Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Ukki, we have an emergency!”

“Akehoshi-kun? What’s wro—”

“We need to teach Daikichi how to skateboard right now!”

“…Huh?”

—

It was one of those rare days where no one in Trickstar had any work that needed to be done (except for Anzu, who was busy with producer-related work, as per usual). Ritsu had forced Mao to spend the day with him so that they could “actually take a break,” while Hokuto used the free time to practice lines for an upcoming Dramatica performance. It was one of those days when things were meant to be calm and peaceful, right? Makoto had thought that would be the case, figuring she would use her free day to relax and play a few games.

Subaru, however, had other ideas.

After receiving frantic, all-caps texts and a phone call from her excitable partner, Makoto would soon find herself at the foot of Subaru’s door, giving it a simple knock. Whether spurred on by inspiration from social media or sheer boredom (or maybe even both), he had the grand idea of buying Daikichi a skateboard, and insisted that Makoto joined him, wanting to make it an “Idiot Duo Adventure.”

It’s not like she was against or even new to any of this. Rather, it was quite the opposite. It became a near routine at this point for the two of them to do silly, random activities together, bouncing ideas off of each other as they had gotten closer over the past three years. Trickstar’s bond had strengthened as time passed, so Makoto’s relationship with each of her partners had grown deeper. For her and Subaru, this was one of many ways for them to spend time with each other, and she was more than happy to relish in it. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling as she thought about all of this.

However, the door swung open before Makoto could get too distracted in her thoughts. She was given no time to properly respond, immediately being hugged tightly by Subaru. Daikichi is bouncing around at their feet, seemingly excited to have a guest, and a special one, at that.

“Ukki,” he exclaims before peppering Makoto’s face with small, light kisses. “You got here quick!”

Makoto returns the gesture, hugging Subaru just as tightly and giggling as she’s covered in kisses.

“Akehoshi-kun! Considering that this is an emergency, of course I’d come as quickly as possible.”

She steps into the dorm, Subaru still latching onto her. He laughs.

“That’s true! Our ever-reliable Ukki!”

The two of them go to sit on his bed, with Subaru picking Daikichi up so that he could join them. Neither of their smiles waver, even as Makoto pulls her phone out from her pocket. Subaru raises his finger.

“Okay! Step one: buying skateboards. There’s gotta be some shop we could go to. Do you think you could look it up?”

Makoto nods and begins to search for shops online.

“I’m on it! I’m sure there’s got to be one somewhere, yeah?”

As she continues to search through results, Subaru rests his head on her shoulder, being ever so nosy. It takes a minute or so, as they comb through an assortment of results. Makoto brings her phone slightly closer to him, letting him have a look at the screen better.

“Here. Does anything stand out in particular to you?”

Subaru hums to himself as he continues to look. Man, there’s a lot to choose from, isn’t there? Does it really matter where they go? After a moment, he responds.

“Hmm… What’s the closest one? I don’t really mind where we go.”

Makoto continues to scroll and look before coming to a complete stop.

“Ah, how about this one? It’s about a ten-minute walk from here. What do you think?”

Makoto points at what looks to be a small skate shop that just so happens to be not so far away from them. There was quite an assortment of boards and other equipment too. Subaru looks through the pictures for a moment before nodding.

“Sounds good to me,” he replies. “Let me just…”

He gets up to look around his bed, Makoto tilting her head as she looks at him curiously. It takes a couple of seconds, but he lets out a small gasp as he finds Daikichi’s leash, grabs it, and sits back on the bed so that he can hook it onto his collar. He places the dog on the floor before standing up completely.

“There we go! As much as I’d wanna let him run around, I’m not sure people would appreciate that very much.”

They both chuckle, and Makoto gets up from the bed and places her phone back inside her pocket.

“Alright! Lead the way, Ukki,” Subaru exclaims as he takes Makoto’s hand. In response, she gives his hand a small squeeze. They go out into the hallway and proceed to walk through Starmony, Daikichi happily following behind them. Before they know it, they’re outside.

