Endeavor: Like we haven't already been through enough of that.

Shoto had never been to a therapist's office before because Endeavor saw any mental instability as a sign of weakness,

Koda: Why am I even surprised?

but if he'd had to guess what one would look like, he probably would have imagined something with argyle throw pillows, ink blot paintings, and a mild mannered man with thick glasses asking him about his feelings.

Needless to say, Hound Dog's office was nothing like that.

Recovery Girl: No it most certainly isn't.

Sure, it had a couch and a few pillows, but they were plain and tasteful, something even his father would allow around the house, and Hound Dog was about as far from mild mannered as one could get. Which of course led to the question of why he had become a therapist in the first place, but Shoto had other questions to answer first, starting with how he had ended up in Hound Dog's office in the first place.

Bakugo: Because I actually did the right thing and told someone about the whole abusive situation in that world.

"Why am I here?" He tried to ask politely, but it probably came out blunt. Yaoyorozu said he always ended up sounding ruder than he intended.

Todoroki: Sorry.

Hound Dog: No it's a common symptom for people who've experienced similar things as you. Nothing too bad.

Hound Dog didn't seem offended though, he simply replied just as bluntly, "Because it's come to my attention that things aren't great for you at home."

Shoto frowned. Had Midoriya said anything? He'd assumed that the conversation would stay between them, and he wasn't quite sure how to feel about the fact that that apparently wasn't the case. On the one hand, it seemed like a breach of trust, but on the other, Midoriya probably thought he was looking out for him. If his father ever found out, however...

Endeavor: It wouldn't end well...

"Things are fine."Hound Dog sighed, "No, they're not. I promise you that I'm not going to tell your family that you came to visit me, but I need you to be honest with me."

Shoto didn't answer. He may have had to come because Nezu said so, but he would just have to convince the principal there had been some mistake. He looked out the window rather than at Hound Dog. What was all that construction for? They'd started it a few days ago and Shoto knew they could probably build faster than they were, but they didn't seem to be in any rush.

Uraraka: Hey isn't that the dorms?

Sero: Oh yeah you're right.

Jirou: Looks like it.

"Midoriya didn't tell me, by the way." Hound Dog broke the silence. "I just thought you'd want to know that I found out about your conversation through someone else. Never underestimate the number of eyes and ears around UA."

Shoto nodded. The principal must have been listening in somehow then. Endeavor always said Nezu was a creepy little rat who knew far more than he had any right to, so it made sense that he had cameras planted around UA. Shoto wished he'd known that before, but there was nothing he could do about that now.

Nezu: Well he's quite right but unfortunately I somehow wasn't watching the day you spilled that little secret. I should probably increase the number of cameras we have around.

All Might: ...We're doomed aren't we?

UA staff: Yup.

"You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to." Hound Dog continued. "I just want to let you know that I'm here when you need me."

"Thank you, but there's no point." Shoto said. "My father is untouchable."

Mirko(growling): Not to my fist he isn't.

Hound dog nodded, "Sadly, yes. Endeavor is the number two hero and arresting him right now would cause irreversible damage to society. If that weren't the case, we would have already done something. Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about that. We live in a messy world and all we can do is do the best we can with what we've got."

Compress: Which is why we need to change this messy world.

Spinner: Clean it up again.

Shoto wished Hound Dog could have said something different. He'd always wished for a hero to come and save him from the abuse, but here one was who finally knew, but still couldn't save him, "Then why am I here?"

"We may not be able to arrest your father right now, but that doesn't mean we can't address the effects his treatment has had on you." Hound Dog said. "I'd like to help you be more emotionally resilient by working through your trauma..."

"Trauma?" Shoto knew it was rude to interrupt, his father had been very clear about that growing up, but he couldn't help it. Sure he hadn't had the best childhood and his father sucked, but he wasn't traumatized.

Mina: Are you sure, Todoroki?

Hound Dog glanced at his sympathetically, "Yes, trauma. Have you wondered why you have a harder time showing emotion than your classmates do? Or maybe why you can't help but tense up and shut down around new people, despite the fact that they're harmless?"

Shoto thought for a moment. He'd always thought it was strange how expressive Yaoyorozu was, and then he'd come to UA and had almost been overwhelmed by how much emotion people like Uraraka and Kirishima showed. Even Hagakure was expressive in her own way and she was invisible!

Todoroki: Ah I see.

