Although All the People I Care About Have Been Taken from Me

A memory from a distant past, a promise made with childhood friends. — “If you win an award, will you marry me?” Several years later, I, Hajime Aizawa, a second-year high school student, called out to my childhood friend, Miyabi, in the quiet classroom after school, intending to fulfill that promise. However, when I tried to confess my feelings, the words she returned to me were shockingly cruel. “—Senpai. I’ve decided to date him.” “Do you… like him?” I asked, clinging to my last hope. Miyabi paused for a moment before quietly answering. “…More than you, I guess.” This is my story, one where I decided not to look back at the past but to move forward, alone.