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Kyoka was the first to figure it out.

It wasn’t something she’d really thought about or even considered. But, to be fair, Koda wasn’t really a person she spent a lot of time thinking about in the first place. He was a quiet kid, one that never took much space, and if you ever tried talking with him, he would just turn away without saying a word.

Looking back, the signs were all there. Kyoka just hadn’t known how to piece them all together.

That is, until they were paired together for the final exam.

Then, the pieces slowly started coming together.

The majority of their exam was spent with Kyoka’s arms clutched around her head- trying in vain to shield herself from the onslaught of noise coming from their opponent- and Koda standing beside her, not saying a word. Even as she begged him to do something, anything to save them, he just stood there, arms moving a mile a minute in front of him, most likely a nervous habit of his. It wasn’t until Kyoka’s eardrums burst, sending streams of blood through her fingers and down her chin, that Koda finally decided to take action, crouching down and shouting at all the insects he could find, instructing them to attack their teacher. And, luckily, that finally seemed to do the trick, as Present Mic was taken down the moment he caught sight of the very first bug.

For the most part, Kyoka was relieved that it was finally over, and that her eardrums weren’t damaged too badly. However, there was one small thought lingering in the back of her mind like an itch that just wouldn’t go away.

Koda… spoke weirdly.

Kyoka didn’t know if that thought made her some kind of jerk, but it was true! She hadn’t heard much- considering not only the fact that he had only spoken a couple sentences at most, but also that Kyoka’s ears were literally bleeding, that much wasn’t a surprise- but from what she had heard, it was like the words didn’t quite fit in his mouth, sitting awkwardly on his tongue before eventually stumbling past his lips.

Now, this could’ve just been some kind of speech impediment. Those were far from uncommon- even her brother had had one for a while- but it didn’t seem to be the right fit for what she had heard from him that day. It was different in a way she couldn’t really describe, it was different in a way that made it impossible to get out of her head.

That was the first puzzle piece.

The next few pieces revealed themselves in much smaller ways. It was watching him write letters to his classmates rather than speaking to them directly. It was seeing his hands move frantically at his sides the way they had during the final exam, except it no longer seemed like random movements, but something more, something structured. It was watching Tsuyu have a conversation with Koda one day, and how Koda never really looked the girl in the eyes, gaze focused instead slightly lower, closer to her jawline.

All these little instances lingered in Kyoka’s brain, the puzzle becoming clearer and clearer with every moment she witnessed, but there was still one piece missing, the one thing that would connect it all.

She found that missing piece sooner than she was expecting.

It was during lunch one day.

She was sitting with her friends, talking and chatting like they usually did, when she excused herself to go to the bathroom. As she walked down the halls of U.A., she suddenly found herself barreling into the nearest corridor as she tried to remain hidden from the sight in front of her.

There, in the hallway right outside of the teachers lounge, two people were sitting. One was Koda, lunch tray placed on the ground in front of him, and the other, to Kyoka’s surprise, was Mic-Sensei, wearing a dazzling grin as he sat across from the boy, his own bento resting on his lap.

And, if that wasn’t weird enough, the two of them weren’t even speaking. Instead, Mic-Sensei was just moving his hands all over the place, earning a chuckle out of Koda (something she had never heard from him before) before he started moving his hands back in that familiar way whenever he was-

Wait.

Kyoka peeked her head out a little further as she examined what was going on. Koda continued to move his hands, and the more Kyoka thought about it, the more she realized that that wasn’t just some kind of nervous tic.

No.

That was sign language.

The final puzzle piece clicked into place, and suddenly, Kyoka could see the image crystal clear.

The accent.

The notes.

The hand movements.

The lipreading.

Koda… was deaf.

A wave of guilt washed over Kyoka as she finally pulled her head back into the corridor. How could she have been so ignorant? This whole time she had thought Koda didn’t sit with their class during lunch because he was shy, but it was because he legitimately had no idea how to communicate with them. He had isolated himself because he didn’t feel comfortable enough to tell them he couldn’t hear them.

Kyoka groaned as she threw her head in her hands. How could they have screwed up this badly?

