"You're a lot weaker than Gojo Sensei."
The spirit gave him a look, "HUH?!"
Without time for much else, Haku pushed the spirit towards the wall as they flipped back through the air to create some distance between them once again. As Haku spun the scythe in their hands before taking a stance with the blade near the ground
"Blessed Technique: Nine Tails of Divine Punishment."
Surrounding Haku's feet, a white light similar in brightness as earlier swirled about increasing in speeds causing a strong wind to rattle the room. As Haku swept the blade of the scythe upwards, they leaped through the air, turning around fully before landing on their feet once again as the bright light followed their movements.
The light had diverged into nine separate pathways all racing at breakneck speeds for Kuchisake Onna. It was impossible to tell just which strike would land first. As she thought fast on her feet, conjuring more scissors in attempts to slice through the shards of light coming for her. But as each ray of light met the blades of the scissors, it shattered the sheers to pieces.
All nine flashes of white light were unaffected in their pursuit of her as she lashed out, but to no avail. As they struck, she screamed upon impact so loudly it could curdle someone's blood. Reduced to nothing but ash, the last of her remnants glowed with a dying flame of her spirit. Exorcised, and finally able to rest in peace.
Haku, still in a defensive stance, panted slightly as they watched the last of the flames go out— their first properly exorcised spirit. All of that madness, Haku was lucky to only escape with a slash to their cheek as they stood up straight again to head for their classmates.
Still in the corner, all eyes were wide as Haku came jogging over to them. No one could say a word for what they had just witnessed. The last they remembered of Haku was a lifeless shell of a person, with eyes so glassy it was hard to tell if they even still had a soul left in their body. Now, Haku fought with a passion, moves so practiced it would've been impossible to tell they had only just picked up martial arts two months ago.
Master Tengen's memories were truly powerful as they ran through the spirit of the White Dragon.
Haku set their scythe aside as they knelt down in front of their classmates, eyes scanning each of them for the most serious of injuries to see if any of them were additionally hurt from the last events. All of their eyes were wide, jaws lowered still processing the shock. Yuta was the first to smile with surprise.
"Haku... that was incredible!" Yuta gasped.
Haku shook their head and began helping each of them up to their feet. Yuta and Haku, with injuries the least severe, began to move the furniture that blocked the exit. Inumaki shuffled over to retrieve the clothed bag with the broken talisman so they could complete their mission.
As the two had just finished clearing the exit, the students were finally free to leave. Haku walked back over to pick up their scythe when as they reached down, a force grabbed onto the collar of their coat and they were jerked back up. Like a kitten being carried by the nape of their neck from a mother cat.
Haku let out a choking cough as the force let go, instead grabbing a fistful of fabric near their chest as Haku was pulled forward. With wide eyes having already expected the fight to be over, Haku looked at just who was attacking them now— none other than fearless Maki who looked pissed beyond measure.
"Just what the hell was that?!" She demanded, her eyes bore deeply into Haku's.
Haku merely just shrugged, not knowing what else to do in that situation since Maki terrified them more than anything. She let Haku go, roughly pushing them away to have them stumbling over their own two feet.
"To hell with that! I know you can talk! Answer me!" Maki yelled, not letting Haku escape.
Panda came over to give Maki a calming pat on the shoulder to which she brushed off, "This kid has some explaining to do!"
"Tuna," Inumaki hoarsely croaked as he shook his head.
Maki sighed as she folded her arms across her chest, "Then at least tell us how you knew we were here."
Haku looked around the room before holding out their hand, palm side up. From above, floating down gently to hover just above the outstretched hand, Shiro bobbed up and down. Haku pointed to the shikigami as an answer.
Yuta's eyes lit up, "Shiro! You're here!" As he tried to put the two together, "You knew we were here because of Shiro?" he asked.
Haku nodded, walking over to Inumaki as they reached out to lightly pinch the blue scarf's tail that rested against Inumaki's back.
"Shiro hid in Inumaki's scarf because Inumaki is strong and will protect Shiro and everyone," Haku said, letting go of the scarf's tail.
That was the first time Haku openly spoke to everyone. Despite Maki harassing Haku to talk, she genuinely seemed surprised when they did. Inumaki reached for his scarf, thoroughly examining it from all angles since he absolutely did not know of the shikigami's presence inside of it.
Haku let the shikigami paper doll float around the room as everyone watched it intently.
"Shiro is very sensitive to cursed energy, especially all of your's, and I could tell you were in danger by your quivering levels of cursed energy," Haku revealed, staring up at the spirit floating about aimlessly.
