Third person POV
Noon reaches the height of the fun time Hoshi and his group had in their time in Metro Manila. They had lunch at the Salazar household. Croix's father was in his job as a jeepney driver, so Ylona cooked lunch since Hoshi's hotel was just a short walk away from the house. Croix joined in to have lunch with them. The food are the Filipino meal staples, but Bokuto and Taro added in some sushi and sashimi from a local Japanese restaurant within Makati City. The drinks are the usual and the essentials.
And then, while digging into his plate of Adobo, rice, and sushi, Croix received a text from Mario. The message was about a request for an interview with the film studio that made "Shake, Rattle, and Roll – LRT" with Hoshi, Bokuto, Sha, and Taro. Mario forwarded the PDF email of the request to him. Seeing that, Croix looked at the four boys. "Hey, guys, my superior forwarded a request for an interview with you guys."
Hoshi then stopped eating and glanced at him.
"With who?" Mariya asked.
"Apparently, from the film studio that made "Shake, Rattle, and Roll – LRT"." Croix passed his phone to Sha, who was seated next to him. "They wanted to make a remake of the film based on how you guys solved the real-life version of the case."
Hoshi, Sha, Bokuto, and others were stunned and in awe.
They barely thought of it.
"No way!" Hoshi stood up, his spoon and fork clattering against his ceramic plate full of Adobo, rice, and some sashimi. "Is that for real?"
"Isn't that a scam from someone pretending to be that film studio?" Bokuto asked with some suspicion.
"No, it's from the real studio," Sha replied while examining the authenticity of the email itself.
He then passed Croix's phone to Hoshi, Taro, and Mariya.
Even Ylona and Reo took a little peek of it.
After that, Taro passed the phone back to Croix via Sha. "Okay, if they wanted an interview with us," Bokuto responded, "then let's do that. 2 p.m., right?"
"Yes, and it was within here in Quezon City." Croix received his phone back. "I'll drive my SUV for you guys. It would take around 20-30 minutes if traffic is not busy."
And so, after lunch and while Ylona, Mariya, Saki, and others are in the Salazar kitchen helping with the dishes, Hoshi and the rest went to that film studio within the city via Croix's SUV. The drive was a bit long as Hoshi and others in the vehicle were gazing at the city urban surroundings while Croix was controlling the wheel. They arrived at the reception hall of the film studio by 1:30 p.m. and are now awaiting the scheduled interview. Hoshi was scrolling in his social media profile and deleted the post he had made on the night of ending the reign of the LRT Ripper because it was now done and everything is in peace.
Then 2 o'clock struck, and they went to that interview in a room with cameras for that. They met up with one of the film directors, who was anticipating this thing that inspired the new remake.
"Hi po, to you guys," he, a man named Nathaniel Ron. "Welcome to our film studio."
"Yes, po, salamat po," Hoshi replied while readjusting his glasses.
Kuro within him was a bit annoyed of humans in this room.
"A what?" he muttered while being cross-legged on the grassy floor.
"A remake based on the case we solved," Hoshi's internal voice replied.
"That's strange…"
Back in the interview, after Hoshi and his group introduced themselves to him, Nathaniel made his comments on how they had solved that case that was literally straight out of the LRT movie that caused trauma to its viewers for years. "I would say that it was bold of you stepping into the case without being qualified for that," he remarked.
"Yes, sir," Sha replied with a bit of stammer, he did an interview like this for the first time in his life. "It all started when one of the last victims of the LRT Ripper, a young man named Manuel Brian, had struck a friendship with us, mostly directly to Hoshi-kun here."
Hoshi then nodded. "Yes, po, sir, nagkita po kami ni Manuel-nichan the night before he sacrificed himself to stop the crime po, eh…I would say that God works in mysterious ways. That stopped the crime the night after that day po…"
"Ah, okay…" Nathaniel replied, "…what is your religion, po, Mr. Santos?"
"Christian po ako at ng aking Ate Mariya, in the Eastern Evangelical Methodist po."
"I am a Buddhist from Japan," Sha added.
"Us too!" Taro and Bokuto added in unison.
"Ah, okay," Nathaniel replied back.
The interview continues on.
"How do you feel after you solved the case in a way that is not legal to the protocols of the NBI po?" Nathaniel asked.
"I felt I had solved the plot of the original movie po, eh," Hoshi replied honestly while scratching a slight itch on the back of his neck. "I felt like adding a closure and peace sa ending ng pelikula na iyan…"
"My student here hates the movie so much when he solved the case that was from that movie," Sha added with gestures that emphasized Hoshi's profound peace, "he is at peace now…the fear and trauma of the film was gone thanks to that."