Jam and Mayonnaise [TDBK]

Katsuki had always been the type of person who showed his feelings through his actions rather than by using words, Shouto had known that from the beginning. Even Izuku had told him so, when he found out Shouto had a crush back in high school – he’d waited until Ochako went to the bathroom during one of their study sessions, to avoid spreading information to the class gossip mill, then had casually brought it up as they pored over English books.

“You know, Kacchan doesn’t really talk about things,” he’d mused, as if there were no ulterior motive behind the words. “It took years to get used to the way he shows his feelings.”

“I know,” Shouto had answered quietly. “Like how he stays up later than usual to hang out with someone if he feels like he should apologise for something.”

“Yeah,” Izuku grinned, glancing at him fondly. “And how he might yell at you to leave him alone, but he’s the one who keeps hanging around.”

Tenya hadn’t thought much of the words, too busy focussing on their actual study, but Shouto understood. He knew Izuku was warning him, in a way, so he wouldn’t feel let down needlessly. He was a good friend – to both of them.

So when Katsuki had started sitting a little closer to him at lunch, had “begrudgingly” informed him they should work together in class, since “we’re gonna have to at some point so we may as well get used to it”, Shouto didn’t have to second guess what it meant. He’d just waited until after class, had hung back while Katsuki took his extra-long shower to warm up after their winter classes, and had given him his best smile when he finally emerged from the stall, wrapped in a soft towel.

“I like you,” he’d admitted, in the quiet of the empty changing rooms. “We should go on a date.”

Katsuki had burned bright red, and Shouto was amused to see that it spread right down his bare chest, betraying the stubbornly cranky look that was still on his face. He hadn’t yelled, though, hadn’t punched him or even complained, he’d just stared, frozen, and Shouto had cracked a smile.

From that day onward, they’d been at each other’s side. It had taken a little while for most of their classmates to even notice, with how little they each talked about their personal lives, but Shouto knew Izuku had noticed immediately, giving them a supportive grin the moment they walked into the dorm building together, and he was fairly certain that Eijirou had cottoned on within the first few days – he’d probably known about Katsuki’s crush before the fact, anyway, and when he caught Katsuki smiling it likely hadn’t been hard to piece together.

A few weeks in, Katsuki had put a stubbornly determined look on his face and snatched Shouto’s hand as they walked to class, and for the three years since, everyone had known.

As Shouto sat down in the agency cafeteria to open his lunchbox, he couldn’t help but think about it all, about how Katsuki had been loading him up with good food ever since they moved in together straight out of school. He was such a good cook, especially compared to Shouto’s uselessness in the kitchen, and he’d gone from begrudgingly finding decent food to fuel himself, to counting down the minutes until his next meal.

“Oooh, Blasty was in a good mood today, huh?” Mina grinned, sitting down beside him. “Looks super tasty, you lucky man!”

“He was tired last night, I brought home dinner,” Shouto explained, taking the top layer off his box and laying everything out nicely. “Probably felt bad for not cooking for me, even though I tell him he doesn’t have to.”

“He’s such a cutie,” Mina laughed. “Even if he’ll never let the rest of us see it.”

“He is,” Shouto agreed. “I’m very lucky.”

Katsuki had taken a shine to creating the cute little bentos for him; a way to make sure Shouto was thinking of them even when they were apart, Shouto suspected. They were always red and white, without fail, usually split down the middle just like Shouto’s hair. Anything not red or white was hidden underneath the restso that it didn’t ruin the aesthetics. It was adorable and Shouto knew he could die happy as long as he’d already eaten his lunch that day (although he’d ideally prefer to live to go home to him, and maybe eat another bento the next day).

Today, the top layer was red grapes, cherries and strawberries on one side; on the other, a little potato salad with the homemade dressing Shouto liked so much, and a few chunks of daikon mixed in because Katsuki insisted potatoes alone weren’t nutritious enough. On the bottom, the colours were mixed together; white rice with a perfectly swirled drizzle of red sauce, some kind of meat hidden beneath to keep the brown out of his masterpiece. Shouto couldn’t help but smile when he saw it – his boyfriend was such a damn perfectionist, and he absolutely loved it.

“You have patrol this afternoon, right?” Mina asked, taking a bite of her konbini meat bun. “I heard there’s a bunch of muggings been going on, be careful.”

“Yeah,” Shouto nodded, scooping up a mouthful of rice and meat. “We’ve been keeping an eye out, but no sign so far. I’ll be extra careful.”

“Katsuki will kill you if you get yourself hurt.”

