There was absolutely nothing that would have tipped him off that something was wrong. People drank coffee and talked about the weather, shop owners took advantage of the down time to shovel snow off the sidewalk and onto the street, cars drove slowly past with a dusting of white on the roof and hood.

It happened very suddenly. A slit peeled open to Yuya's side, parting the veil between the world of the living and that of the dead, as a giant red hand suddenly swiped at him with claw-tipped fingers. No one else even reacted; only those with some sort of supernatural ability or lineage would catch a glimpse of the large masked face that followed through the open portal.