Archive of Our Own

Reki was used to pranks, but he wasn’t the biggest fan when they were played on him. 

As a kid, sure, he liked them. Enjoyed them even. A clap of erasers and coating a kid in dust, bringing a whoopee cushion and waiting for someone to sit on it. A bucket filled halfway with water placed precariously on the door. All the kids would giggle and laugh, Reki included. When Reki was the subject of said pranks, he laughed it off like everyone else. He was just a kid so he didn’t think much of them.

In middle school, the pranks were replaced with dares, and Reki found himself as the butt of them. Specifically from girls. 

There was a girl from his class. Kobayashi, if he’s remembering right. She asked him to meet her after school, where she ended up asking him out. Reki’s heart nearly exploded because ‘holy shit, a girl is into me,’ only to hear laughter from around the corner. Kobayashi started to laugh, complaining to her friends that appeared that she “couldn’t believe you would make me ask Kyan-san of all people.” She spared a glance over her shoulder to a confused Reki before nonchalantly saying “I didn’t mean that by the way,” before joining her friends. 

In middle school he was “confessed” to 10 times. All of them he took seriously, and all of them were just pranks by the girls. And each time it always crushed him. 

Reki spent a lot of time in front of mirrors, looking at himself and just wondering. What was it that made him the subject of the girls’ pranks? Was it his hair? His headband? His hoodies? The fact he loved skateboarding and was labeled a “delinquent” by a his classmates? Each time he looked in the mirror he found something new to hate. And each time he looked in a mirror he never found an answer. 

Reki started to avoid looking at himself. Started to keep to himself more. Thought maybe if he could fade into the background the pranks would stop. 

High school proved him wrong. The first half of his school year, he received 3 more “confessions.” He knew what to expect at this point. 

The girl would say “I really like you! Please go out with me!” And Reki would just sigh, “Who dared you to do this?” When the girl would go quiet, he would walk past her and would find a few girls (now including some guys, which happened sometimes following the 6th confession in middle school), and everyone would run away, laughing all the while. The girl who was dared to ask him out would sometimes look guilty, which made Reki pity them. If they didn’t look guilty they would look annoyed as though it was Reki’s fault their fun was over. Regardless he would give a half-hearted “No hard feelings,” and go on his way, not giving the girl a second glance. 

When Langa transferred into his class, the fake confessions stopped; in their place, very real confessions happened with Langa being the target. But Reki knew Langa only really cared about food and skateboarding. He wasn’t surprised when he would hear his classmates gossip about how Langa was a “cold, unfeeling heartbreaker.” If Langa heard, he didn’t care, and if he did care he never showed it on his face. 

Apparently, the girls took out their frustrations and anger of rejection on Reki. Anyone with eyes could see that Langa and Reki were glued at the hip. So it only made sense to take it out on the person closest to Langa. 

When Reki got a “confession” a few months after Langa transferred, he immediately felt exhausted. 

“What’s that?” Langa had asked, looking at the half-assed confession letter Reki pulled from his desk.

“It’s just a stupid dare.” Reki grumbled, crumpling the paper to toss in the trash later.

“A dare? Is it a skating thing?” 

“No. It’s… ugh, it’s just a girl asking me to meet her after school.” 

Langa goes quiet, staring at the envelope Reki hadn’t crumpled. The envelope was covered in an abundance of hearts and in the center a somewhat messy ‘To Reki’ written in black ink.

“Is that really a dare?” Langa asks, eyes somewhat narrow. 

“Yeah, it is. You can go ahead to the skate park after school’s done. I won’t be long.” 

Langa clearly wants to say something, but the bell rings and class starts. Reki shoves the offending envelope into his hoodie pocket along with the crumpled ball of paper he made of the letter. The redhead doesn’t even bother to focus on class, his mind already preparing itself for the rundown of this “confession.” 

When school is over, Reki sags his shoulders with a sigh. Langa looks concerned, but Reki just gives a smile he hopes doesn’t convey how emotionally tired he is, “It’s fine dude, really. Just go ahead to the skate park and I’ll meet you there.” He claps Langa on the shoulder before walking past him, not giving the other teen a chance to say anything.

Reki makes his way to the back of the school, and sure enough there’s a girl waiting. She’s smiling at her phone but looks up when she hears Reki getting closer. She puts her phone away hurriedly, and Reki thinks he sees a chat log on her screen before the screen goes dark. 

“Uh, so, Kyan-san… um, can I call you Reki-kun?” She starts, Reki somewhat bristling, “I’ve been watching you for a while and I think you’re really cool… I really like you! Will you go out with me?” 

At first the words would’ve made Reki ecstatic, but he’s too used to this. The words that he’s always wanted to hear only serve to stab his heart in that familiar pain. He knows they don’t mean it. They never have. No one will ever say those words to him, no matter how badly he wants it. 

“Who dared you to confess to me?” Is what Reki says. The girl, for her part, looks confused, which Reki would be impressed by since as they’ve gotten older the girls were starting to become better actors. Instead he continues, “Was it Tanaka-san? Kimura-san?” 

The girl looks like a deer in headlights. Reki just sighs, walking past her and rounding the corner. Sure enough, there’s a gaggle of girls who yelp before running off. He thinks he recognizes a few of them but he doesn’t care that much. When he turns back around, the girl is staring at him with a shred of guilt before she lets out a huff and walks off. Reki does the same. 

When he arrives at the skatepark, he finds Langa sitting on one of the benches, idly rolling his board under his feet. 

“Hey. You taking a break?” Reki says, throwing on a smile he hopes is easy-going. 

“I haven’t started skating.” Langa replies.

“Huh? Why not?” 

“You weren’t here yet. I wanted to wait until you got here.” 

Reki pauses. He knows Langa pretty well at this point, and he knows Langa is pretty damn impatient. When the bell sounds for lunch, Langa is the first to stand and the first to start eating when they make it to the roof. At the skate park Langa’s the first in his board. And knowing this, the fact Langa waited for him makes Reki stomach flip and his heart flutter. The fake smile he had turns into a genuine one as he feels his eyes crinkle into crescents from the smile. 

“Aw, you big softie! Looks like all that snow is melting and making you a mushy mess,” Reki teases, ignoring the faint dust of pink on Langa’s cheeks. “Anyways, I’m here now so let’s skate!” 

__________________________

The next day passes without much incident, except for the same group of girls talking in the hallway and stopping when they catch sight of Langa and Reki. 

