#gonna correct some small oversights in the writing while I'm at it

[mortifying-macaroni]

I'm rereading my fic for the first time and I can't help but either laugh or go "oooh" at some of the things I've put out..

They're so fucking stupid and stubborn and in love I can't-

[paper-mirio]

Decrescendo

Bakugou Katsuki x Reader

Summary: When making hero costumes, the job of a support company is to maximize the efficiency of a quirk while also making sure the hero is protected. However, a massive oversight is made when nobody considers the consequences of constant exposure to loud explosives.

Words: 4,782

Warnings: mentions of blood, mentions of harmful accident, mentions of surgery, slight angst

A/N: I’d like to issue a major apology to @pawpaw-sev for taking a full year to write this. It’s finally here, and I hope you enjoy it. (I also peppered in hints of HOH!Midoriya, simply because I felt like it.)

"Tch, I get that you can't stand the old man, but at least give me a warning next time you pull some rebellious bullshit. You could've gotten us killed."

You took in a deep breath, willing down the words that threatened to spill out in anger. Not wanting to lash out at your boyfriend (since you knew that wouldn't result in anything pleasant), you steadied yourself and prepared to defend your actions for the third time that evening. The sight of Bakugou, focused on his phone and not even bothering to look at you when delivering the scathing comment, nearly made you snap. Having just sat through a lecture about holding responsibility and taking accountability for one's actions from a hero who seemed to do neither, you were reasonably on edge. Luckily, you'd managed to convince Endeavor you were being honest. You'd hoped your boyfriend would be just as willing to hear you out.

"It wasn't 'rebellious bullshit,'" you repeated, using air quotes. "I already told you, I didn't hear him give the order."

"Mhm, sure. Whatever you say."

It would seem he was not, in fact, willing to hear you out. You rolled your eyes. It wasn't as if his opinion mattered, anyway. He was only your boyfriend, the person you trusted with your heart.

"Let's just get back to campus, I need to go talk to Recovery Girl," you said before walking away. You'd only made it a few steps before being stopped by a hand on your shoulder. Bakugou stepped in front of you, eyebrows furrowed as he looked at you up and down.

"What do you need to see her for?" he asked, the bite in his voice from before missing. "I didn't see you get hurt earlier. What happened?"

You paused, confused by his question, before recognizing the look in his eyes as concern. Giving him a teasing smirk, you placed your hand atop the one that rested on your shoulder, giving it a small pat. "Aww, are you worried about me?" you laughed. "I'm fine, Endeavor just wants me to check in with her to make sure nothing's seriously wrong and that I can keep doing work-studies without any issue."

Bakugou raised an eyebrow. "How the hell does that answer my question?"

You let out a sigh. "My ears? I told you I didn't hear his instructions earlier. And like you said, I could've gotten us killed."

He narrowed his eyes at you before letting his hand fall from your shoulder. Turning on his heel, he began walking away. “Fine,” he grumbled, “but don't take too long. We had this movie night planned for weeks now, and we’re gonna start without you if you’re late.”

You let out an exaggerated gasp, placing your hand on your chest as you followed him. “Have you no loyalty, sir?” As you caught up to him, you made sure he saw you wipe a fake tear from your eye. “And here I thought I had a faithful boyfriend, but he would watch a movie without me?” Your attempt to hold in your laughter failed as Bakugou roughly shoved your shoulder. “And now he’s violent! Are there any lows you won't reach?”

Bakugou rolls his eyes, though you see a slight smirk forming on his lips. “Don't be late and we won't watch it without you, dumbass.”



You were late to the movie. Recovery Girl had apparently been off-campus, assisting with a surgery in Musutafu General Hospital. A third-year student interning under her was in her place at the infirmary. After taking you through a few examinations, she told you that you had some mild hearing loss, though it shouldn't impact your ability to continue your work-studies. Satisfied with this, you thanked her and returned to the dorm.

