"I feel frustrated."
Kaito stared at the ceiling. In the after-school classroom, only three remained.
"What happened?" Leo asked.
"I don't know. That's the problem."
Sora showed interest. "You have feelings but can't identify what they are?"
"Exactly. There's heaviness in my chest. But I can't tell if it's sadness, anger, or anxiety."
Leo wrote in his notebook. "Possible alexithymia."
"What's that?" Kaito asked.
"Difficulty recognizing or verbalizing emotions. Also called 'emotional dyslexia.'"
"A disease where you can't understand emotions?"
"More of a characteristic than a disease," Sora explained. "Everyone has it to varying degrees."
Kaito rubbed his body. "But I am feeling something. I just can't name it."
"Do you have physical sensations?" Leo asked.
"A tightness in my chest. A lump in my throat."
"Those are bodily signs of emotion," Sora said. "Your brain processes emotion, but you can't consciously recognize it."
Leo drew a diagram. "Emotion has two pathways. One is bodily response. The other is cognitive appraisal."
"Cognitive appraisal?"
"The process of labeling emotions. 'This is anger.' 'This is anxiety.'"
Kaito thought. "I'm bad at labeling?"
"Possibly. But it's trainable," Sora encouraged.
"How?"
Leo suggested. "Keep an emotion journal. Write what you feel daily."
"But I can't write because I don't know what I feel."
"Start with just bodily sensations," Sora said. "Like 'chest feels heavy,' 'hands trembled,' 'face felt hot.'"
"How does that relate to emotions?"
"Bodily sensations connect to emotions. When your chest felt heavy, what happened?"
Kaito recalled. "This morning, I fought with my parents."
"Then it's likely anger or sadness," Leo analyzed.
"But which one?"
Sora asked. "When you remember the fight, do you feel like attacking or crying?"
Kaito closed his eyes. "Both. But if I had to choose... crying."
"That's closer to sadness."
"Sadness... is it?" Kaito murmured. "Putting it into words makes it feel lighter."
Leo explained. "Naming emotions is called affect labeling. It's the first step in emotion regulation."
"Naming makes them easier to control?"
"Yes. 'Feeling frustrated' is harder to address than 'sad about fighting with parents.'"
Sora added. "Emotions are information. They're signals that 'something is wrong.'"
"Being sad means losing something precious, or being hurt."
Kaito nodded. "The relationship with my parents matters, so fighting hurt."
"You noticed," Leo acknowledged.
"But I can't always spend this much time analyzing."
Sora proposed. "Expand your emotion vocabulary. Not just 'sad,' 'happy,' 'angry.'"
"Like what?"
"Disappointment, impatience, anxiety, relief, envy, pride... many exist."
Leo showed a list. "There's a tool called the emotion wheel. It maps subtle emotions derived from basic emotions."
"Emotions have a map?" Kaito became interested.
"Rich emotion vocabulary helps you grasp your state more accurately."
Kaito made notes on his phone. "Emotion journal and emotion vocabulary. I'll try them."
Sora smiled. "Kaito is trying to deepen self-understanding. That's growth."
"I just don't like feeling frustrated."
"Any motivation works," Leo said. "Understanding emotions means understanding yourself."
Kaito looked out the window. "Maybe feelings that can't be put into words don't lack words—we just don't know them yet."
"Good insight," Sora acknowledged.
"Then I'll go home now and apologize to my parents. That's how to address 'sadness.'"
Leo smiled. "Perfect application."
Kaito stood up. "Thank you. I feel like I understand myself a bit better."
Silence returned to the classroom. Feelings that can't be put into words are waiting for words.