Cold emptiness. That was the only way Kazuki could describe a trace of a feeling that was now gone.

It had been like a creeping cold that he had felt while away from Tatsumiya Island. He had disregarded it as a form of homesickness that he had wished to ignore, as it had been his own choice to leave the island in the first place. What was there for him anyway, he had thought; tried to convince himself that it had been the right thing to do considering everything, never mind that feeling of cold somewhere deep inside of him.

It wasn’t that he had been physically cold, but some part inside of him had felt frozen. Giving up had almost been an option too, even though in the end, Mark Sein actually seemed to melt some of that ice just by existing. Since he had chosen to exist with Sein, he had felt that he could fight that cold and whatever had caused it.

It had been so cold, but now that he was here and crossed with Soushi, he knew what he had been missing. He was no longer freezing, and this warmth that filled his body, his soul, and the deepest parts of his heart was so overwhelming that he wanted to laugh. No matter what hardships ahead, this was where he belonged, and this warmth made him feel home.

That same warmth also made him feel something else, something deeper and strange, something he didn't understand. A connection of some sort, he didn't know; it was not an emotion he was familiar with. He could only assume it had something to do with crossing, because the instant Soushi had been there with him the ice had been gone, and his heart filled with this... whatever it was. The only thing he knew was that it was a shared feeling, and he was not the only one whose soul this warmth filled.

But was this his feeling, or was it Soushi's?

Whichever the case, he wished so hard that it would never leave him.