"Is everything alright Yukina?"

Yukina glanced down to Ritsu's concerned eyes and shook his head. "It's nothing Ritsu. I'm just lost in thought." Actually, he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach but he didn't want to bother Ritsu with it. The guy had enough problems to deal with as it is.

Yukina turned his attention back to the path they were taking, his eyes glazing over in thought once more. Whenever he felt his heart stuck in his throat it had something concerning his Kisa-san. He hoped nothing had happened at the office. Kisa-san did say he would be back before night fall.

The sun had set a few hours ago engulfing the hallway in darkness. Yukina had made sure to take a lantern with him when they left his room. Yukina had never installed lights in this part of the hallway since he was the only one who traveled this far.

"Where are we now?" Misaki asked nervously. His eyes scanned the darkness, his mind tricking him with shadows.

Yukina glanced at him, "We should be near the main hall in a few minutes." Ah, there was that flinch again. Yukina had pretended to be ignorant of Misaki's expressions and wonder why he was fearful of them. Well more than usual. He knew Misaki had seen them the night they lost all reason and became the animals they were forced to wear, it was why he would always steer clear of the boy.

But today was different. His fear had grown. Why?

Misaki stopped in his tracks causing the other two to stop as well. "What? Why are we going back to the main hall? We're supposed to find Shinobu!"

"Don't worry about that. I'll take care of it." Yukina tried to reassure him.

Misaki frowned with determination, his fear leaving him in a rush. Intrigued, Yukina watched as Misaki argued his point. His posture was straight, his eyes blazing with fire, the only fear Misaki showed now was that of concern for Shinobu's safety.

"Misaki," Yukina stopped him gently, "You need to trust me. I'll find Shinobu and bring him back to the main hall. It'll be faster for me to do this on my own."

"But-!"

"You asked for my help," Yukina cut in. "Trust me on this Misaki. I would never hurt you or Shinobu."

Misaki looked skeptical.

Ritsu placed a hand on Misaki's shoulder causing the younger man to jerk in fright. Yukina chuckled, he must've forgotten about Ritsu.

Misaki smiled softly. "Trust him about this Misaki. He'll find Shinobu in no time."

Yukina's eyes widened at Ritsu. What the hell was he doing!? Misaki paled at the sight of Ritsu's dragon mask coming to life. Yukina scowled. "What the hell Ritsu!? Keep your mask in check!"

Confused, Ritsu looked to Yukina in question, "What are you talking about?"

"Your mask!" Yukina moved in front of Misaki automatically, putting space between him and Ritsu. "It's moving! Control it better!"

Ritsu's eyes widened in alarm. "What!?" He lifts his hands to his mask. "I never let it move. You know how much I hate it."

Yukina frowned in confusion. Ritsu was unconscious of the act? Then why-

Yukina paled at the realization. He felt like a ton of bricks dropped on his head. Oh, good God no. What about his Kisa-san? Was he suffering this whole time? Was that the reason for his discomfort earlier? Was it happening tonight?

Was Kisa-san still at Marukawa? Oh crap, what about the people working there? They didn't know how to handle him!

"Wait…did you know your mask is moving too?"

Yukina froze. "What?" he rasped out. From the corner of his eye he saw Misaki take a step back from them. Yukina doubted it was because he knew what was going on and more like he was backing away from the creepiness of their masks.

"It's been moving since you ran into us. I thought you were doing it on purpose."

"You should have told me! Don't you realize what's going to happen!?" Yukina snapped his fear and desperation causing his anger to rise. He didn't mean to yell at Ritsu, he would never do that, but they had no warning this time. Misaki was with them. It was only a matter of time before midnight came.

It took a second for the words to sink in, another second to process what tonight meant. Ritsu paled, his hand started to shake, and his breathing became uneven. He, above everyone else, should fear these nights the most. For some reason the curse was worse on him.

Both men looked out the window to see absolute darkness. The sun had set two hours ago as they were walking back to the main hall.

"What time is it?"

"I-I don't know." Ritsu whispered.

Yukina's heart clenched at his broken voice. What were they going to do? Yukina knew for a fact that it was still a few hours away from midnight. They still had time to run to the main hall, lock Misaki up in his room and send a messenger with instructions on how to deal with Kisa-san.

Kisa-san…my God. This was the first time in years that Kisa-san wouldn't have him to hold on to. It was maddening! He felt like he was suffocating.

"We need to hurry up and get to the main hall." Standing here and wallowing in self-pity wasn't going to help him. He needed to hurry and-

Yukina looked to Misaki's confused eyes and cursed. He'd forgotten about Shinobu. Shit, shit, shit!

"W-what's going on?' Misaki asked quietly.

"Don't worry about it Misaki." Ritsu tried to put on a smile but it was easy to tell it was forced. "We just have to get you to your room."

Misaki knit his brows at this. His room? He needed to find Shinobu!

"Let's go," Yukina demanded as he and Ritsu moved to the right, about to run if necessary, when they noticed Misaki not moving an inch to follow. "Misaki? Come on, we don't have time."

Misaki glanced from Yukina to Ritsu and back again. There was something going on that they weren't telling him. They looked wary, their shoulders tight with tension, and their knuckles white from fisting their hands tightly. The bad feeling he had earlier came back with a vengeance. "I told you guys, I'm not going back until I find Shinobu,"

Yukina reached out to take Misaki's hand and forcibly drag him to the main hall when his mask started to move.

Yukina gave a startled yell as his hands reached up to try and pry the mask off. The lantern fell from his grasp and shattered on the floor, the light extinguishing in a rush and leaving the three men in total darkness.

The mask started to engulf Yukina's head, squeezing him so tightly it felt like his head was going to explode.

"Yukina!" Ritsu cries out in alarm.

Ritsu froze a second later when his own mask started to tighten around his face. Wincing in pain, Ritsu tries desperately to pry the mask off. He knew it wouldn't work; he and the others tried countless times.

But the pain that would soon come drove him on.

Misaki was in full blown panic as his brain finally clicked all the pieces together.

Tonight was the night. Everyone was going to lose control. And he was right in the middle of it all.

The masks on their faces went lax. No longer did the masks look like clay but actual skin that moved with each set of muscle. Shouts of pain soon turned into agony yells.

Yukina fell to his knees, his back arched, and his screams were cut off as if the air was sucked out of his lungs.

Ritsu turned to Misaki, his eyes glowing red with madness. "R…ru…n."

Misaki was frozen in place. His fear paralyzing him, causing his sight to go unfocused.

Ritsu's mouth opened, the sharp teeth gleaming in the dark, the mask twisted and turned to fuse with skin.

With heavy breaths, Ritsu roars at Misaki, the hall shaking from the intensity of his roar.

"RUN!"

Misaki fainted.

-Shinobu

Shinobu stopped cold as he heard an ominous roar shake the walls. "What the hell was that!?" Shinobu breathed. He unconsciously slid closer to Miyagi, his hands inching to grasp his shirt.

That roar wasn't human.

Miyagi gritted his teeth. "Shit! Don't tell me…"

Shinobu glanced at Miyagi in question. 'W-what? Do you know-Hey!"

Miyagi grabbed him by the arm and pulled him in a random room.

"Hey what's the big idea?" Miyagi ignored him as he shut the door and locked it.

Shinobu blushed. What was he doing? He was about to yell at him when Miyagi turned around to face him.

Shinobu paled.