Despite trying to enter through the front door as silently as possible, you heard a shout of your name as soon as you stepped in. “There you are!” said Ashido, waving to you. “You only missed a few minutes, so hurry up and get over here! Bakugou saved you a seat.”

You laughed, closing the door behind you. “Alright, give me a second!” You quickly removed your shoes and ran over to the couch, ignoring Iida’s warning not to run. You dropped into the spot next to Bakugou, wasting no time before snuggling up into his side. He scoffed, but immediately wrapped an arm around you.

“Took you long enough,” he muttered. “I told you not to be late.”

“Oh? Weren't you the one who tried to get us to wait for them?” joked Kaminari. “What happened to the concerned boyfriend we saw just a few minutes ago?”

“Aww, you did?” you cooed. You leaned up and pressed a kiss onto his cheek, giggling at the blush that quickly formed. “Thanks for trying, Katsuki. Sorry I was late.”

Bakugou scowled, ignoring the teasing from your classmates after your display of affection. “Whatever, let's just watch the damn movie.”

You settled into your spot, a smile on your face as you directed your attention to the movie. After a few minutes, your smile began fading. You tried your best to follow the film, but at moments you just felt lost. It seemed the dialogue would reach your ears, but you couldn't quite make out what was said. Still, you could gather most of it, so you tried to bear with it for a bit longer. Eventually, however, you realized you weren't going to understand the plot if you couldn't hear everything. You let out a sigh, looking around the room. “Alright, who has the remote?”

The others looked to their surroundings, checking to see if it was near them. Bakugou raised an eyebrow, glancing at you. “Why do you need it?”

You gestured to your ears. “Can't quite understand it, so I was gonna turn on the captions.”

Bakugou nodded, before saying, “I can just raise the volume if you need me to. The captions are gonna take up a bunch of space on the screen.”

Mina shook her head at that, saying, “Uh, Aizawa-sensei said we needed to keep the volume down tonight. We already have it pretty high as is...”

Sero waved to catch your attention. “Wanna switch spots? You might be able to hear better closer to the TV.”

You frowned, shaking your head. “Ah, no, that's okay. Thank you, Sero.” You felt guilty about disrupting the movie this much already, and you didn't want to inconvenience anyone further. “I can just try and follow along as much as I can.”

“Found it!” exclaimed Kirishima. “It was beneath the couch cushions. I can turn on the captions for you if you want, (Y/N).”

You glanced around the room at everyone, shrugging to yourself. “If it won't bother anyone...”

Midoriya cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck. “Could you turn them on, please? I kinda need them, too...” Kirishima smiles at you two before hitting a button on the remote. You all turned back to watch the movie as it continued, now with captions accompanying the dialogue.

Bakugou, on the other hand, was looking over at Midoriya, something resembling guilt in his gaze, before glancing back down at you. “Your hearing’s not that bad, is it?” he murmured.

You shook your head, leaning into his side with a smile. “Probably not,” you answered. “It's just been a long day, I think. Nothing to be worried about.”



Bakugou coughed, the smoke and dust from the debris clouding the air around him. After clearing his lungs, he looked at his surroundings. The remains of the building surrounded him, but he luckily avoided being crushed under any of them. The sound of his commlink turning on ripped his attention from his surroundings, as one of Endeavor’s sidekicks spoke up. “Suspect is detained. Ground Zero and (H/N) stunned him enough for us to capture him while he tried to escape. Status?” Each member of the team gave their location and status, and medical teams were dispatched to those who needed them. Bakugou gave his location and reported that he had no injuries. “And (H/N)?” asked Endeavor.

Silence. No response over the comms. At this, Bakugou startled, quickly looking around him only to see nobody within sight. “Ground Zero, they were with you, correct?” asked the sidekick. You were. You had been right there, fighting the villain at his side. After cornering the villain, he'd shouted at you to move before rushing the villain. He'd set off a large explosion in close range to the villain, stunned by your attack, and to you, who hadn't moved. That was the last he'd seen of you before the roof collapsed, and now you weren't responding.

