Happy New Year, everyone! I'm starting the year off right with some Renga! Outsider POV is my weakness, and I couldn't help exploiting the use of a younger sibling in the narrative. I've been meaning to write this fic for at least eight months, but sometimes things get away from you.

Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy my first work in this fandom! And many thanks to my betas, Howtosolveit and macandchess, for making this fic possible!

Reki hadn't been the same for a while. Not since his best friend stopped skating. He was still normal — happy, as far as Koyomi was concerned — but not bounding with energy. It felt like he was missing something; like his spark was gone.

It worried Koyomi at first, but she'd started to accept that this was just the new Reki. Things couldn't go back to the way they were before, and neither could her brother. At least, that's what she thought until Reki came home from school with the biggest smile on his face and started blabbering about some Canadian transfer student. Apparently, this kid just joined his class and was interested in skating too.

Reki's face was so bright that Koyomi almost felt like squinting. It had been so long since she had heard Reki's enthusiastic blabbering that she thought she could indulge him a little bit. Unfortunately, that was probably a mistake. She should have known better. Once Reki started, he couldn't stop. The words would keep tumbling out in a blur, strung together in a way that barely made sense even at the best of times. As the minutes ticked by, Koyomi could feel her patience slowly floating away as she sunk deeper into her seat on the couch.

"And he fell flat on his face. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen!" Reki grinned, his eyes sparkling with mirth.

That was it. If she had to hear one more word about this two-minute interaction with a stranger, she was going to claw her own eyes out.

"Oh my god, shut up," Koyomi groaned into the couch cushions.

Reki glared at her, crossing his arms, but he did stop talking.

Koyomi lifted her head from the cushions to face her brother and rolled her eyes at the annoyed look on his face. "You've known this kid for what, five hours? And you're already talking like you're his best friend."

"Tch," Reki clicked his tongue, pointedly turning his head away from his sister, but Koyomi didn't miss the way his foot tapped impatiently against the floor.

Koyomi closed her eyes. Please don't make me regret this. Opening them again, she sighed, "Fine. Tell me."

All the tension in Reki's body melted away, the wild grin returning to his face. "His name is Langa, and he has blue hair and blue eyes, and he's pretty tall — taller than me — and he's seventeen, and we're gonna walk to school together tomorrow!" Reki's eyes glowed with excitement. They were so bright that Koyomi could see her reflection in them as Reki leaned in to continue their one-sided conversation.

She regretted everything.

.oOo.

The next day, Reki came home looking like he was about to explode. He swung his backpack over the back of the kitchen chair across from Koyomi, who had been enjoying some orange slices before Reki so rudely interrupted her.

Koyomi didn't squeak. Really, she didn't. She was just mildly surprised by the whirlwind of energy and noise that just intruded on her personal space.

She smoothed out her shirt as Reki sat down in the chair. He was uncharacteristically quiet for someone who didn't have an off button, but just taking one look at him told Koyomi that he had something to say.

"What is it now," Koyomi said flatly.

Reki took that as an invitation, the words spilling from his mouth like he'd been keeping them bottled up all day. "Langa is the coolest!"

Koyomi wanted to bang her head against the table. She should have known better.

Reki either didn't notice her frustration or didn't care and just continued talking. "You should have seen the way he skated last night! It was like whoosh, then screech, and then he flew!"

I thought Langa didn't know how to skate? Koyomi wondered but refrained from asking because she knew she would never leave this room if she did.

.oOo.

Every day, Reki came home with something new to say about Langa. With all this talk, Koyomi was getting increasingly curious about the incredible person Reki kept drooling over. It seemed like all he ever did was talk about Langa. Even their mom and younger sisters were beginning to notice.

It used to be 'skating this, skating that,' but now it was 'Langa taught me a new English word!' or 'Langa nailed an ollie today!' or 'Langa shared his poutine with me!' Of course, skating still occupied ninety percent of his thoughts, it was just that now, skating and Langa seemed to be one and the same.

Now, whenever Reki came home from whatever secret skating park he goes to and thinks his family doesn't know about, he would walk around with this wonderstruck, glassy-eyed look until the next day. Koyomi just knew it had something to do with this Langa kid.

