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

By the time Komachi finished uttering those words, I was already sitting up, rubbing any traces of sleep from my eyes before throwing my blanket off and immediately getting my clothes. No time to waste after all, and I was sure that even the usually clumsy Yuigahama knew this.

"Woah, Onii-chan, you're surprisingly energetic today," Komachi exclaimed in surprise.

Meanwhile, I merely shrugged and said some random excuses about beating the rush to the showers (Even though I was sure that I was the first one up from the guys' side) and just grabbed my clothes and rushed past Komachi, who was screaming at me for being rude.

But I didn't care too much.

Time was off the essence after all, considering that the loop was still going.

Assuming that today would be looped as well, which was a 99.99% guarantee considering we didn't try anything to break it, we would have about 18 hours to plan and execute whatever we'd come up with. Even if Yuigahama didn't have much information, two heads are always better than one after all. And with the information that I'd gathered from the shrine maiden, we should be able to do something.

Probably.

Hopefully.

"Woah, you're extra early today, huh?"

I ended up waiting 10 minutes for Yuigahama to arrive.

"Whaaaaat? You're never this early during the other times," pouted Yuigahama, "You're making me mix up my schedule."

I simply sighed at her tardiness, "It's fine, it's fine. We technically still have the entire day to do whatever we need to."

"Technically, we have, like, all the time in the world, y'know?" Yuigahama gave me a double finger-guns while winking.

"…"

"…cuz of the time loop?"

"…"

"Okay, bad joke. Sorry, but can you blame me? I've been stuck here for a while."

Another sigh, another massage to my temple.

But what Yuigahama said did raise a curious question in my head.

"Yuigahama, how many…days have you been stuck in the loop?"

"Uhh…give or take…maybe a week?"

A week?!

"I dunno. Maybe less? Nah nah, I'm pretty sure it's a week or something. Don't really have anything to like mark my days since everything kinda resets."

"A week, huh?" I gripped my chin, trying to think of what this meant, "That's strange because I felt like I've only experienced this for three days."

"Pretty sure it's a week. You just didn't notice."

"And you did?"

"Yeah? I mean like, okay," Yuigahama began explaining her side, "Y'know how I bought you coffee?"

"Yeah?"

It was the first loop. During the second one, I was late and Yukinoshita received my coffee instead.

"That wasn't how it originally went."

"What do you mean?"

"Like originally," she put up air quotes when saying that, "I didn't get anything for you. We just met out here and talked normally. It was maybe during the third day that I began buying coffee for you?"

"Why?"

"I dunno…just felt like being nice, y'know. I mean, since I'm stuck in a time loop anyways."

"Fair point. So that means that this time loop has been going on for way longer than I'd thought."

"Yeeeep."

"And it could possibly mean that it might've been going on for a while before you noticed too, no?"

"Huh…" Yuigahama looked dumbfounded before nodding, "…yeah, I guess that's true."

But despite knowing one nature of this time loop, it didn't answer anything that we want yet.

"Still, this doesn't help much," I voiced out my concern before moving to another topic of interest, "Yuigahama, do you think this has something to do with the shrine?"

"Oh definitely!" exclaimed Yuigahama, "I've been trying to like find stuff about that shrine on the internet and stuff, but I got nothing. Literally zero stuff about it online."

"That's concerning."

"Right? And like, I'm taking a wild guess here but I'm thinking that it gotta have something to do with the whole wishing thing that this shrine is famous for. Because there's no way that it doesn't, right? Don'tcha think so, Hikki?"

A wild jump in logic on her parts but nonetheless, it made sense. All because of one certain attendant at that shrine.

"Probably. You could be on to something," I concurred with Yuigahama before asking, "Have you talked to the shrine maiden there?"

"Uhh…which one? Like there's so many working there."

"The one selling the wishing plates," I replied before specifying, "The attendant wearing a fox mask?"

Immediately, Yuigahama's face paled, "Oh that one…"

"Something wrong?"

Making a show of hugging herself and shivering, Yuigahama scowled, "She's creepy. Like the vibes around her is totally off and I only needed to talk to her once to stay away."

