Chapter 4: The head and the heart
Accustomed to sleeping only a few hours after spending weeks exorcising curses, it wasn't too difficult for Kasumi to get out of bed when her alarm went off. The first thing that comes to her mind is him, just as many years ago; as it happens from time to time, occasionally.
She turns off the alarm extremely quickly and leans over the mattress to see him, with closed eyes, messy hair and a placid expression that sets her heart at ease. It seems that the high-pitched beeping of her alarm has failed to disturb his sleep, something that had her worried and kept her sleep particularly light throughout the night.
After all, it wasn't among her wishes that so much work to help him sleep would go to waste after four hours.
She stayed by his side, patiently waiting for him to fall asleep and it wasn't until his breathing took on a slow, serene rhythm that she knew she had finally succeeded, Gojou managed to fall asleep. She still waited for at least twenty more minutes to get up and return to her bed, haunted by the description he gave her of the prison realm's interior.
She gets up, tiptoes and grabs a change of clean clothes and then goes out into the corridor. As she dresses in the bathroom she hears footsteps, someone coming down the stairs and judging by the time, it must be Kano. As she comes out she hears the door to her room open and he sees him, he sees Gojou sleeping peacefully and seems to be about to scream, but Kasumi manages to cover his mouth just in time and drags him with her.
"Don't even think about it," she warns him and her brother looks at her out of the corner of his eye.
Kasumi lets go and is meticulous in closing the door. She does it with a singular delicacy that quickly irritates Kano. Then she turns to her brother again, with a frown on her face and a new warning written on her face.
"He was supposed to sleep on the couch," Kano whispers as Kasumi leads him by the arm down the corridor to the living room. "He has no business in your room."
"Gojou needs to rest, you saw with your own eyes what happened yesterday. Have some consideration, what's your problem?"
"Agh, whatever. I don't give a damn..." he replies and turns to the coffee pot. "Where are you going at this hour?" he asks, a less rude tone.
"I need to talk to someone, I've been assigned a mission and I need some help."
"¿Ren?"
"Yes, maybe he could use the money... he must have spent it all by now."
"I wouldn't be surprised. But... do you really think he's going to help you? I mean, considering..."
"It's been two years now, the last time I saw him he said we could be friends."
"And you never saw each other again..."
"No... Well... I've been busy..." She takes a cup from the cupboard and waits while Kano fills the coffee pot with water. "Please tell the kids not to make too much noise. Gojou has always had trouble sleeping and after what happened last night I think he needs to rest. Be patient with him, he's been through a lot."
"You seem to know him pretty well for a sensei from another school, don't you think?"
"We've talked..." replies Kasumi, avoiding the inquisitive look of her younger brother.
"I wasn't born yesterday, you know? I can tell you haven't just talked, Kasumi. The guy just got out of a cube he spent the last five years in, three days ago and he's spent two of them with you, doesn't he have friends? doesn't he have family? How delusional do you think I am to buy the story that you're just friends?"
"He's just... having a hard time dealing with reality right now. It's nothing like what you're thinking."
Kasumi makes a superhuman effort not to be too affected by Kano's words, when inside she feels like she's about to scream and run away. She thinks that if she maintains a stoic appearance, she'll be able to trick him and dissuade him from his clever ideas.
"Sure," he replies, in such an empty tone that it achieves the goal; to let Kasumi know that her excuse seems like a load of crap to him.
No one could tell what time it is just by looking at the shadows on the walls and the slight light creeping through the edges of the thick curtains in Kasumi's room. As he opens his eyes he remembers the thin white fingers that covered them to help him sleep and turns his face toward the empty bed beside him. There is a note beside his pillow, a message written in pencil on a yellow post-it. Gojou props himself up on one elbow and carves his eyes, with a couple of questions hovering in his mind; where's Kasumi? And how many hours has he been asleep?
I had to go out for some work business, I hope you slept well.
Take whatever you want from the kitchen, please eat! (there are sweets on the last shelf of the cupboard on the right).
Good luck in Tokyo, take care.
Kasumi.
According to the clock on Kasumi's nightstand, he has slept at least ten hours, which is twice as long as he usually sleeps. It makes sense, after so long without sleep. But, while it seems reasonable, it feels like overkill for someone like him.
