Archive of Our Own

langa became the new 'champion' or the new 'undefeated' skater after his win at the tournament finals against adam.

a lot and a whole lot of nothing had happen after that.

after the tournament, adam disappeared from S without a trace even though his workers were still at S everyday, watching the gates and working on cameras and setting up new official beefs within people. there were immediately a lot of rumors and speculations about adam being a politician either way and that sparked up more tension between all the skaters visiting S.

but snake had decided to visit S one day, revealing that he was working under adam and now due to internal conflict, was the one running S till adam gets his out of S work sorted out. good or bad news, everything in S stayed relatively the same after that.

is what reki and langa had heard from their skate gang since neither of them went back to S after langa's win.

why? no clue- they just didn't.

or maybe it was because the two of them really did feel like something between them hadn't been resolved yet for them to move on, or maybe that was just reki's head overthinking it again.

but reki knew there was still the elephant in the room to address.

sure, langa and reki had technically made up and promised to skate together for infinity, but- reki never actually explained the actual reason to why he got so worked up that he started the whole fight between them to begin with.

and reki also had not told a soul about how he got ran over by snake and got taken into a love hotel without his consent and was offered a bribe to keep quiet about it. well langa did ask about the bruises he had gotten from that incident but reki lied, saying it was a bail and langa, was obviously skeptical but he didn't push it.

but reki just knew he had a lot of explaining to do, they had promised to talk things out sooner or later and reki doesn't want to hide anything from his best friend.

and so, reki did decided to talk things out, the fact that he picked a random saturday night was completely his fault though. he realized that when he did phone call langa impulsively after staying in his head for too long.

"..reki?"

reki immediately debated if he should just cut the call from just how sleepy langa's tone was "did i wake you up? shit sorry man! i just wanted to talk to you about a few things uhm- nothing important though! we can talk later-"

"tell me" langa immediately cut reki off "what is it? why are you up so late at night? what happened?"

reki pressed the phone to his ear as he blinked staring at his ceiling in the dark "dude i'm fine.. just had a lot of things going through me head, that's all"

langa seemed to briefly pause in the other side of the phone "talk to me reki"

reki swallowed, not really knowing how to even begin this, realizing he should have probably planned out what he wanted to say before calling him instead.

"well" reki started anyway as he exhaled "about the fight.."

langa seemed to pause at that as reki trailed off, letting the silence between them linger before reki heard langa shuffling on the other side his phone "go on"

reki didn't know what to make out of langa's reaction as he swallowed again "i wasn't mad at you for breaking the promise-" reki briefly paused "i mean i was upset- but.. it was because i.." reki trailed off trying to gather his thoughts

"you started learning tricks and techniques so fast and you started beefing against really skilled skaters and i just thought..- i felt like i couldn't catch up to that.. to you"

reki felt a lump in his throat when he reeled through those days in his head all over again, even though he did find peace with the fact that he wasn't as talented or skilled as everyone- he still felt insecure about it. he continued anyway.

"and that made me think 'oh well langa surely isn't going to skate with me now'- and the fact that you desperately wanted to beef against adam really just.. fueled it"

langa didn't interrupt reki at all and reki would have thought langa hung up on him if it weren't for langa's soft breathing coming from the other side of reki's phone.

"i wasn't mad at you- i was mad at myself because.. i felt like i wasn't good enough to skate beside you" reki said quietly as he pressed instinctively pressed his phone closer to his ears to hear langa's breathing that is probably the only thing that's keeping him from completely breaking down "and it felt dumb and pathetic to me that i was genuinely scared of being left behind by everyone.. by you"

"and i.. felt like i wasn't cut out for skating and that i should stop loving it all together- so that was when i.. uhm- came back to S to give my entry sticker back and then i saw your beef with joe and- yeah"

"well.." reki breathed out "i talked with oka later though, he kind of calmed me down later- said that i could still love skating even if i wasn't good enough and stuff"

reki paused realizing that he had basically vented to his half asleep best friend in the middle of the night.. or morning.. or whatever it is, the sky is dark. he knew he should explain himself a bit more so langa doesn't immediately assume he's still a depressed freak.

"but then i went to the hospital to see shadow, saw you and i ran away and i almost got ran over by a car that coincidentally snake was driving and then he took me to a love hotel and offered me bribe money to shut up about it-" reki quickly realized that probably was not helping his situation at all as he paused "well look- i then talked with snake and he was being an asshole saying i shouldn't skate but that was when i realized why i skate-"

"i skate because it's fun"

letting that out made the lump in reki's throat dissolve as he continued on

"and maybe it wouldn't be so fun if i was really good at skating ya know? skating is fun when you bail every 3 seconds and spend all your pocket money on bandages" reki let out a laugh

"and yeah uhm.. i think we met up later after that and we made up" reki said as he paused "that was what i wanted to tell you-"

"reki"

reki shut up when he finally heard langa's raspy voice as he then heard more shuffling from the other side of the phone.

"i'm coming over"

huh???????

reki blinked in absolute confusion as he still kept the phone pressed against his ears as he laid still in his bed, wondering if he heard langa right.

"open the window for me and let down the ramp"

oh reki definitely heard that right then.

"dude- it's like 3 am right now"

"it's 2:47 am"

reki huffed as he finally got up from his bed as he reached out his hand to turn on his lamp "that's not the point- you can't just leave your house in the middle of the night-"

reki stopped talking when he heard the sound of a door opening and the sound of the skateboard wheels hitting the ground and reki immediately knew langa was probably already out of his house.

"stubborn" reki mumbled into the phone as he finally got up from his bed to open up the window and put down the ramp just like langa had asked him to as he clearly up his desk so that langa wouldn't immediately trip and die after he gets in.

it didn't even take that long until reki heard the all so familiar sound of the wheels that he himself made coming up the ramp and right into his room, except langa hopped off his skateboard, letting the skateboard roll off to the side of reki's room as he immediately tackled reki instead which made both of them fall down onto the floor while langa did made sure to protect reki's head from the fall.

