8- He Understands

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(Anything in italics is JSL. Japanese Sign Language, for those who don't know. I hope you enjoy, I've been wanting to write this for a while.)

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"Mom!"

I knew I screamed it. But I couldn't hear it. I couldn't hear anything. Everything was silent. I couldn't hear the sobs I knew that were coming from me, from the feeling of warm tears pouring down my face.

The door opened, and suddenly, my mother was by my side. She was saying something, I could see her mouth moving. But I couldn't hear it. I had known it was coming. The doctor had said it.

I remembered it clearly. The doctor sitting in front of me, a serious look on her face.

"Use your quirk one more time, son, and your hearing is going to be destroyed. You're already having problems now, but if you set off those explosions one more time... it won't be good," she had said.

I'd been scared, of course, but training had come the next day. And I wanted to give it my all. Everything the doctor had said had fled my mind.

My mother seemed to realize what had happened when I didn't react to anything she'd said. Her hands shot out, gently grabbing my shoulders. I tried to read her lips, as she spoke slower. I read 'calm down'. So I took a deep breath and tried to stop crying. She pulled her hands back.

You can't hear, can you? She signed.

I'd been taking JSL lessons for the past few months. I was pretty well fluent in it. My family had also taken them. But I hadn't told anyone at school about my deafness. I knew I'd be completely isolated from them...

I can't. I can't hear anything, I signed back, feeling sick. She looked worried, then nodded and quickly left. I curled up on my bed, feeling tears pour down my face, feeling myself sob, but hearing nothing.

Minutes later, I felt hands begin to rub up and down my back. I looked up at my mother and father. My mom was the one rubbing my back, while my dad crouched down so he was in front of me.

He reached forward, gently wiping tears off my face. I felt like I was going to throw up. What if I couldn't be a hero with this? I was missing school right now anyway... who would care.

After a couple minutes of me crying, I finally stood up and began to get ready for school. I felt my parents' eyes boring into my back, watching me pull on the white collared shirt and the grey blazer over top. I felt my mom grab my hand before I could change my pants, and I looked towards her.

Are you sure you want to go to school today?  She signed, a worried expression on her face.

Yeah, I signed back. If I don't, I'm gonna miss out on stuff. And everyone will be stupidly worried about me.

I saw tears in the corners of her eyes, and he quickly hugged me. My father joined the hug seconds later. I wanted to cry, but I'd cried myself out. So I just stood there, letting them hug me. There was nothing I could do about it now.

After a few minutes, I pushed them out of the room and finished changing. When I walked out, they both exchanged worried looks. I just ignored them and walked downstairs. I contemplated getting something to eat, but I was already late enough as it was. So I hurried out of my house and made my way to UA.

As I walked into my home room, Aizawa looked up. He looked frustrated. He said something- probably berating me for being late. But I couldn't hear him so I just walked to my desk. Aizawa said something else, glaring at me. Obviously, he was angry that I'd come in late, then ignored him. Everyone was sort of staring at me, waiting for me to react. But I didn't. I pulled out a book from my bag and started to read. There was no point in listening.

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