Saiki Saisei found himself in quite possibly the most embarrassing predicament of his entire life. Something he never thought he'd be subjected to again after elementary school.

Mandatory counselling sessions.

He had gone through it, same as everyone else did when they were young. Or at least everyone with a quirk. He was taught the usual lessons, moral and ethical. Don't use your quirk. Your quirk is part of you and you're responsible for it. Using your quirk to get ahead in life is unfair, even if you think it's fair. Stupid bullshit like that, the kind of thing that was preached but no one really believed. Or at least, no one really treated it as truth when it came to their own quirk. It was all an attempt to hammer it into kids' heads early that quirks were a destabilising element of society and the only way they should be used was to stop other people from using them, i.e: by being a hero.

The problem when it came to Saiki was, most kids got that counselling when they first started school, or when they first got their quirk. Hammering those lessons home when they were so young that it would be a formative lesson. Saiki's quirk was discovered when he was a fair bit older, closer to when he was leaving elementary school than when he started. As a result, it wasn't quite so formative to him. He was old enough to question. Old enough to have recognised just how happily everyone ignored the dogma when it was convenient for them. Maybe if he had gotten that counselling earlier, he wouldn't have turned out as he had, abusing his quirk to its absolute limit and then some. But, the end result was an older kid getting told the same crap as the little kids, and smelling a heaping pile of bullshit.

It had felt like a frustrating, demeaning, insincere waste of time.

This time didn't feel any better.

But, at least this time the counsellor offered a nicer view.

"Sorry about Hound Dog," Midnight said, having taken over the usual guidance counsellor's role only a couple of minutes into the session. "Anger makes it hard for him to communicate well. He's a very empathetic man, and he feels awful about what you had to—"

"It's fine," Saiki said, cutting her off but trying not to express his irritation outwardly. He didn't need to hear about people feeling bad for him. He smirked slightly. "No offense to him, but I'm a lot happier to spend an hour or two with you instead."

"I'm sure," the R-Rated Hero answered with a smirk of her own. "You know why we're having this session. You've been through a lot in your time at this school. We, I, just want to make sure you're coping well. I'm sure this most recent incident was embarrassing—"

"I'm fine. Trust me, I don't have anything to be embarrassed about. People might be all embarrassed for seeing it but I bet a lot of them feel lucky deep down."

"... Uh-huh." Her pen scratched a mark on her notepad that sat on her crossed legs. "Even so, you've been through far more than just that. After everything, someone to talk to in private with no strings attached... You can tell me whatever you like. It won't leave this room, not even to other staff. So if there's anything you want to get off your chest—"

"Miss Midnight," he interrupted again, feeling a flare of annoyance, one he knew he didn't fully cover, but he smothered it. "Look. I know. I get it. And I appreciate the concern. But really, I'm fine. I can handle all of it, and no offense but there's a hundred other things I'd rather be doing than this. I mean, I get that we're stuck together for these sessions but I bet we can think of some more fun things to do together."

She sighed. "That's three times now."

"Huh?"

Instead of answering, the pro hero stood up, walked to the office door and locked it, before moving to the window and shutting the blinds. Then, she flicked something at the back of her neck, her collar opening to allow her to peel down her bodysuit to her student's appreciative eyes. Pale skin, large and heavy breasts peaked by darker nipples, wide hips, thick thighs, a neatly trimmed triangular bush. There she stood, fully naked in front of him. "Was this what you wanted?"

Not that he understood how it happened from just lazy flirting, but, "Absolutely."

"Good." She returned to her seat on the couch opposite him, making no effort to cover herself. Even crossing her legs again was clearly for comfort rather than modesty. "Three times you've interrupted me now."

"Sorry about that."

"I don't mind," she answered with a shrug, turning the notepad to show him what she had written. "Every time I suggested you even might feel vulnerable you try to shut the conversation down. And every time you tried to distract with flirting. Why is that?"

"You need to ask why I'd flirt with you?"

