Rin's route
Act 1 ~ Life Expectancy
Hisao first encounters Rin on his third day while finding supplies for the student council. With a surprisingly blunt series of questions, Rin puzzles at Hisao's disability, guessing it is "in his pants". This causes a stunned Hisao to explain his arrhythmia, making Rin the first student to know the details of his condition.
It is soon discovered that Rin is responsible for an art project, as she is scolded ineffectively by Shizune for its delayed completion. Rin enlists Hisao's help in the project, and he mixes the paints while she draws on the wall below the student dormitories. The following day Hisao finds himself helping Rin painting the mural once again, all the while struggling to deal with her eccentric personality and nonsensical conversation.
Later, Emi drags Hisao to the roof for lunch where he encounters Rin again. The three converse and Emi invites Hisao to join them again for lunch in the future.
While coming back from the convenience store with Lilly, Hisao encounters a confused Rin wandering around and the two bring her to school, where Rin suddenly realizes that she might not finish the mural in time due to her procrastination, and spends the whole night and the following day painting. She enlists the help of Emi and Hisao to provide what paints she needs.
That same day, Hisao encounters the art teacher, Mr. Nomiya, who is bringing colleagues of his to the festival to view Rin's work. On a spur of the moment decision, Hisao decides to join the art club.
The day of the festival, Hisao ends up spending the whole day with Rin beside her mural talking about how she feels about her project, which seems to be a point of uncertainty. As the sun sets, Hisao falls asleep against the brick wall. After a while he is awakened by the sound of fireworks, and is surprised to find Rin sleeping while leaning against him. Rin wakes as well, and they watch the fireworks. Hisao contemplates the brevity of human life and Rin discusses Hisao's cynicism.
Act 2 ~ Disconnect
After classes the next day, Emi collides with Hisao once more, this time in a hurry to bring papers to a teacher. After some apologies, she invites Hisao to meet her for lunch on the rooftop again. When Hisao arrives, he notices Rin lying on the gravel roof, watching the sky. She reveals that she skips classes in order to experience the things she wishes.
Later, Hisao enters the art club room, and to his surprise finds Rin seated opposite a blind boy that she mentioned earlier. Nomiya announces to the club that Hisao will be their new member, and tells everyone to begin their projects with a partner. Hisao asks Rin to be his partner, and she agrees. Each duo starts to draw a portrait of their partners.
Hisao finishes his portrait of Rin. He is disappointed with his results, and remarks how he is not much of an artist. He states Rin's seems to be perfect, and comments that he wishes to be good as her while looking at it. Rin remarks he seems to be gloomy looking.
The next day after class, Rin asks if she can listen to his heartbeat. Hisao says that it should be private, to which Rin replies that she ate a orange for breakfast and that it is her favorite fruit. Rin asks Hisao as to why he has not smiled at all since coming to the school.
Later on the library, Hisao chats with Yuuko about how his time in Yamaku. Yuuko feels that she is now more reliable and joyfully tells Hisao that she hopes that they will meet each other again.
The day of Emi's track meet arrives and Hisao attends with Rin and meets Emi's mother, Meiko Ibarazaki. After introductions (and teasing), the trio watch Emi run her events. During the second event Rin's feet began to thump with what Hisao reads as enthusiasm, but she denies an interest in the event, replying that she only watches "Emi at her Emiest". Hisao is amazed by Emi's ability in the races. Although Meiko has to leave before the final event, Hisao and Rin watch the and then go together to congratulate Emi. Pleased, Emi invites Hisao to join her and Rin for a celebration later in the week.
In the art club after Nomiya finishes his lecture on the class and asks Rin to help out Sae by giving her one of her paintings, causing a hesitant Rin to think about it. After Rin leaves the art room Hisao catches up to her, and asks about her problem. Rin decides to go somewhere and Hisao offers to come with her to which she agrees. They go to the forest and stop at a large maple tree called the Worry Tree by Rin. There she wallows up her misery to the tree and here Hisao does the same, and begins to feel that he should change. At sunset the duo return to their dorms, on the way they bump into Kenji, in which Kenji offers that they can visit his room anytime they want to about his femininist conspiracy and secretly gives them a password to enter (HONEYMUFFIN). The next day Hisao receives a letter from Iwanako, bringing official closure to the relationship that didn't even start. Hisao mails a letter to her but no replies. In the art club Hisao has a chat with Rin during her work about how she loses many words and thoughts that she knows as she paints,and states that this proves her existence and resolves that change scares her. Nomiya ask if Rin agrees to accept to work in the gallery to which Hisao supports the idea.
