A Ninja's Way of Life (Leo X OC)

Aversion Therapy

"What?!?" Blair almost screamed.

The doctor crossed her arms and smirked, "Have you ever been in love before?"

"I-I don't see what that has to do with-" Blair started. 

" Ever been on a date before?" The doctor interjected.

"W-what?" Blair started to get flustered. 

"Ever had a crush on someone or have a boyfriend?" The doctor continued her line of questioning. 

Blair just stared at the doctor in shock as she stared back at Blair. The silence in the room was loud. 

"So...no then?" The doctor prodded. 

"Blair clenched the ends of her sleeves and looked down out of embarrassment, "n-no."

The doctor sighed, "That's what I thought."

Blair shrunk into herself more, "What does that even have to do with any of this?"

The doctor rolled her eyes, "It has everything to do with this considering you're lovesick."

Blair's eyes widened and she stiffened up," What sick?!"

The doctor chuckled at Blair's flustered response, "Lovesick. L.O.V.E. sick."

"How can I be lovesick if I'm not even in love?!" Blair squeaked out.

The doctor sighed and leaned against the wall, "What were you doing when you first experienced your 'symptoms'?" she questioned. 

Blair thought back to a week ago, "Well it was karaoke night and I suddenly got a fever."

"It's not a fever. You're face is hot from blushing and feeling flustered or embarrassed. Think harder. Be more specific about what was going on in the moment." The doctor explained. 

"Nothing was going on. Like I said, everyone was singing for karaoke night. Everything was normal." Blair insisted. 

The doctor raised an eyebrow, "Who was singing?" 

"It was-" Blair felt her face flush as she thought back to that day. 

"Leo?" the doctor finished her statement. 

Blair stayed silent for a moment as realization started to dawn on her, "H-how did you?..."

The doctor sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Think. you show no signs or symptoms until you think about or come into contact with him. Right?"

Blair thought back as hard as she could, trying to remember anything that would prove the doctor wrong but the more she remembered, the more her memories only further confirmed her diagnosis. She knew she had to admit defeat and nodded, unable to take her eyes off the ground. 

"Listen, if you've never had feelings for someone before, especially by this point in life, it's not unlikely that you'd be confused by your own feelings and mistake them as being something else. Hotness in the face, kinda like a fever, flushing, sweating, and a rapid heart beat are all serious symptoms if you take feelings out of the equation. "Just hearing about her past reactions made Blair blush more. " But they're completely normal given your crush on this boy. Especially considering you seem to have only had these feelings for about a week now."

Blair felt like she wanted to die on the inside, "S-so....what do I do?"

The doctor thought for a moment, "Hmm...Tell him how you feel?"

Blair buried her face in her hands, "Out of the question!" 

The doctor sighed, "Then all you can really do is try to act normal as best as you can until you either get over your feelings for him or until you can't help but tell him how you feel." 

Blair looked up from her hand with a determined look, "Well I'm never doing the second option no matter what. I finally found a place I can call home. I finally found a purpose. If I ever confessed I would not only ruin the dynamic between me and him, but between me and everyone! I can't risk losing everything I have again." 

The doctor looked at Blair with pity in her eyes and Blair hated it. She hated feeling weak and pitiful and now it's her own heart making others look at her like that. 

"Well, if you're not willing to open up...I can recommend aversion therapy?" The doctor offered. 

"Aversion therapy?" Blair questioned. 

The doctor turned around, opening a drawer, and rummaging around in it for a moment. She pulled out a rubber band and walked over, placing it on Blair's wrist. 

"Every time you get flustered thinking about him, or when you see him or interact with him, snap your wrist with the rubber band. Hard. Make sure it hurts enough to snap you out of your thoughts. This will eventually trick your brain into associating your thoughts of love with Leo with a bad feeling and you'll get over him." She explained. 

"Will it make me hate him?" Blair questioned.

"No no no. As long as you only continuously snap it when you have feelings of love for him. If you start to notice you don't get worked up when interacting with him you shouldn't have to snap it." She reassured. 

Blair looked down at the rubber band and thought of Leo, "I'm....in love with Leo..."

The doctor reached down and pulled at the rubber band, making it snap hard against Blair's wrist.

"Ouch!" Blair yelped. 

"See? You snapped out of your thoughts for Leo." She smugly smiled. 

Blair's annoyance faded and she realized the doctor was right. 

"What do I tell them was wrong with me? I can't exactly say 'hey guys, no need to worry about me. I just found out I'm a complete loser who couldn't tell she's in love with one of her best friends. Now all I have to do is snap this rubber band on my wrist every time I think of Leo and hopefully I'll get over my dumb feelings.' I'd rather dieee." Blair buried her face back into her hands and groaned. 

The doctor scratched her head, " Yeah, I wouldn't say that either...hmmmm....how about your body was still getting used to your mutation and now that you're reaching the 6 month mark you just needed a hormone shot? You should be fine but you might still experience flares up here and there as your body still adjusts. That should explain why you get flustered in the future until you get over your feelings."

Blair practically had stars in her eyes, "Are you secretly an author or something?!"

The doctor smirked, "I may or may not do improve on the weekends."

Blair hopped off the bed and headed towards the door, "Well, keep it up! Can I go now?" 

The doctor raised an eyebrow, "Sure, if you feel like you're ready to see everyone, including Leo, again, then there's no reason for you to stay here anymore." She teased. 

Blair's heart dropped at the thought of seeing Leo. She hesitated as she reached for the doorknob, stuck in her own thoughts, but she realized what she was doing. She bit the inside of her cheek as she reached down for the rubber band and snapped it hard against her wrist. The pain distracted her enough to open the door. 

"Hope everything turns out okay kid." The doctor called out from behind her as Blair left the room. 

Blair looked back over her shoulder at her, "Ya...I do too." and closed the door behind her.