It’s the middle of lunch when a girl Reki doesn’t recognize comes up to him and hastily shoves a paper into his chest before running off. He stares at the rooftop door where the girl ran off and he pulls the paper up to read.

“Reki, is that another dare?” Langa asks from beside him, his question muffled from talking with his mouth full.

“Yeah. It’s weird, they don’t usually do this the next day. They just wait for a while before doing this again…” 

The letter isn’t anything special. It’s incredibly half-assed, pulled from a notebook and a water stain in the corner. A single sentence of “please meet me after school” is all that’s written.

“Maybe it’s like the beefs at S?” 

“Nah. This is just… really annoying.” Reki says, crumbling the paper to toss again later.

“If it’s annoying can’t you say no?” 

“I mean, if someone is genuine for once then I don’t wanna hurt their feelings, y’know?” Even though Reki knows none of the girls had ever meant any of the fake confessions, he still wanted to hold on to whatever it is that makes him meet them. Pride? Honor? Honestly he feels stupid at this point; but he’s been doing this for years, kind of hard to shake a habit that’s been going on for that long. 

“Do you want me to wait for you?” 

“You don’t have to. I mean we also have S later tonight, so you should go home and take a nap at least.” 

Langa doesn’t say anything else after that, instead focusing on inhaling his second sandwich. Reki picks at the remaining bento lunch he has, the thought of after school chasing away his appetite. 

On their way back to class, Reki can feel a glare on his back. He’s been through this enough that he can guess it’s the girl who shoved that paper at him. 

After the last bell of the day, Reki doesn’t wait for Langa and just marches towards the back of the school to get this over with. Sure enough, when he arrives the same girl from lunch is there. She looks up somewhat surprised before her face falls into one of disappointment.

“Why did you show up?” She asks.

Reki raises a brow. “You’re the one who gave me the note.”

“That wasn’t meant for you, obviously it was for Langa-kun. Honestly, shouldn’t you know how this works by now?”

Agitation sets in quicker than normal. Reki can feel his mouth pulling down into a scowl, “What else was I supposed to think when you shoved that paper at me and bolted without saying anything? Also, ‘please meet me after school’ doesn’t tell anyone who that was meant for.” When the girl merely huffs and crosses her arms, Reki turns on his heel to leave. He’s just made it around the corner when he hears a voice.

“Ugh, I don’t get why Langa-kun even hangs around him.” 

Reki stops. 

“Honestly I think he feels bad for Kyan.” He hears another voice say. 

“Someone kind like Langa-kun would be the type to pity someone like Kyan-san. I mean, he doesn’t have friends, right? And he’s a delinquent! Langa-kun probably felt bad for him.” 

“He really is a prince!” A voice sighs dreamily. 

“Seriously! When you see the two of them standing together it’s like art next to garbage. I mean really, that ugly red hair? What an attention seeker!” 

“And his stupid hoodies! God, they’re such an eyesore. Oh, and the way he acts like everyone’s buddy-buddy with him. He’s so stupid; he doesn’t even realize no one likes him.” 

Their laughter is poison and Reki finds himself walking quickly towards the school gate, having to control himself from breaking into a full-on run.

‘Why is it me? What’s wrong with me? Why does it still hurt so badly after all these years?’

“Reki?”

The redhead stops, startled at the voice he doesn’t want to hear right now. Not when he feels so horrible. He turns to look at Langa, standing with his board under his arm.

“L-Langa? I thought you went home?”

“I wanted to wait for you- I wanted to skate a little with you before S later.” Langa answers with a touch of pink on his cheeks. The sight would’ve been a welcome moment for Reki, if not for the fact that pink is gone and Langa is looking at him with furrowed brows, “Are you ok?”

“Yeah! Why wouldn’t I be?” Reki answers, becoming acutely aware of the pinpricks taunting to release tears from his eyes, the nausea in his stomach from frustration and something else he doesn’t want to name. When Langa doesn’t say anything to him, Reki instead makes himself laugh (cringing internally at how forced it sounds), giving Langa a pat on his shoulder, “I’m serious! But really, you should go take a nap or eat before S. I’m kinda tired so I’m gonna catch some sleep before S. I’ll wake up on time though, so don’t worry.”

The stare from the other boy makes Reki feel antsy. It feels like those blue eyes can see through his own bullshit and Reki can’t take it. He forces himself to mount his board quickly, throwing a hurried “See you later” before taking off. The wind whips against his face, the way home blurring past him. He barely registers getting past the doorway of his house and his mom’s greeting, making a beeline to his room. When he shuts the door behind him, he collapses on his bed, burying his face into his pillow.

“Reki, honey? Is everything ok?” he can hear his mom ask through the door.

“Yeah mom. Just had a really long day today,” Reki answers.

“Ok… dinner will be ready soon. Do you want me to save some for you to take for lunch tomorrow?”

“Sure. Thank you, Mom.”

“Of course, honey.”

His mom walks away from the door, and Reki can only sigh heavily. He makes himself sit up, realizing too late that he didn’t even take his shoes off. Unlacing his sneakers, Reki brings himself to the bathroom and forces himself to look in the mirror.

‘That ugly red hair? What an attention-seeker?’

Reki pinches a few locks that aren’t held back by his headband.

‘And his stupid hoodies! God, they’re such an eyesore!’

The bright yellow hoodie he hasn’t changed out of catches his sight. He remembers when he bought it- saved enough money to have it custom made to have his own logo on it. To make a name for himself. 

Maybe he should sell it. Use that money to dye his hair- go with black hair. Black goes with everything; perhaps it could help him be more tolerable. Or go back to his original auburn?  Should the headband go? He’s heard people both at school and S say it was stupid. Yeah, get rid of the headband. A haircut would be needed then.

“Reki!” his younger sister, Koyomi, calls from behind the bathroom door- her knocking and loud complaining shocking Reki out of his thoughts, “Mom says it's time to eat! And get out, I have to use the bathroom!”

“Alright, alright, I’m getting out!”


                                                                                                                                                               _____________________________________

The next day after coming home from S, Reki barely gets a few hours of rest, most of his precious sleep hours wasted on the words from the girls haunting him along with him imagining Langa saying those words to him. 

‘We aren’t a good match anymore.’

Those were the worst words he’s ever said. If Langa ever said anything that painful to him, Reki doesn’t think his heart could take it. Imagining Langa’s voice with its calm and steady rhythm telling him he didn’t mean anything he said; saying that he never meant it and that their time as friends was just something that he did to pass time. 

