I ended it. After nine months of what I thought was a happy relationship, I had ended it just like that. I knew I'd done the right thing, but u was still as miserable as could be. I began to call in sick to all of my responsibilities. From tutoring, to JSL classes, I had skipped out on them all. I sat in bed for what felt like a month, alternating between eating ice cream and crying, all the while binge watching every romance tv show or movie I could find.

And now, as I approached what would've been my third week of wallowing, I decided it was finally time to get up and out of bed, and to stop being sorry for myself. As reluctantly as it may have happened, I still pulled myself up, shlumped out of bed, and took a leisurely shower. Once I had gotten out, I walked over to my closet, leaving tiny puddles of water wherever I stepped. The little tempting voice inside my head told me to just crawl back in bed, to crawl back into my hole of sadness, and to eat more ice cream.

But as much as I may have wanted to do that, I knew I wanted to go out, to see my friends, even more. So, I got dressed, grabbed my phone, headed downstairs, and, with a not-so missing heart, took hold of my bike. I didn't know where I was going, but I peddled as if I knew I did. The passing trees blurred into a green gradient as I passed them, and the unusually warm winter morning sun comforted me like it was a blanket.

The scolding that I was bound to get from Ms Akasuki made me cross off visiting her off my list of things to do. My brain scanned over all the things I could do, probably forgetting some as usual, before eventually remembering.

"Now you don't hesitate to come back anytime, you hear! I'd love to be able to chat some more!" Mitsuki told me just as I looked back from my place on the sidewalk to wave at her and Bakugo.

Maybe...
Well, I should probably call first.

After hopping off my bike, (in fear of another accident) I pushed down on the kickstand to park it. The phone line rung and rung. Before finally on what seemed like the very last second, someone on the other end answered.

"Who's this?" The normally grumpy voice answered softly.

"Hey! It's Y/N Natsuku! I was wondering i-"

"First my address and now my phone number? You stalking me or somethin'?"
He asked.

"No of course not! I have all the contact information for everyone in class. You had to enter it when you signed the entry form remember?" I tried to explain, trying to make him not think I was a creep.

"Tch, sure. If you say so. What the hell did you want?" The grumpiness had easily reappeared.

"Well I actually wanted to talk to your mom about some stuff. Could I come over?"

"No." He said stolidly.

"Really??" I questioned

"Really."

"Put your mom on the phone please." I pleaded

"No."

Beep.

First he slams a door in my face, twice might I add, and now I've gotten hung up on. 'You know what, screw it.' I thought. I'm sure Mrs Mitsuki wouldn't mind if I came over, especially if I told her that I at least attempted to call first.

When I arrived to the familiar destination, Mitsuki was kind with a flare of spice, just as she was when I first met her. She welcomed me to come inside, fussing at Bakugo for his rudeness. She must be where he got his... 'flare' from.

I got a reluctant greeting from Bakugo, and right as me and Mitsuki started talking, he left to go back upstairs to what I assumed was his room. "It's so nice of you to stop by again! You really are just a delight to be around, you know that? What was it you needed to talk about, sweetie?"

I hesitated, the question I wanted to ask was a bit of a personal one. I hope I wasn't stepping out of line by asking. But, I was sure that if I could just get through to Bakugo, he'd start opening up to everyone else at class. After all, he was going to be there for quite a while unless he transferred, so I really wanted him to be comfortable.

"Well actually..... I was wondering if I could know more about Bakugo's diagnosis." I looked down sheepishly, focusing my eyes on the intricacy of the carpet fibers beneath my feet.

She sighed. "The doctors said he has NIHL. Are you familiar?"

"Noise induced hearing loss, yes. It's from his quirk, I assume?" Looking up, her eyes had came to a sympathetic gaze.

"Yes, in his left ear it's moderate, he hears most things, but doesn't always understand it. The loss in his right ear is severe, Bakugo says speech is basically inaudible for him on that side." Mitsuki began to explain.

I nodded, glad I could get a better grasp on his condition. One little question still poked the back of my mind. It takes time for that kind of hearing loss at that severity to develop.

"I'm sorry if this comes off wrong but... how come it's that bad and he's just now getting into learning JSL?" I pried a bit.

"It's cause of him, actually." She sighed, gripping a fistful of the fabric of her skirt in her hand. "He started loosing it when he was twelve. Never told us though,  he didn't want anyone to make fun of him for it. He just dealt with it, until about four months ago when it got so bad he finally had to come clean so he could get help."

I nodded again. Knowing Bakugo, that sounded about right. "Has he gotten hearing aids? I never see him wearing them at classes...."

"Well we got him some but half the time he doesn't wanna wear them because 'they make him look like a pruny old grandpa.'"

I sighed, I knew a lot of young kids though like that. I had a sweet little girl last year who I tought, and to help her with learning how to like wearing hers, I painted them pink with little crowns. She loved them, and after that, her mom told me she started wearing them everyday like she was supposed to, and would even show them off to her friends.

"I dunno if he'd be interested, but Ive actually painted a couple peoples hearing aids before. You know, just to make them look a little nicer and help them getting comfortable. I could do his if he'd like." I offered.

