Chapter Text
Reki jerked to a stop as he was blinded by the sudden blare of headlights from the car quickly nearing in. He was only able to turn before it hit him but the impact was immediately cut short.
He jolted upright from his bed, screaming.
“Reki! You’re gonna be late for school!” A voice of his mom was heard outside of his room.
“Late?” Reki repeated as if it was bizarre.
Masae swung the door to find out he hadn’t gotten ready at all. “Move it! Breakfast is here already,” she frowned and motioned him to go out.
“But mom—”
“Hurry! I still have things to do!”
Before Reki could even voice a reply, his mom slammed the door shut. Behind it, he could pick up exasperated murmurs from his mom until her footsteps died away.
“What? Wasn’t I..” his speech trailed off. Reki was dumbfounded. He forced his mind to recount recent events and he was sure he got hit by some car. The blinding headlights still left his eyes mildly straining as he tried to remember. He yanked his blankets aside to inspect his body but it was unscathed. His movement was fine too. There wasn’t any ache as he shifted his joints.
“Reki!” An aggressive knock made Reki sprang out from his bed and shouted back a response, “I’m almost done!” He shuffled to his cabinet to change and threw whatever textbooks and school supplies he could see from the messy pile on top of his desk. Bags behind his shoulders, he skidded off his room and to the kitchen.
“Not hungry!” Reki answered in advance to his mom and took his lunch box before leaving the house.
**
“Sorry I’m late!” Reki gasped as he leaned to the door frame to keep his balance after running too fast in the hallway. He bowed and hastily went to his desk, ignoring the glare from his teacher and stares from his classmates.
Reki dropped to his seat and steadied his heart rate. His eyes scanned the class to catch up on whatever was going on and accidentally locked eyes with Langa for a quick second who looked at him puzzled before they both averted their eyes back to his table. After what happened… yesterday(?) he dreaded more than ever to avoid him as much as possible. Wait, will Langa try and approach him once class would end? He needed to get out once it’d finish as soon as possible.
Reki didn’t know if he was just being too anxious but he swore he could sense Langa giving him side glances. He decided to shake it off, he didn’t want to risk another awkward contact just to confirm it. He let out a deep breath to calm his nerves, took out his textbook and flipped through pages mindlessly to find anything, anything at all, to keep himself away from pondering further.
**
Everyone bowed to bid goodbye to the teacher with Reki who already gripped his belongings to prepare himself to sprint right after the teacher left. As he saw her exit the classroom, Reki ran for it.
“Wait!” Langa called.
Reki accidentally stepped on his own foot and almost toppled.
“Sorry.”
Reki’s heart dropped. Shit. Why here? What’s even worse was he felt himself glued to the floor as if his body had a mind of its own, and it seemed to have decided to suffer from an intense confrontation he desperately didn’t want.
“I just wanna say that your hoodie is inside out. Sorry.”
What?
Reki fixed his stance and looked down to observe his jacket. After seeing the visible stitches, he realized Langa was right. Had he really been parading off since this morning with the jacket worn the wrong way? Embarrassed, Reki sloppily dropped his things and took off his hoodie to wear it right. He muttered an awkward thanks to which Langa replied with a sheepish nod and a ‘no problem.’
Langa’s politeness rubbed Reki the wrong way. It was as if he was oblivious even after all those fights and weird interactions. Or maybe he was doing this on purpose, acting like nothing ever happened at all. Somehow, this annoyed him. Whatever how Langa was proceeding, Reki was not bothering to find out.
**
Reki ate alone at the school rooftop rather angrily. He took big bites from his lunch and chewed it so harshly that he bit his tongue once.
Tch. What was that all about? “Oh your hoodie’s inside out.”
“So what if it was!” Reki blurted, scaring off random students nearby.
“What if it’s style, huh? Wouldn’t that be embarrassing for you,” he continued to ramble which was immediately stopped by a chunk of food that got stuck in his throat. Reki choked and coughed to let it out as his hands tried to reach blindlessly for his bottle of water.
Eyes watering from gagging, he attempted to scan for it until he finally found the bottle to be behind his back. He chugged as much water as he could till he finally felt like he was able to breathe.
Reki took one last cough and swallowed as he closed the lid of his now almost empty bottle.
He needed to empty his mind.
An idea clicked. “Hey—” Reki instantly perked up but his spirit fell to the concrete as realization hit him. Right. He frustratingly groaned at his stupidity which turned into a petty scoff. How could he forget it so easily? No. How could he even try to just forget about everything completely?
With that small slip up, he suddenly felt bleak. He realized he was alone, again. Well, it’s been a while since he ate lunch by himself. He looked down to the bag where his skateboard was. He seemed to have brought it with him subconsciously. Usually, after lunch, he and Langa would be secretly skating and playing tricks behind school.
Though, he couldn’t look at it the same way anymore. It became a constant reminder to him that he’ll never be enough for it. He’ll never be enough for Langa.
Isn’t this what Reki wanted? Cutting him off completely? All those cowardly avoidance and silent treatment got him here. But why isn’t he relieved? Instead, his chest carried a heavy burden of unwanted longing and regret.
