Work Text:
It happens when Langa is skating, because of course it does.
Langa's racing against Adam, and Reki's watching with his heart in his throat and fear in his veins as they skate and slam their boards together.
It ends up fine, and Langa wins, because of course he wins, that's his Langa, but then Langa's racing towards him, without even getting off his board, just, skating to Reki and jumping (leaping) at him with his arms outstretched and then they both are on the ground.
Oh my god, Reki thinks, because Langa just won his race and came straight to Reki, this guy is so cute, and then Miya's jumping around them, excited, and Cherry and Joe are laughing-crying, and the weird love hotel guy is just silently staring at Adam while blocking his way, and Reki lets himself relax for the first time in weeks.
It plays in a loop in his head, and he can't hear anything anyone is saying, because Langa came straight to him.
He realises after a few hours that he really, really doesn't want Langa to come "straight" to him. At all.
~
(Oh my god, indeed.)
~
After that, things go pretty normally.
They skate at the skatepark, they race at S, they eat burgers, they watch movies on Thursdays. Reki starts noticing Langa, the little things about him, and he blushes and lets himself feel good, and then stops and feels miserable because Langa... well, he isn't interested. He's only interested in skating, and cares about his mom, a lot, and doesn't care about school or anything else. Well, he did say he cares about Reki, but not in the way that Reki wants to believe, wants to delude himself into believing he does.
But the more time passes, the more he tells himself to ignore it and just enjoy whatever they do. After all, he's done just that all these past months. Just enjoy himself in Langa's company.
"Why don't you do something about it?" Joe suggests one day, and Miya's ears perk up.
"About what?" he asks, voice excited to dig some new dirt on Reki.
"Nothing," he tells Miya, and turns to Joe. "What exactly do you want me to do?"
They're at Joe's place, Joe's and Cherry's now, and Cherry's out shopping. Langa's at the movie theatre with his mom and Shadow's sleeping on the counter. It's sort of a get-together they have, and soon, Reki knows, they'll head out to the skatepark to hang out and Cherry will bring the pizza that's currently in the oven. Reki's kind of glad Langa skipped this one, because it's getting kind of overwhelming, being in Langa's presence all the time, and he feels like bursting out of his skin.
"Oh, it's about Langa, isn't it?" Miya slumps down in his chair again. "That's old news, though."
"Shut up, Miya," Reki snips without any bite behind it. "I'm not gonna confess, Joe, if that's what you're suggesting. Langa doesn't---"
Joe sighs loudly as the door opens and Cherry walks in.
"Curse this idiot," Joe says, and the other man quirks an eyebrow at Reki.
"Why do you immediately look at me?" Reki protests. "Miya's an idiot, too!"
"He can read my mind," Joe deadpans. Cherry snorts.
Reki shakes his head.
"He's right, you know," Miya interjects. "You should confess. Get it out of the way so you can move on faster."
"And why exactly are you assuming he'll reject me?" Reki splutters. Someone really needed to teach this kid a lesson in politeness! Oh no, that sounds mean even in his own head.
Miya smirks. "You were saying so yourself seconds ago."
"So what!?"
Cherry sighs. "Children, no noise, please." He points at Reki.
"As you command, Joe," he says in a serious voice. Reki rolls his eyes, opening his mouth, but Cherry holds up a finger to his lips. Reki's jaw clicks shut. "I hereby curse you, Kyan Reki."
There's a moment of silence.
Joe breaks it by snorting, which turns into full-blown laughter as Cherry grins unrepentantly and Miya pokes his tongue out. clutching his stomach. Reki huffs and rolls his eyes.
"Whaa?? What's going on?" Shadow slurs as he wakes up.
"Idiots being idiots," Reki mutters next to him.
~
Reki wakes up the next morning with a feeling of dread sitting heavy in his gut and looks over to the calendar. It's the eighth of September, and the 9/8 would usually make him grin but all it does this time is make him even more reluctant to get out of his bed. His very comfortable bed that was very comfortable.
Reki sighed.
"Reki!" his mother called out as if on cue. "Breakfast is almost ready! Are you dressed yet?"
He blinked. Huh? Breakfast ready? Am I... dressed? He looked over to the clock on his bedside table.
8:41 AM
"Fuck!" he yelled, throwing off the covers. "I'm late for school!"