Makoto uses her free hand to grab her phone and pulls up the shop on a map. Once she has it up, they begin to walk again. They remain quiet for some time, enjoying this shared moment between them as they continue to hold hands. Subaru is the first to break the silence.

“I’m so glad we get to hang out, Ukki! I like going places with you.”

Makoto can’t help but smile fondly at him, her cheeks turning slightly pink. It’s funny, she had been dating him and the others in Trickstar for two years at this point. Despite the moments they’ve all shared with one another, she still finds herself getting flustered at some of their words and actions, no matter how simple they seemed.

“Me too! I like being with you, Akehoshi-kun…”

Her voice quiets at that last part, much to Subaru’s amusement. She gives his hand another squeeze before quickly glancing down at her phone to check how far they were from the skate shop. Subaru takes a peek at the screen, curious to see what they’d be passing by on their way up. They continue to walk, exchanging small talk as they passed by different shops and restaurants.

“Here we are, Akehoshi-kun!”

Makoto gives Subaru a small nudge as they finally arrive at their destination. Had ten minutes really passed by already? Regardless, Subaru was unable to contain his excitement, clinging onto Makoto’s arm as he leaned on her.

“Yay! See, Daikichi? I knew Ukki would get us here safe and sound,” he states matter-of-factly, unlatching himself from Makoto as he bends down to pet the dog. She chuckles at the praise as she watches them both. Subaru soon stands back up and looks at his partner, giving her a grin.

“You ready?”

Makoto nods. “Yep! I’ll let you lead the way this time. Something tells me you have an idea of the perfect skateboard. This is for Daikichi, after all.”

“Ukki, that’s too much pressure,” Subaru sarcastically complains. “Besides, I brought you here with me for a reason.”

He proceeds to give Makoto a short yet sweet kiss on the lips; when he pulls away, he can’t help but laugh when he sees her face turn red and hears her stammering. His laugh soon dies down, and his expression softens. Makoto, along with the rest of Trickstar, were the ones who knew him the best. The closer they all got to each other, the more these people became near and dear to him. Even when he sometimes didn’t understand why he felt a certain way, he knew—at the very least—that these people would be here to help him. To support him. To love him unconditionally.

Makoto eventually gives him a soft expression of her own, sighing as she smiles at him. She could tell that he was definitely thinking about something, judging by his expression alone. She figures that no more words needed to be exchanged for now, opting instead to give his hand another squeeze.

From there, they head inside, eager to find the perfect skateboard for Daikichi.

Chapter Text

Upon entering the shop, the duo can’t help but find themselves in awe at the array of boards, wheels, and other equipment and gear presented in front of them. Even Daikichi seems amazed, eagerly sniffing everything within his reach.

Subaru speaks up. “Whoa… So many choices! I don’t know what to pick!”

Makoto chuckles. “Me neither… I’m sure we’ll find something, though! I’ll look over in this direction while you look over there. Let me know if you find anything!”

She lets go of Subaru’s hand, giving him a smile as she walks to the store’s left side. Subaru waves at her before looking down at Daikichi.

“Alright! I’m gonna find you the sparkliest, shiniest skateboard! How does that sound?”

He reaches down to pet Daikichi some more, to which the dog responds with a bark. He seems just as excited as he is. Subaru begins to move towards the opposite side of the store, determined to find the sparkliest board he could find (if that was even possible).

Makoto looks over at them, despite how far she is from them, giggling at Subaru’s determination and optimistic attitude. She figured he’d want to find a very sparkly, shiny skateboard, but figured it’d also be a good idea to take affordability into account. Wouldn’t want to spend too much money on something that may or may not get used frequently. With these considerations in mind, she begins searching for boards that Subaru may like.

Minutes pass by with no avail. There are plenty of boards, sure, but nothing particularly stands out. Subaru comes to two realizations as he sorts through his options.

One: this may be harder than he originally thought this would be. If the silence between him, Makoto, and even Daikichi was anything to go by, everyone shared the same sentiment.

Two: He was gay. Very gay. Not being attached to Makoto by the hip (both figuratively and literally) felt weird. Wrong, even.

