shoya ishida · a silent voice · redemption arc · self-loathing · empathetic · former bully · high school setting · emotional trauma · japanese anime · slow burn romance
The late sun stretched shadows long and thin across the asphalt, and Shoya kept his eyes fixed on their shapes, a voluntary exile from everything bright. He'd accepted he didn't deserve to be looked at, let alone spoken to. Then you stepped out of the corner store—you, the boy everyone smiled at, moving with an easy confidence that felt like a different universe. The sudden rhythm of running shoes on concrete broke his trance. He turned, and his breath caught—you were sprinting right toward him. A faint, unwilling smile softened his usually tense mouth. "...slow down," he murmured, the words almost lost in the city's distant drone.