"Onii-chan, wake up already! We're burning daylight!"

I scrunched up my face as the voice of my ever-lovable little sister passed through my ears. Ah, what a way to wake up. Dead early in the morning and having your eardrums almost ruptured by a family member. Honestly, what more could growing young adult ask for?

"I said it's morning already! Wake up!"

Again, my head felt like there was a hammer hitting its inside over and over as Komachi's voice boomed louder. With much difficulty, I eventually forced myself to sit up, albeit with my eyes still closed. But what a bad move that was as the pain in my head doubled and I had to fight my instincts in order to not plop myself right back down on the futon.

My eyes were barely open as I glanced to the sides and saw my little sister haughtily putting her hands on her hips.

"There ya go."

Komachi said something after but I yawned so much that I could barely hear her. Oh well, probably just the little scamp chastising me for waking up late or something. Wait, why would she even be mad at me for something like that?

Even in my drowsy state, a quick tap of my phone and I saw that it was just around 6 AM, which was waaaaay too early for someone to wake up on departure day.

"Oi, Onii-chan! Are you even listening to me?"

I half-heartedly turned to Komachi and let out a yawn, "Probably not. Why are you so loud anyways? It's not even 7 yet."

"Hmph! But that's exactly why I'm waking you up, Onii-chan," whined Komachi, "It's gonna be tough for us to travel at this rate."

"What do you-" I yawned loudly, which further annoyed my little sister, "Even mean by that? Our train's at, what, 11 am? Besides we all need to eat breakfast anyways."

I rubbed my eyes and rapidly blinked, trying to get rid of the last remaining feeling of sleep still slumbering in my head.

"Onii-chan, what are you talking about?"

Immediately turning to her, I raised an eyebrow, "Uhh, the…train that we're supposed to go home on. What else would I be talking about?"

"Duh, I know that but we're not going home today."

At this point, I was still unsure as to whether or not I was completely awake or my exhausted brain was playing tricks on me.

"…why not?"

"…Onii-chan," Komachi's voice deadpanned, "Why would we go home when this is the last day of the trip?"

…

…

…what the-

"I…probably heard that wrong."

"What."

"I…" At this point, any semblance of drowsiness was gone as I was debating on whether or not my sister was pranking me or she was genuinely deluded into thinking that we still had one day of the trip left, "Can you just say that again?"

"This is the last day of the trip."

Okay, my sister was seriously playing a prank.

"The last day of the trip as in…we are going home today."

"What? No," Komachi almost sounded offended as she replied, "The last day as in we're gonna have fun today then go home tomorrow."

"…but we're going home today, aren't we?"

"…did you hit your head or something, Onii-chan?" Komachi crossed her arms and stared down at me in confusion, "Or like, are you playing a prank on me?"

"No, I should be saying that to you."

"Hah?"

"This is a prank, isn't it?" I sighed, "Not a very well-executed one, just so you know."

"Onii-chan, I seriously don't know what you're talking about."

Another sigh escaped my lips as I scrambled to pick up my phone, "I'm just saying that you're trying to pull off a really inane prank that's not as well executed as you thought."

"…you're saying random things again."

"The fact of the matter is you're waking me up so early for a really bad reason or literally no reason at all; honestly, I prefer the latter," I continued dismantling her horrible excuse of an act, and as I picked up my phone, one tap was all it took to completely bring her prank down.

"And if it's for a prank, then you should really…"

|7th March|

|6:15 AM|

"…reconsider your execution…"

What.

7th March?

But that was yesterday…wasn't it?

The 7th of March was supposed to be the last day of our trip, and today, the 8th, would be us having breakfast then going back home. Was I…mistaken? Did we change our plan or something without me knowing? Or maybe I'd mistakenly set my phone's date? Wait, no, I saw that it was 7th March last night before sleeping but what if these guys decided to prank me by changing the time setting on my phone before I woke up?

Yeah…yeah, that should be it. Komachi probably knew my phone's password and decided to tinker with it or something like that.

But before I could continue thinking, a loud yawn interrupted my train of thought as Tobe woke up and loudly greeted the both of us.

"Gooood-," he interrupted himself with a yawn before continuing, "Morning, Hikitani-kun. You too, Komachi-chan."

"Mornin', Tobe-senpai. Seems like you're ready for a day of fun," Komachi said before glaring at me, "Unlike someone here."

