Chapter Text

The sun was awake, residing high up in the sky with the clouds that dotted white among blue, like paint spilt on a blank canvas. The radiating heat of the sunlight sent beams of light that semaphored the joy of a new day. Soon after, the birds flew out in flocks, chirping the melodies to their early morning songs.

The weather was perfect so far, the fluffy white clouds blew east with the breeze that gently shook the branches of the trees lining the streets, the grass that grew below was cold and freshly cut. Small children were starting to arrive home after school, their parents walking hand in hand beside them.

It was especially perfect for skating. There was no dreary forecast, neither rain or thunder was predicted, there wasn't even a chance of a light shower. Nothing could ruin the day so far .

So today was already looking up for Reki, who'd just arrived at the park, with his camera and trusted board in hand.

He sauntered over to his usual spot, not to far from the entrance but well away from any loud noises or threats of rouge flying skateboards,that would hit him in the face. He set his water bottle next to the ramp he lent on during his breaks, then brought his camera and board over to prepare.

His band aided fingers clumsily angled the tripod until the frame of his phone clearly captured "S", the local skate park, in the background.

It surprised Reki how empty it was, there was only one or two other small groups of skaters which was weird and oddly quiet for the skate park.

Usually it was filled up by teenagers who either came to graffiti the ramps with their nonsense gang symbols, turning the gray cement into an array of vibrant colours, or to take aesthetic photos for some social media dump.

Rarely anyone came to actually skate anymore, which slightly annoyed Reki but he wasn't about to do anything about it. Not today anyways, because Reki always had a fear of confrontation.

On any other day Reki wouldn't have minded the small crowd that had gathered, but today happened to be his designated recording day and he'd wanted it to be completely empty so the video could carry the perfect atmosphere.

It was also slightly because Reki didn't want to feel stiff and awkward, like all the eyes were one him while he filmed his newest idea for a video.

Reki was a small creator on Youtube. His content was mostly the same each time, always about cool tricks and how to land them. When he got commissions, he'd record the process of making them and post that too, adding useless commentary about the difference between orange and a slightly darker orange.

Even though his videos barely scratched one thousand views, got even less likes and he'd chosen a stupid name for his channel, his small following were supportive of him. Reki had even been noticed a few times, which came as an unexpected, but welcomed, reminder that he's made an impact on others. Which was mostly way he'd started the account in the first place.

One of the times, he'd been out enjoying his time skating near the beach, the salty breeze blowing through the red strand of his hair that had slipped out of his loosely tied head band. The side walk he skated on was cracked, and littered with small rock that sent jolts up his knees as he skated over them. Reki hadn't minded one bit, he'd just wanted to skate and for the sun to soak into his tanned skin.

After skating for awhile, Reki stopped at an ice-cream stand, waiting in line for some well deserved ice-cream, especially after messing up a few tricks that left him with scraped and bleeding knees.

He'd let his sisters put their barbie band aids on them later.

When it was his turn to order, he'd chosen bubble gum, a nauseatingly, vibrant pink flavor his mum would say was "far too sugary", but it's not like she was there to stop him. He licked his ice-cream with a winning smile, not caring as it started to drip onto his dry knuckles from the unwavering heat of the summer sun.

Then suddenly his shoulder was being lightly tapped, and Reki had turned around to see a little boy had shyly come up to him, a blinding smile on his face as he asked him to sign his board. He'd gushed over Rekis talent. Reki hardly understood what he was saying as he spewed out a mumble of praise. He was shocked, the sentiment went straight to the heart that was thumping in his chest.

He'd handed the board back with a foreign swelling in his ribcage. Reki had always dreamed of being an inspiration to others, so his heart swelled at the validation of watching the smiling boy run over to his mum, showing off his new;y signed board. He returned to his ice-cream, it was now half melted. Reki hadn't notice it dripping to the floor.

The other occasion was frankly more embarrassing. He'd been rushing to his morning classes, as he struggled to keep himself awake, having spent all of the previous night editing his video. His clothes were crinkled from falling asleep on his desk, the jumper he wear was stained with drool on the sleeves and the front clearly had toothpaste on it from his early morning rush.

