Archive of Our Own ^beta

"No," Katsuki hisses under his breath as Izuku drags him down the stairs and towards Mr. Aizawa's room. "I don't want to-"

"Maybe not," Izuku cuts the other off, so audibly frustrated that the other shuts up automatically. "But you need to. I'm not taking no for an answer, Kacchan-"

"Boys," Mr. Aizawa drawls, and the two quiet so quickly they swear crickets chirp in the hall. "Is there a reason you're being so loud?"

The man is standing halfway in his doorway, exhausted yet awake enough to set a sharp glare on them. Izuku hadn't even realized they'd been fighting loudly.

"Sorry," Izuku manages out, glancing at the blond from the corner of his eye. "But we have something we need to talk to you about-"

"No we don't," Katsuki cuts him off gruffly, turning around and starting to walk away before Izuku grips his arm and flashes the tired man in front of them a smile. "Fine."

"Thank you," he sighs to his friend, rolling his eyes and dragging him past Mr. Aizawa and into the man's living room. "We really do need to talk to you though."

With a rough shove, he shoves the scandalized Bakugou Katsuki onto the couch and crosses his arms at him. "Tell him what the quirk doctor told you," he orders, then narrows his eye as Katsuki hesitates. "C'mon, he needs to know. You don't have to tell our classmates, but you do have to tell him."

Aizawa raises an eyebrow. "Bakugou," he starts, making the blond glance over at him. "If it's as serious as he's implying, then I should be informed. It's my job as your homeroom teacher to keep you safe during heroics training, and if something is wrong with your quirk or if it's having unintended side effects on your body, I have to be prepared to handle situations in which it may detriment you."

Katsuki groans, putting his head in his hands. "Fuckin... fine," he grits out, and Izuku reaches out to put a hand on the shoulder, which makes the blond startle but not pull away. "My stupid doctor said I'm going deaf. My explosions are too loud and too frequent, so it's been putting strain on my eardrums."

"Even if he isolates it and stops using his quirk," Izuku finishes for him, seeing as the explosive boy can't. "The damage is done. His hearing loss is going to keep progressing."

"I'm sorry to hear that," their teacher says after composing himself, sitting down in the armchair in front of the sofa. "Have you already ordered hearing aids for your costume, or are those out of the picture?"

"Oh, I'm making them," Izuku says nonchalantly. "I figured this would happen when I was younger, so I designed my own pair and all it needed was a few edits. Kacchan designed a cover for them, so he'll be making that-"

"You're making... your own hearing aids," Aizawa says slowly, sinking back into his chair with a sink and a look that screams 'I need a drink and it's not even eleven PM'. "Why am I even surprised? Have you been safe with the creation, testing them?"

"Oh! Yeah, Mr. Powerloader said I can use the support workshops as I need," Izuku smiles brightly. "Hatsume is helping me with the actual building, as I've never made anything quite so intricate."

The black-haired man is visibly reconsidering all of his past choices, and it makes Izuku stall, sharing a confused look with Katsuki, who gives him a disgruntled shrug. "Look, it's fuckin' fine," the blond rolls his eyes at their teacher. "Izuku was going to go into support if he didn't make it into Heroics. He knows what he's doing."

"As much as I want to believe you, just make sure you've got supervision," Aizawa sighs, pressing a hand to his forehead. "And we'll make revisions to your heroics track so you can train with and without the aid. You'll need to learn how to adapt to silence."

Izuku perks up, raising his hand excitedly and then remembering that he doesn't have to, awkwardly lowering it. "Right, um," he swallows, fiddling with his fingers. "Is it okay if I join him? I'm deaf in one ear, so I need to train without my hearing aids too..."

The man just heaves a hefty sigh.

"You'll need to tell your classmates at some point," Aizawa murmurs into his palm as he drags his hand down his face. "I understand if you want privacy; however, your classmates need to be aware of your weak points while you train to fight with them. Otherwise, you or they may experience harm."

Katsuki swallows, and Izuku pats his shoulder. "I'll do it first," Izuku offers, the signature waves of anxiety thrumming in his chest. "It'll lessen the impact yours will."

Izuku is, after all, consciously aware of how people receive him. He understands that they might not ever look at him the same, knowing that he's disabled, but they'd learned about his past quirklessness and never so much as batted an eye. He wants to trust them, so he would do it anyway.

"No," the blond interjects suddenly, standing from where he once sat on the couch. "No, I-I'll do it first."

"If that's settled," their teacher drawled, and both boys jump; they'd forgotten he was there, despite them being in his dorm section. "Then off to bed. I'm proud of the two of you for coming forward."

Izuku smiles, grabbing his friend's hand and pulling him back through the door they'd came from, gently closing it behind him.

The walk back to the dorms is in silence, until Katsuki squeezes his hand from where they'd never let go. "Thank you," the blond says cautiously, red eyes locked onto something ahead of him - although Izuku knows he's just avoiding meeting the greenette's eyes. "For making me. Even though I really hate you right now."

Izuku snorts, squeezing Katsuki's hand back and then letting it go right as they get to the doors of the common room. "I'm proud of you for telling him yourself," he smiles, then gets more serious. "Although I'm gonna hold you to what you said; you're going to tell the others soon, okay? You know they won't think less of you."

The blond sighs, lifting a hand to brush it against the back of his neck. "Fine," he grumbles. "Fuck off, don't worry about it. I'll do it eventually."

"Good," Izuku chirps, and then the pair separate and head to their own rooms.

As Izuku stares at his blueprints late into the night, meticulously writing down measurements, he can't help but smile.

'Mission: Tell Sensei' is a success.