"So you've gone viral again," Midnight tilted her head to one side, crossing her legs. "How are you holding up?"

You smiled, borderline uncomfortable. Not at the question, nor the counselor, but the memory of last night into this morning. Todoroki's picture with you went viral on the internet in a matter of hours–people DMing you and asking questions. Out of curiosity, you went to his Photogram and discovered he had almost two thousand followers by the end of the night.

You checked this morning and he had five thousand.

Not that you were jealous of him. Or counting.

After all, it was giving you more exposure, too…again.

All the caption said was "Even after lunch, I still #stanhanazmae." It seemed you got the answer to your question of why he asked about the word 'stan.'

Of course, the tag was popular, so naturally it would give him some exposure, but you were still surprised because Photogram's algorithm could sometimes be…difficult.

"I'm doing okay," you answered. "I'm mostly shocked that the post went viral so quickly."

"And Todoroki? How is he handling the exposure?"

"I don't think he notices, to be completely honest," you confessed.

Midnight laughed. "Ah. From what I've heard about him, that sounds about right."

You chuckled at that, holding steady the teacup she provided for you earlier.

"On a lighter note," she leaned back, a wry smile on her lips as she rested her cheek on her hand, "How was the date?"

"It was good," you said. "We went to a coffee place near where his mother lives. Then we went and visited her. I…It was great until I had a…moment of sorts, where I was second guessing him."

You bowed your head in shame. You couldn't believe you did that. But you needed to tell someone. Someone who would believe you and tell you yes, you were wrong and he's not what you fear he is.

And if not…then they could at least give you some insight on what to do moving forward.

Midnight was the perfect person.

"What do you mean by that?" she prodded.

You took in a breath, thinking of how you wanted to word it. "He…he told me I was beautiful," you confessed. "And…something in me just…triggered, as ironic as it sounds, and…I just…I knew he was lying, or that he was saying that just to manipulate me, or lull me into a false sense of security.

"The problem is," you continued, "is that I know he's not like that. He's not the kind of person to do something like that, so it was completely illogical to jump to that conclusion."

"What made you think that in the first place?" Midnight asked, shifting in her seat, curiosity written on her face. "Do you know?"

"Well, as I was working through it in my head, I jumped to the thought of Tadao–He was the person I danced with at the gala that left me in the middle of our dance, if you didn't know–" she nodded with a hum of recognition– "and he would tell me things like that. Say I was pretty, and my legs were nice…He wanted to marry me, which is why he would do it. It made me very uncomfortable, but it was still affirmation.

"But the moment that I told him no, and…meant it, that night at the Gala, he dropped me. He stopped bothering me. He started insulting me and he humiliated me–internationally. Other boys throughout my life have done that too. And I was…I was afraid that since Todoroki was telling me I was beautiful and complimenting me, since he did earlier that day too, was because of that. And…it…it ruined the date? I thought it did. I didn't–" you cut yourself off, "I don't want to tell him because I feel foolish for even thinking it, but my fear is that…That he is just like the other boys in my life, because I…I don't want that."

"Hanae," she said, looking straight at you with a certain look on her face, "that's manipulation."

You blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Conditional love and affection. The people you've been around–the boys–they were manipulating you. Stories where women fall head over heels with men who compliment them and do everything they can to get their attention, then once they get what they want–a night together, a date, a marriage–and then the guy starts being mean or stops 'trying,'-that's classic manipulation and abusive behavior. Luckily, you didn't fall for it, but those are signs of manipulative behavior."

You…you kind of just stopped. You didn't know how to process that. Every boy that had ever liked you or asked you out….had manipulated you? Granted, there were only two or three–and Tsuki-San was very kind regardless of whether you said yes or not–but…that's what it was?

You'd genuinely never heard anything like that in your life. When you would go home to your mother and tell her that you had rejected a boy and he began to be mean to you, she never said that's what it was. She'd always say she was sorry, yes, but…this?

She'd always said that sometimes boys didn't know what they wanted or felt. And that it was something that women just had to handle.

"So," you started, "What do I do now? What if he is…" you couldn't bring yourself to say it. Even the thought felt sour in your mind.

