("Underlined text" is supposed to be read as Sign Language. "Italicized text" is used only for Misaki's Dad's quirk. "Bold Text" is used for messages Misaki types out.)

Chapter Sixteen

She Don't Know

Is something wrong?

"I don't have time to deal with you, plum."

Bakugou was looking at Hisakawa Misaki like she had lost her goddamned mind. He had been heading for his hotel room that night It with the intention of smashing face-first into the bed to as make this internship be over faster. His patience with Best Jeanist was weighing; If he had to sit around and listen to this guy try and push more nonsense into his head, he was going to explode. Everyone was trying to make him feel like he was this monster that wanted to destroy everything and nothing more than that.

Now, he had to deal with a purple-haired girl who was standing at his door. It one thing that he had to put up with this girl yet again, she had been a thorn in his side since he got to this school and even now her presence was making him testy. It was another thing that she was going out of her way to try and bother him when all he wanted to do kick others out.

Misaki pursed her lips. Cocking her head to the side, she looked confused as to why he was angry this time. She tried to read his face to find an answer that she wouldn't be able to find on her own.

It was easier for him to repeat his statement from before. This was always what he always fell into when his emotions ran high. If you didn't know what to do, how to cope with the situation, how to say something without hurting his pride, he knew that lashing out and barking at somebody was the best-case scenario. It would keep whatever the issue was far away from him and he wouldn't give any fuck about it.

Bakugou just didn't want to put up with two frustrations at once. He could either deal with one or the other, he didn't have the patience to put up with her and the rest of the world.

Misaki looked at him, right through him: Bakugou, you're shaking, what's the matter?

She was staring at him with eyes that he hated. Only Deku had managed to even touch on this part of him and by doing it, that shitty kid had gone all wrong and ruined everything. He didn't need pity. He didn't need compassion. Bakugou didn't want people to look down on him when he was going to be the number one by any means necessary. She kept finding ways to get underneath his skin. It didn't matter what it was, sometimes it was as small as their arguments, and then other times it was as big as her understanding his feelings like nobody else did.

Humoring her for a box to vent out his frustrations these past few days had been the wrong option. They had spent the last couple of nights together hashing out their frustrations and just throwing people under the bus for fun.

His barriers kept him high; But, how long would his walls keep?

He didn't give a damn, right?

He shouldn't have really given a damn.

"Mind your own damn business."

He went to push past her to go inside of his own room and but she blocked the path. Hisakawa had the audacity to reach out for him and take hold of the edge of his shirt, her eyebrows narrowed and grey eyes barring down into his red ones. She meant business as well. It wasn't often that he saw that serious look cross over her normally calm face. "Bakugou," her voice for once sounding clear in his ears. It was one of the first times that he had heard it firsthand. She rarely ever used it, opting to type out of her messages or sign them with her lips mouthing the words.

It was also the first time that she used his name.

Perhaps that's why he hesitated.

Bakugou yanked his arm free from her but Misaki didn't budge. "Back off, plum. I won't hesitate to do physically move you."

Her feet were firmly planted. She retorted arms crossed over her chest as she pushed herself upright to appear bigger than her small stature would allow her to do so. She made her point clear with him: You wouldn't let me off the bat when I was feeling like shit. Something's up.

He scoffed, incredulous. What would you suggest, then? Hugging it out like a pair of sick-ass fools? Talk about our feelings and have a good cry like Deku and his merry band of extras? I don't wanna hear an answer out of you if it's something stupid as fuck, Plum. I'm hardly even humoring your dumbass right now because I'm tired. I have much better things to do than worry about whatever hero trip you think you're on."

Misaki clarified as she raised a hand to him, before dropping it: Actually. I was going to suggest working off the steam. Do you wanna go blow some shit up?

