Best Friends [sousuke x gn!reader]

Age 9:

“Hm, if I crawl over there then I can sit on those pillows… but there’s a puddle! Ah, stupid rain!” you grumble, pulling your blanket over your shoulders like a cape and crawling through the attic space, book in hand.

On your journey, you pass all manner of things - on your left, old, ratty, but familiar furniture that your family had been storing for a while, on your right, boxes of old electronics, toys and stacks upon stacks of books. But all you care about right now is the little space in between them - not high enough for you to walk through, but just high enough for you to crawl (carefully) to the other side, where a little carpeted oasis appeared. You had a blanket, a book, and a bright window, and you were going to read up here so help you god. A little puddle was not going to get in your way.

Making your way to the other side, you triumphantly proclaim, “ah, I made it! The great explorer [Name] wins again!” You find a comfortable spot, and you’re set for a while. Lost in a world of dragons, and heroes, and adventure, you don’t notice the hole in the nearby wall, or the grinning little boy who crawls through it to sit in front of you. Well, not until -

“Hey.”

To your credit, you don’t scream. You do jump, though, and maybe squeak a little.

“You - where did you come from?” you ask, eyes narrowing accusingly.

The boy points at the hole in the wall and shrugs. “I was checking out the attic of the new place and I saw you through the wall, and mum said I should try and make friends, so.”

“You’re our new neighbours! I’m [name], what’s your name?”

“[Name], huh. I’m Sousuke. It’s nice to meet you!”

“You too!”

You both grin at each other, and spend the rest of the afternoon talking about everything - Sousuke likes swimming, his best friend is called Rin, he was going to the same school as you now, and you share the same favourite flavour of soda. You chat about your friends, your book, your hobbies - everything and anything. You two get along like a house on fire, and it’s only when your mum calls you down for dinner that your realise you’ve been talking for hours.

“Ah, I have to go now, but let’s play outside tomorrow, okay?”

“Sure thing! See you tomorrow, [Name]!”

You spend all of dinner telling your family about the ‘awesome’ kid next door, and your parents just smile at your enthusiasm. It was going to make it a lot easier to introduce themselves to the neighbours the next day. (Sousuke does the same next door, to the same reaction.)

Age 10 (and a half):

“Hey, [Name]?”

“Mmh?”

“You know how we’re like, bestest friends?”

“Duh, dummy!”

“Can we be like… bestest friends forever?”

“I thought we already were!”

“We need it to be official though!”

“What were you thinking?”

“Well. My mum and dad are like best friends, and they’re married, and I think you need rings to be married and stuff. So we need rings.”

“Ah! I have something in my pocket that might work!” you say, pulling out a couple of untouched candy rings from your pocket. “They’re not real, but they’re probably the best we can do right now…”

“Perfect! But, but, you have to promise me that when we grow up we’ll get married for real! So we can be best friends forever, okay?”

You nod vigorously, and each slip a ring onto the others hand.

“It’s a promise.”

Age 18:

“But Makoooo, I need your help, pleaaaaase?”

“Ah, [Name], please don’t give me those eyes - I can’t resist those eyes,” Makoto pleads, trying to focus on the path in front of him, instead of your puppy-dog expression.

“I know, that’s why I’m using them, because I really need your help! I’ll owe you a million times over, anything, please just let me borrow your notes?”

“...okay,” Makoto sighs, “but you’re going to have to come with me somewhere tomorrow - if you’re free, that is.”

“Of course! Where?”

“A couple of friends from back home and I are getting together for some food, and they really want to meet you. I was going to ask you anyway, when we got back to the apartment, but I suppose now’s as good a time as any.”

“...why would they want to meet me, Mako?”

“Because you’re my roommate! And I maybe… talk a lot about you.”

“Aw, Mako, that’s so sweet of you!” you gush, linking elbows with him.

“Well you’re my best friend here at university, so it’s nothing, really,” he mumbles.

“C’mon, tell me all about them - actually, can we get coffee before we go back? It’s so cooooold!”

“Sure, sure,” he laughs.

“Mako-chan!” Nagisa yells, jumping out of his seat and throwing himself at the taller boy as soon as he sees him. Makoto laughs at the bundle full of blonde energy, and looks up to see the rest of his friends.

“Ah, you all made it! Rin, Haru, how was the flight?”

“He slept through it,” Rin grins.

“He was annoying.”

“Oi!”

“And Sousuke! This is a nice surprise!”

“Good to see you, Tachibana.”

“And you brought your roommate! We’ve heard so much about you [Name]-chan! I’m so happy to meet you!” Nagisa shouts, before bounding over to hug you firmly as well.

