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Langa hopped off his board, having opted to ride it as opposed to his bike to go to Reki’s house. He was spending the night tonight, his bag all packed with clothes and necessities. His call with Cherry had made him nervous though. He had a horrible crush on Reki, but he wasn’t sure if Reki felt the same. He’d noticed how jumpy Reki was, how quick to blush, but he was normally like that… right? It had become a lot more apparent
~Langa: I’m here.
~Reki: Cool, come to the workshop.
Langa walked around the back, carrying his board with him. The wheels still warm from the long ride over. He gave a tiny knock on the door.
“Come in!” Reki shouted, so Langa let himself into the shop. Reki was hunched over his desk, phone playing music softly. It was from an anime they liked about two super heroes and other heroes they worked with, Langa recognized the voice of his favorite character.
“What’re you working on?” Langa asked, setting his stuff down and pulling up the other stool. The workshop was cozy, filled with warmth even after all the rain earlier, Reki looked up a bit as Langa sat down. Those amber eyes looked tired as he scanned over his current project.
“I was getting a new board ready actually,” He moved his hands away to show him. It was white right now, he hadn’t started painting but he’d drawn on it. Reki was a wonderful artist, he had multiple pages in his sketchbook that were just ideas for this board. He'd been making sketches in class, letting Langa see some of them. Frequently Reki got in trouble for his drawing, but it never stopped him. He was so passionate about it that no amount of reprimand would keep him from getting this design finalized.
“Who’s it for?”
“Shadow, he wanted a second board. Figured I’d make it like- pretty but dangerous kinda vibe since he likes flowers so much. So I looked up dangerous flowers and the ones he uses as distractions at S.”
“Oh is it just for everyday skating? Not for S?”
“Up to him, but he even offered to pay me for it! It’s my first commission.” Reki beamed at him. Ecstatic at the idea of making money off something that gave him genuine joy.
“That’s amazing!” Langa put his hand on Reki’s back, “It looks amazing so far, Reki.” He felt Reki stiffen under his touch, like he’d been doing a lot recently. “Did-“
“Langa, I’m hungry, you want a snack? Let’s go get a snack.” He stood up, the stool almost falling over. Langa stood slowly, examining his hand, a little hurt at how Reki reacted. Was he wrong about thinking maybe Reki liked him back? He grabbed his things, Reki’d forgotten his phone, so he picked that up too. The house was silent, dark save for a few small night lights in the halls and the light from the kitchen. The night lights were more for the twins then for anybody, but they were tiny beacons that made the dark a little easier to get through for everyone in the Kyan home.
“I’ll meet you in my room. I’ll get some snacks.” Reki walked down the hall, putting himself on snack duty. Langa set his bag down, tossing Reki’s phone on the bed. Gently, he rested his board against a wall, making sure the wheels didn't touch it. He opened his overnight bag, getting his pajamas and phone charger out. His stuff had been neatly folded in the bag, until he ruffled through it of course. Langa, with pajamas in hand, left the room. Going to the bathroom to change.
He shut the door, tugging off his jeans. From his own curiosity, he pulled up his boxers to inspect his leg. There was a massive purple bruise from when they were skating the other night, Langa had bailed hard against a railing, he’d limped out the pain but it was very tender to the touch still. He pulled on the sweatpants he brought to sleep in, changing out his shirt quickly. Reki had gotten him a thin headband to keep his hair from his face, and Langa used it tonight, tired of his fluffy hair at the moment. When he returned to the bedroom, Reki was inspecting his board. He looked up quickly as Langa walked through the door.
“Nice hair.” A proud smile on his face knowing that Langa actually used the headband. “Do you want to watch a movie?” Reki went back to looking at the board. Langa sat down on the bed, tucking his legs up. He looked at Reki’s phone, and while Reki was distracted, took a picture of himself. Literally the second he took it, Reki stretched and started to turn. Langa chucked the phone down.
“Uhh sure, what movie?” Langa flopped onto his side, spreading out, pretending he hadn't totally been taking a selfie on Reki’s phone. He rolled onto his back, looking upside-down at Reki.
“Wanna watch something scary?” Reki looked up at him. Then away immediately. He instead got up and went to his closet, changing into some comfier clothing. They’d seen each other shirtless a few times, especially since they’d been to the beach a couple times. Reki was more comfortable changing in front of others than Langa was, hence why he always ducked into the bathroom.
