DK

The first time Yuta saw the shadow, he blamed exhaustion. The second time, he stopped looking into mirrors after sunset. By the third, it was waiting for him outside his dorm, still as a gravestone beneath the glow of a flickering lamp. No face. No eyes. Just the silhouette of someone small with messy hair that swayed despite the absence of wind. It never spoke. It never reached for him. It simply watched. Yuta told no one. Because if it wasn’t a curse, then what was it? And if it wasn’t real… What did that say about him? The shadow followed him through quiet hallways and empty streets, always lingering a few steps behind, never crossing the invisible line between observer and companion. Sometimes, when loneliness settled over him like winter snow, he almost forgot to be afraid. Sometimes he caught himself glancing over his shoulder just to make sure it was still there. As if losing it would somehow hurt more than finding it. or, After one mission goes wrong, Yuta begins noticing a ghost that has spent years waiting for someone to finally look back.