Archive of Our Own

Going to America after graduating from U.A. had been a given. All Might had done it, so he and Deku had done it too. With a little bit of help from All Might, they had settled in a small town in Texas. All Might was quite fond of Texas and often came to check on them. Together, Katsuki and Deku had settled into a small one bedroom apartment. They had known each other for so long, and Katsuki knew the big secret, so it just seemed reasonable. They’d both wanted to study there and experience the different lifestyle. Their relationship was a funny one that bounced between completely platonic and potentially romantic, although they’d never spoken about it and, honestly, that was a completely different story and no one else's business! They technically slept in the same bed since it was easier that way - and cheaper. If Katsuki used that time to pretend Deku could ever fully forgive him and perhaps see him as something more… again, it was nobody's business.

Moving to Texas had been a culture shock, to say the least. Cities in Texas were structured very differently to their counterparts in Japan. He wasn't sure why, but just hopping on a train and getting where he needed to go was impossible! He learned that many people in the area had never even been on a passenger train before. The public transportation was so poor compared to Japan that he’d had to learn to drive just to get around. Fortunately, it wasn’t as important for Deku, who was able to move ridiculously fast now thanks to his Quirk. Deku regularly worked in cities all over the state and could just… go there. Then get back. Katsuki just did Hero work where he studied, but on weekends he’d typically travel up to some of the bigger cities to do bigger work. In the end, he was happy with what he had. Sure, he wanted to be where Deku was, to prove he could do a bigger and better job of it, but that would mean asking the fool to carry him and that wasn't ever going to fucking happen! He didn't want to stay here though - they would be returning to Japan by the end of the year.

Another issue was the fact he knew JSL: not ASL. Japanese and American sign languages were vastly different. As a result, Bakugo couldn’t take advantage of any services for the Deaf in the area. He had to depend entirely on his hearing aids and his understanding of English, but he got by and had been taking ASL classes while he was there.

Part of being a Hero was working rescue operations. Car wrecks, fires, flooding, the rarer disaster sites like Kamino had been. Katsuki still had trouble sometimes if he thought about Kamino too much. His fault. That had been his fault.

In the states, he’d found himself working other interesting rescue operations: Storm rescues. Back in Japan if something was happening he would be out and working, no matter what, but here the storms could get bad. The storms here were big and billowing and dark - and frankly a little terrifying. The thunder was so loud that it felt like an earthquake, while the lightning spiderwebbed across the whole sky - sometimes he was able to get pictures and send them back to Pikachu. The midwest plains were a weather hotspot. Not that they didn't have storms back home but, sometimes here… they were forbidden from carrying out rescue operations during the storm. Too dangerous. The risk to their life was not worth the risk to the people in the storm’s path. This didn't make sense to him: they were heroes, their job was to save people. However, when he’d complained about it during the first time he’d been forced to hunker down during a storm, the local Hero he’d been with had fixed him with a stare.

"You can't save anyone if you become a victim."

Oklahoma was the first state to take a direct hit while he and Deku were in the states. The same hero who had kept Katsuki from going out during his first storm had sent him pictures. Katsuki was baffled by it: it looked like a bomb had gone off. Entire houses were leveled.

He couldn’t understand how a plains storm could do something like that. He tried to learn more about it, an EF 4 tornado the Hero told him. A tornado? Katsuki wasn't a fool. Tornadoes were not common in Japan, but they happened. They had scary looking clouds, yes, but mostly they just lifted things and moved them, maybe took a few shingles off; nothing some particularly strong wind couldn't do too. Now an earthquake, or a typhoon? Those were dangerous.

But the Hero had told him a Tornado had caused that destruction.

He kept it in mind, but still struggled to keep himself hunkered down when they told him to stay hunkered down. It just didn’t seem real to him, and it remained unfathomable until their third year in America. There had been plenty of storms, plenty of close calls in their area, but nothing had ever hit them and Katsuki had never actually seen one of these destructive Tornadoes in person. He didn’t worry about it, and went to school as usual. He learned and he lived and he hopelessly pined over Deku and tried to better himself. Sometimes he even dreamed of a day where he and Deku stood together, side by side, at the top. Time passed. They slept in the same bed in the same apartment, sharing the same meals - and occasionally other things - but they were not together. In fact, they never even discussed what they were.

It was the very end of April when Deku got called back to Japan. He had to go back - something to do with his mother.

"It’s just for a few weeks, Kacchan. I’ll be back before you know it." Deku promised with a whirlwind of movement and a few kisses pressed to his cheeks. Then he was gone. It wasn’t a big deal, Katsuki had been on his own before and it wasn't the first time one of them had returned home while the other had stayed here.

Katsuki kept living. He went to work, he went to school, and soon it slid into May: storm season. He performed high water rescues and helped clean up storm damage the day after the first storms, the same as it had been the past few years he’d been there. Sometimes they hunkered down and waited for certain storms to pass before going out to help, but usually there were no fatalities, and barely any injuries. His other hero work also continued like normal, with him fighting villains and aiding the police whenever requested. Things were going well.

He got home late that night, already a few weeks into the month of May. Deku was supposed to fly back the next day, and Katsuki was (a little) excited to have someone else back in the house with him. He settled down in the too large bed, slid his hearing aids into the dry-and-store box and then set his alarm for the morning, making sure the vibrating disc was properly in place. He ensured all the alarms were set - he could be a little paranoid. Deku never said anything about it, which he was grateful for.

Falling asleep was easy, as it almost always had been for him. Later, he wouldn't remember what he dreamed about that night.

He was woken by a flashing light. Immediately awake, he sat up and looked for the source. An intruder? The doorbell? No. His phone. Ugh. He laid back down and rolled over to look at the phone. It might’ve been an alert from the hero agency, calling him in to work, or from one of the weirdos in Japan who didn’t understand time zones. What time was it anyway? Squinting, he frowned as he read the message.

