Enjoy!
"Miss Xiao Long! Perhaps you could inform the class to the answer." Glynda asked, her eyes narrowing as she glared at the recently awoken girl.
"Uh... Is the answer to punch what's in front of you really hard? That usually works for me." The brawler said, thinking quickly and smiling devilishly.
"Very funny. See me after class." Glynda retorted, returning to her lesson.
The rest of the session seemed to drag on at a snails pace, the lecture about various techniques boring Yang to no end. Finally, after what seemed like hours of torture, Yang's favorite part of the class had arrived.
"Now, I will be calling two of you down at random to spar against one another. Please be prepared if your name is called." Glynda said matter of factly. "It appears the two students who have been chosen are Yang and Pyrrha."
At the sound of her name being called, Yang jumped to her feet. An exclamation of "Yes!" escaping her lips automatically. Pyrrha appeared much less excited however, looking at the blonde with concern. The brawler did not even give the redhead a second glance, flinging herself over the walls of the arena and earning a roll of the eyes from her teacher.
"Are you both ready?" Glynda questioned, seemingly bored as she already had her mind set on the victor, along with most of the class. "Begin!"
The second that she had finished her sentence, Yang propelled herself forward. Firing behind her in order to gain speed. Then, she was looking down, Pyrrha underneath her.
"Yang! Control yourself!" The angry yell that came with the blonde finding herself thrown into the wall of the arena. "Class dismissed. You and I need to have a serious talk miss Xia Long."
Yang looked over to see Pyrrha stand and dust herself off, looking fearfully towards the brawler as she held her left shoulder with her right hand. What did I just do? She asked herself, Pyrrha not being the kind of person to be afraid of anyone.
"What happened?" She asked, standing up and almost falling back down as a wave of nausea washed over her.
"Well, you nearly ripped off Miss Nikos' arm." Glynda's intensity causing Yang to back up a few steps and press herself into the wall.
"I don't remember anything. I don't know what happened to me, I'm sorry." She choked out, slumping down against the wall and sliding to the floor.
She fought to keep the tears that were forming from falling, her eyes burning at the effort. I would never hurt Pyrrha. She's my friend. Besides, it's not like I would be able to anyways.
"Glynda, I will handle this." The voice caused Yang to look up as Ozpin stepped into the room.
"But sir, she-!" Glynda stammered in defiance, but Ozpin lifted a hand to silence her.
"I am aware of the situation. Normally I would allow you to handle this yourself, but these are far from normal circumstances." He said, smiling towards Yang.
Glynda stormed out, annoyed at the lack of control over her own classroom.
"So Yang. Why don't you tell me what you remember?" Ozpin sipped from his mug calmly.
"Glynda yelled 'Begin' and then I opened the way I normally do. Then, I was thrown against the wall and Pyrrha looked like she was hurt." Yang finished, no longer able to contain her tears as drops began to fall onto the floor.
"It's alright. You aren't in trouble and Miss Nikos will be fine."
Yang sniffled at his reassurances and wiped her eyes with her palms.
"What did I do?" She asked, standing up slowly this time, still feeling queasy.
"Would you like me to show you?" The taller man asked, offering a hand to assist the blonde in standing.
"Yes please."
After fiddling with his scroll for a few moments, Ozpin handed her the device. Yang watched intently as the footage of her fight was displayed. Her interest quickly turned to shock as she watched herself assault Pyrrha, a blank expression on her face as she forced back the surprised redhead. Her assault picked up speed as the other girl's reactions began to slow. Finally a punch connected, everyone in the room was surprised at Pyrrha actually having been touched, suddenly becoming more interested in the fight. Everyone except Yang. She followed up with an uppercut to her jaw, transitioning into two quick jabs into the girl's stomach, which caused her to double over. Yang did not stop there, her onscreen self brought a foot down onto her opponents back, forcing Pyrrha her to the ground. Glynda raised a hand signaling the end of the fight, but it was ignored as the blonde grabbed the downed girl's left arm and pulled, causing Pyrrha's face to distort in pain. Finally Glynda intervened, throwing Yang into the far wall. I did that. Me. Why would I do that?
