Episode 3: The Other Person’s Feelings
“Nanase-san.”
The next day, during break, Shiori came to talk to me.
“…What?”
“Have you got a minute?”
She smiled, calm as ever.
“It’s just — there’s something about Shiraishi-san that’s been on my mind…”
I frowned at that.
“On your mind?”
“Yeah. Doesn’t she seem a little tired lately?”
The words hit me somewhere I wasn’t expecting.
“That’s not…”
“I know how much you love her. But…”
Shiori paused, and looked straight at me.
“Are you actually thinking about how she feels?”
Something stirred in my chest.
It was as if her words could see all the way inside me.
“…What do you mean?”
I stared back at her, harder than I meant to.
Shiori kept her smile and tilted her head, unhurried.
“Do you really understand what Shiraishi-san is feeling?”
The words stopped my breath.
“…That’s…”
“I’m sure she really does love you. But people can’t stay feeling the exact same way forever.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Simply put… if you hold someone’s hand without ever letting go, sometimes they get tired.”
“…!”
Something snagged inside me.
“That’s not… that’s not true…”
“I understand why you’d want to believe that. But are you actually looking at her face?”
Shiori said it softly, then smiled.
“If you really want to treasure Shiraishi-san — I think it might be worth stepping back, just a little.”
“Stepping back…?”
“Yeah. Hold on too tight, and people start wanting to pull free.”
Her words seeped into me, slow and deep.
“…I can’t do that.”
I bit my lip and glared at her.
“Why not?”
“Because Honoka is mine… I don’t want to let go.”
My voice was trembling.
Shiori narrowed her eyes slightly, her gaze taking on something testing.
“I see… So even if Shiraishi-san starts to suffer because of it, that doesn’t matter to you?”
“…!”
The words stuck in my throat.
“Shiraishi-san looked a little lonely after school yesterday.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is. I was watching.”
Shiori’s quiet voice cut in somewhere it shouldn’t have been able to reach.
It wasn’t as if I’d never seen Honoka’s expression cloud over.
But even so. Even so, I didn’t want to let go.
“…Then what am I supposed to do?”
Shiori’s smile softened.
“Try giving her a little more room.”
“Room?”
“If you ease up a bit, Shiraishi-san might feel more at ease too.”
“…”
“And besides—”
She took one step closer.
“If Shiraishi-san really does get worn out — I’ll be there to support her.”
A chill ran down my spine.
“…What does that mean?”
“Exactly what it sounds like.”
Shiori smiled pleasantly. But her eyes held something else shifting behind them.
As if that were precisely what she was hoping for.