“Depends.” Langa responded, pulling his phone out from his pocket. He pulled up his texts with Cherry about this situation (because he’d asked for advice before). Most of them included how he should be bold, make statements, hints, anything.
“On what?” Reki furrowed his brows, looking back over at Langa who was still laying on his back.
“Are you going to hold my hand if I get scared?” Reki’s eyes got massive, his face seared red.
“UHHH,” He rubbed the back of his neck, fiddling with anything he could touch. Tugging his shirt, removing his headband, tying his sleep shorts, anything; ”I CAN-“, he cleared his throat, “if uh-if you need it.” Reki gathered his laptop from his cluttered little desk. He waited for Langa to sit upright before sitting next to him on the bed. They didn’t like scary movies, both felt they’d be braver until stuff started happening. They could at least pretend to be brave while the plot was still being set up, characters introduced. But once there were actual scary things happening, both boys shifted uncomfortably in their respective spots on the bed.
A short while through the movie, Reki reached for Langa's hand.
“Reki?” Langa whispered, looking away from the screen at his friend, he hated scary movies. “Can we turn it off please?” His grip on Reki’s hand tightened when he heard the main character give a blood-curdling scream. He’d tucked his legs up tight to his face, burying his face against his knees. Without a word, Reki turned the movie off. Finding something else to watch that wasn’t this awful. Langa stayed tucked up, eventually pulling his hand away as he got more comfortable. Both didn’t talk much about the movie, because it was still fresh in their minds, Reki and Langa left their current show on; sitting in silence and watching it. Growing sleepier by the minute. Langa rested his head on Reki’s shoulder, nuzzling up to him a bit. Reki didn’t say anything, just silently placed his head on Langa’s.
After they’d calmed down, both boys decided it was time to go to bed. Reki helped Langa make a bed on the floor, so he could sleep down there, seeing as the bed wasn’t very accommodating to two people. Reki had also given him a pile of blankets to sleep with since Langa was practically shivering while they made the bed. When it was done, Reki leaned off the edge of his bed, looking down at Langa.
"Do you wanna skate after breakfast?” Reki whispered. Langa was on his back, he looked back up at Reki, ignoring the buzz from his phone from where it laid on his chest (most likely his mom).
“Sure… do you maybe wanna go get lunch after?” Langa sat up. Reki knew his pickup line, and it seemed no matter how many times he asked it, while Reki’s answer didn’t change, they’d always go for lunch as friends instead.
“Yeah!” Reki smiled. “Joe had a trick he wanted me to practice so I gotta work on it.”
“I want to see it then.” Langa propped his head on the bed, looking up at Reki. He’d wrapped a blanket around himself, like a cocoon. They were both touchy people, but yet, Reki didn’t know if he should right now. He fought the urge to take Langa’s hair out of the headband and play with it, the light colored hair was gorgeous, even while being held from his face.
“Of course, of course.” Those sleepy blue eyes were so pretty.
They chatted softly for awhile, seeming to get a little extra boost of energy now that they were separated by a bed. Skateboarding tricks, ideas for new boards. Reki did most of it, and Langa just sat there with a tiny smile on his face listening to him. They eventually fell asleep, both boys finally falling silent. The walls were thin, but Reki’s room was further from the other rooms which was kind of nice.
They both slept rather soundly until Reki woke up from a nightmare. It was a mix of the movie they’d seen and Adam. They were racing in their beef, and he’d just done the Love Hug yet suddenly pulled a giant axe on Reki. He woke up with a pained yelp, looking around and nearly falling from the bed. The darkness of his room, seeing the posters and his comforting things around him. He looked down, at Langa. Who was rubbing his eyes, looking confused while laying on his back. Reki knew it was a dream, since Adam hadn’t been back to S after losing to Langa, but his heart pounding and heaving chest really weren’t helping him believe it.
“What’s wrong?” Langa’s voice was hoarse. When he saw the big tears in Reki’s eyes, he snapped into alertness. “Reki are you okay?”
“Yeah,” He sniffed, “bad dream.”
“Do you want me to get you some water?”
