Lessons Learned
(Writer: @animeauthor987)
“Mommy?” Hikaru Fudo glanced up at his mother from his place at the kitchen table. His dad had already left for work roughly an hour ago while his sister was at school already as well. Hikaru hadn’t been feeling well, so he asked his mom if he could stay home. So now, here he sat at the dining room table with a warm, fuzzy blanket wrapped around him with a mug of warm milk mixed with honey in front of him. “Hm?” Aki turned the stove off and released the pan of eggs in her hands to face her six year old son, reaching for her own mug which was filled with steaming coffee. “I had a weird dream last night,” the boy released the mug and instead began fiddling with his fingers. “What was it about?” She grabbed two plates and shoveled the eggs onto both of the plates before joining Hikaru at the table, setting a plate down in front of him.
The boy paused and took a moment to think about how to describe what he saw. “It...” much to Aki’s worry, the boy began to tear up and sniffle. She knew that Hikaru never really liked to show his tears, that he got from both Yusei and her. So, for her son to tear up on the spot, it must have been bad. Still, she waited for Hikaru until he was ready to speak again. “It was really scary,” he sniffled. “There was this girl and,” he hiccuped and wiped his tears as they kept falling, “and she was scary! She had a weird mask and the whole place was wrecked! And- and there was people just lying still there and not moving! It was so scary,” the boy sobbed. At this point, Aki’s mug that had been in her hand still, slipped from her grasp and clattered on the table, spilling it’s contents. Hikaru yelped in surprise as Aki flinched, the sound of the clattering mug bringing her out of her shock. “Mommy?!” “I-,” Aki stilled herself and took a deep breath, regaining her composure. “I’m so sorry that you had to see that Hikaru,” the chair scuffed as she stood, crossing the table to pick up her son; who sniffled and opened his arms, silently calling for the warmth and comfort he craved. Aki lifted the boy in her arms and rocked him carefully, stroking his hair as he sniffled and wept into his mother’s shoulder.
*
The first and last time Hikaru had seen his mother cry was when he was nine and had done a very stupid thing. “Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Fudo,” the principal greeted as the door to the man’s office clicked shut behind him. Hikaru winced and tensed up as he heard his father sigh, already sensing the scolding that was to come later from his father. “Good afternoon, sir,” he heard both of his parents respond. The chairs on either side scuffed and became occupied by his parents. Hikaru glanced up just in time to see his father glaring down at him. The boy flinched and curled his fists tighter, pressing them further against his knees, looking away from the man and turning his gaze to his feet. Hikaru dared not to glance at his mother. “Right then,” the principal cleared his throat. “Little Hikaru here did get into a fight again at the playground earlier this afternoon.” Yusei sighed and buried his face in his hand. Aki merely nodded in response. “Though he was involved in the fight, little Hikaru was not the one who instigated it. His classmate, Kazuko Yamamoto, pushed Hikaru and that was when it started.” Yusei glanced around the room and then up at the principal. “I take it you discussed with Kazuko-kun’s parents as well?” The principal clasped his hands together and shook his head. “Little Kazuko was taken to the hospital before I could address their little dispute with his parents.” Hikaru watched as both his parents stiffened up. “Taken to the hospital,” his mother reiterated. “What for?” “Just an hour ago in between classes, little Kazuko suddenly began screaming as he was napping. He fell out of his desk and hit his head on the corner of the desk to his left.” Yusei and Aki both flinched. Then, the principal lifted his gaze towards Aki, and his neutral gaze turned into a glare. “To be noted, little Hikaru who sits to little Kazuko’s right, merely watched while his classmates panicked according to the teacher.” Hikaru flinched again and shifted his head slightly to stare at his mother, but avoided looking at her face; fortunately, he naively thought, she wasn’t looking at him. Hikaru didn’t notice his father’s tense posture nor that his mother’s hands were trembling. “Little Hikaru’s... psychic abilities came in three years ago, yes?” Aki’s posture slacked as she merely nodded silently.
*
Hikaru knew that something was very, very wrong as the three drove home. Usually dad would’ve been scolding him already while mom added in her own two cents as well, but... the car ride home was deathly silent instead.