Apparently, Langa was learning even faster than Reki. Although, that isn't saying a lot, considering that Reki sucked ass for his first year of practice. But as much as she hated to admit it, her brother was — she shuddered — a pretty cool guy, and skating was just as cool. She kind of wanted to see what Langa could do with Reki teaching him.

Koyomi sighed, turning off her phone and tossing it to the other side of her bed. That was enough scrolling for one day, and it was definitely enough thinking about her dumb brother and his dumb friend.

.oOo.

Koyomi fiddled with her mechanical pencil as she stared down at her math homework. Algebra was so stupid! Why would she ever need to find x? It was right there on the paper! She groaned, slumping against the desk in defeat.

One of her sisters yelled out for cake, and Koyomi squeezed her eyes shut, letting out a sigh of annoyance. Even though she was already bad at math, the noise wasn't helping.

When the squeals of delight quieted, Koyomi pushed herself back into a sitting position, ready to tackle her homework again.

A pattering of tiny feet paired with more shrieks of "cake!" echoed through the hallway, and Koyomi had just about had it. She stood up with a huff, tossed her pencil onto the unfinished math packet, and stormed out of her room.

"Hey! What have I told you about screaming" — she stomped to the kitchen, ready to tell her sisters to shut up — "when other people are…" She stopped mid-sentence. Her sisters were nowhere to be seen. Koyomi's mother must have already ushered the girls outside to enjoy their cake as loudly as they wanted because the only person in the kitchen was a quiet blue-haired boy sitting alone at the table.

The boy looked up from the piece of half-eaten cake in front of him, obviously startled. Koyomi gave him a once over. Blue hair? Check. The boy blinked in confusion. Blue eyes? Check. Tall? Check. Canadian? Koyomi squinted at him. …Probably.

This must be Langa. Koyomi grinned to herself and slid into the seat across from their guest. The boy's eyes followed her movement as she leaned forward, resting her arms on the table like she was conducting an interrogation. "So…" she started, "would you happen to be the infamous Langa Hasegawa?"

His eyes widened. Bingo.

"Umm, yes?" he said in a slightly accented voice.

Koyomi evaluated him for a moment, and Langa looked away as she continued to stare, but her investigations were interrupted when Reki came back into the room carrying a stack of skating magazines.

Upon seeing her brother, Langa's face lit up. "Reki!" It was like everything else ceased to exist the moment Reki entered the room.

Oh? Koyomi looked between the two of them — an idea beginning to form in her mind — when Reki finally noticed her.

Koyomi raised her eyebrows, and Reki gave a sheepish laugh, slinging an arm around Langa's shoulders as he plopped into the seat next to him. "Koyomi, this is Langa. Isn't he awesome?"

Langa looked embarrassed, his cheeks flushing at the praise, but he didn't shrug Reki off.

Koyomi rolled her eyes. "So, this is the guy you've been fawning over for the past month?"

Reki froze mid-chuckle, his fingers pressing harder into the meat of Langa's shoulder.

Koyomi continued, "I mean, I get it — he's pretty — but really?"

Langa's eyes darted between the siblings, who were having a silent staring match in the middle of the kitchen, but he said nothing, a small, confused frown tugging at his lips.

The longer they stared at each other, the pinker Reki's face became.

Reki was the first to look away, his face now a brilliant red. "I don't know what you're talking about!" he half-shouted, standing up.

Koyomi didn't even have a chance to respond as Reki grabbed the pile of magazines, hooked his free arm around Langa's, and pulled him out of the chair and down the hallway.

"Wait, Reki, my cake!"

"Don't worry. There'll be more."

Koyomi stared after them for a moment, then she swiveled forward and promptly banged her head against the table.

God, they're both stupid.

.oOo.

That evening, as their sisters were gathering the last of the dinner dishes and he was sure nobody was looking, Reki cleared his throat in Koyomi's direction.

She looked up from her glass of water to meet his gaze.

"Why did you say that earlier?" Reki hissed.

Koyomi shrugged. "I don't know. Why did I?"

Reki only glared at her, and Koyomi couldn't help the overwhelming satisfaction that she felt at his annoyance.

