I do not own My Hero Academia, it is owned by Horikoshi


Chapter 22 - A Dog's Ear


Inui Ryo's Office - U.A. High

Izuku Midoriya's eyes glanced warily at his surroundings not entirely trusting his surroundings, 'He's really into his dog theme, though somehow he still makes it look professional...'

"Midoriya I won't bite," chuckled Hound Dog, "please have a seat." Midoriya sat on a couch across from where Hound Dog sat across from him in a chair with a pencil and notepad. "To be honest, I'm rather annoyed with people not putting you in counseling earlier..."

"What?!"

"Midoriya, even you have to admit you had a lot of emotional baggage first coming into U.A.," the pro-hero pointed out, "It may have helped you build a foundation for later on."

"Sir, my mother..."

"She was essentially your world to an extent, you had no friends for years until entering U.A., you couldn't trust your teachers, you were generally wary of everyone your age or older," The Canine Hero explained, "I'm not saying that makes you a bad person or irrational, in fact given the circumstances it was highly rational. Just if these issues had been addressed earlier you might not have had multiple emotional breakdowns, or you wouldn't be closing yourself off from everyone."

"But everyone I associate with could become a target."

"Yes, but they could just as easily get hit by a car," the hero sighed trying to think of how best to approach the situation, "The first thing you need to understand is that what happened is not your fault, accepting your quirk does not make what happened your fault."

"Yes, it does..."

"Did you know the villain that injured All Might may have been still alive?"

"No sir."

"Fact of the matter is your mom could have been killed and you targeted for abduction if you had remained quirkless," the hero pointed out as he got up and pulled some packets out, "I have some reading material for you."

"Is my license being suspended?"

Hound Dog sighed, "If this were a normal case, I would honestly recommend you be given a leave of absence." He watched Midoriya start to pull out his provisional license. "I said if this were a normal case, which it is not, and there are other variables."

"What do you mean?"

"You are currently starting to cope, not in the best way, but you're doing it in your own way," Hound Dog walked over and handed the papers to Midoriya, "The worst thing to do to you would be take away one of the things that is bolstering your fragile self-esteem, when you haven't done anything to warrant it. Anyways, these may give you some ideas of how to put your emotions to one side in an emergency. I'm also also going to write up some alterations to what you'll be doing at camp."

"Sir, this is important to being able..."

"This camp is partially to get people ready to take the license exam," Hound Dog corrected, "You and Tokoyami already have your provisional licenses. You will still be doing some of the exercises, but I'll have some supplemental exercises for Mr. Aizawa to work with you on, I'll try to be detailed enough that even he will be able to stumble through it."

"So are we done?"

"No, i just wanted to get that out of the way before we talked and put you at ease that I'm not here to judge you," the Canine Hero explained, "So from what I understand Bakugo used to be your childhood friend..."

"Sir I'm not comfortable talking about..."

"Whatever you say from this moment on will be kept confidential," the pro-hero assured him. He sighed after Midoriya shot him a look in response, "Midoriya, right now I'm acting as a psychiatrist and therapist, unless you've murdered someone. which I know you haven't, what we talk about from here on in will go no further than this room."

"Sir?"

"I took an oath when I got my licenses to practice psychology and psychiatry, our conversation earlier had to do with your fitness to continue in the hero program, which I believe you are fit to continue," the pro hero explained, "What we're discussing now will fall under doctor/patient confidentiality."

"I understand," Midoriya nodded, "Yeah Kacchan and I used to be inseparable, then his quirk awakened and well mine didn't..."


Principle Nezu's Office: (Three Hours Later)

There was a knock on Nezu's door as he was working on paperwork.

"Come in!" he called as Hound Dog opened the door. "So how bad is it?" he asked soberly.

"I would like to know why I wasn't informed about Midoriya at the start of the year, and what RUFF! All Might was thinking Grrrr..."

"So you don't think he should have..."

"I don't know what to think honestly," The Canine Hero sighed, "Midoriya has a self-esteem issue which results in him almost having a martyr complex where he will literally throw himself into a situation and completely disregard his own safety without even considering there may be better options."

"I promised that..."

"I'm not suspending him or putting him on a leave of absence," Hound Dog shook his head, "In his case I'd be kicking out from under him the very thing that is keeping him stable. Besides, as messed up as he currently is, he is mentally stable, that much is certain."

"I see..."

