𝙏𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙚 | 𝐓𝐨𝐣𝐢 𝐅𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐨

- Chapter 17 -

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."