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Katsuki was not weak. Never had been. Never would be. So, when his hearing slowly started deteriorating due to his quirk, he was slightly shocked.
At the ripe age of 12, Bakugou Katsuki realised that he was going deaf. Did he go to a doctor? No, of course not. That would be admitting weakness. Plus, they would probably tell him to give up on becoming a pro. And he wouldn’t let a couple of sounds stop him from becoming a pro hero. So he adapted.
By the age of 13, he was mostly proficient in lip reading. By 14, he was fluent in sign. And by 15, all that was left of his hearing was faint whispers. Was this a problem for him? Of course not. He didn’t care that he couldn’t hear the birds in the morning, or his parent’s voices, or his own voice. He didn’t.
He never cried when he realised that he could no longer hear a sound that he never knew he cherished. Because Bakugou Katsuki was not weak. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to let anything stop him from being the number one.
This was all great and all, but he still needed to survive at UA. He passed all the tests, and he got in. Great. Then the form came out.
“Please list any supports that you may need during your time at UA.”
It was tempting to put something down, but what would he put down? “Hey, so I actually cant hear anymore, and am just living my life based on how I think I sound. Any and all help would be much appreciated.” Yeah. No. Not happening. So he left it blank. Never submitted it, nothing. That wouldn’t be a problem…. Would it?
He found out, that yes, it was a problem on the first day of classes. He had actually done really well all day. Nobody tried to get too close to him except that stupid guy with the stupid hair, and he managed to write down all the notes he needed. He thinks.
But then, at the end of the day before the class could leave and be free after a tiresome first day, the homeroom teacher just had to say something.
“Bakugou, would you please just wait a moment after class, I need to talk to you about something.”
The first thing Aizawa Shouta noticed that was off about Bakugou Katsuki was how he held himself. It wasn’t the normal “Better than thou” conduct that he’d seen in hundreds of students before. No, this sort of unapproachability was different. This is someone that’s scared of people getting close. There could be many reasons for that though, so Shouta didn’t concern himself with it.
The second thing that he noticed, was how loud he was. From his quirk to his voice, he was loud. Too loud. It slightly reminded him of Hizashi, and not just because he also had a loud quirk. It was more that there was a certain quality to the loudness. Something slightly insecure. Like they’re not quite sure of themselves. But he’s probably just overthinking this, right?
The third thing he noticed though, was much more of a dead giveaway. His eyes. They’re rarely making eye contact. Instead, staring at peoples lips. That’s not normal. That’s the sort of thing Hizashi did— damn it. This kid’s going deaf, if he hasn’t already.
Shouta quickly checked his student file to see if he put down any needs. Nope. None. Nada. Didn’t even submit the form. And while that is actually a common occurrence, this child didn’t need to know that.
“Bakugou, would you please just wait a moment after class, I need to talk to you about something.”
Shouta received a quiet muffled “Yes sensei” in response so he called it a day. For now.
The bell rang and Shouta dismissed everybody, except for one. The boy packed his stuff up and then trudged up to the front of the classroom, to his desk.
“You wanted to speak with me?” Now that he’s paying attention, his speech has a slight slur.
“Yes, Bakugou, I noticed that you didn’t submit the support form. And while it is okay if you don’t need anything, we do offer a wide range of aids from interpreters to extra time for assessments and homework.” Shouta explained. Surely this kid would undertand what he’s trying to say.
“I’m fine. I don’t need any of that. I’m not some weak person that needs to be coddled or anything.” Bakugou insisted.
“Hmm, okay. If you say so, but if you do change your mind, I’d suggest talking to Present Mic.” He tried. The boy obviously was going to keep insisting as long as it’s him talking to him. Maybe someone who’s gone through it would be better to talk to.
Bakugou gave a slightly confused look. “Present Mic? Why him and not you?”
“Present Mic is the school’s disability support worker. As one of the first ever openly disabled heroes, he takes pride in that job.”
“Oh yeah…. He… he’s deaf, right?” He gives a soft hum of agreement. Bakugou gives a small nod. Progress.
“Well, if you want to talk to him, you’d be able to find him in the teacher’s lounge, or after one of your classes with him.” Bakugou gives another nod. Good.
“Now, I just want to make sure, you said that you don’t need anything to help you at the moment? Or would you rather have that conversation with Present Mic?”
“I…” Bakugou hesitates “I’ll have the damn conversation with him.”
Shouta gives a nod and another hum. “Okay, well I’ll leave that with him then, do you want to go through that now, or at another time?”
“I’ll do the damn thing now. Get it out of the damn way. Then you’ll leave me the hell alone.”
“Alright, then you are free to go to the teachers lounge.”
Bakugou scoffs and grabs his stuff before leaving, making sure to slam the door on the way out.
When Hizashi got the message that there was a student coming his way to talk about supports at the school, he wouldn’t say that he was excited, but he was definitely looking forward to it. He always loved helping people and especially kids to be the best that they could.
That changed very quickly when the said student walked in. He was loud. And you wouldn’t think that would be a problem for a deaf person, but when you’re given specialised hearing aids that pick up more than what you could originally hear? Then that’s a problem.
“Hey, hey, little listener, why don’t we just calm down a bit, yeah? No need to be so loud.” The kid freezes.
“I was being loud?” Oh. Oh. This poor kid. Couldn’t even tell that he was being loud. It reminded him of himself so much when he was that age, struggling with hearing loss.
“You wanted to talk to me about supports at the school?”
“Oh, uh, yeah, I guess…” Hizashi gives a small nod, urging him to continue. “I, uhm…” The boy then switches to sign.
I’m deaf.
Hizashi gives another nod and also switches to sign. That’s okay little listener, so am I. How can we help you?
I don’t know.
Ohhhh man. This poor kid. Do you want a sign interpreter? Or the teacher notes for lessons? Or even specialised hearing aids?
The kid pauses.
Is it too much if I have all of them?
Nobody said a word when the next day all of the teachers started signing along with their lectures and nobody said a thing if they noticed the bits of plastic behind Bakugou’s ears the next week.