Although I didn't think he would want his painted pink (unfortunately), or if he'd even want them painted in the first place, but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

"Oh goodness!" Mitsuki exclaimed, popping up from her seat and clasping her hands together excitedly. "That'd be wonderful!! I'll go get him and ask right now! KATSUKI!" She jogged off, practically leaping up the stairs.

Just a few moments later, she returned into the living room, this time a clearly angry yet quiet Bakugo being dragged by his mothers pinch on his arm. "He said he'd love too!" She exclaimed again.

"Oh well I'm low on supplies so I'll have to go shopping..." I tried to explain.

"Wonderful! Why don't you two go shopping then! That way you can talk about ideas and pick out colors and such!" Mitsuki's tone was the polar opposite of how gloomy she sounded just a few minutes ago.

"Uhm....." I started, looking at Bakugo for even just a sliver of approval. He looked back at me with reluctant eyes, he really didn't look like he wanted to go. "Maybe some other day, I don't wanna take any of his time."

"Oh don't worry about that! I'll go grab his coat incase it gets chilly!"

In no time, me and Bakugo were walking towards a craft store that I'd been to a couple times before. His pissed look still plastered on his face, even though he just stared at the concrete, his hand in his pockets as we walked. My bike wheels turning made for good background noise as I walked with my hands on the handles, guiding it so it rolled right beside me. He didn't look like he wanted to talk, but I figured it couldn't get any more awkward than it already was.

"Sorry about this..."

He didn't skip a single beat waiting to respond. "Don't apologize. It's that old hags fault."

I swear, every time he talks, it comes out with zero emotion whatsoever. I looked over at him, and he had finally dropped his angry face, and for once, I was able to notice some of his facial features. He had a sharp jawline, despite his slightly chubby cheeks. His hair covered all of his forehead, and just barely any of his eyebrows, and his eyes were so deep of a red that you could easily not even notice their unique color if you didn't look close enough.

"Stop staring, weirdo." He scolded. I hadn't even noticed I'd been looking long enough for him to take notice. Turns out, it could one hundred percent get more awkward than it already was. I made the executive decision to shut up until we got to the store and leave Bakugo be.

Once we arrived to the shop, it wedged in between two other stores, I reluctantly guided him to the paint isle, and attempted to spark his creativity. "Alrighty! So what colors do you like? You hit me as an orange and black kinda guy.... and green, maybe."

"Whatever. That'll work."

"You sure? I don't want them to be colors you don't like. Just pick out whichever ones you like." I told him, pointing to the large shelf of bottles of paint.

"Fine." Bakugo grumbled once more.

"Make sure that if you want a little design on them to keep that in mind when picking." I added.

While he was choosing, I decided to pick up some more paint brushes. I always seem to get too lazy when I paint and end up ruining all my brushes by leaving paint to dry in them. You can never have too many, right?

"Hey, Y/N." Bakugo called.

I turned my attention from the brushes back to him, "Yeah?"

"Why are you doing this? Ya' know, trying to make me feel welcome or whatever."

"Cause it's my job, silly. My official title is "Greetings Manager and Apprentice Speaker of Cho-Shogai Learning Center for Disabled Communications." I stated proudly, lifting my chin high and crossing my arms sassily.

"Oh." He turned away from me, looking at the paints in front of me once again.

I dropped my little act, and instead spoke up again, "Also..... you remind me of someone who used to be really special to me."

Bakugo grabbed a battle of paint from the shelf and then turned to look at me. He just stood there for a moment, practically burning holes through my skull. I gave him a small sympathetic smile, and hoped he wouldn't ask about what I just said.

To my relief, he didn't say anything big else and instead grabbed two more bottles and tossed them into the shopping basket I had hanging on my arm. I looked down to see which ones he had picked, and smiled. Orange, green, and black.

When I looked back up he was already walking towards the register, hands shoved in his pockets once more. I jogged after him, and after a argument over who was going to pay (which I won), we were finally done shopping.

On the way out, however, one of the doors to a shop we were about to walk past swung open and nearly made me fall over. I stumbled back a bit, regaining my balance shortly after.

"Oh, hey Shiryoku." I said, seeing who the person who had swung the door open so forcefully

Meari Shiryoku, resident 'glamour girl' of CSLCDC (Cho-Shogai Learning Center for Disabled Communications.) According to her, she was learning sign language so that she could flirt with deaf boys. Me and her have never and probably will never get along.

"Y/N! Oh my god so nice to see you! How's your brother doing is he still having..." she paused for a moment, looking to Bakugo and then back at me.
"...issues."

I choked out a fake cough, "He's doing fine thanks for asking."

"Oh that's so good sweetie." Her voice was unusually high pitched, making her sound unnaturally sweet. "Well hey, Katsuki." She grinned, looking at Bakugo and twirling a strand of her hair around her finger.

"Hey." He gave her a quick upwards nod.

The tension in the air started to make me very, very uncomfortable. "Uhhhhh, well I've got to get going. See ya later!" I shouted, jumping on my bike and speeding away before anything else could be said.

~~~
I use too many freakin commas lmao

also

2k reads I-

Let me reiterate

TWO
THOUSAND
READS

🤯
make my head go b o o m

I should prob mention that the story will be in full swing by chapter 12 and I mean F U L L. S W I N G.
so hang in there :)

2203 words