He supposes he has no choice but to keep his word and go to Tokyo, talk to the clan members who are still alive, and stop by to see Megumi for a moment. But everything feels quite uncertain at the moment and he seems to have lost the compass that has been guiding him for the past ten years. Suddenly... his life has lost its meaning. Or at least that's how he feels as he sits on a makeshift bed, in the room of a woman who has rejected him more times than he can remember, wearing her younger brother's clothes.
He gets out of bed and puts back on the uniform he has been wearing for several days now, yet another reason to return to Tokyo. He brews himself a coffee that he saturates with glucose and looks on the last shelf of the cupboard, to the right, for the goodies Kasumi has hidden from the children, but not from him.
He smiles to himself, picks up a box of Pocky and pops a chocolate dipped cookie into his mouth and then takes a swig of coffee, which somehow fails to cloy him. Then he sits down in front of the table that was the stage for his latest display of infinity and glances sideways at his cell phone.
It's hard to know what he should do with his life since his goals have been achieved. With no higher ups in the middle, with a strong generation rising, what is his mission in life?
If it only remains his goal to pursue Kasumi for the rest of his life, he would be satisfied, even though it doesn't sound all that exciting to the world's strongest shaman. For the moment, there is nothing else that arises from him, no other desire that eats him up inside more intensely than sharing another second with her. Even now, as he ponders what will happen this day, he misses her and anticipates how to return to this house without becoming even more suspicious in Kano's intrusive eyes.
"Maybe the old woman might be of some use to me," he says to himself, remembering the nosy Grandma Chou.
He stands up, leaves the empty cup in the sink and puts the box of chocolates in his jacket pocket before leaving. This time, as he puts the blindfold over his eyes, he decides not to agree again, in case the old woman asks him to take it off. He suspects that having taken it off for so many hours may have contributed to his excessive tiredness and consequently to that embarrassing episode at dinner.
He doesn't have to stretch on the tips of his toes to see her on the other side of the wooden fence. The old lady Chou cuts some roses in her backyard, hiding from the intense midday heat with a rather large hat.
Gojou shortens the distance with long strides and rests his arms on the fence, extends a smile and greets her, she does the same after coming out of her initial surprise.
"Gojou-kun, you're still around?" she asks him, slightly intrigued.
"Yes, I spent the night, but I have to leave now."
"What a shame, I would have liked to invite you to dinner. I told my husband about you and he would like to meet you."
"I'll be back soon, but I need a good excuse. Kasumi doesn't want her brothers to know about my intentions, although Kano already suspects it."
"That boy is very perceptive," she replies and laughs, "And I understand if Kasumi-chan doesn't want to involve her siblings, relationships become very complicated when other people get involved. Believe me, I'm telling you from my own experience."
"I have to settle some business in Tokyo, like you told me, being responsible and stuff... I'm not very good at it though. I'm trying hard, just going to Tokyo is annoying me. And I know I don't need an excuse to get back to see Kasumi, but her brothers do."
"In another situation I would recommend you to avoid lying, but if she has asked you for that favor you must honor it. Although it'll be hard to think of something convincing... If it was just about Sochi you could tell him anything and he wouldn''t stop to question you, instead Kano..."
"He's a pain in the ass."
"I think the best thing would be not to make excuses, but to create them. Find a real reason to come back, Gojou-kun. I'm sure that in these times a shaman like you must have good reasons to travel back and forth."
The simple and usual chirping of birds, nesting above the high treetops surrounding what remains of the Tokyo Metropolitan College of Sorcery is so familiar and yet so distant that it disturbs him. With only a few strides down the same polished stone steps he feels the footsteps of his students like ghosts accompanying him. Imaginary laughter that is quickly replaced by real laughter, so organically that he cannot distinguish the imaginary from the real. He memorizes new energetic impressions, new streams of cursed energy that are carved into his memory as he walks with his eyes closed, covered by the black cloak he chooses to wear day after day so as not to exhaust his mortal mind. New students train not far away, the same way Inumaki, Nobara, Maki, Panda, Megumi and Yuuji did, the last time he walked these same paths. And further back, in the saddest part of his memory he hears the laughter of Suguru, Shoko, Mei Mei and Utahime, and sees among his memories Nanami's tired expression. Even Yaga wanders through his mind and regrets his last painful interactions with him.
