───

THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME HIMARI HAD fought with the others, getting a chance to display her skills after practicing every single night.

much less to say, she had vastly improved, though her gripping was still a bit shaky, considering this was her first time killing.

     "himari, how're you holding up?!", getō yelled from across the field, simply holding a man in a chokehold and snapping his neck like a branch.

     "SURPRISINGLY WELL!! I THINK MY TRAINING'S PAID OFF!!", himari happily shouted back, stabbing a man in his stomach, as she nearly almost got her head sliced off, if it weren't for gojō's help.

"huh? but you still seem pretty weak to me", gojō teased, to which himari had clicked her tongue, as she snapped her head around to face the man.

     "okay, mr. I-am-the-strongest! then why don't you wipe out all of them at once, hm?!", himari huffed, to which gojō had just grinned.

"really want me to? then stay close to watch and learn", gojō whispered, wrapping his hand around the woman's waist, as he leisurely extended his right arm.

     himari's back was facing the people, but she could visibly see the fusion of a red and blue circle, creating purple lightening amongst the crowd.

     "hallow purple", gojō softly mumbled, erasing all matter in its path at an atomic level.

     himari's eyes widened as she whipped her head around, to which gojō had made sure to secure the woman against him, covering her ears, so that she wasn't too phased by the loud noise.

     screams of agony were released, as gojō had finally allowed himari to leave his side once it was all over.

"SATORU! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED US ALL!", getō yelled, to which himari could quite literally see stream coming out from the other three fuming males.

"mah, mah~ but you three didn't", gojō irresponsibly replied with a chuckle.

tōji frowned, as sukuna just crossed his arms and scoffed — unimpressed.

     himari then skipped around the dead bodies as she grabbed sukuna and tōji's hands, guiding them towards the large infrastructure before any more killing could happen.

though as soon as the woman stepped in, her expression had physically dropped into utter bafflement.

amongst the many cells were females of all ages, dressed in ragged clothing that were clearly too big for them, as it nearly covered nothing.

     most had bruises and scars littered across their porcelain bodies, as their hair were a rat's nest.

     "w-who are you guys?", one boldly questioned, snapping himari out of her trance.

     "I...I'm nakajima himari...just someone who passed by here", the woman finally answered, using her sword to break all the locks, as she opened all the doors.

     "and I'm your savior", she added on, extending her hand out, as the women who all watched had held their breaths.

     one hesitantly gripped onto himari's hand, to which she had gently pulled the woman up, leading her out the cell.

     many others followed, as some even started sobbing, once they finally realized that they were truly being saved.

"thank you!! thank you so much!", many cried, kneeling on the dirty ground, as himari quickly helped them up.

"please, this shouldn't have even happened. and plus, if anything, those four are the ones that took care of all the men outside", himari stated, glancing over at the four men, who just all awkwardly cleared their throats.

"nevertheless, we're forever indebted to you, miss nakajima".

"just call me himari, and the best way that you can repay me is by educating yourselves and teaching the next generation self protection and such", himari replied.

     many nodded, though a soft scoff could be heard from the back, causing himari to perk up at that person.

     however, right before she could make her way over to the girl, a younger child had walked over to himari, causing her to kneel down to be eye-level.

     "m-miss himari? I-I have two questions", the young girl said.

     "go on", himari nicely encouraged, meanwhile the four men were helping the other women get out of the building.

     "I...umm....they took my mommy away...and I was wondering if you could help me find her. s-she has brown hair...and she can't really talk..."

himari's eyes softened, as she patted the little girl's head.

"of course. I'll take you to her right now", himari answered.

"thank you, miss himari!! a-and...I was wondering...are you a hero or something?", the little girl asked.

himari was slightly taken aback, as she let out a quiet chuckle.

"no, I'm not. why do you ask?"

"oh...well...you saved us all, so I thought that you were a hero, because I want to save people in the future too...like you!!"

himari smiled, as she held the little girl's hands.

"what's your name, child?"

     "s-sumira", she answered.

     "well, sumira, this is a dagger that I've carried around throughout my many adventures. I'm now handing it over to you, so that you can be reminded that girls are able to do anything they work for.

     you are able to do anything you work for", himari assured, placing the blade in the child's hand, as sumira's eyes sparkled with hope.

     "and plus, if someone ever kidnaps you and your mother again, you can use it as a weapon", himari softly snickered, causing sumira to smile — to which it hadn't happened in a long while.

     "tch. quit placing false dreams in the poor girl's head. you're only going to cause her despair in the future", someone spoke up, to which himari had hummed.

     "sumira, could you go outside and wait with the four men out there? if you're scared, just pick the one that looks the nicest", himari stated.

     sumira nodded, running out with the dagger in her arms, as himari was now alone with two girls who seemed like they were in their teenage years.

     they also looked oddly familiar.

     "how do you know whether her hopes and dreams will be crushed in the future, hm?"

     the two girls suddenly stood up, wobbling over towards himari, as they parted their messy hair away from their faces, so that the auburn-haired woman could get a better look at their faces.

     "because we know better than anyone what this cruel world has in store for those who are born as females", the blonde one answered.

     and as soon as the minimal light casted from the high window had hit their faces, himari's breath hitched.

     "nishimiya momo...and zen'in mai...?"