"Where is Pyrrha now?" She pleaded, desperate to make sure the girl was safe.
"The infirmary I would imagine, although you may want to wait a few moments."
"Yeah, alright."
Yang began her walk to the infirmary, a route she knew well. She moved slowly, her eyes staring at the ground as she shuffled along.
"Yang! Are you alright?" The familiar voice caused her eyes to fill again, however she was able to hold back tears this time.
"I don't know, Blake. Where is everybody else?"
"I sent them away. I figured you wouldn't want to have to deal with anyone." The girl tenderly brushed a strand of hair back into place and out of Yang's face.
"Then why did you stay?" The blonde snapped. "Maybe I do want to be alone!"
"Yang..." The faunus drew back, startled by her sudden outburst.
"I just need to be alone right now. I'm sorry." Yang deflated, her shoulders slumping forward as she lost all desire to see Pyrrha.
"I understand. Come back to the dorm when you're ready." Blake made her best effort to hide the look of hurt on her face, one that would have succeeded if Yang had not known her so well.
Sprinting the other direction, Yang ran towards the landing area, intent on catching an airship into Vale. She barely made it in time to catch the last trip for an hour, sprinting onboard moments before the door closed. She glanced at the clock and saw that it read 3:30. The brawler decided to look for a hotel room. She didn't feel ready to confront her team just yet.
When the airship finally landed, Yang stepped off and began to search for somewhere she could stay the night. She still flinched every time a Bullhead flew past, but she was able to keep herself under control with effort. Maybe I should go see the doctor that the counselor recommended. She thought to herself while holding the small piece of paper in her hand. She finally forced herself to look at it and read the name. Dr. Martin was scribbled on the small slip, along with the address of his offices and his scroll number. Yang brought out her own scroll and began to dial.
"Hello, this is the Vale Institute for Mental Health. How may I help you today?" Asked the robotic voice on the other end of the line.
"Uh... Hi. My name is Yang Xiao Long and I would like to make an appointment with Doctor Martin please." She responded nervously, never having done this kind of thing before.
"We've been expecting your call. Fortunately Doctor Martin has a slot open in one hour. If you would be able to come in, we would love to assist you however we can."
"Do I need to work out payment or insurance or anything?" Yang questioned, worried about whether or not she could afford the sessions.
"We have already taken care of such things with your combat school. An anonymous benefactor has already payed for any services required."
"Oh. Uh… Tell them I said thanks?" She replied, perplexed as to who the mysterious person could be. "Anyways, I'll be there in an hour. Thank you for your help."
"It has been my pleasure Miss Xiao Long." The secretary stated before hanging up, no doubt to process another call.
Great. Now I just need to find this place. She said to herself, looking around nervously at the crowded street.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck." The blonde whispered under her breath as she raced down the street towards the building in front of her, it having been an hour since she called.
She burst through the door, surprising the short man who stood in the lobby.
"Are you by chance Miss Xiao Long?" The spectacled man said, holding out his hand and looking like he already knew the answer.
"Yeah, sorry. I had some trouble finding the building." Panting, she reached out her hand and gave the man a firm handshake.
"Well, I know your name but you don't yet know mine! That just won't do. I am Doctor Martin. Feel free to call me whatever you like however, I have never been one for titles. I believe we had an appointment together for right about now. Please follow me Miss Xiao Long."
"Go ahead and call me Yang." She was beginning to feel uncomfortable at the amount of formality and just wanted to get this whole ordeal over with. "Mind if I call you Martin? I've never really been a fan of the whole title thing either."
