3.2

"Damn," Shima cursed, craning his neck as he tried to look around the car in front of them. "This traffic isn't moving. What are they doing?"

Hiromasa rolled down the driver's side window as a man ran past their car. "Excuse me, what's going on?"

"Traffic accident!" the man exclaimed, not pausing in his steps. "A-A car jumped the curb and hit someone!"

"What?!" Shima exclaimed. Hiromasa immediately put the car in park and threw his seatbelt off. "Shima, stay with the girls!" he quickly said before jumping out of the car and running towards the accident.

"Hiromasa! Damn!" Shima spun around in his seat and looked at his twin as he took off his own seatbelt. "Ume, watch my girls!"

"EH?!" Ume exclaimed. As though on cue the babies began on either side of him. "Why?!"

"Because we're medical personnel! Consider this your repayment for us giving you a ride home from work!" Shima shoved the car door open and jumped out of the car.

"OI, SHIMA!" Ume shouted, but Shima ignored his twin as he took off running after his husband. "Hiromasa, wait!" he shouted. "I'm going to help, too!"

Hiromasa answered with a quick nod as they met a group of people who had stepped out of their cars. "Let us tthough, I'm a doctor!" he shouted. "Has anyone called 1-1-9 yet?!"

"YOU DID THIS."

The guttural, powerful shout hit Shima like a sound wave. In an instant his knees turned to jelly and he collapsed as tremors overtook his body. He lifted his head with great difficulty, only to find that Hiromasa had been similarly affected by the scream. Others in the crowd had also collapsed and some were crying. Still shaking, Shima crawl over to his husband and grab his arm. "This—is bad," he gasped. Those were the only words he could manage to speak.

They both knew that only a Madararui would have such power. And there were only a few people who could bring a crowd to their knees with just the power of their voice, and that was Shima's kin.

Before the couple could fully recover, an animalistic shriek filled the air. Suddenly the crowd was moving and falling all over each other as screams of panic filled the air. "JAGUAR!"

"IT'S A JAGUAR!"

"RUN!"

Jaguar. Shima met Hiromasa's gaze. They knew of one person who was a Jaguar. "Kunimasa-kun," he whispered. A hideous scream of agony filled the air and Hiromasa's head snap around towards the sound. "Hiromasa!" Shima shouted. He scrambled to his feet and stumbled after the other man. He found Hiromasa standing on the sidewalk, the other man's posture stiff and his arms raised as though to demonstrate that he was not a threat. Shima reached this side, but Hiromasa swiftly grabbed Shima's arm and pulled his husband behind him. He shielded Shima with his body but Shima still saw the carnage before them.

A car had indeed jumped the curb and was now sitting on the sidewalk at a diagonal. A brutally disheveled body was under the front of the car. And beside the car, a raging jaguar was poised on a prone body. Blood was dripping from the jaguar's jaw and Shima saw that the person beneath the jaguar—the man—had his throat torn out.

Kunimasa-kun killed him. Shima dug his fist into the back of Hiromasa's jacket. Why? What did that man do to him?!

"Hey," Hiromasa said, his tone calm and controlled. His soul appearance of the snake lightly appeared from his body, and Kunimasa roared in response. "We are kin," Hiromasa told him. "We are not threats. We only want to help these men." He looked over his shoulder at Shima. "Shima, let out your soul appearance. He will sense that you are kin."

Shima was very much aware that many of the people fleeing around them were monkeys and not Madararui. But he knew this was an extenuating circumstance. He inched to the right slightly so that Kunimasa could properly see him, and he let his mongoose should appearance emerge very slightly. Shima saw the jaguar shift very slightly, as though he could sense their kin tie. But after a moment he drew back his mouth, baring his teeth and growled.

"If this person has—wronged you," Hiromasa said, gesturing to the corpse beneath Kunimasa. "Then we will not interfere with that. But I—we want to check on him." He pointed to the body underneath the car. "May we approach to give that person medical assistance?"

The jaguar growled again, but this time he emulated his power again. The sound reverberated in their ears, and Shima slammed his hands over his ears to block out the sound. But in the harsh white noise, words were distinguishable. Shima could hear them sharp and clear.

"HE'S DEAD."

But just as abruptly, the noise dissipated. Shima collapsed against his husband, whose posture also slouched. But then Shima heard the whoosh of wind and he lifted his head. His mouth dropped open in shock as he saw Kunimasa—the jaguar—sprinting down the sidewalk away from them. People dove into the grass and the street to get out of his way. "No, WAIT!" Shima shouted after him.

"I'll follow him," Hiromasa said. "Shima, take of these two." Without another word he took off running after Kunimasa.

"Hiromasa!" Shima shouted, but his husband didn't look back. He turned around and saw a handful of people standing around. Some were filming with their cell phones. Shima shook his head in disgust and pointed to the nearest women. "You—call 1-1-9 right now."

He briefly checked on the man who Kunimasa had killed, but it was easy to see that he was dead. He quickly moved to the body underneath the car; the head was turned away and the short dark hair covered his face. Shima checked his neck for a pulse but there was none. "Shit," he muttered, shaking his head.

Then he paused. There was something—familiar about the dead person underneath the car. Without thinking he grabbed their chin and turned their face towards him—and he stared down into the dead face of Tsuburaya Norio.

Shima let a loud, shuddering gasp and drew his hand back. A wave of dread and fear washed over his body. "Ohhhhh, shit."