A/N: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

idk mate I rewrote this chapter at least thrice because it was hard to write. You'll see why.

Word Count: 1,688

Chapter 3: Grey Boy Rock

Class 77–B was buzzing with activity. Today was the day assistant teacher Yukizome Chisa would be coming back to teach their class (and, as the rumour mill claimed, to take over as the class adviser) after being exiled, as Tanaka called it, to Hope's Peak's affiliated school for half a year, no thanks to Komaeda's nonsense. Nanami, ever enthusiastic in her job as the class representative, headed the preparations for the surprise welcome party Kizakura–sensei allowed them to hold.

Since Hanamura's mother owned a diner, and was willing to cater for the party with a discount, he was placed in charge of the food. It still didn't stop him from being an all–around nuisance, however. Both he and Souda kept on flirting with the girls who were all involved with decorating the classroom, which lead to them being distracted and annoyed and translated into not much work being accomplished. At some point, it also ended up ruining an entire panel of decor when Souda unsuccessfully tried to help Sonia, when in reality he was just shamelessly flirting with her. Owari, on the other hand, also became a nuisance when she almost ate all of the food while they were all waiting for Yukizome–sensei, if not for Nidai's timely intervention.

Against all odds, they managed to get everything just as Yukizome–sensei entered the classroom. Koizumi, ever handy with her camera she's never seen without, was quick in capturing the look of surprise on their teacher's face upon seeing how they prepared for her return. At the same time, Mioda was haphazardly throwing out confetti while hooting.

When Yukizome–sensei recovered from her surprise, she tearfully thanked the whole class for their efforts before then confirming, that yes, the rumours were true and that she was indeed taking over as their class adviser from Kizakura–sensei, who was going to be the adviser for their underclassmen when the new school year starts. And in turn, their gym teacher Yamaguchi–sensei will be Class 77–B's new assistant homeroom teacher.

As soon as Yukizome–sensei finished her speech, Saionji entered the classroom, late as always. Hilariously, Yukizome–sensei didn't recognize her at first, even asking if she was instead Saionji's elder sister, because of the massive growth spurt Saionji went through during their teacher's absence. To be fair, Yukizome–sensei wasn't the only one surprised at Saionji's growth spurt, most of the class were, too, once they realized what was gradually happening even though they were present for the entirety of her growth spurt unlike their teacher.

The party continued for the rest of the day, mostly because the school year was technically over already and no one was in the mood for lessons. It ended on a high note way past the normal school hours, so their class were the last ones to leave the school premises. The amused head of security herded them all out right until the gate, but not without being subjected to some light-hearted teasing from Yukizome–sensei.

The class walked home together as a group that afternoon, and one by one, the group dwindled as each of them went on their separate ways. Nanami was the first to leave, turning at the block that lead to the affiliated school to Hope's Peak where her friend studied. Pekoyama and Kuzuryuu left together. It was still a mystery to the class on how those two knew each other from before Hope's Peak.

Eventually, only Sagishi and Tsumiki were left walking together. Certainly odd, as Sagishi was sure they've already passed the block to Tsumiki's house before Koizumi and Saionji left.

"You aren't going home, Tsumiki?" Sagishi asked, trying to sound unconcerned. They were, after all, walking on the stretch of the road directly leading to the hospital.

Tsumiki was surprised by the sudden question. It wasn't everyday Sagishi talked to someone.

"O–oh, uh," she hummed, twiddling her fingers. "I–I started to do some part time work at the hospital to help with the bills at home, s–so…" she trailed off.

Sagishi nodded empathetically. Yukizome–sensei once let it slip to him while he was claiming Mitarai's class work that Tsumiki was having some trouble at home. In another life, perhaps Sagishi could have helped them. But it never did him any good to dwell on the could haves and would haves of his life, so he stopped, and the rest of their walk was marked by uneasy silence.

The employees' entrance was farther to the back of the hospital's main building, so Sagishi had to part with Tsumiki when they reached the front entrance.

"I go in here. See you tomorrow, Tsumiki," Sagishi said, giving her a small wave as the automatic doors opened.

"S–same here," Tsumiki managed to stammer back, bowing back at him even though it looked slightly wobbly.

He was hoping to bump into Tsumiki again on his way to Mitarai's room (second door to his left, at the centerfold), but no such luck.

Mitarai's room was a mess, though Sagishi didn't really know what he expected as he shook his head, taking in the sight. Discarded balls of crumpled paper littered the floor around where Mitarai was, even though the waste bin was right next to the bedside table where Mitarai's mother always placed it. Although, now that Sagishi was walking across the room to where it was, cleaning up the mess as he did so, he found the waste bin rolling slowly on its side, the trash that used to be properly thrown inside it now piled up in a heap.