Well, that happened. Bakugou actually thought she was going to suggest hand-holding and sing-alongs but she actually wasn't as dumb as he thought. At least she was starting to understand more about how to solve your own problems. For as long as he could remember when he got worked up about something he would spend hours pushing his limits and scalding anything in his path. Usually, he would beat the living hell out a tree or a punching bag, it wasn't like he could take it out on somebody in training, but there were slim pickings thanks to Best Jeanist. While he didn't want to think about how angry those eyes that she had made him underneath his skin, he wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to blow something up.

It would normally be trash or whatever thing got in his way, but it worked for him; There was no better way to deal with something than to let it out like that.

Nobody had to talk about anything.

Just throwing it all into your quirk.

Misaki seemed to notice how he perked up at that reaction. She grinned, it was wide, amused: I bet Best Jeanist hasn't let you do anything like that all week now. Hime gave me access to the ground behind her office to train if I want. She's not there, and it's just enough out of sight that nobody will make a fuss about us using our quirks. You need a distraction, and I'm offering one.

He shook his head, disbelief on his face as he did. "For once in your life, you're fucking making sense."

Misaki hadn't been kidding.

Hime had a decent yard set up so that anyone could work as they wanted. Another can was destroyed by one of his direct shots without a second's hesitation. Explosions rang out one after the other as bits and pieces of metal clattered and flew from the target area and fell to the ground not long after he did so. He destroyed the next can in the line without even flinching as he imagined it as his targets being destroyed, removed from existence. The supersonic sound that emitted from his fingertips was loud, it always echoed against his eardrums and made his skin crawl, in a twisted way that he liked.

Who needed to talk things out to solve them?

This was the only way he knew.

Misaki stood nearby as he did so, adding more and taking broken pieces out of the way for him to keep going. She pushed midway through it for a second as her grey eyes trained onto him. She pursed her lips, typing away: I'm used to seeing much larger explosions from you. You're getting better at targeted blasts, pineapple. Want to amp it up and get some moving targets?

"Heh. You should know better than to expect any less from me," Bakugou snorted. "I can do it all. I'm not like icy-hot, I know what I'm doing and I can use all my power when I want it."

Something flashed across her face. It looked like a hint of annoyance and exhaustion. She shook her head: Don't kick other people down to stand on top of the platform, pineapple. Victory against villains is the goal, not knocking down classmates.

Misaki picked up one of the targets and whipped her arm back before flinging it far into the air where Bakugou lifted an arm and narrowed his gaze. The explosion seized and the little bag was ripped to shreds as it fell down to the Earth once again. He gestured for her to do it again, and she did, sending out three at once which he shattered without even trying.

Easy.

Simple as that.

He didn't need anyone for that to happen. He was making a point to her, she had been trying to show him otherwise for some time by her actions and causing him so much trouble, but here it was, plain and simple. He could take care of the trouble without any help. That was the whole point. "Difference of goals, plum. I don't need anyone to help me get anywhere. Why waste my time?" Bakugou retorted.

Misaki scoffed at that. They agreed to disagree about a lot of things, like oil, and war. Do you realize I can always use my quirk to tie your shoelaces together and trip you if I want to?

He wiped his hands free of the smoke and ash that remained from his quirk. "Is that your way of winning an argument on the playground, plum? I bet you were a really great kid to be around if that's how you do it. You're still tall enough to pass for a fucking elementary schooler. Who let you into U.A.? You're late for snack time."

Her eyebrow noticeably twitched. It seems like he had struck a nerve with her again. She blew out of a puff of air, neither confirming or denying his little theory as she glared at him. She typed out her response with disdain. Oh, blow up some more targets, pineapple. That seems to be your only talent.

"I could do this all day. You couldn't." He corrected her, smirking. "Unless you want to prove that wrong?"

Misaki gestured for him to go ahead and set up another row of cans to destroy. He gladly set them out because he wanted to see for certain that she couldn't match up to him. She lifted something from the ground, a decently sized rock and looked at the designated marker with her lips set in a little line. She chucked a rock at the first target and missed completely by a few feet. Bakugou only laughed because that was what he expected out of her. She really wasn't all that great at hitting unmoving targets, huh?

