Wind whipped through your (h/l), (h/c) strands of hair, carrying them away from your face reddened slightly by the crispness in the air. Looking up, you could see the bright green leaves of the trees framing the clear, blue sky breeze by. The conversations of each pedestrian you passed along your journey through a park in the city came to you in varied, scattered fragments. There was only one voice you could hear and comprehend clearly, and it was that of the boy seated right in front of you.

"You know, I really wish you'd quit using me as your mode of transportation," your longtime friend, Shirabu Kenjirou, grumbled.

You hummed, "But it's so convenient, especially when we're both going to the same place!"

"How lovely it must be to sit back and do nothing while I pull both of our weights," he commented sarcastically between breaths, pressing his feet rhythmically against the pedals of the bicycle both of you were riding.

Wrapping an arm around his torso to keep steady as he turned a corner, you replied with equal sass: "Quite. But, hey, you'll be glad to have me here when we go downhill. More momentum."

"Yeah, but not enough to haul your ass back uphill."

A laugh echoed from between your lips at his dismay, and you pressed your cheek against the back of his shoulder. "Ah, I enjoy the time we spend together, Kenjirou."

"Quit that," he huffed. When you pulled away from him, you could see a hint of pink tinting his ears that made your heart skip a beat. But, you knew that if he could take his eyes off the road for a moment to turn your way, it would be to give you an annoyed glance with those ever-focused eyes the color of pine wood.

A peaceful silence fell over the two of you that was filled with the environmental noises of your city surroundings. Your feet felt weightless as your legs dangled over the side of the back tire, though each bump in the pavement did shift your body slightly where you sat on a metal attachment atop the bicycle's rear. Even though Shirabu loved to complain about your constant accompaniment on his bike rides, you knew there must've been a part of him that secretly enjoyed your company. He wasn't the type to do things he didn't like, so if he didn't want you to come, he wouldn't have even given you the chance to hitch a ride in the first place. Also, he'd been doing it for quite some time now.

The trend had started with your very first meeting on a hot, summery day in middle school. In order to get home, you'd had to journey up a very annoying and unavoidable hill. That day, the scorching heat of the sun had been absolutely intolerable, and, halfway through your long walk uphill, you'd paused to take refuge underneath a tree. Fanning yourself profusely and resisting the urge to rip the sleeves off your uniform shirt, you'd sat by yourself in the shade, waiting for your lightheadedness to fade and your heartrate to slow.

At that moment, a fellow classmate of yours had brought his bicycle to a halt upon noticing your pathetic form slumped against a tree trunk adjacent the sidewalk. At first, you hadn't even recognized him since he'd had his face buried in a book every time you passed by his desk in class, but after he'd introduced himself, his name became one that you would never forget. Despite his rather cool demeanor and straightforward manner of speech, he'd been kind enough to offer you some of his water and a ride on the back of his bike. It hadn't been fitted for two people, so you'd had to stand atop the pegs protruding from between the spokes of the rear wheel, holding onto his shoulders with enough force to crease his shirt.

Since then, Shirabu had grudgingly carted you along with him on his journeys across Sendai. Whether the occasion was to grab a bite to eat down in the city center, run an errand to the nearby grocery store, or go on a ride during study breaks, you were almost always perched atop the back of his bike. Each time he made a fuss, you'd tell him that he didn't have to take you. To this, he'd either remain silent and turn away while standing over the bike seat, waiting for you to situate yourself in your spot behind him, or would say he'd rather take you with him than listen to your complaining later about being left out. Because of his subtly enabling behavior, the trend had continued.

After your friend had pedaled the two of you back to Shiratorizawa's campus, you hopped off the back of his bike and straightened out your clothing. Panting softly, Shirabu dismounted his chariot, as he liked to think of it since he felt so much like a not-so-noble steed pulling you along, and parked it in the bike racks outside the school's dorms.

"Thanks, Kenjirou! Want one of the rice balls I bought earlier?" you asked, hoping your peace offering would wipe the dissatisfied look he wore off his face.

Now he felt even more like a carriage horse being offered food as compensation.

