I THINK ABOUT THIS A LOT ACTUALLY.

I think it had to be a day or two after Gojo got unsealed and Yuji brought up the possibility of Hiromi Higuruma helping as a back up since he's the only one who fought and talked to him among the cast iirc.

I like the idea that Kusakabe assisted Yuji in finding him again and incase things went dicey. Either Kusakabe or Gojo works tbh bit I'm a kshg shipper at heart.

Kusakabe was already cautious with Higuruma since he's seen his score, and was likely prepared for a whole fight and didn't want to be there. Because... "wym one hit and you're dead sword =o="

I also think they wouldn't get into a fight then because of Yuji, and they'd be awkwardly exchanging plesantries on the way back after convincing him. ( Kusakabe likely telling him that if he felt so guilty about his killings, he can find a purpose saving all of Japan with helping kill Sukuna. He doesn't have to join the fight but if what Yuji said about his ct is true, he's infact worth a lot. )

Higuruma on the other hand likely didn't understand Kusakabe but knew he had to rely on him as... he was one of the more normal adult near his age, they just kinda clicked and between everyone else, Kusakabe's way of explaining things were a lot easier to understand. It's Higuruma to notice all of Kusakabe's contradictions as the days go.

On the flipside, the more time they spend together, the less Kusakabe feels jealous over how talented Higuruma is and the more mortified he is: this man has been through too much and by January, could they keep knowing more about each other?

Higuruma had over a hundred points once but when he holds his hand to tell him how the flow of curse energy goes, he can't help but think about how much he doesn't want to lose him.