Hound Dog must have realized he hit the mark because he continued, "Those are signs of psychological trauma, Todoroki. But it doesn't have to be that way. We can't change what happened to you in the past, but we can work toward recovery. How does that sound?"

Shoto shrugged. It sounded... good, but he still wasn't really sure what the point was, "What's wrong with the way I am now?"

Monoma: Do you want a list?

Kendo: Monoma!

Hound Dog looked at him sympathetically, "Are you happy?"

"I'm going to be a hero." Shoto said simply. "I don't need to be happy for that."

(a lot of people pointed a certain finger at Endeavor)

Hound Dog nodded, "But do you want to be?"

Shoto froze. Did it really matter what he wanted? Endeavor had never really cared about what he wanted, so Shoto assumed no one ever would. After his mother was sent away, he'd almost stopped wanting things entirely, since there was no way he'd get what he wanted and the emotion was just too painful to keep around. Sure, he'd refused to use his fire, but that was more about what he didn't want, which was to end up like his father. Was this what Hound Dog meant by emotional trauma?

Hound Dog: Yes.

He stared out the window for another long moment. Did he want to be happy? He wanted to use his fire to be a good hero now. He wanted to save people. He wanted...

"I want to be friends with Midoriya and the others." He said finally. "I'm not sure I need to be happy to accomplish my goals, but they're good people and I want to understand them, if nothing else."

Midoriya: And do you now?

Todoroki: Yes... yes I think I'm understand you now.

Hound Dog smiled, "That's a good start, Todoroki. I'll help you do that."

"And you promise not to tell Endeavor?" Shoto asked. "He doesn't approve of friends."

"Cross my heart and hope to die." Hound Dog said. "But speaking of your father, there's one last thing I wanted to talk to you about before you leave. You signed up to go to Endeavor's agency for your internship. Why?"

Todoroki: Because I needed to finally get in touch with my fire side.

"I need to master fire." Shoto said. "Father is the best at fire."

"I'll give you that." Hound Dog said slowly. "But there are other flame users who haven't been abusing you your whole life, you could have chosen any one of them. I'm sure you got offers."

Dabi: Yeah well if there's anything us Todorokis are it's stubborn.

Shoto nodded. He had received offers from other flame users, but accepting their offers didn't feel right and Shoto didn't want to deal with the fit his father would throw if he chose to learn fire from someone else.

"This is a non-issue." He said finally. "It's too late to change my decision anyway. Internships start next week."

Recovery Girl: If you asked Nezu could pull some strings.

"We could pull some strings if we needed to." Hound Dog responded. "And I'm sure Nezu could come up with an excuse that would appease even your father if you wanted to switch."

Shoto thought for a moment. It was definitely tempting, but on the other hand, "I want to stay. I need to master my fire side and Endeavor's quirk is the most similar to mine. If I expect to be the best hero I can be, I can't hold myself back simply because I refuse to spend time with him."

Iida: Admirable but I don't like it.

Hound Dog didn't necessarily look convinced, but he didn't protest, "Alright. But if he's too hard on you or you ever fear for your safety, call me. I'm here to help, even if you just need to talk. Alright?"

Shoto nodded and stood, "Thank you."

Hound Dog: Of course.

Hound Dog let him out and Shoto made his way back toward the classroom for the rest of free period. Uraraka smiled at him as he came in and Iida didn't even look up, too busy scolding Midoriya and Yaoyorozu, who were doing some experiment with her quirk while Shinso watched with a bored expression. Shoto wasn't quite sure how to feel about everything yet, but he'd have to at least give therapy a chance.

Inko: Yeah you should... you haven't had it before have you?

Todoroki: No...

Aizawa: Again all heroes need therapy at least once. It's unfortunately part of the job.

Kurogiri handed All for One the phone and he smiled as he held it to his ear.

Shigaraki: Ah great. Sensei again.

"Hello?"

"Am I speaking to Shigaraki's Sensei?"

"You must be the broker." All for One said. "Did you find the man I requested?"

Mitsuki: Oh no.

Inko: The one he's using to track down Izuku...

"Sure did." Giran said. "You're lucky; he's not an easy man to find, but his quirk is Authorship Identification, just like you wanted. Like yourself, he's pretty busy, but I managed to make an appointment for him to see you in two weeks. I'm sending him to the bar, right?"

"No." All for One said. "I want to see him personally. I'll have Kurogiri bring him here."

Dabi: Anyone want to bet if he's still alive after that?

Toga: Nah that's a waste of money.