A/N: Man, I can't believe I managed to finish my first fic for sk8 by SK8 Saturday! I wished I could've finished it sooner, but writing block happens. Also, this is my first Renga fic, so I'm extra excited to get this posted.
This was supposed to be a short fic (can you believe that?). Langa was supposed to catch Reki outside of S and confess originally, but of course fics never turn out short when you intend them to
Anyways, this fic takes place starting episode 9 at the end of Langa's beef with JOE, and I wrote it before episode 10 dropped. The fic is half episode 10 prediction, half self indulgence and canon Renga hopes
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“SNOW won?”
“What a comeback win!”
People cheer from the sidelines in the abandoned factory, excited over the outcome of the beef, but Langa barely hears as his ears filter out most of the noise.
I won?
Langa lays face up, elevated off of the concrete only by his elbows. There’s a slight burning pain in his elbows, but he pays no mind to that.
The crowd’s voices are unintelligible now, jumbled words, at least to Langa. He won, but he can’t think about that.
All he can think about is the end of the race, right after he crossed the finish, when he tried to stop his board. The sound of the snap repeats in his mind, and each time he re-experiences the feeling of his foot falling through his board, and his short skid across the concrete.
But...what was the snap?
Langa shivers as he sits up. He'd squeezed one of his eyes shut the moment he fell from his board, and even now he forces his other eye to stay open. That’s when he realizes he’s breathing hard.
The adrenaline is what kept him going during the second part of the race--the adrenaline that poured through his body when his heart began to beat in excitement again. He has to take a moment sitting there to recover his breath, and to prepare himself.
What snapped?
Langa sits up on his knees, and his heart drops when he sees his skateboard--the Reki L2S.
He fell off his skateboard because it snapped, right where his foot was.
Langa places his palms on the concrete and leans forward, checking out the damage. The background noise of the crowd fades into nothingness, until there’s only him and his skateboard.
My… Reki’s... The…
There has to be a way to fix it.
There has to be.
“Langa…” JOE starts from behind him, footsteps lightly hitting the concrete as he walks closer. “You got me. I didn’t think you’d use my power…”
But Langa can’t hear him.
His mouth is slightly parted, eyes drooping, as he sits in front of that skateboard. His heart still holds that tiny bit of excitement, but sadness joins it.
That skateboard is the last piece of Reki he has, the only piece he’s had since Reki left him that day in the rain and stopped hanging out with him.
And I broke it.
For some reason, he’d felt happier than he had in a while when he saw Reki cheering him on from the sidelines, but now he’s broken the skateboard, something that was theirs.
I broke our promise and hurt Reki...and now I’ve broken our board…
How many things will he break without realizing? How many times has he broken something without knowing already?
“What should I do…” Langa whispers.
“Huh?” A sound of surprise comes from JOE, and a little bit of the world starts to filter back into Langa’s senses.
JOE is right here.
He can hear JOE now. JOE’s entered his little world, but the smell of the abandoned factory, the cheers from the crowd, he doesn’t sense any of it.
“Oh, it snapped. Skateboards are expendables, after all.”
JOE says it like it’s a fact of life, like when the flowers in your vase wither and you have to buy new ones, when you use up your crayons at school and have to get a new pack, or when you break your pencil and have to pull another out of your pencil case, and sure, it is. It is a fact of life that nothing is forever, things have to be replaced eventually, expendables are expendables, but the Reki L2S isn’t an expendable to him.
But this board is special…
“Can I fix it?” Langa turns his head and looks back at JOE, hoping for good news.
“It’s faster if you bought one,” JOE answers.
Langa hangs his head, holding up the skateboard as he frowns.
It can’t be a new one.
“It’s not good if it’s not this one.”
“Reki made that one, right?” JOE asks like he knows.
How did he…?
“Then, have Reki fix it.”
Langa can’t stop looking at the board, thinking of the snap, and thinking of Reki. “But…”
That’s impossible…
Reki’s been avoiding him for a while now, distant. Langa’s still not completely sure what he did, besides break the promise, but he’s sure there’s no way Reki would want to see him after what he must’ve done.
“It’ll be alright if it’s you two.”
Langa looks up at JOE in awe, mouth open.
JOE sounds so sure when he says it, that just because it’s him and Reki, everything will turn out okay. The way he says it plants a little seed in Langa’s heart, and gives him the slightest hope that maybe everything will turn out okay.
Langa closes his mouth and nods, grunting in agreement.
Okay.
He doesn’t say anything else as he stands and whips around, starting at a jog out of the abandoned mine, making sure to take the board with him.
Reki.
