Work Text:
There’s a park near Reki’s house that’s a little run-down. The rusting metal makes the swings creak, the colors on the rest of the equipment are faded and dull, and it’s small, much smaller than the other parks spread out across town. Reki likes it, though, for some reason. Maybe because it’s slightly hidden behind some trees, opening up to the ocean on the other side—almost like his own secret hideout. And usually it is—hidden away from the rest of the world, completely deserted and quiet whenever he stops there after school. Today, though, for the first time since he found it earlier that year–
It’s found by someone else.
He spots the shoes the second he enters the park, easily noticeable from where they’re abandoned at the edge of the playground. At a glance, they're small, like his own—maybe one size bigger—but the laces are messy, barely knotted, unlike his carefully tied ones, and there's no name on the back like there is on his either.
Jeez, he thinks as he crouches down beside them to investigate, ‘cause you gotta have your name on your shoes. That’s what Kamata-sensei says anyway, and he feels like she probably knows what she’s talking about. But, even if this person doesn’t know that, Reki kinda wants to meet them. He likes meeting new people, or, well… he thinks he does.
This is the first time there’s been someone at the park to meet.
Regardless, excitement’s beginning to bubble in his chest when he hops back up to his feet. Dumping his backpack next to the shoes, he glances around the playground for whoever owns them, looking, looking, and– ah, there's movement at the top of the slide and a spot of blue comes into view before quickly disappearing again. Reki’s feet move like a magnet and he scampers across the loose gravel to the equipment, swiftly and expertly climbing up the cool metal bars and hoisting himself onto one of the platforms to get a better look.
What he sees is a boy around his age, flat on his back, squinting up at the bright afternoon sky; his light blue hair is sprawled out beneath him, and his legs are partway down the slide. He doesn't seem to notice Reki, or maybe chooses not to (Reki’s not exactly hiding), but the look in his eyes is… familiar, like maybe he’s here at the park because he wasn’t invited to a classmate’s birthday party. (Sakura-chan didn’t invite Reki either, so he understands.) Plopping down on his butt, he scoots closer and closer until he’s leaning over the other boy’s face, blocking out the sun.
“Hey,” he says, and the boy blinks a few times, a mildly bewildered expression on his face as he stares silently up at Reki.
“Hi,” he finally replies, quiet and hesitant, and Reki grins, shuffling closer.
“How come you aren’t wearing your shoes?”
“My… shoes?” The boy’s head rolls to the side, eyes falling on where his shoes sit at the edge of the park. “Oh,” he says, like he forgot they were there instead of on his feet. “I trip when I’m wearing them.” He turns back to face Reki, and Reki busts into a small fit of laughter.
“You could just tie them tighter,” he says as he laughs into the front of his hoodie. “Do you know how? I could show you how.” ‘Cause, not to brag or anything, but Reki ties both his and his sister’s shoes every day. He’s kind of a pro at it, and is secretly hoping he can show off a bit when he asks.
Instead, the boy pouts. “I know how to tie a knot,” he says, huffing a little as he sits up. “I just… like them loose, that’s all.”
And, okay, Reki runs that over in his head a few times, but just can’t come up with a reason for liking your shoelaces loose if you’re constantly tripping over them. It makes no sense. Though, he supposes he sometimes does things that don’t make sense either. Like how he asks his mom to cut off his sandwich crusts, even though it makes the sandwich smaller, or how he always sprints back to bed after he turns off the lights at night, even though there's no way a monster could have snuck under there already. He knows, but he does it anyway. Even if it doesn’t make sense, even if it’s a little weird, and, ah– he gets it now.
“You’re weird,” he says with a smile. A statement. Understanding. And, apparently, a mistake—a really big mistake. Because, suddenly, the boy is crying, tears pooling at the corners of his eyes and streaming down his cheeks, lip quivering between his teeth, and Reki’s known him for all of two minutes and is already making him cry, and–
“I’m sorry!” He blurts out, quickly reaching over to wipe away the tears with the end of his sleeve on instinct, just like he does for his little sister. “I– I didn’t mean… bad .” ‘Cause clearly the boy thought he meant something bad. “I’m weird too!” He adds. “That’s all I meant—that you’re, um– like me. Sorry…” He offers up an apologetic smile as the boy sniffles, blinking away the few remaining tears from his eyes, now all red and puffy from crying.