Well, now that Kyoka knew, there was only one thing she could do. Obviously, Koda wasn’t ready to tell the whole class just yet- which Kyoka totally understood and accepted- but that didn’t mean she was just going to let this go.

She squared her shoulders as she made her way down the halls once again.

She needed to talk with Mic-Sensei.

“Hello, Jiro-san!” Mic-Sensei smiled as he sipped on a mug of coffee “What brings you in so early today?”

Kyoka had to stifle a yawn at the very mention of the word “early”. She had arrived half an hour early to school that day, but that was only to make sure no one else from her class would be around when she had this discussion with Mic-Sensei, especially the boy who had prompted all of this.

“Um, I just have a question for you,” She said, tapping the ends of her earphone jacks together nervously, “Well, more of a request, actually.”

“Sure, what is it, kiddo?”

“Do uh,” She looked up to face him. “Do you happen to know JSL?”

Mic-Sensei started, blinking a few times as he took in Kyoka’s question, before tilting his head a little. “I do. How’d you know that?”

“Ummm,” Kyoka said quietly. It wasn’t like she wanted to lie to her teacher, but the last thing she wanted was for Mic-Sensei to find out that she had caught him signing with Koda during lunch the day before, “Lucky guess?”

Mic-Sensei wasn’t an idiot, she knew he could tell that there was something Kyoka was hiding, something she refused to admit. He squinted as he examined her for a moment, waiting to see if she would crack and confess what this was really about. Kyoka avoided this by staring back down at her earphone jacks, the click click click of the ends tapping together matching the beat of her heart, helping her calm down just the tiniest bit.

When it was clear that that was all Kyoka was going to say about the matter, Mic-Sensei sighed. “Alright, then. Is there a reason you’re asking?’

“Yes,” Finally, a question Kyoka actually had an honest answer to, “I was wondering if you would be able to teach me?”

For the third time that day, Mic-Sensei stared at Kyoka, trying to understand what her motive was. This time, thankfully, was short lived. “You want to learn JSL?”

“I’ve been wanting to learn for a while now, actually.” That was partially true. Sure, she had heard of Japanese sign language before, but despite thinking it was cool and everything, she had never thought she would find herself actually trying to learn it.

She supposed it was because she had an actual reason to now.

Finally, after what felt like an unbearable amount of tension, Mic-Sensei seemed to relax, and he directed his signature smile at Kyoka once again. “Well, why didn’t you say so? I’d love to teach you!”

Kyoka found herself smiling too. “Thank you, Mic-Sensei. When would you be available to teach me?”

“Hmmm,” Mic-Sensei looked down at the ground as he pulled on his mustache in contemplation. “My lunch hours are already booked-” Kyoka already knew that much, not like she would tell him that, “So how about before school? We can meet up every morning, same time, and I can teach you the basics. How does that sound?”

Kyoka wanted to groan. Showing up early to school once was hard enough, but now she had to do it every day? She wasn’t sure if she was strong enough to do it.

She opened her mouth to tell Mic-Sensei as much, when she remembered why she was doing this. She imagined Koda, the smile he would wear when he realized that someone wanted to talk with him, wanted to include him. She imagined the relief he would feel when he discovered that he would actually be able to communicate with one of his classmates, that someone was putting in the effort for him. She imagined him sitting with their class in the cafeteria as he realized that he no longer had to eat in the halls, because he actually had a friend.

Kyoka felt resolve swell in her chest.

“That sounds perfect.”

Hizashi entered the teachers lounge to find his two best friends already there, sitting on opposite couches as they chatted over coffee. Hizashi smiled, a little tiredly but just as genuine as ever, as he walked over to the coffee pot “Hello Nemuri-san, Shota-kun.”

“Morning, Hizashi-kun!” Nemuri called from her seat, while Shota just responded with a grunt of recognition.

Hizashi filled his own coffee cup to the very brim before plopping himself down next to Shota; he hated to admit it, but he was tired. After agreeing to help Jiro learn JSL, six other students- all from class 1A- had asked him for signing lessons. And, as happy as he was to teach them, that didn’t change the fact that it was putting a serious toll on his already busy schedule.

“Tired?” Aizawa said as he scooted over to make room on the couch

“Try exhausted.”

