SakuAtsu AU where Sakusa is signed up in a random travel-buddy program with Miya Atsumu in an all-around the world trip by Nishinoya Travel Agency.

Sakusa is signed up by Motoya who wants his cousin to stop living in his office room, hunched over his computer in an effort to forget about his break-up.

Atsumu, on the other hand, is signed up by his friend Hinata Shouyou, who is a kouhai of a travel agency owner, Nishinoya Yuu.

Sakusa and Atsumu start on the wrong foot, partly because Sakusa is disgruntled by Motoya's signing up of him on the program and also because Atsumu is too overly familiar.

Atsumu calls him "Omi-Omi then 'cause Kiyoomi is such a long name you know" and the flight is 3AM and Sakusa is /tired/ so he snaps at Atsumu and shuts him out during the 17-hour flight to South America.

When he wakes up, he feels slightly guilty but the guilt quickly vanishes when he sees Atsumu drooling on his shoulder. When they touch down into Brazil, Sakusa is more than tempted to book a flight back home and leave Atsumu.

But Atsumu whoops excitedly and chatters all about Brazil like "Did ya know Omi-kun Brazil is the only country here that speaks Portuguese how cool is that??" and then completely overshares about his life: his twins and his career in volleyball.

Sakusa is confused. "Why are you here on the other side of the world in the middle of the volleyball season then??" because Kiyoomi might not have pursued volleyball but that doesn't mean he's out it completely.

Atsumu's smile freezes despite the hot weather of Brazil and Sakusa thought he might have imagined it when Atsumu laughs it off. "Ah, Omi-Omi why didn't ya say yer into volleyball too?? We'll be best friends!!" Sakusa scowls at him.

They spend a week in Brazil where they tried to play beach volleyball and visit the Christ the Reedemer looming statue. They get to know each other well.

Sakusa learns about Atsumu's habit of filing his nails and preference of the left side of the bed. He learns about his flirtious nature and his smug smiles whenever he manages to convince Sakusa to do something stupid like post a wacky selfie.

Atsumu learns about Sakusa's strict cleaning regime when he was kicked out of their room to buy cleaning supplies from the convenience store. He learns about Sakusa's hatred for crowds and secretly requests a change in their itinerary.

They go to New York next. By this time they've formed a sort of friendship and Atsumu bought them a pair of friendship bracelets in a funky store. Sakusa says he hate them but he never takes them off after he sanitizes it a grand total of eight times.

Atsumu, surprisingly, only posts their adventures on his personal social media. His feed is full of scenery and candid photos of Sakusa. Osamu calls him once to make fun of him because of this.

One late night, they go to a 24hr hole-in-the-wall diner. Atsumu excuses himself to the restroom. He doesn't come out until 15 minutes later, waving off Sakusa's masked concern.

"Did you have constipation?" Sakusa taunts. Atsumu squawks in indignation and tries to hide the bottle of pills further to down his pocket.

It was when they were in France when it happened. Atsumu and Sakusa were at the Louvre when the blond suddenly lost consciousness. Sakusa pushes through the crowd to put Atsumu in a taxi to the nearest hospital.

Atsumu regains consciousness and demands to be brought to their hotel room instead. He was shaking and his eyes were teary so Sakusa quietly obliges, letting Atsumu hold his jacket.

Sakusa demands what that was about and Atsumu waves it off with an excuse of not drinking enough fluids. Sakusa is doubtful but makes him drink electrolytes. He calls Motoya in the middle of the night and asks him if he knew anything about Miya Atsumu.

He finds out that Miya Atsumu has made no statements about his sudden leave in the middle of the season but that, if he wants, Motoya can ask for Miya Osamu, Atsumu's twin's, number from his teammate, Suna Rintarou.

Sakusa tells Osamu what happened as he watch Atsumu sleep deeply. Osamu stays quiet before asking, "Are you invested in my brother, Sakusa-san?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you like my brother more than friends?"

Sakusa blurts, "We're not even friends" and ends the call. He stares horrified at his screen. He doesn't call Osamu again.

They continue on their tour and Sakusa keeps an eye on Atsumu. He's never noticed it before but when they had a friendly arm wrestling, he finds out Atsumu is oddly weak for a seasoned athlete.

"Ah, that," Atsumu laughs weakly. "I guess I've been too slackin' on my exercise, Omi." Sakusa tells him to practice then but Atsumu waves him off and they order more beer.

They bring the beer to theur hotel room and Atsumu is an honest drunk. He's red in the face as he wags a finger at Sakusa and says, "'M not gonna fall, Omi. No matter how cute ya look when yer pissed at me. And 'm bot gonna kiss yer stupid cute moles."

"Why not, Atsumu?" Sakusa asks. "What are you afraid of?"

Atsumu laughs and snuggles close to Sakusa. "'Cause I've been already selfish and if I take more from ya, I don't think I'll be able to take it. If goin' around the world with you 's all I'll get, I'll take it." Then promptly passes out on Sakusa.

They don't speak about last night despite how confused Sakusa is. He wants to shake Atsumu and demand answers. What did he mean by selfish when Sakusa is the one who wants to step out of their weird established friendship?

Sakusa has never met someone as obnoxious as Atsumu but he's never met anyone as understanding before. As they take in Mozambique, Sakusa thinks the best sunset is in Atsumu's golden eyes.

