───

     "I'M SORRY TO BOTHER YOU MA'AM, BUT do you recall anything about the people that had once kidnapped you?", himari tried to nicely question, as she kneeled in front of the woman who sat in a rocking chair.

she seemed to be quite out of it, as her dry lips allowed no sound or noise to come out.

himari was currently the only one in the tiny abode that seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere.

it was surely odd, and it made himari feel that something was severely off.

"ma'am?? I understand if you don't want to talk about your experience, but it'd really help if you could give us some clues so that I can go save the others...

please...they're all depending on you...", himari reasoned, holding the woman's hand and squeezing it gently, as if it would compress some sense back into her.

     the dark-haired woman had then started hiccuping, allowing tears to trickle down her face, as himari just soothed her by rubbing the woman's upper back.

incoherent sounds started spouting out of the woman's lips, as she pointed to her cut off tongue, causing himari to be overwhelmed with pity.

     a sudden knock was then heard, complemented by a familiar voice.

"lady himari, are you still doing okay?", hohaku asked, to which the woman had then stood up, backing up from the rocking chair, as himari followed her.

"hey, is something wron—"

a loud screeching was heard as the woman stuck her hands out in front of her, stopping himari from stepping forwards anymore.

"w-wait!! what's wrong? it's okay!! I won't hurt you!!", himari shouted, trying to talk over the woman's screaming.

the door suddenly bursted open, as hohaku, itadori, and rumi stood in front, meanwhile the others were right behind just in case things got physical.

the woman's eyes then widened in terror, scrambling into the corner of the room, as she shielded her face with her arms.

     "himari, are you—"

     "get out", himari sternly interrupted.

     "lady himari, she's dangerou—"

     "I SAID GET THE FUCK OUT!", himari demanded, snapping her harsh gaze at the group, as they all hesitantly left the two women alone.

     "hey...it's okay now. no one can hurt you. I'm here to help you", himari quietly assured, crawling over to the trembling woman, as she held her hands, rubbing the back of them with her thumb.

     the dark-haired lady slowly met himari's caring eyes, sniffling, as she nodded, allowing himari to embrace her for a good while.

     though the woman was still not mentally well to give her any information, himari had swiftly devised a plan once she left the abode and met up with the rest of the group.

     "himari, are you okay?", rumi worried, checking the red-haired woman's complexion and such.

himari smiled.

"yup! actually, she told me everything I needed to know, but I'm still quite worried about her condition since no one's really here to take care of her, so can you and yūji stay behind?", himari asked, discreetly winking at itadori.

     "h-huh? wouldn't it be better if hohak—"

     "hohaku's gotta stay with me, because he knows this area better than us, isn't that right?"

     the blonde boy just nodded, as rumi and itadori waved, entering the small house once more.

     as the two disappeared, himari's smile dropped, dragging hohaku into the forest that was right behind the house, stopping once they were far enough.

     "l-lady himari, what are you doing?", hohaku questioned.

     the four men followed, as they too were confused.

     "hey, have I ever told you that I'm ninety-six percent into sadism and I love degrading others?", himari randomly stated.

"what—"

immediately, hohaku had earned a slap that had resonated through the serene forest; pinned down to the ground, with a knife stuck into the dirt, the blade was centimeters away from the boy's sweating face.

     "himari, what are you doing?", getō asked, trying to haul the woman up, but she just wouldn't budge.

     "did you think that I wouldn't notice the fear in her eyes when you walked in? or did you think that I was stupid enough to believe that you just conveniently know where she was located after her supposed escape?", himari seethed, causing everyone to widen their eyes, as hohaku momentarily felt his breath hitch.

"and to think that you'd cut her tongue off so that she can't speak...deplorable...utterly deplorable".

hohaku could feel the intimidation radiating off the woman, to which he had thickly swallowed his saliva, as there was no way of lying his way out of this.

originally he was tasked to kidnap rumi, however, the girl and itadori quickly left due to the arrival of sukuna and tōji.

though when they came back, he had thought that he would have another chance.

"I—"

"tell me where the base is and how many of your comrades there are", himari commanded.

"...I can't—"

the woman then dug her first two fingers and thumb into the boy's mouth — gagging him — and pulled out his tongue, as she held the blade of the knife at the edge of the oblong muscle.

     "start talking, or else you won't be able to for the rest of your life", himari threatened.

     least to say, getō and the rest were quite surprised by the woman's change in attitude, as she was usually very preppy and bright.

     hohaku instantly nodded, causing himari to let go of his tongue, as he gave directions on where to go.

     "there's about fifty of us in total, a-and...about the same amount of girls...", hohaku shamefully admitted.

     himari finally released the boy, as she had asked him to lead the way, to which he could only comply, as his life was on the line.

     though he was certain that as soon as he led them there, his comrades would be able to get rid of them just by the quantity of people.

     "damn, I never knew you could get so scary", sukuna snorted, ruffling himari's hair, as she just grinned.

"quit flattering me. I know I don't do it as well as you, mr. king of demons", himari joked, to which hohaku could feel the hairs on his back tingle at that title.

'i-it couldn't actually be him right?! no...the king of demons was rumored to have four arms and two faces...she's just bluffing to scare me...'

"ne, himari-chan, where'd you learn to threaten people like that? you know, I wouldn't mind letting you to—"

     gojō's mouth was immediately covered by getō, to which himari had scratched the back of her head.

     "let me what?"

     "satoru meant to say that he'd let you torture those that once wronged him", getō quickly answered.

     "oh...uhhh okay?"

     as himari turned back around, gojō quickly smacked his best friend's hand off his face, sticking his tongue out at him.

     "killjoy", the white-haired daimyo muttered.

     "man child".