Maki's glare narrowed, "What do you mean, especially all of our's?"
"Shiro was made from the note you all left me when I was unconscious in the infirmary. Shiro is very special to me because of that," Haku's voice was so quiet, it could've been carried away by a gentle breeze if everyone were outside.
Finally knowing Shiro's origin, everyone's expression softened looking at the spirit once again.
"Shiro will always tell me when any of you are in trouble because Shiro is a part of all of you too."
"Kohaku," Panda sniffled as tears began to well up in his eyes, "Stop you're gonna make me cry."
Yuta was already tearing up even though he knew about Shiro. It was just a blessing to hear again from Haku. Even Inumaki and Maki were visibly moved as well. There was no place for anger in Maki's heart anymore.
As Haku heard the sniffles and coughs from around the room, they looked back at their classmates all crying quietly. Immediately, Haku jumped to attention as they walked over to assess if their injuries were more severe than previously thought.
With wide eyes of conern, Haku asked, "Are you all okay? Does it hurt?", in relation to everyone's injuries. Maki only pushed Haku away as she sniffled, turning her head to the side.
"No we're not okay! You don't say a damn thing to us for two and a half months and then the first thing out of your mouth is the most sentimental shit ever! Damn you!" Maki cursed while unable to stop the tears.
Haku continued to stand there incredibly puzzled as they watched everyone try to hide their crying, "You all seem sad and angry, but Shiro is telling me you're all very happy."
"Of course we're happy! We finally feel connected to you Kohaku!" Panda beamed, walking over to pull Haku into a giant hug.
"Tuna." Inumaki coarsely whispered as he went over to pile on into the hug, fully trapping Haku in the center.
It didn't take long for Maki and Yuta to follow their leads as the five of them shared their first group hug as the complete first year class of Jujutsu Tech. Their first joint mission together was completed successfully.
As the group made their way back upwards, through the persistently echoing hallways of Eichen House; for a reason unknown to all of them— they weren't as ominous as before. Now able to say goodbye to the nightmare asylum of insanity and death, the group met up with Ijichi in front of the iron gate. He looked stressed beyond measure as he stood on the phone, waving his arms about with the approaching group to his back.
"Yes, the first years."
"The Eichen House mission and they haven't contacted me yet!"
"It's all Gojo!"
"Yes— backup, preferably a Grade 1 sorcerer or above."
"No they—
"Ijichisan!" Panda called out.
Ijichi turned on his heels swiftly hearing the loud exclamation from Panda. His eyes were wide and smile wide as he laid eyes upon the group walking down the driveway. He quickly withdrew the request as he firmly hung-up the line to greet the smiling first year students, Maki proudly holding the talisman they were sent to retrieve.
The group converged at the car as Maki handed the cursed object to Ijichi who thanked each and everyone of them until his eyes laid upon something that was clearly out of place.
"Namie?! Just— Wha— Why- HOW DID YOU GET HERE?!" Ijichi babbled as he looked like he was about to have a stroke, quickly placing a hand on the hood of the car for balance as his legs felt weak.
Haku looked back over their shoulder to the Eichen House mansion as they pointed upwards towards the upper floors. Now catching everyone's attention, a window on the third floor had been smashed in meaning Haku went through the window to avoid Ijichi on the ground.
Everyone's eyes grew realizing that fact as Ijichi grew even more light headed, a small gasp escaped him as he couldn't look away from the window.
"Haku, how did you get up there?" Yuta asked, as everyone returned their attention to the mysterious one.
Haku shrugged nonchalantly, "I flew."
"YOU FLEW?!" In sync, everyone wondered aloud.
To which Haku responded by giving the briefest demonstration as they hovered further into the air in place before lowering themselves once again.
"It's a training technique from Gojo Sensei. To remain in a constant state of 'flying' by keeping a subconscious focus on my energy. My body is constantly surrounded with a positive field and if I extend that to include the ground, the forces repel one another and I can remain in a suspended state of flying."
The jaws of everyone dropped as they immediately looked at Haku's feet; which were indeed hovering above the ground ever so slightly by a centimeter that was hardly noticeable unless you're looking for it closely. Thinking back, the first years also realized they didn't hear Haku enter the room or any sort of stomping of footsteps as Haku fought the cursed spirit. Haku movements always seemed so light and graceful, never heavy or weighed down— they have now realized just why that is.
Without having to be restricted to the forces of gravity, Haku's increased speed and agility stems from this benefit as well.
