When Denki Kaminari walked into homeroom, he didn't find it one bit weird that Katsuki Bakugo said good morning to him. It never registered in his mind that Katsuki had never said that to anyone previously and that something might be amiss. In fact, he found it relatively normal given the fact that all his other friends do the same thing. However, later that day he did stop for a moment and think, "Huh, that's new!" Then blinked and moved on.
When it started happening every day, Denki didn't even bat an eyelash at it, simply accepting the fact that this was now a normal thing and returning the greetings with ones of his own. He didn't miss the way his other friends looked at him weirdly whenever Katsuki greeted him, however, deciding they were just jealous of the interaction. Sometimes he would proudly march over to them, his nose stuck up in the air and a smug grin on his face, and just sit down, not acknowledging them or their questioning looks.
They were over it after a few weeks anyways.
—
When Denki walked into the cafeteria, he didn't find it one bit weird that his loud friend called him over to a table. It was off to the far left side, one of those tables that only fit two people. Katsuki normally sat there on days he wanted to eat alone but Denki guessed he wanted company this time, but why not just sit at the bigger table with everyone else?
As he sat down he noticed that his friend wouldn't look at him, weird but normal as Katsuki wasn't really a people person and would often look away from his friends instead of at them. He had already grabbed a plate of food and was halfway through it by the time Denki got settled.
"Hey, Bakugo, what's up dude!" he said energetically, pulling out the lunch he had made himself that morning.
"Mm, hey," the other responded, seemingly uninterested in the boy in front of him.
That confused Denki, why call him over if he didn't want to talk? "Is there something... wrong? I can go sit with Sero and Mina and them if you want-"
"No, you're okay, I just," Katsuki sighed, finally looking at him. "I didn't feel like eating alone today but I don't want to deal with all of you today."
Oh, that made sense! Denki smiled at him and slightly nodded before he started eating, humming a little here and there. He didn't bother to start a conversation, considering Katsuki's last words, figuring his friend just needed some company and he was fine with that. He was, however, confused about why he was picked out of their group. He was the one everyone considered to be loud and energetic and crazy, granted their entire group could be like that, but why pick him? Denki's head hurt the more he thought about it so he just decided to drop it.
After that day, it became a weekly occurrence.
—
Usually, when Denki asked Katsuki to do something minimal, like throwing him his jacket or grabbing him a glass of water, the blonde immediately refused. Same thing with everyone else in the class. When he asked Katsuki to fix him hot chocolate and he walked away without saying anything Denki figured he wasn't getting any unless he got up and made it himself. Imagine his surprise when his friend walked back into the room a few minutes later with two steaming cups of hot chocolate in his hands. He even added marshmallows to Denki's!
"Woah, thanks Bakugo!" He gratefully accepted the cup, taking a sip and burning his tongue right away.
"Mhm," was all the boy said as he rolled his eyes and joined Denki on the couch, waiting for his own cup to cool down a little.
Denki looked over to the other couch and saw Mina and Kirishima, mouths slightly agape and staring at them. He just shrugged and smiled, turning his attention back to the movie they were watching and took another sip of his beverage, wincing as he burned his tongue again.
After that day, Katsuki would do similar small favors for him almost every time he asked.
—
"Hey Denki, don't you think that Katsuki has been acting a little... weird?" Mina inquired one day.
"Hm? No? Not at all, why?" he responded unsurely. Yes, Katsuki had been making some surprising choices as of late but maybe that was just him getting more comfortable around them.
"It's just that, surely you've noticed that he treats you differently than everyone else, he's friendlier?" Sero continued.
"Wait, I thought he was treating everyone like that! Is he not?" Denki was thoroughly flabbergasted.
"Oh my- Denki, my poor oblivious child," Mina grabbed his face and feigned being in distress. "You haven't noticed how he only says 'good morning' to you?"
"Or how he yells at us but not you when we try to sit with him at lunch sometimes?" Kirishima jumped in.
"Or, how we'll all ask him to get us drinks from the store while he's out and he only comes back with what you requested?" Sero finished.
"Oh,"
"Oh indeed babes," Mina shook her head and exaggerated a sigh. "Oh indeed,"
—
After that conversation, Denki definitely started to pay more attention to Katsuki's mannerisms when it came to him. The way he would stare at Denki from across the room, thinking he wasn't looking. Or how he would stand particularly closer to him than anyone else in the group. There was also the fact that Katsuki would touch him, a tug on his sleeve here and a tap on his shoulder there.
Denki was oblivious sometimes but he wasn't stupid, so it was no surprise to him when Katsuki started to ask him to spend time together outside of school. At first, it was only once every few weeks, but then that turned into once a week, and then to once every few days. They hung out so often that it was surprising to see one without the other.
In that time, Denki learned how to read Katsuki, how to tell what he was feeling with just a glance. He knew that when the other was focused his mouth would be slightly agape and that when he got nervous he would cross his arms and squeeze his biceps. Denki knew that when Katsuki was upset he would stick closer to him than normal and when he was bored he would poke at anything in his vicinity. That when he wanted to say something he would cock his head to the side. That when he found something interesting his eyes would get slightly bigger with excitement and he would start messing with whatever piece of jewelry he had on that day.
Denki loved the fact that he could do that. That while everyone else was clueless as to why Katsuki acted the way he did Denki understood him perfectly.
—
After noticing that Katsuki was having an especially hard day, Denki told him to come to his dorm at exactly seven o'clock. He spent most of his afternoon cleaning his dorm and making sure his space was comfortable. Then he went to the store and got all of Katsuki's favorite snacks, grabbing takeout on his way back and setting it on the small table he had set out. Almost forgetting he had it, Denki walked over to his bookcase and took out his miniature zen garden, setting it on the table next to the food. As he turned on the TV he heard a knock at his door.
"Hey, Kat!" Denki excitedly greeted, being careful to give him some personal space, not wanting to overwhelm him.
"Hi," he simply greeted back, eyeing the food on the table. "What's this?"
"Oh, uh, you seemed upset today after All Might's class so I wanted to," Denki started stammering. "I don't know, uh," Katsuki patiently waited for him to get his words together and Denki was grateful for that. "I just- I got you some food and was going to set up a movie for us to watch," was what he settled on.
"Cool," Katsuki said as he flopped down on one of the bean bag chairs, grabbing one of the takeout boxes. Denki threw him the remote, letting the other pick out whatever he wanted, and plopped down right beside him.
About halfway through the movie, takeout boxes empty and candy wrappers scattered everywhere, Katsuki started to mess with the zen garden. Denki smiled fondly, knowing that the blonde liked to draw patterns with the rake as a way to relax his nerves, and turned his attention back to the movie.
He doesn't know when it happened, but the two of them had started holding hands. They had completely forgotten about the movie at that point and were in a heated debate about which dinosaur was the best. Yes, it was silly, but it was distracting Katsuki from whatever was bothering him and that was the whole reason Denki had invited him over.
As the two boys calmed down Katsuki gave his hand a gentle squeeze, a silent thank you he guessed. Then, after a moment of hesitation, he leaned over and kissed Denki, short and sweet, and the two boys smiled at each other, no words needing to be said as the kiss said it all.