Chapter 106 - The Dissonance of the Edges

​The underground tunnel connecting the Palace Hotel de Bercy with the ice rink's technical complex had fluorescent tube lighting that projected elongated shadows onto the gray concrete. At seven-thirty in the morning, the silence of the corridor was broken only by the rhythmic drag of the wheels of canvas gear bags and the dull thud of running shoes on the damp floor. Aibek walked a step behind Taishi, wearing the official black jacket of the Tokyo delegation, his hands buried deep in his pockets and his hood pulled up to isolate himself from the frigid air already seeping in from the main arena's pit.