Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Langa, stop it,”Reki mumbled, swatting away sneaky hands. They were after his food which was, at this point, very cold. Langa was a food thief creeping up on his chicken like a ravenous wolf.

Two plates and he was still hungry like the bottomless pit he was. Where it all went is anyone’s guess but, after a couple of years, it was just something he’d gotten used to. For someone so concerned with being rude, to the point he’d nearly starve himself -by his standards- he is awful unconcerned with food theft as long as it's his boyfriend.

“Please,”he pouted, resting his head against the table.

Reki sighed, skewering several chunks of chicken on his fork and handing it to him,”Fine. But that means you’re opening today.”

He inhaled the food offered to him and answered with his mouth full,”M’kay!”

Now he didn’t have to open their strange skateboard-coffee shop fusion let him relax a little more in his seat. As much as he loved skateboarding and the idea of a place where people who loved it at least half as much as he does can gather, he hated opening because of how overwhelming it was. He hated closing, too, but it was a lot easier to deal with dumpster rats than people.

When they opened, they were bombarded with orders ranging from “make me a board” to “I want a triple double everything coffee.” He tried his best, smiling until it hurt and then smiling some more, but they always got at least on person who was self-absorbed and hateful every day.

Langa nudged him,”Stop thinking so hard, Reki.”

“Sure. You want a cup of coffee?”he asked with no intention to follow through, already knowing the answer.

Langa scrunched his face up,”I’m fine, thanks.”

Reki wasn't in charge of coffee for a reason and took no offense.

Kaoru sat down where he always did, looking aloof and impossible to approach. His order had been collected by a nervous waiter and now he waited. Waited for his food and Kojiro who sauntered up, plate and coffee in his hands,”You look extra miserable today.”

“Carla’s wheel popped off and I haven’t been able to find any screws to fix her,”he mumbled,”I stayed up all night looking. I’ve got to go buy more probably.”

Kojiro nodded, pretending to understand for the sake of the very tired and cranky man who singlehandedly terrorized his staff with looks alone,”Have you considered just going ahead and upgrading her? It's been a while, right?”

“I don’t need to,”he glared at him and sipped his creamer with a splash of coffee,”Carla is perfect the way she is.

He rolled his eyes before disappearing off into the kitchen. Kaoru would be more open to talk after the caffeine has time to work its way through his system.

Hiromi came in with stacks of flowers ready to be moved into their new pots around the coffee shop. Kaoru came with Kojiro once he closed his restaurant, skateboards in tow and ready for their once-a-week gathering. Miya was already there, the sound of his handheld game echoing around the empty lobby. Langa ran around with the squeegee, pushing water towards the drain. Reki could be heard stacking pots and pans in their proper places as well as moving boxes.

“Is it spring already?”Kojiro asked Hiromi who wasn’t even in his S outfit yet.

He nodded,”Yeah. They asked me to handpick some flowers for them and I picked these ones. They’re pleasant to look at and repel insects,”he said, almost fussing over the plants like they were his children.

Miya didn’t look up and didn’t miss a beat,”I hope they’re tough because those two are absolute space-heads sometimes.”

“No we’re not!”Reki yelled from the kitchen.”

Once everything was settled, the flowers were safely planted (with a warning from Hiromi who was halfway through with his makeup), and the doors locked, they headed down to the S track together. Years later and they were still all together like some makeshift family.

Chapter Text

“Shop therapy,”Reki recommended. It’d been hours since Kaoru was given the okay to continue with life as normal and he wanted to indulge himself.

He nodded but Kojiro sighed, knowing what would be coming next.

Within the hour, they were all being fitted for kimonos. Kaoru, overdramatic and extra as ever outside of S, even made them walk from one side of the room to the other in order to judge just how much he liked each outfit. His eye for color, pattern, and placement was unmatched but held no power over Miya who would not be swayed from wearing a dull yellow kimono covered in paw prints.

The first to strut had been Langa who was strangely elegant aside from the tugging at the obi around his waist. It was eggshell blue, but the edges had slightly darker blue maple leaves that were pinkish around the edges, creating a gentle contrast that caught the eye,”Does it look alright?”

Reki answered, too excited for his own good,”Yeah, man. It looks great!”

Kaoru nodded,”It suits you. Just stop messing with the obi.”

He hands were to his side, fingers rolling nothing but air as he resisted the urge to fidget with the strip of fabric,”Sorry.”

Next had been Reki who was determined to at least try matching Langa. He tried and failed, resulting in him picking the most saturated one of the bunch in a fit. It was a deep, rich red with equally rich and vibrant peacock feathers. His entire outfit cost Kaoru a small fortune but, given it was he who forced them all to dress up like this on occasion, he considered it worth it.

Langa was breathless, caught up in the intensity that was their ball of condensed emotions and expression. He stopped and looked at Langa, face tinged pink,”It’s not too much, is it?”

Kojiro gave him a thumbs up since he was the one who encouraged the colorful tantrum that led to this decision,”We’ve got winter and summer all in the same room.”

“You’re looking more like a dragon and less like a slimelord,”Miya said. It was the closest he’d ever get to complimenting just about anyone.

Next was Hiromi. There was no hesitance nor flair. He was simply there, dressed in bright yellow with multicolored flowers of many different species on his kimono. They were all stamps done in different colors and were tied together by his obi which was a plain pure white. He said he felt like a bouquet and that there wasn’t much more fitting nor appealing to him and his love of flowers.

“Nice,”Reki said, eyes glittering. The design and colors gave him many, many ideas for more custom clothes. He had plenty of colorful shirts he could de-sleeve and plain hoodies he could re-sleeve. Maybe even a bit of patchwork to give it charm.

Langa, knowing what he was thinking about, decided to stop that train of thought,”Don’t tear up anymore clothes. Please, Reki. Your mom already asked you to give some of your old clothes to your sisters instead of butchering them.”

Miya was next and he wasn’t going to wait for the conversations to die down. He was just happy to have a kimono with animals on it. Kaoru begged him not to pick that one, pointed out better one over and over again. Miya would not budge an inch, not even in the face of a dull yellow that was almost a light brown. Everyone encouraged him except Kaoru who just remained quiet, lamenting that fact that he wouldn’t even try on the kimonos he picked out.

Kojiro grabbed Kaoru’s arm,”C’mon. You’re not getting out of it. You’re walking, too!’

“I’m not wearing anything special,”he sputtered, fighting and kicking the whole way.

Each step of the way was spent with him flailing inelegantly while Kojiro barely broke stride or sweat. Kojiro wore his kimono loose, chest predictably exposed. The kimono faded from green to black at the bottom. Green shoots of bamboo came from the bottom and faded around the chest, blending it with the green above. It was in contrast to Kaoru’s choice.

Cherry blossoms.

His motif, plain and simple, on a light purple background. It made him feel plain, like he was the odd one out, despite none of the others feeling that way. They all stepped outside of a comfort zone in some way, entertaining a personal interest of his, and yet he hadn’t moved in inch out of his own comfort zone.

“Why are you so against it? We’re having fun, not modeling for anyone,”Kojiro asked.

He huffed,”Because I always dress like this. It’s hardly anything new.”

“It doesn’t have to be. Doesn’t it just feel nice to hang out?” Any resistance left his body, and he went with it the rest of the way. It really wasn’t that bad if he put it that way. Then he spun around and lifted Kaoru off his feet,”And again! Let’s go!”

Nevermind, he thought, hands hitting a wall of muscle.

Chapter Text

“So do all Canadians say ‘eh’ at the end of their sentences?”Reki asked.

Langa sighed, already going through this with other classmates,”No, Reki. Do you hear me or my mom say that when you come over?”

“No. I guess not,”he was, much to Langa’s bafflement, disappointed by the new knowledge,”What about maple syrup?”

“What about it?”

“You’re no fun, man,”he whined, hands sliding over his desk as he let himself dramatically flop onto it,”Does Canada have anything?”

“Snow. Bears. Oh! And drunk moose!”Langa’s eyes widened.

“Drunk moose? How?”

It took him a minute to think it through,”Frozen fermented apples. They eat them off the ground and get drunk. And violent.”

“Wait aren’t they like the size of deer?”Reki asked getting a wide-eyed, somewhat panicked head shake in response,”How big are they?”

“They’re way bigger than cars. You could slam into one with a van, die, and the moose would walk away without being hurt,”Langa said,”They’re terrifying.”

“Wait, you’re scared of moose?”

“As everyone should be, Reki,”he said,”I’ve been taught to run away if I even think there is a moose nearby.”

Reki pulled his hood a little higher, over the back of his neck,”There are moose in Asia.”

“But they’re smaller than the ones in Canada,”Langa said,”Not by a whole lot but they’re already big regardless.”

“You’re freaking me out now.”

“And they can dive,”Langa said,”I think somewhere around fifteen to twenty feet, though?”

“Why can’t they stay on land,”Reki pulled his hood over his head,”I’m done talking about this.”

“You don’t want to-“

“No! No more moo-“Reki screamed when someone touched his back, falling out of his chair. They just wanted to ask if he had a spare pencil. When everything settled and people started to talk again, Langa snorted,”Never.”

“Never what?”

Reki scrunched his nose,”I don’t care about Canada anymore. I’m taking it off my ‘places to see’ list.”

“What if I go?”Langa asked.

Reki looked away and down at the ground,”Then I guess someone has to keep you safe and I might as well go.”

Chapter Text

He wasn’t boring. As he rounded a corner, he gave himself a moment to do it without Carla’s reassurance that he was taking the most efficient route. He felt the resistance, stronger now than ever, as his wheels turned and strained. An angle that was once a non-issue became a massive problem.

Kaoru was overly reliant on Carla and had accidentally stunted his own growth and progress.

Coming up behind him, lazily rolling along, was Kojiro,”You alright there?”

“I’m fine. Just wanted to try something new,”he said, pushing himself back up. Bumps and scrapes, once so familiar and dismissible, now pissed him off.

Kojiro stopped next to him. There were no beefs at the moment, everyone just taking their time to scope out the track and get used to it or remind themselves of the trickier turns and twists. He looked around, eyes narrowing in on the people nearby who thought it was hilarious. He pointed his board their direction,”Camera away, buddy. Don’t even try it.”

“It’s fine. It’s the reason I wear this stuffy mask,”Kaoru said, getting up and retrieving Carla who had rolled off into a bush nearby.

“This is about what Adam said, isn’t it?”Kojiro asked. Accused, Kaoru corrected himself. He didn’t answer, didn’t think he had to. He was over it, over Adam, and that was just the final straw,”You don’t need to prove yourself to-“

“I’ve gotten worse. I’m so used to Carla telling me what to do, I can’t even make that turn anymore,”he interrupted him. He knew his shortcomings more than anyone else and was far more sensitive to the fact than he’d typically let on. Instead of letting the pain pry him open and force him to spill his inner thoughts, he doubled down in on his own hatefulness.

He tossed his board down and rode off, down the path at an irresponsible speed. If he squinted, it was as though he were still in high school. A part of him still felt hurt by the same memory, trying desperately to keep up with a blur of blue hair. As he came around the turn, he shifted his weight so the board spun dangerously on two wheels, each bump threatening to throw him into any of the walls around that particular section of the route.

