~Assorted BxB Oneshots~

Louder Than Words

TodoBaku Fluff

REQUESTED BY - N/A
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Shoto Todoroki

I hear everything everyone says. I understand them, and they mean a lot to me. They are usually kind, sometimes patronising, and a fair selection of them are only ever hurtful.

And I know them. I scream them in my mind whenever someone mocks me. I watched them crumble and cry as I told them how much I hated them, the words reverberating and hurting my head more than they had.

But I'd never said them. I don't know why - no one does - but I'd never been able to, even as a baby. I'd never made crying sounds, even though I'd tried to. It'd just been strained wheezing. The same as when I'd instinctively tried to scream for help when I'd been beaten up behind my school when I was 11. I'd tried and tried to tell them to stop, but I couldn't, and had only feebly held out my hands to beg.

Being mute left me isolated immediately. Humans are social creatures - they require stimulation from others in order to maintain a solid mental health state. I couldn't ever receive the stimulation of a normal conversation, and it put a lot of people off from even trying.

It also, naturally, complicated every aspect of my love life. I had no way to ask the loud, blond boy I knew as Bakugo out on the date I'd wanted since I met him. There was no way for him to get to know me, for us to discuss our interests, and for me to crack that brash facade he puts up.

I can tell it's fake, because I do the same. I'm not the same as him, and yet we are identically fake. He puts on the anger, I put on the smile. We are so similar, yet so incompatible...that it just might work out. He feels like the type I could pour my feelings out to, writing down everything I couldn't say and waiting as he read to catch up.

Writing stories is something I've always enjoyed. It feels as if it's a way for me to express the words I want to say through another's voice. I can put quotation marks around things I want to say, hearing them in a fictional character's voice. Stories are one of the only things I've ever enjoyed being praised for, and the only time it didn't feel forced.

Bakugo has read one of them, but he'd been his usual self and given it back to me with a "Tch, it's alright" before quickly walking off. Perhaps giving him a romantic one wasn't the best idea, at least not for the first time, especially given that one of the characters somewhat represented him. He'd not read any more after than one, and I didn't really mind. He spoke to me every now and then, but never for long, always the impatient type while I was writing a response. We were on the brink of friendship, but couldn't quite cross over, all of it due to my lack of words.

I felt a little bit like a passenger in the class. As if the rest of them carried me along with them, and I had little input myself. I'd been asked by a careers advisor a year ago what career I wanted to pursue - I'd written a concise note that said "teacher". That was when the patronising "but you can't" sigh came. She knew it was impossible, and I convinced myself she was wrong because she didn't care about whether I got there or not. This aspect was absolutely true, but I realised she was right about the former. I'd given up on teaching a while ago, when I'd tried to help a lost kid at the zoo, but couldn't say anything to help her. It was trivial to most people, but to me it represented failure.

Class would drone on, everyone talking (shouting, in some cases) right up until the school bell rang. I trust I don't need to tell you that I silently picked up my bag and walked right out of the room, quickly heading back to my dorm to be alone.

I wouldn't call myself a loner, but it was hard not to be. Any friend I'd ever made had deserted me at some point, so I just sort of got used to my own company. It was nice sometimes to just get away from noise altogether, to just relax and spend time enjoying what little privacy was granted here. I'd been offered an interpreter when I'd come to this uni, someone that I could sign responses to, but I'd declined. I'd never been bothered enough to learn sign language, since I was quite a quick writer, and no one really had the guts to ask me to "hurry up."

I was just thinking about getting my notebook out and continuing with my most recent story - a sappy tale about a boy who visits a coffee shop before his first day of uni and is absolutely smitten with the hot headed, ash blonde barista that serves him, when a sudden knock at the door made me jump. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself, walking over to the door wondering who it might be. I hadn't arranged to see anyone for the whole upcoming weekend, so it was quite a surprise to get a visitor.

It was even more of a surprise when, as I opened the door, a bundle of ash blond hair charged it's way past me and into my room, not even waiting permission to enter. I shot him a confused look as I closed the door behind me, and he just blankly looked back. He looked out of breath, and I waited to hear what he had to say with baffled patience.

"Shit...you really...saved my ass there..."

I shot him another curious look, and he seemed to realise that he'd neglected to explain, and went ahead to do so.

"Shit Hair wanted me to go to the gym with him...he can get fucking lost if he thinks I'm doing that on a Friday night"

I walked over to my desk to grab a notepad, quickly writing down "so why here, then?" and passing it to him. He smirked a little as he read it, responding simply.

"I knew you wouldn't tell him"

I sighed and rolled my eyes at his little jab. It was obvious he didn't mean it to offend me, and it didn't really bother me enough to care if he did. He'd never been the type to hold his tongue, and it didn't change with me. Besides, he was right - I won't be telling 'Shit Hair' that he's here.

"So, you staying long, or?"

"Nah, probably not. Mind if I read a story or something while I wait? I left my phone in my room"

I paused..."Sure"

"I liked the last one, 'cute story"

"Thanks. I don't take them too seriously"

"Either way, they're good. Mind if I sit here?"

He pointed down at my bed, and I just nodded to him, setting my notebook down and reaching into my drawer to pick something out for him to read. There were a few definitive no's, and only a couple really stood out for me to give him.

There was a pretty generic story, boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy and girl have misunderstanding, boy and girl make up, blah blah, and something a little bit more...risqué.

"Pick a number, 1 or 2"

He thought about this for a while, before taking a pen from my desk and circling the number 2 that I'd written in the notebook I'd passed him.

...fuck

I passed him the three pages of the most recent book I'd finished. I hadn't shown anyone anything like this, and this particular story was almost entirely sex-oriented. There was little other point to it than for it to be a vent of my sexual frustration about my inability to easily communicate, represented through the use of gags. It depicts two men, another risk that presented itself in giving it to Bakugo, who was absently reading through it while I fidgeted and stared blatantly.

He flipped the page, which meant he was getting into the even more kinky stuff. I hid my face and didn't bother to even look at him as he finished off the story, the longest five minutes of my life. He tapped me with the paper, passing it to me with his usual cocky smirk.

"S'good. You could be a writer"

I wrote nothing in response. I was too embarrassed to. I just turned away and put the pages back in my drawer, not looking at him once. I heard him stand, and flinched as large arms wrapped around my stomach, his head nuzzling from behind.

"Y'know...you didn't have to speak to tell me you like me. And I hope I don't have to speak to say it back...?"

The writing...he must've figured out that I was writing primarily about him, and what that meant. I was flushed, not willing to look at him as he hugged me, his arms tight against my stomach.

"Sho...you're stories are amazing...can you write more about me?"

I just nodded. He hugged me tighter.

Silent, but louder than ever
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Short 'n sweet

Hope you enjoyed!!