"When did you talk to her then?"

"The first day. Or like, the first time I noticed I was in the time loop."

"What did you talk about?"

"Oh, I asked to buy the wishing plates thing, yeah?" I nodded at her statement, beckoning her to continue, "Yeah, those things. And I got refused."

Same situation as mine.

"What did she tell you?"

"That I bought it already."

Same reasoning for me too.

"And she kept on insisting that it's the shrine policy to only sell one wishing plate to a customer cuz it's the god's law or something?" explained Yuigahama, "But by that point, I was too weirded out to even argue with her so I just bailed."

"Is that why I didn't see you in line during the other days?"

"Yeeeep, couldn't pay me to talk to that weird shrine lady again."

"And what were you doing while we were getting those wishing plates then?"

"I was at the board where people hung up their wishes," replied Yuigahama, "I thought I could like find some clues about what to do but again, I didn't know exactly know what to find..."

I took in what Yuigahama said slowly. Even though she wasn't as logical and thorough in her investigations about this (I wasn't either), she still had good hunches and ideas about where to look. Not to mention, her interactions with the masked shrine maiden basically confirmed one theory that I had.

"Nah, I think what you did was plenty useful."

"Really?!"

No need to get that excited, y'know…

"Yes, yes, it is," I said before calming her down, "But let's try to summarize what we have so far and what our conclusions are, yeah?"

"Yep, yep. Let's do it!"

At least, one of us was being excitable. Well, that was good. I definitely needed someone to distract me from this Kafkaesque prison.

I held up a finger, "First thing first, we're definitely stuck in a time loop, yeah?"

"Yep!"

Nodding, I held up another finger, "There's a high chance that everything has to do with the shrine that we went to. Specifically, to its whole guaranteed wish thing."

Yuigahama nodded vigorously.

"And finally, from what you told me earlier and from what I asked from the shrine maiden, there's a-"

"Wait, you talked to the creepy shrine maiden?!"

"…yeah?"

"Why?!"

I held back the urge to rub my face in exasperation, "I needed information. So, who else am I supposed to talk to?"

"She's creepy and weird and totally not right in the head or something."

"Doesn't mean she's not a good source of information. I can't just ignore someone that's basically in charge of the shrine, y'know."

"I mean…yeah, I guess…" Yuigahama looked worried, as if talking with that masked shrine maiden would put a curse on me or something. She was always irrational like that. But I didn't hold it against her; after all, even I felt my skin crawling when that person spoke.

"Anyways, before I was interrupted," Yuigahama coughed a little in embarrassment as I continued, "From what we both know, that shrine maiden is definitely involved and there's a high chance that this whole time-loop thing started way before any of us noticed."

"Because I was in the loop before you?"

"Exactly and you know how that shrine maiden told you that you already bought a wishing plate?" I asked, prompting a nod from Yuigahama, "She told the same thing to me. The exact same thing."

"Really?"

"Yeah, which leads me to believe that she also has the memories of the previous loops," I put another finger up as my time-loop partner listened attentively, "And that during one of those previous time loops…"

Yuigahama was hanging on to my every word as I revealed what had been in my mind ever since she told me about her interactions.

"We actually did buy the wishing plates."

…

…

…

"…hah?"

I once again resisted the urge to slap my forehead.

"Oh, come on, you can't just tell me that and expect me to just get you instantly, y'know!"

A heavy sigh escaped my lips as I stared in exasperation at my time-loop companion. Why couldn't it be Yukinoshita?

"Basically, that shrine maiden wasn't lying. And both of us did buy the wishing plates, which is why she said that she can't sell it to us anymore."

"Okay…I think I'm…slowly getting it."

Or not at all.

"And that happened during one of our previous visits," I explained my hunch future, "Most likely, the very first time we've entered the shrine."

"Oh! And that was the actual start of the time loop thing then?"

I nodded. At least now, she was actively understanding, "Exactly."

"And we don't remember the other times before cuz like we got our memories reset, I guess."

