Eliza kept walking, ignoring Rendo who still follows behind her. However, she is not that fast by Rendo's standards, so he was careful not to go beyond her. It was only a few minutes walk. As they are about to reach the church, Eliza stops walking and checks her phone. Even if there is nothing to check, she did so anyway, and then she turns to Rendo. He stops as well. However, without a word, she goes to the toilet. As for Rendo, he thought that he cannot possibly wait for her standing in front of the toilet. So, he positioned himself some fifty (50) meters away, making sure that all possible ways of entry and exit are within sight. All this work on securing the perimeter is a response based on experience. At least twice before this, she disappeared without saying goodbye. It might be rude for some, but for her, it is a normal practice. Nevertheless, Rendo was determined that it will not happen again. The last two times, he was lax, being confident that she is a trusted friend anyway. However, this time, he is not so sure, especially because she did not even take the time to explain these disappearances.

He said to himself, "I may be seen as a stalker or what, but whatever. Let's do this!"

Ten minutes have passed. Surely there are not a lot of women in the comfort room? So, he decides to message her, just as he did in the past two disappearances.

Rendo: Hello there. Attending church service now?

Some five minutes passed before an answer came.

Eliza: Hi. I'm meeting my parents. I'd attend with my family later.

Of course, their church has multiple services. So, Rendo was defeated again by Eliza's disappearing act. How did she do it? Evidently, the toilet is near the fire exit (or fire escape), which she can utilize to dupe him. After using the comfort room, she went on her way. Eliza, three points. Rendo, zero.

Meanwhile, the preaching for that day is somewhat similar to their discussion earlier. The pastor cited Proverbs 19:21, which states that "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails." and Jeremiah 29:11, which states that "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." in his discussion of God's perfect and pleasing will.

It struck Rendo, who has been fiercely debating with himself about their earlier discussion. Somehow, it seems that God is trying to put an end to their talk that rivaled oral arguments, and at least to him, it also seems that he is right after all. Then, he thought of Eliza. He goes something like, "If she is going to hear this, would she finally believe what I say is the truth? Or would she insist on her own knowledge?"

He does not want a simple discussion on the Bible destroy everything their friendship has built upon. However, as much as he wanted to make peace, the day passed without any communication between them. Of course, he is not the only one who is troubled. After attending church service, Eliza and her family ate out in a Chinese restaurant. With the meals still unfinished, Eliza raised her question.

"Pa?"

Her father asked her, "What is it, Iza?"

"There's this guy..."

"What?? You're going out with boys again?! That last one from Baguio already gets on my nerves! Yeah, that one you're 'MU' with", his father says thunderously.

"Not that, pa," she says as she placates his father with a tap on his arm.

Then, her mother asks with a mellow voice, "So, what are you thinking about?"

"Oh. Yeah, there's this guy. I met him in church..."

Her father is just silent after that statement. It would be her mother's turn to talk with their child.

"I see. Who's this man? What about him?"

"His name is... Rendo... and, well..."

Her younger sister interrupts, "Are you blushing?"

Eliza pushes her sister with some force.

Stolen story; please report.

"No! Of course not. Eew."

Then, her mother asks in order to continue the story, "What about this... Rendo, is it?"

"Yeah, ma. You see, we met some two months ago, and we have been talking almost every day."

"So that's why you're staying up late at night with your phone?"

"Ma, it's not like I want it or anything..."

Her younger sister interrupts again, "Yiee! She's dating him!"

Once more, Eliza pushes her sister with some force.  

Her father speaks, "You're going out with this Rendo guy? You should at least have him meet us then!"

"Pa, no. He's not even close to Grent! Why'd I..."

Grent is the one from Baguio who she has MU, or mutual understanding, with. He moved out of Baguio City, which is around 250 kilometers away from Manila, in order to study in the university. Obviously, Grent and Eliza attends the same university, but it is not a state university like Rendo's. It is a private university which caters students of high socioeconomic standing.

"Don't mention that guy's name to me! Wait... are you trying to tell us that you're going out with both of them?!"

"No! Of course not!"

"Then what?!"

