Accompanied by a cheerful melody drifting into his ears, Sora felt the emptiness in his arms as the soft, delicate presence that was shyly retreating abruptly vanished. Regretfully, he opened his eyes.
A shimmering man-made lake greeted his sight.
Surrounding the lake were buildings interwoven with neon lights of various colors.
Not far away were strolling pedestrians, a band performing on the street...
Clearly, time had rewound to half an hour ago, not long after the two had entered the park.
"Hah... haah..."
Sweet and rapid breathing sounded beside his ear.
Sora turned his head and saw Angel-sama with her pink lips slightly parted, her gaze misty. Her pretty face was thoroughly flushed, and her body was swaying slightly. She clearly hadn't recovered from the kiss just now.
"Careful."
Sora reached out his right hand and grabbed Angel-sama's slender wrist.
Their eyes met.
Angel-sama's body trembled slightly. Panicked and shy, she quickly averted her gaze, faint steam seeming to rise from the top of her head.
To actually take the initiative to reach out on the bench just now... Shameful!
It's simply too shameful!
"Mahiru, which time rewind is this?"
Sora lowered his voice to change the subject.
Angel-sama kept her small head down, her voice shy:
"T-The first rewind..."
"It's my first time too." Sora said softly. "It seems our memories haven't deviated."
"Phew..."
Mahiru took a deep breath, trying hard to calm herself down:
"How is Sora-kun's forehead?"
Sora raised a hand to touch his forehead and felt no pain at all:
"It's completely recovered."
After the time rewind, the wound on his forehead naturally ceased to exist.
"That's good..."
Hearing this, Mahiru breathed a sigh of relief, finally setting her mind at ease.
Although kissing is very embarrassing, as long as Sora-kun is safe and sound, sacrificing my purity doesn't matter...
No matter what.
I absolutely do not want Sora-kun to be in danger.
Even if the chance of contracting rabies is only one in ten thousand, I must completely eradicate that one-in-ten-thousand probability.
"Time has returned to half an hour ago again, just like at the amusement park. It seems this is the limit of the rewind." Sora looked at Angel-sama and said softly, "It's a pity all that exercise earlier was for nothing... Should we continue running now, or rest for a bit?"
Mahiru's breathing had steadied, but she was still too shy to lift her head:
"Let's rest for a bit... We'll go to that grove first and see if the cat is still there."
If you're going to save someone, save them completely. There's naturally no reason to give up halfway.
"Okay, let's go."
"..."
The two quietly left the lakeside.
Previously, they had walked side by side, but now Sora walked in front, while Angel-sama shyly fell half a step behind, following in the rear.
Before long, the two arrived at the small grove where they had rescued the stray cat. Mahiru looked up into the tree and gently breathed a sigh of relief:
"I don't see that little orange cat. It probably hasn't gone up the tree yet."
Sora proposed: "In that case, we can chase the little kitten away before it goes up the tree."
"Sora-kun makes a lot of sense."
"Sit down and rest for a bit?"
"Okay..."
The two returned to the bench where they had just shared a kiss.
The evening breeze was cool.
The moonlight was gentle.
Time had rewound to half an hour ago, but for Sora and Angel-sama, the kiss had just happened. They could even still feel a faint tingling residue on their lips.
The air quietly fell silent.
Sora turned his head, his gaze involuntarily drawn to Angel-sama.
Sensing the boy's stare, Mahiru's heartbeat quietly accelerated. She shyly averted her gaze, the temperature of her face rising again, and stammered, searching for a topic:
"Um... Elf said she wants to go to school with us tomorrow morning."
"It's probably just a whim, a spur-of-the-moment thing." Sora complained.
"She might find it boring after a few days."
"I feel like Elf is very serious, Sora-kun shouldn't jump to conclusions."
"Yes, yes."
"I wonder which class Elf will be assigned to..."
"I already have a bad premonition."
"..."
After chatting for a while, Angel-sama gradually relaxed. From the corner of her eye, she suddenly caught a glimpse of something flashing past not far away. Turning to look, her eyes quickly lit up:
"Sora-kun, it's that little orange cat."
Sora followed the sound and immediately saw two orange cats, one large and one small.