'EMERGENCY WARNING, TORNADO WARNING, TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY'

Katsuki frowned at it and that right there had been his mistake, or maybe he’d made no mistake at all - maybe it was just bad luck. Or bad preparation. At the end of the day it came down to the fact he had no time.

He scrambled out of bed, and tried to remember the drills they’d done for this. Drills and disaster plans for Tornadoes were very common in Texas. Interior room? The bedroom bordered the outside of the building. He needed to get away from windows and outside walls and... the windows shattered. Glass flew through the room. And the wind, he could hear the wind. Or maybe it was just causing vibrations so deep in his body that he felt like he could hear it.

He doesn't have time to think about it more as an odd sucking sensation comes over him. The wind? Was it trying to suck him out the open window? He didn't have time to flee to a safer spot. He dropped back down on the bed and grabbed a pillow to cover his head, just as the apartment exploded around him.

His heart was beating fast. He wasn’t profoundly Deaf: he could still hear things, it was just harder for him to hear than others. Even so, he didn’t have a hard time hearing the roaring winds and things flying and breaking, and that was it. All he would remember later was the terror of hearing this storm around him.

He woke in a field.

His whole body ached. The ground beneath him was hard and wet. He groaned and started to push himself into a seated position, and then he paled.

He wasn’t in a field. He didn’t know where he was, but he was surrounded by debris. There was a twisted car, upside down, not far from him. Wood and two-by-fours, glass, plates, everything you could ever think of, was strewn around him.

There was a large gash on his right leg, and lots of smaller cuts and bruises over the rest of his body. Something warm trickled down his head as well. Blood. So, he had a head injury. When he shifted, the pain in his leg made him cry out, but there is silence. There was no noise at all. That was almost scarier than the pain.

He was very familiar with his hearing loss: one ear had a hard time picking up anything in the vocal range, while the other could hear them, but not well enough to understand spoken words. He should’ve been able to hear his own shout. He took a deep breath, his heart pounding as he pushed the thought away.

He needed to focus on his leg. He reaching down to feel it and discovered there was a twisted metal rod embedded in his flesh. Well that was very inconvenient. He contemplated what to do for a moment. Pull it out and risk making it worse, or keep it in and try to walk with it? Both had potentially deadly consequences. He sighed and blinked up at the stormy sky. It was slowly getting brighter as the sun rose. The storm must’ve hit close to dawn. He was sure he hadn’t been out for long, but his situation was bad. He had no phone, he didn’t know where he was, and he didn’t have his hearing aids or any of his Hero Gear.

For now, the metal rod had to stay in. He gritted his teeth together to stop himself from crying out as he stood up. This was a disaster. He was a Hero! He needed to help other people. As he carefully moved forward, he became aware that his basketball shorts and black tank top were grimy, covered in dirt and his own blood. He’d been injured doing hero work before, but this just felt different. Maybe because you couldn’t exactly fight a tornado.

As he started to dig through debris, it became obvious that this was a housing area, but it wasn't until he saw one of Deku's magnets from their fridge that he realized he hadn’t been thrown far. This was his apartment. This was his complex. He slowly turned. Almost all of it was demolished.

He paled. There was no way everyone had survived. The complex had been practically leveled. He took slow, deep breaths. He tried to cope with this knowledge as best he could, before he began to search for his neighbors. Luckily other people were emerging from the debris. Some tried to talk to him, but he just shook his head and pointed at his ears.

"I can't hear you. Is someone trapped over there?"

He continued on this way. Everyone was digging through the debris now, pulling people out, but some were already dead.

He wasn't afraid of death. He had seen it before, but this was… different. These people had no chance. It was a while before emergency personnel arrived, and only a few. They were trying to direct people, police, firefighters, and hero's alike. People migrated towards them and Katsuki kept searching. None of his hearing had returned yet, so he wasn’t planning to even try to talk when he could just keep looking for survivors. So he did, until he felt a hand on his arm and a Hero he didn’t know was talking to him. He spoke too fast and his face was partially covered, so Katsuki had no chance of understanding them. One of his neighbors jogged up and talked to the Hero while gesturing at Katsuki. He scowled and turned around, intending to keep the search going, but then the hero grabbed his arm and gestured between him and the group of civilians.

"No! I have to make sure everyone is out!" Katsuki said (or maybe shouted). The hero looked exasperated as he talked rapidly again and waved an arm around the wreckage. Katsuki just shook his head in confusion. "I can't understand you!" The Hero grabbed him again and pulled him, jarring his leg. He cried out in pain as his leg gave out and collapsed to the ground. Oh, he could hear something again. Ringing, almost like the regular Tinnitus that he suffered from, except on steroids. Okay, that was progress at least, or maybe not as his vision started to blacken.

When he woke up next, he was lying on a blanket on the ground. He blinked up at the same grey clouds from before, only now it was raining and he was getting soaked. The water must’ve woken him. He sat up to find he was in some sort of triage. There were many injured people around him, and a few emergency personnel were doing their best to tend to them - some civilians were helping too. His leg had been properly bandaged and, by the feel of it, the metal had been removed. He tested his leg gently and was pleased to find it doesn’t hurt nearly as much as before, although it still doesn't feel good. Then the same neighbor, Samuel was beside him, talking to him, and Katsuki realized he had returned to his semi normal existence. One of his ears was still ringing badly, but the other, his good ear, can hear Samuel talking, although it is muffled, far away and garbled. He shakes his head.

"Sorry, I don't know." He repeated. He felt like maybe he should be angry. Maybe it’s the shock or the mellowing out. He was 22 years old now. He wouldn't just randomly freak out anymore. He’d had hearing loss for 13 years now. Sometimes he knew you just had to say, 'I am fucking Deaf. What are you saying.' Or any variety of that in politier tones - or ruder ones depending on the situation.

