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“Are we out of fucking cereal? Again?” Katsuki shouted across the entire apartment. Izuku rolled his eyes.
“Yes,” he yelled back. “You’re the one who keeps forgetting to go to the store!”
“I have other priorities!” Katsuki shouted. He fought the urge to go to the kitchen and strangle him where he was standing. Other priorities? Bullshit. He was just forgetful. They’d been living together for a year, and Izuku knew Katsuki’s routine by the back of his hand. He always forgot to go to the store, every week, without fail.
Izuku stopped what he was doing (not that he was sad about it, cleaning the bathroom wasn’t his favorite activity) and walked to his room, on a mission. First, to find a hoodie, and second, to take Katsuki to the store to show him how easy grocery shopping is. He tugged on socks and shoes, making sure to pat his pocket to confirm that he had his wallet already. Check, check, and check.
He left his room and found Katsuki in the kitchen, still looking distraught. There was a bowl and spoon on the counter, empty, along with the milk carton. Katsuki was leaning against the counter, and if looks could kill, Izuku would’ve been dead as soon as he walked into Katsuki’s line of sight.
“Kacchan, it’s not that big of a deal, let’s just go get more,” Izuku said. He motioned for Katsuki to follow him to the door, but Katsuki didn’t budge.
“I’m hungry,” Katsuki said.
“I’m taking you to the store to get food. Let’s go.”
“I’m so hungry.”
“You’re not going to die in the half hour it will take us to get groceries.” Katsuki seemed to know he wouldn’t win this argument, to his dismay, and he succumbed to following Izuku out the door and down the street. It wasn’t a long walk to the store, thank god. The one thing Izuku had wanted in an apartment was a five minute walk from any necessities. Everything else was up to Katsuki.
They didn’t really talk as they walked, just listened to the sounds of the city. Car horns, people yelling, and the random loud music that lasted only a few seconds at a time. Soothing. Minus the constant noise, Izuku loved the city; mostly for the convenience of not living in the middle of nowhere.
They almost missed the grocery store, but Katsuki yanked at his arm at the last second before Izuku walked past it. He was too in his own head, letting his thoughts wander and he was thankful Katsuki was smart enough to remember where the store was, even if he’d forgotten to go every week in the past month. Izuku appreciated him more than he knew, even when he forgets to do the grocery shopping.
“Alright, we’ll get your cereal first. Do you know what else we’re running low on?” Izuku asked, grabbing a basket once they walked inside.
“Bread, rice, vegetables, and some other stuff that I can’t remember,” Katsuki said, already making a beeline for the breakfast aisle. Izuku had to pick up his own pace to keep up with him, hovering over him like he was afraid Katsuki would get lost or something. He made a mental list of all the things Katsuki mentioned plus everything he knew they were running out of. He hadn’t thought to bring a piece of paper and a pen when they left so he could write it down. He muttered it out loud to himself, hoping the repetition would help him remember.
“No!” Izuku jumped when he heard the shout, and he immediately looked around for any sign of a threat. Nothing. The store was still basically empty. The only other person within shouting range was… Katsuki?
“No, no, no,” Katsuki said. He was on his knees next to one of the lower shelves, peering towards the back like he was trying to see through the wall.
“What the hell are you doing, Kacchan?” Izuku asked. He crouched down next to him, tilting his head to try and see what Katsuki was looking at. There was nothing there. And then Izuku realized that that’s exactly what the problem was. They were out of Katsuki’s favorite cereal. He could see Katsuki getting stressed out, it was visible on his face and in the way his entire body was tense. Things were not going how he had planned, and Katsuki doesn’t tend to cope well with change.
“I’m sure the other store down the street will have it,” Izuku suggested, not needing confirmation that the problem was the missing cereal.
“Isn’t that a ten minute walk away?” Katsuki asked. He had picked himself up off the floor, dusting the invisible dirt off his knees and collecting himself. He looked as cool as ever, but Izuku could see the tension in the way that his shoulders were hiked up to his ears.
“Yeah, but it won’t kill us,” Izuku said. As soon as he started talking and trying to console Katsuki without making it obvious that he was trying to console him, he saw it. Izuku raised his hand slowly, pointing towards the top shelf. One singular box of cereal. The last box of Katsuki’s favorite kind. It was a miracle, and that was the day Izuku knew that the universe was on his side.
“Kacchan,” Izuku said, forcing Katsuki to turn around and look where he was pointing. He watched Katsuki’s reaction like it was in slow motion; the way his shoulders relaxed and his fists unclenched. Izuku had successfully solved the terrible day he was starting to have. Without saying a word, he plucked the box off the shelf and tossed it in the basket. Then, he left the aisle with Izuku hot on his heels to grab the rest of the items they needed.
“11000 yen? Are you kidding me?” Katsuki said when they were checking out. If he was being honest, groceries weren’t the only thing Izuku was checking out.
“That seems excessive,” Izuku commented. Katsuki huffed, swiping his card anyway.
“This is bullshit. Groceries are too damn expensive,” Katsuki said.
“We gotta eat.”
“No shit, that’s why I fucking paid.” Izuku rolled his eyes, fondly this time, before grabbing one of two bags and following Katsuki out of the store, watching as he stomped aggressively towards the exit.
The walk home was shorter than the walk there, and Izuku kicked off his shoes once they stepped inside. Katsuki didn’t, heading straight for the kitchen to where his bowl was still sitting on the counter. He rummaged through the plastic grocery bag for his box of cereal and he opened it neatly but quickly. Izuku watched it all go down, how Katsuki poured exactly enough to leave the perfect amount of room for the milk. Thankfully, he’d put the milk away before they’d left the house, so it wasn’t sitting and expiring on the counter.
Katsuki made a pit stop on the way to the fridge, grabbing a second bowl from the cupboard. He got the milk and poured a second bowl of cereal before adding milk to both of them.
“You know you could just get seconds, you don’t need two bowls,” Izuku said, starting to make his way back to his room.
“Sit the fuck down, this one’s for you,” Katsuki grumbled, mouth already full of cereal. Izuku grinned, doing a complete one eighty and joining Katsuki at the island, sitting so close that their thighs brushed against each other under the counter. They ate in silence, the only sounds being Izuku’s milk slurping and Katsuki’s annoyingly incessant chewing. Izuku had gotten so used to it that he habitually blocked it out.
Once they both finished, Katsuki stood up and took both of their bowls to the sink, washing them and putting them away as Izuku just sat at the counter, watching him work. It was days like this that Izuku appreciated the most. The days where neither of them worked and they did all the domestic house chores. It was peaceful. Relaxing, almost. Besides the fact that Izuku hated cleaning the toilet, it was his favorite day of the week, hands down. They’d dedicated Wednesdays to deep cleaning the house since week one of living together, since they were both neat freaks.
“I’ll finish cleaning the bathroom if you do my laundry,” Katsuki said.
“Deal.”