Martin's response was to give Yang a warm smile. The kind that made you feel instantly at home. It easily reached his eyes, slanting them slightly and adding to the feeling of friendliness he exuded. He motioned for Yang to follow him and proceeded to walk down the hallway next to the reception area. He turned left at the third door and walked into the room. Inside were two comfortable looking leather chairs and a leather loveseat. Much like in the school counselor's office there was a small end table with a basket of various stress balls next to the couch. A small bookshelf contained various books, all of them seemingly the least interesting things in the world as far as Yang was concerned. They were almost all on PTSD and depression, probably containing studies and results of said studies.
"So Yang, my friend at Beacon told me that you are struggling with some symptoms of PTSD. Is that correct?" He asked as he sat in one of the leather chairs
"Yeah. Do you know what I said to her?" Her only answer was a nod and another one of his warm smiles. "Alright, so I don't have to describe all that again. Well, there have been a few other incidents today."
"I'm surprised that you are able to tell me all this. These incidents tend to be very embarrassing for those involved. I applaud your strength, Yang." He smiled again. His cheeks must hurt like hell if he smiles like that all day.
"Thanks. So, I had a nightmare around three in the morning and I woke the rest of my team up. My partner, Blake, was able to figure out that I had PTSD and she was really worried about me. My sister seemed kind of shaken up by it too." At the mention of Ruby he raised his eyebrows, but waited for me to finish talking before saying anything. "My nightmare was about my sister. I was back in the hospital where I was treated and she was there too. Everything exploded and… And she died right in front of me while I could do was watch."
"You mentioned your sister. Is she on your team?"
"Yeah, she's our leader." Yang answered somewhat reluctantly.
"Your teammate, Blake, mentioned in the debrief that you saw a destroyed hospital and a large amount of civilian casualties." Yang shivered as she attempted to push the image out of her head. "Do you think that might be why you had a dream where you were back in the hospital?"
"Maybe. I don't know." Yang fidgeted with her hands and looked down at her feet.
"The report also mentions that your sister was hospitalized and underwent care at the same place you did." Yang nodded. "Were you already unconscious when your younger sister was hurt?" Yang nodded once more. She shivered again, recalling Ruby's scream from the video.
"I felt useless when I found out. I've always been the one to be there for her. If she was being picked on at school, I made sure that no one touched her."
"Do you think this dream fed off of that feeling of helplessness?" Another nod from Yang, who decided against telling the doctor about Blake's efforts to make her feel better, not yet comfortable enough to disclose every detail.
"I also had an incident about an hour and a half ago, while sparring with a friend." Yang felt as if she was choking on her own words. "I blacked out when we fought and when I came to I had gone a little… Overboard."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I watched the video of our fight after. It was terrifying. The worst part was that I didn't remember any of it. Nothing past our instructor telling us to start. I didn't just win, I crushed her. She's the best fighter at the school and I just pounded her straight into the ground." Martin's face showed what seemed to be recognition for a split second, but his expression once again went to one not unlike a caring father.
"Do you think a mediation session would be beneficial for the two of you?"
"No, I don't think that will be necessary, I would rather work it out between the two of us. Thank you for the offer though."
"Of course. Well, let's figure out what your triggers are. What have you reacted to?"
"Well…" Yang launched into a description of her past episodes, the small man listening intently to every detail and taking notes.
"Thank you for coming in today Yang. I would like to see you this time next week if possible. We can begin work on some coping strategies and figure something out." The doctor rose and offered his hand, which Yang shook.
"Thank you. Really. It felt good to talk about all this with someone who can help." Yang said as she pulled out her scroll and marked down the time for next week.
"I am glad that I could help." The man gave her another smile. "Stay safe." His cheeks definitely get sore.
When Yang walked out the front door she felt much more relaxed than she had when she entered. The worry about her first real therapy session gone along with her anxiousness about talking to Pyrrha. Now to find somewhere to sleep. Yang said, not yet ready to return to her team.
I've been in my fair share therapist offices and every single one had at least one bookshelf full of psychology books. As always let me know what you guys think!