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Atsumu loved his morning bike ride to the main campus building. It gave him time to think before the day really started. Ticking off tasks on his to do list, planning out his lunch (sometimes it would be katsudon, other times Samu would drag him to get onigiri), and it just cleared his mind before his professors bombarded him with information about math and engineering.
What he didn’t love, is this orange-haired kid speeding past him every morning, at exactly 7:15AM.
It was the same thing every day. He would be biking past the intersection where the convenience store sold really good meat buns, and a burst of air and the sound of bike gears would pass by him at an inhumane speed.
This kid would always be wearing a black hoodie, a shoulder bag on his back, and he was just fast enough that Atsumu never caught his face. Sometimes he’d be singing some dumb song, but most of the time the kid barely even looked at him.
Now, Atsumu is pretty athletic. Maybe even could have gone pro, but his mother had wanted him and Samu to go through a proper tertiary education before even thinking about doing anything else. So here he was, stuck for the next three or four years. At least this university had a varsity volleyball team.
Back to the matter at hand, Atsumu considered himself very athletic. And he didn’t become very athletic from being relaxed at a decent pace. He became very athletic by being competitive. So when this kid started whooshing past him in the mornings, Atsumu’s old competitive side got riled up. He was kind of determined to show this kid who’s boss.
“That’s fucking dumb, ‘Tsumu.” Said Samu.
“I think you should definitely beat him in a race!” Bokuto told him at some point.
“Stay away from me, you barely wash your clothes.” Sakusa deadpanned at him, unprovoked.
None of his friends (and his sorry excuse of a twin) were helpful in the least. But Atsumu was Atsumu, so he decided to go ahead and try and race the guy the next time he saw him anyway.
The next day, Atsumu went full speed on his bike on the way to campus. It turns out, biking full speed is kind of difficult to maintain when your legs end up giving out on you. Or when there’s traffic ahead that you have to avoid. Thank god his bike had great brakes, otherwise he would have crashed in the nearby bushes.
It wasn’t that he didn’t have the stamina, it was that his class was on the fifth floor, and then the next class was on the other side of campus, then it was on the fourth floor of that building- and Atsumu realized that this was a marathon, and not a race.
So if anybody asks, he was not limping to class. No matter what Suna says or has recorded on his dumb phone.
The next day, orange-haired dude strikes again. Atsumu hears the bike gears, the sudden gust of air coming from behind him, and he preps himself to speed up. At 7:15AM, at the intersection where that convenience store sold those really tasty meat buns, this kid quickly passes by him.
Atsumu is prepared to show this kid speed, when his body remembers it went full speed yesterday and decided to betray Atsumu. His legs stopped, his arms quickly hit the brakes, and he fully crashed into the bushes.
Orange-haired kid, sunshine, Atsumu sarcastically renames him, speeds by, not even looking back at the disaster that is Atsumu.
At least the convenience store clerk heard the noise, came out, and gave him both band-aids and meat buns. Ha. Who’s the dumbass now, Samu? I’ve got free lunch. [Still you, you fell into a bush] Shut up, you can’t have any of my meat buns.
If anybody asked why Atsumu came into class with bubblegum pink band-aids all over his arms, well then, that wasn’t any of their business and can they please go back to solving the equation thank you. I’m looking at you, Suna.
Atsumu learned his lesson. Biking may not be as high intensity as a game of volleyball, but it was still intense. Intense enough that a warm-up and a cooldown stretch was recommended. After Suna ratted him out to Kita (who still apparently instilled fear in him even from several kilometers away), Kita scolded him for almost an hour about proper regimens when it comes to workouts (and yes, Atsumu-san, this counts). Then proceeded to send a care package of salonpas, some icepacks, and a pack of his favorite snack.
So he warms up, puts on his helmet (is safety optional to you, Atsumu-san?, Kita asked last night) and readies himself for the race against stupid sunshine and his stupid speedy ass.
At 7:10AM, he arrives at the intersection and waits. He arrives a little early in case that gremlin decided to wake up a little earlier today.
At 7:11AM, he checks his brakes.
At 7:12AM, he notices the convenience store clerk (Ukai-san, his name was Ukai-san) step out of the convenience store, smoking a cigarette. He waves to the blonde, and Ukai-san waves back.
At 7:13AM, Atsumu wonders if he’s just being dumb about this whole thing. It’s not like sunshine (derogatory) was deliberately going faster than him- he just was faster and then Atsumu got mad thinking about that all over again and-
The sound of bike gears approach him from behind and holy shit it’s 7:15 and Atsumu prepares himself. Sunshine was here- oh shit sunshine was here-
And he speeds off. Atsumu follows suit, fully warmed up and ready to race this time.
The kid was fast. Atsumu observes him pedal his bike. Sunshine was hunched down, and his legs pushed down on the pedals so quickly they were almost a blur. And he had shown no signs of stopping or slowing down. He wasn’t just fast, he had the stamina too. Goddamn.
