At first Takeru had been rather sure it was a trick of his mind. Just like all those times he imagined Flame still being with him, giving him advice or just commenting on the things he did. After all... even if Yusaku never had returned to them to tell how the duel with Ai had ended, the fact that everything had went back to normal - whatever normal meant at all - and those put into a coma by him woken up again, everything had pointed to the fact that Ai had lost. And that he was gone as all.
So there was no way he could spot him around in Link VRAINS. And so he decided not to chase after the shadow of the past. It most likely was the fact that he still felt guilty about leaving Den City without a chance to tell Yusaku his goodbyes that he now saw his friends partner every now and then. It couldn’t be anything else.
Or so he had tried to convince himself.
But that only worked as long as he only saw glimpses of the other one. Something blurry in just the right colors in the corner of his eyes. He was mistaking others for that AI.
At least that was what he told himself over and over again, but as he now stood right in front of him, there wasn’t much left to deny anymore.
“...Ai?” his voice was more pure disbelieve than anything else, as his eyes were searching for those of the other one. “How...? I thought... we assumed you were gone?” || @devaiht // starter call