No wonder she always flopped on her face when she released her quirk.

He proceeded to knock down his own target just to prove his point again.

She didn't gripe though when she had been put in her place. Instead of getting angry about it, she leaned over and dug through her bag until she located something that she wanted. She smiled triumphantly as she pulled a small container from within it, and unraveled the knots that kept it shut tight. Turning her head to look over at Bakugou, she set it down to tell him something: Wipe that smirk off your face, goddammit. You know I can do it.

"Oh? That isn't what I just saw," he taunted.

Misaki glowered: You know. One of these days I'm going to smack that pompous look off your face. I actually brought you out here because I wanted to show you something that I've been working on with my friend Hatsume. I thought you'd be interested in it.

Bakugou was surprised by that. However, he quickly came back from that notion. "Is it something that might actually make you a heroine that isn't piss poor bad at doing things in the heat of the moment?"

Her lips curled into a grin. Oh. I would hope so, pineapple, after all, I got the idea from you.

Bakugou watched and waited for her to impress him.

So, she had an in with the support department ahead of the rest of them, so what?

She had in her hands something that he had seen her use before in the past. As far as he knew, those capsules in her hands were smoke bombs, something that she used to confuse people when she activated her quirk and released it. He had noted her using it in some of their practice battles in class, but what good was that going to do here? Would she abuse her quirk by knocking things over while there was smoke everywhere? Pretty low of a bar for something who acted so high and mighty compared to others.

She pulled her hand back and sent the pellets whirling forward towards the other side of the practice area and they. struck. every. single. remaining. target. in. front. of. them.

That was something that looked like it walked right out of his own hands and into her own.

"The fuck was that?" Bakugou demanded, looking between her and the scattered pieces of metal that lay against the ground. "You make mini bombs instead of smoke bombs?"

Misaki rubbed her hands together. She looked surprised that it had worked and it hadn't blown up in her face. She nodded at him: You've made an impression on me, what can I say? I have environmental tools that help me confuse others, and your quirk really gave me an idea of how I could shake things up. I'm used to changing the field with smoke. But with firepower or even water power or wind power? That could make a real impact. Normally I'm on the defense but I realize to be a stronger hero, I have to be ready to fight too.

She tugged a few round orbs from her pocket and flashed it at the blond. They were small, no bigger than a glass marble that one might find children playing outside with. Compact. Durable. Light. Just enough. Misaki wasn't a half-bad fighter but she had a lot to make up for. to catch up to everyone else He knew how easy it was to destroy her when she was off-balance, and how quick it was for him to catch her off guard with small insults after that. She wobbled to the left and to the right, knees uneasy, her targets never in her field of vision when quirk overused.

She lost on her own merit during their fight and he knew she wouldn't be able to catch up if she kept acting like that.

Rather, she shouldn't have been able to do it.

Misaki tucked the set back into her pocket without a second thought, her eyes flickering in his direction and focusing on his face. The way her eyes rested on his lips, as usual, made him look away. I got the idea after I watched you and Todoroki fight, actually. I guess it never occurred to me until then that I could learn something from you until I sat down and really thought about it.

He could remember that day. He was about to head into the ring to face Todoroki when he paused in the doorway. If there was one thing that he couldn't get out of his mind at that moment it was having to sit there and watch a match with the rest of his competitors.

It was one thing to have to sit there and watch Deku and Todoroki decimate another one during their match, getting it all ingrained with tears and emotions and emotional problems in their lives. It was really a waste of time. He just wanted to get things over with. It wouldn't matter much longer, he was going to destroy Todoroki no matter the cost. He spent that entire time in the middle thinking about Hisakawa Misaki because he couldn't avoid his own thoughts.

The only reason she had been blown out of the ring was that she failed to remember her own quirk's time limit.

