"Today was completely terrible."
Kaito was slumped over his desk in the corner of the classroom.
Sora approached. "What happened?"
"The presentation. Complete failure. I couldn't speak in front of everyone."
Hiyori gently called out. "So you think you're no good?"
Kaito nodded. "Obviously. I can't even do something this simple."
"Wait," Sora said. "Isn't the presentation failing different from Kaito's own value?"
"But..."
Hiyori began explaining. "This might be what's called conditional self-worth. The idea that if you succeed, you have value, and if you fail, you don't."
Kaito looked up. "Isn't that right?"
"In psychology, there's a concept called unconditional self-acceptance," Hiyori continued. "The idea that you have value not because you can do something, but simply because you exist."
"But isn't that just being soft?" Kaito resisted.
Sora thought. "I was also down recently because of bad test scores. But does that mean I was measuring myself only by scores?"
"Yes," Hiyori nodded. "Self-esteem becomes unstable when it depends too much on external evaluation."
Kaito asked. "So what should I do?"
"First, separate failure from yourself," Hiyori answered. "'The presentation failed' is a fact. But 'therefore I'm no good' is an interpretation."
Sora supplemented. "Cognitive distortion, we learned about that before."
"Yes. Also called all-or-nothing thinking. Denying everything because of one failure."
Kaito slowly thought. "But failing is a fact..."
"You can learn from failure," Hiyori said. "But that's not a reason to deny your own value."
Sora looked at Kaito. "Yesterday when I was struggling, you helped me, right?"
"That was... just by chance."
"No," Hiyori smiled. "That's also a side of Kaito. Being bad at presentations and helping people, both are Kaito."
Kaito thought a bit. "So don't judge everything by one event?"
"Yes. When self-esteem is low, we tend to focus only on negative aspects."
Sora wrote in her notebook. "Failure is a temporary expression of ability, separate from human value."
"Good summary," Hiyori acknowledged. "And self-esteem fluctuates from day to day. It's normal to have low days."
Kaito suddenly realized. "So this feeling I have now isn't forever?"
"Exactly," Hiyori nodded. "Emotions come and go like waves."
Sora asked. "How can we increase self-esteem?"
"Accumulate small successful experiences. And be kind to yourself as you would be to a friend," Hiyori answered.
"Be kind like to a friend?"
"If a friend made the same mistake, would you say 'you're no good'?"
Kaito shook his head. "I wouldn't say that."
"Then why are you harsh on yourself?"
Kaito fell silent. He had never thought about it.
Sora suggested. "Try naming one good thing about today?"
"Today...?" Kaito thought. "I didn't oversleep this morning. And I got to hear this conversation."
Hiyori smiled. "That's enough. Even if not perfect, you're progressing."
Kaito let out a small breath. "I feel a bit lighter somehow."
"Self-esteem is like a muscle," Hiyori said. "It gets stronger with daily practice."
Sora nodded. "I'll try being kinder to myself starting tomorrow too."
Outside the window, the sun was setting. Even on days when self-esteem is low, the sun will rise again.