"Come on son, at least eat a spoonful." Aikawa was coaxing Kenta, who hid under a blanket, to finish a bowl of clear soup with prawns and shiitake mushrooms. "I know that the poisonous berries probably messed up your digestive system and I understand the mere thought of eating makes you wanna puke, but you need to get something in. Can you try for me? Please?"

"I don't have an appetite," came Kenta's muffled reply. "I have a lot to think about. Things like...Aiden's apology. I'm serious when I said I've forgiven him but I'm afraid Oka-san and Lee won't let him live it down. I get where they're coming from, but I don't want them to grill him or anything. If I were him, I won't appreciate being roasted either."

"Kenta." Aikawa took a deep breath. "All this time I haven't pressed you too much on the matter of bullying because I know you'd just clam up. That's just the way you're built. You've always been the kid who bottles his feelings up. It isn't healthy though, you bottling up your feelings. There are some problems you can't just expect to disappear if you tough it out."

"It's simply stressful thinking of what Uncle Lee and Oka-san are asking Aiden downstairs while you're here keeping me company, Otou-san." Kenta pulled the blanket to cover his face. "Aiden probably feels like he's on a job interview but one in which he won't get the job."

"Well, do you wanna come downstairs and listen to their conversations, then?" Aikawa shrugged. "If you're not eating because you're this worried, maybe you should join them."

"I don't know, I'd expect Uncle Lee and Aiden to probably be having a shouting match. I wouldn't want to watch them scream at each other but on the other hand, this anxiety is killing me." Kenta turned to face the wall. "I'd just wait for Akira to recap everything for me."

"Got you, son." Aikawa nodded understandingly. "By the way, what do you think of talking to someone about being constantly anxious? It's not normal to feel on edge every day. If you're open to the idea of finding help, Lee mentioned to me the other night that one of his friends from undergraduate years is a psychologist. She has experiences working with disabled children."

"That could be useful." Kenta said, still facing the wall. "Otou-san, I think you chose the wrong name for me. I'm not a strong person, physically and mentally. I think I've let everyone down, Grandpa Shigeru included. His poems always have this message of looking for hope and yet here I am, not living up to my name and instead losing sight of the hope I'm supposed to hold on to."

"Come here." Aikawa pulled Kenta into an embrace. "Listen, being strong doesn't mean you can't rely on others. No, son, that's not how it works. Often, you can only be resilient when you assess your limits and acknowledge them. Resiliency isn't about never breaking down but about realizing that there are ways for you to get back up and it's okay if you need someone else to hold your hand when you're slowly getting up. I don't think your name is a mistake."

"You're not angry at me for harming myself?" Kenta's voice grew softer. "Truly?"

"You're a hormonal teenager. I know you're overwhelmed and I can't imagine how sad it would be if on top of dealing with bullying you had to face my anger." Aikawa tightened his embrace on his son. "Just promise me to never ever take such a drastic measure. You almost gave your old man a heart attack, you know. Honestly, I feel like maybe I haven't been a good dad."

"But you are a good dad. I can't ask for a better dad. It's just that for some reason I'm not comfortable sharing everything with you. I know you don't judge but I don't want you to think that I'm weak and spoiled. I want to show you I can be independent and—"

"Independence doesn't mean distancing yourself from your parents, Kenta!" Aikawa frowned and yet kept the tone of his voice reassuring and patient. "Independence means you take responsibility for your own life and right now you're running away from facing your problems head on by refusing to see that what's going on between you and Aiden is out of control."

"Otou-san, when a kid is mean, whose fault is it? The kid's or the kids' parents? And when a kid is nice, who has the rights to take credits? The kid? The parents who raised them? Actually, why do you think some kids grow up to be such a brat? How did they turn that way?"

"Oh geez, Kenta!" Aikawa laughed nervously. "I don't have a cut and dry answer for your difficult questions. It depends. I do believe that parenting can influence a child, but it is not the only influential factor. Sometimes a child struggles with external stressors that are nothing to do with the parents. Didn't you say Aiden move from White Banyan to Silver Pine? Maybe his bad behavior is part of him not adjusting well to his new life. It doesn't excuse him torturing you and his generally ill mannerism, but it's kind of hard to put the blame squarely on just him or just his parents. Maybe his parents don't even have any clue that their son is a mean kid because they're too busy being breadwinners. You see, there could be hundreds of whys behind this case."

