Chapter Text
Reki believed that there were not enough people in this world who knew his wonderful sport: skateboarding.
And even though he now had many friends to share his passion with, he could not overlook the disinterest that his classmates showed every time he brought it up.
Reki needed more people to step into the world of skateboarding and value it.
But, how so?
That was the question haunting the redhead. So he decided to ask his friends:
One day when he was in "S" he decided to ask Cherry and Joe.
"Cherry! Joe! You guys were in a big group of skaters, weren’t you? How did you get that?
"How did we get it?" Cherry laughed openly. "We didn’t do anything, most of them already enjoyed skating. Although after so many years Kojiro, Adam and I are the only ones that still practice it.
"I see" That wasn’t the answer Reki expected.
"Why the question, boy?" Joe wrapped his arm around Reki’s shoulders, smiling.
"Well, I was just wondering how I could get more people interested in skateboard." He shrugged.
"So that was it! You don’t have enough friends to talk about this, do you? Don’t worry! Look around, here in ‘S’ there are many skaters."
Joe didn’t seem to understand exactly what Reki meant.
"Idiot, Reki didn’t mean that." Cherry said "Reki, if you want to make skateboarding more popular, you should write a book. It’s a very useful way to talk about your interests."
A book? That wasn’t a bad idea, except for the fact that... iReki wasn’t a writer! He wouldn’t know where to start.
Giving up, he said goodbye to Cherry and Joe and went to enjoy the race that was being held tonight, leaving aside the subject for today.
New day, new opportunity.
Reki was determined to find a way to popularize his favorite sport.
Today, he had gone to the flower shop where his friend Shadow worked.
He was an infamous skater in ‘S’, known for cheating during races. And of course, Reki had also been a victim many times.
"Good afternoon, Shadow!" the redhead cheerfully waved as he entered the small shop.
"Look, boy, I’ve told you many times not to call me that while I’m working!”
"Alright. Hey, can you talk for a minute?"
"Make it quick" Shadow was decorating a very colorful bouquet of flowers.
"You see, I’m looking for ways to popularize skateboarding. And I’d like to know what you can think of."
"Popularize skateboarding?" Shadow made a face, as if Reki had gone crazy. "Reki, skateboarding is already very popular. Don’t you see all the people coming to ’S'? It’s even a sport in the Olympics, don’t worry about that."
Shadow seemed very unconcerned about the subject.
Reki thought it was hopeless to keep asking about it.
He said goodbye to Shadow and started pushing his skateboard all the way home.
There went nothing.
"Third time’s the charm" Reki thought as he got to his part-time job.
Today, he was ready to ask manager Oka. His boss. And also a great friend.
"Manager Oka, do you think skateboarding should be more popular?"
"Popular?" Reki’s boss lifted his head from the boxes he was opening and focused all his attention on the redhead. "Sure, it should be more popular, so we could have more customers in the store, it would be great" he clarified.
"It’s better than nothing” Reki thought.
"If so, how could it become better known?"
Reki was sure that this time he would get a good answer but instead:
"Well, you could put up posters to advertise the store. I’m sure there will be a lot of new customers interested."
Sure, he should’ve guessed. What mattered most to the manager was the success of his business.
Determined to surrender. Reki continued with his shift.
The next day, while he was at the skatepark with Miya and Langa, the blue hair brought it up.
"Hey Reki, what did you mean when you asked the manager about how to make skateboarding more popular yesterday?"
Miya raised an eyebrow and Reki was embarrassed by how pathetic he looked while trying this.
"I don’t know, I just thought it would be cool if more people started appreciating our sport."
Silence. It looked like his friends were analyzing whether or not he was being serious.
The younger one took out his phone and started looking for something. He turned the device so that it now showed the redhead videos of influencers talking to their followers.
"You should upload videos talking about it. Nowadays, you can become famous by talking about anything. A little pathetic if you ask me, but it works," explained the black-haired boy.
Reki’s eyes lit up. It was a great idea! That way Reki could talk about what he needed.
And luckily, he was very good at talking.
With some luck, he could even become famous.
"Miya, that’s a great idea! I’d kiss your brain right now. Thank you."
"Yeah, yeah. Don’t be weird about it." Miya replied.
"Langa, what do you think?" Reki needed to know his best friend’s opinion
"I’m sure you’ll get a lot of followers, Reki. People will see how much you love skateboarding."
And so, Reki made the decision to make his own videos
That night, Reki created his own YouTube channel and named it "Reki K-skate lover!"
He was determined to make his mission a success.