THE WHITE DRAGON┊ jujutsu kaisen

Chapter 40: I Will Never Forget You

         Previously, Haku had blindly followed the source with a one-track mind of purposely confining the abnormality to that location, but they had been taken aback by an unexpected turn of events. This time, as much as they were keeping their sense keen on just how far away the source was travelling, Haku paid attention to the path it was taking and took wild guesses for where it would bring them. Unfortunately, not even predictions could dull the shock for the next location Haku ended up in.

         They paused briefly at the corner of an intersection, carefully behind a building since the sense of dread that had been ominously looming over their shoulders came crashing down once again only to sink painfully in their stomach like a boulder. With a shallow breath, eyes tightly squeezed shut, firmly pressed lips together, Haku paused and hoped that when they turned the corner their memory would be wrong.

         Fate would never be so kind.

         Emerging from behind the safety of the building, the minimal color in Haku's cheeks turned an ashen white and small beads of sweat peppered their forehead and the nape of their neck. In a reveal of grandeur, across the street were the gates that sealed three years worth of memories in their mind— Haku's former middle school lay in plain sight.

         An uneasiness washed over them as their stomach churned seeing yet another place of immense familiarity. Haku placed a hand on the building beside them to steady themself, reaching with the other to wipe the sweat from their forehead only to feel a burning heat. Unable to bring themself to take another step forward for the time being, Haku's eyes stayed locked on the school notably a lot emptier than the elementary school. That was to be expected since the small children played aimlessly, waiting for their parents to pick them up, and the middle school was long ridden of students who had no purpose in staying behind after mandatory hours. Only the occasional flash of sports club attire or an instructor passed behind the gate quietly.

         By the time Haku had become aware of just how long they had been idly watching from afar, the peculiar source from before had vanished as if it had never existed in the first place. Though that should worry them tremendously, Haku couldn't help but exhale a prolonged sigh of relief. As they had feared, returning to Sendai was just as traumatic an experience they insisted it would be. With the source of cursed energy nowhere to be felt, Haku firmly made up their mind to return and submit their mission report status as "Incomplete Without Further Investigation Required".

         Though they ran through the streets blindly at times, at the moment, nothing else seemed out of the ordinary or needing immediate action as described by the Council. Dismissively, Haku concluded that the events here were nothing more than another one of the numerous false leads flooding the school's requests. Nearly ready to turn around and head back the way they came, two girls wearing a uniform belonging to the middle school Haku had formerly attended passed in front.

         "Club ran late and my mom's gonna kill me."
         "Why?"
          "It's almost six and I haven't started making dinner yet."
          "She's working late tonight right?"
          "No, tonight she gets off around seven...

         Out of earshot, the girls continued along the sidewalk getting farther away and fading into the distance.

         "It's almost six," Haku quietly echoed, having listened to the girl's conversation, "dinner." Those words reminded Haku of an important detail before they arrived in Sendai. A small tinge of guilt tugged in their chest, "Sorry Megumi, I guess this is a promise I can't keep after all." Knowing very well by now the travel time returning to Tokyo, it would be dark and Fushiguro would likely be sitting at the table when they returned regardless of the time, but insist he had just gotten there and wasn't waiting impatiently.