Reki ignores his self-inflicted heartache and hurriedly gets ready for school. Soon enough he’s out the door to meet up with Langa at their usual meeting place. When he arrives, they both dap each other up and make their way to school.

“Are you ok Reki? You look really tired.” Langa asks as they walk past the school gates.

“I’m fine; some nights it’s just hard to fall asleep after S y’know?” The redhead reassures him.

They fall into a comfortable silence, making their way to their classroom. When Reki opens the sliding door, he sees some boys he remembers mentioning were in the school’s soccer club, along with a few girls. The girls look at both Reki and Langa, one of them lowering their voice and making the others giggle. Reki has a sinking feeling in his gut; that feeling vindicated when he sees an envelope on his desk. He briefly sees another envelope sitting on Langa’s desk, noticing how Langa’s envelope looks nicer compared to his own. 

“Is this a dare?” Langa asks, picking up the envelope to look at it closer. 

“You should read it first, dude.” Reki laughs, internally cringing at how fake it sounds. Reki sits down and grabs his own envelope- seeing that it’s plain white, with only his name written on it in that familiar pencil shade of gray. Honestly, he prefers when they don’t make it look like a confession. Saves him the pain of that stupid hope he still clings to rising. He flips the back open to pull out the paper to read his letter. 

“Reki-san, please meet me by the equipment shed during lunch today!”

Weird. Usually these girls wait until the end of the day to pull this shit. Weirder still is that this “confession” happened 2 days in a row. 

“What does yours say, Langa?” 

Langa hands his letter to Reki. 

“Langa-kun, please meet me after school today behind the school! I want to talk to you! ♡”

“Is this a dare like yours?” Langa asks, “This doesn’t sound like a dare to me.” 

“No, that's not like mine dude.” Reki looks away as he hands Langa’s confession letter back,  “That’s definitely a confession letter, some people are shy and use a letter to buy time to hype themselves up. C’mon, you should be used to it, Mr. “Prince Langa!” Reki teases. 

“Was yours a confession too?” 

Reki freezes a moment before he puts on a smile he hopes doesn’t look too strained, “Nah. Just another dare.” 

________________

Reki forces himself to go to the rooftop to join Langa for the remaining lunch time they have after having dealt with another fake confession, as well as to talk to him about if he accepted his confession. During his walk up Reki finds himself growing more and more agitated about the idea of Langa saying yes to this mystery girl. He’s not even sure why since he doesn’t own Langa, but the idea of him dating someone feels… upsetting to him in a way. He should be happy that Langa would have a girlfriend, that his best friend could potentially be happy with this girl, but it still sits with him wrong. When he reaches the rooftop, he takes his place next to Langa and slumps with a sigh.

“How did the dare go?” Langa asks.

“Oh, it was-” fine Reki says, but thinks that’s not really a good answer. How would a dare be fine? It was fine to Reki since he was used to them, but to Langa who thinks of dares the same as beefs, Reki is a little lost on how to reply. “Uh, it wasn’t anything major. Not even really a dare, just someone that wanted to talk to me about something.” Which isn’t a total lie. They did talk, but the talk wasn’t really one Reki wanted to have.

“If they wanted to talk, wouldn't they just ask you during break?”

“Hey, some people are just wired different.” Reki answers, “Oh right, you read your letter, right?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah… it told me to meet them after school. But we’re gonna go skate at the park, so-”

“You should meet them.” Reki blurts out, cutting Langa off. He can feel his best friend looking at him, so he adds on “I mean, it would be kinda mean not to at least hear them out, right? They managed to muster up the courage to ask you to meet them so… yeah.” Reki cringes internally at how shit of a reason that is. He risks peeking at Langa from the corner of his eyes and sees Langa staring at him. He thinks Langa looks confused but he doesn’t want to risk facing him fully; he feels like if Langa could see his whole face it would give away how much Reki wasn’t believing what he was saying.

“Do you… really think I should?” Langa asks softly enough that Reki can almost trick himself into thinking he imagined it.

“Yeah. I mean- that could be your future girlfriend you end up meeting after school!”

The moment he says it Reki feels something dreadful and ugly settling in his veins. He knows this feeling all too well- this feeling that first made its home in his bones when he would see boys in middle school walk home with the same girls who asked him out as a dare. The feeling coming again when he saw how far ahead Langa was ahead of him before being pushed out by the all-too familiar inadequacy. Jealousy.

                                                                                                                                                                  _____________________________________


Reki can’t bring himself to focus on class. He can’t find distractions with trying to sketch either- all his sketches find their way back to being about Langa somehow. A side profile of his face, his yeti icon, a rough sketch of him popping an ollie; all of it is Langa.

Ever since he brought Langa into skating, Reki had always been fascinated with Langa. But as they spent more and more time together, that fascination transformed several times. Fascination, wonder, awe, jealousy, betrayal, happiness-

And just wanting to stay by Langa’s side.

But he knows Langa deserves better than Reki. Reki is just… Reki. He’s nothing special when he compares himself to Joe, Cherry, even Adam, as much as he hates thinking about the former S founder. They could give Langa more challenges; more chances for thrills and growth in skating. Whereas Reki… what could he offer? Fixing Langa’s board? Covering a shift for him at Dope Sketch? Food??

‘As much as I like him… I know I’m not good enough for him.’

The bell rings and Reki comes out of his stupor, snapping his sketchbook shut and hastily shoving it into his bag, trying to make sure the subject of his sketches can’t see the damning pages. He yanks his schoolbag up quick enough for one of the corners to fly up and hit the back of his arm. Quickly grabbing his skateboard, Reki tries to walk hurriedly out of the classroom when he feels a hand grab at his free wrist, the contact cool against his own warm skin.

“Reki, are you ok?” Langa asks with concern.

“Y-Yeah, I’m cool. I mean, you’re gonna go meet that girl behind the school right? So I can just go ahead and wait for you at the skatepark.” Langa furrows his brows and Reki’s heart skips a beat. “Langa, seriously, I’m fine. I’ll see you later at the skatepark.”

Reki manages to pull his wrist free from the comforting cool grip of Langa’s hand (even though he didn’t want to pull himself away) and briskly walks out of the classroom. The moment he reaches the bottom floor and is out the main entrance Reki practically throws down his skateboard and takes off.

The wind gently whipping against his face and messing up his hair serves a somewhat helpful distraction from the knots in his stomach. Reki feels his heart beat quickly and climb up his throat and is thankful he arrived at the skatepark; hurriedly he drops himself on a nearby bench for a moment since he feels sick.

