Rushia and Marine went on a walk in the park. Marine was about to confess to her feelings when Rushia started talking about the real reason they went on a walk.
"Let's go somewhere with a little more privacy. You don't mind, right Marine?"
"Huh? Ah, yes."
Marine walked a little faster than Rushia. Her heart was beating really fast.
"I'm going to make a confession."
"Y-yes?!"
"It's not much of a confession. More like an announcement," Rushia said with a sigh.
She was always saying stuff like that, but she looked so serious, Marine could hardly breathe. She held her breath as she watched Rushia walk a few paces ahead of her.
"I'm going to Graduate," Rushia declared, stopping.
"Ah, u-um."
"I'm in alot of trouble right now, and I know you're worried about me, so I wanted to let you know first, so I won't feel too bad."
"Oh... U-um."
Marine's mind was filled with questions like, Why do you have to Graduate? What happened? And she didn't know what to say, but it was better than just letting the silence continue. Rushia still looked at Marine, who was still breathing hard.
"And I wanted to tell you because you're the most important person to me," Rushia said, her words slurred together as if she were trying to spit them out.
Marine could see that Rushia's hands were clenched in tight fists.
"Uh, I, um..." Marine started, but Rushia interrupted.
"I know, I know. It's really selfish of me to ask this of you."
"Huh?"
"But it's because I love you. It's because you're important to me that I have to do this," Rushia explained. "I won't be able to come to the office anymore after this, I won't be able to see you anymore..."
"Eh?"
Marine didn't know what to say. She hadn't expected a confession of love.
"I have to go. I have to get ready," Rushia said, then started running. "Goodbye, Marine."
"Wait, Rushia!" Marine yelled, chasing after Rushia.
Rushia reached the entrance of the park and disappeared into a crowd of people. She was gone.
***
"I'm going to graduate."
That's what Rushia told her. She was probably telling the truth.
Marine's thoughts kept coming back to that line.
It was a shock to her heart. She didn't know how to process the sudden change. She didn't know if she was ever going to see her best friend again. She felt like the sun had set.
"Hey, Marine?" a voice called.
Marine turned around. It was a Pekora, her large eyes staring into hers.
"You have been acting strange all day. Is something wrong? I would like to know," she asked, cocking her head to the side.
"Ah, well, I..." Marine started, but she couldn't continue.
It felt like a huge secret that was being dragged around inside of her. She couldn't even say it, it was so heavy.
"Have you guys seen Rushia?" Marine asked her coworkers, but they were all no help. They looked at her, confused. "Have you seen her at all?"
"No."
"Didn't she get fired? I don't really talk to her."
"I don't know where she lives."
"I think she moved?"
"I haven't seen her in a while. Sorry I can't help you," one of her coworkers told her.
Marine didn't understand. Rushia had told her everything about her problems and yet...
"Where did she go? What did she do?" Marine asked, and everyone just shook their heads.
"You were the only one we ever saw her with," another coworker said, shaking her head.
"I think her streams are going to be deleted"
"Her fanbase is really small."
"We're all worried about you, Marine."
Marine never realized until now that she was the only person in the office who was close with Rushia. Everyone else barely spoke to her. She was surprised, to say the least.
Marine started looking at the posts on social media. People were talking about how "Rushia has really let herself go." How "it was all her fault for her graduation." How "the internet was really cruel."
"Rushia is graduating?" one person wrote. "But I thought she wasn't going to graduate."
"Huh? So that's what this is about," another person said. "Why is she graduating?"
"Is it because she was dating Mafumafu? I'm not surprised she was fired."
"She deserves it!"
"I hope she dies."
"I hate that bitch."
Marine wanted to scream. How could people say that? How could they say these things about her Rushia?! None of it was true, and everyone just believed what they saw on the internet.
She needed to find her. She had to see her no matter what. She would protect her, no matter what.
But she didn't even know where begin...
