Shouto was a quiet person for the most part, which means people don’t always notice when he’s around. On the flip side, Shouto notices almost everything, though he doesn’t always understand it. 

He enjoys going unnoticed because he enjoys people watching. For so many years his social life was limited to his father and his siblings, and even then it wasn’t a whole lot of contact. His father would train him, and Natsuo would sometimes try and help him heal up or maybe bring him some food. Fuyumi didn’t do much but sweep it all under the rug. So you could imagine why he likes seeing others interact, even when it’s not with him. 

Bakugou Katsuki was his favorite to watch. From his past most would think that’s the opposite of what he would want, because he endured so much violence and aggression from his father. Shouto thought differently. His father wasn’t kind like Bakugou is. Bakugou may be aggressive, but he’s always taking care of everyone around him and Shouto found that interesting. Well, more like he found it interesting that others didn’t notice. 

Shouto’s body clock always had him awake early, but not necessarily coherent. He’s been told he’s a zombie. But he goes downstairs nonetheless. He likes to get food before the kitchen is crowded, so more often than not he ends up sitting at the counter quietly while Bakugou cooks. He’s always in the kitchen at this time and he always makes food for more than one. Bakugou is silent in the mornings, when he cooks. He never said a word and Shouto assumed he didn’t notice him. Until one morning when Shouto came downstairs a little later than usual. 

Shouto walked through the kitchen and to the pantry when he heard a quietly grumbled, “No.”

He turned to see that the voice had come from Bakugou. He just looked at him confused but Bakugou stared intently at his task over the stove, before he lifted an arm to point at the counter. He was pointing at the spot Shouto usually sat, and instead of it being empty he saw that there was a plate of already prepared food for him. He opened and closed his mouth, searching for words but didn’t need to speak before Bakugou told him to, “Shut up.”

So Shouto did as he was told and quietly walked over to his seat and began eating. It was the only change in their normal morning routine, the two of them continued to sit there in silence until the rest of their classmates filtered in. 

That was the first time one of Bakugou’s good deeds was directed towards him. 

The next morning he came downstairs on time, but Bakugou still made food for him. Shouto didn’t ask why. 

This continued for a long time, and became their new routine. One day, after Shouto had pulled an all-nighter studying for a test he wasn’t entirely confident on, he finally asked Bakugo, “Why?”

This was the only time Bakugou’s eyes ever left his task. He looked Shouto up and down before speaking, “You’re awake.” He seemed slightly surprised, but it didn’t show in his tone.

“I usually am.” Shouto said plainly, as he walked to his seat and picked up his chopsticks. 

“Bullshit,” Bakugou scoffed, “You’re never this fucking coherent in the mornings.” His eyes remained attached to the stove once again, and Shouto found himself longing to look into them. 

They continued their morning in silence once again.

After this day, Shouto found that watching Bakugou had become another part of his routine. Especially when they had time to themselves, which, in a dorm filled with so many other students, is hard to come by. 

Shouto would sometimes leave the building to escape the noise during the free time they would get, so he didn’t notice that Bakugou was never in the commons. He had assumed he would stay with his group, because as much as Bakugou pretends otherwise Shouto knows that he enjoys being with his friends. 

So the next time Shouto spent his break outside, he went on a little search for Bakugou. If you were to ask him then he wouldn’t have said he was looking for bakugou, as it wasn’t a conscious decision. But when he moved around the outside of the building to the back, he found Bakugou sitting on a little porch he’d never seen before with a book in his hand. As he got closer he recognized the title as a popular Manga that he’d read himself not long ago. 

Shouto approached the porch and just sat down next to bakugou. “I liked that book.”

Bakugou turned to him, “what the fuck are you doing here icy hot.”

“Sitting”

“No shit,” Bakugou growled, “Why are you here.” 

Bakugou seemed more tense than usual and Shouto came to the conclusion that he was trying not to blow up the book. 

“Do you want me to hold that for you?” Shouto spoke

“Why the hell would i-” Bakugou stopped short, exhaling and letting his head fall back against the wall. 

“You look tense. I figured the reason you set off so many explosions when you’re worked up is to let off some of that pent up energy.” Shouto spoke as if this was common knowledge, “And i think you don’t want to do that cause it’d ruin the book, so i’m offering to hold it for you.”

Bakugou stared at him for a moment, not saying anything. He was amazed at Shouto’s ability to just know things and say them out loud like it’s nothing. He just said what he thought and saw nothing wrong with it. It was something Bakugou admired, and at this point he was too tired to filter his own speech. It’s not like Shouto would care anyway. “What are you doing here?” he asked. 

“It's loud inside, I'm usually outside.” Shouto explained simply, “I just decided to look for a different place to sit this time.” He searched Bakugou’s eyes and found he wasn’t able to read anything, as the blonde boy didn’t want him to. 

Bakugou allowed him to search his eyes. If it was anyone else he would have already started yelling, but there was something different about Shouto. He didn’t follow him around like he worshiped him, but he didn't look down on him. He was just there doing his own thing. It wasn’t what he was used to, and he’d never admit it, but he liked it. The silent respect that shouto showed him was something altogether different. 

“You’re staring at me.” Shouto spoke, once again plain and honest. 

“Really? I thought I was staring at a toad,” Bakugou rolled his eyes. 

The corner of shouto’s mouth quirked up, “How come I'm the one with a resting bitch face and you’re the one with an attitude.”

Bakugou froze for a moment. He doesn’t think he’d ever heard Shouto’s curse. He almost laughed, but stopped when he caught shouto’s eyes again. This time he was running them over every visible inch of Bakugou’s body. 

Bakugou, not being a dumbass, raised an eyebrow. 

“Don’t worry, you’re still a Pretty Boy.”