"oww.. dude.." reki grunted as he watched langa lift himself up with his elbows to not completely crush reki beneath him.

"i didn't know you felt that way"

reki blinked as he finally adjusted his eyesight to look at langa while his room was still quite dark with the only light source being reki's dim night lamp.

"i didn't think you would.. either" he said as he stared down at reki with the softest eyes that reki had ever seen him make "i'm sorry- i mean.. i don't exactly know what to say to make you feel better but.."

"you're the best skater ever reki" langa moved his hand to his cheek and caressed him gently "i wouldn't even be skating if it weren't for you.. you made me the skater i am now. you helped me learn the basics, helped me learn how to balance on a board with wheels for the first time- you even made me a board and you made so much modifications to it so that it would feel like a snowboard to me"

reki was immediately beyond flustered and overwhelmed by everything langa said as he pulled up his hand to his face to cover it even though reki knew langa wouldn't even be able to see the redness of his face in the dark.

"langa- dude-"

"besides, skating beside you is the most fun thing in the whole world" langa continued to talk despite reki's mumbling "it won't feel that same if you weren't around- skating wouldn't mean what it means to me if it weren't for you, reki"

and god did that make reki want to sink into the floor and scream his lungs out because langa really did know how to make reki special- like he mattered.

langa gently pried reki's hand away from his face as he smiled down at him "i promised i'll skate with you for infinity" reki didn't know what kind of face he was making as he held langa's heavy gaze "and i plan on keeping it"

"i'll never leave you behind.. we're going to skate beside each other, for infinity"

reki physically felt him warm up like a preheated microwave as he groaned softly "do you even know what that sounds like?"

langa blinked as he cocked his head at that "no?"

reki huffed "well-" he paused as he stared up at langa "alright.. we will skate beside each other, for infinity" reki repeated it, surprisingly feeling more reassured about everything now that he heard it right from langa's mouth "but not when it comes down to a beef though, i'm pulling ahead"

langa seemed to smirk at that "right back at you"

the two of them smiled at each other, holding each others gazes for a few moments before reki finally realized the position they were in as he let out a squirm underneath langa "dude you can get off now"

langa gently let go of reki's hand that even he didn't know he was holding onto as he moved away while reki finally got up looking at the time on his clock.

"oh wow" reki mumbled sarcastically as he let out a groan

langa seemed to follow reki's gaze at the wall clock "you should sleep"

"says the guy was actually asleep a few hours ago"

langa huffed "cmon, let's just go to bed now" he said as he gently nudged reki towards his bed

"we should set up a futon for you-"

"we can share" langa said cutting reki off and reki decided he was too tired to argue with the stubborn blue haired boy as he flopped down onto his bed, putting his phone back on the night stand, scooting over to the side of the wall and langa laid back down next to reki.

the two of them laid there in absolute silence and reki decided to turned to face langa.

"langa" reki called out, staring at the outline of the other boy's face "thank you"

langa seemed to smile softly "i should be saying that to you"

reki let out a quiet laugh "really?"

"yeah"

"well you can thank me later by buying me ice cream" reki joked

"ice cream?" langa questioned and reki nodded as he scooted closer to langa

"yep"

"simple enough" langa muttered "alright"

reki smiled as he gently covered langa's eyes with his palm "alright that's enough for tonight, go to sleep"

langa let out a laugh as he closed his eyes letting reki cover his eyes "you too, reki"

"nighty night langaaaa"

"goodnight"

and the two of them easily fell asleep that night with their promise lingering in their heads.

----

"i still can't believe you got beaten up by random strangers and then got ran over by a car that snake drove"

reki wanted to laugh at how bluntly langa summed it up but langa was dead serious about it

"well it happened" reki said as he continued fixing up langa's skateboard on his desk and langa shot him a glare

"don't give me that, reki" langa said as he crossed his arms "tell me who should i beat up first?"

reki would have assumed langa joked about it but reki immediately knew he clearly didn't

"do you even know how to beat people up?" reki asked with a light laugh instead as he tightened the screws of the trucks

"yeah" langa said tilting his head and reki almost would have laughed again if it wasn't for just how straight faced and serious langa looked

"well we're not beating up anyone" reki said with a shrug as he continued to work on the board "especially not snake, he's basically running S now- what if you get banned from S?"

langa blinked as he seemed to process that in his head "so what if i did?"

reki rolled his eyes as he put his screwdriver down to pinch langa's cheek instead "if you did then we can't skate together at S"

that seemed to do the trick since langa started pouting right after hearing that "then what if i ask snake for a beef and smack his head with my skateboard and calling it a skateboarding technique like adam did?"

reki finally burst out laughing at just how stupid langa sounded even though he probably shouldn't be laughing at it knowing cherry was a victim of whatever that was.

"dude-" reki laughed more "we're definitely not doing that, especially not with L2S"

langa huffed at that as he glanced down at his board "but he ran you over with his car"

"dude i'm fineeeee" reki said finally letting go of his cheek as he picked up his screw driver to continue working on the board "you don't have to beat them up over it"

langa rolled his eyes "i'm still challenging all of them to a beef"

reki let out a playful groan "well as long as you don't smack them with our precious L2S, then go ahead"

langa finally smiled at reki's approval and reki almost wanted to laugh again at just how stupidly stubborn his best friend was.

the two of them fell into a brief silence while the only sounds that echoed through reki's garage was the sounds of metal clashing from reki working on the trucks, reki felt langa's eyes on him instead of the board that he was working on but reki didn't question it.

"skateboarding at S is weird" langa was surprisingly the one to break the silence and reki paused glancing back at langa waiting for him to elaborate.