“No. I don’t want to be alone.” He shut his eyes tight. “Langa get up here. Please?” Without hesitation, Langa crawled up into the bed. It barely fit the two of them, but they made it work. Reki curled up to Langa, forgetting how awkward it’d be in the morning for now. Langa was comforting and that’s all that mattered. He was warm, he smelt good, the hand running up and down his back was soothing. They were all tangled up before long, talking softly until they fell back asleep. They slept nice and sound the rest of the night. Curled together on the tiny bed. Reki snored softly while Langa was practically using him like a body pillow. Secretly, it was a dream come true.
******
Masae tapped softly on the door in the morning, sliding it open as gently as possible. She was going to say good morning and wake the boys for breakfast. But when she saw them, perfectly at peace and snuggled together, she didn’t have the heart to. She shut the door as softly as possible. Wishing she’d had her phone to take a picture. Reki was laying on his back with Langa’s head on his chest. They were close and warm. Langa stirred first, hugging Reki a little closer before he fell back to sleep. Letting out a big sigh of contentment.
They both didn’t wake up until late morning. Reki froze. Langa had rolled over in his sleep, his neck barely covered by his hair as he gripped the pillow. He was still sleeping, breathing metered and slow. How could he have forgotten?! Langa was sleeping next to him! He’d ASKED HIM TO!
Reki felt his face heat up as he resisted the urge to pull Langa closer to him. Not that there was any way to be closer right now. Also Langa was a bed-hog. Reki was practically shoved against the wall, while Langa was laid comfortably out.
“Langa,” Reki touched his arm, rolling over a bit to wake him up, “dude get up.”
“No.” Langa responded, nuzzling into his pillow more. It was precious. Langa liked to sleep, while Reki usually never got this much on a normal night. Reki wasn’t going to force him to wake up, instead, he grabbed his phone from where he’d stashed it under the pillow. He wanted to text Joe, but after the phone call last night, he knew it was better to wait awhile. So he played a game on his phone instead. A few minutes later, Langa stirred. He rolled over and snuggled back up to Reki, then realizing what he did, he woke up rather quickly. Both were blushing horribly.
“Sleep good?” Reki asked, Langa stayed still for a moment.
“Mn.” Langa scooted away, getting up and grabbing his phone. He sat down on his little cot. It was 11:21 in the morning, and Langa could go back to bed honestly. He hated mornings. The sleeping next to Reki part he did like though.
“Are you hungry?” Langa rubbed his eyes, nodding his head. “Cool, lets see if mom has food ready.” Reki unplugged his phone, hopping up out of bed. Langa got up too, stretching and following Reki out of the room. When he opened the door, Langa ducked down the hall to go to the bathroom, while Reki went straight to the kitchen.
Reki’s mom had left a tiny note on the kitchen table, since everyone else had gone out to do some errands. “There’s food in the fridge, hope you boys slept well. -Mom.” He left it where he found it, going to the fridge. There wasn’t anything already made. Breakfast had been demolished by the very full house.
“Langa!” He shouted through the house.
“What?” Langa sat down in one of the kitchen chairs, moving sluggishly. He was itching his back as he watched Reki.
“Wanna just get lunch? We don’t have anything prepped right now and I don’t want to cook.”
“Sure.”
“I’ll grab some snacks for later.” Langa stood up again, walking back to the bedroom to get his stuff. He grabbed his change of clothes and tooth brush. Neither wanted to mention the cuddle session they’d had. He brushed his teeth, barely awake still. Reki was changing his room, tugging on a pair of jeans by the time Langa walked in. He yanked off the shirt he was wearing to sleep in, tossing it in his hamper. He tugged on a white shirt, then a purple hoodie.
“What’s the weather today?” Langa asked. He had only brought a t-shirt for today. The jacket he’d worn yesterday had gotten soaked and wasn’t dry yet (even though it had stopped raining by the time he got halfway to Reki’s).
“Uhh let me check.” Reki pulled his phone from his pocket, checking the weather for the day. It wasn’t a typical warm day, it was cool out. “It’s gonna be cool out, like 60 out.” It was also not supposed to rain for awhile, not until the morning if they were lucky.
“Could I,” Langa rubbed his neck, a tick he’d adopted from Reki without knowing, “borrow a hoodie then?” Reki turned back to his closet, grabbing the first one he saw: his favorite yellow one. He handed it to Langa, who easily slid it on. In a way, they matched.
