The air around the Otsuka Sanatorium had shifted since their last visit.
As the sun dipped below the jagged horizon, the building didn't just cast a shadow; it seemed to exhale a thick, frigid miasma that clung to the skin like oil.
The silence of the industrial outskirts was absolute, broken only by the rhythmic, metallic ticking of the cooling car engine behind them.
"We're back here again," Seijirou sighed, his voice low and heavy.
He stared up at the scorched concrete of the hospital. In the fading light, the building looked less like a ruin and more like a gargantuan, charred ribcage resting on the earth.
"Let's go," Rindou said, her voice tight with a professional resolve that didn't quite hide the tremor in her fingers.
She led the way through the rusted gates, with Seijirou and a nearly catatonic Tamaki following closely behind.