"everyone gets to have their own techniques or modifications to the board" langa said as he looked down at his board on the desk "like a specialty of the skateboarder to make them unique in the crowd"

reki smirked as he hummed in approval while he continued to work on langa's board "but that's exactly the coolest part about S though! you get to be a whole different person there and you can do whatever you want when you skate"

langa paused as he nodded "true" he muttered "would that mean my specialty is just me being an ex snowboarder?"

reki laughed "maybe" he said with a shrug "i mean, we don't see any snowboarders at S on a daily basis now do we?"

langa chuckled at that "i guess" he said "it's not as cool as cherry's or joe's though"

"true" reki laughed "you can't compete with the founders of S on that now, cherry literally has an ai skateboard and joe literally uses his own body for his skateboarding techniques" reki rambled with his little fanboy mode activated "not to mention they are super popular with a huge fan base at S"

langa smiled "that is true" he said as he paused "shadow has a fan base too surprisingly" he mentioned

"well of course he does, he stands out the most after all" reki laughed "he's like the clown of S"

"fitting" langa said and the two of them laughed at that

"and well miya is the miya chinen, he doesn't need a specialty when he considered a future pro skateboarder" reki said almost proudly as he continued to fix langa's board "i can't believe we're friends with all these cool skateboarders"

reki couldn't help but think about the whole conversation in the back of his mind. 'specialty' something that all S skaters seemed to have, but the question that popped up in reki's head as soon as he heard langa mention it was..

well- what was reki's specialty?

the two of them seemed to pause for a split second as their conversation came to a brief halt with reki's mind drifting off towards his own question instead

but langa surprisingly seemed to know exactly what to say to bring reki back

"and your specialty would be.." reki blinked as he looked back at langa, his eyes widened at langa mentioning that "skateboards"

reki paused in absolute confusion "skateboards?"

langa blinked as if he didn't understand why reki didn't understand what he was saying "well you make skateboards, you modify them to fit the skaters and make their performance better" he said as he paused "wouldn't it be your specialty if you modified your skateboard to fit you?"

something clicked in reki's head when he heard langa say that.

reki had never thought of it that way. his specialty?? his skill?? he always just thought he was bad at skateboarding-

but maybe.. just maybe if he did work on his own board..

reki placed his screwdriver down as he moved closer to langa grabbing him by his shoulders and shaking him a little too violently out of pure excitement at this new epiphany he had.

"langa! dude you're such a genius!" he exclaimed and langa was already very confused and definitely dizzy from reki shaking his body

langa grumbled as he gently pat reki's arm so that he'd get the cue to let go and reki did let go of langa at that but he didn't seem any less excited, langa was still confused to what was going on.

"holy shit you are right!"

"right about what?"

"my specialty!" reki said with a biggest grin ever "is being a mechanic!"

and despite still feeling a little dizzy, langa couldn't help the smile that came over his face when he saw the all so familiar grin from reki.

----

the next few days went by with reki brainstorming ideas for his own board, wanting to customize it as much as he can. he's surprised about the fact that he had never modified his board despite regularly changing out the wheels, all of the skateboard that he'd made for himself in the past were just the basic street type with no real modifications, reki supposed he probably was more into working on other's boards because they knew what they wanted on their boards while reki never really had any real preference over the boards he used, never bothered wanting to upgrade them in any shape or form. but now he did, and he knew exactly what he wanted to do.

"springs?" langa pressed down one of the springs that was lying on reki's work bench and reki nodded excitedly as he showed him the sketch of the boards structure.

"yep!" reki said as he pointed towards the very rough sketched he made on his sketch book "if i got this right.. this is going to help me fly and hopefully get more air"

now that got langa interested as his eyes widened "really?"

"yeah! check this out" reki said as he took one of the other springs as he pressed it down with all of his hand strength before letting go of it, watching the spring launch into the air, hitting the ceiling of the garage shed "if i press it down aka put force into it, it launches itself!" reki explained "of course it is risky to just use springs not really knowing how much recoil force they will give out whole a whole board and my body weight is on top of it but eh i'll be good to go, i don't speak physics anyway" langa quite literally didn't understand anything reki just said but he still thought it was really cool.

"so that's going under the deck?" langa asked and reki smirked

"yep, and just so they can compress alright without hitting anything, i'll have to make and extra part connecting to the trucks that have to be compressible and extendible as well" reki said pointing over his sketches again "of course the main risk is me accidentally launching myself at the wrong time if i didn't learn how to control my center of mass but i'll get the hang of it" reki said as he flipped the page to only show more sketches of the parts that he was talking about earlier, all of them messily labelled which langa still didn't understand but found it super cool nonetheless

"this is awesome reki" langa mumbled as he looked through the pages opened up for him and reki chuckled at how genuinely excited langa seemed to look

"i know right? i can't wait to test these babies on!" he said as he flipped over to another page in his sketchbook to show langa more of the things he had planned.

"so if i do use springs my body weight is definitely going to be an issues so what i planned on doing is i'm going to use a different kind of a plank all together that's going to weight a lot lesser than normal boards but they will also be hard and not brittle because-"

reki continued rambling on about the drastic changes that he was about to do to his new board while none of the technical information really stuck to langa's head but he was more than happy to listen to reki planning and brainstorming more about his new board, langa himself was looking forward to see reki's new board in action.

the brainstorming went on for days, reki put in a lot of thought for his board, sketching the board and the necessary parts over and over again till he felt satisfied, ordering the right equipment he needed for it through oka (he even spent his own money on it), going through all skate magazines for inspirations and hell going through wikipedia to see if he got the physics right just so he wouldn't mess up the board and langa was always beside reki watching him working and sketching and surfing the internet for hours. reki wondered if langa did get bored of just watching him do things.

"i don't"

reki couldn't help but chuckle at how blunt langa's answer was as he continued making his new wheels for the board now.

