Chapter 9: An honest man
Rarely has she felt so disoriented upon awakening, so terribly inclined to close her eyes and continue sleeping despite the fact that her alarm won't stop ringing. She stretches her hand out to the small table next to the bed and purely by chance finds her cell phone, but, even though she presses the buttons on the side there is no way to make the alarm stop ringing, hammering in her head.
The beeping is so intense, so unbearable, that Kasumi ends up getting out of bed in search of where it came from and finds herself in a place she barely recognizes. On the other side of the bed, the alarm of another cell phone rings and when she deactivates it, she realizes that there is someone in the bathroom, taking a shower.
As if split in two by a bolt of lightning, fuzzy memories of the night before begin to come flooding into her mind and she ends up looking at what she is wearing, which she doesn't remember putting on.
When the bathroom door opens, Kasumi is expecting someone considerably taller to come out of there and directs her gaze to the top of the door, but is forced to look down to find Momo, drying her hair with a towel. A sigh leaves her lungs heavily, at least she wasn't stupid enough to go back to bed with Satoru considering everything that happened.
"How's that hangover?" Momo asks, walking over to pick up her cell phone to check her messages.
"I need water."
"Take out whatever you want," she says, turning to a small cooler. "The bill will be paid by Gojou Satoru so I ordered room service."
Kasumi opens her mouth to reproach her, but finally ends up swallowing her words, she knows well that they'll have little to no effect on Momo and the tremendous resentment she holds for Satoru.
Slightly embarrassed she gets up in her pajamas and takes a bottle of water that she drinks almost completely and then turns to the breakfast that lies on the table. She is barely able to bite into a piece of toast smeared with jam and turns uncertainly to Momo.
"Utahime-sense...?" she asks on the verge of stuttering.
"I had to explain the situation to her. It didn't make much sense for us to suddenly have a suite..."
"What... what did she say?"
"If she had anything to say, she probably said it to him."
Kasumi lets herself slump against the sofa, abandoning her toast completely to bring both hands to her face, barely managing to hide all the shame that fills her every pore. Her ears burning with embarrassment, she doesn't even think she'll have the courage to step out of the doorway feeling in anticipation that everyone is aware of her slip.
If anyone doubted who was the student Gojou Satoru banged five years ago, they now know with more certainty than she'd like.
How will she be able to hold someone's gaze for the rest of the morning? How will she be able to look at Utahime?
At this moment she wishes she was one of those drunks who forgets everything the next day, every indiscretion or every embarrassing word that comes from the depths of her mind. Sadly, every second that passes a new scene creeps into her mind and every dialogue revives inside her bringing with it only more embarrassment.
"Hurry up, our flight leaves in an hour and a half," Momo tells her as she dresses and brushes her hair.
With a lump in her throat, she looks sideways at her friend, unable to hold her gaze and with deeply flushed cheeks. Her chest sinks as she thinks of all the things she said to Satoru the night before.
"Aren't you going to scold me?" she asks her, her eyes glued to the floor.
"I think you already know what I'm going to tell you," she replies, looking at herself in the mirror, arranging her hair into two small buns. "Besides... I guess you've had enough, haven't you?"
She nods, doesn't lift her chin and barely looks at her for half a second before turning her blue eyes to her bare feet. She lets out a quiet sigh and gets up on her way to the shower. The only good thing this morning is that she won't have to spend much more time here and can return to Kyoto in a couple of hours.
As she feels the water hitting her hair, she relaxes her shoulders and hears from the other side of the wall Momo say goodbye, reminding her that she will be waiting for her in the hotel lobby.
All the memories begin to sort themselves out and only at this moment does she realize that she must really have some resentment stored in her heart to have so much to say to Satoru, which she has never said out loud. Permanently striving to be a good girl, Kasumi wouldn't be able to say such words to him completely sober. To accept the jealousy and insecurity that a man like him generates in her and the pain that still lodges inside her when she imagines him with another woman. The memory of her saddest nights hits her and the certainty that he was never a faithful man are too much to bear again. This time, however, she knows they owe each other a conversation. That it wasn't nice of her to leave, just like that after sleeping with him, without giving him any explanation, becoming that which hurts her the most.
