Once upon a time, there were three little boys who were the best of friends. They all called each other by their nicknames: Ura, Kana, and Momo.
Ura was very lively. Although he was short in stature, his curiosity was boundless, and he was full of energy. Since he was always pushing them to do this and that, he was like a leader to his two friends. His only flaw was that he was a little bossy; still, he treasured his friends very much.
Kana was a quiet boy who didn’t talk much. He was shy, and he preferred to read books rather than play outside. However, when Ura or Momo would invite him to join them, he’d happily come along and play with them.
Momo was a laid-back kind of boy. While he was the largest of the three boys, he possessed a kind and gentle heart. Momo was always there to cheer up Ura whenever he got too carried away and made a mistake, and whenever Kana was scared and crying, Momo would stay by his side until he calmed down.
The three of them always played together. They never doubted that their current relationship would last forever, even once they’d grown up and become adults.
One day, when the three of them were in middle school, a girl appeared before them. She was a transfer student from the city who had no friends; Ura, being the leader, added her to the boys’ group, and the three of them called her “Ryu.”
Having gained a friend, the boys became even happier than ever. Ryu and the boys played games together, ran around in fields and hills, helped each other study, and so on and so forth.
After doing many things together, the four grew closer and closer. Though their group of three had become a group of four, the three boys’ friendship remained as strong as ever. Indeed, their friendship would last forever—or so the laid-back Momo had thought. The other three had grown up a little bit faster than him.
Ura had fallen in love with Ryu. The girl he had considered to be his dear friend had suddenly become the object of his affection. However, Ura was stubborn: he couldn’t let her know about his feelings, so he buried them in his heart forever.
But then the day came that Ryu asked Ura for advice. “I’m in love with Kana,” she confided in him.
Ura was completely shocked. It was like his whole world had turned dark. However, he decided that if it was Kana, then it was okay. Kana was a friend he cherished more than anyone; from the bottom of his heart, Ura wanted Kana to be happy with the girl he loved.
Ura suppressed his feelings. He told Ryu, “Leave it to me. I’ll definitely make you guys a couple.”
With a very happy look on her face, Ryu smiled at Ura. “Thank you. I’m glad I talked to you, Ura.” Ura smiled back, but there was a pain in his chest, and it hurt so, so much.
From that day on, Ura tried to make Ryu and Kana a couple. Yet try as Ura might, Kana would never return Ryu’s feelings. The truth of the matter was that there was nothing Ura could do: Kana was in love with another girl.
Because Ura had desperately suppressed his own feelings and supported Kana, he couldn’t forgive Kana for refusing to return Ryu’s feelings. Ura took his promise seriously and tried to force the two together, but Kana continued to reject his efforts.
Things became worse and worse between them as this continued, and when the situation became too painful to endure, Kana finally said, “Knock it off, Ura. Why are you trying to get me and Ryu together? The truth is...you like her, don’t you?”
Kana, who was sensitive to subtle matters of the heart, had always known about Ura’s true feelings. This was why he couldn’t stand to see Ura stifle his own feelings and support someone else’s love life. He had thought that Ura and Ryu should be a couple the whole time.
Ryu overheard their conversation. Once she finally realized the truth about Ura’s feelings, she realized just how cruel she had been. Seeing her after this realization, Ura felt terribly ashamed. Since the feelings he had hidden were found out, he felt so embarrassed and so pathetic that he could die.
It was at that point that the relationship between Ura, Kana, and Ryu was definitively ruined.
Ura became fed up with everything and shut himself in his room. The boy who had been so energetic and so full of bravado became like a different person: Ura became dark, withdrawn, brooding, and unable to open his heart to anyone.
Kana became desperate and began dating a girl he didn’t even like. The boy who had been so quiet and so shy became like a different person: Kana became bright, sociable, and capable of engaging in superficial relationships with a fake smile.
Consumed by a deep guilt, Ryu distanced herself from them.
That was how it all ended. These four good friends were deeply hurt by the way their feelings never aligned, and they parted ways.
However, Momo wouldn’t let it end there. Unlike the other three, Momo was a laid-back boy who didn’t understand love. He truly didn’t know why the other three had been so invested in the issue and why they had had their feelings hurt so deeply.
He hated it. He truly hated the idea of his friends going their separate ways. That’s why Momo did his best. It wasn’t like he had a way to bring everything back from the brink of disaster or like he could perform some kind of wonderful miracle. He simply tried to get along with everyone.
Every day, Momo went to Ura’s house to play; every day, he talked to Kana and Ryu. In this way, he earnestly, desperately, sincerely tried to fix their friendship. He dreamed of a future where the four of them would play together again, so he continued to desperately try to keep his friends together. He truly believed that everything would go back to normal if he never gave up.
As a result of his efforts, his feelings reached his friends. Ura came back to school, and Kana and he gradually became able to talk to each other again normally. The three of them were able to go back to being such good friends that they all went to the same high school together.
However, not everything went back to normal. Ryu alone decided to go to a different high school. “I’m too ashamed to face them,” she explained.
No matter how much Momo tried to persuade her, Ryu’s guilt wouldn’t subside. She couldn’t forgive herself for ruining the relationship of the three friends with her selfish feelings.
Ura, Kana, and Momota were back together. However, the story didn’t end with a happily ever after—and their story continues even now.