"Today is my last day at Yamaku."
   
    "When I first came here, I thought that this short year would feel like an eternity. It felt like I was being cast away into a corner to be forgotten, and, immaturely, that is exactly what I thought."
   
    "I didn't think there was anything here worth growing attached to. Of course, I was wrong about that."
   
    "Now, it's like the past year wasn't enough. Just one school year that passed so quickly before my eyes."
   
    "Yesterday was the last official day of school. When I woke up, I had a hollow feeling in my stomach all the way up to the graduation ceremony, and immediately after it ended, I tried to look for Shizune, but got lost in the crowd."
   
    "In the end, after seeing my parents again for the first time since I arrived at Yamaku, and after everything was said and done, I wasn't able to even see Shizune yesterday, even after searching all around the school."
   
    "That is why today is so important. This is the last day I'll be able to see her here."
   
    "Getting into the dorms is hard, as people are constantly moving in and out of them today, doing some last minute packing and having their final conversations with their friends. If they are going to see each other after today, it'll be hard."
   
    "Whether they go off to different universities, or just lose touch gradually..."
   
    "I've resolved to never let that happen, even if Shizune and I won't be going to the same school."
   
    "I check to see if she's in her room, but someone tells me she hasn't been back since graduation, and my heart skips a beat thinking that maybe she went home early, right after the ceremony. But, there's no point in giving up yet."
   
    "If she isn't here, there really is just one other place she could be."
   
    "I open the door to the student council room to find Shizune leaning on her desk, facing the door, almost as if she was waiting for me the whole time. It's happened so many times that there are days when I think that could actually be it."
   
    "I've gotten used to most of her quirks, though."
   
    hi "Hi."
   
    ssh "Hello."
   
    "She straightens up and adjusts her glasses somberly."
   
    hi "I was kind of hoping I'd find you here."
   
    ssh "I was kind of hoping you would find me here, too."
   
    hi "Heh."
   
    ssh "I'm sorry I couldn't see you after graduation. I had to sort out some last minute things."
   
    ssh "I've been offered a job at my father's company."
   
    ssh "I'll have to work my way up from the bottom, but the starting salary is still very good."
   
    ssh "Even then, I was thinking that maybe I should just focus 100%% on being a full time student."
   
    ssh "I have enough of my own money to live comfortably in the meantime."
   
    ssh "I'm still thinking about what I should do."
   
    hi "It seems like a tough choice to make."
   
    ssh "It is. But, I've already decided. I'm going to go to school full time. I know that I am qualified for the job, but I don't want anyone to think I'm getting special treatment, or if I advance, that I didn't solely due to my ability."
   
    ssh "Pride over ambition, this time."
   
    hi "I don't see it that way. Besides, you would be overextending yourself if you tried to do it all. Sometimes, you're a little too ambitious."
   
    "Well, a little more than just sometimes."
   
    "Shizune catches the implication in my face and jabs me in the ribs."
   
    ssh "Well, then, what are you going to do?"
   
    hi "Me?"
   
    hi "I'll go to college, and become a teacher. Physics is my best subject. The most interesting subject to me, anyway. So, I'll teach that. Apparently, the test to actually become a teacher isn't too hard, it's really just about time."
   
    ssh "It seems like you have it all planned out."
   
    hi "I've been looking into scholarships. I have a few already."
   
    hi "What's with that expression? Impressed?"
   
    "Shizune giggles soundlessly."
   
    ssh "No."
   
    ssh "You know, once you plan it out, you're obligated to follow through with it."
   
    hi "I know."
   
    ssh "Do you think you have the follow-through?"
   
    hi "Yeah. Really."
   
    ssh "Are you sure? Once you say “really,” the standards change. I'll hold you to it."
   
    hi "Really."
   
    ssh "Who so hardworking all of a sudden? You weren't like this when I first met you, slacking off all the time. Misha and I had to drag you kicking and screaming to the student council room."
   
    hi "Hey! I never kicked or screamed."
   
    hi "Anyway, I have a goal now. You're going to succeed, right? If you're going to hold me to my success, I'm going to hold you to yours. And if you're going to excel in what you do, then, doesn't that mean that I have to as well?"
   
    ssh "Who said that?"
   
    hi "Aren't you all about competition?"
   
