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Kageyama Tobio was a perfectionist. If he wasn’t doing something perfectly, he would agonise over it until he could do it flawlessly. He was stubborn enough not to let anything stand in the way of achieving his absolute best.
Such acts were done over a period of time, however, and on his own terms. But as he stood in the kitchen, staring at the Armageddon before him with only ten minutes before Hinata was supposed to arrive, Kageyama felt the bottom of his stomach disappear.
Having overheard one of his teammates at practice talking about some European tradition about two days ago, Kageyama knew immediately that it was the perfect solution to his problem. It was the only time in his life since high school that he had willingly done research on how to pull off this amazing and—hopefully—romantic feat, and not that he’d admit it to anyone, but Kageyama had felt very confident when he stepped into the kitchen earlier that day.
Now all he could think was, what the hell went wrong? I did everything right!
The idea was truly foolproof. Kageyama considered himself an avid baker and he had improved over the years. Hinata often commented that his desserts were the best, sprinkled in with sounds of delight and a bright smile. So when Kageyama overheard his teammate mention putting coins in bread for annual good luck, he envisioned Hinata breaking open a biscuit and finding that ring Kageyama had been keeping in his pocket for months and thought yes, this is how he was finally going to propose.
The plan was supposed to go like this:
- After dinner, Kageyama would bring out the plate of biscuits and tell Hinata that some of them had a surprise in them.
- Kageyama would direct the plate so that the biscuit with the ring would be within Hinata’s reach.
- Once Hinata would take it, he would take one with a fifty yen coin and they’d break them open at the same time.
- The rest would go from there, but hopefully Hinata would say yes.
But the plan was now out of order and Kageyama’s heart tightened in horror.
The biscuits themselves were fine… sort of. He had tasted the dough more than once to check that the flavouring was great and the texture exactly as it should be. Shortbread was a tricky recipe to deal with, but it was one of Hinata’s favourites and Kageyama had perfected his skill over the months. The coins Kageyama had hidden in the biscuits were, too, fine, as they weren’t sticking out.
The big, horrible, colossal problem was that every single biscuit, save for maybe four, were green. It was the kind of green that Kageyama couldn’t get away with saying was the result of food dye, for it wasn’t bright enough or evenly spread out for it to be considered an edible add-on. It was a sickly, pale green, mixed in with a tinge of grey that really just made everything look even worse.
The even bigger problem, however, was that out of those four that were safe, Kageyama couldn’t tell which one had the ring.
Glancing at the clock on the wall above the fridge, Kageyama felt himself pale at the time. Six more minutes and Hinata would be buzzing to be let into his apartment. His eyes landed on the tray of biscuits and his fingers twitched by his sides.
No. There was no way he was serving these. He couldn’t. They were far from perfect.
As he started to clear the evidence, Kageyama found himself thinking that the even more confusing thing was why on earth they had turned green in the first place. He had followed the instructions to the final dotted i and crossed t, measured everything to the last gram and included every single ingredient listed. No additions and certainly nothing green.
Kageyama’s hands stilled, realisation seeping in.
The coins! They were additions, technically, since they weren’t in the recipe…
Leaving the biscuits for a moment, Kageyama reached for his phone—purposefully ignoring Hinata’s latest message that had been sent a whole ten minutes ago—and hastily opened his internet browser. A quick search of “does putting coins in food make it green” and two seconds later, Kageyama was staring at the results.
‘Oh… they do…’ he said to no one in particular.
Tucking his bottom lip between his teeth and eyebrows knitting together, Kageyama frantically switched tabs, searching for the initial page he had read about putting the coins in food. When he found it, he read it again once, twice, three times.
The phone landed on the kitchen counter with a clatter, but it was drowned out by Kageyama’s long and loud groan of despair.
Foil.
He was supposed to wrap the coins in foil.
Kageyama buried his face in his hands.
What the hell was he going to do?
He glanced at the clock again and went rigid. Seconds later, the sharp drone of the buzzer split the silence of his apartment.
Hinata was here.
