Renga Oneshots [Reki x Langa]

Burning

The rain battered the ground around them, a heavy reminder that the longer they stood here the colder they'll get.

But Reki didn't care about that right now.

The expression on the other boy's face was just miserable enough to make him turn around completely.

He knew it wasn't Langa's fault, none of it was. Langa has been snowboarding for most of his life, he's bound to be experienced when it comes to something like skill.

So why can't he just get over it?

He's never felt this way before, and it just doesn't make sense to him. He loves watching Langa skate and skating with him.

He loves the afternoons where they'd spend hours in his room watching videos and reading magazines. Langa was a special person to Reki, one of the closest friends he'd had in a long time.

So what is this twist that he feels in his chest? Jealously? No, he isn't jealous...

"Reki...?" Langa's voice called out, forcing Reki to focus on the situation he'd, unfortunately, got himself into.

There was the feeling of a hand clasping gently around his arm, the contact feeding warmth all the way through Reki's being. That warmth which had been growing tremendously ever since he had met Langa, an indescribable emotion that would swell and grow every time he'd look into said partners eyes.

Though, despite that, Reki (albeit regretfully) pulled away from it. Arm moving harshly out of the others hand, Langa lingering close by for a long second after. Replacing that momentary warmth with the harsh conditions of the current weather.

Silence hung between the pair, as if the slightest word, or sound, would start the long descent they had begun to spiral down.

The thoughts running through Reki's head seemed to have drowned out the sound of the rain around them, also making him unaware of the sound of his own board dropping to the floor.

A crumpled expression made its way upon his face, tears that threatened to spill brimming his eyes. He would blame it on the rain if they fell.

There was a distant thud of his board stopping it's decent down the hill against a wall, though, there were no other sounds to be heard. Reki wondered if Langa was still standing behind him.

"...You said you wouldn't go up against ADAM again." Reki finally mumbled.

It was as if all his walls had suddenly come crashing down, all the things that had happened with ADAM, Langa, everything at 'S'... the words that were thrown around so carelessly about Reki being Langa's shadow, a worthless extra in Langa's life.

Reki didn't enjoy skating as much as he used to, it was obvious. He never used to practice this hard because another person was better than him, he used to learn from them. Reki wanted to laugh at the irony, he was turning out like Miya.

"I'm sorry, but I-" Langa's words were cut off by the raising of Reki's voice.

"Don't apologise!" He started, his voice cracking slightly, "It just means you're gonna break the promise with me, right?"

He didn't mean to sound so broken when he spoke. He wanted to be angry, he wanted to scream and shout, get all of his emotions out at once.

But that bubbling rage never lasted more than a few seconds when he was around Langa. It always seemed to turn into something more bittersweet.

The rain continued to hammer the pavement around them as Reki listened for Langa's answer.

It never came though, instead, there was that same heart-wrenching frown across his partners face. With those eyes that seemed to pour with pity- was that what this was? Was Langa just pitying him?