SK8TEMBER'21 SERIES

A day to remember.

2021 is a year that the six of them would never forget; the year in which skateboarding finally was recognized as an Olympic sport.

They decided to do a sleepover at Kaoru and Kojiro's house to watch the whole competition. Kojiro, Kaoru and Miya were squeezed on the couch, and Reki, Langa and Shadow were plopped on the floor, all of them watching espectactly at the TV, waiting for the final competition of street skateboarding to begin. The hype they felt was very palpable. Reki and Langa were holding hands, squeezing themselves together impossibly close. Miya was bouncing his legs, annoying Kaoru a little bit. But he didn't say anything, nor did Kojiro or Shadow.

They could understand how it should feel to see skaters of their age compete at the Olympics; how that made them feel like someday, it could be them who'd be competing there.

After watching the semifinals, they all were rottng for Yuto Horigome to win.

Langa had said that he reminded him a little bit of Reki, and Reki blushed madly at the praise.

"I'm nothing compared to Yuto, dude." Reki had said, burying his face in his hands.

Langa hated when Reki put himself down like that.

"You're you, Reki, and you're amazing. The best." Langa had said without hesitation, making him blush even more.

"It's starting! IT'S STARTING!" Shadow's loud and excited voice made them smile, feeling the hype pumping through their bodies.

When the Olympics' reporter began to talk and the camera showed the skaters, the six of them cheered and shouted, clapping until their hands reddened. They were so freaking excited.

"I really hope everyone has gone to the bathroom already, because if someone stands up in the middle of the competition I swear to G—" Kaoru said firmly until Kojiro shutted him up, covering Kaoru's mouth with his hand.

"Oh my god, babe, would you relax a little bit, please?" Kojiro asked, smiling amused.

"I don't think I've ever seen Cherry this worked up since the day Joe joked about beating Adam up." Reki laughed looking at the couple.

"Don't ever play with my dreams like that." Kaoru huffed, crossing his arms across his chest.

"SHUT UP EVERYONE!" Shadow shouted, shushing them all.

As soon as the first skater jumped on his skateboard, all of them held their breaths, wishing that he would deliver flawless tricks and stunts, but at the same time, wishing he didn't score too high in hopes of Yuto having an easy win. But that wasn't gonna be the case, the skaters in the final competition were really, really good, and Yuto probably wasn't gonna have an easy win.

Every time one of the skaters fell, the whole squad groaned, feeling frustrated for them. And when the skaters delivered a perfectly landed trick or stunt, they cheered like their lives depended on it. They loved to feel that sort of comradery for the competitors, even if the six of them had an obvious favorite, it was really amazing to see all of them as equals; all of them had achieved something big; something that would be in history books. That's why they feel the need to cheer them all without favoritisms.

Well, that was until Yuto's last round came. All the chances he had to win, depended on this last trick.

Miya reached out to hold Kaoru's hand. Kaoru gripped Kojiro's thigh. Kojiro put his hands onto Shadow's shoulders. Shadow hugged a cushion pillow very tightly. Langa hugged Reki. And Reki hugged Langa back.

All of them were dead silent, holding their breaths once again, praying for Yuto to land well and don't fall.

As soon as Yuto pushed his foot hard to the ground and took impulse, they gasped, holding onto each other for dear life.

He did it, Yuto landed perfectly, delivering an amazing and spectacular trick. As soon as his last score was announced and the squad realized what that meant, all of them stood up, jumping and hugging each other. Some of them were crying quietly, some others were just cheering very loudly. But among all of their reactions, happiness was the strongest feeling in their hearts.

Yuto had won. Japan got the gold.

It was gonna be a day that they would never forget; and it was only the beginning for skateboarding at the Olympics. They had so much to look forward to.

After the end of the competition; and after they could compose themselves again, they took a break to eat something, still having a dreaming face on their faces.

"He's so amazing, I knew he would win!" Reki exclaimed excitedly.

All of them nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, his technique is stunning." Miya agreed.

They kept talking about the highlights of the competition for a long time.

Kaoru, Kojiro and Shadow looked at the kids with fond smiles, especially at Miya. He was already a national promise, who knows what the future would depare him. All of them wished that not only Japan would acknowledge his talent but the whole world would too.