The In-Laws||MHAxOCS||

8. You All Need Therapy

"Can you see okay..?" Her doctor asked.
"Yes." Simon replied as he finished his eye test.
"Alright, you're as healed up as we could manage. You're taking some time to rest from work, correct?"
"Hero work, maybe. But not teaching!"
"Ah.. Ms. Alia, again, you can't bend your back or move your wrist.."
"Education waits for no one! My mobility may be that of a lego figure, but they made like two whole movies about those guys!"
"Alright, Ms. Alia..."
I'm in so much pain.
Simon thought as she got in the car that was called for her.
It's my fault though.. I should've been stronger. I've been doing so much on the Green House case that my physical fighting isn't nearly as good as it was less than a year ago! I was reckless, and if All Might didn't show up...
"Thank you." She said to the driver as she walked into the lobby, going up the elevator and into her comfortable apartment.
There, and only there, she closed the door and let herself begin to sob.
It hurt so bad. Her jolts while crying felt like stabbing into her back as she fell to the floor, knees and head flat against it.
"God.. I couldn't protect them. I'm so sorry.."
Simon found herself praying for the first time in years. Ever since she was small, her sister and her were very religious. Actually, they were both adopted from the same church when they were little. Their mom took them in when Amara was around 14 and Simon was 7.
Every since then, their mother, not a religious woman herself, would let the girls attend church until Simon left for Japan.
Actually, I don't think I've set foot in church since...
Her mind was on a new subject, and her breathing steadied.
She waddled to her fridge, then to her couch, and flipped on the TV.
Time to overeat and pass out..
***
"Simon! Are you sure you're okay to teach? Your injuries look pretty b-" Midorya began, but the class door swung open.
Their mummy teacher walked in without a word, and everyone had wide eyes.
Suddenly, Simon's bandaged arms, leg, and unseen torso made it look like she was ready to run a marathon.
"The UA Sports Festival.." He started, explaining the whole event in detail. Luna perked up. Broadcasted all over the world, huh? Mom's definitely gonna be watching.
She smiled. I can show her...
And she got super bubbly about the event, just like everyone else, but not exactly for the same reasons.
I just need her to see I don't give a shit about what she wants for me.

