“And how has school been, Himiko?”
“Great.
I even got top three on our exam.”
“Yes, your parents were quite proud of that.
You must’ve worked very hard.” Her therapist, Mister Cueball as she liked to call him, said, adjusted himself in his seat, nodding along.
“And how about your friends, how’s everything going with all of them?”
“Good.
We we’re supposed to go to mall today but…”
He laughed a little.
“Ah, while I am sorry to be the one cutting into your time with them though and it is good to enjoy your youth, our meetings are very important.” He said.
“You haven’t had any odd thoughts?
No impulses involving them?”
“Nope.” She kept her smile in place.
Didn’t let anything she really felt leak into her voice.
Avoided any excessive eye movement but didn’t shy away from natural eye contact.
“I’ve made sure to keep up with everything we’ve practiced.”
“That’s good, that’s good.” Mister Cueball said, taking a pen to that thick stack of notepads he always held.
She’d long since learned not to let that get to her.
His whole job, when he was doing it right, was to chip away and peel at a person, so he could understand them.
Sometimes he actually was writing something.
Other times it was nothing more than scribbles and doodles, the writing meant to get anything that might be hidden out of her.
“And what of that boy?
Mister Akaguro, was it?”
Himiko shrugged.
“We’re in the same year and have some of the same friends, but I don’t really know him that well.”
He continued his writing.
“You haven’t tried to get to know him better?
As I heard it, you may have saved his life using your blood.”
Rather than trying to avoid the topic and give him room to make his own digs at it, she dived straight into the subject herself.
“I don’t think that be a good idea.
It might trigger…”
“And why do you think that is?”
“He drunk my blood.
I’m not just going to forget that.”
Mister Cueball nodded along.
“Self awareness is good Himiko.
Very soon you might not have to deal with these meetings at all.” With a laugh he moved them on to other subjects, Himiko giving him most of the answers her parents would want to hear, a little uncertainty sprinkled in here and there.
It was funny sometimes.
He was the one who taught her to lie and fit in, but it’d been a long time since he was able to catch her in any lie or get in at the things he, they all, wanted to change about her.
She guessed it was easier for him to see what he wanted to.
Or maybe he was just interested in the paycheck.
All her parents were concerned about was what they wanted to hear.
A painful long hour later and the whole thing was over with, Himiko making her way out of the office and slipping in the back of her mother’s car, nothing more than a few words said, the phone call she had going on taking up all her attention.
Its not like they cared what she’d say about those therapy sessions.
Elbow on part of the car door, Himiko stared out the window.
What was the point in all that when she couldn’t actually talk about anything without ending up in trouble?
XOXO
“How was that thing you had to do?”
“Fine.”
“…that bad, huh?”
Himiko looked down from the ceiling above.
Off in the corner of his room, already in the middle of some studying, Katsu had laid down what he was reading to look over at her, his messy dark bangs hiding part of his raised face.
She dropped the smile she was forcing, frown replacing it.
“I hated my whole day.” She hadn’t told him about the whole therapy thing, just making up excuses about her parents whenever it got in the way.
Its not like she couldn’t tell him; the thing her parents were sending her there for didn’t bother him at all.
But it still came with its own problems.
She’d listened to her own friends and countless others gossip about other students who went to it.
Therapy meant something was wrong with you.
And when something was wrong with you, people treated you differently.
Pushing herself up off his bed, she walked up behind his chair, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing their cheeks together.
“What are you doing?”
“Stealing your energy.” She said, hugging him tighter.
Being around others was always draining.
That went for him too at first.
She didn’t have to upbeat and happy all the time.
She didn’t have to be in control at every moment, suppressing the things that felt more right to her.
And she definitely didn’t need to worry about scaring him off with those uglier parts of her.
Being around him didn’t take any effort at all.
Except for when they were working out.
That took a ton of energy.
“Want to work on your quirk?”
She wouldn’t say no to some of his blood but-
“I don’t feel like doing anything today.” She said.
“Come on, lets go watch TV or something.”
“No can do.
Can’t miss a day.” He said, already picking back up the book he was reading.
“Workaholic.” She muttered.
It was the one thing about him that really annoyed her sometimes.
She’d just assumed that he relaxed like everyone else but now that they were hanging out more, his aunt having no issue with her being over, she’d noticed that he didn’t stop doing stuff.
Working out, straight into studying, to experimenting with their quirks.
He didn’t stop until he was tired and it took a lot to make him tired.
But as annoying as it was, she admired it too, sometimes wishing she could be the same way.
“Hey, is there anything you find annoying about me?”
“You’re a bit clingy, you like to try to slack off all the time, and I’m pretty sure your mind is in the gutt-”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up.” Himiko cut him off as she pulled her face away from his, shaking him a little.
Despite all those apparent complaints, he shot her a smile.
“Hey, you asked.
You shouldn’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to.”
Her parents had given her strict instructions to avoid him and never give her blood to anyone again.
Just like she expected, her therapist labeled him a trigger when she let him in on a partial truth to avoid any suspicion.
Everything she’d been taught and learned fitting in at school said that they be pointed out and labeled freaks if everything they did, especially the sharing of their blood, was seen.
But none of them actually knew her.
They just saw the act and were happy to accept it as is, looking any deeper or dealing with someone so different from them too inconvenient.
They weren’t and wouldn’t be comfortable with who she actually was.
Katsu was and she would be sticking with him no matter what they had to say about it.
Him and his stupid logic.
XOXO
(A/N: Bit of trivia, Toga’s therapist name isn’t actually Cueball.
That’s just what she calls him since she doesn’t like him and he’s bald.
She’s childishly petty like that.
Anyways, that’s it for the intermission chapters.
We’ll be covering the tail end of their current year before bee lining straight for U.A.
Some of you might be more concerned with Toga’s parents but their dedicated storyline is further in the future.
I’ve mostly just set up the roots for it.
Your friendly neighborhood writer signing out!)