Too Much Noise [Dawn / Hara’s Room]

Hara couldn’t sleep.

Water pipes.

The refrigerator motor.

Footsteps in the alley.

A motorcycle far away.

Everything sounded too close.

[Morning / Classroom]

Hara eventually collapsed onto his desk.

Koharu came over.

(Koharu) : “Didn’t sleep again?”

(Hara) : “The world won’t shut up.”

(Koharu) : “What does that even mean?”

(Hara) : “Nothing. Sounds just... bother me lately.”

To Koharu, Hara simply seemed unusually sensitive to noise.

She didn’t know why.

At lunch, she took him into an empty recording booth in the broadcasting club room.

(Koharu) : “Until you see a doctor, let’s at least find something that helps you calm down.”

She tapped a steady rhythm on the desk.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

(Koharu) : “Just follow this.”

Hara matched his breathing to it.

Strangely, the other sounds seemed to recede.

(Hara) : “That helps.”

(Koharu) : “Then when it gets loud, focus on this rhythm first.”

(Hara) : “You suddenly sound like an expert.”

(Koharu) : “I searched sensory overload and hyperventilation.”

Hara laughed, then stopped.

Koharu didn’t think this was some kind of power.

She thought something was wrong with his body.

The misunderstanding was convenient.

And it made Hara feel guilty.