Makoto woke up in his green pajamas as he looked over to see his dad walk by and his mom following after him. The small boy blinked as he got out of bed, his small bare feet feeling the cool wooden floor of the dojo as he slide his door open abit more as he poked his head out and saw his parents turn the corner of the hallway. Makoto walked out as he began to hear his parents voice coming from down the hall as what seemed to be talking turned into arguing.
The young boy let out a sad sigh as he walked back inside to get dressed as he just kept hearing his parents argue. They say that they would always argue back and forth when they were teenagers as well, but Makoto wondered why that habit went away. The small boy put on his yellow long sleeve shirt that held two black stripes on the sleeves, his sleeveless red jacket, and shorts. Makoto grumbled as he went to his dresser and pulled out two pair of socks and put them on.
As he walked out, he got to kitchen and saw that his mom had left him his breakfast right there waiting. He went over and sat cross-legged as he began to eat his breakfast, and soon there was a knock on the door. Makoto looked over to where the door was as he saw his mother went for the door and when she saw his small form sitting at the table, she gave a smile as she opened the door and there stood Ray and Mariah with Lin who sat on his shoulders, her small hands on his forehead and Ray's hands holding her by the ankles.
Lin gave a smile as she then said, "Hi, Aunty Hilary. Where's Makoto?"Hilary smiled and pointed to the kitchen and said, "He's eating breakfast right now. Would you like some?"Lin smiled and gave a nod as she then said, "You can put me down, Papa."Ray did and she took off her slippers as she went over to the kitchen to meet with Makoto. Hilary gave a hug to them both and Ray asked, "Where's Tyson?"Hilary grumbled as she said, "He's in his room."Ray smiled and said, "I'll be there."Mariah nodded as she followed Hilary into the kitchen as Hilary began to give some breakfast on a plate as she handed it to Lin.
Mariah smiled down at the small boy and said, "Good morning, Makoto."The small boy looked up at the pinkette and forced a smile, "Morning, Aunty Mariah."The pinkette noticed the sadness and as Hilary grabbed a napkin and bent down and wiped his face, which Makoto wasn't making it easy for the brunette as she held his chin and finished wiping his face. He then cried out, "Mom, stop it. There are people here."She stood up and he then said, "Come on, Lin. Before my mom ends up wiping me with spit next."Lin looked to him as her bright golden eyes blinked abit as she nodded and then said, "Sure. I'm finished anyway. Thank you, Aunty Hilary."Hilary smiled and said, "Your welcome."
As the two ran off towards the beystadium to play, Mariah looked to Hilary with worry, "Is everything going alright?"Hilary looked up from the sink at her and said, "Of course. I mean, there's times where Tyson decides to be a hot shot and stuff, but everything's normal. Why?"Mariah grabbed a towel as she helped Hilary with the dishes as she then said, "Makoto seems to be acting differently."Hilary looked to her and then said, "I've noticed it as well. He's usually bugging me or Tyson to take him to your house or Kai's, or one of you guys to play with, but lately he's been staying in his room or outside at the beydish."
Mariah wiped the plates and placed them in the rack as she then asked, "Did you ask him about it?"Hilary nodded and then said, "Of course. I even told Tyson about his behavior, but he says that every child goes through that stage where they want to be alone."Mariah sat down on the cushions with Hilary as she then asked, "Would you like me to talk to him?"Hilary nodded and then said, "Yes, please. Everyone tried talking to him, but the only ones he's open with are Lin and Gou. For so many years, I have known Tyson; he was never like this back then."
The two women then walked to where the beydish as they saw Makoto and Lin concentrated on the game. Hilary then asked, "Lin, can you come and help me with making cookies?"Lin smiled and nodded as she then said, "One second, Aunty Hilary."Soon, Makoto lost and he was throwing a fit, as Lin then said, "Its okay, Makoto. Just try harder."She walked over to Hilary as Mariah stayed right there and watched Makoto sitting on the ground, upset. She walked over and then said, "What's wrong, Makoto?"The bluenette looked over his shoulder at Mariah as he then said, "I lost."
Mariah went over and sat on the small steps as she then patted on the spot next to her, and he decided not to be disrespectful and went over and sat next to her .He brought his knees up to hide his bottom half of his face, and Mariah asked, "Your mom and dad are worried about you."Makoto didn't look at her as he said, "No their not."Mariah looked at him with confusion as she asked, "Of course they do. Why wouldn't they?"Makoto then said, "I don't want to talk about it."Mariah looked to him as she ran her hand over his hair, brushing them back, "You can tell me. I'm here for you if you want someone to talk to if you don't want to talk with your mom or dad."Makoto looked up at her as he then said, "Mom and Dad are always arguing or fighting. They say that they've done it since they were small too, but it's like they don't care about me anymore and only care about fighting with each other."
Mariah looked down at him as he placed his head on his knees, hiding his face behind his arms and knees. Mariah heard small sobbing as she placed a hand to his back and then picked him up as she placed him on her lap and held his head close as she ran her hand up and down his back to soothe him. Mariah then whispered, softly, "its okay."Makoto continued to cry as he felt his chest hurting as Mariah then said, "I'll be here whenever you need to just let go and cry, but sweetie, your mom and dad love you. You're their only son and the last thing they want is for you to be like this. You're their whole world."She began to rock him back and forth as she continued, "They may fight or argue a lot, but no matter what, in the end when they see you, they realize how much they love each other and how you are all they have."
Makoto sniffed as he still had tears running down his face, as he listened to her. Mariah then said, "You are their light in the darkness. No matter how many times they do fight, they know that you get hurt and they want you to grow up to be a wonderful, handsome young man. If you keep hiding your feelings, you'll be like your uncle Kai. He didn't have his mom and dad there for him because his grandpa killed them. So, Kai had to go to live with his Grandpa and he didn't have what you or Gou, Lin, me, Uncle Ray, your dad, your mom, or any of us had. He didn't have a mommy or daddy to watch him grow up and see the beautiful family he's always wanted. Gou doesn't have a grandma or grandpa just like you. The only person he has is all of us and his mom and dad."Makoto looked up at Mariah and then she took out a handkerchief from her leg band and began wiping his running nose and tear stained cheeks.
She then said, "So you see, nobody has a perfect family. We all fight or argue once in a while, but we know that in the end, we love each other very much."Makoto looked down as he looked back up at her and then said, "You're right. Uncle Kai didn't have a mom or dad and his grandpa was a bad guy that didn't love him."Mariah smiled and nodded as she then said, "That's right. Your mom is mad at herself for making you so sad. Go and show her that she doesn't have to be mad at herself anymore."Makoto smiled and nodded as he then said, "Thanks, Aunty Mariah."The pinkette nodded as she gave Makoto a hug and he got off her lap as he began to run towards the kitchen.
Lin had flour on her cheeks and hands as she helped Hilary make cookies. She then saw Makoto run up towards Hilary, and this caught the brunette to be full of confusion as he collided to her. Hilary smiled as she felt her son's warm hug and then heard, "I'm sorry, mom."Hilary smiled and hugged her son back as she then said, "its okay, sweetie. Mommy's sorry, too."He looked over to her as he smiled and then said, "Promise you and dad won't fight anymore."Hilary smiled and gave a nod as he said, "I promise."