Kojiro managed to catch up though he seemed a tad bit nervous,”Oi, you need to slow down!”

He gradually slowed down to a casual roll and sighed in exasperation. It seemed like he was locked out of the ‘zone.’ It seemed almost unfair but it was probably for the best. He did have something to show for it. He grinned,”Did you see that turn?”

“Yeah, I thought you were going to die,”Kojiro said, already reprimanding him,”We already talked about that. No wild nonsense.”

“It’s only wild for now,”Kaoru’s eyes were glittering,”I’m going to program Carla to factor that move in. I can’t wait to see that pompous bastards face so I can ask him ‘Who’s boring now?’”

There was an eyeroll,”Sure. Only if you can do it safely. I get lonely when you’re not here for me to aggravate.”

His face turned pink to match his hair. His brain fried itself as he tripped over his words trying to respond in a way that was slightly more intelligent than a rock,”Shut up, stupid gorilla.”

Chapter Text

Tomorrow was Reki’s birthday and Langa wanted to surprise him in one of the few ways he knew how to: a brand-new board.

Was it expensive? Yes. Did it take him hours to pick one? Absolutely. Was he praying fervently that he’d picked a good set of trucks, wheels, and that the bearings would hold? More than anything else. He wanted it to be perfect and convey ever ounce of love in his heart. It was a task that was harder than he’d initially thought it would be.

The first was the manager. It was Reki’s day off and the perfect opportunity,”Do you know anything that he’d like? Specifically. I’ve got everything but the decal set.”

He pet Sketchy as he thought it over,”I’m sure he’d love whatever you give him.”

“But I want him to love it more,”Langa said, feeling a twinge of frustration.

“Then you need to figure it out for yourself.”

Langa sighed.

No help.

­“Please, you have to have some idea!”Langa whined to Hiromi who’d only come to drop off flowers to replace the dead ones that the manager refused to keep alive. That or Sketchy was killing them, an equally likely idea.

His face dropped from his trademark sweet-soft expression and hardened into the face of the Antihero of S, Shadow. The manager stepped out and it seemed that he didn’t want him to know about his unique temperament,”It’s Reki you’re talking about. You’re thinking too hard.”

“No I’m not,”he pouted,”I want to give him the perfect gift!”

Hiromi pinched the bridge of his nose,”Flower print. I recommend flower print, like an aloha shirt. The more colorful, the better.”

Langa whipped a tiny notebook out of his pocket and wrote it down,”Thank you!”

He had the paint and an idea of what he wanted. All he lacked was the skill required. Try as he might, he just couldn’t get the picture in his head to take form, resulting in a mess of colorful blobs that he just painted over with a vibrant yellow. He slammed his hands against the now paint-stained desk in his room,”Cherry!”

It took forever to get there in the middle of the day and even longer since he was occupied with work at the moment. When he saw Langa, his eyes narrowed in,”Can I help you?”

“I need you to paint something for me!”

Kaoru looked at the board,”You know my specialty is calligraphy, correct?”

“Please. I can’t get the flowers to look right,”he begged,”And I kinda hoped you could write something on it.”

The pink haired man snatched up the board,”Fine. Just remember, you owe me.”

When the paint dried, he looked it over. It was amazing. The flowers were simple silhouettes but much better than whatever he’d done before. In the center, in black paint, were the characters for ‘infinity’, composed of the characters for ‘nothing’ and ‘limit’. Kaoru watched his eyes glitter and felt his pride swell a bit,”Better hurry. You don’t have all day and that thing isn’t even wrapped.”

“Thank you,”Langa yelled as he ran out the door. On his board, he rushed home where he already had the wrapping paper measured and a ribbon waiting. It would be perfect, he’d go surprise Reki and-

“Langa!”Reki’s voice could be heard across the street.

There was a moment of pure panic as Langa pushed harder, accelerating and hoping Reki would assume he hadn’t noticed. Instead, he heard wheels on the pavement. His friend who’d resigned himself to eating dust at one point now could keep up with him. Everything was going wrong and he had no idea how to fix it without wasting time or giving up. He wanted everything to be perfect and it was already ruined anyways.

He stopped, sighing and turning to face Reki. The board was faced away so he couldn’t see the design he’d spent hours agonizing over, at least. Reki stopped, a ball of sunshine despite Langa’s obvious attempt to escape,”What was that about?”

“I wanted to surprise you,”he mumbled, shoving the board his way,”Happy Birthday.”

Reki’s face became almost indistinguishable from his hair as he took it and looked it over,”Thanks, man. I don’t know what to say, though. It looks expensive.”

“It’s no big deal. I wanted to get you something.”

“But-“

“No big deal,”Langa said, not taking anything but a thank you for the gift.

Instead, he got a flurry of affection that wasn’t nearly as common for Reki to give as much as he often received.

Mission success.

Chapter Text

It started with the magnolias being delivered. Oka signed off on it and they were wheeled in. Natural. Their message was simple. Out of all the flowers that Hiromi could recommend, magnolias always sat at the top. They carried few negative connotations so long as they were an agreeable color and didn’t overwhelm other flowers that they could be paired with. They were limitless potential and a gentle finality.

“Thanks, uh… Higa?”Oka squinted at his name tag.

He held a hand out,”You can call me Hiromi! I left the care guide for your flowers on the counter. We hope you’ll keep doing business with us!”

“Probably,”he sighed,”I’m no good at keeping flowers alive.”

They died. Quickly. Very quickly. Hiromi was almost impressed and slightly upset. He’d nurtured those flowers himself and now they were just all dead with no explanation as to why. Inspection showed that they were overwatered., the soil too damp for the roots to soak up any nutrients at all.

The next batch of flowers he brought in were freesia out of spite. He’d recommended them for their message. Childish and immature. This man killed his plant children and so this was war, he decided.

“These look beautiful,”Oka said, carefully pulling at a petal with his thumb.

Hiromi didn’t even bother looking at him,”Make sure you follow the care guide this time. You overwatered the last ones.”

“Wait, you can do that?”he asked, laughing.

He nodded,”Too much water is never a good thing.”

“Unless you’re a fish,”he joked.

Childish and immature were accurate.

The next time wasn’t his fault. Rowdy drunks knocked the whole planters off the windowsill and, by opening time, they were all trampled to death. When Hiromi got there, Reki and Langa were working. Reki waved at him,”Yo, Shadow!”

“Don’t call me that!”He yelled.

Things connected for their manager who froze for a moment,”You’re Shadow?”

“Hiromi,”he corrected,”Shadow doesn’t exist outside of S.”

Things were quiet as he set up the new planter and gave the new batch a home. Yellow tulips swayed in the breeze, a quiet confession.

One-sided love.

“You killed them again,”Hiromi said, examining the wilted flowers.

Oka looked genuinely sad this time,”I tried to follow the care guide but I guess it was hotter than I thought.”

“I think you’re going to be the reason we have to close early this year,”he joked, pulling dead flowers out of the box and replacing them with tiny gardenias,”Most people would be appalled with the speed in which your flowers meet their end.”

“Fortunately I have someone who is willing to explain what I did wrong, though,”Oka worked with him to replace the flowers, carefully watching him and copying him,”Next time I’ll go to the shop. I’m sure you’re tired of driving out this way.”

“No, it’s not big deal,”Hiromi said,”It gets me out of the shop.”

“Is it that bad?”Oka joked.

“I spent a good amount of time trying to win the love of a woman who wasn’t interested,”he sighed,"I’m glad she’s happy but I need time to get over it.”

“Then, if you want, you can stay here for awhile longer while I go get you some coffee. It’s the generic stuff, though,”Oka offered, wiping dirt onto his pants.

“That’d be nice.”

The gardenia would as honest as he could be. Secret love.

It wasn’t until the winter passed that he could come back on the clock. In tow, he had violets. They represented honesty and were mostly there to encourage him. He’d spent many of his days off lurking in the shop, pretending to browse boards, and chatting it up with Oka.

The sun had started to set and they were covered in dirt after planting all the flowers. Oka flicked chunks of moist dirt all over the pavement, laughing,”I forgot how uncomfortable damp dirt feels on my hands.”

“Then why are you out here? I’m the one getting paid to plant these?”Hiromi asked.

Oka offered a filthy hand,”Because you’re out here.”

Once inside, they gathered around the tiny sink in the back, rinsing dirt off their hands and wiping any dirt smeared on their faces away. Before he could get a word out, Oka spoke first,”You know what hanakotoba is, right?”

“Of couse,”Hiromi was sweating bullets.

“Ka-Cherry recently pointed it out to me,”he said,”You know, you’re awfully cheesy?”

“What do you mean?”

“I kept record of all the flowers I ordered,”he said,”And the more you came over, the cheesier they got. Magnolias were normal enough, you know? Then, after they died, you gave me freesia which wasn’t too nice, if I’m right.”

“I’m sorry about that,”he rubbed the back of his neck.

Oka laughed,”No, it’s fine! I get it, I totally murdered the last batch. The next two were very, very similar, though. Yellow tulips and gardenia, one-sided and secret love. Bold statements. Now, it’s honesty. So, Hiromi, what did you want to tell me?”

Depending on the next few minutes, he was either going to challenge Cherry to a beef or thank him,”I like you.”

“Oh thank god,”Oka sighed,”I thought it was some ‘sorry this is it’ thing and that you found someone else over the winter.”

Flustered and confused, he choked on nothing,”What?”

“I like you, too. Nothing too deep but I doubt the ocean was filled in a day,”he said before furrowing his eyebrows as his train of thought was derailed,”Unless it was already a ball of ice. Then it was.”

“So… now what?”Hiromi asked, the silence of the shop getting to him now.

Oka smiled,”We’ll see. I’m not the kind to skateboard myself anymore but I don’t mind supporting you.”

Chapter Text

It was a hard turn, nothing new, but what changed had been a tiny gap created from the last time. Like that, Ainosuke was in the air and his board tumbled beneath him. When he blinked, the road became stars and there was a dull, confusing ache across his body. He went to pull himself up and his arm slipped out from under him.

“Ainosuke!”

It was Tadashi’s voice. He didn’t understand why he was so concerned though. Falling is a part of skating, right? It was just a mistake, a little spill. So what? Another attempt to sit himself up failed. His eyes adjusted and he realize just how horribly he’d messed up. The arm doesn’t bend like that, last he checked.

Tadashi came over and did everything but touch him, going over every bit of information crammed in his head on how to deal with serious injuries like this. He’d need to go to the hospital, that much was certain, but he didn’t know if there were broken ribs, spinal or head injuries, or if moving him would make it worse.

He was terrified.

“They’re going to yell at me, aren’t they?”Ainosuke asked, words slightly slurred.

Tadashi pulled his phone out and dialed emergency services, trying to keep him calm while the call connected,”It’ll be fine.”

“They’re going to take this away from me, too, aren’t they?”his voice cracked.

