"Mira, you don't look well."
Leo called out with concern. Mira had her usual expressionless face but seemed tense somehow.
Hiyori approached. "Did something happen?"
Mira wrote in her notebook. "I'm fine."
Sora observed. "When people say they're fine, they often aren't really fine."
Leo showed interest. "It might vary by culture, but is there a tendency to hide emotions in Japan?"
Hiyori answered, "In cultures that value harmony, not showing negative emotions is sometimes considered a virtue."
"But is that healthy?" Leo asked.
Sora explained, "Emotional suppression can avoid friction with others in the short term, but has negative effects on mind and body in the long term."
Mira stared at her notebook.
Hiyori gently asked, "Mira, did someone say something to you?"
Mira hesitated, then wrote, "A classmate pushed something on me I didn't ask for. But I said thank you."
"You didn't really want it," Sora understood.
Mira nodded.
Leo tilted his head. "Why didn't you refuse honestly?"
Mira wrote, "I didn't want to hurt them."
Hiyori explained, "This looks like altruistic motivation, but it's actually a defense mechanism to protect yourself."
"What do you mean?" Leo asked.
"By hurting the other person, she fears being disliked," Sora analyzed. "The anxiety that expressing anger might break the relationship."
Mira stared at Sora. It was spot on.
Hiyori said calmly, "But if you don't convey your true feelings, you end up hurting yourself."
"Feeling anger isn't bad," Sora continued. "It's a sign that your boundaries have been violated."
Leo understood. "It's an instinctive defense response."
"Yes," Sora nodded. "The problem is how to express that anger."
Hiyori asked Mira, "When you remember that moment now, how do you feel?"
Mira slowly wrote, "Frustrated. Angry at myself."
"At yourself?"
"Why couldn't I refuse properly?"
Sora explained, "This is when anger turns inward. What was originally anger at the other person's action has become self-criticism."
Leo proposed, "There's a concept called assertive communication, right? A way to appropriately convey your feelings, neither aggressive nor passive."
Hiyori nodded. "I-messages are effective. 'I felt...'"
Mira showed interest.
"For example," Sora demonstrated. "Say 'I felt confused when something I didn't ask for was done.' Not blaming the other person, but explaining your own feelings."
Leo added, "Not 'You are wrong,' but 'I felt this way.'"
Mira wrote it down in her notebook.
Hiyori said gently, "If you hide anger with a smile, the other person can't notice. And stress accumulates inside you, Mira."
"Suppressed emotions don't disappear," Sora explained. "They appear in different forms. As headaches, fatigue, or overreactions in other situations."
Mira looked slightly surprised.
Leo asked, "So what should we do?"
Hiyori answered, "First, acknowledge your own emotions. If you're angry, say to yourself 'I am angry now.'"
"Next, think about how to express that emotion appropriately," Sora continued. "Not lashing out immediately, but choosing the timing to calmly convey it."
Mira wrote, "Difficult."
"It's difficult for everyone at first," Hiyori encouraged. "But you improve with practice."
Leo smiled. "Suppressing emotions isn't kindness. Conveying honestly builds real trust."
Sora added, "The other person wants to know Mira's true feelings too."
Mira slowly nodded. Then wrote, "Next time, I'll try to say it properly."
Hiyori smiled. "That's an important step."
The four sat quietly. Expressing true feelings takes courage. But that's the beginning of valuing yourself.