To be honest, there is nothing she would like more than to avoid that talk and go on with her life as if nothing happened. But something tells her that there will be no end to it if she doesn't put an end to it. And then she realizes that this certainty leaves her uneasy, closing all the doors, burning all the bridges that were just beginning to rebuild feels devastating. For a part of her, a piece of her heart, twists at the thought of his absence.
Such conflict doesn't seem healthy. To completely detach herself from him and let him move on with his life, to pursue anyone he desires and forget about her is an idea that rather pains her. Perhaps because she could never really let him go.
Since his sudden disappearance, Satoru has been a constant thought. But for some strange reason it gave her more peace of mind to know him locked up than to imagine him out in the world doing his thing. Such a possessive feeling can't be love, at least that's what she convinces herself as she brushes her long hair and arranges it in a ponytail. She puts on a clean shirt and watches in the mirror as the marks of their night of passion are just beginning to fade. She adjusts her belt and grabs her small suitcase, hesitating about grabbing the doorknob until she musters enough courage to be able to minimally disguise not being full of shame.
It's obvious that she still has feelings for him, a possessive and perhaps overprotective feeling. Which makes no sense, Gojou Satoru is not an object of her property and is the one who needs protection the least on the whole fucking planet. Nevertheless, she accepts it. She sighs and looks at herself in the mirror again accepting that this painful feeling still lives inside her. There is no way to deny it and if she really is the woman she claims to be, she will have to find a way to deal with it, work it out even until it finally disappears completely.
In another suite, one he was forced to book in the middle of the night, Satoru is lying on an unmade bed. His eyes fixed on the ceiling, on a beautiful chandelier full of ornaments and firulets that he is not really looking at all.
He hasn't managed to close his eyes all night, perhaps because he slept too much the night before with Kasumi, in Tokyo's dormitory. Or maybe it's because Momo Nishimiya's latest speech has seeped into his bones.
A message rings his cell phone, the one he had to ask Ijichi again before leaving town. Megumi has let him know that he had brought another flight as his presence is needed in Tokyo. He should be concerned and ask what happened, but he doesn't. He does nothing but reply with an emoji and leaves the cell phone lying on the bed again.
He's not quite sure how he feels, although guilty is the most accurate word to describe it. Not too long ago he had only wondered what would be going on in a world without him, but never in such detail. Knowing that Kasumi had trouble even remembering her meal times makes him feel like a real idiot.
It wasn't that he didn't think about her at all, in fact, Kasumi was one of his most recurring thoughts and remained so to this day. But more than anything else, he was filling himself with her memories as, pitifully, he was almost certain that the longer he spent locked up, the surer it was that she would have died.
Tired of feeling so miserable, he gets out of bed to take a very quick shower and gets back into casual outfit. His flight to Tokyo is scheduled in a couple more hours, so he decides to go downstairs for a light breakfast, hoping he won't have to meet Shimiko in the corridor again.
Once by the elevator, he feels a very familiar stream of energy and turns to see her. She is walking briskly, her fists clenched and her brow furrowed.
"I warned you."
There is a roar under this voice, the imminent threat that comes along makes him sigh with some annoyance. Utahime leaves him cornered against a corridor and Satoru forces a smile.
He was actually happy to know that she was still alive, that she has even replaced Gakuganji and taken over the leadership of Kyoto Metropolitan College. However, this was not the reunion he would have wished for, though he would be lying if he said he hadn't anticipated it, especially after realizing the way she glared at him the night before.
"I told you, didn't I? I told you to stay away from her or..." she suddenly feels Gojou's big hands holding her by the shoulders and without much effort he drags her feet to the elevator that remained open next to them. Satoru wastes no time and presses one of the buttons without even looking at it and she watches him, somewhat indignant.
"Wouldn't you rather have this conversation in private? For Kasumi's sake?"
"For Kasumi's...?" she utters in exasperation. "You're quite a case, huh? I told you to stay away from her, and the first thing you do when you see her is take her out of her bedroom? Have you no shame?!"
"I don't think that version of the story fits very well with what really happened last night."
