January 4, 2017.
Hakurei Training Lodge, Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture.
This is where Hirobumi Sagawa and Shinichi Yanagimoto have joined their training camp.
Karuizawa sits higher than most places in Japan, far enough from Tokyo that the air feels thinner and quieter, but close enough that people with money and purpose still come here to disappear properly.
The training camp is tucked deep into the forest on the northern edge of the town, where the road narrows and the trees close in, cedar and birch pressing so tight the sunlight filters through in long pale bands.
Hakurei Training Lodge occupies the slope with measured restraint; dark wood, stone, and glass arranged with the precision of a place long accustomed to hosting people who already know why they are there.
For Noya Fumihiro, the silence at this place has already become familiar.