The door to his dorm slammed shut, leaving Reki's roommate alone screaming words that didn't quite reach Reki. Considering he was already running down the hall, the elevator right in front of him. He was so close to making it, just one more step, one tiny step until...he hit the metal doors face first, landing on the floor with an ache in his bones.

Reki heard the far off sound of a door creaking open. His head was a dazed messed, hardly processing the noise at all. He stretched out his long legs and rubbed his forehead, feeling the bump that was already forming. He'd put ice on it later, right now he needed to get to class. He shakily stood up and once again made his way over to the elevator, then promptly crashed into someone.

Both of them stumbled backwards before profusely apologising.

"Oh dude, I'm so sorry," Reki had started, his voice overlapping with the other Reki could now tell was another boy, who sounded a year or two younger than him.

"Sorry dude, I was calling your name and you weren't answering." the nameless boy started, as he continued his sentence fell flat," I didn't mean to-".

Finally, Reki looked up, and what he saw confused him. The boy had eyes that were green, like polished gems, slightly covered by wispy strands of black hair. His eyes reflected a strange spark, glossy and glinting something similar to recognition. Then Reki realised what he was wearing, a light green hoodie pulled over a long sleeve shirt, that was alternating between black and purple stripes. His hoodie appeared to have cat ears too.

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't somewhat unsettled but Reki collected himself and listened to the boy as he started to talk.

"Hey aren't you that Youtuber. The one that skates and stuff.", his words floated over to Reki, carry an odd sense of judgment.

Of course Reki knew what being a Youtuber sounded like. Peoples first thoughts were more often then not, cringe, unemployed and single, which wasn't exactly untrue but it made Reki out to be more of a loser than he was.

Besides he could get a job if he wanted to, he was simply to busy with Youtube, skating and editing. Some part of his brain, far, far back , and probably unused for a fair while, realised that maybe it was truer than he wanted to believe.

Reki awkwardly scratched the back oh his head, "Yeah that's me."

He extended his hand, offering it to the boy as a handshake. " My names Reki."

"Reki Kyan" he added.

"My names Miya and no offence but, dude, I thought you'd be like cooler or something" Miya responded, his eyes taking note of the dried drool on Reki's sleeve, before flicking up to appraise the toothpaste.

He looks unimpressed, Reki thought, his hand faltering once he saw the obviously judgemental smirk on Miyas face.

"Oh right, sorry about that" He forced a smile that came out toothy and strained more than calm and collected, like he hoped.

"I'll try and work on that!" He made a mental note: wear clean clothes each morning, look in the mirror before you go outside, and a more general note to act cooler.

"What ever slime," were Miyas finals words before he slipped back into his dorm.

Reki just barely heard what else he had to say,"I look forward to your next video, but you didn't hear that from me"

After that strange encounter, Reki and Miya fell into a weird push and pull sort of friendship. They'd say hi in the college dorms and Miya would leave weird comments on Reki's Videos. The kind were you couldn't quite tell if the harshness was intentional or just tough love.

It turned out they even shared a class, their love of skateboarding landing them both in woodworks, with Professor Kojiro, who insisted they called him Joe.

After class, they'd compare their notes on which type of wood was better for a skateboard, they argued until they reached their dorms, saying good bye with a sort of fist bump, not quite high five.

Each time it was an awkward mess but it become a routine exclusive to them.

So despite the initial shame of the interaction, Reki was glad it happened. He's come to realise they shared a rather sibling like bond, one he couldn't have with anyone else.

A red light blinked to life on Reki's phone, indicating the recording had started and bringing him back from his thoughts.

"Hi again, it's me Reki,", he stood, almost out of place in the middle of the frame," thanks for coming back to watch my video, I appreciate-"

Blue, light blue like snow, blurred before him. It made Reki pause. He just stood there, thinking that was a pretty colour, why was it going away from me? His eyes tried to follow it but the line disappeared as quick as it had come.

What a shame.

He really hadn't seen a blue that shade before.