But, he swiped the rice ball out of your hand anyway and took a bite of it as the two of you began walking inside the dorms. "(F/n)," he spoke, drawing your (e/c) gaze to him, "I don't know how many times I've told you this, but you need to learn how to ride a damn bike."

Pursing your lips and blushing at hearing your secret blurted out again, you responded quietly, "I know... but everything's so much more fun when I'm riding with you." You tried to contort your facial features into a look that reflected that of childish naïveté, but you knew he wasn't having it.

"Don't pull that bullshit on me," he grumbled, eliciting a snicker from you at how quickly your cover had been blown.

"Okay, but, seriously, whose bike am I supposed to use when you won't even lend me yours because I'll wreck it?" The last words you spoke mockingly, making his frown deepen.

He sighed deeply, his eyes watching your fingers stick the key to your dorm room in the lock and turn it. "Bowl-Cut Brat has one; go ask him," he suggested. You flung yourself down on your bed when you opened the door, while he made a beeline to your desk, which had his course materials strewn across it from your study session earlier. It was sometimes hard for him to believe that someone with your personality had passed the entrance exam to the school and could keep up with him while doing homework.

"Alright, say I do convince him to let me borrow his ride. Who's gonna teach me?" you wondered, turning your head on your pillow to look over at the back of Shirabu's form. Being the studious guy he was, he'd already gotten back to his work that he'd left unfinished after you'd urged him to take a break with you.

Without hesitation, he stated, "I will. Tomorrow morning."

"Huh?!" you cried, "I'm supposed to get the bike in less than twenty-four hours? What if he says no?"

Shirabu shook his head, making the bangs of his copper colored hair sway the opposite direction. "He won't. The idiot's in love with you."

"What?! No way!"

"Go ask and find out for yourself."

><><><><><><><><><><

The following morning, you stood in the middle of a straight path on campus, hands clenched around the handlebars of Goshiki's bike and head donning the helmet he'd lent you to "p-p-protect your precious head!" as he'd explained. A promise to bring him a sports drink at his next practice had been enough to keep him from crashing your lesson, but mention of Shirabu's name had also helped keep him at bay.

Thick grass lined the sides of the walkway, which was devoid of students since, at 9 o'clock a.m., it was too early on a Sunday morning for them to be bothered to awaken. Knowing that you had some sort of cushion if you took a tumble made you feel a bit more at ease, but your main source of comfort came from Shirabu's presence beside you.

"Hurry up and push off. I'll hold you steady," he offered, his brown eyes watching your form carefully as he waited.

Swallowing your fear, you placed one foot atop its respective pedal and pushed the other against the ground to propel yourself forward. Your knuckles were white with the crushing hold you had around the rubbery handlebars, and your body wavered from side to side as you struggled to keep your balance. Thankfully, Shirabu's careful hand placed on the grip beside one of yours while he jogged alongside you helped prevent you from taking a tumble on your first run.

The grin that spread across your lips as you pedaled softened Shirabu's demeanor in a way that only you could. Because he could see that you were enjoying yourself, he did everything that he could to keep the smile on your face, even if it meant pacing up and down the long pathway more times than he could count. When your balance started improving, he followed you half of the distance and let you ride the rest on your own, coaching you from where he had stopped.

However, you were human; and it was only natural for humans to make mistakes. Yours came in the form of a turn taken with far more confidence than you should've instilled in yourself at such an early stage. Needless to say, you'd lost your balance and had crashed onto the ground, just missing the grassy patch you'd been aiming for. Luckily, you hadn't injured yourself aside from a scraped elbow that gushed blood rather dramatically.

"(F/n)!"

You looked up to see Shirabu rushing over to you with his backpack in hand that he'd snatched up from the ground where he'd left it earlier. Seeing him so concerned was a rare sight, since he was normally calm and controlled off the court. Kneeling down beside your seated form, he set his backpack down and yanked open a zipper to retrieve the emergency first aid kit he always carried with him.

"Don't worry, Kenjirou; it's just a scrape!" you chuckled nervously, (e/c) eyes watching him dig through his supplies.

