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Katsuki has never had many real friends, and he's honestly fine with that.
Having friends means being around people, listening to their grating voices and ear shattering screeching. Friends think the rules of personal space don’t apply to them, and they always touch him. When Katsuki explodes on them for it, he's the bad guy.
Friendship comes with expectations, either living up to certain ideals or failing and being seen as a bad friend.
It's hard for him to put into words, but he thinks this is at least part of why he finds being around Deku so intolerable, even now when they're on decent terms. Being the ‘Amazing Kacchan’ Deku thinks he is requires too much effort, so he doesn't even try. Never mind telling Deku that that person doesn't exist outside of his own skewed perception of reality.
With those eyes constantly on him, he has trouble feeling like Katsuki . He feels so warped by how other people see him, how Deku sees him, that sometimes he doesn't know who he is. On bad days, he doesn't even feel human.
There is no escape from the little creeps' observing eyes.
If he gives in to his cravings for baked goods, he hears him muttering about how ‘ Kacchan doesn't eat sweet things, he’s never had a sweet tooth, is everything okay? Maybe I should ask him…’
During lunch, Katsuki forgoes his usual spicy fare for a bowl of miso soup. He ignores Deku’s calculating gaze from across the room.
Katsuki is running late due to a series of unfortunate events before class begins, and Deku nearly tackles him when he walks through the door. Aizawa shuts that one down pretty quick, thankfully.
Moving into the dorms only makes things worse. Katsuki hadn't spent time with Deku outside of school since the age of four, so Deku doesn't know his full daily routine. It takes less than one week in the dorms for that to change.
When Katsuki forgoes his typical morning run due to a splitting headache, Deku is waiting outside his door with approximately 5000 questions about how he's feeling and why he's not outside.
Katsuki makes gyudon for himself one night, and hears some classmates mention that they didn't know he could cook.
“Kacchan’s dad taught him when we were younger!”
Masaru started teaching Katsuki the art of cooking when he was eight. Katsuki never told Deku this, but of course the shitty nerd knows. He always fucking knows.
Katsuki is working on homework in the common area on a Friday afternoon when a shadow falls on his paper.
“Hey Bakugou! Wanna come to Kaminari’s room to play Mario Party later?” His expression is hopeful.
Katsuki contemplates the offer. Mario Party is fun, but he needs to know- “Who else is gonna be there?”
Kirishima seems to inflate with happiness that Katsuki is actually considering it. “It'll just be us three! Whaddya say, you in?”
Katsuki nods once, then turns back to his work. Those two are tolerable, he doesn't feel sick at the thought of a mini hangout.
“Great! See ya at 8, man!”
Soon after Kirishima leaves, another shadow appears. He glares up at the offender, not even surprised to see Deku at this point.
“The fuck do you want, Deku?”
“I-I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Kirishima-kun. Are you really going to go over at 8?”
Katsuki rolled his eyes, “I just told him I'd be there, didn't I?”
He turns back to his work for the second time, but Deku doesn't take the hint.
“Jesus Christ, what the hell is your problem?! Spit it out and leave me the fuck alone already!”
“It's just- Kacchan usually goes to bed at 7:30. If you go to Kaminari’s dorm at 8, you'll be up way past your usual bedtime. It's not like you, Kacchan,” Deku looks at him imploringly.
What does that even mean, really? It isn't like him? Katsuki did it, doesn't that therefore make it ‘like him’?
Whatever, he's sick of this. He begins packing his shit up, ready to complete his work in his silent room.
“What I do or don't do is none of your damn business, shitty nerd. Get a life and stop shoving your nose in mine.”
Deku doesn't argue further, but continues to watch Katsuki as he makes his way to the stairs.
-
Katsuki comes by his lack of grace in social situations honestly, specifically from his father.
Masaru likes to do his work quietly and efficiently, staying behind the curtains at shows. When he attends work parties, he will seek out the quietest corner and only interact with the people Mitsuki wants him to meet. She understands her husband, and will only bring over two or three people every hour or so.
On the other hand, Mitsuki is a very outgoing, extroverted person. She models, and making connections is a large part of her job. Although she has a temper, she finds it easy to get along with people and thrives under attention.
Katsuki is not this way. He likes his hard work to be acknowledged, yes, but he hates being surrounded by extras who never shut the hell up. Groups of people suck the life out of him and make his heart pound too hard at the same time. It usually takes less than 20 minutes for his fight or flight response to kick in, and Katsuki always chooses to fight.
When he's forced to attend family parties, he prefers to stick by his dad as often as possible. This has been Katsuki's strategy since the age of three, and his dad has always understood. His mom sighs and grumbles, but ultimately leaves him alone.
Yes, he's aware that his classmates think he's an asshole, that he doesn't handle his emotions properly each time- or ever. What is he supposed to do, though? No one ever listens when says no, or asks them to fuck off and leave him alone.
It doesn't matter if Katsuki shouts or uses his quietest voice, no one listens. Not when he tells them to get their hands off of him, to let him go, to get off of his arm or his back or his shoulder. He doesn't know what words- if any- will make them stop, so he inevitably explodes and escapes to the relative safety of his dorm room.
His classmates, the adults around him, even total strangers refuse to respect his boundaries.
-
People are easier to be around in one-on-one settings, he finds.
Kirishima is the only classmate Katsuki is willing to tutor, and despite the yelling and bashing over the head that may occur, he thinks those sessions go well. Kirishima is not a total moron when he applies himself, and Katsuki feels pride he'll never admit to when a concept finally bypasses his shitty hair and sinks into his brain.
Halfie is also half decent company, pun maybe intended. No one is more surprised by this than Katsuki himself.
Icy Hot is generally a low key, quiet individual, immediately making him more tolerable than half their class. More and more often these days, he shows up at Katsuki’s door with homework to complete in companionable silence, or a manga to read while Katsuki is reading his own material. Icy Hot has been sworn to secrecy about what that might be.
(It's definitely shoujo manga.)
Even when Halfie is jabbering about conspiracy theories, Katsuki listens and finds himself interested despite himself. He thinks it's what a good friend would do.
Todoroki and Kirishima are the only people he never struggles to be around, truthfully. They subvert his previous expectations of friendship completely. Neither one of them tries to change him, fix him, or force him to do things he doesn't want to do. Halfie lets him rant and yell about whatever's got him pissed at the time and doesn't condemn him for it, nor does he tell Katsuki to calm down.
Todoroki understands and respects his need for personal space, and Shitty Hair always backs off when it's obvious that Katsuki is overwhelmed. Both of them seem to enjoy his company despite his admitted shortcomings, and he enjoys theirs as well- another thing he'll never say out loud.
The most important thing is that although they are both friends with Deku, they don't try to force Katsuki to be around him or accept his many overtures of friendship. There's no harping about how kind and selfless and angelic Precious Izuku is for giving Katsuki a chance and trying so hard to be his friend.
Instead, they both spend time with Katsuki and Deku separately while inviting Katsuki to join them all together, never angry if he says no. It's this quality that led to Katsuki accepting Todorki’s offer to intern together, just the three of them.
With their friends acting as buffers, Katsuki thinks that maybe one day he won't find being around Deku so suffocating.