Aion exited Alexander's place and found Luna waiting for him just like the first loop.
"You were waiting for me?" Aion asked.
"Is it wrong to do so?" Luna asked back.
"I guess not. I just didn't expect it."
"Who do you take me for?"
"No clue. I don't really know anything about you."
"...I suppose so…"
"So what were you called over for?"
"Ah, well…it wasn't anything that interesting. I wouldn't want to bore you with the details."
"It's fine, I don't have anything to do…" Aion trailed off as he said that.
A realization of a crucial mistake he made came to him.
He forgot to grab a book…
"Is something the matter? It looked like you just learned something terrible."
"I'm fine. I am most certainly fine…" Aion said, calming his expression.
"If you say so…"
"So what did you get called over for?"
"Ah, well…" Luna hesitated to continue.
"Was it something bad?"
"..."
Luna's silence practically answered Aion's query.
"Well, I guess I shouldn't pry too much."
"Hm…" Luna made a small noise and didn't say anything more.
Therefore, Aion and Luna walked in silence toward the place Aion would be staying during this week. At this point, the sun was setting, making Aion feel dizzy from the intense déjà vu. Soon, the two found themselves in front of the building he'd be staying in. It was the same one he stayed in for the first loop.
"This is it, huh?" Luna asked vaguely; her expression had a melancholic look to it.
"You seem down. Is something wrong?" Aion asked.
Luna's face didn't turn toward him; instead, only her eyes shifted to look at him.
"Nothing, this is just how I always am."
"..."
"Were you expecting something else from me?"
"No, nothing of the sort."
Luna nodded. She went quiet once more, shifting her eyes back toward the shack.
"Hey, Aion," Luna started up again.
"Yeah?"
"You seem like a really caring person."
Aion's mouth fell open, and a bitter taste spread across his mouth as he smiled and said, "Really? Thanks."
"Yeah, a really, really caring person."
"You didn't have to repeat it."
Luna then turned toward Aion, giving him a full view of her.
"I just wanted to say it. Is that wrong?"
Words seemed to fail him, so Aion only shook his head.
Luna smiled; it was a bright smile, one like he'd seen so often in the first loop.
"Yep, you're definitely a person I want to be friends with~"
And then, without waiting for Aion's response, she turned and headed off.
And Aion was left a little dumbfounded.
* * *
Aion was sitting at the table, waiting for Aira's appearance. He vaguely recalled that she mentioned showing up the night before, and he'd missed her.
This time, he wanted to see her.
In a way, Aira was still dead in his head. But seeing her should clear that. At least, he thought as much.
In the meantime, he could consider the differences that had already unfolded.
The first and most obvious was Luna. Perhaps it was because Aion himself had behaved differently, but Luna wasn't acting the same way she did in the first loop. He supposed they didn't banter at all, or even talk nearly as much. So ultimately, the friendship thing she posed at the end wouldn't have become a topic that had driven their conversations in the beginning.
Aion felt a little down at the difference. But what Luna said at the end—wouldn't that mean things would be returning to normal? Or at least normal for Aion? It was probably selfish to wish for it, but Aion didn't want her to behave the way she did now.
Aside from Luna, even Aria acted differently. Of course, thinking back on it, Aion had initially said he ran away from home, which had led to her asking about his motive and the strange story she told about someone she knew. So that one was pretty easy to explain.
And then Alexander seemed the same; the only reason they had a different conversation was because of Aion's actions.
In the end, all three ended up being altered in some way. And Aion wasn't sure if that was a good thing.
While he doubted it would affect the Winter Solstice, there was still a chance it would. If Aria, Luna, or Alexander were Pride, then those differences could change things. Or even looking at it from the perspective that because Aion directly influenced change on those three, those three may cause Aion to indirectly influence others.
Aion shook his head, grumbling a bit as his head throbbed a bit in pain.
Ultimately, all he wished to do was ensure Sam and Aira survived the Winter Solstice.
But even that might be problematic.
Aion had looped back. What is to say he wouldn't loop back again?
Hypothetically, what if looping back was triggered by failing a certain condition? The most likely and obvious condition is solving the murders on the Winter Solstice.
If that was the case, Aion couldn't afford to just protect Sam and Aira; rather, he needed to actively engage with the case.
Of course, this was a nightmare. So is a conditional type of loop really possible?
Once more Aion found his lack of knowledge on dreams to be causing issues.
The only advantage he had was the information on the night of the Winter Solstice. And even then, it wasn't as if it was all that helpful. Especially considering the fact he didn't know how to solve the cases. At best, he could try and position himself in a situation to learn more.
Then, Aion's thoughts stopped when the door opened.
A girl with a down expression stepped through the door and looked at Aion with a bit of surprise on her face.
"Ah, greetings, sir, I was sent to help tend to your needs during your stay. I'm Aira Liana. You may call me Aira." Aira bowed respectfully.
And Aion's breath hitched for a second.
"Is something the matter, sir?" Aira asked, noticing Aion's strange reaction.
Aion smiled and shook his head. "No, nothing's wrong. If anything, I'm in a very good mood."
"Oh? Is that so?" Aira asked and moved her way to the kitchen. "Would you like to have dinner tonight, sir?"
"Yes, I would love that, Aira. Also, please call me Aion."
"I couldn't do that, sir. It's a matter of courtesy."
"Is that so?"
"That is correct. Not if you'll excuse me."
The conversation was curt and stiff, but Aion wasn't all that surprised. Aira had been rather distant when they first met. So this was fine.
"By chance," Aion started. "Are you sisters with Aria?"
"Hm?" Aira turned back, a surprised expression filled her face. "Ah, yes. She's my sister, most certainly."
"Although, you two strike me more as twins than just sisters."
"Ah, well, yes actually…"
"I actually knew some twins back where I came from," Aion mused.