"Well," she switched the position of her legs, "I don't know Todoroki all too well, but what you can do is get to know him. You can bring this up with him if you want, and on the baseline of 'Being In A Relationship 101,' don't act any different than you normally do with him. All you can do is look for the signs of manipulation and abuse—not just complimenting.

"There is something called the '9 month-2 year' rule to spot any kind of manipulative behavior.

"In almost every abusive relationship, people always say–and studies have shown–that around either the 9-month mark or the two-year mark of the relationship, they start to feel like, and start realizing, their partner either stops trying or is acting strange. Unless a dude has his heart on his sleeve and is being insanely obvious about his motivations, those are going to be your tell-tale signs that he's manipulative–or worse–abusive."

You took in all of it in, nodding along. Now that you thought about it, Mother told you that about two years after her and Father met–not got married, met–just before Shina was born, he began to act strange and change.

"But!" Midnight said, grabbing your attention. "This doesn't mean that you should act any differently for any reason other than being yourself. If you're not sure, don't dwell on it. Just know the signs. If you're that afraid that he's just like the other guys, or if he's actually abusing you, come to one of us. I'm always either here or in the staff room unless it's an emergency. Behavior of that sort is absolutely unacceptable. Okay?"

You felt secure in that. You nodded. "Yes, I think I can do that. I think I just needed to tell someone more on the outside…but what you're saying makes sense."

"I'm glad. And, honestly, I encourage you to tell him about this conversation and your thoughts and feelings. It will be good for the both of you to be comfortable sharing things with each other, since you are going to get married. Communication is a great key to solving a lot of problems. And sometimes, it takes a lot of practice. If you're gonna get married, I suggest you start practicing now."

You nodded. "I will. Thank you. I have a question–it's kind of unrelated."

"Go for it."

"How many more of these sessions are there going to be?" You asked. "Not that they are of any inconvenience to me, I'm just curious."

"Aizawa signed you up for 4 weeks of sessions, but if you need to, we can extend that to six or eight weeks," she said. "It also depends on whether or not you're improving, based on my own observations."

So these were mandated, pretty much. That made sense why Aizawa-Sensei met you before the crowd of paparazzi and led you to Kayama-Sensei's door, instead of just inside, like he had on other occasions.

"I see," you said. "I think that for now the four weeks is fine. If…something comes up after that though—"

"Then feel free to ask for an appointment or come to my room during your free hour. If the door is open, I'm free. If it's closed, I'm either with another student or out for lunch. You also can go to Hound Dog if you need anything, he's here all day."

You nodded, smiling at her. "I will do that. Thank you, Kayama-Sensei."

"Anytime. Anything else? We're about halfway through first period, if you care."

"Yes, one last thing," you said, cringing at how much time you took up. "I…these sessions have helped me a lot, even if it's only been two of them thus far. I…Do you offer these sessions to Hero Course students?"

Midnight shook her head contemplatively. "We offer them, but it's relatively under the table, and only when prescribed by an instructor for one reason or another. May I ask why?"

"Well, it's just that…Todoroki-Kun is a Hero Course student, and from what I've gathered from talking with him, I think something like this might help him too. It may not, but it wouldn't hurt? Much less with other Hero Course students. They deal with much more than I ever could—Just academically. I can only think of the insecurities other students may have when and if they can't measure up to standards. I know I've had my fair share." You paused for a moment, realizing that you had been rambling. Kayama-Sensei was only nodding along. "Am I making sense? Forgive me—I tend to get a head of steam—"

"No, no, do what you want," she said. "You're making perfect sense, actually. I'll bring that up to my superiors. That's not too bad of an idea."

You smiled, then blushed, appreciative of the fact that your idea was liked.

She smiled at you. "Alright. If that's it, then I'll write you a pass."

You gave a sound of affirmation. "I believe that's it."

"Alright. Have a great day today," she said, reaching over for the pass, then handing it to you when she signed it off.

"You as well. Thank you, Kayama-Sensei."

.o0o.

When you got home that day, Father was gone again on another trip. It had something to do with Endeavor's Agency base in Hosu. Since Todoroki was at the internship, Lee came and picked you up in the limo. You weren't sure whether you were supposed to text or call Todoroki or not, so you didn't. Yet.