But I couldn't really focus onto Komachi at all because I was still trying to contemplate how they pulled this prank off. They must have done something, right? Otherwise, the alternative explanation would be…

"Of course! Last day's always the most fun, yeah?" Tobe exclaimed, "Besides, we're gonna go to that famous shrine, y'know? And like, I am not gonna miss that."

"Eeeeeh? You got a wish, Tobe-senpai?"

"Of course, I do! And if Isshiki's right and all then…"

I couldn't hear what Tobe continued saying because the moment the word 'wish' and 'shrine' was uttered by him, I immediately became focused on those two words and what they meant.

Wish.

Shrine.

The wishing shrine that Isshiki told us about.

Yeah, she already told us about that.

Tobe said that we're going to visit it today but we…went to it already…yesterday. And I distinctly remembered him wishing to get together with Ebina, right? Yeah, he did blabber all about that to us on the way there. But even if this was a prank, there was no way that Tobe could keep up this act. So, the only reasonable explanation was that I wasn't being pranked.

But that would mean-

"Jeez, Onii-chan, you're impossible," Komachi suddenly chided me as she turned heel and began walking out the door, "I'll wake up the others so you make sure to hurry up and take a shower. We're not gonna wait for you, y'know!"

And with that, she was gone.

Tobe was muttering something about taking a shower as well but I wasn't listening.

Even as my body carried itself towards the showers, I was still trying to piece everything together.

Even as I got dressed up and the guys were talking loudly about whatever random topic happened to come up, my head was still in turmoil.

And even as I got out and saw my girlfriend and Yuigahama conversing with each other, my brain refused to accept the inevitably conclusion that it came to.

"Ah, well you're certainly up early, aren't you, Hikigaya-kun?"

Yukinoshita greeted me with a smirk while Yuigahama chuckled at the teasing remark.

But instead of focusing on them, all I could focus on was what they were holding. Both Yukinoshita and Yuigahama were holding a can of MAX Coffee.

The same coffee that Yuigahama gave to me yesterday. Or at least, she was supposed to?

But since I wasn't here on time, Yukinoshita was the one to receive it.

Which meant…

"Earth to Hikki? Hallo?" Yuigahama was suddenly up in my face, waving her hand at me while confusion was etched on her face, "Ya still there?"

"Y-Yeah…I was…still sleepy, I guess."

"That's no good, Hikigaya-kun," remarked Yukinoshita, "I know it's the last day of the trip and all but you can't be getting overly excited to the point that you can't sleep."

Even Yukinoshita was telling me that today would be the last day of the trip.

"Well, can you blame me?" I tried my best to not seem suspicious but I suspected that I was failing, since even Yuigahama was giving me a weird look.

Fortunately, both of them just chuckled and dropped the subject, preferring to converse with each other while waiting for everyone to finish getting ready.

Internally though, I was still wracking my head for an explanation even though there was one obvious one just yelling at me to accept it.

But I wouldn't.

Because that would be utterly ridiculous.

Even as Miura and the others finally came out and everyone was ready to depart to the shrine, I was still deep in thoughts over this entire ordeal.

I didn't want to accept the possible truth.

However, as we ascended up the stairs of the shrine and Tobe began talking, a creeping sense of familiarity washed over me. Yesterday, I distinctly remembered thinking about how it was stupid of Tobe to wish to get with Ebina because they were already seen as an item by others.

But right now, Tobe was going on and on about that very same wish. Using the same words. The same mannerisms.

Déjà vu – or at least, that was the reasoning I gave.

When we finally climbed up the stairs and past the gates of the so-called wishing shrine, another foreboding sensation creeped up my spine.

I immediately turned my head towards the already packed 'wishing' board on which visitors would hang their ema plates.

After finishing our shrine greetings, our group energetically got in line to buy their own ema plates, obviously still excited by the prospect of getting their wish granted.

Still? No…this should be the first time that they arrived here so I shouldn't even be using that word.

My head is already hurting and it's not even 8 am yet.

Yukinoshita fortunately noticed how troubled I was and squeezed my hand as we were naturally led into the queue with the others. She didn't say anything but gave me a small reassuring smile, and I couldn't help but give one in return.

But the closer we got to the front of the line, the stronger I felt this strange sense of déjà vu.

Was I really experiencing the same day again?

Was I actually living out the events of yesterday one more time?

Was I…in a time loop?

"Good morning, dear patron!"

I jolted, startling myself out of a stupor as I was now at the front of the line. Yukinoshita had already purchased her own plate and was now writing her wish on it – which was exactly what'd happened yesterday.

