Hinata was still in the school, more precisely in the track field, hanging out with the same friends he was with earlier in their classroom, when he felt his phone buzz in his pants pocket.
He picked his phone up, his face lit up as if someone flipped a switch on a light bulb and turned it on. That got his friends wondering what got him rather stoked.
"Sorry, I need to go somewhere," Hinata got up from the bench where he and his friends were sitting in front of the others, not waiting for them to respond. "I'll see you tomorrow, guys."
"W-Wait, Hinata!"
"What's gotten into that guy?"
"Could it be a girl?"
"I heard some people saw him walking to the cafeteria with a girl a while ago, so that might be it."
"Hey, are you serious?!"
"Hinata's probably just helping a new student, but apparently the girl is pretty. Probably prettier than Mina herself. She wears a wig for some reason though."
"If she's prettier than Mina, then I wouldn't be surprised why Hinata left us just like that."
* * *
Meanwhile, in the principal's office, Edmond's shadow was looming over the desk as he looked at the door where Callisto left, seemingly deep in thought.
Truthfully so.
Callisto offering her apology to Edmond replayed in his mind, reminding him of something similar that happened in the past.
* * *
It was during his time as one of the students in Silangan High. He was with Raymond, Phillip, and Oner inside an unoccupied apartment room, playing a video game together.
They were playing a Galge, a dating game in layman's terms, that Oner procured after saving money with the other three and those who weren't able to make it to their "meeting" today.
They decided who to play the game first and ended up choosing Phillip to take that honor. However...
"I gently opened the door," Raymond read the text from behind Phillip.
All four of them were watching the screen with bated breaths until a horrifying scene unfolded.
Oner's scream of horror filled the entire apartment that his father busted his way into the door of the room they were in and scolded them.
Once things settled down, Oner's father gone to manning the reception again, their gaze returned to the computer screen.
Oner and Edmond started bickering.
"Is this really a dating game?! Hermes suggested this one, so he must have known this is actually a horror game. That jerk!"
"No, Oner, this is a dating game. But with a twist. If we read the notice at the start of the game, the scene wouldn't be as shocking. But you didn't give us that chance."
"Are you saying it's my fault, Edmond?!"
"No, I'm complimenting you. Because of you acting without thinking, we got the best experience out of this game."
Meanwhile, Phillip was feeling dejected after what happened to the game.
"It's because I rejected her. But I already chose Yuri from the beginning, so I can't possibly accept Sayori's confession. I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize, Phillip. You simply made your choice. It's not something to feel sorry for or anything, so don't be. Besides, it's just game. And I looked it up just now and apparently, this will happen no matter what, so there's no helping it."
"Ray, you idiot! Stop spoiling us!"
* * *
A silly memory got Edmond chuckling to himself as he went and stood in front of one of the windows of his office, muttering to himself.
"Coming together to buy a dating game and keeping it a secret from Adela and rest... How stupid."
Just like flipping a light switch, the amused, nostalgic expression on Edmond's face turned cold and serious.
Raymond's words, though it was meant to Phillip, it stuck in Edmond's mind ever since he heard it.
Everyone has the right to make their own choices. Making bad choices are bound to happen, but they are not necessarily a bad thing. They are meant to serve as a lesson for the person to learn, to grow, rather as an excuse that bounds oneself from moving forward.
That's how things should be. But...
"Not everyone have the luxury of making their own choices."
There was a tinge of sadness in his tone, as if he was sympathizing with every single people in the world who were out there and cannot make their own choices.
"Life is so unfair and cruel," Edmond continued, picking his phone up from his pants and opening it to an online article about Raymond. "Though it is unfair and cruel, people like him exist. They don't bend to it. They defy it."
The article was singing praises about Raymond's Mandjet Medical Center opening up free medical care once again for the elderly and the people who cannot afford the necessary treatment in all branches worldwide.
"This idiot. He's too kind for his own good."
Though his words sounded quite harsh, as if he was irritated, Edmond looked at the article and feel nothing but respect for Raymond, for going out of his way to help those who desperately needed a helping hand.
Giving them a choice.
A small, genuine smile curving Edmond's lips.
"But that's so like him. I'm glad you managed to save your daughter, Ray. You deserve it."
* * *
On the sidewalk not far from the school, Callisto was making her way toward a restaurant named Yunis, a soft hum escaping her lips.
"Calli!"
She stopped to turn around and see the person who called her nickname. It was none other than Hinata, beaming a wide grin at her as he ate the distance between them with quick footsteps.
"Hey, Hinata. You're quick. Where were you before I messaged you?"
"I was actually planning to go home first, but my friends called me, so I stayed in school until just now."
"I see. Well, are you hungry? Because I sure am craving food."
Callisto stretched as they walked side by side with one another, the tension her body accumulated during the EPT going away with the morning breeze.
"Fried chicken to be exact, right," Hinata responded with a knowing smirk. "That's why I decided we go to Yunis."
Callisto exclaimed in delight, her cat ears twitching full of life as they stopped right at the entrance of the restaurant.
"You really know me, Hina. This will be my fourth time visiting this place. Their fried chicken is to die for! Now then, let's go in!"