Echo

prologue.

愛 *·˚ ༘ ➳ 𝑷𝑹𝑶𝑳𝑶𝑮𝑼𝑬 ❞

"-ear...g ai.."

even watching his lips, the movement was too subtle, he didn't quite catch it. katsuki blinked. his brows pulled together. "what the fuck did you just say!?"

kaminari jumped before smiling at his friend, speaking a bit louder and moving his mouth clearer, "i was just asking about your hearing aids," watching as katsuki's expression seemed to calm at the words, kaminari brushed it off before continuing what he was saying, "i was asking if you knew when they'd be done?"

oh.

his friends were on this topic again. his quirk, his hearing, possible solutions. it was like all they talked about now. "done soon," katsuki grunted, shifting where he sat to look at his phone again.

"done soon?" mina perked up, tilting her head to the side in question, "are they making them? do they not have any laying around or something?"

"i'm sure they do, but kat's gonna get them specifically and specially made for a few reasons," kirishima grinned, gesturing toward his blond friend. katsuki didn't seem to notice, his arms folded over his chest as he glared down at his device— he probably hadn't noticed kirishima had even gestured towards him, let alone hear the mention of his name.

"i'm glad things are moving pretty fast, though," sero grinned, playing with a few pieces of his tape. "but do you know if they said anything about fixing the cells that are already damaged?"

kirishima sighed, shaking his head, "it's permanent damage from years of the noise being exposed and so consistently," he tapped his fingers steadily on the desk. "and the healing quirks can only do so much, but like midoriya and his arms— there's a certain amount of harm things can take before the damage becomes irreversible."

"yeah, but i heard they're still searching," jirou said matter-of-factly. "quirks are only improving, getting better and more complexed, so maybe some time in the—"

"what the hell are you guys talking about!?"

katsuki looked around, watching the way kaminari glanced at jirou. the way mina paused, turning to sero. the way kirishima's gaze flickered between his friends before he placed a smile on his face. "uh-" he cleared his throat to speak louder. "basically we were just talking about how healing quirks may improve over time and stuff. so maybe someone will be able to reverse the damaged cells in your ear? you know?"

katsuki didn't like it.

he felt like an outsider in his own friend group- not only that, but a burden, too. who has time to pause halfway every sentence and fucking repeat themselves? who even wants to do that?

it was annoying, pathetic, and his dumbass friends were obviously starting to get irritated with him, too. he bet they all already were- they were just too much like... them to really say anything about it. they didn't want to hurt his feelings, like he was some kind of delicate, fragile leaf that would break with a slight whistle of wind. give him a fucking break.

regardless, he nodded slowly and the conversation continued. once again, he had no clue what they were talking about.

annoying. so fucking annoying.

katsuki clenched his fist before sighing. it wasn't their fault.

he stood up, pulling his bag over his shoulder and leaving to spend the free period elsewhere. if his friends had been calling after him— which they probably were— he couldn't hear them, any damn way, so not like it really mattered.