“Careful,” Nemuri said with a playful smile “Next thing you know, you’ll be looking like that.” She cocked her head at Shota.

Hizashi laughed. “My eyebags are already getting close. I’m just lucky my shades hide them enough.”

Shota rolled his eyes. “Shut up, both of you.”

The two of them just continued to laugh, even as Hizashi chugged half of his coffee all in one go.

“But seriously, Zashi-san,” Nemuri said after wiping the tears in her eyes, “What’s got you so tired?”

“Just some scheduling stuff.” He said, “I mean, balancing three jobs has always been tough enough, but now I’ve got a few students that I’m teaching JSL to before and after school, so there hasn’t been much time for sleep.”

“Wait, you’re teaching kids JSL?”

Hizashi blinked, replaying what he had said in his head, until he realized his fatal mistake.

Ah, shoot.

In his tired state, he had forgotten the one thing that all of his students had asked of him: to keep their lessons a secret. He wasn’t sure why, especially when they weren’t the only students in their class to ask. In fact, every time a new student came and requested that of him, he would always ask if they were sure they didn’t want to tell anyone, especially if it meant getting to learn with some of their peers. He was always met with the same answer: No, absolutely no one can know about this.

Hizashi supposed it wasn’t all bad. After all, every student was learning at their own pace. Midoriya and Jiro, for example, were picking up the language surprisingly quickly, whereas Tokoyama and Iida were having a harder time learning. Hizashi wanted to account for all of their struggles, which might’ve been difficult if he grouped them all together.

Or, maybe they could’ve helped each other, played off of each other’s strengths, but Hizashi had no way of knowing. He just had to pretend his current situation was the better option.

But that didn’t change the fact that he had broken the one promise that he had made, and now his two best friends were staring at him expectantly, waiting for an answer.

“Um, well-” He said, fumbling for some kind of excuse to get out of this, “I didn’t really mean to-”

“So am I.”

Hizashi’s head whipped over to Shota, his coffee almost spilling from how aggressively he moved. “Huh?”

“Yeah,” He said, leveling Hizashi with the same confused look, “About seven now.”

“But-”

“Hold on.” Nemuri said, straightening up in her seat a bit “I’m teaching some students JSL, too.”

“What?”

Hizashi’s head was spinning. It was already strange enough when Jiro had asked him to teach her how to sign, but this was starting to become unsettling. Or, at the very least, really suspicious.

“All from class 1A?” Shota looked between the two of them, and they nodded in agreement.

“I wanted to tell them that their peers were also asking the same thing," Nemuri said, "but they were all adamant about no one knowing.”

Shota looked at Hizashi, eyebrows raised. “You too?”

Hizashi just nodded half heartedly, mind too focused on trying to make sense of it all to really pay attention.

“Do you think they’re planning something?”

“Like what?” Nemuri said. “Some kind of prank?”

Hizashi shrugged. “They might-”

Nemuri immediately shook her head. “No way. Yaoyorozu-san would never.”

“Yeah, I struggle to believe that any of the kids I’m teaching would do anything like that.” Shota paused for a moment, “Except maybe Ashido-san-”

“Well, what else could it be?” Hizashi said, standing up as he downed the last bit of coffee to make room for another cup full. “Why else would they keep asking us like this and refuse to let us talk to anyone about it, even their own classmates?”

Before anyone could come up with a response, there was a knock on the teachers lounge door. The three of them gave each other a look, shaking their heads- none of them were expecting anyone- before Shota got up with an eyeroll to open the door.

Standing on the other side was Aoyama, as vibrant as ever, and Hizashi watched from his spot on the couch as Aoyama smiled up at his teacher.

“Bonjour, monsieur!” He said, “I was just wondering if you-”

Shota put a hand up to stop him. “Let me guess: you want me to teach you sign language?”

Aoyama’s dazzling smile and sparkly demeanor dropped with those words, replaced with a tilt of the head and a confused look in his eye. “Oui… but how did you know?”

“Lucky guess.” He deadpanned, before turning to look at Hizashi and Nemuri on the couch. With Shota no longer blocking the doorway, Aoyama could see clearly into the teachers’ lounge, and his eyes widened minutely as he realized that he had an audience.

“Hey, Nemuri-san,” Shota said. “How many students are you teaching?”

