Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Reki's not even aware of how he struggles to stand until there are hands reaching down to grab him by his bicep and underarm and help him to his feet.

Gross , he thinks, because he's unbelievably sweaty and he nearly laughs out as much when suddenly supporting his own weight slams all of the pain he was determined to take into him at once.

He swears through his teeth, knocking into Langa's chest as he grips at the other boy's shirt reflexively. 

"Reki..." He hears above him, scolding and worried and... upset? as there's an arm coming around his back to better keep him in place and upright. He doesn't know how it's possible for Langa to sound so many things at once, but he manages to on a regular basis and, well. He's not really sure how the guy himself is possible, either.

"I - I'm good, I'm good," Reki manages to laugh, attempting to wave Langa off and free himself.

But pain blooms from his head at just the weak chuckle and it ricochets down between every bone and organ on its way down. His vision flickers as reality skews two opposite directions, head spinning as the absolute riot that is S goes quiet like how conversations do when you duck underwater.

A slowly building ringing in his ear sharply grows louder as he's virtually blinded in his left eye. He knows he recoils with a hiss, he knows it's Langa telling him patiently to hold still as he holds him tighter, but it all feels so detached and far away he has a hard time feeling like he's experiencing it.

All at once the light's shone in his other eye and he's startling back into consciousness. At least, he thinks so. It's dark and totally quiet, aside from the crunching of gravel and distant crickets. There's no solid earth underneath the soles of his shoes, but he's definitely moving. 

"Ugh... What...?"

"Reki," Langa's voice is close, still incredibly worried but now that's overwhelmed by relief. "You're back with me. Thank goodness."

"What? I go somewhere...?"

"Not... really. You've been in and out of it, though."

"Ugh... Not surprised, with how my head feels... Shit." Reki rubs at his forehead soothingly, the touch not really helping though it does solve the mystery of how dim it is. His damp headband has fallen over his eyes. 

At the same time he pushes the fabric up, Reki presses his elbow against Langa's chest, bracing his forearm against it, in order to push himself upright. 

"Hey," Langa grunts and all forward movement stops as he feels himself being jostled. "Stop squirming."

Uh—

Reki blinks, mouth open to argue when he fully takes stock of the situation. Langa's face is ridiculously close to his own, blue eyes soft and concerned. But, most importantly—

"You're carrying me," is the only thing he can choke out as his face burns.

Langa looks confused. "Yeah...? Like I said... You've been in and out of it."

"But—"

"And even if you hadn't..." He... sees something flash through Langa's eyes, and his grip on him tightens the slightest bit. "... You've been through a lot, tonight. No need to stress your body out more."

Reki's body definitely agrees. His brain feels too big for his skull, and the backs of his eyeballs pound. There are a variety of joints that take turns flaring up in painful throbs, and he can tell he's littered with bruises and scrapes without even having to look.

At the obvious sigh of resignation and the way Reki slumps into the arm around his back, Langa adjusts his grip before continuing to walk.

"We're almost back to the scooter. Joe said you probably should go to the hospital—"

"No!" Reki jerks in Langa's arms, causing the other teen to trip over himself and fumble. He's lucky he doesn't end up in the dirt and gravel. "No, dude, sorry, but... I can't end up in the hospital again so soon. My mom'll freak."

"You can't avoid her 'til you're healed. She has to find out, sooner rather than later," Langa says. "What if something's broken? Or you're bleeding internally."

"Then, good. Blood's supposed to be inside you," Reki huffs, knowing very well that's not what was meant and that's not how it works. "Just... I can't deal with her, or my sisters, right now. They'll have a ton of questions and I have no idea what I'm gonna tell them. I'd like to get a story together and maybe clean up so I don't look like total dog shit when I drag my sorry ass back home."

Langa doesn't seem happy, at this information or the rough outline of a plan. But he ends up sighing, shaking his head.

"We'll go to mine, then," his friend decides aloud eventually. "We can say... Hm..."

