Chapter Text
Langa stared, heartbroken, at the beloved skateboard that rested in his lap. It was completely ruined. It had broken in half about twenty minutes ago, when he was practicing a new trick he made up to show his Reki.
‘Well, he’s not MY Reki, but it’s not like he’s someone else’s Reki, so I guess that works for now.’
He caught himself grinning stupidly at this thought.
He shook his head and looked back down at the broken board, tilting his head as he saw something odd peaking out from underneath the familiar white snow monster. He poked at it gingerly, and then peeled it off like a bandaid, all at once in a fast, solid movement. His eyebrows shot up as, underneath the pattern that he’d grown so very accustomed to, a note was revealed. The handwriting was awful and chicken like, and not only that, it was also...
“REKI’S!” He shouted at the end of his very long internal monologue. Excitement, curiosity, and delight filled every inch of his body. He lifted the board close to his
face and began reading it.
‘Deer Langa Snow Prinss wat ever they call yew now,
I dowt I’ll evar tell yew this in reel life, but I feel rilly weerd a rownd yew. I hav only evar feeled this way for a gerl, but evan that was’nt this stronk muc feelingy big feel. I tink I mite B in luv with yew, but I do’nt new if too boys kan dayt. And I new I like gerls to! Is this evan ak akay ok okay? I new yew wil nevar se this, and that is god good. With good fuck luck yew nevar wil.
Luv, Rekey yewr best frend. I new I will nevar B moor.’
Langa was touched by Reki’s horrible attempt at English, but god he hopes he never writes to anyone else, EVER. He read over it a good three times before he understood, and when he did his heart melted. How long had his poor Reki been feeling like this? Did he think it was wrong to be gay? Then again, this was Japan, he probably didn’t even know what gay was. The poor guy must be struggling so much.
Langa stood up, clutching his new most prized possession to his chest. He would have to find it a safe place when he got home. ‘I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. Right now, I have to go find.. Rekey.’ He cracked up at Reki’s awful spelling again, but recovered fairly quickly as he realized what the note meant.
Langa threw down his skateboard to make the short ride to Reki’s house. He jumped onto it and
...fell flat on his face... he shook his head, face flushed with embarrassment. He picked up the half of his skateboard he’d failed to skate on and started towards his best friend’s house.
When he finally got there, after what felt like HOURS of running, He banged on the door. He knew Reki would be awake late watching skateboarding videos like every other night. Sure enough, he was answered by a disheveled, messy-haired Reki with a bright blue and green dino pajama shirt and a pair of matching green boxers with a tropical leaf pattern. Langa tried very hard not to burst into laughter at the adorable redhead, but failed and let out an affectionate chuckle. Reki’s face flushed and he muttered something under his breath that made his face flush even more before he slammed the door. He opened it again a few moments later, sticking his head out the door.
“What in the flying fuck are you doing knocking on my door at fucking shit crack in the fuckin morning bro?!” Reki whisper-yelled. “I broke my skateboard.” Langa said, a cheesy grin accompanying the words. Reki’s face turned from an embarrassingly dark red to as pale as the moon. “Ooh. Uhm- I’ll fix it but.. uhh. Just-“ his sentence was cut off as he saw the peeled off sticker in Langa’s other hand, It clearly confirmed what he was worried about. “I’m not sure you can fix-“ langa started, before Reki wrenched the pieces out of Langa’s arms and said in a very flustered, loud voice “Oh it’s FINE man. I can DEFINITELY fix it!” And slammed the door before letting out a not-so-well-hidden scream. Langa smiled. ‘He’s always so cute.’ He thought, face reddening a little. He shook his head and called out “Reki, open the door.” A few moments later he was answered with a,
“Nah man. Imma just stay in my room and die now, sound alright?” And the sound of footsteps running away. Langa sighed and pulled the door open. Reki was already half way up the stairs with Langa’s skateboard, and he sighed. He was so cute, but he never just faced his problems. Affection replaced the mild annoyance, however, as he heard the other boy’s shaking voice call his name. “Langa, just no.” His reply came before the blue haired boy could say a word.
“Reki, please. I read your note. we just need to talk.” “What note? Nope, no note. Only tape.”“Reki, you can’t just run from all your problems.” “I know, but I can skate from them!” “Reki, no you can’t.” “Well Langa, I can frickin try.” Langa gritted his teeth. “Reki, you know you have to open the door.” He said in a strained voice.
“Langa, I don’t want to know that I know that I have to open the door.” He was dumbfounded by Reki’s complete refusal to confront him about the issue at hand. “Reki, just open the door.” His only reply was a soft click before the door creaked open. Reki stood there, looking like a completely different person without his headband on.
“Fine, just come in. But I wrote that ages ago, I promise I didn’t actually mean anything. I’m sorry I just don’t want anything weird to happen. Let’s just sleep, I’m sorry for every-“ “Reki,” langa interrupted, “just let me in and we can talk, ok?” Reki nodded, and moved away from the door. He stepped into the messy room, smiling at the familiarity of it all. Reki had moved to sit down on his bed, rocking back and forth nervously. Several large bandaids had been slapped across the terribly written love note and it took all of Langa’s strength not to sigh and bury his face in his hands.
