Wired Differently (a My Hero Academia tododeku fanfic) Chapter 6: Tanaka-san

Links to the privious chapters:

Chapter 1: The Sports Festival

Chapter 2: Visiting Mom:

Chapter 3: Hero Names

Chapter 4 and 5: internships

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Content warning: mention of stigma around therapy, if you don't want to read that, skip the second paragraph. There is also a reference to harmful heteronormativity during his session.

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Midoriya POV

It was the Thursday after the internship ended and it was time for my weekly therapy visit with Tanaka-san. I've been seeing him just about every week since I was really little, it's a little weird that I need to see a therapist weekly no one knows about this but my mom, who arranges and pays for it... it's kinda embarrassing I mean I got into UA. I'm going to be a pro hero why would I need to talk to someone. But I do, I find my conversations with my therapist, Tanaka-san, are just as important now as they were when I was quirkless, he does, however, know about One for All and All Might, I told him that before All Might told me not to tell anyone... but I tell him anyway!

Even though all those good things have happened I still have general anxiety disorder, again something only my mom and Tanka-san know about, I can't let people know that the stigma around mental illness has decreased, it's still there, I don't want people to think less of me because of it.

After a short period of time in the waiting room, Tanaka-san says goodbye to the client who went before me and invites me into his office. I sat down on the couch facing him, completely stiff.

"What's wrong Midoriya, you can talk about anything here. Surely you know that by now. You've been seeing me for quite some time."

"Tanaka-san, how do you know if you're in love? I think I might be but it's with a boy, all my life people have been talking about boys being with girls but I'm a boy and he's a boy is that weird, am I gay? That is if this is even love?... I don't know. I don't know anything...even if it is love chances are he doesn't feel the same way about me, I'm just a big crybaby that-"

"Midoriya, you are a very capable and lovable young man that deserves love in your life. Just like everyone else does. When you think like that you're letting your anxiety win, Now tell me about him."

"It's Todoroki, he's just so sweet, even though he had such a bad past when we were fighting Stain, he came running to me when I just sent a GPS signal in the class chat! He could have gotten into so much trouble for that, well he may have actually gotten in trouble for it and just didn't tell me so I wouldn't feel bad, because that's how nice he is, and he's so pretty those mismatch eyes, I could stare at them forever, he doesn't smile much but when he does my heart just melts..."

"Midoriya, you're smiling," he pointed out I didn't notice but he was right! I was smiling, just talking about him made me happy and all warm and fuzzy... I felt my blood rushing to my face.

"It seems like you might have a crush on your friend. And there's nothing wrong with being gay, I think it would actually be great if there was a gay pro hero, they would be an icon and a role model for gay kids everywhere. You don't usually mention him when you talk about your friends at school, why don't you spend the next week spending more time with him, see how you feel around him. See how he treats you and your friends," my heart was racing just thinking about spending more time with him, but good therapy sometimes takes work, and if Tanaka-san said to do it I should he's usually right about that.

We then talked more about the rest of my week and how I learned to control my One for All.

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Next Chapter: Chapter 7: Lunch

~~Ben Ray