Kagome clucks her tongue along the roof of her mouth, eyes wide at the sight of the Gojo estate. Two guards welcome them into the gated estate. From what she can see from the car window, nearly puts the school to shame. Someone could easily get lost trying to navigate through all of the rooms and expansive gardens. Satoru parks the car in front of what she presumes to be the main entrance. He's still dressed in his uniform, insisting that they really did not need to get dressed up just to meet his uncle.
Easy for him—it's her that is making a first impression, and she does not want to give any member of his clan ammo, nor does she want to create unnecessary hostility.
"We won't stay long," he says, flashing a smile before getting out of the car. He helps her out of the car, and tosses the keys to a butler—at least she assumes that is what the man is. He is certainly dressed like one with his dark suit, white gloves, and over-styled hair.
"No glasses tonight?" she inquires. He usually wears his blindfold for when he's working. Kagome smooths out her white dress, a nervous habit, but it gave her something to do with her hands.
"The blindfold works best." He leads them through a series of twists and turns, ignoring the servant's whispers as they walked by. "Less strain." Satoru slides the door open. Kagome sucks in a breath.
"The fuck is this?" she whispers under her breath. A man with similar blue eyes to Satoru's stands. His white hair is cut shorter, and his build is bulkier, like one of those American wrestlers that Sota always had her watch with him. Around him are several beautiful women, dolled up like courtesans. Their eyes only light up when they land on Satoru. Satoru presses her closer to his side.
"Thought this was a family dinner, Ryu," Satoru says, leading into the room. The door slides closed behind them. "Move," he commands the brown-haired woman in a pink kimono. The woman scrambles away, darting to the other side. His uncle frowns.
A part of Kagome feels awful at the treatment, even though Satoru's uncle probably instructed the women to sit in a way that would keep her and Satoru apart. The other part of her says, fuck all of them.
"Sit," Ryu commands, gesturing. "Word got back to me and the others that you were in the market for a wife." Ryu sits down and leers at Kagome. Her skin itches as she swallows down her disgust. Were all of these men pigs?
"Your source was wrong. I never said I was looking." Satoru waves his hand at the women. "All of this is unnecessary, and frankly insulting."
"These women are at least from other clans, unlike this… woman you have found." Ryu whistles at the dark-haired woman with dark eyes as though she is a dog, and to Kagome's horror, the woman refills his tea without so much as a blink. Satoru takes the pot from the woman and pours Kagome's tea first.
The room goes silent. Kagome swears she can hear the sound of a record screeching to a stop. She puts on a blank face. These kinds of people thrived on any hint of vulnerability.
"At any rate," Ryu continues, "these women are here to prove their worth. I had another room set up for privacy if you wish to validate their worth."
"Can I slap him?" Kagome turns to Satoru. She could have sworn she left all that misogyny back in the Feudal era.
"Not yet," Satoru responds, cheerfully. He sighs, rolls his shoulders back.
"Control your woman, nephew." Ryu glares at Kagome. "Now, then. You shame these women if you do not allow them the opportunity to prove themselves."
"So, Gome-chan, this is my uncle. Everyone else is just old geezers that got on the council because of their age."
"Your clan takes part in the bridal market?" She tries to keep her voice level, but just because he is not taking part, does not absolve him. "No more." His eyes are unreadable behind the blindfold, but she doesn't need to see, to know that he'll follow through.
"That is not your choice to–"
"Okay." Satoru directs his attention back to his uncle, whose pale skin starts to resemble that of a tomato. "You heard her. Anyone found participating will be out of this clan."
Ryu throws his porcelain cup down, breaking it. The liquid stains the tatami flooring. He jumps to his feet, stomps over to them, and bends down until he is at eye level with Kagome. "You fucking–" Slap. She just reacts. Her hand connects with his cheek before she has time to process what she just did. Ryu growls, lands back on his ass, as steam comes from the bright handprint.
"Oh, that looks like it hurts." Satoru laughs.
"I'm mad at you too."
"What? I did nothing." Satoru pouts, wobbling his bottom lip.
A string of curses flies out of Ryu's mouth as he jerks around the floor like a man possessed. He knocks over the teapot and their untouched cups. The women get up from their seats, and crowd around him, blocking Kagome's view. A twinge of guilt slithers up Kagome's spine. She didn't mean to hit him with a slap filled with purification… it just happened.
"That sucks," Satoru speaks up, leaning forward. His lips titled upward.
"A slap is the minimum of what he deserves."
"Sure, but I meant that his cursed energy is fading." Satoru stands, dusts his pants off. "Alright, ladies, I need to look at my uncle." Some women shoot daggers at Kagome, while the others look relieved. She gets it—for some of them, she inadvertently destroyed everything they have ever known, and to lose out on marrying into the Gojo family is a blow that their families won't let them live down. But she'll be damned if her child grows up in a family that practices such horrendous things.
"That fucking wench." Ryu gasps, reaching out for Satoru but only getting his infinity. "My curse…"
"Stop being so dramatic. You just need rest." Satoru pokes his uncle's forehead, knocking the man out. Kagome's eyebrows shoot up at the sudden lack of movement. "I am sorry that my uncle has wasted your time, ladies," he says, rubbing his neck. "Uh, you are all free to go back home. I can vouch to your fathers that it was a misunderstanding." He walks back to Kagome and holds a hand out.
She waits until they get back to the car, not wanting to give the servants or anyone else anything else to gossip about. "You knew about this?"
"Umm." He chuckles, gripping the steering wheel tighter. "I knew of it, but… you know I want to change the jujutsu world. I could kill everyone up at the top, but it wouldn't solve anything."
"I know. That's why you became a teacher. I still don't like it."
"I can't control what the other clans do. Some might follow what we did tonight to align themselves with the Gojo name."
"Fine." Kagome looks out the window. Her stomach grumbles. "Shut up."
"I didn't say anything!"
"You were thinking it."
"So, in light of wanting to change the world, I've been thinking." Satoru reaches over the console and intertwines his fingers with hers. "Gotta raise up some powerful allies."
"I know what you're really getting at and no."
"What a waste," Naraku murmurs, shifting from that of a servant. He frowns at Ryu, who lies there unaware. Why was it so hard to separate Kagome from Gojo? Was he missing something? He outstretches his hand, smiling softly as his spiderlings crawl from his haori to the Ryu. They slip through the small opening of his parted lips. "Feast my children," Naraku coaxes.
Ryu's mouth foams as his eyebrows bunch together. His skin blotches over with red and purple bruises, staining his once pale skin. Naraku wrinkles his nose at the smell of urine. Luckily for him, his nose is not as strong as that of the canine types. Nevertheless, the smell is unpleasant. Bit by bit, Ryu wastes away. No sound escapes his lips. Naraku's precious spiderlings must have made quick work of his tongue first.
Naraku settles down onto the ground, kicks out his legs. The spiderlings won't leave a trace behind, but liquidation takes some time. He commits Ryu's face to memory. Soon he'll be wearing it. Satoru Gojo won't be returning to his clan estate anytime soon if the intel he received is correct. And by then it will be too late.
A/N: Apologies for the late update! I rewrote the chapter. Thank you for reviewing - I too would love to see a picture of Satoru with stars in his eyes. And there will still be an update on Saturday. Have a great weekend everyone :)
