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Chishiya was a regular height. 168 centimeters Is a perfectly respectable height. Only 2 centimeters less than the global average. It was the rest of the world that was too tall. Usually it didn’t bother him, but from time to time it was truly an inconvenience.
Like now.
Standing in front of the shelves in the market, Chishiya was contemplating his options. Apparently, someone had decided to reorganize them and moved the cookies he purchased every week to the top shelf. The top shelf that was made entirely too high for any reasonable human to be able to reach.
Asking an employee for assistance was out of the question. They were incompetent enough to stock it up there, so he didn’t trust them to be able to fix their mistakes. He tried reaching for it but of course his fingers fell short. Jumping was beneath him. He sighed, resolved to stare at the box until telekinesis became real, and it would float into his hands. Or at least until he could accept that the one joy in his life was now forever banished from his home because some idiot decided to change a perfectly acceptable arrangement.
He was working his way through the bargaining stage when suddenly a box was placed in his basket. After a second of reconsidering his understanding of the rules of the universe, he looked up to see a giant with a messy head of hair casually strolling down the aisle. Chishiya glared and was about to reprimand this stranger for the audacity of assuming that he needed help when he decided that he would let it slide. Providing Chishiya with his cookies was the least this stranger could do as penance for the crime of being so abnormally tall.
Huffing under his breath about ineffective design, Chishiya made his way to the cashier to pay and finally make his way home.
It seemed that a week was not long enough for the incompetent people who somehow managed to keep the market open to fix their mistakes. So Chishiya found himself in the same spot as the cookies stared mockingly at him from the shelf.
He crossed his arms.
They hadn’t moved them any lower, like he hadn’t been coming here every Saturday for years to buy the same box. It was as if the shelves were mocking him now, looming overhead in silent judgment. He narrowed his eyes at the box he wanted, trying to scare it enough that it might fall over. He’s had that effect on people before, why would a box be any different?
He was considering the logistics of knocking the entire shelf over when a shadow fell over the aisle. Chishiya stiffened, already irritated. Tall people had no right to exist this close to him unannounced.
“Again?” A voice said without attempting to hide amusement.
Chishiya turned slowly, looking up just enough to confirm what he already knew. The man from last week, same unmanageable head of hair standing their smiling at him. It was deeply annoying.
“I didn’t ask.” Chishiya said flatly.
The man hummed, already reaching. “You didn’t have to.”
The cookies were plucked from the shelf with insulting ease and deposited into Chishiya’s basket. Again. He looked at the cookies and back at the man before deciding to confront the absurdly tall human.
“You’re following me.”
“I buy groceries here.” He responded without hesitation.
Chishiya just glared at him as if he might catch fire out of sheer spite. When he didn’t Chishiya muttered under his breath about the asshole and made his way out of the store.
It continued like that for weeks. Every Saturday he would go in and glare at the shelves until the tall man with messy hair and big doe eyes would walk by, smiling like he wasn’t committing a crime just by existing, put the box into his basket and continue on his way. It was a routine. An annoying one, but one that at least for the time being worked in his favor.
Until it didn’t.
He had been standing there for over an hour waiting for the irritation to come by to pay his weekly tall tax. Eventually he gave up and angrily made his way home, not even bothering to purchase the rest of the items he needed. Without the cookies, what point was there? He’d just order takeout.
The week had been terrible. Nothing went right and Chishiya was positive it was because he didn’t have his daily, medically required, dose of cookies.
So, despite the universe constantly disappointing him, he was again at the store. Midway through a scathing internal monologue about architectural incompetence, a familiar shadow fell across the aisle.
The asshole.
“You’re late.” Chishiya grumbled.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry about that.” He said with a yawn, already bringing down the box and holding it out for Chishiya to grab.
Chishiya just stared at the box, before reaching out to take it. “You disappeared.” He said before he could stop himself.
The man paused hand still out like he was still holding the box. “I was out of town last week. Family thing.” He said, confused.
Chishiya scoffed, looking away. “You could have warned me.”
That made him laugh. “Warn you?”
“Yes. I waited here for an hour, and you didn’t appear to be abnormally tall.” He turned back to glare but was met with a warm smile.
