A Farewell to All Futures

Healing and Headaches

Warning: mentions of abuse, abandonment, ableism, depression, CSA, trafficking, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt, extreme dehydration, terminal illness, PTSD, panic attack, transphobia, homophobia

***

Ayao opened her briefcase with a sigh as she settled into her new office. Ever since Hope's Peak Academy had an open position for a guidance counsellor open, she had been trying to get the spot for weeks. She didn't want the position to fall into the hands of someone who would be judgmental to all the unique students, so this was all for the greater good that they chose her.

She was sad that she resigned from being her job at the Path of Sound Rehabilitation Clinic in person, but she was allowed to still do her therapy work there virtually. Many of her patients also attended the academy, and she wanted to keep a close eye on them so to speed up their recovery. Now that she was here, she could help other people as well.

She opened her laptop and noticed that she had a list of people on a queue list waiting to be called down to speak to her and be diagnosed by her. She tapped a button on her staff communication device to call the ones running the security cameras and sending messages to the students' handbooks.

"Hello, this is the new guidance counsellor, Dr. Ayao Yoshihama. Could you send the first student to my office?"

***

"...And I'm not really sure if I should get in touch with my grandparents again." Sora lamented. "I mean, I've lived most of my life as 'Sora Taira', not 'Sora Momota'. There's not even a guarantee that they treated me well in the first place."

"I see." Ayao wrote that down. "You may not see them as family, but do you think that they see you as theirs?"

"I have absolutely no idea. All I know was that I fell into a reservoir and nobody came to find me. There was only one missing person poster, and I had to pay a hacker $50 to find it online. Nobody searched for me, and I didn't need to disguise myself or use an alias." The albino sighed.

"For all you know, they may still be looking for you." Ayao replied. "Then you should visit them, at least to get closure for both of you. If they're abusive, then you can cut ties, but if they're not, then you can at least stay in touch while keeping your hold on your new identity. They will at least know that you're alive, if they haven't already from the practical exams."

"...For closure..." Sora thought it over before nodding. "Alright. Soon, I'll...I'll try to call them. I still have the number on my handbook."

***

"And did your parents ever send out a missing person notice about you?" Ayao asked.

"Nah, don't think so. If they did, I would've been all over the news when I made it into the broker business. Not to mention that I was all the way in southeast Asia at the time, so I wouldn't know." Syobai replied.

"So, you've spent all that time without a parental figure in your life?" The therapist clarified.

"Yeah, but I got practically adopted by Yuri's, uh, my girlfriend's mom when I went over to Russia for a few days. She's more of a parent than mine ever were, and I don't really remember their faces anymore, so she's the first one that comes to mind when parents are brought up." The broker admitted.

***

"...And after she told me that she lost a place to be because of me, she slapped me and left." Yoruko sighed. "And I stayed in the hostess business after that not just because the pay was good, but as an 'atonement' of sorts."