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There were 17 of them.
Long strips of paper cut in equal sizes with glitter and miscellaneous stickers sprinkled on them. The writing on them was in big, bold letters, also in glitter. With an 8-year-old girl in the house, there really was no shortage of that.
The longer Shouyou stared at the handmade coupons, the stupider the idea seemed. Which wasn’t surprising, considering it was Natsu’s idea and she was a little kid.
But she’d been so convincing, and the coupons had seemed like such a cute concept when she talked about them with her eyes shining. Shouyou hadn’t even stopped to question it.
It was his own fault for being broke anyway. It was Kageyama’s birthday and Shouyou didn’t have any money left to buy him a nice gift. He’d blown the last of his yen just a fortnight ago on fancy kneepads he didn’t even need.
Usually, this wouldn’t be a problem. Last year, Shouyou had just bought him a large paper bag of curry buns after practice and that had been enough. But now—there was a change in their relationship status ever since that fateful day Kageyama had accidentally stuttered out a confession to him three months prior. Which meant they were dating now and Shouyou didn’t think a few Sakanoshita-brand meat buns were going to cut it anymore as Kageyama’s boyfriend. He had to step up his game.
And he had done a truly fantastic job of that by spending the last three hours making these stupid, childish coupons to be redeemed by Kageyama that ranged from hugs and kisses (with time variations because Shouyou’s creativity was running out) to cooking for him and doing his homework.
(His favourites were 20 minutes of cuddling and half an hour of extra volleyball at the park after school. Shouyou really hoped Kageyama would redeem those.)
Ugh. He wished his mom had just lent him money when he’d wailed about his problems at home instead of having him resort to his baby sister’s suggestions.
He glanced at the clock. It was 23:30 already and definitely too late for Shouyou to come up with anything else. He sighed and chucked the coupons in his study table drawer, making a mental note to put them in his bag in the morning. Setting up his alarm for the next morning, he headed to bed.
It was a good thing he was used to embarrassing himself in front of Kageyama and didn't think the coupons were bad enough for Kageyama to break it off with him (probably). He would most likely just make a mean face, poke a little fun at Shouyou's expense and that would be the end of it. It was nothing he couldn't handle.
On the morning of 22nd December, Shouyou found himself bright and early in front of the school gates, like usual. He and Kageyama raced to the gym next, also as usual, and it was only when Kageyama was bent over panting with his hands on his knees, did Shouyou dare to throw a cursory look around and leaned forward to plant a quick kiss on his cheek.
Kageyama’s face was immediately infused with a pretty pink blush and Shouyou grinned.
“Happy Birthday, Kageyama!”
“Th—thanks,” Kageyama muttered, ducking his head. Shouyou’s smile only widened.
They walked up to the clubroom and while Kageyama was busy unlocking the door, Shouyou dug around in his bag and pulled out his gift. The coupons were neatly kept in an envelope wrapped with a ribbon. There was a blue bow stuck on top.
He cleared his throat. Kageyama glanced back at him curiously.
"Here,” he announced, offering him the envelope. “I got you a gift."
“Oh.” Kageyama looked surprised to be receiving a gift and his brows climbed high. He gingerly accepted it and frowned. "What's this?"
"They're, umm—” Shouyou nervously scratched his neck. “They're…coupons."
"Coupons?” Kageyama repeated. “Like the ones they give at the supermarket?"
"Yeah!” Shouyou nodded. “Yeah, like that."
Kageyama’s forehead scrunched in confusion. "Okay uh...thanks?” He started opening the zipper of his bag. “I'll give them to my mom—"
"No!” Shouyou protested, grabbing his wrist to stop him. “They're not actually supermarket coupons, stupid! I made them myself. Open the envelope.”
Kageyama didn’t question him, carefully untying the ribbon and opening the flap of the envelope. He looked into it dubiously and fished out a random one. “This coupon is redeemable for a makeout session,” he read out, squinting at the words in Shouyou’s handwriting. “Time: whenever you want— "
Shouyou’s neck heated up with embarrassment. It was one thing writing it and quite another to have it be repeated back to him. Especially when Kageyama did it like that.
