A/N: Or the chapter in which Shouto is secretly a savage. For the record, sunshine in your eyes is the most annoying thing in the world when driving

Published: 3/20/2018

Warnings: None

Chapter 6

Reach Out

Shouto, sadly, had to put up with the back and forth bickering of Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugou for a full half hour before he was summoned. Why he had to endure this was beyond him. Couldn't he have been dropped off closer to his scheduled appointment time?

What irked him more, though, was that Midoriya and Bakugou's appointment was scheduled after his own, ergo the cause of his suffering.

The traitor, Mitsuki, had done absolutely nothing, just casually flipped through her reading material as if Shouto wasn't dying a little on the inside by the second. It got so bad that Shouto almost cried tears of joy when he was called forth, despite his initial annoyance at being forced to come here in the first place.

The therapist was… Plain looking, Shouto decided. She looked like someone you'd pass on the streets one moment and forget the next, although Shouto supposed that wasn't entirely fair.

He'd never been good with faces. This woman could look like an award winning model and he wouldn't recognize her.

"So, I noticed how you got along with little Izuku and Katsuki. Did you make new friends?" Hato-san began her assault, and of course she had to start off with the current objects of Shouto's ire.

Years of training kept Shouto's face carefully blank. He'd always been good at masking his emotions. One had to be, when growing up in a household with Endeavour and even the smallest sign of weakness could result in getting an extra 'training' session.

"They're both wonderful. I'd be glad to be their friend." Shouto lied.

Hato-san arched a single eyebrow.

"Really? Tell me, what do you think of them individually?"

Shouto was annoyed by the question. Why she bothered bringing those two up was beyond him. But, regardless, he answered.

"Midoriya is a wonderful ray of sunshine, and Bakugou is… Determined to a fault." Shouto tried to think of nice things.

Midoriya certainly was a ray of sunshine. The annoying ones that blared in your eyes and blinded you and that you just kinda wanted it to go away.

Bakugou certainly was determined. Determined like a stubborn mule, making an ass of himself by just the act of breathing.

Shouto always found that the best lies were those sprinkled with truth. He wasn't lying at all. He was being perfectly honest. It wasn't his fault if someone misinterpreted his words.

Hato-san frowned at him as she scribbled on her notepad.

"Shouto-kun," the woman spoke. "Do you know what my Quirk is?" she asked him.

Shouto shook his head. No, he did not know what her Quirk was. Frankly, he didn't think it mattered. Her Quirk didn't get her a psychological degree to be a child therapist, so why should it matter?

"My Quirk is Empathy." Hato-san told him. At Shouto's blank look, she elaborated. "I can channel, feel, and emulate the emotions of people around me." Hato-san explained. Why, Shouto wasn't sure. What did that have to do with anything-

Oh.

Oh.

Shouto couldn't help the pang of fear that shot through his veins. Masks were useless on someone who could just read your emotions. Perhaps he'd been off before when he'd assumed that this woman's Quirk hadn't gotten her her degree. With an ability like that, this kind of career was perfect for her.

That shouldn't be surprising. Quirks where skills. Unique skills that made the person who had them invaluable.

Shouto couldn't stop the red from crawling up his cheeks as he looked away. Lies wouldn't work on someone who could just feel what he was feeling.

The solution, then, was simple.

If this woman could feel his emotions, then all Shouto had to do was surpass them when he around her.

For most children, such a thing would be impossible. Shouto was not most children.

"You're jealous of Midoriya-kun, Shouto." Hato-san didn't know the definition of leave well enough alone.

Shouto glared at her, arms crossed. Years later, Shouto's glare would be enough to make grown men whimper in fear. Here and now, though, Shouto looked like a pouting kitten, which he was unfortunately aware of.

Well, kittens have claws and Shouto wouldn't be afraid to use them.

"I don't see what that has to do with anything, Hato-san. I was under the impression we were here to discuss… Other things." Shouto said delicately.

Acknowledging that your mother poured scalding water all over your face because you reminded her of her husband was not something Shouto wanted to say out loud. It would make it all the more real, all the more terrifying, if he did.

