"...We're back again?"
Looking at the roller coaster roaring past in the sky, Sora quickly realized that time had rewound once more.
"Sora, Sora~"
Anna's crisp and pleasant voice rang in his ear. The blue-haired girl held her fists together in front of her chest, closed one eye, and looked at him with a smile:
"Guess what snack I have in my hand. If you guess right, there's a reward~"
Sora glanced over:
"Jelly beans."
"Eh?" Anna's round eyes widened in shock, clearly genuinely surprised.
"Sora actually guessed it right on the first try?"
Saying this, she covered her chest with both hands and quickly took half a step back:
"Sora doesn't have X-ray vision, does he?"
Don't slander my innocence! I've already eaten your jelly beans twice. It would be weirder if I couldn't guess it!
Sora remained expressionless: "If I had X-ray vision, the first thing I'd do is go buy scratch-off lottery tickets."
"That's true. If it were me, the first thing I'd do is buy scratch-offs too." Anna leaned in closer and lowered her voice.
"I keep my word. I'll personally hand-feed Sora as an extra reward, okay?"
As she spoke, Anna's pretty face flushed, clearly very shy.
Crunch.
Sora picked up two jelly beans and popped them directly into his mouth:
"If I remember correctly, Anna just wiped her nose and hasn't washed her hands yet."
"...Idiot Sora!"
Anna's pink cheeks puffed up quickly:
"I didn't wipe my nose!"
"..."
After eating the jelly beans, Sora turned to look at Angel-sama behind him.
Their eyes met.
No words were needed; they easily read the meaning in each other's eyes.
Clearly, both of them retained the memories from the previous time rewind.
"Sora-kun, why are we back here again?"
The two tacitly moved to a corner. Angel-sama lowered her voice, speaking with concern.
"Coming back proves one thing: we might have encountered a super terrifying side effect." Sora's expression was grave.
"Since there was a second rewind, there will definitely be a third, a fourth... even an infinite number of rewinds."
"Time might no longer be a river flowing eternally forward, but has instead become a Möbius strip, looping endlessly."
Mahiru bit her lower lip with her pearly white teeth, her eyes filled with worry:
"Sora-kun, do you mean that if we don't find a way to escape the loop, time will keep rewinding continuously?"
"Highly likely." Sora gave a slight nod, whispering, "I'm more concerned about another matter right now."
"What matter?"
Mahiru tilted her head in confusion.
"During the first time rewind, we encountered the pre-rewind Mahiru. Now, with the second rewind, will there be two pre-rewind Mahirus?" Sora lowered his voice.
"If time rewinds a hundred times, will there be a hundred Mahirus appearing simultaneously?"
"P-Please don't say such scary things..."
Mahiru's pretty face turned slightly pale, her bright eyes glaring affectionately in a panic.
If time kept rewinding continuously and a new version of herself appeared with each rewind, eventually the entire amusement park would burst, right?
Angel-sama was frightened by the little theater playing out in her mind. She hurriedly hugged her arms, driving the messy thoughts out of her head.
"Although the probability isn't high, no one can say for sure." Sora said softly, "To know what's really happening, we can only go to the restroom to check."
"Speaking of which, why would the other me be in the restroom?" Mahiru blinked her bright eyes, somewhat puzzled.
"Logically, she should also be waiting in line, right?"
"About that..." Sora pondered for two seconds. "It might be Schrödinger's Mahiru."
"Eh, what does that mean?"
"Because I am observing Mahiru." Sora pointed to his own eyes, speaking softly.
"Once Mahiru enters the restroom, my observation becomes invalid, and the pre-rewind Mahiru will appear."
"..."
Their eyes met.
Seeing her reflection in Sora's eyes, Mahiru's pretty face flushed slightly, her heartbeat involuntarily and quietly accelerating:
"I'm sorry, it's all my fault... causing trouble for Sora-kun."
"There's no need to apologize. Time rewind is an experience countless people dream of." Sora's voice was gentle.
"We should be considering how to end the time loop right now."
"Phew..."
Mahiru took a deep breath, quickly calming herself down:
"Sora-kun is right... The time rewind is because of me, so I can definitely end the loop."
Rewinding might seem interesting, but if they were trapped in this half-hour indefinitely—repeating it a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand times—it would be endless torture.
Therefore, finding a way to end the time loop as soon as possible was the real priority.
"Sora, Mahiru, what are you two whispering about?"
Anna couldn't help but lean in:
"It's almost our turn to get on the ride."
"G-Got it..."
Angel-sama hurriedly responded. Looking at the slowly docking roller coaster, a flash of inspiration suddenly crossed the girl's mind. She looked up at Sora:
"I watched a movie before about a time loop. It was about a man who wanted to go back and save his mother, but the more he did, the more mistakes he made... Could it be that because we didn't ride the roller coaster during the previous time rewind, it caused time to rewind again?"
"So this time, let's not change the future. Let's ride the roller coaster with Anna and Ruri, okay?"
"..."
"We can give it a try." Sora gave a slight nod, his gaze involuntarily drifting downward to Angel-sama's school uniform skirt.
"But if Mahiru rides the roller coaster, won't you again..."
"Ugh—"
Mahiru quickly covered her skirt with both hands. Her pretty face flushed crimson as she glared affectionately in embarrassment:
"Sora-kun, p-please, absolutely forget about that!"
I can't forget.
No matter how I try to spin it, I can't forget it, alright?
"I'm no longer the me from before." Mahiru's pretty face was flushed, her hands tightly covering her skirt hem.
"As long as I mentally prepare myself beforehand, it will definitely be fine!"
"..."
A moment later.
The four of them arrived at the roller coaster.
Just like before the time rewind, Mahiru and Ruri sat in the front row, while Sora and Anna sat in the back row.
Several minutes later.
The roller coaster ride ended. Anna was energetic as always, while Kuroneko remained pale-faced and teary-eyed, her legs turning to jelly as she got off.
Sora stepped off the roller coaster, looked at Angel-sama in the front row, and asked quietly:
"Mahiru, you can open your eyes now."
Angel-sama's long eyelashes fluttered gently. Her pretty face pale, she extended her right hand:
"Please help me up, Sora-kun..."
What happened to 'growth'?
As expected, your legs are still too weak to stand up!
Sora took a half-step forward, unbuckled Mahiru's seatbelt, and helped Angel-sama down. Seeing Angel-sama looking relieved rather than super embarrassed, he understood.
It seems that with mental preparation, Angel-sama didn't leak this time... A cause for celebration.
There's no need to say much about what followed. Ruri was teary-eyed and expressed her desire to go to the restroom to calm down. Naturally, Sora and the others accompanied her.
After taking care of their bathroom needs, Sora stepped out of the restroom again to wait.
"...Excuse me, could you help us take a picture?"
The two blonde gyarus respawned again.
But as soon as they spoke, Sora decisively interrupted their spellcasting:
"Sorry, I'm waiting for someone... They're out."
The two blonde gyarus subconsciously turned their heads and saw two identical girls walking out together. Aside from cute and gentle, one could find no other adjectives to describe them.
Under the illumination of the holy light, mortals simply lacked the courage to challenge angels. The two gyarus hurriedly excused themselves and slinked away.