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The village was stifling. Groups of tourists all hang about in different places, carefully walking through the old ruins of houses or listening to tour guides as they explained the history of the land. The trees overhead that hid the village from aerial view, hung overhead like a sheet dampening out the outside world. It was difficult to not feel like he was back there. To not see the images of the old villagers walking around as they did their daily chores, or to see the elders standing by the entrance to the shrine towards the back of the village near the mountain pass.
"Akihiko…" the voice that called out his name was all too familiar. The tone and emotion are all too similar. As he swallows down the dread that sits deep in his stomach like a ball of yarn unravelling itself to the surface, he finally blinks to look to his companion at his side. White hair. Red eyes. The only difference now was the fact this person stood on his own two feet in a pair of shoes that fit him normally. Itsuki looked worried. "We can leave if you want. We don't have to-"
He shook his head, dismissing what Itsuki was saying. He couldn't leave. Not now. Not after Itsuki had been excited, if not equally nervous to return. Memories of a past life that had plagued his entire childhood, questions that needed answering. And the only place he'd find them would be here. How ironic that the one place that wanted to stay hidden was found by modern day explorers. It had never even been far away from anything in the first place, just heavily hidden by the forest and off the mountain path.