The students each lit up with an excitement that everyone accepted into UA has, and for something Simon never knew she wanted to see, she enjoyed looking at it from the teaching side.
She looked to the man beside her.
"Can you breathe in that..?" She asked.
"Mostly." He mumbled through the bandages.
***
"Sports festival?! You know, Jane came in second when she was in class." Amara explained to Luna as they all sat and ate, a bit of venom in her voice.
A lot of venom, actually.
"Mhm."
The first and most prominent thing you learn about Amara's personality: she's not the biggest Simon Says fan.
Luna ignored her as she continued.
"Though, with her quirk I don't think it should have been allowed, I mean, what kind of fight would that be!" She laughed, ""jokingly""".
"Isn't that fun, dear, would you like more pork??? Your baby needs to eat up!" Brian ogled over his wife as she continued to be increasingly passive aggressive to someone who wasn't even there.
"I heard she'll be making an appearance to help with whoever the umpire is this year, being that she's already bumped up 4 places after just coming back, even with most people not even knowing she was back." Luna added. She found herself defending Simon, weirdly enough.
"Well isn't that fun!" Amara said with her fork clenched. "Speaking of.." she grabbed her phone. "Hey, Janie! Do you have any wine..?"
***
Ow. Ow. Ow.
She walked with confidence and rigor.
As Simon greeted the other teachers, she also apologized for her informal wear.
She wasn't allowed to be doing hero work while her back and wrist were still as bad as they were, so she came to school in a white turtleneck and long black coat with jeans.
It definitely was not something she'd normally wear, but she couldn't bring herself to wear her costume everyday with how much squeezing she had to embarrassingly do, and her casual outfits were very different from the standard leisurewear.
She chose comfy but clean and professional, and prayed that she wouldn't be yelled at in class.
"Wow, if I didn't see your hand cast I wouldn't know you were still recovering!" Mina complimented before class started.
"Yeah, that's what I'm going for.." she answered nervously.
"Why..?" Luna asked as she sketched in the back.
"Ask nicely and I'll tell." Simon said smugly.
Luna looked up and contemplated for a second.
"Don't care enough." She continued drawing, and Simon went on, pretending that never happened.
"I'm no All Might, but I'm the newest addition to the UA staff and pretty popular with certain crowds, so to some extent, if I seem fine, then maybe the school will too."
"Oh, wow! That's so admirable!" Iida yelled, too early in the morning for Simon to handle.
"Thanks, rep." She sent a pained (her back and her ears) smile at him as more students filed into class.
"Hey, Luna?" Tsu said once she got in.
"Yeah?" She answered with a smile.
"You're okay, right? After what happened?"
Luna thought, her eyes swirling colors uncertainly. "I think I am for now. I don't think I've processed it all yet. How about you?"
"I've been okay. I know how scary it all was and wanted to let you know I'm here to talk if you need."
Luna smiled widely and jumped, swinging her arms around Tsu.
"I'm here for you too!"
She was taken aback at first, but hugged her back.
Simon couldn't help but smile before looking at the paper in her hands.
Everyone was in their seats, and Simon was nervous that she'd be yelled at for dressing so casually.
The door opened, and she sighed in relief.
He's still covered in bandages! He can't even see me.
She stuck to the corner to his left as he went into more detail on the sports festival coming up. Simon waited until it was her turn to speak.
"Also, the school has decided to offer counseling to all students, and after the incident that happened, it's encouraged that you all go." He said her anticipated part for her, not even doing the big reveal.
She pouted silently.
"Right.. the councilor is Simon." He added.
The class was surprised.
"Is she even qualified for that..?" Luna asked.
"My mother is a licensed therapist, and I have certification as an emotional counselor from a program that I took when I was 20 in the states." Simon said as she glared. "And don't speak unless you raise your hand."
Luna's eye looked like it was twitching.
"So, please come to me if you need to, the signup is up front when class ends and my meetings will begin after the festival." She said with a smile.
And, surely enough, they did.
A few students reached out, and as they left, Simon called for Luna.
Aizawa was asleep in the corner, so she asked her to sit quietly.
"Your grades are trash." Simon said frankly. "You're failing everything except Hero Basic Training."
"Gee, thanks.."
"Keep this up and you'll be kicked out."
Luna's mouth dropped in mock surprise.
"This test that you got a zero on was actually the deciding test." She held out the paper. "But, it was obviously intentional."
Her eyes widened a little bit.
"I wasn't born yesterday, I know what you're thinking."
Luna stayed quiet, but her eyes swirled, turning a half and half: red and blue. Simon noticed they looked exactly like the sour gummy worm colors.
"Look, my sister talks a lot and I have some base level of understanding of what you're going through, which is why I'm not letting you do this."
Luna glared up at her, arms crossed. "Amara may talk a lot, but she doesn't always know what she talks about. Don't say you understand."
Simon pulled the paper back, keeping a strict persona.
"You have a week to retake the test, and to ensure you do better, I'm assigning you a tutor. You start right after the sports festival."
"What's a tutor gonna do if I'm trying to fail?"
"A tutor is gonna guilt trip you into trying." Simon said smugly. "It's Todoroki."
"What?! You think I'm gonna try just because he's helping..?"
"If you fail, he loses the extra credit that I'm offering him to help you." She explained as she started mindlessly packing her belongings.
"Can you even do that?? You're a teaching assistant for one class!"
"I'm the school counselor, Luna." She corrected as she finally stood, her smile dropping in seriousness. "I'm risking a lot here. The other teachers really want to let you go, but I'm arguing for you. I know you don't like me, but you need to shape up."
How could Luna look so unaffected by this?
"You have so much potential. There's hundreds of kids who would give up anything to be where you are. Start acting like it."