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It was so weird, to be both the worst in ability and the most cared for member of a team.
Reki knew he was the worst ever since that breakdown he had, when he had to come to terms with that fact that he wasn’t ever going to be even close to their level. He never expected to beat or even skate against the likes of Joe or Cherry, or even Miya, but Shadow and Langa were a surprise that at first were not welcome. Then, he learned that comparing himself to them was no use, and he was glad his friends always gave him a spot at their side despite his inferior abilities as a whole.
But figuring out he was the most cared for member… that took a while longer to show.
He and Langa had had the amazing yet stupid idea of going out to skate in the rain. They had to train for the ‘S’ competition that weekend and while Reki knew he had no chances, he wouldn’t just give up and give in - he would do his best and have fun in the process. And Langa obviously was no different (although he had high chances of winning). Cherry, Joe, Shadow, Miya, they were all competing, and even Adam and his lackey Snake were into it too. Although now they had rules, to make sure people didn’t hurt each other all that much. Skate was supposed to be fun after all.
So there they went, heading off to train through the town in the rain. They stayed up late under the falling water and normally that wouldn’t be an issue (Reki had trained countless times under the rain before), but a cold front was coming to Okinawa and while it wasn’t even cold for someone like Langa, it was enough to give Reki a few shivers.
And in the next morning, high fever.
So, he caught a cold a day before the competition, so what? He would manage to get himself up there and win against all odds! If… he could get out of bed. He was sweating, cold, shivering, his stomach was turning and the moment he sat up on his mattress, the world turned so hard he fell back and whined to himself in pain. His mother made a fuzz when she found out, somehow being convinced on not taking him to the hospital, but he felt awful nevertheless and couldn’t even stand up, let alone skate.
Not wanting to upset Langa, he sent him a message saying he had a few errands to do for his parents but that tomorrow he would be free, hoping that the cold would be gone by then.
How mistaken.
He woke up even worse on Sunday, his body aching, burning, weak, and he couldn’t keep his eyes open due to the constant sneezing and coughing. He tried to stand, once again being met with the dizziest sight he had ever seen, before he laid down defeated and decided that no, he couldn’t go to the S today.
Reki grabbed his phone, sending Langa a message warning him he wouldn’t be able to go, that he had gotten some kind of flu and couldn’t get out of bed. He sent it to Joe as well, and Miya, so they would remove his name from the competition. He couldn’t even stand, he wouldn’t be able to compete.
From Joe, he got an ‘okay, feel better!’. From Miya, an angry cat meme. From Langa, a ‘I’m coming over’. No questions asked.
Reki didn’t have the strength to tell him not to.
Not half an hour later, someone knocked on his door and he tried to make himself presentable although it was basically impossible. His hair was a mess and oily (he hadn’t been able to wash it in the last shower he took), his face was red and eyes all teary, he was constantly blowing his nose, a mess. Still he tried.
“Come in!”
“Reki” he heard, eyes meeting Langa’s as the boy made his way inside and closed the door behind him. He had his skate in hands, but he quickly put it down and walked over to the bed, sitting on the edge of it carefully. “You look awful…”
“Yeah… not a good idea to… train in the rain…” he chuckled before he let out a loud sneeze, covering the snot with a tissue he grabbed near his head. “Damn… last time I got this sick… I don’t even remember…”
“So you’re definitely not going tonight” Langa mumbled and it wasn’t a question, but Reki shook his head anyway. “Not even to watch?”
“I can’t get out of bed, I get all… dizzy” he sighed and rubbed his teary eyes, after blowing his nose a few times. “Don’t worry though I will watch it on my phone… and I’ll cheer for you!”
“Hm…” Langa mumbled and reached for his own phone, looking at it for a moment before typing something. Their eyes met again and Reki send him a quizful look. “I took my name out.”
“You what?!”
“I took my name out of the competition” Langa shrugged and Reki opened his mouth to complain. “There will be others, and it’s not the same when you’re not there.”
“But… Langa… we are fine, we are not fighting anymore, I’ll watch you and I’m sick” he whined, he liked seeing Langa skate and he liked cheering for him. Langa however didn’t seem too upset, smiling at Reki.
“We can cheer for our friends from here, together” he said, moving a bit closer and laying down on the bed, making Reki move to the side to accommodate him.
“Langa you’ll get sick!”
“No I won’t” he shrugged and opened the app on his phone, checking for his name and refreshing the page until it was gone from the list. “There. Now we can make bets on who will win.”
“You were going to win” Reki pouted and frowned but Langa just laughed and nudged him on the shoulder, making him giggle as well.
“My bet is on Cherry. He has been training really hard” Langa said, laying closer to Reki and keeping his phone between them, looking at the rooster. Reki stared at the names on the screen for a while before chuckling.
“I’m going to Miya. Although it depends on Adam’s mood.”
“I think he is happy, and has been for a while. So…”
“So Miya. I hope he wins.”
Langa and Reki looked at each other and giggled, before Reki turned away to sneeze far from Langa’s face and whine as he wiped his nose clean.
They spent the rest of the afternoon watching videos of cool tricks to try once Reki was better from his cold, and once the night fell and the competition started, they headed to their app and watched the opening act, this time performed by Joe. During the opening, he dedicated it to Reki, who was sick, and everyone cheered, making the sick boy’s eyes tear up a little. After that, the groups were divided and the competition started.
They weren’t three rounds in when Reki’s cold took over him and he fell asleep, his phone falling between them, his head leaning against Langa’s shoulder. Langa stared at him surprised and blushed, but then smiled and moved closer, pulling the blankets up and shyly kissing his head.
He turned the volume of the race down, but couldn’t help himself of watching Reki sleep, the rhythm of his breath seemingly more interesting than any skate race he had ever seen.
He too fell asleep before the competition ended, and neither won the bet, but they didn’t mind.
And Reki woke up feeling better the next day, so that was always a plus!