"I don't even want to know what happened last night."
"You know what? I'm kind of tired of constantly having the same conversation over and over again. You think I have to give you some kind of explanation? Huh? I don't think so... Mind your own business Utahime, and try not to wear out my patience."
"The only one who's having patience here is me! Miwa-chan is my student."
"Was. She was your student and she's not anymore. She's a grown woman, just like you and she can decide for herself if she wants to waste her time with a jerk like me, or not. Maybe, a few years ago you had all the right in the world to interfere, but not now. Kasumi is not a child, and you are not her mother so stop acting like you are and don't fuck with me again because, and I'm serious, I'm not in the mood."
"Not in the mood? Are you threatening me? Me? Have some respect!"
"No, you have some respect. I'm not a sensei anymore, she's not a student and so you'll respect our privacy, or whatever it is we have. Let her choose for herself what she wants to do, who do you think you are, did she ask you to come and threaten me?"
"Of course not, she'd never..."
"Exactly. If Kasumi wanted you to be speaking for her she would let you know, so what are you doing here? Because, let me tell you... you're not defending a little girl's honor. What is it that bothers you so much?"
Utahime presses her lips together and turns to the board on which the floors they are climbing are illuminated.
"That's what I thought," Gojou utters and the door opens on the seventh floor. He steps out of the elevator and reaches down again to press the button to the first floor. "See you, Utahime."
Even he doesn't know why he's so upset. Or why he's let out this little flash of anger at her. Although he hasn't lied, in fact, he's quite tired of listening to third parties opine so freely about his life when they really know nothing about him. No one knows how he feels, no one knows in detail the guilt that has kept him awake all night or the certainty that he may never get back the one woman who has really come to matter so much to him.
Frustrated, he decides to walk down the stairs at a slow pace as he remembers Momo's words. The image of Kasumi suffering for longer than he is aware of, while he was locked in a seal, has come to his mind so constantly that it feels like torture.
Perhaps her first reaction to him makes more sense now. How long it has taken her to recover from her losses, he's totally unaware of.
Maybe he is the idiot everyone keeps saying he is. In fact, Kasumi was one of the few people who didn't get to notice, at least not in time, not before confessing to him that she loved him.
He understands now that it wasn't just that little glimpse of his idea of fidelity that has her so reluctant to return to him, but rather all the work it took for her to get back on her feet after the Shibuya incident. Perhaps she has even come to hear many times the same recriminations he is the victim of now and her pride prevents her from seeing that, this time, he is sincere.
His eyes meet hers, her eyebrows raised in slight surprise although she seems to have been waiting for him standing there with her cell phone in the palm of her hand.
Kasumi has been deliberating the idea of sending him a message, although she still remembers his warning the night before so she has decided to wait for him in this corridor, right next to the reception desk.
Satoru glances at her small suitcase and a slight smile curves the side of his lip. He sighs again with a horrid foreboding weighing on his chest. Somehow, he knows, knows perfectly well that she can only be waiting for him to have a conversation that he suddenly begins to dread.
"Satoru-san," she pronounces gently and tucks a lock of cyan hair behind her ear. "We need to talk... right?" she pronounces and only in this instant Satoru understands perfectly this dreaded sentence that he has heard so much in other occasions. He would never have imagined that he, the strongest shaman, could be afraid of a talk with this pretty woman. However, he makes a huge effort to widen his smile and just as he is about to answer her, a couple catches his attention from the other side, next to the door.
Kasumi turns around as his attention is focused on them, on the way Utahime and Momo look at Satoru before turning towards the cab waiting for them.
"But... my flight leaves in an hour. Maybe another time?"
Although he would like to nod, to accept this dismal talk at another time when he would not be so sure that she will definitely end her relationship with him, he knows it is inevitable and that he is no coward.
"I can change your flight, if you want to chat now. We can go to my room, if you want..." he pronounces cautiously and quickly notices a blush rising on her pale cheeks. Her eyebrows meet over her forehead and Satoru senses slight distrust, which his suggestion has provoked in her. "Or if you prefer... we can get out of here and grab a coffee."
Kasumi nods, her hands clasped firmly on her abdomen.