His mind focuses solely on Reki as he runs. He tries to remember where it was exactly that he saw him as he runs up the sidelines of the S track.
It’s that memory--the memory of when he saw Reki cheering him on and became excited again--that guides him.
Langa looks left and right, his eyes shifting around to catch even a glimpse of Reki, as he sweats nervously. “If I recall, it was somewhere around here…”
Where is he…?
“It’s SNOW!”
Langa’s head whips around in the direction of the voice, and his heart jumps for a moment.
Reki?
His heart drops back down again when he sees a group of three boys approaching him, but it doesn’t quite drop down where it started.
His heart may not be as happy as it would be actually seeing Reki, but how can he not be excited when he realizes.
Those were the boys with Reki!
The boy wearing the white shirt is the first to talk.
“That beef earlier was seriously amazing!”
“Yeah!” the boy with the red and white hat agrees.
“Um…” Langa begins.
I hope this isn’t too rude, but…
“Did you guys see a redhead around here?”
“Um…” The boy wearing his yellow cap backwards falls into thought, along with the boy wearing the red and white cap.
The boy in the white shirt snaps his fingers like he’s trying to trigger his memory.
The boy wearing the red and white cap eventually says, “...I don’t think so-”
“Oh!” the boy wearing the white shirt interrupts. “Don’t you remember?” He turns to his friends.
“We challenged him to a bet!”
“Oh, right!” The boy wearing the red and white cap smiles. “He started going off about SNOW ‘n his ‘beautiful’ air.”
“Beautiful air”?
“Weird dude…” the boy wearing the yellow cap comments. “Got all worked up cause we said JOE was gonna win.”
“Yeah!” The boy wearing the white shirt decides, turning back to Langa, “He must be a huge fan of yours er something.”
Reki’s a...huge fan of-?
Langa tosses his thoughts away.
Reki. Ask them about Reki again.
“So, uh,” Langa speaks up, prompting the group of boys to look at him again, “where did he go?”
“The redhead,” he adds.
“Dunno.” The boy wearing the red and white cap shrugs.
“Left after the race I think,” the boy in the white hat answers. “Haven’t seen him since.”
The boy wearing the yellow cap nods, and Langa sighs.
“Thanks,” he says to the boys, no trace of tone in his voice, right as he starts to jog up S again.
Reki, where’d you go?
Langa doesn’t hear the sound of the horns signaling the start of the next race because of his focus on searching for Reki, but he slows his jogging for a moment, looking out at the track when voices near him catch his ears.
“It started!”
Another beef started?
“It’s ADAM versus Cherry!”
“Who will win?”
But Reki isn’t here either.
Langa speeds back up, his eyes darting around as he continues to look for Reki. He can’t even begin to think about the beef happening at this very moment.
Reki… Where are you?
Eventually, Langa makes it up to the stage ADAM set up at Crazy Rock, where the largest crowd of people watching the tournament watch the current beef on a large projector screen. Langa himself is quite a distance away from the crowd.
Maybe the guys at the gate have seen him…
“In comparison… SNOW!”
Langa stumbles upon hearing his alias, and he turns to look at the screen.
ADAM.
“You are truly wonderful!” ADAM exclaims with a smile, holding his arms out. “You should be able to go together with me.”
Langa frowns still as he watches ADAM on the projector.
“Because you are the one I found...EVE!” ADAM holds his hand out, as if he’s offering Langa a chance to join him.
“EVE?” Langa looks almost sad as he says it, and a bead of sweat runs down his cheek.
Before he would’ve been flattered. He should be flattered, right? ADAM, the amazing fast skater, the man Langa joined this tournament for, doesn’t he want to skate him again? Shouldn’t he be happy that a man so great has acknowledged him?
Langa puts a hand over his heart.
It’s not racing.
He’s not excited. Why?
That’s when Langa thinks back again to his beef with JOE, when his heart stopped racing. He thinks about how he gave up, couldn’t enjoy the race, until he saw…
Reki.
Langa turns away from the projector screen, away from ADAM, and he starts to run again, faster than that jog before, to the gate that leads in and out of crazy rock.
Two men stand outside guarding the gate, each wearing a red cap that covers their heads and shades their faces, olive green jackets, black pants, and black sneakers.
“Sir!” Langa waves down the guard on the right, and he turns as Langa comes to a stop, just after passing through the gate. “Have you seen a redhead? Did he pass through here?”
“...He your friend?” the man eventually asks.
“Yeah.” Langa nods.
“Yeah, I saw a redhead. Returned this.” The guard extends a hand, opening it up to reveal something in the palm of his hand. “He just left.”
