Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

As he tucked his skateboard under his arm and walked to his front door, Langa peered at the darkened windows. He opened and shut the door as quietly as possible as he walked in, but his caution seemed unwarranted as his mother called out from the next room and he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Hi sweetie! How was dinner?"

"It was nice," he replied, raising his voice so she could hear as he took off his shoes. "Reki's mom made some really good soba."

Langa padded around the corner to see Nanako put down her novel with a sleepy smile, the little tableside light softly illuminating the room. "I'm glad you had fun. Do you have a minute to talk before you go to bed?"

He blinked curiously, but nodded as he made his way over to sit next to her on the couch. "Sure."

"Don't worry, I'm hoping you'll think it's good news," Nanako reassured him cheerily as she turned to face him. "Turns out there's a conference for work being held back in Canada, so there will be time for us to go there close to the winter holidays! You won't even have to miss any school and we'll have just over a week to spend back home! And," she added, rustling through something next to her and placing a pamphlet in his hands. "This is happening at the same time!"

Langa stared at the paper in front of him reading WSSF: World Ski and Snowboard Festival. His heart lifted for a moment, already thinking of the snowy slopes and warm food, but that excitement faltering must have been shown as he glanced up at his mom and saw her brows draw up in concern.

"What's wrong, honey? I thought you'd be excited."

"I am, I am," Langa amended quickly, trying to reign in his glum reaction. "I just- Reki has been talking about having us over during the holidays, I've been meaning to ask you if we could go." The idea of missing something that Reki had invited him to with such enthusiasm was making his stomach sink.

"Oh, well, why not ask Reki if he wants to come?"

Langa perked up instantly. "Really?"

Nanako nodded with a smile. "They've included up to three tickets actually, so I was going to offer. And with the dates we have, we'll be back right before the holidays."

"Mom are you serious?" Langa asked, sitting up straighter, his eyes wide. "Because this sounds amazing!"

"I know!" Nanako laughed, pressing her hands together as she smiled at him. "And yes, I'm serious. Just try to let me know if both you and Reki want to go by the end of the week, alright? Then I can send word to my boss."

"I'm going to ask him right now," Langa replied immediately, standing up and practically running to his room while furiously sending a text. He heard his mother chuckle as he shut his door.

Langa: Are you still up? Can you call?

Reki: Dude it's been like less than an hour since you left lmao XD
Reki: But yeah obvs

Langa's phone started vibrating in his hand, showing an icon of a photo that Reki had taken on his phone. The selfie was slightly blurry, only showing about half of his friend's grinning face, but it made Langa smile whenever Reki called.

"Hey," Langa said upon picking up.

"Hey man," Reki answered, the smile clear in his voice. "What's up, you got urgent business for me?"

"Yes. Are you free the week after school gets out in December?"

"Uh...yeah I think so? Can't think of anything super important, why?"

Langa's smile widened so much it almost hurt, as his mind conjured up images of showing Reki his favourite bakery back home, laughing over hot chocolate by a warm fire, giving Reki some lessons in snowboarding, just as he had done for Langa with skateboarding. "I have some good news."

~

Several months and one extremely lengthy plane ride later, Langa, Reki and Nanako arrived at their hotel in downtown Vancouver. Checking in as quickly as they could, they all carted their luggage up to their rooms.

"You have everything? The beds are clean?" Nanako asked, rubbing her drooping eyes as she glanced around the boys' room. "Nothing we need to get from the drugstore or corner shop?"

"We'll be fine, mom," Langa reassured her, glancing back as a soft thump from the bedroom likely signified that Reki had collapsed into bed. "And if we're missing anything, we can always get it tomorrow."

"Well, alright, honey. Get some rest, we'll grab some breakfast and have time to rest and explore around tomorrow." She smiled and gave Langa a hug before leaving to her own room across the hall.

"Good night, mom, thank you," Langa replied, shutting the door and checking the locks. Sighing at the fatigue setting deep into his bones, he shuffled his way over to the bedroom to see Reki splayed out on one of the twin beds. His head never made it to the pillow and one of his legs dangled off the side of the mattress, backpack and jacket still on. Langa cracked a small smile at Reki's muffled snoring and his face half-squished into the bed. If he wasn't truly asleep, he was certainly a great faker.

"Reki," Langa called quietly, gently shaking his shoulder. "We have to brush our teeth and stuff." The only response was Reki turning his face fully into the covers with a grumble. "You're going to sleep really badly with your backpack and everything on, come on. It won't be long."

