The wind was carrying a sharper bite the next morning, sweeping across the campus with a restless rhythm that rattled the dorm windows and stirred fallen leaves into spirals on the pavement. Students were trudging toward their classes with the resigned look of people who had survived the night only to be punished by the morning. The sky was flat and pale, the kind that made everything look slightly unreal.
Stevan was standing alone under the overhang of the dorm entrance, hands in his pockets, eyes half-focused on the street ahead. He had slept little. The silhouette from the previous night had followed him into his dreams—sometimes distant, sometimes inches from him, always silent. The curse had pulsed faintly until dawn, as if echoing the presence of that unseen watcher.
He took a slow breath, grounding himself.
The door behind him opened abruptly.
"Stevan?"
He turned. Aina stood in the doorway, hair tied back in a loose ponytail, wearing a soft hoodie and holding a bag of groceries. Her face lit up with that same gentle mix of worry and relief she always showed around him.
"You're awake early," she said.
"So are you," he replied.
"I… didn't sleep well." She hesitated. "The club got even wilder after you left. Tokita challenged Tanaka to an endurance match."
"What kind?"
"The naked kind."
He nodded once, unsurprised. "Typical."
Aina stepped closer. "Are you okay? You looked… different last night. And you disappeared before we could talk."
The curse twitched under his skin, but lightly. Controlled. He kept his voice steady.
"I needed air. And distance."
Aina lowered her gaze. "Chisa was worried."
He didn't answer. Aina shifted on her feet, trying to choose her words.
"She went after you, you know. She was really—"
The sliding door at the top of the staircase clicked open.
Chisa appeared.
She wore a simple long-sleeved shirt, shorts, and a look so sharp it could cut glass. Her hair was still damp from a morning shower, framing her face with a disarming softness that contrasted with the intensity in her eyes. She paused when she saw them, then stepped down the stairs calmly.
Aina stiffened. "I… I should go put these away." She hurried past them without waiting for a reply.
Chisa stopped in front of Stevan, arms crossing. "You shouldn't be alone today."
"That's not your responsibility."
"Maybe not," she said, "but it's mine now."
His eyes narrowed slightly. "Since when?"
"Since you nearly blew up outside the shop." Her voice lowered. "And since something followed you."
She didn't wait for him to deny it. She added, "You're not good at hiding tension."
Stevan exhaled slowly. "I saw someone. Across the street."
"Did you recognize them?"
"No."
"Did the curse react?"
He nodded once.
Chisa's jaw tightened, but she didn't flinch. "Then whoever it was… they matter."
Before Stevan could respond, a shrill scream erupted from the girls' dorm hallway.
Both of them froze.
Aina burst through the door again, breathless. "Chisa—c-come quick! Something's happening in the dorm! It's— it's bad!"
Chisa didn't ask questions. She ran. Stevan followed instinctively, the curse snapping awake like it smelled danger.
Inside, the girls' dorm corridor was in total disarray—doors half-open, clothes thrown everywhere, blankets trailing across the floor like abandoned debris after a storm. A group of first-year girls were huddled near the vending machine, pointing frantically toward one of the rooms.
"It's in there!" a girl cried.
"It was trying to get her clothes off!"
"It made such a horrible noise—!"
Stevan exchanged a look with Chisa. She pushed the door open.
They stepped inside.
The room was a disaster. Sheets were tangled on the floor, drawers thrown open, clothes scattered everywhere, a half-finished bowl of noodles overturned on the desk. The window was open, letting in a cold draft that made the curtains flutter like ghostly hands.
Aina peeked around Stevan's shoulder. "Where is it?"
A faint groan answered from behind the closet door.
Chisa sighed. "Don't tell me…"
Stevan reached forward, pulled the door open—
—and found Iori.
Completely naked.
Asleep.
Curled on top of a pile of laundry like a drunk cat.
Kohei was beside him, equally naked, clutching a bra like a life preserver.
Aina shrieked. Chisa grabbed the nearest object—a broom—and smacked Iori on the head so hard he woke up choking on air.
"What—where—WHY AM I HERE?!" he screamed.
Kohei blinked awake slowly. "This isn't my bed…"
Aina covered her face. "Why are you both naked… again?"
Chisa didn't waste breath. "Get. Out. Now."
Iori scrambled to stand but slipped on a silk camisole and crashed into Kohei, knocking over the entire closet with a deafening bang. Clothes exploded over them like a textile avalanche.
