Title: The Father & Son Argument
Characters: Hiroaki and Yamato Ishida
Rated: K
Disclaimer: No, I do not own Digimon.
The senior Ishida had just arrived home from yet another exhausting day at work. When he walked through the front door to enter the apartment, he realized that the house was empty. "Yamato, I'm home!" said Hiroaki. But Yamato did not respond. Normally, Yamato would. Feeling that something was amiss, Hiroaki decided to walk towards the dining room, only to find his eldest son sitting at the couch alone, staring blankly at the ceiling.
He wasn't sure if Yamato was alright so he went up to the boy until he noticed that there was a bottle of vodka sitting on the coffee table. Shock was written all over the senior Ishida's face. Yes, he didn't know about his son being an alcoholic. Hiroaki knelt on his knees in front of his son, nudging him and calling out his name, hopefully to wake the blonde up but to no avail. Yamato had already allowed the alcohol to take over him even before his father had entered the apartment.
"Yamato?" Hiroaki shook Yamato lightly, still trying to get his son back into his senses.
Yamato finally moved, looking down at his father and acknowledged his presence. Yamato's blue eyes looked terribly dark and he looked like he had eye bags. That whole look, ruined his bad boy look.
"Oh, hey Dad. I see that you finally found your way home," Yamato replied bitterly. He was drunk. He couldn't tell if he was being harsh on his father.
"What? What are you talking about, son?"
Yamato sat up straight, leaning forward towards the father, "Dad, how long did it even take for you to come back home? Don't you like being in this apartment?"
"Yamato, you've been drinking. We better get you…" Hiroaki tried to help his son make it to his feet but Yamato ended up pushing the senior away.
"No! Leave me alone!" Yamato shouted.
"What has got into you, Yamato?" the father shouted back.
"You're always putting in a lot of hours at the TV station and come home only when you feel like it! Dad, if you don't want to come home, that's completely fine with me but do it only when I'm travelling! I hate it when I come home to an empty apartment. Do you know how lonely I feel whenever I come home and you're not here?"
Yamato's legs were wobbly but he tried to maintain his balance as he stood up.
"Dad, did you know that I am an alcoholic? No wait, you probably didn't know.."
Hiroaki was in complete shock. Yamato, an alcoholic?
"You're just pulling my leg right, son?"
"No, I am not. You can ask Takeru."
"Yamato, what have you done to yourself?"
"No, the question is, what have you done to me? Dad, I have always looked up to you. Right or wrong, I would just take your lead. But growing up, you're always gone! You were never there to give me guidance or discipline me and now this is the result of your parenting! D-did you know how jealous I am of Takeru? He has Mom on his side despite her working long hours!"
"But you have to understand that your mother and I went through a divorce and I had to work overtime just so that I could feed you!"
"Dad, I think that showing guidance to your eldest son is more important than that. Showing guidance cannot be bought with money and money cannot buy us happiness! You see what I have turned out to be? I drink almost all of the time, I sleep with girls to distract myself and I literally, almost got a girl pregnant. I tried dating Mimi but our relationship ended up falling apart because throughout my whole relationship with her, I still had strong feelings for Sora.. I'm messed up, Dad! I don't even know how to be father this way. I can't imagine that that blonde kid really was my son, when it comes to being a father, I don't even know where to start! And I'm 21 years old for god sakes!"
Hiroaki stood there, completely speechless. He didn't know about the feelings Yamato had kept inside of him all the while.
"You never paid any attention to me, Dad. You know, people are saying that I should be less dramatic and look on the brighter side of things but hell, where do I even start? I don't know if you know this but Dad.. I love you, okay. No matter how much hatred I have towards you, I still love you. Not because you're my father but because you're trying your best to be a good father just like how Mom always has been a good mother.."
Yamato stumbled towards his room but stopped to say one last thing, "and just so you know, Dad, before Takeru and I got sucked into the digital world with the others, I tried my best to be a good big brother but I failed. Taichi was a better big brother towards Takeru and did you know how much that broke my heart? Because of you, I always played it safe. I kept being a burden to everyone around me because I didn't know what was right and wrong. And you'll probably think, now that I'm already an adult, I should know what is right and what is wrong.."
"Yamato.."
"But let me tell you something, Dad," Yamato interrupted, "no matter what age I am, I still need your guidance. I better head back to my room now. I don't see the need of talking any further. My throat has gone dry.."
With that, Yamato entered his room, slamming the door behind him. Hiroaki didn't know what else to say. Speechless. He was too speechless.