Kazuki had always been good at forgetting things.
Not on purpose, of course. It was just… stuff slipped his mind. Birthdays. Guild chores. The time he accidentally set the cafeteria on fire with a heating spell and blamed it on an overenthusiastic elemental cat.
But this?
This was different.
He couldn't forget the cherry blossom mark glowing faintly on his wrist. Couldn't stop hearing her voice—"Find me. Before it finds you." Couldn't stop feeling that strange twist in his chest whenever he saw a falling petal drift by on the wind.
And for once, Kazuki didn't want to be the clueless one.
The Mark That Whispers
At breakfast in Mugentsu Guild Hall, everyone noticed the change.
Kazuki wasn't making a scene.
He was… brooding.
Quiet. Focused. Stirring his rice with chopsticks instead of launching it across the table like usual.
"Okay, who is this and what did you do to the real Kazuki?" Sawa asked, peering suspiciously at him.
Smile was perched on the table, nibbling on a piece of toast. "He's processing trauma. Isn't it adorable?"
Kazuki scowled. "I'm not adorable. I'm serious now."
Sawa raised an eyebrow. "You're wearing two different socks."
"…It's a fashion statement."
Hiraya dropped a scroll on the table with a firm thump. "We've got a lead."
Kazuki snapped to attention. "Sakura?"
"Possibly." Hiraya unrolled the scroll, revealing an old map inked in faded red. "These are the ruins of Hanashiro Shrine—a forgotten spirit temple deep in the Blossomgrave region. It hasn't been touched in decades, maybe centuries. But something activated it the same time the mirror cracked."
"And let me guess," Sawa muttered, "it's in a cursed forest full of monsters."
"Of course."
Kazuki stood. "Then we go."
Journey to Blossomgrave
Blossomgrave was unlike any other part of the eastern isles.
A sprawling region where spring never ended, where petals fell like snow, and ancient mana saturated the trees. The scent of blooming sakura was heavy in the air—and yet, it wasn't peaceful.
Not anymore.
The petals had turned crimson.
The trees leaned inward, whispering.
Tsuki's fur stood on end as they crossed into the region.
"Something's wrong here," Sawa muttered, fans half-drawn.
Smile wobbled into Kazuki's shadow. "There's a memory in the air. Something too old to be awake."
Flash Echoes: Sakura's Past
As they passed the first shrine gate, Kazuki staggered. The world shimmered.
He stood alone now.
No Smile.
No Sawa.
Just a vision—Sakura, standing in the shrine garden beneath the moonlight. Laughing with someone just out of sight.
Kazuki stepped forward. "Sakura?"
She looked right through him.
Then turned to the shadow beside her.
It was him.
Or—someone who looked like him. More confident. More serious. Less… Kazuki.
"You'll come back, right?" Sakura asked.
The other Kazuki smiled. "Of course. We'll see the world together."
She touched her wrist. The same mark. The cherry blossom glowing faintly.
Then the memory fractured.
And Kazuki collapsed.
Return to Reality
Hands on his shoulders. Sawa shouting. Smile humming softly. The others surrounding him.
He gasped. "She remembers me. Or someone like me."
"More like a past life," Hiraya muttered. "You're tangled in something big."
Kazuki looked at his wrist. The sigil was burning now. Not painfully—but urgently. Like it wanted to lead.
And it pointed toward the shrine ahead.
Where the trees grew too quiet.
And something old had begun to stir.
Foreshadowing: The Next Companion
As they moved deeper into the ruins, a strange call echoed from the canopy above.
A powerful screech—wild, proud, and untamed.
Hiraya glanced up. "That wasn't from any bird I've ever catalogued."
But Tsuki knew.
He looked to Kazuki and whispered, "Another waits above the blossoms."
Kazuki blinked. "Another what?"
But Tsuki didn't answer.