"That's the most likely case," But our memories being reset didn't matter that much, considering we now remember the events of the past loops, "But anyways, I'm thinking that it's those wishing plates that caused this time loop…probably."

"Probably."

"But I wouldn't put too much stock into it yet," I sighed, annoyed at our little roadblock, "So today, let's go ask the shrine maiden."

Yuigahama's face paled and I relented, "Fine, I'll go ask. Which leaves you with…"

It was hard to find something for Yuigahama to investigate, considering she now has a phobia for fox-masked shrine maidens. But before I could, the ever-energetic girl in front of me raised her hand again and exclaimed.

"The wishing board! I can go investigate it again," Seeing my distrusting look, she made sure to add, "I only didn't know what to search for before cuz I didn't know about this stuff but now I do!"

"Which is?"

"Our wishing plates!" Yuigahama said as if it was the most natural explanation in the world, "Like think about it. If we did buy those plates and wrote our wishes on them then they should still be hung up, y'know? And maybe they can give us some clues about what to do next."

"And if they're not?"

"Then we – I mean you can ask the shrine maiden about it," Yuigahama caught herself as she relegated the task of conversing with that off-putting attendant to me, "Cuz like if we bought it and wrote our wishes, then where are those wishing plates then? We can totally corner her like that!"

A very solid plan from Yuigahama actually. I was rather surprised by how she just constructed one like that from her limited understanding of this whole thing. I gripped my chin and thought deeply about any loophole that was in this plan but other than some obscure ones that I couldn't think of yet, this was our best course of action for now.

"And we can use the reasoning that she's going against the will of her god by not letting us hang our wishes," I added to Yuigahama's plan, "That's actually a good plan."

"Ehe~"

"Don't look too smug," I deadpanned, "We're still stuck in this time loop, y'know."

"Oh, come on! Let me be proud of myself for once," pouted Yuigahama as she hit me playfully on my arms. I would've liked to iron out the details of what we should do in case our plan didn't go smoothly but by that point, our little group had begun to pour out of the inn's doors and began conversing with me and Yuigahama, effectively starting our day's schedule again.

Same old banters, same old path, but even as I repeated the events of the previous days, I still enjoyed holding hands with Yukinoshita. That was the only reprieve that I had in this accursed place.

Before long, we reached the stairways to the shrine that we visited so many times before.

However, just before we climbed up the stairs to the shrine, Yuigahama and I gave a knowing look to each other. Like clockwork, once we were on the shrine grounds, Yukinoshita and I entered the queue to buy the wishing plates last while Yuigahama was already off to the location of the wishing board, scouring for any sort of clues.

And just like before, after a few long minutes, I was face to face with the enigmatic masked shrine maiden again after Yukinoshita finished her purchase.

"Good morning."

"Good morning, dear patron!" She didn't remark on me taking the initiative today and her mask made it hard to read her face, "How can I help you today?"

"I would like to ask a couple of questions. Is it okay to do so?"

"Why yes, certainly, dear patron," smiled the attendant, "I am assuming that you won't be needing our brochure? It does contain the most frequently asked questions, dear patron."

"You're assuming correctly. My questions aren't frequently asked here."

"I see. Well, if this shrine maiden can be of any assistance to you, then by all means, ask away, dear patron."

I swallowed an invisible lump forming in my throat from the sheer presence of this shrine maiden before beginning my questioning.

"Am I correct in saying that you won't sell me any of the wishing plates?"

"Yes, you are, dear patron."

"Because I already bought them."

"Correct."

"And you are 100% certain that I've bought them, and haven't mistaken me with someone else."

"Indeed."

"…"

I had a feeling that she knew where I was leading up with this series of questions.

"I haven't bought them during this visit yet, right?"

"Correct."

"But I have bought them on the 7th of March."

She paused for a moment, yet her smile stayed permanently stuck on her face. It was as if the inner machinations of her mind were whirring and working, trying her best to give out a response that would cause me the most confusion and yet –

"You are correct, dear patron."

She relented. A small sign of victory.

"Yet today is the 7th of March, is it not?"

"Indeed, it is, dear patron."

