Third person POV
However, the next morning, it was Sunday, and Hoshi and Mariya found a church within Quezon City that suited their denomination, so they decided to attend its morning service. Bokuto, who knew their religion for a long time, agreed and decided to go out with the rest of the group, who didn't know their religion before, but they did now. Sha agreed, but he wanted to attend it out of curiosity in spirituality.
So, Hoshi, Mariya, and Sha went there by jeepney. There the church was in the modern gothic style. It belonged to a congregation of the denomination Alexandrian Church of the Philippines. Going inside, the trio saw that everyone in the church hall is preparing for the service. Some noticed their presence and gave their greetings and welcomes to them.
"Morning!" Hoshi positively replied back. "My sister and I are in the same denomination as you guys."
"Ah!" the church minister, a young man in his 30s, responded with joy. "Welcome, my brother and sister."
Sha then butted in and said, "Hi, sir, I am here because I was curious about your religion and its teachings."
Seeing that he was a newcomer, the church minister was welcoming. "Oh, okay, welcome to our church, uh…"
"My name is Sha Sakiyama, sir."
"Ah, okay, nice to meet you, Sha, I'm Fenrir Ramos, I am the minister of this church."
This was sealed with a handshake between Fenrir and Sha.
Hoshi and Mariya were happy to see that.
Later, somewhere near Bulacan, Croix was in distraught because he had discovered something: the dead body of his childhood friend Manuel Brian. His heart has been ripped off, and his body looked as if it had been dumped into that area near a river. He grieved for his death while his coworkers in the NBI comforted his emotions.
"He did it…" Croix muttered to himself.
And then, another of his fellow NBI agents ran to him and reported another dead body not too far from their location.
When all of them checked it out, another dead body, with the same organ being ripped out, opened out its presence to them. It belonged to one Zephaniah Zamora, their fellow NBI agent. Croix and his team were as devastated as towards Manuel's death. But they knew that Zephaniah had pinpointed their suspect, a disfigured young man who was the son of a Quezon City official named Eduardo Chanchal. This was back by Zephaniah's recording in his phone, which was sent to Croix before his death under that disfigured killer.
But, Croix wanted to do one thing to fulfill Manuel's last wish for him: go to Hoshi and ask for his part in this investigation.
So, before noon, Croix went to his younger sister's workplace to meet up with Hoshi, who was about to arrive at that place with Mariya and Sha. While Croix was in the hotel's reception waiting for them to arrive, Hoshi, Mariya, and Sha are talking about a missing deacon of their worship place that has suspicious details behind it. They heard it from a few members of the church before the worship service.
Hoshi was wondering where that person had gone to.
And then, the trio arrived, only for Croix to stand up and showed his NBI agent ID at them after the hotel receptionist, his sister Ylona, pointed out at them. "Hello there, I'm Croix Salazar. I am from the NBI."
Hoshi and the other two were taken aback by his position.
"N-NBI?!" Hoshi stuttered.
"Yes, and I am here because you might help in our investigation," Croix replied while putting back his ID.
"Investigation?" Sha asked back.
"Yes, regarding a killer in an LRT depot who ripped out hearts."
These words reminded Hoshi of that Filipino movie he accidentally watched less than 24 hours ago.
"What?!" he responded with shock. "Is that for real?!"
"Totoo iyan, sir?" Mariya asked.
Croix then nodded. "Yes, po, ma'am, as confirmed po from one of our fellow na NBI agents na namatay sa kamay ng taong iyan."
Because of that, Hoshi, Mariya, and Sha decided to come along with Croix to the NBI's main headquarters. Croix was positive that Manuel's last wish for him will fall into action soon. At this time, Bokuto, Taro, and the rest of the gang came to the reception hall, only to see that their three friends are going out with Croix. Bokuto and Taro went up to them and asked what is going on and where are they going.
"Oh, hey guys," Hoshi responded upon hearing their questions.
"We'll go to this guy's headquarters," Sha added.
"Ah, hello there," Croix said to Taro and Bokuto, "are you with them?"
"Y-Yes, sir," Bokuto responded.
"Who are you?" Taro asked.
Croix then showed his ID at them. "I'm Croix Salazar. I am from the NBI."
However, Bokuto and Taro had no idea what NBI is, yet they wanted to come along.
"Sure," Croix responded. "Let's go to my headquarters."
And so, with Saki and the rest staying behind in the hotel, Hoshi and the other five hopped into Croix's red SUV and drove off to NBI's main headquarters.
Along the way, while driving, Croix asked, "Have any of you knew a person named Manuel Brian?" Hoshi, who sat next to his friends and older sister in the back, then replied, "Yes, tinulungan niya kami mahanap ang hotel namin."
"Ah, okay, he is my childhood friend po."
Hoshi and the others were stunned at that fact.
"What?"
"Is that so, sir?"
Croix then nodded while looking at them through his SUV's windshield mirror. "Yes, po, he was among the latest victims of the LRT killer."
Hoshi and the others were utterly shocked.
"What the…?"
"No way!"
"Wait, wha…?!"
Croix nodded for the second time. "Yes, and it seemed that he had researched about you, Hoshi."
"How po?" Hoshi asked.
"I would say, social media and news articles about your dealings with monster in Japan."
Hoshi and the others then remembered that these were covered by Japanese news outlets, and it made sense.
"Oh…"
"Right…"