'Morning!' Ejiro says excitedly as he puts a hand on Katsuki's shoulder. Katsuki shakes him off. 'You said the same thing an hour ago through Line.' Ejiro scratches his head as he grins. 'I just like to wish people a good morning, that's all!'

Katsuki glares at him. Ejiro drops his hand back to his side. 'Not a morning person?' he teases. Katsuki growls. 'I'm gonna take that as a yes.'

Katsuki was usually a little more gruff in the morning – especially if those mornings hadn't gone very well like today – but today he was even more reluctant to go to school. Instead of normal classes they were going to be lectured about rescue operations and civilian interactions the entire day, having to participate in role-plays and think about hypothetical situations.

These two things were Katsuki's weakest points and he knew that if he wanted to progress he had to work on them, but still it wasn't in his nature to act all polite and calm when push came to shove.

Ejiro, seemingly reading Katsuki's thoughts, made a poor attempt at cheering him up. 'At least we're gonna be off early, right?' Ejiro grinned. Katsuki looked over at him and grinned as well, slightly surprising Ejiro. 'Guess that's the only good thing about today.'

'Hey, how about we go somewhere?' Ejiro proposes. Katsuki cocks his head. 'Like where?' Ejiro thinks for a moment. There are plenty of places he'd like to go, but he has no clue what interests Katsuki. 'How about an arcade?'

Katsuki smirks. 'You really are like a kid sometimes, y'know.' Ejiro stands still as Katsuki continues walking towards their class. 'What's that supposed to mean?' he asks, his grin falling. Katsuki just chuckles.

'Hey! What do you mean! Come on!' Ejiro says, jogging to catch up and bugging Katsuki to tell him. Katsuki shoves him away as Ejiro invades his personal space and growls about getting fed up with Ejiro's behavior, but he's smiling and enjoying their playful behavior before entering a boring class.

'That was really tough!' Ejiro exclaims as they walk out of class. Katsuki shoves his hands in his pocket as he looks back at him. 'How did I manage to score higher than you, are you stupid or something?'

Ejiro whines and pouts as he catches up to Katsuki who was waiting at the end of the hall for him. 'There's a reason I asked you to tutor me,' Ejiro replies.

'I can't teach you anything if I don't know it myself.'

'But you did better at the exercises than me!'

Katsuki smirks. 'That's called being intelligent.' Ejiro fakes a pout again which then turns into a grin.

'So, how about I take you up on that offer of this morning?' Katsuki raises an eyebrow at him. He doesn't remember any offers he made. 'Let's go somewhere!' Ejiro beams. 'That was your offer, not mine. And no thanks. I'd rather go home,' Katsuki replies. Ejiro's mood sinks. He was excited to be dismissed earlier and to go do something fun with his friend.

'Why not?' he asks. Katsuki shrugs. 'I'm not really feeling like it.' Ejiro looks Katsuki over. Nothing about his appearance seems to be out of the ordinary. Katsuki's behavior isn't much different from usual either and Ejiro made sure that Katsuki went to bed on time by checking his last check-in time on Line.

'Katsuki?' Ejiro asks. Katsuki looks up, his red eyes gleaming. 'Are you okay?' Katsuki clicks his tongue and turns away. He hated that question, because lately the answer has always been "no". Still, it isn't what Ejiro meant. Ejiro is asking if something is out of the ordinary, more than Katsuki usually feels, and to that, the answer also no.

'I'm fine,' he says, trying not to snap. After telling Ejiro everything, Ejiro's tried to be more careful with what he's saying, and it kind of pisses Katsuki off. He had confided in the person he regarded his new best friend because he thought Ejiro was the only person that would not take pity on him.

Katsuki was mistaken, but he couldn't be mad at him for that. Ejiro had a caring nature, just like somebody else he used to know, and Katsuki knew that there was more to Ejiro's feelings than just feeling sorry for him and thinking he was weak.

Ejiro was truly concerned with Katsuki's mental health and he showed it in his own way with little things like wake up messages, jokes and distracting conversations. Whenever Ejiro would ask if Katsuki was okay, it meant that he was noticing a difference in Katsuki's usual behavior and simply wanted to check up.

