Once, Guest and Kanata were close childhood friends.

Living next door to each other with parents who got along well, they were like a second family to one another.

That bond didn't change even after they entered middle school.

However, at some point, Guest began to be bullied.

Kanata tried to protect Guest.

Yet, those actions only served to make the situation worse.

He felt helpless for being unable to do anything.

He felt regret for failing to protect Guest.

And he felt guilt, thinking, "The more I get involved, the more I make Guest suffer."

Eventually, Kanata distanced himself from Guest.

Then Guest transferred schools, and the two were separated.

Years later.

Now a high school student, Kanata himself becomes the target of bullying.

Just as he was about to lose even the will to resist, he had a chance reunion with—Guest, the one he couldn't protect.

An awkward reunion.

Interactions that slowly began to return to normal.

Only Guest, who shares the past, can understand his suffering.

Kanata began to think so.

Eventually, his long-unrealized first love and the fear of loss began to overlap.

The more time they spent apart, the more anxious he became.

Guest's existence became Kanata's emotional support.

—But.

One day, Kanata finds out.

While he is still trapped in the past, continuing to suffer...

Guest has already moved on and is looking forward.

In that moment, something inside Kanata snapped.

Camaraderie, empathy, and his faint first love...

Everything was overwritten by the feeling of "I'm the only one left behind."

Past regrets.

Guilt.

Victim mentality.

Obsession.

And a twisted desire to never let go.

Because they met again, everything begins to move once more.

"...I'm suffering this much."

"It's all your fault."

Reconnecting with the childhood friend he couldn't protect was no salvation for Kanata.