The doorbell rang once, sharp and short, as if whoever pressed it didn’t want to be noticed. Kenji froze at the sound. It was seven in the morning, and the street outside his small apartment in Japan was usually silent…
The first ring sounded like it came from inside a dream. Yumi froze in the dark hallway, her hand still on the light switch, listening as the old phone echoed again from the guest room upstairs — the room that…
I saw a boy standing under the streetlight, even though there was no sound of footsteps before him. Reina tightened her scarf as she walked home through the quiet Tokyo street. The air smelled of rain, and the lamps glowed…
I saw my shadow move when I didn’t. It was early evening in Kyoto, the kind of quiet hour when the air feels too still, and the sky is a deep violet before night takes over. Yuki was walking home…
“I don’t think you’re real,” Dr. Ito said softly, setting down her pen. Kaito blinked, half expecting her to laugh, to say she was joking. She didn’t. Her expression didn’t change. The office stayed perfectly still — the clock on…
The first time Riku heard the voices, they were kind. He was sitting in his tiny Tokyo apartment, rain whispering against the window, when a soft voice said, You’re not alone. He froze. Looked around. The TV was off, his…
The first time Haruto noticed it, he was brushing his teeth in the bathroom of his small Tokyo apartment. He caught his reflection out of the corner of his eye and froze. The face staring back at him was the…