Oh right, he'd been recording, Reki remembers. He re-watched the footage, sighing as he watched himself completely mess up. It's okay, I can always refilm it, and….That was a really pretty blue wasn't it? He thought, filming himself again.

With the video counting down from three, Reki moved quickly into place. He flashed the camera a toothy grin, then threw up the peace sign, something he's noticed reoccurred in his videos. He thought he could make it apart of his image.

"Welcome back to my channel, Reki on Wheels" he started, his voice partially shaky, the name really did sound stupid out loud,"I'm still coming up with a better channel name so yeah!" he finished, no less anxious than he'd begun.

"Today I was planning," subconsciously his eyes wondered, breaking eye contact with the camera to view the skate park. He realised was searching for something.

"So I was thinking today maybe," He's repeating himself, his eyes sweep over the park one last time.

"Anyways, I thought todays video should be about Ollie's, and how to land them," Reki was back on track now this was good, he was doing great, he wasn't thinking about any shade of blue!

Especially not a blue so light it could blend in with sky, staying away from Reki, living untouchable up high.

Reki snapped out of it, " I know, at first, an Ollie may seem like a basic trick, and this mighten sound as interesting as a kick flip, but an Ollie is what turns a board that glides into a board that flys" Reki was confident now, this was his thing, skating was his passion! He knew all there was to know regarding anything skateboarding, and he wanted to show that, be known for that.

He stepped onto the board, Reki's mind concentrated while his body relaxed, one foot shifted to the front, further back the other pushed weight down. He bent his knees, getting ready to extend and that's when Reki felt it.

A small pocket of air floated through his hair, almost raising in tandem with him as he felt his body lift. In reality he was only a few feet in the air but the breeze felt cold around his face and his board cast a shadow on the ground, and he imagined he was on top of the world. The only thing tethering him to reality was a distant sensation, that left a fuzzy feeling around his mouth.

He was smiling now. It wasn't fabricated due to the camera, pressured to be perfect by himself, or for the crazy idea that a haze of blue might appear. It just happened, no thought went into the motion. It didn't cross his mind how it might look. Wether it was camera worthy or too toothy, too forced. It was natural, a simple smile made from the love of passion.

When he came back down, his smile gradually faded allowing his face to soften, "It's freakin awesome".

Now Reki just had to explain, which was why harder than actually doing.

"Okay so, did you see how I put my dominant foot here and my-" he was cut off because there it was again, the same strike of blue appearing and disappearing like magic. He asked himself again why would a colour so pulchritudinous escape him? Why wasn't it as captivated by him as Reki was with it.

Reki told himself it didn't matter, he had a video to record so who cared if he ostensibly repelled the blue away?

"and my left foot" he repositioned his foot to the back of the board, "went here?"

He continued to demonstrate, adding unhelpful commentary that sounded similar to a motivational cat poster. Foolish advice like; jump from your toes!, its okay to make mistakes! and probably the most useless, honestly fuck this you only live once.

"The last step is to put it all together and jump as high as you can"

Reki preformed the trick he was well accustomed with, feeling the rush run through his body the same as it always did, he almost hated having to come back down.

Once Reki stepped off his board he tucked it under his arm, walking over to stop the recording, then slid down the nearest ramp to rest. The concrete was familiarly cold and comforting, Reki leaned back with slumped shoulders.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, unlocking it with a swipe of his thumb to check his messages.

They were predominately scams messages, missed calls from his mum or exam reminders.

Finally he saw one from Miya.

He typed out a quick reply.

Miya: hows the video going so far

Reki: good but i keep getting distracted by this random blue that keeps turning up

As he awaited the response, he subconsciously started to bite his nails. The message back came fast.

Miya: Who?

Reki wasn't completely sure it was even a person.

Reki: idk dude that's the thing

Miya: no slime who asked

Reki was going to flick Miya, right in the forehead.

Miya: anyways are we still on for this afternoon?

That's right they'd planned to hang out that afternoon to plan new video ideas, Reki had almost forgot. It was like his mind was occupied with something else entirely.

