The weeks passed in a comfortable routine of study, work, and tournaments. On top of Ian's own successes with midterms, Esme also had reported some pretty impressive results of her own. As a result, both Kaitlyn and Elliot were rounded up more than a few times as her favorite repeat study partners.

Of course, Ian still took priority. As time went on, Kaitlyn made sure to put hanging out with the guy at the top of her list, even cutting back a bit on her other hobbies to do so. He still wasn't the most enthusiastic about schoolwork of any kind, but under her positive influence, he took care of it anyway. The fact that these hangouts also served as practice time meant that she also saw some pretty impressive gains in her Bash Bros. skills. She was at the point where she could actually call herself Ian's rival, maybe even an equal – something even more astounding when his own improvements were taken into account.

He's finally doing it. He's winning tournaments!

The first time it happened, she could hardly believe her eyes. He'd actually managed to take down ZoggyWoggy, that impenetrable wall of a player. The games were still close, practically a fifty-fifty each time. But evidently, training against Kaitlyn had been enough to help him break down that barrier. Now if only she could do the same…

All in all, things were going incredibly well. They were crushing in doubles, Ian was handling his assignments well, and Kate's Kitchen got some more menu items. She even got to learn a bit more about Esme and Elliot from hanging out with them, both in and out of lab.

Time flew by in a blur of activity and progress. But eventually, it was time for the next major encounter in the loop, the one she'd been waiting for – Bara Bash.

Kaitlyn bounded up the dorm stairs to Ian's floor, unable to contain her excitement. This was it. This was what they'd been training for.

All that time, all of that practice… it's all coming down to this. The big tournament of the loop.

When she emerged into the hallway, she quickly looked around the common area to find it empty. Evidently, Ian wasn't here yet. Checking her phone, Kaitlyn winced.

Er… whoops. Guess I got here a little early.

In her rush to get ready and eat breakfast, she'd completely forgotten to check the time. They weren't supposed to meet up for a half hour still. Heck, Ian probably wasn't even awake yet.

For a moment, she considered heading over to the venue alone, just to get some more practice in. However, that idea was discarded as soon as it formed. No way was she leaving her teammate behind, not for this.

Instead, Kaitlyn flopped onto one of the couches and forced herself to relax. The vinyl cushion squeaked slightly beneath her weight. There was no point in getting all excited now, not when the tournament wouldn't even start for hours.

I need a distraction. Let's see…

Pulling out her phone, she thought for a moment before tapping on her go-to music app – Dotune. I guess this is as good a time as any to listen to music, right? That's practically what it's for.

Over the weeks, she'd let her efforts to find new music fall by the wayside somewhat. Life had just been too busy to really focus on it or practicing keyboard. But she had made sure to give most of Elliot's suggestions a listen. She had to admit, the guy did have good taste.

Despite that realization, there were a few that she had yet to touch. Namely, the country artists. Elliot had a pretty pristine track record so far, and she didn't exactly want to ruin it by listening to something that she was sure to hate.

Although… well, guess there's no time like the present. Not like I have much else to do. And I'm feeling something a little different, anyway.

Steeling herself, Kaitlyn typed in the first name to the search bar: Zeke Byron. Sorting through the songs, she decided to start with the most popular one and give it a shot. After popping in a pair of earbuds, of course. Hitting the play button, she was greeted with the dual sounds of acoustic guitar and harmonica.

Of course there's harmonica. She had to suppress rolling her eyes. That's so stereotypical.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

But rather than stick around, the instrument faded fairly quickly, leaving just the longing notes of the guitar. Despite everything she'd come to expect from country, this didn't have the same kind of twangy quality to it. And when the vocals came in, they felt more rugged and filled with longing rather than the heavily accented fare she'd expected.

This… isn't half bad.

The song wasn't a happy one by any stretch. It was essentially a breakup song, about a guy getting left behind by the love of his life. Pretty straightforward. But as she listened, the lyrics painted such a vivid, specific picture. The raw voice managed to convey so much emotion, both through the lyrics and the delivery, that she found herself really listening hard.