"why? am i really that interes-"

"yes" langa deadpanned and reki couldn't help but burst into a fit of laughter at just how adorable langa sounded

"im being serious" langa said as he slightly pouted watching reki still dying out of laughter

"i know, i know-" reki tried to calm himself down from all the laughing as he put his arms up lazily at langa's accusing stare "well at least i'm entertaining right?"

langa blinked as he blankly stared at reki and reki paused in slightly confusion at that

"you are" langa finally said as he smiled softly "you're never boring"

reki could help but immediately tear his eyes away from langa as he continued to messily work on the wheels again, flustered, because he still didn't know how langa could just say things like that.

but reki would never ask that, instead he decided to just look back at him and grin before he started rambling about the wheels that he was working on.

and days seemed to just go by this way, with reki working and piecing things together till he finally felt confident enough to actually start putting it all together and work on the deck of the board. when he did officially start making his board, reki was almost reluctant to have langa at his garage since reki never used any protective equipment that he really should be using if he's going to work with wood and blades and the last think reki wanted was for langa to get hurt from it or just have a hard time breathing in this room which is probably going to be covered in sawdust, but of course langa, being the stubborn person he was, stayed beside reki anyway and reki decided to at least borrow goggles from oka for langa to at least be reassured about having some protective gear on his best friend.

"this is so loud"

reki laughed over the noise of the electric wood cutter "what did you expect?"

"i don't know" langa said as he continued to just stare at the reki shaping the board with his tools

"do you want me to help?" langa surprisingly asked which earned the most surprised and equally confused glance from reki

"huh?"

"i asked if you want me to-"

"i heard you" reki said as he continued shaping the deck "i mean- i wouldn't want you getting hurt" reki said over all the noise "you can help me paint if you want"

langa eyes seemed to glow in interest at that "okay" he mumbled and reki smiled before going right back to work, letting langa linger around him and watch his every movement.

and this somehow became a routine between reki and langa without them realizing, going to school, skating right back to reki's house (reki used his older skateboard for that) and then spending the rest of the evening at reki's garage working on reki's board, while langa just watches him do his thing. reki always explained what he was doing even if he knew a lot of it flew right over langa's head but reki rambled on anyway and langa always just listen and watched him, occasionally helping reki with moving things and taking measurements. langa realized just how much work goes through making a board, even though he did know it took a lot of effort since he had watched reki make his own board before but it was still fascinating to langa and he most definitely respected reki for all the work he did.

and reki most definitely had loads of fun making it, especially since langa was around for all of it, just talking to langa while working helped him concentrate a lot better and since it turned into such a familiar routine for the two of them, they pretty much started coexisting inside reki's garage at one point, with reki taking breaks every now and then and langa sharing food whenever he did (though reki made sure langa didn't eat anything on the work bench while he was working with wood), and with the two of them simply blasting music whenever they felt like it and even falling asleep right after finish up a bunch of work only for koyomi to find them sleeping beside each other on the floor (koyomi never woke them up though).

the two of them did go to the skatepark sometimes, not as regularly as they used to but they did when they felt like getting out of the cramped space to breathe some actual fresh air from time to time and sometimes on the weekends, they show up to sia la luce to meet up with their group of skate friends and talk about the things that happened at S and out of S too and everyone were very aware of reki's new project at that point and miya and joe always kept wanting to see the progress and reki always made sure to take pictures of the work that he had done over the weeks just to show the gang.

after a long time and a lot of patience and way too much work, reki was actually done with the deck and the newly modified trucks and the wheels and all he had to do was assemble all of it on after he finishes painting the deck.

"your turn" reki said handing langa all of the painting materials and langa frowned slightly, not really knowing where to start

"i know i said i wanted to help but.." langa paused "..you do know that i suck at painting right?"

reki laughed as he gently reached out to ruffle langa's hair "oh cmon, i'm sure it wouldn't be that bad dude!"

langa was having second thoughts but he really did want to help "if you say so" he muttered, finally picking up the brush as he glanced at all the color options he had.

reki smiled "you should paint it white first" he said as he gently pushed the white paint can towards him "so that you'll have a blank space to work on and the colors would come out the way they look instead of mixing with the woody yellow the deck has now"

"okay" langa muttered as he dipped the paint brush into the can, coating the brush in thick white paint as he gently started coating the deck in white paint.

reki watched langa paint, making sure langa lets every coat dry before building up more color on it and reki decided to let langa sketch whatever he wanted on the deck before painting over them once he had a clean and smooth white base.

langa then started sketching on the deck, feeling how different drawing on wood was compared to paper as he sketched out random things that came to his mind. reki watched langa sketch out what looked like reki's red demon mascot on a mini skateboard along with the yeti behind it. reki then watched langa sketch out more random things like poutine, burgers, a snowflake and a hibiscus flower together, what looked like a really random cat and a huge 8 that reki assumed was the infinity symbol.

langa finished out sketching as he wrote something in english at the bottom of the deck and reki grinned at that, quietly admiring how langa's handwriting seemed to get better when it came to english.

"i dont think it looks that great" langa muttered as he finished sketching as he stepped back to look at all the random and messy sketches he made.

reki immediately shot him a harmless glare at that "nuh uh, dont even think about redoing them" he said "i like them, its really adorable"

langa seemed to face reki at that and reki briefly realized how close he had gotten to langa while watching him work over his shoulder. the two boys seemed to hold each other's gaze wordlessly before langa broke the silence.

"thanks reki" he smiled

and reki couldn't help the smile that came over his face.

"alright then let's finish painting the sketches!" reki said and the two of them seemed to go back to work almost immediately and langa continued painting the deck despite occasionally saying how he was definitely ruining reki's deck to which reki always smacked langa's head softly saying that it was perfect, and it really was perfect to reki even if langa's sketches looked like a 5 year olds drawings and the paint job was all splotchy, it was something his best friend did after all. if anything, it just made the board even more special and memorable to reki in all the stacks of boards that he had made in the past.

reki did decided to help langa with the painting later since langa was a little less satisfied with his work and reki didn't want langa to feel bad about it even though reki really loved whatever langa did to the deck. reki made sure to smoothen out a few paint strokes while he guided langa's brush with his own hands to outline everything right, while his head made sure to remind him of the close proximity between the two of them.

reki realized how messy langa's white shirt had gotten after they finally finished painting.

"dude- your shirt"

langa blinked as he looked down at his own shit covered in all kinds of smudged colors

langa shrugged casually "oh well"

reki laughed at how dismissive langa was at that "i should have given you a different shirt before we did this huh?"