"Can you move your elbow?" he asked. You nodded, and before you knew what was happening, Shirabu was squirting hand sanitizer on his hands and gingerly examining your small wound. "Keep your arm elevated," he instructed as he fished out some gauze. Propping your injured arm up in the air, you patiently watched as he applied pressure to ease the bleeding, and poured some water over it to clean it out as best as he could, being careful not to spill any on you.

As he worked with more attention than you thought was needed for a simple scrape, you admired the focused look on his face. Even though he was gazing at your wound, you felt honored to be the subject of such a stare that he usually reserved for more important things, such as schoolwork and volleyball. Your heart started pounding in your chest when his eyes glanced over at yours for a moment.

"What?" he questioned flatly, quickly averting his gaze.

With a small smile, you said, "You're really passionate about going to med school, aren't you?"

"Of course I am."

Silence followed his confident answer as you allowed him some time to work in peace on taking care of your injury. Once he was finished, he helped you up to your feet and righted Goshiki's bike for you. Noticing that the helmet you wore had shifted off your head slightly, he clicked his tongue and moved closer to you so he could put it back in its proper position. You couldn't hide the burning you felt in your cheeks as his fingers brushed against your chin to tighten the strap holding the helmet to your head.

"Kenjirou," you called out softly when he started to back off. He had been about to reprimand you for behaving so recklessly in a way that had gotten you injured in the first place, but decided against it when he saw your eyes glistening with tears all of a sudden.

His tone was slightly gentler as he asked, "What?"

"Will you still let me tag along on your bike rides even after we go away to college?"

The smile that ghosted across his lips was nearly indiscernible, but expressed a hint of the emotions he wasn't the best at conveying. Seeing his expression soften brought a glimmer of hope to your eyes that was clear as day, and that strengthened with his response to your question.

"Only if you agree to pedal every now and then."

><><><><><><><><><><

Bonus (time skip) ending!

dr. ken

Here.

Upon seeing your beloved boyfriend's text light up your phone screen, you leapt up from your chair, grabbed your bag, and raced out of your apartment near your college's campus. Rushing out the front door of the complex and bounding over to a figure cloaked in white, you smiled brightly and threw your arms around Shirabu. His warmth ensconced you when he returned your embrace and pressed a gentle kiss against your cheek.

"Why do you still have your lab coat on, Dr. Ken?" you questioned jokingly, poking fun at his get up.

Shaking his head, he slid the white coat off his toned shoulders, revealing the button-up shirt he wore underneath. "Because I obviously came straight from lab, smart ass," was his snarky response. Once he'd stowed it away safely in his backpack, his light brown eyes turned back to you, shining like honey in the glow of the afternoon sun.

"Well!" you chirped, moving past him to claim the metal seat above his bike, which he had propped up against the wall, "Let's get going, then! I'm starving!"

His eyebrows furrowed in dissatisfaction at your actions, and he placed his hands on your waist to move you away from the back of the bike. "It's your turn to pedal, (f/n)."

Releasing a long, drawn out groan. "Damn! I thought you'd forget!" You then lifted the bike away from the wall once again to position yourself on the main seat instead. Placing one foot on the pedal and wrapping your fingers around the handlebars, you turned to face your boyfriend with a confident look in your eyes. "Hop on to the (f/n) express!"

He rolled his eyes and perched on the metal seat, placing his feet on the bicycle's frame. "I hope you've gotten stronger so it won't take us an hour to get down the street," he teased under his breath.

"Hey! Your version of down the street and my version are completely different!"

"What happened to the whole (f/n) express thing you were so excited about a second ago?"

You shot a glare at him before turning your attention to the road ahead. With a loud grunt, you pushed off and started riding the bike along the street using the skills he'd taught you back in high school. Though you were pedaling almost constantly because of the flat land and the added weight of your boyfriend's body, you didn't mind the situation at all--especially since he leaned forward to squeeze your hardworking thighs every now and then.

Besides, since he had done his part to keep the promise he'd made, it was only fair of you to uphold your end of the agreement.