"How long does it take to get food?" Cole asked.
"I don't know what's around here, so I'm not sure," Kumori responded.
"Definitely less than three hours." Linda said quietly. "There's a reason why Alina has been doing absolutely nothing for the past two hours."
"I can hear you!" Alina said from the living room, while the others were all gathered in the kitchen.
They heard the sound of the door closing softly.
"Er…" Linda poked her head round the wall separating the kitchen from the living room.
"Mindlink you if anything happens." Alina's voice sounded in all of their heads, the werewolf herself no longer staring off into space on the sofa.
"Okay... Should we go after her?"
"There's a reason why we took so long to track her down the first time." Linda responded.
"I mean, we could try," Hikari said. "She can't be that far, right? And Richard couldn't have gone that far just to get dinner."
Linda snorted. "You can try. Come back if you don't find anything. If we don't hear anything from you within fifteen minutes, we're all going out to hunt for you, so don't cover your trail."
"Gotcha." Hikari bolted out of the door, doing her best to follow Alina.
"She should've taken Korū with her," Kumori said worriedly.
Cole sighed. "I'll go be her useless human shield." Before following Hikari. He didn't see as everyone else exchanged curious glances.
"Yo." He greeted as he caught up with Hikari, also catching Alina's scent. Why did Linda say she was hard to follow?
"Why did you come?" Hikari asked him. "If I'm actually doing something dangerous, I'd rather no one else risks dying as well."
"I'm here to be a useless human shield that is hopefully not obstructive." He somehow managed to shrug while running. "Anyway, a normal werewolf wouldn't shy from danger, much less one with Alpha blood to uphold."
"That's exactly what I'm trying to avoid. Why do you think I didn't call Korū to come with me?" She sighed. "And staying in the house isn't shying from danger."
"Because Korū would probably kill the enemies we meet before interrogating them? And technically staying in the house is…" Cole stopped abruptly, sniffing the air. "What the hell?"
"What?" Hikari halted beside him.
"The trail stopped."
"Damn it!" Hikari glanced around, scenting the air again. She had been so distracted that she hadn't noticed its absence right away. "Let's split up."
"That kind of defeats the purpose of me following you." Cole pointed out.
"Then what the hell do you suggest?" She sounded a lot like Korū at this point. "If we split up, we might find them faster. There's no trail for us to follow. We have to use our eyes."
"Well, where do you think Alina would have headed first to look for a trace of a three hour old scent? I don't think she'll be stupid enough to run around like a headless chicken." He started off in the direction of a food stall in the distance with the same logo that was stamped on the packaging of their food from lunch. "Come on."
Hikari let out a huff and followed him, her hand reaching for her pistol.
"Can you help to ask if the cashier has seen Alina or Richard? I can't speak Jap fluently." Cole asked her as they approached the stall.
Hikari approached the cashier and spoke to him in rapid Japanese. After a while, she turned back to Cole. "He says Alina was here a while ago, when his shift just started. She asked the same thing as we did, minus the 'looking for herself' part. Means he definitely hasn't seen Richard."
"See? I'm a genius." He mumbled to himself. "Where did she head?"
"That way." Hikari bolted out of the store. "I don't like the feeling I'm getting about this."
"Who would?" Cole replied as they took off again. "We have five more minutes, by the way, before everyone starts to panic."
He paused for a moment. "Wait, has anyone tried mindlinking Alina to see if she is kind enough to spare us this trouble?"
"Don't think so."
"Damn. That's pretty stupid. I'll try it." Cole said, searching for the mental door that led to Alina's mind. He reached out and knocked lightly on the ornate, red and gold door, receiving a wave of annoyance.
"I'll check in every five minutes, okay?" Alina's voice sounded in everyone's mind, and he could have sworn that he heard her huff irritably. There were responses from everyone, since the doors between them were all open by default. Or at least ajar. Except Alina's, which was kind of strange, but Cole didn't dwell on it. Hers was always bolted shut.
"Where the hell are you?" Korū growled at Alina through the mindlink. "I can literally feel Hikari's anxiety level going up."
"Somewhere in Japan." Came the clipped answer. "Hikari, Cole, go back first. Stop worrying so much about me."
"How do you even plan to find him?" Cayne asked. "There's obviously no trail to follow."
"Not a physical trail. I'm one of the best trackers out there for a reason." Alina answered. That was one of the few things she could be proud of herself for.
"Flex." Liam complained, but everyone could feel his underlying worry. They all cared.
"Keep an eye out for Richard's hawk." Alina said, "It should be back soon." and Linda sent confirmation and assurance down the link.
"No, damn it!" Hikari hissed. "Something bad's gonna happen. I can feel it. And when that happens I'd rather be there than sitting around."
"Where are you right now?"
Cole projected their location to everyone. "A cashier told us you went this way."
There was a long, pissed silence from Alina.
"You're heading the wrong way. If something happens, you'll take even longer. So just go back, and wait for me to report." She then casually closed a layer of her door, which she somehow had, which was like a one way mirror, so she would still be in the loop without any of her thoughts being broadcasted to everyone.
"How do you know if you're heading the right way?" Liam asked.
"Just trust her." Linda told him, receiving a private wave of gratitude as Alina pulled the door between her and Linda slightly ajar.
"Alina-" Hikari started.
"Come back," Korū snarled. "Get your ass back here, Hikari. If she doesn't want your help, she won't accept it no matter what. So you're just gonna get in her way. If it's as dangerous as you feel it is, she can defend herself better if you aren't there, because she won't have to protect you."
"Korū-"
"Now, Hikari."
"I'm alive." Alina said five minutes later. "I think he was kidnapped," she continued thoughtfully. "How do you kidnap someone in the middle of somewhere in Japan without anyone noticing? I have yet to find out."
Hikari and Cole were almost back at Richard's house at that time. The twins were yelling at each other via mindlink, with Kumori trying, and failing, to stop them.
"Maybe he was in one of the quieter streets or something," Kumori suggested, giving up on her cousins.
"They'll have to drag him there first- oh fuck, I just thought of something. What if they had a witch or wizard with them?" Stupid, stupid.
Kumori was silent for a moment. "Then that just made this so much harder." She sighed. "Guess we're gonna have to tell my pack we aren't going home for a while. Oh, hey, Hikari."
Hikari stepped into Richard's house, to be met by Korū's green-eyed glare. "Why the hell didn't you take me with you?" He demanded.
"Because I was afraid a fight would happen." Hikari stated.
"I'm not that- What the heck is that on your arm?"