Samuel nodded and smiled at him, speaking at a normal pace with normal enunciating, but he spoke far fewer words. "Are you okay?"

Katsuki relaxed. He was pretty sure he understood that.

"Yeah. My leg hurts, and my head hurts, but I'm not dizzy or anything fucking weird like that." Samuel nodded, looking relieved. "Is your family okay Sam?" The older man broke out into a bright smile, nodding his head, and then he cried. Must’ve been the shock.

He tried to get up, but one of the Police was shouting at him. "Sit!" he thinks he reads on his mouth, but lip reading is typically only 30 percent accurate, plus English was his second language so… yeah. He couldn't just sit there and not help. The officer came over and seemed to speak to him in a soothing tone. The words still didn’t make sense.

He shrugged and said, "I'm Deaf. I don't know what you’re saying."

The officer frowned and shook his head as he pointed at the ground. "Stay here!"

"Officer, I’m a Pro Hero with a license. I can assist with rescue operations." The officer looked even more annoyed now as he turned to Samuel, who shrugged a bit and said something to the officer. Katsuki sighs. "I'm Deaf, not dumb. Do you have a phone? Type out your responses in the keypad."

The officer blinked, pulled out his phone and rapidly typed before handing the phone over. 'There are several gas leaks and downed power lines. You need to stay here where it is safe, there is another storm coming. We are waiting to evacuate to a safe shelter. Plus you have a head injury. You need to sit down.'

Katsuki frowned and slowly nodded his head as he sat back down, frustrated. The officer put his phone away and returned to helping others. He wanted to do the same, but no one else seemed to have their phones. Those who did were holding tightly to them, and he couldn't understand most of what was being said. Even Samuel went to rejoin his family and Katsuki sat there alone as they were pelted with rain and wind as they wait to be rescued. Katsuki was calmer, but this was not something he was okay with, but he was an injured civilian at the moment, he had to follow orders.

He started thinking back to what’d happened. He had no idea there was even a severe storm in the area. Was he the only one caught unaware, or had everyone? He had so many aids, but none of them had warned him there was a severe storm until it was on top of him. There were warning systems. He’d been told about them by others when he and Deku had moved here. He’d never even thought about setting up something else to keep him aware of the weather due to his Deafness. He assumed that was why he’d missed any warning. There were supposed to be sirens or something, right? A thought for another time.

He would have to look into whether or not there were other aids for it. His aids. His hearing aids, his phone, his alarms: everything was gone. It hits him all at once. Everything here was gone.

He felt himself growing hysterical and he tried to take slow deep breaths as hot tears slipped down his face. He was alone here, with no one to talk to, to express his sentiments. He was alone. That hit harder than anything else. Family members were holding onto each other, friends too. He was close to the Hero's from the agency he worked at, but none were here, and he didn't know if they’d put out the effort to talk to him like this.

Oh. Deku was supposed to arrive back today. Katsuki was supposed to pick him up from the airport. He wondered if it’d hit the airport too. Was there even an airport anymore? He tried to ask, but the officer waved him off and must’ve told the rest of the personnel he was too difficult to talk to, because they all just shook their heads and turned to focus on someone else. Maybe they just needed more help, but he didn’t see any serious injuries. The rain grew harder and Katsuki glanced at the sky as he watched the weird bubbling clouds. He couldn't remember what they were called. An officer grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet.

Katsuki growled, "What the fuck? Dude, let go!" The usual bite isn't there as the officer let go and pointed. They were moving. Everyone was getting up and starting to move away from the makeshift triage. He sighed and followed, walking up to a woman who was juggling two small children. He held out his arms for one, "Let me help." She nods gratefully and handed over the boy, who was crying and clearly upset. Katsuki held the child close to his chest to comfort him as they walked. It hurt to walk on his injured leg, but he’d had much worse and everyone here was injured in some way. It began to hail. He loudly cursed, and it was a testament to the situation that no one gave him a dirty look or tried to tell him to stop.

He felt odd, almost like he wasn't himself. They were passing rubble. He was sure people were trapped under there, but the sky was getting darker. He had no way of knowing where those people were, if they even were there. He saw emergency personnel still working here and there, but they were all glancing at the sky with concern. A moment later, Samuel was beside him, holding out a phone with a quick message on it.

‘The sirens are down so the town has no warning. They’re trying to evacuate us to a storm shelter.’

Katsuki frowned at it. Right, the siren system he hadn't heard. He nodded. "They think another tornado may form?" he said, and hated the fact he couldn’t tell how he sounded.

Samuel nodded, looking tired, and patted Katsuki on the arm. He gestured towards the road. They had made it to a road that had absolutely no damage at all, just a bit of debris. He glanced back to take in the path of destruction, and he swallowed thickly. Maybe he should return to Japan early. Shit happened there too, but this was… oh, he really might be in shock. Odd. It wouldn't be the first time. As a Hero (and being in the class at U.A.) he was no stranger to disasters but… okay.

He glanced back at the road, just as a bus pulled up. Not a nice bus, one of those big ugly yellow ones. Everyone started to board and Katsuki did as well following the mother of the child he was still holding. She smiled at him gratefully as she sat in one of the seats. He wondered if this was safe as there were no seatbelts on this shitty bus. What if they got hit again? While he had no access to a radar, some of the survivors - if they could be called that - had managed to hold onto their phones, but they were all on the phone with others - he assumed loved ones or something. The woman beside him tried talking to him, but he was exhausted and shook his head. Too tired to lip read.