And just like yesterday, I was now face to face with a shrine maiden, who was still inexplicably wearing a half-fox mask while her actual face was plastered with an almost permanent customer-service smile.

"Good morning."

I greeted back reluctantly.

The shrine maiden didn't waste any time, immediately asking, "How can I help you, dear patron?"

"I…"

Gulping down a lump in my throat, I realized that I needed to test out my hypothesis in order to know whether or not I was actually going insane.

And if I remembered correctly, this particular shrine maiden was very fastidious about her deity's attitude towards the ema plate.

"I want to purchase an ema plate," I said before realizing that I should specify something else, "Am I correct in assuming that these plates are for writing my wishes on them?"

"Writing your wish, dear patron," the shrine maiden corrected me with a smile on her face, "But aside from that, you are correct. However, I regret to inform you that you can only purchase one wishing plate."

As expected.

She was still mistaking me for someone else. Just like yesterday.

"You must be mistaking me for someone else," I replied calmly, "I haven't bought anything from this shrine."

"You are mistaken, dear patron."

Another correction with another gleeful smile.

I narrowed my eyes a little, "I'm pretty sure this is my first time at this shrine."

"You are mistaken, dear patron," repeated the shrine maiden.

"You sure?"

"Of course! We would never forget any of our patron's face."

The response was just like yesterday, right down to telling me that I was mistaken in saying that I had never been to this shrine and that I'd never purchased anything from here.

"Is there anything that I can do to buy the ema plate?" I repeated my question from yesterday, albeit with a slight difference. Though with that said, I was already expecting a certain answer.

"I'm sure you already know the answer, dear patron," said the shrine maiden, "As I have already explained, unfortunately, there is nothing that we can do. Otherwise, it would be an affront to our deity."

I nodded stiffly before thanking her for her time and getting out of the line, hoping to collect my thoughts.

But first of all, that response by the shrine maiden was weird. It differed from what I'd expected since she was responding as if I'd already asked her my final question before already. But that was just me trying to pick apart at the semantics; after all, the meaning stayed the same.

That meaning basically indicated what I'd suspected all along.

I was indeed stuck in a time loop of sorts.

I didn't realize after a few long seconds that I'd forgotten to breathe.

But I was…taking this conclusion far better than I'd expected.

Somewhat anyways.

Yet I knew that if I didn't keep my mind busy, this revelation would hit me like a freight train and break me apart. So, definitely not going to relax any time soon. Otherwise, my mind would start to wander and give into panic. Which would be the last thing I'd want to do.

I didn't let any semblance of dread slip when I went on to meet with Yukinoshita and the others, however. They all just assumed that my deadpan expression was due to the shrine maiden not willing to sell me the wishing plates. That was good; I should keep it that way. Who knows how they would react if I just up and told them that I was reliving the events of yesterday.

After we left the shrine, the 'timeline' went as I'd expected.

All of us went to buy some snacks for the upcoming picnic.

Komachi led us on the same path into the forest.

We all sat in the exact same clearing.

Hell, even Tobe accidentally sat down on a cactus and got himself pricked, thereby having to spend the entirety of the picnic kneeling.

And the festival went about the same way as well. Painfully boring and uneventful. Just like last night, I held Yukinoshita's hands as we walked through the stalls and watched the fireworks.

Finally, as expected, we ended the day in the same way as well, with me in my futon staring at my phone and looking at the date and time before I would inevitably drift off to sleep.

The only difference with this day compared to yesterday was Yuigahama not sharing her sandwiches to me, but I chalked that up to me breaking with the usual course of events by not trying to engage with Yukinoshita alone.

|7th March|

|10:11 PM|

I honestly didn't know what to do.

What could I have even done?

Was I actually in a time loop or was yesterday just a dream? An extremely realistic and prophetic dream but a dream nonetheless? Somehow, I found myself believing more and more in the time loop reason. Even though scientifically, it wouldn't make sense. Why would it? Why would I suddenly get stuck in a time loop? During a trip of all places? Was Kyoto the center of a secret Large Hadron Collider or something?

Ugh, my head was hurting way too much at this rate. But even as the others had already drifted off to sleep, my mind was still racing. Thinking of if I was permanently stuck, of why I got stuck, and of ways I can escape.

But try as I might, even I couldn't keep myself energized enough. And before I even knew it, my eyelids drooped down and my world view turned black, as only one thought occupied my mind.

I need to wake up early.