This is some stuff you already know, I smushed them together! I also added a few things to make more sense contextually.

Enjoy~

Joue's POV

I was fully settled into my job now. I wasn't expecting any teachers to really come by, but Aizawa was proving to be more and more of someone in my work circle, as weird as that was.

"So is there anything specific you want to work with me on?" I asked. Aizawa glanced up at me, my stomach squeezing gently.

"Where do I begin?"

"You can just pick one," I stated, though that seemed obvious.

"Well, a big one to get out of the way I guess," he said, letting out a sigh. He had previously shown disdain for therapists, stemming from his past experiences with them. I hadn't seriously expected him to schedule a session with me, but he appeared on my schedule just 2 days prior. "I've got nightmares pretty often."

"Ahh, prone to them?"

"I didn't used to be," he pointed out. I tilted my head, allowing him to continue. "Some of the dreams are positive, some start out that way and turn bad, and some are just bad from the beginning."

"Recurring?"

"The person in it, yes," he replied. "My best friend Shirakumo was, uh, killed in front of me in high school. So his presence frequents my dreams."

"I'm so sorry to hear that," I replied, my stomach dropping. His emotion was internalized but overwhelming. So overpowering I couldn't help the blue hue fading over my heart.

"I...don't discuss it often," he said, clearing his throat.

"Do you want to change that?"

"I guess...it would be beneficial if I could think about it without the threat of a nightmare," he said. I nodded, assessing exactly how I was going to do this. Often people enjoyed that I began or carried conversation while others benefitted more to my silence and listening ear.

"Why don't you tell me about him," I offered. "If you're comfortable and it has been a while that you've been holding this weight. I figure as much if you haven't spoken too frequently about it. I assure you it will get easier as you talk. If you want to cry or get angry, feel free to."

"Well...he was very optimistic, really wanted to help people more than anyone else I've ever known. He was charismatic in his own kind of way and most of the time people gravitated towards him," Aizawa explained, looking hard at the desk. I just kept calm eyes on him, nodding as he spoke to ensure that he knew I was listening if he so chose to look up. "He was a good guy. He should've been a hero."

"Right, and those positive dreams showcase him in a good light," I connected and he nodded. "Are the positive dreams giving you any kind of trouble?"

"Sometimes, it's difficult to start the day after waking up from it," he admitted and I nodded.

"These nightmares are of his negative side or of his passing?"

"Sometimes both, but he was never a really big pessimist or anything like that. It's all pretty exaggerated, at least his negative traits," Aizawa explained. I couldn't imagine having to watch the loss of a friend. I didn't want to imagine how brutal it was.

"What else do you remember about him?"

~~~

"Joue?" I glanced up, smiling when Aizawa entered my office. He started towards a bean bag when I stopped him.

"Wait! Are you allergic to cats or fur?" I asked and he looked back to me, looking to me strangely.

"No...why?" His question was answered as my cat leapt down from the windowsill to the desk, peering at the new guest. "Cat."

"Yeah, sorry. She's therapeutic if you want to pet her. She's been at my mother's while I moved in. She's taking a day or two to look at the office and my apartment before she's back at my mom's for a little while longer," I said, scratching along my cat's back. She arched up into my hand, slinking past towards where Aizawa was. He held out a hand for her to sniff, but she skipped the step and nuzzled her head under his palm instead.

"Hello," he said softly and I looked up at him, feeling my heart pinch at his gentle nature.

"Her name is Uno."

"Uno?"

"Yeah, like the card game. It's my favorite and she always lays down on those cards specifically," I said, watching him pet her head. He looked more relaxed now that he was in her presence. "She's also the kind of bitch to put a +4 to ruin an Uno."

"Ahh," he replied.

"Trust me, I don't think Nezu likes her much. He's a mouse bear right?"

"As if I were to know," he replied, gesturing towards the floor. Uno replied immediately, hopping down. Once he sat, she made herself comfortable in his lap and I couldn't contain my grin.

"She likes you."

"I very much like cats."

"They're very sweet, I do love dogs though," I replied and he just shrugged. "So what shall we talk about today?"

"We could cover my tiredness."

"Oh from the overworking."

"Was going to mention sleep habits, but I suppose you're right too," he said. I smiled awkwardly, scanning over his face.

"We'll cover both."

