Izuku would be the first to tell you that he has issues. It's pretty clear that flinching and cowering all the time is not normal (not that his UA teachers or students think so because nobody even tried to talk to him about that or ask if he's okay-).
So yeah, Izuku knows that it isn't healthy or normal for that matter, not that he could talk to anyone about it.
("Stop lying you quirkless brat!")
("Izuku, just because Katsuki has a quirk and you don't does not mean you can tell us lies about him.")
("Leave me alone, you quirkless mistake!")
("Surely you must be lying young man,-")
("I do not think it is that extreme, stop being overdramatic!")
("Izuku, baby, Kastuki-kun would never do that.")
("Young Midoriya, perhaps you should try and talk to young Bakugou. I'll see that there will be more opportunities for it in class.")
Izuku shuddered as he remembered the number of times people told him that he was lying. (He won't talk about how the one from All Might and his mom hurt the most-)
There was one person, though, that Izuku remembered reaching out to him. Hound Dog, the school's counsellor. While Izuku thinks that the man is simply doing his job, he was still the only person (animal?) to reach out to him.
FLASHBACK
Izuku was heading towards the dorms, passing the counsellors office since he had to take a detour when the door to said office opened and Hound Dog stepped out. The hero was firstly stumped at seeing Izuku here since not many people take this route when walking out of the school, but it was ideal none the less.
"Ah Midoriya, just the person I wanted to see, woof. Do you have a minute?", the dog? wolf? asked. Izuku, always happy to listen and help said yes, of course, turning around to face the hero properly. Hound Dog smiled- actually it was pretty hard to make out what exactly the hero was doing and Izuku didn't want to assume or anything, but he was pretty sure it was meant to be a smile.
"Thank you, woof. I had noticed some concerning behaviour during our brief interactions and I would like you to know that my door is always open and if not, I'd be happy to provide an outside therapist. There is no shame -woof- in getting help, as your mental health is just as important as your physical one-", Izuku wasn't sure that he even looked after his physical health but never mind that, "- and you have every right to get help from a licenced professional, woof.", Hound Dog finished.
"Oh, um. Sure- I- That's-", Izuku sighed, closing his eye for a brief moment and shoulders slumping, before looking back up to the hero, "Thank you."
"Of course, woof. Have a nice rest of the day, Midoriya.", Hound Dog responded, not even mentioning or reacting to the stuttering. Izuku smiled at the man again before reciprocating the statement and then making his way back to the dorms.
END
That was roughly 3 months ago. Now, Izuku was nervous. He had barely gotten any sleep (not that that was anything new, insomnia was truly a bitch) and spend nearly the whole night researching the same topic again and again (for the 4th time since UA): Therapy. Why? He had finally decided to come and see Hound Dog. He had decided to get help. (He had a quirk now, he was worthy of it-)
Taking a deep breath to collect himself, Izuku raised his hand and knocked at the office. He knew that Hound Dog was free for the rest of the day through observation, so nobody would know that he was here and Izuku will make sure that it stays that way. (He would tell the hero not to mention anything to anyone until he had been given Izuku's permission, the boy knew that he could do that)
The door opened slowly and carefully, but not overly cautious, just enough so that it wouldn't be startling. In the now open doorway stood the counsellor, looking down at Izuku curiously.
"Midoriya, woof? Please, come in and make yourself comfortable.", the hero stated after a moment where Izuku didn't say or move, except for fidgeting with his hands. The hero-in-training gladly followed the instructions, happy to not do anything himself.
Izuku sat on the couch and started fidgeting with the hem of his uniform jacket, still looking down at his fingers. Hound Dog observed him for a moment before sitting down in the chair opposite Izuku and bringing out a notepad with a pen and a fidget cube from a box next to him. Keeping the notepad and pen for himself, he offered the fidget cube to Izuku, who took it eagerly and started fidgeting with it, slowly relaxing.
"It has been a while since I have seen you, Midoriya, woof. I'm glad that you choose to come to me, but if you feel uncomfortable tell me anytime and I will find you a therapist outside of UA.", he waited until Izuku nodded, "Anyways, how are you, woof?"
Izuku relaxed. That was a normal question, an everyday question. He could deal with that one. (he ignored the fact that he always lied when asked)
"Oh, um, I'm doing- I'm fine. A-A little tired from-from today's hero training.", the green-haired boy explained enthusiastically, but obviously tired, since he didn't have the same energy as usual.
"I'm glad to hear so. Is there a specific reason why you wanted to see me today? Woof, or would you like me to tell you what I have observed before through our small interactions that concerned me? You also have the option to keep things light-hearted or just sit in the quiet and relax. Woof, whatever you want, the choice is up to you.", the hero tried to ease into the topic and give the boy as many options as possible so that he didn't feel trapped or forced.