“Reki, you can’t just cover up your feelings like that.” He felt like Reki’s mom, telling him what to do and what he couldn’t do, but he wouldn’t just act mature! Reki sat silently on the opposite side of the room. Langa tilted his head, staring at the beautiful ginger on the other side of the room. He closed the distance between them with a few long strides, and sat down on the bed close to the other boy. Reki flinched. Langa put his palm to his forehead. “Dude, I’m not gonna hit you.” He said, rolling his eyes in exasperation. “No, but you ARE gonna make me talk about feelings, which I do not consent to.” Reki replied matter-of-fact-ly. Had he always been this stubborn and blunt? Then again, Langa wasn’t usually this irritable. ESPECIALLY when it came to his precious red-haired best friend. “Look, the note didn’t mean anything. I didn’t think you’d even read it.” Reki muttered as he attempted to press himself deeper into the wall.
“But I did read it, and now we’re here.” He replied, scooting closer to the cowering Reki. Their knees were almost touching, and their faces were only about six inches apart.
Langa could point out each individual freckle spotting Reki’s nose and cheeks if he wanted to. ‘Maybe not today though, or at least not right now.’ Langa thought sadly. He loved Reki’s freckles so much. They were like little brown stars on a suntanned sky. What little constellations covered his scarred, sun damaged skin? He found himself subconsciously running his fingers across Reki’s face, staring at the patterns he had traced out. He only noticed what he was doing when the dark tan sky turned a vibrant sunset red.
“L-Langa?” Reki asked, wide-eyed. “oh.. my bad.” Langa said, though he didn’t pull his hand away or look away from the spotted skin. “S-seriously man, that’s really frickin weird.. you’re pushin it.” Reki said, face somehow turning even redder than it had been before. Langa shook his head, pulling his hand away and looking up into his friend’s beautiful amber eyes instead. They looked like the maple candy he used to make in Canada, a rich brownish-orange color that was so familiar yet so unfamiliar in this strange context.
“L-langa, what the hell bro.?” Reki interrupted , shooting down his peaceful reminiscing. “What do you mean?” Langa asked, eyes wandering down to Reki’s soft, pinkish lips. “Bro what the hell are you even thinking about? I’m really frickin uncomfortable man.” Reki said, shifting in discomfort. “You’re just really pretty, you know?” He replied, looking back into his eyes. “Ok, that’s too far.” Reki said, pushing Langa’s hand down and grabbing his shoulders to push his face to an arms length.
“Let’s just talk about it and then go to bed like nothing happened. I wrote the note under the snow monster when I fixed your board before you skated against Adam. I just didn’t understand how I felt. Good enough for you?” Reki covered his already averted eyes with an elbow and langa smiled at his red face and obvious embarrassment. “You know it’s fine to like guys right?” Langa asked him tentatively. Reki stared at him in indignation and snapped back, “yeah whatever, I like girls though.” Langa grabbed his arm and pulled it away from his face, leaning closer and saying in a gentle voice, “you can like both, Reki. It’s completely normal. Dad had plenty of bi and pan snow boarding friends back in Canada. I think he was pan as well.” Reki’s eyes shot up, and his jaw dropped. Langa smiled adoringly at his friend, warmth spreading across his face.
“Y-YOU CAN DO THAT?” Reki shouted in genuine surprise. “Yeah Reki, you can do that.” Langa replied, putting his hand back on Reki’s face. It took the ginger a moment to recover, but when he did, he looked down at his lap and asked in a quiet, sober tone, “what about you, then.. Langa?”
Something about the uncertain tone Reki used saying his voice completely melted Langa’s resolve. He leaned his face closer and kissed him. Reki sat there in shock, not moving an inch. When langa pulled away, he just sat there, staring in confusion. “Does that answer your question?” Langa asked, scooting closer to Reki. He didn’t get a response, only some mouth movements that looks suspiciously like a goldfish. He sighed and said after a moment “I’m gay, Reki. I like guys.” And Reki’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “A-alright.. good to know. Can we go to bed now?” Reki asked, clearly overwhelmed.
Langa rolled his eyes and finally gave In. He fell backwards onto Reki’s bed, not even bothering to grab a pillow. Reki stared at him awkwardly. “So we’re just gonna.. uhh.. sleep right here?” He asked, scratching his head. “Don’t we always?” Langa looked up at him curiously. “Well, yeah.. but after.. us just now..” he said cautiously. “I thought it was a stupid mistake though?”
Langa’s face fell further than it had already fallen.
‘ a stupid... so you don’t....?’ Reki looked towards the ground, embarrassed.
Langa’s face changed, hardening into a steely look, glaring over Reki’s shoulder, at the wall. Or maybe it was the door. Or the picture of them.
Anywhere but reki.
‘ right. Stupid mistake. Sorry, I guess coming here was a stupid mistake too, huh?’
He huffed out a dry laugh, shuffling towards Reki’s desk, reaching for his board. ‘Langa... come on, you know I didn’t mean it like that-‘
‘ no reki, I know exactly what you meant, alright? I understand it was a stupid mistake.’
He turns to face reki, to more accurately aim the harsh words at the boy they were made for.
‘ I understand that this-‘
Langa rips a picture from the wall to the side of him.
The picture is an old one, maybe from the one of the first “S” competitions. Langa was..horrible, inexperienced, he fell far too many times for someone so ‘ talented’ as reki claimed.
But in that picture, everything was okay.
Reki had pressed the side of his cheek to his own, an arm around his shoulder, smiling so hard it hurt.
‘ this... this was a stupid mistake to you, right?’
He looks at the picture of the precious moment in his hand. He crumples it in his fist and lets it drop loosely to the ground.
‘ langa, please, just listen to me.’
‘ no, I got it okay.’
Langa turned and walked out, door slamming behind him.
The board utterly forgotten.
‘ Langa! Come on! Don’t do this!’ Reki exclaimed, tearing down the stairs, chasing the elder outside.
‘ langa...’
he looked around anxiously, no sign of him.
‘ you....
You forgot your board’