“Ground Zero?” Endeavor called, bringing Bakugou back to the present. He cursed under his breath, quickly standing and beginning to search the area for any sight of you. He looked around the area, hoping you had managed to avoid the falling rubble—unlike how you failed to avoid his attack. Shaking his head, trying to dismiss the thought, he continued to look for you, now shouting your name and waiting for some kind of response. If you had been trapped under the debris, there was nothing he could do but wait for help to come.

Cursing again, he spoke into the comms, “I need a rescue team at the northern side of the building. I can't find (H/N), and they're not responding.” As the sidekick began to assure him that help would be arriving soon, he heard loud coughing nearby. Quickly rushing to the source of the noise, which was a few meters away from what was left of that side of the building, he found you. You were leaning against the wall of the adjacent building, hands on your knees and trying to catch your breath.

His relief at seeing you, alive and safe, was quickly overshadowed by anger. He'd thought you were seriously hurt or worse, because you failed to dodge when he told you to, and you couldn't even be bothered to answer anyone when you were within range to hear the multiple times he called out to you. With a scowl on his face, he stormed towards you and went to grab your shoulder. “(Y/N) what the fuck was that back there—“

The second his hand met your shoulder, his world flipped and he was on his back on the ground. You’d pinned him down, moving to restrain him before meeting his eyes. Your eyes widened, and you quickly released him. “Katsuki?” You stood, reaching out a hand to help him up. “Geez, give me a bit of a warning before you sneak up on me like that. I thought you might've been that villain.” You grinned. “Nice attack, by the way. Pretty powerful too; my ears are still kinda ringing from it. Did they detain him?”

Bakugou looked at your hand reaching out to him, confusion plastered on his face. Maybe your commlink had been broken in the attack, he reasoned. That would explain your lack of response to the team, but...

“Yeah, they got him,” Bakugou explained, taking your hand and standing. “Don't fucking scare me like that again though, you hear me? When you didn't answer I thought—“

“Uh, Katsuki?” you cut him off. “Could you speak up? Can’t quite hear you when you mumble like that.”

“I’m not fucking mumbling!” he shouted. At this, both his and your eyes widened in shock. Yours, because you saw him clearly yelling at you, yet no sound reached your ears but the constant ringing. His, because he saw the small amounts of blood coming from your ears.

“Shit,” you both said.



You arrived back to the dorms with Bakugou, hands intertwined. It hadn’t even been a day since the mission, after which you'd been taken to a hospital. You'd undergone surgery to repair your ruptured eardrums, but your hearing couldn't be salvaged. In less than a day you'd gone from mild hearing loss to complete deafness in one ear and very little hearing in the other. Endeavor had excused you from your work-studies for the time being, as you needed time to adjust to things.

You took in a deep breath and squeezed Bakugou’s hand lightly to grab his attention. He looked to you, squeezing back to let you know he was listening. “I’m just gonna head to my room and get some rest. It's been a long day. Do you want to come with?” you asked, trying to put on a smile.

He nodded, not saying anything. He leaned in to press a kiss to your forehead, causing a far less strained smile to appear on your face. You squeezed his hand again to ground yourself before opening the door to the dorm building.

Almost immediately you were met with the sight of your classmates, all rushing to greet you. Some looked excited to see you, while others had looks of concern on their faces. All of them, from what you could see, seemed to be shouting at the two of you, probably asking questions about what happened while you were gone. You saw Bakugou shout something at them before they all went silent, focus solely on you now. You flushed under the attention, curling in on yourself slightly before giving them a small wave. “Hello?” you tried, not quite sure how to address them.

