They were sitting side by side on the rooftop, with their bodies simply baking in the warmth of the rising sun, generally bathing in a golden glow.

The far-off hum of school day had already begun, but in Karina and Winter's company, time seemed suspended if the world wasn't waiting for them to catch up. Winter shared her burden and finally broke the silence while keeping a thoughtful yet serious tone:

"I've been thinking about this, and... really think that Mai is the point of everything," Winter began, her eyes fixated on the sky before slowly toward Karina.

"I think the first time the loop was changed was when that blackout in the storage room, right? And it was when you found Mai's student profile. Then there's Ningning's weird behavior, how Mai suddenly disappeared, pulled herself out of swimming competition, and then the school replaced her without saying a word..."

Karina nodded slowly, taking everything Winter said in.

"Yeah, it makes sense, I guess. We did see Mai that day before she ever did disappear during the summer festival. Perhaps whatever had happened to her that day is why we're in this loop," Karina whispered softly, but her voice was full of exactly the same deep concern.

Winter's eyes never strayed from Karina's face; her heart was tightening and she hesitated before finally asking the one question that had nipped at her: "You think maybe she...?"

She swallowed hard, dreading to utter the words aloud, dreading to breathe life into the worst possibility.

Karina breathed slowly, her eyes roving to the horizon, crossing over features with a shadow of fear.

"Perhaps," she almost whispered, as if speaking in a vacuum. The weight of possibility weighed heavily between them, poking at their deepest and darkest fears.

"What now?" Winter asked softly, her voice interlacing love with a tinge of curiosity as she squeezed Karina's hand.

"Mr. Lee may have something to expect from us about what happened yesterday. We can't ignore that."

Karina's heart trotted at the word yesterday, and a fear she'd almost been desperately trying to keep crushed up inside of her began to stir again. Thoughts started to blur out of focus, panic begun to set in, but Winter caught right away that something was off.

She fluidly reached for Karina's hand, drawing her thumb softly across Karina's skin, focusing her.

"It's okay," Winter whispered softly, her voice heavy with reassurance. She could see the battle in Karina's eyes, the tension in her posture.

Winter's own heart ached at seeing her like this-so breakable and full of worry. More than anything, she wanted to solve this, bring an end to the loop, and protect Karina from the uncertainty that had plagued them for so long.

Karina nodded, struggling to get her breath, grateful that Winter was sitting next to her. She felt the resolve in Winter pumping through her contact, making her strong enough to push herself on.

And at that moment, Winter promised it to herself in silence. She did not care what it would take or how difficult it was going to be, but she was going to break that cycle.

The aftermath with her dad looming ahead, the breaking in freedom, everything seemed utterly insignificant to Karina being safe and happy. Winter could not bear the idea of holding Karina through that anymore.

"Whatever happens," Winter said softly, her eyes watching Karina as if full of determination.

"We'll find a way."

Karina smiled softly. Winter's unyielding resolve reassured her. They were in this together, no matter how uncertain the road ahead.

Karina and Winter exchanged a furtive look as lunchtime drew near. They had to speak to Ningning.

The warning bell had only just rung, and they tore downstairs just in time, elbowing their way past the crowds of pupils racing down the corridors. It was a bit grim, but they were going into the garden.

Well, it was their place, really. Karina glanced around, humming with the excitement of it all, as Winter stood beside her, her eyes shining hard and immitigable.

It wasn't long after that they saw Ningning pacing back and forth. Her face was red as if she wanted to just explode, with her fists clenched tightly at her side.

Karina and Winter exchanged one more look; both of them realized that things were very wrong. Just as they were approaching the building, they watched Ningning go storming off in the direction of the abandoned building at the edge of the campus.

Without a word, they followed her, scuffling to be quicker than one another as to get ahead of their sister; their feet almost silent as they trailed behind. They came to a dead halt when they approached the building, their eyes having widened at what lay before them.

Ningning had pushed another student against the wall, her hands clutching the student's collar so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

They can't see the other student as Ningning seethed, her chest moving in sharp, angry gasps.

Breathless, Karina was the one to break the tensed silence.

"Ningning!" she called out, sharp yet concerned.

Ningning's body stiffened, and pushed the other student inside the room. Her face turned all the redder this time, with shock. Her eyes widened and for a moment looked, scared.

"P-President." she whispered in a barely audible voice that was shaking a little. She remained frozen, with the wild emotions inside clashing against the sudden realization that Karina is here.

It was then that Winter, silently standing by Karina, caught Ningning's eye.

Confused, Ningning mouthed,
"Winter?", as if unbelievable that people would be around.

The air between them was tight with tension. And these were stiffly opposed to the spirited playfulness that usually unfolds with a reassuring smile from Ningning.

Karina's eyes darted from Ningning to the room and then back to Ningning.

"What is it?" she whispered, the softness in her voice firm as she strained to rebuild what could have propelled Ningning to this point.