"C'mon, Reki, tell me. Why did I?"

"God, why do you have to be like this?" Reki huffed.

Oh, this was too good to pass up.

Koyomi smirked. "I don't know. Why do I?"

"Argh!" Reki pushed himself up from his chair, clenching his fists in frustration. "You're such a smartass!"

Koyomi laughed as she watched him stomp off. The sound of his door slamming rang through the house a second later.

Chihiro squeaked at the sudden noise, and the pair of chopsticks she was trying to wash slipped out of her hands. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of room on the stool they were sharing, so when Chihiro bent down to retrieve the fallen utensils, she bumped into Nanaka, who was straining to reach for the faucet. The slight movement was enough to jostle her from her already unsteady position. Nanaka landed on the ground with a thunk, and her eyes began to well with tears.

Masae turned around with a frown, glancing at Koyomi — who was trying to stifle her laughter — and then at the hallway behind her. She sighed, bending down to pick Nanaka up from the floor. Safely in Masae's arms, Nanaka wiped her eyes and then buried her head into her mom's shoulder.

Chihiro glanced between Koyomi and her mom, quickly rinsed off the chopsticks, and scuttled down from the stool. "Umm, I'm gonna go play now," she said, tugging at the side of Masae's skirt.

Smiling, Masae set the sniffling Nanaka down. "Go on," she said, urging her daughter in Chihiro's direction. "Play with your sister."

Nanaka nodded grimly, but she seemed to perk up when Chihiro grabbed her hand and whispered something into her ear. She giggled, and the two of them ran off into the living room.

Koyomi had finally managed to get her laughter under control. She had no idea how this family was able to function. There was so much chaos all the time. Kudos to mom for handling them for so long.

Koyomi was still grinning when Masae sat down across from her, an exasperated look on her face. Koyomi schooled her expression into something a little more neutral.

"Koyomi," Masae said.

"Mhmm?"

"Don't tease your brother."

Koyomi couldn't help rolling her eyes. "He's being dumb. What am I supposed to do? Not tell him?"

Masae sighed, "Well, I can't deny that he can be a little oblivious…"

"I know, right? Remember that time he sprained his ankle because he got so excited over his newly renovated workshop that he tripped over his skateboard when he ran toward it?" she laughed.

"That sounds about right," Masae chuckled. "As smart as he is, he only pays attention to what interests him at the moment."

And that brought them back to the problem at hand. Koyomi let out another annoyed sigh. "But if he's so smart, then how can he be so dumb when it comes to himself?"

"What do you mean?" Masae frowned, tilting her head.

"He's in denial," Koyomi whined, dramatically letting her head fall into her hands. "He's obviously crushing hard, but he won't admit it."

Masae reached out to pat the top of her daughter's head. "I know, sweetie. Don't think I haven't noticed how different he is; he's happier than he has been in a long while. It just takes time"

Koyomi sank lower into her chair and muttered, "He's taking too long. I just met Langa for the first time today, and the way they look at each other is disgusting."

"That boy is easy to read," Masae laughs, shaking her head.

Suddenly, Koyomi had a genius idea. She straightened up, slamming her hands on the tabletop a little bit harder than necessary. "What do you say we make a bet?"

Masae's eyes widened, but Koyomi ignored her. "Ten bucks if they're dating by the end of the semester."

"The end of the semester is only two months from now. I'd say give them at least three," Masae said.

"Two months, ten bucks. Take it or leave it."

Masae sighed, "As a mother, I shouldn't agree to this, but as your partner in crime…" — she smiled, a mischievous glint in her eye — "it would be wrong to say no."

Koyomi grinned, offering her hand for her mom to shake. "Deal."

.oOo.

Now there weren't just x's, but y's too? Koyomi groaned. This was why she hated math. But at least she had a free tutor.

Koyomi's eyes roamed over the math sheet she was holding as she opened the door to her brother's room. "Reki, can you help me with this math problem?"

When there was no response, she looked up.

Really? In the middle of the day? She barely managed to refrain from sighing.

Reki and Langa were lying on their stomachs on Reki's bed, absorbed in some skating video. Their legs were entangled: one of Reki's knees pressed into the space between Langa's, and their ankles were entwined. Reki had his arm hooked around one of Langa's as he pointed at something on the screen.

