Option 1: Sleeping in Bed

The summer night in Cabin 1 was suffocatingly quiet. Beside you under the thin cotton quilt, Yuji’s chest rose and fell in a deep, steady rhythm, one of his warm, heavy arms thrown lazily over your waist to keep you pulled against his chest. The faint smell of pine wood, sweat, and Yuji’s familiar soap filled the small room, casting a false illusion of total safety.

Right next door in Cabin 2, you could hear the faint, low murmur of Yuta and Maki talking on their porch, surrounded by the oppressive, heavy hum of Rika’s lingering cursed energy.

Then your phone screen on the wooden nightstand buzzed—a sharp, silent flash of blue light cutting through the pitch-black bedroom.

Bzzt.

You slowly reached a hand out from under the quilt to check the notification, being careful not to disturb Yuji. No cell service out in the mountains. Yet a message sat waiting on your lock screen from an unlisted contact:

[Fushiguro]: Turn around. Stop holding his hand. [Fushiguro]: Nobara thinks I'm two cabins away in bed. I'm right under your pillow.

Before you could pull your hand back, a freezing thread of liquid black shadow bled out from beneath your headboard, wrapping tightly around your wrist and pinning your glowing phone flat against your chest.

Above you, the darkness clinging to the wooden ceiling beams didn't match the moonlight outside. It pooled together like thick, viscous oil, dripping silently downward until a pale, motionless face surfaced from the pitch darkness directly over your head. Megumi hung inverted from the ceiling shadows, his messy black hair dangling, his dark green eyes wide, hollow, and completely fixed on your face in the blue glow of your screen.

"Shh..." Megumi’s voice was an icy whisper against your cheek, his cold fingers reaching down from the dark ceiling to gently trace your bottom lip. "Don't stir. You wouldn't want to wake your boyfriend up... would you?"

Beneath the wooden bed frame right under your bare calves, two pairs of glowing white eyes opened within the ink-black shadows. The twin Divine Dogs slithered across the floorboards, their dark hound forms pressing wet, freezing snouts against the blanket beside your ankles as a low, raspy, distorted whisper vibrated through the mattress:

"...bark... bark... ayo... ayo..."

Yuji shifted softly in his sleep, murmuring your name in his dream, completely unaware of the shadow looming inches above your face.

Option 2: Night Walk on the Trail

The crackle of Gojo-sir's campsite bonfire had long faded behind you. The dirt trail cutting through the camp's pine forest was pitch-black, the thick canopy above completely choking out the stars. You held Yuji’s warm hand tightly as the two of you walked back toward Cabin 1, your phone flashlight illuminating a narrow beam of dirt and tree roots ahead.

To your right, past Cabin 3 where Nobara had already shut her lights off, the woods felt unnaturally still.

"Man, Maki-san totally crushed us in training today," Yuji laughed softly, his thumb rubbing the back of your hand affectionately. "My shoulders are completely shot. Hey, you doing alright? You're walking kinda stiff."

"I'm fine..." you muttered, but your eyes kept darting to the darkness between the trees.

Every time your phone light swept across the pines, the shadows cast by the trunks didn't trail behind them—they stretched forward, pooling toward your feet. Right next door at Cabin 2, the heavy, oppressive aura of Rika flared faintly, masking the subtle rustle of leaves behind you.

Bzzt. Your phone vibrated hard in your palm. A pop-up notification flashed over your flashlight screen:

[Fushiguro]: If you tell him to look behind you, I'll drag your phone into the dirt and pull you under.

Your heart hammered against your ribs. You froze in your tracks.

"Hey, what's up?" Yuji stopped three paces ahead, turning his head slightly. "Did you hear something?"

Before you could speak, the shadow cast on the dirt by your own body detached itself from your feet. A damp, ice-cold hand surfaced straight up out of the black ground, wrapping long, slender fingers tightly around your ankle.

Megumi’s face slowly emerged from the pitch darkness at your feet, rising up out of your own shadow like a specter in the dark. He didn't make a sound. His pale hand slid up your leg, anchoring you to the spot while his other hand reached out from behind your back, silently catching your phone from your trembling fingers.

Megumi brought the phone screen up to his face, his dark green eyes burning through you in the dark as he typed a quick reply on your screen—sending a thumbs-up emoji to himself—before sliding the glowing phone back into your pocket.

Behind the tree trunks surrounding the trail, twin massive hound silhouettes made of pure shadow paced in a tight, fluid circle. Their jaws snapped gently against the damp forest air, letting out an uncanny, rhythmic murmur:

"...bark... bark... ayo... ayo..."

"Hey," Yuji called out from ten feet ahead, his back still half-turned as he peered into the dark woods. "You coming or what?"