Panic settled in and Kageyama rushed to the intercom in the main room, not bothering to ask who it was as he pressed the button to unlock the downstairs entryway. Then he rushed back to the kitchen and started clearing his absolute disaster. He lived on the seventh floor, so it would take Hinata a bit to get to his front door, so Kageyama had a window where he could hide the failed green biscuits and save the other four.
Yes… that could work… not to mention that one of them had the ring inside.
Maybe his plan could work, after all!
With renewed vigour, Kageyama placed all the dodgy biscuits into a container—he still had to remove all the coins in them before chucking them away—and stuffed it into the darkest corner of the kitchen, which just happened to be at the back of the pantry. He’d deal with them later. Grabbing a small, intricately patterned plate, Kageyama placed the four remaining shortbread on it and covered them with a tissue, setting the plate aside on the counter. The trays went into the sink and there was a series of loud knocks on the front door.
Phew… that was a close one, Kageyama thought to himself, trudging towards the door and pulling it open once he had unlocked it. Hinata beamed up at him, wrapped in a giant red scarf and oversized coat. His nose was pink and a smattering of snowflakes that hadn’t melted yet sat amongst his orange mane. There were two bags, one in each hand, tinted a deep green so that Kageyama couldn’t quite make out their contents.
It reminded him of the green biscuits in the kitchen and he felt a lump form in his throat.
‘Hi Tobio!’ Hinata cried, oblivious to his boyfriend’s inner horror. ‘Good to see you!’
Hinata toed off his shoes once Kageyama had enough sense in him to move aside so he could come in, too busy trying to will the blush on his cheeks to go away. It was a recent thing that Hinata started calling Kageyama by his given name, and every time he did, Kageyama felt himself stutter in whatever he was doing: speaking, walking, breathing—
‘Whoa, something smells really good in here!’ Hinata exclaimed, turning to grin at Kageyama. ‘You’ve been baking, haven’t you?’
Kageyama swallowed, blinked at him, and said, ‘It’s good to see you too, Hinata…’ after having noticed that he hadn’t greeted him.
The grin formed into a soft, almost shy smile and Hinata gently placed the bags on the floor, striding up to Kageyama. The kiss he placed on Kageyama’s lips was short and sweet, just what Kageyama needed to get his thoughts in order.
‘You wanna see what I brought?’ Hinata asked him once they parted. ‘Hitoka really went crazy with the shopping again…’
He laughed sheepishly, but Kageyama had a small grin growing. Yachi and Hinata roomed together near the university as a means to save money on rent. It was a great compromise, as Hinata told him regularly, even more so since they were friends. One of Yachi’s biggest things was to make sure there was always enough food in the fridge, but would constantly overdo it on the groceries. Most of it usually ended up at her girlfriend’s house or for Hinata to take with him wherever he went. Sneaking a peak at the bags Hinata had brought with him, Kageyama wondered what she had bought this time to fill not one but two bags.
Kageyama nodded at Hinata’s question, following him as he picked up the bags and skipped into the kitchen. Hinata dumped the bags on the counter and was about to start unpacking them when his eyes landed on something in the corner—
‘Oh, hey, what’s this?’
Eyes widening, Kageyama reached out to swat Hinata’s grabby hands away from the shortbread, but was too late as Hinata lifted the tissue off the top and let out a delighted sound.
‘Yum! These look so good!’ Hinata cried out, and Kageyama felt amused at the obvious look of desire on Hinata’s face. ‘Can I have one? Please?’
Kageyama tutted at him. ‘No.’
Hinata sent him an appalled look, horrified that Kageyama wasn’t going to indulge him.
‘Why not?’
‘They’re for after dinner,’ Kageyama told him matter-of-factly, ‘and hey, stupid, you’re still wearing your coat—’
Rolling his eyes, Hinata shrugged off his coat and unwrapped the scarf from around his neck, rolling them both into a ball and setting them next to the bags on the counter. There was a glint in his eyes as he pulled the little plate towards himself, setting it between the two of them with a scrape and a clink. Kageyama felt his heart stop. He knew that look. This was Hinata’s come-on-let’s-do-something-naughty look.
‘I can see four, Tobio,’ Hinata began, voice lilted cheekily. ‘So how about this? We each have one now and then another after dinner!’
