---
The wind was soft that evening, swaying cherry blossom petals across the schoolyard. Graduation was near. A time when people looked back, smiled at memories, cried over regrets.
Harukoo stood silently by the rooftop fence, hands in his pockets.
He hadn't planned to come here again.
But something inside told him this was where it should end.
Where he would bury everything that once held him down.
---
He wasn't the same boy anymore.
The one who waited for someone to care.
The one who cried on his birthday in silence.
The one who smiled gently as people ignored his existence.
That Harukoo was gone.
And no matter how much they reached for him now, he wasn't turning back.
---
Footsteps.
He turned.
It was Mika.
Eyes puffy. Expression hollow.
She walked with caution, as if afraid her presence alone would shatter the peace around him.
"Can we talk?" she asked.
Harukoo leaned back against the fence. "You've already said enough."
Mika swallowed. "I… I just needed to say sorry. For not seeing you. For being so blind."
Silence.
"I was scared," she admitted. "Back then, I thought that senior was everything I wanted. He made me feel protected, admired. But it was fake."
She looked at him.
"You were always the one watching. The one helping. And I threw you away for an illusion."
He said nothing.
"I see you now," she whispered. "And I… I miss you."
Harukoo closed his eyes.
Then spoke.
"You're too late, Mika."
Her breath hitched.
"I'm not the boy who waited anymore," he said. "I stopped waiting the moment I realized the people I loved never looked back."
Tears spilled down her cheeks.
"I don't hate you," he added. "But I don't love you either. Not anymore."
She broke.
Falling to her knees, sobbing. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
He looked at her with quiet finality.
"You were my everything once. Now you're just a chapter I've already turned."
---
That night, Harukoo walked home with Silva. She held his arm gently, not speaking—just letting him breathe.
"I'm proud of you," she whispered as they reached her place.
"For what?"
"For finally choosing yourself."
---
The Next Day
Harukoo returned to the house he once called home.
Not because he wanted to.
But because he needed closure.
He knocked once.
Maria opened the door.
For a moment, she froze, like seeing a ghost.
Yuki stood behind her, eyes red.
Maria opened her mouth. "Harukoo, I—"
"Save it," he said softly.
They stood in silence.
"I came to say goodbye," he told them. "Not to forgive you."
Yuki looked down, trembling.
Maria reached for his hand.
He stepped back.
"You told me to get lost," he said. "On my birthday."
Maria shook her head, crying. "I didn't mean it—"
"But you said it. And I believed it."
He looked at Yuki.
"I spent years thinking you two might love me. Maybe you even did. But love that's never shown is just a ghost."
They said nothing.
"I'm not angry anymore," Harukoo said. "I'm just… done."
Maria sobbed. "Please… come back."
He gave them a final look.
Then turned away.
Without another word.
---
That Night
He sat with Silva on a quiet hill, the city lights blinking below.
"You okay?" she asked.
He nodded. "I said what I needed to say."
She leaned her head on his shoulder.
"You know," she smiled faintly, "you never told me what you want to do after school."
Harukoo looked up at the stars.
"I want to live."
Silva chuckled. "That's a big goal."
He smiled.
"I want to live without begging for love. Without chasing after people who never turned back."
He turned to her.
"I want to live with the people who choose me."
---
And in that moment, under the night sky, Harukoo made peace.
Not with his past.
But with himself.
He wasn't the boy waiting at the door anymore.
He was the man who walked away…
And never looked back.
---
[THE END]