"Come to think of it..." he says, about to laugh, "I'll have to ask Ijichi to change your flight. It'll be just a phone call, you'll be on the next flight to Kyoto."
"Okay, I'll go tell Utahime and Momo while you make the call."
A few minutes later he finds himself opening the door of a cab for her, with their suitcases in the luggage compartment. He glances sideways at her as she averts her gaze to the street, intently watching the people walking by and not uttering a single word about the conversation they will have in a very short while.
Satoru has never felt a knot in his stomach like this. He has never felt so nervous and his right foot shifts copiously without him noticing. He takes his cell phone from his pocket and writes a rather lengthy review for his clan, a task he has been putting off since the night before, his mind completely occupied with her; with the woman who ignores him sitting next to him.
No one had ever, in his entire history, broken up with him. At least not like Kasumi seems to be planning to do. With such kindness, as the adult she is now. Perhaps, the few times a woman decided to stop a relationship with him were simply because there was really nothing there. They have always wanted more, more conversation, a more complex form of intimacy that at the time he couldn't understand.
When the cab pulls up and Satoru has already sent his report, the knot over his stomach clenches so tight that he smiles to himself, laughs at himself as if he were nothing more than a child. Surprised by reactions he thought his body incapable of.
Like a gentleman, which he rarely is, Satoru circles the cab and opens the door for her, extends a hand to help her out of the cab as the driver leaves her bags on the curb without repulsive looks, like the ones he received when she was a teenager.
They both glance sideways at the small coffee shop where they have been dropped off. Satoru picks up the suitcases and walks behind her. He takes this moment to glance at the jeans and pink T-shirt she's wearing, one he thinks he can remember. It's the same T-shirt she wore the day she invited him to dinner at her house, with her brothers. Or so it seems to him.
Once seated across from each other, Kasumi turns her attention to a small menu that Satoru couldn't be less interested in. The truth is, strangely enough, he feels like he couldn't fit anything in his mouth. The waiting is killing him, the intrigue to know what she has to tell him mixed with the fear of hearing her reject him in the most cordial way.
"Aren't you going to order?" she asks, she looks at him intently through her big blue eyes and he notices that there is a hint of purple in her gaze as the sun shines on her eyes.
Gojou widens his smile again and nods.
"A coffee," he says to the girl waiting for his order.
"And extra sugar, please," Kasumi completes, handing back the menu.
At least this way she can make sure to sweeten him before sending him flying, Satoru thinks, and sees her tuck the same lock of hair uncomfortably behind her ear.
"It's a nice place," she comments, looking at the vintage-style decor as if trying to focus her attention on something other than him. "I've never been here before."
"Have you been to Osaka before?"
"A couple of times, with Utahime... This is not the first meeting we have attended."
"What do you think about last night?" he asks and seems to feel his tongue turn into a lump under his throat. "About the meeting, I mean... You work alone."
"I know, do you think it would have... happened to me too?" she asks, slightly dismayed.
"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a possibility, since all the targets were women, and alone. I hope you don't plan to continue working alone after that. Now more than ever you must be cautious."
"I know. I'll find a solution," she assures him, though she fails to comfort him.
The waitress arrives just as the silence between them has reached an uncomfortable level. She leaves both cups on the table and a small bowl with enough sugar to satiate Gojou's appetite.
Satoru tucks a handful of sugar cubes over his coffee, hunched over the table with both elbows next to his cup, rocking his spoon disinterestedly. He suddenly realizes that, in fact, this may well be his first public date with Kasumi. Though it has turned out to be a more impromptu event than he might expect.
"No, it's the second time..." he mutters without realizing it and she looks at him with slight intrigue. Satoru ends up smiling, stirring the sugar in his coffee with some melancholy. "The first time I went out with you was April 4th. Your birthday, remember?"
Kasumi stirs uncomfortably, remembering that night that seemed to be the best of her life until the moment she realized he was ignoring her. Then she nods, recalling the thrill she got from being in his presence.
The feeling has changed a lot since that moment. The naivety has almost completely disappeared and she realizes that she no longer sees a perfect being, one without equal, incomparable. Satoru is just another human being, as flawed as she is.
