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(y/n)'s POV

I woke up, immediately clenching my teeth from the soreness in my neck. It was enough pain to make my eyes water. I gave myself a moment to adjust to my surroundings, realizing there was a condensation-covered ice pack making a wet spot on my pillow and my neck cool and clammy. In my left arm was Lord Explosion Murder, tucked against my body so that my arm sunk into the plush and its face looked up at me. At my right, my hand was occupied with another hand. Kacchan was sat in my desk chair, facing the side of my bed, with his head on my stomach and his hand curled tightly around mine. My lips parted slightly, looking between the face of the stuffed water bear and Kacchan's face. His cheek was slightly smushed against my stomach, his eyebrows furrowed while he slept.

After I had finally returned to my room, I had collapsed in my bed. I remembered now that I had been crying for a while by my stuffy nose. The exhaustion and embarrassment had been too overwhelming, which had caused me to nearly pass out for the evening. Kacchan must've let himself in with his key, I would never ask for it back no matter the circumstances, to check up on me. I slipped my hand away from his, brushing the back of my fingers against his soft face. His head rose and fell softly with my breath. It must've been a little uncomfortable to be sleeping like this, which meant he hadn't decided to fall asleep here. He must've fallen asleep accidentally taking care of me.

My hair was brushed and placed behind my ears, my make up was gone, and even my shirt had been changed. It had gotten scuffed and soaked after Chouka had attacked me, though I felt my face grow warm considering the fact he had changed my shirt for me. It was usually strange for me not to wake up during all the commotion, but yesterday had left me completely dead. I cupped his cheek, running my thumb across his cheekbone. The tip of my thumb brushed his eyelashes since they were closed. My hand shifted to his hair, smiling ever so gently at him.

It brought me great comfort to know he cared so much enough to do all the simple, but loving, things for me while I was at a low. He couldn't be all that great himself, being as involved in the whole Chouka situation as he was and the licenses just hours before. He had seen Joue, however, which prompted me to take my hand away from his hair. I gingerly lifted his head, scooting out from under it. I placed a pillow there instead, laying it back down. I quickly changed and fixed myself up the final bit, past what Kacchan had done. I had to go see Joue today and Aizawa too. Top it all off with Kacchan. The only problem was that it was Saturday and I had no idea where the two adults were. I scribbled out a note to Kacchan, double checking to see if he looked comfortable, before leaving to head to the office.

Hey, I know you probably wanted to talk to me, but I'm with Joue right now or at least trying to get in contact with her. I'll be back soon if you want to stay in my room that's fine. Obviously you don't have to. Thank you for taking care of me last night, it really means a lot to me. You're a really good friend, boyfriend, whatever you want to call it. Idk anymore, but it doesn't matter to me because you're there and I appreciate that. Sorry to leave you waking up alone when you stayed all night, but I'll be back as soon as possible.

(y/n)

I wanted to see Joue first out of everyone to get my bearing before I faced Aizawa or Kacchan. I was still utterly embarrassed by it all, having lost my control in a time that most definitely didn't call for it. On top of that, learning that the press was talking bad about me all this time and I had no idea. And the audacity of them not to tell me. To just be okay with it and not give me the chance to retaliate. I probably shouldn't anyways, that would only embarrass me more. They had their reasons and concerns and I wasn't going to freak out on them, not let them explain. I just felt so utterly embarrassed I couldn't stand it. Getting the short end of the stick so much really gets to me after a while.

There was only one woman in the office when I arrived, leisurely going about the office with different papers. She looked up when she saw me, tilting her head in confusion as to why any students were here.

"Uh, I'm assuming she's not here, but I really need to see the counselor," I said.

"You'd be correct, she's not in office. I could try her cell for you?" she offered. "What's the name sweetheart?"

"Oh, uh (y/n)...Hatanaka," I said, hesitant to use the last name, but aware that it was listed on the school record. She picked up the office line, dialing a number and waited, smiling at me.

"Hi, Joue? I'm calling from the office to let you know there's a student here to see you. (y/n) Hatanaka. She says she really needs to see you today," the woman explained, awaiting a response. "Oh great, I'll send her there. Thank you."

She set down the phone, scribbling on a post-it note and handing it my way.

"She's moving into an teacher apartment, I put the number on the post-it for you," she said. I nodded a thanks to her, heading towards the teacher dorms. We usually weren't allowed back there and I wondered why she was moving in now. I found her door knocking on it. There was a pause before it opened, Joue smiling at me when it did.

"Hey! Come on in!" she called, stepping aside. She was rather cheery, which made me instantly feel better, the feeling rubbing off on me. I didn't know if that was her quirk or just her. Her apartment was mostly bare except for a few big things like a couch and table with chairs. It was mostly decorating and small things left.

"You seem happy for someone who doesn't have any help moving," I commented.

"Eh, I don't mind. Plus my apartment is across from Aizawa," she said, nudging me with her elbow. I laughed slightly and she joined in, gesturing to her couch.

"How come you're moving in now?"

