Chapter Text
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There are a few things you need to know about Bakugou Katsuki.
He is passionate. He is easy to anger. He refuses to be seen as anything but the best. And above all else, he absolutely hates weakness.
He hates it in others. He hates it in himself. He won’t let anyone see him as vulnerable.
So when he learned at the age of eleven that he was going deaf, he did what any sane person would do and—
…okay, who the hell are we kidding. Of course he didn’t go to a doctor.
Because, you see, there is only one person in this world who hates weakness more than Katsuki himself, and that’s his mother, Mitsuki.
From as long as he could remember, she drilled it into his head:
“Why would you need help if you’re strong, huh? Only useless brats ask for help. No son of mine is gonna be useless, you hear me?”
Katsuki never forgot the sting in her voice when she said it, or the way his chest tightened when he realized she meant every word. He didn’t cry. He never cried. Crying was for babies. So he swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded, forcing steel into his voice even as his chest burned.
“Yes, ma’am.”
So, naturally, he grew up to be independent. He learned early not to go to his parents unless it was a grave emergency. And honestly, even then, he would second guess if it was worth telling them at all.
When he was eleven, he noticed something strange for the first time.
At first, it was small. The muffled sound of his teacher’s voice when she turned her back to the class. His friends laughing but him not quite catching the joke. His mother shouting from the kitchen, and him not realizing she had even spoken until her footsteps thundered down the hall.
Then one night, lying awake in bed, he pressed his hands over his ears and realized something terrifying.
One side was already quieter.
His stomach dropped. And his heart started beating faster.
“No. No, no, no, no,” he whispered into the darkness. He sat up, clutching the blanket. “This… this is nothing. Just wax. Just—fuck, it’s nothing.”
But the panic wouldn't let go. He slammed his fists against the wall until the plaster cracked. Sparks of anger and panic swirled in his chest, twisting his stomach into knots. The silence roared in his ears, a deafening void that mocked him. “How the hell am I supposed to be the number one hero if I can’t even hear?!” he yelled, voice bouncing off the walls, shaking the floorboards. His knees buckled, and he curled into himself on the floor, biting down on the pillow until the taste of blood filled his mouth. “My dream—fuck—is my dream already over?!”
He wanted to smash something, anything, to make the sound come back but even explosions, his comfort, his power- felt muted. Every beat of his heart thudded painfully in his ears, reminding him he was helpless.
But after a few days of thinking, he did what Bakugou Katsuki does best. He shoved it down. Ignored it and pretended like nothing was wrong.
“Maybe… maybe it’ll just fix itself,” he muttered under his breath one night, staring at the ceiling.
The silence that answered him only made his stomach drop.
Unfortunately fate just loved shitting on him because by the age of twelve it got worse. His ears started ringing constantly with a piercing noise that left him irritable and short-tempered. He started watching people’s mouths more than their eyes, piecing together words when the sound blurred together.
He hated it. Hated the way panic clawed at his chest when he missed something. Hated how vulnerable it made him feel. Mitsuki’s voice seemed to haunt him even when she wasn’t there, her words replaying: “Why would you need help if you’re strong?”
--
One afternoon he broke down in front of Kariage.
The two of them sat on the curb. Kariage was rambling about some dumb movie he wanted to watch tomorrow when Katsuki snapped.
“Kariage.” His voice was sharper than usual. His hands trembled, and he clenched them into fists to stop it. “There’s something wrong with me.”
Kariage blinked. “What do you mean wrong? Like… you pulled a muscle or—”
“I can’t hear.” The words burst out like an explosion. His chest heaved. “I’m… I’m going deaf.”
For a second, there was only silence. Then Kariage’s face crumpled. “What the fuck do you mean you’re going deaf?! Why the hell didn’t you say anything sooner, Katsuki?!”
“Because it doesn’t matter!” Katsuki barked, standing up so fast the bench rattled. “I don’t need your pity, I don’t need a doctor, and I sure as hell don’t need anyone knowing, got it?!”
Kariage’s jaw tightened. “That’s not something you can just ignore, you idiot! You need help—”
“Shut up!” Katsuki’s voice cracked. He bit the inside of his cheek so hard he tasted blood. “You promised me, Kariage. You keep your damn mouth shut.”
Kariage looked at him for a long moment, eyes full of worry and something dangerously close to pity. Then he exhaled and nodded reluctantly. “…Fine. But you’re a stubborn bastard, Kats.”
“Damn right I am,” Katsuki muttered, though his throat burned.
Shockingly, his mother never noticed. Or maybe she did and just couldn’t be bothered. Katsuki couldn’t decide which was worse—that she was blind to it, or that she saw it and didn’t give a damn.
And if you’re wondering how the hell he managed to avoid her suspicion for so long, the answer’s simple: Katsuki Bakugou was nothing if not a resilient little bastard.