Ejiro hesitates. 'I'm serious, I'm fine,' Katsuki emphasizes.

'You can talk to me, you know that right?' Ejiro adds in anyways. Katsuki tries very hard not to grit his teeth. 'Yeah, you've only told me a thousand times by now.' Katsuki looks over his shoulder and sees Ejiro's expression, immediately regretting his words.

'Look, if anything is wrong, I'll come to you. I promised that, didn't I? I'm a man of my word after all.' Those words make Ejiro feel a little more at ease. Katsuki did strike him as someone to stick to their promises, so when he said he was fine, Ejiro had to rely on that.

As they rounded the corner Katsuki could hear the all too familiar loud booming voice of one of their teachers. The voice was unmistakably All Might's and it seemed to come from the teacher's lounge. As they passed it Katsuki felt drawn to it. For so long he had seen All Might as his idol, and in some ways he still was, but Katsuki has had trouble looking his teacher in the eye after what had happened to Izuku; after all he was Izuku's idol too.

Somewhere in the back of his head Katsuki had been thinking about talking to All Might. Especially after becoming their teacher Katsuki had started to see him more as a normal person rather than an idol, and seeing how very often others got advice from him, he had hoped to gain some himself.

'Katsuki?'

Katsuki looked at Ejiro who was standing next to him in front of the door leading to the teacher's lounge. 'What are you staring at?'

Katsuki looked back at the door. He was about to reach out and knock as the door was shoved open, startling both of the students and making them take two steps back, facing someone they've never seen before. The guy with short blonde hair and a muscular stature looked both of them over.

'Are you two alright?' the guy asked. He was dressed in a school uniform as well, but neither of the two had ever seen him before, so he either must be in a different course or a grade above them. Behind him a big shadow appeared, announcing All Might's presence.

'Young Bakugou, young Kirishima, I see you've met Mirio! He's a student from the third year, you'll get to meet him properly soon enough!' Both of the boys blinked a couple of times. 'Excuse me, I have to go now,' the guy called Mirio apologized and stepped past Katsuki as he stalked down the hall.

'Is something troubling you, Young Bakugou?' All Might asked. Katsuki looked up at the big man. He must be at least twice as tall as Katsuki, or at least that's how much taller he seemed. 'I… I wanted to talk to you,' Katsuki says, trying to keep his face composed. 'Does this concern Young Kirishima as well?'

Katsuki shakes his head. He looks over at Ejiro. 'I'll be a while.' Ejiro nods. 'I'll wait outside.' Katsuki doesn't even have time to protest, to tell him to go home or to go to the arcade by himself, before Ejiro has already left.

All Might guides Katsuki into the lounge. All Might sits down at his chair as Katsuki leans against the desk All Might has occupied. 'Tea?' All Might offers but Katsuki shakes his head. 'Now what seems to be troubling you?'

Katsuki shoves his hands in his pockets. All Might was practically a stranger to him, no more than a teacher he only occasionally saw. 'I'd like to know how you feel when you can't save someone.'

Katsuki cuts straight to the point. There's no use beating around the bush, he wants answers, nothing more. All Might frowns. 'Why is that concerning you?'

Katsuki looks down. He feels very conflicted about telling this. All Might barely knows him, how could he possibly be of help with Katsuki's mental struggles. Katsuki's eyes flicker over across the desk, trying to assess what kind of person All Might is on a normal daily basis. Something at the corner of the desk catches his attention. He reaches out and picks it up.

'Ah, that is a letter sent to me by a fan,' All Might says, feeling a tad awkward; usually nobody touches his belongings without asking. Katsuki quickly eyes over the content.

Dear All Might,

First of all I'd like to thank you for making my world so much brighter

Katsuki stops after the first sentence. The handwriting is all too familiar to him. He looks up at All Might who is frowning.

'Who is this letter from?' Katsuki asks. 'It was given to me by a fan. It happens all the time,' he replies but Katsuki shakes his head. 'Did you even read this?' he says, starting to feel a bit angry. 'Of course, I read all my fan mail!'

Now it's Katsuki's turn to frown. 'Then why are you keeping a suicide note on your desk?'