The light from the tall lamp behind the guard glints off the object in his hand. It's a gold painted, rhombus shaped pin that has a stylized red and white “S” painted in the middle of it with a cupid’s arrow piercing through its center horizontally.
Langa recognizes the pin immediately, and his eyes go wide.
Reki’s badge!
Without thinking, Langa snatches the badge from the man’s hand before he can retract his hand, and he runs away from Crazy Rock.
“Hey!” the man yells from behind him, but Langa doesn’t hear him, and he’s sprinting too fast for the man to catch up.
Why did Reki…?
Langa slows to a steady pace once he’s far enough away from Crazy Rock, and he switches to autopilot, letting his legs carry him to Reki’s house.
Why would he give up S?
Reki loves skating…
It’s late, all the lights are off in Reki’s house, and when Langa stands under Reki’s window, he doesn’t know whether to feel relieved or sad.
Reki’s here.
Langa can tell by how his window is closed.
However, although Langa has found Reki, he can’t get to him.
It’s late at night. He can’t just knock on Reki’s window or try to enter without permission. One of those is trespassing, and Reki’s family is so nice. It’d be very rude to wake them up at this hour.
Reki will have to let him in, but Langa knows he won’t.
Langa puts a hand over his heart, feeling for his heartbeat. It’s steady, but his heart aches. He turns away from Reki’s house and starts off towards home.
I have to talk to him tomorrow.
~
Reki should be here soon, Langa assures himself.
Every morning before school, Langa waits in the same spot. Usually, Reki joins him and they skate to school together.
Though, with the board broken…
Langa can’t shake the feeling that he’s missing something though. He remembered to bring the broken board, he remembered his lunch, and, like every day, he remembered to wait for Reki here. What could he possibly be missing?
It’s been so long already…
Langa pulls his phone out of his pocket and turns the screen on to check the time. His eyes go wide as panic spikes in his chest.
Crap! I’m gonna be late.
He starts off in a wobbly run in the direction of school.
Why is Reki so late? If he’s sick he could’ve just…
Oh.
Langa turns his head down as he runs, his hair shading his face.
Reki was never gonna be there.
How do I always manage to forget that?
It's so ingrained in Langa to wait for Reki every morning, he's so used to it, that he still does so. Every day since they stopped seeing each other as often, since that night in the rain, Langa has forgotten that he doesn’t need to wait for Reki anymore, and each day he’s almost late to school.
It’s not so easy for him to shake off what was his norm, his daily routine, especially considering he would look forward to seeing Reki every day. Seeing Reki each morning is what makes him smile, boosts his energy for the day. Until he had that talk with his mom, he'd never understood the significance of Reki’s smile to him, and what it means that a happy Reki never ceases to make his heart squeeze.
And last night during my beef…
He hasn’t completely worked it out yet, but he knows there’s a connection between Reki and his excitement. He just wishes he could’ve figured out everything sooner, or noticed what was going on with Reki at the very least, before that night in the rain.
Somehow, Langa manages to make it to school before he’s late. He stumbles into the classroom, a couple of dudes give him a pat on the back, pointing out how he almost didn’t make it in time, and he falls into his desk chair.
Usually, Langa’s able to keep his usual cool and indifferent manner. Every other day he arrived late, he still sat down in his chair normally and gave a response of “Good morning” to his classmates, but today he’s stumbled in like he’s an unprepared mess, later than ever. He hasn’t even removed his backpack from his back and hung it on the hook on the side of his desk yet.
He turns to the desk to his left hoping to see Reki there, but the bell rings, and his heart dips once he sees that it’s empty. His frown deepens.
He’s not here…
Maybe what happened last night at Crazy Rock did something to them both.
Unfortunately, Langa doesn’t have much of a “productive” school day. He tries to pay attention, he really does, but just about every second he glances back over at Reki’s empty seat, as if Reki’ll materialize in his seat when Langa’s not looking, and every few minutes he gazes out the window to the left. It’s a miracle the teacher doesn’t smack him, demanding he pay attention.
I have to talk to Reki.
His body switches to autopilot when the bell signaling the start of lunch rings. He goes right up to the school roof and sits down against a wall where he and Reki usually eat, ignoring the calls of other people asking him to sit with them.
Reki always tells him people do that because he’s “cool”, but he just thinks it’s annoying.
“But we’re not friends. I don’t know them,” Langa had said the first time. “I’d rather sit with you.”
Reki had tried to explain, but he just eventually sighed, “Of course you wouldn’t get something like that.”