Tadashi’s heart positively ached for the pitiful sight in front of him. But he was an adult, the adult, and it was his job to care for his boss’s son in his down time. The people on the other side of the line weren’t happy since it was such a remote location but they got out there eventually. In the time it took them to get there, the adrenaline and shock had worn off.

Ainosuke was crying and babbling, clinging to Tadashi’s jacket and begging him to just take him home. There was nothing he could do though. He could be his friend or he could be his caretaker, not both. Over and over again, he hushed and soothed him in the back of the ambulance and on the way to the emergency room where they explained the severity of his injuries.

His arm was broken and he had several dislocated fingers on both hands. His shins were fractured in several places. He was concussed but it wouldn’t do any lasting damage. Tadashi buried his face in his hands. He blamed himself for entertaining the idea that they didn’t need protective gear, that they would be fine. It was his fault everything was going wrong.

None of it would even happen if he’d never introduced skateboarding to Ainosuke.

“What have you done?”the words were accompanied by a slap across the face.

Aiichiro was livid. As soon as they came home, words long since crossing their ears hours ago, he already knew what he’d do to ‘solve’ the issue. He had to drive a wedge between Tadashi and Ainosuke, one that would be impossible to cross.

Tadashi had no free time, always occupied and busy with something. Ainosuke was always misdirected and told that he’d been somewhere else and, eventually, gave up looking for him. It was drilled into his head, over and over without fail, that it was all his fault. He’d corrupted him and left a mark bone deep, that he should have kept his distance from the start. Then came the board burning incident, when they stole away his only escape from the pressure placed on his shoulders as the heir. The final nail in the coffin had been going to America.

As he sat in his car, ready to go, Tadashi was forbidden to see him and say goodbye. Aiichiro, satisfied with his own handiwork in resolving the issue, continued life as if he didn’t trample his son’s hopes, dreams, and heart.

Chapter Text

“It’s too hot,”Langa was halfway melted into the pavement, hiding under the bridge to protect his sunburned skin. He was envious of Reki who just tanned and exploded into a cluster of freckles,”I don’t want to skate anymore.”

“That’s a first,”Reki plopped next to him,”Then what do you want to do?”

“I want ice cream.”

“Do we need to get you a tub?”Reki asked.

Langa sat up, eyes glittering,”I have money. I can get a tub.”

“I don’t think you need a tub, dude,”Reki said,”You’re going to just make yourself sick.”

“I want a tub,”he got up, suddenly finding motivation to move despite the heat.

Reki had to chase him down as they rushed to the closest convenience store. The AC was a blast of refreshing air and the frozen section was godsend.

He leaned over the freezer, looking in and trying to get his attention,”Reki help me pick.”

“Just get your favorite,”he said.

“No, Reki, they have green tea ice cream! Some of them have red bean paste, too!”Langa was losing it.

Reki pulled out a green popsicle,“They don’t have that in Canada?”

“No,”he ended up getting several smaller ice cream sandwiches instead of a tub.

Reki looked at his bag,”We have to get those back to your house before they melt, you know.”

“I’m going to eat them,”he said.

His strange determination to eat an obscene amount of ice cream was something Reki found hilarious but he also wanted to spare his friend the heartbreak of realizing that he could not, in fact, eat ice cream that fast,”Not faster than they can melt. It’s not like you need to be outside anymore, either.”

“I guess you’re right,”he looked into his bag,”You can have one when we get to my house if you want.”

“I have this,”Reki touched his neck with the popsicle and watched him jump several feet away.

When they got back, his mom was still at work. The house was eerily quiet and Reki decided he couldn’t have any of that. To fight the natural fear that made him wonder whether the house was haunted -absolutely not, no way, ghosts aren’t real- he started singing obnoxiously as they made their way to the kitchen.

Half-melted ice cream went into the freezer and aloe went on Langa’s poor, burned skin,”Don’t you guys have sunscreen?”

“We do,”Langa said, closing his eyes on reflex as a thumb smeared aloe right below his eye,”I didn’t think I’d need it.”

“It’s a miracle you don’t get burned on a rainy day, dude,”Reki joked.

Once that was over, Reki handed him his ice cream. It was the one condition that had been placed on the not-so-foreign-anymore sweet. He unwrapped it, met with a disappointingly less saturated green than the cover displayed. One bite and it was also not as sweet as he thought it would be. It wasn’t bad but his tastebuds were screaming for cavity-inducing sweetness.

“It’s almost just vanilla,”he whined,”I thought it was going to taste more sugary.”

“But that kinda defeats the purpose of green tea,”Reki said, offering a little of his melted, liquidy popsicle,”Mine is super sweet if you want some.”

Some turned into the rest and, despite his constant upsettedness at the fact it wasn’t what he expected, Langa persisted in trying to eat all the ice cream he bought aside from one he set aside for his mom. Reki was impressed that he got as far as he did before, as he predicted, he made himself sick.

“Langa, I’m home!”His mom announced, noticing the shoes by the door.

When there was no response, she reflexively jumped to imagining the worst case scenario. After inching her way around the corner, shoe in hand and ready to swing, she caught sight of Reki’s red hair. They’d fallen asleep on the sofa at some point, the soft drone of the TV in the background barely audible over the air conditioning unit. She cut the TV off and found a blanket to cover them with, tsking when she saw how red her son’s face was.

The next day, she had shoved the bottle of sunscreen into his one of his shoes so he couldn't forget it and he got the memo that it wasn't optional.

Chapter Text

“I want to get my ears pierced,”Miya declared out of nowhere.

Reki flinched, not liking the idea of holes being punched into him,”Doesn’t that hurt?”

“A little, yeah,”Langa said.

Reki squinted,“How do you know?”

He brushed his hair back, revealing a barely visible hole,”I used to wear earrings but, since we technically can’t wear them in school, I stopped. The holes are closing back up now.”

“Then we can probably get something like clear studs so we can hide them,”Miya said,”And Reki can stay the lame slime while we level up.”

“What? Why are you demoting me again?”

He stuck his tongue out,”Because if you don’t evolve, you get killed like the low-level you are. Then your level gets reset to zero.”

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,”Reki said, staring down the piercing parlor like he was about to walk into the den of a lion,”This feels illegal.”

“S is illegal,”Langa pointed out.

“But it’s way more fun than this,”he countered.

Miya didn’t know whether to laugh or scold him so he did both,”You guys are part of an illegal and dangerous skateboarding race ring -have both almost died- but you draw the line at piercings?”

“Well, when you put it that way, I guess it does sound ridiculous”Reki mumbled.

They ended up pushing him through the doors, his legs not cooperating.

The other two were the first ones to get pierced in order to prove to Reki it wasn’t that bad. Langa handled it unflinchingly. Click, click, warning and instructions, done. It wasn’t a big deal and it was over before they knew it.

“See? Not that bad,”he said, displaying the simple clear stud with a silver bar. It was discrete enough to hide at school especially considering how long all three had their hair.

Reki looked away,”I’m going to look like a delinquent.”

“You are not,”Miya said.

Langa smiled and temporarily ended the argument and bolstering Reki’s resolve,”I think it’d look nice on you.”

“Who’s the slime now?”Reki asked Miya as he wiped away the remainder of his tears. He cried and they had to hold his hands while his ears got pierced.

He scowled,”Leave me alone.”

“You do realize you’re next, Reki,”Langa pointed out.

He swallowed,”Yeah, man. I, uh, I know. I’ll be fine though.”

Miya grinned, latching onto the weakness and exploiting it,”Do you want us to hold your hands?”

“Pshh, no way. I’m good, man. Excited!”

Reki fainted and they had to drag him home where he sulked for several minutes in absolute silence. Langa sat next to him, rubbing soothing circles into his back,”They look nice.”

“I’m never doing anything like this again,”he sniffled,”I’ll stay a slime. Slimes can have fun in their own way.”

Langa looked at Miya who was occupied with his handheld console before leaning down and planting a kiss right below Reki’s ear and whispering,”They look really nice.”

It took him every ounce of willpower in his body to not make teapot noises. He buried his face into a couch pillow, his skin tingling where Langa’s lips made contact.

Chapter Text

Langa rolled up to Reki’s house and saw him trying to teach his youngest sisters. They were giving it their all, covered in protective gear from head to toe. Reki saw him and waved,”Hey! Come check this out! They kinda figured out how to ollie!”

Kinda was an understatement. They didn’t have the weight or coordination to actually pop into the air but they could jump over a small pack of pencils which was, as far as either of them were concerned, impressive. Reki was beaming with pride especially since he’d even gone as far as to make them custom boards.

Reki’s mom sat nearby, watching them and taking a few pictures,”Langa, honey, can you all pose together with your boards?”

“Sure,”he said. The bright light dazed him for a second but, after that, they were back to showing them some tricks.

“Why aren’t you wearing a helmet?”one of them asked Langa.

He didn’t have a good reason, but Reki’s expression said he needed to come up with a good one fast,”It’s a secret.”

That was not the right answer.

The next time he came over and saw them learning, they both decided to grill him for not wearing protective gear.

“Don’t your elbows get scraped up?”one of them asked.

He recalled a few occasions but his favorite outfit which consisted of two shirts kept him mostly safe from scrapes,”Usually I just get bruised. My shirt it pretty thick, I guess.”

“What about your knees?”the other asked.

Reki cut in,”Langa and I are not good examples. Now quit trying to get out of wearing helmets and padding, you two.”

They whined before grabbing the edges of Langa’s shirt and pouting,”Can you show us something cool?”

“Sure, I guess. What do you want to see?”he asked, unable to say no.

“Reki says you can fly!”

Langa looked over at the redhead who was occupying himself with a stick to avoid eye contact,”Did he? I guess I’d hate to disappoint.”

He couldn’t get as much air as usual, but it was enough to amaze them. His disappointment with how short his flight was had been replaced with swelling pride as the two small children exploded into wonder and amazement.

“I heard you’re good,”Koyomi, the oldest sister, said.

“I guess. Reki is, too,”Langa said, unsure about her. He didn’t interact much with her aside from the occasional nod, greeting, and goodbye.

She smiled,”You’re going to show me how to beat Reki, then.”

“Excuse me?”

“I just want to beat Reki,”she said,”and since you’re the first person he mentions, I figured that means you’re the best. And, if you do, I can keep the others busy when you come to visit next time. You and Reki can watch a whole movie, uninterrupted. Deal?”

“Deal.”

Within the first ten minutes of him trying to pull off tricks in an area not designed for skateboarding at all in the first place, he’d bashed his elbows into every wall, hit his knees on anything nearby, and ended up with a black eye. But, at the very least, Koyomi could do a cool new trick and understood the importance of protective gear.

As he sat down on the ground, bruised and beaten, he smiled because he already had the perfect movie in mind.

Chapter Text

He popped open the top button of his shirt, tried his best to tame his hair without drowning it in hair gel, and almost bathed himself in some sickeningly sweet cologne that reminded him or honey and burned wood. He had a client, one of the older ladies who just wanted to pass the time since her husband passed away, waiting for her. Carrying in her favorite bottle of champagne, Reki put on his best game face. Mask on, he slipped into the persona of Sunshine.

