Doing Project Together

The Weight of Small Things

Episode 5: Doing project together

Scene 1: Classroom – Morning

The teacher claps her hands softly to bring the class to attention.

“All right,” she says, “quick project check-ins. How’s everyone doing?”

A few students groan. Someone jokes about their partner being allergic to glue sticks.

Then the teacher glances toward the back.

“Rin? Naomi?”

Naomi speaks first. Calm. Steady. “We’re almost done.”

The teacher nods and moves on.

Rin doesn’t speak. But her fingers loosen around her pencil.

She’s not used to being part of “almost done.”

She’s more familiar with “barely started.”

Scene 2: After Class – School Courtyard

The crowd thins. Naomi is tucking her notebook into her bag when Rin appears beside her.

There’s a pause — not awkward, just quiet.

Rin clears her throat gently. “Do you want to come over? To finish the project?”

Naomi looks over. “Sure. If it’s okay.”

“No one’s home,” Rin adds. “My parents are still at work. My brother’s at practice.”

Naomi just nods. “Then it’s just us.”

And somehow, that feels fine.

Scene 3: Walking – Late Afternoon

They take the long way, not because they have to — but because neither seems in a rush.

Naomi notices the way Rin walks close to the edge of the sidewalk, always a little apart from the center.

Rin notices how Naomi doesn’t try to fill the silence with noise.

It’s a quiet they share now.

Scene 4: Rin’s Room – Early Evening

The house is still. Empty, but not cold.

Rin leads Naomi upstairs. Her room is small — neat but lived-in. A few drawings on the wall. A cracked-open window. A teacup ring on her desk.

Naomi glances around and smiles softly. “I like it.”

Rin shrugs. “No one really comes here.”

Naomi doesn’t say anything to that. Just sets her bag down and joins her on the floor.

They start working.

Cutting. Arranging. Sketching lines from the story and placing them beside dried leaves Naomi brought from outside.

It’s slow work. But it feels… easy. Like breathing.

Rin pauses, pencil in hand. “I used to hate group projects.”

Naomi nods. “Me too.”

Rin glances at her. “But this doesn’t feel like a group project.”

Naomi smiles. “No. It doesn’t.”

Scene 5: Rin’s Room – Midnight

The house is still quiet. Her parents still aren’t home. No messages. Just silence.

The finished project sits on her desk — a collage of story fragments, sketches, and river lines.

But Rin isn’t looking at it.

She’s holding a piece of paper Naomi left behind — a sketch of two figures standing beside a stream.

There’s writing beneath it, small and gentle:

“You don’t always notice when something starts. But it does.”

Rin presses the paper to her chest.

Closes her eyes.

And for once, the silence in the house doesn’t feel empty.

It feels like the middle of something real.

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