"Well the dorms were instated because of safety and then the teachers followed. There isn't really any office staff besides Nezu staying here," Joue said. "They were debating whether it was safer for me to stay here and they offered it up to me. It makes getting to work a lot easier and since I'm here everyday, it just makes sense. That way I'm here for people on the weekends if it's needed. Like now."

"Makes sense," I replied, sinking into the couch.

"Are you thirsty?" she asked, heading for the kitchen. "I feel weird offering a child coffee, but I don't even have any. I don't drink it. Oh I've got juice!"

"Juice is fine, thank you," I replied, hearing her rummage around in the fridge. It was all open space. The front door opened up to 2 bedrooms and a bathroom in between on the left, a kitchen and small area with an electric fireplace to the very right. There was a long counter that designated the kitchen, in the open space, a table between the back of that counter and the rooms to the left. Further in, near the window and to the right was the L-shaped couch I was sitting in. I faced the fireplace and TV she had there, this part of the house the most done. She returned with a juice box for me, offering it up to me. Joue had one for herself as well that she put on the coffee table.

"Isn't it nice? I barely have to pay to live here, it's crazy!" she chuckled. "But enough about me, what's up with you? How come you needed to see me today?"

"Ugh, where do I start," I sighed, flopping back into her couch.

"Oh dear."

"Well, Kacchan and I are technically broken up which really, really sucks," I said. She nodded towards me. Kacchan probably told her that already. "After everything that happened yesterday, which I'll get to, this whole distance thing is kind of...the worst and really confusing."

"Okay."

"So firstly, license exams were yesterday during the school day. Kacchan didn't get his, he probably told you that, and when I tried to help he snapped at me. I was probably bothering him when he needed space. So I thought that was going to be the big thing of the day, but I was wrong because you remember how there was an attacker and somebody targeting me because of Kacchan?" She nodded. "Well they brought in a suspect, this girl from our old middle school named Chouka. She claimed that she was dating Kacchan and literally attacked me, tried choking me to death." I pointed to the bruises on my neck, cringing slightly when it ached as I tilted my jaw up.

"Oh my, that's horrible."

"Basically they figured out that something is definitely wrong with her and she experiences memory loss when she's around Kacchan. She ended up confessing everything, but we still have no idea how she knew what was going on in school. She knows really specific stuff that only Kacchan and I would know, it's so strange. I think they might be looking for another quirk of hers, one she's hiding. So she's in police custody and...I ended up taking this petty shot at her which was so not heroic and so embarrassing and disappointing. Then as we're coming back to school, reporters swarmed us and basically ended up telling me that they've been badmouthing me ever since I spoke out about these tabloids making rumors about me. Apparently principal Nezu isn't all that happy about me not reading his prewritten speech. But as it turns out, Kacchan and Aizawa-sensei knew about it the whole time, probably more people too, and didn't tell me. Which is even more embarrassing, because I've been painted like this nuisance in the press and they just were okay with it happening. It's...it's so embarrassing I can't stand it."

"That's...a lot to unpack," Joue murmured, sipping her juice. I just played with the small straw in mine. "So you're here because..."

"Well, I kind of wanted to rant. Get it all out and sort it out before I talk to Aizawa-sensei and Kacchan. I ran off last night," I said. "I woke up to Kacchan in my dorm, fallen asleep in a chair next to my bed so he's obviously not mad and wants to talk to me, but I just don't know what I want to say."

"You don't?" Joue asked. "Seems pretty clear to me. You're feeling embarrassed about what happened so just tell them that. You aren't feeling too bad about what those reporters said about you, are you?"

"Well...I kind of am. Makes me feel like I'm not destined to be a good hero. I'm just tired of making mistakes. I want to win for once," I sighed.

"You got your license, so those people think you'll be a good hero. That's a win. You've most definitely got a whole staff of teachers and friends who believe in you, that's a win. I know it feels like you're loosing, but there's a whole lot more winning going on that you might not be seeing."

"That's true." I glanced over to see Joue biting her lip, her leg bouncing up and down. She looked like she wanted to tell me something, but was reluctant to. "What?"

"Nothing honey," she replied. "I just think that things will turn up for you, and for collecting your thoughts and knowing what you want, I think you'll be just fine."

"I guess."

"You should talk to Aizawa and Bakugo," she said. "If you let them know that you're tired and embarrassed, I'm sure both of them will try their best to make it better for you. By the way, I think you're missing a pretty big thing."

"What?"

"There's nobody targeting you anymore," she said. "That's a huge stressor out of the way. Even if there's somebody getting information to Chouka, what are they going to do? Clearly they wouldn't share her goal. Trying to find them is just for general safety and to ensure the person gets handled. You don't have to worry about that anymore." I let out a big breath, feeling relaxation wash over me.

"You're so right."

"(y/n) it sounds to me that you're being a little too hard on yourself. If you talk to the important people in your life and let them help you, then you'll be so much better off," she said.

"What about Kacchan and our break up thing?"

"If you don't want that anymore, just let him know. It's your relationship too, not just his," she pointed out, brushing the hair away from her face.

"Yeah...Aizawa-sensei said we were better as a team yesterday. He's right, this distance just isn't all that beneficial," I said.

