Ren didn't go to the temple the next day.
He needed time to think.
The mark on his hand was still there. Faint, like chalk, but glowing softly whenever he thought about that strange book.
He hadn't told anyone.
Who would believe him?
He sat on the small wooden bridge near the stream. His feet dipped into the water as he watched it rush past. Cold. Fast. Free.
That's how he felt inside—like something had started to move, and he couldn't stop it.
"Hey," said a voice.
Ren turned.
A girl stood a few steps away. Long black hair, tied back. Soft eyes. She wore a pale blue robe, clean and simple.
He didn't know her name.
She was new.
"You're Haruki Ren, right?" she asked.
He nodded. "Yeah. And you are…?"
"My name's Sora."
He waited for more. She didn't say anything else.
She just walked over and sat beside him on the bridge, her hands in her lap.
For a while, they didn't talk. Just listened to the stream.
Then she said, "I saw you."
Ren blinked. "What?"
"Yesterday. At the temple. You disappeared."
His heart skipped.
"You… followed me?"
She nodded. "Not on purpose. I was just walking. Then I saw you step onto the stone and vanish. I waited."
Ren stayed quiet.
"I thought maybe I imagined it," she said softly. "But then I saw the mark on your hand when you left."
She turned and looked at him.
"I have one too."
Ren's eyes widened. "What?"
Sora opened her hand.
There it was. The same faint symbol. A small open book, glowing lightly.
Just like his.
"I found a different step," she said. "Not at the temple. Mine was near the old well. It took me to a place with floating lanterns. And a door that didn't open."
Ren felt his skin tingle.
So he wasn't the only one.
"How long have you had it?" he asked.
"Three days."
Same as him.
She looked up at the sky. "Something's coming. I don't know what. But I think... we're part of it."
Ren nodded slowly.
For the first time since the Naming Ceremony, he didn't feel so alone.
They sat there, two kids with strange marks and too many questions, watching the stream.
From the woods nearby, someone else watched them.
Hidden in the shade, an old man with gray hair and quiet eyes smiled.
"So," he whispered."It begins again."
To be continued...