She stared at him through dazed irises, her fist coming right at him and missing by a lot, trembling legs quaking as he lifted his hands and launched an explosion that sent her soaring through the air and outside of the ring onto her side.

This combined with the side effect of holding two bodies in her delay: a date with disaster.

He grits his teeth and starts to walk towards the ring.

That wasn't the issue, however, that was plaguing the back of his mind. For a brief moment, he had actually been caught off-guard by somebody.

He had actually felt like the world had gone quiet forever and would never gain noise back to it. It was like his hearing had been ripped from him years too early then what he had been told for. The world had silenced around him and he had thought that at last—

At last, his quirk had finally taken his hearing from him for good. It was only a matter of time, that's what professionals told him, that's what his parents told, that's what he had told himself to fucking accept sooner or later. If there was one thing that he detested it was seeing people look at him in such a way that seemed as if he needed their pity or their help.

That was why his whatever he had with that shitty Deku had been destroyed in the first place because he acted like he could provide something Bakugou didn't need. He never needed that. He could frighten Deku into submission and make him go away. It worked, and it had worked for a very long time, for as long as he could make it happen.

Yet, he couldn't get this girl to stop.

Misaki looked him dead in the eyes and acted like she wasn't afraid of him. He hated it. She was walking around as if she could really become a hero like she was, and biting anyone who dared to think she couldn't do it. He hated it. He hated it for a lot of reasons. Here he was, supposed to be the number one boy in this damn school, no weakness to be shown, no failure to be found, no setbacks to be seen, only the face of someone who could become the strongest and victorious man on top.

Bakugou was the one who was supposed to be the real hero with no weakness who could crush anyone who got in his way. How was he supposed to do that if he was slowly losing one of his five senses because of the quirk that was going to make his name reach the top of the charts? How was he supposed to ignore it when since day one, there was a girl who was succeeding in everything that he thought about.

It went all the way back to the entrance exam.

Bakugou realized very quickly that somebody had moved him. He was standing in one place and then he wasn't, it was like something had physically been able to do something without his knowing. He learned that it was the girl next to him who had the smallest twinkling stars dying down at her side as she caught her breath and looked at him. "I didn't need anyone to fucking save me, you goddamn plum. Think twice before you do something stupid as that! Do I look like any of these other pathetic extras that can't defend themselves? Whatever the hell you did, don't do it again!"

She stared at him as if she didn't know what he was saying.

Then, she responded.

"What? No 'thank you'?" Her grey eyes bore into his red ones. She spoke sign fluently and when he realized that, his brain started to pick apart what she was saying to him. "You're welcome. I saved your sorry ass from yourself. Don't be cocky. Just be grateful you didn't lose your head. From your own quirk, too! I didn't want anyone to get hurt."

His double-take of confusion didn't last for very long. The doubt and confusion that had crossed his face were long gone and replaced with the prior of annoyance and frustration with her actions. Great, he thought at the time, some deaf girl had saved him from something that he could have saved himself from. He was so pissed off that he didn't even think to tell her off in sign language, he just blurted out what he was feeling. "Just what I need to deal with, another self-sacrificing fucking idiot, goddamn Plum who can't even hear shit thinks she has to save people who don't fucking want that help."

The blond rudely brushed past her and disappeared into the swell ground of dust and gravel that had surrounded the area. It took a moment but Misaki washed the look of shock from her face and then turned her back on his retreating figure.

Then, after that, she had the audacity to do it again when everyone was trapped in the U.S.J. with the League of Villains and their band of misfits, saving him when he didn't ask to be saved.

She didn't quit.

All Might held his ground to block once he was free from the Nomu but now he was refusing to budge to keep it from reaching any of the students around him. While everyone was staring at the beast, it made an opening and with one flick of his hand, the boss directed Nomu in the direction of Bakugou to get back their escape route. Everyone was frozen in shock and didn't know what the hell to do to get him out of the way, and then smoke covered the entire battlefield and nobody could see anything.