"Ugh, fine," Reki groaned, pushing himself up to clamber off the bed. "Leave it to you to be reasonable." He set his backpack down and they both dug through their bags for everything they'd need to settle into bed.
They brushed their teeth with Reki mumbling through a mouthful of toothpaste and leaning into Langa as he listened and nodded sleepily, the words flowing in one ear and out the other.
Once they finally collapsed into their beds, Langa heard Reki mutter something into the pillow.

"What did you say?"

Reki turned onto his side, his hair falling into his closing eyes. "I said thank you for inviting me along. I haven't been away from home in a long-" he stifled a yawn, "long time. And it's fun to go on vacation with you, I'm looking forward to doing cool stuff together."

Something kindled in Langa's chest, a warmth that squeezed his heart and radiated pleasantly outwards. "Yeah," he replied softly. "I'm looking forward to it too."

With a quiet noise of assent, the next sound that came from Reki's bed was only soft snoring. Langa sighed with a smile, rolling his eyes as he saw that Reki's legs were only half inside the sheets and his headband remained on and askew across his forehead. He pushed himself out of bed and shuffled over to carefully pull the covers out from under Reki and throw them over him properly. Gingerly pinching two fingers over his headband, Langa slid it off his head with utmost caution, trying not to wake him. Reki snored on, his face pressed into his own arm, and Langa set the headband down on the bedside table. For a moment, Langa allowed his eyes to linger on Reki's snoozing face. He felt as though he often fell asleep first when they had stayed over at each others' houses, it was a rare occasion that he saw Reki absolutely pass out like this. His eyebrows kept twitching, mostly hidden by the tufts of red hair no longer held up by his headband. His mouth downturned in a small frown, quiet snores still rumbled out of him and disrupted the otherwise complete silence of the room. A bundle of the comforter was tucked under his arm and in his sleep, Reki squeezed the lump of fabric and shifted his cheek smushed against his arm. Langa smiled, crouching next to the bed. He couldn't recall Reki clutching anything like that in his sleep before, although he did tend to wake up tangled in blankets. Looking at the soft lines of Reki's relaxed face and the way he held the bundle of blanket brought thoughts to Langa's mind of being curled up against Reki instead. Having his face pressed to Reki's collar, the warmth of Reki completely encompassing him, Reki's hand clutching the back of his shirt instead of the sheet. His senses full of nothing but Reki. But that was not what was happening right now. Langa was awake and Reki was asleep and there was no point in ruminating on things that would not happen. He took a breath, willing the dull ache in his chest away. "Good night," he murmured quietly, retreating to his own bed and staring at the ceiling, trying to regain the exhausted feeling that was so powerful just a moment ago. For reasons that he refused to give attention to, he had suddenly become wide awake.

Chapter Text

After a very jet-lagged breakfast with Langa's mom in the hotel, Reki excitedly barrelled out of the lobby doors, skateboard in hand, until he stopped short and fell to his knees in despair.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you," Langa grimaced, having finally caught up with Reki as he let out another frustrated groan, glaring at the piles of snow adorning the sidewalks and buildings. "It snowed last night."

"Man," he grumbled, getting to his feet. "Maybe it shouldn't have even brought my skateboard to begin with, you get so much more snow here than Okinawa right now."

"Don't worry." Reki glanced over to see a bright smile on Langa's face. "I still know a place we can go."
For a moment, Reki froze like the chill had rooted him in place. Of course, Langa had joyful moments back in Japan, but the warmth radiating off of him made Reki's heart thump in his ears. Something about the way Langa's eyes creased from it forced Reki to smile in return. He huffed out a breath with a quiet chuckle as he got to his feet, resigned to his icy surroundings. All things considered, he should be most concerned with learning about the cool sights in Canada and indulging Langa in what he wanted to do.

"Come on, boys!" Nanako called, jingling the car keys. "We're off!"

The short ride in the rental car mostly consisted of Reki gawking through the windows at the snow covering the awnings and Langa pointing out various places to eat, parks filled with fir trees and even his old school.
"Whoa," he'd exclaimed quietly, leaning over to Reki's side of the backseat to look through his window. "It feels like forever since I've seen it."

"Were you just as popular there as you are back in Japan?" Reki teased, wiggling his eyebrows at him.

"Ooh, is he quite the charmer at school, Reki?" Nanako asked with a light laugh from the driver's seat. "He's too shy to share many details with me."

Langa gave Reki an unimpressed look. "I'm not popular, I don't know where you're getting that."

"Well, people love you at s-" Langa's eyes widened and his eyebrows creased in a warning as his gaze darted to the front of the car. "-ssschool!" Reki finished with a stammer and a sheepish smile. "Come on, you know all the girls love you! You gotta save some for the rest of us!"

