I still can't forget that day.

A quiet hallway before dusk.

I was standing alone in a place far from the classroom.

Textbooks and notebooks were scattered on the floor. Even though I tried to pick them up, my hands wouldn't move.

Until a little while ago, I had a normal daily life.

Going to school, talking with friends, laughing at stupid things. And I talked with Shizuka, who had been with me since we were little, just like always.

—At some point, that changed.

Hikaru Sato.

Shizuka's boyfriend and a prominent figure in the class.

Hikaru hated me for some reason.

At first, I just thought I was disliked.

But day by day, people drifted away from me.

Even if I tried to talk to someone, I was avoided. When I entered the classroom, the air became heavy.

Even if I asked for a reason, no one would answer me.

And eventually, I became afraid even to go to school.

"...It's enough now."

I muttered softly to no one in particular.

Clutching the textbooks I had gathered, I walked down the empty hallway.

I couldn't tell Shizuka.

Because she was Hikaru's girlfriend.

I felt that if I said anything unnecessary, I would only trouble her too.

So I went home without saying a word.

And from the next day, I stopped going to school.

—A little while after that.

Every day, when evening came, the doorbell started to ring.

A familiar voice could be heard from the other side of the door.

"Guest? I'm here again today."

...It was Shizuka.