“Yeah,” Shouto chuckled. “He really will.”

─────

Katsuki yawned as he stepped out into the car park, squinting at the setting sun that cast orange rays straight into his face. He’d managed to get his paperwork done early, for once, so he’d taken his time getting showered and changed, set everything up for his morning patrol the next day, and still headed out a little earlier than usual. He’d probably get to Shouto’s agency half an hour early still, but he knew no one would mind if he hung out there for a bit rather than stay and get dragged into something at his own. Mina always had the morning patrols, so maybe she’d even be finishing off by the time he arrived, giving them a chance to catch up while Shouto worked onhis reports.

Plus, Shouto’s agency had a beanbag lounge. It really wasn’t a tough decision.

He took the leisurely drive across the city, almost devoid of traffic considering how jam-packed it would be in another hour, and took a spot near the front of the lot. Shouto was always extra tired toward the end of the week, it would be nice to just get him straight into the car instead of walking the extra distance to a further-away spot. It seemed like everything was just lining up perfectly, Katsuki was practically whistling as he walked inside, leaning against the reception desk with a little wave.

“Hey,” he said, trying his best to sound at least slightly friendly. “Can I go up to Shouto’s office?”

“Oh, Mister Bakugou, I wasn’t expecting you.” She frowned. “Shouto isn’t back yet, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, I know, I’m early today. He’ll be a few more minutes, I don’t mind waiting if it’s cool. Want me to wait down here instead?”

“Oh, no, Sir, it’s not that. We’re more than happy to have you here, you know that. But what I meant is he’s still at the hospital.”

“He’s what?” Katsuki demanded. “Why the hell is he at the hospital, and whywasn’t I told?!”

“He had an accident on patrol and had to be checked out, I’m sorry, I would have called if I knew you hadn’t heard from him.” She scribbled down a few details on a note pad, tearing the page off and handing it over. “Here, this is the hospital he went to and the doctor our agency works with. I’m sure they’ll be able to give you any information they can, and hopefully let you see him.”

He was already pushing the door open by the time he realised what he was doing, sighing as he turned to look back over his shoulder.

“Thanks,” he grunted.

“You’re welcome, Mister Bakugou.”

He hurried back to the car, barely stopping to put his seatbelt on before he was pulling out into the street again, taking long, deep breaths to keep himself calm. If anything really bad had happened, they’d have called him, right? Unless Shouto couldn’t tell them to, then it would have been his family they called – and Katsuki, frustratingly, was not on that list. He gritted his teeth at that thought. He knew Shouto had tried once, even though he’d never actually said so, but he had tried, too – he knew exactly the answer Shouto would have gotten. Unless they got married, they weren’t family enough. Stupid rules. But at least his parents knew to call Shouto immediately; Endeavour didn’t exactly know about them being together. Nor would he have approved if he did. But his siblings knew, and there was no way they wouldn’t have called him, right?

So it had to be okay, right?

Right?

He pulled into a spot close to the hospital doors, throwing up the placard he’d been given as a top ten hero to stop him from getting towed, and ran to the reception desk. He held up the piece of paper with the doctor’s name, eyes already darting toward the corridors to search for any sign of him, taking a deep breath to keep himself from yelling.

“Todoroki,” he choked out. “Where is he?”

“I’m here, Katsuki.”

He whirled around just in time to see Shouto emerge from one of the nurse’s rooms, a bandage wound around his head and a bag thrown over his shoulder. He took long strides over to meet him, cupping the tired face in his hands to inspect his eyes and wounds, and Shouto cracked a tiny smile at his concern.

“I’m fine,” he said softly. “Don’t worry. What are you doing here?”

“Are you fucking kidding me? I got to your agency and they said you were in the hospital. What the hell do you mean what am I doing here?”

“Did you finish early? I was going to be back by the time you arrived.”

“You’re in hospital, asshole.”

“I’m fine though,” Shouto assured him. “They just had to check I wasn’t concussed, and I’m not, so I was about to get on the train.”

“You stupid idiot,” Katsuki huffed. “Why didn’t you just call me?”

“I didn’t want you to worry.”

“And you think this was better?! You thought I wouldn’t worry finding out like this?”

“I didn’t think you’d find out.”

“You thought lying to me was a better option?”

“I wasn’t lying. I would have told you on the way home!”

“I hate you so much,” Katsuki growled, tearing his hands away. “Come on, asshole, I wanna go home.”

“I’m coming. Um, thanks for picking me up?”

“Shut up.”