When the smoke cleared Bakugou was out of the line of fire and Misaki had unceremoniously landed on the ground beside him.

"Kacchan, you dodged that?" Midoriya blurted out, staring at the sight in surprise.

The look on Bakugou's face was not happy but he was surprised that he had been moved out of the way. He knew that Hisakawa had gone out of her way to move him out of the path of danger once again. But it seemed as though she had overused her quirk to rescue him and knocked herself out stupid because of it.

He took one look at the unconscious purple blob next to him, and grit his teeth. "No, the fucking plum decided to move me with her quirk! The fuck do you think happened?!"

Today.

The sports festival was supposed to be where he proved himself. Today of all days, she had pushed him back even harder during their match.

His ears were starting to ring from the lack of noise.

It was an uncomfortable hum that didn't stop, like a vibration that would pound harder and harder the more that he exerted himself. Wasn't this what happened to her after she used this damn power? She would lose her coordination skills and motor functions, he had seen it for himself. She had launched herself in the path to move him from the path of danger and then flopped over like her damn bones were made of jello. It was running him ragged at the present time but he refused to budge.

Bakugou was losing his focus because his panic was rising.

Misaki was unbothered by this. Her body was still moving like it was supposed to, although the longer they were in this place, it was obvious that the effects would affect her more and more.

He launched another attack but he missed entirely. While he was distracted by his own failures, that's when she made her mark.

Misaki took the chance to dash forward while he couldn't protect himself, jumping once she had gotten close to him, and taking a hold of his shirt once again and as her quirk dissipated around them and the crowd roaring back to life around them, a pained gasp left her lips. She had her chance to knock them both of them off the battlefield but she hadn't been fast enough to do it.

She realized her mistake at the last second, knowing that she had taken too much time to take him down when she made eye contact with Bakugou. She had miscalculated how long she could handle the effect of her quirk on two people.

Her body went slack.

Bakugou had a wide grin on his face as his explosion made contact with her body, although when he realized that she had been knocked stupid and out cold before the blast even made contact with her body, he got angry as hell. He couldn't take it back once it was too late, and because she pushed herself to the brink of her limit to prove her strength to him, she overdid it and ruined what could have been a real fight.

It weighed on him. These thoughts that wouldn't seem to quit. His truth was something that he hadn't admitted out loud to anyone. He had kept it to himself because he knew what people would do if they thought he was weak. He went through those lessons that the old hag insisted he takes care of, sitting in classrooms for extra lessons to learn JSL for when he needed it, sitting with doctors who would check to see how much the level of hearing he had each and every year, begrudgingly going about his life knowing that one day—

he would be one-hundred percent hard of hearing.

In hindsight, Bakugou could have handled things differently.

But, he didn't.

Bakugou shoved those feelings and memories to the back of his mind. He went straight onto the field to face off against Todoroki, and get rid of this emotional mess of a day. Bakugou was going to beat him and get to the top. He had destroyed everyone else that had gotten in his way and it was going to be no different than it had already been. Todoroki was going down, and that number one spot was going to be his. There was nothing of this nonsense that he would let affect him anymore.

At least, that's what he thought as the fight progressed and he pushed Todoroki to his limits.

Todoroki seemed to find those answers that he was looking for, as his entire body erupted into flames, as far as Bakugou could tell. it seemed like he had finally got his ass into gear once and for all. Finally! Finally, he was going to pull in the effort! That wicked smirk returned to his face and Bakugou took the chance to unleash the full force of his impact.

A swirling fire-bomb reached the burning peak, covering the field in ash and soot as the crowds stared in awe at his power level, as the two boys made contact with each other.