“Nagisa! You just met them! I’m sorry about this, [Name], Nagisa is just very… friendly…”

You wave off Makoto’s worry. “It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s nice to meet you… all…” your words drift off as you make contact with a set of very familiar teal eyes - a very surprised set of teal eyes. Ones that you hadn’t seen in years.

“Sousuke?”

“So it is you, [Name]. Long time no see.”

“Long time no - I’m gonna kill you, asshole!” you laugh, punching him in the arm before sitting down.

“You know Sousuke?” Rin asks, incredulous.

“Unfortunately.”

“You’re still rude as ever,” he grins, ruffling your hair.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Yeah, we used to be neighbours! And then Sousuke disappeared on me for years and I haven’t seen him in ages!”

“I didn’t-”

The ever tactful Makoto steps in with an, “anyway, I’m sure we’re all hungry so, here,” and, passing a menu to you, says “let’s order soon!”

“So,” comes a voice from behind you, as you lean against the bar trying to order another round of soft drinks.

“Ah, Sousuke, why scare me like that, idiot?”

“You and Tachibana seem close,” Sousuke continues, disregarding your question.

“He’s my roommate, he’s in most of my classes, we’re good friends,” you shrug.

“Mmh.”

“Why?”

“Nothing. You’re not… together then?”

“Dating?”

“Mmh.”

“No. Why?”

“Well, we’re still engaged. You know. From all those years ago.”

“Oh my god, you nerd, really, you remember that?”

“So do you, clearly.”

“Not the point here, Yamazaki. You worried we wouldn’t still be bestest friends after all this time or something?” you tease, nudging at him playfully.

“No,” he mumbles, dodging your nudges.

“You so were, oh man,” you laugh.

“Well you were all secret jokes with Tachibana over there, and that used to be our thing.”

“It still would be out thing if you didn’t up and disappear on me all those years ago!”

“Sorry.”

“It’s… it’s okay.”

“It’s not okay. Let me take you out some time. To apologise. And catch up.”

“Sure, sure! We should catch up, honestly. You’ve gotten a lot smoother over the years, a date before the proposal this time! I’m impressed!”

“Shut up.”

“Fine, fine. You always were too easy to tease. Hey, help me take these drinks over?”

Sousuke follows you with half a tray of drinks, and a fully-blown grin.

Age 24 (and a quarter):

Once again, you’re crawling through your attic. This time, your parents had sent you up there to fetch something - they were getting older, and you were the one who had organised the room in the first place. You were smiling though, thinking of all the memories you had of rainy days with your best friend in this very room, and thinking of how that best friend was just next door with his parents. A surprise visit back home never went amiss, and the two of you had plenty of time to spend together otherwise.

Which is why you were surprised, really surprised, when you heard shuffling and muffled curses coming from the hole in the wall - what was that foolish boy doing now?

“Sou?”

“[Name] - help me out, would you?”

You can’t help but laugh at the fact that your ridiculous boyfriend is stuck in a hole in the wall, but you take his free hand and help drag him through anyway. You give him a quick kiss when you both return to your feet, and you feel warm as you both smile into it.

“What were you doing, Sou?”

“Coming to see you,” he smiles, dazzling as ever.

“You big dope, how were you ever going to squeeze through?”

“Same way I do everything. With your help.”

“You’ve been spending too much time with Rin, you’re going all romantic and soppy on me! Anyway, help look for this box, will you? Apparently it’s got my name on it, but I can’t find it anywhere,” you moan, turning back to the boxes that’ve been tormenting you for a while.

“Would it be this one?”

“How could you have found it al… ready…” you drift off as you turn around to see he’s on the floor, again, only this time on one knee, and that’s definitely a box in his hand, just not the type you were expecting.

“[Name], it was here that I met you the first time, and it was here that I fell in love with you for the first time. And having you be my datefriend for these past years has been… better than I could ever have imagined. And I want you by my side for the rest of my life. I just hope that your answer is the same as the first time I asked you to be my best friend forever, even though the ring is different now, and I’d like to think our love has changed over the years as well. So, will you do me the honour of being my best friend - my marriage mate - forever? Will you marry me?” Eyes shining, smile calm and collected, but heart racing, Sousuke looks you dead in the eye.

And what else could you say?

You climb down from the attic and into the living room hand in hand to find all your friends and family (and Sousuke’s, but you shared friends and family now) and when they see your linked hands and the ring around your finger, the room bursts into rapturous applause and cheers of joy. Rin cries a lot (but that’s to be expected.)

You’re happy as can be to be moving forward in your life with the best friend you could imagine by your side.