"Mitty! Did you hear back from that uni?" Natsume asked as she ran after Shizuku on her way to Haru's.

It was the last day of classes, ever, and they would not see each other again until graduation. Shizuku had been nervously awaiting an acceptance letter from the University of Tokyo, her number one choice, and the only university she had not heard back from yet.

"Not yet, Natsume. Why don't you worry about your own acceptance letters," she replied coldly. She didn't want to be cold toward Natsume but she was too upset about not having heard anything from the University of Tokyo yet that she could not be bothered with Natsume's usual chipper self.

"Oh, well... I didn't really get any..."

"You did apply, didn't you?"

"Yeah... I just," she started but then began to cry. "I got rejected from all of them!"

Shizuku looked up at her friend, sympathetic. Rejection was hard. And although Shizuku, of course, hadn't received a single rejection letter from a uni, she knew of rejection.

Three Days Eariler

"Haru, you seriously didn't apply to any universities?"

"Nope. I'm moving to San Diego."

"San Diego? As in America?" She looked at him in disbelief. Why would he choose to go there out of all places? It was so... far away. And, although she had prepared herself since Sophomore year for this moment, she never imagined that Haru would choose to move so far. She had grown accustomed to him always being with her and, despite everything she had done to prepare for him someday leaving, she never imagined how difficult this day would actually be.

"Yeah. I had Natsume help me do some research on the internet and, apparently, San Diego is the best place for Tuna Fishing."

"You're not serious about that, are you?" It's such a waste of talent, she added to herself.

"Shizuku, you said you'd wait for me," he replied, a bit concerned. Was she, after all this time, having second doubts?

She looked over at him and then down at the floor. She would, of course, wait for him. But what if he doesn't come back? What if he decides he loves San Diego more than he loves me?

She shook the thoughts from her head. She knew already that she was going to wait for him as long as it took. There was no one in the world who knew her like he did, who loved her like he did. She would wait forever if she had to.

But Haru would come back, right? She thought to herself. He would, like he always had.

She had already convinced herself, mentally at least, that the distance would be good for them. With him gone, she could focus on her studies while at uni and she could become rich so that her mother could stop working and return home. That was all she wanted, right?

Maybe not.

It's fine, she told herself. It's going to be fine.

She had repeated those words to herself for years now. But still there was a lingering fear in her heart that he would not come back, and that it would not be fine.

She looked up at him. He was smiling.

Why was he always smiling when she felt the worse inside? Yet there was something about his smile that made her feel at ease.

"Of course, I will wait for you Haru," she replied.

"Then I will definitely come back."

She forced a smile, accepting the fact that Haru would move on from her life despite his promise to come back. She had to prepare herself for the worse possible situation. Perhaps he was meant to be with her for only a while. Perhaps what he had already given her was more than what she ever could have asked for. It was, in fact, more than what most people ever get.

And she hadn't seen him since.

"Where did Haru go this time?" Sasayan asked as the two girls entered the batting cages.

"He said he was going away for a while. He promised he'd be back in a few days," Shizuku replied.

"How long ago was that?"

"Three days ago."

"Well, that's a few days isn't it?" Natsume asked.

"Yeah, but you know Haru, he's doing his own thing."

"Okay." They had already accepted this about Haru. He was always doing his own thing, a wild child still till this day.

"Hey Sasayan, did that scholarship work out for you?" Shizuku asked.

"Oh..." he replied. It did but he was reluctant to admit it because it meant that he was going to be moving very far away. "Yeah."

"It did?!" Natsume replied. She was filled with both joy and sadness at the same time. "That's wonderful! I'm really happy for you."

"How could you be so happy when it means that Sasayan is going to be very far away?!" Shizuku snapped. "Plus, you haven't received a single letter yet, what are you going to do with your life Natsume!?"

They stared at her, confused. Why was she yelling at them?

"Oh, Mitty... is something wrong?"

"No," she lied. "I'm going home first." She took her bag and walked home, alone.

She had to get used to it, being alone that is, now that Haru and Sasayan were both going to be very far away. She wondered if Natsume would go far away as well? She needed to prepare for the worse, she told herself again. She must prepare for all of them leaving her.

She opened her gate and walked toward her door. Suddenly, she felt bad for yelling at her friends. She thought of turning around to go apologize but, in the corner of her eye, she saw a large white envelope.

It was what she was waiting for.

She had gotten in.

And that was four years ago.