But Atsumu wasn’t some amateur himself. He quickly picks up the pace. They quickly bike past the intersection, up the hill, turn right on the way to the campus. Atsumu is huffing and puffing, but he is slowly catching up to Sunshine. Finally. He stares straight ahead, and notices that Sunshine’s bike was a dark moss green. It definitely looked like it had been put to good use. So maybe the kid had a bit more experience than him. So what? Atsumu could keep up.
He’s so busy looking at Sunshine, Atsumu almost didn’t realize there was a speed bump ahead. Sunshine stood on his bike, preparing himself for the bounce and speeds off. Atsumu, caught off-guard, brakes quickly and slows down enough to safely get over the speed bump. Once again, thanking god for his bike’s trusty brakes.
After checking over himself for any injuries, when Atsumu looks up, Sunshine is gone.
“That means he goes to this university, then.”
“Samu, what kinda dumb assumption is that?”
“You dumbass, why else would he have turned right into the university’s main road then?”
“…”
“Also, this is still fucking dumb and why are you here?”
“You literally dragged me here to get pizza?”
“No, ‘Samu’s right Atsumu. Why are you here?”
“Shut the fuck up, Sunarin! You literally invited me here!”
“Since you got a good look at his bike, doesn’t that mean that you could find him now?”
“Sakusa-kun, you’re a fucking genius!”
“Sakusa-san, stop encouraging my dumb twin to stalk people.”
“But then it would have shut him up.”
“Assholes, all of you.”
So Sunshine goes to the same university then. And has his bike parked somewhere here. His moss green bike. He might have passed him in the halls and would have never known. (“Atsumu, he literally has orange hair how would you have NOT noticed that?”) Hell, he could be in the same building right now and he would not have known.
At the end of the day, when his classes finally ended, Atsumu arrived at the bike parking space and came to a very, very, obvious conclusion that did not hit him until after he arrived.
The university rented bikes out to students. Specifically, moss green bikes. He’s going to kill Sakusa.
The next day, Atsumu waits at the same spot. He’s prepared this time. He was not going to get distracted by thoughts, he double-checked all the speedbumps yesterday (there were two), AND he practiced his smirk in the mirror for when he finally passes this asshole. Okay, he’s being petty but after three days of failed attempts at racing he was maybe a little bit on edge.
7:15AM. He hears the gears. And he starts up and pedals the shit out of his bike. He doesn’t wait for him to pass him by. Atsumu just goes.
He bikes up the hill, he could hear Sunshine’s gears behind him. He pushes himself even faster. He is not losing this time. Not after all the training he’s done. And all the lectures. Nope. He was going to fucking win. He could see the fork in the road. He was almost there. He turns right at the university main avenue.
And the moment he turns, Sunshine fucking drifts his bike and gains on Atsumu. Atsumu finally gets a good look at Sunshine’s face.
Holy fuck, he’s hot.
Sunshine’s mop of orange hair is swept up from the wind. He had a fierce look of determination on his face. Atsumu could only look. Then Sunshine looked back at him.
And fucking smirked.
That asshole deliberately raced me!
Sunshine, recovering from his drift, leaned forward and sped up, leaving Atsumu staring at him from the corner of the road.
His cheeks red from exercise and the deliberate attack on his heart, Atsumu stayed at that corner for five more minutes, before returning to a leisurely pace to his first class of the day.
“So, new revelation, Sunshine is hot.”
“Don’t tell me you’re simping for someone you barely saw for a second.”
“You don’t get it, Samu. He fucking drifted in front of me. On a bike!”
“How are we related. Can I disown you?”
“You’re the worst. I bet you couldn’t even drift on a dumb bike if you tried.”
“Oi! I totally could. Watch me.”
That night, Osamu and Atsumu received separate lectures from Kita-san about the dangers of trying out new tricks on the bike without any proper training.
Atsumu had almost lost all hope. For the past few weeks, no matter what he did, he couldn’t seem to outpace Sunshine (no longer derogatory). The kid was just way too fast. Exactly on the dot, at 7:15AM, Sunshine would arrive at that intersection and manage to beat him.
Sometimes he beat Atsumu at the uphill area. Sometimes he beat him going downhill, but most times he beat him at the corner where Atsumu would turn right at the university.
Atsumu tried drifting. He googled it, watched YouTube videos, even decided to descend the depths of reddit and other online forums. But from the full time classes to varsity volleyball, there were way too many prerequisite skills you’d need to learn how to drift properly.
Sunshine always felt like he was just out of grasp. Silver lining is his jumps have gotten a tad higher from all the biking around. But that was all it was, a silver lining.
He had lost all hope. How else would he beat Sunshine with that soft mop of orange hair and those fiercely determined brown eyes that made his legs feel like jelly (whether that was from the exercise or from personal reasons, Atsumu would not divulge).
And then they met.