They both looked up when Koyomi cleared her throat.

Langa glanced at her before looking back at Reki, whose cheeks were flushed bright red.

"Koyomi, knock next time!" he said, his voice cracking in embarrassment.

"My bad," she said with a smirk. "Sorry to interrupt your manly cuddling session or whatever." With that, she shut the door, cutting off Reki's feeble spluttering.

Koyomi sighed. She could find someone less preoccupied to help her with her math homework. And maybe someone a little less stupid.

.oOo.

"See you tomorrow, Reki!" Langa smiled, holding his arms out to Reki for a hug.

Reki pulled him in, squeezing him tightly. "You're staying over this weekend, right?"

Langa nodded into Reki's shoulder, making a quiet noise of confirmation.

Koyomi made a silent gagging motion in their direction, hugging a bowl of chips closer to her chest as she sank deeper into the couch cushions. Being dumbasses again, I see, she thought to herself. Love is annoying.

Reki grinned, pulling away. Then he punched Langa lightly on the arm. "Can't wait." His voice was low and full of warmth, and his eyes flitted between Langa's earnest gaze and the hand that was still holding onto his wrist.

Langa smiled shyly, releasing Reki's wrist from his gentle grasp, and gave him a little wave when he was halfway out the door. Reki's wave back was a little too wistful for Koyomi's liking.

When Langa finally moved off the steps, Reki closed the door behind him, watching Langa walk away through the window slightly longer than was necessary.

Koyomi rolled her eyes at her bowl of chips. That boy was whipped. Actually, boys, plural. They were both whipped. "Gay!" she called out.

Reki started like he had forgotten Koyomi was there (which was ridiculous because she was sitting less than ten feet away from him), and he turned around, ears tinged red. "Shut up!"

Koyomi gave him a look, shoving another chip into her mouth. "You're not subtle."

Reki looked like he was either going to combust or punch her. "You don't know what you're talking about," he said through gritted teeth.

"That's rich, coming from a guy who just tenderly embraced his best friend for thirty seconds just to say goodbye for the night." Koyomi brandished a chip at him, a few pieces of salt dropping onto the floor.

Reki just looked away, scuffing the carpet with his slipper. "Whatever," he mumbled.

Koyomi sighed, "Look, Langa's not subtle either. He's totally into you."

"What?" Reki spluttered. "No, he's not!"

"Oh, are we talking about Langa?"

Both heads swiveled around.

Their mom had popped out of the kitchen, clutching a bowl of whatever they were having for dinner to her chest. "Your sister's right, Reki. That boy is head over heels for you!"

Reki groaned, covering his face with his hands. "Oh my god, stop," he whined.

They both laughed, and Reki sent a fiery glare in their direction as he pushed past them, muttering under his breath all the way to his room.

Koyomi caught her mother's eye when she heard the door close. Masae shook her head at her daughter. "Boys, am I right?"

Koyomi snorted as she finished off the last of the chips and dusted her hands off into the bowl. "You know you're just helping me when you try to point him in the right direction, don't you?" She grinned, rubbing her thumbs, index, and middle fingers together. "I'm getting closer and closer to having ten dollars fall right into my lap."

Masae gave her a pointed stare. "Oh, stop it. I'm allowed to give my son some confidence."

"Whatever you say, mother dear," Koyomi said with an air of absolute assuredness as she put the bowl on the ground and stretched out on the couch. "But don't be surprised if you find your wallet a little emptier than it was before."

"Yes, yes," Masae relented, bending down to retrieve the bowl that Koyomi had just placed on the floor. "But we made a deal, so no more funny business" — she pointed at Koyomi and then at herself — "from either of us. Got it?"

Koyomi sighed, "Got it."

"Good. Just let it happen."

.oOo.

Koyomi was reading a book on the porch one evening as she waited for Reki to get back for dinner. It was finals week, so he had been out 'studying' with Langa every night, whatever that meant. Koyomi didn't want to know. He had just texted that he was on his way back, but she wanted to be there to scold him for being late — as any good sibling would.