“Five, I believe.”

Shota nodded before casting his gaze at Hizashi. “And you?”

“Seven, but that’s not including Koda-kun.”

“I also have seven.” Shota paused to do the math in his head, before turning to look back at Aoyama, who was still clearly confused. “That makes you the last one.”

Aoyama blinked. “Quoi?”

“We’re wondering the same thing.” Hizashi said under his breath, but it was Nemuri that stood up and responded to the question.

“Aoyama-kun, are you aware that all of your classmates have asked the same thing of us?”

Aoyama stared at her for a moment, and then another, before finally shaking his head. “Non, I had no idea.”

“And you’re telling the truth?” Shota pressed.

Aoyama nodded. “Oui! I thought I was the only one who was interested!”

Shota looked back at the two of them once again. Hizashi examined the boy, how his face was pale and his eyes were wide from the sudden interrogation, and nodded at Shota; he was telling the truth. Across from him, Nemuri did the same.

Shota looked back at Aoyama. “Okay, then. We’ll talk about lessons after class.”

Just like that, Aoyama’s smile found its way back onto his face, and the air around him seemed to shimmer once more as his spirits lifted (and how did he manage to do that? It was one of those things that always fascinated Hizashi), “Merci!” He said as he made his way down the halls and to his classroom.

Shota shut the door behind him and sighed wearily as he reclaimed his spot on the couch. “Well, that just about confirms it: something is going on.”

Nemuri still wasn’t convinced “Are we sure, though? I mean, it seemed like Aoyama-kun genuinely didn’t know about his classmates.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that all of class 1A have asked to learn JSL, not including Koda-kun.”

“And what’s so suspicious about that? It’s just a language!”

Shota rolled his eyes. “You really think it’s some sort of coincidence that they all suddenly found this urge to learn a new language around the same time?”

Nemuri turned to Hizashi. “What do you think, Zashi-san?”

Shota looked over at him, as well, an eyebrow raised in expectation.

Hizashi could see where both of them were coming from. After all, it certainly was suspicious that all of Shota’s class had come to all three of them over the past few weeks with the same request. As much as he hated to say it, there was almost no chance that it was all coincidence. Shota was always the one that looked at things logically, but even he could admit that it made no sense.

But, at the same time, what harm could possibly come from teaching kids sign language? The only thing Hizashi could think of was that some of them might try to cheat on tests or things like that by signing to each other, but they’d have to be real stupid to try something like that, considering the fact that they were learning from their own teachers. Other than that, nothing but good could come from learning JSL. Not only was the language used almost constantly amongst heroes, but even knowing how to sign in everyday life would be very beneficial, especially considering the fact that they had a classmate that would really benefit from class 1A learning sign language.

So, he looked into the eyes of his two best friends- the two friends that agreed to learn sign language with him all those years ago when he discovered that his quirk was making him deaf, and did it without any complaints- and smiled.

“I say that there’s only one way to find out.”

Hizashi walked into Shota’s classroom- Nemuri right at his heels- the second the bell rang signaling the end of the school day. He wasn’t surprised to see that the only student packing up was Koda, putting his notebook back into his backpack neatly before standing up to leave. However, when he looked around and found that no one else had left their seats, he turned to his homeroom teacher with a frown.

“It’s alright, Koda-kun.” He said, “You’re free to go.”

Koda nodded. Hizashi was glad Shota listened when he asked to have Koda switch seats with Ojiro near the beginning of the semester. It made it so much easier for Koda to lipread what the teachers were saying.

He gave his classmates one last glance before finally walking out the door. Clearly, Koda wasn’t the only one that was lost. Every student sat uncomfortably in their seats, looking around the classroom as they tried to figure out what was going on.

“Ummm, sensei?” Uraraka finally said, breaking the silence. “Is there a reason why you asked all of us to stay behind today?”

Hizashi had to stifle a laugh. He, Shota and Nemuri had told all of their students that they needed to talk with them after school, but they never mentioned anything about all of their classmates staying behind as well. Hizashi considered the confused looks on all nineteen faces in front of him payback for all the sleep he had lost the past few weeks.

“Yes, actually,” Shota said. “We’ve noticed some suspicious behavior, and we want to know what exactly is going on.”