"Shhh!” he hissed. “Why do you have to read it aloud? Someone might hear!"
"Who?” Kageyama flicked his forehead lightly. “There’s nobody here but us.”
He pulled the entire stack of coupons out and rifled through them, his eyes getting progressively bigger. Shouyou’s heart rate kicked up in anticipation.
“Wow,” Kageyama said after a few moments of silence. “This is—this is ... interesting.”
Shouyou wanted the ground to swallow him whole.
Kageyama hated his gift. It was obvious by his reaction. Why did Shouyou give him something so weird? He was such an idiot.
"Listen, it's dumb,” he breathed out in a rush, reaching a hand out towards the coupons. “I get it. You don't have to accept it. You can give it back, I won't feel bad—"
"What, no!” Kageyama exclaimed, leaning away from Shouyou. “I want it."
Shouyou groaned, stretching harder. "You don't have to do this just to make me feel better. I'll buy you milk and meat buns later, okay? So, let me just take that—"
"Back off, dumbass!” Kageyama snapped, pushing him away with a palm on his head. “It's mine now! Get your grubby little hands off my gift!"
Shouyou stumbled back a few steps and stared at him. "Seriously?”
Kageyama rolled his eyes. “Yes.”
“Oh.” Shouyou blinked, suddenly feeling lighter. He could feel a tentative smile pulling at his lips that he attempted to hide under his scarf. "Fine, then. If ...if you really want it."
Kageyama looked sincere when his gaze met Shouyou’s. "I do."
Shouyou nodded, pursing his lips to suppress his giddiness. "Kay. Um, let's—let’s go inside."
The rest of the team arrived shortly afterwards, the third years wishing Kageyama with hoots and shouts (Tanaka and Noya practically climbing on top of him to violently ruffle his hair), while the first years managed a few shy stutters before they scampered off into the gym.
At the end of practice, they made their way to Sakanoshita and even scrounged up enough money to buy Kageyama a small, convenience store cake.
All in all, it was a good day and Shouyou had never seen Kageyama smile so much in a span of twelve hours.
Christmas flew by and Kageyama didn’t redeem the coupons for the first week after his birthday. Shouyou was almost completely sure he’d forgotten about it and it didn’t bother him all that much. It was fine. It wasn't like he wasn’t half-expecting it anyway. He'd do better on Kageyama’s next birthday, or better yet on Valentine's Day, which was sooner.
It came as quite a bit of a surprise to Shouyou when Kageyama redeemed his first coupon.
In hindsight, it didn’t happen completely out of the blue. His boyfriend had been extra broody and snappish since lunch, making people steer clear of him just by the sheer threatening aura he was exuding. Any answers he gave to Shouyou’s questions were monosyllabic grunts and Shouyou had resigned himself to talking to him properly the next day, providing his mood improved.
It wasn’t serious enough to affect his game though and as far as Shouyou was concerned, that was all that mattered. Kageyama was a grumpy, introverted person who didn’t like to talk about his problems. Shouyou had learned not to prod.
Practice ended as dusk faded into darkness and Shouyou was fully prepared for Kageyama to storm off into the night without saying a word to him.
He shrugged. He’d miss him a bit on the walk home but it was clear Kageyama needed his space and Shouyou wouldn’t deny him that.
He zipped up his jacket and put on his earmuffs as he walked to the bike stand. He was humming a familiar tune while he unlocked his bicycle and suddenly froze when he felt a shadow loom over him from behind.
“Hinata.”
Shouyou’s chest unclenched when he recognised Kageyama’s voice.
He exhaled and turned around to face him. “Hey.”
Kageyama was already wearing his blue scarf, his hair wind-ruffled. His posture was a little tense and he was fiddling with his gloved fingers. He didn’t meet Shouyou’s gaze.
A few long seconds passed in silence, the wind whipping around them being the only sound that could be heard. Shouyou was about to open his mouth to say something when Kageyama abruptly pulled something from his pocket and shoved it at him.
