Kaito sat across from Teren, the ash-stained records still spread between them. The warmth from the flickering lamp barely reached the corners of the room, but the quiet felt… alive.
Teren leaned back slightly, fingers steepled. "You've felt it, haven't you?" he asked softly.
Kaito's fists clenched. "Yes. The stirrings… instincts, flashes… I know they're starting to remember me. But I can't reach them yet."
Teren nodded. "That is exactly why I said what I did. Their memory is fragile, delicate. But it exists. It's awakening because of you. Your bond has endured."
Kaito's eyes narrowed. "So… you can find them?"
"I can," Teren said, voice steady. "The records, the energy traces, the lingering instincts—they leave marks, small as they are. If we are patient, we can follow them."
"And how long?" Kaito asked, a mixture of hope and frustration in his voice.
Teren's gaze softened. "It will take time. Days, weeks… perhaps longer. Awakening is never instant. You cannot rush it without risking confusion or fear. But it can be done."
Kaito exhaled slowly, fists relaxing slightly. "I'll wait. I don't care how long it takes. I can't… lose them again."
"You won't," Teren said. "They are returning. Your presence is a beacon. You've already stirred what remained inside them. The rest… will follow."
Kaito leaned back, absorbing the weight of Teren's words. For the first time, the threads of the past, the present, and the future seemed to align. His friend was out there, somewhere, beginning to remember, beginning to reach for him.
"And while we wait," Teren added, "we prepare. You must strengthen yourself, understand the traces, and be ready for the moment they are fully awake. Only then will you both truly reconnect."
Kaito's eyes hardened with determination. "Then we start immediately. We follow every clue, every instinct. I'll find them… no matter how long it takes."
Teren's faint smile widened, almost approving. "Good. That resolve… it is what will guide them back to you. Now, we begin the search—carefully, patiently, but without delay."
Outside, the wind rustled through the village streets, carrying a sense of anticipation. Somewhere beyond sight, a presence was stirring, faint but alive, reaching toward Kaito across the currents of time.
And the hunt—for reunion, for memory, for a bond that refused to die—had officially begun.