October 31st, 2018
Present time in Shibuya Ward
"Yuta."
Still on a bent knee beside Yuta, laying flat against the ground unable to sit up on his own, Haku held their hand up to the air as if suggesting Yuta reach out and place his own firmly against theirs. It took a laborious effort just for Yuta to prop himself up onto his elbows. He let out several groaning sighs. The violent, stinging pain had not yet subsided; all his nerves were ablaze and electrified. Haku could only watch with a steadfast expression, not of hatred, pity, or joy— they simply held a vacant stare. Weakly, leaning all his weight to one elbow, Yuta obliged the request, shakily holding up his arm to align their hands.
Even with the spatial distance of a few centimeters between them, it was obviously clear that Yuta's hand would engulf Haku's easily. They always had small, dainty hands. It was one of the first details Yuta had noticed about Haku during their very first mission together. A glimmer of familiar happiness spread throughout Yuta's chest as he anticipated holding their hand out of comfort, just like old times. With a small stretch, he tried to interlock their fingers together when something unexpected happened. With ease, his hand had passed through Haku's like they were nothing more than a figment of his imagination in the present.
That startling sensation— or lack thereof— rocketed Yuta upright, immediately forgetting his pain, and sat straight as an arrow with his eyes focused on Haku's hand. There was no mistaking it, the tips of their fingers appeared translucent and the rest of Haku's skin appeared lackluster in comparison. Yuta's mouth opened like he wanted to say something but no words came out. He blankly could not process what his eyes were telling him.
Haku spared him the strife, "It's already started. I made my decision a long time ago."
Yuta stuttered, flickering his gaze between their hand and their face, "Haku... are you really here?"
"I am. And I will continue to be here, just not in the way you expect."
"You can't," Yuta's voice cracked in desperation, "please. You can't just leave like this." Once again, his eyes began to well up with tears. After nearly a year apart, they only had less than an hour together.
"Everything is happening as it should and it all began with her, Yubaba approaching me. That was the beginning of the end. It was a confirmation. That's why I know there is no alternate ending for me. This is my fate and I accept it. I have seen this day burned into the back of my mind so flawlessly, I've lived it a thousand times— each time I close my eyes."
"I'm not going to let you die. I don't care about the prophecy. There's a way for you to live— to stay with us! You talked to her, Yubaba. I know you did. She can help you."
Haku shook their head solemnly, "Prophecies are made to be absolute. I was never meant to stay, Yuta."
"Bullshit!" He retorted back angrily, his expression contorted with disbelief and fear.
"I may have signed away the name given to me at birth, but the spirit that lives in me has always been free to choose its own will. While you were away I met an old friend who advised me to do just that if I ever crossed paths with Yubaba. The River Spirit gave me an anecdote that I would know how to use when the time was right to transcend into the spirit world once again without fear." For the first time that evening, Haku shyly smiled. "I would never insinuate that I didn't care about any of you, or that the times we all spent together were meaningless to me. I am truly grateful for each and every one of you. Every... every single one of you."
The emphasis placed on every struck a chord in Yuta that things may not be as it seemed; they knew more than they were telling. Haku paused, finding the right words, "That's why I know there is someone that deserves to be saved, even if that someone isn't me."
Haku looked back at the damage the two had done to the street, windows shattered, pavement torn up, greenery abolished. To the wind, they spoke the words ringing in the back of Yuta's mind, confirming his suspicions, "You know he deserves to be saved. That's why you fought so hard against me. I meant it when I said you don't have to be the hero all the time, Yuta."
With a somber pause, Haku watched the tear slip down Yuta's cheek with immense grief. They whispered, "Do you remember the first conversation we ever had in the garden?"
Yuta perked up slightly, wiping his nose with his sleeve and a sniffle, "Of course. I'd never forget it."
They nodded in understanding; that was a shared feeling. "I had a lot of time to put things into perspective and I have made my peace with it all. Going back to that day, I want to correct myself."
"My biggest sacrifice will not be dying. It was living when I felt that I had no choice, but now... I don't need to find any more reasons to live when I have something I'm willing to die for. So I don't want you to think of this as a sacrifice for what could have been. This is a choice that I am making as a thank you to every reason that has kept me alive up until this point in my life."
