Convergence

Part 1 : chapter 3

Utahime fell asleep with a light heart that evening.

She had narrowly escaped definitive exclusion, and any kind of punitions. 

But at what cost?

She now had to report all the strange events she heard or saw in this house. Of course, she quickly understood that the Gojo clan had quite complex ties between them. The power of this young boy, Gojo Satoru, only exacerbated the already existing rivalries between the family's members. Gojo Satoru's uncle seemed particularly unhappy with his status  ; but how could she, an insignificant girl who arrived so recently, unravel all these family intrigues?

Anxiety rised in her mind. 

If she did not bring anything to her young master Gojo, he would not fail to punish her, or even worse.... Utahime was thinking about all these when sleep suddenly overcame her.

This first day in the Gojo clan had been more than exhausting.

Her next day was quite busy. Luckily for her. With all the tasks she had to do, she had almost no time to think.

After waking up at dawn, Utahime and the other wards started by helping the cooks to make breakfast for the Gojo family. Once breakfast was served and the table cleared, they were asked to clean the floor. 

Around 10 a.m., it was the start of their class; each pupil received daily lessons in exorcism, history, and mathematics. Around 4 p.m., classes ended, and, after barely an hour's break, they were again asked for help in preparing the evening meal. Utahime had a hard time hiding her fatigue. She did not think that her new life would be so intense. The other pupils seemed to be more used to this rhythm. She hoped that one day she could be like them. Right now, she just wanted to sleep at least 12 hours. 

During the evening meal, around 6 p.m., Utahime had some time to chat with Saïko. The young girl was extremely talkative. Unfortunately, she didn't seem to know much about the Gojo family. 

"Tell me Saiko. What kind of person is Master Gojo Takumi (Gojo Satoru's uncle)?"

"Gojo Takumi?.... Hmm, I don't really know; I had little opportunity to serve him. From what the former pupils told me, he is very cold.... and even cruel. He once cut a girl's fingers because she spilled some tea on his kimono!"

"Oh..." Utahime blurted out in horror.

"Yes, really, if you ever have to serve him, be extremely careful. But luckily for us, that will never happen! Since my arrival a year ago, the head servants have taken care of his neighborhood. So we are saved right!"

"So none of us served him before?"

"The only one who served him once, I think, is Yamamoto Yuri but I'm not sure...? But why do you want to know all these?"

"Oh for nothing, I just wanted to find out about the Gojo family, as I will have to serve them for three years..."

"You know, if you want to stay alive, the best thing is to know nothing. " Saïko said in a dry tone, which surprised Utahime.

This evening, Utahime was not in charge of Gojo Satoru's chess games. She breathed in relief.

................

According to her calculations, her next meeting with the young master would be in about five weeks. So she had a little time ahead to conduct her own investigation.She thought she would take advantage of her free time to explore the many rooms of this old house.