"That's not true." Langa replied with a sigh, although Reki couldn't help but notice a light blush on the high points of his cheeks as he leant back.

"Is so! Who was that girl that confessed to you before winter break, Eriko, right?"

His friend gaze snapped back to him with a start. "How did you know about that?" he asked in a hushed voice.

"I only heard a rumour, but I guess I was right!" Reki grinned, winking at him. "So what happened, what did you say?"

"I said No. No, thank you," Langa amended, shifting in his seat.

Eyebrows raised, Reki eyed him over. "Why not? She's really nice and super pretty. I think her parents have decent money too, I remember seeing her go home in a really nice car-"

"I just wasn't interested."

Reki blinked, straightening up. "Oh. Ok-"

"Sorry, I just..." Langa sighed, eyes not meeting Reki's. "Let's not talk about it right now, ok?"

Reki caught a glimpse of Langa's mom glancing in the rearview mirror as she stopped at a red light and lowered his voice. "Yeah, sure, no problem. Sorry, dude."

Langa's face relaxed in relief, but Reki still felt like he'd stepped on something. He quickly glanced for something out the window.
"Uh...what's that shop there? That seems cool, have you been there?"

Langa seemed to mellow out again, returning to occasionally pointing out other things out the window, and Reki's stomach finally unclenched. Amidst the idle chatter and the occasional Vancouver fun facts, Langa had fallen silent as he gazed out the window. The trees and nearby buildings had dispersed enough to show the skyline of towering, white-peaked mountains. Langa's chin rested on his hand as his eyes caught the cool winter sunlight and seemed to shine as he took in the sights outside. Reki couldn't tear his eyes away from him, that soft smile having returned as he drank in the sights of where he grew up. The same warmth returned to Reki's chest and he didn't realize he was staring until he saw Langa turn to look at him expectantly.

"Huh?"

Langa raised an eyebrow. "I asked if you'd seen snowy mountains like these before? I haven't seen enough of Japan yet to know how similar the ones there are."

"Oh, right, yeah," Reki cleared his throat, suddenly realizing that he had been rapidly fidgeting the string of his hoodie between his fingers. He pointedly tucked his hand under his leg and leaned over to look out Langa's window.
"There's mountains and stuff, but they're normally pretty green, we don't get a lot of snow."

"What do you think of them?"

Reki looked out at the peaks of blue, white and grey and then back to Langa's expectant face.

"They're really beautiful."

Langa beamed. "I think so too." Reki grinned back, trying to distract himself from the leaping feeling in his stomach.

~

After taking in the sights around the city with Langa's mom for a little while, she left for one of her work summits and the boys were free to do as they pleased until the evening.

"We should've just left our boards in the car," Reki grumbled, shuffling through the snow and slush with his skateboard tucked under his arm.

"No, you'll want it for a little bit," Langa reassured, glancing around before turning left and leading them down a side street.

"I feel like I'm trudging through the sand at the beach again," Reki huffed as Langa rolled his eyes at him. "How did you handle living in a place where it takes you forever to walk anywhere? And no skating either!"

"Well, I wouldn't say that."

Reki frowned at his response, until he looked up to where Langa was pointing and his jaw dropped. He had seen his fair share of skateparks back in Okinawa, next to playgrounds and hidden under bridges. Plus, he was very used to finding hidden straightaways and alleys to practice tricks. However, after a full day of flying, another day of severe jet lag and all the snow on the ground, the sight before them was heavenly.
The skate park was huge. It stretched out under two overpasses with the local transit train passing overhead and Reki's brain was racing a mile a minute thinking of the tricks he could practice on all the ramps, rails, barriers, raised stairs and even off the pillars holding up the rails. He didn't even care that half the park extended past the overpasses and was therefore slushy and wet, there were still endless possibilities.

"What do you think?" Langa asked, leaning to the side to catch Reki's eye. "I hoped this would be good enough, I'm still not sure what the best-"

"This is incredible!" Reki cheered, throwing an arm around Langa's shoulder. "Oh man, this is awesome. Thank you so much for taking me here, I take back everything I said!"

Langa smiled bashfully and Reki grinned back, squeezing his arms around his friend's shoulder. "There's more where this came from," Langa added. "This is going to be something of a skating tour today. If that's alright with you."

"'If that's-' Langa," Reki said, mock-seriously. He retracted his arm to then grab Langa's shoulders firmly and look at him head on. "Who do you think you're talking to?" he asked, the fake severity fading away as he couldn't keep the smile off of his face. "That sounds incredible! I'm so stoked, let's do it!"

Langa's eyes widened for a moment, but then he smiled that soft smile that shot directly to Reki's heart. "Ok. Yeah, let's go. It should be clear, but watch for black ice."

