Listen up, a**hole - Chapter 8

Bakugou pulled a face when he saw the message from his agency – it was rare that they did anything other than phone him, for what they claimed was security reasons, so when he got a message from them it was usually because he was avoiding their calls for some reason or other.

Which, he supposed, he technically had been.

Reluctantly he tapped to open it, bracing himself for abuse for not picking up, or worse, a summons to the agency to be fired for his words.

“I know it's your day off and you're entitled to take that time to yourself, but I got a call this morning I think you'll want to hear about. Give me a call when you get the chance.”

Well, he supposed that was an okay sign.

He hit the call button, sighing as he waited for it to connect, and by the second ring his boss was already picking up.

“Bakugou, good to hear from you. How are you?”

“If I'm being fired, just tell me now.”

“What? Why? What did you do?”

“Don't pretend you didn't see the press conference yesterday.”

“What?” she asked again. “You did great. I thought you handled it very maturely.”

“Haaah? I yelled at the shits for being judgmental.”

“And stood up for a thousand people in the process. You're not being fired, don't worry about that. I would promote you if you'd let me.”

“Fuck off, I'm not doing that admin shit.”

“Exactly. Alright, so do you want to hear about this call?”

Bakugou fell onto the couch with a sigh, nodding even though she couldn't see him do it.

“Yeah, hit me.”

“So there's a school out west that's populated by Deaf students, and the kids were going nuts this morning about your interview. And yes, they know you're not deaf, but they adore the idea of a top hero who wears hearing aids. So one of their teachers called, and she asked if there was any way she could get a couple of signed posters for the classrooms or something. These kids are so inspired by you, I thought the least we could do is record a video for them or send a letter?”

Bakugou didn't answer for a moment, his thoughts drifting back to a little boy in a wheelchair in the middle of a cafe.

“You got her phone number?” he asked finally. “The teacher can hear, right?”

“Yes! Some of the teachers can't, but this one can!”

“Alright, I'll phone her and sort something out, send me her number.”

“Will do! Enjoy your long weekend, Bakugou. Don't let the reporters get to you, I'll shut them all down if it gets too bad.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Within moments of hanging up, the number was on his screen, and he stared at it for a moment in silence.

What kind of a damn role model was he supposed to be, when he wouldn't even say the word hearing aids?

Not that it mattered, he supposed, if the kids couldn't hear him anyway.

He dialled the number, listening to it ring again and again. He was used to people waiting on his calls, used to people picking up in a heartbeat, it was strange to hear it actually ring for once.

“Hello?”

“Hi,” he said awkwardly, running a hand through his hair. “This is, um, Ground Zero. Sorry, it still sounds weird to introduce myself by hero name. I think you called my agency this morning?”

“Oh my goodness! Yes! Thank you, Mister Ground Zero, Sir! I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting a call so soon! Let alone from you! Thank you for taking time out of your day for me!”

“Oh, no, it's fine. It's my day off anyway, you're not interrupting anything important.”

“Your rest is important too! Thank you so much! I'll try to keep it brief! Um, so I work at a school for the Deaf, and I know you're not – obviously, I mean, we're talking now! – but the kids were just so excited to find out you were hard of hearing! They always thought they couldn't be heroes, you know? But now they're all so inspired! And I just thought maybe if you had any spare posters around, maybe you could sign them for us, if it's not too much trouble? We're happy to pay, of course!”

“Oh, God, I'm not looking for money,” he assured her, frowning. “Uh, no, I called because – I mean, you can say no obviously – but do you think... Um, I could come and visit the school?”

The lady paused, and Bakugou huffed out a laugh.

“I mean, I don't know how much it'll do, if they can't hear me speak, but I can show them my quirk and my- my hearing aids, you know? They can see it for real.”

“That would be the most amazing day of their lives,” she informed him, with an almost painful sincerity. “Would you really?”

“Would Monday be okay? I know it's short notice, but I won't have another day off patrols for like ten days. I guess I could try to arrange cover or something?”

“Monday would be perfect!” she answered quickly. “We'll make it fit! Absolutely!”

“Cool,” he agreed. “Um, send me the address and time and stuff. You can get my number from this call, right?”

“Yes! I'll send them right away!”

“Alright, cool. I'll see you on Monday then.”

“Thank you so much! The kids will be so excited!”

He said his goodbyes and hung up, waiting barely two minutes before the message came through with an address and bell times, and he took a screenshot quickly just in case he managed to lose the message. His laptop sat on the table in front of him, so he flipped the lid open, firing up an internet browser and glancing at the message again.

It was time to do some research.

─────

Bakugou grumbled when the doorbell rang, holding on tighter to Midoriya's shirt and keeping his eyes firmly closed.

“Shut up,” he complained, the moment Midoriya opened his mouth. “Pretend we're not home.”

“Kacchan, come on,” he laughed, nudging at him in an attempt to shove him off. “It's probably just the mail, I won't be long!”

“They can leave it at the door, shitty nerd!”