The house was in order and everything was well. After dinner, you asked Mother if you could head to your studio and work for a while. She agreed, and you walked the ten minutes down your neighborhood block to get to the small building.

You snatched your overalls from the hook they hung on and sat down in your chair, turned on your camera and hit Record.

.o0o.

New Video! Hanazmae uploaded:

I'm…Sorry. | Hanazmae

May 12, 20XX

At 3:08 PM

Duration: 16:17

The thumbnail was of Hanazmae sitting in her chair to the side, normally, shrugging one shoulder upwards. In the unoccupied space was a close-up image of Todoroki Shoto kissing her on the cheek, and next to that was the picture that Todoroki posted on his Photogram. There was no text.

Click to Watch!

*click*

The video began with an old-fashioned film countdown from five to one, then the screen faded in with a soft piano backtrack of the Gala. Hanazmae stood in front of two men, one of which had blond hair, the other had red and white hair. A headline runner was at the bottom of the screen.

She walked forward, then held her hand out to the blond.

The video cut to him leaving her on the dance floor, in the middle of the dance. Then, it cut to her dancing with Todoroki, the background piano music back to a minimum. A newscaster spoke, and subtitles lined the bottom of the screen, reading: "I don't believe it. Who knew that when she announced she was going to be getting married, it would be to the Number Two Hero's son?"

The film cut straight to black, a Thunk! sounding at the same time.

In the black frame, screenshots of comments faded in the black background. All the usernames and profile pictures were blurred, as were the swear words."

"Traitor"

"so much for having a public ally"

"this is what happens when you don't educate your kids smh"

"You do realize who endeavor is,,,,,,right?"

"That mans been in some shady s*** lke where'd his wife go"

"Imagine getting married to the son of the man whose wife went missing without explanation like girl u could be next and no one would miss you"

"Sleeping her way tothe top, who woulda thought"

"Spending her daddy's money to host a gala to brag how rich she's gonna be. Couldn't be me 💀"

"Yeah maybe her family and shes struggling financially which is sad but you could work for the money maybe you w****"

"I have 4 letters for hanazmae: *-*-*-*"

"This b thinking she can get away w this s***"

"You're a traitor to everything we believed in and fought for. People like endeavor are the problem, and now so are you."

"Theyre all the same hanazmae

"You could have sent al the money you spent to host the party to people who are actually suffering"

"She literally said she's marrying for money what a stupid b**** at least keep it to yourself"

"Unsubscribed"

"Cant believe i paid to have her draw for me"

"Don't come me I commissioned her for something once and acidntally paid toward the gala sorry everyone"

"Her arts not even that good"

"Wish i was endeavor so i could hire someone to kill her"

"You deserve to die"

"Kill yourself"

"How many siblings do you have again? Not anymore"

"Make sure you watch yourself on the street at night….japan is dangerous"

The screen zoomed out, where all the comments were layered on the screen.

Then there were video clips that faded into view.

"Look, Hanazmae's just a kid! She doesn't know the kind of stuff that she's getting into with this Todoroki kid. It doesn't excuse her, and she should be called out on it and punished—"

Another video, playing a video game while commentary was voiced over it.

"She's too confident for her own good. She thinks she can get into something and have the outlet to get out if she wants. She's supporting everything bad in the world and marrying him for money. And she hosted this gala just to brag about it? What is she thinking? That's just not something you do—"

Another video.

"She thinks that she can get away with it and not suffer the consequences of her own actions," as this video clip was playing, titles of other videos addressing her popped up on the side of the screen, and the other side, then the center, "we have to stand up and say, 'no, you can't get away with his. You tried playing the sweet cutesy little girl who can draw and help people with their skills' because now her true colors are showing. 'She's sixteen,' yeah who cares? She's able to make her own decisions, and she's condoning violence."

The word 'violence' echoed.

The image cut to Hanazmae sitting in your chair.

"Yes," she said in English. "Because marrying the son of a hero" her face zoomed in on that word then back out after a moment, "is clearly," she brought up her hands and made quotations with her fingers, "'violence.'"

"Although," she was seated now to the right pan of the camera instead of the center, "most of these comments weren't even from Japanese citizens."

Cut.

