Title: Don't Want to Lose You
Author: melonmachinery
Day/Prompt: Day 1/Rock & Aiko Desho – Sano Elementary & Lost
Rating: PG
Summary:

The Sano three try to celebrate Sousuke's birthday, but things go a bit awry, and something changes in the days to come.

A/N:

Kisumi loves to tease and we all know it lmao

Don't Want to Lose You

Chapter 2

"We're almost there," his mother chimed, and Rin's legs stilled.

He was jittery, he didn't know why. It was stupid that he had to go to a doctor's appointment during a school day. His mom had offered for him to stay home the whole day, but he couldn't do that. If he wasn't there then Sousuke wouldn't have a walking buddy to go places within the school. What if he had to go the bathroom and got lost? Or was told to go to the principal's office?

It's not like Sousuke could really get lost in the school, so he wasn't sure why he was so worried. Still, after last week just knowing that Sousuke had no sense of direction bothered him. When they were small everyone was taken around by teacher assistants, and when they were older they had their buddies. Now they were getting too old for either, so they usually had to go alone. It was only Sousuke who had to have a buddy still.

He kind of knew that the teachers would probably make someone else walk Sousuke, but it still bothered him. What if the person they chose didn't like Sousuke and ditched him? What if that person didn't know where they were going either?

"We're here," his mother said and he was already unbuckling and running for the door. She yelled at him to wait and he came to a screeching halt, scowling. Despite his anxiousness they walked in together. She had something to do in the office, he guessed, but he was too busy bouncing on his feet to care.

When he was finally allowed to go to his class he tried to keep his pace slow so he wouldn't get yelled at for running. He climbed up the stairs and was surprised when he saw two familiar bodies walking towards him. He was about to call out when he saw something that made his voice fail.

"Rin!" His more cheerful friend called, waving with his free hand. His other hand was wrapped around Sousuke's pulling him along. Sousuke's bored expression disappeared and he smirked when he saw Rin coming towards them. Rin looked at their hands and then at Sousuke's bloody knees.

"What happened?" Rin asked. Sousuke shrugged, a pout on his face as he looked away. Kisumi giggled and put a hand up whispering.

"He tripped in the gym, over nothing!"

"The floor was slippery," Sousuke complained, but Rin and Kisumi just gave him twin stares. He flinched and grumbled more, looking away, lower lip jutting out.

"Why are you two holding hands?" Rin asked, trying to sound casual. He peeked at Sousuke out of the corner of his eyes as he turned to Kisumi. Kisumi was giving him a smile that made Rin cross his arms, it was one of those no-good smiles.

"So that Sousuke doesn't get lost of course," he hummed. He lifted up their hands for Rin to see and Sousuke looked indifferent to their conversation. Rin frowned, but with the look Kisumi was giving him he didn't know what to say. It felt like he was wrong for even mentioning it.

"We got to get to the nurses office before the teacher gets mad. We'll see you when we get back Rin!" Kisumi said, giving him a wink and a peace sign before pulling Sousuke along faster. Sousuke looked back at Rin, his eyebrows furrowed and Rin looked away, wondering if his face looked weird or something.

He bit at his lips as he walked the rest of the way to his classroom, a hard feeling in his chest and his cheeks hot.

"Sousuke! Don't get distracted!" Rin yelled, aggravated when he noticed his friend not following him and instead staring blankly at a bush. Rin walked back and then he saw it, a bird's nest with tiny cracked shells inside. He looked up above and saw a tree there.

"They probably flew away," Sousuke mumbled, "before the nest fell."

Rin looked at him for a second, wondering what had gotten in to him. His heart felt a little heavy then, as he looked at the shells. He couldn't tell, he didn't want to know. He grabbed Sousuke's hand and started to pull him away.

"Why are you holding my hand?" Sousuke asked as they walked and Rin huffed, walking further ahead so that he couldn't see him.

"If I don't you'll get distracted again and get lost," he answered.

If Sousuke had protests he didn't say any of them, and Rin slowed down, walking side by side with him. The palm wrapped in his was dry and soft. Even though their hands were nearly the same size the shapes of Sousuke's fingers always reminded him of his dad's. They were long and thin, with short nails. His palm was a little wider than Rin's too.

"Where are we going?"

Rin looked up and then saw that they missed their turn for the ice cream. Rin tried to laugh it off, free hand coming up to rub the back of his head. He turned them around and tried to ignore how his heart was pounding a mile a minute do to the embarrassment of his mistake.

Holding Sousuke's hand became second nature after that. If they were walking to the convenience store to get ice cream, if they went to the park, when they'd go to swim club. Sousuke never said anything about it, and Rin tried not to be too obvious about it.

He wasn't worried about it until he heard a loud shout of his name and turned around to see Kisumi running up to them when they were on their way to the local park. His grip stuttered, stuck between keeping his hand on Sousuke's and letting go. By the time Rin had the capability to think at all Kisumi was already in front of them, grinning like an idiot. They waved at his mother who was some ways behind, talking to an older lady.

"What are you two doing here? It's so rare to see you guys outside of school," Kisumi cheered, a bright grin on his face. He glanced at their hands and then between the two of them, smile growing. "Sousuke get lost again?"

"Yeah," Rin laughed awkwardly. When his hand started to go up for his neck he forced it down and stuffed it into his jacket pocket. "We were just going to the park."

"Aw! I want to go," he whined, "but mom won't let me if I ask now!"

"Maybe next time," Rin mumbled. He looked at Sousuke who looked neither interested nor disinterested by their conversation. Kisumi frowned for a second and Rin knew it was because Sousuke hadn't said a word to him yet. Rin was about to say something but then Kisumi's face lit up with another smile.

"Having a good day today Sousuke?" Kisumi asked suddenly and Rin's eyes widened when he saw the scowl on Sousuke's face. "Must be nice, I wish I had a friend that would hold my hand when we went out."

"What are you talking about?" Rin inquired and Sousuke ignored the both of them. Kisumi just brought a finger up to his cheek and tilted his head.

"I wonder," he hummed. "Well, I really should get going. Call me later so we can hang out maybe?"

"I'm free this weekend," Rin said looking at Sousuke. "As long as my mom agrees anyways."

They both turned to the sullen boy and he glanced away. "I'll ask my dad."

"Awesome!" Kisumi laughed. He looked back at his mom and then hugged them both, giving them a kiss on the cheek. Rin was squawking and Sousuke was fuming when he left, waving at them.

"Idiot," Sousuke grumbled, and Rin looked at him, a hot feeling in his stomach to match the queasiness that came. He surged forward and, without thinking, landed a kiss right on Sousuke's cheek. When he pulled back Sousuke was wide eyed and his hand dropped Rin's in favor of covering the spot he kissed.

"You let Kisumi do it," Rin blurted out, placing the blame on him before he could even say anything.

He turned on his heels to run away when his arm was grabbed. Sousuke wasn't looking at him, but Rin could only stare at his downturned eyes and think about how he could see more of the top of his head than normal. The grip on Rin's elbow loosened and his hand slipped down to Rin's.

"I'll get lost."

Rin gulped, and his fingers wrapped around Sousuke's. They stood there for a second and then Rin started pulling him in the direction of the park. While they were walking Sousuke kept glancing at him, and he tried to ignore it.

"You can just ignore Kisumi, you know," he said finally and Rin kept his eyes fixed down the pathway.

"Why?"

"He's just messing with us."

Rin glanced at Sousuke and Sousuke's eyes didn't waver. Rin scratched behind his ear and shrugged. They didn't say any more about it, but when Rin dropped Sousuke off at his house when it was time to go home for dinner, he got a kiss on the cheek in return.