“Sunshine!”she clasped her hands together,”I’m so glad you’re here! Where were you last week?”

“I got a little sick,”he poured them a glass,”The last thing I want to do is risk getting a lovely lady like you sick.” That wasn’t true. He was feeling nostalgic, grabbed a skateboard, and ate pavement.

She threw her glass back without hesitation, a true veteran alcoholic and absolute cash cow for anyone in this business. She had money to burn and, if her husband’s passing were any indication, not a whole lot of time left. How she hasn’t gone broke is beyond anyone but no one wants to ask either. That risks upsetting the client and creating a bad reputation for yourself.

She fiddled with the feathered edges of her mask. Then came the proposition, once again. Once again, for the millionth time, he turned her down. Money that would pass into someone else’s hands but not dirty his, not anymore than he already had himself. He lost count of the cups because, even if he were just sipping, keen eyes noticed how little.

By the end of the night, he’d gone numb, barely remembering their names. The host club was a sea of masks and dirty, horrible smelling backrooms. He worked, cleaning up the trash, glasses, and spills even though his head was full of static and it felt like his brain was melting out of his ears. The life of the host was never boring because they never had the time to be bored.

Once out, the city air filled his lungs and cleansed his soul of all that had to endure. In the dead of night, when none but the lowest walk the streets, he could breathe easily. One more day, he reminded himself. If he could survive one more day, he could do it again.

The clients switched out abruptly meaning someone paid a lot to see him. He was pulled from his room, the old hag inside throwing a fit because her favorite boy toy was being taken from her. She liked to degrade hosts in a subtle way in front of the friends she brought with her. Serves you right, Reki thought, keeping his inside thoughts where they belonged.

Outside the door, the manager straightened him out the best he could when he was halfway to blackout drunk,”Don’t screw this up, Sunshine.”

“Never do,”he mumbled, fixing his mask so that it sat straight across his face. When he opened the door and walked in, his heart stopped. Ice cold blood ran through his veins, and he forgot where he was,”You’re kidding me.”

“Sunshine!”The manager hissed.

The man sitting there, although not nearly as gaudy as he had been during S, was Adam. He looked almost as startled and hurried to hush the manager who was about to tear Reki out of the room and throw someone else in, likely resulting in serious and unfavorable consequences for the boy,”It’s fine! We know each other! He’s just shocked.”

Eyeing them both, he closed the door. Silence, aside from the constant low thrum of the club and occasional loud howling of laughter, filled the room and threatened to choke them. He sat down across from Adam, eyes narrowing in on the man from behind his mask,”What do you want? To laugh at me?”

“No. I didn’t know you were Sunshine,”he mumbled,”Explains why you disappeared from S. Is Snow-“

“He’s not here,”he cut him off,”Don’t bother.”

He wouldn’t be the first to walk out, to be known as the guy who ditches his clients, but he was debating on whether it was worth sticking around if this is where he lurked. Prowled. The man behind so much misery and agony and yet the reason he got to enjoy S or get close to everyone else in the first place. The champagne was expensive, almost too much for him, and he wondered how long it’d take him to pay off the night if he even took a sip. Reki didn’t want to get any deeper into debt than he had to.

He brushed his hair back,”So how long has this been going on?”

“A little over a year,”he said,”Do you want me to pour you a drink?”

“I can do it myself,”Adam said before proceeding to pour and spill a good bit on the floor. Reki flinched, glad that it was on the tile floor and not on the couches. They were resistant, covered in faux leather, but sometimes it still seeped in through openings and into the cushion itself,”I can buy you a glass if-“

“I am not drinking with you,”he said.

Adam put the bottle down on the table, dead center with minimal noise despite the fact it was hollow, and sat down with his glass,”Fair enough. I won’t force you to drink, not even to talk. Leave whenever.”

“You’re not going to try to kill me?”Reki asked.

The older man just laughed,”I didn’t want to kill you, just maim you.”

“Oh wow, sorry I didn’t notice. Too busy almost dying to care about the difference,”he sank into the couch, arms crossed.

“How much is it?”he asked, not specifying and forcing Reki to clarify, creating conversation where he preferred silence. The clarification came after he threw back half a glass,”How much is your debt?”

“I can handle it myself,”he said, not sure what his aim was.

Adam leaned in and kept his voice low, paranoid about those potentially listening in,”One call. I can have Tadashi arrange for it to be paid off, just like that. You don’t have to do this.”

“And then what? I go work another dead end job?”Reki laughed,”Excuse me, Adam, but the world doesn’t work that way.”

He pulled a card out of his wallet and slid it across the table. It was official, printed with all his contact information,”Shindo Ainosuke. I may not have the power to save the world but I’m confident I can save a kid in a bad spot.”

“Why are you doing this?”he asked.

“Because I feel like I owe you that much,”Adam shrugged.

The rest of the time he’d bought was spent in silence with occasional bouts of small talk.

One week. His resolve amounted to one week. The final straw had been when one of the older ladies started screaming at him for refusing her proposition, for refusing to sell his body, because she had spent so much money. Screaming was accompanied by getting splashed with alcohol and her friends joining in, soaking him down to his socks. He poured a good amount out of his shoes, down the bathroom drain, before pulling his phone out.

“You’ve reached Shindo Ainosuke’s assistant, Kikuchi Tadashi, how can I help you?”

A sob broke loose,”I was told to call this number if I wanted to leave.”

There was rustling on the other side of the line. Some mumbling. Then he came back,”I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

Reki slumped against the wall and to the floor, hoping no one walked in. Twenty minutes. All he needed were twenty minutes and it was over, for better and worse, and he could just try somewhere else doing something else. He nearly jumped out of his skin when his phone went off, signaling their arrival. He’d passed out from exhaustion, mental and physical.

The car smelled nice in comparison to the host club. It was a delicate, softer smell that wasn’t trying to cover up the stench of sweat, stale alcohol, or god only knows what. Tadashi was in the driver’s seat and angled his mirror back,”I already talked to the manager and everything has been handled.”

“Thank you,”he said, laying across the backseats.

“Get some sleep,”Tadashi drove off, the low hum of the vehicle more soothing than any lullaby he’d heard in a long time.

Months passed in the blink of an eye. He was doing better, things were looking up, and he finally decided to go through with his promise. He could see Langa again, could finally tell him what he did for a living. The familiar and worn stone paths lead up, moss claiming a good chunk of the older graves, until he came across a newer one. It looked like his mom was still around, taking care of it.

He placed a miniature skateboard model down onto the grave,”Hey, it’s been awhile. I’m doing fine now. I, uh, I don’t know how I did it but I’m a capman now.”

Reki sat down in front of the grave and pulled his lunch out of his bag,”I know it wasn’t your fault and I’m sorry I yelled at your mom. It was just so fast, you know? I didn’t even know anything was wrong, you just collapsed. We couldn’t call an ambulance, illegal skating operation and all, and we thought maybe you’d just fainted.”

His head hit the stone in front of him and tears wet the stone beneath him, covered in the ashes of the previous stick of incense,”I’m sorry.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Reki took a deep breath before walking out into the lit arena. People were rattling the cage around, screaming abuse and encouragement. He wasn’t dressed like most people, wearing casual clothes to the match. On the opposite end was Shadow, anti-hero of S and infamous dirty fighter. Oka leaned in against the cage, right above Reki’s head,”Be careful.”

They met in the center, feet planted on the footprints painted into the floor, and the announcer began droning on about it. The beef, the stakes, them. Reki wasn’t supposed to win, this entire match fairly rigged, but that made him all the more excited about proving them wrong. Silence finally filled the air everyone waited for the airhorn.

It was loud and accompanied by the screaming crowd.

Shadow, with practiced confidence, rushed in and pushed Reki back into the cage. It was crowded, intentionally keeping fighters within reasonable distance of one another. He ducked when Shadow threw a punch right at his face, hitting the ground and managing to get behind him. The crowd went wild when he kicked as high as he could manage, striking his opponent upside the head and staggering him.

Adrenaline replaced the blood in his veins. He was more alive than ever and went to strike Shadow again before he could regain his senses. Instead, he had children’s firecrackers tossed at him, weak enough not to take off his fingers but strong enough to break something in his hand as well as leave wicked burns.

Off guard and brain working overtime to keep up, the match ended when a fist connected with his jaw.

Langa sat on top of the fence, watching the redhead box with someone only he could see. A routine that, after the first couple iterations, could be followed. He was bruised and had a cut right at his hairline, freshly stitched. His knuckles were scarred and his fingers were a bit crooked, too. Watching him, though, made him feel something he hadn’t felt in quite a while.

When Reki caught sight of him, he smiled,”You can come down here and get a front row seat if you want.”

Curious and cautious, he descended,”What are you doing?”

“Shadow boxing,”he said,”I, uh, I don’t have anyone to practice with.”

“I could,”Langa offered.

Reki threw a punch that stopped just short of his nose. His hair swayed from the displaced air, heart thumping away. He was alive, in that moment, and he wanted more. Reki, mistaking the way he froze up as fear, put his hands on his hips,”I don’t think you can yet, but I can show you.”

And that was the just beginning of mutual chaos.

It was only several months before Langa was in his first match. It was an accident -misplacement and mismanagement of gear- and they weren’t letting him back out. Shadow and Langa met in the middle and Reki watched, eyes narrowing in on the small details. The way muscles moved and twisted were all tells. From experience, he could predict Shadow’s moves. Langa, mostly untrained, was a wild card. His two-shirt combo made it hard to predict his movements and, even then, he was handling himself surprisingly well.

He reminded Reki of a living blizzard, always in motion. Instead of backing away, he narrowly dodged and came up underneath Shadow’s now outstretched arm. A solid blow to the ribs. Their fight continued that way, Langa leveraging his maneuverability and not suffering a single blow. When the end came, it was because Shadow’s jaw had popped out of its socket and he’d given up.

“That was crazy,”Reki said, leaning into the cage as both fighters returned to their respective doors.

“I’m not fighting a kid,”Reki said, looking down at Miya.

Miya, looking none too impressed with him either, rolled his eyes,”I’m not here for you anyways. I’m here to challenge your friend, slime.”

“Slime?!”

“Yeah, slime,”he said,”All you’re good for is being cannon fodder so others can level up.”

Langa, interested more in seeing what he could pick up from Miya than defending his friend’s hurt feelings -very hurt, Reki thought- agreed. They went off into a more secluded area. Reki acted as the referee, keeping an eye out for foul play, dangerous injuries, and signs of a concussion.

Within the first minute, Langa had been thrown.

“Already?”Miya scrunched his nose.

Reki huffed,”That’s not fair and you know it.”

“It is fair. Even in official fights,”Miya added,”If you’re just going to throw yourself at your opponent, you're asking for it."

"How do I avoid it?"Langa asked.

Miya grinned,”I’ll tell you if you win.”

It was Adam against Cherry. One had no interest in dealing with the other and the other had no other desire than to bring their opponent down. Carla fed Cherry information about his opponent and offered an informative overlay on his glasses. While Adam took his time goofing around and throwing half-assed punches, Cherry gave it his all.

