ILY - [BKDK] | MHA - Chapter 11: Chapter 11

"What's going on with you, Deku?" Uraraka asked, sitting beside him. She ran her hand up and down his back in a soothing motion to help him calm down.
They sat in a bench behind the Class 2-A dormitory.
"He's gone, right? He won't come here anymore?" Izuku asked, his voice slightly shaky.
Uraraka nodded her head. "I promise he won't come. You'll only have to worry about him at school. I'll make sure to not leave you when that happens."
Izuku nodded, feeling a little safer from her reassurance.
"Please, Izuku. I wanna know what's wrong." Uraraka started again, this time, calling him by his real name. "I'm worried about you. This morning too. What's happening? You know you can talk to me, right?" She pat his shoulder.
Izuku swallowed thickly, not sure if he
should tell her or not. He was scared. The last time people found out he was deaf, it didn't exactly go well...
"Uraraka," he started. "Promise nothing'll change? I just— you're a dear friend of mine, I don't wanna lose you."
"Nonsense, Izuku. Of course you won't lose me. You're one of my closest friends ever, I just want to make sure you're okay." She expressed.
The fear never left. Izuku was still terrified of telling her. This is how it exactly went last time as well.
But... Ochako felt different. He felt like he could trust her.
She wouldn't leave him, right?
"I—" Izuku paused. "Where do I even start?" He chuckled nervously to himself. "Take your time." The brunette told him quietly, hoping to ease his worries a little. "I promise I won't leave you, I'll promise to hear you out. And if you feel like you can't do it. I'll wait." She smiled softly as him.
His gaze softened, starting to trust her words a little more.
He swallowed hard, his gaze shifting to his feet for just a moment, before looking at her.
"I'm sure you've noticed how sometimes I don't necessarily answer people the first time they talk to me, right?"
Ochako nodded. "Why do you think that happens?" Izuku asked.
"I dunno, I always assumed we didn't speak loud enough or something. Or that you spaced out." She shrugged.
"No matter how loud you say it, I won't be able to hear it, Uraraka." Izuku smiled sadly.
Ochako froze for a moment. Did she hear that right. "What- what do you mean by that? I mean, you're talking to me right now, just—"
"I'm lip reading, Uraraka." Izuku admitted. "I have been lip reading all of you, this whole time." He added. "I'm deaf." Izuku felt his stomach churn nervously, it felt like he was going to explode. He hated how quiet she was after that.
"Please say something, you're scaring me." Izuku pleaded quietly.
"So... So you can't hear me right now?" Uraraka confirmed again, to which Izuku nodded. "Oh my gosh.." She let out a soft gasp.
Izuku just watched her, hoping this wouldn't go downhill. "You're not mad, are you?" He asked, swallowing thick.
"Of course not." Uraraka responded. Well, that was surprising, and certainly not what Izuku expected to hear. "Izuku, why would I be mad? It's obvious it's something you're not so open about. So when you finally tell me about it, why would I be mad?"
"I... I didn't think of it that way. I guess, a few people earlier in my life didn't really react to it the best way when they found out." Izuku shrugged, making the brunette frown.
"How do you like that, huh, Midoriya?" The blond smirked, pressing it harder against the poor boy's arm.
"Oh Izuku," She pulled him into an embrace. "I'm so sorry. You don't deserve that. Nobody does. I'm so sorry." Izuku had pulled away just enough to read her lips. Why are you apologizing? It's not your fault. "Don't apologize. It's okay." He expressed.
"How- How did it happen, do you mind me asking?" Uraraka approached the topic carefully. Izuku let out a soft sigh before he began.
"When I was a kid, I got into a car accident. The impact was so strong that it damaged my eardrums permanently." He said. "I, uh, a-also lost my dad in the process. From the impact." He cleared his throat, directing his gaze to the floor, not wanting to be interrupted. "My dad was the only one working at the time, so my mom had to take up multiple jobs to pull his weight and be able to provide for our family. It was hard, but I'm proud of her for pulling it through."
"When I was allowed to go to school again, everyone treated me... differently. Nothing was the same. Some would pity me, others would bully me, they would assume things about me, it just... it was horrible, I'll tell you that." Izuku shrugged. "The most popular kids bullied the hell out of me. I think the rest of them just followed the crowd. It's like they chose to do whatever everyone else did rather than being unique." Izuku scrunched his eyebrows together. "Some of the teachers too. Others just didn't care." He finally looked back up at her.