But I knew that if I didn't hurry up, the timeline would be moving forward and I'd be dragged away with the group.

"I'll just cut straight to the chase," I didn't know why my heart was suddenly palpitating or my breaths were getting quicker and quicker but I managed to calm myself down enough to ask, "Am I currently in a time loop?"

"…"

"…"

I waited with bated breaths as the woman in front of me held her pose of having her hands clasped right in front of her, as if she was a statue. Then finally, her smile dimmed down a little yet I could still tell that she was trying to keep up with jolly façade.

"That is a rather crude way of putting it, dear patron. Perhaps, a more apt word would be something along the lines of a Samsara," said the shrine maiden, taking a pause before continuing with the confirmation that I was waiting for.

"But yes, yes you are in a time loop, dear patron."

Okay.

Confirmed.

100% confirmed that I was in a time loop.

Something that I was already thinking about way before she told me.

And yet…

Why the hell was I beginning to hyperventilate?

It was fortunate that there was literally no one behind me and that the others were still discussing and making jokes at the wishing board. It gave me more time to calm myself down and more importantly, more time to confront this mystery in front of me.

"…how do I get out of this time loop?" I finally asked after a few excruciatingly long seconds.

The shrine maiden tilted her head slightly, "Oh my, I'm afraid I cannot answer that, dear patron. Doing so with go against the will of our deity."

Narrowing my eyes at that pathetic excuse, I pressed on with another question, "Then why are me and my friend stuck in this time loop?"

"…"

"Or does telling me that go against the will of your god too?"

"On the contrary, dear patron, I have no qualms about telling you that," Her fake smile got wider, "You see, it is a rather simple reasoning and one that I have told you before."

"And that reason being?"

"This shrine has been built to grant the wishes of the masses," explained the attendant, "The circumstances surrounding you and your friend are merely your wishes being in the process of being fulfilled."

So, wishes did have something to do with what happened to us. Or rather, more specifically, the reason why Yuigahama and I got stuck would be our wishes. But then...what was my wish? This must've been the result of not being able to remember the previous loops. But since I got this shrine maiden in front of me, I naturally proceeded to my next question:

"Then what were our wishes?"

"…"

Silence was my answer as the shrine maiden paused again, seemingly content with letting my question go unanswered. But I wouldn't budge either. I came this far and got this close to the answer already so what kind of a man would I be if I gave up then and there?

"Can you tell me that or not?" I pressured her in a rather bitter tone, "If you can't, then at least tell me what my wish was."

"…"

"Well?"

"I regret to inform you, dear patron, but I am unable to provide you that information."

Frustration was filling my head as I held myself back from raising my voice, "And why is that? Does it go against your god or something?"

"Well, it is simply because I can't remember what your wish was."

"…what?"

"You see, dear patron, our shrine receives hundreds of visitors daily and therefore, hundreds of wishes being made to our deity," explained the shrine maiden, that permanently smug smile always stuck on her face as she gave the slightest hint of an exasperated shrug, "As much as I aim to be the envoy of our deity, I am only human after all."

"…"

"As such, I am ashamed to inform you that I have simply forgotten about your wish, dear patron," she finished off her explanations, "But rest assured, your wish has been delivered and is being carried out dutifully by our deity."

"Can you stop messing with me…?"

My teeth gritted against each other as I could feel my fist tightening up till my knuckles were white. I came so close to figuring this out but this shrine maiden was just playing games with me. It was all just a game to her, wasn't it? I wish she was lying about forgetting my wish, but I knew deep down that she wasn't. In fact, the best-case scenario would be her actually being dishonest. But I was simply deluding myself about that.

"Oh, I can assure you, dear patron. I am answering to the utmost of my capabilities."

This 'envoy' of the god was incapable of lying.

She wasn't lying.

She was just omitting truths until I force it out of her through my questions.

So, I got to question her. Over and over till I get what I want.

Till I understand how to break out of this cursed loop. Till I get to the bottom of this accursed wish-granting shrine. No matter how long it'd take me, I would-!

"Hikigaya-kun?"