However, nothing of all that passes through his mind like a hurricane manages to dissuade him from cracking a smile when he sees him; when he perceives his unmistakable aura and opens his eyes slightly to meet again that scar he wears on his lip, almost in honor of his father. Which reminds him that they never talked about his death, perhaps Megumi still believes his father is alive, perhaps he has killed his memory and that has prevented him from asking about him.
He sighs at the sight of him again. Gojou doesn't know if this gesture comes from exhaustion, something he inspires too easily, or relief. Either way, he doesn't care. And although he is glad to see him alive, he has no intention of staying here for long.
"I heard you were worried," he says, standing beside him so candidly that no one could believe he was trapped for five years inside a cursed object.
"You've got everyone worried," Megumi replies without looking at him, watching his students' movements.
"Everyone?" he asks, widening his smile. "Where are the others?"
"Working. The boys are still a long way from going out on their own so Yuta and Mai are taking care of the curses while I train them. We could use some help... People are emanating more cursed energy since... since the incident. The number of curses has tripled in urban areas alone and a lot of energy is concentrated in Tokyo."
"It makes sense, now that people know about the existence of curses they must fear them more than the more mundane and regular fears we were used to dealing with."
"Are you going to stay?"
Megumi asks this question still with his sharp eyes riveted on the training ground. He utters it as if he knows the answer in advance.
"No, but I still have some things to do in Tokyo. What do you know about the Gojou clan? Is the temple still where it was last time?"
"Yes, it's still there, just like before... The ruling head offered the title to Yuta on the condition that he change his surname to Gojou. You weren't the only one who found out about his relationship with the clan. But he turned it down, even though they were very persistent."
"Who is the regent?"
"Your father."
"Of course, it was to be expected."
If it weren't for the shouts of the new students, an eternal silence would stretch between the two of them. Gojou pulls out one of the candies that begins to melt in his pocket and pops it into his mouth, suddenly eager for the taste of sugar on his tongue.
Megumi is not the most skilled chatterbox of the bunch and shifts uncomfortably, standing on his two legs. He folds his arms and a couple of wrinkles form on his forehead as he frowns. Irritated by the casualness with which Gojou moves around him.
"Miwa-san told me what happened last night at her house... But I think we should go inside to talk about it."
"Actually..."
"It's not a question."
He turns in the direction of the school and Gojou raises his eyebrows under his blindfold, surprised by the sudden tone and the inexorable air of his words. He finds no choice but to follow him before taking one last look at the students and copies his steps to a small office where Megumi takes a seat and he does the same.
The heat this time of year is unbearable and he slumps onto a couch and drops his head in a daze. This serves as a reminder, this time he will take a suitcase and take another shower before returning to Kyoto.
Aren't you going to tell me what happened to you last night?" Megumi questions, his gaze radiating the purest form of indignation.
Satoru sits up, makes a gesture with the palm of his hand, shaking it from one side to the other; he tells him 'it's nothing, it's nothing', 'don't sweat it', 'don't worry', without saying a word.
"I never saw you lose control. Don't minimize what happened," he reprimands him and leaves him surprised again. It seems that Kasumi is not the only one who has grown up. It would be completely normal..." he continues, changing his tone to a calmer one, "if you don't feel like yourself after...".
"Being trapped for years?" Gojou completes, sparing him the pain of reminding him, "You know, it's starting to annoy me that everyone treats me like this, like... like walking on eggshells. You can say it, I was trapped in a seal for five years, I got caught in Shibuya like a fucking idiot. I know, I was there, I don't want you to talk to me like you feel sorry for what happened, you should be upset. I got caught, didn't I?"
Elusive, as he always has been, Megumi evades his gaze and placates his gesture. Gojou leans down, resting both elbows on his knees and looks at him intently, smirking again.
"I'm not upset about it, but it bothers me that you're acting this way."
"How do you want me to act? I'm not going to sink into a miserable depressed state. I've wasted a lot of time and I'm... trying to make up for it."
"Doing what? Running away from Tokyo?"
"Megumi, what happened to Tsumiki?"
