Namiki slumped into his chair, a little annoyed by his situation. About twenty feet away from him stood Kanade, dressed in a beautiful white gown. Beside her, was the man she'd chosen to spen her life with, Arou. To love and to hold and a bunch of other crap. He really should have seen it coming and he probably had, but he'd always kept it tucked away in the back of his mind. It had always been too painful for him to face. To think of Kanade choosing Arou permanently always hurt him so much he'd pretend that it wasn't a possibility. What wasn't the possibility though was Kanade choosing Namiki over Arou. It had been obvious whenever they were together, as a trio, that Arou and Kanade were going to last. He only wished somehow he could turn back time and change things. Only, it wouldn't change anything. It would only be a selfish act that wouldn't even change anything. It would only tke away Kanade's smile.

He remembered what he told her when she told him she was going to marry Arou.

"Namiki-kun," Kanade said hesitantly. "I… I have to tell you something."

Namiki smiled. "Sure, of course. What is it?"

Kanade blushed and looked away for a moment. Her eyes met Namiki again quickly. He deserved to know. "I'm going to marry Arou-kun." She smiled as she said it. It still made her giddy to think of it as a reality.

Namiki was shocked and hurt for a bit but quickly got over it. If she was going to marry Arou, then she was going to marry Arou. He couldn't change it. All he could was support her and wish her the best. "That's great!" he said cheerfully. "But… could you do just one thing for me?"

Kanade nodded quickly. "Of course!"

"Smile," he stated simply.

"Huh?"

"Smile," Namiki repeated again. "If you really want to marry him, promise me you'll be happy. Promise me that you'll never lose your smile."

Kanade smiled warmly. "I won't. I'll always smile. I promise I'll always smile just for you. Because Namiki-kun… I—I really love Arou-kun! So I'll smile everyday, okay? You can count on me!" Kanade gave a determined look.

"Thank you."

He constantly found himself wondering what would have happened if he hadn't reacted that way. Would she have told him that she was sorry but she didn't care what he thought? Or would she have changed her mind? It was a daunting question that always rebound itself inside his head at night. But now he saw that it didn't matter what would have happened. What mattered was what did happen. And that was Kanade's happiness, so he would be fine. All he needed was her smile to get him through the day, so he'd be fine. Completely fine even if he was lonely. Because after all, sometimes you have to try not to care, no matter how much you do. Because sometimes you don't mean as much to someone who means so much to you.

Kanade saw him and waved him over. Namiki got off his seat and went to greet her.

Keep smiling, Kanade-chan. Just keep smiling.