To be fair, Langa had troubles making friends back in Canada--not like he cared that much at the time--and he’s always been a bit dense when it comes to the social aspects of life. Whenever he asks, Reki tells him it has to do with his looks, his attitude, and the things he’s good at--like sports--but he’s never thought of any part of himself as “remarkable”.
What’s so special about me or my looks?
Though, he can’t completely write himself off as unremarkable, since he did somehow manage to attract Reki. Something about him must’ve been interesting enough for them to become friends like that, though of course it’s possible it was just the skateboarding interest.
Regardless of what Langa did to obtain such a good friend, he wishes he didn’t have to go and mess it up.
Langa sighs, slumping over.
“Ahem,” someone clears their throat from above him, and Langa turns his head up.
Standing about a foot or two away from him is a girl. Her legs tremble a little, but her voice is steady, and she has her arms held behind her back.
“Hasegawa?”
“Hm?”
What does she need?
“I… Could you please stand up?” she asks politely.
“Oh.” Langa pushes himself off the ground and to his feet, and once he’s standing in front of her, the girl holds her arms out.
“My name is Takashima Kaiyo and I…” Kaiyo takes a deep breath before continuing, “I’ve liked you for a little while now, and… Would you agree to be my boyfriend?”
Despite the confession, Langa’s face still holds that sad expression.
A confession like this isn’t new. He’s been confessed to by other girls, some guys, and at least a few people that aren’t either of these labels--at least not all the time.
According to Reki, he should be flattered to have so many people lining up to win him over, but Langa doesn’t quite get that. He’s never instinctively sought out people, and why would he care if so many people want to date him? Wouldn’t it make more sense to care about whether the person you like has feelings for you instead?
Anyways, like friends, confessions are something Langa isn’t used to. When someone has spent the time and energy to confess to him, he doesn’t wanna be rude, but he also doesn't want to say "yes" to spare their feelings. Of course, he never shares the feelings of the people who confess to him, but giving someone an outright no after their effort just feels rude.
So usually, when Langa is confessed to, he politely takes any gifts and tells that person that he’ll “think about it”. Then later, he passes off the gifts to Reki or to his mom. Of course "I'll think about it" is just another way to say "No".
Give the usual answer. She’ll leave you alone.
In Kaiyo’s outstretched hands are a bouquet of flowers--the kind doesn’t matter really--and a letter.
The whole thing is typical, the same confession he’s heard a billion times. It doesn’t matter if the flowers are roses or sunflowers, or even what the card says, because in the end, Langa will reject them.
Though, suddenly, he has realization. I know how to get these confessions to stop.
“I’m sorry,” Langa finally says, pushing the gifts back into the girl’s chest. “But I have feelings for someone else.”
The best part is that it isn’t a lie either.
~
Once the final bell sounds, signaling the end of the school day, Langa gathers his stuff and leaves the school as quickly as possible, eager to find Reki.
Finally.
As he starts running away from school and towards Reki’s house, he suddenly slows down to a walk.
But what if it takes all day?
Langa reaches into his pocket to draw out his phone, then unlocks it. He presses his mom's contact in the messaging app and frantically types a few texts.
Langa: Moght be late tonighr
Langa: Sirry
Langa: I"m gonna ve honest about mu feelings now
He turns his phone off before shoving it back in his pocket, and he speeds up into a half jog.
One night, Langa asked his mom for some advice regarding Reki, and she asked him if he likes the person he talked to her about.
At first, Langa had been taken aback. He hadn't expected his mom to ask such a question, to imply he might have feelings for Reki when he'd talked about his problem. Once the question of whether he liked Reki or not had been brought up, however, he'd started to think about it.
He'd never even thought about the specifics of his feelings toward Reki before now. All he knew for sure was that they were friends--best friends he hoped.
But the moment Langa thought about it, the word "like" seemed to fit. He still wasn't sure exactly what his feelings were, but when he thought about it, he knew he at least liked Reki, and not just as a friend.
How odd it is to suddenly figure out you have romantic feelings toward your best friend.
She told Langa he should be honest with his feelings, but at the time he couldn't even think about it.
How does one go about confessing romantic feelings to their best friend? It made Langa embarrassed just to wonder. He already wasn't sure how deep his feelings went, how embarrassing it would be if he confessed all that to Reki, especially right now.
No, Langa wasn't ready. It didn't feel like the right time.
Then Langa’s mom told him he has to do it if he really cares about "her".
Her.
And that was maybe sorta when Langa came out to his mom.
"Not her," he'd said, shaking his head. "Him."
"Him?" Langa’s mom had looked surprised, but nothing more. She didn't seem angry, just curious.
"Yeah." Langa’s cheeks reddened. "My best friend, Reki."