This last question takes him completely by surprise and Gojou opens his eyes just to look carefully at his expression. The new sensei opens his eyes and after a moment he relaxes and a slight blush covers his cheeks, but it vanishes as quickly as it appears.
"She's alive, she lives here with us."
"I see, that's good news. Well, I suppose you can understand the term... making up for lost time, can't you?"
"I suppose," he replies with obvious discomfort. "But... what's that about?"
"I have a person... Things didn't end in the best way the last time we saw each other, and now I'd like to try to make things right. Although I still don't fully understand how to do it," he says, crossing his arms. "Ah... it will take a lot of effort and patience that I don't know if I have, but it's worth a try."
"Who?" Megumi asks, but he doesn't look confused or intrigued. The way he looks at him while waiting for an answer brings Kano's expression to his mind and Gojou finds no reason to lie to him, after all, the promise he made to Kasumi only covers Sochi and Kano.
"Miwa Kasumi."
There is no surprise in his expression, Megumi Fushiguro's shoulders droop wearily and he suddenly brings a hand to his forehead and sinks his fingers into his messy hair.
"I'm not the right person to judge you, although I must say that is terribly inappropriate."
"Maybe it was, five years ago. Not now, and I don't give a damn. Who cares? The world could have ended a few days ago and it could happen again at any time, don't you think? We have to make the most of our time while we're alive, Megumi. Are you going to waste time now?"
He hesitates, but finally comes to an unequivocal conclusion.
"No."
"Then it's all said and done," he replies, standing up to leave for his old room.
"But that doesn't take away from the fact that we have a responsibility. The country is still in ruins and we have to work to get it back on its feet. Miwa-san does, every day since what happened in Shibuya and I highly doubt she wants to be with someone who would rather leave the work to the rest."
Megumi's words act like glue on the soles of his shoes. Gojou listens to his words, completely motionless, but doesn't turn to look at him, simply nods and withdraws, leaving him alone in his office.
After a much-needed shower, he gathers several changes of clothes in his old suitcase and finds his wallet. The expiration date on his credit cards has not yet arrived, but he doesn't know the banking situation in the country and whether the clan has kept his accounts up to date, or if they have closed them. He has only a handful of cash left and wonders for a moment what he would do if the clan didn't exist. Perhaps he would go back to teaching, along with Megumi, but there are no more big shots to finance the institution and this leads him to wonder who is paying Megumi and Shoko's salary, and that of the employees still left at the temples.
Being the strongest sorcerer does not exempt him from eating, dressing or needing a place to sleep. Fortunately, he doesn't have to worry about such trifles; he rests his worries on the funds that the Gojou clan probably still keeps and takes his suitcase to leave in the direction of the old temple where his parents lived five years ago.
Once outside, hair still damp and smelling of one of the imported perfumes that lied forgotten at the bottom of a drawer, he sees a girl whose face he hadn't seen in a decade, maybe less.
Megumi goes out to meet her and Satoru notes with some relief a gesture that is very strange for him. It is a rare opportunity when someone can see Megumi smile, and he imagines that Tsumiki has been the target of this glint ever since she reopened her eyes.
He sees her arrive with shopping bags in her hands and he, like a gentleman, takes them before she can cross the threshold of the door. He himself smiles at the mere sight of them for a moment, even though it was so fleeting, but he doesn't waste much time in his musings and begins to walk in the direction of the same steps that greeted him.
He meditates a little on the way, observing out of the corner of his eye the ravages left by years of battles everywhere. Tokyo has become a land of curses and energy continues to be born in its core, reproducing itself at a chilling pace. It is both terrifying and interesting, Gojou wonders what kind of curses will be born from the fear and chaos that has been sown there.
He can't help but wonder what she'll be doing right now and at Megumi's reproaches, plus Grandma Chou's advice. The best thing he can do for Kasumi, and for himself, is to get to work. Get to work and help clean up the country, possibly at her side. He anticipates that she will refuse, but there aren't many objections to raise when the safety of the Japanese is at risk.
Maybe Kejaku was right, maybe he has indeed woken up in the Age of Curses.