Seeing as how there was nothing to do about the situation now, the mission had been completed successfully and no major injuries were sustained by the students, Ijichi decided to push away the thought of knowing he'll definitely be scolded for this. The five first years now had to cram into his small car, despite Haku insisting they could fly back instead. No one would allow that, so— on Panda's lap Haku sat for the entirety of the long car ride back.
After arriving at the school, the students were immediately taken to the infirmary to be assessed for injuries and given the rest of the afternoon off to recuperate; to which they happily obliged.
As the sun began to set on a rather long and eventful day for them, the twilight hour bathed all the light touched in a hazy, golden glow as if erasing all the unfortunate that occurred that day. In their shared occupied dorm, the four first years began to lay food on the table to share a meal together but one person was missing.
Yuta looked up as he watched the rest at work, "I'm gonna see if I can find Haku and ask if they'll join us for dinner. I'll be back!"
With that, Yuta hurried out from the dorm as he thought quickly of any place Haku might be at this time. The only place he knew to check first, Yuta ran at full speed to the zen garden. As expected, Haku had been sitting by the water's edge with their knees drawn to their chest as they stared out into the vast emptiness. Also, like before, as Yuta entered the garden, Haku's head did not turn to greet the boy. The water had captivated all of Haku's attention.
"Haku!" Yuta called out in hopes that would make Haku turn their head, which it thankfully did. Haku openly stared in Yuta's direction as he jogged over to take a seat beside Haku in the grass.
"I'm glad I found you," Yuta smiled.
Haku's expression hadn't changed but they looked around, "Have I ever been anywhere else?"
"I guess you're right," Yuta laughed. "The rest of us are setting up the table to eat dinner together. You should join us. It would be nice to have everyone together."
As great as the offer sounded, Haku shook their head, "I'm not that hungry."
Yuta hadn't expected for this to be easy as he sighed, leaning his weight back into the palms of his hands, "I know we've said it multiple times, but thank you again for today. If you didn't show up, things would've gotten a lot worse. Everyone is really appreciative."
In respect, Haku lowered their head slightly but couldn't bring themselves to say anything else. The two continued to sit in a comfortable silence between them as they felt the cool night breeze occasionally blow past.
"Do you remember our conversation from a couple days ago?" Haku asked quite randomly. This break of silence was unusual if not rare for Haku to do. That caught Yuta by surprise, but he knew if Haku was bringing up the conversation from the past, something must be bothering them.
Yuta nodded, "Of course I do, I would never forget it."
"About fighting to find a reason to live," Haku sighed as they pulled their knees closer to them. "There could be something after all," their voice barely above a whisper that even Yuta struggled to hear it.
As much as Yuta would have liked to have asked Haku to repeat what they had said, the mood seemed somber and Yuta didn't want to interfere with any sort of preparation these words might have taken Haku to say. A few beats of silence passed before Haku nodded to themselves as if confirming whatever thought they had.
"I'm not sure if the goal is feasible or even worthwhile to try— but, it's the only thing I want to give my best effort to," Haku began. "But for as long as I'm here or for as long as I'm alive— whichever comes first, I want to protect those that I care about. Normally, that would mean my family, but they don't even remember me anymore thanks to the walking hazard. So instead, I'd rather give everything I have to protect all of you because I really don't know what I would do if I lost any of you; even if we haven't known each other for very long."
As Haku took a deep breath, they put their head down to rest their forehead on their knees. It was difficult for Haku to vocalize their thoughts out loud, but talking to Yuta made the words flow easier than normal, "I think... after today, I realized that. When I felt all of you in danger, it was all I could think about— wanting to protect all of you."
"That's a two way street," Yuta said, turning his head to look at Haku, "You don't ever need to feel like you're fighting alone, especially here. We try our best to protect one another because each of us knows what it's like to feel alone— and no one deserves to know that feeling."
Haku finally looked at Yuta to find him smiling, "So, come on. Let's have dinner together?"
"THERE YOU TWO ARE!"
In their seated positions, Yuta and Haku both jumped as they whipped around to the direction of the zen garden's entrance to see that the voice belonged to none other than Maki. As she angrily stomped over to grab them by their arms and forcefully bring them up to their feet.
"Yuta you sure took your sweet time getting Haku, we're starving," Maki huffed as she dragged the two by their wrists back to the first years' dorm.
Even if Haku declined the invitation once again, there would be no way to say no to Maki. That night was Haku's first time sharing a meal with anyone since their life had turned upside down. Haku's last meal surrounded by people was with their family at the dinner table, and while this isn't Haku's real family, it sure did bring back that same happy feeling like before that Haku longingly missed in the quiet of the infirmary.