𝙏𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙚 | 𝐓𝐨𝐣𝐢 𝐅𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐨

- Chapter 41 -

Helia emerges from Naobito's office, her heart filled with guilt and regret. She knows she has no choice but to continue this act of betrayal, to maintain the facade of loyalty to Toji's father.

But deep down, she can't help feeling a pang of remorse for not telling the truth about her mission to the man she has grown fond of.

With a deep breath, she pushes aside her conflicting emotions, focusing on the task ahead. She makes her way to the training grounds, her mind clearing as she approaches the arena where her and Toji train together.

She steps into the training grounds, and to her surprise, Toji is nowhere to be found. It's unusual since he's usually there before her, already warming up or waiting for her arrival.

A sense of unease starts to prickle at the back of her mind. Something seems off.

She decides to wait a few minutes, hoping that Toji will appear at any moment. The training grounds are strangely silent, and the lack of his presence only magnifies the uneasiness that's growing inside her.

[...]

After half an hour of waiting, her worry for Toji starts to deepen. She decides to leave the training grounds and embark on a search for him, her sense of concern growing with each passing moment.

She figures that he might be in his room. With a pang of worry, she starts walking towards his room, hoping that he's there, but also fearing something might have happened to him.

When she arrives at Toji's room, she sees that the door is slightly open. A wave of trepidation washes over her as she hesitates for a moment before gently pushing the door open.

She sees Toji sitting on the edge of his bed, his head in his hands and his body tense with emotion. He looks lost in thought, his gaze fixed downwards.

She knows something is off, he didn't even notice her entering and getting closer to him. She asks worried.

"Toji...? Are you okay...? Why weren't you at the training grounds...?"

His head snaps up as he hears her voice, and her question causes his eyes to ignite with a burning anger. He fixates his gaze on her, the intensity of his anger and hurt visible in his expression.

His look almost freezes her. It had been a while since he had looked at her like that. Last time was when he had found her in the library after being released of the confinement she had put him through.

At that time, he hated her with a burning passion, then why was he looking at her like that right now?

"Why do you care?" He says coldly.

Minutes after minutes all his pain had turned into a boiling anger. He was so angry at her, he hated her for playing him like that, he wanted to make her pay, to see her suffer. But Helia was just confused.

"What do you mean...?"

"Don't play dumb with me! Don't act like you care about me when all you've been doing is spying on me for my father and pretending to care!"

His voice is filled with bitterness as he looks at her, his previous trust in her care and concern now replaced by anger and disbelief.

Her heart drops in her chest, she knew this would eventually happen, but she wasn't ready for it to be today. She opens her mouth to speak but no words come out.

"That's what I thought." He says, his voice laced with disappointment and anger. "You can't even deny it, can you?"

She finally gets a hold of herself and speaks as clear as she can. "I can explain everything-"