"Nezu, you are aware of the fact that Quirkless children have an extremely high incidence of clinical depression, self-worth issues, suicides (particularly in boys), and are thus prime targets for abduction and sex trafficking," Hound Dog explained, though his tone was one that you would ordinarily expect from someone discussing the weather. Nezu knew better, the pro-hero had essentially shoved his emotions to the side for the time being, and would likely light into someone later, probably All Might.

"Which meant that he hung around the very children that were abusing him, so that he would be considered too much trouble to abduct," Nezu commented, pretending he wasn't aware of some of the stuff Inui was commenting about.

"Precisely, which only opened him to more abuse," Hound Dog shook his head.

"Why did you specify that boys were more prone to suicide?"

"Quirkless girls aren't treated as badly, at least not by the opposite sex, you could call it left over sexism, but the perceived vulnerability is something that during adolescence will often attract boys their own age, particularly boys with powerful quirks," Hound Dog elaborated, "There is also the practical fact that one wouldn't have to worry about weird quirk mutations in any offspring, the child would be apt to have the same quirk as their father. I just don't get how Midoriya didn't have a quirk."

"Based on brain scans done during a complete physical conducted by the Hero Public Safety Commission, it is suspected his original quirk was stolen possibly before it even manifested."

"How'd they come to that conclusion?"

"All Might's brain scans, you see prior to receiving One for All, he was quirkless."

"I see, then his choice of Midoriya makes even more sense, I'm guessing there are some differences in how his quirk is being processed in his brain..."

"You would be correct, unlike All Might, Midoriya's scans match up with what would be a textbook case of delayed quirk manifestation syndrome."

"I see. Getting back to his psychological health, he should have been brought to my attention at the start of the year..."

"What did he tell you?"

"It's more of what he didn't tell me, but I could read from his body language," Hound Dog commented, "He's reverted to being extremely skittish around people he doesn't know extremely well."

"From what I understand, he was skittish around Mr. Aizawa at the beginning of the year, but that's to be expected..."

"Even kids raised in a healthy environment are wary of Eraser, it's scary that Midoriya is actually comfortable being within 10 meters of him," Hound Dog shook his head.

"So how should we approach this?"

"Concerning the fallout with his mother's death? Giving him time would be best, I think he is starting to cope, and I don't want to interfere with that. Could I be put on..."

"Unfortunately no, we may not even be using the normal camp location, given this crazy year. Is he stable enough to handle camp?"

"Yes, as I said, I think he'd be stable enough to handle hero work scarily, as long as it doesn't involve the people that killed his mother."

"Well that's good news, how about Mineta?"

"He's coping also in his own way," answered Hound Dog, "He's stable though Aizawa should be ready to deal with his old antics. Who knows it may help distract Midoriya trying to help reign Mineta in."

"Well that is a..." Nezu trailed off as his phone started to ring, "Hold that thought," he picked up the phone, "Yes, U.A. High Principal Nezu speaking... I see... Is everyone okay? Well that's a relief, keep me informed." He hung up, "Well we're going to have to move the camp."

"Villain attack?" asked Hound Dog.

"Yes."

"Do I have another patient?"

"Probably not at this time."

"That's good, I've got to go type up some exercises for Aizawa concerning Midoriya."

"But you haven't..."

"Unlike Midoriya and the unusual circumstances concerning him, I can't justify discussing Mineta in detail due to Doctor/Patient confidentiality..." Hound Dog opened the door and exited the office.


Class 1-A - The next day

"Given the incident that occurred in the mall yesterday, we've had to change where summer camp is being held," Aizawa stated while tearing up a sheet of paper, "You will be informed of where we are going on the day that we leave."

"But I already told my parents," Sero complained.

"That's why," began both Yaoyorozu and Midoriya at the same time.

"S-sorry," apologized Midoriya.

"Apologies are unnecessary but thank you for the thought," smile Yaoyorozu, "Anyways, if the school told us where the camp was being held, they would be unable to control who would learn of it, given the League of Villain's obsession with this class, it would be inviting an attack. Be thankful it hasn't been canceled."

"You know, I'm surprised you aren't chewing out Kaminari," Mineta complimented talking over the head of Midoriya towards Bakugo.

"It would have been stupid of him to try, if he could avoid it," Bakugo replied looking back, "Pikachu isn't precise enough with his quirk without support gear to have used it on hands-fetish without hitting Ears."

