CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Dr. Hibiki rang Izumi in while Rio sighed in relief. Earlier, he'd had a strange compulsion to delete the recording, but he quickly snapped to his senses and saved it to the cloud.
Izumi walked into the office and turned to Dr. Hibiki. The doctor just plastered on her signature smile—there was no hint that earlier she had been threatening her son, her face a picture of pure serenity.
Rio mirrored her expression, smiling brightly at the doctor. An uninformed observer would think they had now become the best of friends, but inwardly, they both wanted to strangle the other.
Izumi took her seat and asked the doctor, "So, how did it go?" She was curious why those two had suddenly become so close in a couple of minutes.
"Oh, our little talk was splendid. Little Rio here was very cooperative," Dr. Hibiki smiled brightly at Izumi.
'Bitch, that wasn't what you were saying seconds ago. Still, how does one learn this power?' Rio thought to himself.
"Still, it'll take some time, but me and my team will have to review that information to decide what category your boy belongs to," Dr. Hibiki continued as she passed a roll of candy to Rio—something he quickly tossed into the bin when his mum wasn't looking and he was sure Dr. Hibiki was watching.
Three categories... Now I'm curious why they need to separate the children in counseling into different classes when the program doesn't go on for a long time.
It seemed Izumi was curious as well, as she asked the doctor what those three categories were.
"Well, it's nothing complicated. It's a system the government put in place to determine the amount of attention each child should be given."
And then she went on to explain.
The first category was for kids who used their quirk to hurt someone accidentally. Mistakenly misfiring, an attack out of distress, a game of tag gone wrong—those kinds of minor incidents that didn't cause much harm usually fell in that category. Usually, a quick psyche evaluation and a lecture were all that was needed to resolve such cases. You'd be out in two days at most.
The second category fell on the bullies—those kids who, on numerous occasions, had threatened to use their quirk to cause violence to their peers or had acted on it. People like that needed to understand violence wasn't the way and would go through a month-long program as orientation. If they fell into those habits again, then they'd be put in category three.
The third was for the more serious cases—those whose quirks twisted their minds and fundamental nature. Some quirks influenced their user and had them act out. While society boasted a diversity that could accommodate thousands of personalities, those in this category had thinking and mindsets that were so fundamentally out of touch with what was expected of society. They became outliers that could not fit into the mainframe of society—villain candidates, if you would.
You'd be put on a list, any more than this and there would be no more take backs, no forgiveness. You'd be branded a Villain. It didn't matter the age.
"So, where do we stand right now? What category does Rio fall in?" Izumi asked in concern.
"Well, that will take some time to determine, but our team will be working on this as best as we can to satisfy you." A very diplomatic answer, but she might as well have said nothing.
"And pray tell, who are these analysts on your team?" Izumi asked, still concerned.
"Well, it's only me. But you can trust that I'm qualified to handle it—as long as you show your support," Dr. Hibiki replied confidently. To be this shameless, that had o be a superpower.
"It's just that your workload seems large enough as it is. I'm not confident you can provide the help needed by yourself." Izumi's concerns were reasonable. It was already surprising because the doctor had insinuated that the sessions would occur in a group, and now they find that she is the only one in charge of all the work. It raised questions about the quality of the service provided here.
"I have a degree in adolescent psychology from one of the most reputable medical colleges in the country. I ask that you just trust me."
Izumi expressed her understanding and asked Rio to get up. They were ready to leave. Hopefully, she would arrive at a verdict everyone would be satisfied with—and Rio could be done with this mess in a month.
"Are you perhaps forgetting something, Mrs. Hayami?" the doctor called from her seat. Her quirk was total recall. She remembered everything—and I mean everything. There was no way this short conversation would slip her mind.
"No, I don't think I forgot anything, Dr. Hibiki. Is there something you'd like to add?" Izumi replied with her eyebrows lifted.
Dr. Hibiki's smile faded entirely. "Are you sure you didn't forget something I said? I could refresh your memory if you'd like," she asked, rubbing her index finger and thumb together.
"Thank you, but I'll decline that offer. We'll be hearing from you, Doctor, I hope?" Izumi asked as she picked up her trench coat from the rack.
"Yes, you will. You'll be hearing from me very soon," Dr. Hibiki added with an ominous smile.
That doesn't seem good. I just hope she doesn't do anything stupid. I'd hate to involve myself in a scandal of this proportion, Rio thought to himself as he followed his mum out of the office.
At the Office
Dr. Hibiki watched as the blue van pulled out onto the highway, her expression unusually grim.
"Shit!" she cursed, tossing a figurine on her desk and sending it crashing against the wall.
Years of success had made her careless. The people she interacted with knew the stakes involved, so she could get away with venting her stress on patients without repercussions. It bit her on the ass today, and she could only hope her little suggestion earlier had worked.
Still, though—two people today had shrugged off her suggestions easily. She could only curse them for not following proper procedure. How could she afford that new bag she was after if that stupid lady didn't comply? That was even after she had been kind enough to drop a hint three times in succession.
Now she had to think up an excuse to threaten one of the families in the second category with moving their kid up.
She closed the curtains as the room descended into darkness. She sank into her chair and placed a hand on her head, massaging it slowly to relieve the steadily mounting headache threatening her peace.
This wasn't unsalvageable, though. The only way out of this was the threat of mutual destruction. She just needed to keep that boy on a tight leash—and when he was vulnerable, she'd plant a suggestion again. It wasn't the first time she was caught lacking. This wasn't enough to scare her.
She smiled deviously to herself as she turned on the desk lamp.
"Yes, this will work. It's not my fault that you weren't worried about your child's placement. It's a shame that you wouldn't listen."
She picked up his file and placed it in a drawer tagged Category 3 – Treat with Caution, his file sitting right above a smiling young blonde girl with a menacing smile.
Back at the Car
"What did that lady say to you when I was out of the office?" Izumi asked as they stopped at the red light.
"Nothing much… she asked me some questions, I replied, you know, the usual," Rio replied as he stared out the window.
"I don't like that lady. She seems like bad news. Tell me if she tries anything funny."
'Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. You should have thought of that when you decided your eight-year-old son needed therapy! Still though, she had already threatened me twice. It worked to my advantage, as I could now use the time set aside for counseling to do other things. If the doctor tried to interfere, a friendly reminder of the recording should set her in place.'
"I know you're still angry at me, Rio, but know I'm doing this because I care about you, and I don't want you to get hurt."
"It's fine, Mum. I'm not mad or anything," Rio faced his mum and replied. He was being genuine. No mother would find it acceptable that her boy was running around beating up people for fun. Not that he was, but that was all she could think of. He could understand, so the matter didn't have any hold on him. She didn't mean any harm.
Unbeknownst to them, this would cause a lot of harm. Rio was in for a whirlwind of an encounter that would shape his perception of life forever, and the pain would be far deeper than they could both imagine.