"Oh, I see," his mom smiled. "Then you should tell him. When you're ready of course."
Langa’s mom tried not to pry too hard after that, but she was curious. However, all Langa could tell her was that he hadn't had feelings for anyone before Reki. He hadn't even had a close friend like that before Reki. He'd never even thought about dating anyone up until now. In the end though, his mom understood.
Langa pulls his phone back out of his pocket when he feels it vibrate, and unlocks it, finding a message from his mom.
Mom: You got this!
After her message, Langa’s mom sends a sticker of a little cat, cheering him on with its little pom poms.
Langa smiles as he puts his phone away.
Thanks mom.
Soon, Langa arrives at Reki’s house.
His heart beats in excitement when he arrives, anticipating finally getting to talk to Reki, but the smile drops from his face when he sees Reki’s window.
Open.
Langa walks over to the front door of Reki’s house and waits for someone to open the sliding door.
Eventually, the sliding door opens, revealing Reki’s mom.
"Oh, Langa," she gasps.
Langa cuts to the chase. "Do you know where Reki is?"
"Reki? If it’s after school, shouldn’t he be…at work right now? Unless..." She scratches her head while in thought. "Don't tell me he skipped school?!" she begins to panic.
Langa waves his hands in front of him. "No, no, he was there! He was there! We just…" He averts his eyes with a sad sigh. "Haven’t talked lately…"
Reki’s mom sighs in relief, placing a hand over her heart.
There's no way I'm making Reki’s mom panic. I won't rat him out unless I have to.
"Oh… Now that I think about it," she begins, frowning, "I haven't seen you here with Reki lately. And Reki’s been awful down…"
"I hope you two figure out whatever you need," she says, sending Langa a smile.
Langa forces a smile. "Thank you, auntie."
So he might be at work…
"Goodbye, Langa!" Reki’s mom calls as Langa begins to leave.
~
On the way to Dope Sketch, Langa stops at "their spot"--the place he waits for Reki each morning.
He waits for about ten minutes with the faint hope that Reki might show up, but of course he doesn't, so Langa continues to make his way to Dope Sketch.
"Langa!" manager Oka exclaims from the front desk as Langa enters Dope Sketch. "Man am I glad you're here for work."
Oh.
Langa’s eyes widen.
I have a shift today, too! And I'm late!
Langa runs to the Dope Sketch workshop in the back, sighing in disappointment when he finds it empty.
Maybe Reki isn’t here yet…
Langa emerges back from the workshop after changing into his work uniform. "Manager."
"Hm?" Manager Oka turns his head to look at Langa.
"When do you think Reki’ll be here?"
"Oh, about Reki." Manager Oka sighs. "That kid left earlier. Promised he would be back in time for his shift and yet…"
So he's skipping work too…
"Then, can I-?"
"Well, at least you're here, Langa." Manager Oka points a finger at him. "But you can't leave me here." Then, he slumps over the counter dramatically, "There's so much to do and Reki already left. I at least need you to do your job."
Well… I can't just leave now… Wouldn’t that be too rude?
When Langa learned Reki probably wouldn't be coming to work, he'd quickly decided he would skip too to chase after him, but he just can't now. Now he'd feel too guilty if he left manager Oka alone to manage everything.
Not that manager Oka would let him just leave right now anyways.
All during his shift, Langa zones out, occasionally thinking of Reki, hoping to make time feel like it's passing faster. He leaves, saying goodbye to manager Oka, the moment his shift is done though.
Reki.
Langa runs to the only other place he can think of to find Reki with the broken skateboard tucked under his arm.
~
Langa arrives at a small skatepark by the time the sun has set. It just so happens to be the very same skate park where Reki first taught him how to skate, and where Langa performed his first ollie.
Langa takes a look around, but his eyes quickly catch a figure sitting atop one of the quarter-pipe ramps, and his heart jumps.
Reki!
Reki has his hands stuffed in his green hoodie pockets as he gazes out where the starry night sky meets the sea, the mild wind ruffling his hair.
Langa runs over to the quarter pipe ramp and stands just at the bottom of it. "Reki!" he shouts, as a small smile forms on his face.
Reki’s head turns in Langa’s direction after his shout, and his eyes widen. He slides down the half pipe. When he gets to his feet, Reki's only standing a couple feet in front of Langa.
He turns away from Langa. "You should leave," he says simply, emotionless.
"Reki!"
"You shouldn't be here. You should be getting ready for the next part of the tournament."
Langa shakes his head. "I can't."
Reki sighs. "Why not?"
"Look." Langa pulls his broken skateboard from under his arm, holding it out.
Reki hesitates, taking about a minute before he actually turns around.
