The classroom felt like a ghost town.
No one said anything. No one asked. Rin Uzuhiko had returned to school.
He didn't look well.
His uniform was wrinkled. His eyes were bloodshot. His hands were stuffed in his pockets
like he didn't want to touch anything—including reality.
Kazuki Nanami watched him from the back of the room.
Silent. Observing.
During lunch, Kazuki caught up to him on the rooftop stairs.
"You're here," he said, casually.
"Yeah."
"Guess that means you didn't do it."
Rin flinched.
Kazuki continued, "You always liked this rooftop. Thought maybe… it'd become your grave."
Rin leaned back against the cold concrete wall. He didn't look angry. Just tired. "I wasn't
alone up there."
Kazuki raised a brow. "Oh?"
"There was a girl. Hikari Minamoto."
Kazuki folded his arms. "That quiet one in Class 1? She was gonna jump too?"
"…Yeah."
"Damn."
Kazuki let out a slow breath, running a hand through his hair. "What'd you say to each
other?"
Rin looked away. "Nothing that makes sense now. But… enough to make us walk down
instead of fall."
There was a pause.
Then Kazuki stepped forward and placed a warm canned coffee in Rin's hand.
It was the same brand Shizuku used to drink.
Rin stared at it, silent.
Kazuki said, "You don't have to make sense right now. You just have to keep showing up."
Rin didn't reply. But his fingers closed around the can.
Kazuki clapped him gently on the back.
"If you're gonna fall, fall forward. Into something. Not off a rooftop."
"…I'll try."
Kazuki gave him a look—half fond, half exasperated. "I'm not asking you to be okay, Rin. Just
don't disappear."
Rin didn't nod. He didn't smile.
But he stayed.
And that was enough for today.
[Flashback Begins]
Kazuki remembered the last time he sat by Shizuku's bedside.
Kanzaki General Hospital, Room 308. Just after sunset.
The fluorescent lights buzzed softly overhead.
Shizuku Masahiko looked fragile beneath the blankets. Her breath came slower now. Her IV
bag had been changed twice during his visit.
Kazuki sat quietly in the chair beside her. A melon pan rested on the windowsill. Two drinks
sat untouched.
She smiled when she saw him.
"I thought Rin would come."
"He's… still in class," Kazuki lied. "You know how he is."
She nodded. Her gaze drifted to the city lights outside. "It's getting colder."
Kazuki finally spoke. "How long did they give you?"
She didn't flinch. "Not long. A few weeks. Maybe."
He swallowed hard. Looked at the ceiling.
"I haven't told Rin," she continued. "I can't."
Kazuki looked at her, eyebrows furrowed. "He deserves to know."
"He deserves hope more."
Kazuki's hands curled into fists.
"I want his last memories of me to be warm," she whispered. "Not filled with hospital smells
and countdowns."
He didn't answer.
Then she reached out, weakly, and placed her fingers over his wrist.
"Kazuki… when I'm gone, promise me something."
He looked down at her. She looked impossibly small. Like a paper lantern in a storm.
"If Rin breaks… stop him."
Kazuki didn't answer right away.
Then, quietly, he said: "I already promised myself I would."
Her eyes softened. "Even if he tries to push you away?"
"Especially then."
Shizuku let out a shaky breath. "You're the only one I trust to catch him."
Kazuki chuckled, but it was hollow. "Why not someone kinder? You know I'm crap at pep
talks."
"Because you're steady," she said. "Even when the world isn't."
Kazuki stared at her.
"...He's lucky to have you."
"I wish he'd remember that," Kazuki muttered.
[Flashback Ends – Back to Present]
Now, standing beside Rin, that memory pulsed like a heartbeat in his mind.
He hadn't told Rin about that conversation. Not yet.
One day, maybe.
When he was ready.
But not today.
Today was for staying.