He hadn't thought about it before, but he actually knew two sets of twins, both being fraternal twins, so they were a decent deal different from Aria and Aira.
"Really?" Aira seemed a tad bit interested in the topic.
"Yeah, there were two pairs actually. I only knew one of them well, though."
"I see."
"Although, they were fraternal as well, not identical."
"Fraternal? As in not identical?"
"Yeah, is the term not used around here?"
"I've personally never heard of it. Although, asking Luna would probably be best for something like that…"
"Luna probably would be, yeah," Aion said, remembering the fact that she's read the dictionary of Magna.
"I heard Luna was the one who found you," Aira continued. "What were you doing out there?"
Aion was a little surprised at the question. He never thought Aira would ask him something like that.
"Ah, well, I kind of just woke up out there. No clue how I got there."
Aira raised an eyebrow, which was almost imperceptible as it was hidden under her bangs.
"Well, I hope you can make it back home soon."
"Yeah, that would be nice."
The two fell silent as Aira continued working away at whatever she was making and Aion tried to think of something that sounded natural. Perhaps it was because he didn't want to mess up, but he was struggling to come up with things to say.
"Sir, I have a question if you don't mind," Aira spoke up.
"Hm? Yeah, go ahead."
"Well, uh, do you have a sibling?"
"Yeah, I do. An older brother."
Aira paused for a moment and said, "Is that so?"
"Yeah," Aion said; his tone had dropped a bit from its earlier, more cheerful tone, reaching a slightly below neutral tone.
"Do you…do you have a good relationship with him?"
"That's hard to say. I mean, we don't fight. So I guess I can't say it's awful. But I can't really say it's good either."
"I understand that," Aira said.
"He's…" Aion tried to find the right words but couldn't.
"A lot?" Aira asked.
"Yeah…"
Aira nodded and said, "My sister, she's…"
Aira trailed off, stopping herself from saying anything more, and Aion didn't push it. A clouded expression was on her face as she completely stopped her labors.
"It's fine. You don't have to say anymore," Aion said.
"..." Aira was silent as she returned to what she was doing.
And the two ceased for the night.
* * *
The following morning, Luna was at the table.
"Aion, you're up!"
"What else was I going to do? Sleep in for a long time?"
"Yeah!"
"..."
"You seem quite cheerful this morning," Aion said.
"Mhm!" Luna made a noise of confirmation and continued, "I have a new friend, after all~"
"Is that so? Well, that's good then."
"What a dry response!"
"I guess I'm just a dry person."
"Eh…what a lame response…"
"What did you want me to say?"
"Something like 'I'm so dry even the snow would melt in my presence,'" Luna said with a mimicking voice that was terribly done.
"What is that even supposed to mean? And why would I ever say something like that?"
"I don't know, it's better than just admitting to being dry! Where's your passion? Where's your drive!?" Luna emphasized the final word a lot while seeming proud of it.
"Look, it's early in the morning. I don't want to get all worked up first thing in the morning."
"What are you? An old man?"
"I'm only twenty!"
"Eh? Really?" Luna seemed surprised.
"What? Did you think I was older or something?"
"No, it's just, how do I put this?" Luna's eyes narrowed as she thought deeply on how to word what she was about to say. "You see, Aion, you seem mature for your age, so I thought that maybe you were older…"
"That maybe I was older, huh?"
"Yeah!"
"How much older?"
"Er…thir—wait, no! Twenty-eight!"
"You were about to call me thirty-something!"
"No…" Luna said while her gaze shifted away.
"Also twenty-eight is insane! Do I seriously look that old!?"
"I think you just offended a bunch of twenty-eight-year-olds…" Luna said.
"Seriously? I offended them? You're the one that put me there to begin with! How does that make the rest of them look!?"
"Ah ha! You can get worked up in the morning!"
"...Did you seriously do that just so I could get worked up?"
"Yep! Don't you feel so much better now!"
Aion groaned and said, "Yeah, yeah, sure. Anyway, what are you doing here? Are you planning to hang out with me or something?"
"Ah, yes! That's exactly it! I want to get together with Alphonse, Esme, and Samuel!"
"Wouldn't they be busy with the festival preparations?"
"Huh? You know about the festivals?" Luna asked.
"Ah, well, it just looked like that when I was walking around, so I just assumed that was the case."
Luna laughed and said, "Yeah, they aren't exactly subtle."
Aion felt a bit of relief for covering his mistake. He hadn't considered the fact he never discussed the festivals with Luna in this loop.
"But you might be right…" Luna said. "Hey, Aira!"
Aira looked over from the kitchen and said, "What is it, Luna?"
Aion was struck with a slight sense of unease at Aira calling Luna by her name. He hadn't considered it last night, but Luna had said how Aira didn't like Luna at all.
"Do you think everyone will be busy?"
"Ah, maybe? I suppose if we're ordered to start preparing the manor today, then yes, we would be."
"Ah, that's definitely fair…" Luna said with narrowed eyes and tightened lips.
"I guess the two of us can spend the day together," Aion said.
"Eh? You want to?" Luna asked, a little surprised.
"Why wouldn't I? What else would I be doing?"
"...So I'm just being used to fill the time for you? Amazing."
"That's not what I meant, and you know that!"
Luna laughed and said, "Yeah, yeah, I know. I just thought you'd react strongly to that."
"So, how about it?"
"Ah! Actually, I remembered I have to do something, so I can't. I'm sorry!"
Aion's face showed a bit of disappointment. It seemed like in this loop Luna was going to disappear for several days again.
"No need to look so sad! You're making me feel bad!"
"Sorry, sorry. We can always hang out another day," Aion said with a smile.
Luna nodded, and Aira brought over breakfast.
And soon, the day continued on without incident.