"The presentation is over."
Mira returned to the library. Hiyori and Sora looked up.
"Good work," Hiyori smiled. "How was it?"
Mira sat down quietly. "Better than I thought."
Sora observed. "Your expression is brighter."
"Brighter?" Mira touched her own face.
"Yes. Much more than yesterday."
Mira smiled slightly. "It's strange. Before the presentation, I was so anxious."
Hiyori asked. "What do you think changed?"
"Accomplishing it, maybe," Mira thought.
Sora explained. "That's self-efficacy. The sense that I can do it."
"Self-efficacy," Mira repeated.
Hiyori supplemented. "Small successful experiences cultivate confidence."
"But," Mira said. "It wasn't perfect. I stumbled on words in the middle."
"You don't need to be perfect," Sora said. "What's important is the fact that you accomplished it."
Mira opened her notebook. "But I used to have confidence, and lost it somewhere along the way."
"Was there a trigger?" Hiyori asked gently.
"I had a big failure, and after that I became scared."
Sora said quietly. "Confidence can collapse from a single failure. But you can gradually restore it."
"How?" Mira asked.
Hiyori answered. "By accumulating small successes. Like today's presentation."
Sora added. "Confidence doesn't return suddenly. It recovers gradually."
Mira thought. "Gradually..."
"Yes," Hiyori explained. "Start with small challenges. When you succeed, move to slightly bigger challenges."
Sora gave an example. "Today's presentation was a big step for Mira-san."
Mira nodded. "True, it took courage."
"The fact that you could muster that courage is itself a success," Hiyori said.
Mira was surprised. "Not the result?"
"Results are important, but so is the process," Sora explained. "Acting despite anxiety."
Hiyori smiled. "That's the first step to regaining confidence."
Mira wrote in her notebook. "Accumulating small successes."
Sora continued. "Confidence isn't born only from external evaluation."
"Then from what?"
"Accepting yourself by yourself."
Hiyori supplemented. "How you evaluate yourself matters more than what others think."
Mira pondered. "But I become strict with myself."
"That's one cause of losing confidence," Sora pointed out.
Hiyori said gently. "Being kind to yourself is also courage."
Mira laughed quietly. "Courage to be kind."
Sora gave an example. "Even if you fail, can you say 'well done' to yourself?"
Mira shook her head. "Difficult."
"It's difficult at first," Hiyori acknowledged. "But you can practice."
"Practice?"
Sora explained. "Practice changing self-talk. Use encouraging words instead of criticism."
Mira wrote in her notebook. "Not 'I'm no good' but 'I can improve next time.'"
"Good example," Hiyori acknowledged.
Sora added. "Confidence comes not from perfection, but from self-acceptance."
Mira took a deep breath. "Accepting myself."
"Including flaws," Hiyori said.
Mira looked out the window. "Today's presentation wasn't perfect, but it was still good."
"That feeling is important," Sora smiled.
Hiyori asked. "How do you feel now?"
Mira thought. "I feel like confidence is returning a little."
"That's thanks to today's successful experience," Sora explained.
"I feel like I can challenge again," Mira said quietly.
Hiyori said happily. "The next challenge will also become a successful experience."
Sora added. "Confidence grows through repetition of challenges and successes."
Mira stood up. "Thank you. Thanks to you both, I understand how to regain confidence."
"We're always cheering for you," Hiyori said.
Sora said quietly. "Moments when confidence returns, you can create them yourself. One step at a time."
Mira smiled and left the library. Small successes create courage for the next challenge. Recovery of confidence starts that way.