I arrived at school a few minutes before the bell.
Yuki spotted me the moment I stepped into the classroom.
"You look tired," she added, narrowing her eyes slightly. "You stay up watching cat videos again or something?"
"Well, I guess you could say that."
"You're cutting it close again," she said, tossing a piece of candy onto my desk like she always did when I looked half-asleep.
"I call it strategic timing," I mumbled, dropping into my seat. "Maximum sleep, minimum sprint."
"Yeah, yeah. Just don't fall asleep before homeroom even starts."
I smiled and peeled the candy open, popping it into my mouth as the bell rang.
Morning bell rings, and I yawn.
When homeroom begins, I just nod along.
Some announcements happen—I zone out.
Then class starts, and I try not to fall asleep in the first ten minutes.
It's not that I hate school. I'm just not really motivated enough to keep up.
I was scribbling random shapes in the corner of my notebook, my phone hidden under the desk, screen tilted just enough to scroll without getting caught.
A new message notification popped up from Chatterfield.
[Between Bells] is now active.
I flicked my eyes between the chatroom and the whiteboard. Nothing interesting either way.
Just as I was typing something, the teacher called my name.
"Nakashima-san. What's the answer?"
I looked up, only half-awake.
"Uh... three?"
"Three what, Nakashima-san?"
"…Centimeters?" I tried, making something up on the spot.
Laughter rippled through the classroom, but the teacher sighed and just moved on.
I guess I must've gotten is wrong.
"Hey," whispered Hana from the seat behind me, poking my back with a pencil. "That was a chemistry question."
"Oh," I whispered back.
Now that I took a look at the question on the board, it really was.
"No wonder he looked disappointed."
"Lunch? Or are you planning on napping through it again?" she asked.
"Depends. Are you bringing snacks to bribe me out of my seat?"
"If you come now, I won't roast you about that 'centimeters' thing for the rest of the week."
"Tempting offer. Alright, fine, I'm coming."
I joined Mika, Yuki, and Hana at our usual table by the windows.
Yuki was already halfway through her onigiri when she turned to me. "Sora, did you seriously guess 'centimeters' in math class?"
"I thought we were doing science!"
"You're in high school now," Mika said gently, smiling as she sipped her tea. "You should really stop guessing units."
"Units are just a suggestion," I replied, pulling out my phone under the table and flicking open Chatterfield again.
The chatroom I'd joined earlier had slowed down, but a new one popped up: [Lunch Break Brain Fog].
I didn't open it. Yet.
Hana cackled. "Sora's academic strategy: vibe-check the question."
Yuki leaned over her tray.
"I swear, one day you're gonna pass a test entirely on vibes and I'm going to riot."
I grinned and reached into my bag for a carton of milk.
"I'd like to thank my intuition and complete lack of studying."
The banter continued, as usual.
The lunchroom buzzed with voices and clattering trays. From the outside, it must've looked like I was surrounded by everything a person needed: friends, food, and sunshine pouring through the windows.
But while they kept talking, my eyes drifted back to my phone. A new message popped up in one of the quieter rooms.
[Seafloor]: anyone here just feeling... tired of being around people?
[QuietMoth]: literally me every time I sit with my group
[VelvetMoon]: yeah, it's weird. I love my friends. but sometimes I want to disappear.
[Seafloor]: not in a sad way, just... in a "pause button" kind of way
I lingered on that last message. Something about it stuck with me.
I typed:
[ChattyBreeze]: same here. I wish I could turn everything down a bit sometimes.
Almost instantly, someone responded.
[VelvetMoon]: @ChattyBreeze yeah! like... not total silence, but softer
[Seafloor]: you're new, huh? nice username
[ChattyBreeze]: thanks. I'm just kinda wandering through chatrooms. y'all seemed chill.
A shadow passed over my table.
I quickly tilted my phone screen down as one of the teachers walked by.
I smiled a little.
I wasn't ignoring my friends. Not really.
But part of me liked that I could talk to people who didn't know me. Who didn't expect anything.
When the final bell rang, everyone jumped to their feet like they were escaping prison. I packed up slower than usual, still thinking about one of the messages in Chatterfield.
We all filtered out toward the school gates together. Mika and Hana peeled off toward the bus stop, while Yuki and I walked side by side a little longer.
"So, you're off to the convenience store again?" she asked.
"Yup. Shouldn't be too busy today—at least, I hope not."
Yuki gave me a sideways look. "You sure you're okay? You looked kinda out of it today."
"I'm fine," I said quickly. "Just didn't sleep that well."
"You always say that." She smirked and nudged my shoulder. "Are you saying Mika bothered you that much last night on a simple math question?"
"I didn't even know what the question is, let alone that was homework! And besides, if it's so simple, why didn't you just help her instead?"
"You know what they say: give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. You'd all be lost if you didn't have me, so it's better if I gave her that experience!"
"That's just your laziness speaking."
"That might be it too, hahaha!" she says as she giggled. "Don't fall asleep standing at the register. You'd scare off customers."
"Gee, thanks for the support."
She grinned and waved. "Later, Sora."
"Later."
Once she was out of sight, I adjusted the strap on my bag and started down the hill toward the store.
The air felt warmer than usual, and I could already picture the fluorescent lighting and low hum of the drink cooler waiting for me.
I'd done this walk so many times now it didn't even feel like something I had to think about.
But today, my mind wasn't really on work.
It was on my phone. Or more specifically, the app still sitting quietly on my screen.
Chatterfield.
I didn't have any reason to open it right then, but the habit was forming faster than I expected.
Maybe I'd check it on my break. Just for a second.