"Oh, I'm aware of the obvious reason," Midnight answered with no shame, hefting one of her breasts to accentuate the point. "I'm going to be honest with you, Saisei. I've wanted to get you alone to talk for a while. Ever since I got a few of your intimate partners together in detention. I was worried, and I'm still worried. But that time gave me an indication of how you tick, and we did consult with someone who got a better idea than anyone else ever has."

Ragdoll. Saiki crossed his arms over his chest. "That so? And how is she doing nowadays? They've been quiet for a long time since it all happened. Can't say I'm not worried."

"Ragdoll is managing better these days. It's a terrible adjustment to have to make, but she's strong. Now I have to ask, how much of that question was genuine concern versus trying to redirect the conversation away from you again?"

The student's lips twisted awkwardly, unsure how to answer that question. He wasn't sure himself. And the problem with her talking to Ragdoll was Midnight already knew how to cut through his bullshit. Maybe not as well as Ragdoll herself, but she had already proven she was aware enough of his habits.

"From the way she tells it, you have two responses when you feel uncomfortable or pressured. Getting angry, closed off, pushing people away. Or, flirting, trying to take back control that way. Either way, you like being the one in control and you don't like feeling vulnerable. If it was Hound Dog and he had talked to you like this, you would've stormed out by now. Am I right?"

"... It's just talk," Saiki answered flatly. "He could say whatever bullshit he wants, just like you can. It won't change anything. I'm fine."

"And I'd love to believe that, believe me." Her legs uncrossed, left open as she leaned forward and put a hand on his knee. "But the more you close yourself off, the less I can believe it. I do my best to look out for my students. If you're fine, we can talk about how fine you are, about how everything you've gone through doesn't bother you at all. But I'd like for us to be able to talk about it." Gesturing to her naked body, "And I'm willing to do whatever it takes for you to feel comfortable enough to talk to me."

"Whatever it takes?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"Yes." A single word. No hesitation. With full eye contact. Midnight knew exactly what she was saying and what he was implying, what she was agreeing to. "You want to feel in charge. Okay. When these sessions are over, I'll promise you now, you can do whatever you like to me."

"... You're serious."

It was her turn to smirk. "You wouldn't be the first student of the college I offered this to. Several of my Midnight Boys happily graduated and followed me all the way home to my agency like adorable puppies," Midnight confided with a wistful smile. "From one UA slut to another, I don't make promises I won't keep. You want me to feel vulnerable? I don't wear handcuffs as part of my costume for nothing." Once again, she rested a hand on his knee. "Whatever you want. All you have to do is talk to me. Really talk to me."

It was the most up-front ploy he'd been on the receiving end of since Ragdoll stripped down and did naked cartwheels to get him off guard. In fact it was more up-front than that. Credit to Midnight, she was willing to play all her cards. It might have been obvious but... It was also hard to turn down. The dream of every young man to pass through UA since she started teaching? Even if she was playing him, "... Fine."

"It's not gonna kill you to open up to someone, surly boy," she chided. "Just think about the amazing things a more worldly woman can show you and we'll both get through this just fine."

Well, he had experienced a worldly woman a couple of times. But a kinky married woman and an aggro bunny were a different sort to a woman like Midnight who wore her sexuality on her tearaway sleeves.

"Let's start with the most recent incident and we'll go from there. What started your disagreements with Monoma?"

So it began. It was a starting point he had been willing to talk about anyway. He had told Monoma himself. He had told Kendo when they were at their most antagonistic. It was fine for him talking about where his head was at when he started taking the blond shithead down a peg. But that was when Midnight started asking the harder questions.

"Do you regret it?"

"Why? Because it was wrong?"

"I'm not saying one way or another whether it was right or wrong. I'm not here to make judgments. I'm here so you can express how you feel about it, so you can better understand how you feel about it."

"... It... I regret how I left Momo holding the bag. But stepping in in the first place? No. Someone had to, no one else was willing and he was only getting worse. It would've been nice if there was someone who could handle it better but without that, I handled it my way, and I won't apologise for that."