“Suspicious behavior?” Iida immediately sat up straight in his seat as he adjusted his glasses. “Sensei, I can assure you, as class president, that I nor anyone else in this room has done anything to warrant suspicion.”

“Calm down, Iida-kun, no one’s in trouble.” She said, before smiling with malicious glee. “At least, not yet.”

The entire class tensed, and now both Hizashi and Nemuri were holding back laughter. As much as he cared for these kids, he certainly didn’t mind messing with them every now and then. Shota, however, was completely unamused, and decided that this conversation had gone on long enough.

“Are you aware,” He said, sweeping his eyes over each and every student in the room. “That all nineteen of you have asked one of the three of us for signing lessons?”

“What?”

The room erupted into chaos.

“Wait, all of us?”

“Is that why my lessons were so early in the morning?”

“Did you know about this, Todoroki-kun? I certainly didn’t.”

“You told me it was just gonna be the two of us, Shitty Hair!”

Questions and accusations and complaints were tossed around to the point where everyone’s voices just piled on top of one another, and it was impossible to pick out just one person from the mess. Shota activated his quirk, his eyes glowing red as his hair rose into the air, but even that wasn’t enough to gain the class’ attention.

“Class!” He finally shouted, and with that, all of class 1A snapped back to attention.

Hizashi nodded to himself. He couldn’t help but be a little impressed with how quickly he was able to regain his students’ attention.

“That was not permission to start shouting like that.” He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Now, I just need a yes or no. Were you or were you not aware of the fact that all of you have asked us for signing lessons?”

“No, sensei.” The class said in unison.

“Great,” He looked to Hizashi and Nemuri. “Now what?”

Hizashi wished he had an answer to that, but he had to admit that he was just as lost. He truly was expecting at least some of them to have known. After all, what were the odds of all nineteen of them not finding out one way or another? But, as he looked on at the kids who were just waiting for the opportunity to explode with questions once again, he realized that the odds were higher than he thought.

Luckily, Nemuri was quick to come up with a solution.

“Yaoyorozu-san?” She asked, and the girl in question turned to her, face paling slightly. “Can you remind me again why you wanted to learn JSL?”

Yaoyorozu pulled at her ponytail a bit as she thought of a response. “Well, I’ll admit that I wasn’t being honest with you at first, but I suppose there’s no point in keeping it a secret anymore.” She said as she squirmed a bit in her seat. “I wanted to learn JSL because I believe…” She eyed the empty desk one last time before finally revealing the truth. “I believe Koda to be deaf.”

The class erupted once again, but this time it in the way eighteen hands shot up all at once. Some shouted, others pounded on their desks, but all were begging for the chance to get to speak. However, this time, Shota’s quirk was all it took to get them to quiet down once again, but their hands still remained in the air.

Shota looked around the classroom, but before he could choose a student to call on, Hizashi stepped forward. “Jiro-san? You wanna explain what’s going on?”

Jiro gave him a short, appreciative nod before standing up. She refused to make eye contact with the class, just fiddling with her earphone jacks as she spoke. “Well, sensei, I’ve known about Koda-kun’s deafness for a while now, actually.”

“How?”

Jiro flushed, tapping her earphone jacks even more aggressively than before. “I, uh, I saw you signing with him one day. During lunch.”

Now it was Hizashi’s turn to feel his heart stop as the blood rushed out of his face. Jiro had seen that? Sure, they were signing right in the hallway, but everyone was supposed to be eating lunch, no one was supposed to see them.

The day Hizashi had approached Koda about teaching him sign language, he had asked Hizashi not to tell anyone about his deafness. Apparently he had made that mistake one too many times in the past, and every time, he had been pestered with questions that made him uncomfortable. He had told Hizashi that he wanted to trust his classmates, wanted to believe that they would accept him, but they hadn’t given him a reason to trust them yet.

“Well, how will you know you can trust them?” Hizashi had asked.

Koda had just smiled as he handed him the paper with his response. “I’ll know, sensei.”