    "Shizune smiles cockily and raises an eyebrow."
   
    ssh "Oh? And who said that?"
   
    "I'm sure she already knows what I mean. After all, to me, this whole relationship started out as me trying to reach you. Now, I want to be your equal. Maybe even surpass you."
   
    "You give me drive to go somewhere, and the freedom to let that “somewhere” be wherever I want it to be. I feel alive around you."
   
    "Shizune's hand overlaps mine."
   
    hi "You, obviously."
   
    "I've always been competing with you. At first, I didn't like you very much. I didn't know what you wanted from me. So, all I wanted over you was some small triumph I could call my own to stop you from making an ass of me over and over again."
   
    "When I started falling in love with you, I stopped thinking of it like that. Maybe at that point, I started to think of it as... flirting."
   
    "I tell her this, and she looks away, a faint smile appearing on her face, couple with a thoughtful expression. After awhile, she says:"
   
    ssh "Am I that important to you?"
   
    "She signs it quite casually, but I can see she is more concerned than she looks."
   
    hi "Yeah."
   
    ssh "A person's value is determined by how many people it would take to replace them. To me, you are irreplaceable."
   
    hi "..."
   
    hi "You too."
   
    "Misha said that she was scared that Shizune and her would drift apart after graduation. It's not like the thought hasn't crossed my mind."
   
    "She really is beautiful. Today more than ever. Maybe it's because right now, I'm already starting to think about how I will feel when I start missing her."
   
    "The click of a camera's shutter closing brings me out of my thoughts, and I want to smack myself when I realize I don't have a proper camera with me, just what's built into my phone. If I did, I would be able to take a picture of her."
   
    "It was stupid of me not to think of bringing a camera to graduation. Not just for Shizune, but to capture all the other people and memories I've found here."
   
    "Fortunately, I spot a fellow graduate halfway across the school grounds walking with a bulky, expensive looking camera in his hands. It's an instant camera, the kind that develops the photo right after you take it."
   
    "What luck. I didn't even think they made these anymore, and they're rare to start with. I run towards him."
   
    hi "Hey, can I borrow that, just for a second? Just one quick photo."
   
    "He groans about how I must be the hundredth person today to ask, but gives it up anyway. I run back to Shizune and hold the camera up."
   
    hi "Smile!"
   
    "Shizune shakes her head from side to side."
   
    hi "You don't like having your picture taken?"
   
    "Adjusting her glasses matter-of-factly, she signs her reply strongly."
   
    ssh "I'm afraid it's a lot harder to make me smile for a camera."
   
    "Her eyes flash mischievously, the golden sunlight reflecting off those two deep, dark blue pools that always seem so curious, and teasingly playful."
   
    "Another game?"
   
    hi "Oh, come on."
   
    "..."
   
    hi "Well, yeah, I guess it's not like this picture means anything, though."
   
    hi "Because we are going to see each other again, aren't we?"
   
    shi "..."
   
    "She nods."
   
    hi "I said “really,” so the standards have changed."
   
    ssh "My expectations have changed."
   
    hi "My school won't be that far from yours. I'll..."
   
    "I won't try to do anything. I will do it."
   
    "I'm not going to let a few miles separate us. I'm going to let something that small take away my resolve to be with her? No way."
   
    hi "Every weekend. Let's be sure to see each other every weekend."
   
    ssh "If you're serious, and I'm serious, then a small distance is nothing."
   
    hi "That's right. We'll make it work, right?"
   
    ssh "You're so serious. I think I am impressed after all."
   
    hi "Heh. ...What about marriage?"
   
    ssh "What about it?"
   
    "Don't be coy."
   
    "Shizune pulls the camera down and I feel her delicate lips touch mine. She quickly jumps back before I can kiss her back."
   
    ssh "Now that you have said that, my expectations have changed again."
   
    ssh "But, I think that it's possible."
   
    hi "Kids?"
   
    ssh "That is also possible."
   
    ssh "If it's a boy, let's name him..."
   
    hi "How about something like... Isamu?"
   
    ssh "Maybe."
   
    ssh "If it's a girl?"
   
    hi "Shiina."
   
    ssh "Okay."
   
    ssh "It's decided, then."
   
    ssh "...I'll hold you to it!"
   
    "Finally, you decided to show me your smile."
   
    "I lift the camera back up, and take her picture."