—2 Weeks Ago— "Oy, Ren… you're getting too big for your boots, you know." The eldest brother, Katsu, cracked his knuckles.
"Don't let that Special Grade potential get to your head. Potential means nothing if you're dead, you know." His sister, Hana, circled to his left.
"Tch, just looking at you makes me wanna fucking kill ya." The middle brother—Daiki—stepped closer, cursed energy already flickering around his fists.
Kagami Ren stood in the center, surrounded. Three older siblings, three sets of eyes filled with murderous intent.
"What, want me to apologize for being better?" Ren's smirk widened.
"Say that a little louder." Daiki's voice dropped to a growl as he closed the distance between them. "I dare you."
"What are you going to do?" Ren tilted his head, mockingly casual. "Hurt me?"
Katsu and Hana stood back, watching. Waiting.
BANG.
Daiki's hand shot out, slamming Ren against the wooden wall hard enough to rattle the sliding doors. Ren's head cracked against the paneling, but his smile never faded. Daiki leaned in close, his eyes sharp and cold—the kind of expression that made curses hesitate.
"Heh... hahaha..." Daiki's grip loosened slightly. "No. I won't hurt you."
He released Ren, stepping back with deliberate slowness. Then he glanced over his shoulder, almost casual.
"Can't say the same for that fiancée of yours, though."
Ren's smile vanished.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
"What... did you just say?" His voice came out low, dangerous. The cocky drawl was gone entirely, replaced by something colder.
Daiki's grin widened.
"Kagami Ren." Daiki's voice dripped with contempt. "Born to the great Kagami Clan, one of the top three strongest clans in the world. Special Grade potential. The family's golden boy."
He paused, letting the words hang in the air.
"And yet you want to marry some random nobody? How do you think the family feels about that?"
Ren's jaw tightened. "What do you bastards even want?"
"Leave the family."
Katsu's voice cut through. He stepped forward, arms crossed, his expression unreadable.
"Someone like you isn't fit for the Kagami Clan. Walk away, disappear, and we'll leave her alone." His eyes narrowed. "But if you stay... we'll kill your fiancée. And you know we aren't lying."
Ren's teeth ground together, cursed energy beginning to flicker around his clenched fists.
"Aw, look he's getting all angry." Daiki circled around him slowly. "What are you going to do now, Ren? Spin the wheel? Pray you get lucky?"
He leaned in close, voice dropping to a whisper.
"Or will you finally accept that luck runs out?"
Ren breathed in.
Out.
In.
Out.
His hands were still shaking.
"I... chose..."
[10 Minutes Later]
"Kagami-san! What happened to you?! Why are you covered in—"
The servant's scream cut off abruptly. The tray of dishes she'd been carrying clattered to the ground, porcelain shattering across the stone pathway.
Kagami Ren stood at the entrance of the clan's main building, silhouetted against the early morning light. Blood had dried in dark streaks across his face and clothes. His hands hung loose at his sides, knuckles still weeping fresh red.
He didn't look at the broken dishes.
Slowly, he turned toward the servant. She stumbled back, one hand covering her mouth, eyes wide with horror.
Ren smiled.
It didn't reach his eyes.
"I'm leaving the family," he said simply, as if commenting on the weather.
Then he walked past her, toward the compound gates, leaving bloody footprints in his wake.
Behind him, more voices began to rise—shouts of alarm, confusion, grief.
He didn't look back.
"ARGGGH... Hana! Daiki! Katsu!"
His mother's scream tore through the morning air, raw and broken.
"THEY'RE DEAD! THEY'RE DEAD!"
It was the last thing Kagami Ren heard before he disappeared beyond the compound gates.
— PRESENT DAY —
"So. Now you're here, Kagami Ren."
The voice came from somewhere ahead of him in the darkness.
Ren's head pounded. His wrists ached where they were bound to the chair—tight enough to restrict movement but not cut off circulation.
Wherever he was, it was quiet..
"I heard the Kagami Clan wants you back." The voice continued. "If you go, I'm sure they'll kill you."
Ren's vision slowly adjusted. A figure sat across from him, a boy, barely older than himself, with black hair and a white blindfold covering his eyes. He looked about eighteen, maybe two years older than Ren at most.
And yet...
There was something about him. The way he sat, perfectly still. The casual authority in his voice. He felt older than he looked.
"So what will you do?" Ren's voice came out hoarse. "Return me back to them?"
He was a mess. Two weeks on the run—sleeping in abandoned buildings, stealing food when he could, always looking over his shoulder. He'd barely eaten. Barely slept. The blood under his fingernails still wouldn't come out.
"I could do that." The blindfolded boy tilted his head slightly. "But it would be a waste."
He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees.
"The higher-ups want you alive, Kagami-san."
Ren's breath caught. "Why the hell would they want me alive?"
"Who knows." The boy shrugged. "But here's what I do know: you have two options. Either you come with me and enroll at Tokyo Jujutsu High..."
He paused.
"...or you die. The Kagami Clan, the higher-ups, curses—doesn't matter who gets you first. You're a dead man walking without protection."
"Tch." Ren's cursed energy flared weakly, his body too exhausted to do much else. "Who the hell even are you?! You find me, knock me out, tie me to this damn chair, drag me to the middle of who-knows-where, and now you're acting like you're doing me a favor?!"
The boy smiled.
Slowly, deliberately, he reached up and pulled off his blindfold.
Blue eyes.
Not just blue—luminous. Impossibly bright, like staring into twin sapphires that saw through everything. Through the chair. Through the room. Through Ren.
Six Eyes.
"My name is Gojo Kazuki."
The name hung in the air like a death sentence.
Ren's stomach dropped.
Gojo. The Gojo Clan!
"And hopefully starting today," Kazuki continued, that easy smile never leaving his face, "I'm your teacher."
[End Of Prologue]