Shouyou blinked, a bit taken aback. He hesitantly pried the piece of paper from between Kageyama’s fingers and squinted at it.
There was no mistaking it. It was one of Shouyou’s coupons. The one which offered a…
Shouyou looked back up at him and exclaimed, “You want a hug?”
Kageyama flinched, taking half a step back. Shouyou immediately lowered his voice, whispering, “You want a hug?”
Kageyama pouted, looking a bit frustrated. Then he nodded. “Yeah…”
Warm affection unfurled inside Shouyou. This shy version of Kageyama never failed to have this effect on him. He stepped closer. “Okay. After all, I have to do as the coupon says.” He opened his arms with a small smile. “Come here.”
Some dam that had been holding back Kageyama’s emotions seemed to break and he wasted no time in scooping Shouyou up into a tight hug. He shoved his face into Shouyou’s neck, his hot breath tickling Shouyou’s skin as he sighed against it.
Shouyou wound his arms around Kageyama’s waist, his fingers bunching up in the jacket as he pulled him closer. He closed his eyes and melted into the embrace, one hand slowly running up and down Kageyama’s back.
Despite the biting cold, Shouyou didn’t remember ever feeling this warm.
Several minutes passed with them wrapped around each other and Shouyou physically felt it when Kageyama stiffened again.
“Yama,” he breathed. “What is it?”
Kageyama pressed his forehead against Shouyou’s shoulder. "Um, it’s just that,” he mumbled, his palm flattening against the small of Shouyou’s back. “This one didn’t have a time limit written on it so I’m not sure how long—”
"It's alright,” Shouyou reassured him, tightening his arms so Kageyama didn’t have any residual doubts. “Don’t worry about it. As long as you want.”
Kageyama nodded wordlessly and his muscles slowly relaxed under Shouyou’s hands.
It was probably just a couple more minutes they spent hugging but when they finally separated, Shouyou felt suddenly deprived. The wind hitting his torso was jarring and some childish part of him wanted him to glue his body to Kageyama’s forever.
He shook his head and turned around to finish unlocking his bike. He glanced at Kageyama. “Are you feeling better?”
“Yeah,” Kageyama sighed, tilting his head up at the sky. “Second period was shit. I failed in English again.”
Shouyou snorted, wheeling his bike along as they started walking towards the school gate. “Is that why you’ve been so mad the whole day?”
Kageyama scowled. “I guess. Sensei said I wouldn’t be allowed to go to Spring High if I didn’t bring my grades up. That pissed me off.”
Shouyou hummed, balancing his bike in one hand as the other one reached out to squeeze Kageyama’s hand. “Yeah, that would suck. We need you to win. Why don’t you ask Yachi-san to tutor you again?”
Kageyama let out a petulant groan. “I hate studying so much.”
“Hey, I’ll join you!” Shouyou offered. “I’m passing for the time being but it wouldn’t hurt to brush up on English a bit. Sato-kun was saying the papers are going to be harder from now on.”
Kageyama looked like he’d bit into a sour lemon upon hearing this, but he ultimately agreed. “Fine.” He was quiet for a second and his gaze darted to Shouyou’s face, lingering a bit. “Thanks for the hug.”
Shouyou’s stomach fluttered and he directed a beaming smile at him. “Anytime.”
"Nii-chan! Your tall friend is at the door!"
Shouyou shot up from where he was lazing around on the couch in front of the TV. He hurriedly brushed away the potato chips crumbs dotting his shirt, wiped his mouth with his sleeve and ran to the door.
Kageyama and Natsu were in the world's strangest staredown at the genkan. Natsu was eyeing him suspiciously while Kageyama's face was set in its usual stony scowl. Shouyou could identify the minute flashes of discomfort in his features and surmised that he was probably feeling out of place and didn't know what to say. Shouyou was just surprised he hadn't made Natsu cry yet.
Shouyou proceeded to shoo his sister away, lying that their mother needed her in the kitchen. Natsu shot Kageyama one last threatening look before scurrying away.
