Reaching for the alarm clock, Emi struggled to get out of bed to get ready for the new day ahead of her. Thoughts went through her head about the day before and if it happened as she got prepared for the day.

She felt off the entire day, but she made sure that her attitude and how she displayed herself to her school didn't change. Continuing with her usual demeanor, she made plenty of jokes and encouragements for her class that day. Of course, she gave them different ideas on how to improve, but she felt empty inside. Thinking that she had learned to cope with her depression and anxiety from the past, her current self would tell her otherwise. Sure, she struggled with it time and again, but it had never been this bad for quite a while. Why was this affecting her now out of all times? The one time when she should be mentally and physically stable for her students, she felt weak. It had been this way for a few months now, and counseling or medication was not helping her at the moment.

After finishing her day at Ketsubestu, Emi decided that she would go to bed after grading the student's work and taking a hot shower. It was the only thing she had the energy to do. She didn't want to bother anyone, so this was the best she could do. Her thoughts were beginning to feel like she got stabbed in her chest.

Getting into the shower, she noticed that her body was trembling from the anxiety and all she could do to cope with the stress was going through her breathing exercises. Closing her eyes, she stood there under the hot water erasing her mind from everything. She was awoken from her thoughtlessness when her phone started going off.

"Crap." Emi got out of the shower and reached for her phone to see who on earth was calling her. Looking at the caller ID, she was breathless. Eraser was calling her. 'I don't understand why he's calling. He never calls.' She thought to herself. Picking up with the shower still on in the background, she answered. "Hello…"

"You answered. I was beginning to think something was wrong. I messaged you a few times this evening, but you didn't reply. I started to worry and decided to come by. No one answered so I decided to try calling you instead."

Interrupting, Emi questioned him, "Wait, are you outside my door right now?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Shit."

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. It's totally fine. Listen, I'm going to finish my shower, but I can unlock the door so you can come in. I don't want you waiting out there for too long."

"Emi, I can leave if it's that big of a problem."

"No, it's fine. You came up all the way from Yuuei, and I would feel bad if you left without getting to do what you came here for."

"Emi, it's not a problem if…"

Cutting Shota off, Emi bluntly said, "Shota, come in. I unlocked the door. I'll try my best not to take so long in the shower and get dressed. It is not a problem. I would feel worse if you left. Honestly."

Emi hung up. She was expecting Eraser to be in her living room by the time she got ready. Re-entering the shower, she cleaned herself quickly and efficiently. It probably took a good five minutes for her to do so. She reached out for her towel, dried herself and went straight to her bedroom, locking the door behind to get dressed. She didn't care what Eraser thought if she came out with a baggy t-shirt and shorts. She was planning on going to bed after this anyway. Brushing through her hair, she looked over herself to make sure nothing was off. She then walked out of her bedroom and into the living room where Eraser was there waiting for her. He was sitting on her sofa. Turning his gaze towards her, Emi blushed looking at how he was dressed compared to her. Yeah, this was her home, but he at least looked presentable while she looked like some lazy slob.

Sarcastically, Aizawa said, "You're alive."

Returning the sarcasm, Emi said, "Eraser is worrying about me. I thought I'd never see that happen."

"Hey, even though I don't show my emotions very often, I do have a heart."

"It seems so."

Aizawa changed the subject, "Anway, why didn't you ever message me about this weekend? It's unlike you to not be on top of things."

"Eraser, I told you that I'm not doing well mentally. All I want to do right now is hide away from society and sleep my troubles away."

"I've told you, Emi, call me Shota. Anyhow, what brought on your depression?"

"I've had it since starting my hero career. Even when you and I met each other, I had it, but I had it under control."

"What do you mean you had it under control?"

"I figured out how to cope with it. I was taking meds and went through counseling, but I knew how to deal with anxiety and depression properly. The things I used to cope with my depression no longer works. So, here I am at square one."

Thinking of how to respond to everything Emi told him, he took a moment to process the information. Finally, he sighed and accepted the devasting truth.

"You haven't started all over again, Emi. You've gone from your previous experiences, but now you have to figure out how to overcome this obstacle. I know it'll be difficult, but I'm more than willing to support you through this. You don't have to do this alone. You have many people who care about you."

Pausing, he questioned whether or not he should tell Emi about Eri. She would find out sooner or later about Eri's condition. So, he resolved that by saying, "I know this sounds insane, but I think that you and Eri would get along somewhat since you've both dealt with some very traumatic things. She doesn't have depression, but she has PTSD. For her to know that someone else is going through some similar symptoms will perhaps help both of you. Of course, you probably shouldn't share everything, but just for Eri to know that she's not the only one who struggles with a mental illness."

"Hmm, I guess I could help her or talk to her about it, but I would prefer to feel better mentally before talking to her about it. I'm not all there mentally enough to talk to her about it, Shota. Lately, I feel numb daily."

"What have you done lately to cope with it? Have you tried talking to anyone about it?"

"People know that I'm not all mentally there and the staff at Ketsubestu knows about my depression. I don't want to seem like a nuisance to anyone. I've tried doing everything that usually helps me cope with it. I've read, exercised, listened to music, taken showers or baths, written down my emotions, and a few other things. Nothing helps."

