"Back again, again, again..."
Looking at the roller coaster speeding past in mid-air, Sora let out a soft sigh.
Clearly.
The time loop had not been broken; time had rewound once more.
"Sora, Sora~"
Right on cue, Anna's crisp and pleasant voice rang in his ear. The blue-haired girl held her fists in front of her chest like a kitten raising its paws, closed her right eye, and looked over with a bright smile:
"Guess what snack I have in my hand. If you guess right, there's..."
Sora glanced over: "There's an extra reward, right?"
"Eh?"
Anna was taken aback.
Sora continued:
"I guess it's jelly beans."
"Ehh?"
Anna's round eyes widened in shock:
"Could Sora possibly..."
"Don't let your imagination run wild," Sora complained. "I don't have telepathy, nor do I have X-ray vision."
"Ehhhhh?!"
Anna leaned her body forward, carefully scrutinizing Sora, and couldn't help but exclaim:
"I haven't even said anything yet, and Sora actually answered everything in advance... Something's not right! Something's very wrong!"
"The one who's not right isn't me," Sora said in a faint tone.
"It's this world." [Shinra Tensei!]
Anna: "Meow???"
"..."
Crunch.
Sora picked up two jelly beans and tossed them into his mouth. Then, he and the dazed-looking Angel-sama walked to a corner.
"Mahiru, what loop number is this?" Sora asked in a low voice.
Hearing this, Mahiru blinked her bright eyes and quickly understood what he meant:
"This is the fourth loop."
"Correct." Sora gave a light nod. "It seems we returned together; our memories haven't deviated."
"It's already the fourth time..."
Mahiru pressed her right hand against her chest, her pearly white teeth tightly biting her delicate lower lip:
"We clearly rode the roller coaster, why... why hasn't the loop been broken?"
Sora said calmly:
"Look on the bright side. At least we've eliminated one incorrect option, proving that riding the roller coaster has nothing to do with the time loop."
"I'm sorry for causing trouble for Sora-kun..."
Mahiru bit her lower lip, apologizing softly.
"I told you not to apologize anymore." Sora raised his right hand and gently rubbed Angel-sama's small head.
"Being able to retain memories and experience a unique time loop is something countless people dream of. It's just a pity the loop duration is a bit short. If it looped every twenty-four hours, we could buy lottery tickets in advance."
"Well, the lottery is a Schrödinger's lottery."
"The winning numbers could change at any time, so memorizing them is useless. But betting on horses would definitely be fine, and scratch-offs..."
The more Sora spoke, the more expectant he became.
"Ugh—"
Angel-sama's cheeks puffed out slightly. She reached out and gently poked Sora's waist:
"Sora-kun, gambling is not allowed!"
"I'm just thinking about it..."
"Thinking about it isn't allowed either! Porn, gambling, and drugs are super terrifying things. Once you get involved, you can never quit."
"Mahiru-sama makes a lot of sense." Sora's expression turned serious. He raised his left hand and swore, "I am irreconcilably opposed to gambling and drugs."
"Wait a minute..." Mahiru tilted her small face up, her bright eyes glaring affectionately. "Didn't Sora-kun miss one thing?"
Sora was shocked: "Wait, you actually noticed that?"
"Of course." Angel-sama's voice was gentle. "I have properly memorized every word Sora-kun says."
"..."
After chatting for a bit, Sora quickly got to the point:
"What we need to do next is, according to our previous discussion, start verifying our hypotheses one by one... What was the first item to verify again?"
Mahiru tilted her pretty face up and answered softly:
"It's that we cannot meet the other me."
"Correct." Sora gave a light nod. "Mahiru meeting another Mahiru will highly likely trigger a time paradox. So during this loop, what we need to do is not let Mahiru out of my sight. We must maintain a state where I am constantly observing you."
"That's very simple."
"Later, after riding the roller coaster and going to the restroom, Mahiru will stay at the very back and not go inside."
"..."
"I'm so glad Sora-kun is by my side." Mahiru pursed her beautiful lips, her voice gentle. "Otherwise, I would have absolutely no idea what to do."
This was the truth.
For Mahiru, having Sora by her side not only provided strategic advice but also something even more important—
A sense of security.
No person or thing could replace Sora's importance.
"If I were the only one trapped in an endless time loop, I'd probably have a mental breakdown before long, wouldn't I?"
Mahiru pressed her right hand against her chest, tilted her pretty face up, and softly confided:
"But as long as Sora-kun is by my side, I feel super secure. Even if it's a hundred loops, a thousand loops, I have enough courage to face it."
Sora: "..."
Although he didn't want to admit it, facing Angel-sama's proactive offensive, his heartbeat still involuntarily accelerated.
I can't hold on.
I completely can't hold on.
"Sora, Mahiru, what are you two whispering about?"
Anna's voice sounded right on cue:
"Hurry up and come over, get ready to board."
"Coming..."