Izuku sighed, shoulders slumping in the relief of simple choices, all his to make. He was curious about what the hero picked up from their interactions, but he also wanted to just keep things light-hearted to avoid the whole thing. That wasn't the point, however, of why he came here in the first place.
"Could you- Would you mind telling me on what- what you have observed?", the boy stuttered out, a bit afraid. The hero just nodded, accepting the answer before starting to talk.
"Well, woof, I see signs of severe anxiety, some form of depression as well an inferiority complex and trust issues. You also seem to keep your emotions bottled up a lot and hide behind a very convincing smile. This suggests abuse and neglect by who I cannot tell, woof. Do you feel like I'm on the right track here or is there anything else you'd like to add or maybe remove? Woof, do not feel the need to answer though. You don't have to."
Izuku thought about it. The hero was right in his observations and the late-night research did say something similar. Could he trust this counsellor? Could he trust an adult?
"You can't tell any-anyone about this or-or even that you h-have meeting with me, with-without my per-permission.", the boy stated nervously. Maybe he could trust this adult, the first adult to reach out to him and mean it.
"Of course.", Hound Dog nodded. Izuku took a deep breath, calming down a bit.
"I- I was quirk-quirkless for- before the- the UA entrance e-exam. I-", it was getting harder to breathe for Izuku. Tears welled up before spilling over his cheeks. His breathing became more rapidly, desperately trying to catch some more oxygen, fingers shaking so much that the fidget cube fell out. Izuku started to curl in on himself, to make himself smaller so that he wouldn't be a bigger target than he already is-
Hound Dog saw the panic attack and slowly rushed over to the boy, to not startle him and help. He telegraphed his moves, making sure that Izuku could see them. Every step was loud and clear to be heard so that the boy wouldn't be startled.
"Izuku, you are in UA, in my office, you are having a panic attack, woof. Can I touch you?", the hero gently asked the boy. Izuku briefly looked up, before stuttering out a small 'yes' between his hiccups and heavy breathing.
Hound Dog immediately put one hand? claw? paw? on Izuku's back, slowly starting to rub circles and one on the crossed arms that were strongly pressed into Izuku's chest. The hero then pulled the student into his chest, hugging the boy to ground him.
"Woof, can you tell me five things you can see, Izuku?"
"The- the wall.", Izuku replied after a while, "Uhm, the-the car- carpet, a- a table-", the boy paused again to think, "-your- your f-fur and- and the paint-painting."
"That's great, well done, woof. Can you tell me four things you can feel?"
"We-Well the co-couch, my-my heartbeat, your f-fur and- and- and", the boy coughed a bit, "One- One for All."
"Good, well done, woof. Can you tell me three things you can hear?", the hero did not know what that last thing was, but he will ask the student about it later.
"U-Uhm, my-my heartbeat, your heart-heartbeat and- and, uhm-", the boy paused listening, "the- electricity in the-the building."
"Well done, woof. Can you tell me two things you can smell?"
"L-Lavender and burned w-wood."
"Good, woof. Can you name one thing you can taste?"
"Blood.", Izuku replied now fully calmed down but clearly exhausted. The hero paused at the mention of blood but decided to approach it calmly.
"Do you want me to let go of you? You can say no, that's okay, woof."
"Uhm, eh, no please?"
"Of course, woof. You mentioned blood, are you okay, or do you want me to get the first aid kit or Recovery Girl? You can stay silent if you want, woof.", Hound Dog asked, before feeling that Izuku flinched at the mention of Recovery Girl. He will file that away for later.
"I'm fine, I just- I bit my cheek.", Izuku responded, biting his cheek again. Hound Dog smiled, relieved.
"Okay, woof. Do you want to sit in silence, have mindless chatter, start the serious conversations again or just go back to the dorms, woof?"
"Could we- Can we just stay silent for a while?"
"Of course, woof."
With that, the room fell into a comfortable silence for Izuku to calm down even more, the touch of the hero grounding and safe. (He couldn't remember the last time something was safe-)
While Izuku calmed down more, Hound Dog or Inui thought about what the boy had said. As a counsellor, he always stayed updated on suicide rates and the Quirkless once's were on an all-time high nowadays, especially for children under the age of 16. He couldn't imagine what the boy had gone through. It was also possible that the Bakugou kid had something to do with the trauma Izuku experienced, so he will have to ask the staff to keep an eye on Bakugou and report any behaviour towards Izuku.
He would have to ask Izuku for permission to do that.