~~~

Aizawa yawned as he sat down, having just come from class.

"Would you like to sleep?" I asked.

"Sleep? During our session?"

"Uh...yeah. You seem tired."

"I'm always tired," he replied and I placed my chin on my hand. I was about to offer a sleep reading when his face contorted, showing great confusion. "What's your last name?"

"Huh?"

"I realize your first name is Joue, but I don't know past that," he pointed out.

"Oh," I murmured, my face going red. "It's embarrassing. It's Hitto."

"So...your last name means hit?"

"Yeah, kids all the time would laugh and hit me because haha, Hitto Joue. So funny," I scoffed and when I glanced up he had a slight smile. "I'm glad my trauma amuses you Aizawa."

"No, no, i--"

"I'm kidding. I'm used to it, don't worry," I replied, shaking my head. "What I was going to say was, I can offer you a sleep reading."

"A sleep reading?"

"Yeah, basically you sleep and I read the emotion you're feeling," I said. "There are a few things that can happen. You'll either have no dream memory or you will remember it. If you remember, it will either be cryptic to point where you can't make anything out of it, you'll live out a memory, or you'll see me."

"Really?"

"Yeah, some people have multiple, like you're living out a dream and you look over and I'm there, it's odd," I said. "We don't have to if you don't want to. I can assure you if you're having a nightmare I'll wake you up or turn your focus to something else. Lucid dreaming has never happened before in a patient, but it's definitely not out of the realm of possibility. As you also know, my quirk can work from a distance but it always strong when I have physical contact with you. To do the sleep one, I need to touch you, if that's alright."

"We can do it."

"Great! You can get comfortable," I replied. He set himself up in a sleeping bag and I watched out of the corner of my eye, having never seen him in his sleeping bag before. (Y/n) had mentioned it a few times, but it was hard to imagine. He had the top curled down so he could rest against the beanbag like a pillow. I turned to dim the light and when I looked back he already seemed like he was passed out. I knelt at his head, scanning over his face for a moment. He seemed peaceful as of right now. I placed a cool hand against his forehead, underneath his hair. I shut my eyes, letting myself relax and root myself into the experience.

When I opened my eyes, I was at the front of the school. Aizawa was seated beside who I could only assume was Shirakumo. He had stark white hair and a set bandage over his nose. Aizawa laid back against the grass, looking up through the cherry blossom petals. I walked nearer, listening in. As Aizawa shut his eyes, the world grew slightly fuzzy. That of course made sense, trying to patch together a scene he hadn't had his eyes open for was impossible.

"Come on man, you're always so tired! We've got to head to class," Shirakumo replied.

"When you get a quirk like mine, then you can wake me up," Aizawa replied.

"You're so lazy," Shirakumo whined, flopping over Aizawa's stomach. Aizawa let out a grunt of discomfort, sighing so they both sank closer to the ground.

"Lazy isn't the word for it, I'm selective. I choose what I want to do." Shirakumo shook his head and grasped Aizawa's nose in his fingers, shaking Aizawa's head by it. Aizawa pulled away, cringing at Shirakumo.

"Come on man, or else I might leave you behind," Shirakumo called, propping himself up over Aizawa with an elbow. The world grew into focus again when Aizawa opened his eyes, the feeling shifting from a light, happy kind of feeling to slight panic and guilt. Shirakumo helped himself up, brushing past me without realizing I was there. Aizawa couldn't figure out how to get up by himself, the dream going sour. I look at him struggling to look up towards Shirakumo and when I looked to see is Shirakumo would stop, we were somewhere entirely different.

Shirakumo was crushed beneath rubble, half covered in blood. My eyes quickly shot back to Aizawa, who was standing briefly. My heart dropped with his and I had to follow as he broke out into a run towards Shirakumo. He collapsed on the rubble, the words Shirakumo was saying muddle for me but probably clear as day for Aizawa. All I could understand was the expectation of becoming a hero was set for Aizawa, clear that Shirakumo was dying now. The weight of the situation was heavy, but my admiration for Aizawa's consistent struggle for Shirakumo everyday and that he had made it this far was strong. I placed a hand on Aizawa's shoulder to calm his mind away from the nightmare. Our emotions switched in a second and I felt my blood run cold.

