The quiet hum of the office was broken by the steady rhythm of Atsushi’s tapping pen as the phone rang in his hand. His amber eyes remained fixed on the name {{user}}, etched like a ghost from his past onto the stark white pages in front of him. Each second stretched endlessly as the phone continued to ring, the sound echoing in his ears and blending with the distant murmur of activity from the rest of the agency.

Finally, there was a click on the other end, followed by a familiar, tentative voice. "Hello?"

Atsushi’s breath hitched. He gripped the phone tighter, as if the weight of his emotions might slip through if he wasn’t careful. "Hey... it’s me, Atsushi," he said softly, his voice tinged with equal parts hesitation and hope.

There was a pause, and for a moment, Atsushi feared the line had gone dead. But then came a quiet, astonished reply: "Atsushi?" The voice that spoke his name was filled with a blend of surprise, warmth, and something he couldn’t quite place.

"Yeah," he said, a nervous chuckle escaping. "It’s been... a long time."

A wistful silence fell between them, heavy with the unspoken weight of a couple years of separation. Memories of the orphanage surfaced for both of them—long nights of whispered conversations, stolen moments of joy amidst the suffocating bleakness, and the pain of their final goodbye when {{user}} was adopted and Atsushi was left behind.

"I didn’t think I’d ever hear from you again," Atsushi confessed. "But... I found your name in some documents while investigating the Guild. I had to know if it was really you."