So, Hizashi had kept that promise, not telling a soul about Koda’s deafness, even as he watched his peers make every mistake in the book: calling out to him while his back was facing them, spoke too quickly or in a way that made it harder for Koda to lipread, snuck up on him without alerting him of their presence. Every time he wanted to reach out, to explain why Koda never reacted in the way they were expecting, but every time he held himself back out of respect for Koda and his request.

But now they knew. He knew eating in the teachers’ lounge with him was out of the question, but maybe if he had thought a little harder and found a better place to practice they could have avoided this, but now, because of his stupid mistake, they all knew.

“Jiro-san.” He said slowly. “Did you tell everyone?”

He couldn’t help but feel just a little betrayed. While it was his fault that Jiro found out, if she told anyone else, that would make it her fault that everyone else found out. Well, at least partially.

However, she finally looked up as she shook her head frantically. “No, of course not!”

Hizashi sighed in relief until another question began to pester him. Luckily, this time, he wasn’t the only one who was thinking it.

“So, how did everyone else find out?” Nemuri asked, and everyone’s hand popped into the air once again.

Shota picked on them, one by one.

“I saw Koda-kun signing to himself one day.”

“One time my phone went off during a test, and he was the only one that didn’t seem to notice it.”

“He never flinches at Bakugo-kun’s explosions.”

“He told me that he couldn’t understand me with my mask on.”

“Alright, that’s enough, thank you.” Shota raised an eyebrow at Hizashi and Nemuri. “Well?”

Hizashi faced the class “So, you all wanted to learn sign language… for Koda-kun?”

“Yes, sensei.”

For the first time in a long time, Hizashi was at a complete loss for words. This whole time he thought the worst, assumed that the kids of class 1A had some kind of malicious intent, but this whole time, they just wanted to help Koda, to include him. To be there for him.

Hizashi was moved. Was this what Koda meant? Was this the sign he was waiting for, the sign that would prove that he could trust his classmates? Well, he couldn’t speak for Koda, but he knew that, as reckless and chaotic as these kids were, they were also so incredibly kind, so observant and so accommodating.

They were going to make great heroes.

Nemuri seemed to be thinking the same thing, because she clutched at her heart dramatically, tears in her eyes. “Oh, you kids! Such youth! Such vigor! It just makes me-”

“Thank you, Nemuri-san.” Shota said before Nemuri could say anything else (and for good reason), and he turned to look at his class. “We’re sorry for the accusations. We were unaware that you all knew about Koda-kun.”

“But now that we do know,” Hizashi added. “We want to help you in any way we can. After all, it’ll make Koda-kun very happy to see how much you all care.”

The class perked up at that, smiling at the three adults in front of them as they nodded in agreement. That is, until Jiro raised her hand.

“Yes, Jiro-san?”

“Um, I was just wondering what the best way would be to go about this?” She asked. “I mean, would all of us suddenly signing at once overwhelm him or something?”

Hizahsi nodded. That was a valid question, and, given what he knew about the boy, would surely be the case. However, Hizashi actually had the perfect solution.

“Don’t worry, Jiro-san.” He said. “I have an idea.”

Ever since that strange day, half of Koji’s classmates would stay behind every day after school. It had been going on for about a month, but still Koji had no idea what it was all about. He tried asking Mic-Sensei about it during lunch one day, but he just shrugged it off nonchalantly.

“Oh, just some kids that need some extra tutoring.” He had said. “Nothing to worry about.”

Koji had nodded along, even though he had a hard time believing it. After all, he had seen Yaoyorozu and Bakugo stay behind, some of the top students in their class. When finals had rolled around, Yaoyorozu was the one who was doing the tutoring. What were kids like them doing getting extra help after school?

He didn’t dare question Mic-sensei, though, not after all he had done for him. He didn’t need to spend all his lunches with him, teaching him JSL after he realized that it was a language he was never allowed to learn, a culture he was never allowed to participate in. And yet he did it, willingly and without complaint, and Koji still didn’t know how he could ever repay his teacher for his kindness.

So, when his teacher wasn’t forthcoming about what was going on, he tried asking his classmates instead. This wasn’t an easy feat, considering the fact that he refused to let himself speak around them. As much as he hated to admit it, his accent was something he was really insecure about. He couldn’t hear it, but he could see the strange looks he would get back when he would try to talk, could remember the questions they would ask him- “That’s a cool accent, where’s it from?”- and it was something that filled him with anxiety every single time. However, Shoji was more than understanding when he wrote that first note, so he was one of the ones he always went to whenever he needed to talk to someone in their class.