Although Yuta would not be able to physically feel their touch, Haku placed a delicate hand to his shoulder. What lingered was a serene warmth as the reassurance flowed down Yuta's arm and spread throughout his body. Haku wasn't smiling, but they didn't need to do so to show just how much it mattered to them to say all these things. "You're a big reason why I have made it this far. So I need you to understand that."
Yuta's throat was tight, constantly fighting back the urge to bawl right there in the middle of the catastrophe. "I don't know if I ever will," he croaked.
"You will, because a part of me will continue to live on in your heart and in the hearts of all those I've touched in my short time here."
Yuta closed his eyes and pressed his lips together; his face felt blazing hot though the pain from fighting had long since faded. Haku's voice rang through his ears, "Please don't cry. It makes you ugly."
And just like magic, Haku seldom chose to speak in the past, but they always did know what to say. Yuta's laugh bubbled up from his chest and he was able to open his eyes once again and wiped them. "I guess I should've learned how to be a pretty crier like you," he joked back.
"It takes practice, but I pray you won't ever need to."
Though Haku's touch had no effect, they still tried to help Yuta to his feet. They looked over their shoulder down the street in both directions, "I have to look for something. A Cursed object before I find Sukuna. I also have a request that I need to make from you. Something only you can do, Yuta."
"Anything."
"Find Megumi and the Walking Hazard. Keep them close to you. Do not let them out of your sight. Do not let them get anywhere near me."
Yuta had no idea what Haku was talking about, but he still nodded. The time to part ways had come and he was preparing just what he should say in this situation. However, Haku was uncharacteristically chatty that evening, perhaps it was for the best, Yuta thought.
The space between them felt draining and vacant. Haku held out their palms face up; the ground beneath could be faintly seen through. Suggesting Yuta put his hands over theirs, he obliged and that familiar sense of serenity returned. Haku gazed upwards, unafraid, into Yuta's eyes, "I can't go any farther with you. Just go back the way you came and you'll be alright, but you have to promise me you won't look back."
"Will we meet again somewhere?" Yuta asked, but feared the answer.
Bravery is always rewarded and the prize was Haku's rare, genuine full smile. It lit up their face beautifully with a fond kindness to melt even the coldest of hearts, "I'm sure of it." Haku let their hands return to their side, "Now go, and no matter what, don't look back."
•
"Okkotsu Senpai!"
Having spent the last few minutes running with no destination in mind just running, Yuta was overwhelmed, but what remained of his feelings had fallen out of him with every pounding step against the ground. He was numb and the surroundings all seemed the same to him, but a familiar voice snapped him back to the reality of his living nightmare. Also rushing to greet him, Fushiguro jogged over followed by Gojo sans blindfold.
Yuta darted his eyes between the two, "Megumi. Gojo Sensei? What are the two of you doing here?"
Gojo scoffed, folding his arms against his chest, "Are you really in a position to ask me that? What are you doing here, Yuta? Shouldn't you still be in Africa?"
Yuta shook his head no and diligently looked around to scan the area his feet had taken him, "We can discuss details later. First and foremost, is everyone alright?"
"As far as we're aware. But we're actually looking for Haku Senpai."
"I'm guessing by the redecoration around here, the two of you have already been reacquainted with one another?"
Like an inside joke, Gojo got Yuta to chuckle, "Just like old times."
"Where did Haku Senpai go? It's urgent."
"There is no need to find them."
"What? What are you saying, Senpai?"
"I'm saying that our priority should be on dealing with everything else as of now. Haku will take care of Sukuna."
"Then you know what tonight is— Senpai, if we don't do something Haku is going to die!"
"That's their choice," Yuta retorted firmly, almost too aggressively before adding, "and I respect it."
Fushiguro's eyes went wild, nearly popping out of his skull in outrage, "What?! Have you gone insane?"
"Hold on Megumi," Gojo took a protective step forward and put an arm out to prevent Fushiguro from interjecting. Tonight marked a rare instance that the students were given the opportunity to see his eyes, but that was quickly becoming known to not be in their favor; an air of suspicion hinted to the possibility that something had already happened, "You know something, don't you Yuta?"
"I know nothing more than the two of you," Yuta replied plainly, "only that Haku has thought the decision through carefully and thoroughly enough that I trust them. I'll do anything I can to support Haku."