A student tripped at his bag nearby, snapping him out out of his trance. Reki scanned the area, people seemed to be bustling to leave already. He searched for his phone around him but no luck. Most likely he left it in the classroom, or maybe even at home? It didn’t matter. He didn’t have any energy to join. Should I skip? There’s no tests or anything anyway. It’s not as if this was the first time too. But it was so long since he tried skipping, it was before Langa showed up. Despite his bad performance in certain subjects, Langa was to the least determined to catch up in school unlike him. Because of that, Reki too became a little conscious about his grades.
Well, he’s not here anymore.
Fueled by spite, he concluded to skip. He packed his lunch and swung his bag to his shoulder to leave.
Reki strolled at the school grounds, finding a place where he could slack off. The sun was shining above him, which usually brought a smile to his face because it gave him the opportunity to skate outside. Not now though, he felt annoyed. Sweat made his skin sticky and the damp atmosphere made his eyelids heavy.
He heard familiar footsteps close up behind him. It’s no mistake. Not too long after he felt a tug from his hoodie. Reki faced the person. He hated how he already knew it was him.
Langa wore a weak smile. “There you are,” he mustered between puffs.
Why does he keep on approaching? Reki’s jaw tightened as he tried to hold back from lashing out. He was here in the first place to avoid him. Wait, to avoid? Wasn’t he here because he wasn’t feeling for attending class?
Langa stared at him uneasily. Fear flickered in his eyes but he remained his composure. This however, just made Reki even more pissed. He really really didn’t get it.
“What is it again, Langa?!” Reki raved. He didn’t intend to take out that much fury but he didn’t care. Fists painfully clenching, anger boiled inside of Reki at the sight of him as if Langa’s some itch he couldn’t get rid of even after so many painful clawing.
Langa was caught off guard from his reaction. “Have I even told—?” He gulped away the other half of his question as Reki kept throwing daggers at him with his eyes. He fixed his throat. “I-I’m just here to give this phone to you. That’s all.”
Reki snatched it from his palms, still clearly pissed.
“Sorry.”
Hearing that word again tipped off Reki’s last remaining force to hold back. “Sorry won’t cut it! Can you just… stop?!” he fumed with arms thrown at Langa. All his emotions overflowed in a scatter. Reki didn’t know anymore. He just wanted to be left alone. Alone?
Again, he was annoyingly responding with furrowed brows but he could see him swallow a lump in his throat. Langa’s one hand held the hems of his uniform as it was left slack beside him, the other held Reki’s phone. His jaw tightened as he tried to maintain his lips from quivering to try and speak. With Reki’s gritting teeth and eyes blazing with fury, he kept his mouth completely shut.
“Just what is wrong with you today?!” Reki blinked and sneered in disbelief with a bitter grin. “What? Answer me!” He pushed him with outstretched arms as he awaited for any reply. Much to his dismay, Langa stood completely frozen and had his head completely down to avoid his harsh stare. It was too much for him.
Before Reki could take a step up closer, he felt a huge tug from his shoulder behind him. “Reki! That’s enough!” his classmates scolded. He then turned to Langa and gave an apologetic smile. “I’m glad I passed by here in time. Langa, are you ok—?”
“Let go of me!” Reki yanked his shoulder away from his classmate’s grip. He swung back to Langa but he was now approached by another classmate.
“No, really. I’m good.” Langa denied nervously. He didn’t wanr to make a bigger fuss about this. “I’ll just get going. Uhm, see you,” he blurted with a wave and walked away, leaving Reki alone with his classmates.
“Oy, hell was that?” a person from above spoke. A couple from behind followed the chatter and gave Reki perplexed faces.
“You were too harsh, man.”
“Already making enemies with the new kid?”
Reki felt his stomach drop at the last line. He swivelled, making his classmates slightly startled from the glare they’re now given. “New kid? He’s been here for two weeks!” Reki argued rather too loudly, which resulted in more turns and whispers from the few passersby.
“Got hit in the head or something? C’mon let’s head to class.” The guy hunched his arm over Reki’s nape.
“Get off me!” Reki slapped his arm away with his bag and stormed off. “I’m not going,” he muttered under his breath.
Reki left his classmates stunned. He let his feet take the lead to his destination as he his mind was too troubled to even care. His tracks led him infront of their school’s small warehouse. The door was slightly cracked open and he took the advantage to enter.
He collapsed at the dust layered floor, together with his bags. He didn’t care if the impact fractured his skateboard or any of his belongings, all he cared was to get out from everything and everyone.
Hand balled into fists, he punched the floor repeatedly in frustration. This day was a big hassle, too much of a hassle. Everyone acted weirdly; his mom, his classmates, and Langa. It was as if nothing ever happened.
Suddenly, he felt his phone vibrate inside his pockets. Without much thinking, he opened it to see any notification.
:Sunny, 35°C today in Okinawa…
He instantly shut off his phone. Shocking. As he was about to shove it back in his pocket, his mind clicked. Something was off when he glanced at it just now. He realized how this was his first time he checked his phone today. His hands retracted and turned on his phone again to read.
1:06
Mon, September 18
…
“What?! That’s two weeks from now!” Reki jumped.
Now?