"Mira, you don't make much eye contact when talking."
Leo said frankly. The three were sitting on a park bench.
Mira showed a slightly surprised expression, but quickly nodded.
Sora hastily said, "Leo, that's..."
"No, it's not criticism," Leo explained. "It's a cultural observation. In Germany, eye contact is considered a sign of trust. But in other cultures, it can be different."
Mira wrote in her notebook. "Gaze = culture"
"Yes. In Japan, avoiding direct gaze can be considered polite in some situations."
Sora added. "Especially with superiors, staring directly can sometimes be rude."
"Interesting," Leo thought. "The same behavior can be respect in one culture and rudeness in another."
Mira showed a new note. "Meaning of gaze is context-dependent"
"Exactly," Sora acknowledged. "Who you're talking to, what situation, what you're talking about. Everything influences it."
Leo gave an example. "Between lovers, a long gaze is an expression of affection. But with strangers, it can convey threat or discomfort."
"The power of gaze is significant," Sora said.
"In psychology, eye contact conveys intimacy, dominance, and strength of interest," Leo explained. "But the interpretation varies by culture and individual."
Mira raised her hand. An unusual gesture. Then she wrote. "What about people with autism spectrum?"
Sora showed interest. "Some people find eye contact difficult, right?"
"Yes," Leo nodded. "From a neurodiversity perspective, judging by presence or absence of eye contact isn't appropriate."
"So you can't measure someone's feelings or sincerity by gaze alone."
Mira smiled. She seemed to feel understood.
Sora wrote in her notebook. "Recognize diversity in nonverbal communication"
Leo continued. "Another interesting thing is that gaze avoidance isn't necessarily passive."
"What do you mean?"
"For example, when thinking deeply, people look away. This is to reduce cognitive load."
Sora recalled. "True, when thinking about difficult problems, I look up at the sky."
"By blocking visual information, you can concentrate on internal thoughts."
Mira wrote. "Looking away = thinking"
"Yes. So looking away during conversation might not be indifference, but rather evidence of serious thought."
Sora had another question. "What about staring continuously?"
"That also depends on context," Leo answered. "It can indicate affection, hostility, or lack of social skills."
"It's complex."
Mira opened a new page. "Personal distance" was written.
"Personal space," Leo read. "This also varies by culture and relationship."
"Edward Hall's research," Sora showed her knowledge. "Intimate distance, personal distance, social distance, public distance."
"Correct. And appropriate distance also differs by culture."
Mira stood up and moved as if measuring the distance with Leo.
"Mira, what are you doing?" Sora laughed.
Mira wrote. "Finding comfortable distance"
"Interesting experiment," Leo cooperated. "As a German, I might prefer slightly more space than Japanese people."
After trying several distances, Mira stopped at a position. About one meter from Leo.
"Is this Mira's social distance?" Sora asked.
Mira nodded.
"But with close people, you can get closer?"
After thinking briefly, Mira nodded. Then she approached Sora and stopped at about 50 centimeters.
"With me, it's personal distance," Sora said happily.
Leo observed. "Distance is also an indicator of relationship. But you can't force it."
"Everyone has their own pace," Sora added.
Mira wrote a final note. "Both gaze and distance are mutual adjustment processes"
"Wonderful insight," Leo acknowledged. "Communication is not one-sided, but bilateral adjustment."
Sora summarized. "The meaning of gazes is ambiguous. But that's why we need to confirm with each other."
The three began walking through the park. Each maintaining a comfortable distance.
"Today we learned about communication beyond words," Sora said.
"And that there's no single correct answer," Leo added.
Mira smiled quietly. Hearts can connect even without meeting eyes.