"I'm not comfortable knowing that cursed energy will just be eradicated from the earth, all for the sacrifice of one teenager— my student. I've supported dumb, reckless decisions before, but this is pushing it, even for me." Gojo straightened his stance and his voice became hardened with resolve, every syllable enunciated, "Kohaku is not dying tonight."
"Sensei. Despite everything that you've put Haku through, they miraculously hold no harsh feelings towards you. In fact, Haku is very grateful to you and to everyone. To Haku, this isn't a petty sacrifice for the so-called greater good. This is a choice, a thank you, and a good-bye." Yuta's eyes began to water, but his voice remained level and calm. He had already accepted what was to come. "As painful as it is to know this, I wouldn't ever want to take that away from Haku."
"Yuta." Gojo firmly warned once again, the friendly air that usually clung to his speech had long gone. He meant business. "I'll only say this once. Tell me where Kohaku is. Now."
"Haku requested one thing of me and it's that I am to keep an eye on the two of you," Yuta's eyes flickered to include Fushiguro as well.
"Megumi and me? Don't flatter yourself kid. I don't need anyone to keep an eye on me. I'm the strongest after all. Sukuna will not lay a hand on Kohaku's head if I have something to do with it."
"Sensei. I won't allow you to interfere. This is painful for me too."
"I'm not concerned about something as menial as pain. This is about ensuring the future of tomorrow. Jujutsu sorcery will not vanish when I am alive and well to put an end to this madness." Gojo took a threatening step forward. His brilliant, sapphire eyes intimidatingly peered over Yuta's head from above. "Step aside Yuta."
"No," he retorted firmly without hesitation, "I'm not scared of you, Sensei."
"Is this a challenge? Do you realize what you're saying?"
Fushiguro, tired of second guessing himself and had refrained from comment the entire altercation, stepped out from behind Gojo and gave Yuta a pleading look, "Okkotsu Senpai I—"
"Megumi," Yuta fired, growing more pissed by the moment, "I'll make this easy for you. You're either with me or against me right now. And to be against me would also be going against Haku as well. You've said in the past that Haku terrifies you, but I'll show you right now that I'm just the same, if not more terrifying, when I fight angry."
Gojo cackled, "What's this? Did you grow some balls overseas too, Yuta? This might be entertaining after all. Megumi, why don't you help Yuta just for shits and giggles?"
Fushiguro shifted from Yuta to Gojo, a decision that would haunt him far into the future if he was to make the wrong decision. Was he to trust a man who had practically raised him from a young age and shown him the true capabilities of what it meant to be a Jujutsu sorcerer, or to trust two of his most respected senpais, both of which had shown him that you don't need to be a prodigy to accomplish feats of impossibility— that true strength lay in one's own determination and fortitude. Could he lose another valuable mentor to him?
"I'm sorry, Okkotsu Senpai. But I want Haku Senpai to live."
•
In the underground tunnels, moving through the city shrouded by the cover of chaos above and the intricacy of the layout below, Geto and Mahito were making their way to the proposed point of contact to retrieve the newly revived Sukuna and to also find none other than the prophesized nuisance that would threaten their plans for a new age of Jujutsu Sorcery.
"You made sure to get the Prison Realm from the Star Catacombs, right Mahito?" Geto asked passively, not looking for a lengthy conversation. Just to rehash the points of the plan to fool-proof protection and reassurance.
Mahito cackled, "I'm not an idiot. Of course I did. It's right..." Feeling the small sack that had been strung across his body, the words faded from his mouth.
"What's that?" Geto slowed, now growing alert that something was wrong.
"It's... Shit, I swear I had it." Mahito opened the sack, turned it over, but nothing fell out.
"What?! It's gone?"
"No no, I had it yesterday. I even showed that old hag when she—"
"Yubaba came?"
"Yeah, she said you called her, Geto. She asked if we had everything ready for tomorrow and I showed her the Prison Realm to confirm."
Geto's eyes went wide— he knew he was fucked. "Shit! That fucking old hag!" His fist slammed into the damp, mossen wall with a squelching sound. "Find that bitch! Jogo should've already fed the rest of the fingers to the brat. We don't have time." He fumed, clearly in dire straits now. There was nothing to do, but track down Yubaba who would most likely be anywhere The White Dragon was.
