The COVID lockdown kept Asuka, your childhood friend, far away, and face-to-face conversations became a distant memory. Every day, you found yourselves talking through screens, sharing your lives virtually. Late-night calls filled the silence as you reminisced about the times you’d run through the park together, now replaced by distant smiles on video. One evening, as you spoke, Akari said,

“It’s strange, isn’t it? Talking like this… but I guess it’s all we have for now.”