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HIMARI FELT HER HEART BANG AGAINST her rib cage as she managed to duck each strike that the demon snake had thrown her way with its flabby tail.
"holy shit! holy shit!! what did I do to deserve this?!", himari whined to herself, hastily dashing towards the somewhat tarnished sword that was stuck in the center of a petite boulder.
the woman huffed as she was not used to running — since she was always on her bed watching anime and eating shrimp chips — however, she brashly gripped onto the hilt of the sword, begging the weapon to just heed to her use.
"ayo listen, I need a major favor. I've never fought a snake, but I've practiced swinging swords with ryō a few times...", himari mumbled, not really sure why she was talking to a sword anyways.
the woman then tried to haul the sword out the stone, though it made no attempt to move.
himari gasped.
"THE AUDACITY! I'M LITERALLY IN A LIFE OR DEATH SITUATION AND THIS IS WHAT YOU DO?!", himari shouted, to which she had quickly ducked, as the snake's tail whacked the edge of the sword, successfully slicing it off.
himari's eyes widened as she watched the snake groan in pain, hissing loudly at the woman as if it was her fault.
the auburn-haired woman then continued avoiding the snake's gaze, as she rubbed her hands together and concentrated on the sword.
"if you can hear me, please save me. I will polish you so nicely that all the other swords will envy you", himari promised, to which the snake had started screeching as it shot towards himari's way, forcing the woman to hastily grip onto the sword and yank it out.
as soon as himari pried the sword out of the rock, the green-eyed woman gasped, as the stone embedded at the pommel started shining, blinding both the monster and human.
a fiery, vermillion phoenix-like bird had then ascended from the clear amber stone; its wings extended in a protection formation in front of the awestruck woman.
without wanting, it's sharp talons had scratched the ginormous snake's eyes, blinding it, as it gave himari a chance at ending it with the sword.
"HOLY HELL! THIS REALLY BE SOME HARRY POTTER SHIT!", himari exclaimed.
"BUT THIS IS FOR TURNING GOJŌ INTO A STATUE, YOU SLITHERING HOE! HOW DARE YOU TAKE AWAY HIS PRETTY EYES FROM ME!"
himari then attempted to chop the snake into pieces, only for it wiggle around from its blindness, as it smacked its body against the walls of the cave.
"AYO! LET ME KILL YOU, YOU PIECE OF SHITE!!"
the snake obviously could sense a change in the woman's attitude, as she was more confident and was yelling who knows what.
it suddenly retracted, seeming to head towards another hole of the cave, as himari raised a brow, chasing after it.
"OH HELL NO! YOU DON'T GET TO BE ALL LIKE MEDUSA, FREEZE THE ONE I SIMP FOR, AND GET AWAY WITH IT!"
though before the woman had ran after it, she halted in front of the statue, with the phoenix-like bird perched on top of gojō's head.
"thank you for your service, mr. phoenix! I shall worship you internally. if you could, please drag this man out the cave while I go get rid of the pest. and if possible, can you try and turn him back? thanks!"
the bird haughtily ruffled its feathers. if it could, it would've huffed and sighed, as it could very well understand human language.
begrudgingly complying with the human's wishes, the bird's strong talons clutched onto the shoulders of the frozen gojō, dragging him out the cave, as its various tails swayed from side to side.
it didn't take long for the bird to haul the man outside, where the rest of the group gasped — well, only rumi and itadori — at the sight of gojō's slightly baffled face.
the phoenix then physically sagged on top of the frozen man's head, as it was exhausted from carrying such a tall and heavy ass statue.
"where's himari?! I thought you said that you could hear her heartbeat!!", rumi worried, glancing over at sukuna, who didn't seem to care to respond.
"if satoru's here, then..."
rumi covered her mouth as amaterasu suddenly appeared, walking towards the group rather than floating in midair.
"amaterasu-sama, please!! please save himari!", rumi begged, immediately falling onto her knees, as her forehead pressed against the gravelly ground.
"PLEASE SAVE HIMARI!", itadori shouted, following the brown-haired girl's actions.
"and also, please unfreeze satoru", getō bowed, to which the goddess had hummed.
tōji and sukuna just leaned against a tree, as the two crossed their arms, waiting for the goddess to reply.
"if given one choice, which one would you all like for me to grant?", amaterasu questioned, making rumi's head snap upwards.
"please save himari!", the girl instantly replied, though the rest had hesitated.
"please help...satoru...", getō finally mumbled.
"mah~ whichever's fine", sukuna shrugged, as tōji nodded in agreement.
though the two knew that if himari were to die, they'd have no where to go, or rather, they'd be all alone once again.
amaterasu then leisurely made her way over to gojō, as she petted the phoenix.
"I suppose I could help a little...", the goddess softly whispered, hovering her hand in front of gojō's face, as the statue suddenly started cracking, like a turtle breaking out of its shell.
slightly surprised — as this wasn't from amaterasu's own powers — the sun goddess took a step back, as cracks littered across gojō's entire body, freeing him from his frozen state.
the white-haired male deeply breathed in, as it felt like he had been asleep for eternity.
everybody's expression suddenly changed from slight relief to utter astonishment, as they witnessed a drenched himari standing right outside the cave's entrance.
"h-h-himari!! y-you—"
"huh? oh, no worries. the blood's not mine", the woman casually smiled.
