───

     "WHAT'S YOUR DEAL? YOU DON'T EVEN come to our trainings anymore", sukuna inquired, making himari's palms sweat as she cleared her throat.

"and mind you, I wouldn't even be doing this shit if you hadn't asked me to", the demon snarled, with tōji nodding his head in agreement.

"I've just...got a bit of stuff going on...", himari mumbled, refusing to look into both men's intimidating gazes.

"stuff? what's going on? is that piss-haired zen'in bothering you or something?", sukuna scowled, making himari snort.

"no, but I kind of wish he did, so that I could try this naoya repellent that I made...", the woman muttered.

"then?"

himari softly sighed as she leaned back in her chair, setting down her brush, as her chin propped itself onto her palm.

"the shogunate has requested my presence, so I have to go back to the palace in a few days or so", himari stated.

"what's so bad about that? maybe if you impress him, you'll become his new concubine or something", tōji grinned, thinking that he'd receive more money from himari if she were to marry the land's wealthiest man.

     "bitch, if I were to get married, I'd be my man's only wife. no cap", himari huffed.

     "but my point is that I have an eerie feeling about this. like why would he even need to see me? am I just overthinking this?"

"you probably are. maybe he just wants you to do that fireworks shit again", sukuna replied.

"maybe...and also dad's been pressuring me to get married. like I've been on so many blind dates, and they all suck ass".

"is that what you've been doing during our training time?"

"yeah. what'd you think I was doing? napping?", himari scoffed.

"how many dates have you gone on?", sukuna asked, taking a cookie from himari's plate and dropping it in his mouth.

"seven", himari sighed.

"and none of them caught your eye? why're you standards so damn high?"

himari then glared at sukuna.

'MAYBE BECAUSE YOU AND THE OTHERS HAD SET THE BAR SO HIGH THAT NO ONE ELSE CAN COMPARE, BITCH'.

"who knows", the woman shrugged, sluggishly standing up as she made her way over to the couch, where tōji was currently residing.

"perhaps I just need a long nap, and when I wake up, everything will be perfect", himari smiled.

"I want to quit".

     "oh, NO WAIT, WHY?!", himari questioned, never having to have expected maki to be the type to just give up.

     "tōji-sensei refuses to take me seriously, and I doubt his capabilities", maki bluntly replied, making himari confused.

"how...what have you guys been doing during training time?", himari asked.

"he makes me run laps around the nakajima household and meaningless exercises that are supposed to strengthen my speed, but I've yet to see any improvement within myself".

"miss girl, tōji's mad skilled, and you'd be a fool to quit, especially since you both don't have curs—I mean powers", himari stated.

maki's hands clenched, as she hated being compared to those with powers, since she is part of the zen'in clan, but was casted aside because she didn't inherit such blessings and was born a woman.

"so the only reason you paired us together was because we both don't have powers?", maki asked, feeling a tinsel of anger bubble inside the pit of her stomach.

     she hated the fact that she was born different than the others around her, but all she could do was bite her tongue and accept it.

     "no, I wanted to show you what you could become. you know, tōji's speed is impeccable, even greater than gojō's...I'm pretty sure...", himari rebutted, slightly doubting her own statement, as gojō and getō were in their teens when they had fought against tōji in the manga.

     "really? then where's the proof?"

     "mm...how about we do a social experiment?", himari suggested with a smile.

     "social experiment? is this some sort of gam—"

     "no no, listen. gojō and getō will be in charge of protecting me for three days straight. tōji's objective will be to kil—I-I mean steal me away. if he fails, then I will accept your statement that tōji is indeed incompetent in being your instructor.

however, if he does succeed, then you retract your statement and the choice is still up to you on whether you want to stay or not".

maki raised a brow.

"you're still giving me a choice by the end of it?"

     "well I said I wasn't going to hold you guys hostage, but I just wish for you to see through this social experiment before you decide", himari replied.

     maki seemed a bit hesitant, though she truly had nothing to lose.

     part of her just wanted to leave and resume back to her own personal training. however, another part of her was truly curious on just how strong himari claimed tōji to be.

     perhaps she might've been bluffing, but it was worth a try.

     "where will I be in these three days?", maki asked.

     "and how do I know that this isn't rigged?"

     'miss girl, what do you take me for?', himari internally grumbled.

     "none of them will know about it except for my father, because I don't want him to suddenly have a heart attack when I'm gone for like three days", himari stated.

"I'll leave a note and you'll be observing us from afar with ryō. I've got a whole story made up in my head, and it's going to be awesome!!"

maki had her doubts, as himari seemed way too excited about this.

however, she had decided to trust the red-haired woman, as once again, she had nothing to lose.

"so when will this begin?", the green-haired girl asked.

"tomorrow".