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"C'mon Shadow, beef with me," Reki challenged. "You scared to lose against a teenager, you fossil."
"The hell did you just call me!?!" Shadow yelled at him, stomping over in front of him. "I'm 24 years old goddammit! I'm not that old!"
"Gramps," Miya coughed out from behind Shadow. "Ancient," he sneezed. "God, my allergies must be acting up," he added with a sly smirk as Shadow glared at him.
"Shut it, tiny gremlin," Shadow shot back. "I didn't realize we were running a daycare here."
Miya's smile broke and rage took its place as Joe caught Miya in mid-air, attempting to jump and attack Shadow.
"Let me go!" He screeched. "Let me kick his ass!"
"Absolute barbarians," Cherry commented, rubbing his head while watching with Langa from the side. "S used to have some class at the very least, now children are attempting to attack adults."
"Class?" Joe asked back, turning to face Cherry with Miya still over his shoulder, pounding against his back indignantly. "We made this place so we could skate without class."
"Um, hello?!?" Reki yelled, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "Shadow, beef, yes or no?"
"Hell yeah kid," Shadow responded, walking over to the starting line with Reki. "Just don't cry when I kick your ass, okay?"
"Don't sob your trashy makeup off when I do then," Reki shot back. "If I win, you gotta confess to your manager."
"Fine," Shadow agreed. "If I win, you tell everyone here your darkest secret."
Reki sucked in a deep breath as he agreed. Not even Langa knew about his secret yet - that he wasn't born a boy - but what other choice did he have? He wasn't going to back down from a beef, so he agreed, quickly gripping his ribs after and leaning over slightly.
"Kid?" Shadow asked, giving Reki an odd look. "Don't think that just because you're scared to lose, I'm gonna let you back out."
"Scared?" Reki responded. "The only scared person here is gonna be you when you have to confess to your manager. I wonder if her boyfriend is gonna beat your ass," he joked, moving the attention away from him.
Shadow only gave him a tch in response, stepping up to the starting line with his board in hand, Reki besides him and the glowing red lights above them. The crowd was so loud, cheering for either of the competitors, but one voice stood out to Reki.
"Do your best, Reki!" Langa shouted from the side. "You got this!" he continued, giving his boyfriend a thumbs up.
"I'll see you at the end of the race!" Reki shouted back, shifting his attention back to the lights as the countdown began.
Red. Red. Red. Red. Green!
Jumping on his board, Reki took off down the track, leaning forward and shooting ahead of Shadow, doing his best to ignore the pain in his chest. He knew that he should've taken off his binder last night, but he'd been so tired that he just crashed as soon as he got home, leading to him wearing it throughout the entirety of yesterday, last night, and today - over 36 hours of constant binding.
Reki shook his head as Shadow came up besides him - he couldn't focus on that now, he had to win this beef first so that his friends wouldn't find out that he was trans. he certainly didn't have anything against them knowing, but he was still nervous - not everyone was as accepting as his family had been. His mother had been so proud of him when he came out, going on and on about how wonderful it was to finally have a son and how proud she was of him. She hadn't even struggled with the pronoun change or new name, it was something he couldn't thank her enough for.
"Hey!" A voice yelled, pulling Reki out of his thoughts. "We racing or reminiscing?"
"Wanted to give you a chance to catch up," Reki shot back, pain wrapping him in an uncomfortable hug. "Make it a more fair fight, you know?" He joked, feeling his vision start to blur a bit on the edges - he needed to finish this now.
Cheers emanated from the crowd as the beef went on, Reki falling behind as Shadow took the lead around a corner before entering the warehouse - the final section of the beef.
Reki couldn't find it in him to even notice though. Something was wrong, very wrong. It felt like the world was spinning on it's axis, shifting him over to the side and before he knew it, he felt the hard ground under him as he tumbled. Rocks cut into him as he continued to move, but couldn't stop. His vision was fading and he felt like he couldn't breathe.
"Langa…" Reki muttered out, finally stopping as his head knocked back against the ground. "Help…"
~~~
"What do you mean he fell off his board?!?" Shadow yelled, getting to the finish line, but not seeing Reki behind him. "The kid wasn't too far behind me. What the hell happened?"
"Worry about that after!" Langa shouted at him, taking off in a dead sprint up the track. "We need to help Reki first!"
Not waiting for an answer, Langa raced up the track, his mind flooded with worry for Reki - What had happened? Was he okay? Was he hurt? He needed to get there as soon as he could, he wouldn't leave him hanging, not again. He promised to always be there for him.
"Reki!" Langa shouted, seeing his boyfriend still on the ground, unmoving. "Reki," he spoke again, kneeling down next to him and assessing his injuries.
Multiple cuts and bruises littered Reki's body, but nothing that was life-threatening, that was one thing he was thankful for. But what had caused him to fall in the first place?
"Langa!" Joe yelled from behind him, coming up the track with Miya, Cherry, and Shadow in tow, a first aid kit in hand. "Is he alright?"
"He's unconscious, but not too badly injured," he explained, pulling Reki onto his lap. "I don't know what caused him to fall of in the first place."
"We should get that hoodie off of him first," Cherry remarked, kneeling down on Reki's other side across from Langa. "We need to see if there's any injuries we're not seeing," he explained.
Giving Cherry a nod, Langa gently sat Reki's body up and helped to pull the hoodie off of him, pulling his shirt up slightly as the fabric was pulled over his head.
"What was that?" Miya asked. "I saw some black fabric under his shirt, it looked like it was around his chest."
"What have you done to yourself?" Joe spoke to himself. "We should get that off, it's probably what caused him to pass out. Used to happen to me too, remember Cherry?"
"You two are identical idiots," Cherry muttered, pulling a small pair of sheers from the first aid kit and cutting though it, keeping the shirt on over it. "That should help him feel a bit better, let's get him down to the end of the track. There's a small room down there he can rest in for now."
Giving him a nod, Langa carefully picked up Reki in a bridal hold, gripping him tightly to him as Joe came up besides him.
"I'm guessing you didn't know?" He asked quietly.
"No," Langa admitted. "He never told me. Why didn't he tell me? I wouldn't have treated him any differently."
"It's a difficult thing to tell others," Joe responded, setting a hand on Langa's shoulder. "Especially if you care for them a lot because then, what happens if they don't accept you?"
"I just want him to be okay," Langa spoke softly.
"And he will be. He just needs some time to rest, his ribs will be pretty sore for the next couple days."
The group remained quiet, walking down the track at a slow even pace. Near the bottom, Reki began to wake up, groaning and trying to move.
"Easy Reki," Langa calmed him. "It's okay, we're almost somewhere that you can rest."
"I-I'm sorry," he slurred out, still in pain and not entirely awake. "I'm so fuckin' sorry, Langa. I should've trusted you," he added, throwing an arm around Langa as he continued to be carried. "Can you forgive me?"
"There's nothing to forgive," Langa explained. "It was your personal business and no matter how close we are, that is none of my business unless you want it to be. I'm not upset with you, I just want you to know that you can talk to me about anything, okay?"
"Yeah," Reki responded, leaning his head against Langa's shoulder before passing out again. "I love you, Langa," he muttered out, eyes fluttering shut.
"I love you too," Langa said softly, pressing a kiss on Reki's head and holding him close. "No matter what, I'll always love you."