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If you asked Nanako Hasegawa, she would probably tell you that her son loved Reki from the moment they met.
Masae Kyan, on the other hand, would tell you that her son fell in love slowly. By the time he acknowledged his feelings for Langa, it was too late to turn back.
⚘⚘⚘
They meet when they’re six years old. Reki is taking a nosedive into the pavement at the same moment that Langa hops from the passenger seat of the moving van.
Langa is running as soon as his feet hit the ground, the two boys meeting in the middle of the street. Langa holds out a hand and Reki takes it. From this point forward, their lives will never be the same, but they don’t know it yet.
“That was really cool,” Langa says, his eyes big with wonder.
Reki grabs his skateboard from the ground and uses it to support his weight. “Falling on my face was cool?”
Langa’s cheeks warm with a rush of embarrassment. He quickly backtracks. “N-No, wait, um—“ he’s struggling to find the words he needs when Reki breaks into a laugh, bright and bold and full of life. It stuns Langa into silence.
“I’m just messing with you.” Reki sticks out his tongue and places his skateboard on the ground. “You wanna try? Bet you’ll fall in five seconds.”
Langa hesitates, staring at the board extended out to him before he finally concedes and accepts the challenge.
The skateboard meets the pavement and a moment later, Langa’s foot meets the board. He’s halfway down the street before he realizes it, the wind blowing through his hair, and it’s only when he hears the redhead yell, “Show off!” that he stops.
Reki is running toward him, an awed look on his face. “No fair! You didn’t tell me you’ve skateboarded before!”
Langa looks from Reki to the board and back again. “I haven’t,” he says simply.
Reki’s face scrunches together like he’s trying to discern the truth. “Beginners' luck,” he concludes.
“I’ve been snowboarding,” Langa says, staring at the skateboard instead of Reki. “My dad used to take me.”
Curiosity lightens Reki’s gaze before his expression twists into a smirk. “Betcha snowboarding didn’t teach you how to do this, though!” He brags before he grabs the board and proceeds to show off with the same skateboard trick that had landed him straight into the cement moments prior.
This time he lands the riding switch. He looks to Langa for praise.
Instead, Langa says, “Can you teach me?”
And there, in the middle of the street, a friendship is born.
⚘⚘⚘
“I’ve never seen Langa so happy,” Nanako admits. She glances out the window to where the boys are playing outside. Langa is on Reki’s skateboard, a bright smile plastered to his face.
Masae watches the boys laugh. “I was worried about Reki being lonely,” she says. Her heart swells with the love of a mother. “I don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
Nanako’s smile is soft as she meets Masae’s eyes. “I was worried this move would be hard on Langa. It looks like we both worried over nothing.”
Masae feels silly, having to hold back her tears, but she can’t help it—watching the way Reki is able to be himself with Langa—it’s all she’s ever wanted for her son. “We can’t help but worry,” she says with a quiet laugh. “It’s part of our job.”
Nanako nods in agreement before her gaze returns to the boys outside. “I should probably take Langa to get his own skateboard,” she muses. The boys have never had an issue with sharing, but it’s the first time in a long time that Nanako has seen a light in Langa’s eyes, and she wants nothing more than to see that light brighten.
Three days later, Langa gets his own board.
The result is a race down the street that has Masae and Nanako yelling at them to be careful. Reki wins by a second.
⚘⚘⚘
The first time they build a blanket fort in Reki’s room, they stay up until two in the morning, their small cots side by side on the floor.
They manage to wrangle nearly every blanket in the Kyan household, leaving each of Reki’s family members with a single blanket for the night. His sisters agreed on the condition that they would get to hang out in the blanket fort with them, but now, in the earliest hours of the morning, the fort belongs solely to Reki and Langa.
They’re shoulder-to-shoulder, covered by the only blanket in the room that hasn’t been added to the fort. Reki’s mouth opens with a yawn, but he’s not ready to fall asleep.
Reki reaches out to grab the magazine that had fallen onto his floor during the chaos of fort building. He opens to a random page and holds the magazine between them. “I’ve been thinking about building my own skateboard,” he says, eyes glued to the boards on the page, avoiding Langa’s gaze as if afraid of judgment. What if Langa thinks it’s a stupid idea?
Langa’s face brightens with intrigue. “That would be so cool.”
Reki’s heart races. His gaze lifts from the magazine to Langa, who’s looking at him like he believes Reki can do anything he sets his mind to. It’s the same unwavering faith in him that his parents have, only, when it comes from Langa, it makes his stomach stir.
“You think?” Reki asks. It comes out quieter than intended.
Langa nods enthusiastically. “You can make me a matching board.”
Reki’s lip pulls up effortlessly. “Okay.”
⚘⚘⚘
Langa is no stranger to scraped knees and bruises. Since meeting Reki, he’s had his fair share of falls. More often than not, at least one of the boys can be found sporting a bandaid. But some falls are worse than others, and when Langa’s face collides with the sidewalk, Reki is at his side in an instant.
“Langa…” Reki says, his tone dripping with concern. Langa lifts his face to reveal blood running down his chin. Reki’s eyes widen at the sight. He reaches out before thinking twice, using the sleeve of his shirt to wipe the blood from Langa’s face.