"We can say..." Reki repeats, thinking the best he can, before he snaps. He winces, wrist flaring in pain that shoots down to his elbow. God, is everything gonna hurt?

"We'll say we have a project. We need to work on it over the weekend to finish it up, and... And it's really detailed, so we need the quiet and to make sure no one can destroy it."

"Ohh... That's really thorough."

"Meh. When you've been skipping and making excuses for years, you kinda get good at it."

"Still." Langa says, moving on immediately. "We're almost at the scooter. Think you can stand?"

"If I can't we have bigger problems to worry about," Reki huffs, already determined to remain upright on his feet no matter what. His conviction to stay away from any doctors should be enough to keep him going. 

For someone as insanely powerful as Langa is, he sure sets Reki down carefully. The stark contrast between the other on and off of S gives him what feels like whiplash, sometimes. It's scary, but in a way he's more familiar with. It's less like skirting around ADAM on the track at breakneck speeds and more like the weightless uncertainty of not knowing if he'll land a new trick as he hangs in the air. 

It's exciting, exhilarating. There's a fear, of failure and injury, but he knows how amazing the pay-off feels. 

That's exactly the way he feels, being with Langa. The in-the-moment thrill and anticipation of more is the same. 

He's just... He hasn't been able to quite, uh. "Nail the trick". 

How the hell are you even supposed to admit to someone you like them? Like, like-like them. He's never been confessed to, which makes it hard, especially when all the media depicts the girl in a straight relationship doing all the work. What? How is he supposed to apply that, here?

Is Langa even gay? Or bi at least? For that matter, what is he? He likes girls, most of them it feels like for various reasons, but what about guys? He's never felt this way about another dude, but... he supposes he's also never felt this way about anyone ever. Not that he's really had any close friends, either. Which really makes this all that much more confusing.

Is this just... how you feel with really close friends? Or is this beyond a platonic relationship? Reki has absolutely no idea. 

"Reki?"

"Sorry! I zoned out again, didn't I?" He laughs, gently grabbing at his side as the telltale pain of a broken rib or two begins. Fantastic. Langa makes a noise akin to a sympathetic whine as he hisses and slowly uncurls to straight back out. 

"Are you gonna be okay to hold onto me on the scooter?" Langa asks as he presses the extra helmet on to his head.

"Your place isn't far, and it's..." Reki glances up at the night sky as Langa buckles his helmet. "Late, I dunno. There shouldn't be anyone out. 'Sides you saw how strong my grip is, earlier."

Langa looks less than impressed, but it softens into a much kinder, gentler expression. It's a little much. Actually, it's way too much. His cheeks are heating at the intensity and there's an itch just under his skin he can only scratch by rocking his weight between his feet. Oh, the angle of his femur in his hip socket hurts .

The other teen must see the way he flinches at the pain, because he murmurs a low 'c'mon' and ushers them to the scooter. 

"Drive nice and easy," he says as he very slowly and awkwardly clambers onto the seat behind Langa. "Ow, shit... My tailbone, too, seriously...? But, yeah, just... don't do anything crazy so if I lose my grip or pass out I don't go flying? We're avoiding the hospital. A-void-ing."

"I wouldn't—" Langa pauses abruptly as Reki tucks his arms around the other's midsection. For someone so tall and wiry, he sure is nice to hold... "I wouldn't put you in danger. Never."

Dragging everyone into beefs with ADAM is kind of...

He doesn't say anything about it because, "Duh, obviously. I'm playing, silly."

He hears Langa's soft 'ohh' of understanding before the scooter revs to life. The breeze is nice, he thinks foggily, grip around his best friend tightening as he startles awake when his drifting mind fools him into thinking he was slipping off.

They're stopping, Reki thinks hazily. Then he's hoisted up, and—

"Ow!" he whines drowsily, curling around the solid, warm mass he's holding onto when he comes to. Comes to? When did he doze off?

" Shit, sor—! Sorry," it's Langa, in a hushed whisper as he switches from English back to Japanese. His voice is awful close and tickles his ear, making it burn. There's a soothing touch cupping his head where the throbbing begins to fade already, thumb rubbing the spot carefully.