"no, i like this" langa chuckled "its never gonna come off.. so i can keep it as a memento"

reki could help but laugh softly at that "yeah that's evidence that you do have experience in deck painting" reki teased "though the final results can be very questionable"

langa huffed at that "you said you wouldn't make fun of it"

"kidding kidding! it looks really unique man" reki said as he gently slid an arm around langa's shoulder "really dude, thanks for helping out"

langa seemed to pause for a few seconds before he smiled back "you're welcome"

the two of them then continued to take a break while messing around, having a little paint fight since langa's shirt was already ruined, might as well get reki's ruined too, as the two of them ending up making a mess of reki's workspace but they were mindful not to ruin the deck that they had painted as they let it dry out untouched.

after hours of goofing around with reki's pain supplies and then trying hard to wipe all of it off at reki's bathroom, the deck was finally dry and then it was time for reki to finally assemble all the pieces together. reki was definitely hyped since he went back to the garage even if it was late and unsurprisingly langa also stayed.

"is it done yet?"

"i told you, you could go back to my room if you're so tired man" reki said as he continued making minor adjustments to the deck while assembling the rest of the parts on

"i don't wanna"

"then why don't you sleep here?" reki asked while he didn't bother looking at langa's sleepy and tired expression "we brought pillows here the last time we stayed here"

"i want to see you finish it" langa muttered as he laid his head on the workbench

reki finally tore his eyes off of the board to see langa staring back at him despite looking like he'd fall asleep any moment. reki smiled softly.

"i'll wake you up when it's done"

"it won't be the same" langa huffed "i want to see it"

"stubborn" reki mumbled as he let out a chuckle "alright sleepyhead, guess i'll have to finish it up sooner" 

langa let out a incoherent mumble of approval as reki turned back to the board working on it in silence, the only noises being the screws and trucks that reki was working with and langa's soft breathing indicating that he was still awake and beside him.

"talk to me"

reki glanced back at langa who was pretty much very close to falling asleep at this point

"i'll fall asleep if you don't"

reki chuckled softly "isn't that a good thing though? your body clearly needs it"

langa let out a incoherent whine at that as he shifted closer to reki to poke his sides and reki laughed poking him back in return which seemed to make langa a little less sleepy and more alert of reki's movements.

"rekiiiiiiiii" langa whined sleepily and reki dramatically rolled his eyes at that

"fineee" reki said as he continued finishing up his board as he thought about what he wanted to say to keep langa awake

"well the board's almost finished" reki said with a grin "i have a name idea? wanna hear?"

langa blinked to keep his eyes open as he mumbled "sure"

"okay so get this- reki ultimate blazing star striker 3000?" langa felt a bit more awake before he genuinely wanted to laugh at whatever reki just said

instead sleepy langa mustered up a "huh?"

"actually no" reki said as he continued working "i want to add your name into it too since you're a big part of it" reki said with a smile "so it's reki langa ultimate blazing star striker 3000"

langa was absolutely grateful that reki did include his name but god that was a weird name-

"why is it so long?"

reki grinned as he glanced at the sleepy boy "we can call it star striker for short"

"well.. sure" langa hummed as he watched reki "it's better than the L2S"

"hey the L2S is iconic mind you"

"it's a mouthful"

"it isn't"

"it is"

"fine- it is" reki said with a dramatic sigh as he shot a playful glare at langa before smiling "but at least it's unique"

langa paused as he slowly nodded "true"

"either way, i should definitely get used to riding it first since these springs are going to be hard to control even though i added an extra springlock mechanism so they don't recoil after i land and offer some sort of resistance- and of course the wheels are super insane! they're gonna go woooooosh! but yeah, i'm probably going to bail a lot, i just know it" reki laughed and langa smiled at that

"i'll buy you bandages" langa said as he kept his eyes on reki "like how you bought me bandages when i fell over trying to learn how to skate for the first time"

reki's head immediately reeled all those moments of langa eating cement when he first got on the board, reki did in fact buy langa tons of bandages and even the store ran out of bandages at one point that reki had to buy the bandages that his sisters used which were all pink and girly but langa didn't seemed to mind it at all and reki was more than happy to stick it onto langa knowing it looked hilarious and cute at the same time.

"so that's how you pay me back for the bandages? with more bandages?" reki asked with a laugh

"it's not a pay back" langa shrugged "i just want to"

reki glanced away from langa at that for a brief moment before he continued to work on the board "dork"

that earned a silent chuckle from langa and reki couldn't help but smile

"what did you write on the deck anyway?" reki asked and langa paused blinked as he glanced down at the board

langa didn't answer for a few seconds and reki finished screwing the last bolt for the trucks, finishing the board altogether while the question flew right out of reki's head.

"all done!" reki exclaimed as he quickly tightened the screws one last time and that seemed to wake langa right up as he finally leaned back up from laying his head on the workbench.

"it's done?" langa asked as he looked at the board and reki looked at him with a proud grin as he handed him the skateboard

"yeah my dude! this baby is ready to hit the road!" reki said, buzzing in excitement as he circled around langa while langa flipped the board looking at all the parts in place that he had seen on the floor of this garage a long while ago.

"this is amazing reki" langa said as he turned to reki "it's beautiful"

and reki completely paused as he looked at langa who looked back at him with the most fond expression on his face and reki didn't question it, of course he couldn't, it was just so- langa of him to do that at literally everything he does.

"the writing" langa said breaking the brief silence that reki didn't even know was there between them as langa continued "i thought it would be fitting"

reki raised his eyebrow at the very vague description langa gave him "what does it say?"

langa smiled softly at that

"the mechanic's time to shine"

and reki couldn't help the sheepish grin that came over his face, it really was fitting.

