It started with a sign.Scrawled on the back of a cursed tagalog math test. Duct-taped to a folding chair outside the Church of Last Pour.Written in red sharpie (and blood):
"Therapy's at 3. Or don't come. I'm not your dad."
Thorne hadn't planned to help people.He just got tired of being punched by emotional people with parental issues.So he made a "vibe zone" out of a broken pew, two incense sticks, and a therapy sword (which he didn't explain).
Then he sat down.
And people started showing up.
Session: Nobara Kugisaki
Nobara: "I don't need this. I'm not soft like the rest of these emotional disasters."
Thorne: "Your hammer is literally shaking."
Nobara: "It's cold in here."
Thorne: "It's 34°C."
Nobara: "...I'M FINE."
Thorne pulls out a mirror etched with cursed script. Shows her a flickering image of herself as a child, crying over a broken doll.
Thorne: "Say her name."
Nobara (quietly): "…Saori."
Thorne: "Yeah. Thought so. Hit the dummy."
She smashes the dummy.
Thorne: "Now again. This time, scream her name."
She does. Three times. The dummy explodes. She starts laughing and sobbing at the same time.
Nobara: "Holy shit that felt good."
Thorne: "You're welcome. That's ¥5,000 and one unspoken hug."
Session: Megumi Fushiguro
Thorne: "You got a dog for every repressed memory?"
Megumi: "...Yes."
Thorne: "And how many dogs you summon on bad days?"
Megumi: "…Seven."
Thorne: "How many do you have?"
Megumi: "Five."
Thorne: "..."
Megumi: "One is a fox now. The other one's just a scream."
Thorne: "Megumi."
Megumi: "Yeah?"
Thorne: "You are the scream."
Megumi stares at him. Long pause.
Megumi: "...That's the most honest thing anyone's ever said to me."
Thorne: "I know."
Session: Yuji Itadori
Yuji: "I laugh so people don't worry. I smile so I don't cry. Is that bad?"
Thorne: "You're emotionally constipated. That ain't healthy."
Yuji: "I mean… I DID poop a curse last week."
Thorne: "That's not what I meant."
Thorne reaches into a box labeled "Emergency Feelings." Hands Yuji a plushie shaped like Sukuna's mouth.
Yuji: "What am I supposed to do with this?"
Thorne: "Punch it. Bite it. Cry into it. Curse it. Whatever you gotta do."
Yuji hugs it.
It bites him.
Yuji: "...Ow."
Thorne: "That's progress."
Session: Maki Zenin
Maki: "This isn't real therapy."
Thorne: "Neither is your emotional detachment."
Maki: "You wanna fight?"
Thorne: "Therapeutically."
He hands her a steel bat. Points at a row of clay statues labeled "Zenin Elders."
Maki: "...This is oddly satisfying."
Thorne: "Scream while you hit."
Maki: "WHY WAS I NEVER ENOUGH?"
Thorne: "LOUDER."
Maki (smashing): "WHY DID YOU MAKE ME HATE MYSELF FOR BEING STRONG?!"
She breaks all of them. Collapses to the floor. Breathes.
Thorne: "Strength without grief is just violence."
Maki (soft): "...Damn. Okay, that was deep."
Session: Panda
Panda: "I don't know who I am without being the funny one."
Thorne: "Then stop being funny for a sec."
Panda: "That's... terrifying."
Thorne: "So is being alone. Doesn't mean you gotta fake your whole personality to make others feel better."
Panda: "...How do I start?"
Thorne pulls out a coloring book titled "Unpack Your Shit."
Panda: "That's adorable."
Thorne: "Page 6 is 'Circle Where Your Guilt Lives.'"
Spillglass (Drunk Philosopher)
Spillglass: "They think I'm a clown."
Thorne: "You are."
Spillglass: "But clowns are the only ones allowed to cry in public."
Thorne hands him a wine bottle. It's empty. Inside is a note: "You're allowed to stop pretending now."
Spillglass: "...I don't know how to be sober."
Thorne: "Try being honest first. Sobriety comes later."
Spillglass chuckles.
Spillglass: "You know I used to believe in God."
Thorne: "I still believe in people who lost Him."
Final Session: Gojo Satoru (The Lonely Titan)
Gojo (staring out the broken window): "You think people can really see me?"
Thorne: "You think not being touched means you're invincible?"
Gojo: "It's safer this way."
Thorne: "For who?"
Gojo laughs. "Everyone."
Long silence.
Thorne: "...You're grieving something you never got to be."
Gojo doesn't reply.
Thorne: "You're the strongest. But no one taught you how to be held."
Gojo: "...Yeah."
They sit in silence.
Thorne hands him a blindfold with embroidery: "It's okay to be seen."
Gojo puts it in his pocket.
That night, Thorne sat alone in the chapel, incense burning low.
The therapy sword leaned beside him.The pews were quiet. The ghosts were gone.Even the haunted stress ball stopped whispering.
He looked up at the stars through the broken stained-glass window.
"…I'm not your dad," he muttered again."But I see you."
And maybe that was enough.