Ren was about to walk over to pick up the next strip of film, but Yu suddenly placed his arm in front of him and pointed forward.
Ren watched as the strip of film began to glow, turning into a ball of indistinct light and morphing into two beams that landed against Ren's and Orihime's faces.
Ren and Orihime both gripped their heads in shock, choking on their own breath for a moment.
Before the teams could even panic, they had recovered and were looking at each other in confusion.
"Are you guys okay?" Rukia asked suddenly. "In Soul Society, memories are considered records stored in the soul. But I'm starting to doubt that now."
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just..." Ren replied with a furrowed brow.
Orihime opened her mouth and said, "Ren Kurusu."
Ren gripped his head again and nodded.
"That was my name... I don't remember living in Karakura Town, though."
The teams were silent.
"Guess we just need to find more memory strips," Ryuji said firmly.
Morgana nodded. "I feel kind of grateful all my memories are gone. Not remembering chunks of time, or misremembering them, sounds scary."
"It is," Orihime mumbled as the teams turned to head back toward her home.
"Hime-chan's house, and then the other two doors in that weird white room!" Rise exclaimed with dramatic flair.
---
The group had been waiting to be ambushed. Aside from some weak Shadows near the doors between the fake Karakura Town and the white room, the town had gone silent. There were no more cognitions wandering about. Just eerie silence.
As they approached the area Orihime had pointed out as her apartment complex, a projection began to play once more. A battered and bloody Elizabeth appeared with a crying child in a car seat.
She placed the child at the door of the home beside Orihime's and gave a long bow before rubbing the child's head with a smile.
"Dormina," she whispered, and the child began to drift to sleep.
"Enjoy your new life, my new old guest."
Elizabeth vanished, and the door to the apartment opened. A woman with black, curly hair looked around in confusion before glancing down and panicking because of the child. She quickly picked her up and took her into her home.
The projection ended.
"I lived here," Ren mumbled. "The girl was Kotone. She was adopted by us."
"I remember now. I lived next door to Ren, Kotone, and their mother," Orihime said as she glanced at Ren in shock.
Rukia said suddenly and seriously,
"I feel Reiatsu in the neighboring apartment. It's... strange. But it's definitely there."
The group looked at her in confusion before she realized they didn't know what it was she was talking about.
"Spiritual pressure. Or energy..." Rukia stammered. "I've never had to explain it."
Ryuji waved his hand in frustration, "It's your version of the mental energy we spend when we cast spells with our Personas."
Rise ran a quick scan of the apartment and quickly deduced that although something was truly inside, it didn't seem malicious.
They decided to slowly open the door to Orihime's home. A flicker of light appeared, and a projection started to play.
---
Mental health nose dive. Chapters will be short. I'll try to keep up. Thanks for reading!
-Raoul