“I promise I didn’t mean anything bad,” Reki says again, just to make sure. Making someone cry doesn’t seem like the best way to become friends, y’know? But the boy’s tears seem to have all dried up, and even though there’s still a small pout on his face, he sticks out his pinky.
“Pinky promise?” He says, a slight accent emerging as he says the word ‘pinky,’ and Reki nods enthusiastically, linking their fingers together and giving them a slight tug.
“Promise.” He grins as the boy’s hands drop back into his lap with their pinkies still tangled together. “I'm Reki, by the way. What’s your name?”
“I’m, um– Langa,” the boy—Langa—replies, hiding behind a subtle smile, though he’s a little bit louder than before, a little bit clearer, like maybe he trusts Reki now that they’ve made a pinky promise (and apparently are still making a pinky promise, Reki notices, his hand still trapped in Langa’s lap.) But, now that they kinda know each other, Reki feels like he can ask–
“You’re not from here, are you?” He wiggles his fingers a bit, but Langa still doesn’t let go as he shakes his head.
“I’m from Canada,” he says, and Reki gasps, scooting even closer and bumping their knees together.
“I’ve seen that on the maps at school, that’s so far!”
Langa nods, and Reki then rattles off a million questions as they pop into his head:
What’s Canada like? What was your house like? Did you live by an ocean there too? What kinds of animals are there? Were you sad that you had to move? When did you move? Why did you move? Did it take a long time to get here? How big was the plane? What was it like? Was it bumpy? Was it cool? Did you feel like you were going fast? Could you see into space? Was your family with you? Do you have brothers and sisters? What about friends, do you miss your friends? Have you made new friends yet? Where do you live now? Where are you gonna go to school? Do you think you’ll have Kamata-sensei? Do you–
He trails off before he can finish that thought, ‘cause Langa looks… not frightened, but definitely overwhelmed, like he might explode if Reki stuffs another question in there.
“Sorry…” Reki says, a little sheepishly as he rubs at his hair with his free hand. But Langa shakes his head, then begins answering the questions anyway. Not all of them, but that’s okay (Reki can’t really remember everything he asked either). What he does find out, though, is this:
- Langa just moved to Okinawa with his mom and dad last week; he didn’t really leave behind any friends, but he did leave behind his fish—Gary—who he’d been thinking about before Reki showed up.
- He thinks he likes planes, but he doesn’t really remember anything about the actual plane, the plane ride, or how long it took to get to Japan, because he slept the whole way.
- He likes snow too, and it snows a lot in Canada.
The mention of snow makes Reki’s jaw drop. He’s never seen snow before, and even though he’s never been on a plane either, something about the snow is just… captivating.
“So cool…” He whispers in awe, and Langa nods excitedly, continuing to tell him about how he and his dad would make these big snow forts in the winter—ones that were big enough to crawl inside—pretending like they lived there or throwing snowballs at each other through the carved out windows until their faces were too frozen to smile. His dad took him snowboarding too, a sport that Reki remembers seeing last year when he watched the Olympics on TV.
"Wow…” he says, “you’re so cool, Langa!” And he knows they can’t exactly do those same things here, but maybe… maybe Langa would… “W-Wanna play tag?” He asks, sucking in his breath in anticipation as Langa’s eyes widen. Tag isn’t exactly the coolest thing out there, y’know, like, it’s fun, but it’s not snowboarding. So, for a second, he thinks Langa might say no. It’s already a big thing to ask—playing together.
But then, Langa nods, rubbing his nose with his sleeve. “Okay!” He says, then hesitates, fidgeting nervously as he sits with his back to the slide. “You… really think I’m cool, Reki?”
Reki gapes back at him, because come on. He snowboards, something that they do in the Olympics! He’s made snow forts big enough to live in and has ridden in planes and moved all the way across the world and didn’t tell Reki to shut up when he was asking so many questions, and yes, yes, yes, he’s so cool!
“Dude,” Reki reaches out and knocks his fist against Langa’s shoulder. “You’re the coolest person I know!” And, yeah, he knows there are a lot of cool people in the world, like Kamata-sensei, Kamata-sensei’s really cool. And Spider-Man, with the webs and the saving people. But Langa’s… okay, he’s not Spider-Man, but Reki doesn’t actually know Spider-Man anyway. Besides, he must’ve been thinking Langa was the coolest or he wouldn’t have said it in the first place, right? Either way, he’s really glad he did when Langa smiles back at him—something big and bright and warm that makes him feel like Langa might actually wanna be his friend too. So, naturally, he says, “Tag– you’re it,” grinning a little mischievously before pushing Langa back just enough that he slips backward down the slide.