"You're the only one who can fix it." Langa's smile fades as Reki’s eyes widen again and his mouth parts.
Almost like he can’t believe it either...
Reki’s eyes inspect the broken board all over, but he averts his eyes once he's done. "Just...get a new board, then," he suggests."
"No." Langa shakes his head again. "It needs to be this one."
"If you need it tricked out the same, I'm sure you can ask someone else to do that. You don’t need me."
But Reki… Don't you get it?
"You don’t get it." Langa shakes his head a third time. "It has to be this board, because you made it for me."
When Reki says nothing, Langa adds, "I don't want any other board than the one you made for me."
Reki turns away from Langa again. This time when he speaks, there's a tinge of annoyance.
"You'll need to join the others soon. Get someone else to make a new board. Leave. Me. Alone."
"But…" Langa looks at Reki, a sad longing in his eyes.
"You need to go to the tournament so you can skate with ADAM, right? He's a skating genius, just like you. You guys are special, worthy adversaries of excitement."
Reki turns his head down, clenching his fists. "There's nothing...special about me. I don't deserve to-" he stops himself.
"Leave, Langa," Reki says, sounding so tired, almost like he's struggling to sound so indifferent. He takes a step away from Langa, but just as he does so, Langa grabs his arm.
"Reki, I want to skate with you! On that board!"
Reki turns back, ripping his arm out of Langa’s grasp. Langa sees Reki’s face for just a moment, but Reki is crying.
Reki…
Reki’s head is lowered, and his arms shoot back down to his sides, fists still clenched tightly. He stumbles for words, "You- I- We don't… You don't know- Wh-why can't…"
After a moment of stark silence, a moment that seems to drag out for minutes, sadness, annoyance, and anger pervades Reki's voice all at once as he confesses, "Back then, when I broke off our friendship, there was something I almost said, but I don’t have a reason to keep it secret anymore."
Reki turns his face back up and faces Langa, staring directly into his eyes. He grits his teeth. "I love you, Langa."
Love.
The moonlight illuminates Reki’s face, and shines off of his bright red hair.
Langa’s eyes widen. Reki’s never looked so beautiful to him before, so handsome. Langa's heart begins to race, his heart and even his face heats up, and a puzzle piece slots into place in his brain. He smiles.
It's Reki.
Love is the word Langa didn’t want to use at first, wary of its meaning. To love is something big, special. It's a word that can't be used lightly, but when Reki told Langa that he loves him, Langa knew it was the perfect word.
"Love" perfectly encapsulates Langa’s feelings for Reki. Reki is the one who makes his heart race. Reki is why skating gives him so much enjoyment. He wants to skate with Reki again. He wants to be around Reki all the time, forever.
I love Reki.
Reki lowers his head again with a chuckle. "That's it. You can leave now. You wouldn't want to be friends with me now, would you?"
Langa takes a couple steps forward, closing the distance between him and Reki. "Reki…" He says the name like it’s special, the most special word ever known, and he fills the word with his feelings towards Reki. His left hand flies to Reki’s chin, tilting it up, and his right flies to Reki’s cheek, cupping it tenderly.
Langa strokes Reki’s cheek with his thumb while Reki just stands there, as if he has no idea what to do next. The smile on Langa’s face grows into a loving one, and tears begin to well up in his eyes.
I'm so sorry...
Langa leans in, closes his eyes, and presses a kiss to Reki’s lips. Then he draws back for just a second, only to come back and kiss Reki again.
Reki’s face is stiff in Langa’s hands, and the rest of his body is likely stiff as well, but his lips are soft, and Langa is filled with so much longing.
But Reki never kisses back.
"Ugh!" Reki shoves Langa away, sending Langa stumbling backward a few steps. "Langa!"
Langa lowers his head in shame, biting his lip, as he tries to hold those tears back. "Reki, I'm so sorry. I shouldn’t've-"
"Just stop!" Reki interrupts, yelling at him. "Why are you here? Why aren't you skating ADAM?"
"Because I love you, Reki! I want to skate with you! Not ADAM!"
"Don't. Just, stop." Tears fall from Reki’s eyes again. "Don't force yourself just 'cause you miss me or something. I'm not worthy."
Langa tilts his head back up, and a single tear falls. "But Reki, I'm not-"
"Save it. I know I'm not good enough to matter as your friend. You've found better people, and that means we both should move on."
But I'm not…
"Reki, please. Let me explain to you. I want to prove to you-"
"And what will that solve? Why should I listen?"
"Because…" Langa takes a deep breath, and more tears fall from his eyes. "I want you to explain to me too. There are things I haven't said, haven't asked. I know you're the same."