"Ahh, smart man," she commented and I gave her a knowing look.

"One more thing that's been bothering me. Not just yesterday and today, but for a while." Joue nodded for me to continue. "The detective who found Chouka knew my mother, since she was a hero. He knew my dad too and he mentioned that he left when I was 6 years old, but my mom told me I was 3. I talked to my aunt and I learned that he left on and off and put me in therapy whenever he came back for those 3 years. Apparently the trauma caused me to block him out and I completely forgot everything about him, so when he left for good my mom told me 3 because I didn't remember him being there. So that was pretty traumatic to learn. I have yet to talk to my mom about it."

"I see, I remember you wanted to finally learn more about you dad the first time I saw you," she said. "If that's something you want to pursue right now, that's your choice. I'd talk to your mom. If you don't feel like you're in a state to get into that right now, with everything that's happened, that can wait. You need to focus on yourself for right now."

"Yeah," I murmured, nodding.

"All that's left of that problem is your mother's refusal to tell you the truth. Now that you can take the time to process what happened yesterday and the things about your father, I wouldn't take on anymore that you can't handle," she said.

"Like baby steps?"

"Exactly! Like baby steps," she said. Her eyes scanned over my face, her expression softening. "Are you tired honey? Would you like to nap here for a while?"

"Huh, oh no that's fine," I said. Joue nodded, suddenly showing intense care over me. I glanced at the heart on her chest, seeing that it was solid black. "What does that mean?" I pointed towards her, causing her to glance down.

"Oh my, I believe you may be suffering from some situational depression," she said.

"That would...explain why I sort of shut down yesterday. Mentally and physically," I pondered.

"That's the exhaustion," she explained. "You're probably suffering from a depressive break down Situational depression is caused by the stressors around you in that specific situation. I'd suggest you take good care of yourself and let others take care of you too."

So that was why I felt so moved by waking up to Kacchan's care.

"You can work through this with the right kind of support. If you ever feel like you need some, come find me," Joue said, smiling at me. I didn't feel all that tired anymore, now that she mentioned it. That was strange considering how tired I had still felt this morning. I peered at her, confused. "Is there a problem?"

"No... I just don't feel all that tired anymore."

"Well that's good! Must be the juice!" she called, brightening her smile and picking up my empty box. I hadn't realized I finished it. She stood and tossed them in the trash. "If you need to talk to Aizawa, I think he's in his apartment across the hall. There wasn't anything else you wanted to talk about right?"

"Uh...no," I replied, feeling oddly bewildered. It was a strange feeling, one that had just come over me suddenly. Joue leaned against her counter, her fingers curled around the edge.

"Alright good. I hope he's there. He's a really quiet neighbor, but you could probably guess that already. I've yet to see him, but maybe I'll run into him soon you know?" she blabbered. She seemed to be talking over nothing, as if she needed to get her word in there but there was nothing stopping her. I just nodded, letting her escort me out of the room. When her door was short and a soft goodbye was said, I began to feel more like I usually did. My weight sank and I almost missed the weird euphoric feeling for the few minutes I had felt it. I shook my head, stepping across the short hall and knocking on Aizawa's door. It was probably weird for me to be showing up at his home.

It opened to Aizawa scrubbing his eye with the back of his hand. He paused when he saw me, his expression changing to confusion.

"I just talked to the counselor. She lives there now," I said, pointing at the door behind me. He glanced at it, muttering something about the noise. "I just wanted to quickly say that I'm doing better now. I had a moment where I didn't quite see myself as heroic, but I know those reporters are bogus anyways and it was a mistake, but like you said I can grow from it. Everything will be alright. I just didn't think it was really cool for you and Kacchan to keep the tabloid speech drama a secret from me, because I've recently found out that my mom has been lying to me for literally my entire life so I'm not really alright with lying and secrets and stuff so like please don't do that again."

I looked up finally, sucking in a breath. I realized now that I hadn't really been breathing...at all during my rant, Aizawa stood at his door taking it all in. He took a deep breath, nodding at me.

"I realize that's not the best way to find out," he said. "I didn't want to tell you at the time it came up and I made Bakugo promise not to. You were dealing with a lot, I didn't want to overwhelm you."

"All of it is really painfully embarrassing."

"I'm not judging you, and I assure you the people that buy into that worthless drama are not worth your embarrassment," he said. "You're handling this better than I could ever expect, so there's nothing to be embarrassed about. Chouka, the reporters, nothing."

"Thanks."

"I apologize for keeping it from you, my intentions were not to lie maliciously," he said.

"Thank you. I just had to lay that out," I replied.

"How is your neck?" he asked and I just shrugged. "How are you?"

"Fine, I have to talk to Kacchan. I feel weird, but in a good way after talking to Joue. She was acting kind of strange for her usual, but she really helped. Took all the worry away," I said.

"Joue?"

"The counselor."

"Right," he said, glancing over my head at the door. "You'll be alright?" I knew Aizawa-sensei would be at the ready to help me if I needed it. I more so needed to talk to Kacchan. This was more of a check in