"I'm Deaf," he finally said to her. Her eyes widened and then turned soft and pitying, in a way that pissed him off and normally would’ve sent him flying off the handle. This was why he didn't tell people. They seemed to think he needed to be babied once they knew and she seemed to be of the same mindset as she gave him overly soft smiles and patted his arm. "Look lady, being Deaf doesn't mean I am one of your fucking babies. I helped you carry your kid cuz it was the right damn thing to do, but if you don't go back to treating me like a normal ass fucking human being then you can manage on your own, okay?" The woman’s mouth fell open, and she looked affronted, but he didn’t have the energy to give a shit. He wanted to text Deku. Did Deku even know? He actually couldn't remember Deku's number. Odd. He normally could. He had most numbers memorized.

They arrived at the old courthouse in town and quickly started unloading. The rain here wasn't as bad yet, but the storm system was moving their way. It took longer than Katsuki was thrilled with for everyone to get off the bus and into the basement of the courtyard. The emergency personnel were giving instructions, while some were leaving. No one bothered to see if Katsuki understood. Frustrated, he tried to ask someone, but no one had the time to try to communicate with him. His anger was mounting again.

Then someone else was shouting and everyone was huddling together and he could see they were becoming hysterical. What was happening? Samuel was back, pulling him down along with his wife and kids. Katsuki just crouched, since saying something would be useless when the other had no way to respond.

Then he felt the shaking vibration and heard screaming from the people gathered there. Another Tornado. What shitty luck did this group have to be hit a second time? He silently cursed his own luck. This time he was awake through it all.

Thirty seconds or so and the shaking was done, but the screaming wasn't. The people were not okay. They needed comfort, someone like shitty Deku who always knew the right thing to say. Katsuki couldn't help these people. He couldn't answer their questions. The frustration was nearing a boiling point. He didn't know how to handle this at all. He’d never spent this long without his hearing aids or a way to communicate. Without his phone or paper or a pencil, or an interpreter, he felt more alone than he had ever felt in his entire life. That isolation is what really started to get to him. The storm seemed to be over. Dirt fell from the ceiling and the people in charge tried to calm everybody down. Katsuki settled on the wall, watching everyone.

It had been years since he’d allowed himself to hate his hearing loss, but today those feelings come back full throttle. He was a fucking Pro Hero. He was amazing! Yet here he was, rendered nearly obsolete. Sure he could talk to others, but how could he help when he couldn't understand what was being said back? He had no way of tracking or knowing the situation either, plus his head was starting to ache, where he’d hit it (or maybe the pain was from trying so hard to hear and understand). He groaned in frustration as he rubbed at his temples, which just made him wince again.

Then they are being led back out, up into the above ground. Windows were broken, and some things had been thrown around, but clearly the second tornado wasn't nearly as bad as the first. He looked around constantly for environmental information. As they all gathered outside, he discovered the sun was shining, the clouds were dissipating and moving on, and it wasn’t even noon yet.

Slowly he realized that this was far from over. Sure the storm was over, but he still had no real way to properly communicate, no real way to help, and looking down, he realized that he had been barefoot this entire time. What the fuck. Adrenaline maybe? He’d been sleeping in socks after all. He was a bloody, grimy disaster and everyone was moving on. Phone calls were being made and family members were being found. He wanted to help with recovery. He wanted to help dig people out. He needed to be useful. He could tell people this, but how would he know where help was needed? How would he be able to get someone to talk to him long enough to have them contact the people he needed to talk to? Damnit!

The rest of the day passed far too quickly, but also far too slowly. There was a bit more rain and rescue operations continued. Fatalities were confirmed. He was given a pair of ill-fitting shoes, but they were better than nothing. He returned to his apartment and tried to dig out some things that he felt were important, shoving them into a canvas bag he had found. Most everything was either destroyed or replaceable.

He stood there for a while too.

He could have died here. People had died here. Would those people have died if Deku had been here?

No, he couldn't think like that. He returned to digging through the rubble, glad the gas companies had turned the gas and electricity off so it was safer to be there, not that he would have cared. Eventually it started to get dark and he had no idea where he was going to go. He wasn't from around here, so he didn't know the protocol. Finally someone from the vans with a red cross on the side took notice of him. They came up and started talking to him, and although he focused as hard as he could, he was tired and it'd been a long day and he just didn’t know. He didn’t know.

The words he thought he made out don't make sense together and angry tears started to roll down his face, startling the relief worker. She patted his arm and turned, hollering for someone who came up with a bright orange shock blanket. His first instinct is to refuse, but it was orange. He liked that color. He glanced back at her after staring fascinated at the blanket.

"I’m Deaf,” Katsuki admits quietly. “My hearing aids are gone. I have no family in the area and I have nowhere to go.” He didn't have access to his bank account. He hadn't found his debit card or the small case with his hearing aids or the one with his combat hearing aids or the case with his back ups of both sets. He also hadn't located any functioning assisted listening devices. The woman just smiled and nodded, reaching out to pat his arm and lead him towards one of the ambulances. She spoke with the driver, who glanced down at Katsuki's leg.

That was how he ended up in the hospital. Well, at least it was a place to rest, although he was unhappy to find himself actually admitted and hooked up to an IV. The doctor wrote on a whiteboard to communicate with him and Katsuki pays close attention to the details about his injury. They were apparently worried about his head as well. He might’ve had a concussion, but he’d been so distracted and there had been so many other more serious injuries. They wanted to keep him overnight and tomorrow he would go to a Red Cross shelter.

When a nurse came in a little later, he asked if there was anyway she could call someone for him and let them know where he was and that he was okay. She nodded with a smile and he wrote down Deku's number - he could remember it now. Maybe he had endured a concussion. He’d felt very odd earlier, after all. Maybe that was why. His mother probably had no idea.

