Item from a-silent-voice by
The hearing aids Shoko wears — the instruments destroyed nine times during the elementary school bullying, and now simply part of how she moves through the world.
The hearing aids were the original target of Shoya's cruelty — pulling them out was the act that escalated the bullying from social exclusion into something physical and costly. Nine pairs destroyed over the course of the bullying period. The replacement cost was eventually cited to Shoya's family as part of the fallout. Now they are simply what they are: medical devices that partially bridge a perceptual gap. The story treats them without drama in the high school scenes — they are present, noted occasionally, not made into recurring tragedy. The tragedy was what happened to them before.
Small, skin-toned devices that fit behind or in the ear. They are not invisible — if you are paying attention, you see them. When she removes them, the texture of how she inhabits space shifts slightly.
Also known as: hearing aids, hearing aid, ear pieces