───

IT ONLY TOOK FIVE DAYS FOR HIMARI to finish sewing her outfit and nearly another week to travel back to the nakajima household after departing with cute little chīsana.

"BROTHERRRR!!! YOU'RE BACK!!", tōdō shouted, opening his arms up, as he was held back by sukuna.

     "oh h-heyyyy!!"

     "brother, I must say, I'm very impressed with the team that you've formed. everyone puts up a pretty good fight!", tōdō widely grinned.

     "I'm glad!! also, there's something important that I need to tell you", himari started.

"I—"

"HIMARI-CHAN~ I MISSED YOUUU!!", gojō suddenly shouted, wrapping the woman in his long ass arms, as he spun the red-haired woman around.

     "satoru, let her go. you're suffocating her", getō stated, pulling on gojō's sleeves, as the man only held himari tighter.

"she's fine, right himari-chan?"

     a muffled laughter was heard, as himari grabbed gojō's face, pinching his cheeks.

     "awww, did the great gojō satoru miss me?", himari cooed, to which gojō had slightly choked up at the woman's teasing expression.

covering the lower half of his face with the back of his hand, himari chuckled even more, as she watched gojō slowly release her from his embrace.

"himari, you're back", hotaru smiled, to which the woman had immediately lumped onto her father.

"yeahhh~ took a while, but I actually made pretty good progress!! I'd love to tell you about all the people and things that I've encountered", himari brightly exclaimed.

     the man simply patted her back, as he ruffled the top of her head.

     "will that explain why there's so many random people at our house? and why naoya's fiancé is here too?", hotaru asked, to which himari had momentarily forgotten about all that shenanigan.

     "u-umm...listen father, I can explain—"

     "AH! SO YOU'RE ACTUALLY A GIRL!!", tōdō suddenly stated, clapping his hands together as everything had made sense.

     "that explains why you were closing your eyes when we were in the men's washroom!"

     "himari, you went into the—"

     "FATHER LISTEN! I—"

     "that's not true!! himari was dragged in there by you", rumi defended.

     "yeah! and at least it was better than being dragged into the brothel that she bought!", itadori proclaimed, to which hotaru's expression had severely paled.

     himari snapped her head towards itadori and tōdō, who had ever so slightly flinched.

     "hah? don't tell me you saved us from all those men by killing them just because you actually like women", nishimiya added on.

     "that's not true!! himari likes men. I mean, it explains why she travels with gojō-sama, getō-sama, tōji-san, and sukuna-san", rumi quickly rebutted, to which the girl had immediately covered her mouth, as himari just wished that she could die on the spot.

"SUKUNA?! LIKE RYŌMEN-SUKUNA?!", kugisaki shouted, as everyone was now gathered on the field of the nakajima property.

"himari, come with me to my office", hotaru sternly stated, to which himari had just sighed, trudging behind her father.

     though before the woman left, she quickly spun around and gripped onto itadori and tōdō's collars.

     "if I'm going down, I'm bringing you both with me to hell".

     "so that's why I was accidentally dragged into the men's washroom, and why I bought a brothel, and also why I like lowkey killed all those kidnappers", himari explained.

hotaru just rubbed his temple as he had occasionally nodded in acknowledgement.

"you remind me of your mother quite a bit", hotaru suddenly reminisced.

     "oh?"

     "she too was a free spirit, roaming around the earths as she took on every adventure and challenge that she could.

     that is...until she had settled down...", hotaru slightly mumbled, seeming to tense up a bit at his own words.

     "so when she married you?", himari asked, to which hotaru had shook his head.

     "no. your mother actually married someone else before me, though she never told me who he was".

     himari scratched her head as she just hummed.

     "so...did mother ever leave anything for me?", himari asked, really hoping that it was the last stone — but what were the chances, right?

"she didn't specifically say anything...though you're welcome to visit her room that has all her dresses and utilities still in there.

I...haven't had the guts to throw anything of hers away yet...", hotaru bashfully admitted.

himari's heart swelled at seeing her "father" still so lovesick, even though her mother was long gone.

"it's alright dad. sometimes it's the things around us that helps us hold onto the memories of that person.

and I'm sure mom appreciates you helping her keep all her things in the meantime", himari smiled, to which hotaru could feel his eyes slightly tear up.

"now now, enough about me. let's talk about you", hotaru stated.

"dad, I don't want to get marr—"

"it's not about marriage. it's about your upcoming twenty-first birthday, himari".

the auburn-haired woman raised a brow.

"oh tea? my birthday??"

     "don't tell me you forgot. you're always the one who brings it up to me every year", hotaru chuckled, to which himari had just awkwardly laughed.

     "but I suppose with all your adventures, you had forgotten about it", the brown-haired man reasoned to himself.

     "yes yes. and plus, the moon festival's coming up soon, so I was busy preparing for it!", himari reminded.

     "speaking of which, the shogunate's holding the mid-autumn festival on the twenty-first this year, which is the actual day of your birthday.

but if you want, I could tell him that we wish to spend it at home, or wherever you wish to go for this year", hotaru offered.

     himari waved her hand.

     "nahhhh~ we can go to the party, because I still need to see lord nobu—I-I mean, if I go, the shogunate will give me a big present right?", himari asked.

     hotaru hummed.

     "surely he will. the shogunate's always been good to our family due to my loyalty to him", hotaru answered.

     himari had then started fiddling with her thumbs a bit.

     "so...anyone who goes against him...you'll treat them as an enemy too?"

"naturally", hotaru replied. "why?"

himari just shook her head.

"no reason, but...what if he's bad?"

"himari, I know the shogunate's still a bit young, but young people make mistakes all the time. give him some chances, and he'll prosper into a more successful ruler in due time", hotaru explained.

     "okay father...if you say so..."