Rin fiddled with the hem of her shirt, avoiding John's gaze.

John sat there patiently with a neutral expression and waited for her to continue.

On the inside though, he was having a heavy internal debate.

There was living an ordinary life like a mortal, and then there was helping people who really needed it.

John was sure that he could resolve whatever issues Rin was having the good ol' fashion way by forcing a Heart Demon Tribulation and then beating said demons into submission.

After all, that had... mostly, worked for Yue. And even if he didn't do that, he was certain that he could at least stand by Rin's side as she faced her inner demons.

Kind of like that old game he used to play a lot in the past where the kids went around killing gods with metaphysical entities masquerading as their alter egos...

Or something.

It had been a while now.

But anyway, John had a dilemma.

Rin definitely needed psychological help.

Unfortunately, John's traditional way of solving things wouldn't work right now unless he did some creative story telling to explain things away.

If he had known that it was *this* bad he would've brushed up on the latest psychology research and treatments, but all the things he knew were at least a decade out of date. Not only that, but he was pretty sure that it would make things worse considering the wave of mental health issues hitting everyone across the board around the time he was sent to the Three Realms.

...Well. For now he'd just have to wait and see. Maybe it wasn't as bad as he thought-

"It wasn't my fault." Rin glanced at John and then muttered, "They held me down and tried to cut my hair. All I did was take the scissors and scare them a little. That's all."

Oookay. Maybe it *was* that bad.

Of course the happy-go-lucky girl in dire straits that he recruited as an idol would be a victim to bullying in school.

Now... how to fix this?

The reason for Rin's self-esteem issue was clear now. And from how these things usually went, she was probably bullied by a former friend/victim turned bully which led to trust issues...

And Rin also said that it wouldn't be a problem for her friends wondering where she disappeared to... which was a weird phrasing.

Which potentially means there was a big incident probably caused by a psychotic snap from Rin that got hushed up by the girls involved.

And since Sakura had been hospitalized at the time, she wouldn't know about it...

Okay. John was pretty sure he had a handle on the situation. Now to just delicately maneuver around the landmines...

Although John had a long internal monologue, no time had passed since Rin finished talking. One of the benefits of being able to control time and space and all.

John nodded and said, "That's understandable. Sometimes, people won't get the lesson unless they get hurt a bit."

Rin's eyes brightened and she said, "Right?! Nobody bothered me after that! And it wasn't like it hurt that bad or anything. People get tattoos all the time. Having a few words carved on your back so you don't forget is probably less painful, right?"

John nodded and said, "That is objectively less painful, yes. Especially if the cuts were clean."

Rin rubbed her arm and let out a nervous laugh. "W-Well, it was a bit messy at first, but I got used to it! That's when I learned that I'm really good at using sharp and pointy things!"

Okay. Confirmed genetic predisposition to violence. Turns out that Rin really *was* Shin Seiryuu's daughter.

And probably more so than Asako considering that Asako was relatively stable other than the anger issues.

Still, John had met worse.

...Definitely not thinking of his lovely wife's younger years. Definitely not.

But anyway...

John nodded and said, "We find our talents at the strangest times. I personally found out I had a great talent for bluffing when a guy threatened to kill me for bumping into him."

Rin's eyes sparkled and she said, "Ooh! What did you do? Stab him? Threaten to take out his shoelaces and string him up by his di-" Rin coughed and then said, "A-Ankles?"

John laughed and said, "You've been reading some interesting manga recently, haven't you?"

Rin blushed and said, "M-Maybe..."

...Okay. This was definitely a problem. Turned out Rin might just be a high functioning sociopath rather than a normal girl...

Wait no. She definitely wasn't like this when John first met her. John definitely remembered her being a sweet and innocent young girl who just wanted to live her dream of being an idol.

Was this because of social media?

...It was probably because of social media.

On the bright side, John made the right move in starting a VTuber idol agency instead of a real one.

He had a feeling that things would've gotten real messy if he hadn't...

But anyway. Rin.

John hummed and said, "Well. I won't stop you from reading things you enjoy and exploring various topics, but try not to do things that would make your mom disappointed in you."

Rin winced and then lowered her head. "Okay..."

John reached out to ruffle Rin's hair and said, "Don't worry. Your mom just wants the best for you."

Rin sighed and said, "I know... But I'm grown up now! I can choose what I want to do and who I hang out with! Right, Mister John?"

Ah, the good ol' Morton's fork. If John agreed, he'd be enabling Rin. If John disagreed, he'd be crushing her self-esteem.

Fortunately, John had just recently gone through this problem with Meggie, so...

John chuckled and said, "You shouldn't be in too big a hurry to grow up, Rin. When you do, all the mistakes you make are a lot bigger... and you won't have anyone to cover for you."