You saw Kaminari ask something while pointing at his ears, so you nodded and hoped you'd guessed his question right. “I got surgery on my eardrums because they got ruptured during the mission,” you explained, pointing to the cotton padding you had in both ears. “I have to keep these in for the next few days, and hopefully the support company will deliver my new hearing aids by then.” As soon as you mentioned hearing aids the questions started again, with many lips moving at once adding to your confusion. “In case I wasn't clear,” you stated, raising your voice and hoping it would be louder than they were, “I can't hear you all right now.”

That, again, shut everyone else up. From his spot near the front of the crowd, Midoriya waved to get your attention. Once your eyes were on him, he began to sign, “Are you alright?”

You smiled at him, suddenly very grateful that Midoriya had decided to teach you JSL when the two of you were younger. You let go of Bakugou’s hand, missing the way he frowned and looked at you in response, before signing back, “I will be.”

Koda perked up upon seeing this exchange, quickly joining the conversation by asking, “You two know sign?” When the two of you nodded, he turned to you. “Everyone's been asking what happened on the mission. Last we heard, you got taken to a hospital. Bakugou wasn't answering anyone’s calls or texts.”

You sighed. Of course Bakugou wouldn't update anyone. You couldn't help but think bitterly that you might've been in bed by now if Bakugou had answered everyone’s questions beforehand, but you didn't dare voice this aloud. You knew he felt guilty enough as is. “There was an accident during the mission. Certain...circumstances during work-studies meant I was slowly losing my hearing over time, making it harder to hear my team.” Those circumstances being constantly working with Bakugou without any ear protection. Explaining it to someone made the situation feel much more real to you, and you found yourself taking deep breaths and fighting back the burning tears in your eyes as you continued. “I wasn't able to move in time to dodge an explosion, and the blast pretty much took whatever hearing I had left.” Midoriya flinched at this, turning his gaze to Bakugou and narrowing his eyes.

Seeing this, you let out a shaky sigh before speaking aloud. “If it's alright with you all, I’d like to head to bed now. I'm very tired. Midoriya, if you could repeat what I said to everyone I'd really appreciate it.” Then, without giving anyone a chance to respond, you grabbed Bakugou’s hand again and rushed out of the room, heading upstairs to your room. You weren't able to hear how you sounded back there, so you could only hope nobody heard the shakiness of your voice or saw the tears building in your eyes. The last thing you wanted was for them to try and comfort you when you just wanted to be alone with Bakugou.

As soon as the two of you entered your room and the door shut, you let the tears fall from your eyes and pulled Bakugou into a hug. He hugged you back without hesitation, pulling you close. The two of you found your way to your bed, where you laid together in deafening silence for the rest of the night.



“How does it sound?”

The first words you heard clearly in over a week were spoken by Aizawa-sensei, who was sitting in Recovery Girl’s infirmary and observing as you tried on your new hearing aids. The small devices were high quality and incredibly expensive, though the support company that provided your costume had them delivered to you for free. According to Recovery Girl, your hero insurance would've covered much of the cost anyway, but the company appeared to be trying to avoid a lawsuit for not providing your protective equipment in the first place. Regardless, you weren't complaining about getting your hearing back for free.

“It's quiet,” you answered, but a large grin quickly overtook your face. “But I can hear you!” You saw Aizawa-sensei nod in response, a small smile on his face.

Recovery Girl handed him a small device. She was standing more than a few feet away, so she sounded much quieter, but you could just barely hear her. “Use this when you're teaching in class. It will send your voice directly to their hearing aids, so they won't have to worry about falling behind in class.” She made her way over to you, her voice increasing in clarity the closer she got. “As for you, while you're still benched from going on any further missions, those hearing aids will double as comm links when necessary.” She held out her hand, in which she held several small devices. “These microphones are smaller versions of the one I just gave your teacher. They're meant to be given to your teammates working in close range to you, so you can hear them without using the commlink up to a certain distance.” After placing the microphones back in the box with your new support equipment, she gently grabbed your hand. “Things won't quite be the same as they once were, but I know you'll be able to adjust. You’re a strong hero, after all.”

