Two weeks have passed. Helia goes about her daily routine, when she notices something different in the air today.

The compound seems to be buzzing with activity, whispers and hushed conversations filling the hallways. The atmosphere is tense, as if something important is about to happen.

She makes her way through the corridors, when she comes across Anna, who seems unusually busy and distracted.

Helia approaches her and asks what's going on, curious about the strange atmosphere that envelops the compound.

Anna pauses for a moment and responds to her question, a hint of excitement in her voice.

"Ah, you didn't hear? Gojo Satoru is coming today. That's why everyone's so tense."

Helia seems surprised, she hadn't heard about this. "Really?"

Anna continues, her voice animated with the information she's sharing.

"Yes! And you know, he's not just visiting for a meeting this time. He's going to spend the night here and stay for the next day. I won't be surprised if we see him wandering around the estate, checking things out."

Helia wonders if she's going to run into him again. A small part of her hoped she would.

[...]

Later that day, Helia makes her way toward Toji's room to clean his toilet for the second time that day. She can't help but feel a mixture of annoyance and resignation.

Another day, another round of dealing with Toji's messes. She mentally prepares herself for the task at hand, vowing to get it done as quickly as possible so she can move on to her other duties.

She knocks firmly on Toji's door, the sound echoing through the hallway. There's a moment of silence before she hears his voice.

"What is it?" He calls out, a hint of irritation in his tone.

She sighs. "It's me, Helia, I'm here to...clean your toilets."

"Ah, it's you again." He replies with a hint of amusement. "Come on in. You know the drill."

Helia enters the room and make her way to the toilet, but she can't help but notice Toji hastily concealing something on his desk.

The quick movement and the way he tries to hide the object catch her attention, making her curious about what he's hiding.

He leans back in his chair, a hand on his chin, watching her as she begins the task of cleaning his toilet.

His eyes follow her as she works, he can't help but find amusement in her obvious disdain for the task.

"You know, you don't have to look so miserable every time you come here to clean my toilet." He remarks with a hint of mockery.

Here we go. This time she will not let him mess with her. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know I had to radiate with joy while cleaning your toilets."

He rolls his eyes at her sarcastic response, a smirk on his face. He leans back in his chair, crossing his arms across his chest, clearly enjoying the banter.

"Yeah, well, a little appreciation every now and then would be nice." He retorts jokingly. "I mean, I'm giving you the honor of cleaning something I use every day. You should be honored."

She rolls her eyes at his arrogance. "Oh, I'm so honored to be cleaning your toilets Great Sir."

He lets out a snort at her continued sarcasm, clearly amused by her attitude. He shakes his head.

"You know, for someone who's supposed to be serving me, you have a real smartass mouth on you." He remarks, his tone laced with mock irritation.

She ignores his remark once again and finishes cleaning the toilets. In a few minutes she's done and picks up her cleaning supplies.

"Well, thanks for the sparkling clean throne." He remarks amused.

She rolled her eyes. He always had to make stupid comments every time she cleans his toilets as if the task itself wasn't already annoying enough.

[...]

She had just finished her report to Naobito. As usual she didn't have much to say except for the moment when she saw Toji hiding something.

She felt like it wasn't enough, but Naobito seemed satisfied.

Now, Helia makes her way to the training grounds, the air is cool and crisp.

The compound is relatively quiet at this late hour, with most of the other members of the clan having retired for the night.

When she arrives, Toji is already at the training grounds, engaged in a rigorous training session.

Anger and frustration are etched on his face as he relentlessly goes through his drills. Sweat glistens on his forehead, and his breathing is heavy.

It's clear that something has upset him, making his training even more intense.

He abruptly stops his training as he notices her arrival. He looks at Helia, his eyes narrowing slightly. He nods silently, gesturing for her to come over so they can begin their training session.

"This fucking meeting was a load of bullshit." He grumbles. "So, today's training is gonna be brutal, no complaints. Got it?"

It's not like every other trainings weren't brutal. But today Toji had this crazy determination in his eyes making her slightly nervous.

"Now let's get this started. We're not stopping until I say so."

[...]

They were training for almost an hour and Toji was indeed way more brutal today, he wasn't holding back at all making it difficult for Helia to keep up. It was like he was trying to kill her.

He was about to throw a punch when the sound of a voice breaks through their focused concentration.

"Having a secret meeting, aren't we?"

Toji freezes mid-motion. He turns towards the entrance of the training grounds, a mixture of wariness and annoyance on his face. He recognizes the speaker instantly.

It's Gojo Satoru, a man he has bad feelings about, his expression is guarded and defensive.

"What are you doing here, Gojo?" Toji asks bluntly, his tone cold.

Helia hadn't recognized his voice immediately, but she did recognize the man when she turned around and saw his face. She was very surprised to see him this late at night.

"Oh, nothing I was just walking around the estate when I heard some noise and decided to check what it was." Gojo says placing his hands in his pockets.

Toji glares at Gojo, clearly none too pleased with the unexpected visit. He crosses his arms across his chest, an air of irritation surrounding him.

"Just taking a walk, huh? More like sticking your nose where it doesn't belong."

