Adachi District, Takezuka.
The cold streetlights shone on the deserted street. Two or three-story residential buildings, none of them very tall, lined either side.
Aozawa stood in front of a closed, paint-peeling iron gate.
Behind the gate was an abandoned factory, its exterior blackened from a fire. It stretched up six floors, unlit, its surface cloaked in deep darkness.
With a creak, Ayatsuki Ayaka pushed the gate. The eerie sound echoed in the silent night.
The gate had originally been locked, but Takahashi Saeko had broken that lock.
Ayatsuki Ayaka felt it was wrong to damage someone else's property, but Takahashi Saeko said they could just buy a new lock for it later.
Ayaka agreed with this idea.
After all, if the gate had a good lock afterward, it was as if no damage had been done, more or less.
Ayaka pushed open the gate and turned on her flashlight; a beam of light illuminated the overgrown weeds in the yard.
She turned back and asked, "Aozawa, are you scared?"