Tears immediately began spilling over my face, unable to hold it as well as Aizawa had. The weight and the guilt came crashing over me, making me realize how hard it must've been for Aizawa to stand, for him to walk away. It was like I had known Shirakumo like Aizawa had, a dark depressive feeling taking over me. I hadn't chosen the best time to switch, squeezing my eyes shut at the physical pain I was enduring now. It hurt so bad, my fists curling and my stomach shrinking. I hadn't meant to swap our emotions, promising myself to keep from doing so while I was working here. Dream states were always too weird for me to really control myself.

Aizawa now sat admiring Shirakumo's attitude and fight during his last battle, viewing the situation differently. It wasn't so much of a nightmare as it was bittersweet. This wouldn't alter the memory, I wasn't that strong, but it would influence a new way to think about it for Aizawa. Hopefully it would help Aizawa's nightmares to stop completely.

I opened my eyes to the feeling of hands on my face, Aizawa looking down at me.

"Oboro..."

This had never happened before, taking the place of someone else in a memory. Why was this happening? I still couldn't stop the overflow of tears and devastation out of my body. He stared at me and all I could do for now was stand there, barely holding myself up with my legs. His face turned to confusion, looking at me closer.

"Joue," he murmured, running a soft thumb over my cheek to wipe away tears covering his hands.

My eyes snapped open, my hand immediately jerking away from Aizawa's forehead. My other hand quickly clutched at the pain in my chest, the hand that had been in contact with Aizawa hesitantly touching my cheek. I was crying for real, the emotion having translated over into real life. I placed my now wet hand over my mouth, shaking and trying to keep my sobs from waking Aizawa. It was so irresponsible of me to use my quirk like that, making it so obvious what I could do and doing it without asking. I squeezed my eyes shut, standing up and walking away from Aizawa to collapse in my desk chair. The feeling was already wearing away, but the knowledge of what I knew would stay for much much longer. I let tears run for a while, the despair of the situation unbearably painful. How could he have gotten through that alone, on those lonely nights? Checking my heart, I could see a small crack running through the dark blue on my chest. I covered it up, pressing over the spot with my hand. I wiped at my face, eventually slowing myself down. I rest my face in my hands, breathing softly as I returned back to a state of calm. My calmness was suspicious anyways, the underlying feeling still there. After a while, leaving Aizawa to sleep, I had busied myself in my work. The crack in my heart had disappeared once I had calmed down.

"Joue?" It struck different, hearing him say it, as he sat up.

"Hello, you feeling less tired?" I asked, trying to act normal.

"Yes," he replied, eyeing me oddly.

"Obviously you must've seen me in your dream," I pointed out and he nodded. "That's never happened before taking the place of someone in a dream. I'll do some research as to why that happened. I have a good understanding of some things now, I can really help you."

"That's...good." He was obviously disoriented by the whole thing.

"Can I get you anything? Water?"

"No," he replied.

"If you're alright, you're free to go," I said. He stood up on the other side of my desk, placing a hand on the edge to stabilize himself.

"Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome," I replied. He stared at me for a long time, my body threatening to shrink away from him awkwardly. He reached across the desk, grasping my nose in my fingers as he shook my head back and forth just as Shirakumo had done to him. He let go of my nose, glancing away. I was unable to say anything, finding myself speechless.

"I'll see you around."

I couldn't say anything.

She was so much like Oboro.

Was that why I enjoyed her so much? She could never replace him.

She was Joue and he was Oboro.

Could she be that for me? Again?

~~~

"Why do you overwork yourself?" I asked. "Why do you feel like you have to?"

"It's just something to do. I don't...want to disappoint him," Aizawa stated, going slightly quieter. He was still adverse to talking about Shirakumo fully, which after seeing what I saw, I didn't blame him.

"Well, if you really want to consider it a new way...I know your friends wouldn't want you to push yourself all the time. You can't improve and do your best when all you're doing is tearing yourself down all the time. You always do your best and beyond what you really should. Everyone thinks your best is more than enough, you don't have to do this too yourself. You need to reel it in you know? For everyone and yourself. It's really inhibiting any progress you want to make," I said.

"Right..."

"You're more than enough and I can't speak for Shirakumo, but I'm sure he'd be more than proud of you like your friends and appreciative like your students," I repeated.

"He would."