He stalked out, pulling his keys from his pocket to get back in the car, and Shouto followed in silence. He slid into the passenger seat, shooting Katsuki a tiny smile that he pointedly ignored.

Shoutohad a feeling it was going to be a very quiet night.

─────

Shouto’s bento box was only one layer, never a good sign. He took a deep breath as he lifted the lid off, grimacing when he saw the two plain, unadorned sandwiches inside. One was made with cheap white bread, the stuff Katsuki complained about constantly – they always had a loaf in the house for Shouto to throw together a sandwich as a snack, but Katsuki berated him for it even as he continued to buy it. The second was somehow even worse, the bright-red beetroot bread Katsuki had made once that they’d both absolutely despised. Katsuki must have been really pissed off if he’d baked bread just to be an asshole with.

“What is that?” Mina asked, taking up her usual seat. “Is that bread?”

“Katsuki is mad at me,” Shouto mumbled, peeling off the top layers and grimacing. “He still likes me so he refuses to not make lunch, but he also wants to make it clear that he’s pissed off.”

“You got all that from some sandwiches?”

“Katsuki talks with his actions.”

The red-bread sandwich wouldn’t have been so bad if not for the bread being gross, layered with the bright strawberry jam that Katsuki usually just used in baking, but the white one had something equally white inside it, and Shouto was almost scared to try it.

“I think it’s mayonnaise,” he said quietly, picking it up to sniff. “He made a mayonnaise sandwich just to spite me.”

“That... Sounds like Blasty,” Mina chuckled. “Why don’t you just throw it out and buy something?”

“He would see it on the bank account.”

“So what?”

“So he would never let it go that I refused to eat the lunch he made me.”

“Surely he doesn’t expect you to actually eat it.”

“He doesn’t,” Shouto confirmed, taking a bite and cringing. “That’s exactly why I’m going to.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I’m very serious.”

“Shouto, come on, I’ll buy you lunch, okay?”

“Nope, I need to prove my point.”

“What point?”

“It doesn’t matter, he’ll understand.”

Mina watched in awe and a hint of disgust as Shouto ate every single bite, guzzling water to wash the taste out of his mouth, giving her a little smile as he wrapped the box back up and tucked it into his bag.

“You’re insane,” she sighed. “You and Katsuki.”

“Maybe, but it seems to work for us.”

With a bright grin from Mina, and a slightly more awkward one from Shouto, they parted ways to get back to work. Shouto finished up his shift in record time, stepping outside to wait, lest Katsuki decide not to come in just to be petty. But sure enough, Katsuki’s car was soon pulling into the lot, driving down to the furthest row from the door despite plenty of empty spots much closer. But that was Katsuki for him, always ready to find little ways to inconvenience him just to prove his point.

Honestly, it could have been so much worse. Everything Katsuki did gave him such a specific message: “I’m mad at you, but I still love you and care about you and want you to be safe”. The lunch that tasted awful, but that he’d still gone to the effort of making and packing, and still in the same colour theme he’d always used. The ride that he’d gone out of his way to make Shouto walk to, but he’d still showed up for him. And when he hurried to the car and slid into the passenger seat, the hand that still reached for him, squeezing his hand lightly even though he didn’t say a word to go with it.

“Thanks for picking me up,” he said quietly, buckling his seatbelt. “How was work?”

“Fine.”

“No annoying coworkers doing stupid shit to bother you?”

Katsuki tensed up a little, jaw clenched to keep from speaking up, and Shouto smiled knowingly.

“No stupid interns screwing up on patrol so you had to save their asses?”

“I swear to God, that stupid kid is gonna get himself-” Katsuki stopped mid-sentence, cutting himself off. “Whatever.”

“Well, if you don’t want to talk, I guess I could talk to you instead,” Shouto mused. “You know that janitor who stops buy to empty my trash bin? He was telling me a fascinating story about his toddlers today, I bet you’d love it.”

“Don’t you dare.”

“So he has this three year old, right? And he’s just learned how to open the kitchen cupboards by himself, so-”

“Okay, okay! I get it!” Katsuki snapped, scowling at him when they stopped at a red light. “Just shut up about the damn kids.”

“Then tell me about your shitty intern, I’ve missed your voice.”

“Don’t start that shit.”

“The sappy shit?”

“Exactly.”

Shouto smiled, watching fondly as Katsuki flushed bright red, settling in comfortably to enjoy the ride home. They always got stuck in traffic after work, but while he knew it frustrated Katsuki to drive in, Shouto always kind of liked the time alone together. It was his chance to have Katsuki’s undivided attention – well, except for the small fraction he needed to watch traffic – instead of always being occupied by a thousand thoughts and to-do list entries. They got plenty of quality time together, both being homebodies, but he still enjoyed the simple little moments together even so.