"Keep forgetting how short the doorways are, here..."

"Bashing your unconscious BFF around, huh?" Reki scoffs groggily, ribs protesting. He tightens his arms around Langa's shoulders, tucking his nose into the crook of his neck. He feels the other startle and stumble, and how his arms tighten makes him realize he's koala clinging to his crush's front—

"... I'm sorry."

Wait, Langa sounds so... genuinely upset and guilty. He clumsily pushes back only far enough to try and get a look at the other's face. Oh yeah, there's definitely real remorse there. Along with a delicate pink high on his cheeks. Cute. 

"Dude, for what?" Reki feels his own face flare in heat as it occurs to him his legs are around Langa's hips. Play it cool, it's not weird unless you make it weird— "You carried me from S to the scooter to your apartment, a little knock on this 'ol thick noggin is nothing."

Langa's expression immediately lifts. "If you're sure."

"Wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it," he says as Langa, once again, very delicately sets him down.

This time it's on Langa's bed, which he gratefully collapses back on immediately. It's only the first time he's actually been here, but he is 100% sure that this is the nicest, softest, most comfortable bed on the planet. 

"Duuudeee... Your bed. Now I get your whole deal with sleep," Reki says, sighing as he goes totally boneless into the comforter. The mattress is so much more supportive than his own, though he doubt he'd complain to be in it right now with just how sore he is all over.

"What was that?" He hears from outside of the room. He doesn't remember Langa leaving, or know exactly where he ran off to. 

"Nothing!" he calls back, a touch of amusement tugging at the corner of his mouth.

He isn't quite sure how long he lays there, or when he allows his eyes to fall shut, but he's blinking awake to his name being softly called and an even gentler touch brushing hair back off his forehead.

"Mmhn?" He grumbles tiredly, real exhaustion beginning to kick in now that his fight or flight response is finally fading.

"There you are," Langa breathes. "You should shower."

"Don't waaannnaaa. Too tired and sore."

"I can help." Reki's scowl must be obvious, because Langa immediately continues. "You can keep your underwear on and borrow a pair after."

"Ehhh, I'm not that big of a prude," he says, and that's the truth, but... Well, he's still a little inexplicably embarrassed. "I just don't wanna get up."

"You'll feel better, probably. It'll clean out any cuts and then I can patch 'em up." Langa tries, obviously bargaining. "I can carry you?"

Reki hates how even beat as he is, the suggestion still makes his heart race and his face warm. Dummy. 

"You're probably tired of lugging my ass everywhere," he says with a weak laugh as he attempts to drag himself upright. "'Sides, the longer I go without moving the more it'll hurt to do later..."

He huffs as he scoots to the edge of Langa's bed, its owner worriedly hovering at his side. He's so worried and dotting, it's precious. It somehow tricks him into feeling... important. Loved. 

His eyes dart down to Langa's lips as they part and while he hears what the other says, his brain fumbles the words out the other ear because it's preoccupied with just how much he wants to kiss his best friend. That's probably a huge jump, he thinks. Confessing definitely has to come first.

But, well.

What if it doesn't?

Sometimes he's had his best success nailing a trick by just rushing into it, no forethought or fears. Just pure, raw instinct and adrenaline.

Reki turns, a hand on Langa's thigh to pull himself closer with. 

Their lips brush and Reki's startled awake by what sounds like something falling in another room. Muffled swearing follows, and it sounds like Langa, so he assumes he's in the shower, now. 

Reki must have, once again, dozed off after finishing up with his surprisingly long shower. He planned to be in and out, but the hot water really did feel amazing, and he was caked with more dirt and grime than he realized. Before that, though... He doesn't recall anything weird. He didn't make obvious eyes at Langa and try to make-out with him, but rather assured him he'd be fine and that he would yell if he needed help. 

He's both extremely relieved and kind of super disappointed. But, this is better. Maybe not for his dumb teenage emotions, but for him in the long run and them as a whole.