"Good point."

As class was dismissed, they found Aizawa and Kaminari waiting in the hallway. "Look you really didn't have to reimburse me, I was just happy to help."

"Uh what's going on?"

"Kaminari was kind enough to pick up some things for the two of you since you haven't had a chance to go shopping," Aizawa explained.

"Y-you r-really didn't have to..." Midoriya began holding up his hands.

"Yeah, I kinda did, the other person that volunteered was Ida," Kaminari explained.

"Thanks Kaminari," said Mineta before turning to Izuku, "Izzy, look at it this way, he may not have been there for Jiro when that guy threatened her."

"Why don't you show them what all you got them," Aizawa suggested, "I've got a meeting due to the Mall incident."


Faculty Lounge:

Sekijiro Kan sat on the lounge sofa looking through various alternate locations for the summer camp as Aizawa walked in.

"You're late," Vlad King stated without looking up.

"I had to see a few students after class, Aizawa replied, "So you've started without me?"

"Yeah, especially since this is so last minute, a lot of places are booked up," he answered, "Nezu wanted the decision to be limited to the two of us to cut down on the chance for leaks."

"Understandable, I'm not sure secrecy will be enough," the Erasure hero muttered.

"We could try calling the Wild Wild Pussycats," Vlad pointed out after a moment, "It would give us three extra pros on standby, also you have Tokoyami and if Midoriya is cleared, that would give us two more people on standby."

"True, is there another reason, because Kaminari could be a liability here," Aizawa stated.

"You think he's a spy?"

"No, I think his electrical quirk in a wilderness environment could make it so the villains could track him."

"They'd still have to get close enough, like within a kilometer," Vlad countered.

"True, now what's your other reason?"

"You remember about the Water Hose Duo that got killed by a villain recently?"

"Yeah, rumor has it, you were most put out when she broke up with you and ran off with her future husband," Aizawa rolled his eyes, "Are you making a pass at his cousin?"

"Get your mind out of the gutter for once," Vlad blushed, "Anyways," he pulled out a photo, "I was thinking it would be good for Midoriya and him to meet." He handed the photo over to Aizawa.

"Explain..." Aizawa wasn't going to ask how Vlad had a picture of a kid, he could think of several legitimate reasons then he saw the copy of the case file as well as the news article involving the villain Muscular escaping custody, 'That picture is from the case file, he wants to be near the kid until his parent's killer is caught.'

"Meet Kota Izumi, his parents were the Water Hose Duo," he explained, "Currently Mandalay is acting as his adoptive parent."

"We're not supposed to be making things personal," Aizawa chided his fellow teacher.

"He's her son, I couldn't stand him for stealing her from me, but that boy is her son, damn it! Anyways, keeping an eye on the kid wouldn't be making it personal," Vlad stated, "If I were making this personal I'd be out hunting that maniac."

"Point," acknowledged Aizawa weighing the positives and negatives, "That might not be a bad idea, though I would suggest Mandalay be aware of all of this."

"Of course, oh I told Monoma that Midoriya is off-limits," the Class 1-B teacher commented glumly, "I figured the kid doesn't need someone picking at him after what happened."


Dormatory: Commons Area

"K-Kaminari..."

"I've never seen you guys in casual outfits so I don't know if these were necessarily your styles, but..."

"You did good Denki," Mineta thanked him.

"It's no big deal, you're my friend, and I kinda owe our resident analytical genius over the suggestions regarding my quirk. I couldn't use them for the sports festival, but I'm going to have those incorporated into my Hero Costume."

"Thanks," said Midoriya without stuttering, he had been concerned there was some other shoe to drop, but as he was calming down, he felt (and he really couldn't explain it), that Kaminari was safe.

"Hey don't worry about it," Kaminari stated, "So this where they stuck you guys?"

"For the moment," Mineta answered, "I think they are intending to have students start to live on campus."

"Makes sense, given how my parents are gone a lot of the time, they'll probably want me to move in," the blond haired boy chuckled, "So is there co-ed bathing or..." he ducked a pillow being thrown at him, and started laughing, "Guess not..."


Notes:

This chapter took quite a bit of thought to put together, I kind of wanted some interaction between Hound Dog and Midoriya, but I didn't want to get too detailed. Same is true for the conversation with Nezu.

To be honest I kind of came close to scrapping the chapter, but I ultimately decided to run with it.