"Brother, I'll be fine."
"Let me just walk you to-"
"Orbital said he'd take me! Dad'll get mad if he knows you're making yourself late for your first day of school,"
"Dad won't get mad, since when does he ever-"
"Well fine, but-umm-"
"No excuse, then!" Kaito grinned, scooping up Haruto and swinging him around in a playful hug,
"I'm not a litle kid anymore," Haruto huffed as Kaito attempted to swipe his backpack from him, "Brother I can carry it."
"You're going to be carrying it around all day anyways, so-"
"Stop looking through it!"
"You haven't had a chance to make a little girlfriend yet, Haruto, let me just make sure..."
"Inhaler, lunch time medicine, charged phone with you, Orbital, and dad on speed dial, lunch, emergency money-"
"Alright, alright. Just making sure..you wanna bring your teddy bear too?"
"Stuffed animals stay at home, brother."
"I dunno, Haruto. I remember taking him to kindergarden all the time when mom was around."
"I'm going to be in elementry school, and he'd get stuffed up in my bag."
"Hmm...can I take him to high school then?"
All's that quip earned him was a defiant shake of the head on Haruto's part, as he firmly grasped Kaito's hand so he could drag him out the door,
"Did you pack your lunch, brother? Phone, lunch-"
"Hmm, I was thinking of stealing your things, punk!" Kaito grinned malovolently, grabbing Haruto's bag from him, "Wow, looks like I'll be set,"
"Give it back!"
"Try and get it from me!" Kaito chuckled, holding Haruto back gently,
Ah, it was nice to have his brother out and moving again...he had been bedridden for so long, it was a pleasant change to be able to tease and prod him again.
"Give that to me, hmm?" A voice cut through, gripping the bag from Kaito's hands as they shoved him back roughly,
"Who the-"
"Just take this and scram, alright kid?" The person, a boy...around Kaito's age? Comforted him in a slightly gentler voice,
"No-that's not-"
"No need to defend him, just hurry up and go. I'll take care of him." He confirmed, now advancing on Kaito.
"Brother...Thomas, I don't think-"
"Stay back, Michael. Some punk picking on little kids like that, makes me sick."
"That's my big brother!" Haruto finally managed to burst, hurrying in front of Kaito,
"You're..."
"Sorry about my older brother! Umm,"
"That's okay, my brother's the same." Haruto nodded up at the pink haired boy who was still weakly trying to hold back his brother,
"We were just messing around...ahah..." Kaito managed, biting down a smile. "Sorry about the confusion, I'm just dropping him off to school before I head off,"
"The elementry school? Same here, we can join-"
"Thomas!" The one who was assumed to be Michael flushed, solidly punching the other's arm,
At this, Haruto couldn't help but contain his giggle.
"Come on, little guy! You two can be best friends and everything," Thomas grinned down at Haruto, messing up Michael's hair in suit,
"Cut it out, we're going to be late," Michael grumbled, grabbing Thomas' arm in order to drag him over in the opposite direction, "Nice meeting you! Sorry!"
"Be sure to beat him up next time he tries to steal your things, kid!"
"Okay!" Haruto called back, taking Kaito's hand so they could get moving again,
"I didn't..you know I was joking-"
"No, you were very rude, brother. Next time I'll be forced to beat you up!" Haruto tried to joke, wishing he was tall enough to reach up to mess up his brother's hair,
"Well now I'm terrified," Kaito pouted, relaxing down on his knees to give Haruto a final parting hug, "Be safe, and be sure to call or text me if anything happens. I'll be here at three waiting for you, and don't get detention on the first day, mmkay?"
"No promises!" Haruto giggled, now taking the opportunity to use both hands to mess up his brother's hair, "Don't get into any fights, and be nice!"
"Hmmm...no promises," squishing their noses together briefly before letting go of the younger, Kaito felt his heart quiver as Haruto made his way through the crowded legions of children towards the bustling elementry.
He'd be okay...he'd...just pop in and check up on him during lunch...
It'd be okay...
Taking a moment longer to gaze longingly to where his brother had disapeared in the crowd, Kaito took a gaze down at his watch,
He had ten minutes to get to the highschool.
A morning run couldn't hurt.
Breaking out into a well paced jog, Kaito felt some of the tension in his shoulders fan out as the cool morning breeze cut through him.
He had spoken to all of Haruto's teachers and supervisors the morning before, and had been reassured they would call him directly if anything were to go wrong.
As the high school came into view, Kaito felt himself still preoccupied with thoughts of Haruto.