"It has everything to do with it, Shouto-kun. I asked Mitsuki-san to bring the two boys early for the explicit purpose of meeting you." Hato-san revealed. Shouto was liking her less and less by the second. "The… File… your father handed me states that you were harmed by your mother, correct?"

How the woman could say that with a straight face was beyond Shouto. Although, a part of him liked it.

That cool view towards reality.

He still had no idea what those two had to do with his mother, thou-

Jealous.

Hato-san said he was jealous. More importantly, jealous of Midoriya specifically. Shouto grit his teeth. He'd been in this office for all of ten minutes and she'd already psychologicaized him correctly.

He blamed her Quirk

"And now, you're annoyed at me."

Shouto quickly squashed down the emotion.

Very well. If this woman wanted to play, he'd play.

"You wanted to see how I'd react to someone with… a more ideal parental situation." Shouto said.

That got him a nod. Well, at the very least, the woman was honest. Although, so was Shouto himself. On the surface.

Whatever. He just had to get this over with. Quicker the better.

"He looked kinda sad." Deku said, staring at where Todoroki had disappeared after being summoned by Kyoya. Beside him, Katsuki scoffed.

"Candy cane lane should get that stick out of his ass."

Deku turned to him, expression scandalized. Katsuki wasn't sure why he was so surprised. It was hardly the first time Katsuki had given someone an unsavory nickname, and it sure as hell wouldn't be the last.

"Kacchan! Stop being so mean to people! And, he has a name!"

"Does it look like I give a flipping fuck what his name is? Besides, if you couldn't tell, shitty Deku, he didn't like you! I can't blame him! Who would?"

Deku's face did that pathetic quivering thing it was so fond of. God, he was such a goddamn cryba-

"Owe!"

Katsuki rubbed the back of his head, turning to glare at his mother as she leaned back, manga rolled up in her hands. Seriously. That woman was way too fond of hitting him. Katsuki could only conclude that he got his sadistic tendencies from his mother.

"Brat, be nice!"

"Don't tell me what to do!"

It was then that Shouto Todoroki shot right out of Kyoya's office like a bat right out of hell. Katsuki blinked. Huh. That was fast. One quick glance at the clock confirmed Todoroki hadn't been in there for a full twenty minutes.

Kyoya herself came out right after him, sighing as Todoroki sped right out of the reception room. Sighing, she turned to them.

"Well, as far as first impressions go… I think that went marvelously." the woman said. Katsuki could only stare. He, at the very least, wasn't the only one. Kyoya didn't seem to notice though, her expression pleased. Then, her eyes darted along the reception hall, finally landing on Katsuki and Deku. Her smile grew wider.

Creepy woman.

"Come, children, your appointment has been moved up."

"Shitty Deku, looking down on me. What does a broken, Quirkless brat like him think he can do? Why on earth does that fucking idiot think he can ever be anything remotely near to my le- Katsuki Bakugou, I asked you to try and write nice things about your friend." Kyoka admonished, setting down the sheet Katsuki had handed her.

A full week had passed since the joint secession, which had gone rather well. Katsuki had only threatened to physical violence once and Izuku hadn't even flinched at it. So, Kyoya had asked the pair of them to write nice things about the other and bring them to her on their next meeting. Izuku's, no doubt, would be kind.

Katsuki's looked like it had been torn to shreds several times over, redone twelve times on the same sheet of paper, then scrunched up into a ball and tossed away before he finally decided that yes, he was turning this one in and no, he didn't give a damn how messy it looked. Surprising, considering how much of a perfectionist Katsuki was, although Kyoya supposed that was part of the message he was trying to send her.

Katsuki himself grumbled, arms crossed and looking away.

"No, you shitty thrapist, you asked me to write what I think of when I think of Deku." Katsuki snapped hauntedly.

Katsuki had taken to calling Kyoya 'thrapist' the second he had realized that her Quirk worked by allowing her to feel the emotions of others. Sadly, it was not a habit Kyoya had yet managed to break. On the surface, it seemed like the boy was mentally incapable of remembering people's actual names.

Kyoya understood better, though.

Katsuki Bakugou enjoyed the reactions he'd get from his random nicknames to people.