Finally, he had him in a corner.

The entire arena’s cage was being rattled by feral spectators who wanted to see the legend get taken down. They wanted a satisfying end where both were beaten, bloody, and bruised but Cherry came on top, overtaking Adam and stripping him of his undefeated title. When he started taking it seriously, fluid movements a lot like dancing started to reach a point where everything was nearly gapless, flawless, and wasteless. Nonetheless, a fist hit his face, almost dislodging his mask.

Then everything went quiet as Adam pried a loose metal pole from the cage and almost took of Cherry’s head. In that silence, they all realized what S was meant to be and most were glad it wasn’t anywhere close.

“I hope you’re ready, Snow,”Adam said, pulling his gloves as far up as they’d go, leather creaking under the strain.

Reki reached through the gap in the makeshift cage, grabbing Langa’s hand,”I know you’ve got this.”

Langa smiled,”Thanks, Reki.”

They met in the center, the cage much smaller than the usual one. There would be little to no room for actual dodging. When the airhorn blared, they were both set into motion. Their breath was visible in the cold air, heat coming off their bodies in visible waves. Everyone cheered for Langa, hoping he’d take Adam down and prevent S from becoming a carnage-filled fight pit.

Blows landed but neither budged, determined and leaning in. The world outside vanished, the crowds died down into silence, and nothing mattered except the rhythm of combat. It was like a steady drum, lulling Langa into a mindset where he felt nothing again. No adrenaline-fueled excitement, no sense of fulfillment. Just nothing.

Adam’s fist connected with his cheek and he went down like a brick wall. The referee began his count and everyone sat on the edge of their seat, hoping he’d get back up. Reki ran up and rattled the cage, disturbing the silence that had taken hold of the crowd,”Langa! Come on, get back up!”

He blinked a few times, registered the view of the stars. He was in the middle of a match -everything was cold and painful- and Reki was screaming like a maniac again. He couldn’t help but laugh even if his ribs ached. He pushed himself to his feet and they were reset, coming back into the center. He decided this time, win or lose, he’d enjoy it. This was the pinnacle but not the end.

Adam, furious with the fact Langa could keep up no better than anyone else, let his anger and hate spill over. Reckless and dangerous, he weaponized everything in his reach and hit harder than he should have. Langa, not risking taking anymore hits than absolutely necessary, started to dodge and fall into a natural rhythm, flowing underneath his outstretched arm to attack of get behind him.

Both of them were barely standing at the end. It was the deciding point in the match when they both threw a punch with everything they had, knocking each other to the ground. The count started, neither moving. Even Reki was silent this time, his hands clenching the cage until the flimsy metal started to bend.

On the final count, Langa got up and Adam stayed down.

Langa won.

Chapter Text

Ainosuke was sitting in the café, soaking in the sunlight. His hair was a rat’s nest and bleached into a horrendous orange. Tadashi was working on getting his paperwork done, mostly passports and documentation, because they were going to America again. This time it might be permanent, however, because he was on the run from his aunts and his fiancé. His bags were packed light with clothes he just recently bought, too. Everything was at their hotel, a small thing where the staff were too tired to pay attention. That and most knew it was in their best interest not to get involved with the people who come through.

Dangerously safe.

“Ai,”Tadashi startled him and he spilled lukewarm coffee all over himself.

Before Tadashi could start fussing, he was laughing, trying his best to wipe it all off himself,”It feels good not worrying about how this will affect my ‘image’.”

His image was completely in shambles, his family’s name was in ruin. He’d taken a fatal blow to the rest of the Shindo’s, hopefully knocking them down from their pedestal. Even his would-be fiancé wasn’t spared as he burned every last bridge and fled. Now it was just him and Tadashi against the world, as he always felt it should have been.

Tadashi sighed, glad that it wasn’t something expensive but still worried out of habit,”We should hurry up and get that washed before it stains, Ai.”

“Only if you agree to go on one last date with me before we leave Japan,”he said.

Tadashi’s face turned pink and his eyes darted to the side,”Let’s hurry up.”

It wasn’t a no.

He dressed in something nicer but nothing nearly as nice as he used to. There were no ties, no layers, no belts. He could breathe easier, taking in the night air as they walked through the small city as a couple of nobodies.

“Do you see anything you’d like?”Tadashi asked.

Ainosuke saw many, many tasty things he thought would please his palette. None of which appealed quite as much as the vendors along the streets. They were all loud and boasting to be the best of their craft. Their cooking was as much skill as it was showmanship. They drew his eyes more than the elegant and bright restaurants that were full of well dressed individuals.

“I want that,”he pointed towards a stand. The meat was glazed, shining in the streetlights, and the man serving the food worked fast, yelling the entire time without missing a beat.

Tadashi furrowed his brow, not sure if his stomach could handle that much grease yet,”Are you sure?”

“Absolutely,”Ainosuke was already heading over.

He got closer and the smell was overwhelming. It was disgustingly delicious, appealing to a craving he didn’t know he had. His aunts forced him to follow a strict diet to keep his lean, fit frame. When it was their turn, Tadashi handled it because Ainosuke froze, overwhelmed by the options. When he had it in his hands, he wasted no time digging in.

Tadashi snorted, an uncommon occurrence, grabbing his attention. His cheeks were puffed, full of rice and chicken, and he tried to talk despite his mouth being full,”What?”

“It’s hard to believe you were a politician a week ago,”Tadashi said, taking his time to chew unlike his partner,”Does it taste that much better than the finest cuisine, Ai?”

“So much better,”he said,”I’m actually scared I might not be able to finish this. It’s so much.”

Tadashi reached out before pulling back, still unable to cross the professional boundary,”You can save it.”

“Doesn’t meat go bad?”he asked.

There was another snort, almost a laugh. Tadashi really would be his dog for life because, without him, Ainosuke might just die from the sheer amount of practical life-knowledge that he lacked. He wasn’t completely useless, he still knew the basics of how to care for himself, but every once in a while he asks a question or says something so removed from what he considers common sense that it takes him a minute to respond. That or he’d eat himself to death, it seems.

Chapter Text

It was a close match, two skaters switching back and forth, staying on each other’s heels. Langa was enjoying it, as always, and Reki was happy for him. In these moments, he was glowing like snow in the moonlight. He lived, breathed, and sustained himself off skateboarding when things got rough. Reki took no offense to it, feeding off the rush and designing new boards and introducing him to new parts. They were fire and gasoline in the sense that, together, it seemed the flame would never die out.

At the finish line, he could hear the telltale screeching of wheels. When blue came into sight, as always, they made eye contact. He looked hazy but happy, crossing the finish line and, in a new practiced but impractical move that Reki wish he’d never learned yet loved all the same, picked him up as he rolled to a slow halt. One wrong move and they’d both tumble. Langa, embodiment of grace, never let him fall though.

There are exceptions to everything.

His weight shifted, the board tilted, and eventually it was shot out from under them and they fell. Reki pushed himself up,”I don’t we should do that anymore.”

Langa was out cold.

The others came running over, concerned. He was alive, breathing, and not bleeding. The trifecta of “okay enough to move.” They couldn’t call ambulances if it wasn’t an emergency because then they’d have to clear the entire S track and deal with police. It was just easier, safer, and faster to transport them to the hospital or clinic themselves if at all possible.

“Put him on my back, I’ll carry him to the car,”Kojiro said, crouched down and ready.

For once, Reki struggled with Langa’s weight. He always thought he was light but dead weight is different. It’s noncompliant and unhelpful, resisting all attempts to control his center of gravity and keep him from bobbing around in a way that could potentially cause more damage. They did it, though.

Hiromi’s flower van could only fit five people and so someone had to stay behind. Miya ended up staying behind, keeping any smart mouth comments and quips to himself,”Message me when you get there, Reki.”

“Will do,”he said before closing the door.

At the dead of night, the nurses looked at them like ghosts. Not that Reki could blame them considering they were all still in S attire aside. Wild and colorful, they brought him in and they rushed him off. Not a blip of consciousness between the track nor the gurney. As promised, Reki shot Miya a message.

| Reki : made it to the hospital

| Miya : Is he awake?

| Reki : no not yet

Miya sent a cat emoji. It was just a clock cat, eyes and tails swinging back and forth to show his impatience. Unease. It sent Reki’s big brother reflexes into overdrive.

| Reki : i’ll tell you when sleeping beauty wakes up

| Miya : You better, slime.

Reki smiled at his phone before putting it away.

Kaoru, who had just finished filling out some papers and pried Kojiro away from thirsty nurses, came over with a sigh of disappointment. Reki took that as a good sign,”He’s fine. They’re going to monitor him for a while, but he woke up and is just a little concussed.”

Reki slumped over in his seat, tension vacating his body,”Oh thank god. Can we go see him?”

“His mom is coming to pick him up,”Kaoru said,”So you can. We shouldn’t.”

“Then I guess the rest of us should scatter before we give him mom a bad first impression,”Hiromi got up, hood still up to try -and fail- to hide his face.

They left Reki alone to face a very concerned and almost hysteric Mrs. Hasegawa. She was barely dressed, no makeup, and hair everywhere. They’d met a few times, talked even less, but Reki’s face was unforgettable. He expected her to get mad or just about anything that would require him to take a few steps back in order to calm her down. Instead, despite her outwardly chaotic appearance, she was as calm as any mother could be in that situation,”Is he okay?”

“They said he is,”Reki realized she had driven there with little to no information, likely assuming that, by the time she arrived, he could be gone and dead. He didn’t know what else to do but hug her,”He’s okay. He’s fine.”

Signing Langa out was easy and simple. He came out, head bandaged up in several places. Within seconds, he was tackled by his mom who was bawling and thanking Oliver for keeping him safe. When she calmed down enough to drive, the car ride was full of her telling them about all the times Langa had fallen while snowboarding as a child. Some were terrifying stories like when he’d gotten too close to a cliff edge and his dad saved him from plummeting to his doom. Others were only scary because she worried so much.

Reki slipped his fingers into the gaps between Langa’s while quietly listening and nodding off,”I’m really glad we got to meet. Thanks for not falling off a cliff, dude.”

He huffed, trying not to laugh too loud,”No problem, Reki.”

The next day, he woke up to a spam of messages from a very irate Miya who he had forgotten to text.

Chapter Text

Manager Oka was going to be busy and so the responsibility of watching Sketchy fell to Reki. The small fox, within minutes of being left alone with him, nipped his fingers. Reki hissed, pulling his hand away,”Why are you like this?”

The fox, content with disturbing him, laid down where his hand had been and fell asleep. He had an awful feeling that him and the fox were going to have a long, horrible day. He just hoped that Sketchy wasn’t like cats, running around at 3 in the morning.

Whenever Manager Oka clearly wasn’t returning anytime soon, Sketchy got much, much more impetuous. Things were knocked over, tossed around, and Reki was bit just about every 10 to 15 minutes. He felt bad for the fix in the five minutes it took for him to forget how being bit felt. Sketchy clearly had separation anxiety.

