As soon as Ren touched the strip of film, it dissolved. Ren felt a chill run up his arm and a pressure building in his forehead. It wasn't painful. It just felt like a bubble on his forehead, above his skull but under his skin.
He rubbed his temples and blinked.
He felt like that was important.
And he needed to find more of these.
"Ren, you good?" Yu asked, grasping his shoulders.
"I saw that whole thing. Tell me what happened," he continued seriously.
Ren couldn't help but smile wryly. "I'm okay, Yu. It felt like it was a piece of my memory."
"How? That was Karakura Town..." Orihime mumbled as she started to think.
There were two boys and a girl, right?
No.
One boy and three girls?
"No. Wait. Maybe? Tatsuki did say he was familiar."
Orihime felt like she was overheating. Her memories didn't match up with what she saw, but both felt real.
Ren let out a long exhale. "Well, I think we're going to see more of these memories."
He paused for a moment, but before he could speak—
"Kotone shouldn't have been that young," Yukiko said seriously.
"Are we sure it was her?" Ann asked. "But wait, Elizabeth said that we are helping Kotone remember..."
Rukia stayed silent. She felt like she was intruding despite her growing interest. The distressed looks on Ren and Orihime's faces made her uncomfortable.
---
While they were lost in thought, three doors appeared on the wall opposite the entrance. A table appeared with a pitcher of water and a pile of snacks.
A small note was taped to the table. It had a doodle of Elizabeth sticking out her tongue and winking, with neat script reading, "Enjoy!"
"These are wasabi-covered peanuts," Yosuke deadpanned while Morgana ran around whining and waving his paws at his swollen tongue.
---
The teams decided to check the rooms from left to right. Rise's scan couldn't pick anything up, but when they glanced into the room, they couldn't help but be shocked. It was a modern town road! There was even a sky above them!
"It's the same town from that memory," Shiho mumbled as they began to walk down the bright streets.
There were even cognitions running about.
As well as Shadows.
"We'll watch the back. You watch the front," Yu called out.
They began to move down the street slowly. Strangely, the cognitions didn't notice anything odd about a group of kids walking around with weapons.
They didn't even seem to notice the Shadows roaming about.
When they reached an intersection, they looked to the left and right and noticed that the left was a dead end. The right continued onward to another dead end, though it was much longer than the opposite side.
Orihime, who had been quiet, suddenly said, "The right leads to the Kurosaki home. Straight ahead leads to..."
"Your house," Ren finished unintentionally before rubbing his temples, eyes closed again.
"Yeah. I remember a little bit."
Suddenly, a projection started to play once more.