A Gentle Hell #2｜A Small Sense of Wrongness
New episodes every Friday 21:00 (JST)
Morning comes, as it always does.
The alarm rings.
Rin wakes before it stops.
The room is quiet.
Too quiet.
Nothing has happened.
Nothing has changed.
And yet, something feels slightly out of place.
She reaches for her phone.
No notifications.
She knew that already.
Still, she checks every morning.
The day cannot begin until she confirms it.
A blank screen.
A small exhale.
Another identical day begins.
The train is crowded.
Same station.
Same platform.
Same people.
Everyone looks busy.
Everyone looks normal.
Rin watches their reflections in the window.
She wonders when she started feeling like she doesn’t belong in the same world.
Another day of creating “the right answer” on a screen begins.
At work, conversations float through the office.
Weekend plans.
Lunch ideas.
A new café someone found.
Rin smiles.
She answers.
She laughs at the right timing.
No one notices the effort behind it.
No one notices the pause before each reaction.
Lunchtime.
Maho Odajiri sits across from her, stirring iced coffee.
“You look tired,” Maho says casually.
Rin smiles.
“Just didn’t sleep well.”
The perfect answer.
The expected answer.
Maho nods. The conversation moves on.
And Rin feels relief.
Relief that no one asked again.
Relief that no one looked deeper.
Relief that no one noticed.
Evening arrives quietly.
The sky turns soft and dim.
People head home.
Lights appear in windows.
Everywhere, lives continue normally.
Rin walks through the city and thinks:
If nothing is wrong,
why does everything feel heavy?
Home.
Silence.
Familiar air.
Familiar walls.
She places her phone on the table.
The screen lights up for a moment.
No messages.
No missed calls.
No new notifications.
Still, she keeps the sound on.
Just in case.
A small sense of wrongness settles in her chest.
Not enough to name.
Not enough to explain.
But enough to stay.
The gentle hell does not begin with pain.
It begins with a tiny discomfort no one else can see.
New episodes are published every Friday at 21:00 (JST).
I’ll be waiting here on Friday night.
Next episode: “#3 A Relationship Without Comparison”
— Shiori Kiritani