Helia had never thought about her and Toji getting caught during training, but she knew that the consequences wouldn't be pleasant.

Maybe she would even get whipped again, and the scars on her back ache at the thought.

Gojo completely ignores Toji and turns his attention to Helia. His usual playful demeanor is tinged with genuine disappointment. He shakes his head, feigning sadness.

"I was really looking forward to having you serve tea again. So, imagine how sad I felt when I didn't see you at the meeting." He sighs.

Helia didn't know what to do. She was facing a very important person. Was she supposed to answer? Apologize? But before she could decide, Gojo starts speaking again.

"What are you two doing here this late at night anyway?"

Gojo's curious eyes flit back and forth between Helia and Toji, his question hanging in the air. Toji's irritation grows. He shoots a sidelong glare at Gojo before answering.

"Training." He answers, not wanting to disclose too much. "It's none of your business."

Helia clenches her fists. He shouldn't have told him that they were training.

What if Gojo tells other people about this? Maybe Toji wouldn't face any consequences but she would be in big trouble.

Gojo's eyes widen in surprise as he looks at her.

"Training?"

He clearly wasn't expecting her to be training with Toji. His expression is a mix of curiosity and puzzlement. Toji, meanwhile, is growing more and more irritated by the minute.

"Yeah, she's training with me." He grumbles. "So what?"

Gojo's laughter fills the air as he looks at Helia. His words are laced with a hint of mockery and arrogance. Helia doesn't know where to look. Is he going to report them?

But his answer surprises her. "Darling, you should have come to me. I can give you a much better training than this brute here. Did he force you?"

Helia knew this wouldn't end well. Rare were the people who could insult Toji and get away with it. So, she tried to calm things down.

"Actually, I'm the one who asked him if he could train me, so it's fine."

That wasn't entirely true, Toji was the one who proposed his help first and she accepted. But a little lie wouldn't hurt if it could calm the situation.

Gojo's eyes flicker between Helia and Toji, a smirk playing on his lips. He continues to chuckle, his laughter clearly designed to get under Toji's skin

"I see." He says, still wearing that smirk. "You asked to train with Mr. Grumpy over here."

Helia was feeling more and more nervous. Gojo wasn't really helping to calm things down. Toji's irritation reaches new heights as he clenches his fists, his patience wearing thin.

"Get the hell out of here Gojo, and if you tell anyone what you saw I'll beat the shit out of you."

Helia was surprised that Toji hadn't already jumped at Gojo's throat. Maybe Gojo was stronger than him or maybe he didn't want any trouble with him.

"Oh, getting protective over your little trainee, huh?" He teased. "Don't worry, my lips are sealed. Your secret is safe with me. I wouldn't want to get my beautiful Helia in trouble."

Now she really doesn't know where to place herself. She felt very embarrassed that he was being flirty like that, especially in front of someone else.

Toji scowls at Gojo's words, his irritation still growing. "Get. Out."

Gojo holds up his hands, feigning innocence. "Relax, tough guy. I'm going, I'm going."

He chuckles as he starts to walk away, but not before turning back to Helia asking her one last thing.

"Helia, are you going to see the fireworks organized by the Zenin clan next week?"

Gojo's question catches her off guard, and she hesitates for a moment before answering.

She hadn't really thought about the upcoming fireworks event. But she knew she couldn't attend it.

"No, I'm not going. Maids are not allowed to see them."

Gojo's eyes widen slightly at her response, a hint of surprise on his face. Toji's expression hardens slightly. He knows the rules and customs of the Zenin clan all too well.

"What?" Gojo exclaims. "What do you mean the maids are not allowed to go see the fireworks? That's ridiculous. Does that mean you've never seen a firework?"

A wave of sadness rushes through her. She had never seen a fireworks display before. The realization of this fact weighs heavy on her, and she shakes her head in response.

"No." She answers quietly. "I've never seen fireworks before."

Gojo is slightly embarrassed as he sees the sad look on her face, he had never meant to make her sad. "I'm sorry to hear this Helia, I'll make sure to take you to one someday."

Toji looks like a could explode at any second. "Piss off."

Gojo sighs and waves Helia goodbye. "See you later, Helia. Have fun with your training."

A heavy silence falls over the training grounds as he leaves the room. Toji glances at Helia, seeing her sad look.

"Fireworks are nice, but they're just a bunch of explosions in the sky." He mutters gruffly, trying to downplay the significance of the event.

Helia shrugs and mutters under her breath. "Yeah, but it would still be nice to see them."

"Fireworks are overrated, trust me." He grumbles, but his tone lacks conviction. "But enough talking about fireworks, let's get back to work. We've wasted enough time as it is."

As Toji and Helia continue their intense training session, her thoughts occasionally drift towards the idea of seeing a firework for the first time.

She wonders what it would feel like to witness the bright explosions against the night sky, their colors illuminating her vision in a way she has never experienced before.

But she pushes the thought away, focusing on training.

•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•

Hey! How are you doing?

I don't have much to say about this chapter, I just hope that you liked it!

See you in the next chapter!

Sarah ☆