Episode 4: Operation Smile Training

Title: Between Us and the Bell Rings

Episode 4: Operation Smile Training

By the second week of March, Haruto had officially earned a new title among Kaoru and Saki:

Captain Stoneface.

No matter what chaos happened around them—pop quizzes, fire drills, even Saki tripping into a trash can—Haruto rarely smiled. When he did, it lasted exactly 1.5 seconds.

Naturally, Saki took this as a challenge.

“Operation: Smile Training begins now!” she declared on a bright Tuesday morning.

Kaoru looked up from his sandwich. “Can you not declare war on our emotionally repressed friend?”

Haruto stared. “What… is Operation Smile Training?”

“You,” Saki pointed dramatically, “are going to smile at least once a day from now on. A real smile. Not that ‘I’m tolerating this conversation’ twitch.”

Haruto blinked. “Why?”

“Because your face looks like a tax form.”

Kaoru choked on lettuce.

Saki leaned in. “Smiling makes you approachable. Warm. Radiant.”

“I’m not a space heater.”

“Not with that attitude.”

Kaoru raised a hand. “Maybe he doesn’t want to smile?”

“Then we’ll give him a reason to,” Saki said, grinning devilishly.

And thus, Operation Smile Training began.

Phase 1: Physical Comedy.

Saki walked into homeroom the next day with fake mustaches. Several kinds. She and Kaoru wore them through first period while dramatically narrating the lesson like noir detectives.

Haruto didn’t crack.

Though Kaoru did get detention for calling their math teacher “Detective Division.”

Phase 2: Bad Jokes.

“What’s a cat’s favorite color?” Saki asked at lunch.

Haruto blinked. “…What.”

“Purrrrr-ple!”

Haruto blinked again. Kaoru face-palmed.

Saki tried another. “What do you call a fake noodle?”

“…No clue.”

“An impasta!”

Kaoru groaned. “That joke’s older than our teacher’s haircut.”

Haruto looked mildly pained. Still no smile.

Phase 3: Sneaky Compliments.

Kaoru took a turn. “Hey, Haruto. Your hair looks kinda nice today.”

Haruto paused. “Did you bump your head?”

“No, really. You’ve got, like… mysterious anime rival vibes.”

“…Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“Would you prefer ‘brooding tragic hero’?”

Haruto blinked, his ears turning pink. “…Stop talking.”

Kaoru grinned. Almost got him.

Phase 4: Surprise Attack.

Saki showed up on Friday with bubble wrap taped to her shoes. She danced into the classroom popping like popcorn.

Everyone stared. Kaoru gave up pretending to be normal.

Haruto? He blinked. Raised an eyebrow.

And then… his lips twitched.

Saki froze. “Was that it?! Did you just SMILE?!”

Haruto looked away, quickly covering his mouth.

Kaoru leaned in. “Wait—did we get it? Was that a full smile or just a sympathy twitch?”

Haruto mumbled, “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

But for a brief second, they saw it.

A tiny smile. Barely there. But real.

“YES!” Saki fist-pumped. “Victory for Team Emotion!”

Kaoru laughed. “All this effort for one smile.”

Saki smirked. “Some smiles are worth fighting for.”

That evening, Haruto opened his phone. He had one unread message from his little brother:

“I smiled at school today. One kid waved back.”

Haruto stared at it for a long time.

Then, quietly, he typed back:

“Proud of you. I smiled too. Just once.”

“That’s more than enough,” his brother replied.

Haruto smiled.

No witnesses this time.

Just himself, and the quiet hum of change.

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