Convergence

Part 1 : chapter 3

Utahime fell asleep with a light heart that evening.

She had narrowly escaped definitive exclusion, but also any kind of punition. But at what cost?

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

Anxiety rises in her mind. If she did not bring anything back 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.

The next day was quite busy. Luckily for Utahime. With all the tasks she had to accomplish, she had almost no time to think about her mishaps from the day before.

After waking up at dawn, Utahime and the other wards started by helping prepare breakfast for the Gojo family. Once breakfast was served and the table cleared, they were tasked with cleaning the floor of the large main hall. 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 this pace of life would be so intense. The other pupils seemed more used to this rhythm.

During the evening meal, around 6 p.m., Utahime had time to chat a little with Saïko. She was an adorable and extremely talkative girl. Unfortunately, she didn't seem to have much to say about the Gojo family. Utahime nevertheless attempted a question on this subject.

"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 see 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 her 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. We are saved right!"

"So none of us served him before?"

"The only one who served him once, I think, is Yamamoto Yuri? But why do you want to know all this?"

"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. " added Saïko in a rather 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. She therefore had a little time ahead to conduct her own investigation.

She thought she would take advantage of her free time to explore the many nooks and crannies of this old house.

Unfortunately, weeks passed and she never discovered anything very particular. She was already so busy with her daily works that it was difficult to find any time to play the detectives in a house she was not familiar with.