Faced with these dilemmas, he thinks that maybe he can kill two birds with one stone (or something like that). Subaru walks over to Makoto, tugging her arm as she slightly jumps at the touch.

“Ukki,” he whines, “help me pick something!”

She laughs in response, turning around completely to face him as she wraps an arm around his.

“Ok, ok! I’m coming.”

They smile at each other as Makoto allows Subaru to guide her throughout the store. It takes a couple more minutes and lots of deliberation, but they eventually find a skateboard that’s perfectly dog-sized for Daikichi. The design’s pretty simple, but they’ll take what they can get. Maybe Subaru could add some shiny stickers to the bottom of it.

Not only that, but the duo also decides to find their own skateboards to ride. An unexpected idea, but Makoto feels that it could be fun, even though she’d end up with a few aches and bruises from the falls she assumes she’ll end up taking. She’s been through worse, she thinks to herself.

Subaru picks a skateboard that’s suitably attention-grabbing and dazzling, even if it doesn’t have all the glitter and sparkles he enjoys. As for Makoto, she picks a skateboard that’s a light shade of green. It’s simple, sure, but functional.

“Okay, Akehoshi-kun! I think I’ve got everything, safety gear included. I’m guessing you’re ready?”

Subaru nods. “Yep!” He takes a quick glance at Makoto’s skateboard before continuing. “You would pick one that’s pretty simple, huh? Ukki’s a minimalist, it seems.”

Makoto chuckles and looks away, seemingly embarrassed. “Ahaha, something like that? I figured something simple would be best.”

As they go to pay for their things, they continue to chat, discussing how they think they’ll feel about skateboarding and how the others in Trickstar would look while learning how to skate. Subaru also cracks a joke or two about Makoto’s ability to skateboard, wanting to “take a count” on how many times she falls.

They find themselves outside of the shop soon after and immediately look for a good spot to learn and practice. It takes a while, but they manage to find a small, flat, concrete area that would be perfect for them. After watching a few videos and reading a few guides online, they begin to practice themselves.

Subaru goes first while Makoto observes, holding onto Daikichi’s leash as she watches him with amazement. Subaru has always had a knack for learning new things and picking up on them almost immediately. Hell, he’s even begun to do ollies and other tricks with ease, and it’s only been a couple of minutes. She has a huge smile on her face, clapping and cheering as he looks back at her with a satisfied look on his face.

He skates over to her and steps off the board, reaching down to pet Daikichi affectionately before grabbing the board and standing back up.

“That was amazing, Akehoshi-kun! You made that look easy. I’m kind of jealous.”

Subaru laughs as he ruffles Makoto’s hair. “You’re too cute, Ukki!” His expression begins to turn smug, however, much to her dismay. She had gotten so distracted by Subaru that she completely forgot what was coming next.

“It’s your turn now! I wanna see Ukki skate!”

She looks down at the pathetic, green skateboard, her voice getting quiet as she feels herself go stiff. It was only a matter of time, she supposes. No going back now.

“Ah… right…”

Chapter Text

Makoto is staring down at her skateboard for what feels like an eternity, with any knowledge she had gained about tricks (or even the basics) completely vanishing into thin air. Wonderful. At least she remembered to put on her helmet and pads first. If she wasn’t already nervous, Subaru whining at her was definitely making her feel that way.

“Ukki! Don’t keep us waiting! We wanna see you skate! Isn’t that right?” He looks down at Daikichi, who barks in response. Great! It’s not just one person, but now one person and his dog waiting for her with anticipation.

She takes a look at her hands, balling them up into fists as she takes a few deep, slow breaths. In and out. In and out. It’s not like she has to be doing tricks immediately, right? Even if her pace was slower than the others, she knew that her partners would always support her.

With this knowledge in mind, she figures she could begin by standing on the board. She cautiously begins to place one foot on it. She’s tempted to move the board around, but decides against the idea, thinking it’d be better if she just went ahead and stood on it entirely. Seeing the board move would probably cause her nerves to spike anyway.