Midnight uncrossed her legs, setting one foot up on the couch cushion to offer a more provocative pose. "No one is asking you to apologise for it, Saisei. Someone might in future, but it'll be up to you in that case still."

It was a little frustrating to realise she had turned his tactics back on him. Whenever he would put up walls she would do something to remind him where this was going eventually. Remind him of her end of the bargain, and likewise remind him of his. "Right. I don't regret it. If I could do it again... I'd probably do it again. I wouldn't leave Momo like that, but even knowing where it would lead, I'd still do it. Someone had to do something."

"It was important to you. Because he reminded you of yourself?"

"... I did similar crap to what he did. I was still doing it when I got to UA. It took wake-up call after wake-up call to realise how pathetic it was, but I got there. So I knew Monoma wouldn't just 'get over it'. Someone had to get the ball rolling."

"Mm-hm. Then let's move on to the incident last week. How did you feel as it was happening?"

He shrugged. "It wasn't a big deal. Someone attacked me, I mean, kind of. That's normal for a hero, right? I just focused on trying to undo it, get control back." Midnight stared at him when he finished speaking. They both knew he hadn't answered the question and blustered instead. "... Confused. I guess. I knew a line had been crossed, I hadn't expected him to go that far. And... I guess kind of angry."

"Because he pushed back?"

"Pfft. No. I probably would've done the same. Well, not exactly the same. No, it bothered me that he pushed back with that. It takes a lot to make me feel helpless. It reminded me of..."

"Your near death experience?" Midnight finished for him when he seemed unwilling. "Or your abduction?"

"... I don't like feeling helpless. And I don't think that's strange."

"It isn't," she assured him, having recognised he was getting defensive again. "Have you talked to anyone about this? Yaoyorozu? Midoriya?"

"Why would I? It wouldn't change anything, and I'm handling it."

The teacher let out a slight sigh. "Let's talk about the Hassaikai mission then."

The session went on, the student hero talking as much as he was willing about his feelings during the Hassaikai raid. Then more when Midnight gently prodded him with words or mildly lewd reminders of their arrangement. Saiki didn't make it easy for her, and the first session ended before they had gotten to the most profoundly impactful experience of that mission. However, she wasn't willing to let it go, and the second session began with her stripping down just as she had the first time, laying across her couch with her legs spread, and continuing right from where they left off.

It took work, but he eventually admitted that he hadn't entirely processed his near-death experience, or at least didn't think he had. It somehow didn't feel entirely real. That while he knew on an intellectual level that he had died for a moment, it seemed like such a bizarre and out of nowhere experience that he had no idea how to reconcile it with everything else. He had died, but he was more or less fine a day later.

Once again, Midnight asked if he talked with anyone about it. And again, he said no.

From there, the training camp. The attack by the Turbo Action Force: Sailor Villain Senshi. One of many nicknames he came up with, a new one every time he mentioned them as a group. He had found them ridiculous at first, and maybe he was holding on to that impression given everything they put him through in the end. And... Eventually the topic of All for One had to come up.

By the time he began to talk about it, Midnight's nudity was an afterthought at most. "I remember... I had never felt as cornered as I did then. He'd... Trapped me in something he'd used to keep the nomu locked down. He played on everything I was afraid of. It was like he knew me better than I did. And... He knew things. Things I hadn't wanted to believe, and he wouldn't stop until I accepted them."

"What kinds of things?"

"I can't talk about that. I won't," he stated firmly, looking her in the eyes. "That's not up for discussion and never will be."

"Alright." She raised a hand slightly, a sign of submission at his unbending refusal unlike any he had given until that point. "He preyed on your fears?"

"Everything I'd been struggling with before the training camp. What Ragdoll was helping me through. It was her that saved me in a way. I, uh..." He cleared his throat, suddenly unable to look at her as resolutely as he had a moment ago. "If I hadn't... Realised he was using her quirk... I don't know if I would've given in." Then, in a voice barely above a whisper. "I think I might've."

