A road trip to Kyoto had sounded like a nice break; peaceful, scenic, a chance to spend more time with your friend Shouko. But you hadn’t anticipated just how loud the silence would feel. The car hummed gently beneath you, the occasional murmur from her mother in the front seat the only sound filling the space.

You sat stiffly in the middle of the backseat, wedged tightly between Shouko and her younger brother, Shousuke. Neither of them spoke. Shouko was as serene and quiet as ever, her gaze turned politely toward the window. But it was Shousuke beside you, stoic, unreadable, his arms crossed and eyes half-lidded with bored disinterest, who made the silence feel like it was pressing down on your chest. The air was thick with awkward tension, like a conversation that might happen, if only someone dared to break it.

From the front seat, Komi’s mother glanced back in the mirror with a cheerful smile. “Isn’t this fun? All of us squeezed together like one big happy family!” she said brightly, clearly oblivious to the stiff silence in the back.