Chapter Text
Izuku Midoriya was always a bit of a mystery to Katsuki Bakugou. He was quiet kid who always wore long sleeves in summer, a smart kid who kept to his small group of friends, green hair and freckles... but that part's not important. He had known him since they were in kindergarden, they were friends then, Katsuki thought. Played superheroes together, climbing playgrounds and running through parks. They had gone to the same school since then, but grew apart as they got older. Katsuki had to admit, growing deaf over the years would have definitely played a role in that. Not being able to hear the same, while adjusting to his new hearing aids was all too much to be worring about a certain green haired chatterbox. Not only that, but learning a new language was a huge pain in the ass. It made him angry. It wasn't fair. Dealing with the loss of a sense he had since he was born, learning a language with a different structure than the one he was fluent in, as well as losing the ability to communicate with his friends made him upset. Change isn't easy. And it wasn't. As a result of this anger, Katsuki had been directing his anger at Izuku, using it to push him away. Harsh words and unfair actions, all of which Izuku took without so much as a glance. Izuku got the hint. He left Katsuki alone.
He'd assumed Izuku got busy with his own personal life as they went into highschool, but the nerd seemed to be more stressed out as of late. He noticed it first in his figure, skinner than usual. Then his eyebags, hair messier than it usually was. Not like that was something Katsuki took much notice of. Katsuki never cared much for anyone, he had his own friends and that was enough. There was no need to reach out to anyone further. But there was something about Izuku's new found appearance.
Walking through the school gates was nothing short of fucking boring. Year 11 was a drag, but at least it was almost over. Katsuki was blessed with some of the highest grades in his class, the highest in his class being Momo Yaoyorozu. Smart bitch.
A red head appears in front of him, he waves his hand.
Katsuki rolls his eyes, sticking two fingers in the air and drawing them back. 'Fuck off.' He signs. He sees the redhead smile and his shoulders bounce up and down. Katsuki could hear something muffled. Laughing.
Eijiro places his hands on his chest, pulling them into two thumbs up, 'How are you?'
Katsuki shrugs his shoulders, tapping his pointer fingers together sideways then raising a his hand to brush it away from his cheek, 'Same as always.' He points to Eijiro with an eyebrow raised. 'And you?'
Kirishima puts an enthusiastic thumbs up. He hooks his pointer and index finger in front of his eyes, moves it in a hook to his chin and fingerspells M-I-N-A, 'Tonight I have dinner with Mina.'
The blonde rolls his eyes and gives a small smile, he claws both hands, and slides them up and down his chest, 'Exciting.'
The boys walk the rest of the way to class together. It was nice. Katsuki always appreciated Eijiro's company, although he never acted like that. Eijiro knows that in the mornings Katsuki doesn't wear his hearing aids. He liked the silent walk to school, no sensory overloads from the sudden passing cars or his fellow school students yelling like a bunch of idiots down the road. Although, he didn't like to be grouped in with those extras.
The boys sit in their designated seats, Katsuki reaching into his pocket to fetch his aids. He slides them in his ears as the sounds around him become clear.
"Kat."
Katsuki turns to look at the voice.
A pink haired girl stands in front of his desk, she leads towards him. He flicks his pointer finger up and sways it side to side, 'What?'
"You do the homework?" She leans closer.
Katsuki watches her lips, he makes an L shape with his hand and glides his thumb over his chest twice, 'Why?'
"What do you mean why?!" She slides her hands over her face as she shrivles down into a pile on the floor, she tilts her head up. "Why are you giving me attitude?!"
He opens one hand, palm facing his other hand and puts his thumb against his palm with an open hand, 'Because.' He folds his arms, "I'm not giving you my answers."
The girl's eyes widen, "Seriously?! You're not going to help me out?!" She looks over to where Eijiro was sitting, "Kiri?!"
Eijiro, who is seated next to Katsuki, looks away and shakes his head.
"Guys!" She bows her head in defeat, "I'm so done for-"
"Indeed you are, Ashido." A deep voice grumbles from above them. The presence surprised Katsuki.
