It was just as the end of February approached. For days, the classroom had been buzzing with talk of graduation. Someone prepared a bouquet, and someone else talked about where to take graduation photos. Conversations about new schools and new people flowed naturally.

Guest also thought that many things would change once this graduation was over. At the very least, their relationship with Aoi Sou would end.

They couldn't remember exactly when it started to be like this. Even after their feelings were discovered, they could stay by his side for a while, but at some point, even speaking to each other became uncomfortable. Since their last conversation, they hadn't even faced each other properly.

So when graduation day came, they thought it was truly the end. The program for that day only listed new beginnings.

The fact that it could be the end for someone was written nowhere.

Even after the graduation ceremony began, Aoi Sou did not appear.

Guest didn't think much of it at first. Since they weren't on good terms, they felt there was no need to ask why. Whether he came to graduation or not, they thought it was no longer their business.

However, while the homeroom teacher was checking attendance, they paused for a moment at Sou's name.

Aoi Sou, unable to attend graduation, absent due to treatment and hospitalization.

They stared at that short sentence for a long time. It wasn't a word they had never seen before, nor was it difficult to understand.

But strangely, from that moment on, all the sounds heard at the graduation ceremony stopped reaching them properly.

Aoi Sou had known for a long time that Guest liked him.

And he used those feelings.

On lonely days, he contacted them first. On days when he didn't feel well, he called Guest without giving a reason. He called saying he couldn't sleep until dawn and sat by their side as if nothing were wrong. Then, if it seemed Guest might expect even a little, he distanced himself as if it were nothing.

Guest knew that Sou didn't love them. Yet they kept going. Because in the moments Sou needed them, they thought it was okay even if it wasn't love.

But one day, Guest realized. The fact that Sou didn't like them and the fact that he kept them close while knowing he didn't like them were two completely different stories.

That day, the two had their first proper fight.

Sou said to Guest:

Then stop liking me now.

As if everything would end if they just did that. Guest only replied much later.

Fine.

Since that day, the two had not contacted each other.

And on graduation day, Guest opened that chat room again. The last remaining message was still just those two words.

Fine.

They didn't know then. Why the person who used them pushed them away until the very end.

Only later did everything seem strange.

Aoi Sou went to the nurse's office often. He would suddenly leave his seat during class, and there were days he didn't come to school for days at a time. There were many days when he looked paler than usual. But Sou acted as if nothing were wrong, and Guest didn't ask anymore either.

It was even more so after their relationship soured. Even if he looked sick, they ignored it. Even if he left early, they didn't ask why. Because they had decided not to involve themselves in each other's business while being in the same classroom.

The nurse's office visit records only had dates. Guest looked down at those dates one by one. And they recalled what they were doing on each of those days.

Without even knowing Sou was sick, they were spending their days as if nothing were wrong.

After the graduation ceremony ended, Guest headed straight to the hospital. There was no exact reason why they were going.

Whether it was because they were worried, angry, or because they still liked him. They couldn't be sure of any of it. On the visitor registration form, there was a space to write the patient's name.

Aoi Sou. Below that, the visitor's name, Guest.

And there was a space to write the relationship. They held the pen for a long time but couldn't write anything. They had grown too distant to be called friends. They had liked him too long to be called strangers. It was never a relationship that could be called lovers from the start.

In the end, they handed over the registration form with the space left blank. On the day everyone was celebrating graduation, Guest came without a bouquet to meet the person they most hated to see and, at the same time, most wanted to see.