Bakugou was knocked back onto the ground from the force of it. He pressed his palms into the ground and started to push himself up to see if he could locate where that bastard had wound up, as his eyes darted around the field and the smoke began to clear away, his body stiffened, and he found himself staring at the unconscious body of Todoroki Shouto outside of the ring, knocked back into a wall of ice that he seemed to activate at the last second. He hadn't used his damn fire at all, its fuse had blown out and he failed.

"...Hey! Hey!"

He scrambled to his feet and broke out into a run over to Todoroki.

Bakugou grabbed the collar of his shirt and began to shake him, but the idiot wouldn't wake up. He wouldn't get up for anything, he hadn't even tried, he had given up at the last second, this bastard had gone and refused to face him the right way, he couldn't fucking believe this. First, it was that fucking plum and now this half and half bastard had given up on him!

No...

No...

No...

No! This can't be happening! This isn't the way that he was meant to win!

"Stop messing around!" Bakugou demanded. The frantic feeling in his gut was far too much for him. He couldn't believe that this was happening to him. This isn't how his victory was supposed to be. "Not like this! It won't- It can't fucking be like this! Wake your damn ass up, this isn't over, Todoroki! It can't... be... like this..." His body went slack and he fell to the ground as Midnight appeared behind him.

For some reason, the universe had some kind of vendetta against him.

It kept trying to mock him for all it's worth. It put stronger quirks in front of him, made him feel less of a strong man, and then dangled the idea on a string that somebody out there could kick ass while having a disability in spite of the dirty looks that were on their back. Every instance that he was alone with Hisakawa Misaki, there was a strong and strange feeling inside that he couldn't describe.

At first, he thought it was just annoyance, and rage at her for pushing herself in front of him.

But upon every other little meeting, he started to think that it was something different.

Like, normally, they would be at each other's throats at a moment like this. He liked it that way. She didn't take his flack, and she gave him back everything that she had. That was what he wanted from anyone to just do simply. That was just how his relationships with other people were for the most part. They either agreed with him, and went with him, or they pushed back against him.

This week was... different.

Ever since the first day of their internship, Plum said that she had started to view him differently. She hit the nail on the head. She had somehow come to the conclusion that nobody else ever had. "Because I know you aren't like that. Just because you might be a sourpuss doesn't mean that you're evil or whatever they're saying out there. It was pretty wrong of everyone to force you to go out there when you didn't want to do it, and now you have to try and get past what people think of you. I know we don't get along for obvious reasons but I still respect your dedication to your beliefs. I think everyone could stand to hear you out before they jump to conclusions. It's kind of how I feel when people expect me to be basically useless out in the field because of their preconceived notions about disabilities."

It didn't change how he irritated he was with her for having saved him in the past.

No, he couldn't forget about that.

The fact of the matter was, they were tolerating each other like they never had before. Some sense of comradery that hadn't been there before could now be found in the middle of things. As they hung out and griped together to pass the time, what had once been irritation and malice was replaced by something else. It wasn't entirely awful to be around her but he still knew those feelings could change at any time.

There were times when she was tolerable, and times when he didn't think how much she reminded him of himself. Like, right now of all times. She had been inspired by him and gone and went to try something different. She had started out as somebody who seemed as though they were going to only rescue others, instead of protecting or fighting. Ever since she had been around him and the others in their class her feelings had seemingly changed on the matter and she didn't hesitate to throw hands with someone.

It was written all over her face as she grinned at his side, knocking down targets. Misaki was still waiting for a response though, and he could only disregard for so long as they toiled this game.

"I guess you would have to take notes from actual hero contenders to stay relevant, huh?" he finally said, dropping the subject.

Bakugou turned back to focus on his task at hand, he was going to destroy the rest of this set because that was what he wanted to do, and it was the only thing that could settle his thoughts.

He managed to do so for fifteen or so minutes. He didn't have to worry about anything but getting rid of the targets. He only cackled at destruction and cursed them to the day they had ever gotten in his way. Just as he would do with any other problem. For the most part, he didn't worry about Misaki in the background because she hadn't said much and just let him do as he pleased. Until that is, he caught her watching him. Her lips were curled into a little smile and she was laughing quietly, so quietly that he barely heard the sound at all.

