Veil of Darkness | Yan! Itachi x Reader |

Chapter 15

The air around campus had changed. It was subtle, but Y/N could feel it—a heavy tension that hung over everything like a dark cloud, suffocating and inescapable. She didn’t need to ask why. She already knew.

It was because of him.

Since the night in her dreams—the one where Itachi had whispered his claim over her, his cold breath sending shivers down her spine—things had only gotten worse. Or better. Depending on how twisted her thoughts were on any given day. Itachi had become more than just a presence in her life. He had become her fucking shadow. And if anyone even dared to step too close to her, they would find themselves on the receiving end of his deadly gaze.

No words needed to be spoken. His eyes alone were enough to make anyone back off. And they did. Every. Damn. Time.

It started small, subtle enough that she could almost ignore it at first. Some guy in her study group had tried to strike up a conversation with her after class. Y/N hadn’t thought much of it. It was harmless. Or at least, she thought it was harmless. But Itachi didn’t see it that way.

She remembered the way Itachi’s gaze had shifted the moment the guy stepped a little too close. It was as if a switch had flipped inside him. His dark eyes locked onto the poor bastard like a predator marking its prey, and just like that, the guy froze mid-sentence, his words catching in his throat as his face drained of color.

Itachi didn’t say a word. He didn’t need to. His silent message was clear as fucking day: Stay the hell away from her.

The guy mumbled something incoherent, then practically sprinted out of the room. Y/N had been left standing there, feeling like a rabbit caught in a hunter’s trap, with Itachi’s cold gaze still lingering on her, reminding her that she was his.

After that, things escalated.

Y/N had always had friends. She wasn’t the most social person, but she had a small circle of people she could rely on—people who cared about her. Or at least, they used to. But now, it was like they were all slipping away, one by one. They stopped texting her, stopped inviting her out, stopped sitting with her in class. She couldn’t figure out why.

Until she started noticing Itachi’s behavior.

He wasn’t just watching from the shadows anymore. He was out in the open, making his presence known to anyone who so much as glanced in her direction. If someone dared to approach her, he’d be there, his dark gaze cutting through them like a fucking knife. And if they didn’t take the hint, he’d make sure they understood. He didn’t need to get physical; his mere presence was enough to drive them away. It was like he had this unspoken power over people, this aura of authority and danger that no one wanted to fuck with.

One afternoon, as Y/N was leaving the library, she bumped into a girl from one of her classes. The girl had always been friendly—one of the few people who still tried to talk to her. She smiled, starting to ask if Y/N wanted to grab coffee sometime. But before Y/N could even respond, she felt it—the cold, suffocating pressure that signaled he was nearby.

Sure enough, Itachi appeared, silently stepping out from behind the nearest bookshelf, his eyes zeroed in on the girl.

The change in the girl was instant. She stiffened, her smile faltering as her gaze darted nervously between Y/N and Itachi. He didn’t say a word, didn’t need to. His presence was enough to send a clear message: Back off.

The girl’s face paled, and without another word, she muttered some excuse and hurried away, her footsteps echoing down the hallway. Y/N stood frozen, watching her go, a cold pit forming in her stomach. It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. It wouldn’t be the last.

Later that night, Y/N found herself alone in her room, staring at the ceiling, her mind racing. She couldn’t stop thinking about how things had spiraled out of control. People were avoiding her, disappearing from her life one by one, and the worst part was… she knew why.

Itachi was doing this. He was driving everyone away, isolating her, cutting her off from the rest of the world until there was no one left but him. And she should be terrified. She was terrified. But there was also that dark, twisted part of her that was relieved.

Because the more isolated she became, the more she felt like she belonged to him. And that, in some fucked up way, was exactly what she wanted.

The next day, Y/N tried to convince herself that she was imagining things. Maybe she was just being paranoid. Maybe Itachi wasn’t trying to control her life. Maybe she was just overthinking it. But as she sat down in class, her thoughts racing, she felt that familiar prickling sensation crawl down her spine.

He was watching her.

She didn’t even have to look up to know it. Itachi’s eyes were on her, as they always were, tracking her every move, making sure no one got too close. The rest of the class seemed oblivious, but Y/N could feel the tension radiating off of him in waves. He was like a coiled spring, ready to strike at the first sign of danger.

And then, it happened.

One of her classmates—a guy who had never really paid much attention to her before—made the mistake of sitting next to her. He smiled at her, maybe a little too friendly, maybe a little too close. But before Y/N could react, Itachi’s presence was there, like a storm cloud rolling in to darken the room.

The guy glanced up, his smile faltering as his gaze met Itachi’s. And just like that, all the color drained from his face. Itachi didn’t move, didn’t speak, but the intensity in his eyes was enough to freeze the guy in his seat. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife, and for a moment, it felt like the air itself was holding its breath.

Then, without a word, the guy stood up and moved to the other side of the room, as far away from Y/N as possible.

After class, Y/N caught up with Itachi outside the lecture hall, her heart racing in her chest. She didn’t know what she was going to say, but she had to confront him. She couldn’t keep pretending like everything was fine, like his behavior wasn’t scaring the hell out of her.

“Professor,” she started, her voice shaky. “What… what are you doing?”

He turned to her, his expression unreadable, those dark eyes of his locking onto hers with an intensity that made her breath catch in her throat.

“I’m protecting you,” he said, his voice low and controlled.

Y/N swallowed hard, her hands trembling at her sides. “From what? From who? No one’s trying to hurt me—”

“Not yet,” he interrupted, stepping closer, his gaze never leaving hers. “But they could. And I won’t let that happen.”

His words sent a chill down her spine, but there was something in his voice—something possessive and dangerous—that made her pulse quicken. She should be afraid. She was afraid. But that fear was twisted, mixed with something else—something dark and addictive.

“I don’t need you to protect me,” she whispered, her voice barely audible.

Itachi’s lips curled into a small, almost predatory smile. “You don’t have a choice.”

That night, as Y/N lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, she couldn’t stop thinking about the way he had looked at her, the way his words had wrapped around her like chains. She was trapped in his web, and no matter how hard she tried to deny it, part of her didn’t want to escape.

Because as fucked up as it was, she felt safe with him. Safer than she had ever felt before.

And that terrified her more than anything.