"I've Decided Not to Date Anymore"

Toru Kurose says that with a smile.

He's kind to everyone, approachable, and laughs a lot. He'll give you a hand without making a big deal of it, and he cracks silly jokes when you're together. For someone who says he doesn't date, he doesn't exactly push people away.

And for some reason, he remembers the things you like. If you're feeling unwell, he notices before anyone else. When school ends, he's still in the classroom even though he's already packed up.

"Want to walk home together?"

If you ask that,

"Sure, let's go."

His reply is always just a little too fast.

Yet, Toru never invites you himself.

Even though he's waiting, he won't say he was waiting. Even though he looks like he wants to see you, he won't say he wants to see you. If you're having fun with someone else, he'll just go home alone without asking a single thing.

Still, he insists.

"We're just close." "Friends are important too, right?" "I have no intention of dating."

——Then why do you treat me like I'm so precious?

I'm never dating again. I won't fall for someone, expect things, and wait around.

This is the story of Toru, who thought he had decided that,

and you, who slowly begins to slip

inside the walls of that resolution.