"I remember," she replies and a very slight smile curves her lips.
After the first sip of coffee, which for some reason tastes insipid, Satoru decides to end this preamble and raises his chin, believing himself sufficiently prepared for what is to come.
"What did you want to talk about?"
She clears her throat and swallows, her frail, snowy neck making it obvious.
"I think we should talk about what happened last night."
"I'm all ears..."
Kasumi purses her lips, trying to order the words that suddenly begin to crowd inside her mouth. Gojou's dark glasses have slipped down the bridge of his nose exposing that heavenly gaze of his.
"I wanted to apologize," she says, lowering her gaze, her cheeks tinged pink again.
Satoru looks at Kasumi's submissive expression in surprise and doesn't seem to believe the words he has heard.
"I shouldn't have drunk so much... Or said the things I said... That's why I wanted to apologize to you, everything that happened last night... It's very embarrassing."
She is honest, her face does nothing but accompany her words.
"You have nothing to apologize for, Kasumi. I think you were quite sincere, don't you? Or don't you remember everything that happened?" She averts her gaze again and purses her lips again. "Do you remember everything?" he asks again.
"N-no..." she lies. "Not everything... but enough to make me feel ashamed."
"Is that all you wanted to tell me?" He asks, after a few seconds of silence, and she denies, but seems to have trouble continuing to speak. "It's not everything, is it?" he asks, straining a smile.
Suddenly he wants to force her to say it, to force her to end this little torture she is subjecting him to.
"We should also talk about what happened in Tokyo," she answers, no longer avoiding his eyes and looking directly at him even though her face is almost completely covered in blush.
"Huh..." he mumbles and laughs, lowers his gaze and adjusts his glasses. "Are you going to tell me again that you are sorry for what happened between us? You already said it... that it was a mistake."
"Well, I think I should be completely honest... It would be foolish to continue behaving as if nothing had happened. The truth is... it's all happened so fast and I haven't had much time to know how I feel. But, after last night... I think it's obvious."
"Regretful?"
"No. It seems that, no matter how hard I try to deny it... I still have feelings for you."
Satoru watches her, her honesty opening his chest to the middle. A familiar feeling begins to fill him, loosening the knot in his stomach and he waits intently for what she is about to say.
"But it has become clear that... I can't trust you. That's why I don't think that..."
"I didn't do anything, Kasumi. I swear," he says, ignoring his coffee.
"I know, but that's not the point. The point is that trust is the foundation of a healthy relationship and I don't trust you. And it's not your fault anymore..." she replies, reaching across the table and stroking Satoru's knuckles.
"But you still have feelings for me," he replies, convinced that this is not over yet.
"Y-yes..." she affirms, her fingers leaving Satoru's. He wastes no time, however, and intertwines his long fingers with Kasumi's. The blush becomes more evident.
"We can work on trust, can't we?"
"Well... if you're completely honest with me... I don't know, I'm not sure if I can."
The reminder of his dishonesty doesn't help his case when there's something he've been hiding for a couple of days now. But at this point there's not much he can do anymore, if he chooses to lie and claim there are no secrets between them, he's just going to continue to be the same as he's always been. However, he knows that what he has to tell her could end up destroying what little is left. Perhaps it will even succeed in fading the feeling that has not yet died in Kasumi's heart.
"In that case... There is something... that I should tell you," He finally admits and clings to the small hand he holds, stroking her fingers with his thumb as he thinks that this might be the last time he can touch her skin.
"What is it about?"
"It's about the clan..." he begins regretfully and smiles bitterly to himself. "I haven't found the time to... No, I was really hoping I wouldn't have to tell you. I thought maybe I'd find a way out, but... I'm kind of cornered here."
Kasumi feels the sudden desire to let go, yet she represses the desire and waits with a throat-clogging anticipation.
"Tell me."
