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MARENGO AND THE REST OF THE HORSES were left behind at the yamadaku village — near the new institution for women — as many had suggested for the group to travel on foot, since they will be overcoming a snowy mountain.
"apparently after the snowy mountain, is a field that's filled with flowers and lake biwa, the definition of spring, if you will".
"too bad our horses can't walk through the snow with us. we'll come back to pick them up later. thank you for keeping them here with you guys", himari stated.
one of the ladies smiled, dipping her head, as the rest had kneeled in appreciation.
"h-hey!! stand up! what are you all—"
"thank you for saving us from our miserable lives; for giving us another chance and purpose in life. we are forever indebted to you and your friends. we wish you the best of luck on your journey, and may you return with exceptional news!", the woman expressed.
himari awkwardly shrugged and smiled, as she let out a short laugh.
"n-no worries!! I didn't do much, but putting your best foot forward would be the best payoff I could receive, so please work hard, and so will I", himari smiled.
everyone nodded, as the woman waved, leaving the yamadaku village, to which the group had started hiking up the mountain in warm clothing — in preparation for the snowy mountain.
"ugh...I'm sweating like a pig", himari sighed, wiping her forehead, as she quickly twisted her ponytail into a bun.
"why don't you just carry your wool coat then?", itadori asked.
"because!! you know when you're walking and you just don't want to carry that extra weight on your arms, so you'd rather wear it instead?"
"umm...no?"
himari rolled her eyes, shaking her head, as she suddenly had an epiphany.
"wait, can you use the black flash?", himari asked, quickening her steps a bit to catch up to itadori.
"black...flash...?"
'oh. my. gege. does yūji even have powers in this universe?! but like...isn't he lowkey chōsō's bro? ugh, another hot demon I can't wait to meet', himari drooled, displaying a goofy grin.
"umm...lady himari, are you okay?", the pink-haired boy asked, to which himari had let out a dreamy sigh.
"yeah...just thinking about this smexy man and his voic—"
"I'm literally right here. no need to think about me, darling~", gojō teased, wringing his arm around himari's shoulders, as the woman scoffed.
"hah? who the fuck was talking about you? I'm talking about this family man, unlike someone I know", the woman muttered.
"ahaha~ you know, recently, I've been thinking about trying my domain expansion on you", gojō playfully joked, pinching himari's cheek, as the woman slapped his hand away.
"domain expansion?! what's that??", itadori curiously asked, causing himari to gasp.
"YOU'VE NEVER SEEN DOMAIN EXPANSION?! it's one of the most beautiful things I've ever witnessed over a scree—I-I mean, it's this thing where it traps your opponents and render them useless, basically.
except for ryō's. his works a bit differently, since he can control the range of his domain, so if you ever see your ground suddenly turn black or red, book it", himari warned.
"huh? how do you know so much about my domain?", sukuna suspiciously inquired, making himari shrug with a hum.
"I have to know what and who I'm working with, right?", the woman lightly chuckled, quickly moving on to another topic.
"anyways, gojō claims that to get out of a domain expansion, you must expand your own domain, but since you can't summon one...yet (?)...it's okay! if someone you want to save is stuck in someone else's domain, go to the top of that dark ball and just start punching at it with all your strength", himari advised, remembering that scene with nanami and mahito.
"r-really?! lady himari, I'm honestly surprised with how acknowledged you are with all these techniques! I thought you never went outside", itadori awkwardly chuckled.
'I'm just a normal jujutsu kaisen fan...that's all, babes'.
for the rest of the journey, himari had started explaining all the different curs—I-I mean demons, along with their weak points and strengths.
with that also came a whole paragraph for why she loved gojō and sukuna's domain, tōji's inhuman speed, and getō's technique, maximum: uzumaki.
"oh my~ you almost sound like our fangirls, want a signature?", gojō teased.
"why have a signature when I've got the real thing?", himari smoothly retorted, causing gojō to let out a slightly shaky chuckle.
"huh? what's that? is the gojō satoru blushing? lemme see, lemme see!!", himari demanded, hopping up and down, as she couldn't even witness the man's face, that was shielded by the back of his hand.
"himari, look!", rumi pointed, to which a gentle slope of crunchy snow, that was magically drizzling nature's so-called glitter only on that section of the mountain, was present.
even though the leaves were greenish-brownish from behind, they could feel the cool breeze inviting them in towards the winter wonderland.
"AWWW YESSS!! SNOW ANGEL TIME!!", himari cheered, skipping towards the white fluff, as she fell onto her back, waving her limbs back and forth like a windshield wiper.
"TŌJI, RYŌ, COME 'ERE AND LOOK!!", himari shouted, sticking her arms out front, as tōji pulled the woman up.
"hm...it actually looks like an angel", sukuna commented, instantly stomping on the image, ruining it.
"EXCUSE ME SIR!! WHAT'D YOU DO THAT FOR?!", himari gasped, falling onto her knees, as she fake sobbed over her broken angel.
"hah? it's snow. just make another one", sukuna grinned, crossing his arms, as himari mimicked the demon's actions.
"you be so rude, I cannot with you", himari huffed, trampling towards the steeper part of the avalanche, as the rest of the group followed.
for some reason, the more they traveled, the more stormy and heavy the snowfall became, as himari sneezed quite often.
it wasn't until ten minutes later that himari had suddenly felt that something was very off.
slowly turning her head back, himari bit the inside of her cheeks, as she realized that she was now all alone.
"fuck..."
aggressively scuffling her palms together, the auburn-haired woman sniffled, as she immediately felt a wave of drowsiness hit her, causing her to curl up into a ball, as the snow started covering her like a wet blanket.
her emerald eyes drooped, as she sighed out a warm breath.
"where...are you...guys...?"