---

"ouch"

"stay still"

"dude- i'm trying-"

"you're flinching away reki"

"yowch- okay" reki mumbled as he let langa put on the antiseptic over his face now new wounds that he got from bailing

"i'm surprised the board is.." langa said as he briefly glanced at the star striker that literally made a dent on a tree that it got launched into while reki tried to do a trick that he usually does on his normal board, yet the star striker is perfectly fine, even after making a dent on the tree "..sturdy"

reki laughed at that but immediately regretted moving his lips when he felt the wound over his lip stretch as he covered his mouth "shit.."

langa immediately pried reki's hand away from his lips "you're only going to infect if you touch it like that" and reki rolled his eyes at that

"yeah yeahhh" reki mumbled trying not to move his mouth a lot as he let langa treat his wounds, briefly feeling ticklish by the way langa held his face so softly while doing so, tilting his chin whenever he needs to and reki doesn't mind it one bit, except he does when it stings.

reki let his head briefly think about how good langa is at treating wounds sometimes, even though it shouldn't entirely be a surprise since his mom is a nurse after all so, he supposed langa did learn a thing or two from nanako.

langa gently pressed on the bandage over the corner of reki's lips as he let his thumb linger over it for a few more seconds before letting go of reki's face which made reki physically stop himself from chasing after the warmth of his hands. langa continued to patch up the rest of reki's wounds while reki was feeling absolutely embarrassed about what happened but he absolutely didn't want to think about it just yet.

and thankfully it didn't take long until langa finished treating his wounds and reki let out a sigh of relief as he got back up to go pick up the board.

"not a single scratch eh?" reki said as he flipped his board examining it for any damage "see? i told you this would survive literally anything! that's why this wood was so fucking expensive" reki said and langa followed after him eyeing the deck.

"that's pretty good" langa said with an impressed look on his face "especially considering how you bail so much"

reki rolled his eyes "fancy coming from someone who almost bailed everyday last year" and langa laughed at that 

"yeah but you bail more because you don't have an amazing teacher like i did" langa said it in an almost sly tone which made reki double take at what he said before reki laughed 

"touche"

"always"

"you're so cocky dude" reki chuckled as he put his board down before he gently flicked langa's forehead "don't let it get to your head snow prince" reki said as he pushed on on his skateboard as he rode back into the half pipe

langa rubbed his forehead as he smirked before he kicked up his own skateboard as he followed behind reki as the two resumed skating again while reki bailed another million times and langa probably did patch him up all the other billion times that evening.

bailing a billion times certainly didn't stop reki from wanting to master his own creation.

and reki and langa seemed to get back into the routine of skating almost all the time now that reki had finally finished the board and started practicing on it, except they still didn't show up to S yet, keeping their unspoken agreement on not going there until whenever they felt like it.

skating turned more frequent which started reminding reki more of the days when langa first started skating, with them rushing to the skatepark almost right after school and skating till midnight till either one of their parents call them to come home.

and with that frequency, reki did get a lot of practice in to master the abomination he made, at least that was what oka called it, a 'skating abomination' but reki was still proud of his work nonetheless, and langa was too, and it shows, really.

relearning the tricks reki used to do easily on a normal board was a hundred times harder on star striker but reki did manage to practice everything he had known to do on a normal board and of course, one thing reki absolutely loved about the board was the speed, despite not being able to control it or bring it to a stop, reki absolutely loved overtaking langa with ease and langa only seemed to get more competitive every time reki did it, which in reki's opinion, was exhilarating to have langa on his toes wondering what else reki can do.

and after weeks of practice and multiple injuries and a trip to the actual hospital after reki tried a trick and almost passed out (langa panicked, yes), reki was finally a little bit more confident to actually do it.

"the big wood course?"

"yeah" reki said as he continued skating beside langa "i want to touch the star there"

langa's eyes softened at that as he stared at reki which made reki glanced back at langa tearing his eyes off the empty streets

"let's do it" langa said with a smile before he sped up and reki felt his heart race at that as he sped up to catch up.

the two of them continued racing along the streets like they always did, doing tricks and stunts along the track till they got to the all too familiar slope of the street that made reki's stomach drop, reminding him of the times when he desperately tried to skate along the road and launch himself to touch the star, comparing himself to langa and being miserable- 

but that's all in the past now.

"i'm going first" langa announced as he sped down the slope as he cut right next to the wall and skated up the makeshift ramp by the old crate as he launched himself into the air as he easily touched the graffiti star on top as he dropped back down almost too gracefully.

reki had seen langa do that countless of times. as amazing as it was, it always made the question pop up in his head 'can i do it too?'

langa turned towards reki at the start of the slope as he waved at him "your turn!"

reki seemed to snap out of whatever he was in as he stared at langa from a distance before he took a deep breath as he glanced down at the skateboard beneath his feet.

'i can do this' 

'i made this board specifically for a course like this'

reki swallowed the lump in his throat as he kicked his skateboard off as he sped down the slope as he took a turn briefly glancing at langa moving positions so that reki can land where ever he wanted as reki watched the ramp come closer as he slowly distributed his weight over the board to use the springs underneath.

and reki flew.

well reki felt a whole weight lift off his shoulders as he watched his hand touch the star almost in slow-mo before he realized that he should probably try to angle his board for a better landing, but that was too late.

langa immediately caught onto that as he came rushing while reki wobbled while landing and ultimately crashing right into langa and falling right on top of him.

"ow.."

"reki" reki felt a pair of arms slip around his waist "reki you did it"

reki propped himself on his elbows as he stared down at langa beneath him, staring up at him with the most proudest smile ever and it immediately made the blood rush up to reki's face as he ducked his head back into the crook of langa's neck

"dude don't look at me like that-"

"like what?"

"you know what i mean-" reki lifted his head up to look at langa as he pouted playfully, hoping to school his own expression

langa laughed softly as he gently trailed his hand up to reki's hair instead "i'm so proud of you, reki" he said in a hushed tone, as if it was meant just for the two of them "you're so amazing- everything you do is just so.. amazing" langa said and reki couldn't help but laugh at that

"is that the only word you know? 'amazing'?" reki asked and it was langa's turn to pout

"japanese is not my first language" he said "but you know what i mean- you flew, reki, and you did it because you're a talented skateboarder"

reki's heart warmed at his best friends words as reki smiled almost shyly "alright dude- that's enough" he said and langa smiled as the two of them simply stared at each other for a few minutes, completely forgetting the compromising position they are in, at public.

