───

"MHM, SO HE JUST CONVENIENTLY LANDED on top of you", himari happily teased, causing rumi to let out a distressed sigh, as the guys were currently showering.

     "it's true though!! it was just an accident! the spider was on top of my head", rumi pouted, making himari let out a chuckle.

     "I knowwww, I was just messing", the woman smiled, writing some basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts on the copious amount of scrolls.

     "by the way himari, what are you doing?"

     "oh, I'm just writing down some mathematical facts. I still need to write instructions on how to write and pronounce japanese, at least for the younger ones that's never even held a book before.

and history's also very important...science...that can come later", himari explained.

"what's all this for?", rumi asked, confused on what she had missed in the past hour or so.

himari suddenly grinned, as she momentarily stopped working in her drafts.

"I bought the entire brothel".

rumi nodded, until the words had finally processed in her head.

"WAIT, THE ENTIRE BROTHEL?! LIKE...THE ENTIRE THING ALONG WITH THE LADIES THAT WORK THERE?!"

     "mhm".

     "WHY?! WHERE'D YOU EVEN GET THE MONEY FROM? WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH THEM?! WHAT'S MASTER HOTARU GOING TO SAY ABOUT THIS? oh my lord, you haven't even told your father about this have you?"

     "huh? oh, ryō just made some fake money for the owner to take. and I'm planning to open a school for them. why would father need to know about this?"

"master hotaru seems very concerned with your journey...also, he instructed you to make it back in time for the chūshū no meigetsu!"

"bro, I'm like on a serious mission here. why would he ask for me to come back?"

"it's the shogunate. you perform at the event every year", rumi replied, making himari exasperated.

     "me again?! don't they have like professional entertainers or something?"

"w-well...there's the other daimyos' daughters, but you really wanted to stand out because you used to take on every chance you get, to impress young master nao—"

     "him again! damn, did I not have a life before? why's everything revolving around him?"

     rumi awkwardly shrugged.

     "anyways, I'll think of something", himari waved, getting back to her task at hand.

"would you like a cup of warm tea or some fruits then?", rumi asked.

"nahhh! it's okay. you can go ahead and sleep. I'll probably stay up for a while", himari smiled, to which rumi had nodded, heading to her futon, meanwhile the guys had returned from their shower.

     "why does your handwriting look like worms crawling on a page?", gojō mocked, peeping over the woman's shoulder, as she scoffed.

     "leave me alone, gojō-sama. not everyone's multitalented like you", the woman muttered, earning a snicker from the daimyo.

     "so you admit that I'm talented. how sweet~"

     himari made a disgusted expression as she rolled her eyes.

     "himari, I can help you with this if you'd like. there's an awful lot to write, isn't there?", getō smiled.

     "yeah, only because we don't have a damn copier", himari bitterly grumbled.

     "what's that? you wish for my help too? oh, I suppose I could, since I'm just so blessed at everything I do", gojō smirked.

     "I don't want your help! I'd rather have suguru help me", himari smiled, waving for the dark-haired male to come over as gojō offendedly gasped.

     "I offer to help you with my whole heart, and this is what you do?! unbelievable!"

"you know what's even more unbelievable? you wanting to help. you lowkey seem like those sadistic cats that want attention, but as soon as you get it, you slap the owner's hand away", himari ranted, making the others snort, as gojō just glared at the female.

"you watch yourself, himari-chan, you're—"

"or what? whatchu gonna do about it? want to get stabbed by tōji again?", the woman teased, sticking out her tongue as gojō's mouth gaped open.

"that's it. I'm murdering you right here, right now!", gojō stated, speeding towards himari, as the woman immediately stood up, running around the room and hiding behind sukuna and tōji.

"move", gojō commanded, to which the two had swiftly parted like the red sea, making himari gasp at the betrayal.

"THE AUDACITY!! SUGURUUUU, SAVE ME! YOU'RE THE ONLY GOOD ONE LEFT!!", himari whined, running across the room as she stumbled onto his lap, tightly hugging the man, meanwhile fake sobbing.

"HEY! GET OFF HIM, YOU LEECH!", gojō shouted, about to snatch the woman's collar, before getō had smacked the man's hand away.

"SUGURU!"

"satoru, stop bullying her", getō sighed, patting the woman's back, as she discreetly gave itadori a thumbs up, who just softly clapped in amazement.

"ME?! I'M BULLYING HER? YOU HEARD WHAT SHE SAID EARLIER!"

"suguru~ tell your friend to stop bothering us. we need our alone time", himari sniffled.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TELLING SUGURU TO COMMAND M—"

"satoru, it is getting late. why don't you all head to bed, then himari and I will take care of the rest?"

gojō obnoxiously huffed as he stomped over to his futon, aggressively pulling the blanket up to his neck, as sukuna and tōji both calmly followed suit.

the main candles were diminished, as only the ones by the edge of the table were still lit.

"would you like to get off now?", getō quietly asked, as himari only hummed in response.

"but you're so warm..."

     getō's posture ever so slightly stiffened, as he let out a weak chuckle.

     "thanks...?"

     himari unconsciously ran her fingers through getō's soft locks, smiling at how smooth it was, as she finally decided to sit beside the male instead of on him.

     "okay!! let's get to work then!", himari determinedly stated, picking up her brush, as getō just nodded.

     "if you ever get tired, just let me know, and I can stay up to finish the rest", getō offered.

"oh no worries! I'm used to this", himari crazily grinned.

'from all those late night procrastinations...I'm a pro at bullshitting an essay right before the midnight deadline'.

once the two settled down, getō occasionally glanced over to check on himari's status.

surprisingly, the woman was still wide awake, despite it almost being midnight.

"suguru, if you keep staring at me, I'm going to blush", himari teased, still focusing on her writing, as getō ever so slightly flinched.

"ah, sorr—"

"I was just kidding", the auburn-haired woman giggled, hovering her paper above the candles to help the ink dry faster.

"by the way, is my handwriting really that bad?", himari asked, showing getō the paper as he shook his head.

"I think it's nice".

himari pouted, leaning against the palm of her hand.

"just nice?"

"mm...would you like me to help you improve then?"

"really? okay, bet!", himari excitedly agreed, holding the brush as she expected getō to write something for her to copy down.

instead, the dark-haired man scooted closer to himari, with his face nearing hers, as his large hand encased her smaller one.

"when writing, you should really focus on the brush stroke and how much force you're putting into it", getō explained, writing a few words, as himari suddenly felt the air around her thicken.

she could most definitely feel getō's warm presence. it was almost as if he were embracing her, but not daring to overstep her boundaries.

     as getō guided himari's hand, the male suddenly cracked a small smirk.

     "himari, if you keep staring, I might just start blushing".