THE WHITE DRAGON┊ jujutsu kaisen

Chapter 41: The Neglected Garden

P R E V I O U S L Y . . .

Haku was assigned a mission to Natori City in the Miyagi Prefecture with Panda, Fushiguro, and Itadori when suddenly a message came for Haku's immediate need for departure to Sendai: their hometown. It was there that Haku followed a suspicious form of cursed energy that flowed through the town with a bit too much ease and they were given an excruciatingly unwelcome tour of familiar places of previous significance to them. To end on an even worse note, Haku reunited with Sen, their older brother, who immediately regained his memories of their history together. That prompted Haku to make one of the hardest decisions of their life thus far and, using an archaic form of sorcery from Master Tengen's memories, Haku severed their ties to Sen; he will no longer be able to remember Haku in any way even if they are to meet again in the future.

•

P R E S E N T L Y . . .
October 8th, 2018
around 11:49pm
.

Late in the evening, nearing the midnight hour, the dormitory was quiet. Nearly everyone had already gone to their rooms, but three beds remained empty.

"WAKE UP! BAD— No— HORRIBLE NEWS!"

Shouting loud enough to wake an entire city, Panda stormed the dorms with no hesitation. Thundering down hallways, pounding on walls to wake every inhabitant dead or alive, and opening doors to repeat his announcement; he saw the stirring signs of consciousness in his peers. As expected, no one was pleased. After Panda's pounding strides that led him down the stairs to the common area and the kitchen, groggy and shuffling noises could be heard following him.

In the kitchen, Fushiguro had been slumped over the table kept in company by a white box just in front of him. But even he wasn't impervious to Panda's ruckus. With a crick in his neck from his horrible sleeping posture and the popping noise of several of his joints, Fushiguro squinted to adjust his eyes to the bright kitchen light. Not long after he came to his senses, the room slowly began to fill with the others.

Fushiguro strained to scan the room but as far as he could tell, everyone appeared just as tired as he was and dressed in their pajamas.

Maki had her glasses off, rubbing her eyes, "Panda... this better be important or I swear to—

"It's about Haku," Panda interrupted impatiently. He was the only one present who was fully awake, but after that comment, a few pairs of eyes snapped open. That seemed to do the trick in heightening the concern.

Even Fushiguro's posture was fully corrected. He felt a tinge of worry stir inside him, masked fully by his unchanging, indifferent expression he wore habitually without effort.

Itadori yawned, still groggy, "Eh, Haku Senpai? They still on that mission?"

Panda shook his head, "It's worse. Haku submitted a mission withdrawal statement."

"WHAT?!" Maki, Kugisaki, and Fushiguro exclaimed in unison, very shocked.

"Tuna?!" Inumaki, too, had his own exclamation to join their surprise.

The only one failing to digest the severity of Panda's sentence was Itadori; he still had much to learn about the inner workings of the Jujutsu World. His eyebrows furrowed, scanning the room and taking note of everyone's reaction. He hesitantly asked, "Mission withdrawal statement... is that bad?"

"Very," Fushiguro answered curtly, "it's the worst case scenario for any sorcerer and something that's not taken lightly by the Council. It comes with several repercussions."