As Kirishima took the seat he was directed to, he naturally scanned his eyes to the people around him, warming up to the faces that were soon to become familiar.

To his left was sat a blond guy, the only one who didn't even do so much as mutter a 'welcome' as he was expected to do when Kirishima introduced himself to his new class.

He looked grumpy, dismissive and tired. Really tired, actually. Resting his left cheek on his palm, he managed to catch Kirishima's gaze.

So naturally, the blond scowled at him, looking Kirishima up and down slyly before turning back to face the front of the class. It made Kirishima feel incredibly guilty, he felt as though he'd done something wrong or to offend the guy.

"Don't mind Bakugou," the guy to his right nudged his elbow as he almost whispered, gaining his attention, "he's just like that."

Kirishima was sort of relieved that he hadn't done anything wrong, but still felt somewhat bad nonetheless.

"Speak up if you're gonna talk shit!" The blond guy, 'Bakugou' apparently, piped up, speaking rather loudly as he rocked back on his chair to look directly at the guy who had just spoken.

"I didn't say anything bad, man!" The guy replied, raising his voice too.

"Bakugou, please be quiet. You don't wanna be sent to the office again, do you?" The teacher was oddly calm, his voice contrasting completely with the other two in the room.

Bakugou let out a 'tch' like sound as his chair fell into it's normal position. He still had an extremely sour expression on his face, but he had not said anything else, at least.

His voice was actually somewhat surprising. Not the tone or pitch of it, those were completely expected, but the accent. Sure, it wasn't entirely different to his own and the ones he had heard, but there was definitely a significantly more 'upper class' sound to it. Maybe he wasn't from around here. 

The class went on as normal as it possibly could've gone until they were dismissed for their short break before next period.

Although he knew the basic layout of the school, Eijirou wasn't quite sure as to where he was supposed to spend this time. He had a little map with him just in case he got lost, but it ended up being rather useless here.

To not look like he was just awkwardly standing around, he decided to head to the rooftop. It was a little chilly outside, but that seemed like a good place to start. Maybe he could work his way down the floors with each break until he'd decided on the best spot.

As he was about to open the doors, it came to his attention that barely anyone was there. No one, actually. If his goal was to make friends as quickly as possible, this probably wasn't going to be the place for him. However, he had already made it there, so he decided to go through with it.

A breeze washed over him as he opened the two doors, which was actually nicer on his face than he realised. He wasn't nervous about starting a new school, he didn't have to be, but the fresh air was a nice way to settle him to reality, remind him that this was a new start.

He had nothing to fear anymore.

As he expected, his phone began chiming with a familiar ring tone. His mother had said that she would call him when he was on break. Taking a seat on one of the benches that was positioned, he answered.

"Hey! Are you doing okay?" He asked, knowing they didn't have much time.

Bakugou listened in. It was pretty obvious Kirishima hadn't seen him, which wasn't a surprise considering that he was sat on the floor in the very corner.

Luckily the wind wasn't too loud.

"Yeah! I have a really good feeling about this. How is Kotone? No problems?"

Obviously without context this was impossible to understand. Bakugou didn't actually care either, in all honesty. It was in his natural instinct to try and listen to anything he could, which was beyond annoying to even himself.

"Not yet. There's a guy in class I think I might have annoyed, though. He looked at me kinda funny." Kirishima laughed at that, before his face turned a bright shade of crimson and the laugh dropped. "Mom!"

So he was on the phone to his mother. Bakugou could easily tell that they were talking about him. There was no one else it could've been. He didn't really care what they were saying and that was where it ended so he didn't bother dwelling on it.

Shortly after that, the phone was put down, Kirishima sighing as he did so. He looked to the sky and turned his face to a smile, trying not to take these quiet moments for granted.

He had started humming. It wasn't loud enough for Bakugou to be able to string together a tune, but he could tell it was humming non the less.

In that moment, with Kirishima's hair moving like tree branches did in the wind, the light bouncing off his skin to exaggerate the way he already glowed, the scar that was facing Bakugou looking like it was sparkling, Bakugou almost thought that he looked beautiful.

That didn't change anything, though. Bakugou wasn't going to just sit there and have to listen to Kirishima's dumb phone conversations every break. He'd given the guy the benefit of the doubt because it was his first day and he didn't know where people were to stick to, but that was his only pass.

———

It was another week before Kirishima showed up on the rooftop again. Bakugou hadn't expected it after he had failed to show up for the rest of the week, which was greatly relieving. The amount of immediate anger that got to him as soon as those doors opened wasn't a joke.

He wasn't going to try and be discreet this time. If Kirishima didn't notice then that further proved the notion Bakugou had conjured that he was an utter dumbass.

When Kirishima had sat down, he seemed stressed. He had closed his eyes as soon as he flopped onto the same bench as last time and was fiddling with his hands in a way that looked unnatural.

Wait, shit, no, that wasn't just fidgeting.

At taking a closer look, Bakugou realised something.

He could read what Kirishima's hands were saying.

It wasn't accidental either. It took Bakugou a second longer to notice, but Kirishima was signing the lyrics to one of Bakugou's favourite songs. There was no mistaking it.

So many emotions coursed through Bakugou all at once. What the fuck did this mean? Kirishima's ears were completely clean of any sort of aid so why the hell did he know how to sign so well? And he just happened to be signing one of his favourite songs, too?

In his head, there was no way in hell he could accept it as coincidence, and his first response to the unknown was to freak out about it.

Bakugou was never very good at holding himself back and especially when it came to Kirishima, all of his buttons were fucking pressed and his patience had completely worn thin.

"Oi!" Bakugou shouted, not wasting any time as he stood up and began stomping towards Kirishima, who had jumped out of his skin at the basically unfamiliar voice. "Bastard, are you mocking me‽ Think you're hot shit, huh‽"

Bakugou had taken hold of the lapels of Kirishima's blazer and pulled him up to eye level. The redhead was completely out of it, struggling to process what the hell was going on. One second everything was fine and the next he was mere centimetres away from an absolutely fuming classmate who he knew next to nothing about and never had an actual conversation with.

Kirishima didn't understand his anger. Didn't know when he'd even got there. Didn't know what he'd done.

It was human nature to fight or flight but Kirishima didn't want to do either.  Bakugou looked angry, sure, but there was a level of hurt behind those eyes that didn't quite match. Damn, his eyes were stunning.

Kirishima didn't attempt to struggle out of the grip or stand up properly, he let Bakugou seethe for a second before responding.

"Are you okay, dude?" He asked. Bakugou hated how genuine he sounded, how he almost looked upset at the possibility he'd upset Bakugou.

The blond couldn't bring himself to hurt him. Not when he wasn't fighting back or even so much as slightly scared.

With a 'tch', Bakugou slammed him back onto the bench and turned around, his arms folding as his back faced Kirishima.

"How do you know that fucking song?" He asked, biting his tongue as to not yell again. If he did, someone probably would have come to check on them. "And why do you know how to sign it?"

Kirishima watched Bakugou's back, intrigued in just what had brought this on.

The song was from a TV show he really liked, it was the theme that played at the end of it.

He knew how to sign it because he wanted his younger sister to be able to enjoy it too.

Hey guys! I took a long break from writing but as this covid shit is ruining everything (most likely including my 18th birthday rest in peace sign) and the seasonal depression is kicking up I should try and get myself involved again. So it is time for some hard of hearing Bakugou!! I need hearing aids myself and have done for years, it's kinda shocking I haven't touched this trope yet.

It might take a while to properly get into the swing of it and for my writing to up in quality so please bear with me.