Mira's hands were trembling.
Sora noticed. "Mira, are you okay?"
Mira didn't answer. She just kept looking at the clock.
Leo approached. "Is something worrying you?"
Mira wrote in her notebook. "Deadline. Won't make it."
"Assignment?" Sora asked.
Mira nodded. The report was due tomorrow.
"There's still time," Leo said. "You can make it from now."
But Mira's hands were still shaking. She couldn't hold the pen.
Sora understood. "She's too anxious to move."
"Close to a panic state," Leo said quietly. "Anxiety is paralyzing her thinking."
Mira closed her eyes. Her breathing was fast.
Hiyori brought tea. "Mira, let's rest a little."
Mira shook her head. "No time," she wrote in her notebook.
"But you can't progress like this," Sora pointed out.
Leo began explaining. "Anxiety activates the sympathetic nervous system. Fight-or-flight response."
"Fight or flee," Sora understood.
"But you can't fight an assignment. Can't flee from it. So you become immobilized."
Mira nodded painfully.
"First, you need physiological calm," Leo continued. "Mira, can you breathe with me?"
Mira nodded slightly.
"Breathe in through your nose," Leo demonstrated. "One, two, three, four."
Mira imitated.
"Breathe out through your mouth. One, two, three, four, five, six."
Slow breathing. They repeated several times.
Mira's shoulders dropped a little.
"Good," Leo acknowledged. "The parasympathetic nervous system is activating."
Sora showed her notebook. "The vicious cycle of anxiety" was written there.
"Anxiety → body tension → thought paralysis → time waste → more anxiety."
"Exactly," Leo said. "We need to break this cycle."
Mira was listening quietly. The trembling had subsided a little.
"First, let's break down the task," Sora suggested. "Looking at the whole thing is overwhelming."
Mira took out her notebook. The report topic.
"What can you do now?" Leo asked. "In the next 10 minutes?"
Mira thought. "Read one reference," she wrote.
"Perfect," Sora said. "Focus only on that."
"Don't think about completing the whole thing," Leo added. "Just the step in front of you."
Mira nodded. She opened a book.
Ten minutes later, Mira looked up. She was a bit calmer.
"How is it?" Sora asked.
Mira gave a thumbs up.
"The next 10 minutes?"
Mira wrote. "Create an outline."
"Good," Leo acknowledged. "You're progressing step by step."
Sora asked, "Why were you so anxious?"
Mira wrote honestly. "Wanted to be perfect."
"Perfectionism," Leo understood. "That becomes pressure instead."
"It doesn't have to be perfect," Sora said gently. "A passing grade is enough."
Mira looked surprised.
"Aiming for perfection makes it hard to start," Leo explained. "Because 100 points from the beginning is impossible."
"First aim for 60 points," Sora continued. "Then improve from there."
Mira nodded slowly.
"Anxiety arises from the gap between expectations and reality," Leo said. "If ideals are too high, you're always anxious."
"Realistic goal-setting is important," Sora supplemented.
Mira wrote in her notebook. "Only what I can do now."
"Yes. That's the trick to reducing anxiety."
Thirty minutes later, Mira finished writing the outline.
"You're getting into the rhythm," Sora smiled.
Mira smiled a little.
"Anxiety might not completely disappear," Leo said. "But you can control it."
"Breathing, breaking down, realistic goals," Sora summarized.
Mira wrote words of gratitude. "Thank you."
"This time tomorrow, it'll be submitted," Leo encouraged.
Mira nodded. The anxiety was still there. But she wasn't paralyzed anymore. She could move.
The sun began to set outside the window. A day of facing anxiety. That's also part of growth.
"If you get anxious again," Sora said, "remember this method."
Mira wrote in her notebook. "Will remember."
The three quietly continued working. Anxiety isn't an enemy. Just a signal. If you manage it well, it becomes an ally.