“Let me brush my teeth-“
“Do you want to spend the night at my house tonight?”
“Let me ask my mom.” After brushing his teeth, Reki called his mom, easily getting permission since it wasn’t a school night. They finished getting ready, together, they rode into town towards their favorite ramen shop. Eating a nice lunch before going off to skate.
The skate park was empty, like usual. It was basically just their park at this point. They set their stuff down, doing a tiny bit of stretching beforehand. The entire time they were here, it seemed like every skater on Okinawa steered clear of it. Not that they were complaining. It gave them time to just be together, without worrying what the rest of the world thought about it.
“What trick did Joe want you to try?”
“Oh! Uhhh,” Reki’s eyes got wide, and he turned away from Langa, rubbing his neck, “I can’t really remember. Kinda want to warm up first, might remember then!” The trick was just a ploy… Joe had told him to finally ask Langa out. Langa shrugged his shoulders, setting his board down. He got his foot comfortable, then started skating. Reki watched, so nervous all the sudden. Watching Langa made him wish he brought his sketchbook so he could draw him.
Just as he got comfortable watching him, Langa bailed out hard. He slowly sat up as Reki walked over.
“You okay?” Reki asked, kneeling down. Langa was holding his wrist. “Not broken right?”
“No, just landed hard on it.” Langa groaned. As long as he didn’t draw blood or scrape his skin too bad, he wasn’t worried. Bruises took less time to heal from.
“Want me to kiss it better?” Reki asked without thinking. Mom always said that to his sisters, and him when he was little, it was normal to him. Mom had always asked when they were hurt, and it always did the trick. From dealing with the twins, it was better than any bandaid in their little eyes.
“Yes.” Langa immediately stuck his wrist out to Reki, who had just realized what he’d said. Reki was bold, he steeled himself, looking Langa in the eye; and kissed his wrist. They both were so red in the face. “Reki-“
“Langa, do you want to go on a date with me?” Langa’s eyes got massive, and he nodded his head. A smile coming to his face. Reki was one of the very few people who could get a smile from Langa easily. “You do?!”
“Yes!”
*******
When they finally were done practicing, they rode to Langa’s house. It was awkward. They didn’t know what to say. Langa used his key to open the front door, letting Reki in first. They’d finally decided to be more than just friends. Yet, neither were sure about what that would mean. For Reki, who’d only ever looked at girls romantically before, it was a big deal. He’d never looked at another boy before and got butterflies like he did when looking at Langa.
“Do you want to have another night in?”
“Sure.”
“Langa!” Ms. Hasegawa walked into the room, dressed for work. “Oh! Hello Reki! Are you boys going to be okay? I won’t be back until morning.”
“We’ll be fine.” Langa gave her a hug before she left, and she looked nervously at the two before leaving.
“She likes me right?” Reki followed Langa to the kitchen to get snacks. They were going to have a night in, again.
“Yeah, she just worries.” His mom didn’t keep many snacks in the house, just because it was the two of them. So Langa found some stuff to eat and they took it to the other room. They both went to the living room, eating before deciding they both needed showers. Reki went first, changing into his pajamas so he’d be more comfortable. Langa did the same thing when Reki was done, though he did put that yellow hoodie back on. It smelt like Reki. Once clean, they both sat together on the couch, with a respectful distance between them.
Langa closed the distance within a thirty minute span. Both were trying to play it a little cool, not wanting to panic. But it was so hard not to. These feelings had risen almost out of nowhere. One day it was just different (after their big fight). Now, they could barely look at each other without blushing.
“So, what do we want to do for our first date?” Reki reached for Langa’s hand, giving it the tiniest squeeze as their fingers locked together. He rested his head on Langa’s shoulder, who set his head on Reki’s.
“I don’t know, I’m just happy to spend time with you.”
“Should this count-?”
“If you want it to.” They were both nervous, this was so scary to them. They wanted to be more than friends, but neither wanted to ruin what was already there since what was already there was pretty great. “I wouldn’t mind if it was.”
“Have you ever liked guys before?”
“Never really liked anyone before.”
“Surely you had people practically on your heels trying to date you though.”