‘Ugh, I don’t get why Langa-kun even hangs around him.’

‘Honestly I think he feels bad for Kyan.’

‘Langa-kun probably felt bad for him.’ 

‘When you see the two of them standing together it’s like art next to garbage.’

Reki knows they’re right. Of course they are. Langa really does look like a storybook prince out of his little sister’s fairytale books. How Langa is so patient with Reki and letting Reki go on and on about skateboarding or anything else he found interesting. Langa looking at Reki like he was actually worth acknowledging or knowing. The way Langa lights up when he finally nails a move he’s been practicing or when he sees Reki pulling off a move. How Langa even praised him for introducing him to skateboarding; teaching him and making his board. How Langa is so soft-spoken and gentle and kind and-

‘Fuck. I… I like Langa. I really like him. Shit.’


“Get over it,” he mumbles to himself, “It’s never gonna happen. Langa’s too out of my league.”

In the midst of this, Reki hears a set of wheels approaching and knows who it is. Just the sound of those wheels he placed on the same board he created is enough for him to recognize who it is.

“Langa?” Reki asks dumbly, as if he thought it could be anyone else.

“Did I keep you waiting long?” Langa asks, a slight flush on his cheeks, “Sorry; I tried to get here quickly so you wouldn’t be waiting for a long time.”

“Oh, no! No, I just got here. Uh…” Reki falters, his heart hammering loudly in his ears despite it traveling up his throat he feels like he’s seconds away from choking, “How did it go? With that girl?”

“Girl? Oh, the letter girl? I said no thanks.”

“...what?”

“I met that girl behind the school like you said, but I just told her no thanks. I don’t even know her so it would’ve been weird to say yes to her.”

There’s a far-away laughter that almost sounds hysterical that Reki realizes is coming from him, “D-Dude, what kind of reaction is that? ‘No thanks’ is like what you say when you’re ordering food and they offer you extra napkins or something.”

“But if it’s extra napkins that’s good to take. I know I like more napkins…”

“Pfft- Sure.” The smile on Reki’s face pulls on his cheeks in a comforting way, his heart settling down back in his chest to a regular rhythm, “Anyways, let’s just skate!”

__________________

“Why do people ask to meet behind the school?” Langa asks randomly during a lunch break. 

Reki pauses, caught off guard by the randomness of the question. “Uh, I guess… it feels more private?” Reki answers, taking another bite out of the sandwich he bought at the school store, “Sometimes they ask to meet on the roof for like, atmosphere. Or just to switch things up. Why?” 

“Just curious.” 

There’s a comfortable silence while the two eat their lunch. Reki watches the tufts of clouds lazily drifting across the sky as he eats. He can hear Langa eating by his side, and Reki feels calm. Happy. 

“Hey Reki?” Langa calls, pulling Reki’s drifting attention back to him. 

“Mm?” 

“How many letters have you gotten?” 

Reki turns to Langa and sees the genuine curiosity in his eyes- even though this is a question Reki doesn’t really want to answer. 

“Uh… I mean, I’ve been going through this since middle school. I really haven’t been counting…” Reki quickly adds, “‘Sides, I'm sure you’ve gotten way more than me by now.” 

“Since middle school?” Langa asks in astonishment. “Wow. I guess it makes sense. You’re really cool, Reki.” 

The blush creeps into Reki’s cheeks immediately. The redhead tries to hide his face in his hands; turning his face away and propping his head on one hand. “Dude..!” His heart is beating against his ribs like a drum as he replies, “You’re  way more cool than me. You’re… really amazing, Langa. I think whichever girl you accept a confession from will be really lucky.” 

It’s quiet; with Reki taking the time to breathe deep and slow to calm his heart. He feels his cheeks cool off from his earlier blush and decides to show his face again. 

“…have you ever accepted any of the letters?” Langa asks, his question innocent in nature. 

The question drains Reki of any positive emotion- his eyes drift down to his hands that had been resting in his lap. He fidgets with his fingers as he tries to find the words to answer in a way that doesn’t expose the painful and pitiful truth. 

“No. I was kinda busy with skateboarding and S to think about that.” He decides to say. It’s a stretch, he knows, to tell himself it’s not really a lie, but he doesn’t want to tell Langa the incredibly pathetic truth. 

Langa makes a soft sound of acknowledgement. He looks at the sky for a moment before standing up, “I’m gonna go to the bathroom- see you back in class?” 

“Oh damn, lunch is almost over?” Reki asks, checking the time on his phone. About 5 minutes left. Before he can say anything Langa is already heading towards the rooftop entrance. “Guess he really had to go…”

Reki finishes the last few bites of his sandwich and chugs his forgotten water bottle before he heads back to their classroom. He sees Langa at his desk staring at the door, when Reki steps inside Langa smiles before quickly turning towards the board. Reki is a bit confused about his best friends behavior- but that confusion immediately dissipates before he catches a folded up sheet of notebook paper sitting on his desk.

“Hey, did you see who put this here?” Reki asks, picking up the paper as he drops himself into his seat.

“No, it was already there when I got here.” Langa answers, keeping his eyes fixed on the board in front of them.

Before he could ask anything else, the bell rings and their homeroom teacher comes into the classroom. Reki quickly opens the note to rip the bandaid off and start preparing himself for whatever prank this is going to ask him to do.

To his surprise, the writing is incredibly messy- as though whoever wrote this only had a minute to write it.

‘Can you meet me on the rooftop after school today?’

Reki is… very confused. In all the years he’s had this happen, he thinks this is the first time one of these letters was as low-effort as it is.

“I mean… I guess this is better?”

The teacher calls out for them to pull out their books, and Reki shoves the paper into his bag.

                                                                                                                                                                    _______________________


The final bell for the day rings, and Reki sighs; standing from his desk to grab his bag and board.

“You ok Reki?” Langa asks as he also rises from his desk.

“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine dude.” Reki answers. Was he frowning? Did he look annoyed? He quickly plasters on a smile, “You can go on ahead, I got this note so-”

“Oh, actually can you come with me to the roof?” Langa cuts in, catching Reki slightly off-guard, “I think I dropped my phone up there.”

“Dude?! How did you not notice your phone was gone??” Reki asks incredulously with Langa only giving an ‘I-don’t-know’ shrug. “I mean, sure?” Reki doesn’t know if the person who wrote the note would be on the roof already or if he has a few minutes, but he figures he might as well go with Langa. If he really dropped his phone on the roof then Reki feels responsible as well since he didn’t see the phone before he left.