He turned the TV on after the nurse was gone, navigating to turn the subtitles on and relaxing as he started to feel connected to the world again. He watched the news specifically and discovered that a several mile long path through town had been completely destroyed. There were only six confirmed casualties so far. It could have been worse, but it still wasn't good.

All air traffic had been diverted to a different city. which meant Deku knew. He must’ve. They would have explained why they couldn't land here. He hoped the other got the message that he was okay. He tried to stay awake watching the information. Katsuki saw the view of their apartment complex from the sky and it really was awful.

He thought about how tough today had been with the tornado, and then his increasing frustration with emergency personnel and the other survivors. It had been bad. He wondered about the other Deaf people in the community. He didn't know them well since they spoke a different sign language than him, but he knew that a lot of Deaf people didn't have the benefit of being able to speak the way he and Hizashi did. Some of them were mute as well as Deaf. Were they okay? Had they been able to communicate their needs to emergency workers and Hero's who did not know their language? In that moment he felt grateful that he was able to speak mostly clearly and concisely, a benefit of being a part of the late Deafened group of people with hearing loss. He set a goal in his mind: he would make it better. There had to be a better system so Deaf people were not left in the proverbial dark. Tomorrow. He would figure it out tomorrow.

Had the nurse called Deku yet? He planned to ask when she came back in, but he fell asleep before he got the chance.

Izuku was excited to get back home. He’d loved being in Japan and spending time with his mother and his friends, but he really did want to be back in his bed with Kacchan harassing him over small things and being the brat he was, although most of it was lighthearted and just poking fun these days. He got to see Kacchan smile a lot more in these recent years.

He shook his head and glanced out the window. They were due to arrive at the airport in about an hour, then he would board one last plane and be home in a matter of just a few hours, unless there was a delay of course.

"Attention passengers, this is your Captain speaking. Due to a severe weather event over Dallas Fort Worth international airport, we’re being diverted to another Airport. We apologize for any inconvenience. The severe storm system is expected to last all day and all planes out have been indefinitely delayed. Thank you for understanding and please let our hostess's know if there’s anything they can do to make your flight more comfortable."

Izuku groaned along with almost every other passenger on board. Who knew when he was going to make it home now….

He sighed and settled back into his seat. He was supposed to be home by noon at the latest, but now it would be tomorrow, not to mention he had no way to tell Kacchan, so the other would wait for him at the airport and would get pissed off over it (even though it wasn’t Izuku’s fault). Still, Izuku knew the real reason Kacchan would be so upset would be because he’d be angry about being so worried over what he perceived as nothing. It was actually kind of sweet.

Izuku smiled and glanced out the window as he watched the sun creep into the sky. He fell asleep, but was awoken by a flight attendant as they prepared to land. They’d ended up at Tulsa, Oklahoma International Airport and he buckled in for landing. It could’ve been worse. He wouldn't be able to find a plane to his town, but there should be one to Lubbock, where he could take a bus or something back home. It was very inconvenient, but as soon as he was off he would call Kacchan and let him know. It was actually a bit before his plane was supposed to land at home, so maybe he could tell Kacchan about the delay and not worry him!

Eventually he was back on solid ground. He stretched and went to grab his luggage bag, his phone already in hand as he called Kacchan. It rang and rang and rang... He frowned. That was odd. They both had voicemail set up and he knew Kacchan had taken the day off to come and get him. He tried again but it just kept ringing.

"Midoriya!"

Izuku blinked and turned away from the baggage claim in confusion - which only intensified when he saw All Might walking towards him. Oh wait, he was supposed to call him Yagi-San now. It’d been a long time since his retirement. Oh wait, this was America. Toshinori. No, that just felt wrong.

"Sir?" he asked instead. "What’re you doing here? I thought you were with Dave and Melissa?"

"Ah, yes, I was."

"How did you even know where I was? I was supposed to fly to Dallas."

"I heard about the delay due to weather and I pulled a couple strings to find out where you’d been diverted, and then pulled a few more for someone with a teleportation quirk to get me here in between his work schedule and… That isn't the point. The next flight to Texas isn’t scheduled until tomorrow. It’ll go into Lubbock. It leaves here at 6am and I have tickets for the both of us. I also booked a hotel for the night. Isn't that one yours?" Toshinori pointed out the old All Might limited edition luggage in amusement.

"Yes." Izuku turned to grab it and followed the other to a taxi. "I still don't understand why you’re here though. Were you going to visit? I’ll have to tell Kacchan to get the couch bed ready."

"Actually, we can talk about why once we’re at the hotel, Izuku."

Izuku sat up straighter and looked at the other. Despite the fact he’d known this man for going on ten years now, it was still rare for him to use Izuku's first name. That was his first clue that something was seriously wrong.

"Are we needed for something?" This just felt really odd.

"No, the best thing for us is to sit tight until the flight in the morning. Please, this’ll be easier to tell you when I have proof." Toshinori glanced at the young man and Izuku couldn’t tell what the other was thinking.

Izuku fidgeted - his anxiety was building the longer this took. Luckily they were soon dropped off at the hotel and they headed straight to their room. "Okay All Might, what’s going on? Did you tell Kacchan about the rescheduled flight?"

"Call me Yagi-San, or even Toshinori." Izuku watched as the older man ran a hand through his hair and sat on one of the beds in the double room as he grabbed the remote. "Sit down Midoriya."

Izuku scowled. The instinct to refuse almost overcame him, before he nodded in agreement and sat on the free bed.. “Alright, so what is it?" Izuku asked as he watched his mentor change the channels.

"There was a storm: a bad one. The same line of storms that prevented you from landing today. It tore through Lubbock last night and then moved across the plains towards Dallas where they’ll last well into tonight. It’s being considered a Tornado Outbreak with 29 confirmed tornadoes on the Texas plains at the least. There’re many other reports, and that doesn't even include other states involved."