It rang again, and Midoriya sighed at him fondly, kissing the top of his head and shoving him off despite the pitiful look he got for it.

“I know, Kacchan,” he smiled. “I'll be back in a second.”

As he stepped away, leaving Bakugou sulking on the couch, the doorbell rang a third time – and this time, it didn't stop. Someone was holding the button down with determination, and Bakugou stood up to go swear at them.

“I told you they'd be home!” a familiar voice said triumphantly. “Hey, Midoriya! We brought pizza!”

Bakugou groaned, but his idiot friends only grinned as they barged their way inside, arms loaded with cardboard boxes.

“Bakugou! There you are!”

“Shouldn't you be fuckin' working?” he accused, narrowing his eyes at Kirishima and Kaminari. “It's Saturday night, assholes, you always patrol downtown on Saturday nights."

“Took the night off since our best friend wasn't answering his phone!” Kirishima grinned, dumping the pizza on the living room table. “How are you, dude?”

“I'm fine, asshole. Was enjoying a peaceful fuckin' night in with my damn boyfriend.”

“Awww, cute! Well, now you can have an extra fun night in with your best buds!”

Bakugou glared as they all filed in, settling themselves on the rug, and Bakugou shot a stern glare at Midoriya in the doorway.

“I told you not to open the damn door,” he growled. “Stupid nerd.”

“Come on, Kacchan, it'll be fun!” he grinned sheepishly. “We can cuddle any time! It's not often that all our friends can be here at once!”

“Did you plan this shit?”

“No! Of course not!”

“Gonna kick your ass if I find out you were involved.”

“I wasn't! I swear!”

With a long sigh he fell into his spot on the couch, shoving Kaminari out of the way with his foot, but his friend only laughed and shifted obediently. He held out his arms, dragging Midoriya into his lap, and with one arm wound around his waist, the other feeding pizza into his own mouth, he settled in.

His friends laughed and ate and sucked down beer, telling stories from their recent patrols, but as time wore on he found himself getting antsy. Hours passed, the night growing dark beyond their little apartment windows, and finally when the conversation paused, he snapped.

“Is one of you assholes gonna ask about my fucking announcement, or what?”

The room burst into cheers and whoops, and Midoriya giggled when Bakugou stared at them all blankly. Ashido reached into her bag, dragging out another cardboard box, and Bakugou just watched as she flipped it open and produced a lighter for the lone candle.

“Happy Birthday” was written across a pretty white cake, only someone had messily scrawled out “birth” and replaced it with “ear”. Bakugou couldn't help but snort when he saw it, clapping a hand over his mouth as he burst with uncontrolled laughter.

“You're all such fucking dorks,” he snickered, when his friends grinned at him, full of self-satisfaction. “I swear to God, why am I even friends with you losers?”

“Haaaappy ear-day to you,” Kaminari sang, as he ducked out to the kitchen and returned with a big knife and a stack of plates. “Haaaaaaappy ear-day tooo you!”

“Happy ear-day to Bakugou!” the others chimed in, making Bakugou's face flush pink. “Happy ear-day to you!”

“Dumbasses.”

“Cut the cake, Bakugou!”

Despite his complaints, when Kaminari handed him the knife, he stabbed into the icing obediently. He made a point of cutting through the word “ear” heavily, but then they were all holding out their plates for a slice, as if there was absolutely nothing weird or idiotic about the whole situation.

“So what do you want to tell us?” Sero prompted, as he reached for a second slice. “You take the lead, bud.”

“Hmph,” Bakugou turned away, pouting a little, and the room waited patiently for him to find the words. “I'm not deaf.”

“No kidding, dude,” Kaminari laughed. “Anything else?”

“Um, my quirk is loud,” he muttered, blushing again for some reason he couldn't quite comprehend. “I guess it damaged my ears, so my hearing is... Well, it's the one part of me that isn't the best in the world.”

Midoriya snorted, but their friends decided to humour him for the night, smiling their encouragement.

“I wear these... things. Like, support tech. And they help, mostly. Sometimes they make shit too loud but I've gotten better at using the settings, and dumb Deku bought me some nerd gadgets that connect to them too.”

“Awesome!” Ashido grinned. “Well, Blasty, if you ever need us to do anything to make your life easier, let us know!”

The others nodded their agreement, except for Kaminari who looked deep in thought.

“Don't hurt yourself,” Bakugou sneered. “Gonna make your brain explode.”

“Huh?”

“Forget it. The fuck is eating at you?”

“Does it help,” he began, slowly and oddly loud. “If we taaalk more cleeearly?”

“You're the stupidest imbecile I've ever met,” Bakugou growled. “No, you fuck, that does not help.”

“Oh. What about-”

“Just- Fucking talk normally, alright? I swear I'm gonna kill you one day.”

“Okay! Oh, the normally, not the- please don't kill me.”

“You're all fucking dumb,” he grumbled, leaning his face on Midoriya's back. “I hate you all.”

“We love you too, Bakugou!”

“Die.”

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