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The last thing Reki remembered was the blinding light at S, all of them gathered for what was supposed to be a celebration race. Then—nothing. And now he was waking up in his bed, younger, smaller, and the calendar on his wall read a date from months ago.
The day Langa arrived in Okinawa.
Reki shot up, his hands—smaller hands—gripping his sheets. His mind was full of memories that hadn't happened yet: late-night skating with Langa, the Tournament of S, Adam's obsession, his own spiral of insecurity, and finally, finally, finding his way back to what mattered most.
His phone buzzed. Multiple notifications in a group chat that didn't exist yet—except it did now.
Unknown Number: This is Kaoru. If you're reading this, you remember too.
Unknown Number: NANJO HERE. What the hell is happening?!
Unknown Number: Shadow. Yeah, I'm freaking out.
Unknown Number: miya. this is weird.
Unknown Number: how fascinating~ we've been given a second chance, haven't we?
Reki's blood ran cold at that last message. Adam. Of course Adam would find this fascinating.
His fingers trembled as he typed: reki. i remember everything.
-----
Kaoru—Cherry—had woken in his younger body with Kojiro's (Joe's) contact already pulled up on his phone, muscle memory from a future that technically hadn't happened. They'd been in the middle of saying something important to each other when the light hit. Something they'd been dancing around for years.
Now he was twenty again, his hair shorter, his body free of the minor aches he'd grown accustomed to. And Kojiro—he checked the messages—was clearly panicking in his own way.
Kojiro: Kaoru, tell me you remember. Tell me I'm not crazy.
Kaoru: You're not crazy. I remember everything.
Kojiro: thank god. i'll come over.
Kaoru: We have more immediate concerns. Langa arrives today.
Kojiro: ...oh. Oh no. Reki doesn't know what he has yet, does he?
-----
Langa stepped off the plane into Okinawa humidity with two sets of memories warring in his head. In one, he was a grieving teenager, numb and lost, about to start at a new school where he knew no one. In the other, he'd found everything he'd been missing—skateboarding, friends, a home, and Reki. Reki, who'd given him color in a grey world, who'd taught him to fly again.
His phone buzzed with messages from people he hadn't met yet. Except he had.
Reki: langa!!! you remember right??? please tell me you remember
Langa's chest tightened. Even through text, he could feel Reki's frantic energy.
Langa: I remember. I remember everything, Reki.
Reki: oh thank god
Reki: okay so everyone remembers apparently
Reki: even adam which is. concerning.
Langa: Are you okay?
Reki: i will be when i see you
Reki: i know where you live (that sounds creepy sorry)
Reki: can i come over???
Langa was already texting his address: Please come.
-----
Miya sat on the floor of his room, controller forgotten in his lap. He was twelve again, pre-Tournament, before everything had shifted and changed. Before he'd learned that the "slimes" he'd mocked actually cared about him, had protected him, had become something like the friends he'd convinced himself he didn't need.
His cat ear hoodie hung in his closet, unworn. His attitude felt like armor he didn't want anymore.
Reki: miya you good?
Miya: yeah. just weird being small again.
Shadow: Tell me about it, kid. I'm back to this beard's awkward phase.
Miya: your beard always looks awkward
Shadow: HEY
Despite everything, Miya smiled. He'd missed this. Wait—he hadn't lost it yet. This time, he wouldn't take it for granted.
-----
Hiromi (Shadow) stared at his reflection. Younger, yes, but still himself. Still caught between his day job at the flower shop and his night persona at S. Except now he knew how it all played out—the friendships he'd make, the growth they'd all go through together.
And he knew about Adam's madness before it could escalate.
Kaoru: We need to meet. All of us. Before Ainosuke does something reckless.
Kojiro: Agreed. My restaurant, tonight?
Adam: How lovely~ a reunion before we've even united. I'll be there.
-----
When Reki arrived at Langa's apartment building, he took the stairs two at a time despite his shorter legs. He'd barely knocked when the door flew open.
They stood there, staring at each other—younger faces, but eyes full of shared experiences the rest of the world didn't know yet.
"Reki," Langa breathed.
"Langa!"
They crashed together, hugging fiercely. Reki's face pressed into Langa's shoulder, breathing him in—real, here, alive, not a dream.
"I thought I'd lost you," Reki mumbled. "When that light hit, I thought—"
"I'm here." Langa's arms tightened. "I'm here, and I remember everything. The skate park, S, us."
When they finally pulled back, Reki kept his hands on Langa's arms, as if afraid he'd disappear. "We get to do it all over again. But better this time."
"Better," Langa agreed. His blue eyes were bright. "I won't take so long to understand what you mean to me."
Reki flushed. "Langa—"
"I love skating with you, Reki. I love you. I knew it before, but I won't waste time now."