Rin winced and then said, "B-But you and the Ohana will be there to help if I mess up, right?"

Okay. That should be about enough prep work. Now...

John sighed and pulled his hand back. After that, he sat up, looking Rin straight in the eye.

Rin flinched and straightened up a bit. "M-Mister John?"

John tapped the side of his chair for a bit to think and then said, "Rin."

"Y-Yes?" Rin lowered her head and then looked up at John through her bangs. "D-Did I do something bad? Is it the cookies?" She looked at the ground and said, "I made too many crumbs, didn't I? Um, I can clean it! Just-"

"Do you think this is a dream?"

Rin blinked and then said, "Um... What do you mean, Mister John?"

John waved his hand and said, "Everything going well, your mom recovering from cancer, meeting the Ohana... Do you still think it's a dream?"

"Um..." Rin frowned and said, "Sometimes... But why are you asking that?"

John sat there for a while without saying anything.

Rin sat there staring at him.

And then John sighed and said, "Yeah, screw this. We'll do this the easy way this time and hire a trained psychologist ASAP for clean-up."

"Huh?" Rin blinked and said, "What do you-"

Rin suddenly slumped in her seat, knocked out cold.

Immediately after, a flurry of shadows sprang out from her body.

All of them looked like Rin, but different in just a few ways.

One was Rin but with crimson eyes and a sharp smile. Her skin was pale, and she had a few blood splatters on her face. Giggling to herself, she said, "It's not my fault, you know? And they just looked so *funny*! I couldn't help it, Mister John."

Next to her, there was Rin who was small and skinny, wearing baggy clothing a size too big. Curled up in a ball, she said, "I knew it. If it wasn't for me, Mom would be happy. They're right. It's all my fault..."

Standing opposite from those two, there was a Rin wearing a glittering orange dress with lights flickering all around her. She twirled around and said, "I knew it! I'm a fairytale princess after all, Mister John!" She looked at John and smiled. "That's why the Ohana and you showed up, right?" She placed her hands over her chest and closed her eyes, smiling. "My saviors..."

And those were just the most tangible versions of her. There were a lot more that were faint and indistinct.

But all of them had a shadow cast against the ground that connected back into a thick chain wrapping around the real Rin's neck and piercing into her heart.

John reached up to scratch his head and said, "Okay. More complicated than I thought. Even Yue hadn't been this much of a tangled mess..."

All of them were the 'real' Rin. Although splintered, they all represented real thoughts that were running through Rin's mind, even if she didn't actively think about them.

No, from how they looked, they were probably thoughts that Rin had, but actively suppressed or pushed away.

In short, different from the fake illusions in usual Heart Demon tribulations that drew on the inner fears and doubts.

These weren't fantasies being induced by some higher entity, but what ran through Rin's head all the time.

Which meant that John couldn't just act willynilly without causing a bit of mental trauma.

At least, not by himself.

But he wasn't alone either.

A soft sigh echoed from beside John. Shortly after, a young female voice spoke up, one that sounded similar to Rin's but slightly different. "This is my fault, isn't it, Mister John?"

A young girl wearing an orange idol uniform. A bright orange ribbon laced in her orange hair, along with a firework hairpin.

Hana looked at all of the different versions of Rin and said, "I should have kept more distance between us."

John reached out to ruffle Hana's hair and said, "Don't blame yourself. I should have thought through it more at the time... kind of got distracted with a bunch of things though." He sighed and said, "Forgot how hard adulting is. Everyone in the Three Realms is just an eternal kid with temper tantrums, so..."

Hana giggled and said, "You'll have to tell us more about your past, Mister John. I think Rin would like that."

"Maybe." John looked around at all the versions of Rin... who were staring at Hana with mixed expressions. "So." He looked at Hana and said, "Ready to help your friend Rin out?"

"Mmhm!" Hana nodded and said, "That's what besties are for!"

"Great. So... let's start with her lack of self-worth first. With that we can get a firm base for Rin to stand on and face her other selves... And if things go well, we'll be done in time for a nice lunch."

Hana tilted her head and said, "And if things don't go well, Mister John?"

"Well. In that case, I go grab my wife who is much better in these delicate affairs to help. Not to mention she's also really well-versed in karma and inner demons and-"

John paused.

Hana blinked and then slowly said, "Shouldn't you have-"

"Gotten Yue to help at the start?" John facepalmed and said, "Yes. Yes I should have. A bit late for that now though, so..." He sighed and said, "Let's just get started."

HappyVainGlory

Scheduled chapter. Praying this works. Currently in transit still. Psychoanalysis is hard. Also, neat to finally have a dusty Chekhov's gun go off. Yuri shenanigans with life counseling tomorrow probably.