The afternoon of Hisao's picnic with Emi and Rin starts off bad with an overcast sky. Rin suggest that they should have the picnic while it rains but Emi declines and decides to seek shelter at The Shanghai where Hisao encounters Yuuko. He is surprised that she also works as a waitress. After the trio enjoys their time at The Shanghai Emi begins to go back on her own. During this, Hisao offers Rin to go back to school with him. Hisao begins to cover her and himself with his umbrella while the duo walks together. Rin argues about the rain that she feels it was connected to her art and everything around her. After they reach to school the two return to their dorms. Hisao visits the Nurse for his check up, and the Nurse mentions that Emi got a cold. Hisao goes to the roof and began to watch the sky, while waiting Rin arrives and asks about why Emi wasn't here bringing lunch for them, and is surprised to hear that she is sick. Uunexpectedly, Rin sneezes and Hisao helps her wipe her nose with his handkerchief. While waiting for the school bell they talk to each other about the school and living a normal life, and Rin complains that she should be afraid of herself when she changes and surprisingly hugs Hisao, Rin confesses that she was not very good at hugging. She remarks that one time Emi hugged her and got surprised, kicking her in the stomach. After the hug Rin offers Hisao to visit someplace if they had time. After class Hisao and Emi finally get together and on their way they visit Rin to bring her cold medicine due to her getting sick.
Two days later a nervous Hisao decide to visit Rin in her room, surprisingly after managing to find her room Hisao knocks on the her door and Rin answers the door appearing on him with almost no clothing on. Rin finds it surprising that someone aside Emi is visiting. After the non-essential chat Hisao wants to tell her that he is going to change and apologizes for saying stupid things. Rin also apologizes for saying stupid things too and returns to bed. She then asks Hisao if he likes to see girls sleeping and tells him that he can stay. Hisao tells her that he has homework to do and begins to leave her room. Rin jumps out of her bed, saying that she will escort him out of her room. Rin then kisses Hisao and returns to bed. Hisao tucks her up and leaves.The next day Hisao bumps into Rin again and asks if she remembers what had happened yesterday; but Rin can't recall it. However Rin remembers that she wanted to bring Hisao somewhere that she had promised to take him to which Hisao agrees. The two begin to walk to the forest and pass the Worry Tree and stop in the valley where there is a sea of dandelions. Rin has an outburst, thinking that Hisao was upset but he calms her down. Rin reveals that she can't understand people because they're like jellyfish to her and confesses that she never had friends (despite Emi is with her). Hisao states that he really wanted to become her friend, making Rin happy and confesses that her only friends where pencils, paint and papers because she is not good with words. Hisao resolves that she just forgets words she knew, causing Rin to smile. They spend the rest of the day together until sunset, where Hisao decides whether to quit or continue in the art club. Rin finally decides to accept and is determined to work in Sae's gallery. While the two are returning to their dorms Hisao feels that their friendship is about to be put to the test that the distance between them is in his grasp.
Act 3 ~ Distance
One day after class, Hisao stops by the art club and sees Rin telling Nomiya that she will work at the gallery. Overjoyed, Nomiya makes a quick call and drives the the two students to the 22nd Corner Art Gallery. There they meet the gallery owner, Sae. Nomiya privately talks to her and after scrutinising Rin's art carefully agrees to host some of her work if she can refine her technique and produce paintings that share a common theme. To enable this, Nomiya arranges for Rin to be excepted from classes throughout the rest of the trimester, freeing her to focus on painting in the atelier. On her last day of school, Hisao waits for Rin but she doesn't emerge from class. He finds her still at her desk fast asleep, and is bewildered to see her crying in her sleep. When she wakes up she explains that crying is something she's learned from others. While the two leave the teaching building, Rin announces to Hisao that she is resolved to change who she is. She also tells Emi not to visit while she focuses on her painting, which infuriates her.
