Bleeding Heart

XIV

Kimiko sat outside on the grass, looking up, she was disappointed to see that the stars were covered by clouds.

"Aizawa called me, told me you didn't join your classmates tonight," a voice said quietly. Kimiko hummed before responding, "well I had therapy."

Shinsou chuckled at her comment before settling down next to her, "is that what you call talking to me about your many issues?" he asked.

"First of all, that's rude and secondly, yes" she replied with a glare. Shinsou put his hands up in surrender at her glare, he wasn't there to pick a fight.

He was surprised when she first reached out to him. Obviously, it was Aizawa's idea after her kidnapping, but to her credit she followed through.

He knew she still felt a little uncomfortable with him and honestly, that was fine. He was only here as some sort of closure, a form of immersion therapy for her.

"Okay, let's get started then shall we?" he asked, while looking down at his notes. Kimiko sighed, "yeah sure."

He read through a list of questions Aizawa and a quirk therapist wrote out. All of this was to help ease her paranoia and hopefully allow her to reason with her fear.

Part of the reason he was chosen for this was definitely because of his quirks ability, but he figured another reason was because he supposedly shared a variation of that quirk with her tormentor.

When Aizawa first explained the plan and Kimiko's history to him, he finally understood her avoidance of him.

It started with short visits to the hospital just for him to stand in on her therapy sessions, but it gradually grew into a dysfunctional friendship.

One where the therapist suggested that Shinsou be the one to talk to her, once she was back on campus.

"So, do you still believe you're in danger?" he asked. This was how it always started, he would read off the list of questions and then gradually they would slip into a rhythm of just talking.

"Yeah," she responded honestly. "Especially when I'm not with Aizawa," she replied, voice quiet in the night air.

"What about that Bakugou guy? You're close with him right?" he asked. He had picked up on her consistent mention of her classmate but hadn't mentioned it until now.

She looked embarrassed, her cheeks reddening, "I mean yeah, I feel safe with Katsuki but that's just because he saved me."

Raising an eyebrow, he wrote her answer down, not adding the part about Bakugou. 'Katsuki huh?'

He was pretty certain that was Bakugou's first name. Remembering him from the Sports Festival made him scowl, he didn't like that guy.

Shinsou continued to ask questions and write down the answers until the end of the list. He was getting sleepy, playing therapist was a lot of work.

"You didn't write anything embarrassing down did you?" she asked, reaching to the papers in his hand. Shaking his head, he handed her the papers as he stood and stretched, "it's late, I'm leaving so give those to Aizawa-sensei in the morning," he said.

The girl nodded in response. "See ya," he called over his shoulder as he walked away. Kimiko stood, tightly holding the papers as she began walking back into the dorms.

As she walked, she read through her answers, grateful he didn't include Bakugou at all in his notes.

Feeling her face heating up, she remembered the implication that came with Shinsou's question. "He's just a friend," she said to herself, as she made her way to her room.