Disclaimer: I do not own TWEWY, nor any of the characters within it.

A/N: Many thanks for the reviews Elle the Brat, MoonlightPelt, and Okami-wolf-kitsune, as you can see I have decided to continue this. I am glad that this is being enjoyed, and I hope this chapter is enjoyed just as much as the first one. :3
Now I'd like to point out a change: the genre. I truly hope that this does not put people off. Anyhow, it is now fantasy-based, purely because, well, just read and find out. It seems more like fantasy to me anyway. Hope you enjoy peeps! ^_^

~Harmless~

HuNteD

He awoke to someone shaking him, their warmth like fire on ice. He knew just from that touch alone that it was cold, freezing. But he didn't open his eyes. Not yet, he told himself. Not yet.

"Neku…! Neku! Come on, you've got to wake up! We have to move!"

His head rolled back against the wall, its rough surface plucking at the skin beneath his messy orange hair. His eyes flickered beneath his eyelids. "Can't go," he mumbled, "not yet." His words were barely coherent, dragged out through his drowsiness.

The voice called again, the owner's tone anxious and fearful. "We've got to. I don't want to see you get hurt again."

Again? His stormy blue eyes snapped open and he found himself face to face with a very familiar bespectacled girl. His gaze, however, didn't linger on her, flitting instead to the empty space behind her. He frowned. Wasn't there a building there before?

The warm waft of a sigh against his cheek brought Neku's attention back to the brunette.

"You worried me for a second there! I'm glad you're okay, Neku," she said, smiling at him.

He blinked. Who was she? Did he know her? His mind went blank for a minute before it all returned. This girl, she had suddenly come from nowhere, pushing him out of the way of… something. He didn't know what; he hadn't seen it, as usual.

She'd been the reason that he had fallen unconscious, or perhaps partly. That freezing gust of air. That feeling of ice piercing into his shoulders and back… Maybe that'd been the cause.

Either way, he didn't need help. He had lived long enough without it, hadn't he? The only help required came from that of Sanae, and even then, he didn't completely rely on the guy. He was just someone who came to his aid when he needed it the most, or something.

"Neku?" The girl asked, waving one hand in front of his face. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," he croaked out, "just fine." Slowly he got to his feet, planting one arm firmly against the brick in his attempt to rise. As he straightened up, the girl did too and took a few steps back.

The sluggishness of his brain was easing off. His thought process quickening in pace to catch up with the here and now and with it came the questions. Questions that'd lingered, hidden from view up until now.

Neku remained silent for a moment, his features set into a frown. Then he spoke, his tone laced with frostiness, "how the hell do you know my name?"

The girl, taken aback by the sudden change in the teen's behaviour, clutched tightly to the stuffed cat she had, moments before, held loosely by her side. "Y-you told me it," she replied.

Neku sighed and folded his arms. "Right, whatever. Look, Stalker, I -"

The girl shook her head, "my name's Shiki, and we need to leave, now, before that thing comes back."

Neku frowned, "thing? What thing?"

Somewhere above them, a low boom reverberated causing the very earth below to shudder in a manner so subtle that it could be merely passed off as a figment of the imagination. However, Neku noticed it, Shiki too, whom just grasped her cat toy tighter to her chest.

The noise brought back a distant memory, one of where he ran, trying to escape from something concealed, it was the same creature as to attack him, he was sure of it. There were many of them, from what he could remember and as was typically the case, he had stepped out into the streets at the wrong time and had ended up being chased by one of the invisible beasts.

It was clear to him now what had happened, and he cursed himself for not recalling it sooner.

The pain he felt was only slight, a faint ache that wouldn't cause too much trouble for him if he had to resort to running.

Neku sighed and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Look, we'll have to walk away from here casually, if you think it's spotted us, run."

Shiki gave him a strange look for a moment, then nodded. "Okay."

He glanced up at the sky, then to the strangely vacant gap behind his companion. He was utterly sure that a building had once occupied that space… Pushing the thought away, he walked towards the gap in a display of calmness. The girl falling into step behind him.

They moved silently out into the open, their sights set on nothing but the road ahead. One false move could end in disaster, and Neku knew it.

The buildings around, collapsed and broken, threw misshapen shadows upon the pavement, bringing a sense of eeriness to the quiet avenue.

A sudden screech of metal broke the silence, causing the pair to jump and glance back.

Something fell to the ground with a loud clank, something that was once part of a larger piece, a massive construction of some sort. Whatever it once belonged to, the rusted chunk of silver was now a distorted heap beyond the hope of repair.

Slightly more wary now, the two continued walking. Their gaze flickering from side to side and their muscles coiled in preparation for their flight.

"Where are we going?" Shiki asked her voice barely above a whisper.

"…Somewhere safe," Neku replied simply.

As he swerved from the sunlit path, and into the darkness of a nearby alleyway, the boom again grated the air, causing the ground once again to shiver, but luckily, and much to their relief, the noise seemed much further away from them than before.

Once they were fully enveloped in the gloom, Neku picked up the pace. They were close to Mr.H's house. It was a good thing that Neku hadn't strayed too far from the place.

Minutes past by, and the hush of the city was like a warning. The calm before the storm. Neku felt it, the change was heavy in the atmosphere; the invisible beast was watching them. His stride lengthened and he gave an involuntary glance back. The girl, Shiki, was still following him, her own speed almost on par with his own, her dark brown eyes wide with fear.

The colour of the buildings in this part of the district were pretty much the same, except of course for one. The one that was Neku's destination. It was a bit brighter than the others, with a sign outside of it that the orange-haired teen would've recognised anywhere. Set in orange and black graffiti-style writing the words WildKat truly stood out, and came as a godsend to Neku.

Without a word, he motioned to the shop, and then, began to run, hoping that his tag along would follow suit.

A deep sound vibrated through the air, the noise growing slowly in pitch, rising higher and higher until it was so loud as to cause the two teenager's to wince in pain. Then abruptly, it stopped.

Silence descended again, and the weak gusts of air returned.

It seemed they were now fully alone. The beast had abandoned the hunt. But as Neku reached for the door's handle, a shock of something that felt a lot like jolts of fiery electricity ran through him, and he fell to the floor with a cry. Dimly, through the burning agony, he heard Shiki call out.

The floor shook and the noise returned, changing in tone to that of a purr. Behind them a hunched, translucent shape rose. The shimmering shape shifting to point in the direction of the two figures. Its see-through maw slowly opening and flaring with pallid yellow light.