NOTE: Pretend I publish this on Mother's Day

WARNING: A triggering topic might mention here.

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In a simple yet beautiful bakery of Aoi Pan, we meet a beautiful woman, with short midnight hair, and soft amethyst eyes.

Meet Chiharu Aoi, a caring, understanding, and hard-working mother to her 3 beloved kids

She always woke up early in the morning to bake tons of delicious loaves of bread and sell them to her customers.

But her usual morning routine changed when someone come inside her bakery that caught her attention

Surprised amethyst eyes meet guilty turquoise eyes

"Oh, Kris! Welcome to Aoi Pan~" Chiharu happily greets the dark-haired pink girl who smiles uncomfortably

"Good morning Mrs. Aoi" Kris greeted back palely

The mother notices the odd behavior the young girl displaying, but keeps it quiet for now.

"Come inside Kris, we had a lot of delicious bread ins-"

Chiharu cut off her sentence when Kris shakes her head which makes the situation more confusing.

The way Kris stand is not her usual straight composure, she keeps flinching, couldn't look at her and her expression looks grim.

Chiharu's train of thought disrupts when Kris did something unexpected.

"I'm very sorry Mrs. Aoi!" Kris apologize loudly and fall to her knees.

The older woman is taken aback at her strange action, thankfully no one was here to witness this scene.

Chiharu's composure is shaken, she's very confused, but as an adult, she needs to act like one.

"Ahem ahem" She faked a cough to gain the young teen's attention who flinch in response, she couldn't dare to look at her friend's mother straight in the eyes, the guilt still weighing her down.

"Stand up, Kris, I don't know what's happening so let's talk inside" she orders strictly making Kris nod eagerly

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Chiharu feel like her world fall apart when she heard the devastating news. Kris and she are inside the house so no one can eavesdrop on their conversation. The pink manager tells her the harsh truth and Chiharu can feel the overwhelming guilt in her.

Her child is secretly suffering, every loving mother's heart will break if they find out that their child is in pain

'Why didn't tell anyone or me' She thought and feel disturbed. Valt appears to start acting weird, this isn't like him.

"I'm very sorry Mrs. Aoi for being irresponsible" Kris once again apologizes, she keeps doing this over and over again no matter how many times Chiharu assures her that it's not her fault

Valt's mother sighed "Just make sure it won't happen again"

A fire of determination lit up in those sky-blue eyes. 'I won't let down Valt again' she thought

"Yes I will, thank you for trusting me"

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"Valt, why didn't tell anybody about your situation?" Chiharu asks in a quiet and painful voice. Kris has tell her afterward that Valt will come home after her visit to take some time to breathe, and this is the scene that is happening in the Aoi household the moment her son comes home.

Valt bit his lip and look down in shame, he can feel perfectly how her voice sound so broken and disheartened, and the fact he was the cause of this made his stomach churn.

"I'm s-sorry" Valt started to apologize while tearing up, his action sent a stab of guilt in the mother's heart

Chiharu shake her head "I'm not mad at you, I'm just worried. We're family Valt, you could always come at me if you have a problem" she pointed out, and the bluenette nodded

Valt stay silent for a moment and Chiharu is waiting patiently for her son to at least open up.

"It's j-just I t-thought I c-could handle it by m-myself. I'm a t-teen now, a c-captain and a c-champion. I w-wanted to p-prove that I'm m-mature now." Valt stutters in response, finally confessing the thing inside his heart

Chiharu remains silent she's starting to understand the situation.

The world is pressuring Valt, they are shaping him as a so-called invincible champion, but they didn't realize how much stress they put on him. Her son is secretly suffering while he's showing the world he's ok.

Society is blind, they think being mature is acting cool, but it's not like that.

Actually, behind his son's childish behavior is a mature mindset because she knows she raise her child properly and will grow up as a good person.

And the best sign of her child's maturity is when he accepts defeat in bey battles and forgives his best friend who betrays him.

" Valt you had nothing to prove in the world, you live for yourself, not for the sake of entertaining others. If the world can't accept you then accept yourself" Chiharu said softly making Valt shock

"I know that but I can't do it," Valt said darkly, straightforward with not shuttering surprised her mother

"Because I don't know how, and the voices of my head won't stop and help me other. What's worse is that the voice belongs to Red Eye. His voice keeps haunting me at night telling me I'm weak, disappointed, etc."

Amethyst eyes widen, a painful expression painted on her face, she never knew his son's condition is worse than she thought. Chiharu clenches her fist tightly that almost turns white, she needs to fix this immediately before it gets out of hand.

Chiharu starts to understand the situation. Now she knows why he's like this, the trauma of the past won't leave him alone. Shu's betrayal make Valt develop trust issues and destroyed his self-confidence.

"I sound like a horrible best friend isn't it"

Chiharu blink in surprise when Valt utter another dark sentence

Valt continues "I already forgive him and yet I couldn't forget the things he did. The memories keep playing at me every night. I don't know why I couldn't move on already when it's already in the past.

Chiharu keeps listening intently to her son's confession. Letting go and changes are hard, it's a fight between holding on and letting it go.