And maybe that isn’t the best way to start off a potential friendship either—pushing people down slides. But it seems like a thing friends would do, and Langa was basically sitting on it already, way too tempting for Reki to just ignore, and he slides way too slowly for what Reki intended anyway, frowning as his skin catches on the plastic and keeps him from going too fast. He doesn’t seem mad about being pushed, though, more so annoyed at the slide than anything, like he’s annoyed that it won’t let him go faster.
When he finally comes to an agonizingly squeaky stop at the bottom, he huffs in disappointment and locks eyes with Reki. There’s something fierce and determined in his eyes that makes Reki’s heart race before Langa suddenly starts clambering back up the slide as fast as he can. Reki lets out a shriek and takes off running when Langa reaches the top much faster than he anticipated, their laughter echoing around the park as he hastily scrambles across the equipment and jumps down into the loose gravel with Langa right on his trail.
Time seems to slip away from him as he runs, and it feels like they play for hours—chasing each other until their legs hurt, eventually collapsing into a tired heap and wrestling at the edge of the playground. The small pebbles leave little imprints on their skin as they squirm and laugh and kick at each other’s feet, and it’s fun— playing with Langa— really fun. Maybe the most fun he’s ever had.
Before he knows it, it’s already almost dark, the setting sun casting shadows across the playground and trees that surround it in a way that’s usually a little bit spooky. He feels oddly okay, though—with Langa there—almost okay enough to make him wanna stay rather than head home. But he’s gotta go home or his mom will worry, so he nudges Langa’s shoulder.
“I gotta go home for dinner soon,” he says; then, because he really doesn't wanna leave Langa just yet, “Do you, um… do you wanna come with? My mom wouldn't mind or anything, she always makes extra."
Langa looks at him eagerly, like he’s about to say yes, before his face falls a little. “I’m supposed to wait here for my dad,” he says, toes digging into the rocks and burying his feet slightly.
“Oh… well that’s okay!" Reki tries to hide his disappointment behind a smile. "Next time maybe?"
That seems to perk Langa up. He nods, hopeful, and something warm and fluttery settles in Reki's stomach.
Friendship, probably.
The next time Reki sees Langa, he’s sitting on the playground equipment with his legs dangling off the edge. And he’s wearing different shoes.
“You’re wearing shoes,” Reki points out first, ‘cause he was kinda under the impression Langa takes his shoes off the first chance he gets, but Langa nods, albeit a little sadly. “What happened to your other ones?”
Langa frowns down at his feet while Reki takes a seat beside him, then taps his new shoes together a few times. “My mom thinks someone at school took them by accident.”
Ah.
Reki's leg gets a bit jittery, bouncing in place, 'cause that’s what Kamata-sensei always says will happen if you don't put your name on your shoes, and– and Reki knew it. He knew it, but he forgot to tell Langa.
Clearing his throat a little, he nudges Langa in the side. “Maybe you should put your name on these ones… y’know, so no one takes them again? On the back like mine, see?” He angles his foot so Langa can see, and Langa nods very solemnly in agreement.
“That’s a good idea, Reki. I like these, I don’t want to lose them too.”
The slight praise makes Reki’s cheeks warm, so he waves it off as best he can, saying, “Oh, w-well, that’s just what my teacher says,” before turning his attention back to the shoes, zeroing in on the color almost instantly. They’re a light purple—almost like the sky when the sun sets over the park—and even though the laces are still not tied quite right, Reki likes them. "Pretty…” he says under his breath, then glances up to find Langa a bit pink. “Ah, um– the shoes,” he clarifies, and Langa quickly nods, ‘cause of course Langa knew he meant the shoes. What else would he have meant? Tucking his hands between his thighs, Reki huffs, “Anyway,” then waits until the color fades from Langa’s cheeks to ask him what he wants to do.
“We could play tag again,” Reki suggests, “or play on the slide, or the swings, or–” And he points to a very climbable-looking tree with wide branches that he’s been thinking about climbing for a few weeks. “We could see who can climb the highest on that tree.”
Humming slightly, Langa glances around the park until his eyes catch on the swing set. “Maybe… swing?”
“Okay!” Reki grins as he pulls Langa up, ushering him over to the large metal structure. “I’ll push you!”