"Remember what I said last night? About the messages on my cell phone?" She nods. "Well, it was true. The clan monitors my conversations, but they've been doing it long before... for many years," he pronounces, looking into her eyes waiting for some reaction that doesn't come. She is static, waiting. "They know everything about you, Kasumi. About us. They've put me in a complicated situation. Agh... The point is they want an heir for the clan, one who can inherit the Six Eyes. You and I know what the process is all about," he says, trying to sound funny, but Kasumi doesn't seem animated. "They want me to have a son, they have a list of possible..."
"Are you going to have a child?" she asks, her voice starting to crack and her face barely puckers after hearing him. She tries to pull her fingers away from him, but Satoru holds her back with both hands.
"No, I refused, but... If I don't... the Clan has threatened your life."
"And you didn't think I would have to know this information?"
"I thought maybe you would want to..."
"Have a child with you?!" she questions him so loudly that everyone around them falls silent and turns around with some curiosity. Kasumi quickly comes out of her indignation and gets embarrassed again, almost hiding her face between her shoulders.
"Well, I was thinking more like we could start with a couple of dates, maybe be boyfriend and girlfriend and then getting married would simply be the next logical step."
"Gojou!" she lets out her throat, indignant. "A-Admittedly, I hadn't stopped to think too much about the Gojou Clan before...but this...why didn't you tell me before?"
"Because I knew you couldn't tolerate it and I wouldn't stand a chance of making you... of convincing you to try again if you knew all that it entailed."
Kasumi's shoulders slump, drained of energy.
"Can the Clan force you to marry?"
"I imagine that if I don't give them an answer quickly... they'll arrange the marriage without my consent, and if I refuse..."
"They'll use me to force you."
"Something like that..."
"It's horrible..."
"It's the Gojou Clan. They can do whatever they want, as they've always done. They want a spring wedding and you know all the preparations a wedding takes," he says and smiles, again not funny to Kasumi. "I would understand if after knowing this you decide not to associate with me again in any way," he comments, a hint of bitterness under the tone of his voice. He lets go of Kasumi's hand and sits up straight against the back of the chair. "That's what I expected."
Satoru can perfectly feel the disappointment radiating from Kasumi's gaze and barely feels like he can stand it. But at least he's done it, he's been sincere, even if it costs him the chance he's been waiting so long for.
"Spring... right?"
"That's right..."
"And you... do you want to get married?"
"Absolutely not," he smiles, letting her see his perfect white teeth. He watches her roll her eyes and avert her gaze to the window. Kasumi rests her chin on her palm and seems to be thinking about something he's very curious about.
"What if you told them that I agreed to marry you?"
Perplexed, Satoru doesn't think he heard her question clearly.
"I'm not saying I'm going to marry you, I'm just curious," she completes, frowning.
"Well, the first thing they would do would be to ensure your well-being. They would insist that you move to the temple, of course, with the rest of the children."
"They can't force me."
"They're persuasive, but they couldn't lay a hand on you..."
"Then? Would they be forced to turn down...?"
"The list, yes. They would have to send a messenger to the families to let them know the Clan's decision."
"And... if I refused to marry later? Would they retaliate?"
"Well, that would be a first for the Gojou Clan. Now, do all the questions you're asking make any sense? Or is your curiosity that great?"
"Maybe... If I accepted, hypothetically speaking... That would give you some more time, right? At least until next spring. At least you could try to find a solution to your problem and you wouldn't have to forcibly marry someone you don't... love... right?"
"Will you marry me?"
"Hypothetically!"
"Well, it's a bit of a makeshift plan to work... but it could. It would actually buy me some time to find a way out."
"And my family would be safe from the Clan, right?"
"Only from the Gojou Clan.I can't speak for the rest, but when Yumiko, my mother, was pregnant, there were a few attacks and well... it's a precedent I have to mention. Since we're on the subject of being honest and all."
"But she was pregnant. I would just be engaged."
"Are you really considering it?"
"Maybe..."
"Why? You just said you don't even trust me."
"I know, but I can't stand the idea of you being forced to marry, let alone using me or my family to secure an answer. It's outrageous! I always thought that being the leader of the Clan you would have much more freedom than Maki-san, Mai or Kamo-san had. I would never have imagined that they would be able to extort you like this."
"Kasumi, I have to warn you. This is not a game. If I present you to the clan and you don't keep your promise, we don't know what will happen next."
