Evening had already settled into Yugen City by the time Ren stepped out of Hanasakura Station.
Ren walked slowly, each step a constant battle with the pain in his ribs. The bandages beneath his uniform stretched with every movement he made. His knuckles still ached, his skull throbbing where the sucker punch had stolen the world from him earlier that day.
"Two days, twenty-two hours. "
Hasegawa's voice was still there in the back of his mind but Shiin's words lingered even heavier. "What do you believe? "
He turned down a quieter lane, past shuttered shops that had closed for the day and apartment buildings stacked like toy blocks.
Ren stopped in front of a three-story building with peeling paint and balconies cluttered with drying laundry. A tabby cat lounged on one rail, barely paying attention to him.
"Home. " Ren thought. Well If he could still call it that.
