THE WHITE DRAGON┊ jujutsu kaisen

Chapter 24: In Search of the Distant Era

June 2018

Having taken the last shinkansen, Fushiguro arrived at his destination well into the night; debatably early hours of morning at a quarter till one. Under it's guise, he proceeded to the proposed location with relatively minimal sighting of people around. Sendai, a great place to live but rather unnoteworthy place to visit.

Even in the summer, being farther north in the countryside had an impact on the bite of the night air. He kept his arms firmly tucked to his torso, conserving every last ounce of body heat he had as he walked along the side of a deserted street. As he scanned his surroundings, it was clear to him that the city indeed lived up to it's reputation as the 'City of Trees'. Illuminated by the eerie, warm glow of the streetlights, far as he could see, many adorned the scenery as they towered triumphantly.

It took time, partially because most of Fushiguro's energy was wasted in shivering, but he strolled onto the campus of Sugisawa Municipal High School and proceeded to the back of the school's outdoor field. The place he had been instructed to look for was a thermometer shed and secure the contents inside; a simple enough task. To Fushiguro's knowledge, a shed was something like a small storage space, he confidently assumed. Though the only thing that came close to resembling that was a decaying wooden box with doors like a kitchen cupboard; the box being no bigger than a microwave as well.

Fushiguro scoffed, "They can't possibly be keeping a Special Grade Cursed Object in something like this can they?"

In disbelief of the sight before him, Fushiguro's eyes narrowed, weighing the chances. It was a high school, not a place needing important security so that meant the odds were rather high that this box indeed housed the object he was searching for; not to mention the lingering traces of cursed energy he felt growing stronger since approaching. As uncanny as the revelation was, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of happiness that at least it was quick to find.

Without wasting any more time, Fushiguro held onto both handles of the shed's doors and yanked with all his might to pry them open. The hinges creaked from having not been used for quite some time and the inside was revealed, however it wasn't to his expectations. Fushiguro rubbed his eyes violently, dismissing the fatigue that weighed heavily upon them and the burning of the cold air as it dried his eyes. When he opened them once again, after taking a few moments to adjust to the low light levels, he could confirm that he was indeed staring at an empty space.

Fushiguro took out his phone and shone his flash, just to be extra cautious that he wasn't an idiot and missed it earlier. However, the light revealed only cobwebs that shimmered as the light shifted from his positioning and small bugs that hurriedly scampered away to seek refuge in the dark cracks of the wood once again. Cobwebs and bugs, but no object in sight. Not giving up, he scanned every nook and cranny of the small shed that was supposed to house the Special Grade Cursed Object.

As the seconds past, he grew more frantic; searching above, below, even in the surrounding bushes just in case it possibly grew legs and decided to take a walk— no luck. As a last resort, Fushiguro pulled up his contact list and called his more than eccentric teacher, Gojo Sensei, to report the status. The only factor he didn't take into account was the time and presently, it was half past one in the morning.

Though, that didn't seem to be a problem since within two rings, the line connected.

"Moshi Mosh— Megumichan! What's up?"