Chapter Text
Langa is falling.
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Falling.
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Falling.
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Falling into nothingness. He had always thought the empty would be black, no more than a black hole swallowing everything in sight. But as he falls into the void, he notices it is bright. Bright, luminous and... white. A blinding type of white, one that almost makes Langa think he had been thrown into the sun itself. Except there is no warmth, the void feels as cold as the black hole should’ve been. The light hurts his eyes but he can’t find it in him to close them. If that weren’t impossible, Langa would think he doesn’t know how to.
He is aware there must be a ringing in his ears, the faint sound of air as he speeds by, it must definitely be there but he can’t hear it. He can’t feel the air around him as he falls, either. He can’t see anything but white.
Maybe this is it, maybe his senses are shutting down so he won’t feel it when he hits the ground. Langa doesn’t know when that will be but he has been falling for a while now. He must’ve been pretty high up. He doesn’t think he can survive from a fall that takes this long. No one could. It’s only logical to assume he won’t make it out of this.
Still, he wants to. He wants to see his friends again. Hug his mom one last time. See Reki’s smile again. Reki... Langa never did tell him how he felt, did he? He never told Reki how much he truly meant to him, how he alone was able to brighten Langa’s life again. After his dad's death Langa had once thought he’d never be happy again, not like how he used to be. His life just stopped shining the way it used to, it wasn’t long before he couldn’t snowboard anymore. The feeling he had when doing so was one he thought he would never get back.
And then Reki proved him wrong. Reki had barged into his life with his fluffy red hair, bright smile, and even brighter personality. He had crashed into his life and shared his light with Langa. At first it was that Reki had been happy enough for the both of them, but gradually that happiness started to spread to Langa as well, growing and steading itself with every passing day. Reki has always felt so warm, his aura so inviting. It would be easy to believe Reki invited sunlight, that there would never be a gloomy day as long as he was there. Langa knows this isn’t actually true, that night had certainly been a gloomy one, but even days like those feel less threatening when Reki is around.
If only Langa could tell him that.
He can’t. He can’t because he is falling. Falling into a white abyss, his sight failing to pick up on even a single— wait . He sees something. Something else, also falling, only slightly above him.
His board.
He can see his skateboard. He can see the cute little yeti Reki painted for him a second time. He had asked Langa if he wanted a different design, saying he could choose anything in the world, but Langa wouldn’t have anything else. Not when the little white monster had started to mean so much to him. He can also see something else besides it. The word Reki had added to the design, spelt in bold orange letters. Fun . Reki had told him it was so Langa could remind himself of why they skate in the first place. So that the both of them won’t ever lose sight of each other again. He smiles, the board is so close that Langa thinks he could probably reach it if he wanted. Maybe that’s what finally gets him to move.
Or maybe it’s the simple memory of Reki that brings him warmth, like the boy himself always did.
Langa had come so close to not hearing that voice ever again that when he does his mind goes blank. The winner of the race makes no difference. The cheers all around him make no difference. Because nothing in the world matters besides the boy smiling at him.
Langa thinks launching himself off his board and into Reki’s arms might just be the easiest thing he’s ever done. He doesn’t think twice about the way he brings his arms around Reki’s shoulders, wrapping a hand under his neck so that Reki won’t get hurt from the fall. He doesn’t care that his body hurts when they hit the ground or that people are cheering all around them. Because he is with Reki again. He is with Reki again and that is all that matters.
“Reki,” the name is familiar to him, something he has said countless times before, something Langa finds comforting to hear in his own voice. It is at the thought that Langa lifts himself up slightly, not wanting to crush Reki under his weight, and looks down at his friend, hoping he didn’t accidentally hurt him. “Did I win?”
Reki’s eyes visibly soften when he looks up at Langa, another one of his smiles stretching over his lips. “You won. You did!” Langa feels himself relax, whether it is because of the win or because of the way Reki is looking at him right now is anyone’s guess.
“It was awesome!” Reki smiles impossibly wider, when he brings a hand to Langa’s heart, “I was so impressed!”
And Langa smiles back. Langa smiles back because Reki is smiling at him with absolute fondness and Langa thinks his heart might give out any time now. It probably will if Reki keeps smiling at him like that. In the way that makes every single one of his (albeit few) working brain cells scream at him to get closer. To close the remaining distance between them and wipe that smile out of Reki, gently, preferably with a kiss.
Maybe it is a good thing their friends decide to show up just then.
It’s a few nights later when they decide to meet in the morning, if it could even be called that. Langa gets out of bed at around 4:30, he would say his room is pitch black but he can see starlight seeping through his blinds, faint but there. He doesn’t turn on the lights, not when he knows they’ll just blind and delay him. Instead, he changes into the clothes he’s laid out the day before, grabs his board, and sneaks out.
Skating through the streets of Okinawa at night feels completely different than during the day. A good kind of different. It reminds him of S, of running away from the cops with Reki, of dropping Reki off at his house. Langa smiles to himself as he grabs onto a passing truck that seems to be going the same way as himself.
Reki is already there when he makes it to their agreed spot. Smiling and raising his hand so that Langa can join him on their dap. He asks Langa not to go easy on him, teasing him in a familiar way. And Langa thinks he might be in too deep for his straight best friend when teasing back, but that’s okay. Because the sun starts to come out as they prepare to start their race and Langa knows he doesn’t need anything else. He just needs Reki by his side, smiling at him like he always does. And if he has every intention of beating Reki, then well, at least he knows Reki will forgive him for it.