[center][h2]Akio and Fumi[/h2][h3]Empty(?) Apartment Complex[/h3][/center]
For the most part, the duo of Attuned were fairly silent as the others made their quips about the state of the building. With one hand over his sword, though, Akio continued to lead the way forward through the lobby. When nothing seemed particularly inclined to attempt to leap out at them, though, the young man let out a stifled sigh.

"...There's a reason I don't play horror games..." he sighed before walking towards the nearby staff room and pulling on the handle of the door. "...Locked."

There was a pause, though as the sight of something black [i]seeping[/i] through the cracks in the door caused him to immediately take a step back and draw his sword.

"Guess whatever's here figured out what we're here to do," Akio remarked as the viscous liquid seeping through seemed to spread around to cover more of the door. A quick glance towards the entrance and windows showed that more of the same was beginning to appear there, too, which meant that whatever was causing this was well aware of their presence now and didn't want them to leave.

Not that they were planning to, though.

"Fun. All the better for us if it's not going to try and hide, though," Fumi remarked as she and Akio backed up, her weapon at the ready as a dull 'bang' seemed to resonate from past the door. Covered as it was, though, neither of the pair could really see what had caused the noise. Then another.

And another.

The ever-escalating frequency finally reached a fever pitch, though, as the door seemed to blow off of it's hinges, releasing a torrent of what seemed to be black hair and armlike appendages towards the group, all of them grasping towards whatever was nearby.

"Yep, that's certainly par for the course!" Fumi shouted, leaping to the side as she slashed out at the oncoming mass of... Whatever [i]this[/i] was. Hopefully, the others would be able to dodge in time.

[@VitaVitaAR][@SilverPaw][@Vertigo][hr][center][h3]Umeda Park[/h3][/center]
Though it had managed to catch the one who had charged into it, the Grudge in question had found itself equally anchored... For better or worse. With a giant torrent of flames fast approaching, the amorphous blob did indeed attempt to struggle to retreat—but with that option all but removed, all it could do was let out an unearthly howl that seemed to shake the very earth they were standing upon as it was lit aflame. The mass that it had allowed to spread onto the ground quickly retreated backwards, shoring up the creature's size as it seemed to recoil in pain... Assuming they could feel pain, of course. This had the side effect, though, of releasing Kyozan from it's grasp and allowing the rakshasa free movement once more.

Once the flames had subsided, though, the Grudge seemed to begin to bubble, if but for a moment, before attempting to simply [i]envelop[/i] the nearby youkai in an attempt to consume it. It had shrank from what it had been before, if only somewhat, but what was left was still more than enough to at least attempt such a feat.

At the same time, though, the sight of the Grudges that had not yet been immobilized by the nekomata and her partner beginning to recoverge [i]towards[/i] meant that something else was afoot; maybe the monster was a hive mind and seeked to protect itself instead of expanding further?

[@Raineh Daze][@Rune_Alchemist][@Zeroth]