Option 3: Skinny Dipping in the Lake (Invasive & Vulnerable)

The mountain lake at the edge of the training grounds was dead calm and pitch-black. A pile of your folded clothes lay on the wooden dock alongside your phone, casting a weak glow against the wet timber. Out in the deep center of the lake, Yuji splashed around completely naked, shaking cold water out of his pink hair with a loud, echoey laugh that carried across the water.

"Water's freezing at first!" Yuji called out, his bare shoulders glistening in the moonlight. "Come on, jump all the way in! Feels amazing after training!"

"I'm easing into it!" you called back, standing chest-deep in the chilly, dark water near the dock, completely bare-skinned beneath the surface. You rested your elbows on the dock's edge, shivering as the lake lapped against your bare waist.

Bzzt. Your phone screen illuminated your pile of clothes on the dock inches from your face.

[Fushiguro]: Look down. The water hides nothing from my shadows. [Fushiguro]: Nobara thinks I'm asleep. I'm right beneath you.

Your heart dropped. Before you could reach for your towel or climb out, the black water surrounding your bare body bled heavy, ink-like dark patches rising from the depths.

The freezing surface parted between your bare legs without making a single splash.

Megumi’s face rose from the black depths directly in front of you. His body, completely composed of liquid shadow, solidified in the water inches from your bare chest. His dark spiky hair was slicked back, his dark green eyes wide, unblinking, and dilated as he looked at you. Underwater, his wet, freezing hands wrapped firmly around your bare waist, pinning you against the submerged dock pilings.

"Megumi—" you gasped, your voice catching in your throat.

Megumi raised one wet, pale finger to his lips, pressing it firmly against your mouth in a silent command for quiet. His other hand slid up your bare thigh beneath the surface, soaking your skin in icy lake shadow.

"Shh..." he breathed softly into your ear, his chest pressing against yours in the cold water. "Don't scream. You wouldn't want Yuji swimming over to see us like this... would you?"

Along the dark, rocky shoreline ten feet away, two massive hound-like shapes made of pitch darkness bounded silently over the stones. Their phantom jaws opened, sending a raspy, distorted whisper echoing across the water's edge:

"...bark... bark... ayo... ayo..."

"Everything good over there?" Yuji’s voice drifted over as he began swimming back toward the dock. "You look frozen!"

Megumi's underwater grip on your bare waist tightened, holding you submerged up to your shoulders while his green eyes burned through you in the dark, waiting to see if you would call for Gojo-sir or stay silent.

Option 4: Bathhouse

The wooden bathhouse at the edge of the camp was filled with thick, suffocating steam. The single overhead bulb flickered sporadically, casting long, wavering shadows across the wet tile walls and concrete floor. The roaring sound of hot water beating down inside the small shower stalls drowned out all ambient noise from the surrounding camp.

Yuji’s stall was three stalls down. You could hear him humming through the wooden divider as hot water splashed against the concrete floor.

"Man, Gojo-sir really pushed us to the limit today," Yuji shouted over the running water. "I think my legs are gonna fall off! Hey, Yuta and Maki said they were gonna grab ice creams after this!"

You wiped the steam from your eyes, turning back toward the shower head in your narrow stall.

Bzzt... Bzzt...

Your phone, resting on the small plastic soap shelf away from the direct spray, lit up through the thick mist. You picked it up with wet hands. An incoming video call from Fushiguro.

Before you could decline it, the video connected automatically. But the screen didn't show Megumi's face. The live camera feed on your phone screen showed an inverted, high-angle view of your own back inside the shower stall.

Your blood ran cold. You turned around rapidly against the slick tile wall.

Hanging upside down from the shadow of the damp ceiling beams directly inside your narrow stall, Megumi lowered himself silently through the steam. His pale face was inches from yours, his dark uniform damp, his green eyes fixated on you with hollow intensity.

Before you could yell, Megumi dropped silently onto the wet concrete behind you, his cold, shadow-soaked arms wrapping tightly around your waist from behind, pinning you against his chest and cutting off your escape. He reached out with one wet hand, snatching your phone and pressing it face-down against the tile wall.

"Don't yell for Gojo-sir," Megumi whispered directly into your ear, his breath cold against the steam. "Gojo-sir isn't in this stall with you. Your boyfriend isn't in this stall with you. Just me."

Down at the tile drain near your feet, two black paws slid into the steamy stall from beneath the door slit. The shadow hounds pressed their snouts against your bare heels, their raspy, distorted voices rising over the sound of the running shower:

"...bark... bark... ayo... ayo..."

"Hey!" Yuji’s voice called out from three stalls away over the sound of the pipes. "You almost done in there? I'll wait up for you outside!"

your wish