───
THE DAY TO PRESENT THE STONES OF the three precious children had finally arrived, as himari also had sukuna make a copy of the moon stone.
the woman then placed the fake sword (sun stone), fake yumi (sea stone), and fake moon stone on a tray with a velvety red fabric covering it.
all daimyos and concubines — along with the official wife of the shogunate — were there to witness the miracle that himari had so confidently declared six months ago.
"the shogunate's waiting inside. he specifically stated that you shall enter alone", one of the eunuchs explained.
himari raised a brow in suspicion, as she skimmed around, to which she had unexpectedly met the gaze of the newest concubine — lady yoshiteru.
the woman hastily adverted her gaze in nervousness, as himari just sighed, stepping into the room, as two eunuchs had shut the door.
"greetings, lord yoshia—OH MY FUCK! WHY THE HELL IS THERE A DEAD BODY HERE?!"
immediately, the doors bursted open, with guards filing in, as they hastily detained himari, meanwhile naoya had grinned.
"what in the world?!", one of the daimyos gasped in disbelief.
"lady himari, you—"
"lord shimazu, please do not assume so quickly", hotaru interrupted, to which all the daimyos had started whispering amongst themselves, meanwhile the concubines were all a sobbing mess now.
himari bit the bottom of her lip, as she saw heavy amounts of blood just draining from the man's head, which was neatly sliced open horizontally.
'too coincidental...perhaps not a coincident at all...'
"it seems that lady himari has committed treason and should be put under heavy inspection, as she's the first one to see lord yoshiaki's death", lord miyoshi claimed.
"ridiculous! himari would never do such thing!", hotaru defended.
"lord nakajima, with all due respect, your daughter seems the most suspicious at the moment. and this isn't just anyone's death we're speaking of, it's our shogunate", naoya chimed in, causing himari to curse the man out in her head.
"then what does naoya-san suggest?", hotaru questioned, clearly not pleased.
"I suggest that we lock lady himari up, as she's guilty — as of currently — of course. and if we cannot find any evidence to prove her innocence, then we send her on her way in honor of our lord".
rumi gasped, covering her mouth, as she glanced over at himari, who was glaring at naoya.
"that's absolutely unreas—"
"actually, it's quite doable, as lady himari is the most suspicious. I say that it's quite the good idea", lord imagawa stated, with many agreeing along.
"then who'll be in charge of proving the lady's innocence?", lord miyoshi questioned.
"I wil—"
"suguru will", himari intervened.
everyone then snapped their heads towards the auburn-haired woman, especially gojō, who was highly offended.
"suguru will take care of it", himari repeated.
"are you sure, himari?", getō whispered, to which himari had nodded.
"since lady himari's already spoken, then we shall respect her decision. now for how many days it shall be before her execution..."
"I say three", naoya grinned.
"three?! that's not nearly enough time to find out anything!!", hotaru complained.
"I believe three days will be sufficient", lord imagawa huffed, crossing his arms, as the rest had nodded their heads.
"then in three days it'll be lady himari's execution. and on that day, we shall also crown a new shogunate based on votes", lord rokkaku proclaimed.
since the shogunate was still young, the man hadn't gotten the chance to birth an heir yet. hence why the concubines and seishitsu were now powerless amongst all the men.
"perfect! now if you don't mind, lady himari..."
"yeah yeah, no need to escort me to my jail room. I'll pick one myself", the woman waved, already heading off before her father could say any more.
rumi just nervously glanced over at itadori, who had boldly squeezed her hand.
"lady himari will be alright. she always is", itadori quietly assured.
"you stupid woman! why didn't you defend yourself?!", sukuna huffed, standing on the opposite side of the jail cell, as the other three men were there as well.
itadori and rumi nodded in agreement, as they had truly thought that himari would've spoken up for herself more.
"there was no point. none of them would've trusted me. and if I were to throw a tantrum like usual, they would've labeled me as even more of a lunatic", himari reasoned, leaning against the rock hard wall.
"do you have a plan then?", gojō asked, wondering why the woman had specifically requested for getō to lead the investigation.
himari nodded.
"tōji and ryō will go on their own and to try to find a man or woman with stitches across their forehead. I've been thinking quite a lot these few days, especially after what my mother wrote in her diary.
I know him as kamo noritoshi the first, but I have a gut feeling that he may be the kenjaku that my mother spoke of", himari explained.
"so what do I do?", gojō asked.
"you have to protect the students; train them extra hard these three days. and especially be on the lookout for nanamin and junpei", himari instructed, to which gojō had sighed, shrugging as if it were the easiest task in the world.
"lady himari, what about us?", itadori questioned.
"you two...", himari paused, skimming around the underground cells.
"rumi, I'm quite hungry. make me some of my favorite nikumans would you? since I have a lot of extra time", himari continued, to which rumi had slightly raised a brow.
"make sure there's not any sand or rocks in it though. the last time you made them, I almost choked on a stone", himari lied, feigning distress.
rumi suddenly had a lightbulb moment, nodding her head in excitement, as she smiled.
"I'll try my best, himari!"
"good! then I suppose I'll see you all soon or something", himari yawned.
"you won't be lonely without us?", tōji teased, to which the red-haired woman had scoffed.
"please! time away from you guys is a blessing!"
gojō offendedly gasped, smacking his hand against his chest.
"rude!! guess I'll just let you die in three days", the daimyo joked.
"do it, coward! if I die, no more ice cream for you!"
everyone just chuckled, as gojō raised both his hands, surrendering.
"we promise we'll get you out, himari. we'll return for you", getō stated, as himari just hummed.
"I trust you all".