───
GOJŌ TURNED HIS HEAD TO THE SIDE as he witnessed getō, sukuna, itadori, and tōji all dead asleep.
the male then sighed as he slowly unfolded his blanket, sitting up as he scratched his head and quietly yawned.
gojō then heard a slight whip of wind; it was like someone was throwing something or punching the air.
curious, the white-haired daimyo left his futon, trudging towards the backyard of the inn that was separated from their room by a simple sliding shoji.
quietly sneaking out, the man had witnessed himari gripping onto the holy sword that was given by amaterasu.
the woman had her hair messily tied into a low ponytail as she rolled up her obnoxious sleeves, repeatedly swinging her sword in the motion that sukuna had once taught her.
soft puffs of air were let out from the woman's parched mouth, as gojō could visibly see the determination and concentration on wishing to improve.
"you should widen your stance a little more so that your body weight's more evenly distributed".
himari whipped her head over so quickly that her neck had nearly cracked a few bones.
"gojō? what are you doing up so late?"
"I could ask you the same", the male slyly replied.
"practicing", himari instantly answered, as if it wasn't obvious enough.
gojō hummed as he shuffled through the grassy yard, picking up a random tree branch as he held it like a sword.
"let's play a game, himari-chan. I'll fight you with a stick, and let's see if you can block", gojō devilishly smiled, not even giving the woman a chance to respond before he had quickly started stabbing himari.
"huh? but you're clearly going to wi—SHIT!"
the auburn-haired woman was being slapped by a thin tree branch that hurt immensely with the force that gojō was using.
"HEY!! I WASN'T READY YE—"
another whack was heard as the woman tried less on communicating and more on just slicing through the stupid stick in half.
"even if you don't have confidence in winning, at least pretend you do so that it makes your opponent wary", gojō instructed, to which the male then struck both the woman's hands, causing her to accidentally drop the sword.
gojō then smiled as he shrugged.
"mah~ that wasn't too bad", the daimyo snickered, making himari huff.
"yeah whatever", the woman pettily grumbled, picking up her sword again as she started swinging at the air once more.
gojō dropped the stick and crossed his arms, taking a seat on the grass as he just watched this time.
"were you this bad when we were in the cave?", the male asked, making an irk mark appear on himari's forehead.
"yeah, and so what? at least I killed it", himari huffed.
"were you not scared?"
himari momentarily flashed a frown.
"I was".
"then why didn't you run away? you could've made the exit".
himari raised a brow as she halted in her practice.
"but you were still in there", himari honestly answered.
"I wasn't going to leave you even if you were going to stay a statue forever. I mean, I was also thinking of negotiating with amaterasu, so I was sure that you'd be back to normal once we got out", the woman explained.
"what if you died trying to free me? it could've screwed up your entire plan, since you're pretty weak", gojō insulted, though his statement was to only cover up for his increasing curiosity.
himari pulled out her hair tie, letting loose her wavy locks, as she stared down at gojō.
"then I'd die trying to save you, because at least I tried. and I know I'm weak, which is why I'm practicing now, so no need to purposely try and provoke me", himari calmly retorted, walking past the white-haired male as she suddenly stopped, kneeling down to his eye-level.
gojō satoru's eyes ever so slightly widened at how serious the woman looked, her emerald irises swirling with sincerity.
"also, mistakes happen, gojō. you may be omnipotent, but even gods and goddess make errors. you should know better than anyone else that dwelling on the past results in a field of barren opportunities", himari stated, standing back up as she left the man to think on his own.
gojō softly scoffed as he covered his eyes — which were usually displayed for the world to see — as a sliver of guilt was lifted off his own conscience.
"I'm the strongest", he softly whispered to himself, smiling, as he felt his confidence breathe just a little better.
"BROTHERRR!! DID YOU SLEEP WELL?!", tōdō questioned, slapping the back of himari, as the woman stifled a cough.
"ahaha...y-yeah!", the woman lied, feeling her body ache as she was not used to exercising, along with the whacks that she received from gojō the previous night.
itadori yawned as the rest all gathered downstairs at the inn for breakfast, with tōdō sitting across from himari.
"brother, I apologize for last night, as I may have rushed into things too much, but you really shouldn't be self-conscious about your size and—"
himari spat out her tea as she started coughing, making rumi hastily pat the woman's back as she too was very confused.
"I-I...umm...so I don't remember if I introduced myself. my name's nakajima hima, and my father's nakajima hotaru. my...sister's got this little group of samurais, and I think you'd be a great addition to her team!", the woman stated, hastily changing the subject.
"there's also provided food, shelter, and instructors, well, instructor as of currently", himari added on.
"never heard of it, but I'm tōdō aoi", the man formally introduced.
although tōdō was skilled, the man could care less about politics and such, hence why he was so unaware of the social statuses.
"and I shall base my answer upon what your answer is to my question: what's your type?", tōdō straightforwardly asked, making himari swat her hand as if it were the easiest question ever.
"obviously hot men with traumatic issu—"
rumi discreetly kicked the woman under the table as if trying to remind her that she was disguised as a male.
"I-I mean, t-tall girls with a big ass??"
sukuna, gojō, and tōji snorted, meanwhile getō and itadori nearly choked on their rice.
tōdō raised a brow as he suddenly clapped his hands together, coming to a realization.
the buff boy then leaned in as he whispered across the table.
"it's okay brother...your secret's safe with me", tōdō assured, making himari's face drain of color.
"e-excuse me?!"
"huh? I know why you don't bathe with us; it's because you like men, right?"
"I—"
"no need to feel ashamed, brother. your taste might be a little queer, but it is interesting. I will agree to working under your sister, so please give me an address".
himari froze, as she was still processing what was going on, to which rumi had sighed, sliding a piece of paper over to tōdō as she explained that they will be back at the nakajima estate soon, and for tōdō to head there first.
"so long, brother!"
as soon as tōdō left, itadori bursted out into laughter, clutching his stomach as he proceeded to daringly tease the woman.
"what queer taste you have, lord hima".