When the two boys get up to the roof, Reki heads towards their usual spot on the roof and starts looking around. He hears Langa walking behind him as he circles around the shared spot.

“Uh… yeah dude, I’m not seeing it. I think someone probably grabbed it and took it to the lost-and-found at the front office.”

“It’s ok. I found my phone at the bottom of my bag.”

Reki turns to look at Langa, dumbfounded. “Oh. Okay… then-”

“I wrote that.” Langa says, his whole body tense with his gaze zeroed in on Reki- the same look when Langa is in the zone when racing, “The note that was on your desk.”


“...huh?” Is all Reki can say dumbly.

“I…” Langa swallows, moving closer to Reki, “I really like you Reki. A lot.”

Reki feels his heart drop into his stomach and simultaneously lodge itself into his throat. His body breaks out into a near immediate cold sweat- he can hear his heart thundering in his ears and bruising itself wildly against his ribs.

‘Langa… he wrote that? He likes me? No. No, no this isn’t real. He’s lying- he has to be. He can’t mean this. He can’t- this-’

Reki isn’t standing on the roof of his high school with his best friend anymore. He’s back in middle school, back to Kobayashi and her friends laughing at him for thinking she was serious about liking him. Then Kobayashi is gone, and it’s the second girl. The third, fourth, fifth- all the fake confessions he’s gotten over the years surface in his mind and the pain he thought he had successfully pushed down comes back in full force. 

“Ugh, I don’t get why Langa-kun even hangs around him.” 

Reki feels his eyes sting.

“Honestly I think he feels bad for Kyan.”

Reki feels his breaths coming out quick and  shallow.

“Someone kind like Langa-kun would be the type to pity someone like Kyan-san.” 

Reki’s tears are falling freely since he feels them on his cheeks.

“Reki?” Langa asks gently.

“This isn’t funny.” Reki forces himself to say.

“What…?” 

“I thought you wouldn’t...” Reki adds, ignoring the trembling in his voice, “I thought… I didn’t think you’d do this to me.” 

“Reki, what are you-“

“Do you think this is funny? Did someone dare you to do this?” Reki spits.

“What are you talking about?” Langa asks, his voice raising with confusion.

“Don’t lie to me Langa; at least the other girls I got letters from were honest about treating me like a joke.” 

“I’m not lying! I don’t-“ 

“YES YOU ARE!” Reki shouts, “YOU’RE FUCKING LYING TO ME! THERE’S…” Reki stops, bringing his voice down, “There’s no way you actually mean this.” He mutters, fighting against the heart choking him that makes his voice wobble.

Langa steps back, confusion and sadness on his face. 

“You can take this and shove it,” Reki says as he pulls out the crumpled and damning note, throwing it at Langa’s feet, “…don’t talk to me anymore.” 

Reki hastily stomps past Langa towards the door, wiping at his eyes with the sleeve of his hoodie. 

“Reki-“ 

“Don’t expect to see me at S either.” Reki grips the doorknob and takes a shuddering breath before saying “Just… leave me alone. I don’t want to see you again.”

Turning the knob, Reki lets the door slam behind him, making the trudge downstairs and to the school entrance. He doesn’t even bother to skate home, no longer in the mood. Even though he knows the school is near empty, Reki feels eyes staring at him- swears he hears whispering and laughing. 

Reki bolts out of the school. He doesn’t care when he feels his lungs burning and legs starting to ache; his only focus is getting away from school as fast as he can. Away from glares and insulting laughter and poisonous whispers. When he sees his house he practically throws himself against the front door, gasping for breath before entering. 

Thankfully, it looks like no one is home when he arrives. He takes off his shoes and goes to his room, tossing his board to the side towards some random spot of his messy floor. The setting sun bleeds through his window painting everything a burnt orange, and Reki hates it, yanking his curtains closed. 

Reki collapses onto his bed, turning to lay on his side looking at the wall, uncaring to change out of his school clothes. In a numbing haze, he digs his phone out of his pocket and pulls up his messaging app, looking at the top two chats he uses. 

He blocks Langa. Then he leaves the S group chat before deleting the app entirely. It’s not like he needs it right now.

In the darkness of his room, Reki allows himself to sob. Screams his throat raw into his pillow. Lets himself feel his heart shatter into millions of microscopic pieces with no hope (or drive) to put it back together; the darkness in the back of his mind clouding the forefront of his thoughts whispering self-hatred and mockery. 

For the first time in years, Reki cries himself to sleep.

                                                                                                                                                                         __________________________________

When Reki wakes up again, he feels the lingering dampness of his tears soaked into his pillow. It’s still dark, but he forces himself to get out of bed to open the curtains. The early morning sun paints the sky a soft hue of lilac, and Reki would enjoy the sight normally if his heart wasn’t still hurting from yesterday. 

Dragging himself to the bathroom, he catches the edge of his reflection in the mirror and knows he should see if his eyes are puffy or red; but he doesn’t want to. The pathetic mess that’s waiting for him in the glass is something he doesn’t want to deal with right now. For now he focuses on doing the bare minimum, afterwards heading back to his room. 

Back in his room, Reki searches the mess of blankets on his bed for his phone. Finding it, the screen shows the battery in the red, his own fault for not charging it after he came home. Ignoring that, the clock on his phone tells him it’s some time past 5 in the morning. 

‘That figures. I haven’t heard the twins running around or mom cooking yet.’

The downside to seeing the time was seeing the day. It’s still the middle of the school week, so Reki had to leave the house. He could say he’s sick, but he doesn’t want to make his mom worry about him; let alone the possibility that Langa would come by looking for him, his mom letting the other boy in.

“I really like you Reki. A lot.” 

Langa’s words from yesterday echo in his mind and he winces. 

‘He didn’t mean it. There’s no way he would ever be serious about liking me like that… Langa was just kidding.’ 

“He was just kidding,” Reki mumbles to himself, letting the heartache run its course, “That’s all it was- just a joke.” 

Reki hears himself sniffling, pressure building behind his eyes. He shakes himself out of it, focusing on changing out of yesterday’s hoodie and pants into a fresh set. If he’s able to leave early, he can avoid breakfast and his family seeing the sorry state he’s in. 

When Reki grabs his bag, he glances at his board that was tossed aside. He debates with himself on if he should even take it with him; the skateboard bringing to mind Langa. Thinking of yesterday again makes bile rise and taint the back of his throat in bitter acidity. 

‘Fuck. Fuck.’

