"Let's meet! I want to tell you something in person!"

That was the last time they spoke on the phone. After that night, Toda tried his best not to be alone with Matsuoka or talk on the phone as they used to do almost every night before bedtime.

He was upset but mostly hurt.

If he hadn't gotten sick that week, if he hadn't missed classes... maybe Ikkokudo sensei would never have had a chance to get close to Matsuoka.

But it's too late.

Toda knows what his friend wants to tell him is what he saw secretly after school, on the school's terrace.

The kiss.

And there was no more chance Toda tells his dear —secretly beloved— friend how he felt.