"are you okay though?" langa asked as he eyes darted all over reki and reki felt even more embarrassed at that as he finally got off of langa as he laid beside him on the concrete instead 

"i should be asking that to you dude" reki said with a laugh and langa gently pulled his hand away from his hair

"i'm fine" langa said "i'm used to you tackling me"

"that sounds like a jab"

"it isn't, i like it when you tackle me"

"dude seriously?"

"yeah"

"you're literally the weirdest person i know"

"even weirder than your sisters?"

"wha- hey- okay wait you know what? that's a pretty valid question"

"i know"

"you can just say you're not fond of babysitting them langa"

"oh no i love kids"

"that's the most sarcastic thing i've heard from you all day-"

and the two of them were back to goofing off and skating around again.

---

langa didn't realize how long it had been since he and reki had actually went to S until he stepped into the place.

"holy shit! the champion is here!"

"oh my god snow is here?!"

"is there gonna be another tournament? is he gonna beef somebody?!"

"kyaaaaa! snow is finally here!"

yeah langa forgot he was a champion or whatever, from the tournament he had participated, he was slightly impressed at how it slipped out of his head since he was way more preoccupied with reki, reki and more reki for the past month almost.

"oi snow! here for a beef?"

langa snapped out of his thoughts as he glanced at the people who called out for him 

"i'm here to watch a beef"

the group of people exchanged looks "woah it must be an important beef then, since you showed up to S after disappearing for over a month"

langa opened his mouth to answer but he quickly turned his head at the sounds of the screens turning on as he immediately abandoned the group of strangers as he speed walked his way to the usual starting line for the beefs.

"just you wait punk! i got more tricks up my sleeve" 

"bold of you to assume i don't have any tricks of mine"

"ha! you're so confident now kid"

langa pushed through the crowd only to bump into joe's hard back as joe turned around immediately pulling langa to the front gracing him with the view of reki and shadow at the starting line.

"do you wanna bet on who'll wi-"

"reki" langa didn't even hesitate and joe couldn't help but let out a chuckle at that

"well let's see if that does happen" joe said and langa tuned out joe's words as the count down started on the monitor for the race and reki and shadow readied themselves for the race.

3

2

1..

GO!!

the two of them immediately took off from the line and shadow immediately had a head start as he turned around to make faces at reki and reki groaned in response before he actually decided to speed up, easily catching up to shadow.

"not bad kid"

"oh please" reki smirked "you haven't seen half of it yet"

"well then show me what you got punk" shadow said and reki gladly took it as an invitation to slightly change his stance on the board as he gained more momentum, speeding up almost instantly.

shadow let out a laugh as the two continued skating through the track, dodging every boulder and rock they come across while shadow made sure to do weird tricks to keep his fans on their toes.

"alright enough foolin' around" shadow said as he started speeding up right behind reki as he pulled out a spray gun "take this!"

reki immediately shifted his weight slowing down his board as he swerved it around and behind shadow while shadow missed reki as he groaned

"a water gun?? really??" reki laughed and shadow huffed before he aimed it at reki again and reki quickly redirected his board as passed shadow with easy which only seemed to make the older man more annoyed.

"you little-"

"you're getting too old for this shadow!"

"for the last time! i'm twenty freaking four you moron!"

the two of them continued to race through the track while shadow continued to use all of his party tricks on reki, which reki easily dodged and evaded from successfully.

"get ready to confess to your manager shadow!" reki taunted before he finally decided to try out his modifications as reki lowered his stance once the board started going down the slope on the track as he speed up instantly, the wheels rolling fast and making sparks along the way as reki quickly reached the factory while shadow decided to use his own strategy of off course short cuts to the factory that the camera can't pick up.

"holy shit that's insane" 

langa finally took his eyes off of the monitor as he turned around, now seeing cherry and miya along with joe, bickering.

"how is that even safe? the slime's wheels are on fire"

"that sounds pretty cool to me"

"of course you'd indulge the kid's recklessness in skating, you're reckless yourself with your uncanny yoga poses while skating" cherry said and joe rolled his eyes at that

"oh well i apologize for having fun instead of being calculative and predictable with your weird robot skateboard"

"one more word and you're sleeping-"

"i wanna go to the factory" langa said cutting all of them off from their argument and the three of them exchanged looks before cherry nodded

"i'll take the kids" cherry said grabbing langa and miya by their shoulders "you can get a ride there from one of your lady friends"

"what the- hey kaoru!"

and cherry quickly led miya and langa to his carla powered motor cycle as they drove off to the factory while langa watched the race still from his tablet.

reki skated through the almost broken tracks off the factory as reki watched shadow barge into the factory from one of the emergency exit doors as he skated in.

"i can't let you win that easy you punk!"

"you wish" reki said as he continued skating while he briefly glanced around the course to look for an opening to finally test out the main act of his board.

and right on cue shadow launched himself up to the same path as reki as they continued skating down the broken path.

"ready for the finale kiddo?" shadow said as he finally pulled out his bombs and reki briefly felt the panic come through his nerves, remembering the first time he faced shadow but he shook it off as he looked around finally finding his opening.

shadow aimed the bomb right for reki as he threw it in the air while reki quickly jumped onto the railing of the platform as he jumped off, redirecting his board mid air as he quickly grabbed onto the chains of the abandoned machines as he swung himself onto the wall while shadow's bombs kept going off right behind reki.

if reki got this right, i'd land right near the last stretch of the finish line.

if reki got it wrong, i'd smash his head and probably end up in the hospital.

the sudden adrenaline rushed through reki's veins as he angled his board right onto the wall as he pressed down on his board, unlocking the spring system beneath as he shot up into the air almost touching the ceiling of the factory as reki glanced down, seeing how small the everyone looked from up there, seeing shadow's bombs fall back down and explode in vain and seeing a small flash of blue in the crowd that always just stood out to him.

the second quickly passed as reki directed his board mid air as he landed right onto the railing of the last stretch as he lowered his stance while almost tripping off of his board as he quickly jumped back into the platforms to make sure he didn't fall back and die.

and now was the fun part.

reki sped up again, seeing shadow was nowhere to be near as he decided to push his board's limits as the sparks from his wheels flew off as he raced through the stretch.

though reki did hear shadow dropping down from another railing onto the final stretch but reki knew he could do it, he was so close to the finish line, just a few more meters and- and-

reki tuned out his own and shadow's screaming once he saw the crowd at the end but the only person he was looking at was the flash of blue pushing through the crowd coming up to the front.