A soft voice to my left knocked me out of my reverie, and as I turned to it, all tension in my body disappeared as my eyes landed on those of my girlfriend's, Yukinoshita Yukino. Worries were etched onto her face as she softly grasped my hand.

"Is something wrong? Everyone is done hanging up their wishes already," said Yukinoshita with a solemn look as her eyes darted to and fro, inspecting me for anything that was out of place.

"No, it's…"

"Your friend and I were simply having an enriching discussion about the history and purpose of this shrine, dear patron," the masked shrine maiden piped up enthusiastically, "It was a really fruitful dialogue, wouldn't you agree?"

I glanced at that perpetually smiling masked face but even through the plastic cover, I could feel the smirk and mocking eyes. She was doing it again. She wasn't lying. Merely omitting truths.

"Yeah," I nodded, "I was just caught up in some discussions. Is everyone gonna move onto the picnic now?"

Yukinoshita nodded, relief washing over her face as I seemingly returned to normal, "Yes, yes they are. We should go too, unless you want to play catch-up with them."

"I rather not…" I scoffed and gestured for Yukinoshita to lead the way. Before we completely left the booth's area, a voice rang out behind me.

"Thank you for your patronage! Please visit again, dear patron."

I didn't return her enthusiasm, merely gripping Yukinoshita's hand as we walked away, knowing that I will see this shrine maiden again, and with only one conclusion on my mind: This shrine maiden was incapable of lying.

Just like the previous loop, our path through the forest was no troubles and before long, our picnic area was set up. This time, I wasn't as generous so unfortunately, Tobe had to spend the entire picnic sitting on both his knees.

The only difference this time, however, was me and Yuigahama actively finding each other.

"Here, your katsu sandwich."

"Ah, thanks," I heaved a sigh as I received the sandwich that was different from the ones Yuigahama had shared with me in the previous loops.

"You sound tired."

"You have-" I took a bite, "No idea. This tastes good by the way."

"Hehe, I know, right? Picked it out myself," Yuigahama puffed her chest before simmering down and beginning our little debriefing session, "Soooo…what's our plan now?"

I thought back to my talks with the shrine maiden but decided to withhold that information for now. That much information needed a lot more time for me to digest without getting emotional.

"Let's tell each other what we found first," I proposed, to which Yuigahama nodded eagerly, "Well, you go first."

"Oh! Well…" Scratching her cheek nervously, Yuigahama chuckled as she explained, "So y'know how I was like supposed to look for our wishes at the wishing board thingy?"

I nodded.

"Yeah…couldn't find them."

"Not unexpected."

"Hey! It'd be very rude to dig through other people's wishes, y'know," pouted Yuigahama, "Besides, I really did pay attention and went through what I saw several times. And trust me, I didn't see anything that resembled my writing."

"I see," I gripped my chin, deep in thought before realizing that Yuigahama was staring at me, expecting me to divulge some information of my own, "Mine was a lot more…fruitful, but also annoying."

"What happened?"

"Let's go through one by one then," I finished my sandwich and began explaining my findings, "First, I've pretty much confirmed that the shrine maiden has memories of the previous loops."

"For real?!"

"Yeah, and our theories of the wishes being the cause of all this is confirmed as well."

"No way…so how does it cause us to get stuck?"

"That's the second point," I added another finger, "Apparently, our wishes are the very things that caused us to get stuck in this loop."

"…wait, what?"

If only she knew that was my reaction as well.

"Exactly what I said. We did buy those wishing plates on our first visit and we did make our wishes," I explained, going through the 'timeline' one by one, "And it's those wishes that we hung up that caused this whole time-loop in the first place."

"Damn…"

"Finally, from what the shrine maiden said," I reminded myself that that woman could not tell a lie as I began to finish of my explanation, "Our wishes are in the 'process' of being fulfilled."

"…so, it's not granted yet?"

"Exactly. Which leads me to believe that this entire stupid time loop," Bitterness seeped into my voice as I voiced out my conclusion, "Is their idiotic god's solution to our wishes."