*
“Yusei,” Aki sighed once they entered the house. “Kaori should be getting out of school soon, I think she would be overjoyed if you went to pick her up this time, and maybe decide what we should have for dinner or pick something up if you’d like.” The sick feeling in Hikaru’s stomach didn’t go away as he took in his father’s concerned gaze aimed at his mother, which then turned to glance at his son before focusing again on his mom. Hikaru glanced up at his mother, who had her back facing Hikaru, but he could still see her trembling fists balled up at her sides; she looked as taut as a spring, ready to burst at any second. Hikaru gulped as his father finally sighed and nodded. He placed a hand gently on her shoulder, which she reached up and squeezed gently before shrugging his hand off. “I’ll go ahead and text you what we decide to get,” was all he said before turning towards the door and exiting the house with a soft click emitted by the door. The silence left behind by his father’s departure was deafening, so deafening that Hikaru could practically hear his heart pounding like a drum in his ears. His hands began to dampen with sweat, which he tried to vigorously rub off on his pants. Hikaru could only stare at his mother’s back amidst the silence until it was shattered with a soft sigh. Aki’s shoulders slouched visibly and she rubbed her face with her hands before turning to face her son with a neutral expression. Hikaru flinched; this most definitely wasn’t his mother’s usual explosive anger. He found himself wishing that she would just yell at him already, instead of just staring at him with a deep sorrow in her eyes. He gulped as his mom crouched down instead and looked at him in the eyes.“I-I’m sorry,” he started stammering. “I didn’t mean to! I-“ “Hikaru Fudo,” she interrupted. He flinched hard and closed his eyes; turning his head away from her and clamping his mouth shut. “Look at me.” He shakily obeyed after she gently grasped his chin and faced his head towards her. She stared at him, her amber colored eyes meeting his azure ones. “Why did you use your power on Kazuko-kun?” Hikaru bit his bottom lip with his teeth before answering. “He- He was being really mean, not just to me but our other classmates as well. And the teachers don’t do anything! I- I thought that if I hurt him he would stop! I wanted him to hurt the same way he hurt us!” He turned his head away from her again and rapidly blinked his eyes, trying to keep himself from tearing up. Aki turned his head to face her again and commanded him to open his eyes once more, but firmer. Hikaru did so and... Aki slapped him. The boy gasped and collapsed to the floor on his rear, not expecting it. Aki dropped to her knees and clasped her son’s shoulders in her hands. “Hikaru Fudo, look at me!” He flinched as his tears fell, but complied, expecting to find anger and rage in his mother’s face. Instead, he was shocked to find terror and sorrow accompanied by tears he had never seen before. “Hikaru, don’t you ever use your powers like that again, do you hear me,” her voice cracked as she wept. “Hikaru, it’s not right to wish pain on other people! Even more so to use powers that you know other people don’t have to hurt them!” Hikaru flinched, but he couldn’t pull his eyes away from his mother. “W-Why is that so bad?!” “Because bruises and scrapes can heal, but it’s a lot harder to heal from trauma Hikaru!” She shook the boy’s shoulders for emphasis. “You hurt Kazuko-kun much worse than he can ever hurt you! You took advantage of your powers and used them as a weapon; you used them to harm somebody, and that’s very, very bad Hikaru!” The boy had long since gave up arguing against his mother and listened as she sobbed. She released his shoulders and instead wiped her eyes while steadying herself on the floor. Eventually, her sobs calmed to mere hiccups and she whipped her hand against her eyes one last time before wrapping her arm around Hikaru, pulling him into an embrace. Hikaru, still in shock, wrapped his little arms around her as much as he could, his vision still blurry with tears. “Hikaru,” she released a shuddering sigh, one that shook his head from it’s place on her chest. “Never use your powers to hurt someone like that again, okay?” The boy glanced up at his mom and nodded. Aki sighed and maneuvered herself to be leaning against the wall on her back, pulling Hikaru with her. The mother and son stayed like that, with Hikaru clinging to his mother as much as he could with his head buried into her chest and crying silently while Aki stroked his hair until Yusei and Kaori came back and found them.
*
It wasn’t until Hikaru was thirteen, had seen the Fortune Cup, and had a talk with his dad that it truly settled in about why using his gift to hurt others was horrible. “Remember when your mother... scolded you for using your power on Kazuko a few years ago?” His father had asked him. Despite the fact that that incident occurred four years ago, Hikaru never forgot about it. He had never seen his mom cry or breakdown like that before, and hasn’t since. “Yeah,” Hikaru confirmed. “She didn’t really scold me, she just told me to never use my power to hurt other people like that again,” he explained. Yusei nodded and sighed. The two sat in silence for a while before Hikaru spoke up again. “I- Kaori and I watched you guys’ duel in the Fortune Cup the other day.” Yusei glanced at Hikaru and waited for him to continue. “What happened that made mom... like that?” Yusei hummed to himself as he considered his answer. “Hm, a lot of things, but I think you should ask your mom herself. She’s the only one who knows fully everything.” Hikaru winced slightly and turned to face his father incredulously. “She won’t be mad that I asked?” Yusei huffed out a laugh and smiled at Hikaru. “Of course not.” Yusei paused in consideration before speaking again. “I’ll tell you though, I’m glad that you listened to her back then.” Hikaru waited for his father to explain. “Your mother didn’t have anyone to help guide her through life or help her out with learning how to use her abilities. Her feelings began to fester and she kept it to herself because no one could or would understand until... he appeared in her life.” Hikaru watched as his father’s face grew sour and his eyes filled with hatred, which was rare for Hikaru to see. “He taught her to unleash her anger and use it and her powers as a weapon against people, I don’t think she knew any better at the time, she didn’t have people who cared about her. In the end, unleashing her anger and power as a weapon didn’t just hurt other people. It also hurt her as well.” Hikaru stared at his father as the man gazed on in contemplation. “Hikaru.” “Hm?” “Promise me you’ll never hurt other people intentionally using your powers.”