Then dine in a traditional restaurant and Atsumu gets drunk again. As Sakusa puts him to bed, a pill bottle shakes out of the blond's pocket. Sakusa picks it up and tries to search it. It's unknown.

Sakusa is tenacious. He dislikes half-finished tasks. With the questions piling up about Atsumu's cryptic talk, he gives in and dials Osamu's number.

"Sakusa-san, do ya know what time it is-"

"I found a pill bottle. It's unknown. Osamu, what's with Atsumu that he needs completely unknown medication?"

Osamu becomes silent.

"I can't tell ya that," Osamu says slowly. "'Cause I think it's better if ya find out from him yerself. Try askin' him, Sakusa-san. It's time that idiot stops bein' selfish anyway."

Atsumu greets him a cheery morning the next day and as they walk the next day at an elephant reserve, Sakusa finally asks him about the pill. Atsumu stops in his tracks and pales, staring at him as if he was ashamed. Then, he sighs and sits on top of a rock.

"I knew ya couldn't take me bein' selfish for too long, Omi," Atsumu chuckles bitterly. "But alright, ya deserve ta know anyway."

A complication with his immune system. Instead of helping his body, his cells attack his other systems instead. It's a new disease and Atsumu's pills are trials: they're not ensured to work.

"I've never been afraid of death," Atsumu confesses. "But somehow, this scares me so much. Osamu screamed at me at how I'm stupidly allowing a disease make me lose at our bet of livin' the happiest and he told me he won't take it as a handicap."

"He told me to get my ass off court and ta go somewhere, anywhere instead of rottin' in the hospital. So my teammate, Hinata, signed me up for this. Everyone's ganging up on a sick person ta get up and explore the world. Isn't that weird."

"Then what did you mean by being selfish?" Sakusa's mind is running a mile per hour but he tries to focus. "What did you mean by that?"

Atsumu gives him a bitter smile. "I don't think I can tell ya that yet, Omi. At least this, let me lie for a bit longer."

Sakusa wants to scream at him and demand that he shut up and fess up abouy his joke but he knows he can't. Not when he saw the pills himself and not when he noticed Atsumu's weak state. So he does what he should do: lay his cards bare on the table.

"Then, Atsumu-" The blond's eyes widened at his first name "-let me have one lie too."

"Let me pretend I can have you longer than these limited days."

Sakusa steals kisses and hugs from Atsumu. He holds Atsumu's hands and washes his hair for him. They take walks like couples do and make love like couples do.

The last stop was back home: Japan. They traveled to Kobe and Kyoto, visiting shrines and feeding each other local delicacies with their fingers. Sakusa was never religious but he finds himself helplessly praying for more time.

Atsumu's strong embraces has weakened and his smiles have a tinge of a hurt grimace. Sakusa meets Osamu when they visit Onigiri Miya and the look Osamu gives him makes him want to shout that it's not over yet. That there's still time. But they both knew.

Atsumu's hourglass finally stops on a cold day at the hospital. He rests for eternity surrounded by his family and friends with his hand clutched by Sakusa's tear-stained hands.

Osamu stays behind with Sakusa after the funeral. He hands Sakusa a letter and gives him a pat, telling him to read it and to forgive his brother's selfishness. Sakusa begs to differ. He was the selfish one who took Atsumu's last hours from his family.

On the way home, Sakusa reads the letter. The rain pours heavily on Tokyo, the roads a bit slippery.

"Dear Sakusa, you might not know me but I'm Miya Atsumu. I'm the starting setter for MSBY Black Jackals, twin of Miya Osamu, and is hopelessly in love with you since we were in high school." Sakusa blinks and reads it again to make sure he's reading it right."

"I saw you playing at the Inter-High. You were so cool you know? You played so well and so damn good I honestly considered transferring to Itachiyama. Seriously, you were the best."

"You could say you were my gay awakening." Sakusa snorts through his tears. "But I think I really felt in love with you when you gave me those napkins when you caught me crying after we lost to Karasuno. You were so snarky but you still stayed with me until I

stopped crying. It was so random that I kept on looking out for you and then Osamu told me I have a crush on you. Can you imagine finding out you have a crush on someone when by your asshole of a brother?"

"Anyway, I don't know why I'm writing this but I guess I'm hoping one day I'll get to give this to you. Probably never though."

There was another letter, this one more recent.

"Dear Sakusa Kiyoomi, fuck you for making my crush into a full-blown love shit that Osamu warned me about. Seriously, why did I think traveling around the world with my high school crush would be a good idea? I blame Shouyou

I hope you know you look the cutest when you smile satisfied and that your moles are the best places to kiss you because you're ticklish there. I hope you know I love your hugs and your soft kisses whenever you tuck me to bed. I hope you know that your

freaky hands are so warm whenever they hold mine and that I never understood how my brother says Suna's laugh is the best shit on earth until I heard you laugh at on of my corny jokes. I hope you know you made me the most happiest selfish man alive by

allowing me to let me love you without saying the words. I've been selfish by taking advantage of your happiness at my expense even though I know I'll be leaving you. I'm sorry, Omi-kun. I wanted to stop you when you said I love you to me at

Kyoto but I couldn't. So, I'll say them now. I love you, Sakusa Kiyoomi. I love you and until we meet again in another life, I'll still keep my I love you's in my throat until I can kiss them to your mouth. Thank you for letting me be selfish

Love, Atsumu."

If I made you cry let me know lol https://curiouscat.qa/dai_naning