Just like he enjoyed how the nickname 'thrapist' made Kyoya uncomfortable.

Annoying little shitty brat, who did he think he wa-

Kyoya breathed. Breath, and release. There. Let go. That was the danger of her Quirk, and why she never did make it the heroics department. It wouldn't do for a hero to start cackling evilly next to the bad guy.

Enough about that, though. She had a client to be concentrating on. Kyoya sat back, merely observing the boy before her. It wouldn't take long. It never did.

Katsuki squirmed under her gaze, red eyes glaring up at her past his fringe.

"The hell do you want, bitch? Stop staring at me like that!" Katsuki barked.

Kyoya decided to stare at him just a bit longer. Small explosions began to crackle from the child's clenched fists. Kyoya really wished he would stop that. While it was true that his body had developed a natural defense to his own Quirk, it was best not to put that to too heavy a test.

"You're worried about him." Kyoya pointed out.

Katsuki froze.

Then, in an instant, the brat was up, arms flailing about.

"What? Are you insane? Me, worried about that shitty nerd? Why would I be bothered by that extra, huh?" Katsuki's lying skills could use work. Kyoya didn't even need her Quirk for this one. "Why would I be worried about him! I'm gonna leave him in the fucking dirt, where a broken thing like him belongs!" Katsuki all but roared.

Kyoya easily wiped spit from her face.

Katsuki's face was unrepentant. The pang of embarrassment, though, rang, even above the rest of the boys tumbling emotions.

This kid really liked to suppress them. That was a bad idea. The more he shoved them down, the more chaotic they were going to become. They were already becoming chaotic. Despite their sessions, Katsuki Bakugou was as stubborn as they came, hard headed to a fault.

Last year, he'd been ranting about how 'stupid Deku' was going to get himself killed if he kept up this stupid dream.

Now, he was ranting about how 'stupid Deku' was broken and should be tossed away with yesterday's trash.

Kyoya frowned at Katsuki.

"Why do you think he's broken?"

Katsuki scoffed, as if her response was the stupidest thing in the world. Kyoya didn't relent, though. Instead, she arched a single eyebrow into the air, and stared. Staring at Katsuki tended to get the best results. Despite how much the boy liked attention, admonishing glares typically resulted in him squirming before snapping.

Katsuki hissed at her.

Bingo.

"Of course he's broken! He doesn't have a Quirk!"

"Neither does 20 percent of the population, Katsuki."

Katsuki scoffed at that.

"Most of those are adults, grams." Katsuki retaliated. Kyoya carefully kept the offense off her face at the insinuation about her age. "Among kids, though? Deku is one in a billion." Katsuki exaggerated. "People without Quirks are getting rarer and rarer. And, besides, that shitty nerd has two parents with Quirks, so why doesn't he have one? 'Cause he's broken." Katsuki concluded.

One would expect a victorious drawl. That couldn't be further from the truth.

The boy didn't shout. Didn't scream. Wasn't loud or brash, as was his usual demenous. Kyoya would have very much preferred it. She would have prefered it as opposed to the utterly lost look in his eyes. The boy looked away, head downcast.

He wasn't even bothering with the mask. Why would he, around someone like Kyoya? Still, masks made people feel confident, feel better in their own skin. Katuski's mask made him feel safe, and the mask drops when one starts to lose strength, lose will.

A hand on Katsuki's shoulder made his head snap up.

"It's okay to be scared. And, it's okay to reach out."

This was the very lesson Kyoya had tried to impart on Shouto not a week earlier. That boy had yet to come back and, judging by the tumbling emotions rolling within Katsuki, he was about to go the same route.

Or, rather, attempt it before his mother dragged him right back, kicking and screaming. Sure enough, the boy shot up, screaming.

"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME! DON'T GO THINKING THAT SHITTY QUIRK OF YOURS MEANS YOU UNDERSTAND ANYTHING! IT'S MY LIFE, NOW STAY THE FUCK OUT!"

With that rather loud declaration, Kyoya watched as yet another child stormed right out of her office.

Ah. The joys of working with preteens.

Which would, of course, only get worse when they actually reached their teens.

Oh holy hell, she needed a goddamn drink from the idea alone.