He can’t help it as he drops his bag and runs to the bathroom again, this time to heave and further empty out his stomach. Despite him not having had dinner last night, he feels sick, with him throwing up stomach acid somewhat lessening the edge of nausea. After flushing the non-existent contents of his stomach, Reki moves to the sink to brush his teeth again with the addition of burning mouthwash. When he finishes, it’s then when he fully catches sight of himself in the mirror. 

Hideous is how he thinks of himself. His eyelids are still somewhat puffy from the intensity of his crying the night before, leaving evidence of dried tear marks when he looks close enough. In the creases of his eyelids, there’s early morning crusting; along with the whites of his eyes still tinged red from his tears. When he focuses on the entirety of his face, Reki looks exhausted. His lips are pulled down in a frown, his hair falling in front of his eyes with no headband to hold it up. 

‘I hate you so fucking much.’ 

Not wanting to linger, Reki exits the bathroom and he unfortunately runs into his mom.

“Reki? Honey, you don’t look good; are you feeling okay?” She asks, concern evident in both her voice and face (And Reki is grateful she doesn’t ask why he’s already dressed for school.)

“Um…” Reki falters. He doesn’t think he can get away with lying this time, swallowing around a lump in his throat, “No. I don’t really feel good.”

“Oh honey, go back and rest, I’ll get you something light to eat and I’ll call your school.”

“Thank you mom.”

Reki goes back into his room and lets his body drop back onto his bed. He knows he should change again but he can’t be bothered to right now. His mom knocks on his door and he drags himself to the kitchen table to eat a light bowl of oatmeal.

“Reki, is everything alright?” His mom gently asks. “I didn’t say before, but I heard you throwing up.”

He knows his mom is worried. He knows that, but it still irks him that she asks. “I really don’t feel good is all. I’m just sick. I’m sorry if I worried you, mom.” 

His mom still looks worried and somewhat unconvinced, but she decides not to pry. Reki feels even worse for worrying her like this but he doesn’t want to talk about how his best friend broke his heart. And just the memory of it is enough for Reki to grow teary-eyed again. 

As quickly as he can, Reki finishes his food before taking his dish to the sink. When he’s done and about to head to his room, he pauses. 

“Mom? If Langa comes by, can you tell him I’m sick? I don’t want to spread what I have to him, y’know?” 

And then Reki locks himself away in his room, away from his mom’s fretting gaze.

_________________

Trying to get over Langa’s prank on him is possibly the worst possible thing Reki’s ever had to deal with- and that was him including his fight with Langa when he decided to skate against Adam. 

‘At least after we fought we could work it out… that’s not an option now. I just gotta get used to not having Langa around anymore.’ 

Easier said than done. 

At school was Langa. At S there was Langa. Videos of Langa lived on Reki’s phone- when he started skating, practicing tricks, clips from past beefs at S. 

Reki was half-tempted to throw his phone against the wall just to be free of his photo gallery. 

A few days after he had claimed to be “sick,” Reki decided to at least try to go to school. He didn’t want to keep his mom worrying any longer, and he knows he has to get himself used to a Langa-less existence eventually. 

Though Reki thinks maybe cosmically he was getting a break since through his heartbreak, he lost track of the days and found it was the weekend. 

He still decides to get out of the house. If not to air out his room then to at least show his mom that he’s doing better in some way. Reki gives his mom a brief hug and kiss on her cheek before he leaves. 

The fresh air from outside is a nice change for his lungs compared to the stagnant air from his room. He didn’t want to open his window, since he was sure if he opened it he would forget; but the real issue would be if he opened his window and Langa came by… Reki didn’t want to think about what that encounter would be like.

‘…this sucks.’ Is all Reki thinks to himself. 

Reki ends up at the main plaza of town in a lingering daze from when he woke up in the morning. He walks along the streets, looking at the shops that feel familiar yet not. Maybe it’s that he’s walking instead of skateboarding past the shops. Or maybe there’s someone missing from his side that makes it feel this way. 

His wandering takes him down some streets that start to feel more familiar to him. The familiarity should be comforting- and it is, but there’s a building sense of dread. Reki doesn’t understand until his feet finally bring him to a stop. 

It’s the skatepark. And there skating in slow circles with a somber look on his face some feet away from him is Langa. 

“I really like you, Reki. A lot.” 

Reki swallows as he starts to feel his heartbeat quicken. He starts to back away when in that moment Langa looks up, as though sensing him.

“Reki?” Langa asks, as though he can’t believe what he’s seeing.

“I don’t get why Langa-kun even hangs around him.”

“Langa-kun probably felt bad for him.”

Reki runs away from Langa. He’s a coward, he knows- but this isn’t news to him. He really thought he could just keep hiding but he knew that would never last. Eventually he would have to face Langa but the idea- the knowledge of Langa doing this to him hurt. The red-head just couldn’t face his crush who broke his heart yet. 

“Reki! Wait, please!” 

He hears Langa kick off on his board and Reki pumps his legs harder. He throws himself down nearby alleyways like a stray evading animal control, any dead ends he finds he quickly circles around and hides in the shadows of the shops. Reki doesn’t know how long he’s been running, but he thinks it should be safe enough to stop. He leans against a wall to catch his breath when he hears the clanging metal of someone shutting a dumpster lid.

“Reki? Is that you?”

Reki freezes again, turning his head slowly to come face to face with Joe. The older man in his chef’s jacket, staring at Reki in shock.

The red-head takes a step back, preparing to run away again, but Joe is faster and pulls him into a vice-like hug. Apart from the sudden hug, Reki is at a loss of what to do. He doesn’t understand why Joe is hugging him, or why he’s not telling him off.

“Kid, you had me and everyone worried sick! I- we… We didn't know what to do. We all tried to get a hold of you for days.”

Reki bites his lower lip, keeping his arms down at his side. “I’m fine. I-”

“No, you’re not.” Joe pulls away, keeping his hands on Reki’s shoulders, “You look like shit, Reki. Hell, you look thinner. Have you been eating?”

He’s about to lie when his stomach betrays him, practically roaring in the silence between them. Reki looks down at his feet, his face burning with embarrassment. He regrets not eating enough of his mom’s cooking before he left.

“...hey, let me treat you to something. On the house.”

Joe keeps one hand on Reki’s shoulder, and gently guides him to Sia de Luce. Reki hadn’t even realized he had ran this far. 

The soft bell above the door rings when they enter, Reki’s stomach rumbling again as though it senses the food it’ll soon have. Joe leads him to a booth near the bar, probably to keep an eye on Reki to make sure he doesn’t try to run.

