───

     THE GROUP WAS ABLE TO ASCEND DOWN a flight of stairs that had led them to another room, where the tiles were more prominent this time, instead of being covered by a layer of dust.

"not another trial...", rumi quietly sighed.

     "hm? this one's easy, love", himari stated.

     "odd...prime numbers? what is that?!", itadori asked, to which even rumi was confused.

     himari raised a brow in confusion.

     "are y'all screwing with me right now or do you guys actually not know what that is?", himari asked.

itadori and rumi glanced at each other, as even tōji and sukuna were a bit perplexed.

himari then suddenly remembered that math was just a leisure activity across japan until 1674, when some big brain dude actually published a book of equations and such.

     "what about you two then?", himari asked, glancing over at getō and gojō.

     "we know what odd numbers are. prime numbers seem familiar, but I cannot remember it off the top of my head", getō replied.

     "okay, so prime numbers are numbers that can only be divided by itself and one. for example: one, two, three, five, seven, and etcetera", the auburn-haired woman explained.

     "but no worries. just step on the same tiles that I do", himari instructed, moving towards the first tile, as she skipped two and moved onto the third one.

     the woman was two-thirds of the way there with tōji right behind, then sukuna, then gojō, then getō, then rumi, and finally itadori.

though right before himari had reached the exit, rumi had accidentally slipped, causing her ankle to twist, as she landed on multiple tiles.

a gigantic rock had suddenly launched towards the girl, causing himari to scream.

"RUMI!!"

dust particles filled the room, as everyone coughed a bit, swatting away the suffocating air.

"SHE'S OKAY!!", itadori yelled back, as everyone could visibly see the pink-haired boy giving rumi a piggyback ride.

"oh my gege....thank the lords", himari sighed out, as they had all arrived at the end of the second trial.

"sorry about that...", rumi muttered, burying her embarrassed face in the crook of itadori's neck.

"ugh, get a room", sukuna muttered in disgust.

"what? you jealous?", gojō teased, to which the demon king had never wished to snap the man's neck more desperately than he has now.

"okay okay, stop fighting ladies. y'all are both ugly", himari joked, causing the two to snap their heads towards the woman, as tōji just snorted.

     "EXCUSE ME?!", the two scoffed at the same time.

     himari then awkwardly chuckled as she slowly backed up, pulling tōji and getō's sleeves, as she shielded herself by hiding behind them.

     "mah~ I suppose that himari-chan doesn't want her birthday present tonight", gojō hummed, obviously trying to get himari to take the bait.

     "that's true. what a pity~ and to think we've prepared so long for this", sukuna sighed, feigning distress.

     himari then raised a brow, glancing up at getō, who just flashed the woman a small smile.

     "I must say, we did get you a pretty touching gift", the long-haired male chimed in.

     "and we put in a lot of effort too", tōji grinned, watching himari's expression contort from utter befuddlement into pure curiosity.

     "are you all gonna prank me? because I'm a sensitive bitch and I will cry", himari threatened.

the four men then shot each other a playful glimpse.

"who knows?", the four said in sync, with a mocking tone.

"I—"

"lady himari!! can we please get out first? you can continue your flirting afterwards", itadori interrupted, causing himari's jaw to drop and eyes to bulge out.

"ME?! I'M NOT THE ONE CARRYING MY CRUSH ON MY BACK NOW AM I, HM?!"

"H-HIMARI!!", rumi squeaked, her entire face combusting into flames. even without sukuna's fire, everyone could see just how much of a tomato the girl seemed.

"what? we've been knew that you two like each other, so please just date and get married already", himari stated, rolling her eyes.

     "but I thought you didn't condone underage marriages", gojō snickered.

     "obviously when they're older and stuff! sheeesh! not y'all coming at me when it's my birthday today", himari huffed, crossing her arms, as she stomped towards another door, kicking it open.

     "himari, we were just—"

"greetings, himari-sama. it's a pleasure to finally meet you", two teenage girls said at the same time, bowing, as himari had then squinted her eyes.

     "nanako and...mimiko....?"

     the blonde and dark-haired girl immediately raised their heads in surprise.

     "himari-sama knows of us?"

     "w-well I...."

     "hm? what are two half-breeds doing down here?", sukuna questioned, as the two girls had momentarily stiffened up, if it weren't for himari tugging on the demon king's sleeve.

     "ryō, you're scaring them. stop it".

     "hah?! I'm not even doing anything! I just asked a question", sukuna defended.

     himari just sighed, as she remembered how intimidating the man was to the two in the manga.

     "mayako-sama saved us and gave us a place to belong, so we promised that we'd guard the place until her daughter can get past this level", nanako explained.

himari suddenly had a lightbulb moment.

"OHHHH!! that's why she spent so much on machinery and such!! she used it all in here...but why? what's in there?", himari asked.

"you may only know after you answer our question", mimiko replied.

"okay, then what's the question?"

     mimiko and nanako then glanced at each other, syncing together.

     "who do you love the most?"

     himari paused, as everyone else's breath hitched. all eyes were now on the red-haired woman, who just scratched her head in confusion.

     after all, what would her mother hide in there? and why that specific question?

     "uhhh...is there like a drop down box or multiple choices that I can pick from?? like...can y'all narrow down my options a bit?"

     "sure. choose from the people in this room", nanako answered.

"I—"

"himari-chan~ choose wisely", gojō smiled, waving his hands, as he cupped the woman's face.

"hah?! it's obviously going to be me, you white-haired bastard!"

sukuna then held one of himari's hands, as tōji held the other.

"back off you two".

getō then appeared behind himari, as he gently perched his hands on top of the woman's shoulders, displaying a calm smile.

     "guys, we should let himari decide on her own. though with that being said, I'm sure she'll make the correct decision, isn't that right, himari?"

     the auburn-haired woman then froze up, as she awkwardly cleared her throat.

     "u-umm...I-I think I have my answer..."