Convergence

Part 1 : chapter 8

When Utahime returned to the Gojo estate, it was around five in the afternoon.

She was exhausted after the events of the day, yet she still joined the other wards as though nothing had happened.

As usual, she helped them clean the house.

Aiko was surprised to see her friend back so soon.

Utahime answered only with a knowing smile.

Relief softened Aiko's features at once. She was simply glad to see that her friend had returned safely from whatever mysterious adventure had taken her away.

The head servant, however, kept her distance from Utahime.

She was still afraid of catching whatever illness the girl was supposedly suffering from.

The following Sunday, after finishing all her duties, Utahime found Satoru near the abandoned little shrine on the estate.

Meeting there every Sunday afternoon had become their ritual.

Utahime told him everything she had overheard during the Aoi Matsuri festival.

She repeated, in full detail, the conversation between his uncle and the mysterious man.

"That was Naobito Zenin," Satoru concluded. "The current head of the Zenin family. My uncle is clearly trying to secure his support in order to get rid of me."

He and Utahime were sitting side by side on the small stone steps of the shrine.

"But why would he do that?" Utahime asked.

"Because without Naobito Zenin's support, my uncle could never become clan leader. It's a little complicated, but the world of exorcists is governed by a supreme council made up of the Great Sages" - he made a face - "a useless bunch of old fools as narrow-minded as they are powerful, at least on paper. Alongside them are the heads of the Three Great Clans: the Gojo, the Kamo, and the Zenin. Those three are the only ones who can veto the Great Sages' decisions.

"The problem is that the old men do not like me. They think my powers are too dangerous for humanity - as though they truly cared about humanity at all. But if Naobito Zenin supports my uncle's scheme, then after my death, it will be very easy for him to be named the next clan leader."

"What about the Kamo clan?" Utahime asked.

"They almost always side with the Great Sages, so my uncle doesn't really care what they think."

Utahime looked down.

"What are we going to do? If we do nothing... you're going to be killed."

"That worries you that much?" Satoru asked with a faint sneer.

In truth, her concern touched him more deeply than he wished to show.

She was the only person in the house who seemed to worry for him in such a sincere way.

"Of course it worries me !," Utahime shot back, stung by his tone. "Isn't that normal?"

"We still have until Obon," Satoru said at last. "So until the end of July, more or less. That gives us time to find a way to disrupt their plans."

"That's only two months..."

"That's not so bad. It gives us time to think."

Utahime hesitated.

"Do you think you could defeat them with your actual powers?"

Satoru was silent for a moment.

"Against Toji Fushiguro or Naobito Zenin, I wouldn't stand a chance right now," he admitted.