“If you’ll be nice, I’ll pet you,”he said as if he could be understood. Surprisingly, the fox not only allowed it, he leaned into it,”Oh my god why are you so hateful and cute.”

He leaned in and snapped a picture of him petting Sketchy before sending it to their group chat.

| Reki : ohmygodohmygodohmygod

| Langa : HOW

| Miya : ???????????

| Langa : sketchy won’t let anyone but oka pet him :(

| Miya : Bet.

| Miya : I’ll be there in 15.

“Let me see them!”Miya yelled as he walked in.

Sketchy, used to rowdy people coming through, remained undisturbed and asleep,”He should be over there, passed out.”

Miya crouched down,”Reki, I’m going to die. It’s adorable.”

“Yeah, just be careful. He bites,”Reki warned him as he sorted through boxes of wheels, trucks, bolts, and tools. He heard Miya yelp and laughed,”Told you!”

“I didn’t even do anything,”he whined.

Reki rolled his eyes,”Imagine if something ten times your size watched you sleep, dude. You’d be startled, too.”

Sketchy hopped on the counter and punished Reki for his insolence in allowing him to be surprised by Miya. At least, that’s what he figured the fox meant to do. Instead of being surprised, he just let the little fox gnaw at his finger. He was gentle enough not to break the skin but bit hard enough that it still hurt quite a bit.

Miya spent hours -literal hours- trying to get Sketchy to accept him. Baby voices, bribery, pouting. Sketchy sat, tall and proud despite being the size of a cat, rejecting his affection. Miya, upset and balled up on the floor, settled for watching Sketchy go about his business, wandering around Dope Sketch as he pleased.

The sun had set and the shop was closed. Sketchy was in his arms, upset and biting his hand, but Reki had to take the little fox with him. Manager Oka wouldn’t be back until tomorrow afternoon which meant that Sketchy and him would be sleeping in the same room. He wouldn’t subject his sister’s to the tiny terror nor the other way around.

Once in his room, he set up everything the fox would need to survive a night away from his usual home. Sketchy had, within moments, claimed the middle of his bed,”Oi, you’re sharing whether you like it or not.”

The small animal huffed as if to dare him.

Unfortunately for him, Reki dared.

He rolled the fox over with the top blanket before claiming the majority of the bed for himself. The entire time, Sketchy bit and clawed at the thick woven blanket with nothing to show for it. Too tired to worry, Reki closed his eyes as the small animal settled down. Tiny paws padded across his stomach, digging in painfully like little stilts, as Sketchy spun in a circle before laying down.

He snapped one last picture before sending it to the group chat.

| Miya : I hate you.

Chapter Text

Older Miya repping the boys at the olympics.

Chapter Text

He took a deep breath before charging and jumping onto his board. The wheels screamed and thudded against the grainy, grooved pavement. Wind ran through his hair and, in that moment, he was alive. People were pissed, watching him weave around them with plenty of margin for error, because they couldn’t understand. They didn’t want to even try. His unprofessional, unbecoming, and unruly hobby was something that gave him drive and purpose outside of the droning of schoolwork.

As he rounded corners and rode further downhill, off into alleyways and backstreets, the crowd disappeared leaving him and the breeze to themselves. No one bothered him back there, not even the people who seemed concerned about his proximity to their cars, because they were envious and wished him the best in his youth. Skateboarding wasn’t something he could maintain into adulthood, most figured. He agreed and soaked up the joy and fun of it while he could.

Around a corner came a flash of brown hair and bright eyes. He panicked, on track to crash into her in the narrow street, and so he opted instead to crash himself. He tumbled, feeling tender bruises start to form already, but he landed in a bush. Mostly. His knuckles hit the wall but the work gloves he wore offered enough padding there to save his bones from seemingly inevitable annihilation.

“Oh my god, are you okay?”

He nodded, absolutely dazed,”You alright?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me,”she dug through the bag at her side before pulling out a flower patterned bandaid and placing it over his cheek. He didn’t even notice he’d been bleeding a little,”It’s a miracle you didn’t break anything.”

“I wouldn’t,”he groaned, pushing himself back onto his feet,”Part of skating is knowing how to crash.”

She had her hands on her hips and cheeks puffed out,”That doesn’t make you immune to getting hurt!”

He threw his hands up,”Everything is fine, really! It’s not that bad!”

She picked up half of his skateboard and his heart sank. That was expensive and he’d need to order a new board piece. The trucks and all those wonderfully complex components could be salvaged, at least. She looked at half the design, some grotesque and stylized zombie face he’d taken a liking to,”Is it fun?”

“I think so,”he said, taking her half and picked up the other,”When I’m skateboarding, I’m free. Even if everyone looks down on me, it doesn’t matter.”

Her smile could kill him if he wasn’t careful,”You’ve got a strong heart. That’s a good thing. Anyways, if you ever need another bandaid, my parents own a flower shop in town called Tulip.”

“Y-yeah of course,”he said,”Anyways, I should get going. Thank you.”

His heart ached after the encounter. Most scold him, blaming his hobby for anything and everything that goes wrong. Yet there was no judgement in her eyes. He thought about it for hours after he arrived to the meet-up. They all put on their makeup, making it harder for them to be identified. Then, when the sun set, they all went out skating.

It made them feel like they were one step below bikers. The lead even had a boombox he carried around that blared bass heavy music that rattled nearby windows and had people chasing them as if their legs could keep up with and overtake their wheels. Police, neighborhood drunks and drags, nosy businessmen, upright students, and even some nobodies screamed at them. The night belonged to them, though.

The spikes on their gloves, something all of them had agreed on, were used to mark the corners of big business buildings. It was an inconvenience and usually ignored but the notches got a little deeper each time until the entire corner was covered in streaks and the corners were worn away into proper indents. They never touched the cars but people blamed them for all their bumps and scratches because it was easier than admitting it was a jilted lover or second gal.

When the music died down on their return trip, now just a faint thrumming, Hiromi rolled up next to their leader who was smiling and taking in the night air,”I might have to leave.”

“Why?”he asked, looking none too surprised.

“I met a girl today and I like her,”he admitted,”I want to be someone she can be proud of and lean on.”

He nodded and patted him on the back, almost knocking him off balance,”Shadow, you do what you think is right. You’ll always be welcome back as long as I’m here. Just remember: no girl out there is worth pretending to be someone you’re not.”

“Of course,”Hiromi sighed,”These past few years were great. Thanks.”

“Thanks for sticking around as long as you did. Have a good life,”he said.

It had been several years. She had been on his mind for several years as he worked hard to earn the right to be by her side. When he found out about S, he immediately fell into the sport, donning the makeup of a children’s gang long since disbanded and forgotten. Even that girl, now a manager, had forgotten him. He works there, taking that as the heavens giving him a second shot at a first impression.

Everything changed and yet it didn’t. School became work and skating remained his guilty passion. Now that he had money, he could even get some silly costume made and live out the childhood fantasy of skateboard being something more widely celebrated, a proper role in a grand show. As the crowds cheered and booed for him, as the loud pops of children’s firecrackers went off, he felt alive in a way that he thought he’d never feel again.

Life was a play and he was happy to play the part of the villain sometimes.

Chapter Text

Miya set down the tin full of candy and lit the stick of incense poking out of the top. It was a slow burning one that smelled like lavender, lasting roughly two hours if the wind didn’t blow it out or knock the burning tip loose. Once the flame took and died down to a constant glow that slowly ate away at the stick, they began,”We invite you to play with us. Catch us before the incense is burned up and you win."

"Is that really it?”Langa asked.

Kojiro nodded,”Should be according to the board.”

“I guess we go hide now,”Reki said.

“Not yet. We have to say they’re it,”Miya said.

They said it in unison, Kaoru rolling his eyes while doing so,”You’re it.”

Once the phrase slipped passed their lips, the air chilled and felt charged, making the hairs on the back of their necks stand up on end. On reflex, they dashed off in random directions, looking for a hiding place.

Hiromi was huge and so hiding was an issue. He could climb trees, but it didn’t do much good with orange hair that screamed,”I’m here.” His solution was to find cover he could hide inside of. Luckily for him, there was an abandoned truck nearby.

He opened it slowly and carefully, laughing under his breath at himself. What was he scared of? Ghosts aren’t real. He laid across the backseat, figuring he could take a quick nap until the incense burned out. The car smelled disgustingly moldy and he worried about how good it was for his lungs until he felt the hair on his neck prickle again.

No amount of mindfulness or rationalization could bring his heartrate down.

He closed his eyes tight, trying to will the creeping feeling away. It got worse and worse until, finally, he ran. It was primal instinct. Something was wrong and he needed to leave before it caught him. Whatever it was, he wasn’t keen on finding out. Low branches and thin bushes lashed his arms and face, leaving stinging cuts and scrapes across it. His foot hooked underneath a root and he went face first into the dirt, knocking their air out of his lungs.

As he lay there, wheezing and trying to catch his lost breath, he swore he could see someone running at him from within the trees.

It caught him.

Kojiro was confident in himself. He climbed high up into a tree and looked out across the stretch of trees and caught a glimpse of some lights from town. Worst case scenario, he figures he’d run into a snake or a particularly vicious beetle. He’d win, ghost or no ghost.

He watched Hiromi burst through from the trees, running like an absolute madman towards the can of candy. He didn’t think the old man could run that fast but he did,”Impressive hustle, Shadow.”

Then came an actual shadow, something that didn’t look like anything and yet very familiar. It ran just as fast and right at him, undeterred by the terrain. Kojiro felt as though he’d been cemented in place, unable to move as a cold sweat overtook him. Once they were out of sight, he let out a breath he didn’t mean to hold,”What the hell was that?”

He scaled down the tree, now concerned about murderers wandering the woods. Maybe it was one of the homeless after his stuff. He really didn’t know and kept telling himself it had to be explainable. It had to be human. Despite the feeling and what he saw, it had to be a trick of the light or his mind playing tricks on him.

He didn’t even see it coming.

“Carla, start a timer for two hours,”Kaoru said from his hiding spot in a ditch.

The roots of a tree stuck out in the drainage ditch, creating he perfect natural hiding place. He was none too thrilled by the bugs, dirt, and spiders but they seemed content enough to leave him alone. He was still trying to piece together what happened when they took off. It was as though they’d all stared into the open maw of a beast.

He used a stick to draw in the dirt, wondering what wacky method of hiding Kojiro was using,”Stupid gorilla probably climbed into a tree or something.”

There was crackling and sticks snapping. He jumped, scratching out his drawing and trying to push himself further into his hiding place. Steps got closer and closer until familiar blue shoes hit the dirt in front of him, sending it up into a cloud that had him coughing and choking,”Reki!”

Reki screamed, jumping and falling to the other side of the ditch. It was a miracle that he didn’t die on the spot since he was infamously scared of ghosts. It was on par with a small child and was both impressive and sad to Kaoru. When he realized it was just Cherry, he cried a bit, taking a moment to compose himself.

“Please don’t scare me like that,”his voice was two octaves higher and barely above a whisper.