Izuku paled. He started to shake. "We got hit, didn't we? That’s what you’re not telling me. One of those tornadoes hit our town."

All Might shifted to face Izuku, his hand still on the remote pointed at the TV, a very serious expression on his face. "They’re saying it was three different tornadoes and that it hit three different parts of town. One was powerful, Izuku, but the others not so much. We won't have official ratings until tomorrow when the NWS gets out there to survey the damage."

Izuku shook harder. "I can't… I couldn't get ahold of Kacchan."

The older man slid from his bed, pulled the young man into his arms and held him tight. "I can't either. I called the agency he’s been working with and none of them have seen him either."

"Oh. Oh… What time? How long has he… When did you call?"

"Izuku, the first and second ones supposedly hit around 6 am and 6:30am on opposite sides of town. The third hit around 9 am and was close to the first one’s path. I've been trying to contact Bakugou since around 6:30 when I heard about it. The news has more information. They blocked all air traffic, except emergency aid traffic. Same on the ground. That was when I tried to figure out what was going to happen with you as well. I wanted to be with you when you learned about it."

Izuku was still shaking, even in his arms. "The news reports, let me see them. Kacchan is probably… he’s probably just busy helping with rescue and recovery. He would never sit idly by. Maybe his phone is dead or, or maybe, maybe a c-cell tower got knocked down so he doesn't have reception. He’ll call soon, he has to! When he gets home or something."

He could feel his mentor's hand rub his back in soothing circles. "Listen Izuku, from what I understand, your apartment complex took a direct hit from the strongest of the storms… It’s gone."

Toshinori was not one to shy away from bad news. He had been in many awful situations in his life. He had told families awful news before, but this felt different. Both of these boys were very close to his heart and to be comforting one while he had no idea on the location of the other… it was oddly familiar. Izuku let out a sob. "No, he… he has to be fine. Just… maybe his phone got broken. He’ll call us soon. Wait, which storm was that? When was the complex…."

"The first one Izuku. Around 6 am."

"Oh… oh… then… what if… was he.. he might’ve still been sleeping! He gets up pretty early but sometimes he works late and doesn't get up until seven or eight… Oh." Izuku fell silent and slowly repressed his emotions. "The news."

All Might nodded and turned to the TV again.

"This morning, this town took a direct hit from what they’re saying is an EF four tornado. Entire buildings have been completely wiped off of the map. Here is an aerial view of the hardest hit area, where you can see where the path of destruction seems to begin. According to residents who survived the apartment complex that is no longer there, the warnings only went off two minutes before the storm slammed into them. At least ten people have been reported as casualties so far, while many people are in the hospital with critical injuries. The weather service is now saying it’s possible this storm was already on the ground when the warning was issued or the development was so fast there just wasn't enough time."

Izuku stared at the screen, his face pale. That was his complex, his home. He didn't even recognize anything. Everything was just … gone.

"Toshinori," Izuku whispered, "Kacchan didn't even have a chance. Oh no, oh he probably didn't even hear the sirens go off. Do you think he knew what was coming? Do you think he took shelter? How do we find out if he was…? If he-he is…? How do we know?"

Toshinori sighed. "I called around, but they’re not releasing identities of the casualties until the families can be notified. I also called the hospital, but they wouldn’t tell me anything either, so I don't know Izuku. Tomorrow we’ll fly in to Lubbock, then we can take a car or something and be there before you know it. We’ll find him. He’s a strong kid, just like you. I’m sure he is fine."

Izuku stood, with frustrated tears burning his eyes. "You don't know that! He is strong! The strongest person I know! But he can't fist fight a Tornado! I never should have left! What if he’s gone? What if I never see him again? This is stupid!"

Toshinori watched Izuku, quietly letting him get it out of his system. The young adult finally collapsed, and returned to sobbing in Toshinori's arms. "It’s okay,” gently assured the retired hero. “I've got you. I’m sure he’s fine. There were a lot of people affected, but only a small number are… The statistics are unlikely..."

"I’m sure every family is thinking that! But someone is going to get the news! It could just as easily be us!"

Unfortunately, Toshinori knew that was true. He tried to comfort the other. Both called around for more information as the afternoon wore on. Toshinori tried to get Izuku to take a nap as they watched interviews and footage of the storm damage from all over the state. Izuku apologized several times and his mentor simply tried to help him with these emotions, but there was little he could do to help. He couldn’t guarantee Bakugou was okay.

Bakugou was probably walking around Deaf. With a storm like this, even if he had his hearing aids, they were probably damaged, which also meant Bakugou had no way to call them. As the day went on, his hope began to plummet as well. Surely Bakugou would have someone contact Izuku, but no calls came.

Toshinori helped Izuku through his fit of anxiety and finally managed to get the young man calm enough to lay down and sleep. It was after dark now and they would only be able to get a few hours in before the next day’s plane.

So of course that was when Izuku's phone rang, and Izuku leapt back up, eyes wide, and answered with a rushed, “Hello?"

"Hello, this is Nurse Parry from the Liberty Medical center. I was attempting to reach… uh… I'm not sure of the pronunciation, Midoriya Izuku?"

"Yes! Yes, that’s me!" Izuku said urgently, looking up at Toshinori, who was watching closely with a worried expression on his face.

"Wonderful, I was just calling on behalf of umm.. again, I'm sorry, Bakugou Katsuki? He’s a patient here and asked me to call you because he said he doesn’t have the ability to use a phone right now. He would like me to tell you that he’s okay and he’s in room 4673."

"Oh. Oh. Thank you, thank you, Nurse Parry. I’ve been trying to reach him all day. Please tell him I’ll be there tomorrow and that he should wait for me at the hospital."

