"Failed again."
Kaito threw his phone on the floor. A heavy silence filled the club room.
"The audition?" Hiyori asked quietly.
"Third time. My parents, my teacher—they all said I'd be fine."
Sora chose words carefully. "Kaito, what do you want to do?"
"What do I want?" Kaito looked up.
"Did you audition because you wanted to? Or..."
"No," Kaito interrupted. "It was my decision."
Hiyori sat on the sofa. "But don't you feel someone's expectations?"
Kaito fell silent.
"In psychology, this is called expectation load," Hiyori continued. "A phenomenon where others' expectations distort your own choices."
"Distort?"
Sora opened their notebook. "People calculate not only their own expected value but also the expectations of those around them. And the latter can overwhelm the former."
"I decided for myself," Kaito repeated.
"Really?" Hiyori gently asked. "When you failed, what emotion came first?"
Kaito pondered. "...Guilt."
"Toward whom?"
"My parents. My teacher. People who had expectations."
Sora nodded. "That's your answer. If it were truly your failure, frustration or disappointment should come first."
Hiyori continued the explanation. "Robert Rosenthal's research shows that expectations affect actual performance."
"The Pygmalion effect," Sora added. "When expected, performance improves. But there's a prerequisite."
"Prerequisite?" Kaito asked.
"It's only effective when the expectation aligns with the person's intrinsic motivation," Hiyori answered. "Conflicting expectations only increase cognitive load."
"Cognitive load?"
Sora drew a diagram. "The brain has limits on how much information it can process simultaneously. Using mental resources to meet expectations reduces actual performance."
Kaito sank into the sofa. "So what should I do?"
"First, let's categorize the expectations," Hiyori suggested. "Write down your own expectations and others' expectations."
Kaito took the notebook and wrote for a while.
"Done."
Hiyori looked at it. "There are many others' expectations."
"My parents want me to succeed. My teacher wants to validate my talent. My friends..."
"What about you?" Sora asked.
"I want... to enjoy it. But that alone felt insufficient."
"Why insufficient?"
"Everyone's supporting me. Just enjoying it seems ungrateful."
Hiyori smiled. "That's expectation load. You feel others' expectations as obligations."
"Is that wrong?"
"Not wrong. But not sustainable," Sora answered. "If you fuel yourself only on others' expectations, you'll burn out."
Hiyori continued. "Psychologist Edward Deci researched extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. What sustains long-term is intrinsic motivation."
"Enjoying it," Kaito murmured.
"If that's the essence, you should center on it."
Kaito looked out the window. "But that betrays expectations."
"The real betrayal is falsifying yourself," Hiyori said quietly. "If you communicate honest motives, true supporters will understand."
Sora added. "And managing expectations is important. Communicate your limits and set appropriate expectations."
Kaito nodded slowly. "Next time, I'll challenge myself to enjoy it."
"That's good," Hiyori acknowledged.
"But it's scary."
"Fear is natural," Sora said. "Letting go of expectations means letting go of the approval you depended on."
"But that's the path to freedom," Hiyori concluded.
Kaito picked up his phone. The screen showed information about the next audition. This time, he looked at it with different feelings.
"Thank you. I feel lighter."
The three smiled quietly. Understanding the weight of expectations was the beginning of freedom.