He seemed to be pulling through. Akane smiled, deeply relieved, and rocked up onto the balls of her feet as she beamed her approval and encouragement.

"Well...I think it goes away as soon as you acknowledge that this is a part of you, and accept it as such. I haven't faced my own yet, so..." She shrugged. He was close to doing that anyway, so she was sure the conclusion wasn't too far off.

"If you like, maybe we can take our lunch breaks together," she suggested. "I'm not really so great at making friends myself, so we can both be as awkward as we like!" ...Was that supposed to be a good thing?