Infinity, Taken Literally

Identity 19

Reki stays stubbornly in bed the following weekend. He doesn't even go to the control room to watch the cameras like he usually would. Instead, he spends the night refusing to so much as think about leaving for S. Time seems to stretch on forever as he glares at his board. It sits next to the door like it's mocking him. Laughing at him for choosing to stay in his room to spite Adam when he could be out skating instead. That and his active mind making it hard to fall asleep, results in most of the night being spent lying in the dark overthinking.

Adam gives Reki a weary look the next morning but doesn't comment on his decision to avoid anything S related the night prior. The off-putting interaction leaves him unsure if he feels any better about his resolve not to go. It doesn't help that Adam ignores him like he doesn't exist for the majority of the following week. Not that it's anything abnormal, it's just annoying because it makes it hard to get a read on him and Reki was hoping to get some answers. After the first couple of days, they're barely ever in the same room together. Given that Tadashi has also been more absent than normal, it's probably due to a work-related issue so he doesn't bother adding it to his list of suspicions.

The weekend after that, Reki almost burns a hole through the floor from excessive pacing around his room. If anyone happened to be in the room under his, they'd probably think he was training for a marathon or something. In reality, it's a result of too much pent-up energy, an overactive mind and personal experience with Adam's games that has never ended in his favour. Going to S would be the most entertainment he's had all week and the prospect of seeing Langa again leaves his body buzzing with both unease and excitement. Except, Adam's words are still fresh, and it leaves him weighing up if the risk is worth the reward.

An hour later, Reki finally glances at the time. His steps falter in surprise at exactly how long he's been pacing back and forth, too busy in his own head to notice the time passing. With a loud sigh, he collapses into the green armchair tucked in the corner of his room. Maybe it's for the best if he leaves it one more week to see if anyone makes a move. Adam hasn't done anything related to their previous conversation and it's almost like it never happened. Which is worse than if something had happened because it's left him considering whether Adam is actually up to something. If not, then all the time stuck in this house with the psychopath is making him go crazy.

Well, crazier than he thought he was.

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It's been over two weeks since Reki's race against Langa, and no matter how hard he tries, he can't stop the memory of it from constantly replaying in his mind. Eating breakfast? He's too busy thinking about the sight of Langa skating, to coordinate getting his food into his mouth. Walking around the halls? The memory of the determination in Langa's eyes almost makes him trip over his own two feet. Sketching? He ended up drawing Langa's old board and obsessing over it until he could be certain that he wasn't forgetting anything about the design. It's reaching a point where it's taking over his life and any attempts to find something to distract himself has failed.

Skateboarding was the obvious solution, except when he stepped back onto his board and tried practising some tricks, it made him think of the race. On top of that, it had taken an embarrassing amount of time to identify the heavy feeling in his chest the first time he skated after the race. The longing made his legs feel like lead and no number of tricks could bring back the genuine excitement that he had felt with Langa (every time he skated; he was left wishing that Langa was there, skating next to him).

The next attempt at a distraction was watching the monitors and replaying some old races from S. Very quickly the issue with that idea became apparent because it made him want to watch the recording of their race, there was no way that Adam didn't record it after all. It was getting so bad that he'd almost tried cooking the other day before deciding that he wasn't that desperate just yet. Though it's gotten to the point now that he might actually try, just to see if it'll work.