“I’m guessing you haven’t been eating right. Or you’re just picking at your food at home.” Reki flinches at Joe’s spot-on guess, with him about to ask how he could tell when Joe gives him a soft knowing smile, “You learn to pick up on little things like that when you work in the food business. I’ll get you something light, ok?”

Joe heads to the kitchen before Reki can even protest. He scoots to the very end of the booth, not wanting to be seen by the other customers in the restaurant; then realizes how silent the restaurant actually is. There isn’t a single customer in, which makes Reki wonder if Joe didn’t feel like working today despite him wearing his chef’s jacket. He allows himself to softly rest his head against the glass of the window, bringing his hands up onto the table and idly picking at a hangnail. Joe comes by to give him a glass of water with Reki giving a soft “thanks” before drinking, practically downing it in one go; he hadn’t realized how thirsty he was after he had run away from Langa. 

Suddenly there’s a tap of porcelain on the table and Reki sees a small plate of noodles covered in tomato sauce. Reki looks up to see Joe give a small smile, care and concern in his eyes. “Dig in, Reki. Don’t be afraid to ask for seconds, alright?” 

Reki dips his head in a small show of thanks, turning back to the plate in front of him while grabbing the fork on the side of the plate. He twirls the fork in his hand to collect noodles, and when he bites in he’s reminded how amazing Joe is as a cook. There’s an active reminder in his head to take his time so he doesn’t choke on the food fighting against his want to finish the plate. 

Polishing the plate clean, Reki lets out a small sigh in contentment. He hasn’t had any of Joe’s cooking since some nights before Langa “confessing” to him- the sudden reminder threatening to spoil the meal in his stomach. Reki takes a deep breath in, breathing out as he tries to calm down; not wanting to repay Joe’s kindness by throwing up in the restroom. 

When he’s calmed down enough, he sees Joe standing behind the bar, cleaning a section of the bar’s counter. The older man must feel Reki looking at him since he returns his gaze out of the corner of his eye. Joe must have seen something in the red-head’s expression since he puts the rag he was using to clean down, walking around the bar countertop and joining Reki at his booth. 

“You doing okay? Was the food good?” Joe starts. 

“Yeah. Food was really good,” Reki answers, a few fingers moving to fidget with the cuff of his hoodie. 

“That’s good to hear; I’d be out of business if you didn’t like my cooking,” the older man laughs. When Reki doesn’t laugh, Joe’s face loses a bit of mirth; he focuses on Reki with a stern gaze that makes Reki think of his mom about to scold him for his room being a mess.

“Reki… you know we’re here for you, right? Can you tell me what’s going on?” 

There’s the familiar anxiety slowly moving through his veins; Reki squirms a bit in his seat, hating how Joe still looks at him with kindness and concern when he knows he doesn’t deserve it. Especially after just ghosting everyone. When he ran away from everyone. 

“…everything’s fine.” Reki answers, internally cringing at how quiet his voice is.

“No, Reki, it’s not. I can tell something is eating at you, but we can’t help if we don’t know.” 

There’s footsteps behind Reki that he picks up, turning his head towards the sound. He feels his nerves buzzing when he sees Cherry standing at the table, eyes slightly wide in surprise. 

“Reki! There you are; are you alright?” Cherry asks, eyes scanning the red-head in concern.

“Between us and Shadow, Cherry was the most worried,” Joe teases, earning him a smack on the head with Cherry’s folded up hand-fan. 

“Shut up you stupid gorilla.” Cherry huffs, taking a seat beside Joe in the opposite booth. When he’s seated, Cherry’s face relaxes into one of concern and relief, “I’m glad you’re alright, Reki.” 

“Kaoru’s the only one who knows you’re here, so don’t freak out, ok?” Joe assures Reki. “So, you wanna tell us what’s going on?” When Reki doesn’t answer, Joe tries instead “Did something happen between you and Langa?” 

Reki winces at the mention of Langa, remembering how shocked Langa was when he caught him at the skatepark. 

“I had a feeling. You two are always together; and Langa’s been down these past couple of days. He’s practically got 24/7 rainclouds hovering over him-“ Joe is promptly cut off again with a smack to his arm and a curt “shut up” from Cherry. 

“Despite what Kojiro is saying,” Cherry pointedly starts, “we genuinely have been concerned about you. Langa hasn’t always been the most talkative, but he’s been refusing to even speak at this point.” With a small breath, Cherry continues, “We would appreciate just a little bit of insight on what’s going on, Reki. You don’t have to tell us everything- just what you’re comfortable with.” 

Worrying his bottom lip between his teeth, Reki looks down, focusing intently on the sleeve of his hoodie and his fingers that are still fidgeting with it. He glances at the folded up arms of Cherry and Joe resting side by side on the table- suddenly acutely aware of the missing presence of his best friend. 

“…Langa…” Reki starts, taking a shuddering breath, “he… he pulled a messed up prank on me.” When neither Joe or Cherry say anything, Reki adds “He said he liked me. “Really likes me.’”

The red-head, refusing to meet their faces, misses the way both Cherry and Joe’s eyebrows raise in surprise.

“He likes you? And what’s wrong with that?” Joe asks. 

“He didn’t mean it,” Reki quickly answers, “Langa only said that as a joke.” 

“What makes you think it was a joke, Reki?” Cherry chimes in to ask. 

A myriad of girls' faces flashes through his mind like a scare in a horror movie. The laughing of girls throughout the years resound in his ears. 

“It’s how it’s always been.” Reki curls in on himself, thankful that the bangs from his hair free of his headband can hide him just a little. “No one’s ever been serious. Ever since middle school… I was just the boy used as a dare- a prank. Every ‘confession’ I ever got was never for real; It was just groups of girls getting one of their friends to ask me out as a prank. It was always me. I don’t even know why, but it was always just me that was used for their dares. Any other guy in my class that would get a confession was real.” 

Reki feels the all-too-familiar pressure building behind his eyes, along with the sting of tears threatening to fall. He knows he should stop talking- that he needs to shut up because he knows he sounds fucking pathetic, but he can’t help the words spilling free from his lips like a waterfall.

“I get it, though,” Reki continues, pushing through the swell of tears blurring his vision and the tensing of his stomach from distress, “I really do. I mean, look at me.” He laughs bitterly, “I’m just some annoying ‘delinquent’ skater- I talk too much, I only want to skate, my hoodies, my hair, everything about me is just…” 

‘Pathetic. Annoying. Ugly. Stupid. Average. Hated. Unlovable.’ 