Kageyama’s mouth dried, the looming thought of seeing his plan through clouding his senses. He tried to remain impassive, to pretend that he wasn’t about to have a heart attack from how hard his heart was pounding, but with the way Hinata was looking at him in concern, Kageyama knew he was failing. He couldn’t show his boyfriend how nervous he was. That simply wouldn’t do.
So he quickly blurted out, ‘Fine! Just be careful—there’s a surprise in them.’
Hinata blinked at him rapidly, then grinned broadly.
‘Thank you for the food!’ he exclaimed, grabbing one of the biscuits.
Kageyama followed his example, chanting inwardly please let Hinata get the one with the ring, please let Hinata get the one with the ring, please let Hinata—
‘By the way, Tobio. How come there’s only four?’
Kageyama felt himself blanch.
‘Long story…’
Hinata’s laugh was like a bell in his ears: loud, annoying, but it sent pleasant tingles down his spine.
‘Did you burn them or something? Ah, never mind, you can tell me later.’ Hinata held the biscuit in both hands, ready to break it in half. ‘Together on three?’
Kageyama gave a nod. There was a rush in his ears, drowning out everything around him, including Hinata’s voice. He vaguely heard the man counting down and his eyes were trained on his own hands.
He broke the biscuit in half, and then let the pieces drop.
He buried his face in his hands.
God. Damn it.
‘Whoa, a coin? Tobio, that’s so cool! What does a coin mean? It’s fifty yen—is the number important or something? Hey Tobio, why are you so quiet—?’
There was a long pause.
‘Tobio…?’
Idiot. Idiot!
‘I messed up…’
Hinata’s voice was low.
‘Tobio. Is that a ring?’
This was a nightmare. Yes, Kageyama was still in his bed, dreaming about how his plan was coming apart… He’d wake up soon, and he’d go about making sure that everything would turn out perfect—
Hinata’s hand on his arm made him jolt. Risking looking at his face, Kageyama swallowed at his confused expression. He looked like he was about to say something, eyes flicking between Kageyama and the ring sitting amongst the shortbread pieces, and mouth opening and closing a few times.
A nasty feeling started to bubble in Kageyama’s stomach. Oh, how stupid he must look right now…
No. No, this simply wouldn’t do.
He opened his mouth before he could stop himself.
‘It was meant to be a surprise! My teammate was talking about some European thing, and I thought it was a cool idea!’ Kageyama blurted out, voice bordering on hysteria. ‘So I tried to do it, and I had a plan and everything—you were supposed to find the stupid ring in your shortbread, and then I’d propose, and it would have been so romantic, right? But stupid recipe, stupid coins, stupid—’
‘Tobio—’
‘Nothing worked! You always do romantic things for me, Hinata, but I can’t a single romantic thing for you. Gah, I can’t believe I messed this up—’
‘Tobio!’
Kageyama stopped blabbering, choosing to gape at Hinata instead. Hinata’s eyes were round and mouth rounded in an ‘o’. Then his lips split into a gentle smile.
‘Yes.’
Kageyama’s breath hitched.
‘What?’
Hinata let out a loud huff.
‘I just said it! My answer’s yes!’ But then he let out a soft giggle. ‘But you know, technically you haven’t asked me properly yet—’
‘You’ll do it?’ Kageyama whispered. He scrambled to stand up straight and his fingers loitered near the crumbed ring. ‘You’ll really marry me?’
Hinata didn’t say anything, lifting himself onto his toes to press a kiss to Kageyama’s slack mouth instead. But when he broke away, he said, ‘Yeah. I’ll marry your dumb arse.’
Kageyama couldn’t find it in himself to tell Hinata off for the insult. He was so happy his heart was about to burst out of his chest. He ignored Hinata’s squawk of indignation as he lifted him off his feet and into a tight hug, his laugh loud in the kitchen. Hinata’s soon joined his, arms wrapped tightly around his neck.
It was the happiest Kageyama had been in a long time, and as he stared down into his boyfriend’s—no, fiancé’s—beaming face, Kageyama thought to himself:
Looks like the plan worked, after all.
(Even when Hinata found out about his failed shortbread and was laughing so hard he was crying, Kageyama couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.)