───

"HIMARI, PLEASE STOP GETTING YOURSELF hurt. you're only weakening your body and your mentality's taking a toll too", getō worried, bandaging the woman's wrists.

     himari simply didn't reply, as her downcast expression had said enough.

     before getō could say any more, gojō had tapped his shoulder.

     "let her be", he stated.

     "satoru, she's been getting hurt over and over again these past few days without making any progress. how can I just let her be?!", getō questioned.

     tōji and sukuna — who had left to go get the two teens because himari claimed that she was in desperate need of more medicine — were currently almost at the village a little west of lake biwa.

"she'll figure it ou—"

"are you even concerned about her?", getō interrupted, causing gojō to raise a brow.

"huh? what do you mean? of course I car—"

"do you?! because this entire time, you've been provoking her and—"

"are you seriously lecturing me on this right now?! when did you become so protective of her, huh?", gojō scoffed.

"I'm just saying that you could be a little nicer about how you're showing your concern! allowing her to continuously get hurt isn't ideal!"

"SHE DOESN'T EVEN WANT OUR HELP!"

"BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN WE JUST DON'T HELP HER!!", getō shouted back.

himari just awkwardly stared, as she quietly cleared her throat.

"u-ummm...n-not to interrupt you two, but I'm honestly fine...."

"no you're not! look at all those scars that are littered across your body! I know you've been secretly practicing at night too. you're not making any visible progress towards killing that thing, and you're telling me that you're fine?! why won't you let us help? is it because you don't trust us? you don't...trust me?", getō blurted out, causing the other two to just stare wide-eyed.

"I...it's not like that! I do trust you!!", himari stated, quickly standing up, as she wobbled over towards the dark-haired male.

"then why? why won't you let us?", getō breathed out, his eyes wavering with sincerity, as he desperately wished for himari to just set down her pride for a moment.

"it's because...", himari hesitated, glancing back at the eight-headed demon, as she worried that they might incidentally eavesdrop on her plan.

"please believe me, suguru. I know what I'm doing", the auburn-haired woman whispered, causing getō to slightly frown, as he stormed off into the deeper part of the woods.

himari then physically sagged, as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

     "are you sure?", gojō ever so quietly asked.

     himari just nodded.

     "should we go after him?"

     "let's leave him alone for a bit", gojō advised, glancing at the direction that getō had left.

     himari simply hummed, as she was about to take a seat again, before gojō had promptly stopped her.

     "something wrong?", she tiredly asked.

     after all, it's been at least four days since she's repetitively been beat up by the demon, which was all supposedly according to her plan.

     gojō unconsciously took a step closer to himari, his shadow looming over her, as his hand that was perched on top of the woman's shoulder had now slipped down to her wrist.

     "I..."

himari just looked up at gojō, causing him to clear his throat.

"about what I said a few days ago...I...didn't mean it", gojō muttered.

     "huh? what did you say?", himari asked, genuinely confused, as she has been very focused on the demon and the sea stone.

     gojō sighed.

     "about how you looked. you're...actually not that bad looking...and stupidly brave", gojō complimented, to which himari's brain was even more muddled now.

     "why're you..."

     "I felt bad, okay?! suguru's right...I might've...been a little too harsh with you", gojō answered, slightly pouting, as he adverted the woman's baffled gaze.

himari suddenly stifled a chuckle, causing gojō to snap his head towards her, as he debated whether he should be offended or not.

"it's fine, gojō. I didn't even take it personally. and plus, I've got more important matters to be stressing out about", himari smiled, to which gojō had just looked down.

"then...can you call me by my first name too? you always call everyone else by their first names but me...", gojō bitterly mumbled.

     himari raised a brow at the current gojō satoru.

     she was honestly quite blurred by the man's personality, as in the anime, he seemed more of an adult with a playful attitude.

     the gojō that's currently in front of her seemed more like the manga version that she had read right before the shibuya arc; to which it would make sense, considering that a series of events has not happened yet — and hopefully never will.

     though perhaps that's why he's presented to be more immature than she had originally perceived, not that she minded much.

     "sa-to-ru?", himari leisurely spoke, as if she were testing out his name.

gojō gently squeezed the woman's wrist, unknowingly rubbing his thumb up and down her palm as he cracked a tiny — nearly nonexistent — smile.

"yes?"

himari shrugged with an even brighter smile.

"is that okay?", she asked.

     "better than just gojō", the man replied with a lopsided grin.

     "HIMARI!! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU IN THE FIVE DAYS THAT WE WERE GONE?! HOW CAN I TRUST YOU TO BE BY YOURSE—"

"chille, rumi!! I'm fine~ I'm just vibin' with them dragon heads. they seem like they really enjoy beating me up", himari chuckled, though rumi had only frowned.

"why don't you—"

"don't. I've had this talk too many times. please just believe me and let's move on to another topic; such as, did you get me my items?", himari questioned.

rumi nodded, handing the woman the bag of objects, as himari rummaged through it.

"by the way, why did you need a shiromuku?", rumi asked, watching himari slip on the handmade gloves, as she took the small blade that she had brought — and momentarily forgot about until now — and unsheathed it.

"what's a shiromuku used for?", himari asked, setting the ten teacups on a platter, as she asked for sukuna to boil some water, since it was still a little tense between her and getō.

"a bride...?"

"mhm! now if you'll excuse me, I need to go get some of that good stuff", himari stated, standing up, as she just walked away without any further explanation.

     "what does lady himari mean? is she going to be someone's bride or something?", itadori asked out loud, to which four pairs of eyes were now on the pink-haired boy, who was wildly alert of the predator-like gazes.

     "o-o-or maybe lady himari's j-just d-dressing up for fun...aha..ha..."