Stevan pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why were you two in a girls' dorm room in the first place?"
Iori coughed. "We were… investigating."
Kohei nodded solemnly. "For justice."
Aina stared, horrified. "You were peeping?!"
"NO!" they both shouted.
Iori pointed at the window. "We saw someone. Something. Climbing up the wall."
Stevan's attention sharpened instantly.
Kohei added, "It had… a weird aura."
Iori nodded rapidly. "Terrifying. Evil. A cursed presence."
Aina placed a hand over her heart. "You mean—like a ghost?!"
"No," Stevan said softly. "Not a ghost."
Chisa turned to him, reading his expression. "You think it's connected."
"It moved the way he does," Iori said, pointing vaguely. "Tall. Quiet. Weird energy."
Stevan froze.
Kohei whispered, terrified, "Stevan… is someone hunting you?"
The curse pulsed—sharp, definitive, answering the question with silent certainty.
Yes.
Chisa caught the shift in his posture. "We need to leave. Now."
But before they could move, heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway.
Aina gasped. "Nanaka is coming!"
Iori and Kohei turned pale.
"Hide us!" they begged in unison. "She'll kill us!"
Stevan pointed at the window. "Out."
"We're naked!" Iori cried.
Chisa grabbed two blankets, threw them at their faces. "Now you're less indecent. Move."
Both idiots stumbled toward the window wrapped like malfunctioning mummies. Kohei tripped and fell halfway out the window, screaming as he slipped—but Stevan grabbed him by the blanket and pulled him back inside.
Chisa blinked. "You've got good reflexes."
"Not mine," he muttered. "The curse."
Iori climbed out first, dangling from the ledge with the grace of a drunk squirrel. Kohei followed, trembling violently. They descended awkwardly and disappeared around the corner just as Nanaka opened the door.
Her eyes widened. "What happened here?"
Aina panicked. "W-we were cleaning!"
Chisa nodded so stiffly it was suspicious. "Yes. Cleaning."
Nanaka surveyed the chaos. "This room looks like it lost a fight."
"It did," Chisa replied instantly. "Against… dust."
Nanaka narrowed her eyes but didn't press further. "All right. But the dorm supervisor is coming later. Make sure nothing else happens."
She left, slow and intimidating.
Aina collapsed against the wall. "That was close…"
Chisa exhaled, then turned to Stevan. "Tell me everything. Now."
The curse stirred under his skin, like it felt cornered.
Stevan moved toward the window, looking out at the courtyard where Iori and Kohei had vanished. The air outside was still, almost too still, as if waiting for something.
"Someone followed me last night," he said.
"And this morning?" Chisa asked.
"They watched the dorm. Climbed the wall. Entered through the window."
Aina stepped closer, voice trembling. "Stevan… who is it?"
He shook his head. "Someone connected to my curse."
Chisa crossed her arms. "Then we need to find them."
"No," he said. "You need to stay away from them."
Chisa's expression hardened instantly. "You're not deciding that."
"If this thing wants me," he replied calmly, "then being close to me puts you in danger."
"And if your curse goes out of control again?" she asked. "Who calms you down if I'm not there?"
The curse fluttered sharply, reacting to her words. He clenched his jaw.
Aina was watching them both, nervous and confused.
Stevan stepped back from the window. "I'll handle it."
Chisa didn't break eye contact. "Not alone."
They stared at each other in tense silence until Aina cleared her throat softly.
"Um… not to interrupt… but should we clean before someone else sees this?"
Chisa blinked. "Right."
They spent the next few minutes gathering the clothes, straightening the room, and airing out the lingering scent of alcohol and humiliation. While they worked, Stevan remained quiet, thoughts looping around the figure he had seen—how it moved, how it watched, how the curse reacted.
When the room finally looked somewhat normal, Chisa wiped her forehead. "We'll regroup tonight."
Stevan nodded slowly. "Meet me behind Grand Blue. After closing."
Aina hesitated. "Should I come?"
Chisa shook her head. "Not tonight."
Aina looked disappointed, but she didn't argue.
Stevan headed for the hallway. The curse was crawling under his skin, uneasy, expectant.
Before he reached the door, Chisa's voice reached him softly.
"Stevan."
He turned.
She stood in the middle of the room, sunlight catching in her damp hair, expression fierce.
"If something is hunting you…" she said quietly, "then it's hunting us now."
He didn't respond.
He couldn't.
He simply turned and left, the curse humming like distant thunder under his ribs.