going easy today."

She nods, determined not to make a fool out of herself. "I am."

His attention shifts to her attire. He raises an eyebrow at her maid uniform, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"I'm surprised you're training in that." He remarks, gesturing to her outfit. "Won't it be too restricting? Might want to change into something more practical."

Helia looks away slightly embarrassed. She wishes she could change into something else, but expect her pyjamas, she doesn't have any other clothes to wear.

"I... don't have anything else to wear."

He smirks, his amused expression unwavering. He crosses his arms and looks at her up and down, clearly enjoying her moment of embarrassment.

She wants to pierce his eyes for the way he's looking at her right now.

"Well, I guess we'll have to do with it then. But don't complain later if it's too uncomfortable."

She nods, it's not like her maid outfit is too restricting anyway, it was made for the maids to be able to clean up, she sure will be able to move freely.

Toji finally decides to start the training session, and his first question is about her level of experience.

"I want to assess your skill level first." He says, looking at her intently. "Do you have any basic knowledge of fighting? Any self-defense techniques or experience in martial arts?"

Her embarrassment only increases but she keeps her head up and answers. "No, I don't. Why do you think I wanted to train in the first place?"

He chuckles, his amusement still evident. "I figured as much. Alright then, we're starting from the very beginning. You've got much to learn, it seems."

His expression turns into a more serious one as he prepares to start her training. He motions for Helia to get into position.

"First things first." He says firmly. "Get into a fighting stance for me. I want to see how you stand before we start."

Helia isn't really sure how a fighting stance is supposed to look so she tries her best. She awkwardly attempts to get into a fighting stance, as Toji observes closely.

However, her awkward and poor attempt makes him laugh loudly, his amused chuckle filling the training grounds.

"Ahahaha!" He exclaims, clearly finding her stance hilarious. "That's the worst stance I've ever seen."

She can fell her cheeks get red because of embarrassment and anger. She gives up her bad fighting stance to straighten up as she speaks loudly.

"I won't be doing this if you make fun of me every two seconds!"

His laughter subsides, though a hint of amusement still sparkles in his eyes. He seems amused by her outburst.

"Alright, alright." He says, lifting a hand in a pacifying gesture. "I didn't mean to laugh. But that stance was really awful. Let's try again, and I'll tell you how to correct it."

Helia isn't sure that she wants to try again, but it would only make Toji happy if she gave up now. So instead, she tries to put herself in a better fighting stance.

Despite her efforts, it's still far from being proper. He visibly holds back laughter, his face contorted into a mixture of amusement and barely suppressed chuckles.

"Still bad. Loosen up your stance a bit, don't stand so stiff. And make sure your weight is positioned properly. Let me help you."

He steps closer to her, correcting her stance with small adjustments.

He guides her feet to the correct placement, correcting the position of her body and shifting her weight to a more balanced position.

"There, like this." He says, his tone more neutral and instructive now. "You need to have your feet shoulder-width apart, distribute your weight evenly, and keep your knees slightly bent. Don't lock them."

Helia looks at him a bit surprised, she didn't think that he would actually take her training so seriously.

Toji steps back and critically assesses her corrected stance. He nods, approving of the improvement.

"Much better." He comments, his gaze still scrutinizing. "Your balance and position are more stable now. Keep that in mind when engaging in fight. A solid stance is the foundation for effective offense and defense."

He steps a few paces back to create some distance between Helia and him. With a serious expression, he looks at her.

"Alright, now try throwing a punch at me. Let me see what you've got."

She doesn't really know how to punch someone, she had never done it before, but again she tries her best hoping that this time he won't burst out in laughter.

Seeing her trying to throw a punch, Toji visibly suppresses another chuckle, his stoic face barely holding back the amused smirk.

He ducks to effortlessly dodge her punch. He composes himself and looks at Helia with a mix of amusement and disapproval.

"That was weak. You should aim for my torso. And put some power behind your punch. It's like a child's hit. Try again."

[...]

The training session continues for 2 hour or so, with Toji remaining true to his word. He pushes Helia hard, correcting her stances, making her practice basic punches, blocks and dodges.

Despite the harshness of the training, his instructions are clear and precise, and he seems focused on teaching her the fundamentals of fighting.

He gazes over her with a serious expression, the previous amusement now replaced by an air of determination and assessment.

"Alright, enough practice. Let's see what you've learned so far. Try to hit me once."

With those words, Toji gets into a fighting stance, his body in a defensive and prepared position. The challenge is clear in his eyes, silently daring her to take a shot.

She doesn't know if she'll be able to land a punch, but she had surely been waiting for a long time for an excuse to hit him.

She steps into a fighting stance and musters all her strength to throw a punch at Toji.

He dodges her punch with minimal effort, his body shifting just enough to avoid the blow. When her punch misses, Toji tsks, his tone a bit mocking.

"Too slow. You need to be faster." He smirks slightly. "Try again."