Reki: yeah and bring snacks I've run out

He had run out because Miya and ate them all and hadn't shared any with Reki, but thought it was best to excluded that part.

Miya: I'll be there in 30

I'll be there thirty, Reki repeated, his brain acting as useless as a scratched vinyl. I'll be there in thirty.

At bare minium the skate park was thirty minutes away. It would take Miya no more than twenty minutes to get snacks from the convenience store than head over to Reki's.

He needed to get back immediately, Reki's room was a complete mess. There were at least seven different hoodies thrown mindlessly around, his bed was unmade and who knew how many empty noodle cups were molding in there.

Reki scrambled forward, acting as if he had two left foot as he gathered his things, almost tripping as he raced to get home. He could make it back in 15 if he sprinted.

The hall way was empty by the time Reki came up to his door.

When he pushed the door open there was no restrain, it easily swung open allowing Reki to enter.

Reki stepped into his dorm and-

"You're late slime" In the middle of his dorm sat Miya. He was cross legged on the floor ominously, staring straight at Reki.

Reki bones jumped out of his body.

"Geez dude, make yourself at home" but there was no real bite to his words.

Reki collapsed onto the comfort of his bed and dumped his stuff at the end. Sighing, Reki rolled onto his back. He hadn't even been able to clean his room.

"Please tell me you at least got snacks" Groaned Reki, sitting up just in time for a bag of microwaveable popcorn to be thrown point blank at his face.

"I got your favourite"

Reki couldn't even stay mad. Not when the scent of buttered popcorn floated through the air, it made him drool before he'd even eaten any, and he was very eager to.

He picked the bag up from where it landed in his lap and ripped it open.

"So, did the video turn out okay?" Miya asked as he came to sit beside Reki on the bed.

With the extra weight the bed dipped, they rearranged themselves. Reki lent against the wall the bed was pushed up against and Miyas back rested against the head board.

"I won't know till I edit it stupid" Reki chucked a piece of popcorn at Miya, kicking him out of defeat when Miya caught it in his mouth instead of it hitting him in the eye like Reki had wanted.

Miya nudged his foot in return," So whats up with this blue your talking about?" his voice sounds sly, like he's hinting at something Reki's to dumb to pick up on.

It's wasn't anything scandalous or shameful. It was only the colour blue that was definitely nothing to be flustered over but Reki still felt his face burn. It was humiliating.

Mortifying actually, because Miya was eyeing him up and down, like he knew what Reki had done last Tuesday. He didn't even do anything except stay up late watching TV, but the way Miya was assessing every detail of Reki's face you'd think he'd murdered a single mother of three.

Reki used the side his shirt to wipe the sweat of his palms. " I don't know honestly" his voice resembled a pathetic plead of innocence. One Miya wasn't kind enough to answer.

"What do you mean you don't know slime", Miya retorted, like it was the easiest thing in the world to put words to how Reki felt.

Reki paused, he really did have to think about this.

What was up with the blue hair? Apart from holding Reki's attention, was there anything more to this blue?

"Whats your favourite kind of game" Reki didn't know where he was going with this, his mouth spoke on its own accord.

"RPG games, obviously" it was true, Reki had seen him playing rpg on his console more times than he hadn't.

"Well why?" Reki questioned.

"I.. I don't know" Miya blinked at him.

Exactly Reki thought, you can't explain why but it just resonates with you. You're drawn to it, you replay it, you can explain every detail of a characters attack. It's something you call your favourite but when someone does something as simple as asking why it becomes indescribable. Like the words were stolen from you.

Just as Reki could talk for hours about the exact shade of blue. How he'd never seen a colour with that particularly light shade. Or about the fluidity of it's motion as it swept past Reki. For days, he would be able to ponder over the sensation he felt every time it slipped from his vision. He doesn't think he could ever define what was "up with the blue".

"Now you know how I feel dude" Reki remarked through a sigh, stuffing a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

He was desperate to move on from this topic.

"It's probably time we got some work done" he stood up, walking from the bed over to his desk to retrieve a notebook and two pens. He tossed a pen to Miya then settled back down.

Miya swirled the pen through around his fingers, " Have you ever thought of doing a Q&A?"

