Chapter Text
“Reki,” Langa mumbled as they walked to the rooftop of their school, “Do you know how to do problem xx on the math? I wasn’t paying attention…”
“Hate to tell you this, but you’re asking the wrong guy.” Reki yawned as they made their way up the stairs. He did not have one clue as to why Langa would ever think that he, Reki who doesn’t know how to do long division, pays attention in class.
They finally made it to their lunchtime spot, the rooftop. The two of them sat down and placed their lunches on Reki’s board as they watched Shark Tank. Shark Tank had become their new lunchtime show since they physically could not eat without something on. Reki munched on the tonkatsu his mother made him, letting Langa take chunks out of it.
Langa’s cheeks flushed at the gesture. They had shared food before, but it was different now. At least, it was to Langa. He didn’t know how to feel about Reki. His palms get sweaty, he felt his face warm up, he felt his heart beating in his throat, all because of small gestures like this.
Get a grip, Langa thought to himself, we’re just friends.
Despite this, Langa continued to glance at Reki, watching the way his red hair gleamed in the sun, the way he would throw his head back in laughter, the way that he looked when he learned a new trick. Langa just observed it all, soaking it into his memory.
“Are you still hungry, bro?” Reki asked Langa, noticing his staring. “You can have the rest of my tonkatsu if you want.”
Langa looked at his shoes and shook his head, embarrassed that he was staring so much. Relax, Langa, it’s okay.
Reki shrugged it off and continued to watch Shark Tank. Although he didn’t know what they were actually saying, he just knew what they were talking about. Except, he actually didn’t and had to ask Langa for help literally all the time.
“Langa,” Reki whined as he frowned at his inability to understand English, “What are they saying? The guy on the left seems like such a bitch, always picking fights.”
Langa chuckled and began to translate for Reki. Moments like these also began to feel different for Langa. He loved watching Reki smile when he began to actually understand what was going on. He loves Reki’s smile.
-
Reki couldn’t pay attention in class. That was nothing unusual for him, but this time, there was reasoning beyond class being boring. It was Langa. He’d been acting differently recently. Langa seemed to smile and look at Reki more. I mean, who wouldn’t. Reki Kyan was an amazing, outstanding, and charming guy!
But that’s not the point.
Reki was beginning to…oh my, he couldn’t bring himself to say it. He felt like such a creep because of this; he had begun to have feelings for Langa. Now, the whole “boy liking boy” thing wasn’t what Reki found creepy, it’s that he’s fallen for his bestfriend. That wasn’t supposed to happen. They were just supposed to skate forever and ever, not be boyfriends. And would they even be boyfriends? Reki doubted that Langa liked him like that. There was no way.
He groaned and buried his head in his hands. What should he do…
He didn’t want to go through their “break up” era all over again, so avoiding Langa was completely out of the question. Of course, it would come off as rude if Reki stopped doing anything just because he has silly homosexual thoughts about his bestfriend, so he didn’t want to change anything…
So that leaves one solution; he didn’t know.
-
Reki continued to toy with his new feelings at dinner with his family. The more he thought about it, the more appealing it became. He thought about confessing to Langa, Langa liking him back, dating, getting married, skating forever with rings on their fingers, riding into the sunset as old wrinkly grapes, and being buried next to each other with their boards.
It was the ideal life!
The red head blushed madly as he thought about Langa. He was seeing a new type of Langa. He began noticing all the little things like how Langa’s face lights up when he skates, how he looks at the ground when he’s very happy, how he fidgets with his hands when he’s talking, it was all so…ugh!
Why does he have to be like this? What if he didn’t have romantic feelings for Langa? What if he simply felt like their friendship was getting strong and he just liked that a lot? They could totally skate until they’re wrinkly grapes without having to wed…but it would be so much better if they did get married!
Reki Kyan felt like such a loser. A big, large, freaking loser. Who on this green Earth ever has these thoughts about their best buddy? That’s it, Langa was just his best buddy, nothing more. Reki sighed and poked at his food. All of these emotions were actively being displayed at the dinner table.
His grandmother looked at his mom, who stared at his dad, who then tried to talk. “So, Reki,” He said nervously, “How are you and Langa? We haven’t seen him here in a hot minute.”
Reki began laughing and buried his flushed face in his hands. His mother pursed her lips and looked at his father. His father frowned and gave up his attempt at conversing with his teenage son.
The family ate dinner in silence.
-
Langa was having troubles of his own. 1. He was utterly in love with his bestfriend, 2. He was having a sexuality crisis due to number 1, 3. He couldn’t figure out how to complete the math problem from earlier.
His mother took note of her son’s odd behaviour. The way that he blushed when being asked about Reki, the unusual excitement when going out with him, and his inability to think straight (no pun intended) at most given times.
“Sweetie,” She said as she served him dinner, “Are you and Reki…well, mostly you, are you alright with him?”
Langa frowned at the question and stared at her. “We didn’t fight again.”
“No, I know,” His mother thought about how to word her concerns, “Erm, what I’m trying to say, is uhm, what are…what is your…relationship with him like…?”
“Relationship…” Langa mumbled, not knowing what to say, “Uh…I don’t…I don’t even know!”
Langa ran a hand through his hair, getting ready to word vomit. And so, he did. “It’s like, I love him. But he’s my best friend…what if I mess that up because of this? I’m just…I’m so confused. I’ve never felt this way before! I don’t know why it’s happening now…and I’m pretty sure Reki likes girls…but- I- I don’t know what to think anymore! I mean, do I even like girls anymore? Do I like boys? Ugh!”
The room was flooded with post-word-vomit silence. Nanako Hasegawa soaked in the information her son poured out to her, wondering what wise mother wisdom she should give him.
She took a deep breath, Oliver, please help, and began to speak. “Well, you obviously like Reki. That’s okay, it’s okay to like boys. So, the best thing to do is maybe…wait a little bit to see if those really are your true feelings. If they are, then find the right time to tell Reki. If your relationship with him is as strong and healthy as I think it is, then no matter what he feels, it’ll turn out okay. But just take your time to figure yourself out before you go looking for a serious relationship,” Nanako sat down and served herself food, “Now eat your peas, sweetie.”
-
Both Langa and Reki lay awake in their bedrooms. Reki could not stop the conflict going on in his head. Langa could not stop thinking about his own identity and what he should do with Reki. But both boys essentially had the same issue; they had fat crushes on each other.