The room was a mess. Drawers half-open, clothes tossed haphazardly on the floor, and an overturned chair blocking the path to Katsuki Bakugo’s bed. The blonde stood in the middle of the chaos, breathing heavily, his hands tangled in his hair. His lips moved, muttering something under his breath, but he couldn’t hear his own voice.

Frustration boiled in his chest. He hadn’t even noticed he’d thrown a few things in his rage—his quirk-scarred hands itched to blow something up, but he knew better than to act on that impulse here.

Where were they?

Katsuki dropped to his knees, running his hands along the floor by the bedframe. “Damn it…” he growled, though it was more out of habit than anything else. He hadn’t heard the sound leave his mouth. He hadn’t heard anything since he woke up this morning.

It wasn’t the first time his hearing aids had gone missing, but it was the first time in a long while that it had really gotten to him. He hadn’t even told his boyfriend yet that he’d misplaced them—he didn’t want to look like an idiot.

Katsuki tried to shake off the tight knot of panic growing in his chest. His hearing loss was something he’d accepted as an inevitability years ago. His quirk was explosive by nature, and after the war… well, his ears had taken one too many hits. He’d told himself it was fine; the hearing aids helped, and he could still function just fine without them if he had to.

But today, everything felt louder and quieter all at once, the absence of sound leaving him hyper-aware of his own body. He could feel his heart thudding in his chest and the way his teeth ground together in frustration.

He stood up too fast, knocking his shoulder into the wall. “Where the hell are they?!” he shouted, not caring if it came out garbled. His voice was too loud in his own head but silent in the world around him.

The door creaked open, but Katsuki didn’t notice. He was too focused on digging through a stack of books on his desk.