When Izuku was ready to talk again, he pulled away slightly from the hero, just so that it was comfortable to talk. The touch was grounding and it's been a long time since he was hugged by anyone, so he will treasure it.
"I- I think I'm ready to tell you...", the boy quietly spoke, voice barely above a whisper and only Inui's wolf? dog? ears helped him to hear the boy clearly. Not that he would tell Izuku that, since he should be as comfortable as he could be for this talk.
"Take your time, Izuku, woof, and tell only what you are ready to tell me.", the hero reassured the student. Izuku nodded and took a deep breath before diving into the disaster that is his life.
"So, uhm, at first I didn't notice the difference in people's behaviour when they were told, or I told them that I- I was-was quirk-quirkless.", he took a deep breath, "But it got more and more obvious and vicious, the older I got.", Izuku let out a bitter laugh, "I was naive and told everyone I wanted to be a hero even though I was quirkless, so running and hiding from bullies and teachers were done every minute I was at school.", he lowered his head, looking at his hands, "I still have scars from all the times I was left to bleed out on the floor of a classroom."
Inui had to do calming exercises in order not to growl and bark the next words because he was so upset that it happened to the pup, just because of something he couldn't control.
"Just, woof, because you, woof, didn't, woof, have a quirk, woof, does not mean, woof, that you, woof, do not, woof, deserve basic, woof, human decency, woof. Everything that you are, woof, feeling, woof, is valid and, woof, you have every right to, woof, feel that -woof- pup- Izuku.", the hero grit out as calmly as he could with the boiling anger against the abusers.
That is exactly how the rest of the session went for both of them. Izuku telling Hound Dog what happened and Inui trying to calm down and reassuring Izuku that it was trauma and he was safe in the office and didn't need to hide his true self in there. Inui also tried to calm his anger down, but by the end of the session, Izuku could tell that the hero wanted to punch everyone who did him wrong -especially Bakugou- in the face.
Izuku appreciated the fact that someone finally cared enough to have that kind of reaction.
"As this is, woof, the end of today's session, woof. I would like to, woof, ask you, woof, Izuku to, woof -bark-, come to me, woof, at least, woof, three, woof, times a week, woof. If you, woof, are okay with it, woof, of course, woof -bark-.", the hero explained, anger making him hardly understandable. Strangely enough, Izuku didn't feel fear or the need to run away, he felt protected.
So of course the green bean agreed to see the Dog hero three times a week after school if the hero didn't tell anyone about it until Izuku was ready. (Inui would never tell the boy it, but he would do anything for the green bean, even if it meant getting killed. The amount Izuku had to go through to be happy makes it totally worth it.)
TIME SKIP
The sessions have been going on for roughly a year now, and while it was hard to make progress at first with Bakugou being in the class, Inui convinced Izuku to let him take care of that pretty early, around 3 months in. So now Aizawa, a teacher proudly teaching all 19 students in 2-A, has been invited and currently sat in Hound Dogs office with Izuku, ready to hear what the counsellor had to say.
(Bakugou was removed from the hero course and placed in the general course due to his anger issues and other unknown reason. Mineta has received the same punishment for his perverted behaviour and has been replaced with Shinsou which was a nice surprise for the 1-day-old 2-A class.)
When all was explained to the homeroom teacher, there was a loud bang that had echoed through the school building that nobody really knew the cause of. It is said to have been a vengeful ghost that has been biding their time for the right moment to strike, but nobody in UA has ever confirmed (or denied for that matter) the statement. Todoroki still makes theories on what happened that mysterious day in UA.
(Yes, it was featured on BuzzFeed Unsolved.)
Nobody could really explain how Aldera Middle School burned down either. The fire department suspected that it was a gas that leaked out and exploded with the help of one of the students' quirks, but nobody had the time to confirm it when the school had been shut down due to the strong discrimination, abuse and bullying happening there and none of the teachers or principal doing anything about it.
(That had been quite a scandal when the Number 1 Hero Dekiru revealed that he had been one of the abuse victims of the school.)
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It's been 2 months dammit-
Why can't I ever update regularly?! I stg this must be some kind of curse-
Also, I have never been in Therapy or have seen a therapist, so I have no idea what it is like. I'm sorry if it's inaccurate, I mostly combined different procedures from different fics I've read over this year, so yeah. Sorry.
(Btw, I get that my update schedule is bad and all, but the more you beg for an update the later it comes. I also will probs not do some of the things I was asked to do 'cause I'm getting overwhelmed and it's more and more like a chore and not fun anymore, sorry)
This will be the last one-shot story for this series, so I hoped that you have enjoyed this :D!
I hope that you enjoyed this One-Shot. Feel free to leave a comment, I love reading and answering them!
Stay healthy and keep safe!
~ Flame