“Scare you? You almost choked me to death,”Kaoru said, more upset about the fine layer of dirt now covering his skin and clothes,”Go find your own hiding place away from here.”

Reki nodded, pulling himself out of the ditch and running into the forest. Once he was gone, Kaoru slouched and slid into a more relaxed position. He would never admit it, but he almost screamed, too. His heart hammered away and he distracted himself with plans for the next day. He was safe underneath the tree, hiding in the many dangling roots and fallen branches.

Then it grabbed his leg and pulled him from his hiding place.

Reki took up a policy of not staying in one place for too long. He’d hide and rest to catch his breath before darting off again. He thought like a rabbit and wasn’t afraid to admit it. Occasionally, he’d catch the feeling of something wrong. Something horrible and innately terrifying that would prompt him to turn around and run in the opposite direction. He used the terrain to his advantage, confidently leaping across ditches, holes, and rocks while sliding underneath anything partially fallen or bent over from decay and age.

His body was smeared with dirt, mud, and moss. There were a few scrapes from his encounter with Cherry in that one particularly big ditch that he couldn’t quite jump across. Otherwise, it was all psychological. Time was ticking much slower than he’d like, and he could barely keep track. It felt like he’d be caught as soon as he stopped for longer than five minutes.

Exhaustion caught up with him when he twisted his ankle on a sloppy jump, rendering him scared and immobile. He pulled up against a tree, huddling in on himself and pulling his brightly colored hood over his head in an attempt to feel somewhat secure as he felt it approaching.

It was a slow walk, much like a cat carefully stalking a mouse in the forest. Each crunch of leaves was intentional, as if to dare him to run from his hiding place this time. Then it was silent and Reki didn’t know where it was at. Minutes ticked by before he let out a shuddering sigh.

That was when it struck.

Langa had fallen asleep inside a log. Had no idea how much time had passed and assumed it was about time to head back. He pulled himself free, knocking off mud, bugs, and rotten wood,”Gross.”

He retraced his steps, careful to dodge spiderwebs that were barely visible in the dark. The moon was high in the sky, illuminating the forest ground through the trees. Bugs were loud, some animals scurried about in the trees, and the forest was full of life. It reminded him of the warmer nights in Canada, too late to be mobbed by mosquitoes and warm enough that you wouldn’t need to wear some oversized, puffy jacket when you go out.

Then came dead silence and his dad’s advice flashed through his mind.

“You shouldn’t be scared of hearing animals, Langa. That means they feel safe. You should be scared when you can’t hear them because that means they’ve likely run away.”

He felt unnerved but kept his eyes peeled, carefully walking through the woods and avoiding fallen branches and large piles of crunchy leaves. He felt it more than he saw it, ducking in time for a shadow to pass over his head. Instead of trying to find out what was after him, he ran, taking the path of most resistance. Sliding underneath logs, hooking his hand on trees and using them to make sudden and unpredictable turns, and using his momentum to quickly scale the sides of collapsed hills of dirt.

Langa didn’t bother climbing the trees, remembering that there were quite a few predator animals that would climb them, effectively trapping him. So, instead, he ran towards where he thought the can was. From there, he knew how to get to the car. Shoes lost traction on wet leaves and his luck ran out, sending him hard into the ground as he turned a corner, head smashed up against the trunk of a tree and leaving him dazed.

It pounced, leaving no trace of him behind.

Miya’s alarm went off and he returned to the can. His friends were all waiting in the center, all looking exhausted,”You guys must have hid pretty close by. Bunch of lazy slimes.”

There was no response and he figured that meant that they just wanted to go home and go to bed. He did too and didn’t blame any of them. He took the stick of incense out of the can and emptied the contents, shaking away ash, before putting it back in place. The candies belonged to the ghosts and taking them invites bad luck and angry spirits.

He turned to face the deep darkness of the woods, bowing,”The game is over. Thank you for playing.”

Miya cut his phone on, the light blinding him,”That was kinda fun.”

He couldn’t cross the threshold of the clearing, finding himself repelled by a force he couldn’t explain. The hairs on his neck stood on end and he turned around, taking a good look at his companions. They were more like expressionless husks than the people he knew. The shadow crossed the threshold and into the clearing, approaching him and bowing. It said something garbled before sitting by the can of sweets.

The mystery force was gone and Miya was free to leave, legs taking him as far and fast as they could manage before he collapsed in the parking lot, right beside Hiromi’s pink car. When the light of day peaked over the land, he turned around and find his friends. He counted his steps from the parking lot to the creepy dead tree and then to the clearing.

“Fourty-two…?”

The clearing was nowhere to be found. He paced around, wondering if he’d missed it, when he found a pile of ashes and candy wrappers crammed into a smashed tin next to an ancient, gnarled tree.

Chapter Text

She hopped off the train, patting down her uniform pockets and the outer pockets of her bags. Not finding her bus pass, she panicked, turning around to see the train doors slam shut and rattle off down the track and around a bend. She whined,”This is going to be an awful day.”

A voice came from behind her, barely intelligible,”You dropped this.”

Nanako had heard stories about American foreigners, she even saw a few in pictures, but he was tall. He looked like a friendly giant, underdressed and probably freezing in the cold, dank subway. She grabbed the card out of his hand -her card, she realized as relief washed over her- and nodded, a tad mesmerized.

“Do I have something on my face?”he asked, using all the wrong words and sounding more like a child despite his booming voice.

She tried not to laugh but a quick huff left her lips before she could cover her mouth,”No. Thank you.”

“Not to, uh…”he rattled his brain, looking for a word and finding none. Instead, he used English which was completely, hopelessly lost in translation,”Can you tell me where block 3 is?”

It was no longer funny and she gasped,”That’s on the other side, to the north.”

He groaned, swearing in English before thanking her and running off.

After that, her day went without issue or concern. She rushed off to school and the day passed slowly. She thought, again and again, of the strange man. He reminded her of a white bunny with how pale he was. A giant white bunny that could probably crush something under his feet if he isn’t mindful. She went to doodling in her notebook, filling it with clumsy rabbits.

On her way home, she made sure to hold onto her bus pass tight, pressing into the wall between the door and the seat so that she could easily exit the train when she reached her destination. Right before the doors closed, the man threw himself through the doors and fixed his jacket. It was the rabbit man, she realized, wearing something more appropriate for the weather. He spotted her and waved before coming over to squeeze in next to her.

“Thank you for warning me,”he said,”My parents were worried and almost called the police.”

“You’re not an adult?”she asked.

He laughed and shook his head,”I start school here soon. Not sure where but at least now I know I can ask you.”

Nanako didn’t know what to say and had many questions, most of which were very invasive, but she was curious enough to disregard that since he was excited enough to disregard whether or not she wanted to be his personal guide,”What brings you to Japan?”

“My parents are on a long-term missions trip,”he said slowly, some of the words giving him trouble and being a bit too ambiguous,”Christians.”

She nodded. There were a few of those in Japan. Some are kind, patient, and just wish to share their god and beliefs. Others were not and they were avoided like the plague. They cared nothing for the culture they were talking down to. Nanako was worried about that. Would this man -this boy, she corrected herself- think poorly of her if she should decided it wasn’t for her? Would he call her names and yell at her in a language she didn’t speak in broad daylight for all to see?

It was as if he could see the cogs turning,”I’m not doing that. That is their passion.”

“What is your passion?”she asked.

He reached into his bag and showed her a magazine,”Snowboarding!”

Nanako took it from his hands and carefully flipped through the pages. They were all nice shots,”I feel bad for the cameraman. Snow is very cold.”

“It is,”he said, grinning,”But that’s why we dress in many layers.”

“Who is we?”

“Canadians,”he said,”A land of two seasons: cold and mosquitoes.”

The whole train ride was spent with him going on about Canada and snowboarding. She wasn’t too fond of the idea but the way he described it made the sport sound magical. He truly was a snow bunny, in a way, but not clumsy. Tomorrow she’d have to fix her mistake and draw an elegant bunny. Not too elegant, though, she thought as he thwacked a metal pole with his hand in his excitement.

Then came her stop, too soon,”Will you be here tomorrow?”

He nodded,”Yes. I will see you then, right?”

“Maybe,”she said as she departed.

When she got home and into her room, she buried her face in the pillow and squealed. She grabbed the fat cat stuffed animal her mom bought her and sought advice,”This is like something out of those stupid shows everyone is going on and on about! What do I do? Do I play it cool? Aloof?”

She shot up and looked herself over in the mirror, fiddling with her long hair,”Should I cut my hair into one of those cute bobs? Can I pull it off?”

The cat didn’t respond and slumped over. She pouted, hands on her hips,”You’re no help.”

When the next day came, she had a new accessory. Some silly hair clip she never wore and always thought she was too grown for. It was cute, a light pink with white stripes. A part of her felt ridiculous, though. When he got onto the train, he was wearing another school’s uniform much to her dismay. He was also wearing it all wrong, jacket unbuttoned like some kind of wild child.

He sat down next to her and grinned,”Nice to see you!”

Nanako panicked on the inside but remained cool and collected on the outside,”Nice to see you, too. What is your name, by the way?”

“Oliver.”

“Oliver,”she overemphasized some of it but, otherwise, it wasn’t a very hard to remember name.

“Errr, what about you?”he asked.

She huffed,”I don’t think we’re that close yet.”

Instead of getting flustered like she’d hoped, he crossed his arms and smiled,”That was cheesy. Which drama is that from?”

Caught red handed, her face turned a bright red,”It was a joke.”

“Sure. Anyways, if you don’t tell me, I guess I’ll have to call you ‘bus pass’.”

“Just call me Nanako,”she said,”But don’t tell anyone you know me, got it?”

Oliver nodded,”Got it. You’re my secret friend.”

The day once again went by without incident. Her notebooks were full of even more clumsy rabbits being subjected to a series of severe inconveniences. From lost bus passes to hitting its head on the subway doors. Clumsy, clumsy, clumsy, as it deserved, Nanako decided. To dare call her bus pass? Unforgivable.

Come the next day, she’d already forgotten the fact her nickname was almost ‘bus pass’. After consulting the fat cat, she decided that pink wasn’t her color and bought something different with her allowance: an off-white ribbon to tie her hair back. It was simple, elegant, screamed ‘notice me’, and yet wasn’t nearly as obnoxious as the bright pink clip that her teacher confiscated. She might get away with it this time.

Might.

Oliver sat down next to her again, this time stuffing his face with melonpan and canned coffee. There were bags under his eyes and he looked ready to pass out at any second. She leaned over to look at his face better,”Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just studying. So. Much. Studying,”he said,”I have to learn even more Japanese and everything else. My head hurts.”

“I can help you,”Nanako offered,”In return, maybe you can teach me some English?”

“You sure? The language is kinda ridiculous,”he said,”And by ridiculous, I mean it has rules that get broken all the time.”

“Yeah,”she said,”Maybe one day, when you’re a famous snowboarder, I can go to Canada and see you compete. I have to speak English if I want to avoid getting lost on the other side of town, after all.”

“That was once and it was because the blocks aren’t in order,”he pouted,”But sure, if you want to, I guess I can.”