•
Would the light of the new dawn come morning be red because the sky, too, grieves in mourning? Or is the prophesied red dawn aptly named for the bloodshed that has already repainted the vicinity in a matter of a few short hours? Unrestrained and revived with a new vengeance, Sukuna had ravished the city mercilessly without an apparent goal in mind. Jogo is dead. Several other smaller curses had also been diminished by the weight of his hand. Hundreds of innocent civilians had sacrificed their lives to now adorn the scenery as just another shade of crimson.
Life had come to a grinding halt. Car alarms blared like cries for help in every frequency. Riots ensued and in their wake lay shared fragments of glass and broken peace. In a breaking sprint, light as air and practically flying across the torn up pavement of rubble and debris, Haku ran through the city. Slowly their physical body grew more and more translucent with the passing minutes, now more spirit than human. Their skin a milky glow in the night, iridescent as their energy was allowed to burn brighter than ever under these conditions. Despite the senseless, misguided chaos around them, they had a crystalline direction to head. Nothing had ever been so clear in their mind.
Haku rounded a corner and was met with an unsightly presence at the end of the street. Yubaba: lumpen, misshapen figure that could belong to none other. Her nasty snarl of crooked teeth remained visible amidst the glow of fires ablaze in the nearby buildings. With every step, the ground quaked in fear of her approach.
Yubaba lifted her arms triumphantly, "Are you prepared, Namie? Sukuna will be upon us within the hour and I will give rise to a new enlightenment of Jujutsu Sorcery! You are witnessing history in the making!" she cried out in victory yet still far from her end goal.
Haku stood strong, eyes focused, "I will have no such affiliations with you," they announced proudly. "As heinous as you are, I do acknowledge that my war is not with you. However, you will not live to see the light of a new era."
She scoffed, "Insolent fool. You signed a contract." From thin air, she snapped her wrist down as a scroll materialized and unfurled itself to reveal in red ink at the bottom: Namie, Kohaku; a signature the student had indeed signed away. "I own your name. You will do as I say."
"You own Namie, Kohaku. The human unfortunate enough to have been born into a life that could have never been theirs. My humanity has passed and only the spirit of the White Dragon remains to stand before you." Haku held out their right arm with an outstretched hand. In full command of their unrestrained power, a staff of pure energy manifested itself into existence causing an immediate effect on the impurity of its surroundings. The light blessed all it touched, serene glow to force the night to conform to its direction.
The staff skillfully flowed the unique ebb and flow of Haku's delicate grace; the light bent in an arc to follow as Haku sprint forward, "Your power over me has been relinquished."
"Issen!"
Powerfully digging the staff to meet the earth, upon command, a cavernous rift opened near Yubaba's feet and out poured a light of surpassing intensity and created an impenetrable wall that threatened to tower over the buildings. Yubaba averted her gaze from the brightness and let out a shrill cry as the retinas of her eyes burned from their brief meeting with the light.
From the other side, not visible, Haku warned, "The energy that flows through my spirit is stronger than ever tonight. You shall not pass without enduring the agony of one thousand scorching suns to burn from the inside out." Without difficulty, Haku reached through the wall, "Hand over the Prison Realm!"
Yubaba swatted their hand away, offended at the very notion that Haku would consider her this spineless, "I have been alive for over one thousand years—"
"Yes, you're old as fuck. Give me what I asked for while I'm still asking nicely. Now."
Yubaba pursed her lips together, eyes wild with rage, "Then you should know that I have an arsenal of spirits at my beck and call that would be more than happy to send you into the damnation of eternal hell!"
"Damnation of eternal hell sounds like my realm of expertise," a new voice sinisterly spoke from the depths that the shadows would call home.
Haku turned, unsurprised— a presence that wickedly needed no introduction; they felt the oncoming approach like a stone whose weight only increased the closer he got. Sukuna, his appearance was that of Itadori's body which he was still possessing with great pleasure. Haku found it just as unsettling and disturbing as it had always been whenever they looked at the boy.
Sukuna cracked a large grin, taking in the iridescence of Haku's presence, "We formally meet, White Dragon. However, I must say that this reception is quite the disappointment. You hardly look like something to threaten my very presence. You still look like that scrawny twig one bad fall away from being dismembered."
"I could say the same to you. Give him back."