“Hero-in-training,” Aizawa-sensei corrected. “Speaking of which, class will be starting shortly. Are they free to go?”

Recovery Girl nodded, waving her hand dismissively, “Yes, yes, they can go now.”

You beamed, quickly standing up before bowing to Recovery Girl. “Thank you!” You rushed out of the infirmary, running towards class before your homeroom teacher could stop you. You rushed towards the 2-A classroom, throwing open the door before shouting into the room, “They work!”

The screams and shouts that filled the room couldn't have sounded more beautiful to your ears.



It was the first movie night the two of you had since you lost your hearing, and Bakugou wanted it to be special. Through some gentle persuasion, according to him, he'd managed to convince Sero and Kaminari to let the two of you use the common room that night, even though the two of them had already planned to play Mario Kart that night. Though you couldn't quite hear the conversation they had, the looks on their faces told you that the persuasion he used probably wasn't as gentle as he suggested.

But that didn't matter anymore. What mattered to Bakugou was you, cuddled up to his side under the blanket, a smile on your face as you looked at the screen. He had one arm draped over your shoulder while you hugged his torso, and the other hand held the remote. He was scrolling through the streaming service, looking for something that appealed to both of you.

“What about that Peerless Thief movie? Looks like it's finally out, and I heard it got good reviews,” Bakugou suggested, pointing at the screen where the poster was displayed. You shuddered at the sight of the titular villain; despite knowing it was just an actor in costume, he captured the image of the infamous villain with terrifying accuracy.

“No thanks,” you muttered. “I'd like to actually get some sleep tonight, if that's fine with you.”

“Pfft, what? It's not that scary, it's practically a documentary!” Bakugou teases, glancing down at you. You had buried your face in his shoulder, not wanting to look at the poster any longer. “What, you think the Peerless Thief is gonna come get you?”

“I don't know, maybe! They never caught him! For all we know he could still be out there, being a menace under the radar!” you exclaimed, throwing one arm up in exasperation. “Just hearing about him in class is scary enough, I don't wanna see any of that!”

Bakugou rolled his eyes, reaching his hand up to ruffle your hair. “All the more reason to watch it, then,” he said. “If you're so worried about him being out there, you can study this and see how he works so we can take him down together.”

It was your turn to roll your eyes. “Right, because two heroes-in-training can take down one of the most infamous villains of all time,” you muttered. Something caught your eye on the screen, and you pointed at it. “What about that one? A Heart That’s Ours to Share? I remember reading that book back in junior high.”

Bakugou looked to where you were pointing and grimaced upon seeing the poster. “Really? A shitty romance? This is what you wanna watch?”

“I know, I know, it looks kinda silly,” you started. “But trust me, it's a lot better than it looks. It ends up being closer to an action-thriller as it goes on. The romance is there, but it's mostly used to drive the rest of the plot forward.”

Bakugou opened his mouth to argue again, but swiftly closed it. He had to remind himself that tonight was about you, and letting you relax. If you wanted to watch some stupid romance, who was he to stop you?

“Tch, whatever,” he grumbled before hitting play. “I'm choosing next time, though.”

You grinned before leaning up to press a peck to his lips. “Thank you, hon! I love you!”

He blushed, letting out a huff. “Yeah, yeah. I love you too, dumbass.” He set down the remote, using his now free hand to wrap around you. He pulled you into his lap, causing you to let out a surprised gasp. Arms now resting around your middle, he leaned back into the couch with you and watched the movie play on the screen.

You looked at the screen, an excited grin on your face. As the opening credits ended, however, your smile faded as faint sounds entered your ear. Once you realized it was the dialogue, a frown settled on your face. The TV was outside the optimal range of your hearing aids, and the words spoken by the characters were nearly unintelligible.