I’ve noticed that about half of our classmates have been staying behind after school every day. Do you know what’s going on?

Shoji read the note carefully, seeming to mull it over in his head before slowly writing out his response.

I think it’s probably some work study stuff or something like that.

That only made Koji even more confused. Work studies? But that was months ago. How could they possibly still have work study stuff to worry about?

He didn’t know, and no one seemed to want to help him. And so he was left in the dark, spending day after day waiting patiently for someone to turn on the light.

Such was the case as he sat at his desk on this particular day. The classes went on like usual, with Koji lipreading what the teachers were saying as best he could- until, of course they turned to write something on the board, then he just had to hope he hadn’t missed anything too important- and mimicking the body language of his classmates so that he didn’t stand out too much. At one point, someone must’ve said something funny, because everyone around him seemed to be laughing at something. He quickly looked around the room, just to be sure, but right as he was whipping his head back around, his eyes locked with someone else’s, and his heart stopped.

Jiro.

He’d had conflicting feelings about Jiro ever since their final exam together. On the one hand, he wanted to trust her. After all, she was the first person in their class that he had allowed himself to speak in front of. He knew that both the intensity of the situation, as well as the lack of options contributed to the act of desperation (and possibly the fact that she most likely wasn’t able to hear him), but that didn’t change the fact that he did it without regret. That didn’t change the fact that he spoke… for her. That had to mean something, right?

But, as much as he wanted to trust her, as much reason as he had to do so, there was just something holding him back. He wasn’t exactly sure what it was or how to fix it, but every time he made eye contact with Jiro- despite the way his hands twitched as he yearned to tell her the truth- he kept his mouth shut and his hands tucked.

And so, with a small smile and a curt nod, he turned away from her, looking back at their teacher as he tried desperately to understand what they were saying.

He tried not to be too worried about Jiro.

After all, he’d know when he could trust her.

Once he saw his classmates standing up, laughing as they walked out the door, Koji knew that the bell for lunch had rung. He waited for everyone to leave the room before standing up and making his way to the cafeteria.

All the teachers at U.A. knew about his deafness. It was on his school records, and his parents had had a meeting with Aizawa-sensei about accommodations- or lack thereof- at the beginning of the school year. But despite this, the only teachers that signed with Koji were Mic-Sensei, who was helping him learn the language- and Lunch Rush. Lunch Rush wasn’t Deaf, not by any stretch, but for reasons unknown to Koji, he knew Japanese sign language. Luckily, the school chef also knew that Koji was new to JSL- he was learning quickly, but that didn’t change the fact that he still had a long way to go- and accommodated that by signing very slowly and very clearly. It was a great way for Koji to practice with someone that wasn’t Mic-Sensei.

“Hello, Koda-kun.” Lunch Rush greeted. “How are you today?”

“I’m okay, just waiting to meet up with Mic-sensei.”

Lunch Rush smiled a bit, an expression he had never seen the man wear before. “I see. Well, enjoy your meal.”

Koji nodded his thanks as he took his tray and started making his way out of the cafeteria. However, before he could make it out the door, a hand lightly tapped his shoulder, and it took all his strength to not jump in shock. Even still he flinched, and he turned around to see Jiro smiling at him.

Luckily, she didn’t seem to have noticed his reaction, instead cocking her head as she beckoned with her hands to have him follow her.

He wanted to ask her what she needed, but he just shot her a confused look instead, hoping it would convey the same message.

Jiro just chuckled as she shook her head, motioning once again to follow her.

Koji… was lost. Why was Jiro seeking him out all of a sudden? They hadn’t really talked after their final exam, just shared glances and exchanged smiles every now and then. Never had she tried to talk to him- which Koji was thankful for, because it saved him from having to give a very awkward explanation- and so he wasn’t sure why that was changing today of all days.

He looked around the cafeteria, looking to see if there was something going on that Jiro was trying to draw his attention to, but the room looked just as it always did. He looked at Jiro one last time. He didn’t have any paper on him, nor a pen, so was he really going to have to-

Before he could panic too much about the possibility of speaking, Jiro raised her hands.