He could have shortened the distance and turned it to a few minutes by simply flying here, but the walk suits him just fine. Stretching his legs and using his lethargic muscles makes him feel lighter than usual. The summer heat has abated enough to let him enjoy a gentle breeze and the rays on his skin. He just hopes he doesn't get a hideous tan line across his face, as he tends to get from time to time this time of year.
Perhaps this is just an excuse to narrow the path that leads him to this huge temple. Maybe it's just another way to escape the responsibility of being the leader of the Gojou clan.
Satoru stops with his suitcase in hand under the imposing torii erected in front of the even more imposing five-story structure, built in the year 810, hidden within a lush forest with trees half the height of the temple. Its nihon kenchiku architecture has remained unchanged ever since, perfectly preserved and carved from wood and rustic materials.
Gojou always feels like traveling to another era just by setting foot in the surroundings. In fact, he feels like a tourist when he should feel like he's returning home. But there is nothing here that resembles the feeling of home. Rather, it feels more like an institute, a place where he got the first years of his education, with private and extremely strict tutors, so stuffy that the very memory brings him annoyance.
He sighs without knowing exactly why, his smile almost completely erased, and he walks confidently down a long stone path surrounded by smaller temples and plaques commemorating former, celebrated members of his clan, next to which his name will one day be carved.
He can see from afar something that makes him smile again. A young maid sees him and hurries inside the main temple. Then another one appears and does exactly the same thing, and he imagines with anticipation the commotion that must have arisen in there with his presence alone.
Before he enters, the sturdy wooden doors open for him and he leaves his suitcase by the entrance. He removes his shoes and another young woman hands him a footwear. She does so in such a devoted, submissive manner that he feels sorry for her. She has probably been trained not to look her masters in the eye.
After putting on his footwear, he smiles at her, but she doesn't look up and withdraws without turning her back, while bowing to him. Satoru has always found all this treatment extremely excessive, but the members of the clan are somewhat similar to the big shots, they are fanatics of the traditional.
"Satoru," he hears and turns his attention to the top of a wide staircase on which his father stands.
His spitting image, with waist-length hair, whiter than his own, dressed in traditional Japanese attire. His black haori with white thread embroidery on the sleeves falls to his knees, beneath it a striped hakama, also in black and white. His imposing appearance and the husky tone of his voice bring a certain nostalgia. Satoru has always thought his father looks like an ancient emperor.
"Gosuke," Satoru replies, since he has never thought it appropriate to call him dad.
"No honorifics, as usual," he says as he comes down the stairs. If you had used them I would have wondered if it was really you. You've taken your time, son."
"I had five years of unfinished business."
"We've been waiting for you," he says and Satoru can't find a hint of satisfaction on his face. So far Sochi has been the most excited to see him, and they are not even related. "Come with me," he continues, turning his back to him and an entourage of young girls walk behind them. "The clan members are gathering now."
"I had hoped to make this meeting as brief as possible," he replies, slouching, thoroughly irritated behind him.
"You have five years of unfinished business with this clan, Satoru. Nothing can be more important than this," his father replies without turning to face him.
Satoru scratches his ear, as if to remove those words from his ears. If he were to put things on an imaginary scale, being the leader of the Gojou clan would be at the bottom of his list of concerns.
He walks quietly behind him, as he has always done. They have never crossed too many words; their interactions have always been of the most concise and he can't say it's something he dislikes. In fact, he likes to keep things as limited as possible between him and the rest of the clan.
He allows himself to be led into a room that has always served as a sort of throne room. One in which one end of the room is raised a few inches above the wooden floor.
The clan handmaids open the door for them and Gojou observes the rest of his family gathered there, sitting on the floor without a hint of surprise in their gaze. He assumes they have been gathered at the temple since the very moment they learned of his return.
On the right side of the room are Goro, his father's older brother, and his son Nobu. On the left side is Saburo, his father's younger brother and his sons Yajiro and Ban. All wearing the same type of attire as their father, they all look at him in a special way. They have always respected him only for the techniques that were inherited to him, but this obligation is not reflected in their looks. Satoru has always known that everyone there envies him and they do not deem him fit to be the head of the clan, but this doesn't bother him.
He walks with his head held high and an egotistical smile, but before he can take his place on the step where he usually sits, his father steps in front of him and takes a seat. Satoru stands in the center of the room and suddenly this begins to feel more like an intervention than a welcome.
