“So, are you ready for your first lesson?” Jimin asked, handing you a staff.

                You nodded, gripping the stick tightly.

                Jimin swung at you quickly, knocking your feet off balance and promptly making you fall to the ground.

                You stood up quickly, looking over at him. “How do you do that?”

                He shrugged, smiling slightly. “It’s really just sweeping the staff forward. It keeps other people away from you if you do it correctly. And when they’re on the ground, they’re easier to kill.”

                You looked up with widened eyes at the mention of killing, although Jimin moved on as if that were a normal routine for him. He seemed focused on his grip on the staff as he demonstrated again how to do it, much slower so you could see and copy his exact hand movements.

                You nodded, watching intently. “Am I gripping this right?” You held out your hands, which were clutched about two feet apart in the center of the staff.

                He nodded, walking over. “Normally, yes. But you’ll want to hold the ends of it for this, so about… here.” He moved your hands one by one to the left end of the staff, then positioned it so that it was held out to your right. “Now try sweeping it towards the left, okay?”

                You followed his movement slowly, repeating it and adjusting as Jimin told you to. He smiled, giving you a small hug. “Wah, you’re improving quickly! Good job!”

                You blushed, hugging him back. “Thank you, Jimin!”

                He smiled. “Okay, let’s practice some more and then get a snack!”

                As you walked with Jimin, he began talking. “Jungkook’s been training for a little bit longer than you, but you’re already a lot better than him. It’s weird. It’s like he doesn’t want to learn, but he has to want to learn, doesn’t he? It’s to help protect himself and everybody else.”

                You shrugged. “Maybe he’d prefer to learn medical treatments, or how to help people instead of hurt them? You can’t force Kookie to do something he doesn’t want to.”

                Jimin nodded slowly and grabbed two apples, tossing one to you and taking a bite out of the other.

                He leaned back against the counter of the kitchen, looking at you.

                You flushed, looking away so you didn’t have to meet his gaze. “How is everybody else, by the way?”

                “Oh!” Jimin smiled. “They’re out right now, there was a call for a disturbance in the area and they thought they saw some sort of demon there. But they’ll be back, don’t worry!”

                You nodded and finished your apple, throwing the core away and waiting for Jimin to finish his.

                As soon as he was done, you two began walking back to the training room. Jimin picked up his staff again, demonstrating a block and then another strike. You followed his motions, learning them much quicker than the first one.

                He grinned. “Wow, you’re picking this up fast! Soon, you’ll be good enough to try fighting one of us!”

                I smiled sheepishly. “Really?”

                He nodded. “Yeah, we never got the chance to finish our training. None of us know very much, just what we’ve managed to teach ourselves. So you should be just as good as us soon enough.”

                You thought back again to your first fight with Interitus, realizing how useless you had been until the blue spirit had appeared.

                “Jimin?”

                “Yeah?”

                “When we were fighting Interitus… The spirit… It was my mom, why was she there? Why don’t I see her anymore?”

                Jimin shook his head, smiling. “I don’t know, what spirit are you talking about?”

                You looked up, confused. “Huh?”

                “There was nothing, we saw you somehow hurt Interitus and then you just… passed out, really. He died, and then… yeah…”

                “N- No, there was a spirit, I saw one, I swear! Did you not…?”

                He shrugged. “Maybe it’s just a special power of The Heiress, maybe I just can’t see it.” He took your hand, squeezing it reassuringly. “Don’t worry, I believe you.”

                You smiled. “Thanks, Jimin.”

                You two resumed your lesson, practicing well into the night. Once you had finished, you were drenched in sweat and about ready to pass out. Jimin smiled, walking over to you. “I’m proud of you, you did so well!”

                You nodded slowly. “Y- Yeah, thanks.”

                He looked at you and quietly picked you up, walking out of the practice room while carrying you bridal-style. You blushed, wrapping your arms around his neck. “Jimin-“

                “You looked tired, you shouldn’t have to walk so much. I made practice too long, I’m sorry.” He apologized, looking at you with his soft gaze.

                You smiled, leaning our head against his chest. “It’s fine, Jimin. I’m glad that I’m learning a lot. But being carried is nice…”

                He pulled you closer, making sure you wouldn’t fall. As soon as he got to your room, he set you down on your bed softly, smiling.

                You took his hand before he turned to leave. “Jimin?”

                “Yeah?” He looked back at you.

                “W- Will you stay here until everybody else comes back?”

                It wasn’t that you were scared of being alone. You just wanted Jimin to stay there, to hug you and keep you company until you fell asleep in his arms. You wanted to find comfort in his embrace, something you hadn’t been able to do in so long.

                Jimin seemed to understand and sat down next to you on the bed, wrapping his arms around you. He pulled the blanket up around the both of you, pressing a small kiss onto your cheek. “If you want me to, I can stay whenever you need it, okay?”

                You nod, exhaling softly and wrapping your arms around Jimin and resting your head on his chest. He played with your hair, smiling softly.

                “Jimin, is it normal for them to be gone this long?” You filled the silence of your room, trying to strike up a conversation as you waited for sleep to come.

                He nodded, yawning softly. “Yeah. They said they could handle it without me, they wanted Kookie to try fighting with them for once, though. So they said it would be better for me to stay here with you.”

                “So they’re not coming back for a while?”

                “Nope.”

                “Good,” You whispered. “I want you to stay here, Jimin. I want you to stay with me.”

                He blushed, hesitating before pulling you closer. “Then I’ll stay here, okay?”

                You nodded against his chest, your eyes closing slowly.

                “Get some sleep, now. Good night…”