Once he and Kageyama were alone, Shouyou breathed out a shaky exhale and took in his appearance. He looked dishevelled, clothes rumpled and expression unreadable. His hair was sticking to his forehead from dried sweat.
Kageyama cleared his throat and awkwardly handed Shouyou a familiar piece of paper. "I am here to redeem this."
Shouyou gaped at the coupon and then at him. "You hiked up a whole mountain for this?"
Kageyama's brows furrowed. "Yeah?"
Shouyou snatched the coupon. It read ‘This coupon is redeemable for 20 minutes of cuddles’, and wow, that was the highest timeslot Shouyou had allotted any of the activities. Kageyama must be feeling really shitty.
Shouyou swallowed, his gaze darting around the entryway of his house. "Now?"
Seeing the way Kageyema clenched his jaw and glared at him, nobody would've guessed he was here to have Shouyou cuddle him for a half-hour. Appearances really could be deceiving. "Yes," he gritted out, the tips of his ears red.
"Oh, uh." The last time he'd checked the time, it had been 19:20. Shouyou supposed he could spare some time without arousing his mother’s suspicions.
He exhaled sharply and nodded, reaching out to grab Kageyama’s wrist. “Fine. Hurry and be quiet then.”
They tiptoed up to Shouyou’s room, fortunately managing to avoid a prying Natsu on the way.
“Mom, me and Kageyama are going to study for a bit! Tell Natsu to not disturb us!” Shouyou yelled in the kitchen’s vague direction before bolting the door and ordering Kageyama to get on the bed.
The position they ended up in after five whole minutes of arguing and kicking was Kageyama being wrapped around Shouyou, resting his head on his shoulder and slotting one leg between both of Shouyou’s. He was still grumbling but it was in a decidedly less anxious and spooked-out manner so Shouyou counted this as a sign that the cuddling was working.
Bit by bit, Kageyama’s hard layers peeled off and he told Shouyou that he’d had a nasty fight with his father, something that topped the list of things that upset him the most in the world, right below not being able to play volleyball. He’d tried to toss the ball in the park for some time but it did nothing to make him feel better so he’d made his way to Shouyou’s house without a second thought.
Kageyama recounted details of the fight while Shouyou stroked his hair gently and listened. His stiff muscles progressively loosened as he reached the end of his speaking capacity, words trailing off into a low murmur.
At some point, they both grew silent, just breathing quietly as Kageyama’s warmth continued to seep into Shouyou in a steady, comforting stream. He was half-sure that the setter had fallen asleep on top of him.
He tried his hardest to not move a finger but it proved more difficult than he’d expected.
Shouyou cursed under his breath when he felt his body getting a bit sore from staying in the same position for too long and that was enough to stir Kageyama from his drowsy state. He tensed up in Shouyou’s arms, eyes flying open as he lifted himself up on his elbows. He ran a hand through his hair and moved to get up.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “It’s been way longer than twenty minutes.”
Shouyou’s heart gave a piercing lurch and he clasped Kageyama’s arm to pull him back in.
“Nooo,” he said, giving him his best puppy dog eyes. "It's okay. This is bonus. You can stay."
Kageyama raised his eyebrows, looking contemplative as he stared down at Shouyou. Being under the intensity of his gaze at this proximity was making Shouyou feel a little hot under the collar but he didn’t break eye contact.
He knew Kageyama was skittish. Even one wrong move and he’d run.
Kageyama’s eyes slowly dragged over his face for any traces of dishonesty and Shouyou’s stomach started doing funny little flippy things. He tried to will down an embarrassing blush but he didn’t think he was doing a very good job.
“Hmm,” Kageyama hummed finally, seemingly arriving at a decision. “If we’re bending the rules, can I redeem two coupons at once?”
Bending the rules. What the hell. He was so cute. Shouyou was going to die.
“Technically, I didn’t state any rules to begin with,” he pointed out.
Kageyama glowered at him. “Two coupons at once. Yes or no?”
And that slightly-annoyed expression really shouldn’t be this attractive on anyone. Shouyou found himself nodding and breathing out, “Yeah. Okay.”
