Mask / sk8 the infinity ff

Chapter 1

The alarm clock rang loudly in the early morning. It was supposed to wake Reki, but he kept sleeping. Suddenly, his bedroom door flew open, and his younger sister, Koyomi, ran in.

"Reki, your alarm! Turn it off already!" she shouted, shaking him awake. Reki jumped up, startled.

"Uh?" he mumbled, confused. He quickly turned off the alarm. Koyomi stood by his side, looking worried.

"Reki, are you okay? I hope I didn't scare you," she said, her face changing from annoyed to worried.

"No, I'm fine," Reki replied quickly. Koyomi didn't believe him, but she didn't want to bother him with questions so early in the morning. She knew he would just say he was fine anyway.

"I'm going downstairs," she said, giving a small smile before leaving the room.

Reki nodded briefly and sat on the edge of his bed. He picked up his phone and checked the time. Thankfully, he wasn't late and would make it to school on time. He rubbed his tired eyes, feeling the exhaustion despite having slept. He thought about going back to bed but decided not to. He had already missed the last two days and didn't want Langa to worry.

Without further thought, he got up and went to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and washed his face. Glancing at his arm in the mirror, he sighed. No short sleeves today. Back in his room, he carefully wrapped a bandage around his arm and pulled on a sweater. The past few days had been rough, and it showed on his arms.

He quickly put on his pants, packed his school bag, and grabbed his skateboard. As he went downstairs, the smell of breakfast filled the air, but he had no appetite. His mother wouldn't be happy about that.

His three younger sisters ,Nanaka, Miya and Koyomi  were already seated at the table with his mother. They smiled when they saw Reki.

"Good morning, honey. How are you?" his mother asked warmly.

"Good morning... good," Reki replied, though he didn't feel good at all.

"And how did you sleep? No nightmares?" she asked gently, her voice full of concern.

"No," he lied. He didn't want to talk about his nightmares first thing in the morning. Oddly enough, he hadn't had any last night, which confused him. Sometimes they came, sometimes they didn't. And when they did, they were always about Langa or... Adam. He shook the thoughts away, not wanting to think about them.

"Your school called me," his mother said suddenly.

"Huh? Why?" Reki asked, now fully awake.

"They said you've been very absent-minded in class. Are you lying to me about feeling better?"

"No, I'm really fine," Reki insisted, forcing a smile. His hand unconsciously gripped his bandaged arm. His mother wasn't buying it, and he saw the worry in his sister's eyes. He felt trapped under their looks.

"I'm calling your therapist today. You need to start going again—" his mother began.

Reki didn't wait to hear the rest. He grabbed his skateboard and bag, running out of the house as quickly as he could.

"Reki!" he heard his mother call after him. Tears filled his eyes as he hopped on his skateboard and headed to his usual meeting spot with Langa. Langa was already there, waiting patiently.

"Reki, you have to act normal. Langa can't know," he whispered to himself as he got closer. He was scared Langa might notice something was wrong, so he put on a happy face. After all, he was the fun and always-happy Reki, right?

"Reki!" Langa greeted him with a smile, and Reki smiled back.

They bumped fists.

"How's it going?" Langa asked as they started skating down the hill towards school.

"Great, and you?" Reki lied, feeling the weight of his words.

"Good."

They skated mostly in silence, only talking a little until they arrived at school. Today was nothing special, just another typical day. Reki spent most of his classes staring out the window, lost in thought. Finally, it was lunchtime. He stayed at his desk, watching his classmates without much interest. He had no motivation to talk to anyone. Suddenly, someone grabbed his bandaged arm. He nearly cried out in pain and quickly pulled his arm away, only to see that it was Langa.

"Hey, are you alright?" Langa asked, concerned.

Reki was getting tired of that question. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?" he replied with a forced smile, though his arm still hurt.

"Well, you jumped back pretty hard. But if you're fine, then..." Langa said, trailing off.

"I wanted to ask if you wanted to go to 'S' tonight?"

Reki hesitated. He didn't really feel like going, but he didn't want to say no. It would be nice to see everyone again.

"Okay," he agreed, managing a weak smile.