Author Note: Oh hey, I'm still updating this! And within five days! It's still a rather short chapter, so that's frustrating.

Edit: Fixed grammar mistakes.

Chapter 2: Caught

The tension which lingered in the air spread between them, connecting each of the six teenagers together, entangling them in a fine spider web. Nobody but Takato was willing to walk near the girl who only introduced herself as "Ra," and the brunette boy could feel Jianliang's grey eyes boring into the back of him, continuing to make his displeasure known even though no words escaped his lips.

A sigh escaped, carrying the weariness of his soul as his crimson eyes watched the back of the girl in front of them, walking briskly forward, ignoring the distrustful glares and bitter whispers which pooled at her feet. He didn't understand why his friends were so quick to judge her considering she had helped them after all. Not to mention, with her here, they finally had a lead after fruitless hours of searching.

Suddenly a hand snaked out and grabbed his own, pulling him backwards and he stifled a surprised squak as Juri's breath tickled his ear. All at once, his body set aflame as heat ran through his veins, threatening to consume him.

"Takato-kun, there's something off about her. Are we just going to trust her?" she whispered, and it took all of Takato's willpower to push down the rising blush, wondering how she could still be so touchy after everything that happened between the two of them. Leaning his head back before turning it, knowing damn well her face would be inches from his own if he didn't, he gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

"I mean she did save you," he pointed out patiently, keeping his voice low, his insides squirming uncomfortably as they talked about another person who could probably hear them. "And if she wanted to hurt us, she could have done so easily by now. I don't think she's a bad person. Besides, you want to save Itou-san and Nakajima-san too, right?"

"Of course!" Juri replied hotly, her eyes narrowing, daring him to contest her words. Slipping his hand out of her grasp, he ignored the hurt look which crossed her face as he fiddled with his zipper on his jacket. Takato really didn't like it when she did that and wished things could go back to normal between them, but as long as his heart beat erratically each time she touched him, it wasn't going to be anytime soon.

"Then learn to trust more."

Kenta winced at Takato's words, exchanging a glance with Hirokazu, who shrugged helplessly. Ever since the two broke up, an awkward tension hung in the air. Nobody commented on it, especially not the couple in question, and Kenta couldn't help but feel if the reason for the break up was known, maybe they could start down the path of healing.

Teenage drama aside, while the fact Ra could lay someone twice her size on their ass was terrifying, the spectacled boy ended up agreeing with Takato and Hirokazu to trust her; though knowing his best friend, Kenta doubted Hirokazu's motives were pure - especially since he already caught the boy gawking at her ass when he thought nobody was looking.

"Yo man, don't let her catch you staring," he grunted, elbowing the other boy hard in the side, wishing Hirokazu would stop gawking at girls to spare him a glance. Yet the chance of that happening was about equal as Miki talking to them without that voice of disdain and superiority. While Ayaka certainly was a heartfelt loss, Kenta couldn't help but feel it was debatable if the same could be said for Nakajima.

I don't even know why Juri is friends with her. It's not like Miki treats her much better, he thought, rolling his eyes as Hirokazu swore, and glanced at the passing storefronts catching their reflections in the glass. However, what caught his attention was a small cat following after them and on instinct he turned on his heel and Jianliang crashed into him.

"Shit! What gives!" the Chinese boy swore, backpedaling as he held his nose, peeking at his fingers in search of blood.

"Sorry," Kenta mumbled, craning his neck around the boy only to see nothing was there. His brow furrowed, and at once Juri's insistences about a shapeshifter crept into his mind. Shaking his head, he shooed her ramblings aside. Jianliang was right, such things didn't exist. Yet when his eye caught his reflection again, he could see deep red eyes of a shadow staring, watching him, and he felt the air flee from his lungs.

"So what's your relationship to these girls - Ayaka and Miki?" Ra asked suddenly.

"Itou-san and Nakajima-san are our classmates and friends," Jianliang answered, venom dripping from his voice, fighting a losing battle to keep the snarl from marring his face - especially with how casually this girl was addressing them. Ra turned ever so slightly, her violet eyes piercing his as their gazes met. After a minute, she snorted, breaking eye contact as she rolled her eyes.

"How long have they been gone?"

"About three days now," Jianliang answered again, his fists balling up, crunching the missing persons posters he spent an all nighter with Juri and Takato making. All the relevant information was on there, down to their blood types. He made sure of that. What other information could she possibly-

"What were they doing here in the first place?"

Ra's next question threw Jianliang off from his train of thought. It wasn't even a question which the police officers asked when the missing persons report was filed. His mouth opened before closing, lips pressing together. What did it matter?

"We were doing karaoke." Juri's bitter voice echoed around them. "I had to leave early. Ayaka promised me she would call that night. She always calls. But the night went by and no call. There was no text from her in the morning either. It's not like her."

Silence once again hung in the air, Ra not saying anything as she seemed to be searching for something among Juri's face. After a moment, she stopped underneath a large neon sign which illuminated the entire street corner, leaving nowhere for the shadows to immediately hide.

"So you were the last one to see them alive." It wasn't a question but it was certainly the wrong thing to say. The muscles in the brunette's back tightened as her lips pulled back into a growl, and despite the other girl proving herself to be much stronger than any of them, took a threatening step forward.

"What did you just say?" she demanded.

Ra blinked.

"You were the last one to see them alive," she repeated herself, amending the questioning part of it.

