Incidentally, I fell for you - Renga

Empty your mind

"I don't know what's wrong with him, but he usually only comes here if there's no one he can talk to." Joe said quietly, walking himself and Cherry away from the visibly upset boy. "Including Langa."

"Do you think they had another argument?" Cherry responded, whipping his fan shut and lowering it down to his side.

"I hope not, but it's likely. Those two suck at communication. When they have problems, the kid never says anything and Langa's kinda oblivious."

Cherry responded with a small nod. They had just gotten into Joe's office which resided at the back of the restaurant.

"What should we do?" Joe asked aloud, slouching in his desk chair after their arrival.

"I don't know. Though, Reki definitely needs to cool off, and I don't think food is going to do much for him right now."

A few seconds of silence passed by, until a spark popped in Joe's head.

"I've got it." He said under his breath.

•••

When the two returned to the dining area, Reki gave them a quick glance while chewing the last piece of his meal.

"Thank you, for the food I mean." He said, head turning away once again.

Joe and Cherry by now had taken seats at the bar table, both next to the boy.

"Are you ready to talk?" Joe had asked, waiting for Reki to respond.

When he was met with silence, Cherry decided to take his turn.

"Is it Langa?" He asked, turning his chair to face the redhead.

Reki took in a sharp breath of air, that was the question he was trying to avoid not only outwardly, but internally.

With one look, Cherry could tell that his guess was correct.

"Remember what we used to do when we were mad at each other, Kaoru?" Joe asked, eyes focusing on his lover.

"Of course I do, we'd both come to the same skate park and act surprised when we saw the other there. Then, we'd challenge each other to a beef to determine who deserved to stay."

"Exactly. Skating calmed us down, helped us get over ourselves." He said. "You know what, Reki, how about I teach you a new trick?"

Reki's ears perked up quickly, his eyes sparkled with anticipation.

"The one from the beach or the one from when you went up against Langa?" He exclaimed, that was the loudest he'd been since he'd gotten there.

"Both. You're getting older, and stronger. I think you're ready."

The corners of Reki's mouth tugged into a smile. It seemed like he was about to burst with excitement.

He sprung out if his seat, quickly went to go scrub his dirty dish, and emerged back from the kitchen area. Running to pick up his bag and board, he rushed towards the door happily.

When he had realized that the two men still hadn't emerged from their seats, he gave them a puzzled look. He was already half way out the door after all.

"You're that excited huh?" Joe asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah. Now let's go!"

"Where?" Cherry questioned.

"To 'S' of course! One of you is driving."

The two elders glanced at each other, and with a shared smile, they hurried after the boy.

•••

"Seriously?" Reki exclaimed, clearly confused at what the other man had said.

"You heard me, you have to start doing planks in push up positions for 2 minutes straight every day. Then do some handstands and arm workouts afterwards."

The boy who was over the moon with joy fifteen minutes ago had now felt a mass form in his stomach.

The three of them were now at a location in S,  a well know training area used by multiple skaters there.

"These two moves require a lot of upper body strength, you need to be getting used to using those arm muscles."

Reki was thankful that it wasn't a school night. It seemed that training up to this move would take a long time.

"Alright, begin a plank now, I want to see how long you last normally."

Reki was happy. This was a good chance to improve, a shot at leveling up. A shot at catching up to—

"Red, you just dropped out at 40 seconds. When doing workouts, your thoughts has to be with your workout."

"You sound just like a muscle head jock." Cherry mumbled, the two then glared at one another.

Reki scoffed at the tension that resided between the two. He couldn't tell what was more hilarious, the way that they would trade insults like high school rivals or how they would blush at each other while doing so.

"Reki, we don't leave here until I get a full two minutes."

"Damn, I've got it." He responded, rolling his eyes.

Joe watched the boy focus on the ground as all thoughts emptied his mind, for he had deviously tricked the boy.

Making him work out, shifting his point of attention, it was all to make him feel better.

And Joe didn't regret it.

I deeply apologize for this week late update. High school is a bunch of work and I'm busy with clubs and after school activities! I'll leave a note if I have to change my updating schedule!

Also I really like the whole sk8 family dynamic. Picture whoever you want in each role, it doesn't matter. They all fit well together regardless.