Mahiru hurriedly withdrew her gaze, her pretty face slightly flushed, and responded. She walked over to Anna and Ruri, and then stayed behind using the excuse of a tight chest and feeling flustered.
Knowing that riding the roller coaster wouldn't break the loop, Mahiru naturally wasn't going to subject herself to suffering.
Sora used the excuse of a stomachache and also stayed behind.
The goal of this loop was to observe Mahiru the entire time to avoid triggering a potential time paradox. Naturally, he couldn't go ride the roller coaster.
"What a bummer, we finally made it to the front of the line..."
Anna was quite disappointed. She could only drag Kuroneko along, and the two girls boarded the roller coaster together.
After it ended, Kuroneko, as usual, had a pale face and trembling legs. So the four of them headed to the restroom again.
Mahiru followed behind Anna and Ruri, quietly dropping back a few steps. Finally, she quietly stopped at the restroom entrance, quickly turned around, and returned to Sora's side.
"Phew..."
Mahiru clutched her chest and softly exhaled. She could clearly feel her heartbeat quietly accelerating.
Sneaking away from her friends to return to Sora's side inexplicably gave her the thrilling feeling of getting a head start in a race.
"Let's find a place to rest for a bit." Sora said softly. "Next, we just wait to verify if we can break the loop."
"Okay..."
Mahiru softly agreed. With light steps, she followed closely by Sora's side, feeling completely at ease.
After walking a short distance, two girls holding super large cotton candies passed by not far away, quickly catching Angel-sama's attention.
"That's cotton candy." Sora glanced at the passing girls, looked at Angel-sama, and asked softly, "Has Mahiru ever had cotton candy?"
"No."
Mahiru subconsciously shook her head.
Sora said directly:
"Let's go, I'll take you to try some."
He didn't know what kind of environment Angel-sama grew up in, but it seemed there were many things she had never experienced.
So Sora didn't ask if Mahiru wanted to eat it, but rather if she had eaten it.
As long as it was something Angel-sama had never eaten, he'd just take her to experience it, plain and simple.
Sora had been to this amusement park before and naturally remembered where the food stalls were. Before long, he brought Mahiru to a miniature shopping street.
The shop making super large cotton candies was right at the intersection, visible immediately upon looking up.
"Here's the shop." Sora stopped walking, turned to look at Angel-sama beside him, and said softly, "What flavor of cotton candy does Mahiru want to eat?"
It was already dusk, with very few customers, so there was no need to queue.
"Umm..."
Mahiru pursed her pink, moist lips, her eyes sparkling brightly. After carefully looking at the types of cotton candy in the shop, she said with anticipation:
"The chocolate and matcha flavor cotton candies both look very cute. Let me think about it carefully."
"Don't think." Sora said directly. "We'll just buy both."
"Two portions is too much." Mahiru hurriedly shook her head. "The cotton candy is so big, I definitely won't be able to finish it myself."
"If you can't finish it, you can give it to me." Sora said casually. "The shop next door sells tofu ice cream, have you had that before?"
"No..."
"Let's buy a portion to try."
"How about the super popular beef and cheese pie?"
"Haven't had it."
"Try some."
"..."
Seeing that Sora was preparing to buy one of every snack, Angel-sama couldn't sit still. She hurriedly grabbed the hem of Sora's shirt:
"Sora-kun, don't buy so much. Even if we eat it together, we definitely won't be able to finish all that food."
"It's fine if we can't finish it." Sora said in a low voice. "Time will loop again anyway, so it won't be wasted."
Mahiru glared affectionately with her bright eyes, her confidence slightly lacking:
"What if... what if the loop ends?"
"Then I'll just go running with Mahiru to lose weight." Sora replied casually. "The Sports Festival is starting soon anyway, and I signed up for so many events. I definitely need to train hard during this period."
"Running together at night?"
Angel-sama's eyes lit up slightly, a hint of anticipation flashing across her pretty face.
"There's also whole-octopus takoyaki up ahead. Has Mahiru ever had that?" Sora looked at Angel-sama and continued asking.
"I have..."
Mahiru turned her pretty face away, responding in a low voice.
She had already figured it out. As long as it was something she hadn't eaten, Sora would buy her a portion. So she chose to lie against her conscience.
"You really have?" Sora raised an eyebrow and looked over.
"O-Of course I have..."
Mahiru guiltily lowered her head to look at her toes. She clearly had no experience in lying.
"Takoyaki with a whole octopus is different from the usual street food." Sora spoke slowly and methodically.
"The meat is super bouncy and savory, especially when dipped in soy sauce, making it impossible to stop eating. When you gently bite down with your teeth, the juices even explode in your mouth..."
"Mmm..."
Mahiru subconsciously swallowed her saliva.
"I want to eat it." Sora saw right through her. "Let's go buy two portions."
"One portion of takoyaki is enough..." Mahiru's pretty face flushed slightly as she shyly looked up. "Sora-kun, don't buy any other food."
Sora nodded: "Then we'll come back and eat more during the next loop. We'll try to eat our way through every stall."
Mahiru: "..."