Yuigahama's eyes widened as she took in my words, before offering up some of her own.

"So, what you're saying is that…this shrine's god is granting our wishes by making us live through the same day over and over again?"

That's what I just said, yes.

"Yeah, pretty much. Again, a pretty stupid way of granting our wishes but it's the one that's been forced on us," A small sigh escaped my lips as I rubbed my head to try and gather some coherent thoughts through my frustration, "Which leads me to believe that if we somehow fulfill our wishes by ourselves, then this whole time loop thing would be over and done with."

"Really?"

"Just a hunch, but I don't see what else we can do."

"But what were our wishes then?"

"Dunno. I asked the shrine maiden and she refused to tell me," I answered, that conversation causing me to narrow my eyes in annoyance, "She could be lying but apparently, she doesn't remember our wishes."

"Oh…"

"Unfortunately."

Silence soon fell between us as neither of us knew what to say in order to lift the mood. Even the usually happy-go-lucky Yuigahama was deep in contemplation, possibly trying to remember her wish. Couldn't blame her since I was doing the same thing. Well, that and panicking about the consequences of not being able to recall my own wish.

Think, Hachiman. Think.

Reasonably, I asked myself what kind of wish would need a time loop to be fulfilled. Even if it was in a completely indirect manner. After a few minutes, the only answer that I could come up with was a wish asking for more time.

Would that be something that I would wish for? More time? Even if right now, I wouldn't wish for it, it was the only possible wish that would need a time loop. In this idiotic cycle, time wouldn't be a worry anymore.

So then, why would I wish for it?

A simple reason would be that I wanted to spend more time with my girlfriend.

As such, by wishing for more time, the indirect results would be me being able to spend more time on the trip with Yukinoshita.

Yeah…that made sense. Especially, since it happened in the first iteration of the trip, the me back then probably felt like these three days weren't enough time for me to do couple things with Yukinoshita. And as such, the past me simply wished for more time. For the trip to prolong, even just slightly.

Well, I certainly got what I bargained for then if that was my wish.

Curse you, past me.

But what about Yuigahama?

A conclusion that I came to but didn't tell Yuigahama was why only she and I got stuck in this time loop without the others being roped in. Simply put, if I was a god and I saw the opportunity to grant two wishes in one go, I would immediately take it. As such, it would stand to reason that both my wish and Yuigahama's were similar enough in nature or can be granted in one fell swoop by the time loop.

But what exactly was it?

I originally thought that Yuigahama had also wished for more time as well, but if that was the case, wouldn't both our wishes be granted already and therefore, this loop would be over? Since we were still stuck in it then I can reasonably assume that her desire wasn't for more time.

…then what did she wish for?

No matter how hard I wrack my brain, I couldn't think up of anything.

No matter how much I tried to think, my mind just couldn't conjure up any ideas.

It was annoying. Frustrating. Maddening. Especially since I got this far yet the final piece of the puzzle seemed just one step ahead of me at all times. Just mocking me. Teasing me by being so close yet so far away.

"There, there, Hikki. You did your best."

A soft hand grazed the top of my head and patted it gently.

"W-What are you doing?" I couldn't help but stammered as Yuigahama was basically rubbing my hair like she would do to Sable, especially with all that 'I did my best' line.

Shit, was I blushing?

"What? I'm just telling ya that you did your best," replied Yuigahama, my warm flustered face not deterring her actions one bit as she continued to pat my head.

The others didn't notice so that was good. Yukinoshita, especially, hadn't noticed that Yuigahama was babying me so again, that was even better.

"You don't need to do this, y'know…"

Especially ruffling my head like I'm your pet.

All my grumbling did was cause Yuigahama to chuckle as she was now fixing my hair after all those headpats.

"Yeah, true. But I wanna."

"Why?"

"Cuz you did your best."

"That doesn't warrant what you just did."

"It totally does!" Yuigahama pouted, putting a slight amount of pressure on my head, "Besides, everyone here doesn't know what you're going through, so hey, at least you have one person that knows, right?"

"I suppose."