"The kid? Not a snowball's chance in hell. We've grown into an understanding. I take full possession of his body and he lives in a repressed corner of my domain forever," Sukuna flexed his right hand; the fingers cracked audibly like crushing bones.
"That kid still has a future. Goals— dreams, a chance at a life that's his. Stop hiding like a coward!"
"I am no coward. And you will soon find out just how true those words are."
"If you will not willingly give me Itadori back, then I will take him by force."
Haku was sandwiched between a rock and a hard place. At one side loomed hell's reincarnate and the other a borderline of heaven's divide that imprisoned yet another unsightly vermon. Haku had moved the staff to their left hand while looking Sukuna dead in the eye, entering a state of deep concentration. They only had one chance to succeed in casting one of the most powerful incantations of archaic Jujutsu Sorcery, one that stretched across the expansion of two dimensions connecting a human's soul to that of a spirit.
"In the name of the water and wind within me, I invoke the black string of blight binding Sukuna Ryomen and Itadori Yuji."
Upon command, tendrils of air began to swirl and materialize slowly. The wisps grew stronger and formed a threat beginning from Sukuna and reaching outwards to a location of unconceivable origin. Sukuna eyed Haku with doubt. He knew this practice existed, but it had been thousands of years since it was last done successfully.
"From a distant sleep
through the long expense of night
Upon sounds of recognition
Eyes have opened bright.
Vile curse of vengeance
To the underworld, you will reside
For tarnishing this realm of light
Two souls now come untied
No longer will you roam
On grounds never to be tread
Come forth in your true form
Thy curse is as good as dead."
As the incantation progressed, the string's luminosity only became more dazzling. Soon it had changed from its murky grayish-off white to be just as pure as the aura that surrounded Haku. Sukuna's doubts became fear as he charged with full speed to break Haku's concentration before it could be completed. However, with great force, Haku's hand slashed the air in a swift, brutal motion that commanded the winds to oblige in direction.
"Sever!"
In pain as if he had been struck by a sword previously held over a vengeful fire and blade expertly sharpened, Sukuna howled and was brought to his knees. The moments to follow were anything but glorious. Reduced to the ground, the tension held in the string had snapped and immediately to follow, Itadori's body began to convulse abnormally. Itadori coughed with vigor, as if desperately trying to get something out of his system until he made a wretched gagging noise. He vomited a dark, blackened mass like viscous syrup and collapsed to the ground in a fetal position. He shivered, holding his arms close to his body before passing out in a cold sweat.
The black sludge bubbled, first slowly like a rumbling boil until the cursed energy it contained exploded violently. It screeched and grew in size exponentially. Parts began to solidify and push upwards like a hand pressing against a surface about to give way. Then finally, it took shape. The first hand and arm clawing its way free and then another— four. The mass was taking on a shape that hadn't been witnessed by humanity in its true form for over one thousand years.
To keep several high level expenditures of energy took vast reserves— the only comparison would be to liken the experience to casting a domain expansion repeatedly in a short timeframe. Had this been any other day, Haku certainly would have been panting feverishly, heaving breaths, and at their wit's end, but they stood firm, calm, and unbothered watching with scorn the vile beast taking on its grotesque form after being separated from the confines of Itadori's body.
Sukuna— eyes, arms, and all— moved slowly, testing the limits of his newly birthed body and every movement was accompanied by a stomach churning crack that could only be compared to the sound of bones sickly snapping.
Haku grimaced, truly appalled by the sight and the nauseating waves of cursed energy radiating from its source of madness unfiltered. With a tightly set jaw, they held their staff out in a horizontal position defensively, "This ends now."
In a wide sweeping motion, Haku gained speed and the staff twirled through the air miraculously until they brought it down to be reunited with the earth's shattered ground once again. In a rippling motion, bands of positive energy flowed outwards as Haku gave their full, undivided attention to the words they will never be able to take back after this moment.
"Maximum Technique: The White Dragon!"
The winds howled in response and the vicinity was bathed in the blinding eminission that overtook its surroundings with its brilliance. The staff had been absolved of its responsibility and vaporized with the light. Haku held their arms out and closed their eyes. The images that flashed were each of their happiest moments having lived a mortal life until now and they were beautiful. From the ground, they slowly began to levitate and a flurry began to surround them until Haku's body could no longer be visible. A flurry that moved all too quickly to be identifiable to the naked eye, but it was something Haku had been practicing for a long time in order for this to be just right. Hundreds of shikigami manifested within seconds, each that started to adhere to Haku's skin, hardening and taking on a glossy sheen of a polished dragon's scale.
