the sun in the sky | gojo satoru ✔

continuous fear: II

She stared meekly at the tray.

The young girl looked up, nervously, at the cook. The cook was like a tall mountain, and the little girl was at the bottom, not having even taken the first step to climbing it.

She swallowed. "I'm sorry, but this is—"

"The Young master is to follow a strict diet, as the wielder of the Six Eyes." The cook stated simply, looking down at her with eyes of superiority. It is what The Heads of the house wished."

"But—"

"Do not question, girl. Your only job is to deliver, not beckon."

She flinched at the reminder. "Y-Yes. Of course."

That is your only duty.

But she knew, and she was afraid of it—that the Young master would not be pleased.

And he wasn't.

"I asked for something different." His voice was edging onto irritation, but still stayed still and even.

The young girl clenched a fist, her fingernails digging into her flesh. "I am sorry, Young master. But they insisted that you have a strict diet, as the wielder of the Six Eyes—"

"Precisely, I am." His voice had toppled over further into that irritation. "I will not accept such disobedience."

The young girl trembled. This was it. I'm going to get in trouble. But why didn't Akiyama-san do anything about it?

"I-" Her throat felt dry. "I am sorry."

The book he was holding in his hands snapped shut, making her flinch. "I am curious to know. They do know what I am capable of, I assume. And you know just as well, am I correct?"

The little girl's eyes were locked at her trembling hands. "Y-Yes, Young master."

"So may I ask; why is such a simple command so difficult?"

It's not my fault, she wanted to reason. Akiyama-san told me that she would do something about it, she wanted to say, but she knew better than to give reasons that are meaningless to him.

Her voice came out as a trembling, quiet sound, "It is the request of the Gojo Heads, Young master. T-There is nothing I can do to change it."

Instantly, she knew—she should not have spoken of them.

The bomb had exploded. The time had run out. She would crumble so, so devastatingly, just as those two girls did, and just as those before her.

"Leave."

His tone was piercing.

Her eyes widened. Her lips parted, panicked, "But Young Master, you mustn't skip a meal—"

"I will eat it. So leave." He restated, and she could tell that he was staring right through her soul. Her actions were quick, swift. "O-Of course, Young master!"

Just as she always did, she bowed again at the door, before sliding it to a close.

Just as the day before, her knees gave out from beneath her.

He was going to announce his complaints.

And she knew, better than ever, that even if it wasn't her fault—they would all place the blame on her.