[Makoto walks into the room and smiles in approval at Mari-san's work. It looked great. Cozy and not too serious. Hopefully it will encourage people to talk, even a little. When he sees Mari, he offers her warm smile and nod before he takes a deep breath as he waits for people to notice him. When it's quiet enough, Makoto begins.]

Thank you Mari-san for setting things up. And thank you all for coming. I know it can be hard to talk about things, let alone to a room full of people, but it is really helpful. For you and others. I know that from personal experience. I didn't want to to talk about what happened to me, especially to a stranger but after talking to my therapist, I've found myself handling things, both from the past and the present, better.

It doesn't have to start big. Or even personal. Just talk to people and they will help you heal from all kinds of stuff. Despite how you might feel, there are a lot of good people here and they can help you. And if not, they can be your friends or even just your chat mates. You don't have to do anything you might be uncomfortable with. Let's just chat together and get to know each other. Everything else will fall into place. And perhaps, we'll find some peace together. I truly hope for that.

That's all. Thank you for entertaining my rambles. And thank you for coming.

[With that, he bows and goes to sit on on the chairs, ready to begin.]