───

"H-HIMARI, I GOT THE LIST FOR—"

rumi stopped midway through the shoji as she saw itadori's chest bare with tōji and sukuna holding multiple pins, meanwhile himari had ripped fabric sprawled out everywhere.

     "umm...hey rumi!"

     "h-h-h-himari, what are you doing?!", rumi squeaked, covering her eyes as itadori leisurely draped a haori over his shoulders.

     "ah, I'm just making myself some pants and a shirt. it's really hard to always kneel instead of sitting criss-cross-applesauce, ya know?"

     rumi's face was filled with utter confusion, as she finally unsheathed her face.

     "by the way, you got the list?", himari asked, carefully sewing the edges that she had newly cut, as rumi fiddled with her fingers.

"o-oh! yes, here are all the marriage partners that your father has picked out", rumi smiled, extending the scroll towards the woman, who didn't even glance up.

"great! burn it".

"h-huh?"

"burn it. I don't need it and neither does father", himari stated.

"b-but—"

"rumi, come here for a second. what do you think of this?", himari asked, to which rumi had awkwardly joined the four, as himari had immediately snatched the list and threw it into the fireplace.

"H-HIMARI! IF YOUR FATHER FINDS OUT THAT I STOLE THE PAPER AND—"

"well yelling doesn't help the case, so shhhh~ also, should I go with a black or navy blue top? I'm thinking black because my pants are white...but also I want to match tōji", the woman said, whispering the last part.

rumi softly sighed as she just pointed to the black fabric, helping her lady with her outfit as she slightly shuffled away from itadori, who had helped cut the fabric.

"by the way himari, should I bring out the koto or the shakuhachi for you? or will you be dancing for your performance?", rumi asked, making the girl halt in her project.

"p-performing for what?", the woman asked, slowly lifting her upper body as her eyes finally met her maid's.

"for the celebration of course! shogunate yoshiaki always loved your koto performances. he even said that you were the best in the entire country", rumi brightly smiled.

"WOAHHH REALLY?! lady himari, you should play for us sometime!!", itadori chimed in.

"yeah, play for us sometime", tōji nudged, clearly teasing the woman, as her face was tainted with horror.

"on second thought...m-maybe I just won't go to the party", himari awkwardly chuckled.

"but master hotaru already made reservations", rumi replied.

"well then he can just tell them that I'm not feeling well! I'm not going!", himari huffed, making sukuna snort.

"but it'd be the perfect time to rub it in young master naoya's face. or is it because you're worried of the new lady?"

"huh? the fuc—"

"it's okay himari! I'll go dust off the koto right now! you just stay here and relax!!", rumi exclaimed as she quickly ran off, leaving the woman with the other three once more.

'BUT I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO PLAY...'

"lady himari, why must we dress up too?", itadori asked, letting the woman smooth out his hitatare sleeves, as him, tōji, and sukuna wore the same colored outfits.

     "because you three will be reflecting me, which means that guys have to look good", himari reasoned, internally gushing at how handsome they all looked.

"tōji, you just look so damn good, I—"

"HIMARI! WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU WEARING?!", rumi gasped, almost dropping her tray of jewelry that hotaru had personally bought for his daughter.

"pants", the woman bluntly answered.

"oh my lord, please change!! we're leaving in fifteen minutes, and I still have to redo your hair, your outfit, and apply makeup, and—"

"nahhhh!! I look good, right yūji?"

"yeah!"

rumi glared at the pink-haired boy.

"u-umm...n-no....?"

himari gasped. "it's the duality for me", the woman muttered, rolling her eyes as itadori awkwardly chuckled.

"himari please!! master hotaru will yell at me if you don't look presentable by the time we have to leave!", rumi begged.

"but I do look—"

     rumi had no qualms rushing the three boys out the door, as she started forcing himari into multiple layers of cloth, that nearly suffocated the female.

     "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO PEE?!"

     "don't", rumi bluntly replied, brushing through himari's wavy hair, as she placed a hirabitai — a tiara-like metal ornament — at the very top of himari's head.

     himari slumped in her seat as she closed her eyes, feeling powder lightly taint her already pale face, as rumi brushed a rosy red paint across the woman's lips.

     "are we done yet?"

     "almost", rumi responded, lining himari's eyes, as her lids fluttered open once she felt the pressure of rumi's hands off her face.

     "okay, that's it. I'm already a sweaty ball of towels", himari stated, escaping from rumi, as she slammed the shoji open, hobbling towards where everyone was waiting.

     "himari!! that's not how a proper woman—"

"you know what's even more improper? being late, so let's go father. if we're late, shogunate yoshiaki's going to blame you", himari pointed out, basically shoving her father into a carriage as she took the second one with her maid and three guards.

"lady himari, you look amazing!!", itadori complimented, making the woman scoff.

"the powder makes me face feel cakey. I wish I had better foundation and my matte lipstick", himari complained.

"h-huh?"

himari sighed, shaking her head as she caught tōji and sukuna staring.

"what?", the woman inquired, making sukuna grin as tōji just shrugged.

"I never thought you'd actually look kind of good", sukuna hummed, about to pinch the woman's cheek before she had slapped his hand away, making him scowl.

"you're going to mess up my makeup. don't touch", himari warned, making sukuna huff.

"but I will hold your hand, because you're handsome as hell", himari smiled, slyly intertwining their fingers, as sukuna made a disgusted face.

"fine! I'll hold tōji's hand, because he's fine as hell too", himari scoffed, slipping her other hand in the dark-haired male's, who didn't give a shit about what was going on.

the woman held both men's hands, that were severely rougher and bigger than hers, making her hands warm.

'gege, I can die peacefully now!'