"Hello all," she said in Japanese, English subtitles on the bottom of the screen, although her tone wasn't as bright and chipper as it normally was, but her smile was just the same. "It's Hanazmae here, and, I'm sure that you all can tell by the title, but this video isn't a normal video.

Cut.

"A lot has happened in this past week, and I am going to address it all. I'm doing this not for any reason or gain, just to straighten some things out and explain the situation for those who may or may not know what is going on.

"So, this past Friday, a Gala was hosted in celebration of my engagement announcement. It is an event traditionally called the 'Giving Away Ceremony.' I hosted a giveaway for the event as well—"

Cut to her sitting closer to the camera, grabbing your microphone from above her as she whispered, "that video will be out next friday—"

Back to the previous shot.

"—and everything was great.

"This ceremony is specialized for my religion. When a girl is getting married, her family—her parents—rent a venue and host a party, or a gala in my case as well as many other cases, to celebrate their daughter's engagement.

"At the ceremony, family and friends are all invited, as well as six suitor's of the bride's and her Father's choice, as well as their families.

"In my case, it was the six here," she said, pointing upwards, where a picture of the six suitors standing together. "I could go into their names and how I know them, but I would rather not. You can find this information in just about any article you Moogle.

"Anyway, in most cases, only the bride, her parents and the parents of the groom know who 'The Chosen,' or, the groom-to-be, is.

"That was not my case. Both Todoroki and I knew beforehand we were getting married.

"The bride is accompanied the whole night by her 'Familial Male Escort,' who is a member of her family who is older than her. He can be anyone in her family, as long as they are older. A cousin, a brother, an uncle, her father, even one of her grandparents. In my case, I chose my cousin," a picture of the two of them arm in arm popped up for a moment or two, "Matoba Hiro.

"The ceremony officially begins after the father of the bride makes an announcement presenting his daughter to the guests. He calls the suitors forward, and she chooses one to dance with first. She talks with him for a moment or two, thanking him for being present in her life and agreeing to participate in the ceremony, and he offers her congratulations.

"The order in which she dances with them is significant. The first is the obvious 'it wasn't even a thought in her mind' choice, and it's likely mutual with the man. The second is similar, the bride will likely have a more substantial friendship with him.

"The third can be considered a place of honor, where the suitor was both a great friend and was thought of highly by the bride.

"The fourth person she dances with depends. It could be someone who she doesn't know very well, as it was for me, or it could be someone she knew very well, but in a more…platonic, professional sense.

"The last two are the most critical. The two represent the ones that the bride was incredibly likely to marry for one reason or another." Another picture of her standing in front of Todoroki and the blond.

"And of course, the one she dances with last is considered 'The Chosen,' and is to be her husband."

"Who she dances with first, second, third, etcetera, is up completely to her. It is revealing, as well, as it reflects on how she sees and thinks of her relationship with each of the six suitors."

"Now, I say all this to give some background on my history. This Gala wasn't a show of how much money I have now that I will be related to Endeavor."

"This was a religious ceremony, and a tradition that every girl in my community goes through when she gets engaged, paid for by my father, not myself, and not Endeavor."

She stopped talking and just looked at the camera, a little tense, her lips pursed. She shrugged her shoulders and her hands fell on your lap with a small slap.

"Moving on," she purred softly. "That Sunday, an image of Todoroki, 'The Chosen,' and myself in a small privately owned tea and coffee place went viral in a matter of hours.

"That," the camera zoomed in, "of course," the camera zoomed back out, "caused a lot of discourse on the internet as well.

"I bet you all wish that I had some explanation of why I was there with him, but it's exactly what it looks like. We went on a date, he posted a picture of it." She shrugged again. "I don't know what else to say. That's what couples do.

"So, concerning all of this, I've gotten a lot of mixed responses," she said, looking down as she spoke, "and I know I only showed the really really negative ones, but I have gotten a pretty equal mix of both negative and positive responses have come through and I'm very, very appreciative of those people, so thank you," she put her hands together like she was praying, "for all the love and support."

"Either way, I would like to thank everyone else for all the death threats and overall ignorance towards my circumstance that I've been getting in my direct messages on every social media page I have."

