"I held it in again."
Kaito muttered alone in the classroom.
Sora passed by. "What did you hold in?"
"Anger. A friend said something unreasonable, but I stayed silent."
Mira quietly approached and wrote in her notebook. "Always?"
Kaito nodded. "It's a habit. I'm bad at expressing emotions."
Sora sat down. "I have similar experiences."
"What kind?"
"When I'm sad, I try to smile. I thought crying was weakness."
Mira wrote. "Reasons for suppressing emotions"
Kaito thought. "Don't want to trouble others. Don't want to seem weak."
Sora supplemented. "Also, expressing emotions feels like losing control."
Mira nodded. Then wrote. "But suppressing is painful"
"That's right," Kaito acknowledged. "Even though I'm suppressing, it feels like it keeps accumulating."
Sora recalled. "We learned in psychology class. Emotional suppression is bad for health long-term."
"Why?" Kaito asked.
"Suppressing emotions uses cognitive energy. And suppressed emotions don't disappear, they accumulate."
Mira wrote. "Like a pressure cooker"
"Good metaphor," Sora acknowledged. "It might explode someday."
Kaito asked anxiously. "Then what should I do?"
Sora thought. "Acknowledge emotions, maybe."
"Acknowledge?"
"Being aware that you're feeling anger, feeling sadness."
Mira wrote. "Recognize without expressing"
"Yes," Sora nodded. "Acknowledging emotions and expressing them are separate."
Kaito slowly understood. "Just acknowledging to myself that I'm angry is enough?"
"That's the first step," Sora answered. "Naming emotions creates some distance."
Mira wrote in her notebook. "Emotional labeling"
Kaito tried it. "Now, I'm... feeling frustration."
"How is it?" Sora asked.
"Strange. Putting it into words makes me feel I can see it more objectively."
Mira smiled. Then wrote. "I'm practicing too"
Sora was surprised. "Mira, you're also the type to suppress emotions?"
Mira nodded. "Since long ago. Didn't know emotional words"
"Alexithymia," Sora recalled. "A state where it's difficult to recognize or express emotions."
Kaito asked. "Can that be cured?"
"Not cure, but learn," Sora answered. "Increase emotional vocabulary and practice understanding your emotions."
Mira opened her notebook. There was a list of emotional words.
"Amazing," Kaito was impressed. "There are so many types of emotions."
"Not just happiness, anger, sadness, joy," Sora said. "Frustration, disappointment, relief, anticipation... countless."
Mira wrote. "Every day, write felt emotions"
"Emotion diary?" Kaito asked.
Mira nodded. "Little by little, understanding my emotions"
Sora suggested. "Should we try it too?"
Kaito thought. "But if I acknowledge emotions, won't I be unable to suppress them?"
"It's the opposite," Sora explained. "By acknowledging, you create distance from emotions. Then you don't react impulsively."
Mira wrote. "Emotions aren't enemies"
"Yes," Sora nodded. "Emotions are information. Signs the body teaches us."
Kaito became interested. "What kind of information?"
"Anger is a sign that boundaries were violated. Sadness is a sign of loss. Anxiety is a sign of danger."
Mira supplemented. "So ignoring them is bad"
Kaito understood. "Continuing to suppress emotions is like ignoring an alarm?"
"Good analogy," Sora acknowledged. "Even if you silence the alarm, the cause isn't resolved."
Mira slowly wrote. "So acknowledge emotions and think about causes"
Kaito decided. "I'll try keeping an emotion diary too."
Sora smiled. "Let's practice together."
Mira wrote lastly. "The habit of suppressing emotions can slowly change"
The three nodded quietly. The habit of suppressing emotions might gradually be unraveled.