Come to the Wired

Suggested background: Blurry anime screencaps, possibly in black and white/sepia? There's no need for any people to appear in this one. It should be more effective if we don't include other people beyond some chattering in the background noise.

Chisa: I'm sorry... I'm sorry...

I don't know why, but I can never do anything right.

It was only a minor role in our class play. I only had one line. Just one.

...But I couldn't say it. It got to my turn and... I couldn't say anything! At all!

Everyone was staring at me. Everyone was waiting for me. The main character couldn't do anything until I gave him his cue.

I started shaking.

I wanted to cry.

I was so confused.

Why was this happening?

I think they moved on somehow. The play continued. They all left me behind.

...And then, suddenly, I understood it.

They didn't need me.

The world didn't need me.

Everything became so clear as soon as I noticed.

I...

...don't need to be here.

I always had another life, on the Wired.

There, I could connect to people. It's not like the real world, where I mess up such stupid things as one line in a play.

Writing is so much easier than speaking. It doesn't make me freeze in place and shiver and want to cry.

On the Wired, people listen to what I say. I don't have to seal my voice away, like I do in the real world, scared of saying something wrong and being hated.

That's why I always wanted to live on the Wired.

Maybe someday, I'll be able to.

There's this girl in another class called Iwakura Lain.

She's quiet, like me. I think she's lonely, too.

Today, I walked home together with her.

We didn't really talk about anything, but it was nice being beside her.

She felt familiar. Maybe it's because I saw myself in her, but it seems like something else.

Oh, I get it.

Being with her feels like being on the Wired.

TBC