“Nope. I didn’t talk much and people didn’t like me because of that.” He got quiet for a minute. “You’re the first crush I’ve ever had.”
“Me?!” Reki pulled away to look at Langa, dumbfounded. Langa glanced down at his now empty hand, and stared at Reki. “I, Reki Kyan, am the first person you’ve ever had a crush on!?” Langa nodded. Reki had a massive smile on his face. “No offense, but you have a horrible taste in guys.”
“I disagree.” Langa pulled him closer, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Maybe I have a soft spot for redheads.”
“DUDE!” Reki’s red face was back, he tenderly touched the spot Langa had kissed. “Did you just kiss me?”
“You kissed me ea-“
“Your wrist!”
“Did you not like me kissing you?”
“Well…. I didn’t say that.”
“Can I do it again?” Reki’s turn to be quiet. He gave a tiny nod. They’d forgotten their show by now. Langa gave him another kiss on the cheek, followed by several more. It was a series of them. And finally brave, he gave him a light peck on the lips. When he pulled away from Reki’s face, they both practically looked sunburnt. Neither knew what to say. It was a lot. Especially for something new. That they really hadn’t discussed before.
“I’ve never kissed anyone before.” Langa whispered, breaking the silence. He stayed close to Reki.
“Me neither.” Reki bit his lip, knowing he’d have to tell Joe. “Uh, do you want any more water?”
“Sure.”
“I’ll get it then.” He grabbed their water glasses, going into the kitchen. Langa sat still as stone on the couch. He couldn’t hide his smile though. Not even by covering his face. He reached for his phone, sending Cherry a text. Updating him on this turn of events.
~Langa: Cherry!
~Langa: I kissed Reki!
How soon Cherry would respond… unknown. But unbeknownst to Langa, Reki had texted Joe, and got a surprisingly fast response of: Good job kid. Talk later. Both were ecstatic. Neither knew what to say now though. Sitting together in silence, pretending to watch their show. Lucky this was just a rewatch binge, but how could they focus on it?! Langa leaned against Reki, getting tired.
“What was that trick Joe wanted you to try?” Langa asked again.
“Well,” Reki chuckled a bit, a massive smile on his face, “he wanted me to finally man up and ask you out.”
“Liar.”
“I’ll call him right now and prove it.”
“Do it.” Langa smiled back.
Reki called Joe, putting the phone on speaker. There was some annoyed muttering in the background. A rough voice answered: “What kid? I told you I’d call you later.” Kojiro’s voice was awfully hoarse, like he’d been yelling (that was in fact NOT what he was doing).
“Langa doesn’t believe me that you said I should just ask him out.”
“I’m on speaker right?”
“Yeah.”
“Langa, he asked me for advice, just like Kaoru gave you advice,” They heard a smack sound, “Ow! That hurt asshole!”
“Reki wasn’t supposed to know fool!” Kaoru hissed.
“Wait… we both asked you for help?”
“Yep. Bye.” Kaoru hung up the phone. Both began laughing. They hugged on each other, it was hysterical to them. Cherry and Joe had become an older brother/dad relationship with them, and Miya. Who actually called Cherry and Joe ‘mom and dad’ since their trip to the beach. They didn’t love the nicknames, but they never told him to stop. In this case, it was two young boys asking questions of two men who had a somewhat similar circumstance once.
“Didn’t I say I asked him?”
“Yeah you did.”
“I can’t believe you asked Cherry.”
“I can’t believe you asked Joe.” They kept chatting, getting snuggled up close on the couch. “Guess they were both right.” Reki had laid down on his back, and Langa was on top of him.
“Yeah….”
“You ready for bed?”
“Not yet,” Reki rubbed his back, “I’m comfy right here.” Langa rubbed his face into Reki’s chest. Perfectly content. It was crazy how far Langa had come. When he first arrived on Okinawa, he was quiet and kept to himself. Now he practically was glued to Reki’s side, only leaving it to go home. He was touchy, almost always touching Reki in some way shape or form. A year ago, neither would’ve thought they’d be here.
After about an hour, they decided it was a good idea to go lay down in bed. They cleaned up the living room, putting their snacks and dishes away. Langa and Reki walked to his room, it was neater than Reki’s, just a tiny bit bigger. The bed was bigger for sure, and accommodated them more.
