───

ITADORI AND RUMI CARRIED THE ALBINO peacock meanwhile himari had her arms crossed, nearly about to board her carriage before a familiar condescending voice had stopped her.

     "I must say, the gift from lord yoshiaki truly suits you, lady himari".

     the woman paused in her footsteps as she spun around on the heels of her feet.

     "oh my gege, not this asshole again...", the woman bitterly muttered.

     it was already tiring enough to sit through the entire dinner party with the men just being more unbearable than ever — especially since they knew that it was himari's twenty-first birthday.

though what was even worse was that she had found out that oda nobunaga was recently sent on a mission overseas by the shogunate.

and for what, she did not know. but she had only hoped that it was just a coincidence, as the last thing she wanted was to get executed because she was plotting the man's death with oda.

naoya then sighed, stepping forward, as he signaled for rumi and itadori to leave.

     "we only take orders from lady himar—"

     "it's fine yūji. why don't you and rumi head to the carriage first? I'll be right behind you two", himari assured, to which the two teenagers had begrudgingly left, leaving the auburn-haired woman with the misogynist.

"well? what do you want now?", himari rudely asked, yawning, as she could care less about this entire conversation.

     "what changed?"

     "huh? what do you mean? can you just get to the point? I'm supposed to tend to my new pet once I get home", himari sighed, causing naoya to click his tongue in distaste at the woman's impatience.

"you don't fawn over me anymore.

you don't look my way for approval when you finish performing. you don't smile at me whenever I pass by. you don't try to send me letters nor gifts when I ignore you.

you don't try to threaten miwa anymore, even though she's gone now...nor do you try to claw for my attention by faking to be hurt or by throwing a tantrum.

so I'm asking you, what changed?"

     himari's brows furrowed together, as even though she didn't personally know the original owner of this body, she herself felt the rage for her.

     "you're asking me what changed when you're the one that's been ignoring he—me?! what the hell's wrong with you?!

     you ignore me and break off our engagement just to end up asking me this?! I understand that I may have been too persistent in the past, but I'm different now.

     I've thought about a lot of my previous actions in the time that I was sent away...and quite frankly, I just realized that I didn't want to dedicate my entire life to a man that will never love me back", himari answered.

"now if you're done interrogating me, I'm going home to spend it with people who do love and appreciate me", the woman calmly said, walking off, as she left naoya just standing there — baffled.

she was definitely not the same himari that he once played.

the ride home was silent, as the woman had itadori and rumi set the cage down on the grassy field of the nakajima estate.

"does lady himari not like the color of the peacock? I mean...white is a weird color for the animal", itadori innocently commented.

himari just shook her head, opening the cage doors, as she was sure that the mammal was dying to stretch its feathers.

"that's not it. albino peacocks are rare...they're stunning creatures.

though the shogunate presented him to me as a discreet way of telling me that I'm like him — trapped by the social norms.

even with great amounts of beauty, wealth, or status, I am only a display. in short, he's reminding me of what a woman should be like", himari explained, gently caressing the side of the peacock's petite jaw, as if encouraging him to spread his train.

     immediately, the albino peafowl had taken a few steps away from the humans, walking amongst the grounds of his new territory, as he lifted his train, slowly opening it horizontally first.

a loud squawking had then protruded into the night, causing rumi and itadori to slightly stumble back, as himari just chuckled.

     "I-I didn't know peacocks made that noise! I didn't even think they made any noise at all!!", itadori proclaimed.

     "he's trying to catch your attention for his mini fashion show. look", himari nudged.

     indeed, right in front of the three was a feathered up albino peacock that had its train high up above his crown — spinning around leisurely, as he showcased his ultimate beauty.

     "he sure is prideful...", rumi mumbled.

"makes you think of someone you know...", itadori added on.

"oh, yeah. he does remind me of satoru", himari bluntly stated, to which the two teenagers had started bursting out into laughter.

"himari, what if he hears?", rumi teased.

"hears what, hm?"

the three suddenly snapped their heads around, as there stood the four horseme—I mean heartthrobs that himari had momentarily forgotten about.

"eh? didn't you and suguru go home? and that reminds me, where were you two?", himari asked, glancing over at tōji and sukuna.

"we...had something to do", tōji vaguely answered, causing himari to raise a brow in confusion.

     "huh? what?"

"remember when you said that your world had something called a—"

"AYO! DON'T EXPOSE ME LIKE THAT, RYŌ!!"

"it's fine. we all know", gojō scoffed, waving his hand as if it were a small matter.

"but rumi and yūji don't—"

"it's okay, himari. we both know too", rumi interrupted, to which himari's expression was as pale as gojō's hair.

     "y-you all know? but like...wait what?!"

     "yeah! sukuna told us all — only us though — like a few days ago. at first we didn't believe him, but then everything started making sense so..."

     "y'all aren't going to report me or anything?!"

     "lady himari, why would we report you?", itadori laughed.

     "I don't know...because I'm like...not the real himari?", the woman whispered, unconsciously clenching tightly onto her princess jasmine inspired outfit, as her head slightly dipped.

rumi and itadori sat on the grass beside himari, embracing the woman, as the other four had settled down too.

"but we love this himari", rumi smiled, to which itadori had nodded in agreement, causing himari's heart to swell.

"ugh y'all...stop before I cry you all a river", himari sniffled, to which everyone — even tōji and sukuna — had cracked a small smile.

     however, before the four men could present himari her birthday present, the woman suddenly squinted her eyes, as she gasped.

     "OI! WHERE THE FUCK IS MY PEACOCK?!"