Outside the charred, skeletal remains of the Otsuka Sanatorium, the mid-afternoon sun felt uncharacteristically weak, as if the building were actively leaching the warmth from the sky.
The three of them stood in the tall, dry weeds of the perimeter, their breathing coming in synchronized, ragged puffs as the adrenaline of the lobby encounter slowly ebbed away.
They turned their heads back toward the looming structure, its hollowed-out windows staring back like the empty sockets of a skull.
"It seems like this will be harder than I thought," Seijirou muttered, his breathing starting to calm down.