Makoto places her other foot on the board and awkwardly brings her arms out to help her maintain some—if any—balance. She looks over at Subaru, giving him a nervous smile. Subaru, in return, laughs and cheers for her.

“Woo! You can do it, Ukki!”

She feels her heart swell in that moment, even if the gesture itself was simple. She shakily sighs, continuing to stand on the board. After a while, she seems to have gotten used to it. Maybe she could start learning how to move now!

Makoto slowly steps off of the board, repositioning herself so she’s standing beside it. She places one foot on it and takes another breath. When she looks over at Subaru, he gives her a thumbs up, to which she gives him a simple nod in return. Finally, she uses her other foot to propel herself forward, pushing off of the ground before clumsily yet successfully placing it behind her. She was on the skateboard and was moving without having fallen off. She wasn’t sure if this was a miracle, good luck, or something else entirely.

Subaru continues cheering for her, and Daikichi even barks a couple of times while bouncing around at his owner’s feet. Makoto goes from smiling nervously to smiling proudly, continuing the same pattern of slowly pushing off the ground and moving around. Occasionally, she stops to turn the board around but goes right back to riding.

As minutes passed, her movements became less stiff and awkward. She was getting better at maneuvering her foot from the ground to the skateboard, and she even started trying to move faster, bit by bit. Her confidence begins to bloom, and her nervousness fades along with it. She goes to push off of the ground once again, and she begins moving the fastest that she has been today. Tinges of excitement and adrenaline rush through her, so much so that she forgot one thing.

She didn’t know how to properly turn, and she was almost on the other side. She needed to stop moving right now.

Makoto attempts to stop the skateboard by placing her foot on the ground, but the speed and clumsiness of the motion cause her to lose balance. One thing after the other happens, and before she knows it…

“—Ah.”

Chapter Text

Makoto flies off of the skateboard, landing on the ground as it rolls away from her. She was definitely sore, but it could’ve been a lot worse. She internally praises herself for buying and putting the safety gear to good use.

Subaru runs over immediately, grabbing Makoto’s glasses that had fallen off of her face. Daikichi follows suit, his leash dragging across the ground. Makoto rolls onto her back, looking at the sky above her as she takes a moment to process everything that just happened. She remains silent until she feels what she thinks to be someone sniffing.

She turns her head over to the side, only to be greeted by Daikichi, who begins to cover her face in kisses. She laughs weakly and does her best to sit up so she can pet the dog. When she manages to do so, however, she grimaces. She was definitely going to feel all of this tomorrow morning.

“Ukki! Are you okay?”

Makoto looks up at her concerned partner who’s holding out something… blue? Oh, right. No wonder everything looked a little muddled to her. She takes off her helmet and places it on the ground first, and then takes her glasses from Subaru’s hands. Once she sets them back on her face, she chuckles and smiles at him.

“I’m okay, really. I think I just got a little too excited back there. I’m just glad I had these,” she replies, making gestures at her discarded helmet and the pads that she was still wearing. “Definitely could’ve ended up a lot worse.”

Subaru laughs in response before going to sit down beside and lean on her. He turns his head to look at Makoto fondly, while Daikichi, on the other hand, places himself on Makoto’s lap, to which she continues petting him as he makes himself comfortable.

“You were amazing! You looked super cool while skateboarding, you know?”

Makoto tilts her head at him, looking a little confused. “Seriously? All I did was stand and ride around on it. I didn’t even do any tricks.”

Subaru brings a hand to her cheek before pinching it, Makoto whining at the slightly painful gesture.

“Dummy! Of course I’m serious!”

He stops pinching her, using his hand to instead hold one of hers. Makoto squeezes his hand in return while using the hand she had been petting Daikichi with to rub at her cheek. Subaru continues.

“Ukki, you’re really cool when you’re trying your best. You’re really cute too! Not to mention that you’re really, really beautiful.”

Makoto’s face is turning a deep shade of red, as she finds it difficult to reply. She simply holds Subaru’s hand slightly tighter, even as he scoots closer. He brings his face closer to hers, focusing his attention on her as if she were the center of the Earth.