Langa remains still, allowing Reki to clean him up. His nose is throbbing, but Reki’s closeness is a welcome distraction.
“Thanks,” Langa says when Reki finally pulls his sleeve away. Worry is still written deep in his expression. Warmth curls comfortably in his chest; a flutter passes calmly through his stomach. His eyes don’t leave Reki’s.
“You almost landed it,” Reki says. He’s looking at Langa with an intensity that tells him not to look away.
“Next time I will,” Langa promises. The corner of Reki’s mouth pulls up, and then he’s leaning in, and Langa only has a split second to prepare himself before their lips connect. Langa’s heart pounds loudly, the pain in his nose forgotten.
When Reki pulls away, it occurs to Langa that everything will be different after this. There’s no going back from a kiss.
“Don’t fall next time,” Reki says. He looks nervous, searching Langa’s eyes for a reaction, like he’s asking. was that okay?
Langa’s smile is wide and uncontained. “I would have given myself a bloody nose a lot sooner if I knew that was all it took for you to kiss me,” he says, a confirmation. Yes, this is okay. Yes, I want this.
Reki’s anxiety melts away. He rolls his eyes, a blush coloring his cheeks. “Get another and I’ll never kiss you again.”
⚘⚘⚘
When the boys are sixteen, the Hasegawa and Kyan families go on a snowboarding trip together.
The result is the boys racing down the snow, Langa taking the lead as Reki falls flat on his face. A Recurring issue for him, it seems.
When he reaches the bottom, Langa is waiting for him with a wide grin. Before we can say anything, Reki is demanding a re-race.
“I’m going to beat you!” Reki declares. It takes six trips down the mountain for that to become true, and even then, Reki only takes the win because Langa falls while attempting to show off.
Reki takes the opportunity to zoom past him, meeting him at the bottom with a satisfied smile.
“You won,” Langa says. The softness of his smile makes Reki’s heart jump.
“I told you I’d beat you,” Reki reminds him.
“I knew you would,” Langa says. They’re closer now than they were a second ago. Reki’s not sure who stepped forward. He swallows nervously.
They never talked about the kiss. It’s been months since then, and there hasn’t been another. But Reki’s thought a lot about it. He’ll often catch himself staring at Langa, watching the small changes in his expression—learning the different meanings of his smiles.
Langa always smiles the brightest when they’re together. Reki thinks he probably smiles the brightest when they’re together, too. It’s simultaneously terrifying and calming.
The way that Langa’s looking at him now, Reki knows what’s coming next. He leans in to meet it. Langa’s lips are cold against him, but they send warmth through his body.
The snowboard drops from his grasp, and he finds himself wrapping his arms around Langa. Their second kiss is nothing like their first. Reki finds himself wondering what a third would feel like.
Langa drops his head against Reki’s forehead when he pulls away. It’s somehow more tender than either of their kisses. Reki’s heart is a tangled mess pounding against his chest.
Reki opens his mouth to say something, though he’s not entirely sure what, but before he gets the chance he hears the sounds of his sisters. He turns his head to see them racing down the hill, seconds from crashing into the two of them.
“Oooohhhhhh, Reki’s in love!” One of the girls shouts while the other two start making kissy noises.
Reki turns a deep red, his heart flopping around helplessly when he sees the smile on Langa’s face.
Reki pushes past the embarrassment and shoots back, “So what if I am?”
“Does that make Langa our brother?”
“Langa’s my favorite brother!”
“Hey!” Reki protests, glaring despite the happiness filling his chest.
The girls all laugh before running off, leaving Reki and Langa alone with Reki’s confession hanging between them.
“So,” Langa says, his smile too big for his face. “You love me, huh?”
Reki groans. “You’re so lucky you don’t have siblings.”
Langa laughs through a grin. “It sounds like I do now.”
Reki’s blush grows stronger as he looks at the snow on the ground. Despite the freezing temperature, Reki feels like he’s burning.
“You know…” Langa starts. Reki can hear the nervousness in his voice. It’s enough to lift his gaze. “It would suck if you didn’t love me. Since I’m in love with you.”
Reki’s world stops. When it starts again, it occurs to him that nothing has really changed.
There’s a voice in the back of his head warning him of what could happen if this doesn’t work out, but Reki shuts it up by leaning forward and answering the mystery of what their third kiss would feel like.
It’s two smiles pressed together, a world of possibility between them.
The next time they make their way down the hill on their snowboards, it’s not a race, but a challenge to see how fast they can snowboard while holding hands. They fall three times before making it to the bottom, but collapsing to the ground turns out to be a great excuse to cuddle in the snow.
The shift from friends to something else occurs naturally, like it had been waiting to happen.
Reki thinks back to the day he met Langa, an outstretched hand pulling him up, and realizes these feelings have been with him for a long time.
⚘⚘⚘
Shortly after returning from their snowboarding trip, the boys discover a top-secret skateboarding race, unlocking an entirely new world of skateboarding. It’s an adventure they face head-on and together.