After righting the waste bin with an exasperated sigh, Sagishi's eyes switched focus on to the tabletop, finding the pen holder (Mitarai's favorite, the one looking like that cat bus from that anime movie he likes so much, bought by his mother for his last birthday) also upturned, scattering various pencils and inking materials in its wake. The only thing that seemed to remain untouched in the mess was Mitarai's laptop which remained unopened on the other side of the table.

As for the occupant of the room himself, Mitarai was sitting stiffly upright atop his bed, his sketchpad sprawled open across his lap, and the pencil in his hand clutched so tightly his knuckles appeared white. He was mumbling incoherently under his breath, face set in a scowl, and something in his expression made Sagishi afraid to ask what the matter was. To add to that point, Mitarai was wearing his oversized glasses, something he seldom does, which magnified the frustrated tears threatening to spill out of his eyes. By the looks of it, Mitarai was yet to notice Sagishi's presence.

Art block? No, Sagishi thought, he's seen those before and this doesn't look like one of those days. There was only one way to find out.

Waiting for Mitarai to notice him was out of the question. Whenever Mitarai was in a foul mood, he never notices anything unless prompted to.

Clearing his throat should do it. And so Sagishi did.

It did the trick, breaking Mitarai out of his reverie, halting his mumbling, and looking up from his sketchpad with a crumpled expression to see who was in the room with him.

Sagishi just stood there next to the bedside table, arms across his chest, raising an eyebrow the moment Mitarai's eyes fell on his direction.

At the sight of Sagishi, Mitarai closed his eyes and exhaled through his mouth slowly. Twice. When he opened his eyes again, he pursed his lips, pale and chapped, together, and stared in silence.

"Yukizome–sensei's back," Sagishi finally said, breaking the icy silence. "She's taken over as class adviser. They haven't gotten a hold of Komaeda, even though his suspension's already been lifted two weeks ago."

Mitarai simply nodded, listless as he returned to finishing his sketch. Sagishi wasn't even sure he was paying attention to what was said.

Another silence filled the room as Sagishi took out Mitarai's workload from his bag, depositing them on the table. It was punctuated only by the occasional harsh scratching of a pencil and the screech from a chair being pulled across the room.

"Is something wrong?" Sagishi asked, sitting down on the chair he'd pulled up next to Mitarai. Sagishi was never one to endure silence, as it reminded him of too many things.

"Nothing's wrong!" Mitarai snapped, the sudden force he applied to the pencil breaking off its point with a loud crack. Upon realizing what he'd just done, Mitarai's expression crumpled again, his complexion turning another shade paler.

"I'm sorry," Mitarai said, his voice barely above a whisper. "It's just that—," he gestured at his sketchpad, "—I don't know what I'm doing anymore."

"Look," Sagishi said, if a bit too harshly, forcing Mitarai to meet his eyes. "If you already lost track of what you're doing, it's fine to take a break sometimes. And besides," Sagishi sighed, "you actually do look too pale. Have you eaten anything at all?"

Mitarai looked guilty, which was answer enough for Sagishi who shook his head in turn.

"I mentioned we'd have a surprise party for Yukizome–sensei the last time I was here, right? There was a lot of leftovers so we all took some of it home," Sagishi said, producing a bento from his schoolbag. "You can have mine," he continued, pushing said bento towards Mitarai who was weakly trying to push it back away with his free hand.

"N–no, it's yours. And Kaa–san dropped by this morning with food. I guess I just forgot about it," Mitarai protested, his voice growing softer. "And I can't stop, I need to finish this before…" he trailed off, gasping for air and clutching his now broken pencil even tighter.

Sagishi noticed this, and grew even more concerned. "Mitarai," he called out slowly. "Are you sure you're alright? Should I go call someone?" he asked, worry lines etching themselves deeper into his face.

Mitarai shook his head, still trying to catch his breath. "I'm fine. I just — I have to —"

"Mi—Ryouta!"

A/N: Y'all are lucky to have this chapter this week was a wreck the cold weather triggered my asthma (in fact I'm still sick), and my laptop died on me so I had to type this all up (AGAIN) on my phone

Also, you guys can blame this chapter if I don't post anything in a while this chapter took a month to write and rewrite ad infinitum which is why I've barely started on the next one and uni's reopening next week so idk when I'll be able to update. Maybe in two weeks.