Reki Kyan | Alive

2.5

1st Person POV:

Over the past while me, Reki and Langa have been hanging out, in and out of school. From eating together at school, to skating together at parks and streets. Reki has already made me a board, so I can learn how to skateboard too. The board is beautiful, it has butterflies painted on it, with warm colors on a black background. The trucks are adjusted to my liking, so I can skate more comfortably.

It's great, really. Though, my body is littered with scratches and wounds from bailing so much, resulting in concerned looks from my teacher and classmates. But I really couldn't care less.

School is already done, and the three of us are currently back at the skatepark. I've given up on attempting ollies a few minutes ago, now standing next to Reki as we watch Langa still try. He pops the tail of his board, sliding his other foot along the board, sending his board about 5 cm in the air, before falling on the ground, scraping his hand. 

"You okay?" Reki runs over. "Ouch" Langa says, holding his hand up, observing the damage. "Huh? blood!" He yells, freaking out. "I drew blood! blood!" he keeps screaming. "this guy-" I start, Reki looking back at me with a 'you gotta be kidding me' expression on his face. "you're overreacting" he says, mildly annoyed. We both gape as Langa faints. 

~

It has already gotten significantly darker as I patch up Langa's wounds, 'thank goodness I brought bandages' I say to myself inwardly, carefully wrapping them around the boy's fingers. "You sometimes bleed when you snowboard, right?" Reki asks him. "Almost never, its mainly bruises or broken bones." Oh. "But for skating, it's like a rite of passing" Reki starts, "The more you bail, the better you get!" He finishes with crossed arms. "So bail to your hearts content!" He laughs.

"You make it sound like it's not your business" I say, the ghost of a smile resting on my lips. Reki sends a playful glare my way. "It was like that with snowboarding too though" Langa says, thinking back to when he snowboarded in Canada. "So, Langa, why did you come to Okinawa?" I ask him. "Did you parents get relocated?" Reki asks.

"It's because my dad died" Langa responds sadly, "This is where my mom grew up.", "I was looking for a job so that I could help with the family income." Me and Reki's expressions faltered at the boys confession. "I see" Reki says softly. "Is it boring out here?" I ask Langa, "I mean it doesn't snow here, so you can't snowboard". 

"After my dad died, I didn't snowboard in Canada either" Langa says. "But..." He climbs on his board, "After getting on a board for the first time in a while..." He continues "for some reason" He pushes his board forward, readying himself. I hold my breath, confused at his actions. "Right now, I'm having fun!" He says, ollying at least a meter in the air. My mouth falls open, unable to process what's going on. Me and Reki exchange looks before jumping in the air, celebrating for Langa.

Langa falls off his board right after,  Reki rushing over to him. "How do you feel after nailing your first ollie?" he asks, crouched, looking at Langa with a big smile on his lips. "It feels really good!" Langa says relieved. I watch the two, a smile lay on my lips as I watch them doing their handshake.