“Can you afford to say no?”Nanako asked.

He mumbled into his can before taking a sip,”No.”

It took them both two weeks before their brains were completely fried. Nanako rested her head against the table in her livingroom,”What is ‘Y’ and why is it like that?”

“I’m not sure,”he said, putting down his book. It was only a middle school level book but it was meant to gradually increase his vocabulary by introducing new words dotted throughout the text. That and help him read faster, an issue of his,”Don’t think too hard about it, though. I certainly don’t.”

“I hate English,”she said,”All this studying and I can’t even string together a sentence!”

“That’s because you’re learning it later in your life,”he pointed out,”If you grew up with it, you’d be able to speak it before you can read it. It’s pretty much the same with any language.”

“I guess you would know, Mr. Bilingual.”

“I would not call myself bilingual,”he said.

Nanako jabbed his leg with her toes,”Don’t pretend to be humble now!”

They were both laughing and having a good time, forgetting that they were supposed to be studying. They enjoyed each other’s company, limited as it was to the bus and these rare free days where they both pretended the main reason for them hanging out together was to study. It felt like those days would never end.

“Are you ready?”Nanako’s mother asked.

Years had passed in the blink of an eye. Her white ribbon had become a veil and now she wore a white kimono that belonged to her mother. Their wedding was a fusion of two cultures, attended by almost fifty people. Most of them were from Oliver’s family. He waited out there, in his suit, holding his breath. She could see him in the reflection of the window.

She nodded,”Yes.”

Her mother walked her down the isle in place of her father, long gone and forever missed. The music swelled as she made it to the halfway point, almost to Oliver’s side. This was it. This was her ‘happy ever after’. It was hard to believe that it all started with a bus pass but she wouldn’t have it any other way. He wasn’t very romantic, but he loved with all he had, nothing like the shows and movies she watched growing up. They were their own fairytale and now, rapidly approached what happens after the 'happily ever after', she was only excited. 

She would trade this fairytale life for a reality where the two of them would never part until death.

Chapter Text

“I need a new outfit,”Ainosuke said, scrolling through pictures of performers,”My only two conditions are freedom to move my legs and no ties.”

“No ties?”

“No ties.”

Tadashi sorted through dozens of photos being sent to him rapid fire. They only had one thing in common: they were sparkly. This time around, no matter what was chosen in the end, Ainosuke was on a glitter binge. There would be no curbing, no changing it, and definitely no fighting it. He sighed, creating a reminder on his phone to load the handheld vacuum into the car.

“This one isn’t that bad, Mr. Shindo,”he sent back a picture of an ice skater. The outfit was sparking because of the sequin rather than glued on fabric glitter. It was light blue.

Ainosuke looked it over before shaking his head,”New condition: no white and blue.”

Tadashi flinched, realizing he’d stepped right onto a landmine of emotions and feelings. He wasn’t as volatile anymore but he wasn’t exactly put together either. His persona from S bled through more than ever but in a more positive way. Mostly. Ainosuke picked up the pace, scrolled and spamming his phone with images faster, making it almost impossible to keep up.

Idea after idea was shot down. Design after design, again and again. He was starting to wonder if his boss was just punishing him at this point. Death by catalogue chaos. Then the images stopped and Ainosuke was pouting,”My phone is out of space. I guess that’s it for today.”

Not wanting to go for round two tomorrow, Tadashi pulled up the most extra outfit he could,”What about this?”

“Boring. I’ve already done the whole matador thing,”he waved his hand,”Hardly a revolution in style.”

Tadashi was reaching for an idea -anything to end this hellish experience- and ended up showing him a picture of fireworks. They were colorful, shiny, and hopefully inspiring,”Then what if you upgraded your matador costume?”

“With fireworks?”he leaned in, face scrunched up in disappointment as he thought it over. The gears were turning though,”Send it to my personal tailor with my matador costume. Tell them to incorporate fiber optics.”

“Yes, Mr. Shindo,”Tadashi rushed to get his costume, grabbing his board out of habit.

“Leave the board. I can do that myself,”he said.

That night, the S track was busier than ever. The beef between Adam and Snake drew in large numbers that were initially disappointed once Snake had dropped out of the competition. Everyone waited for them to show up, expecting Adam to show up at the last second in some grand fashion.

A helicopter and fireworks -carefully angled away from the helicopter, Tadashi told the capmen in charge of the detail- marked the arrival of both. Rather than a plain outfit, Snake wore a custom suit and board to match Adam’s. He’d spent that time ‘getting his board ready’ to have it all prepared, even going as far as to break into Tadashi’s room and sneak away one of his suits for measurements. The fiber optics wrapped around the openings along the neck, wrists, stomach, and legs with bright, colorful streaks running down his sides. He donned a half-mask that was in the shape of a snake’s open maw, teeth poised to strike.

Adam was, once again, the matador, however. The entire design was outlined in light, hearts emphasized by a constant, pink glow as apposed to the slowly changing colors across the costume. New tassels, lined with fiber optics, rapidly changed colors, mimicking the effects of an exploding firework, fading to white at the ends and then dying out before the next burst of color.

Their boards were a pair, a snake wrapped around a heart and the other around an apple on the underside. The red was painted with glow in the dark paint and coated with a clear, prismatic layer, making any light that hit it dance across the bottom of the board.

“You went all out,”Tadashi said once they hit the ground.

Ainosuke, now given free reign to do and say whatever he pleased without fear of repercussion, offered a hand,”Nothing less for you, puppy. Now, how about we give them a proper show? Teach them what S is really about?”

He took his hand and let himself be pulled towards the track, heart hammering away. The anonymity and the rush from doing something so bold was addictive, he admitted. He’d never let it show on his face, but he was enjoying himself immensely. After all, if he let Mr. Shindo know, he’d end up doing this all too often what with his poor impulse control.

Chapter Text

Something about autumn was innately soothing. Kaoru didn’t know whether it was the cool breeze, the colorful leaves, or the seasonal food. Maybe it was the lazy secondhand feeling he got from watching leaves slowly fall to the ground, sometimes whipped around by the wind only to wind up gently landing in a river, pond, or puddle. As the sun set, however, the leaves were more of nuisance.

Skateboards don’t like wet, loose leaves.

“We should stick to the routes along the edge of the cliff,”Adam said. He was some nobody kid they’d taken into their little group and shared their hobby with. Kojiro was fine with it and so Kaoru didn’t fight it either,”There aren’t any trees there.”

“That’s still dangerous,”Kojiro said,”One wrong move or some loose rocks and that’s it.”

Adam rolled his eyes, light hitting them at just the right angle to make them glow the same shade as the fall leaves,”Then don’t. I’m going to.”

“Seriously, Adam. Don’t,”Kojiro wasn’t suggesting anymore.

He pulled his hood higher, trying to hide more of his face,”Fine.”

Kaoru jumped in to diffuse the tension,”What about the paths between the cliffs?”

“Those haven’t been taken care of in forever,”he thought it over,”Plus they’re owned by a mining company still. They’re trying to sell the damn thing for more than it’s worth.”

“Since when have we been worried about a little trespassing?”Kaoru scrunched his nose,”It’s fine.”

Kojiro sighed,”Fine, fine. Got it. Just be careful. It’s nowhere near as dangerous as the cliffs but it’s still a rough ride.”

When they got there, the full force of what Kojiro had said hit the other two. The entire path, worn in from years of use, was also years abandoned. Steep slopes, sharp turns, and a warehouse right before the bottom. It was crazy dangerous and got Adam’s heart pounding, making him wonder if he could take on this route.

Without considering his own wellbeing, he jumped right into it.

Kaoru eventually caught up with him as he tried and failed to successfully take a sharp turn. There wasn’t enough control to get him firmly back onto the ground and not enough space to turn his board without slamming into the wall,”Is it really that difficult?”

“Oh yeah,”Adam said, collapsing onto the ground after slamming his shoulder into the wall again. He needed to catch his breath anyways,”Be careful if you decide to try to go at it full speed, too.”

As if on cue, Kojiro was barreling down the track without any sign of stopping or slowing down. They were panicking, trying to motion for him to slow down, but he went ahead, jumping off his board and using his ridiculous leg muscles to change direction before jumping back onto his board, leaving them both flustered and embarrassed.

Kaoru yelled down the track loud enough for him to hear,”Stupid gorilla! That’s not how you’re supposed to skate!”

“Says who?”Adam said through laughter,”He solved it his way.”

“And he’s getting ahead!”Kaoru jumped onto his board and took off, ignoring the impossible corner and leaving it for another time.

“No fair!”Adam jumped on his and took off, navigating the course the best he could given the more than fair amount of holes, jutting rocks, and crumbled sections of the cliffs above. He passed Kaoru, glancing back to make sure he hadn’t pushed him off into a dangerous portion of the track, before going after the cheater, Kojiro, who was still managing to muscle his way across the course.

“You’ve changed,”Kaoru said.

Their confrontation was personal this time. More just them than the people they’d board with this time. The moon was full and high in the sky and the mining track stretched down into the abyss of trees and night. It felt like home and offensive all at once, grinding against Adam’s already frayed nerves,”I had to.”

“Not like this,”Kojiro said, bigger and more intimidating than before.

To Adam though, after everything he’d been forced to endure being turned up several notches after his last ‘embarrassment’, Kojiro was just a puffed up cat. Everything was ruined. There were no smiles or laughter. Skating with them wasn’t fun anymore and only made him nervous. He needed more adrenaline to overpower the fear and loathing,”That’s not for you to decide.”

They wouldn't be able to keep up with the demand.

The rest of the night was spent arguing with a brick wall. Adam would hear them but he wasn’t listening. He’d decided months ago in America that this was the only way. This was his only escape and this time he’d protect it and excel so that, when he’s caught in the bitter end, he can at least say he went out the best.

If he wasn’t first, he was worthless.

He tied his hair back and secured the hidden clips and straps that held his outfit together. Regular traditional attire would not be able to withstand skateboarding, falling apart at the worst times. He’d learned long ago when he found out he loved dressing himself up. Once he was satisfied, he grabbed his board and told Carla to shut off the lights.

He’d have to walk to the edge of town before he could use his board, police being very particular about stopping people nowadays who push their luck on the semi-crowded sidewalks. He remembered when the town was quieter and far less crowded. When most of the stores had stands out front and the shop owners would yell and try to grab anyone and everyone’s attention. It was like that until late into the night but now, several years later, they were all inside and the posters on the door did the advertising for them.

As he crossed the threshold of town and stepped off the road, he stepped right into a giant pile of soggy leaves hiding a deep, muddy puddle. It soaked through his shoes and left his socks feeling uncomfortably wet,”Absolutely disgusting.”

Something about autumn filled him with an empty, hollow feeling. Kaoru didn’t know whether it was the return of freezing winds, the offensively bright and colorful leaves that covered everything, or the seasonal food that both reeked and was oversaturated with spice and sugar. Maybe it was the slimy squelch of leaves he stepped on after the rain or the buildup of wet, decaying leaves along the side of every road, building, and park. As the sun set, as always, the leaves were mostly just a nuisance.