A Silent Kind of Strength

Chapter 1

If Izuku could be happy about anything in this situation it would be the fact that he is a fast learner. That and the plus side of having no friends being that he has endless free time to devote to practicing whatever he chooses.

As he walked into the small apartment he shared with his mother he took out his bulky hearing aids and sighed at the instant relief from the high-pitched squeal that was being broadcast into his ears. Kachan had once again set off an explosion to his shoulder. So now he had to clean up burns to himself and his gakuran. As well as try and see about fixing the cheap pieces of shit he has to use to have any semblance of hearing.

The fact that he was legally deaf was also Kachan's fault. But he didn't have time to get pissed about that right now. He threw his scorched back pack into his room on the way to the bathroom and the extensive first aid kit his mother kept under the sink.

Within twenty minutes his shoulder was cleaned and under a large patch of gauze. And he iwas heading back to his room trying to figure out how to patch his jacket. He was getting really good at blending the patches in by this point. After hiding the bullying from his mom for years he has had a lot of practice. Even after the incident last year that left him deaf in the first place, Inko had no idea that it wasn't some sort of playground accident.

It's probably a good thing that his mom works so much though, if she ever caught him before he had time to patch himself up she might have more questions than he had answers.

With a glance at his phone he sighed once again and tossed his tattered gakuran onto his bed to deal with later. His hearing aids went on his desk with the three other pairs that were beyond hope. He quickly got dressed in some black joggers and a ripped up tye dye shirt he had rescued from his mom's to be tossed pile. It was loose and breathable and as long he wore one of his long sleeved undershirts no one could see the patchwork of scars scattered across his skin.

He trudged back across the apartment to pull on his beat up sneakers. If he wanted to go on his regular jog before his self defense class he needed to leave. Mirokuma sensei did not like tardiness. And since Izuku was 80% sure he was only allowed into the class due to pity in the first place he really didn't want to piss him off and give him a reason to toss him out.

He still wasn't sure how a hard ass like his sensei ended up with a sweet girl like Kuma-chan for his daughter. She was one of the reasons Izuku had begged to be let into their classes. She knew sign language and even though he was quirkless she didn't seem to mind taking the extra time to help him learn as well. It had been seven months since he started learning at their dojo, going every day after school, and he was already almost fluent. Which would be more helpful if any of his teachers or classmates, or even his mom, cared to learn as well.

Whatever. It was a skill he needed to learn. Just like self defense. Not that using that particular skill at school was a good idea either. He didn't even want to know what kind of bull shit his teachers would put him through if he actually fought back and one of their precious favorites got a boo boo. Quirkist bastards.

With yet another sigh he locked up and started down the stairs. It was a twenty minute jog down his usual route to the dojo where his defense classes were held. But he decided at the last second to take a lesser used route. It was quicker so he was less likely to be late. Maybe get some extra time to practice JSL with Kuma-chan.