Truthfully, Reki hadn't, he didn't think people actually cared enough about his videos, or him, to ever want him to do one.

Reki shook his head.

"Well write it down then." Scoffed Miya.

Reki scribbled down the idea, Q&A.

"Why don't you expand your content, like make a video on how to make a skateboard, instead of time lapsing yourself making one?"

That was… frankly, not a bad idea.

Reki added the idea under the first.

"Hey maybe I could have a guest come on, you know like those surprise guests?" Reki quite liked this idea, he just needed a guest. But who?

His brain supplied him with imagery of snow settling on concrete ramps.

As quick as it came, Reki erased the foolish image from his head, he needed someone real not play make believe.

Then something dawned on him.

"Miya you skate don't you?" Miya definitely had a the whole skater vibe going for him, " I mean why else would you watch my videos, right?"

"Reki my dude.." Miya sounded anything but sympathetic," I watched your videos cause they had eight hundreds likes each and was planning to make fun of you"

Reki looked back to when he first started posting. How there was always this one account insistent on leaving back handed comment on every post. It's not like Reki had cared, but putting two an two together, knowing now that it was Miya all that time, he felt conflicted.

"That was you?!" It was so perfectly in character for the Miya he knows now, that Reki could only muster up enough annoyance to lightly punch Miya's shoulder.

Miya only laughed in response.

They brain stormed for a little while longer, some of the ideas thrown around sounded quite promising while others fell flat straight away.

Miya suggested they should do a compilation of failed tricks. Reki would rather do anything but that. He didn't need to humiliate himself in front of the people most likely to think he was actually cool.

They continued back and forth until Miya reached his limit.

"Don't you think we've got enough ideas," Miya groaned," can we play games now" he childishly exaggerated his words to emphasis his tiredness.

Reki wrote one last note before placing the notebook back into his bag for tomorrow, creating space for the switch Miya pulled from his own bag.

Five games later and Reki still hadn't won a single one yet .They're side by side, rested on their stomachs with a controller each, intensely involved in a sixth of Mario Kart. One that Reki was laser focused to win.

Unfortunately for him, Miya was currently in first place, with Reki far behind in seventh place. He swears he used to be amazing at this game! His skills were unmatched when he played against his little sisters, he placed first game after game.

But Miya.

Miya was a whole nother level of strategy, combos and rage inducing banter. It was infuriating how superior he was.

On the screen Cat Luigi's motorbike whipped past Reki's miserable Mario.

Miya laughed "Man you really do suck at this, I just overlapped you" wiping a fake tear from his face, an action Reki found quite mocking.

Before Reki could retaliate, his screen turned black with blotch marks, completely blocking his vision. Unable to see anything Reki drove blindly, crashing into walls, players and off the the edge of the map. He had to rely on the upset noises of Mario to understand he'd just been hit with three consecutive red shells.

His screen cleared when he finally crossed the finish line. The words "12th Place" flashed on his screen, defeated, Reki threw himself backwards and covered his face with his arms.

Reki looked over to Miya who met his gaze with a shit eating grin, "You really do suck slime"

He shoved at Miya's face "Yeah yeah, it's getting late, you better head back now"

By the time Miya's left Reki had already changed into his pajamas and was headed over to the kitchen to make himself dinner.

He filled the kettle, placed his noodles into a pot and cut some vegetables while he waited for the two minutes to finish.

He sat back down on his bed, his dinner placed precariously in his lap, and booted up his computer.

He'd put of editing the video for long enough.

Editing the videos was always a tedious process for Reki. He had to fix the lighting, remove any background noise and probably the hardest part, make a title and summary.

He looked out the window, the sky was empty, almost fully dark. It was definitely past eleven pm.

Hours had likely passed when Reki closed his computer after editing and uploading.

As soon as his head hit the pillow, and his blanket was warmly pulled up to his chin, he drifted into a soft haze of peace. He wasn't quite awake but he was asleep enough to dream about his day, to dream about snow on far off mountains.

When he did fall asleep, plastered on his face was a soft smile.