~
He runs laps around the school grounds as punishment for being late, and then the coach claps him on the back. "Make sure this doesn't happen again, Kyan," he says, but Reki hears something else. He's a good kid. I just wish he'd be more serious--
And then he's being ushered away and he stumbles away, blinking. What the hell was that? Shaking his head to clear it, he moves on and goes to class, head hanging shamefully when the homeroom teacher scolds him for skipping the test. Must've been some bug, he thinks as he settles down and shoots a smile at Langa.
But it keeps happening throughout the day. Awesome goal! from the guy he high-fived in gym class, God, I wish she wouldn't give us homework, from the girl in front of him when her hair brushes his hand as she leans back in her chair, a very loud sigh from his teacher when he hands in his own homework that he's sure she did not sigh out loud, and he does his best not to freak out.
And then in the evening, he skates with Langa, and he finally gets one of the tricks that Reki's teaching him right and comes straight at Reki
(again)
to trap him in a hug.
I got it! I got it I got it I got it! Langa chants, not out loud because Reki can hear him laughing at the same time, and he-- and Reki screams because what the fuck is going on?!
~
Reki's on the ground and Langa leans over him, eyebrows scrunched and lips pulled down, and then they're moving, his lips, and Reki stares at them, not hearing anything until he does, abruptly so.
"--Reki, please, you're--"
"Langa," he blurts. "What. Uh. What are we..." His voice tapers out, embarrassment colouring his tone when he manages to hide it from showing on his face.
Langa lets out a breath, hand on Reki's shoulder which he can't bear because there's a stream of unknown words pouring from Langa that's growing increasingly panicky and he shuffles away from his friend's touch, head pounding.
"...Reki?" Langa murmurs, sounding hurt.
"Sorry, sorry," Reki says shakily, "I'm just. I can't handle... right now."
Langa nods, expression clearing, and shuffles too so he's sitting cross-legged on the rough gravel. "What do I need to do?"
Reki stares at him, mouth open, head and heart pounding as one. "Um. Uh. Nothing? I mean, just give me a few seconds, I'll..."
"Okay." Langa nods again, and Reki takes that as permission to bury his head in the crook of his elbows as he hugs his knees to his chest. He just needs to think.
He ends up just breathing, in and out and in and out, listening to Langa breathing, and the rustle of clothes as he shifts, and then he's speaking. Reki... has not thought about anything, at all.
"Reki? It's been ten minutes... are you alright?"
Reki nods mutely.
"Can I touch you now?"
Reki can feel a blush rising but smothers it, nodding again instead.
Almost immediately, he feels a warm hand rest on his shoulder again, his shirt an unwanted, uncomfortable obstacle that Reki wishes didn't exist-- no, no, NO! His face is red, he can feel it burning, and Langa gently eases his head away from his knees where he's safely hiding, and holds his face in his hand--
"Reki," Langa says, quietly. "I don't know what's going on, and you're... not being yourself. What's wrong?"
Reki can't for the life of him speak, but he managed a jerky motion that's supposed to be a shaking of his head no. "Eek," he squeaks out inelegantly. "Langa. Uhhhhhh."
Langa sighs and lets go of him, instead opting to wrap his arms around his shoulders, leaning close and pressing his right ear against Reki's. His breath brushes warm and tickles his hair and Reki struggles to breathe because that's-- that's so--
Not that Langa has never hugged him before. He's done plenty, really, but this time feels a bit... different. Reki can hear words again, soft words murmured gently, and Reki again knows Langa isn't saying anything out loud because of his breath tickling his hair and he can only form one coherent conclusion:
He's hearing thoughts.
~
It can't be a coincidence, he concludes after several hours of thinking, that this happened on the 8th of September. It's been exactly one month since his birthday, AKA The Day He Realised He Did Not Want Langa To Be Straight, At All.
He remembers Cherry saying I hereby curse you and then immediately pushes the thought away, because no way in hell Cherry can do magic like that. He hesitates, however, and then pulls out his phone and sends a quick text to Cherry anyway. He needs to cover all his bases if he wants to solve this mystery. Or maybe he's been hallucinating this whole time. Maybe it's because he keeps skipping out on sleep to either go to S or to work on skateboards for Langa or Joe.
