If Tsurugi felt the same way about it, then he definitely had a friend out there who'd been brainwashed. At least it meant that the two of them would be in for the long haul together, and that probably counted for a lot of other people too. Maybe this records archive they were looking for would have some information about how to undo the brainwashing, too!

When Tsurugi announced that he'd found the book, Sora perked up and immediately moved to his side, though he made sure to keep enough distance that their shoulders didn't brush. He hadn't told Tsurugi about his inability to make physical contact with people, and now didn't seem like a good time to bring it up.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Pull it out!" Was that what caused the passage to open? Sora was excited. It wasn't enough these days that he got to experience something new within the institute.