"Of course. We’re trying to find an interpreter for him, but most are busy."

"Oh, well it probably wouldn't help anyway. His American Sign Language isn't up to par. He uses Japanese sign language. If you can get an audiologist to get him some hearing aids, that would definitely help." There was silence for a moment and Izuku wondered if she had hung up.

"I thought all Sign Languages were the same?" The nurse finally responded and she sounded confused.

"Oh, well no, they’re not. Sorry," Izuku said and he laughed a little. Well that was awkward. Why did people always think sign language was universal? Spoken language wasn't, so why would sign language be? "You said he was a patient? Is he okay?"

"Sorry, but I can't release any medical information to you."

"That’s okay, you’re just doing your job. If he’s well enough to have someone contact me, I’m sure it’ll be fine. Have a good night, and thank you again." He hung up and looked at All Might, tears already falling again. "He’s in the hospital, but it sounds like he’s okay." His voice cracked as he launched himself forward and threw his arms around his mentor, before he sobbed into his shoulder. "He’s okay… I get to see Kacchan again," Izuku whispered. The older man held him and comforted him until Izuku cried himself to sleep.

The next day they managed to fly into Lubbock without any issues. The drive to the hospital Kacchan was at took a few hours, but they were there by noon, and Izuku was eternally grateful there had been no delays at the airport. They had a bit of trouble as they entered into town, since there was debris everywhere, even in places where the buildings had taken no damage. They had to carefully navigate the roads and several places were blocked off, but eventually they made it.

Toshinori set a hand on Izuku's shoulder to keep the boy from making a mad dash inside the hospital, and kept him beside him as he murmured to him softly. They reached the right floor and got directions to the right room, but as they got closer, Izuku started to fidget more and more. It was tough to stop the boy from running, but finally they were there and Izuku stopped and looked up at his mentor.

"What if it is bad? Sure, she said he was okay, but what if he actually isn't? Okay could mean anything!" Izuku started to breathe harder and harder. On the other side of this door was Kacchan. He should just knock and go in!

"I am sure it isn't too bad. This isn't the ICU or any of the more severe wards. We won't know anything until we talk to him."

Izuku nodded and finally knocked on the door.

There was no answer.

He pushed the door open and strode into the room with far more confidence than he felt. The TV was on, but there was no noise. It didn't surprise Izuku as he stepped forward, past the sink where a lunch tray sat, untouched. He could finally see the bed. The room light was off, but a soft light illuminated the room for the nurses. There he was.

He was asleep, the bed angled up in a slightly seated position, with Kacchan propped up against it. His breathing was steady, and a bandage was wrapped around his head, although it looked like they’d shaved some of his hair towards the back bottom right. His head is angled to the side, resting on his own shoulder.

Besides the head injury, Izuku couldn’t see a reason for Kacchan to be there in the hospital. He had an IV set up, and his heart rate seemed a bit faster than normal on the monitor. Izuku slowly stepped forward and ran a hand over Kacchan's forehead. He was hot. A fever? He didn't even stir. He checked Kacchan's ears and noticed he wasn’t wearing any hearing aids, just like he’d suspected. He looked back up at All Might a wide grin slowly overcame his face.

"He’s okay. He looks mostly alright," Izuku said with a shaky breath. "Should we wait for him to wake up, or should we go and see what the apartment looks like?"

"Whatever you want."

Izuku was quiet and then made himself comfortable in a chair by the bed. He didn't think he could actually leave without talking to the other. He watched as his mentor settled into the armchair in the corner of the room.

Maybe an hour or so later, Kacchan started to shift in the bed. His eyes blinked awake. It took a moment but Kacchan to focus on Izuku, but when he did he slowly smiled. Izuku leaned forward and, although he wanted to hug the other tightly, he didn't know the extent of the injuries, so he just lightly pressed against the other’s chest.

"Hey Deku, took you long enough," Kacchan said quietly.

Izuku felt the tears as they fell again and he sniffled and raised his hands to communicate in the easiest method of language for Kacchan to understand right now. Nice and steady and slow, his hands shook a little as he signed. 'They were not letting anyone fly or drive in yesterday. We got here as soon as possible. Are you okay?'

"We? Oh, hey All Might," Kacchan said, although his voice sounded off - he sounded tired, and the normal fight just wasn't there. Izuku watched as All Might leaned forward, his own hands moving delicately as well.

'I am glad to see you are alright young Bakugou. Why are you here? Can you tell us?'

"Oh. Yes, I… my head, I hit my head. Maybe a concussion or something… Wait, no, there’s a wound - there was blood. I didn't get it cleaned up until I got here last night. Then my leg, there’s a wound. It’s infected, but it isn't too bad though. They said they were just keeping me overnight, but I've been sleeping a lot. I don't know what the doctor said this morning. Ask a nurse." Kacchan shifted and Izuku watched him toss the blanket off his leg - it was covered in thick white bandages. The blond ran a finger over them. "A piece of metal got stuck in my leg."

Izuku was still crying. It wasn't bad, but he could just imagine how terrified Kacchan had really been. He covered his leg again with a shiver.

"Doesn't matter though. Some people died. I'm fine. Practically everything is gone Izuku."

Izuku frowned at the usage of his name. That meant Katsuki was getting serious and wanted Izuku to really pay attention to what he was saying. He nodded, to show he was paying attention.

"None of our building was left standing. Samuel and his family are okay, but I dug through the wreckage for a while yesterday and there isn’t much worth salvaging. Good thing we didn't really have much to begin with since we work so much, right? We didn't lose anything that isn't really replaceable, but I gathered what I thought might be saved. It's in a bag in that closet, I think."

'I’ll look later. Do you… want to talk about what happened?' Izuku asked. He shifted a little to hide his hands from All Might, who looked away politely to give them some privacy. They both knew Kacchan was more likely to discuss his feelings if he felt it was just between him and Deku.