"reki!"

langa..

langa was standing there with the brightest smile on his face, as he waved at reki with both of his hands, his eyes sparkling from all the colorful lights in the factory.

langa was waiting for him.

langa is-

"HOLY SHIT LANGA MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!"

"eh?"

and before reki could actually bail his insanely fast skateboard, he skated right towards langa, slamming into him while the board beneath him tripped the two of them making langa fall over reki and reki slamming his back behind the concrete but his head was graciously saved by langa's hand protectively blocking it from the concrete.

"dude- why were you just standing there-"

"reki you won!" langa said looking down at him with the most excited smile ever and reki's concern evaporated instantly

"i did?"

"you did!"

reki smiled "you're such a dork" he mumbled "you're lucky you didn't die from getting knocked out by my skateboard"

langa completely seemed to ignore reki's statement as he continued excitedly "reki you flew! you jumped off of the wall and launched up so high!"

reki could already feel the blood rushing to his cheeks "you saw that huh?"

"of course i did"

"it wasn't as cool as your backside rodeo"

"oh shut up reki- it was-"

"if you two are done flirting-" cherry interrupted which immediately made reki shot up in absolute embarrassment at cherry's choice of words as reki slammed his forehead into langa's as the two of them laid back into the floor again clutching their foreheads and cherry stared at them unimpressed while joe and miya laughed their ass off in the distance.

"yeah well as i was saying, reki" cherry said gesturing towards reki's board seemed to have slammed itself straight into the wall of the factory, making a crack on the wall

"star striker!" reki said as he got up rushing over to see if his board was damaged while langa followed him and the rest of the group seem to huddle up behind him as well

reki sighed in relief and in slight surprise at the fact that his board was completely fine even after all that, he had expected for the wheels to at least pop off from how much he had used throughout the race, but at least reki doesn't have to fix anything.

"you just got real lucky this time kid" shadow said with a huff and reki laughed at that

"oh yeah reeeeaaal lucky" reki teased "guess someone has to confess to his manager now"

reki continued to tease shadow making kissy faces while shadow physically cringed at him and miya seemed to find it all amusing while joe joined in along the fun, as the rest of the gang just fooled around for the rest of the night.

and langa decided to drive reki home that night, as the two of them were riding on the moped in silence while reki seemed to feel the lightest he's ever felt. reki felt.. happy, content with how everything went.

reki gently tightened his grip around langa's waist while langa continued driving "hey langa" he called softly

"yeah?" langa asked seeming to match his tone 

reki didn't really know why he broke the silence but he smiled to himself as he gently laid his chin on top of langa's shoulder as he scooted closer to him on the moped.

"thank you for everything"

langa seemed to slightly slow down the speed as he continued driving "it's all you reki" he said softly "i was just staying by your side"

"yeah but-" reki sighed "thank you for staying by my side"

langa let out a breathy laugh at that "don't mention it" he said "i like staying by your side"

and reki's stomach seemed to do a backflip at that as he buried his head into langa's shoulder in an attempt to hide himself despite knowing langa is not looking at him 

"i like it too" reki muttered quietly which langa seemed to hear as his ears turned red while he audibly gulped, gripping tighter on the handlebar as he continued to drive

"i'm glad you do" langa muttered back and reki just seemed to short circuit as they let the silence take over once again.

langa finally stopped the moped once they reached reki's house as reki lifted his head up from langa's shoulder, realizing how embarrassing it is to just hold langa as if he was his- 

"hey reki"

reki blinked as he looked at langa realizing he was probably just sitting there all dumb as he got off the moped but langa immediately seemed to grab his hand, making reki face him

"i'm really proud of you" langa said with a fond smile and reki couldn't help but swoon at the sight "you were amazing today"

"thank you langa" reki said, instinctively covering his face with his other hand and langa smiled softly before he tugged reki closer as he wrapped his arms around reki's waist, pulling him into a hug and reki immediately melted into it, feeling the familiar warmth around him with his heart hammering against his chest.. or maybe it wasn't his, because reki swears he could feel langa's chest pounding against his.

"you're amazing reki" langa muttered as if it was the only think he knew how to say "i can't wait to see what more you'll do with your board" he said softly "i can't wait to race you again"

reki just knew what he felt now, somehow, despite ignoring it for so long. reki gently wrapped his arms around langa's neck.

"we've got all infinity to do that" reki said quietly as he gently pulled away from langa as he dared to look into his eyes, only to see langa staring back at him, his cheek flushed deep red against his pale skin under the moonlight.

god this is so-

"reki" langa whispered "can i..?"

"please" 

what did reki even agree to? he had no clue, but it didn't matter before he watched langa lean slightly closer to him as he immediately closed his eyes, gripping langa tighter.

langa's breath ghosted reki's lips as reki felt a shiver run down his spine as he waited in anticipation only to feel langa slowly pull away as his stomach dropped. but before reki could open his eyes langa gently moved reki's headband as he pressed a soft kiss against his forehead, letting his lips linger on for a few moments before pulling away.

"sleep well tonight" langa said softly as he gently pulled his arms away from reki and reki almost immediately wanted to melt into a puddle.

this must be a fever dream, reki concluded.

"goodnight langa" reki said, not bothering to hide his red face anymore as langa got back on his moped as he took a moment to look at reki before he smiled

"see you tomorrow"

"mhm see you dude"

and it was safe to say reki did not sleep that night.