Mizue Hanayama was waiting in the meeting room for the teachers. Right now, she was about to meet with her most troublesome patient.
Recently, she saw that he got into trouble again. But this time, he knocked out the hero killer and publicly destroyed all justification for his ideology.
She could respect that, since everything Sam said was correct. Stain was a tyrant. But she was more worried about him having another episode like he did when he was running through the city beating up pro heroes and cops.
'He looked composed enough. But that rage. He really despised Stain to his core. Did he meet tyrants in Africa?'
She theorized in her head.
The door opened and Sam entered.
The first thing she noticed was that he looked, more happy.
It wasn't just from her own observations, but her quirk was starting to detect color in him.
She can see emotions as colors in people. But some people are too broken and chaotic to get a read on. Sam is just as much a mess as such people, but she is starting to get a color to form.
'This is great!'
She was genuinely happy seeing that. This meant he was starting to fit in.
"Hello, Suzuki-san."
"Hello, Hanayama-san."
She smiled.
"How was your internship?"
Sam also smiled. Only slightly.
"It was actually pretty good."
"Oh? How so?"
"Well… I made a new friend."
"That's wonderful, Sam."
She said that, genuinely happy for him. She loved seeing people like Sam finding some joy in life.
Sam nodded.
"I also… I opened up to her."
"About?"
"About… everything. My past."
That shocked her.
"Why? If I may ask?"
Sam sighed.
"I think, in that moment, under that starry sky, I just wanted to tell her. She showed me what kind of person she was, and I respected her enough to tell her about my life."
She wrote this down as a huge step in the right direction.
"And how did she take it?"
Sam lightly smiled again.
"She was understanding. She didn't pity me like most would. She just saw me. Not the Quirkless Monster, just Sam Suzuki."
She nodded.
"But why her?"
Sam gave a little chuckle.
"Are you jealous, Doctor?"
She rolled her eyes.
"Well, hearing you joke around is new."
"I guess I picked that up from spending time with her."
He thought of the joke he made when they said goodbye at the end of the internship.
"That's good. And while I wouldn't say I'm jealous, I would admit that I would feel disappointed. Not in you, but in myself. I'm supposed to be someone you can tell anything to. And never worry about telling other people. But if she was able to hear your story, then she must have opened you up more than I could."
She didn't feel sad, she only pointed it out like fact.
Sam sighed.
He knew she wasn't guilt tripping him, but he decided to throw her a bone. After all, it's her job to help with these problems.
"Very well. I'll tell you."
She looked at Sam with hope.
Then, she smiled.
"Thank you for trusting me, Sam."
He just nodded.
When she got her notepad ready, he began talking.
"My earliest memory, was when my mother died before my eyes. After that, all memories were scrubbed. The next memory was when…"
He would then go on to explain everything.
He told her about the cliff side.
The war in Djibouti.
The deaths of the kids.
His friendship with Charles.
The final test.
Charles' death.
His mind being scrubbed.
Being made into a child soldier.
And then he told her about Zola.
"Zola was such an arrogant brat. Only ten and she was able to keep up with me. But, as the years went by, she made her distance very clear to me. She was wary of me. I respected that. But one night, I saw her. All of her."
He told her about the crying and how that brought back the memory of his mom dying.
He then told her about how they became friends, then how they dated.
Finally, he told her about her death. How she sacrificed herself so that he could escape.
Then he told her about the forest and the hell he lived trying to survive.
Finally, he told her about his rescue. Which ended in him returning to Japan.
When he finished, he looked at Doctor Hanayama.
She was looking down at her pad.
She looked composed. But Sam could see a slight shiver in her hand.
She sighed.
"That… must have been difficult. I couldn't possibly understand that much suffering. But it's good you found some people to open up to. Myself included. I would understand never being able to share this with anyone, and yet you shared it with quite a few people. That says a lot about you."
Sam raised a brow.
"It says that you are someone who is lonely. Someone who wants to fit in and make friends. To find someone he could relate to. And I think you found that in your new friend. This isn't a small achievement."
Sam nodded.
"Thank you for telling me and trusting me enough. I swear I will do what I can to support you. This is not out of duty, this is personal now. If you ever need help, call me. I would listen."
She handed him her business card. She wrote her personal number on the back.
"Here. That's for my private number if I am not at my office."
Sam smiled a bit.
"Are you coming onto me Doctor?"
He expected her to be flustered, but she just smiled at Sam.
"Another joke. It's funny."
Sam couldn't crack a psychologist like her, it seemed.