He's sitting in class, the teacher droning in the background and no one listening to him, and within five minutes, Reki gets a response from Cherry.
You
hey, cherry, can you do magic or something?
cherry
If this is a silly pick-up line you're practising for Langa, I'll personally make sure I ruin your chances.
You
no, no, i'm serious.
um.
so.
a secret.
a
mystery
i'm trying to solve
pls take me srsly
cherry
If this is truly serious, I'm willing to speak to you at S tonight.
Though I cannot guess what you're saying. Magic?
Oh, yeah, it was Friday. Reki sighs. He wouldn't even be able to avoid Langa, not that he wanted to. It's just overwhelming, and he can't think of any reasonable excuse to refuse his frequent touches except "I'm not confortable with it" which Reki does not want to say to Langa, ever. ...They're going to go together on the motorcycle, aren't they?
He ignores Cherry's question as he types up a reply.
You
alright, but it's gotta be in secret. pls dont tell joe or miya or shadow. especially langa.
can you come a bit earlier? fifteen mins?
cherry
Very well. See you tonight. You will answer my question without delay.
You
ofc cherry
thx cherry
see you :D
He switches off his phone and licks his lips nervously. He hasn't thought a lot about telling Cherry, but if he was really the cause of such a "curse," then he would also obviously be able to break it. At least, Reki hopes so.
"Who was that?" Langa whispers next to him.
"Cherry," he whispers back. "I need to go a bit early to S tonight, so I'll go skating, okay? You can come as usual."
Langa looks mildly displeased but nods all the same.
Reki sighs, relieved. He wouldn't have known what to do if Langa insisted that they go together. Motorcycle problem -- riding problem, his brain whispers treacherously -- solved.
"Are you..." Langa seems to hesitate and then turns back to stare at his desk, hands gripping his seat tightly enough that his knuckles turn white. "Do you... Will you tell me if... there's anything... wrong?"
Reki swallows. "Langa... I'm sorry."
In retrospect, it's always useless to hide anything from Langa. He's never been particularly observant, but when it comes to the people he cares about, he's as aware as can be.
"I'll... Um, can you give me some time to, um, you see," he stumbles over his words, and Langa turns to look at him again, taking his hands in his.
I'll wait, his mind says, I'm glad Reki's being more forthcoming.
And he gets the "Reki" part, but not much else, because, of course, Langa grew up in Canada speaking English and that's his internal monologue language as well.
"Of course," Langa says in Japanese, squeezing his hands in his, and Reki struggles not to bury his face in those soft hands, those broad shoulders, clutch at his snowy hair, settle a hand at his hip to steady himself-- NO! he yells at himself. Fuck!
"Um, sorry, I, uh, have to go--" and he dashes off, feeling Langa's bewildered gaze on him until he's out of the classroom and leaning against the wall, clutching his hand with the other, head banging against the hard surface behind him. "Shit," he whispers to himself.
He's totally gone for his friend.
~
They leave school together as they always do, but this time, they skate silently and Langa seems absent, eyes far away but cast downwards, towards the uneven gravel of the street and the spinning of his board's wheels.
They say goodbye when they go their separate ways, but Langa's voice is cloudy, and Reki can't take it. He swoops in to give a tight hug to his friend and pulls away quickly, but he can feel Langa startling at the touch. He smiles at him hesitantly, and his cheeks feel warm, hot, red, and then he's skating home because he can't handle the shine in Langa's eyes, really.
They don't see each other that evening, because of course Reki said to leave without him, but Langa doesn't come by for their usual chat-and-work-on-skateboards thing every day, and he doesn't message Reki to tell him to come over either. So Reki leaves a bit early for S, finding dubious comfort in the cracking of his old wheels in the concrete, and reaches the place in one piece.
Cherry's waiting at their usual spot, Carla balanced on the rock beside him, the man himself with his eyes closed, though they opened when Reki's wheels scraped towards him.
Reki spends about five minutes convincing Cherry that this isn't a prank and that he really had gotten mind-reading powers right after Cherry himself said, "I curse you," to Reki. Cherry is easily convinced as soon as Reki asks him to put his hand on Reki's and then recites his thoughts as he hears them. Cherry looks stunned and a little bit wonderous, but after that, they brainstorm.
