Mm. I was a statue when we first "met". I wasn't meant to be something living like this.

[He brushes his fingers through Mizuki's hair, calmingly. Trying to ease his anxiety.]

You kids walked up one day and put your hands on the stone and gave me a name. Names have power here. A creature without a name may as well not exist. I might not've woken up as anything at all, if you all didn't decide to give me one, like a child names a plush toy.

Maybe you didn't miss me. But you miss her, and isn't that what matters? She'll be back. That girl is far too stubborn to just disappear.