"Oh." Kenta was silent for a minute, musing on his dad's words. "That sounds so complex."

"Yeah." Aikawa sighed then took Kenta's hand. "Hey, I've been wanting to ask you this since forever but haven't had the time to be alone with you much until now. Do you ever, in the back of your mind, think that you'd be better off if you can hear? Do you ever hate being deaf? Because if you do, then I—"

"I don't hate being deaf." Kenta said firmly, staring into his dad's eyes, which widened in surprised. "I just hate how some people can be quick to assume things about me that aren't necessarily true. Or even worse, sometimes they just see me as if I'm a little kid who can never be criticized and so growing up all the teachers were always reluctant to tell me if I had done my homework incorrectly, for example. I usually only found out from comparing answers with my classmates. I wish people know that while being deaf is a part of who I am it doesn't mean that's the only thing about me. I am more than just my deafness."

"I'm proud of you for not hating yourself for things you can't change." Aikawa patted Kenta on the back. "By the way, your soup is getting cold. Eat that, won't you? Your mom cooked it with all her love, don't let all that love go to waste."

"Okay." Kenta pushed his blanket aside and sipped the soup slowly. "The mushroom is good."

"Of course it is." Aikawa smiled. "Shiori works so hard cultivating the shiitake herself. She's been learning how to select high quality mushroom spores and how to control the greenhouse's temperature. Mushrooms and flowers are so different and yet she take care of both masterfully."

"When I become an adult, do you think I can be as accomplished as she is?"

"Why not?" Aikawa chuckled. "Tell you what, I think you could even surpass her one day."

A knock on the door stopped Kenta from continuing with sipping his soup. Akira peeked her head and Aikawa gestured for her to come in. When she did, only then did Kenta realize Aiden was there too. Aiden hesitated to approach Kenta's bed until Akira made a coughing sound.

"Kenta, I'm so sorry again for what happened today and for everything I've put you through." Aiden said while staring at his feet. "I made a promise to your uncle that I'll talk to the principal about giving a formal apology in front of all the other students, possibly at next week's assembly. I'm going to write down a transcript of my apology so in case you still don't feel healthy enough to go back to school by then you'll not miss out on what I'm planning to say."

"And sir, I would like to apologize to you too, the same way I apologized to your wife and Akira's mom." Aiden directed his attention toward Aikawa. "I regret taking my insecurities out on your son. He is the last person to deserve being treated badly. I think I do need counseling."

"Counseling might do you some good." Aikawa nodded in approval. "I understand Lee has told you about his friend Amanda Torres, right? Then you do know that you could get her to be your therapist for free if she agrees to take your case on a pro bono basis. I do want to know, however, how do you feel about seeing a counselor at the same time Kenta does? It's gonna be like, for lack of better analogy, couples therapy but for kids who have issues with each other."

"I would do whatever it takes to make amends to Kenta." Aiden said, before glancing at Kenta and smiling. "As long as he wouldn't mind sharing the same counselor. It can get awkward seeing each other being vulnerable, what with our history of tensions and stuff."

"I do want to support you in becoming a nicer version of yourself." Kenta smiled back at him.

"Look at you two. I never dreamed that you can change, Aiden." Akira chimed in with an amused grin on her face. "But you have a long way to go before I can consider you a friend."

"That's fair." Aiden grunted. "I know I have to prove myself first before you can begin to trust me. I need to work on my jealousy issue. Kenta, Akira, I'm envious of how you have a very loving family. I miss my mom. You guys are so lucky your moms are still here to dote on you."

"Not for long." Akira exhaled. "I could easily lose my doting mom if her condition continues to decline rapidly. It's hard to see her health deteriorate but I try to appear happy for her sake."

"Akira, you don't have to fake happiness." Aikawa spoke up. "You're allowed to express sadness. You're a kid. I know you want to appear mature but it's okay to show emotions."

"And I'm here for you, cousin." Kenta added to what Aikawa said. "Any time of the day."

"And me too, although you may not feel like opening up to me so soon." Aiden said softly.

"Thank you, everyone." Akira pulled the two boys into a group hug. "I do hope that mom knows she's loved and that I'm trying my best to live my life in a way that will make her proud of me."

"She knows." Aikawa nodded reassuringly. "I have no doubt that she already knows."