“Um, Katsuki?” you mumbled. Upon getting a hum of acknowledgment, you continued. “Could you turn on the captions, please? I can't hear what they're saying.”

Bakugou inhaled sharply, muttering a shit under his breath before quickly reaching for the remote, being careful not to jostle you in the process. As soon as it was in his hands, he turned the captions on and rewound the film to right before the dialogue started.

Now able to understand what was being said, the smile returned to your face. “Thanks, Katsuki!” You leaned your head back to press a kiss to Bakugou’s cheek. Giggling at the blush on his face, you turned back to the screen and leaned back into his chest, relaxing as you focused on the film.

As you watched the movie together, you frequently glanced back to Bakugou at the more exciting or shocking parts to see his reactions. Much to your dismay, each time you looked you saw a deep frown on his face as he stared ahead at the screen. You sighed each time in disappointment and turned back to watch the movie. Maybe he just doesn't like it, you eventually thought. I’ll make it up to him next time, though. The two of you continued to watch in silence before you began to notice something. At some points throughout the movie, Bakugou would randomly tighten his grip on you, pulling you closer to him, only to let you go once you started to shift in his grasp.

Curious, you began to take note of when this would happen. After about three more times of this happening, you noticed it would happen during the more intense, action-packed scenes. And about an hour into the movie, you realized it only happened when an explosion was involved.

Ah, you realized. That’s what this is about.

You quickly reached for the remote and paused the movie. You turned in Bakugou’s lap to face him, eyebrow raised. His eyes were still on the screen for a few seconds before blinking a few times. He shook his head and turned his gaze to you, eyebrows furrowed.

“What the hell? I was watching that,” he grumbled. Despite his annoyed tone, he moved his hands to rest on your hips and pull you closer.

“Mhm, sure,” you said. You paused before raising a hand to place on his cheek gently. Letting your thumb stroke his face, you made sure to look him in the eyes as you asked your next question. “Katsuki, you know I don't blame you for what happened, right?” you asked. You immediately knew you hit the nail on the head, as he averted his eyes and his grip on your hips loosened. You saw his lips move as he mumbled something, but the sound didn't reach you. You sighed and shook your head. “You know damn well I can’t hear whatever you just said. What was that?”

“I said, I can't see why you don’t blame me,” he repeated, loud enough for you to hear. “This wouldn't have happened if I'd just...I don't know, listened to you!”

You frowned. “You know...maybe you're right.” At his shocked look, you shrugged. “Maybe if you'd listened to me, we might not be in this situation. Or maybe it might've happened anyway.” You saw his eyebrows furrow, so you continued, “Maybe if the support company provided equipment to protect my ears, I might not have lost any hearing in the first place. Maybe if Endeavor didn't assign us together so often I wouldn't be exposed to your loud explosions so often. Maybe if I'd had the common sense to think that constantly being around explosions might damage my hearing, this could've been prevented. But that's a whole lot of maybes.” You smiled gently at him leaning your forehead against his. “There's probably a lot of ways things could have happened, but they didn't. I’m deaf now, and that's just something I have to deal with. The only thing we can do now is move forward.”

Bakugou looked at you in stunned silence, unable to do anything other than nod. You leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips, and he responded eagerly. Your hands gently cradled his face, while his remained on your hips. After pulling away, you pouted at the frown on his face. “Now, could you smile for me Katsuki?” At your request, an unamused look sat on his face. You giggled, before pressing a peck to his lips. “No need to be grumpy!” Another peck. “I won't stop bothering you until you smile!” Another. “I can do this all night, you know.”

He smirked at that, his grip on your hips tightening. “Who said I wanted you to stop?”

You laughed, pressing one more kiss to his lips before turning back around to your previous position on his lap. “Come on, we’re about to get to the best part of the movie. I’ll kiss you as much as you want when it's over, deal?”

Bakugou leaned his head onto your shoulder, pressing one last kiss to your cheek. “Deal.”