"They're not dead!" Juri roared, balling her fists together, her fingernails digging into the flesh of her palm.

Ra turned her head, staring down a nearby alley before turning her attention back to the brunette girl, fixing her with a stare which pierced her very being. Juri felt like the other girl was staring right through her, and suddenly she felt very exposed. Even the tattooed man from earlier didn't make her feel like she was standing in the middle of the street with nothing on, vulnerable for all to see.

It was unnerving. She didn't like it.

"By any chance, did you see something else?" Ra asked slowly, each word dragged out as if picked with tentative care. For a moment, Juri saw in her mind's eye those haunting red eyes, and her heart twisted uncomfortably. Reaching out to grasp at Takato's sleeve, to hide once again in the comfort of something familiar, Ra's voice caused her wavering hand to freeze.

"You did." Once again it wasn't a question, and Ra took a step forward, the shadows beginning to pool at her feet, and it was getting harder to breathe as she stumbled backwards. "What was it?"

"Stop it!" Juri suddenly found herself staring at the back of Jianliang, the Chinese boy inserting himself between the two girls, pushing Juri away from the red head as he slid into a stance Juri hadn't seen him take up in years. "Can't you see you're scaring her? Besides, we don't have to answer you!"

The girl stopped and furrowed her brow, her eyes flicking up and down at the new challenger before her. After a moment, a sneer crossed her lips as she snorted, crossing her arms, a single eyebrow raised as if Jianliang had issued a challenge.

"I mean if you aren't serious about getting your friends back, I suppose that's true," she drawled, taking another lazy step forward, the tension tightening around all of them, squeezing the six teenagers, waiting to see which one popped first. Ra tilted her head, almost in amusement, drawing ever closer to Jianliang until they were merely inches apart. Yet neither moved to lash out at the other.

The world itself stopped turning for a couple of seconds, the shadows wrapping themselves around Ra, clawing up toward her eyes, yet no matter how much they reached, they couldn't cover those burning violet irises.

The silence was broken by none other than Ra, whose shoulders suddenly sagged like the weight of the world itself had been unceremoniously dropped on them. Turning on her heel, her hand waved dismissively.

"Not that it matters. Sounds like the senshihenge got to 'em anyway."

Juri didn't hear Jianliang's disbelieving "what?" nor Takato's long drawn out, "uh" as all sense of danger was thrown to the wind momentarily and she darted past the safety which was Jian to grab Ra's hand with both of hers, engulfing the long slender fingers which were much softer than she had expected. Nor did she register she had been the first one to force Ra on the defensive, the girl stumbling back, a look of panic shining in her eyes.

"You said the senshihenge, right?" the brunette demanded, completely obliterating any sense of personal space Ra might have had as she pressed herself against the other girl, staring straight into her eyes.

"Y-yes?"

"I knew it!" Turning on her heel to glare at the four boys who were staring at the two, Juri pointed her finger at Ra, who suddenly seemed to have lost her bluster, looking up and down at their still interlocked hands before trying to catch the gaze of any who would help her escape from the brunette who was now on a warpath. However none of the boys caught her eye; even if she hadn't been just goading them on five seconds ago, not one present considered themselves stupid enough to get in Juri's way when she was like this. "I told you! I told you something freaky was going on, but you all wrote me off! Well Ra-chan believes me!"

Ignoring Hirokazu's-

"Wow she changes tunes quickly."

-Juri turned back around to the taller girl, who, now that she was closer didn't have any darkness at all clinging to her and a part of her wondered if she was imagining it. The mere thought made her insides knot and for a moment she could see the twisted faces of classmates sneering, their whispered words calling her a freak echoing in the halls.

"You … do believe me right?" she asked, hating how her words tumbled out unsure and that she was looking for validation from a girl up until a minute ago she distrusted with every fiber of her being. Not that the uneasy feeling left, but the allure of validation overwhelmed her.

"Well belief insinuates there is a chance it might not be true," Ra said slowly, slipping her hand away and shoving it into her pockets, taking a step back. Juri couldn't help but feel a slight stab in the gut, remembering Takato's reaction from a few minutes earlier. Yet at the same, a small smile crossed her lips.

Girls really were the best allies, after all.

"Uhm, what is this senshihenge anyway?" Kenta asked suddenly. "Katou-san mentioned it earlier, but didn't exactly go into detail what it is."

Juri exchanged a glance with Ra, who merely shrugged her shoulders, waving her hand idly before launching into an explanation.

"It's a pretty new urban legend, all things considering. Essentially it's a creature which takes the form of small animals - dogs, cats, rats - and follows its victims. When they're alone, the creature kidnaps them." Ra grimaced and crossed her arms over her chest as she looked away. "Honestly, it would have been better if your friends were abducted. At least then there is a chance you can find 'em. With the senshihenge, nobody knows what happens to its victims."

Juri was about to open her mouth when Kenta cut her off again.

"Did … you say a small animal?"

Closing her mouth, the brunette turned to look over at Kenta who looked like he had seen a ghost; his face was stark white, like the blood had been drained out of his face and he slowly turned around to look behind him. Her heart skipped a beat uncomfortably as he stared into the shadows, the others following his gaze.

It took a second to see it. The shadow was almost invisible save for a pair of haunting red-eyes that shone with the eerie light of the street. The same glowing eyes she saw that day when she left the karaoke bar, and at once every instinct her body screamed at her to run.

"Oh." Ra's voice cracked. "Shit."