If there was anything he thought he'd receive condemnation for, it was that. And yet he had said it anyway, because much as he didn't want to admit it, it felt good to get some of this stuff off his chest. And yet, he worried he had gone too far.

"Saiki, that's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Bullshit!" Somehow, her trying to absolve him made him angrier than if she had condemned him for it. "He leapt to his feet, turned away from her. "I, I nearly gave up everything I worked for! I spent my entire life trying to get where I am, and I almost threw it away because some fuck on life support made me feel weak! And you're saying that's okay?! I almost—! I...!" Betrayed everyone.

His hands clenched and unclenched, struggling with himself, the things he hadn't confronted about that night.

Then he felt her against him. Her nudity wasn't important as she pulled him into a hug. "All Might told us, at least some of what that man is. From what he said, this is how All for One works. How he always worked. He preys on every weakness you have so he can twist you into something unrecognisable. Something he can use. He's been doing it for a long time. There's no shame in almost faltering. You should be proud you didn't."

"I don't have weaknesses. I shouldn't have weaknesses. I spent my entire life training so I wouldn't. So no one could break me."

"Everyone has a weakness," the teacher told him, even if it wasn't what he wanted to hear. "The biggest one might be pretending you don't. Pretending you're unbreakable only leaves you vulnerable to the ones who can find the cracks. He did it, Ragdoll did it, Monoma did it, and so did I. You'll always have weaknesses, Saiki. If you acknowledge them, understand them, you'll be stronger for it. But if you pretend they aren't there, they'll only get worse. They'll only leave you more vulnerable."

It took a moment, but Saiki eventually got control of himself, enough to continue. Talking about what happened after he refused All for One. The moment when he almost lost his quirk. The fear. The desperation.

"And then Katsumi, that fucking idiot."

How his fear turned from himself to her. Then to Izuku when she showed up. The confusion of everything that was happening, the need to explain the kind of deep shit they had jumped into. How everything seemed to happen all at one and then... It was over. He was free, they had escaped. They watched All Might's last battle. From there, talking to the police, to Nezu, then... Sulking at home alone.

"On your own, that whole time," Midnight observed. "You work through a lot of things on your own."

"It was how I learned. Didn't have people to rely on so I relied on myself. Worked out my place in the world myself, how to change it myself, what I wanted from the world myself, how to reach those goals myself. I didn't have much choice."

"That's how you see it?"

"That's how it was." Anyone not looking down on him was looking to use him.

"And it's not like that now?" Midnight asked, picking out the tense.

"... It is and isn't like that. I try to deal with things myself because that's how I always have. But there are people who seem to give a damn. No, who really do give a damn."

"That would be Yaoyorozu, Jiro, Midoriya and Bakugo?"

He raised his eyebrows, smirking at her. "Wow. Putting together a list of— Oh, they're the ones who came for me when I was abducted." It was pretty obvious what was going on there based on that.

"Well, them and Mirko," Midnight agreed with a matching smirk. "But I'm sure she had no ulterior motive in being part of that."

"So she insists."

"And you're willing to lean on them when you need someone?"

He shrugged. "Sure."

"Sure. Not yes."

"They mean the same thing."

Midnight sighed, setting her notepad aside as she rested her clasped hands on her raised knee. "They can. I don't think they do the way you're using it though. Saisei... I think these sessions have been good for you so far, but only because I can see the pattern of how you deal with your problems. Every time, you try to tough it out on your own. There's no need to do that anymore. You have people who care about you, who will support you if you let them."

Did he? He supposed he did. But at the same time it felt wrong to do that. Like it would be a mistake. "It's weird," he admitted. "Momo is so earnest, she wants to help so badly, no matter who, no matter what. So I feel like if I actively go to her, she'd go overboard. Bad for both of us. Kyoka... I don't know. It doesn't feel like I should lean on her. Like maybe we're not as close, or maybe we are but not in a serious way. It's a laid back relationship. We have fun, we obviously, you know, care I guess or whatever. But it's not a deep thing. More like... A best friend who likes to take it in the—" Oh, that was oversharing for sure.