"Mr. Aizawa!" She jumps up, hands behind her back, "I didn't see you there!"
"Must've been hard to see me from the floor." He looks down to where she was sitting, "Get to your seat. Class is starting."
She nods and rushes up to the seat behind Katsuki, Eijiro gives a small chuckle. The blonde just rolls his eyes. When his eyes reach the front of his head again, he looks around the room. His eyes catch onto an empty chair near the front of the room. Odd. He knows who sits in that chair... What? Of course he knows where his classmates sit. It's not weird, okay? Anyways, a certain green haired boy was not in his usual chair. This gave Katsuki a strange feeling in his stomach.
Mr. Aizawa raised his hands in the air and began shaking them, an obvious attempt to gain Katsuki's attention as he started the lesson. Mr. Aizawa made the effort to sign any words he knew as he was directing the class. Katsuki made a big deal out of recieving the support of an interpreter or a note taker. He didn't want to be treated differently than the rest of his classmates. Plus, with his aids, he could hear everything he needed to. His eyes trailed back to the notebook in front of him. He let his pencil glide along the paper, creating little doodles of, well, anything really. A silly cat jumping up and down, a weird looking fish... a... a funky looking dog? Look, Katsuki is no artist here. Not when it comes to pencil and paper. Painting, however, Katsuki was a pro at. He could create anything as long as he had a paintbrush, paints and a canvas. He didn't want to toot his own horn but... he was pretty damn good at it. He entered a few competitions across his school districts, safe to say he won all of-
A loud bang erupted through the classroom, Katsuki instinctively covered his ears, the loud sound not welcome. All the students of 11-A whip their heads to look at the door. Katsuki sees this and his head follows his peers' gaze.
Well, well, well. The missing green haired boy finally makes his appearance. Katsuki was about to tut when he got a closer glimpse of Izuku's face.
A split lip. Yellow splotching over the outer corner of his eye.
Katsuki's eyebrow perked up.
Izuku waves his hands in front of him, shaking his head as he mutters out words Katsuki couldn't make out. He'd assume the idiot was apologising like a maniac.
Mr. Aizawa's gaze softens as he gestures for Izuku to come to his desk. Mr. Aizawa's desk was further away from the desks of his students, so private conversations often go unheard.
"Go on with your assignments, I've gone through enough examples for you to understand how to write a simple essay." Mr. Aizawa looks over his students, "Now."
Everyone obeys and retrieves their laptops. The clicking starts as Katsuki watches the interaction intensely. Someone taps his shoulder. He turns to look, visibily annoyed.
The red head puts his thumb and pointer finger together, and moves his hand diagonally away from his chest. He then claws two fingers and circles his mouth, all while shaking his head. 'Don't lip read.'
Katsuki tuts and turns to look back at the pair, ignoring Eijiro.
Izuku's back was to Katsuki, so he could only see Mr. Aizawa's mouth.
"Midoriya... are you okay?" Mr. Aizawa looks worried.
Izuku nods frantically. He says something.
Mr. Aizawa gives a suspicious look.
"It doesn't look like that, Midoriya."
Another head shake.
"Izuku, you can tell me if anything is happening. I'm here for you."
Izuku tenses up. Something else is said.
Mr. Aizawa sighs. He rubs his forehead as he looks back up to Izuku. "I just- Izuku. You're failing your classes... All of them. I can't believe that everything is alright at home."
Izuku begins to tremble.
Aizawa stands, coming around the desk to lead Izuku out the room. At this, Shouto and Ochako both run out the room with them. That's concerning.
Katsuki looks over at Eijiro, then behind to Mina, who both look equally as concerned.
It's not like Izuku was a total stranger to Katsuki, they made brief eye contact in the hallways, always accompanied with a small nod. Friends, however... not so much. It's not like Katsuki could just outwardly ask him what was going on. He was worried about Izuku, sure. But didn't want to be invasive.
He guessed this left no other option... He was going to have to find out what this was about. Which, yeah, could lead to him being a bit invasive. He figured though, that this was a good reason to be invasive.
How bad could it be, right?