There was that little twinkle in her eyes again.

He tried not to think about it.

Well, tried is the keyword.

Bakugou just kept working until it had grown too interesting for him to ignore.

From the corner of his eyes, he noticed that Misaki had used sign behind his back and it was a very familiar gesture that he had seen her use once before. Ah, as a matter of fact, that had been what she used during the entrance exam. Really? Really? Had she no other way to communicate her distaste with people than just that one? She noticed that he was staring at that point.

He whipped his head around to glare at the girl and without thinking it through first, he said what came to mind as she stared at him. "Did you just call me a fucking call me a foul-mouthed piece of shit, again? Don't you have any fucking variation in your vocabulary? I swear that's exactly what you used the last time you told me off, plum!"

She was staring at him, wide-eyed.

There was no turning back now that he had admitted a piece of his secret.

She shook the disbelief off of her face and tried to put two and two together on her own, but when it didn't click at all she decided to turn her questions back at him to figure it out. Misaki rose from the ground and took a few steps forward to ask him, "Wait, you know JSL? Since when?"

He looked to the side and then back at her to answer, "I never said that I didn't."

"How is it that you have known this entire time and yet you've acted like you didn't? We could have been talking much easier then we were for weeks now if you said you knew! I thought you didn't have time to waste learning stuff like this. You don't strike me as a guy who learns something for fun like this. So, why? Why would you hide this? It isn't like knowing another language is something to be ashamed of." Misaki said.

The implications were there.

Bakugou didn't answer that. "It's none of your damn business why I know. Back off."

Misaki wasn't the type of person to back off. He knew that. Because she continued to come closer to him to try and learn. "Look. I just wish that you would have told me sooner. You don't have to tell me why you learned, that's okay. I just don't understand why you would hide it from people. It's a great skill for a hero to have, even if they aren't disabled themselves. If you can communicate with more then just abled people, it sets you up much better then others who don't know. I thought it was just Kouda and me."

It wasn't like he wanted to learn it.

Bakugou didn't exactly have a choice. He didn't want to be limited by what he didn't know when it happened, but accepting that it was coming one of these days was what he struggled with. He had seen what could happen if you didn't have shit to go off of. He would be stuck like Plum was, teetering between two different worlds to communicate with people.

"I'm not like you. I didn't start out this way. This wasn't my choice." He said, flatly.

He wanted to leave it at that.

Clearly, she didn't want to; Because those words had made her even more interested. "Not like me? What do you mean? I wasn't asking if you were. You know. Do you mean born hard of hearing?"

Something flashed across Misaki's face in recognition.

She understood why he had been treating her the way that he had for this entire time and the answer was in front of her face, it had been right in front of her the entire time and she should have realized it sooner. She should have known, she would say. She should have realized it sooner since it was so fucking obvious or some shit. He just wanted her to stop before she said it.

"Wait a minute. Your quirk. Your quirk! Explosions. Repeated exposure to loud noises at a decibel that high at close range can do a damper on the human body that's why people who work in loud environments need protection and covering for their ears, that's why. Oh my God. So... So, you're losing your hearing because of your quirk, aren't you?"

Losing his hearing.

Losing his hearing because of his quirk.

Losing his hearing from his own damn quirk.

Oh, the irony of it all.

The very power that had made everyone come to respect him and look to him in awe and wonder was going the be the very thing that took away something that he wasn't sure he could live without.

Misaki was looking at him with worry, concern, confusion, a flurry of emotions that crossed her face all at once as his body stiffened and he tried to rationalize how this had happened. His heart was beating out of his chest and he felt like he was going to be sick because of this, of course, only the feeling was there, he could never physically do it and make the sensation go away.

"What?" He barked at her without flinching. "Stop staring at me like that, Plum! I don't want your fucking pity!"

