Honey Lemon Soda

After years of bullying and isolation in middle school, Uka Ishimori enters high school determined not to remain the girl who freezes whenever someone looks her way. She chose Hachimitsu High partly because of a single encouraging sentence once spoken to her by Kai Miura, the boy with lemon-colored hair who seems to possess the freedom and confidence Uka has always lacked.

When Kai becomes her classmate, he does not try to change Uka for her. Instead, he gives her the push she needs to speak, defend herself, and reach toward other people on her own. Each new experience helps Uka recover a little of the voice she lost, while her gratitude toward the person who first inspired her slowly becomes something deeper. Her new life is not suddenly easy, but at last it begins to feel like one she is choosing for herself.