…and her message failed to get across, much to Ruri's frustration. Her attempt at getting a subtle message about their performance off to Gunther using the lyrics had fallen on deaf ears, it seemed. And even in a freezing silence. How fitting. If it was not for the fact that they were not in the middle of a performance, she would have chuckled at how well it fit the response she received. So, she continued. "Everything is like a CAROL." She continued while incrementally clarifying and sharpening her voice with every line. Rather than betraying. "Rather than hurting." Your heartbeat, I wanted to live purely. Let me sleep now. "With that dream." Drawing stark contrast to Gunther's force was Ruri's sharpness. Once again, the harmony from that contrast stood evident. That's right, rather than creating a dissonance between a powerful force and one playing catch-up, Ruri fully intended to create a harmony between a powerful force and sharpened blade. "In the moment we connected hands, we smashed paranoia. Hotly, hotly-" Sharper. Her voice needed to sharpen to a climax. The memories I play REFRAIN- "Beyond fate." And with that, the contrasting harmony stood at its highest peak since that song started. But she needed to surpass that again. Ruri noticed the look Gunther had given her at the end of the chorus and she acknowledged the look. She did not know what message Gunther was trying to get across to her but it did not matter anymore. The timing had become much more even. The duet was starting to work out. So, she smiled as she waited for the time for her next line to come. With a soft voice, she sang, "Now praying for your painful cry." It was time to start from the lowest tension and build up again. She would sharpen her voice again and hit a climax even beyond what came before. She definitely would.