Their previous guess wasn't wrong; the little orange cat stuck in the tree wasn't a pet, but a stray cat's kitten.
"Leave it to me."
Seeing the two cats heading towards the base of the tree, Sora simply stood up and approached them.
Stray cats are usually very alert. Seeing a stranger approaching, the big cat quickly led the little cat away like a wisp of smoke, completely eliminating the need for Sora to intentionally chase them away.
"There shouldn't be any problems now." Watching the big cat lead the little kitten far away, Mahiru let out a soft sigh of relief, her voice gentle.
"Sora-kun, shall we go for a run?"
"Running a lap around the lake and coming back, the timing should be just right." Sora nodded.
"But we have to break the time loop later, we can't forget."
"I-I know..."
Mahiru's pretty face flushed red again.
Activating time rewind required a kissing ritual, and ending time rewind also required a kiss.
So that meant, later they still had to...
Thinking about having to replay the scene later, Mahiru's heartbeat abruptly accelerated, her voice shy:
"Let's hurry up and go running."
The two left the small grove, arrived at the lakeside, and began their night run.
After running two laps around the lake, Sora's condition was still quite good, while Angel-sama was once again slightly panting and sweating on her forehead.
"A few minutes left, let's call it a day." Sora took out his phone, checked the time. "Should we go buy a drink?"
"I am indeed a bit thirsty." Mahiru raised a hand to wipe the fine sweat from her forehead.
"Let's go."
The two arrived at the vending machine. Sora bought two drinks, handed a bottle of Ramune to Mahiru, and then began to drink his own apple juice.
Right next to the vending machine was a public restroom. They had gone in before the time rewind, but now, to avoid the pre-rewind Mahiru from appearing, Sora and Mahiru had to endure their sticky, sweaty hands, planning to wash their hands and faces after ending the rewind.
"Sora-kun, don't drink too much." Angel-sama looked up, softly reminding him.
"We just finished running, taking a couple of small sips is enough."
"Whatever Mahiru-sama says goes."
Sora gave a slight nod, indicating he understood.
After strenuous exercise, drinking a large amount of iced beverages can easily cause cardiovascular rupture due to the sudden mix of cold and hot, potentially even becoming life-threatening.
After taking two small sips of his drink, Sora screwed the cap back on—safety first.
However, turning his head, he discovered the space beside him was completely empty.
"Hmm?"
Sora looked around, raising an eyebrow in confusion:
"Where did Mahiru go?"
It only took the time to take a sip of a drink, how did she disappear in the blink of an eye?
"Sora-kun..."
Angel-sama's sweet and pleasant voice reached his ears.
Sora followed the sound and quickly spotted Mahiru walking out of the restroom. A faint sense that something was wrong immediately welled up in his heart.
"Sora-kun, I finished washing my hands." Angel-sama walked over, tilted her pretty face up, her voice gentle.
"Let's run two more laps and then go back?"
Sora: "..."
A strong sense of déjà vu surged in his heart.
The scene in front of me seems to have happened somewhere before... No, it doesn't just seem like it, it's clearly the scene from before the rewind!
Sora was silent for two seconds. Looking at the normal and natural expression on Mahiru's face in front of him, he asked in a low voice:
"Mahiru, what loop number is this?"
"Eh?"
Mahiru blinked her bright eyes, tilting her head in confusion:
"What loop?"
As the words left her mouth, Angel-sama quickly realized:
"Sora-kun... are we currently in a state of time rewind?"
"...That's right."
There was no doubt.
The Mahiru in front of him was definitely the pre-rewind Mahiru.
The post-rewind Mahiru, for some unknown reason, had suddenly disappeared, escaping his 'observation', so the pre-rewind Mahiru appeared.
"W-Why don't I have any memory of it at all..."
Halfway through speaking, the pre-rewind Mahiru silently bit her lower lip.
Not having any memory of the rewind could only prove one thing.
"I am... the pre-rewind Mahiru?"
"Once the rewind ends... I will disappear..."
Upon realizing the truth, an indescribable sourness quietly surged in her heart.
The pre-rewind Mahiru took a deep breath, looked up at Sora, as if making some kind of resolution:
"Sora-kun... how much time is left until the loop ends?"