Her mother speaks while patting the father's back, "Pa, don't scare Iza. Your blood pressure. You just ate the seafood platter, too."

"If I see that man again, he'll meet my full arsenal..."

"Don't mind your papa. Go on."

"Yeah, as I was saying... He's not as cool as Gr... the other one. He's not a good meme creator or something, and we're basically different in manga and anime preferences. I'm shōjo and he's shōnen. The only cosplay he can do are masked heroes, and he can only afford the mask!"

"So, what you're saying is, he's not your type."

"Exactly."

"Then, what were you going to ask?"

"I admit, I do learn a lot from our conversations. But, there's one talk I simply can't agree with."

"That is?"

"A while ago, we're talking about free will. I believe in free will, but he doesn't. And I feel like he's forcing his beliefs on me."

"I don't see it that way, Iza. I think he just wants to agree to disagree."

"Still, that's what I feel about him... Besides, he's nice to me... Too nice..."

"Your point being?"

"It's like... he's using that rhetoric to convince me that I'm not the maker of my decisions. That I'm vulnerable. Weak. Small."

"Hmm... I see. But, has he been making moves anyway?"

"We're seated together... We do have lunches together... And yeah, he gave me a remembrance gift."

His father enters, "Oh, ma, you know gentlemen. They're always nice to any woman out there."

"Your papa has a point."

"But, what about free will?"

"I believe in free will, too, but if you want to, you can just ignore him, right? You've done that a lot of times in the past. He's no different, if I'm to base on your story. It's your own free will."

"Right! You even dumped boys faster than I can pull the trigger against them."

She thanked her parents for the advice. However, even if they had reached home, her younger sister kept bugging her about Rendo.

"You know, sis, I once asked Rendo about you."

"Wha... You did?!"

"Yeah. As you said, Rendo's really is a friendly guy. For me, he's a nice person. Your Grent is a sarcastic man. I don't feel all too good for him."

"Enough. I don't want your opinion. What'd you ask him?"

"Fine. I asked him..."

"What?"

"If he wants to date you."

"You said that?"

"Yeah. You know what he answered?"

"Mm?"

"He said, you're not his type either. He wanted a girl who is smaller than him, but only by ten centimeters or less. So, that's about 160, I think? While he likes girls with glasses, he doesn't want someone whose eyeglasses have the grade 200 above. He'd also like a girl whose academic achievement equals, or is greater than, his. He did say he's running for honors..."

As her sister speaks the narrative of Rendo's "ideal girl," it turned to music playing in her ears. "You're not his type either." It was as if she was struck by the Holy Lance (Spear of Longinus).

Her sister continues, "Oh, yeah. He also said that he doesn't want to date you because you already have a boyfriend. Really, you told him that? It's quite harsh because you're lying to him."

"W-what? I've a boyfriend?"

"Yup, that's what he told me."

"I... I have no..."

"Right. He also said that he doesn't want to date anyone anyway. Come on now, how hard have you dumped this guy? He's too nice to actually suffer that, sis."

"Look, I didn't dump him or anything... He hasn't even proposed yet!"

"Yet? So, you're expecting him to ask your hand then?"

Her sister smiles mischievously.

"N-no, of course not. It's just..."

Eliza starts to blush.

"He seems to send signals?"

"Sort of... I think...but his signals are so messed up!"

"Sis, I know you don't want my opinion, but here's my take. The guy's a good person. I don't know what you've learned about each other, but please, sis... Take it easy on him. If you keep invoking your free will on your situation with him, he might as well die by free will."

Eliza was speechless. Her sister is not the type of person who talks much. She is usually the quiet observer. Thus, she thinks that she must give the issue a serious thought if her sister spoke that much to tell her. That night, she goes to her room. She cannot sleep early, so she finished all her work in the computer before lying down on bed again. It is a school day tomorrow.

Then, she recalls that Rendo did give her a gift. She searches her small bag, and it took her a number of minutes to find. It was already mixed up with most of her other things. Soon, she obtains the gift from what seems to be a labyrinth of stuff. She stares at the gift. Will she open it? What does it contain anyway? When will we see some real athletics? Will we ever come back to the normal timeline of this story? Well then, until next time.