Chapter Text
Bakugou often tunes out his friends’ rambunctious conversation. At this point in his life it’s undeniable that he loves the loud idiots he calls his friends, but that doesn’t mean that he has the energy to deal with them at full throttle all the time.
Case in point - movie night in the dorm common room. It’s some trashy slasher flick that Kirishima picked out, leaving Kaminari and Mina screaming at every little jump scare, and Kirishima and Sero laughing at them even louder. Bakugou agreed to come to movie night but never promised to pay attention, so he lazily scrolls on his phone and just glances up every now and then to see a blood splatter.
It’s because of this lack of focus that he doesn’t notice the way his friends' voices become muffled and the foreboding score of the film becomes warped. He’s not sure exactly how long that goes on, but it’s long enough for the lights to turn on. He glances up, seeing that the movie is finished and the others are talking-
But he can’t hear them.
He glances between them, trying to focus on their words now and picking up small bits and pieces - “scary-” “her acting-” “CGI-” - but the full sentences become muffled as if they’re speaking underwater.
His stomach drops. Is this it? He’s been losing his hearing for the past few years, the doctors said that hearing aids wouldn’t be able to help if it kept deteriorating at this pace - has he hit that deadline? What does that mean? What should he do?
His breathing picks up as he starts to panic, enough to be noticed by Kirishima next to him who is trying to say something to him that he can’t fucking hear, but everyone else does and now they’re all looking at him with concern in their eyes. They don’t look as panicked as Bakugou feels, instead they just keep trying to tell him something.
Suddenly, a hand waves in his face. He whips around like a frightened cat, incredibly bothered that he didn’t hear someone sneaking up behind him. He’s faced with the class’ resident insomniac Shinsou, holding a bag of chips he must have just gotten from the kitchen.
Bakugou wants to yell at him. Shinsou of all people - someone he barely knows - isn’t who he wants to see while on the verge of a panic attack. He struggles to verbalise the frustration through his heavy breathing though, which gives Shinsou enough time to bring the bag of chips up to his face and hold it with his teeth.
Then, with his hands now free, he gestures in perfect sign language.
Calm down. I think your hearing aids are out of battery.
Bakugou’s eyes track the movements, quickly deciphering them thanks to the extensive lessons his doctors and parents have had him take since his initial diagnosis. It takes him a moment to process the actual meaning of the words though, freezing in place and staring at Shinsou’s fingers paused on the last motion.
He watches those hands slowly fall back to Shinsou’s sides, and his brain finally computes the words. He reaches up to his right ear and pulls off his hearing aid, looking at it to confirm that the little indicator light is off. He must have missed the low battery notification during the movie.
Bakugou shuts his eyes, taking a moment to ground himself. He hasn’t lost what’s left of his hearing - not yet at least. But the reminder of his current state without the use of his high-tech hearing aids is still a harsh reminder of what he’s already lost.
Bakugou is vulnerable like this. It’s a feeling he never knew, and one he’s still uncomfortable with.
He looks up again to see that Shinsou has retrieved his evening snack from between his teeth. He nods to Bakugou before turning and retreating up the stairs.
He feels a tap on his shoulder and turns - less panicked now, thankfully - to see Mina holding out her phone, expression full of unwanted sympathy. He looks down to see it open to their group chat.
Mina: Bakugou! I think your hearing aids are dead 🙂 Just letting you know
Sero: @bakugou
Sero: @bakugou
Sero: @bakugou
He figures those must have been sent during his freakout while they were all trying to tell him something - that something being exactly what Shinsou said, it seems. There’s a slight gap in time between those and the next message that must be what Mina wants to show him now.
Kirishima: Sorry dude, we were trying to tell you.
Bakugou sighs, closing his eyes for a moment.
They were trying to tell him. That’s the problem. They thought quickly by switching to text, but in the middle of a panic he wasn’t exactly checking his phone.
It’s not his friend’s fault. He’s usually pretty adamant about charging his hearing aids and he can hear almost normally while wearing them - nobody has to make accommodations for him and that’s exactly the way he likes it. The idea of his friends changing their behaviour or pitying him absolutely disgusts him.
“It’s fine,” he eventually mumbles, opening his eyes to look at his friends. They still look so concerned and even guilty, but he waves them off. “It’s seriously fine. My fault.”
With that, he stands up from the couch and awkwardly steps around his friends to head towards the dorm rooms.
“Gonna charge ‘em,” he says in an attempt to assuage any persisting concern. It doesn’t seem to do the trick based on their lingering gazes, but nonetheless they let him go.
Bakugou makes it back to his room without running into anyone else, slamming open the door probably too hard behind him. He trudges over to his desk and picks up the black charging case for his hearing aids, the cord providing no resistance as he tugs it up to inspect.
The plug fell out of the wall. They must not have been charged last night.
In the privacy of his room, he lets out a sigh of relief. It makes far more sense than him suddenly experiencing a rapid decline in his hearing - on a rather explosion-free day at that - but seeing evidence of the simple mistake with his own eyes is the only thing to actually settle his concerns.
He reaches behind his desk to plug the case back in, leaving his hearing aids inside and watching the red charging light turn on before finally turning away towards his bed.
Thankful he showered before their movie night, Bakugou falls face-first into bed. It’s barely past eight o’clock which is early even for him, but Bakugou is too tired to study or go back out to see his friends. He doesn’t really just want to sit in a circle with them texting him anyway.
It’s only when he’s almost succumbed to sleep that the question occurs to him.
Why the hell does Shinsou know sign language?