"Yeah yeah, let's go already!"
With a flash, Reki picked up his board and bolted for the nearest slope, the drop of wheels behind him signalling that Langa was right on his heels.

A breath of fresh air had been put into Reki's lungs. Even with the learning curve of getting used to the structures of this specific park, it was exhilarating to be cruising around at all. The clatter of wheels and the breathless sounds of laughter filled the space under the overpass and before long, Reki felt like a fully charged battery. As he glided down one of the slopes towards the big divot at the park's centre, he lowered his centre of gravity, dropped in and braced himself. Dropping down to clutch the front of his board with his hand, Reki flew up the other side, rotated the board 180 degrees under his feet and landed back up the other side with a small thud. Grinning at his success, his head whipped around at a shouted exclamation and he saw Langa skating over to him.

"What was that?" he asked, eyes wide and curious.

Reki grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Eh, just practicing something new. Seeing if I can do more tricks with the actual board, I might look into other board designs that are better built for that too."

Langa's eyes were focused intently on him as he spoke and Reki braced for Langa to try out the trick himself. No doubt he'd be able to pull it off within a couple minutes or less, which was fine. The sinking feeling in Reki's stomach only doubled upon itself as guilt invited itself in. He still didn't understand why it was so hard to be simply happy and supportive in Langa sharing his interests. It definitely wasn't for lack of trying to work on it.

In the midst of his whirlwind of thoughts, Langa's voice cut in. "That's really cool, Reki."
Reki blinked and refocused on Langa's face, crinkling eyes a small smile on his lips. "I really like the ideas you come up with. You're very creative."

Reki blinked again, the words he was about to say catching in his throat. Heat rushed up his neck and he bent down to pick up his board. "It's nothing really," he mumbled. "I just saw someone else trying it online and I figured I could try doing it."

"Not just the trick, I mean the stuff you said about the boards," Langa added, idly kicking his own board up towards his hand and missing terribly. Reki stifled a snicker as Langa fumbled for the board and stood back up, averting his eyes. "I wouldn't have thought to modify boards for tricks, or design a whole new one. I'd be interested to see it if you start working on it soon?" he asked, looking sideways at Reki. "Only if you feel like showing anyone, of course."

Reki brightened, standing up straighter. "Oh yeah, dude, definitely! I'd love to show you, you'd be the first to know." The thoughts that had been turning his stomach melted away as soon as Langa gave a small smile at his reply and Reki instead felt his heart skipping. "What were you working on?" he added hastily, nails picking at the hem of his sweater. "I saw you getting some serious air over there."

"Oh!" Langa perked up, his board tucked under one arm. "Just the usual stuff. But I have been trying to learn how to kickflip. I'm not so good without my feet staying on the board, though"

Reki whistled. "Phew, it's not easy, that's for sure. That one takes a lot of practice compared to other tricks."

"Can you do it?" Langa asked.

"Technically," Reki shrugged. "It's been awhile since I've practiced it, but I've done it before."

Langa's gaze had become sharp with intent interest and determination. "Can you show me? Please?"

At first, Reki simply blinked again, but then a wide grin spread across his face, his stomach preemptively doing its own kickflip. "I'll do my best! Like I said, I haven't tried it in awhile." He set his board down and wracked his memories to visualize the technique for the trick as Langa sat down cross legged on the pavement, hands resting on his knees as he watched intently but patiently. After two tries where his foot slipped, Reki was able to successfully pull off a small kickflip and although Langa's face remained serious, his eyes lit up.

"Wow," he exclaimed softly.

"It's hard," Reki panted, shifting his board idly back and forth. "And tricks where your board's leaving the ground from standing are hard to practice on a smooth surface." He glanced around, scanning the areas nearby the park before frowning at the snow covered surroundings. "Too bad the grass is all snowy, otherwise I'd say you could practice there."

"That's alright," Langa replied. "I'll give it a try." A few attempts later, Langa's board shot out from under him and he only managed to catch himself on his forearm with a yelp of pain.

"Whoa!" Reki exclaimed as he hurried over. "You alright? That was a rough one."

"Ngh, yeah, that sucked," Langa groaned as he took the extended hand and got back to his feet. "You weren't kidding, this is really hard. I'm not used to my feet leaving the board like that."

"Makes sense. It's not something you're used to." Reki gave Langa a quick once over and once he was satisfied with the lack of broken bones, he jogged to catch up with the stray board. "Here, there's something we can try. Hop back on the board?"

Langa gave him a skeptical look, but gingerly stood back on the board anyway. "Ok?"

Standing facing him, Reki extended his hands, palm up. "Gimme your hands."