Amidst the whirling storm, Sukuna could only hold his arms over his face to block the light that was too intense to stare directly at and the winds were kicking up at an alarming rate. The windows in the nearby buildings, if they hadn't already been blown out, they certainly stood no chance now. Debris and rubble whipped dangerously and no human stood a chance at remaining nearby without death waiting to greet them shortly.
One thousand and one. A thousand and one cheerfulnesses. The amount of scales created for protection. The storm slowly began to subside and with it so did the borderline with Yubaba nowhere in sight behind its confines. Powerfully dominating the street lived the legend Jujutsu society had been waiting for to come for over one thousand years. The White Dragon had come and stood in opposition to Sukuna who could finally return his gaze with pleasure. The humans that had sheltered the spirits until this moment were gone; Itadori had been protected from danger off to the side and the human that housed the spirit of the White Dragon had perished.
The Crimson Era will come to an end.
The world shall know the power of the divine blessing.
•
As eerily as Haku had warned Yuta to never look back, they never advised against looking up— which was exactly where Yuta's attention had been drawn to. Across the expanse of night soared a majestic wonder unlike ever seen before. Heroic and ablaze with a passionate fury, high above the city, The White Dragon commanded the gaze of all eyes to its presence. Where he stood, rooted to the cracked concrete, there was something which Yuta hadn't felt in its voracious intensity for some odd years. An overwhelming sense of solitude, lonesomeness— how can a person be expected to feel anything when all he could do was stare helplessly while he watched his world scatter like torn bits of paper lost to the wind.
The moment the borderline was cast, Gojo went on high alert. The two on one clash had ceased with Yuta at a severe disadvantage, disparaged but content that he had given it his all. He fought to protect Haku's words. Gojo and Megumi had gone to investigate, leaving him alone to bask in the rubble of his failure.
The malicious, incarnate demon Sukuna tore rabidly into the new flesh of a dragon. With every heartless slash, several paper dolls peeled away like scales on a fish being skinned alive. Although unlike scales, the paper dolls glimmered like stars until dissipating as if never existing in the first place. It was an endless cycle like witnessing lightning bolts with the naked eye; the aftermath of seeing the commanding force will stay with you more than the instantaneous flash. It was certainly a godly battle of heaven and hell; the roaring clash and demonic hiss and cries were astronomical in volume. Not even a city crumbling to dust could drown out the noise of the sky.
Though Haku could no longer hear any words from Yuta's lips, it didn't stop him from pouring his deepest thoughts to the sky, praying that any semblance of his distraught would reach thousands of miles high. "To know you has been very rare— a strange and otherworldly experience truly. But now I'll have to remember you for longer than I've known you."
As Yuta gazed, mesmerized, he couldn't help but notice a twinkling glimmer amidst the aggression and grace taking place high above. His eyes had been redirected to the persistence of what had caught his attention and to his surprise, it wouldn't go away. It grew larger, flickering, and closer. The more Yuta strained his eyes to make out what was coming his way, the more it started to become familiar to him.
Never to be forgotten, Shiro fluttered down to a height he could reach up and grab it mid-air. In Yuta's palm, the shikigami rested peacefully. No longer did it dance along the breeze with a soul of its own. However, one new detail stood out as it was scrawled in beautiful silver script along the surface. The words first glazed over in Yuta's mind; he didn't process it fully on the first look. It took not twice, but three times of going through each word did their weight finally carve its place into Yuta's chest with a dying ache. He sank to his knees, clutching the paper doll to his heart as he let out a shaky breath.
Yuta looked up at the sky, tears blurring every detail, but the sounds were cataclysmic and deafening, and the two bodies swirled around each other with a ferocity and vengeance. Yuta squeezed his eyes shut painfully tight; he missed the breaking white light as The White Dragon illuminated the mournful sky with the radiance of a midnight sun. What he saw instead were the words on Shiro which would be forever etched into his mind, an answer never thought to be received.
We will meet again. I would find you in every lifetime if I had to.