Langa’s eyebrows knit together as Reki sits him down on one of the swings, and it creaks loudly under his weight. “Are you sure, Reki? I can tell you want to climb the tree.”
“Don’t worry,” Reki assures him. “It makes those sounds all the time. And we can climb the tree next time!” He likes to swing anyway, plus his mom might get mad if he ends up needing a bath before dinner two nights in a row. “Do you like to go high?”
Langa thinks for a few seconds before slowly nodding, and Reki raises an eyebrow, ‘cause Langa did say he didn’t leave any friends behind back home, and Reki’s pretty sure Gary the fish couldn’t have pushed Langa on a swing. Not that Langa’s never been on a swing before but– oh my god, what if Langa’s never been on a swing before?
“We can start low,'' he decides, putting his hands on Langa’s back and giving him a gentle shove forward. Langa’s hands tighten around the chains, but he smiles.
“Thanks, Reki,” he says, then, “I’m really happy you’re my friend.”
Ah– Reki misses his next push, but catches the one after when Langa starts wiggling his legs, trying to keep his momentum.
Friend.
Reki was kinda hoping they were friends.
“I’m, um– r-really happy you’re my friend too,” he manages, already smiling when Langa looks back and meets his smile with one of his own.
“Really? You want to be my friend too?”
Shrinking down into the neck of his hoodie, Reki nods, “I want to,” cheeks flushed with his nose and smile still peeking out over the fabric. He misses the next few pushes again, but Langa doesn’t seem to mind, and after a few seconds, he asks, “Since we’re friends… do you think we could, like… talk about stuff?”
Langa tilts his head back again, and his hair shifts slightly into his eyes when Reki finally remembers to keep pushing him. “What kind of stuff?”
“I dunno, like… stuff we like? Like dinosaurs, or what it’s like in space, or– um, snowboarding, or whatever other things you like too?”
“Oh!” Langa nods. “We can talk about stuff, Reki. I like dinosaurs and space too.”
So, as Reki pushes Langa—a little higher each time—they talk about dinosaurs, and what it’s like in space, and snowboarding, and the little sandwiches Langa’s mom makes that are his favorite. Langa even pushes Reki for a little while, which is nice. He doesn’t have to, but he says he wants to, and it makes Reki’s insides feel all jumbled and warm.
The feeling lingers well into the evening, and only starts to dissipate once Langa’s dad shows up in the middle of them playing hide and seek, ‘cause that means it’s almost time to go home, and Reki doesn’t wanna stop playing with his new friend just yet.
“Langa! Your dad is here!” He yells anyway, and Langa pokes his head out from the tree he was hiding behind, sticking out his tongue when Reki whines, “I knew you were hiding over there!”
With a soft chuckle, Hasegawa-san takes a seat on the nearby bench and gives them five more minutes, so Reki runs over to Langa as fast as he can.
“I won,” Langa says when Reki gets close enough. He’s a little breathless from running, but he doesn’t hesitate to reach up and flick Langa’s forehead.
“Only ‘cause your dad showed up. I would have found you,” he insists, but Langa just giggles back at him. “Come on, you know I would have!”
“Nuh-uh.”
“Dude!”
They bicker and poke at each other a little while longer until Langa’s dad calls his name and Langa finally admits, “Yeah, you would have,” shyly averting his gaze to the ground and taking a few quick steps around Reki as Reki pumps his fist in triumph. But before Langa can get too far, Reki remembers something, quickly turning and latching onto Langa's wrist.
“Ah– wait!” He tugs Langa close again and lowers his voice. “Before you go, do you wanna make a secret handshake? A bunch of kids at school have them, and it looks really fun, and–”
“Really?” Langa cuts him off, eyes already sparkling with interest. “You want to have a secret handshake? With me?”
“That’s the cool thing for friends to do, right?”
Langa nods, “It sounds cool.” So, Reki checks to make sure Hasegawa-san isn't looking, then holds up his hand for a high five, then a fist bump, which Langa enthusiastically returns.
“Is that it?” Langa asks, and Reki hums, tapping at his chin.
“I guess so. Maybe we can add to it when we think of stuff?”
Langa nods again, then glances to where his dad is waiting. “I’ll ask if I can come over sometime soon, okay?” Then he gives a little wave, “Bye Reki!” and runs off, tripping over his shoelaces every step of the way until his dad finally hoists him up onto his shoulders.