After a moment's hesitation, Langa reached out and grasped his hands. The angle was extremely awkward, with Langa's fingers curling over his in a strange grip, but it still sent a jolt up his spine.

"Oh...uh....here, I think this will be better," Reki stammered, sliding his hand to place his palm under Langa's wrist to grasp it firmly.

"Oh, right," Langa mumbled, his eyes fixed on where their hands were clasped together.

Reki was about to make a joke about how red Langa's cheeks were from the cold, but his tongue was tied as slender fingers glided up his wrists. His grip was too tight, but Reki didn't mind as he loosely held onto the underside of Langa's wrists in turn, at the ready to hold tight in case he needed support. He watched as Langa stared directly down, unsure if he was looking at their clasped hands or the board under his feet.
"Hey it's ok, I won't let you fall," Reki assured him. "It's just like day one, huh? Been awhile since I've helped you with learning something like this." Langa just nodded, his grip on Reki's wrists bordering on painful. "Langa, dude, breathe." His eyes snapped back up to Reki's, who tried to give him a reassuring smile. "It's ok," he repeated gently, giving Langa's wrists a light squeeze. "Take a breath, you can do this."

With a quiet exhale, Langa nodded again, his jaw relaxing as he squeezed Reki's wrists back in return. Reki however, felt like that squeeze sent electric currents up his arms and he tried to suppress the twitch in his shoulders.
Many attempts later, Langa was able to get a little movement on the board while catching some air and Reki's arms felt like they were going to fall off after trying his best to hold him steady.

"I think that's enough for now," he huffed, stretching out his arms as Langa stabilized himself on his own board. "Good progress though! I'm sure you'll get it in no time."

"Thank you, Reki." Langa held his gaze, serious and steady. "I really appreciate your help."

Reki blinked, feeling the fluttery feeling rise in his stomach again. "Oh...it's nothing, dude!"

"It's not," Langa insisted, a small smile forming that still reached his eyes. "I never would have learned anything like this if it weren't for you."

Reki's heart thumped so loud that he felt the urge to cover his hands over his chest to muffle the sound. "Well, thanks," he mumbled, opting to scratch his cheek instead, at least partially blocking the view of his flushed face. However, much to his relief, he was saved by the loud grumble of Langa's stomach. "Snack break?" Reki asked, putting on his best enthusiastic grin.

Langa's eyes brightened and he thumped his fist into his open palm as he started to speak. "Oh yeah! I almost forgot there was a bakery around here that I wanted to show you."

"Sounds like your stomach's in a hurry, so let's bust a move," Reki chuckled, hopping on his board to coast to the edge of the park, making the most of the landscape before they had to leave. "Race you to the edge."

"You're on!" came the call from Langa and Reki's smile grew as they both dashed towards the side of the park. Spying an exit from the park out onto the sidewalk, Reki veered for it, deigning that the finish line in his mind.
Nearly there and sure of his victory, Reki heard a shout from close behind him and as he glanced back, his board rapidly picked up speed and shot out from under him. Trying to catch himself with his foot, that only slipped too, tipping his whole body backwards. A surprised yelp left him as he braced for a hard fall onto the concrete, but all he felt was surprisingly strong arms crash in around him, contrasted by the warm breath against his forehead. Reki's feet finally found purchase on the ground and he opened his eyes to a faceful of Langa's jacket.

"You ok?" Langa breathed, pulling back to look him over.

"Uh huh," Reki answered, his brain way too focused on Langa's hands steadily holding him up and the different shades of blue in his eyes. He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding as Langa hauled him to his feet. "I'm fine, really," he squeaked out as Langa scanned over his body like a worried mother.

"Ok, ok." Langa stood up properly with a relieved sigh. "I'm serious, be careful about that black ice."

With a glance down, Reki could now see the sun glinting off the shiny dark patch on the ground, about half as big as his board. "Oh, yeah," he mumbled sheepishly, stepping over to grab his board. Thankfully, it had run aground in a patch of grass and not snow. "Sorry about that." He rolled his arms and shifted his back, trying to shake off the phantom feeling of Langa's arms around him.

The crunching of the nearby patch of snow signalled Langa following behind him as he scooped up his board. He caught up with an apologetic smile, his own board tucked under his arm, which frankly did not help the way Reki's blood was simmering in his arms and hands. "It's alright, I'm just glad you didn't break your neck." Angling his head towards the exit, Langa started to walk as he continued, "Did I ever tell you, I totally knocked the wind out of my lungs falling on my back like that one time?"

Reki snorted with a shake of his head, falling into step with his friend as they left the park. "Well, this I gotta hear."