A small quirk of his mouth was all the warning he received before Kageyama’s lips were on his in a soft kiss, one hand gently holding Shouyou’s jaw.
The weird flippy things in Shouyou’s stomach suddenly transformed into a hoard of butterflies—no, dinosaurs—stampeding inside him. But the thing was that he liked it. He hoped the dinosaurs were having the time of their life because he sure as hell was.
As far as he was concerned, Kageyama never needed to ask permission to do this. He would happily oblige to any light or heavy lip-locking at all hours of the day.
Hinata Shouyou was open for the Kissing Kageyama Tobio business 24/7. Especially when he did it like this, so tenderly and with so much concentration, as though he couldn’t bear for his attention to stray from Shouyou for a single minute.
Maybe, he thought giddily as Kageyama kissed the corner of his mouth, these coupons were as much a gift for him as they were for Kageyama.
Shouyou was forced to eat his words just four days later.
“This is so unfair,” he complained. “This is so against the rules.”
Kageyama, the cruel, ruthless guy that he was, took a condescending sip of his vanilla flavoured milk and said, “I thought there weren’t any rules to begin with.”
“Well, I’ll make them now!” Shouyou fired back. “Rule number one—”
“Too late for that,” Kageyama cut him off. He glanced at his wristwatch. “Hurry up, there’s only ten minutes left.”
Shouyou let out a shrill noise of frustration and increased the speed of his scribbling, his hand starting to cramp with how tightly he was clutching the pen.
When Kageyama had pulled him aside right before they went into their respective classrooms and whispered in his ear to meet him on the rooftop at lunch, Shouyou had practically skipped up there with excitement as soon as the bell rang to signal recess.
If only he’d known that his demon of a boyfriend was going to produce one of his birthday coupons and make Shouyou do his Japanese Literature homework half an hour before he had to turn it in. His only excuse for not doing it himself the previous night was that he didn’t ‘feel like it’.
Shouyou wanted to jab his stupid pen up his stupid nose.
He groaned and turned the page, writing pure gibberish at this point. His stomach, which was starting to eat itself out of starvation, rumbled loudly. But Shouyou didn’t have any time to spare if he wanted to finish this before lunch break ended. His only hope was to either sneak-eat his food during Physics or scarf it right before practice and pray he didn’t throw it up all over Tanaka’s shoes again.
Kageyama seemed to have taken pity on him because Shouyou heard the distant sound of his bento box being unwrapped and a few minutes later, there was a pair of chopsticks in his periphery.
“Open your mouth,” Kageyama ordered. Unthinkingly, Shouyou did and a bite-sized piece of sausage was carefully placed into it.
He let out a sigh of relief through his nose as he chewed gratefully, hands still busy with scrawling messily on Kageyama’s notebook. Kageyama couldn't seem to care less about the quality of his homework, just as long as it was finished.
And that’s how the next ten minutes passed, with Kageyama feeding Shouyou his lunch while he raced against time to complete his homework. Just as he was writing the last sentence, Kageyama unfolded a handkerchief and wiped the corners of Shouyou’s mouth.
Shouyou’s heart melted into a pile of goo. Just a little.
When the bell rang, he found that he wasn’t as mad as he’d been twenty minutes ago.
Kageyama looked a bit apologetic as he closed the notebook and stood up, holding out a hand for a crouched-down Shouyou. “Thanks. And uh…sorry.”
Shouyou took his hand but instead of using it to help himself up, he brought it to his lips and smacked a loud kiss on the knuckles. He looked up to find Kageyama gawking at him with wide eyes.
Shouyou released his hand, snickering, and winked at him. “At your service.”
Kageyama turned an impressive shade of red. He huffed and pushed him back with a single long finger, tipping Shouyou’s balance and making him fall on his ass.
“Dumbass,” he muttered, turning around dramatically to stalk towards the exit.
Shouyou grinned and jumped up to follow him.
“That is definitely against the rules!”
“I thought there weren’t any rules?” Shouyou challenged.
Kageyama shot him a look of disbelief. “You can’t just redeem a coupon on my behalf. That’s ridiculous!”
