April 11, 2005
Yūgen General Hospital — 7:42 AM
It was morning, and Ren still hadn't gone home.
The hospital cafeteria was beginning to fill with the morning shift—doctors grabbing coffee before rounds, nurses on break, family members of patients clinging to the comfort of scrambled eggs and toast.
Ren sat in a corner booth, as far from the crowd as possible. A cup of coffee sat untouched in front of him, cold now. He had watched the steam rise and vanish an hour ago without taking a single sip.
He was still wearing yesterday's clothes. Bloodstains darkened his shirt—Aoi's blood, dried to a deep brown. His jacket was gone, abandoned somewhere he couldn't remember.
Everything felt distant. Muffled.
The PA system crackled overhead with announcements he didn't process. Rolling carts squeaked past. Quiet conversations at nearby tables blurred into white noise.
"How long have I been sitting here? "