“I see. Well, I'll be sure to keep you informed of future deviations.” He said and then tilted his head contemplating whatever tall people think about. “I’m Arisu by the way.”
He wasn’t sure what angle this Arisu was playing at. He considered ignoring him but ended up responding.
“Chishiya.”
Somehow Arisu’s smile got even wider. “Well then Chishiya, I’ll see you next Saturday?”
Chishiya huffed and started to walk to the checkout muttering “Don’t make promises you can’t keep. You tall smug beautiful asshole” under his breath. He must have been hearing things, or else Arisu was laughing behind him. If he was, it certainly had nothing to do with him.
The next week when Chishiya turned down the aisle, Arisu was already there. This was unacceptable. He considered leaving before he could spot him but remembered the disaster that had occurred the last time he had gone without. He sighed and took a step forward.
Arisu noticed him almost instantly, eyes brightening and raising a hand to wave. “Hey!” He called. “Right on time.”
“Same ones?” He asked when Chishiya came to a stop beside him.
“Obviously.” He said, rolling his eyes. But this time when the box made its way to its rightful home in Chishiya’s basket, a second one followed. “What is this?” Chishiya asked raising an eyebrow.
“Emergency supply. In case I disappear again. Can’t have you going without.” Arisu said seemingly proud of himself.
“This is unnecessary.” He grumbled.
“It feels like the responsible thing to do.”
“You were gone for one week. I survived.”
“Did you?” Arisu asked, raising an eyebrow and Chishiya’s mouth snapped shut.
They stood in a charged silence for a moment while Chishiya contemplated the cost benefit analysis of murdering his human crane.
Arisu was the one to break it. “You waited.”
“Don’t flatter yourself.” Chishiya huffed.
Arisu smiled softly at him which was… confusing. “I’ll try not to devastate you again.”
“I was not devastated.”
“Sure.” Arisu’s grin widened, and Chishiya walked away before the conversation could deteriorate further.
One week when he walked down the aisle and right at eye level was a single box of cookies with a sticky note on it.
For Chishiya.
Sorry. Something came up and I had to come early.
— Arisu, the ‘beautiful tall asshole
Chishiya did not turn bright red. He did however rip the note off the box and shove it in his pocket.
He wasn’t disappointed that he didn’t get to see Arisu either.
“Hey! I left you a note!” Arisu says as he walks toward where Chishiya is waiting in his normal spot.
“It was unnecessary.” He mumbles as Arisu brings down the box. This time, however, when Chishiya goes to take it from him he doesn’t let go.
“Hey… I was thinking…” He starts, holding the cookies hostage.
“Concerning.” Chishiya said, narrowing his eyes.
“Rude.” Arisu laughs and then gets serious again. “I was wondering if you would want to… Talk maybe?”
“We are talking.”
“Not here. And not about cookies, or my crimes against humanity by being slightly above the average height.”
“178 centimeters is not slightly above average.”
The interruption earns him a raised eyebrow, “Since when do you know how tall I am?”
“Irrelevant. Continue.” Chishiya said, desperate to change the subject.
Arisu just stared at him a moment but eventually asked, “Will you get coffee with me?”
“What?” Chishiya sputtered.
“Coffee.” Arisu said with a smirk. When he still didn’t respond, he rolled his eyes fondly. “I’m asking you on a date Chishiya.”
It took a few minutes for Chishiya’s brain to reboot. “You. Want to go on a date. With me.”
“Yes. That’s what I said.”
“Are you serious?”
“I’m serious.” Arisu said before pulling the cookies just out of reach. “No tricks. It’s not a joke. Just coffee.” He paused contemplating. “And your phone number.”
“You are holding the cookies hostage.”
“You noticed.”
Chishiya narrowed his eyes, trying to measure the risk, the absurdity, the potential for disaster from going on a date with ‘a tall’. He was… curious.
“Fine. But you are paying.”
“Deal.” Arisu said bringing the box back in front of him.
Chishiya snatched them quickly. “And never do that again.”
“Of course.” Arisu said softly.
They left the aisle together. Saturday mornings would be a bit different from now on. Chishiya found he didn’t mind.