You see, his hearing didn’t just vanish overnight. It declined slowly over three years. He still caught parts of conversations. And Mitsuki? Well, she was loud enough to shake walls, so he had that working in his favor.
On top of that, Katsuki adapted. He forced himself to learn lip reading. He kept his eyes sharp and his focus sharper. Even if he couldn’t hear, he’d know what was being said. And for a while… it was enough.
Until it wasn’t.
By the time he was nearing his fifteenth birthday, the silence was complete. He couldn’t hear a damn thing. Not a teacher’s voice. Not his friends. Not even the sound of his own explosions. Nothing.
It was inconvenient, yeah—but even worse, it was humiliating.
Class became a battlefield in its own right. He couldn’t zone out, not even for a second, or he’d miss something important. He watched everyone’s lips, tracked movements, pieced things together. There were slip-ups here and there, but Katsuki was already a star student with top grades, and honestly? His teachers were too scared or too impressed to question him. So they let him slide.
At this point, the only ones who knew were Kariage and their friends Deisha and Tsubasa. He trusted them to not treat him like he was broken. The squad kept his secret safe and they covered for him when necessary.
Deku, of course, had started suspecting something ages ago. That damn nerd had grown up at his side, watching him closely and was always sticking his nose where it didn’t belong. Katsuki could feel those green eyes on him every time he slipped up, every time he hesitated for half a second too long.
And that was exactly why Bakugou and his friends made sure to keep Deku at arm’s length.
Always close enough to fool him,
but never close enough to let him see the truth.
--
Katsuki liked to think he was managing fine. He had his routines, his tricks, his lip-reading. He convinced himself he was still on track for U.A., still on track to be number one.
But on his fifteenth birthday, his friends decided enough was enough.
They cornered him in Kariage’s living room, cake half-eaten on the table, the air heavy with a tension Katsuki immediately picked up on. His squad wasn’t laughing, wasn’t joking, wasn’t throwing insults like they usually did. Instead, they all looked at him with the kind of seriousness that made his stomach twist.
“What?” Katsuki demanded, scowling. “Why the hell are you all looking at me like that?”
Deisha exchanged a glance with Kariage, then said carefully, “Katsuki… you can’t keep pretending like this. You can’t possibly get into U.A. when you can’t hear shit.”
The words cut sharper than any blade. Katsuki’s chest tightened.
“You’ll be set back on missions,” Kariage added, voice low. “You won’t be able to communicate in the field. That’s not something you can just push through.”
“And there’s the entrance exam,” Deisha continued. “They do physicals. Including a hearing test. You… you wouldn’t be able to pass it.”
Katsuki froze. He knew. Of course he knew. He’d just shoved the thought into the back of his head and locked the door. Living in that little fantasy was easier than facing the truth.
“Shut up,” he muttered, though the fight in his voice sounded weak even to his own ears.
“Katsuki…” Kariage’s expression was grim. “We’re not saying this to spite you. But you need to face it. You can’t ignore this forever.”
Katsuki’s nails dug into his palms. He hated this. He hated being cornered. He hated being reminded that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t just explode his way out of this one.
He felt crushed. The weight of it pressed down on his chest until it was hard to breathe. Being a hero was all he had ever wanted, the only future he’d ever allowed himself to imagine. If that was taken from him, then what was left?
He lowered his eyes, voice rough. “…So what the hell am I supposed to do, then?”
Silence. His friends glanced at one another but no one answered. That silence was heavier than anything. It felt like a death sentence.
Bakugou realized then, in the pit of his stomach, that maybe his situation really was hopeless.
His jaw trembled. He wanted to scream, to curse, to blow the whole room up but before he could, Tsubasa suddenly leaned forward.
“Oi, don’t look so down, Tsuki,” Tsubasa said, forcing a grin. “We’ve been thinking about this for a while now. And… we might just have a solution.”
Katsuki blinked as Tsubasa reached under the table and pulled out a small box, neatly tied with a red ribbon. He slid it across to Katsuki.
“…What the hell is this?”
“Happy birthday, man.”
Katsuki frowned but tore the ribbon off anyway. Inside, nestled in black foam, were two strange little devices, each no bigger than the tip of his pinky. He picked one up between his fingers, turning it over with suspicion.
“The fuck is this supposed to be?”
Deisha leaned in, smiling nervously. “Remember that tech-savvy guy we met on that school trip last year? The wannabe mad scientist?”
Kariage snorted. “Yeah, the freak with the goggles and the notebook full of blueprints.”
“Exactly.” Deisha nodded. “We told him about your… situation.”
Katsuki’s eyes snapped up. “You what?” His voice was sharp, dangerous.