It was a pretty humid summer morning. Atsumu almost didn’t want to leave the airconditioned reality of his dorm room. But alas, there were classes to attend and races to win (and he will win, he swore it on his brother’s food stash that he constantly stole from). Biking at a leisurely pace to the intersection where he would often meet Sunshine, he notices that Ukai-san walk out of the convenience store, carrying a bag of tools.
He waves to Ukai-san. Ukai-san waves back and points a thumb somewhere to his left. A moss green bike sits on the curb of the street. Beside it, Atsumu makes out a mop of orange hair from the haze of the summer heat.
Oh my god, it’s Sunshine.
Atsumu pushes on his pedals until he is right in front of Sunshine. Sunshine’s wearing a white cap, a white drifit shirt, and long sleeves. And holy shit, Sunshine is buff.
Sunshine (Atsumu should really find out what his real name is) suddenly looks up at Atsumu and smiles.
“Oh, hi Atsumu-san!”
“Hi!”
Wait, how did he know his name?
Ukai-san approaches them, holding the red toolbox in his left hand, and a cigarette on his right.
“Hinata-kun, you should really go easier on your bike. You’re giving Miya-kun here a hard time keeping up.”
Atsumu stares at Ukai-san. Wait, how did Ukai-san know Sunshine- Hinata-kun’s name?
Hinata grabs the red toolbox and starts rummaging around in it. Without looking at Atsumu, he speaks.
“Sorry, Atsumu-san, I don’t think we can race today. My bike’s wheels are totally flat and I think I’ll probably have to walk to the campus today. No worries, I can beat you again tomorrow!”
“B-beat me? Why are you assuming that you’re gonna beat me?”
“Because I have- the past few weeks?”
Atsumu sputters.
“Wait- how did you even know I was racing you?”
“Eh? Weren’t we?”
“I mean- yes- but-“
“You can leave your bike here, Hinata-kun. Just come back for it after your classes.”
“Thanks, Ukai-san!”
Hinata looks up at Atsumu and smiles.
“Whoa- whoa- whoa-, you have to explain yourself Sunshine-kun- How do you even know my name? We’ve never met!”
Hinata cocks his head to the left.
“Sunshine-kun…?”
Atsumu blushes beet red and starts sputtering.
“I mean- what else was I supposed to call ya? I didn’t know your name and how do you even know mine?!”
“Oh, okay! Uh, Myaa-san told me.”
“Myaa-san…”
Holy fuck, Atsumu was going to fucking kill Samu. And Bokuto. And Sakusa.
“Yeah! He’s my classmate in social sciences. He told me that you wanted to race me in the mornings before going to class so we did! Wasn’t the past few weeks fun!”
“And… when did he exactly tell you that?”
“Hmm, since the start!”
Death was too easy for Samu. Atsumu was going to eat all his food, lick all his onigiri, and maybe even tackle him to the ground the moment he saw him. He was going to-
“Oh, but don’t feel too bad about not winning any of the races, Atsumu-kun. It wasn’t really a fair match to begin with. I’ve been biking mountains ever since. But I did enjoy your company a lot!”
The Sunshine beams at him again.
Atsumu, for the first time since birth, was speechless. How the fuck else was he supposed to recover from this? Sunshine was talking to him, smiling at him, telling him that he knew he existed and that he enjoyed his company. Plus, he was wearing that form fitting shirt and he was a big beefy boy and ohmygod he was exactly Atsumu’s type and-
“Too bad you haven’t beat me at all!”
And Sunshine’s smile turns devious.
“Oh- oh- just you watch out Sunshine-kun, I am going to be speedier than the fucking sound of my fingers snapping and I will definitely beat you! Just you wait!”
Atsumu smirks. Hinata blushes.
“I could show you how to drift properly, if you’d like.”
“It’s a date, then. I’ll pick you up at eight?”
“Atsumu-san, you don’t know where I live.” Hinata laughs.
“But yeah, Atsumu-san. It’s a date. My real name’s Hinata Shouyou, by the way, not Sunshine-kun.”
“Oi, Samu, how long did you know that Sunshine was Shouyou-kun?”
“Hmm, around the time you told me he had orange hair.”
“So from the very beginning?”
“Yup.”
“Oi, Samu.”
“What?”
“Run.”
“Shouyou-kun, how come you never tried to approach me when we saw each other at the intersection?”
“Tsumu, how come you didn’t just wave me down if you really wanted to say hi?”
“Shouyou, you don’t meet your competitors, that humanizes them.”
“We’re literally dating, Tsumu.”
“You literally sped your way into my heart, babe.”
“You two are disgusting, please stop doing this in the common area.”
“Omi-kun! You’re right. Shouyou, let’s get to the showers and get steamy-“
“I am calling Kita-san-“
“Wait, no-“
A few weeks later, Atsumu learns to drift. He finally beats Shouyou (1) time.
He still calls him Sunshine sometimes, though. (term of endearment).