Hisao eventually realizes that, despite how confusing she is, he still wants to become close to Rin and understand her. He decides to confess his feelings for her at the atelier, but when he does so she cuts him off and tells him she can't think about it right now. Heartbroken, Hisao turns to leave, but Rin asks him to visit again tomorrow. Thus begins a pattern where Hisao visits her in the evenings, watching her paint or reading in silence. Realizing she hasn't been eating well, he brings her some oranges and gently feeds them to her. As the weeks pass, Rin begins to struggle with her art; she finds that she cannot inspire herself to paint using new methods nor her old ones. She comes to the conclusion that changing who she is is not enough, and that she must first destroy the old her. She asks Sae for cigarettes, and Hisao reluctantly shares the pack with her. Realizing that smoking is only increasing her melancholy and introversion, he decides to shake her out of her mood by exploring the city at night, taking random turns and discovering a new side of the town. They wander the streets until dawn and it seems to invigorate her. To Hisao's surprise, she suddenly asks him to stop visiting her for reasons she won't explain. She permits him to touch her anywhere he likes (except her boobs and her left ear), and he gently brushes her cheek with three fingers. Her only response is to close her eyes, and then bid him goodbye.
Hisao discovers that he can't stop thinking of her, and within a few days he finds himself heading back to the gallery. He runs into Nomiya and Sae who explain Rin has been doing exceptionally well recently, and they talk a while about the challenges of being a gifted career artist. As the two old friends excuse themselves to reminisce, Hisao makes his way into the atelier where he is stunned to find Rin pleasuring herself on the floor. Realizing she's been seen, she struggles with the shame and frustration of how much difficulty she's having pursuing her path as an artist. Hisao is moved by her desperation to find herself and improve her art in the process, and after a while they embrace. One thing leads to another and Rin asks him to help her finish. Hisao states that it's not something friends normally do, and Rin wonders again what it means to have a friend. Afterwards she falls asleep in his arms and they spend the night there together. In the morning, the two of them question whether it was a mistake, and whether it crossed a boundary in their friendship. They start arguing about why art is so important to her, and Hisao struggles with his frustration at how difficult it is to understand and connect with the woman he loves.
Bad Ending
Hisao demands that Rin explains to her what she means to him, and she finds herself unable to do so. His frustration boils over as feels like she's been treating him only as a source of inspiration and not as a person with feelings and dreams. He yells at her about how selfish and unhealthy she's being by devoting herself to her art, even if it kills her. Rin realizes that she will never understand him and that she can never get him to understand her. She demands that he leave, and furiously he does so. He contemplates the strange change that has emerged in their relationship, unable to decide if this change is in him, or in her. Before fading to sleep, he notes how much time he wasted chasing things out of his reach.
Act 4 ~ Dream
Hisao returns to class, still seething with frustration at his inability to understand and connect with Rin. He decides to talk to Nomiya after class but is simply reminded that her big exhibition is on the weekend which he promised to attend. The day before the exhibition, Hisao encounters Rin on his way his room and finds he's still angry at her. They try and talk about what's been bothering them, but the conversation plays out much the same as the Bad Ending of Act 3. In the end, Rin asks him to stay with her because she needs him. Hisao replies caustically, stating that he's not satisfied just being a muse to her. Hurt and upset, Rin leaves and Hisao becomes even more frustrated with himself for hurting her.
The next night Hisao goes to the exhibition to apologize to Rin about what had happened the day before. Inside, Sae is busy entertaining guests who are enjoying the wine and company, and are only vaguely interested in the art exhibits. Hisao finds Emi who has come to congratulate Rin on her big success. Nomiya appears with Rin in tow, who pointedly ignores Hisao. When Sae introduces the guests to the artist, they become intrigued by Rin's disability and how it affects her painting. She is bombarded with questions about her inspiration and technique and Rin struggles to find the words to answer them. To the astoundment of those present, she is so overwhelmed that she sinks to her knees. Hisao escorts her outside in order to her calm down and Sae makes excuses to the guests. Rin realizes that her struggle with words prevented her from answering the captivated guests, and all she just wanted to be with someone who wouldn't question her.
Neutral Ending
If Hisao tells Rin that she should be happy about everyone liking her art and asks questions about it Rin becomes upset and returns to the gallery surprising Nomiya that nothing is wrong about her. The next day, after Hisao easily finishes his exam and returns to his room, he tries to visit Rin but finds she was not in her dorm causing him to wait until the next day. When Hisao tries to visit Rin again he ends up meeting Emi, and she tells him that she is back at the gallery. Hisao goes to the gallery and meets up with Nomiya and Sae and notices some of Rin's work, and that even some had already been sold. Sae tells Hisao about the story of two friends (Picasso and Cicasso), and Rin appears, only to run outside. Hisao follows and covers her from the rain with his umbrella They start walking together, and after the rain stops Rin moves away from Hisao and tells him that she is looking for someone that can understand her. Hisao cynically responds that it doesn't matter if someone can see the way she feels, and that people are always alone, causing Rin to get upset even more and decides to accept a scholarship in Tokyo leaving Yamaku for good. Rin hugs Hisao and tells him that she can hug someone on her own and pursues to became an artist. Rin tells Hisao to forget about her from there on. Rin walks away from Hisao for good.