“Bye, Langa!” Reki calls after them. “See you tomorrow!”
He realizes after he says it, though, that tomorrow feels a little further than he’d like.
Unfortunately for Reki, “tomorrow” ends up being even further than he initially thought, because Langa’s not at the park the next day, or the day after. Frankly, he’d kinda forgotten that Langa hadn’t actually been at the park every day; that they hadn’t actually been going there together every day, forever.
The next time Langa is there, though, Langa almost cries, tackling Reki into a hug that knocks the air from his lungs and apologizing over and over because his mom made him stay home and do chores. Reki gags at the mention of chores, then squeezes Langa back just as tight and tells him it’s okay. They’re still friends even if they don’t see each other every day. And they don't—not every day anyway—but it's okay, mostly, just like Reki said it would be.
Today, though, today it's not okay. Today, Reki's gotta see Langa. Honestly, if Langa's not at the park, Reki doesn't know what he'll do, ‘cause he saw something amazing on his way home from school and he's not gonna be able to sleep until he tells Langa about it. So, instead of playing on his own, finding a way to pass the time, he waits anxiously at the entrance to the park, bouncing a bit as he stares down the street, crossing his fingers and toes and hoping and hoping that Langa will show up.
Finally, finally, he sees blue hair on the horizon, and he takes off running to meet Langa halfway.
“Langa!” He says breathlessly, grinning from ear to ear. “Langa, I saw the coolest thing today.” He pulls Langa over to the curb and sits him down, then tells him about the two high school students he saw skateboarding on his way there. He knows he’s talking too fast, but Langa seems just as excited as he does, pulling his knees up to his chest and looking at Reki wide-eyed as he talks.
He tells Langa all about the two guys. One with long pink hair and a lot of piercings, which his mom probably wouldn’t like, but Reki thought was pretty cool, and the other with short green hair, kinda like Langa’s–
“My hair isn't green,” Langa interjects, and Reki groans.
"I know, but it was short and flowy and looked cool like yours does, that's all." Reki waves it off, then tells Langa, who's now a little pink in the cheeks, about the jumps—the ollies. That's what he heard the green-haired guy call them, and it was so cool.
It looked like they were flying.
"I wanna try skateboarding," he says, and Langa’s nodding before Reki even has the chance to say, "Wanna try it with me?"
However, the first time Reki shows up to the park hoisting a big backpack that’s almost bigger than him, complete with two skateboards that he got from one of his neighbors and all the padding he could find, Langa looks more than a little apprehensive.
“I brought helmets,” Reki assures him, but Langa looks warily at the foam padding Reki definitely pulled out of an old couch at home.
“Are we gonna get hurt?” He asks, looking like he’d much rather just watch Reki do it.
“No way,” Reki says as he tapes some padding to his knees and elbows, and then does the same to Langa. “See! Totally safe.”
Langa still doesn’t look so sure, but he lets Reki shuffle him onto a skateboard anyway.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing, Reki?” Langa asks, when Reki says they should try to do an ollie, but Reki just shrugs.
“Not really, but it can’t be that hard, right? They just… jumped. You’re the snowboarder, maybe it’s the same?”
Desperately trying to keep his balance, Langa makes a face and whines, “It’s way more wobbly than a snowboard!”
But Reki puts his hands together and gives Langa the best puppy-dog eyes he can muster. “C’mon, please, dude? Show me how it’s done, Canada-style!”
And Langa groans, “Fine, fine... okay,” then looks hesitantly down at the board. “So, I just...”
“Here–” Bending down, Reki helps slide Langa’s feet into the positions he saw the other kids’ feet in. “Their feet were like this. And then, when they jumped, they got the board to come with them.”
“Okay,” says Langa, even though he doesn’t sound like he knows how to do that at all. Reki gives him an enthusiastic thumbs up, hoping it’ll help.
“You got this, dude!” He says, and Langa nods a few times before taking a deep breath.
“Okay, I’ll just... jump.” He jumps up from the board as he says it, and Reki watches in awe for a good half a second before he realizes the board is still on the ground.
“Ah– Langa!” He winces as Langa lands on one edge of the board and it goes shooting out from under him, sending him down hard onto the pavement, tearing both the pads and some of the skin off his knees.
“Ow, ow, ow,” Langa's eyes pinch together in pain as he sits up, slowly. Then, he glances down, gets one good, long look at the blood, and–
“Langa!” Reki rushes to catch him as he falls back onto the sidewalk, repeating his name and shaking his shoulders until he finally comes around.