Still refusing to look up at the faces of the older men, Reki doesn’t see the looks of sympathy on either of their faces. Doesn’t see Cherry’s tightly knit brows and pursed lips or Joe’s visible frown- their sympathy quickly giving way to anger. 

“All of this happened in middle school?” Cherry asks in an astonished voice.

“It still happens.” Reki quickly corrects, “It got worse, actually.” He makes a point to not add that it worsened when Langa would turn down confessions, leading to some girls taking out their frustration of a broken heart and trampled feelings out on Reki.

There’s a pause in the conversation, with Reki choosing to not elaborate. The red-head lifts his head somewhat only to stare out the window by the booth. Reki still makes a point to not look at either of the older men, focusing on the street outside. 

“…did you ever share any of this with Langa, Reki?” Joe tries, “If you told him-“

“And let him know I’m even more pathetic than I already am?” Reki bitterly spits. “No thanks.” 

“Kid-“

“You don’t GET IT!” Reki shouts, now turning to look at both Joe and Cherry, “I’M NOBODY COMPARED TO LANGA! NOBODY COMPARED TO YOU OR CHERRY OR ANYBODY!” Reki can feel his cheeks dampening but he pushes on. “I'M NOT HANDSOME OR COOL OR WORTH CARING ABOUT! NONE OF YOU GET IT!” 

“You’re not nobody.” A quiet voice cuts in.

Reki goes still, the all-too familiar voice he missed and dreaded hearing stunning him into silence. He forces himself to look at the end of the booth, and finds the one person he never wanted to know the truth of the confessions. 

“Langa..?” Reki breathes. 

“I… I kept looking for you; after you ran from the skatepark,” Langa explains, “But Reki, you’re not nobody- not to me. You’re important to me.” 

The red-head sucks in a breath, ignoring the ache in his chest and the way those words make butterflies bloom in his stomach. 

“How much did you hear?” Reki asks instead. 

“You called yourself pathetic and then you were shouting.” 

Reki finds himself simultaneously relieved and afraid. Langa didn’t hear anything, yet he’s going to find out anyway. There’s no way out as Langa has effectively blocked the exit out of the booth, and he’s sure Joe or Cherry (or both, most likely) are going to make Reki talk about this again.

‘You should’ve run away from Joe.’ Reki reprimands himself. 

“Reki, I’m sure this goes without saying, but you owe Langa an explanation,” Cherry states, and Reki thinks he catches the edges of his eyes softening minutely.

“You don’t owe me anything,” Langa cuts in, “but I want to know. I… I want us to be okay again.” The other boy admits softly, “I want us to be okay and skate together again.” 

The sadness, the hurt and hope in Langa’s face destroys Reki’s will to refuse sharing again. When Langa sits in the booth next to Reki, the red-head admits defeat. 

Reki takes a deep shuddering breath, and tells Langa his pathetic past. The ocean-blue eyes of the other boy convey a myriad of emotions as Reki talks- ripples of confusion, waves of bewilderment and storms of anger. When Reki finishes talking, Langa’s eyes are calm with newfound understanding.

“That’s why you thought… but Reki, I meant it. In my confession, I really meant it.” 

The red-head breathes a soft sigh, mentally and emotionally exhausted. He looks away from Langa, focusing on his hands that are resting on his lap. 

“Sure you-“ 

“Reki.” Langa grabs one of Reki’s hands, both boys now fully facing each other, “I like you. I really, really like you. All those girls were wrong to lie like that, but that’s their loss.” Langa moves closer to him, “You’re the coolest person ever. You know so much about skateboarding, you’re amazing at making boards, you’re great at drawing,-“

“Langa,” Reki tries to cut in, “you-“

“You’re funny, smart, nice, and patient. I can keep going until you believe I was being honest about saying I like you.” 

“Don’t! I…” Reki falters, staring at where Langa still holds onto Reki’s hand. He wonders if his face has turned even redder than his hair with how hot it feels. “I believe you.” 

“Really?” 

“Y-Yeah…” 

A loud “ahem” jolts the two out of their conversation, turning to the forgotten adults sitting across from them. 

“Well, looks like you’ve got this taken care of.” Joe says, waiting for Cherry to exit the booth so Joe can stand, “You lovebirds take your time.” He says before winking, taking his leave with Cherry as both men walk over to the far side of the bar. 

Reki watches for a bit as the older men settle into the bar chairs and chat. He looks back to Langa who’s also watching Cherry and Joe; and remembers their hands are still together. Reki swallows, his mouth suddenly dry and his heart thundering inside his chest. 

“Hey, uh, L-Langa…?” Reki starts, internally cursing himself for how he stuttered Langa’s name. 

“Yeah?” Langa answers, focusing his attention back to him. 

“Um… so uh… I…” Reki looks down at his lap, focusing instead on his free hand that’s clenched atop his thigh. He takes a deep breath and shuts his eyes before he forces himself to continue. “Ireallyreallylikeyoutoo.” 

There’s a moment of silence between them, Reki with his eyes still shut and holding his breath. Realistically he knows that Langa isn’t going to laugh at him given that he likes Reki, but it’s still nerve-wracking all the same. 

“…you like me too?” Langa asks, “That’s what you said, right?” 

“Y-Yeah. C’mon, you heard me…” 

“Say it again please?” 

“Langa.” Reki whines, finally opening his eyes and looking back up. Whatever else he was going to say is immediately forgotten when he sees Langa’s face. 

Langa’s cheeks are the reddest Reki thinks he’s ever seen. Reki’s reminded of strawberries when he sees the blush on Langa’s face, and then he sees Langa’s eyes- owlishly wide and staring directly at him. 

“I…” Reki knows he’s weak against Langa since he’s complying. “I really really like you too.” 

The biggest, dopiest grin breaks out on Langa’s face. He brings down their still-joined hands and pulls Reki into an awkward hug. Despite how easy Reki is with physical touch, this is one he’s caught off-guard by. Reki was always the one throwing an arm around Langa’s shoulder, or pulling him into a one-armed hug. It takes him a few seconds to come out of the shock he’s in before he brings his free arm up to return the hug. 

He doesn’t know how long they stay like that. It doesn’t matter to him either way. All the letters over the years and the laughter of the girls in the past are quiet at this moment. He knows they won’t really go away; but it won’t be as painful as before. 

Reki is happy that the last confession he ever got was truly genuine. That was enough.