"There isn't much to tell. My phone flashed like I had a text message, or like I was getting a phone call. I didn't have my hearing aids in, so I couldn't answer the call, so I may have been a little delayed in checking what the actual message was. It was no different really, so I didn't... I was just heading for the closet when it hit. I hadn't even made it out of bed properly." Kacchan fell quiet and Izuku held him closely. "Woke up a little later and it was over. Other shit happened but really that’s the gist of it, I guess."

Izuku frowned. 'It wasn't a different color or anything, the flashing light for the alert on your phone?'

"No stupid Deku, didn't I just say that? I had no fucking clue that anything was different than it should’ve been, okay? No sirens: no fucking nothing."

'Sorry Kacchan I just wanted to make sure I hadn't misunderstood,' Izuku replied glancing over at All Might, who was frowning. Kacchan had never bothered to sign any of that, but it also wasn't personal, so maybe he wanted All Might to know as well so he wouldn't pester him with similar questions. If Kacchan hadn't turned on the flash accommodation on his phone, he wouldn't have known at all. It’d been a fight to get him to do that. Izuku tried not to think about what would have happened if it had hit while he was sleeping. Izuku had come so close to losing Kacchan without ever telling him… Later when they are alone. He’d tell him.

They ended up keeping Katsuki for another night. He was annoyed as hell about it, but they were probably right to do so. He’d felt groggy well into the evening, and the odd feeling of almost not being himself had stayed as well. Now he was being released with some antibiotics and nowhere to go, but Deku was there, and so was All Might. Yagi-san… Toshinori? Whatever.

Deku had been good about keeping him in the loop as he fell into a translator roll. Deku wasn’t a certified interpreter and really shouldn't have fallen into the role but, being in America, he had no real other option. They managed.

He wouldn’t be able to get another set of hearing aids here. In fact, it would be a week before a new set arrived, and it would cost a good $6,000 American dollars to get them, so it was better to just wait. He didn't want to but his gear was already going to be crazy expensive. and so he might as well wait until he was back in Japan where he would only have to pay about 30 percent of that cost - and he could have Present Mic work on them. Present Mic had helped him design and create his last few sets of combat hearing aids.

They finally returned to the apartment. The bag of things Katsuki had already salvaged was in the back of the rental car (that All Might was paying for). Deku had never even looked into it. That frustrated Katsuki, but also made him feel warm and fuzzy: Deku was far more concerned about Katsuki himself than any odds and ends he may have salvaged.

Eventually they arrived and it was the first time Deku had seen it in person. Deku was crying. Katsuki could see the tears as they fell down the other’s face. He reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder. It was going to be a long day.

An officer stopped by to verify they lived there and were allowed to be there, before he nodded and let them get back to their salvaging work. At the end of the day, Katsuki didn't care about the final counts of death and injury. He could do nothing about it.

All Might helped them sometimes, but mostly just made sure they were hydrated in the Texas heat. By the end of the day, they’d salvaged everything they could. They never found Katsuki's phone or any of his hearing aids. A shame really: he had worked hard to get that many backup sets. Most Deaf people only ever had one pair and one pair only. That was it, until they broke and they were forced to buy a new pair, at least here in the states. Back home in Japan, Katsuki knew that Present Mic had no fewer than six sets of hearing aids, which included a big, bulky, ugly set from when he was a kid. Nowadays though, Present Mic could build them himself.

The next day was spent with Deku as he handled the insurance company. They would be paid out for their loss of property, and reimbursed for living expenses for a few weeks, although it would likely take several months for it to be deposited. Izuku handled all the paperwork and then the three of them were in a small two bed hotel again.

Katsuki and Deku shared, as they had for years by this point. There was a long discussion over what they were going to do and it was eventually decided that staying in America would be silly since they’d planned on going back to Japan in a few months anyway. This had just pushed the time schedule ahead a bit.

The next day they went out and bought a small luggage set to carry everything they had salvaged and other essentials they’d bought during the last few days. Katsuki got a new phone and backed up his info from the Cloud. Not everything was there, but almost everything important was. While they were busy getting packed, Deku finally looked in the bag of items Katsuki had dug out that first day.

Katsuki had to watch the idiot cry again as he held up the pieces of his magnet collection that Katsuki had managed to locate and dig out. Some of them were cracked and broken in places, but others were just dirty. It wasn't all of them, and as far as items go they seemed a bit silly, but Deku had collected them from everyplace in America they had visited together, so Katsuki had tried to get them for him.

He held Deku as the other man sobbed in his arms, and he tried to shush him. He hoped his voice was soft, but he couldn’t be sure. Volume control had never been his forte, and without his hearing aids it was honestly a free for all. Over this time in the hotel, he’d also opened up more about what had happened after the storm, about not being able to understand, about being caught up in the third smaller Tornado, about being pissed off at all the emergency workers.

It was in the quiet of the night, just hours before they were set for Japan. All Might was asleep on his bed. Deku complained that he was snoring and Katsuki smirked, a little glad he couldn’t really hear it, but that was when everything changed again.

'Kacchan, I was really scared. Really scared when I found out the complex had been hit. I thought I would never get to see you again. I didn't know what to do and All Might wouldn't let me come. He made me wait. I was furious with him. I know we face death all the time but I guess I have always viewed you as far too strong to ever get taken out. It never felt urgent. It does now though. I need to tell you.'

Katsuki reached out and held Deku's hands still, effectively hushing the other. "I know." He vocalized before he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Deku's mouth.

Everything would be alright. He was alive, Deku was here and they were going home. Katsuki had a new goal: he would make this better. He would right the wrongs in the system and make sure that he, and every other deaf person, was never caught off-guard again.