“But Yama—” Shouyou whined, stomping his feet. “I really want to practice more. Let’s go to the park before it gets dark.”
“No means no.” Kageyama glared at him warningly. “We can’t put any more strain on your ankle. You need to rest it before tomorrow’s practice match.”
Shouyou huffed in petulance. “My ankle is fine.”
“You are such a stubborn idiot,” Kageyama replied. “If you bust your ankle while jumping, I’m not tossing to you for the rest of the year.”
Shouyou gasped. “How’s that fair!”
“You trying to redeem my coupon for extra volleyball isn’t fair either!” Kageyama shot back. “Shut the hell up and go home.”
Shouyou deflated, accepting his begrudging defeat and dragging his feet towards his bag.
“Kageyama-kun is so mean. Kageyama-kun doesn’t love me,” he muttered under his breath, pouting. He even sniffled for effect.
Kageyama seemed to find a grain of sympathy within himself because he sighed heavily and stopped him with a constipated look on his face.
“Wait,” he gritted out, face scrunching up as though in pain. “Maybe—maybe I can allow you to redeem some other coupon. As consolation.”
Shouyou brightened up. “Really? Which ones are left?”
It appeared that Kageyama carried a mental list of the coupons with him at all times because he parroted them off with ease. Shouyou’s grin turned wicked when Kageyama listed the last one in a grudging whisper. He seemed to immediately regret it.
“You’ll let me cook for you?” Shouyou asked.
Kageyama pursed his lips, expression going carefully blank. “Y—yes. But only if you agree to rest.”
“Okay!” Shouyou beamed, hopping up to shoulder his gym bag. “Oh, you’ll love this new curry recipe I experimented with last weekend! Natsu refused to touch it but at least my mom said it was somewhat edible. I’m sure she was just teasing, I think it tasted fine.”
Kageyama already looked a little green but didn’t voice any complaints. He simply nodded and followed him home, their hands brushing together.
Shouyou loved him.
One by one, all the coupons were redeemed—whether it be through kissing behind the second gym or video game nights on the day before a test or being wrapped around each other during bus rides.
On Valentine’s Day, Kageyama almost looked a bit disappointed when Shouyou presented him with chocolates he’d bought (after three failed attempts at making them) from a fancy shop in Sendai. With only that.
Shouyou studied him, tilting his head curiously. "You wanted more coupons?"
Kageyama shrugged and darted his gaze away shiftily. "I mean…"
Shouyou couldn’t help the small smile tugging at his lips. He stepped closer and took a hold of both of Kageyama’s hands. "You do know you can just ask me for all that stuff any time you want, right?"
"Yes but...” Kageyama blushed, looking bashful. “It's different."
And Shouyou realised it was different. Redeeming those coupons was the first time Kageyama had been openly able to initiate physical contact with Shouyou, the first time he’d asked to spend time with him without having to actually ask.
It was a way to be affectionate and get affection without the fear of any possible rejection—knowing he had the right to ask for it because Shouyou had provided him with explicit, written permission.
Maybe it was just easier to communicate this way than with words.
That night, Shouyou demanded to go home with him for a sleepover. They sat down together after dinner and both made coupons for each other, arguing and bullying each other over what the other needed to add to theirs. Shouyou succeeded in getting another couple of cooking sessions and Kageyama insisted on at least twelve hours’ worth of binging old V-League matches on weekends (he didn’t care that Shouyou couldn’t sit still for that long).
On Kageyama’s next birthday, Shouyou gifted him a whole book of them.
Kageyama managed to slip one into the front pocket of Shouyou’s bag on their last night before his flight to Rio.
Shouyou found it when he was unpacking his luggage 40 hours later in a brand new country. His breath caught in his throat when he read it.
This coupon is redeemable for standing on the world stage together.
Time: Don’t take too long, dumbass. Please.
He clutched it in his fist and exhaled a shuddering breath. He tried his hardest to stop his bottom lip from trembling and pinned the coupon to the wall of his bedroom, to have it be the first thing he saw each morning he woke up.
Shouyou planned to redeem it very, very soon.