Chapter 1: Unreleased Tracks
The heavy traditional gates of Tokyo Jujutsu High didn’t just open for Yukine; she stepped through the powerful barrier as if it were a beaded curtain.
She carried her sunburst electric guitar case slung over one shoulder like a casual shield. Her long, dark brunette waves fell perfectly past her shoulders, framing a face that was, without exaggeration, completely flawless—though it was currently fixed in an unreadable, ice-cold expression. She wore an oversized, slouchy designer hoodie that hung loosely off one shoulder, tight shorts, and thigh-high black suede boots that clicked rhythmically against the stone path.
She was a total baddie, but she wasn’t loud or bossy about it. She carried herself with a detached, quiet confidence. She didn’t give two shits about her famous dad’s grand plans for her to “secure the lineage” or carry on their ancient sorcerer bloodline. She was here because she had to be.
“You’re late,” a flat, monotone voice called out from the top of the courtyard stairs.
Megumi Fushiguro stood there, his arms tightly crossed over his chest. His sharp, dark eyes scanned her from head to toe. Gojo had warned him that a powerful new transfer student was arriving today, but Megumi’s entire universe ground to a halt the moment he saw her face.
His breath hitched in his throat. The stoic, unbothered mask he usually wore completely cracked.
“Yukine,” Megumi breathed, his voice dropping into a low, vulnerable register.
Yukine stopped at the base of the steps, lazily tilting her head. She popped a piece of pink bubblegum between her teeth and pulled a wireless earbud from her left ear, letting it dangle. Her eyes locked onto his, completely devoid of the warmth they used to hold when they were younger.
“Fushiguro,” she replied, her voice cool and entirely professional. She used his last name like a blade. “I see you haven’t changed.”
Megumi’s knuckles turned white where he gripped his own arms. A rush of memories threatened to overwhelm him—the sound of her acoustic guitar in his middle school bedroom, the way she used to laugh before her music blew up globally, and the gut-wrenching day he had broken her heart. He had walked away from her, telling her they were from different worlds, completely terrified that a curse would target her just to get to him. He had done it to protect her. He had no idea her dad was a legendary sorcerer, or that she secretly carried enough cursed energy to crush the entire world.
“What are you doing here?” Megumi asked, his voice tighter now, trying desperately to re-establish his walls. “You shouldn’t be in the jujutsu world. I told you—”
“You don’t tell me anything anymore, Megumi,” Yukine interrupted softly, her voice flat but laced with an icy edge that cut deeper than any shout. “My dad forced the transfer. I’m just here to do a job.”
She walked right past him without slowing down. Megumi froze as her oversized hoodie brushed against his arm, the faint, familiar scent of expensive vanilla and fresh rain hitting his senses like a physical blow. It was the exact same perfume she wore the night he left her.
“Oh my god! It’s actually you! I’m not dreaming!”
Nobara Kugisaki practically flew around the corner of the classroom building, her orange-brown hair flying. She gripped Yukine’s hands, her eyes wide with pure, unadulterated shock. “Yukine! The actual Yukine! I have ‘Traitor’ and ‘Bye’ on a permanent loop in my room! The lyric ‘God, I wish that you had thought this through before I went and fell for you’ literally rewired my brain!”
Yukine’s ice-cold exterior softened into a small, quiet smile for Nobara. “I’m glad the bridge connected with you. I wrote ‘Traitor’ during a pretty dark time.”
Megumi flinched slightly, staring down at the concrete stairs. He knew exactly when she had written that song. It was three weeks after their breakup.
As the two girls walked away, Nobara already pulling out her phone to show Yukine her playlists, Yuji Itadori stepped out from behind a concrete pillar. His jaw was practically dragging on the floor.
“Dude... Megumi,” Yuji breathed, his eyes wide as he looked between his friend and the retreating pop star. “Do you... do you know her? The way she looked at you just now... it felt like the air turned to ice.”
“Shake,” a quiet voice agreed from behind them. Toge Inumaki adjusted the high, zipped collar of his uniform, his purple eyes fixed entirely on Yukine’s retreating figure with a quiet, intense look of curiosity.
Megumi shoved his hands deep into his pockets, his shadow shifting restlessly on the concrete beneath his boots. “We used to know each other,” he muttered, his voice hollow. “A long time ago.”
Yuji glanced at Megumi, seeing the rare, genuine pain flashing in his eyes. “Man... she’s beautiful, but she looks like she could freeze a curse to death just by staring at it.”
“She’s reckless,” Megumi whispered to himself, ignoring Yuji as he watched her disappear into the dorm building. His heart was hammering against his ribs, a toxic mix of regret, jealousy, and lingering love making it hard to breathe. Why did you have to come here, Yukine?
