•Chasing the Snow•│Langa x Reader

『4』Melting reality

"I'm home!~" (Y/N) shouted as she stepped into her home. The hot months were over by now and it was the beginning of autumn. The girl took off her shoes and hung up her jacket before stepping into the living room where she expected her mother to be.

Her mom was indeed there, but her mood certainly wasn't what (Y/N) had expected. She thought her mother would happily play candy crush to relax after work, but instead she was sitting still and stiff at the table, slouched over with only the telephone laying there unattended to.

"What's wrong?" (Y/N) asked in concern as she approached. Her mother lifted her head to reveal the silent tears running down her cheeks.

"What happened?!" The girl asked again with more shock in her voice this time.

A sob left the woman's lips before she spoke. "It's Oliver." She replied as her voice quivered. "Something awful happened."

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Tears prickled in the girl's eyes as they escaped to roll down her rosy cheeks, fell and sank into the fabric of the black dress. Oliver was like a second dad to her, being the fatherly figure when her own dad was overseas and couldn't be there for her. Never had she imagined she would have to attend his funeral this early in her life.

As she raised her head, her gaze wandered up the black suit Langa was wearing until it stopped at his face. (Y/N) analyzed his expression. It was empty. Though his eyes seemed to be slightly puffy. Langa had probably cried when he was alone, even though he was never one to cry in front of others much. Obviously, his own father's death wouldn't leave him cold.

(Y/N)'s gaze landed on the boy's hand. She wondered if she should take it. For mutual comfort. The girl hesitantly reached her hand out and intertwined their fingers before Langa secured his grasp around hers as well. Even if he didn't realize it was a gesture to comfort him, he would at least be at ease with the fact he could comfort (Y/N).

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Wrapped up warmly in her winter coat, (Y/N) watched Langa leave the hut their families had rented in the mountains as he headed to the top of the nearby skiing lane with his snowboard in hand. Despite the loss they had endured, all of them wanted to try to move on and go back to normality, so they decided to go on their usual winter trip anyway. Moving on though was easier said than done.

All of them felt something was missing and it was especially hard on Nanako and Langa. (Y/N) could tell something was off with the boy in particular. He was usually so excited to go snowboarding since he could only do it so rarely, but not this time. Langa just felt empty. There was a hole in his heart.

When his father left this world, he undeliberatly took Langa's passion for snowboarding with him.

The boy soon realized this too as he snowboarded down the lane but felt nothing. There wasn't that feeling that made his heart beat faster anymore. He came to a halt in the middle of nowhere and just stood there. He kept staring into the nothingness for several moments, his mind blank, before deciding to go back to the hut.

He wanted to go back and then never return to this place again.

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"I can't do this anymore, (M/N)." Nanako shook her head in exhaustion as she sat across from (Y/N)'s mother in the kitchen of the Hasegawa home. "Everything around here reminds me of him."

(M/N) looked at her friend with empathy. "Give it time, Nanako. That feeling will fade eventually." She tried to soothe her.

"(M/N), I somehow more and more get the feeling this is not where Langa and I belong. At least not without Oliver." The woman admitted, clasping her face to prevent the tears.