"So he's begun to figure it out. As expected of you, Kisuke Urahara."
---
"Uh, hello there."
"We don't need a shrink," Ryuji cut him off.
Maruki blinked.
"That's... a very direct way to start a conversation."
"We haven't had the best relationships with teachers," Shiho said coldly.
"Particularly male ones," Ann added with narrowed eyes.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you!" The man quickly bowed in apology, stunning the group.
"I was told that there was a group of students that had it particularly rough before, so I wanted to introduce myself."
"Well, you have, so leave," Ren said scathingly.
'Whoa, why is he so hostile?!'
"I'm sorry, Amamiya-san. I can leave for now, but know that you three are required by the principal to attend counseling. Even if you show up and say nothing, that's fine."
Ren looked at him and realized he was seemingly genuine. Remembering Sojiro, he relaxed a bit. Not every adult let him down.
"I won't talk about myself, but would you be interested in talking about cognitive science and Jungian psychology?" Ren sighed.
"Oh, that's my specialty!" Maruki beamed.
"I'll... come see you soon."
"Ren, why were you so upset talking to him?" Orihime asked.
"There was a lot of hate in your voice," Ryuji noted.
"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to!!" Shiho assured him as Morgana rubbed his head against Ren's arm before hiding in the bag again.
"Every bone in my body tells me not to be involved with or tell anything to that man. Yet I can see his kindness is genuine. It's frustrating," Ren said.
"Are you okay? You never share like this," Ann asked in worry, grabbing his hand.
"I'm fine." Ren shook his head with a gentle smile. "I don't have the best impression of therapists."
'Sometimes they don't believe you.'
---