Both boys had already changed into their pajamas, Reki took his headband off, leaving it neatly on his bag. They took turns in the bathroom, each waiting patiently for the other on the bed. They usually shared a bed when they spent the night at Langa’s, because they didn’t have anything for him to sleep on that wasn’t a floor or couch. So he got comfy in the bed, nice and snuggled up under the thick comforter. Langa turned the light off before crawling in next to him, he looked tired as he settled down. Letting out a big sigh when he finally stopping moving.
They laid there, both scrolling their phones for a few minutes. Langa wanted to lay his head back on Reki’s chest, and very subtly set his phone down to do that. He closed his eyes, hearing Reki’s heartbeat speed up at he got comfortable again. Langa fell asleep quickly, face barely visible from being under the covers. Neither boy had a good sleep schedule, but Langa was in deep sleep within minutes it seemed. Reki was up for a while longer, finally setting his phone down and shutting his eyes. He rested a hand on Langa’s back, giving him the slightest squeeze.
*******
Close to ten in the morning, Langa’s mom returned home. The house was quiet, she figured the boys were gone. Just to be sure, she went to Langa’s room, knocking on the door before opening it. She saw what Masae had seen the morning prior: two teenage boys snuggled together in bed. Unlike Masae however, she had her phone. Gingerly she stepped into the room, taking a picture of them sleeping. They were precious. She practically ran from the room when she heard one of them give a big sigh.
Nanaka looked at the picture, then sent it to Reki’s mom (because yes, she asked for her number in case of emergencies). They both suspected something was going on with their sons, but waited for them to say something. Oliver would be proud, knowing his son was happy.
Langa woke up before Reki this time, neither had moved very much in their sleep. Langa’s cheek was all covered in marks from the fabric of Reki’s shirt. He shuffled away a bit, finally settling against a pillow. Reki rolled over, and Langa seized the moment to hold him instead. It was quiet, but he heard his mom’s footsteps too. She was getting ready to take a nap most likely. Usually when she had night shift that was her routine, she’d get home and take a couple hours nap and when she woke up would eat something. He fell back to sleep, spooning Reki. Maybe he should’ve locked the door. Not that they were doing anything of course. Neither ever had before-or at least Langa hadn’t. They’d only just kissed for the first time, the rest could come later. Whenever they decided they were ready for it.
By the time both boys woke up, they were groggy. Langa pouted when Reki got up to use the bathroom. Though he took his own turn after he got back. Both hesitantly crawled back into bed, loathing how fast their warm spots in the sheets disappeared. They laid close together, playing on their phones. Reki was on his back, while Langa laid on his belly; head propped against a pillow.
There was a soft knock, and Ms. Hasegawa opened the door softly. Neither moved, save to look at her.
“You two feeling okay? You’ve been in bed all day.”
“Yeah, we’re just hanging out. Reki was showing me something on his phone.” Langa responded.
“Okay! Just let me know if you need anything.” She shut the door, leaving them as they were.
“Can we cuddle a little more?” Langa asked, whispering. “Then we can get up.”
“Sure.” Reki hadn’t moved from laying on his back. Langa laid his head on Reki’s chest, cheek squished in the cutest way. He didn’t pretend to look at his phone, instead just putting his hand on Reki’s chest. Reki felt Langa gently rubbing his chest, and his face burned red at every touch. They stayed in bed for another thirty minutes, finally leaving the bedroom at 1:30. Langa walked into the kitchen almost immediately. His mom was eating lunch, a bento she’d picked up on her way home.
“How was work mom?” Langa asked as Reki followed him into the kitchen. Reki knew where the cups were and went for a glass of water.
“It was good! Not too crazy tonight.”
“That’s good.” She looked down as her phone buzzed, it was Reki’s mom. Finally responding to her message (three little girls, a husband, and grandma were a lot to handle). She gushed about how she saw them in Reki’s bed the morning before, how happy she was that the boys had each other. Nanako was in agreement with her. Neither mom was going to pressure their son into admitting anything. Instead, they happily texted back and forth. "What're you boys going to do today? It's supposed to rain all day again."
"Then we'll probably just hang out."
"That's good. Let me know when you're ready to go home Reki and we'll take you home, okay?"
"Yes ma'am!"