“We should stop and buy dinner,” Shouto suggested, watching Katsuki’s eyes narrow. “You’ve worked hard this week, you deserve a night off cooking, and God knows I can’t do it.”

“I like to cook.”

“I thought maybe you were tired.”

Katsuki’s eyes darted to him briefly, narrowing, but Shouto just smiled innocently.

“Although you did take the time to bake me homemade bread for lunch, that must have taken some effort.” Shouto hummed thoughtfully. “The jam was delicious. Mayonnaise was an interesting touch, but it makes total sense, you know? It’s so good on potato salad, it stands to reason that it would be good on bread too. I’m impressed, you really know your stuff when it comes to food.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit, don’t act like it was good.”

“What do you mean? It was delicious, your lunches always are.”

“Fuck off.”

“I mean it! I love your lunches! I’m so lucky to have a boyfriend who cooks for me!”

“I swear to God I’m gonna pull over and kick you out of my car.”

“For complimenting your cooking?”

“You know what I mean, asshole.”

Shouto smiled the whole way home, continuing to prod the beast at every opportunity. The constant bickering was much more them than the silence of the night prior. Arguing was a constant, silence was odd.

The silence didn’t return until they were back home, standing either side of their shared bed as they dug out clean clothes. They both chose to change out of their costumes after patrol, to be more comfortable on the way home, but they also had a little shared habit of changing straight into their pyjamas the moment they got home. Shouto had been delighted when Katsuki first became comfortable enough to wander around their apartment in his fluffy sweatpants and an old tank top, he had never seen Katsuki more handsome than when he was so relaxed.

In a moment of boldness, Shouto tackled Katsuki onto the bed, grinning at the squawk he got for it. Katsuki fought, but Shouto pinned his arms down before he could try to use his quirk, sitting on his thighs to keep him trapped. Katsuki yelled at him, something indecipherable, and Shouto could only laugh back.

Katsuki froze when he heard it, looking up at Shouto with wide eyes, his flailing limbs falling dead still as he stared. Shouto tried his best to stifle it, but he couldn’t seem to stop, the laughter pouring out of him like he’d turned on a tap and it had stuck that way, unable to turn it back.

After a minute, Katsuki managed to slide his arms free, reaching up to wrap them around Shouto’s back and pull him down, into his grip. Shouto tucked his head into Katsuki’s neck, still shuddering with laughter, and Katsuki just held him for a long time, listening to the sweet, joyful sound.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call,” Shouto choked out, when the laughter calmed down a bit. “It was stupid, I didn’t think. I’m so sorry.”

“I love you,” Katsuki murmured. “Should’ve been relieved.”

“It’s okay, I get it. Emotions are kind stupid, huh?”

“Tell me about it.”

Shouto levered himself up to smile at Katsuki, only getting shoved in the face for his efforts, thrown onto the mattress to lie side by side. He rolled over stubbornly, draping himself over Katsuki’s chest, a little relieved when the strong arm wrapped around him in turn.

“The sandwiches were terrible,” he whispered.

“I fucking knew it, you bastard!”

He burst into another fit of laughter again when Katsuki rolled on top of him, thumping him on the chest as his face burned red, but even with the yelling and fighting, it just felt so good. He’d missed their stupid fights so much, and it had barely been twenty-four hours.

“I love you, Katsuki.”

“Ugh,” Katsuki huffed, pouting a little. “Yeah, I fuckin’ love you too.”

“I don’t know why.”

“Me neither, some days,” Katsuki snorted. “But I don’t always know why you love me either, so I guess we’re even.”

Shouto slid an arm under him, squeezing his ass roughly, and grinned when Katsuki squawked again.

“It’s the ass,” he explained, kissing Katsuki’s cheek. “And the arms, and the chest, and-”

“I get it, I’m hot, now quit groping me.”

“Never.”

Katsuki tightened his grip around Shouto’s waist, the other hand lifting to comb through soft hair, and Shouto hummed contentedly as he snuggled in.

“I’m gonna take a nap,” he yawned. “I’ll help you cook dinner, later.”

“We can order something in. Or have sandwiches.”

“No sandwiches.”

“Thanks for putting up with me, asshole.”

“My pleasure,” Shouto smiled faintly, closing his eyes. “Night Katsuki.”

“G’night Shouto.”