“Relax!” Deisha raised her hands quickly. “We just said we knew someone who was going deaf and needed a way to get past U.A.’s hearing test. We did some research on what the test looks like and gave him the details.”
“And he built those,” Tsubasa finished, nodding toward the box. “They’re earpieces. You put one in, and when the machine makes the beeping sounds, it gives you a little electric shock in your ear. That way you know when to raise your hand for the test.”
Kariage smirked. “He swore it won’t hurt too much. Said it’s like a little static zap.”
Deisha leaned closer, voice softening. “He added another feature too. The devices are programmed to recognize certain words. When someone says them, they’ll give you a little jolt so you know you’re being addressed.”
Katsuki frowned. “What words?”
“Your name, obviously. Bakugou. Katsuki. Kacchan.” Deisha grinned sheepishly. “Also… ‘young man,’ ‘hey you,’ ‘spiky hair,’ ‘blondie,’ ‘Tsuki,’ ‘Kats,’ ‘bro,’ ‘man,’ ‘bestie.’ Basically… anything people might use to call you.”
For a long moment, Katsuki just stared at the tiny devices in his palm. His throat felt tight. His chest burned. He didn’t move, didn’t speak. He kept his eyes on their mouths as they explained as his mind spinning.
Finally, he muttered, “…You idiots.”
But his voice cracked halfway through. His vision blurred, and before he could stop it, hot tears pricked his eyes. He looked down quickly, covering his face with his hand.
“You absolute… fucking idiots,” he said again, but this time his voice trembled.
He couldn’t believe it. They had done this for him. They had gone behind his back, found someone, made something—for him.
He set the box down slowly, then without warning, shoved forward and grabbed all three of them in a rough, crushing hug.
“Oi—what the hell?!” Kariage squawked, startled.
“Bakugou’s hugging us, someone write this down!” Tsubasa laughed, though his voice cracked.
“Shut the fuck up,” Katsuki muttered into their shoulders, voice muffled and shaky. “Just… shut up. You guys—damn it—you didn’t have to do this.”
Deisha patted his back awkwardly but smiled. “Yeah, we did. You’d never ask, so we figured it out ourselves, no need to tear up Kats”
Katsuki pulled back quickly, wiping at his eyes with the heel of his hand, scowling like he could erase the tears. “Tch, I’m not crying. You’re crying.”
“Sure,” Kariage said with a smirk. Then he tapped the box. “Alright, tough guy. Try them on.”
Katsuki frowned but picked up one of the tiny earpieces, rolling it between his fingers before fitting it snugly into his ear. The second followed. They were light, almost unnoticeable—until Tsubasa suddenly grinned and said:
“Katsuki!”
A sharp little zap buzzed in his ear. Katsuki flinched. “The fuck—!”
Kariage burst out laughing. “It works!”
“‘Kacchan!’” Deisha shouted. Another zap. Katsuki jerked again, glaring.
“Goddamn it, warn me first!”
Tsubasa leaned forward with a mischievous look. “Hey, spiky hair!” Zap.
“Blondie!” Zap.
“Tsuki!” Zap.
By now, Katsuki was gritting his teeth, rubbing his ears. “Okay, yeah, yeah, I get it! It’s uncomfortable as hell, but it works.”
“Uncomfortable’s better than useless,” Kariage said firmly.
And despite the annoyance, despite the slight sting of each shock, Katsuki felt something bubbling in his chest he hadn’t felt in years. Hope. For the first time, he actually smiled—small, sharp, but genuine.
“…Thanks,” he muttered. “Seriously. I owe you guys.”
For a moment, the room was warm, filled with laughter and relief. But then Deisha’s smile faded, and his voice dropped.
“Katsuki… you know this isn’t permanent solution, right?”
Katsuki’s head snapped up, scowl returning. “The hell do you mean?”
“These things are just to get you through the test,” Deisha said gently. “They’re not hearing aids. They won’t help you in real fights, not really. We asked our guy if he could make real ones, but… he said he couldn’t. Too complicated.”
“Yeah,” Kariage added. “You still need to see a doctor. Get the real deal. Hearing aids, treatment, whatever it takes.”
Tsubasa crossed his arms. “We just wanted to give you a chance, man. But you can’t keep ignoring this forever.”
Katsuki sat there, jaw tight, nails biting into his palms. He hated that they were right. He hated the idea of doctors, of admitting he needed help, of Mitsuki finding out.
But he wasn’t about to ruin this moment. So he forced himself to nod.
“…Fine. I’ll see a doctor.”
His friends relaxed, some of the tension melting off their faces.
But deep inside, Katsuki already knew the truth. He had no intention of stepping into a clinic. Not now. Not ever.
Because Katsuki Bakugou hated weakness more than anything. And asking for help? That was the weakest thing of all.
♡♡♡