"Is there anything that triggers these emotions? Anything that has been extremely stressful in your life?"

Staring at the ground, Emi choked on her words as she spoke, "Yeah, a girl died while I was on the job." Tears started streaming down her face as she struggled to talk. "It's all my fault. I should have been in her place...She's gone because I couldn't protect her."

Emi fell to the ground sobbing uncontrollably. She had never admitted this to anyone about how she much guilt she endured about that grim day in battle. People did know about the events of what happened, but they thought she was handling it pretty well. Especially since a few months had passed on by then. Yeah, they suggested that she received some counseling, but she hated her counselor. It was difficult to trust anyone anymore. She was continually pushing herself away from the world and living in constant fear of thinking about someone else perishing under her protection. Many what-ifs were running through her head, and she knew that thinking about what could happen would do absolutely nothing for her. She knew it was impossible to predict the future. If only she could ask Sir Hawkeye to see if there was any hope left for her, but he passed away a few months ago. Plus she didn't want to take away from anyone's time or energy.

Walking over to Emi, Shota got down on his knees and lightly started rubbing her back to soothe her.

"I'm sorry, Emi. It probably won't help you or make you feel better, but one of my students got killed when I was supposed to be the one shielding them from harm's way. So I can understand your pain. It's not an easy situation to deal with. If you ever need someone to listen, I'm more than willing to do that for you since I've dealt with a similar situation."

"I can't be reliant on you though to solve my issues to only drag you down with me. It's not your responsibility to deal with my problems."

"I'll decide for myself if your problems are too much. If you are willing to trust me, I'll listen as long as you want me to."

"Okay. Could you continue to hold me?"

"Don't expect this to be a continuous thing, Joke."

"I just want to feel like my normal self again." Emi began sobbing into Shota's shoulder. Putting his arms around her, he started stroking her back.

"Emi, you'll get there eventually if you keep the right mindset and get the help you need."

"I know, but I want to disappear. I wish I were the one who would have died instead of that girl and I know that's wrong. There are people out there who care for me, but life feels like a huge struggle at the moment. I want to be me again."

It was strange to see Emi expressing any emotion other than the normal energetic personality that she usually gave off. Shota decided to lead Emi to her room and let her get some rest. He thought that tomorrow they could do something, especially since it now the weekend.

Instead of getting in bed, Emi took a blanket and went back to her living room to lie on the couch.

"How long do you plan on staying?"

"Well, I came over to make sure you were okay."

Wanting to do something than what she had planned originally, randomly asked, "Want to watch a movie?"

"I planned on going back."

Disappointed, Emi tried to distract herself by getting herself comfortable to sleep on the couch. "Oh."

Not wanting to upset Emi, Shota questioned her. "What movie did you have in mind?"

"Rashomon."

"Going for a classic? I didn't take you as that type of person. I suppose I could watch it with you."

Shota plopped himself on the couch as Emi got the TV ready for the movie. As she was setting everything up, he noticed details about her that he hadn't seen before. Her hair was noticeably shorter, not even reaching to her shoulders and wore a large t-shirt tucking it into her shorts. She was still taking good care of her body even if she was struggling, Shota had to admit that she very well toned. Her thighs and calves were nicely defined, but without being too bulky. Now studying her face, he noticed that she didn't have that pure shimmering brightness radiating off her. Whenever the two of them worked together or happened to see one another, her face was always gleaming with joy. Judging by what she had gone through, she was doing rather quite well.

Turning around, Emi got up and sat right next to Shota. Getting herself situated, she stated, "Okay, I think everything is set up."

"I'll let Hizashi know that I'm going to be later than planned. It won't take long."

"You don't have to stay if it's a problem."

It was reassuring to have someone come and visit especially Shota. Even though it was comforting to have him here by her side, it was strange seeing him concerned for her or showing any emotion than his usual hollow, lifeless expression on his face consistently. The other expression, Shota would show her is when she would get him irritated at her because of her jokes which he never found funny or amusing. She still made it her goal to make him genuinely laugh someday.

The movie had been playing for about 45 minutes when Emi thought it was now or never to try to cuddle with her beloved hero. She leaned her arm on his shoulder when he twitched.

"What are you doing?"asked Shota.

"I wanted to curl up closer to you."

Narrowing his eyes, he met eye contact with her. "And how do you think I feel about that?"

Thinking of past experiences, Emi thought out loud, "Well, there have been multiple occasions where you embraced me and comforted me. That is probably quite different though. I was hoping I could get away with it and that you would return the affection. But I was wrong."

She took her vision off of him turning it back to the movie. Deciding she'd try to act as if everything was alright. She got tugged into Shota's shoulder. The decision was made by him ultimately, and Emi wasn't going to oppose it.

After a while, Emi starting drifting off during the last 30 minutes of the movie. Eventually, she fell while in Shota's arm. Not wanting to wake her, he reached for the TV remote and turned it off when the movie finished. Maybe it wasn't that horrible spending time with Emi? The circumstances were off, but he found himself content with the situation.

Watching Emi quiet, steady breaths, he decided to rest his head on her's. Nestling her into him, he brought her closer to him before he fell asleep himself.