Work Text:
Reki was slowly chipping. One bit at a time. And Miya was trying desperately to catch the pieces.
Miya could sense it, no, it was more than sense. Miya could see it. Hear it. Feel it. Almost taste it in the air.
Insecurity. Miya would know.
The way Reki's voice had quieted. His usually lively demeanour ever so slightly subdued. The stiffness in his shoulders when he watched Langa skate. The absolutely uncharacteristic way he curled in on himself.
The change was subtle and easy to miss if you hadn't been paying close attention. But Miya Chinen was always paying attention.
Miya Chinen had been paying attention ever since he was seven.
He was so innocent. So naive.
Skating was fun.
He could see his friends faces turn sour as he pulled ahead. Accelerating at a ridiculous pace.
Exponential. Fast. Too fast. Faster than all his classmates.
Initial admiration turned into casual jokes about how he was going to leave them all behind, turned into hushed whispers behind his back, turned into outright hostility.
Children were ruthless with their honesty.
Skating was fun.
He remembers ; a bitter memory. One that makes his skin itch, his eyes prickle and his smile, wry.
He had been skating, humming a tune to himself, all smiles. That was the first time it happened.
He never expected it.
They threw rocks at him while he was skating. It was stupid, stupid, stupid.
He learned that people can be cruel that day, far too young.
He want home and cried for hours.
So many emotions. Too many emotions for his small body.
Shocked, scared, betrayed, hurt, bitter. All at once. Miya was sure he was going to explode one day.
He wasn't sure what he did wrong but he was going to fix it. They were all going to be his friends again. The were all going to love him.
So he learned to listen. To observe. He learned how people worked. He found out what made them tick. He memorised thier body language and the way they spoke. Anything, everything, to get them to like him.
Skating was fun.
But it never worked.
People were stupid. People were mean without reason.
So he turned bitter instead.
Using his honed emotional intelligence to get back at people. Using insults and jabs to protect himself. Because it affected him goddamnit. It really did.
If no matter what he did or how hard he tried people were going to call him arrogant and conceited well then he might as well play the role? So he did.
And he did it well.
Effectively pushing away everyone from getting too close just to hurt him in the process.
Skating was supposed to be fun.
Then enter Reki. A hyperactive boy with a sunny personality and in desperate need of a haircut.
A flick in the forehead and a few words was all it took for reki to have Miya's entire world spinning off kilter.
Reki broke through, and so followed Langa.
And then Shadow. Then Joe and Cherry.
It was a domino effect.
With Reki as the catalyst.
And suddenly he wasn't anymore. And Miya wanted him back.
He was scared he might loose the friends he's finally gotten.
Now that he's done fooling himself into believing that he is better off alone, now that he has finally gotten a taste of what it feels like to be included. To be a part of something, even if that something was a ragtag bunch of thrill seeking idiots, he was not willing to let it go so easy. He can't go back to being lonely.
He can't. He can't. He can't.
Maybe it is selfish but Reki is his lifeline . Miya is not willing to let go.
The thought of it makes him uneasy. The fact that someone so good could just shut down like that.
Miya hated it. Reki wasn't an asshole. Reki had enjoyed skateboarding. Reki was genuine and giving. Reki was kind. Reki made people love him.
Reki was not Miya.
He didn't deserve this.
Miya was going to show him as much, and if winning the tournament is what it takes then Miya would win a thousand of them.
He wanted his friend back.
He didn't have many of those.