"Reki?” Langa mumbles, frowning slightly.
“Yeah, man. You okay?”
“I don’t think… I like… looking at blood.” His eyes travel slowly down his legs again, then dart up to the sky. “Nope, nope, nope, I don’t like it, Reki. Reki, do something, I don’t like it.”
He does look a little pale, so Reki carefully inspects his arms and legs to make sure it’s nothing serious. But, thankfully, he's pretty sure it’s just the blood making Langa squeamish, because even though they’re a little bloody, there are only a few small scrapes on his knees and elbows.
“Lemme get some bandaids,” he says, leaving Langa's side for a minute to rifle through his backpack, coming back as fast as he can with a whole handful of them. Crouching down, he sets the bandaids aside and starts cleaning off Langa’s knees with some water from his water bottle and the end of his shirt. “I’m sorry, Langa,” he says quietly. “Those guys I saw made it look so easy, y’know… I didn’t mean for you to get hurt.”
Langa nods. “I know, Reki. It's okay.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Reki asks, and Langa nods again. “Okay, well I’ll hold your hand next time if you want, if you even wanna try again, I mean.”
“Okay.” Langa smiles a little as Reki plasters the colorful bandaids all over his skin. “I do want to try again. It was fun.”
“Really?” Reki looks up, surprised. “You liked it? Even though you fell?"
"Mhm," Langa says, and Reki rubs at his nose, smiling a little sheepishly.
"I still kinda wanna try too… It looked so cool. You looked so cool!” He helps Langa back to his feet, and then Langa nudges him encouragingly toward the board.
“Okay then, your turn,” he says, and Reki grins, equally nervous and excited as he takes a hesitant step up onto the skateboard. It wobbles a bit beneath him, but it’s no wonder Langa wants to try again, because it’s thrilling when Reki finally takes a deep breath and jumps, even when he ends up faceplanting into the pavement a few seconds after. Something inside him wants to keep trying, again and again until he gets it.
And they do—try anyway—for the rest of the afternoon, though they don’t manage to land any ollies. After a while, they end up just pushing each other back and forth along the street because their limbs ache too much from all the trying, eventually collapsing beside the swing set once the sun starts to go down.
“Man, I think I love skateboarding!” Reki laughs up at the sky, back pressed against the loose gravel. It hurts to laugh, but, oddly, in a good way. “We’re gonna keep trying, right? Until we’re super amazing skaters?”
“Yeah," says Langa, rocks shifting beneath him as he nods. "I want to do this forever." And Reki couldn't agree more.
"Me too..." he says. "Well, as long as we get better at it anyway, 'cause this hurts!"
Langa giggles, and nods some more; then, after a few moments of silence, "Do you think I could, um– come over to your house, Reki?” And despite the sore muscles, Reki rolls his head to face Langa’s and grins.
“Today? Your dad is okay with it?”
“He just said to call him. Can I call him when we get there?"
Nodding, Reki slowly pulls himself up with a groan, then helps Langa to his feet too, keeping a tight hold on his hand as they gather all their belongings and begin heading down the street toward home. It feels like it's taking an eternity with how slow they’re moving, bruised and definitely in for an earful. And walking alone, maybe, Reki might have minded—the longer trip or the silence aside from their shoes tapping on the sidewalk and the things moving around in his bag. But, interestingly, he doesn’t think he minds one bit with Langa shuffling along beside him.
“Langa?” He says, breaking the silence and squeezing Langa’s hand a little tighter as they walk. “You’re my best friend, right?” Because it really feels like that, even just like this, even when they're not talking or playing, but he doesn’t really wanna call Langa his best friend when he introduces him to his mom without knowing for sure.
And Langa does look a little surprised at first, so it's probably a good thing Reki asked, but there's a smile on his face and pink dusting his cheeks when he says, “I want to be. Is that okay?”
"Mhm!" Reki hums, relieved. "I want you to be too." Then, he remembers how Langa wanted to skateboard forever. "Would you wanna, maybe, be like... best friends forever too? Just like the skating? And I mean forever, okay? Like a billion years from now."
Langa's smile widens, even as he stumbles over his laces and bumps clumsily into Reki’s shoulder. “Yeah," he says happily, "I want to be best friends forever, Reki.”
And Reki knows forever is a long time, but, with Langa? With Langa, he’d probably enjoy every minute.