Chapter Text
Recently, Langa couldn’t help but want to spend all his time with Reki. Sure, they’re best friends and they hang out all the time. At school, after school, and at S, but now, even that’s not enough for Langa. Langa’s not a very social person so he just assumed that’s how friendships worked, but he doesn’t feel this way about anyone else. So what’s the deal?
A talk from a while ago between him and his mother pops into his head.
‘You like this person, right?’
That was a weird choice of words, but yeah, he knows that he likes Reki. They are best friends after all, but Langa gets this burning feeling that’s not what his mother meant.
Langa lies in his bed, pondering the statement made by his mom. What could it mean? Something tells Langa that it’s not platonic. If not that, would that mean she was referring to romantic feelings?
Romantic feelings
For Reki?
The thought makes Langa’s chest tight. The thought of Reki, incredible Reki, holding his hand, taking him on dates, kissing him… it’s almost way too much for Langa. He can’t believe he didn’t even realize that’s what he was feeling for him, but it’s so obvious!
So what now? Does he confess? How would he do it? What if Reki rejects him? Does Reki even like guys? Now everything makes sense. The weird feeling in his chest when they hug. Watching him from afar. Admiring him and his every move.
I definitely need to get my shit together.
“But he’s so incredible…” Langa mutters, rubbing his face in frustration.
He takes out his phone and stares at his phone screen. There’s a picture of both him and Reki on the Lock Screen. Just looking at a picture of him makes his heart ache. When he’s not with him, he feels dull. Nothing is enjoyable without him.
On the contrary, when he’s with him, he wants nothing more than to stay by Reki’s side. He wants to stay close. He wants to enjoy all of life’s greatness with that redhead by his side.
I want to skate infinitely with you…
He said that to Reki a while back and he meant every word of it. He still means it. Since he came to Japan, Reki has been his everything. His reason for skating, his best friend and now…
the guy he has the biggest crush on.
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Reki is trying to screw on the wheel for the new skateboard he’s making. His mind wanders back to Langa. That’s all it’s been recently.
Langa… Langa… it’s always Langa!
“Freaking Langa and his dumb skateboard tricks and his dumb blue hair and his dumb American- no, Canadian face!”He backs away from his skateboard and stares at it. It’s not done, but…
“I’m done for tonight…”he mumbles to himself as he heads to bed. He lies down and immediately gets on his phone. He mindlessly opens his camera roll and watches the videos he took of Langa first learning to skateboard. He finds himself laughing at Langa bailing off his board
“God, he was terrible…” he chuckles as he continues to watch the video.
Thu-thump!
Reki gets a weird feeling in his chest. It’s probably just nostalgia, right? Watching Langa learn how to skateboard was admittedly a lot of fun. His time with Langa has probably been the best part of his life. Although, he’s never felt like this before. This is weird and new…
As he continues to watch the videos, his eyes study Langa’s face. His eyes are a pretty shade of blue and his hair matches perfectly. Not to mention, his pale skin compliments the blue well. The way he dresses is interesting, way different to how Reki dresses. Langa has this turtleneck and a button down with jeans, he would be lying if he said Langa didn’t look good.
Really good…
Reki’s heart beats faster as he continues to watch the videos of Langa. When the dots finally connect, when he finally realizes how he feels about his best friend, he almost throws his phone across the room.
“What do I do…?” He mutters to himself as his face grows red. “He’s so cool… I don’t stand a chance…”
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The next morning, they meet up and skateboard to school as they always do. They laugh and joke like normal, but Langa can’t get this flutter out of his chest.
The way Reki’s red hair moves in the wind as he speeds on his skateboard, the way the sun reflects in his brown eyes, his crooked smile… It all makes Langa’s heart beat faster. Langa’s pining is disrupted by Reki’s voice.
“What do you wanna do later today?” Reki asks.
“Uhm… I don’t know, what do you wanna do?”
“I don’t know either, man…”
Their indecisiveness frustrates both of them.
“Oh! I heard about this place with really good poutine,” Langa suggests, “maybe we could go there?”
“It’s always food with you…” Reki jabs. “Yeah that sounds good!”
Langa smiles. He’s happy Reki didn’t just shoot down his idea. Not like he usually does. Reki is always good about taking Langa’s feelings into consideration.
Langa’s head is so up in the clouds thinking about Reki that his wheel hits a rock on the sidewalk and he falls off his board. He scrapes his hands trying to catch himself, but he’s able to catch the board in time.
He lets out a sigh of relief.
Reki hears the sound and immediately comes to a halt. He gets off his board and picks up before jogging to where Langa is.