"Uh, Izuku," he continued in a hurry, not that Midnight appeared to be in any kind of hurry to stop him. "Izuku it's like I'm on the opposite side of me and Momo. That girl is a menace to herself, constantly in her own head, and I feel like I have to keep her grounded or she's going to lose her mind with worry over things she can't control."

The teacher nodded. "And Bakugo?"

"Oof." The word came out as a grunt of pain and a laugh all in one. "Katsumi is a nightmare, but she's the fun kind of nightmare like you're ready and willing to kick the ass of whatever's scaring you. She's intense about everything. She's always amazing. But lean on her for like, feelings and crap? She'd call me a pussy and tell me to deal with it. Which is kind of my go-to response to myself so there's no point. We're way too similar." He shook his head, dismissing the very idea of actively confiding in her that way. "I don't need to believe they'd all have my back if I needed, because they did that. But I don't know, I'm still figuring out what positive relationships look like."

"This was why I wanted to get you into a room alone before summer, Saisei," Midnight told him. "Admittedly, it was to educate you on your callous behaviour toward those girls. Here it turns out you're doing better than I thought. Or at least learned from your mistakes."

"If I could give some advice," she continued, tapping her chin with a finger. "Relationships shouldn't all be the same and I'm glad you aren't treating them all the same. That said, I think you may have more in common with Yaoyorozu and Midoriya than you think. You were willing to look after Midoriya's well-being, just like Yaoyorozu tries to look after yours. In fact, there's a pattern in all of it. As much as you're afraid of being vulnerable, you're also unwilling to burden others."

Saiki snorted derisively. "Uh, yeah, no, I burden everyone just fine. So much they end up walking funny."

The teacher rolled her eyes in response. "Being a demanding lover isn't what I'm talking about. It sounds like the only reason you let Yaoyorozu in is because she doesn't give you a choice, and you shut everyone else out. Whether to settle for comfort with Jiro, cater to Midoriya's needs alone, or to keep up your adversarial relationship with Bakugo. Is there anyone you willingly open yourself up to?"

The young man shifted awkwardly, not appreciating how good of a read she had on him from only two sessions. "Mirko, I guess."

"And when was the last time?"

"... Before we moved into the dorms."

Midnight smiled, knowing he recognised the problem. "I'm glad you've started taking your relationships more seriously. And you're right, emotional intimacy isn't always called for, and no one would say it's easy. But I think by now you recognise, it's something you need. Everyone needs someone they can talk to, to confide in, or all of the pain and fear and doubt will crush you."

"Maybe." It was as good as an agreement. He knew she was right. He had been through exactly that twice. The sports festival and after I-Island— No, more than that. There was no other way to describe how he was after being rescued from All for One either. Every time he felt it all weigh him down he would let it crush him instead of letting someone help him carry the weight.

"My advice, which you can take or leave, is to try. Try opening up to people you care about. Try seeing if they'll open up to you too. Being there for each other is more than grand gestures." Midnight's eyes turned toward the clock. "And we can talk about how it went in our last session."

He watched her dress, somehow slipping into the tearaway bodysuit without a single rip despite how hard the fabric must have worked to slide over those curves. After all of this, was it still worth it to get to tap that? The feeling of catharsis was telling him it was more like a bonus than the end goal now.

Opening up to people, huh? He could pretend he already did that, but it felt like a lie before he even considered it. Showing Momo and Kyoka his hobby chest? Oh wow, they knew he was dabbling with hobbies. What a dark secret he had shared! No, that wasn't what Midnight meant. Maybe she was right. Maybe he did need to open up for real.

The thought terrified him.

-(-)-

A/N: This chapter seen very early by my generous supporters on THE GREAT FORBIDDEN P! FEAR THE P! LOVE THE P!