"But Valt you don't have to forgive and forget, you have to remember and recover"

One strong inspirational sentence that makes Valt's perspective change, as his dark world finds a beacon of light and hope, the dullness of his eyes becomes brighter. He looks over to her mother who is smiling at him with overwhelming fondness to him.

A smile spread on his lips

He had the best mother in the world

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Chiharu convince Valt to have a consultation with a psychiatrist who could help him better in his situation

"Good morning, my name is Takeo Sato" An old man with brown hair and brown eyes, he's wearing a white uniform.

For some reason, Chiharu can feel something is wrong

Valt, ask her mom if she would be the one to tell the psychiatrist about his condition because he doesn't trust strangers with his problem.

Chiharu starts to explain the situation to him and for some reason, she can feel he's not listening

"From what I see, Valt Aoi doesn't have any serious problem, he should take criticism in a good way because that would help him in his situation. He should stop spending time on social media because that's the main cause of teen depression. What he's experiencing is just a normal teenage phase and he's overreacting too much" The psychiatrist said harshly making the two Aoi flinch in surprise

The man continues while hiding a smirk "But I can recommend good medication in good pr-"

(PAK!)

A loud sound echoes in the room, Valt's eyes widen when he witnesses how her mom slaps the rude psychiatrist that leaves a red palm mark on the man's face, the slap is strong undeniable strong on how the man fell on a chair and lands harshly in the floor

"You had no rights to talk like that in my son, you fraud," Chiharu said threateningly with cold and poison dripping in her voice that send a shiver to the man who's cowering in fear

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In the end, the fake psychiatrist is arrested so Chiharu has to reschedule.

"I apologize for what the fraud did, I will make sure it will never happen" The real psychiatrist name Rindo Hatayo said and bowed apologetically.

Chiharu nodded, accepting his apology "Please do, so there would be no victim" she said the man nodded in understanding

And the session begins.

"Valt Aoi had Adjustment Disorder" The psychiatrist pointed out

"What is that?" Does the said boy ask in confusion. How come the situation leads to disorder?

The psychiatrist adjust his glass and coughed lowly to fix his voice

"Adjustment Disorder is an emotional or behavioral reaction to a stressful event or change in a person's life. Valt Aoi is having a hard time adjusting to his new life as a champion, coupled with high expectations, pressure, stress, and a toxic environment, it doesn't help his situation either. People may think this is a less serious mental health disorder but this has a huge impact on a person's life"

The Man explains the situation seriously and paints a grim expression on the mother. Meanwhile, Valt blinks in surprise, he never thought that his condition is considered a real problem.

The man continues to explain "It also appears that he has heart palpitations or those mysterious cracks he describes, caused by triggers, one of the Adjustment Disorder symptoms. But that's not only the problem"

Valt gulp in fear of what he will say

"Since Valt is experiencing other symptoms like anxiety, depression, insomnia, and behavior changes that last more than six months. His condition may consider Chronic Adjustment Disorder" The psychiatrist said that gives Valt a dreading feeling

"Is there a cure?" Chiharu hopefully ask and to her great relief when the man nodded to assure her

"Yes, I will recommend some antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs to relieve his situation. And the talk therapy from the family that will provide emotional support to him" The man explains and the two Aoi nod in understanding

"Valt Aoi will heal, with the help from his loved ones and from himself too"

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"Okaa-san"

A soft and sweet voice that Chiharu loved to hear, she turn around at her son who is standing behind him. They just got home from the consultation. "Yes, sweetie?"

Amethyst eyes widen in surprise when her son did an unexpected stunt. Valt rush forward to hug her mother, tight but full of warmth and love, as the bluenette buried his face in his mother's body, like a kid who wants to be pampered.

A soft and fond smile formed on the mother's lip as she pat his son's soft hair.

Her son might be growing up now, but it doesn't change a thing that he is still the sweet and lovable child she raises.

"I love you and thank you for everything," Valt said softly and sincerely sending a stroke of happiness into her mother's heart

A fond smile spread on the mother's lips "Every time"

Then Valt let go of the hug and show something behind his back

"For you"

Chiharu blinks in surprise when Valt hands him a piece of bread with the shape of a heart, she smiles and quickly takes a bite in delight

"Hmm~ It's delicious! Tell me where did you buy this-" Her sentence got interrupted

"I bake it by myself," Valt said with an amusing smile playing on his face

Ok, she didn't see that coming. Well, you couldn't blame her, Valt used to burn the loaves of bread in the past.

Looks like her son got some massive improvement in baking skills, phew.

She look over her son like she saw a ghost "R-really? That's amazing! This is so delicious" She meant what she said, this is the first time her son bake something decent and delicious

Valt beams a smile then he winks at her mother. "Of course! I learn from the best. And it has the secret Aoi ingredient: Love and Care!"

Chiharu blushed at his flattery.

She's very blessed to have such nice children.

"Valt, I'm proud of you as your mother"

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NOTE: The psychiatrist part may not be accurate because I don't have any experience with that, but I took research for the Adjustment Disorder

This is inspired by the movie names Inside Out, on how being happy all the time and suppressing sadness is toxic. I want to show how Valt is having a hard time adjusting to his new situation as a champion, this might look dramatic but I think it's pretty realistic.