“Damn, dude, you good?” He asks, trying to hold back a laugh as he kneels down. Reki takes Langa’s scraped hands and examines them before he can respond.
“I’m…,” the touch sends a jolt through Langa’s body. His face goes a little red. “I’m alright…”
Reki digs in his bag and puts a bandaid on Langa’s hand. Langa looks at his face as he helps him. Reki’s tongue slightly pokes out of the corner of his mouth in concentration.
“You gotta be more careful, man. Can’t have you all tore up before our race this weekend.” He finishes putting the bandage on Langa’s hand and stands up. “C’mon, gotta make it to class on time so we don’t get yelled at by the teacher. He is not fun to deal with.”
Langa nods in agreement and quickly gets up. They get back on their skateboards and continue their way to school.
He stares at the bandaid on his hand. A small smile on his face.
“You always end up taking care of me, huh?” Langa calls out, breaking the comfortable silence between the two.
“What?” Reki blushes in embarrassment. “Don’t say stuff like that!”
“Why not?”
“It’s embarrassing”
“How come?”
“I’m not your freaking mom, dude!”
“Huh..?”
Langa stares in confusion at Reki’s embarrassment but shrugs it off as they finally make it to the front gate. They put their boards in their bags and quickly run to class in order to not get another lecture.
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Reki scribbles in his notebook while the teacher gives his lecture. He’s bored out of his ever loving mind, but he’s already here. He can’t skip now, but oh how he wishes he could. Skateboarding with Langa sounds way more fun than English. He glances at Langa who’s taking notes. Reki frowns and shifts in his seat, unable to sit still.
Back and forth and back and forth. He leans back in his seat, he hunches over the desk, he looks out the window, he lays his head down. Nothing!
He is so unbelievably BORED!
He glances at Langa once more before tearing a piece of paper from his notebook and writes a quick entry on it.
‘Wanna skip after lunch later?’
He motions to Langa to get his attention before quietly handing the note to him. He sits there and impatiently waits for a response.
After a few moments, Langa taps on Reki’s desk and hands him the note back. Reki can recognize Langa’s attempt at writing Japanese from anywhere. The shaky handwriting from Langa trying to get the characters right. Not to mention, the Japanese is a little broken, but he’s able to decipher it.
’Can’t, one more time and they’ll send a note home to my mom. Sorry!’
Reki frowns in frustration but nods in understanding. If Langa got grounded, Reki wouldn’t know what to do with himself. Everything’s so dull without Langa. Even now, being apart from him makes his heart ache. He knows why and he gets butterflies just thinking about it.
When did he start thinking about sappy stuff like that anyway?—
His thoughts are interrupted by the lunch bell. He gathers his things and waits for Langa so they can go and eat lunch together.
They walk up to the roof together. As they make their way upstairs, Reki lets out a yawn.
Langa turns his head.
“Did you not sleep?”
“I did, just stayed up late…”
“Doing what?”
Reki doesn’t want to admit that he was rewatching videos of Langa learning how to skate til he fell asleep… so he lies.
“Drawing.”
“Figures…” Langa smiles slightly.
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Reki and Langa sit next to each other on the roof of the school. Reki is using a Tech Deck to explain a new trick for S that he thought of and Langa silently listens as he eats. He watches the way Reki’s fingers fiddle with the Tech Deck. A small smile forms on his face as he starts to zone out.
He finds himself paying more attention to Reki’s hands rather than what he is saying. Reki’s hands are calloused and have bandages on them (presumably from his little sister’s stash, they have little unicorns on them).
Langa’s so lost in thought that he hardly notices Reki trying to get his attention.
“Langa… Langa… LANGA!” Reki calls out.
Langa finally snaps out of his trance and looks up.
“H-huh?”
“Dude are you even listening? I was asking if you wanted to stay over at my place tonight. If your mom’s cool with that.”
That sure does bring him back to reality. The thought of sleeping on the same bed as Reki… cuddling makes his face heat up a little. Langa shakes the thought from his head. No way he would wanna do that. Langa shouldn’t even be thinking this about his best friend… oh but it can’t hurt to fantasize a little.
He nods
“Yeah sure, I’ll come over”
Reki’s face brightens up. He smiles wide and his nose scrunches up slightly. Langa finds this absolutely adorable.
“Alright!” Reki cheers.
Langa and Reki continue to eat lunch in comfortable silence right next to each other. Their knees bump into each other. Even though neither mention it, they both notice it.
Worst part is that there really isn’t anything special about the contact. They know that. They both do, but that doesn’t make them any less content.
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Langa’s leading the way as they skate to that food place he was talking about before.
