Words of Candor

Miwa Chisei simply waited quietly for him to continue.

"It isn't that I don't want to intervene. I can't. Many people dislike seeing the Gojo Clan on good terms with the Miwa family, even now that your family has declined."

She had more or less guessed that. There was probably an element of self-preservation involved.

Miwa Chisei wasn't upset. On the contrary, she felt it was only natural. As the current head of the Gojo Clan, Gojo Yu was indeed a rational man who knew where to draw the line.

"Uncle You, you really don't need to explain all this to me. I understand."

In Gojo Yu's memories, Miwa Chisei was still the tiny little girl whom six-year-old Satoru had beaten until she bawled. That incident had been an adorable misunderstanding, though.

"I wouldn't call it an explanation. I'm simply sharing my thoughts with you. I was the one who arranged things behind the scenes for the mission that brought you to Jujutsu High."

Miwa Chisei had dreamed up ten thousand conspiracy theories, but she had never imagined that Satoru Gojo's father had been pulling the strings.

She was a little puzzled. By all rights, Gojo Yu should have understood her father's wishes very well. So why?

"Since you've already become everyone's target, you might as well step boldly into the sunlight."

Gojo Yu's words seemed simple, yet an unreadable emotion flickered in Miwa Chisei's eyes.

So Satoru Gojo had inherited his complete lack of restraint from his father.

"Uncle You, do you just enjoy watching things spiral out of control?"

Miwa Chisei sounded rather helpless, so her words didn't come across as rude. Instead, they revealed a rare hint of cuteness.

"I also wanted to test the other two clans' attitudes toward the Miwa family."

"The Zenin Clan and the Kamo Clan?"

"Yes. Those clan heads and elders argued with me until their faces flushed and their necks bulged. Quite amusing, wouldn't you say?"

Saying something like that in such a deep voice and serious tone-the people of the Gojo Clan really were strange.

His biological father. Definitely his biological father!

Miwa Chisei sighed, narrowing her eyes in disapproval.

"Leave me out of the Three Great Families' power games. I don't like being a pawn in someone else's hands."

"Uncle, I have nothing tying me down now. If I lose it, there's no telling what I'll do."

It wasn't exactly a threat. Miwa Chisei was merely sharing her thoughts, too.

Gojo Yu wasn't angered by those words. A measure of admiration shone in his deep blue eyes.

He hadn't dragged Miwa Chisei into the public eye solely for the Three Great Families' overt and covert struggles. More importantly, he had done it for Satoru Gojo.

As Satoru Gojo grew older, both the power and the ideas he displayed developed further with each passing day.

Satoru Gojo was a child with a mind of his own, but a Jujutsu Sorcerer like him was destined to become a target of Jujutsu Society.

And perhaps not just Jujutsu Society.

He needed someone to share the heat. If they could throw Jujutsu Society into chaos together, that would work, too.

That was one of Gojo Yu's thoughts. There were other matters... but there was no need to consider them yet. Perhaps he was simply overthinking things.

"But this wasn't entirely one-sided on my part, was it? If you hadn't wanted to come, Qianxing, no one could have forced you into Jujutsu Society. You have things you want to do yourself, don't you?"

Miwa Chisei faltered slightly. Experience really did count. He had turned the tables on her so quickly.

"Still, seeing that you've grown up healthy puts your uncle's mind at ease. It's such a pity that what Tatsuki and I were planning back then never came to pass."

Miwa Chisei caught the scent of a conspiracy. She was about to voice an objection, but Gojo Yu cut her off swiftly and seamlessly.

"Get along with Satoru at Jujutsu High. You might make plenty of interesting friends, too."

At fifteen, Miwa Chisei might be able to win an argument against Satoru Gojo, but she was absolutely no match for Gojo Yu's maneuvering.

"Then please don't use me as a pawn in your future schemes, Uncle. This is the era of the Three Great Families now, not the Four Great Families."

Gojo Yu fell silent for a moment. Rather than answer Miwa Chisei, he went on to speak of something else.

"Satoru knows nothing about this. He's a straightforward child, as I'm sure you're well aware, Qianxing."

Miwa Chisei pursed her lips. Yes, yes, far too straightforward. He practically looks down his nose at everyone.

"That guy would consider this sort of thing beneath him anyway."

Gojo Yu's expression softened, and he even showed a hint of a smile.

Qianxing was a clever child, after all. But being too clever wasn't a good thing. It was easy to tie oneself in knots.

Gojo Yu drew a pale pink envelope from the wide sleeve of his kimono. It looked rather substantial. He placed it on the tatami between them.

"Your birthday was in March. It's already passed, but this is a little something from Satoru's mother and me. Think of it as birthday wishes from your elders."

Miwa Chisei looked at the envelope, and a strange feeling filled her chest.

Her throat tightened, and the feeling spread to her eyes. Hot liquid seemed to well up of its own accord.

She still remembered how, every year on her birthday, her father would buy her a present and give her an envelope, too. He called it "birthday blessing money."

Her mother had passed away early. No matter how well her father cared for her, a little girl would always have secrets and thoughts of her own that he couldn't fully account for.

So he would give her money to buy whatever she liked.

She had thought she would never receive anything like that again...

Miwa Chisei reached out and took the pink envelope. Her head was bowed low, but drops of liquid fell onto it, staining the pale paper a deeper pink.

"Thank you, Uncle. I'll accept it."

Her voice was calm, with only a faint tremor at the end that she hadn't quite managed to conceal.

Gojo Yu pretended not to notice, though his voice grew considerably gentler.

"I know you like peace and quiet, so I've arranged for you to have dinner separately in the guest room. Stay until you've eaten."

"Okay."

The girl kept her head lowered until she left the room.

As the last streak of orange twilight sank beneath the horizon, Miwa Chisei rode back to Jujutsu High in the same car.

On the way back, however, she couldn't help speaking to the driver.

"Satoru Gojo gets along pretty well with his family, doesn't he?"

The driver was a little surprised that the girl, who rarely initiated conversation, would ask such a question. Still, he answered politely.

"Although young master Gojo is going through his rebellious phase, he doesn't have any particularly serious conflicts with his family."

Miwa Chisei lowered her eyes to the pink envelope clutched in her hand. It contained a total of 100,000 yen-a very generous birthday gift.

That made sense. With a father like Gojo Yu, any conflict would surely be smoothed over in the end. He really was a wily old fox.

His methods and behavior might be bizarre and outrageous, but deep down, he was still a gentle, kind man.

Miwa Chisei suddenly felt as though she was far too easy to win over, so she quickly shook her head to banish that frightening thought.

Watching the girl's strange behavior in the rearview mirror, the driver couldn't help smiling.

However mature she might be, she was still only a fifteen-year-old girl.

And a very cute one, too.