Face the Music

"Please, come in."

Klaus' voice was many things, but intimidating was not one of them. The three words were said with surprising sincerity; the 1-A teacher was eager to welcome the student into his office. Klaus was this way with all of his students, though this appointment in particular stood out. The case of Gozen Yoichi had piqued his interest the moment it crossed his desk, though not necessarily for pleasant reasons. The girl's school record prior to U.A. was not what many would call encouraging, though that determination had not mattered for Klaus when he had prepared her acceptance letter. If anything, it proved to him just how important it was for him to maintain a dialogue with the girl.

The office itself was not what one would call spacious, especially not for someone of Klaus' gargantuan frame. He looked like he barely fit behind his desk, never mind how he managed to have room for anything else. None of this seemed to bother him as he gestured to the empty seat in front of his desk. His four arms rested in front of him, covering whatever paperwork he had been working on prior to Yoichi coming in. His lesser mandibles clicked together twice.

"Good morning, Yoichi. Thank you for meeting with me. How are you doing today?" Klaus' expressions were, admittedly, difficult to approach, and that went double for new students. He hoped, however, that the girl would do her best to be forthcoming with him. This was a safe place. He would never berate her - or anyone - for speaking their mind.

Klaus' larynx tightened. He was painfully familiar with the way Yoichi spoke those words. A confirmation of his suspicions, though not necessarily for the better. Children today were eager to get to the point. On any other subject, Klaus might be inclined to agree. He interlaced his four hands with one another on the desk between them, and clicked his lesser mandibles together. "Nocturne may be interested in what happened, but I am not. I would like to know "why"."

Klaus' tone was curious at best, and pensive at worst. He did not want Yoichi to feel like she was being interrogated. Perhaps an impossible task, considering the circumstances, but he had to try. These children needed to understand that he was their friend... not just another grown-up. "Speak freely. Do not leave anything out."

Throughout Yoichi’s responses, even as they spiraled into the display before him now, Klaus did not seem fazed. It was not that he appeared indifferent, or worse, callous to the girl’s emotions. There was incredible sympathy behind his pained eyes, though as with many people - least of all this poor girl, going through what she was in this moment - those subtleties remained hidden beneath the surface.

He allowed a few long stretches of silence after Yoichi had finished. It helped him gather his own thoughts, though it was pointed for Yoichi as well, to help her regather herself. She needed to be in a state where she would hear what he had to say. Whether Yoichi was matching Klaus’ eye contact made no difference to what he said to her: “Yoichi, when I ask if you are okay, please do not give me the answer that you think I wish to hear. I can only help you if you are honest with me.”

As Yoichi cried, Klaus reached across the desk with two arms to hold her close. He waited to feel her tears reach his body, and held Yoichi like this until he could no longer feel her tears. Klaus would hold her for as long as she needed him to. “You do not sound like the Yoichi I met at orientation. Who am I talking to right now?”

As soon as Yoichi began to pull away, Klaus relented, allowing her to find her space again. He gently caressed her cheek one last time before returning to his previous posture at his desk. How many times had Yoichi known that comfort, from her mother or anyone else in her life? Through bitter experience, Klaus could glean the answer. He had worked with cases similar to Yoichi before... but perhaps none so extreme.

Once she had finished, Klaus... smiled? It was difficult to tell, aside from his tone of voice, though the way his eyes narrowed and his antennae rose, he was using all body language available to him to communicate sincerity to the girl. "Nothing leaves this room unless you want it to, Yoichi. These meetings are completely confidential."

Giga Bite paused, clicking his smaller mandibles together. He gestured at Yoichi with his right hand, palm facing up. "It is never too late. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise. You have only just begun your time here at U.A. You still have your entire life ahead of you. If you remember one thing from today's discussion, let it be that. Together, we will realize your potential, Yoichi."

The Beetle Hero leaned forward. His eyes were directly in front of Yoichi's, his lidless green pupils staring right through her. "Provided - that you are willing to believe in that potential. Can you do that for me, Yoichi?"

Giga Bite clicked his smaller mandibles together. "This is your story. I will do everything in my power to ensure that that does not change."

Klaus leaned back in his chair, which groaned under his weight. "My door is always open, Yoichi. For anything." He paused, lingering on the girl's words. "Who is this friend that you have made? What are they like?"

A chirping noise escaped Klaus' mandibles. It sounded like a bell, singsong and content. "I am glad to hear that, Yoichi. You will want to build connections with your peers throughout the year. These connections will help you stay on your own path. Kachiya is a sweet girl. You two will get along splendidly." Klaus did not bother hiding his pride for the girl he spoke of. Kachiya had done a great deal to earn his respect, and it seemed, that of her classmates as well. If more students could be like Kachiya, then... ... well, his job would be much easier.

He lowered his head to meet Kachiya's. It was a little comical, seeing a giant individual like Klaus move like this, but it seemed like he was trying to whisper a secret to her, in a space that was already private. "There are still many things I do not know. Pocky?" He clicked his smaller mandibles, shaking his head. "I cannot fathom how the youth can eat the stuff. Today's sweets are too much for my palate." Klaus closed one eye, then opened it. The action looked... difficult for him, to say the least.

"Everyone in U.A. was afraid of me. They believed that I would eat them, or give them a whallop if I got angry. None of these things happened, but that did not matter for some people. Accepting my faults, no matter how real or imagined they were, was one of the hardest lessons I had to learn. Sadly, some people never learn this lesson."

Klaus moves one of his arms to briefly cradle Yoichi's chin. "But you already have. Do you know how I know?" He paused, allowing Yoichi to offer an answer if she so chose. Whether Yoichi answered or not, he would continue. "If you were not ready to speak about these things, you would not have come to my office."

Giga Bite allowed Yoichi to rest her head in his hand for a while longer. Too often he felt as Yoichi did now. This calling was just as much a curse as a blessing. No matter how many times Klaus did this, he felt himself the greatest failure of all when his students suffered, awash in the perfidy of adolescence. He could not always give them what they needed. Worse, he could not let on how he felt in those moments. More than anything, these children needed someone that they could trust, no matter the circumstance. Yoichi was not lost. Not in the slightest. How humble they make you...

The teacher gave Yoichi some time to reflect on what she had just said. Sometimes, all it took was to hear oneself to make a connection, or merely to find some respite from their troubles. "Between you and me..." He clicked his lesser mandibles twice, then a beat later- "No one is well-rounded. Not really." A couple of singsong chirps escaped his throat.

"Yoichi, I understand where this is coming from, but you do not have to catch up as much as you think. Personally, I do not think you need to catch up at all. The year has just started. Every student is discovering who they are at their own pace, including yourself." He raises an index finger, pointing it at Yoichi's chest. "The only normal you need, is what's in there."