Reki silently admires him from behind. He has always admired Langa, but this feels like more than just looking up to him.
He’s so damn pretty… Reki thinks to himself.
Just the thought alone surprises him. Yeah, he knows he has a big fat crush on him, so he knows he’s gonna have at least a few thoughts like that. It’s just not something he’s used to yet. Sure, he’s noticed his friend is attractive, but then he started noticing more and more until suddenly it’s all he can think about! When did acknowledgement turn into appreciation turn into oh my god I want to kiss my best friend!?
This is all too much for him to handle, and he doesn’t know how much longer he can keep it all tucked neatly inside.
“We’re here.” Langa’s soft voice breaks him out of that spiral and grounds him.
“Looks good!” He tries to sound as casual as he can. Reki hops off his skateboard and follows Langa inside.
After ordering food, they pick a table and sit down. As they wait for their food to be ready, they engage in their usual conversation.
Langa’s voice is always able to bring Reki down to earth when his thoughts go off into space. Reki really appreciates always having someone there to keep him in check without being scolded. It’s one of the many things he likes about Langa. Not that he’d admit that. Too embarrassing.
“So…” Reki begins, “what is it about poutine that you like so much?”
Langa thinks a bit. “Well I know it’s not the healthiest, but it’s pretty good. I really like it. You should try it”
“That wasn’t really an answer, man”
“I know, but I… I can’t explain it ok? It’s familiar and I like it!”
A silence falls between them before they start chuckling.
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They finally make it back to Reki’s house a few hours later.
Once they finally get settled, Reki shows Langa some of the sketches he made during class.
Langa watches the way Reki’s eyes light up when he talks about things he loves. He could just stare at them for hours. A soft smile forms on his face as he watches the range of excitement Reki goes through with his facial expressions. He rests his head on Reki’s bed and continues to listen.
“Wouldn’t this be a rad design for a board?” Reki asks with a not so subtle hint of excitement.
Langa nods.
“Mhm. What colors would it be..?”
Reki thinks a bit. He then crawls over to his container of markers and pulls a few out. He begins to color in the sketch. Shortly after, he shows Langa.
“Red and blue!”
Langa nods.
“They go together.”
Reki grins.
“You think?”
“Mhm”
As time goes on, coloring slowly turns into lying on the ground and talking about random stuff. They both stare blankly at the ceiling.
“I don’t even know what I want to do after I graduate.” Reki mumbles.
“I don’t know either. Does anyone know?”
“Plenty of people.”He doesn’t want to think of his future right now. So he changes the subject. “Are we weird?”
“Most likely”
Reki and Langa turn their heads to each other and chuckle softly.
“But,” Langa continues, “if I were to be weird with anyone, I’d rather be weird with you.” His hand slowly inches towards Reki’s.
Langa feels kind of embarrassed after saying something so corny and cheesy to him, so he turns away and his ears get red.
Reki doesn’t say anything in response, but his heart starts beating quickly. His face turns red and he looks away. In a moment of pure panic, Reki sits up quickly and makes an announcement to Langa and himself.
“I need a shower, I smell!”
Langa stares blankly at him as Reki gets up to get a change of clothes. As soon as Reki leaves the room, Langa starts to laugh to himself.
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Reki sits on the floor of his bathroom and messes up his own hair in frustration.
Reki, you idiot! You just embarrassed yourself in front of him!
He scolds himself and groans.
“I can’t believe I just left like that…”
His feet slide against the floor mat as he tries to think of a way to redeem himself. He can’t think of anything though, which makes him frustrated.
He thinks of the way Langa looked at him when he said that:
If I were to be weird with anyone, I’d rather be weird with you…
His face looked so vulnerable. He had this soft smile on his face. Reki’s heart aches and yearns for the memory. Langa was opening up, and he responded like an idiot.
Reki turns on the water to the shower and buries his head in his knees. He replays the memory over and over in his head.
He wishes he had said something back, because if he was honest, the only person in the world he’d be ok being weird with
is Langa Hasegawa.
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Langa waits impatiently for Reki to get back. He taps his toes together. He walks around the room. He lays in Reki’s bed. He does anything he can to distract himself, but none of it works.
There’s no way I miss him. He’s in the other room. I’m just bored. I don’t miss him…
…
Ok… maybe I do miss him.
He just can’t wrap his head around the fact that he misses someone who’s not even far away. Maybe a few feet away at most. Not to mention, he literally just saw him. Even so, it feels like he’s miles away, and Langa just feels pathetic.
He buries his head in Reki’s pillow and mumbles to himself.
“Reki, hurry up…”