Good Ending
Hisao answers Rin, asking her what would happen if she did find such a person. Rin realizes that she hadn't changed as much as she needed to in order to be the sort of person who would be ready for an exhibition like this and promptly starts walking back to school. Hisao attempts to stop her but is undeterred. Returning to the gallery, Nomiya is outraged when he learns what Rin has done, but Sae is much more forgiving, attributing her response to stage fright. Emi suggests that she and Hisao should go find her and "kick her ass", but Hisao gently persuades her that this wouldn't really change anything. The two then return to the dorms to prepare for the next day's exams.
During his final exam, Nomiya interrupts the class requesting urgently to speak with him. Hisao learns that Rin has been hiding ever since the exhibition. Hisao then asks Nomiya why he pushed her so hard to do the exhibition, to which the art teacher explains that he saw it as his duty as a mentor to ensure her talents didn't go to waste. Despite her absence, the exhibition was a mild success and he even sold one of her paintings for a reasonable price. Nomiya impels Hisao to get Rin to see her if he should ever find her. Hisao goes off in search for her and discovers her in the unused classroom where they first met. He greets her, but Rin continues to hold herself at a distance. Hisao explains to her that Sae and Nomiya are unhappy with what has happened and they believe Rin is throwing away everything she has been working for by running away from the exhibition. Rin admits that she couldn't do it, and is frustratingly taciturn in her responses.
The two of them leave the classroom so that she can apologize to Nomiya. Hisao waits outside as the art teacher scolds Rin, lecturing her on the challenges of being an artist and how she's throwing away their efforts. She apologises and calmly states that the exhibition was a mistake, and Nomiya becomes so frustrated that he tells her maybe she isn't an artist after all and storms out. When Hisao goes in to comfort her, she tells him to leave, believing that he's failed her as a friend in the same way Nomiya has. Hisao tells her that Nomiya was pushing her to be someone she wasn't, and that the reason he's been frustrated with her was because on some level he had been trying to do the same. The conversation turns to why Rin does art, and in a moment of uncharacteristic clarity, she explains it's a better medium for expressing herself than words, and that maybe all she wants is for people to understand her so she didn't feel so alone. Hisao gently tells her that everybody has their own subjective interpretation and she may never be understood by other people. It hurts her, but she accepts it as a true statement. Hisao holds her as she cries in his arms.
On the first day of summer vacation Hisao is awakened by the heavy rain outside. He hears a thud at his door and answers it to find Rin standing in the hallway, soaking wet. After a short conversation, Rin tells him that she needs help getting dry clothes, and that Emi has gone home for the summer. Hisao connects the dots and nervously agrees to help her, grabbing a towel and one of his spare school uniforms. As dries and undresses her she gently encourages him to touch her, and the two of them end up having sex. It is a transformative act for both of them: Rin discovers what it feels like to not be alone, and Hisao learns to stop worrying about the future and just for the moment enjoy being with her.
Afterwards, Rin suddenly resolves to take him somewhere and impatiently gets him to help her dress. She leads him to the hill full of dandelion flowers which are now in full bloom. Rin asks Hisao if he loves her, to which he answers he isn't sure. Rin doesn't know either, but she says it anyway, describing the phrase as "a weird taste". She begins to cry again and she comes to the realization that Hisao scares her because his kindness makes her feel like he wants her to be more than herself, and it terrifies her. He laughs, because he realizes that he doesn't want her to change - the things about her that frustrate him are also what he admires most about her. He realises that he loves her, and asks her if she'll stay with him, even if it's scary. She resolves that she will, and that it's okay for her to be herself. Hisao gently blows a dandelion away and begins to question Rin about whether or not that she had became an artist, but Rin interrupts him from worrying about it and invites him just to enjoy the moment and watch the sky with her. The story ends with Rin asking Hisao "What's the right word for when it feels inside your heart that everything in the world is alright?"