THE WHITE DRAGON┊ jujutsu kaisen

Chapter 38: A Town with an Ocean View

October 8th, 2018

No rest for the weary— the seasons have taken that to heart and with every passing day, autumn became that much closer within grasp as it playfully teased its announcement with a few leaves gradually losing their summer vibrancy in favor of a warm orangey tone. The air, too, now had a frigid bite to it in the early hours of the morning if one was unfortunate enough to be awake to experience it. All that was missing on the Tokyo Jujutsu campus would be the harvest smells and cozy ambience of cinnamon and baked goods that naturally waft through the air of a populous town during this time of year. But secluded in the mountains as they were, that would never reign true for the students; the only way to immerse themselves in the complete autumn experience would be during the downtime of a mission if they were so fortunate to be granted a request in the cities.

Unlike the persistent haste of the seasons, the first and second year students sat in a dreary classroom idly preoccupying the stale air of the room. Seven seats were filled, only one remained vacant— and it had stayed that way for an oddly noticeable amount of time.

Kugisaki sighed, slumping over her desk, "You know... I haven't seen Haku Senpai in a while."

"No one's seen Haku," Maki replied dryly, "they keep getting summons for mission requests ever since the conclusion of the Exchange Event."

Panda absentmindedly tapped his paw against the desk, "Come to think of it, I don't think Haku has had a full day's break since then."

"It's been almost three weeks?!" Kugisaki dubiously exclaimed, as she eyed the rest with suspicion. That couldn't have possibly been true.

Fushiguro placed a hand to his chin as he gave the situation thought, "Is it because Gojo Sensei has been gone for a while?"

"Highly likely," Panda nodded, "but even Gojo Sensei wasn't this busy."

Itadori let out a loud outburst of frustration, garnering everyone's attention as he leaned back in his seat, head up towards the ceiling, "Gosh does anyone know when we'll get a mission request or something? I'm so bored just sitting here!" He ran his hands through his hair in anguish before dragging them down his face; he was growing more restless by the minute.

Maki pointed off to the side, "Inumaki's been keeping in contact with Haku lately."

"Sha-ke."

"He said they're due back from their latest mission anytime today," Maki reported. "Maybe we'll ask Haku if we can take their next job so that they can get some well-deserved rest after all this time."

Itadori immediately perked up as his head whipped in her direction, he was practically beside himself with excitement— with the enthusiasm and eagerness of a playful puppy.

"I doubt Haku would mind," Panda agreed. "They prefer sitting, undisturbed, in the garden above all else anyway."

"If I may have your attention, students."

The new voice caused ripples of shock throughout the room as the students looked in the direction of the doorway to see who had entered without alarming anyone of their presence— the one and only Ijichi. He strolled briskly with a clipboard in hand as he took to the center of the room to properly face everyone. "I appreciate your undivided attention."

"Haku!"
"Tuna!"

Panda and Inumaki exclaimed in unison as a second figure entered the room just a few paces behind Ijichi— stealing what was his one second of undivided attention. Politely, Haku acknowledged the students in the room with a short nod of their head before moving to take their long cold and empty seat. Before the students could return to their youthful buzz of excitement and berate Haku with all of their burning questions, Ijichi cleared his throat.