Curious, she flicked around and tapped on another song after the first ended. Then another. There was a mix of upbeat-sounding and ballad-like songs but. But when she really paid attention to the lyrics, she realized that they were all in a similar vein. They all shared these mournful undertones and themes of loss. Ones that she felt hit a little too close to home.

A little disturbed, she continued listening out of curiosity until she found one song in particular. It sounded different from the others, somehow. Something about it gave her a sense of nostalgia tinged with sadness.

You know… this would translate pretty well to piano.

She shook her head at the thought. Even if it were true, there were plenty of other songs she wanted to learn first. There was an entire list. Despite that, she noted down the name of the song for later.

…It's not bad. A small smile played across her lips. Elliot's reputation for having good taste lives on another day.

Kaitlyn allowed herself to listen for a little while longer. She wasn't a huge fan of every single song, but there were a few that she genuinely liked. To be fair though, the sound was completely different from any country she'd ever heard. Because of that, she felt like liking this one artist didn't completely invalidate her view on the genre.

Before she knew it, a flash of motion caught her eye. Ian stepped into the common room, his hands stuffed into his hoodie pocket. He blinked at seeing her.

"Hey, Ian." She gave him a small wave before tucking her earbuds away. "You ready?"

"Yeah. Sorry, didn't realize you were already here… Am I that late?" He checked his phone.

"No, no!" She reassured him. "Sorry, I just got excited. I haven't been waiting too long, really."

He relaxed slightly. "Ah, ok. Cool. Well, I'm ready to go when you are."

"Awesome!" Kaitlyn leapt to her feet. "Let's go then! I want to check the place out before doubles starts."

The pair headed out, chatting about strategy as they made their way toward the Bara Ballroom. Both of them knew that this would be a big test of their skills – as a team and individually. Ian quizzed her on various tech possibilities and combo setups, while Kaitlyn briefed him on Lelas and some of the other opponents they'd be facing.

"I've heard of Lelas, but never fought him before… how do you know so much about him?" Ian asked.

"I did my research. I saw that he was going to be here, so I tried to look up as much info as I could. There's some videos of his matches online, you know."

Ian nodded, accepting the completely believable explanation. "Dang. You really are serious about this, aren't you?"

"Of course!" She crossed her arms. "Are you not?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I am!" He raised his hands defensively. "But I'm just gonna do my best. You're out here studying the guy's playstyle like it's one of your finals, you stalker."

"Rude! I'm not a stalker!"

"Mmm-hmm. You keep telling yourself that."

Kaitlyn pouted. I guess I do have a lot of info. But it's for good reason! Bash Bros is pretty darn important for Ian's route, so I'd better be taking it seriously.

"What can I say? I like to go all-in." She shrugged. "Besides, I really want to win."

Ian just chuckled. "Sorry. You'll have to settle for second, there. Especially if you keep sharing all your prep with me."

"Well, if you win, it's pretty much like I won. Unless I actually do win, in which case you'll never hear the end of it."

"Figures."

It didn't take long for them to arrive outside the impressive ballroom, its glass ceiling sparkling in the sunlight. A banner hung above the entrance, confirming that the venue was indeed hosting Bara Bash today. Posters and colorful signs directing people to the event hung all around as students clustered inside.

Kaitlyn took a deep breath. This is it. This is the big moment.

The entire loop had been going so well. She'd never felt closer to Ian, and it was clear that she'd helped him out a ton with grades. Now, all that was left was to win this tournament.

Bash Bros is such a big part of his route. I mean, it's how I started talking to him in the first place. I don't know if winning is a requirement or not, but… I feel like it's a pretty safe bet. Her hands clenched at her sides. Which means there's a lot riding on this.

She glanced over to her friend. "Are you ready?"

Ian met her gaze with a resolute nod. "Yeah. Let's sweep the whole thing, Kay."

She gave him a confident grin. With that, they stepped inside.