Episode 5: Breathing Room
Even when the last bell rang, I didn’t reach for my bag straight away.
Normally I’d be first out the door, heading straight for Class 2 to meet Honoka.
But not today.
“Try giving her a little more room.”
Shiori’s words kept coming back, turning over and over in my head.
If I went to meet her like always, took her hand like always — I’d feel better. I knew that.
But if that had become a weight for Honoka to carry—
“…Just this once. I can try it just this once.”
I said it to myself, like a reminder.
I left the classroom and made my way to the shoe lockers.
The space beside me that should have had Honoka in it was empty today.
My chest felt unsettled. My fingers wouldn’t stay still.
I want her to look only at me.
I swallowed that feeling down and walked through the school gate.
On the way home, I took out my phone.
— What is Honoka doing right now?
Maybe she was chatting happily with her classmates.
Or maybe — just maybe — she was missing me a little.
I was still turning it over in my mind when my phone buzzed.
【Yuna, are you not coming to get me today?】
That one line, and my chest was already full.
Normally I’d reply straight away. But my fingers wouldn’t move.
Putting a little distance between us — if that’s what’s good for Honoka—
I held my phone tight and told myself that.
“…But.”
I still wanted to see her. Right now.
“Nanase-san.”
A quiet voice from behind me.
I turned. It was Shiori.
“…Shiori.”
“Looks like you managed it — giving yourself a bit of room.”
She smiled.
“Well… yeah.”
My reply came out stiff.
“Did Shiraishi-san just message you?”
I startled and closed my hand around my phone before I could stop myself.
“How did you know?”
“Just a feeling.”
Shiori drew closer, unhurried.
“Is it hard?”
At those words, I bit down on my lip without thinking.
Of course it was hard.
“…It’s hard.”
When I said it, Shiori reached out and touched my shoulder, gently.
“Little by little is fine. As long as you feel better for it.”
I looked up at her face.
Her eyes were calm, and yet somehow deep.
“…What if Honoka stops needing me?”
The fear I’d been keeping inside slipped out before I could stop it.
Shiori narrowed her eyes a little and smiled softly.
“Even then, your worth doesn’t change.”
“That doesn’t… that doesn’t mean anything. Without Honoka, I can’t…”
The words caught. My chest pulled tight.
“It’s okay. If it really comes to that… I’ll be here.”
Shiori’s voice was quiet.
But there was something certain living in her eyes.
“…Shiori?”
Her hand found mine, light as nothing.
“I see you, Nanase-san. I really do.”
Those words soaked into me, slow and quiet.
I didn’t want to imagine a world without Honoka in it.
But Shiori’s words had settled somewhere deep inside me — and I was dimly aware that they were staying there.