“I like that we get each other so well. I like making jokes with you, and I like talking and singing on the same stage as you. I like that you never gave up on me, that you never gave up on Trickstar.”

“Akehoshi-kun…”

Makoto rests her forehead on Subaru’s, feeling her eyes water. She does her best to maintain eye contact, despite the tears making her vision foggy. She squeezes his hand as tight as she can, and her lips quiver as she continues to listen to him.

“I love you because you’re you. There hasn’t been anything that’s changed my mind about that, and there won’t be anything that will change my mind. I promise.”

Makoto can’t stop herself from letting out small sobs as her tears begin to fall. They remain in silence like this for a while, holding hands and resting their foreheads against each other as she lets everything out. She relaxes after some time, rubbing her face into her shirt as she attempts to dry her face. Subaru chuckles at the gesture.

“Akehoshi-kun, I…” She pauses for a moment, trying to muster up the strength to speak clearly. Her voice is slightly hoarse, but she continues, nonetheless.

“Thank you. I know a lot has changed within the past three years, but sometimes I get… scared. Scared that I’m going to disappoint everyone. Scared that I’m going to fall behind and never catch up. The last thing I’d ever want is to embarrass you guys or make you disappointed in me.”

“Ukki…”

Before Subaru can interject, Makoto shakes her head and gives him a reassuring smile. “I think it’s fair to say that you—along with everyone else—have seen many different sides of me. You guys have seen me at my best and my worst, and yet… You guys have never given up on me.”

Subaru smiles along with her. “Of course! You mean so much to me! You mean so much to everyone! We’re never going to give up on you, I promise. Trickstar isn’t Trickstar if it doesn’t include all five of us!”

Makoto’s smile grows bigger, and she finds herself kissing Subaru. It’s long and tender, and when he kisses her back, she sighs softly. When they pull away, Makoto speaks up.

“I love you, Akehoshi-kun. So much.”

Subaru smiles enthusiastically. “I love you too, Ukki! So, so much!”

Before anything else is said and done, Makoto feels her arm being nudged at, and—oh, right—Daikichi has been here this whole time and totally didn’t turn invisible during that vulnerable moment. They both laugh loudly, and Subaru quickly stands up.

“Oh, yeah! Before we head back, we need to let Daikichi have a go!”

He runs off to grab everything, and Makoto giggles as she watches him scramble to grab all three skateboards with his arms. As soon as he does, he runs back to them with an eager smile on his face. He places everything on the ground, pulling out Daikichi’s skateboard and gently grabbing the dog from her lap to place him on it.

“Okay, Daikichi! Show us what you’ve got!”

More minutes pass by as Subaru lightly pushes the skateboard with his hands as the dog looks around almost curiously. Occasionally, he steps off of it to try and wander around the area, much to Subaru’s disappointment and Makoto’s entertainment.

Before they know it, the sun is beginning to set, and exhaustion begins to trickle in, at least for Makoto. Subaru walks over to her, Daikichi’s leash and their skateboards in one hand, another hand being held out to help her up. She grabs it and slowly stands up, grabbing her own skateboard as soon as she finds her footing.

“Hey, Akehoshi-kun?”

“Hm? What’s up?”

Makoto takes a deep breath and goes to kiss Subaru, albeit for a shorter time.

“Thank you today. I had a lot of fun, even though I’m going to feel all of this in the morning.” She definitely had a bruise or two forming on her, and it was going to be a hassle explaining everything to the others during practice.

Subaru simply laughs. “Oh, I already know Hokke’s gonna be super annoying about it. Don’t worry! I’ll defend you one hundred percent!”

To that, Makoto snickers. She’s not too concerned about “getting in trouble” with the others and is more so thinking about how Hokuto and Subaru will bicker about the incident while she and Mao merely sigh and watch on. Geez, how would Anzu even react?

They take each other’s hands and begin to walk back to Starmony, chatting about activities for the upcoming week. Every now and then, Makoto finds herself looking up at the sunset, thinking about the events of today. What was initially thought to be a calm, peaceful day turned out to be something else entirely, but honestly?

She wouldn’t trade that for anything else.