Helia wants to wipe this smirk off his face. So, she tries again, faster this time. He observes her improved velocity with a hint of approval, but still manages to easily sidestep the attack.

"Better. You're getting faster. But I said hit me, not miss me. Again."

Her anger increases radically, she's done with his stupid comments. She throws the most powerful punch she can. Her anger fuels her punch, but Toji's reflexes are lightning fast.

With a swift move, he pushes her punch aside and uses the momentum against her, causing her to lose balance and fall to the ground.

Her body hits the ground in a loud thud, and she can feel the back of her head hitting the ground with a sharp pain. Toji stands over Helia, his tone nonchalant.

"You gotta learn to control your anger. It makes you predictable and reckless. That's how you end up on the ground like a fool."

As she lays on the ground catching her breath, he reaches out his hand to offer help.

"That's it for today." He states simply. He stands there, his hand extended, waiting for Helia to take it so he can lift her up.

She looks at his hands for a few seconds, she would love to leave him like that with his hand extended as she gets up. But she thinks that it's only her fault that she's now laying on the floor.

So, she reluctantly takes his hand. His grip is firm as he helps her up to her feet. He easily pulls her back up, seemingly unfazed by her weight even in her disheveled and exhausted state.

He lets go once she's standing on her own. "You still have a long way to go." He says bluntly.

Helia winces and places her hand on her head. She he had hit her head pretty hard, but it seems that it wasn't bleeding.

He notices the movement and the source of her pain. He watches her for a moment, his gaze focused on her injury.

"Looks like you banged your head pretty hard. Doesn't look too serious, though. You'll have a headache for a while, but it'll pass."

Very comforting as always. He could have been less rough with her. It was only her first training session, and he already made her bite the dust.

"I didn't expect you to be this weak either. You throw a punch like a child. At this rate, it'll take you a decade just to land a proper hit." He says while shaking his head.

Helia frowns. "Aren't supposed to encourage me?"

He meets her angry glare with a bemused smirk.

"And here I thought I was encouraging you." He responds dryly. He leans back slightly, his arms folded across his chest.

"But fine, I'll encourage you even more. Keep training, keep pushing yourself harder, and maybe someday you won't punch like a weakling."

She scoffs, he was always being so arrogant, as if he was the best in the world and had no flaws. Helia could find him plenty of flaws if he needed to be put back in his place.

"Wow thank you for this outstanding encouragement!"

His smirk widens at her sarcastic comment.

"You're welcome." He leans back against a nearby wall, his gaze flickering over her with a hint of mockery.

As he sees her glare he continues. "What do you expect me to do? Shower you with praises and pat your head when you can't even land a hit?"

She thinks that he's right. He's an annoying prick who apparently isn't affected by human emotions.

He doesn't care if what he does or says hurt people. What was she expecting coming from him?

"If you're expecting sweetness and sunshine, you've come to the wrong person." He says in a serious tone.

Of course, Helia knew that. But even with his shitty attitude and stupid comments, he won't make her give up on training because that would only prove him that he was right to think that she's weak.

But she's not weak and she will show him. Even if it takes her months to land a proper punch, she will make sure that it hurts very much when she'll hit him in the face.

"I know. I must go now. Goodbye sir."

She still called him 'sir' sometimes to keep some distance between the two of them. To let him know that she's not willing to be his friend. Not that he wants her to be anyway.

When she turns to leave the training grounds, his voice cuts through the air, stopping her in her tracks. "Hey."

He crosses his arms, a mixture of indifference and curiosity in his eyes.

"When it's just us, stop with the 'sir' crap. Just call me Toji."

Toji's casual declaration catches her off guard. He stands there, his arms crossed but his expression more relaxed than usual.

She doesn't know what to think of it, she'd rather not having to call him at all.

"No. Thank you."

She expected him to get mad at her, but he did the opposite. Instead of yelling at her, he speaks one last time his tone condescending.

"As you wish. Oh, right and don't forget to clean my toilets tomorrow and they better glimmer like newly polished silver."

Helia clenches her fists and refrains herself from giving Toji the finger.

He watches her leave with a slight smirk on his face. Despite her annoyance, he seems to be enjoying her bristling reactions.

When Helia is out of the training grounds, he mutters to himself in a low, amused tone.

"Can't wait to see how long that attitude lasts."

[...]

When she's back to the maid compound, she feels the exhaustion from Toji's intense training session setting in.

Her muscles ache, her hands are sore, and her head is still throbbing from the fall she took earlier.

She even feels the scars on her back aching, as a reminder that even if Toji helped her with training today, he's still a bad person.

Given how exhausted she is, the moment she collapses onto her bed, she almost instantly falls into a deep sleep.

The events of the day, the hard training session, and the residual pain in her head all fade into the background as she succumbs to sleep's embrace.

•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•

Hey! How are you doing?

So that was their first training session! Hope you enjoyed it, let me know as always how you found this chapter!

See you in the next one!

Sarah ☆