Convergence

Part 1 : chapter 6

"What?!"

"It's the only way you can join us."

Utahime and Satoru were seated side by side in the small sanctuary at the back of the estate.

They usually met there every Sunday, whenever Utahime was relieved of her daily duties.

Most of the other wards used their free time to stroll around Tokyo, visit friends, or return to their families if they lived nearby. Utahime was one of the few who remained at the estate even on Sunday afternoons.

Satoru had just explained the plan he had devised to get her into the hollyhock offering ceremony at Kamigamo Shrine - a part of the ritual closed to the public, attended only by influential exorcist and non-exorcist families.

"Play the role of the ceremonial priestess? That's completely absurd - and insane! I'm not even from the imperial family!"

(In the Aoi Matsuri procession, the role of the ceremonial priestess had traditionally been given to an imperial princess. Nowadays, however, it was usually assigned to the daughter of one of the wealthiest families.)

"But did you seriously think the ceremonial priestess was still an imperial princess?" Satoru shot back, bursting into laughter.

"...She isn't?" Utahime asked, both surprised and slightly offended.

"We are not in 1750s anymore," Satoru replied, trying and failing to look serious. "All the people in the parade are hired performers. Noblewomen, princes, imperial guards - every last one of them."

"Oh..."

Utahime suddenly felt terribly foolish. Until now, she had genuinely believed the members of the parade were connected to the real imperial family.

"Anyway....," she muttered, trying to recover, "I'm not an actress either! How am I supposed to play a role like that? And how am I meant to explain my absence to the head servant?"

"You don't need ten years of training," Satoru replied with a shrug. "The priestess does nothing except sit in a palanquin and smile politely at the spectators. Is that really too difficult for you...?"

Utahime shot him a dark look.

Satoru was always teasing her.

In only four or five months, the two children had grown much closer, and though neither of them would ever admit it aloud, they had become something very much like friends.

"As for the head servant," he went on, "just tell her you're ill. Say you've come down with some dreadful flu and must stay in bed all day. She won't dare come into your room to check."

"...Alright, alright."

"This is the only way you'll be able to join us inside the sanctuary. The procession usually starts near the Imperial Palace at the south gate, then passes along Marutamachi-dōri, Kawaramachi-dōri and Aoi-bashi Bridge before arriving at Kamigamo Shrine around half past eleven. That's when you'll be brought inside."

At that moment, the long, resonant sound of a gong echoed through the grounds.

It was time for Satoru to join his uncle and aunt and pay their weekly respects to their ancestors - a ritual held every Sunday at the end of the afternoon.

Satoru never liked that part of the week.

"I'll wait for you here next Saturday, around six in the morning, alright?"

He did not even wait for her answer.

No sooner had he spoken than he was already hurrying back towards the main house.