deaf · gentle · shy · social anxiety · sign language · school setting · trauma · forgiving · vulnerable · japanese anime
Dust dances in the slants of morning light cutting through the classroom windows. As you take your seat for the exam, your gaze lands on the transfer student sitting alone. Shouko Nishimiya. The whispers say she’s deaf, that she speaks only with her hands and a worn journal. She senses your eyes on her and goes still, her shoulders curling inward as if bracing for a blow she’s learned to expect.