"Sit down. We need to talk," his father tells him and he takes one last look at his family before sitting down right where he's standing.
There must be some secret, something hidden, lost in their genetics that makes them look as if not a single minute has passed. All the members of the Gojou family, at least the most important ones, gathered in a semi-circle, with his own father at the head, waiting for an announcement that begins to make Satoru impatient.
"Relax, boy," says Goro, his eldest uncle, the sturdiest of the family. "You'll sit back on your throne after we talk to you."
"So, what do you have to tell me? So much preamble is beginning to bore me."
"Can't you stop being so cocky after what you've been through?" asks Ban, the youngest member that somehow seems older than him.
"Wow," Satoru mutters, looking him in the eye. "The years have taken their toll on you, Ban. You look like you're fifty."
"Enough," interrupts Gosuke. "Satoru, with your return the clan has become the strongest again. But after what happened in Shibuya many of us have been thinking that the time has come for you to fully assume your responsibilities as the head of the clan."
"Fully? What do you mean by that?"
"Kid," Saburo says to him. "You have been given the freedom that none of us have ever had. You've even abused it... All this business of being sensei at the Jujutsu College has brought nothing but trouble. If you had not been involved in all that, you would never have been sealed, we wouldn't have allowed it. The time has come for you to act according to the title we have given you."
"We have gathered a number of candidates for you to marry in the spring," his father continues and gestures to one of his maids. The girl hands him a list and returns to sit behind Gosuke. "We have selected them meticulously, they all come from good families and will make excellent wives for you."
"Wait, wait... you want me to get married?"
"We want an heir," replies Nobu, the eldest of his cousins. "We can't afford to have you get in trouble again and be left without someone to inherit your cursed techniques."
"We've already talked to the families, they're all waiting for an answer right now." His father holds out the list of candidates and he stretches out his hand to look in horror at the names written there. He knows at least half of these girls, but he has never considered marrying any of them. In fact, he has never even considered the idea of marriage.
"Do you want me to decide now?" he asks, about to burst out laughing.
At a slow, deliberate pace, she bursts into the meeting and stands by the door. Behind her, as always, wanders a small number of maids with submissive expressions glued to the floor.
Any man on the face of the earth would be breathless just to lay eyes on Yuriko Gojou. She simply looks like something out of an ancient painting. Her skin struggles relentlessly against the sagging of her fifties and the bags under her eyes are so perfectly made up that she could be mistaken for a woman her own son's age.
Satoru turns his attention to Yumiko, as does the rest of the clan. His mother clears her throat and gently pushes back a black lock that falls like a thick waterfall behind her back.
Her gray eyes subtly made up in pink and purple turn to Satoru and curve her lips into a smile, but he doesn't feel able to return the gesture.
"After five years, aren't you going to say hello to your mother?"
"Yumiko..." says his father in a tired tone. "Now is not the time."
"What? If you're going to talk about the woman who's going to marry my son, I think I deserve to be present."
"Hey, hey," says Satoru, standing up again, "I'm going to save you this waste of time, I'm not going to marry any of these girls. Send my apologies to the families I'm sure are anxiously waiting for my answer, but..."
"We are not asking for your permission, Satoru."
"Do you think I can't refuse, Gosuke?" Gojou asks, clenching his fists, crumpling the sheets he holds under his hand.
"Calm down, guys, calm down," says Yumiko in a strangely sweet tone and walks to her son, wraps her arm around his and caresses his back. "I would like to cross a few words in private with my son."
"Yumiko," his father repeats.
"I spent forty-eight hours in labor to give you the leader of our clan, if I want to talk to my son in private, I will."
"There's no need for us to fight with each other," Nobu, who has been silent throughout the meeting, interrupts. "I'm sure Yumiko-san can put some sense into her son if we give her the chance."
The mood seems to calm down after hearing him and Gosuke lets out a sigh.
"Well," he finally says before standing up, "let's give them a few minutes."
Satoru watches as his family members leave and turns to see his mother's triumphant smile as she lets him go when the doors close. She turns to her handmaidens and after asking them to withdraw to leave them alone, turns her attention back to him.