"I may not trust you to be a faithful man, Satoru... But I trust you to protect us from your clan."
"I wouldn't let them touch a hair on that pretty head of yours."
"Don't say unnecessary things, please. This is serious."
"I know, however, I don't like it one bit. I'd have to sleep with you every night to ensure your well-being."
"That's not going to happen. I'll just give you some time to find a way out... or maybe find someone you really want to marry."
"Why do you sound so kind and so cruel at the same time?"
"I guess this concerns both of us. I should have known that getting involved with you would somehow involve me with your clan. And while I don't fully know what they're like, from the inside, I had a pretty nasty idea even before I met you. This is also my fault, for being so naive..."
"No, it's my fault. I wasn't as wide-eyed as I should have been."
This does strike Kasumi as funny, perhaps more ironic than funny, but she still manages to crack a smile.
"Hey, do you know of any spells that can protect the children? I think that if the Gojou Clan is able to manipulate you by using me, they could also try to manipulate me by using the children."
"Actually, yes. There are a couple of spells I know that are similar to my technique. Not as effective, not as accurate. But yes, you just need a lot of cursed energy. You have to transfer your energy to some object, curse it, and engrave some runes on it. But doing so would leave you completely drained and it's a process you'd have to go through five times. I could do it for you."
"What if the object is already cursed?"
"In that case you would just have to engrave the runes. What do you have in mind?"
"I think I have an idea that might work... If you were to draw the runes for me, I could..."
"Recursive woman, I like it."
"Maybe... if you tell the clan that you've proposed to me and I'm deliberating it... it might give me enough time to start the spell and protect the children."
"I can put a spell over your house, if it would put your mind at ease."
"Yes, that would be a good idea. Besides..." she says, still meditating with her face in the palm of her hand, "You'd give me time to think about this. I really want to help you, but my priority will always be..."
"The children, I understand," he replies and finally sips his coffee.
This convoluted plan is far from what Satoru had in mind for this impromptu date. Kasumi really is an amazing woman and without realizing it, he finds himself smiling at her like an idiot. Like the idiot he is.
"Maybe you'll even end up thinking about it so much that you'll agree to marry me."
"I think you're getting ahead of yourself."
"It wouldn't be so bad. You like kids, don't you? I could give you one or two, and with the clan's money you'd have no problem. You could be a full-time mother and give up sorcery."
"I just said I don't trust you to be a faithful man and you think you're going to convince me to marry you just because your family is loaded, really?"
"It's just an idea," he says, shrugging. "Besides, I can be a faithful man, I'm Gojou Satoru, I can do anything I set my mind to."
"I didn't think so last night, for someone with such a perfected cursed technique you had a lot of difficulty getting that woman off your back."
"It took me by surprise."
"Of course..."
"It won't happen again."
"It's none of my business."
"If you're going to be my fiancée..."
"I'm thinking about it! I haven't accepted yet."
"Do I have to get down on one knee or is it too cliché? I haven't even bought the ring... I didn't come too prepared."
"Shut up already..." Kasumi murmurs, gently stroking her temple.
"I could do it, if you like that sort of thing."
"This is an arrangement, there's nothing romantic about it."
The knot disappears completely and he smiles at her in a way that only manages to make the blush on her cheeks intensify. And while this sudden arrangement is nowhere near his initial idea, he feels good about it. In fact, better than good, he feels one step away from achieving what he really wants. The minor details he'll figure out as they come along, as always.
"Should we go sightseeing?" he asks, glancing at the watch on his left wrist. "You still have a couple of hours before you have to board."
Kasumi looks back at the window. It's not strange to see so many people walking around, even though half the country is in pieces. Suddenly this doesn't seem like such a bad idea, since it's been years since she's walked through a city where she hasn't had to report for work.
"May be..." she replies gently, the arches of her lips rising in a shy smile.
A/N: It was really nice to write this chapter and I hope you didn't find it boring, as not too much really happened. I promise the next ones will be much more interesting, as I already mentioned this story will be a bit longer than its prequel.
Many thanks as always for the comments to Mia, Minth Estele and Gerhman Remington, see you soon!