She was sitting in her chair to the left of the screen, holding a mug with a tea tag hanging off the side. "I really appreciate the fact that no one cares enough to look into something before saying something about it."

The camera zoomed on her for a moment. "It's really very nice."

"I am currently under house arrest," she said, swiveling back around in her chair and setting down her drink, "except in cases of my education and emergencies, I have to remain inside the perimeters of my Father's property. I also have to have my house watched twenty four hours a day. So thank you for that. You know who you are."

"Of course," she said, "I want my platform to be a place where everyone's thoughts and opinions are welcome. If you don't know something, you can still say it, but it's just a good idea to know what you're talking about before you do, and it's shocking how many people don't. And, of course, if your opinion of someone is low, you should be able to express that. I suppose my own poor response has to do with the fact that the amount of death threats I've received is so overwhelming that my life is having to be altered by people who don't even know me.

"And of course, I can have my own opinions concerning these threats as well. I am not exempt of my own rules.

"Believe it or not," she chuckled dryly, "I am not transparent. Nor am I a sheet of glass."

The camera zoomed in close to her face, the filter going red. "But it's fine."

"However," she said, the camera returning back to normal, and apparently a little calmer than she was a moment ago, "Concerning who it is I am going to be marrying, I understand the concern.

"Many people do not like Pro Hero Endeavor for a myriad of reasons—because of his mysterious and suspicious past, the fact that he has lots of money, his gruff and rude appearance in how he deals with the public.

"These are all valid and understandable.

"I could defend myself all day with the reasons why I am doing this, as well as what the reality of the situation, but I won't. Because in a way, you all are right. Endeavor isn't a great guy. He doesn't have a clean past. And that doesn't excuse him."

She sighed.

"This…whole video is the first and last time I will be addressing this specific event and drama and backlash I will be receiving. And I'll say this about it… I'm not sorry."

She just looked at the camera again, back straight, head held high. "I'm just not."

"There's no reason for me to be sorry, I don't think, because I'm not marrying Endeavor. Why should I apologize for his behavior when I've done nothing to condone it? I'm marrying his son, who, frankly, doesn't condone his father's behavior either, but that's beside the point.

"I don't have to be sorry for doing what's best for me and my family. If that's getting married under the guise of finances, so be it. I won apologize for it because I am truly not sorry for it. I am indeed doing what is best for my family, and I'm not backing down down from it.

"I don't have to be sorry for anything up to this point, except maybe being rude to my viewers concerning the comments. I should have been more gracious, but no matter how many times I tried to rephrase it, it sounded just as bad or worse, so I do apologize for not being adequate enough to get my message across in a more efficient way. Please forgive me." She bowed to the camera.

"But that is the end of that. I will not address this again, and I will not apologize for something I haven't done, nor something that will benefit the life of well-being of my family tremendously. This is the end of it. The details ultimately do not matter in this instance."

"As always, feel free to ask questions concerning the ceremony itself, I am willing to clear up any and all confusion with the details of the tradition, I just will not be addressing my relationship with Todoroki.

"But for those of you who guessed it was him at the Sport's Festival," you smiled, and the camera zoomed in on your face.

"Great guess."

A clip of her falling at the sports festival's obstacle course race was played in slow motion, the Window's theme used as the audio.

The camera cut back to normal. "Of course, it was probably kind of obvious, but nonetheless, I shall give credit where credit is due, so great job."

"All this to say, I'm going to start a new chapter in my life, with the wedding and new business opportunities," camera cut to zoom in, "more on that later," it zoomed back out, "and thus, a new channel is going to be born. The public voted, and I shall deliver! Vlogs, wedding planning, ice skating, cooking, makeup, my modeling and fashion, commentary on social issues—eh, maybe not the last one so much but…maybe—the full deal will be coming out. Like living with the Cardassians but not as dramatic and much less invasive. It's in the works right now, so keep an eye out for the announcement, everyone!

"All this aside, thank you for all the love and support, and if you haven't already, go ahead and hit the blue button and the cowbell to make sure you get notified, and follow me on my other social media accounts, all hanazmae and my Photogram with an underscore at the end of it.

"Thanks again, and I'll see you all again for the vlog on Friday."

She smiled and her hand went up to cover the camera, cutting the image to black.

The video ended.

.o0o.