"I don't understand why my saying that would give you powers," Cherry says. "I did not have any real intent behind it. Besides, why would it give you mind-reading powers specifically? I wasn't thinking about it."
Reki shakes his head, stumped.
"Carla?" Cherry asks. "Can you give us any insight?"
The board lights up. "Master's friend Joe had mentioned you reading his mind just before Master cursed his friend Kyan Reki," she says in a monotone.
Cherry blinks, clearly not expecting that. "Well, either way, I have no idea how to undo the curse," he tells Reki, who is not planning on giving up.
Reki shakes his head hastily. "I can... Um, it'll probably go away on its own? Maybe just say 'I uncurse you' or something?"
The man's lips twitch, but he dutifully repeats, "I uncurse you," and then huffs out a little laugh. "Kyan Reki, I, Sakurayashiki Kaoru, officially break you free from your curse."
They both stand there for a while before Reki jerks and goes to touch Cherry's hand lightly. Shakes his head.
"I can still hear you crystal clear and your head's full of question marks."
They agree to look for solutions as people start to arrive for S and Reki agrees, reluctantly, to tell the rest of their friends about his.. problem.
("Six heads are better than two," Cherry says, and Reki pulls a face.)
~
"Pfffft," Miya doubles over almost immediately, while Shadow attempts to comfort him, awkwardly wide-eyed. Joe scoffs at first but Reki proves him wrong in three seconds flat. What he's most concerned about though...
Reki glances to Langa, heart jumping up his throat, stomach twisting in knots.
Langa blinks when their eyes meet, and then he smiles.
He smiles, and Reki feels something break in him, maybe the tension he's been carrying since... well, since he first heard that coach's voice inside his mind. Either way, his shoulders relax and he throws himself at Langa now, a reversal of their usual routine, completely forgetting for a moment that he can read people's fucking minds and Langa catches him, and laughs into his hair. He holds Reki tight, like he doesn't fucking care about the mind-reading or maybe he wasn't paying attention but no, he definitely was.
'Is that why he's been so off lately?' filters into his brain and he realises, oh, that's why he doesn't mind, because, of course, Reki can hear him, but doesn't comprehend the foreign words.
Honestly, he knows it's the best solution to his problem. If he can't understand what he's hearing, then it's not a breach of privacy, right? Right. But it still feels wrong, and kind of disappointing that he can't understand, and that's all different kinds of wrong.
And then Langa says, "Is this what has been troubling you, Reki?" and he mumbles 'yeah' before he even notices that he definitely did not hear his voice.
Did Langa just think in Japanese so Reki could understand? Well. Reki hesitates, but that... doesn't make it a breach of privacy, does it?
"Right," he mumbles out loud because he needs to hear someone's voice or he's going crazy---
"I'm here," Langa says, out loud this time, and Reki burrows further into his embrace. "You're okay."
~
Five hours later, they're lying on Langa's bed in his room, the door closed, Langa lying on his back and Reki on his side, resting his head on his friend's firm chest, rising and falling with his breaths.
"You don't mind me hearing your thoughts?" Reki asks, dawn painting Langa in lights so pretty. Reki feels like bursting.
Langa hums. His thoughts are quiet now, and Reki can tune them out with ease, after fifteen minutes of lying together. Wandering thoughts. It's quiet, in his mind as well as in the outside world.
I don't mind, he replies and Reki breathes.
~
When they wake up, Langa kisses his forehead and then his lips.
You don't mind me kissing you? he asks without breaking the kiss as Reki gasps.
"No," Reki chokes out, hands curling into Langa's shirt to keep him there.
Good, comes the smug reply. I don't mind, either.
~
They dress up in Langa's room for school the next morning, eyes wandering and hands wishing they could wander as they button their shirts and pull on their pants.
Langa reaches to smooth his hands down Reki's chest and sighs, leaning in, and Reki reciprocates enthusiastically.
Heaven. Real, true, heaven.
He would describe it with prettier words, but his brain is shutting down and he thinks,
It's surprisingly quiet. Like Langa isn't thinking.
And then his eyes widen before he decides that it's not worth thinking about right now, when Langa's lips are on his, his hands gripping Reki's waist, cupping his face, his legs leading them both to the wall so he can press Reki up against it.
I can't hear his thoughts anymore.
He smiles, and kisses Langa back.