bakugou says, “thank you,” for the most minor things, and it catches deku so off guard when it first happens.

they get back from their internships and things had gone wrong with a villain and deku had pulled bakugou out of the way just in time, and bakugou just glares at him.

he says he had it even though midoriya believes he very much didn’t—at least not at that second—and they end up spending the next two days in frosty silence, mostly coming from bakugou. but there’s never a word of thanks or gratitude. and bakugou’s a man of action.

midoriya gets it, doesn’t hold it against him. he sees the gratitude in the plate of breakfast ready for him in the mornings and in his favorite snack being restocked in the cupboards and in the subtle tips bakugou drops here and there for him. he sees it. he knows it.

but he never hears it. until—

it’s sudden, comes out of nowhere, and midoriya’s nowhere close to mentally ready for it. it’s dinner time and katsuki’s cooking, and ashido’s bothering him as he’s working.

and he’s yelling at her that if she’s going to be an annoying little shit, she could at least hand him the eggs, and, well—midoriya came down for water, and he’s already at the fridge, so it’s really no trouble to grab the carton and hold it out while he pours his water.

and bakugou just—

“/thank you/,” and he gives a pointed glare at ashido as he reaches to grab them, and midoriya feels like his whole world comes screeching to a halt.

he—he heard correctly, right? he heard him right, right? he didn’t imagine that, right?

then ashido’s promptly bumping into him and sending the carton dropping and shattering across the floor before bakugou can grasp it properly, and the world restarts and midoriya’s heart is pounding in his ears as bakugou starts yelling at ashido and telling her to clean it up.

he spends the night with those two words ringing in his ears, unsure what to think, what to believe. had he he misheard? was it a figment of his imagination?

but then it keeps happening.

it’s always for inconsequential things, like when midoriya puts bakugou’s clothes in the dryer when he goes to do his own laundry because, well, he’s already there, so he might as well. or when midoriya buys bakugou new slippers along with his own because it was buy one, get one.

but then there’s another villain fight and one of bakugou’s gauntlets malfunctions or something—in the heat of the moment, he’s not sure what it is—and for that split second, he covers the opening bakugou accidentally leaves in the face of the unexpected malfunction, and—nothing.

and midoriya—well, he shouldn’t be surprised. because bakugou’s always been weird like that, and, honestly, it’s kind of cute. but every time, the gratitude at the smallest things catches him off guard and has him tripping or choking or just dying from nothing, and—

he’s not entirely convinced bakugou /isn’t/ doing it on purpose.

bakugou only says, “thank you,” once, years down the line, over something serious, and it’s sitting in a hospital chair, looking exhausted and harrowed, gripping midoriya’s hand tightly with a bowed head:

“thanks for not dying, nerd.”