That same morning, Callisto was already preparing to head out for school. This would be the first time she'd wear her PE uniform, tucking her long silver hair in a ponytail for the physical activities today.
This time, too, she had decided to head out earlier than usual. Part of it was her eagerness to go to school. The other part was fearing that Hinata and Elesis were waiting for her outside like usual. Right now, avoiding meeting them alone was her priority, especially the young man, who had been occupying her mind lately.
Because she had no idea what she would have to do to get out of a confrontation if he was involved.
Callisto grabbed her bag, wore a pair of black rubber shoes she bought for PE, and walked out of her room toward the reception area.
In the reception area, Oner was doing his work. The usual stuff an apartment owner without employees does. As soon as Callisto's unmistakeable figure crossed his peripheral vision, he stopped what he was doing to address her.
"Good morning, Calli. You're early today."
Callisto stopped, turning to the apartment building owner with a polite smile. "Good morning, Uncle Oner. Well, I'm kinda excited for today since it's my first physical education."
"I see. By the way, those two are early, too."
Oner gestured at the young man and woman standing next to one another in the apartment's parking lot. Hinata stood there with a nonchalance, while the redhead had a wary expression on her face.
Callisto's cat ears flattened, a look of hurt crossed her features. When she tried to look down and her fingers found the hem of her PE t-shirt, Hinata's voice reached out to her like a magnet, pulling her gaze back up.
"Calli," Hinata called. "Good morning. Let's go to school. You, me, and Elesis."
The silver-haired girl wondered how they were already waiting for her when there was still time before their usual meetup. She very soon realized that it didn't matter, that they were already there. All she could think about was how she was going to get out of the situation she now found herself in without getting confronted by the two of them.
* * *
Last night, soon after dropping Callisto off in the apartment, Hinata made a call.
"Hello. Can we talk, El?"
For a second, the young man heard a sniffle coming from the redhead's end. Then, he heard a loud intake of breath followed by a loud wail that made Hinata recoil from his phone.
"Waaaaaahh!! Hinata!! Help me!!"
Hinata shook his head in amusement before putting the phone next to his ear once again. "Of course, I'll help. What happened?"
And so, Elesis began explaining what went down on the school rooftop with Callisto. Though not without Hinata helping her calm down first.
Elesis told the young man how Callisto seemed to have caught on to what she was doing in the last few days, which was basically her making sure Callisto got to interact with people. With her. Thinking the reason Callisto kept people from truly connecting with her was because she hadn't talked to anyone for a long time because of her illness, the redhead was hoping she could break through that wall by spending time with her.
She told Hinata the mistake she made by confronting Callisto and asking her directly what was keeping her from letting anyone in. Elesis didn't think much about the reason. It didn't matter to her if it was a simple, mundane reason or something complicated that Callisto couldn't share with anyone, even her friends. She simply wanted to know the why.
"I thought if I knew the reason, I could work my way around it. Because..." Elesis paused with a sniffle. "Because I know she wanted to be friends. I know because I'm aware of how annoying I can be when it comes to my friends, but she never outright told me off."
While Elesis continued to explain herself, Hinata was smirking quietly to himself. Rather than being annoying, Hinata sees the redhead as an affectionate person and never thought it was a bad thing. He was certain Callisto felt the same thing.
"But that's not the problem," Elesis continued. "I wanted to be friends with her so much that I forgot to consider her own feelings."
"What's Calli's answer?"
"Calli told me she has a secret she can't tell anyone."
Elesis would continue to explain what happened next through the call, but Hinata already seemed to understand the situation just after hearing Callisto's answer. And then, they started formulating a plan.
Starting with heading to her apartment earlier than usual.
"Why are we going early?" Elesis asked in wonder.
"Because I have a hunch that she'll try to avoid us."
* * *
Hinata's hunch happened to be right. Now they must figure out how to approach Callisto without making her go away.
The young man and the redhead waited for an answer, a sign that there would be a chance for them to speak with each other.
However, Callisto didn't say a word. Just total silence. She started moving forward, her head down and her shoulders slanted on her sides as she walked past Hinata and Elesis.
Elesis turned to the young man, her expression on the verge of tears as she held onto the strap of her bag tight with shaky hands. Hinata simply gestured at El to follow the silver-haired girl and started tailing her.
Though she hesitated at first, once she and Hinata matched Callisto's pace, Elesis' hands clenched on her sides as she tried to initiate a conversation.
"Uh, Calli—"
"Sorry," Callisto said in monotone as she stopped in her tracks, halting the words from coming out of the redhead's mouth as she looked up, facing her. "I should have messaged you last night when I had the chance. From now on, you don't have to wait for me to go to class."
Elesis' eyes shot wide, the silver-haired girl's words hitting her like a physical blow.
"Calli..."