THE WHITE DRAGON┊ jujutsu kaisen

Chapter 43: They Who Fell from the Sky

         Once again, Itadori cried out in anguish, "That's not fair! You always save my ass!"

         They hesitated, parting their lips as if they had something to add but quickly drew them shut. It was only for a moment but it seemed that Haku's intense glare softened, facial expression following that pause of humanity and their old shy smile ghosted the corners of their mouth. But just as quickly as a candle could flicker, it was gone and their usual glower returned, "Then this will be the last time."

         With those ominous words, they turned to continue walking straight ahead.

         Before Itadori could ask what Haku meant, Fushiguro's impatience persisted as he pushed past and hurried to follow Haku, "Are there any details about the mission you can tell us about?"

         "Yeah," they responded curtly, failing to add any details while plowing ahead at full speed.

         Fushiguro maintained his pace in wait just in case Haku felt kind enough to elaborate but as the seconds grew, it didn't seem likely so he tried once again, "...So... are you going to tell us, Haku Senpai?"

         "I could."

         "Then tell us!" Itadori gasped, exasperated by Haku's vague and minimal replies, "I'm getting kinda nervous!"

          Haku stopped walking, turning around to face the two boys who also paused a safe distance away. It was the look in Haku's eyes that made the two of them fear god as one could never tell just what Haku planned to do, but it would be extreme on both ends of the spectrum of possibilities. A quick passing glance between Itadori and Fushiguro, Haku finally gave them the smallest piece of advice, "Whether or not either of you pass is my decision. Just don't do anything to make me think you're incompetent and you'll pass. Easy."

          "Damn it!" Itadori drew his hand into a fist and firmly slammed it against the side of a building the group paused in front of, "I'm already failing then!"

         "Unfortunate," Fushiguro muttered, as if passively dismissing Itadori's outburst. However, on the inside, he felt the exact same way; this would be a hopeless cause.

The trio of turmoil continued their walk in silence until they reached the train station, scanned their IDs and boarded the next train for Shibuya Station. The ride itself wasn't long and it allowed each of them a moment of quiet to sit with their thoughts.

Once disembarked, Haku led the way. With subtle grace and ease, they weaved through the sea of pedestrians in one of the most crowded stations in all of Japan. Never brushing against the shoulder of a passerby, always swift on their toes, it made following them an extremely difficult task. Fushiguro and Itadori were not as skilled, fumbling into strangers and garnering several sharp glares in their direction. No one batted an eye for Haku though, it was as if they didn't even exist amongst the flow of people.

Eyeing a relatively secluded area, Haku took a sharp turn and glanced behind them to gesture minimally that Fushiguro and Itadori were to follow them around the corner. It took a few moments to catch up to Haku, but the boys finally did, slightly out of breath by the time they arrived having wasted most of it on half-baked apologies.

Haku took one final scan of the vicinity before beginning, "The Council has been getting reports that this area experiences heightened levels of cursed energy around this time of year due to... festivities," rolling their eyes in regards to the last word that left their lips in bad taste, "all we're being tasked to do is monitor the area and promptly, but discreetly, deal with anything out of the ordinary."