"I'm so sorry about that, Izuku. I'm disappointed to hear that even the teachers acted like that. I mean, you'd expect them to have common sense and be understanding of things since they're the older ones, but I guess not." Ochako bit her lip. "Sorry if this is inappropriate to ask, but did you ever think of getting hearing aids? I know they're expensive and all, but I'm sure they do help."
Izuku paused at that, remembering a memory he regretted to live through. "I..."
Izuku nervously made his way through the hallways of Aldera Junior High. He directed his gaze down to his feet, as he heard some of the students whisper into each other's ears. He adjusted his hearing aids slightly, not wanting to make eye contact with any of them.
Even though he had told his mother that he didn't want hearing aids, she still worked hard and earned enough money to buy hearing aids for him. She insisted, just wanting her son to be happy. He couldn't have possibly denied them from her when she was so insistent. She worked hard to buy them, after all. They were expensive too. Izuku had the type of hearing aids that would go and attach behind his ear, along with a plastic tubing that lead into his ear.
"Hey, isn't that the freak he was making fun of a few days ago?" One girl pointed at Izuku, he could tell he was pointing at him from the corner of his eye. He frowned. "Hey, what if he hears us?" Izuku assumed it was one of the girl's friends who asked. "How can he? He's fucking deaf. He can't hear shit!" She laughed.
Izuku had the strong urge to call her out, telling her he could actually hear her because of his hearing aids. But he didn't. instead, he just tuned his hearing aids a little, so he wouldn't hear them anymore. It's okay. It's your last year here. Then you can try and apply to U.A, your scores are great, Izuku. He told himself. They'll accept you. Then you won't have to deal with these people anymore.
Izuku sat down in his seat, his hands shook as he took his notebook out and quickly covered the slurs and insults on his table with it. He looked out the window. It's okay. Just two more months of school left. Two months of them.. Then it'll be over. You'll graduate.
The teacher walked in, silencing everyone in class.
Izuku tried his best to pay attention in class, writing down notes, and tuning up his ephedrine aids to hear the teacher more clearly.
Izuku did have friends. Just two of them in Junior High. And even though they weren't so fond of him at times, he would still be more than grateful for them to at least stick around by him.
He'd always turn his hearing aid's off during lunch time because of how loud the cafeteria would get.
"Yo. Midoriya, you'll have my homework done by tonight, right?" One of his friends asked, Izuku nodded at him with a wide smile, sitting down across from them at their lunch table.
He tuned his hearing aids out, and began eating his food peacefully. Well, that was until he looked up for a moment, and saw both of his friends laughing together. "What's so funny guys?" he asked, tuning his hearing aids back in again to hear his friends.
They huffed at him in annoyance before one of them finally responded. "I just told a joke, but never mind, you wouldn't get it." Izuku's smile faltered at that. "Ah."
"It's so annoying to have to repeat myself for you sometimes." Oh. He didn't expect that. "I... see. I'm sorry. I'll try not to do it again." Izuku apologized, he no longer felt like eating the rest of his food. It's okay Izuku, they're your friends. They don't mean it.
"Alright everyone, for P.E this class period, I'm gonna need you all to run 4 laps around the track by the end of the class, if you finish early, you can take a break. Sound good?" Everyone yelled out their responses. "Alright, go."
As Izuku jogged, he noticed a few guys walking toward a more secluded places outside the school. They had a pair of cigarettes, a few white drug packets, and a lighter with them. Izuku frowned, gradually slowing his pace down and following them.
He made sure to keep himself hidden from the group, hiding behind one of the school walls.
When he saw a few of them starting to light up their cigarettes, opening the packets up and laying the powder in a line, and snorting it into their noses, he felt like he had to interfere.
"H-Hey, that's not allowed on school grounds." Izuku told them, his expression guarded. He tried to level his voice as much as possible.
"Huh? Who the hell—" The blond turned around, to be met with the green etta standing there nervously. "Midoriya? Is that you?" He grinned wide.
A cold shiver ran down Izuku's spine, he immediately recognized that voice. Neito Monoma.