Reki bites his lip, averting his eyes.
Please, Reki.
"Reki, I don't want to lose you… Please…"
Langa looks at Reki like a wounded puppy, and finally Reki sighs, "I… Okay…"
Langa and Reki both sit down at least a foot apart on a bench in the tiny skatepark. It's a wooden bench close to the railing, making a perfect place to look out over the sky and sea.
"So? What?" Reki breathes, and Langa sighs.
"Reki...I want to say sorry first for whatever I did to hurt you, and for breaking the promise. It was my fault…" Langa lowers his head, but he continues on. He explains how discovering skating brought his excitement back, the excitement he hadn't felt since his dad died. He explains how he became more and more enamored with skating, and he thought it was due to the thrill of skating against a wonderful opponent.
"I wanted to skate with ADAM again," he explains, "because I started to believe it was skating with him that made me feel different, more excited maybe." He explains how he hadn't understood why Reki thought ADAM was so dangerous, but never thought to ask. He'd wondered the whole time why Reki didn't want him to skate against ADAM, and he was sure it wasn't because of the injury, because that's just part of skating.
"Then, that night under the rain… I thought...that if I could explain everything to you--explain why I wanted to skate against ADAM--assuage your doubts, then you wouldn't mind if the promise was broken. But I don’t think I understood just how much keeping me from skating ADAM meant to you, so I was surprised when you left. When you said...we weren't a good match…"
Then, Langa explains the decrease in his excitement to Reki, how he came to learn while Reki avoided him that he was missing something. It slapped him in the face during his beef with JOE that his excitement doesn't come from skateboarding for the sake of skateboarding. "When I came to look for you, after the race, I even saw ADAM. He praised my skills and told me I'd be able to skate with him. He called me his 'EVE'."
Reki grimaces, face contorting in disgust, as Langa continues.
"But despite the praise...ADAM doesn't make my heart race either. I have the chance to skate with him, he holds me so highly, yet it still doesn't make me excited." Langa looks into Reki’s eyes. "It took me a while to figure it out. It took you leaving me and my mom's help before I realized. During my beef with JOE, it was seeing you that brought my excitement back."
"Reki, you make skating exciting for me. I want to skate beside you again, just like we used to."
Langa tries not to cry again after his explanation speech, and from the way Reki’s eyeballs shine--the same way your eyes do when you're about to cry or have cried--Reki is surely the same.
Reki sighs after a minute or so. "I guess that means it's my turn…"
Reki starts out by explaining how happy he was to teach Langa how to skate, to become his friend, and to have someone he could bond over skating with. He explains how before he found excitement with him, Reki was mostly alone, and he almost made it to school late frequently.
Then, Reki explains the beef with ADAM. He'd heard from JOE that ADAM was dangerous, but Reki hadn’t thought he was that dangerous. Not until he'd skated ADAM himself had he understood, and ADAM scared him to his very core. "I-I can't explain why or what exactly but…" He takes a deep breath. "I just knew he was dangerous, and I just wanted to keep you safe."
"I know you said you'd never quit, but I still didn't want you to get hurt. I hoped a promise would be enough, but I couldn't justify making you stay away from ADAM. And when I found out why I was so adamant about keeping you safe, I knew I couldn't tell you." Reki goes on to tell Langa about how he never particularly cared about the growing gap between their skills, but more and more often he heard everyone pointing it out, and he couldn't shake that feeling that Langa would leave him behind.
"I don't feel...like I'm worthy… With everyone's comments and how you got hooked on ADAM...I thought that you would leave me behind if I couldn't compare to you. And when I found out I wouldn't be able to close that gap...I decided it would be better if I left, so I wouldn't drag you down."
"I cared too much about you to watch you get seriously hurt, but I couldn't stop you, and more than anything I wanted to skate beside you, but I knew you'd be happier if I wasn't dragging you down."
Reki turns to Langa, giving him a sad look, and apologizes, "I'm sorry I acted like I did, and that I didn't tell you about it."
Langa smiles at Reki, and Reki suggests,"...Maybe, we should make a promise."
"About what?”
“Let’s promise...to talk to each other. Tell each other about those things.”
“Okay.” Langa nods, and the two scoot closer to each other till they're only inches away.
Langa holds his hand up, preparing for their handshake, but Reki lets out a small laugh, and smiles.
“Did you know...there’s another way grown-ups do it?”
There is?
Reki leans forward, and he reaches for Langa’s shirt collar. Langa’s face heats up as Reki’s fingers grip his collar, and Reki pulls him close.