~~~

I grasped my lunch, making my way down to the teacher's lounge. I had finally taken up Aizawa's offer to meet some of the other staff during lunch time, but I had no idea if I was even welcome or allowed in here, which made me hesitant to open the door. When I did however, there were only 3 people in total, Aizawa included. He wasn't eating anything like he told me he did most days. He spotted me and stood to greet me.

"So you finally came for lunch, huh?" he asked.

"Hey! You must me the counselor Aizawa hasn't stopped seeing yet!" Present Mic called.

"Shut up Mic," Aizawa replied, seating himself back down. The only seat open in the set of 4 was next to Mic, across from Aizawa and diagonal to Midnight. She was sitting casually, one leg crossed over the other. The way she was relaxed into the chair had such a large amount of powerful dominance. I averted my eyes, not wanting to acknowledge just how pretty she was.

"Hello, I'm Joue," I greeted.

"Ms. Hitto." I shot Aizawa a glare to which he showed slight smugness.

"Finally! Another girl in all this man ignorance," Midnight said and I smiled slightly. Just don't embarrass myself. That was easier said than done.

"You think so highly of us," Aizawa commented.

"It's mostly just Mic."

"Hey! That's not dumb, it's dumbass and you know it," Mic called and Midnight smirked.

"What a wonderful 1st introduction," Aizawa scoffed and I sat down, holding my lunch.

"So a new radio segment. They guess the color of my socks," Mic said.

"They can't see you Mic," Midnight pointed out.

"Exactly, that's why they're guessing," Mic replied. I giggled, offering up a side of my lunch to the empty handed Aizawa. He refused with a shake of his head, eventually getting up for coffee. Mic elbowed me lightly, leaning over. "I'm glad Aizawa likes you, it's good he's getting some help."

"Oh, that's good. That's my job."

"I think he likes you because you remind him of Oboro, a childhood friend," Mic said.

"Oh, is that why?"

"What weird stuff are you telling her Mic?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Mic replied smugly and I just smiled. I took the time to observe Aizawa, figuring Mic's explanation made the most sense. If he associated me with him, that would be the reason behind my inclusion in his dream. It was slightly disappointing from my end to be serving as a placeholder or a makeshift replacement now that Shirakumo was gone. On his side of things he was probably doing much better talking about things with me specifically, so I couldn't complain. It would be nice if he liked me as an individual, but if he needs me as Shirakumo now then that's what it would have to be.

I shouldn't let my personal life affect me so much.

~~~

I had finally gotten more used to Aizawa being in my office. I was still slightly confused by his appearance into my home a few-ish weeks ago. I really hadn't expected him to come into my territory like that, my office being completely different. My phone buzzed from the main office.

"Yes?"

"Joue, I've got a pro hero to see you before your next appointment." I paused, my finger still on the call button. Pro hero and not teacher? That made me wonder of course, seeing as I didn't know any other pro heroes. Did I? Why in the world would a pro hero need to speak to me? For what reason? I didn't think I did anything.

"Uhh, yeah sure send them down. Thank you," I replied, letting go of the call button. I felt my nerves come in, the type I got from meeting new people. I didn't get these jitters when working with patients, that was much different. I pulled down the shade of my wall, even though half of it was down anyways. I had started my mission of putting it back up when Mr. Aizawa had given the go ahead. I still found it strange he did. I was lazy anyways, putting it off when I shouldn't.

There was a heavy sigh stuck in my throat, having had a long day already. I still had Bakugo to deal with after whoever suddenly needed me. There was a soft knock and I opened it up, feeling my nerves take a step further. Usually I could contain myself, but upon seeing Ms. Joke, I was taken aback.

"Emi?"

"Joue! It's been forever! Can I come in?" She asked. I stuttered, stepping aside.

I did know a pro hero.

"I'm Emi! I just moved here, could I sit with you guys?"

"I—well, I suppose it's been a while," I replied, frowning.

"You haven't changed a bit!" She said, slugging me on the arm. I reeled back,