"You haven't aged a single day, have you?" She says to him and sits down in the same place where his father sat a moment ago. "You Gojous are blessed by genetics."
"You're not going to convince me, Yumiko."
"Yumiko," she says, "You still refuse to call me mother?"
"We both know you were never one. You could have given birth to me, but you were never good at being a mother."
"What a cruel boy. Some women just aren't born to be mothers. It's not my fault I don't have that instinct, do you think you have any paternal instinct at all? When you have children of your own you'll know... I'm sorry to say it, but I think I've inherited that to you."
"I don't blame you, I just don't care. And I don't plan to give the clan heirs, so if you want to appoint another member as Leader I'm more than willing to give him the place. And look," he says with a smile, stretching the sheet of paper across his lap. "The next leader will have an extensive list of candidates ready to be the vessel for the next leader."
"You don't have to be so sarcastic about it."
"This doesn't make sense, they can't just force me to marry. They can't, it's physically impossible."
"Son," she says, losing her smile, "You know perfectly well that the clans have very questionable methods to accomplishing their goals. Do you think they're going to let you just walk away? Live a quiet and happy life in the suburbs of Kyoto?"
"What did you just say?"
"The clan has been following you for a long time, from the very moment you decided to leave to become a sensei. They have monitored your every move, your every conversation."
The implied threat that lies beneath her words manages to boil his blood in a matter of seconds.
"If they harm Kasumi or her brothers I swear I will walk out of here with their heads in my hands, including yours Yumiko."
"I know I'm not the best mother ever, Satoru. But you shouldn't threaten the life of the only person on your side. You can't spend twenty-four hours a day worrying about the safety of the people you care about, after all you're still a mortal. Do you even know where she is right now? Or with whom?"
"Are you implying that right now...?" he asks, feeling a strange weight on his chest.
"Relax, no one is after that girl. Still... The best thing you can do for you and her is to get married. Have your heir and you can go on doing whatever you please with that little girl, just as your father and his brothers do with the handmaidens of this temple."
"Kasumi would never agree to something like that."
"Why don't you marry her? That would solve everyone's problem. Having a child won't be hard for you, after all, she's young."
"She..." he begins hesitantly. The truth is that he has never discussed his intimate life with his mother. "She and I are just friends."
"Satoru," she says intrigued, "I don't have maternal instincts, but I'm a woman with a lot of intuition, are you in love with her? Do you really care about this girl?"
He doubts his answer for a moment. Not because he doubts his newly discovered feelings, but because he doesn't know with complete certainty whether his mother will use this information against him eventually. The doubt makes him desist from the answer that is about to leave his lips.
"I understand your distrust, if I were in your place I wouldn't answer either. But let me give you some advice. Hell, I think it's the first advice I'll give you one..." she comments and smiles. "When I married your father I had high expectations for my life. Being part of this clan was the most important thing to my family and, like all the girls on that list, I was raised especially for it. But you know what I discovered?" Satoru doesn't answer. "I discovered the same thing you did when you entered this room. The Gojou clan may be a little more liberal than the Zen'in clan, but at the end of the day only the men make the important decisions. Do you know why that is? Because in the history of the Gojou clan no woman has ever inherited the techniques that you possess. I don't know why that is, if there is some sort of celestial restriction that only allows men to enjoy that luck... In the end, every woman who marries into this clan will end up relegated to being... as you rightly said... the vessel of their children. There is no greater fate here and if you really care about that girl you will leave her alone. Let her go on with her life and give up your dreams. Or you will condemn her to the same dull and monotonous life your mother leads, we women have no place within the clans."
"You're telling me that if I don't abandon her then the clan will take her away from me. And if I marry her, I will condemn her to a miserable life. Is there any scenario in which I win?"
"I doubt it, son. And I'm sorry, you haven't answered me, but I'm pretty sure you're completely in love with her. Too bad you were born a Gojou..."
"Do you think I give up so easily?"
"I'm sure you'll put up a fight, after all... you're my son."
Notes: Thank you so much to Mia and Mint Esthetefor yor comments! I was very excited to write about the clan but I've had a rough few weeks and couldn't sit down to write. However, I hope you liked this chapter even though there is not much gojomiwa. See you in the next chapter!