"I mean…you talked to that creepy, weird, uber scary shrine maiden again, yeah? That deserves some praises. Actually, a whoooole ton of praises."

"Are you just going to add more negative descriptors to her every time you bring her up?" I asked, only for Yuigahama to nod furiously in response, "What did she even do to you?"

"She's creepy."

"You're just judging her by her looks."

"Hikki, who the hell wears a mask like that? And the way she talks? She's totally a ghost!"

"As if."

"Totally is!"

I involuntarily chuckled at the absurdity of this discussion, as if we didn't have a time loop mystery to solve. Well, technically, we did have all the time in the world to solve the mystery of what exactly Yuigahama's wish was, but I rather not spend a single more second in this time loop if I could.

"Hikki."

"Yeah?"

"We'll get through this together, okay?"

"Hah?" I scoffed and chuckled lightly at Yuigahama's sudden comment, "Where did this come from?"

But when I looked at her softened yet serious expression, I stopped treating her statement like a joke.

"I'm serious, y'know. We'll really get through this together."

I saw her hand twitch, as if trying to move forward in my direction, but she pulled away at the last second, placing it between her crossed legs instead as she leaned forward with a smile.

"Like, I know that I'm not the best person to be stuck with in a time loop," Yuigahama just up and said what was on my mind, "I'm not as smart as Yukinon…or as reliable…or anything comparable to her really…"

She was disparaging herself so much that I was beginning to feel bad even though she was the one doing it.

"You don't have to be that harsh on yourself."

"Haha! It's fine, it's fine," chuckled Yuigahama as she waved away my concerns, "I just know how I am, y'know? But like you too, okay? Don't put too much pressure on yourself, Hikki. Lemme share some of your burdens too. Even if it's just a little."

Giving a small nod, I replied, "Yeah, sure."

"I'm serious!" pouted Yuigahama, "We're time-loop buddies now so we gotta stick together."

"Can you think of another name besides time-loop buddies?"

"Nope! We're stuck with that just like you're stuck with me," She gave an obnoxious grin, "So we might as well make the best of this entire situation, y'know? Have some fun with everyone while we figure this thing out."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right."

"And like technically…we do have all the time in the world."

Another double finger-guns.

I grimaced.

Yuigahama chuckled at her own horrible joke.

"Please don't make any more time-loop related jokes."

"Oh, come on! I was just trying to lighten up the mood. Besides, if we don't have all the time in the world, that just means the loop is broken!"

Just like the previous time, she hit me playfully on my arm while pouting. Even I couldn't help but smile due to her jolly energy. Honestly, I was rather thankful that Yuigahama was here with me. Sure, like she said, I would've probably preferred it if it was Yukinoshita with me instead but other than my girlfriend, Yuigahama was the next best choice.

Hell, I needed someone like her to keep my spirits up. Not that I would ever tell her that though.

The rest of the day went as I'd expected. We returned from our picnic, ate lunch, rest a little, traveled around the city for a while, then finally went to the local festival.

Just like all the other times, I made sure to tightly hold my girlfriend's hand. Or well, a little tighter than last time. Yukinoshita was a bit surprised by this, but I think one look at my blushing face was all it took for her to squeeze back my hand with the same gusto. It was…a very warm evening.

We spent our time at the festival doing the same thing as the previous loops. The same games. The same talks. The same snacks. It felt weird that even though we were repeating what we were doing beat for beat, it felt…a little bit fun. Huh, maybe Yuigahama was right after all about making the best out of our situation. Speaking of whom, at one point, she even noticed me smiling a little and gave me a huge thumbs up with a grin.

That girl can really be a beacon of positivity at times.

We ended our day by returning to our inn and before we departed to our own room, Yuigahama and I briefly discussed about what we'll be doing during the next loop. I'll be talking to the masked shrine maiden, as usual, while Yuigahama would be going around, either asking our friends or the other not-ghostly shrine maidens (Her words) for clues as to what our wishes were.

With a somewhat established plan in mind, I was able to go to sleep rather peacefully that night. The only thought that occupied my head was trying to decipher what kind of a wish someone like Yuigahama would make.