When Reki’s lips meet his, this time warmth pours into his body, and his heart begins to race, because it’s Reki. This time Langa’s able to really let his longing out, and pour it into the kiss.
Langa’s never fallen in love before, much less kissed someone, but he’s glad it’s Reki that can make him feel this good, and that it's Reki he fell in love with.
Langa reaches a hand around the back of Reki’s neck and places it at the center of it. He buries his hand in the bottom part of Reki’s hair, his fingers playing with the strands, as he pulls Reki even closer.
Reki too reaches a hand behind Langa. He reaches it up under Langa’s shirt, smoothing his hand across the ever cold skin of Langa’s back.
Langa shivers at every touch of warmth from Reki’s fingers as those fingers dance across his back.
It’s unreal how many times Langa and Reki miss each other’s mouths when they go back in for those shorter kisses, and each time it happens Reki giggles at his mouth, causing Langa to smile. In the end, it's the passion and the longing behind the kiss that counts, and Langa’s never felt so fulfilled in his entire life.
When the two finally pull apart, both end up wiping their faces with their sleeves, and Reki giggles, scooting closer to Langa. Reki wraps his arms around Langa, enveloping him in a comforting warmth.
For a moment, Langa tenses up, his face reddening, but then he melts into Reki’s touch, just like ice and snow under the sun.
Langa embraces Reki as well, burying his face in his shoulder.
The two just sit here like this, embracing each other, as if they're trying to make up for the hugs and affection they missed out on after Reki broke off their friendship.
It's a while before Reki and Langa stand up from the bench, but they hold each other's hands when they do, interlacing their fingers. They walk for about a minute before Reki begins to run, pulling Langa out of the skatepark.
"R-Reki?"
Where's he taking me?
Reki looks back at Langa with a smile. "We're going to fix your board."
~
"And...done!" Reki yawns loudly. "Langa, over here! Look."
Langa joins Reki at a workstation inside the Dope Sketch Workshop, and his eyes widen as he looks over his fixed up board. "Reki…"
It almost looks like...it never broke in the first place.
Happiness overflows Langa’s heart, and he turns to Reki, gazing at him lovingly. He leans in, planting a kiss onto his right cheek, his nose, and he finally presses a few short kisses to Reki’s lips for good measure. He leaves Reki’s cheeks a bright red.
"You're amazing, Reki." Langa looks at Reki with stars in his eyes, and Reki scoffs.
"You're the amazing one, Langa."
Langa shakes his head. "No, Reki. You're always the most amazing to me."
Reki laughs nervously, likely to mask his embarrassment, as he picks up the Reki-L2S and shoves it into Langa’s arms.
Once Reki manages to calm himself, he pulls his phone out of his pocket to check it.
"You should leave," he sighs, frowning a little, as he turns to Langa. "You'll miss the window to get into S."
Langa shakes his head as Reki looks back at his phone again. Reki taps his phone a number of times before he looks at Langa again.
"Langa, what if you’re paired up with ADAM for the first beef today? Wouldn’t you want to make it in time to skate with him?"
Would I?
Langa sinks into thought, thinking back to last night, when ADAM called him his "EVE". He recalls the moment he put his hand over his heart, and discovered that ADAM doesn't make his heart race. Consequently, this causes Langa to then think back to his beef with JOE, when he saw Reki.
Reki, you make my heart race.
Even Langa’s heart recalls the feeling of seeing Reki again, causing Langa’s face to flush.
Langa smiles though as he walks over to Reki, taking his hand. "No."
Reki slides his phone back in his pocket and grabs his skateboard as Langa pulls him out of Dope Sketch.
"I want to skate with you tonight," Langa says, setting his board down as he lets go of Reki’s hand.
Because it's you that makes me excited.
"You're my happiness, Reki." Langa smiles.
Reki smiles back as he sets his own board down on the ground. "And...you’re my happiness, Langa."
The two boys step on their skateboards and push off, but once they're able to cruise, the two draw closer on their skateboards. When they finally get close enough, the two interlace their fingers, holding hands.
"You're fine skipping the tournament, tonight?" Reki asks. "Even if it means you're disqualified?"
"Reki." Langa narrows his eyes at Reki.
"I know, I know… But what about supporting our friends?"
"Tomorrow." Langa’s eyes relax, and he smiles. "Tonight, I want to skate beside you, more than anything."
It's far from a lie, and it's probably one of the most sincere things Langa has ever said.
Reki leans close, crossing the short distance between them, and presses a kiss to Langa’s lips, before leaning back again.
"I love you," the two whisper at the same time.
The giggles of both Reki and Langa echo through the night as they skate the streets of Okinawa.
Together.