“Just trust me.”

Time seemed to stop for just a second.

Did she just-

With only one hand gripping his tray, his other hand was moving before he could stop himself.

“What?”

Jiro rolled her eyes playfully as she chuckled “Just trust me.”

Jiro was signing.

In the back of his mind, he knew he should’ve been panicking over the fact that she that she discovered his biggest secret, but it was overshadowed by the fact that Jiro was signing. Did she always know sign language?

He felt a crack form in his defenses as he nodded his head, and Jiro turned on her heels as she walked in the opposite direction, Koji following close behind.

She led him to the middle of the cafeteria, where their entire class was sitting, tables pushed together so that there was enough room for all twenty of them. And in the middle, right across from each other, were two empty seats.

“Koda-kun!”

Koda’s steps, just like his heart, staggered.

It wasn’t just Jiro.

They were all signing.

Hands were flying everywhere as they greeted the boy, smiles on everyone’s faces- bar a couple, but Koji didn’t think he’d ever seen Tokoyami or Todoroki smile, so he wasn’t too surprised- as they pointed at the empty chair, beckoning him to sit with them.

Koji couldn’t wipe the smile off of his face even if he tried. There was no way this was a coincidence. There was no way all nineteen of them knew sign language, which meant that they had all learned how to sign…

He thought back to his grade school days, to the day his classmates found out that he was deaf.

“Wait, isn’t your quirk literally speaking to animals?” One had said. “How are you supposed to do that if you can’t even talk?”

“I’m learning how to talk.” Koji had replied, trying desperately to defend himself.

“Wait a minute!” Another had laughed. “No wonder you talk so weird! You can’t even hear yourself speak!”

He remembered the way his classmates laughed at him that day, and he remembered that that was the day he swore to himself that unless he knew he could trust them, he would make sure his classmates never discovered he was deaf ever again.

He was worried that all his peers were going to be like the ones from back then, but as he looked around the table, faces and hands so excited to greet him, he realized that that couldn’t have been further from the truth. They weren’t judging him, weren’t looking for a reason to tease him, to make him uncomfortable. They were inviting him, including him, caring about him.

The crack grew, his defenses getting weaker, as he sat down in the empty seat, right in between Shoji and Midoriya, with Jiro taking the last seat right across from him.

Koji’s hands were moving faster than his brain as he tried to bring himself back down from cloud nine “How did you- why did you- when did you-”

“We all kinda found out by ourselves,” Kaminari said. “It’s actually a really funny story if you want to-”

Jiro grabbed his hands before he could ramble further, making the boy pout, even as he gave in and put his arms down.

Ojiro tapped on the table to grab Koji’s attention. “The point is, we all found out one way or another, and so now we’re all learning JSL so that we can communicate with you better.”

“We’re sorry we didn’t make you feel comfortable enough to tell us about this.” Midoriya said from beside him. “But we’ll do our best to make up for it.”

“Yeah!”

Koji looked around the table, at his cheering classmates, and realized that they were cheering…

He turned to Jiro, who was beaming at him, smiling wider than he had ever seen, and raised his shaking hands.

“Did you do this… for me?”

Jiro nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah. We care about you, Koda-kun, and it’s about time we proved it.”

With that, the crack grew and grew until his defenses finally fell, shattering into a million pieces.

“Yeah!” Aoyama said, his signs slow and choppy but still understandable. “We love you!”

The class nodded in agreement.

For the longest time, he had seen these people as just his classmates, as just more people to be cautious around, but he realized now that they were so much more than that. They were his partners, always on his side of the ring.

“But we still have a lot to learn,” Kirishima said. “So how about you give us a bit of a signing lesson, huh?”

But they were more than that, too. They were more than just peers, or acquaintances, or even partners.

“Yeah, I’d be happy to help you!” Koji said. “What questions do you all have?”

They were his friends. And, above all, he now knew, without any doubt, that they were friends he could trust.

Jiro smiled as she got the attention of the entire table, eyes turning to Koji, filled with curiosity rather than malice, and he couldn’t help but smile back at her.

Because they had done all of this… for him.