"Oh." Reki's face burned, but he was grinning so wide it hurt. "Yeah. Yeah, me too. I love you too."
The kiss was soft, tentative, perfect—everything their first one had been, but now with the confidence of knowing it was right.
-----
That evening, they gathered at Kojiro's restaurant. The space wasn't open yet, giving them privacy. Seven people with impossible knowledge, trying to figure out what came next.
Kaoru and Kojiro sat close, something settled between them that hadn't been there before—or rather, had been there but unacknowledged. Their hands rested on the table, pinkies linked.
Miya noticed and wrinkled his nose, but he was smiling. "Gross. But about time."
"Watch it, kid," Kojiro warned, but there was no heat in it.
Hiromi crossed his arms. "So. We're all in agreement that we can't let things play out the same way? Adam—"
"I'm right here," Adam purred, lounging dramatically. "And I remember everything too. My Eve—" his eyes fixed on Langa, "—my awakening, my descent. Tell me, do you think people can really change?"
The table tensed. Reki's hand found Langa's under the table.
Langa met Adam's gaze steadily. "I think you already know the answer, or you wouldn't be here asking."
Silence.
Then Adam laughed, but it sounded hollow. "Perhaps. How strange, to remember being at my worst and knowing everyone else remembers too. There's nowhere to hide, is there?"
"No," Kaoru said firmly. "But there's a chance to do better. For all of us."
Kojiro nodded. "We were friends once, Ainosuke. Maybe we could be again."
Adam's mask cracked, just for a moment—something vulnerable and aching beneath. "I'd forgotten how to want that."
"Then remember," Miya said quietly. "We all get to start over. Even you."
-----
Over the following weeks, everything was the same and completely different.
Langa started school with Reki by his side from day one, no awkward distance, no uncertainty. They were immediately inseparable, and their classmates quickly learned to accept it.
When Reki brought Langa to the skate park, it wasn't a desperate bid for connection—it was sharing something precious with someone who already understood its value. Langa's eyes still lit up on the board, but now Reki knew to recognize that look for what it was: joy, pure and simple, not a replacement for anything.
Miya appeared at the skate park "coincidentally" and dropped the tough act faster, letting himself be the kid who just wanted to skate with friends. When he asked Reki to teach him a trick, there was no mockery, just genuine interest.
Shadow showed up to their sessions, offering gruff advice and secretly enjoying playing mentor. The flowers he sometimes brought got distributed with increasingly poor excuses until everyone just accepted it.
Kaoru and Kojiro were different too—still bickering, still competitive, but now there were lingering looks, casual touches, late-night calls that ended with soft admissions instead of arguments. When they finally kissed after a race at S, surprising absolutely no one, Kojiro whispered, "Should've done this years ago."
"We have time now," Kaoru replied. "Let's not waste it."
As for Adam—it was hardest for him. The muscle memory of obsession, of dangerous skating, of pushing boundaries until they shattered, all warred with the knowledge of where that path led. He still craved the rush, but now he understood what he'd actually been seeking: connection, not domination.
When he showed up to S one night and skated cleanly, beautifully, without any of the violence—when he finished and Langa complimented his technique while Reki asked excitedly about a specific move—Adam felt something he'd forgotten: simple happiness in the art itself.
Later, when the old S founders sat together watching the young ones skate, Adam said quietly, "I don't know if I can be who I was before everything went wrong."
"You can't," Kaoru said. "None of us can. But you can be someone better than who you became."
"We're here," Kojiro added. "We remember too. You're not alone in this."
Adam watched Langa and Reki skating together, laughing, perfectly in sync. Not Eve and Adam. Just Langa and Reki, complete in themselves, sharing something beautiful.
"No," he agreed softly. "I suppose I'm not."
-----
Months passed. They raced and grew and loved, all of them carrying the weight of memories from a future that would never be. Sometimes it was hard—Reki still had moments of insecurity, Langa still struggled with his grief, Miya sometimes felt too young and too old at once. But they had each other, and they had the knowledge that this, this, was worth fighting for.
One night, after a particularly good race, everyone ended up at Kojiro's restaurant, squeezed around tables pushed together, laughing and arguing and stealing food from each other's plates.
Reki leaned against Langa, their fingers interlaced. Kaoru's head rested on Kojiro's shoulder. Miya was demonstrating something on his phone to an interested Hiromi. Even Adam seemed relaxed, smiling genuinely as he debated technique with Kaoru.
"Hey," Langa murmured to Reki. "Are you happy?"
Reki looked around at their found family, this beautiful impossible second chance, and squeezed Langa's hand. "Yeah. Yeah, I really am."
"Me too."
Outside, Okinawa glowed under the stars, full of infinite possibility. They had already lived one future. Now they'd build a better one—together, with love, with friendship, with the knowledge that every moment was precious.
This time, they'd get it right.