Time went by in a blur of sneaky conversations from the boss, tending to customers' needs and queries, and making sure the convenience store remained clean and presentable. Through it all, Callisto hated how much she enjoyed every moment despite not wanting to be part of any of it. Every time she would think of going home, Hinata would come out of nowhere like a mushroom after a rain, engaging with her about the most mundane things in life.
It was almost as if Hinata knew what she was thinking and was keeping her from doing exactly what she had in mind.
Callisto hated how effective it was, hated how much she seemed to like having his attention directed at her, hated how his mere presence was making her heart dance with an enthusiasm like it had a life of its own.
And there was nothing she could do about it. Not while she had no idea exactly what made him different.
Right now, all she could do was get out of her work uniform while Hinata was waiting in the store's main area. And then, putting her school uniform back on, she wiped the grease off her face in front of a mirror and put on a light touch of cologne she and Josephine bought together a while ago.
Satisfied with how she looked, Callisto sought out Hinata. And there he was, standing right at the entrance of the convenience store, looking outside through the glass door.
Callisto exhaled, as if to expel the tension from her body and taking on a more casual demeanor.
"Hinata," she called, the sound warm and soft as Hinata turned to face him.
"Ready?" asked Hinata, earning a nod from the silver-haired girl.
As they left the convenience store together, they were greeted by the same beautiful, starry night sky they had admired during the first day of school. It became their routine to look up and find a moving light among the hundreds. Or to be more precise, a satellite.
"Oh, I see one," Hinata announced, a glint of excitement in his eyes as he followed the movement with his gaze.
"Already?" Callisto's question came out as a surprise, her competitive nature flaring up as her sky-blues followed the direction Hinata's finger was pointing at and found the satellite Hinata saw just now. "I'll find one, too."
Callisto managed to find another satellite blazing through the sky in a direction opposite to the one Hinata found, her face contorting with excitement before catching herself.
"What am I even doing," Callisto muttered only to herself before pointing a finger at the satellite she saw. "I found one."
Hinata followed the young lady's finger like a laser tracking the movements of its target.
"It's a one-to-one, then."
"Yeah," Callisto said, her gaze falling to the young man's features, finding the simple joy in Hinata's eyes as he continued searching for more satellites in the sky endearing. "Yep, I'm totally a hypocrite. I'm hopeless."
"Oh, I see you!"
"Huh?"
"I see Callisto."
Callisto looked back at the sky, following his gaze. But all they could see was the sea of glittering stars, making it difficult to even spot Jupiter itself.
Callisto turned to the young man, her sky-blue eyes questioning what was going on. Hinata simply met her gaze with a mischievous smirk.
"Just kidding."
The girl felt like she would have stumbled if not for keeping her composure despite the absurdity of the moment.
"What was that?" She asked, though she couldn't help the amused chuckle escaping her lips. "That's so random."
A shy smile pulled the corners of Hinata's mouth, nudging her elbow with his own playfully. "Then why are you laughing?"
"Because you're so random."
Callisto almost thought Hinata was trying to cheer him up. As if he knew about the internal struggle going on inside her mind. Callisto pushed the thought aside as they continued walking down the path.
* * *
Before long, they reached Oner's apartment. The sound of the barking family dog from the house adjacent to the building struck their ears as they stopped right at the entrance of the apartment's parking lot. The lights filtering through the windows on each floor of the apartment caught Hinata's eyes before they landed on Callisto's back.
He watched as Callisto took a few steps forward before turning to face him.
"Thank you as always," Callisto said, the sound warm and sincere.
"No problem," Hinata said, giving her a reassuring smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."
"Yeah."
Callisto replied almost immediately, not wanting to sound hesitant.
"Bye bye, Hina."
"Bye bye, Calli."
Hinata watched the girl walk away and head straight toward the building, making sure she got into the building itself first before finally making his way out of there.
A moment passed since he found himself back on the street, making a beeline toward his own place, Hinata pulled his smartphone out of his pocket.
Hinata's eyes turned sharp and serious as he scrolled through a long line of contact information on his phone screen, phone numbers labeled with the full name of their owner like Mina Minana. Though there were a few of them labeled only by the first name of their owner such as his closest friends, Callisto, and Elesis.
His thumb hovered above El's name before tapping it, calling her. When the call connected and the timer started going up, Hinata's expression relaxed.
His voice took on a rather casual tone as he began to speak.
"Hello. Can we talk, El?"
* * *
A long while later, Callisto was lying on her bed, her arms wrapped around the big stuffed toy she won at the carnival from back then, keeping it nestled snugly against her. Gone was the school uniform and was replaced by a more casual, comfortable tank top and shorts. The lights of her bedroom were off, providing a dark, yet cozy atmosphere for the young lady.
However, her sky-blue eyes remained open. Callisto couldn't sleep. The conflicting thoughts overloading her head refused to let her rest.
Putting the stuffed toy to the side of the bed, Callisto pushed herself to sit, unsure of what to do to clear her head. Her gaze found her desk adjacent to her bookshelf, but she didn't have any interest in reading at this time of the night.
But on that desk, something caught her interest. The white cat mask she won along with her stuffed toy from the carnival was sitting on her desk as one of the decorations.
She looked at it for a solid moment. And then, as if compelled by an unseen force, Callisto got out of bed and began to move toward her desk, toward that mask.