Misaki reached out to him with her hand but pulled it away when she saw the look in his red eyes. She knew that he meant what he was saying. Good. He didn't need or want it. "I don't understand why you've been hiding this, Bakugou. There's nothing wrong with being hard of hearing or deaf. You know that. You have to know that. I don't pity you, I never have, and I never will. I know better than that now that I know you like this. This doesn't change anything about you. You're still you, Bakugou."

She said that but why were her grey eyes so sad as she signed it?

Why was she looking at him with such emotion in her expression?

Why was it that he couldn't breathe?

Why?

WHY?

"Don't stare at me with those goddamn eyes. You know exactly why I didn't fucking tell anyone because you've only proved the fucking point by making a shitshow of yourself in front U.A. I'm supposed to be the goddamn perfect specimen and the number one hero someday, somebody without any weaknesses or failures that anyone can see," Bakugou stared her straight in the eyes and did not for a second miss a beat as he told her what he felt about all of this. How it had been boiling up inside of him and festering for years as it swirled and baked into the back of his head.

"If they know for a moment that I'm losing my hearing they're going to treat me differently and I won't fucking let that happen. You know what the world does to people like this. I'm not weak. I'm not going to let anyone think for a second that I am. Because I'm not! I'm going to be the number one hero. I'm not going to let this bullshit hold me back from that."

She tried once more, to hold out her hand.

Bakugou smacked it away.

He needed to get out of here and he needed to get somewhere where he could actually be alone. He couldn't stand to be open with the truth in front of anyone. He just needed it to stop. He remembered to breathe and then he found himself looking back into her face as he imparted words before storming off into the darkness of the night. "If you fucking tell anyone about this, I'll end you, plum."

Bakugou could feel her gaze on his back the entire time.

Had he stopped to look at her for a moment, he would have seen that her knees buckled from underneath her and she never stopped staring at the space that he used to occupy. A hand covering her mouth as she mouthed words that he would never know.

For the rest of her internship, which was all of two days at that point, Misaki tried to keep her mind off of Bakugou and only upon her training.

It was hard and Hime had clearly noticed a slip in her endurance. The fire had sort of dwindled to more of an uneasy spark that needed passion again. She had to keep getting faster on her feet but as long as she implemented everything that Hime wanted to instill then she would grow. That was the whole point of their lessons. That had been what Hime had wanted her to get better at the most when it came to fighting with her quirk the way that it was currently.

As far as her ability to keep a straight face during a conversation while trying to avoid teacups flying at her head, she had gotten so great at that that Hime was now proud to say that she would someday master the tea party if she continued to keep at this pace. Never in her life had Misaki been so happy to hear words like that as the imparting lesson from a real heroine.

Her body was still aching from all those lessons as she set out that Monday morning to go back to regular classes at U.A.

Misaki was glad to see everyone that was alright and in one piece when she entered the classroom.

She made sure to double-check those three boys that had gotten into some trouble. Midoriya, Iida, and Todoroki were a little banged up but they looked alright. It was a relief to see that Todoroki and the others were okay when they briefly made eye contact with them. Everybody else had less of an exciting trip than they had, so they weren't injured at all. If a bit tired from the minor exercises that heroes put them through.

She took her seat without saying anything because right afterward Aizawa walked in and the morning activities began as usual. Her focus wasn't on the board though, her gaze lingered on the back of a very familiar blond's head. She had wanted to confront Bakugou after that incident during their internship. He had avoided her like the plague, and no matter how hard she tried to reach out to him, he was radio silent.

How could she reach out to Bakugou when he didn't want to accept himself?

She wasn't sure how to handle this, but one thing was for certain, she wasn't going to let him go thinking that this changed anything.

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

Here it is. The biggest reveal. This is the point of no return and the status quo has forever been changed.

Remember to review if you can, those are what really motivate me to keep writing. Happy holidays!