Out of Your Mind

18

The next day, you went back to work. Looking over your schedule for the day, you had sessions with Thirteen, some second and third year students, and Katsuki Bakugo from class 1-A.

"This should be interesting." You say to yourself. After lunch, you began typing out the daily report for Principal Nezu when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in" you say, turning your music down. The door opens and someone shuffles in, slumping down on the chair. You look up and see young Bakugo looking down at the floor, angry expression on his face.

"Katsuki, hello." He grunts.

"Hello."

"What brings you here?"

"The mandatory counseling, duh." You look him up and down. He absolutely does not want to be here.

"Hmm, and you know why you have to be here right?"

"Because of what happened at the USJ..."

"And?"

"And..because I skipped out on the first session"

"And?"

"......and because you won't let me participate in the sports festival if I don't come!" He still doesn't look up at you. This kid is going to be a lot of work, but you were up for the challenge.

"Right. Do you know why they're making you talk to me?" You keep your voice soft and calm.

"Didn't I just tell you?" He said impatiently.

"Well, yes, but there's another reason-" You pause for a moment, "-hey, Katsuki, can you look at me?" After a second, he looks up at you. You smile softly, his expression doesn't change.

"It's because what happened at the USJ was scary and traumatizing. You're still young and you might not have all the tools you need to help you work through it." His eyes soften a bit, but immediately harden again.

"Are you saying I can't handle this on my own?! I was doing perfectly fine!-" He starts raising his voice.

"Katsuki.." You say but he continues.

"-I don't need you or anyone in this damn school!-" He stands up aggressively, continuing his rant

"KATSUKI!" You slam your hands on your desk and activate your quirk. He gets pulled down to his seat and is unable to move or speak. He angrily tries to break the hold you have on him, you sit down, organizing the things that got out of order when you slammed your hands on the table.

"I apologize for getting so loud." You say cooly. He's still struggling.

"This feels familiar..oh yeah, like when I went to your class to settle you all down. You and Mr. Midoriya were the cause for that right?" His anger grows at the sound of Midoriya's name. That was a sensitive spot.

"I'm not going to allow you to speak for a couple minutes because all that screaming you do is more annoying to me than anything. But I do want you to listen to me very carefully. I am the only thing standing between you and the sports festival, so I'd treat me a lot nicer if I were you." He settles down a bit, still trying to break out of whatever hold you have him in.

"I just want to make sure you are ok, up here." You tap your head. "And in order for me to give the ok for you to be in the sports festival, you need to talk to me. And I mean, literally talk, not yell." He is relentless, still struggling, but you think he's starting to process the words.

"You're allowed to be angry, I never said you couldn't, but you can't yell at me everytime you get angry because then I'll have to use my quirk on you and you don't want me to do that. Like I said in your class before, there's a lot I can do." You said that last part with your mind, his eyes widened at the sudden voice in his head. He hesitantly begins to settle down. And you wait a couple seconds.

"Good, I'm going to let you go and if you act up again, I will not hesitate to call Nezu right now and keep you from participating in the sports festival." You threaten before releasing him from your hold. He stretches a little and stares at the floor.

"Katsuki?" You want him to say something to you, hopefully you didn't accidentally push him away.

"Everyday, I'm constantly reminded of how powerful people can be. I always thought I was the best, but I won't allow myself to fall behind..." He isn't looking up so he doesn't see your smile at his confession. "One day, I'll be powerful enough to break out of your hold." He declares, you lean back and smirk. The number of times you've heard that..

"Maybe, but I wasn't even using all my strength there, so you'd have to get preeetty strong." He looks up and smirks this time.

"Of course I will. I'm going to be the number one hero one day."

"I don't doubt it, Katsuki.." You smile "-but for now let's focus on getting past high school first." You spend the rest of the session talking about how school was going and a little bit of the USJ incident. Overall, he was a good kid. Smart, surprisingly attentive of all the students in his class, he just has a serious temper.

"Alright, Katsuki. It's about time to wrap up the session." He looks at the clock on the wall, not even realizing the time.

"Oh..well, are you going to say that I'm ok to do the sports festival?" You nod, signing your name by his name on a list you have for Nezu.

"Yep, you're all good." He looks down.

"Can..I come in again?" You looked up surprised.

"Yeah! Of course"

"It's not like I need help or anything. It's just good to rant about all the people I hate.." Always trying to keep up the tough guy persona..

"Yeah, no, I get it. I'm a good person to vent to. How often do you want to come in?" You open a planner on your computer.

"Can I come in..two times a week?" He's not looking up, you look even more surprised.

"You sure can!" You set up the times and he quietly thanks you and exits the room. You sit back and smile brightly. This is what it was all about.