The first few days would be more of a blow off than anything else, so he didn't really mind the idea of being a bit anti-social or whatever.
Kaito nodded to himself as he slowled his pace to transition into a casual stride, but felt his heart jolt up into his throat as a force slung him back.
"I said, excuse me, miss." A rather flustered voice waved through him,
"Uh..." Kaito started, only to meet the eyes of a rather tall...unusally heavy eyelinered...male?
"Oh good heavens, you're a boy..."
"Yeah, there something I can help you with?" Kaito glowered up at him, shifting out of his grip, "Miss."
"Oh...well, you appear to have dropped your phone, sir?" The man, who was probably one of the teachers aid, offered, holding out a limp hand towards Kaito,
"Yeah...thanks-" Kaito's eyes quickly dilated, realizng that was Haruto's phone, not his own,
"Listen, I didn't mean to scare-"
"Thanks," Kaito grumbled, swiping the phone from the other, in order to break out into a hurried pace,
Screw being late, what if Haruto needed him and had no way of getting to him?
The other man looked over to where Kaito had rushed off to and sighed to himself,
What a bothersome little boy. Probably got lost on his way to the elementry school.
"Ah...but, miss, are you sure?"
"Absolutely, mr. Tenjo-"
"Please tell him it's an emergency, I need to see him."
"Homeroom is-" The teacher felt herself falter under the now teary eyed young boy standing before her. "Alright, just a moment please,"
"Thank you, miss." Kaito nodded, feeling his chest relax from all the running he had been doing this morning,
"Haruto! Your father is here to see you," Kaito could hear the teacher call out,
"O-oh," Springing from his desk, Haruto hurried over to meet- "Brother," Haruto couldn't help but pout, hugging him around the waist, "Are you okay?"
"Just...just checking..." Kaito could feel his voice crack as he nearly collapsed on the floor and clung to Haruto, "You sure you're okay?"
"Y..yes..." Haruto smiled, holding his brother's head against his chest, "I promise to call if anything goes wrong..."
Kaito tried to swallow down the lump that was swelling in his throat.
But it had just been so long since he had been apart from the younger this long. He needed to make sure he was okay...he needed him to be okay...
"You left your phone with me," Kaito managed, rubbing at his eyes briefly before conjuring up the cellular device,
"Umm..." Haruto frowned and took out his phone, holding it out for Kaito to examine, "It has to be someone elses?"
"O-oh..." Kaito paused, feeling a bit foolish for running down here without not even thinking to check the contact info.
"Don't worry, brother. I love you, now no skipping class!"
"Yeah, yeah..." Having already planned to take the day off, Kaito ruffled Haruto's hair before heading out,
It wasn't like he was going to miss much today anyways, so...
So he'd just figure out who's phone he actually had.
Scrolling down through the person's contacts, Kaito frowned slightly to himself.
There was a, "Pip-squeak, Freeza, Old man, Bedazzled, and an...Aniki" ?
Maybe whoever owned this phone was one of those weebos or something...hmm...
Shrugging and dialing, 'pip-squeak', Kaito waited for the user to respond,
"Thomas, I'm in the middle of class, what is it?" Recognizing the voice of the younger boy from this morning,
"Uh..no..this is..Kaito? I umm-"
"Yo, Michael! Gimme' your phone, don't tell Chris I lost mine,"
"No, some guy found it!" Turning his phone over to Thomas before letting Kaito utter another word,
"Hey, so what's the ransom? Want my little brother or something?"
"What-no. No, I found it this morning and-"
"So you want my phone in exchange for a date with him,"
"Thomas, shut up!"
"Shh, shh, little one. Alright, I'll bite."
"Is there...anywhere I can get this back to you? I'm using your minutes here..."
"Oh, sure. Address is in the phone-"
"I'll meet you outside the middle school?"
"That works, thank you." Michael cut Thomas off, swiping back his phone, "Thank you, Kaito."
"Sure thing." Shutting off the phone as he heard nothing more than a few more chattering quips from the other two, Kaito sighed as he looked across the empty streets.
He'd worry about the classes he missed later.
"Thank you again, sorry about my brother,"
"It's no problem," Kaito smiled down at the younger,
"Are you..I mean? Class wise,"
"I don't think I'll be going today, but-umm,"
"Of course." Michael nodded, giving Kaito a firm nod, "You should still go, but I won't bother you about it."
Without another word, Michael hurried off, leaving Kaito to feel a little bit lost.
He probably should go in to check up with his teachers and what not...
But there was always tomorrow,