Not even a minute later, the air was filled with tinkling laughter meshed with the rolling of wheels. There was a pause, and then Reki and Langa emerged from the steps. They couldn't take their eyes off each other. It was like the rest of the world didn't exist.

Ugh, not again. Koyomi could cry. Or vomit. Or both.

Reki was grinning. His eyes were exuding so much warmth and affection that Koyomi could feel it from her seat by the door. It almost made her shiver. Gross.

And Langa was no better. His soft smile said everything. It was nothing like Reki's — that was too wide and all teeth — but just one look would tell you that his heart was about to burst out of his chest. His lips were upturned at the corners and his eyes… His eyes were even worse. Even from the porch, Koyomi could practically see the stars twinkling in the depths of his gaze. It wasn't a loud expression by any conventional meaning of the word, but it still screamed, I love you.

Koyomi was tempted to gag just to embarrass them. But before she could ruin the moment, Langa reached out and intertwined his fingers with Reki's.

Oh? This is new.

As soon as Langa touched him, Reki's wild grin relaxed into something just as soft as Langa's. He tightened his grip on Langa's hand, reaching forward to pull the other one into his grasp. Langa's smile grew minutely. On anyone else, it wouldn't be noticeable, but on Langa, it was like the floodgates had opened and all his feelings were pouring out. How he was able to house more feelings than what she could see before, Koyomi didn't know, but somehow the layers kept revealing themselves.

Reki was still smiling as Langa leaned in to press a gentle kiss to his lips. Reki seemed to melt into him, untangling his fingers from Langa's, and moving his hands to rest on Langa's waist. Langa smiled into the kiss and reached up to capture Reki's face in his hands.

It was a chaste but sweet kiss, and they broke apart within seconds. They never broke eye contact even for a second as they stood there, Langa's thumbs gently sweeping over Reki's pink cheeks.

"Love you," Langa murmured, resting his forehead against Reki's. His hands dropped from Reki's cheekbones to trace the curve of his jaw.

Reki let out a quiet laugh, leaning into Langa's touch as the grin returned to his face. "Yeah, yeah, love you too." His grip on Langa's waist tightened as he spoke, and he ducked, averting his eyes from the intensity of Langa's heartfelt gaze.

Koyomi's mouth hung half-open as she stared at them. She could tell they meant it. It obviously wasn't the first time they had said those words, either. Was that why Reki had been acting weird lately? Spacing out with a creepy grin on his face?

Eww. Koyomi shuddered. She was absolutely not imagining what Reki was thinking about when he got that look on his face.

Langa pressed one more kiss to Reki's cheek and then let his hands fall away completely. "Bye," he said, still smiling. "I'll see you at school?"

Reki nodded, still making ridiculous heart eyes at the boy before him. "Yep! I'll wait at the normal spot tomorrow. I've been wanting to practice some new skills with you, so make sure you're not late," he grinned.

Langa made a small noise of affirmation before reaching up to tuck a stray piece of hair that had been tugged from Reki's headband back into place. "Get some sleep."

"I will," Reki laughed, jokingly swatting Langa's hand away.

They exchanged another longing glance before Langa finally turned to leave. Reki didn't take his eyes off him until he was completely out of sight.

Koyomi felt a smirk creeping up on her. She finally had evidence. There was no getting out of this now.

As soon as Reki turned around, still with that stupidly happy smile on his face, Koyomi slammed her book shut. "Mom owes me ten bucks."

Reki froze mid-step, his face pale. But then he processed what Koyomi had just said. His giddy grin fell, replaced with a look of absolute horror and incredulity. "What the hell! You guys were betting on us?"

Koyomi shrugged, schooling her face into the picture of innocence. "Not like you would listen to us. What else could we do?"

"You little…!" Reki growled, charging toward her. He brandished his beat-up skateboard like a weapon.

Oops. She was in danger.

With a shriek, Koyomi dropped her book and dashed inside.

Reki was hot on her heels when she made it into the kitchen, but Koyomi managed to throw herself behind Masae's back before Reki could grab her.

The twins stared at them in curious confusion from the table while Masae looked startled, glancing between her two eldest children.

Koyomi stuck her tongue out from behind her mom's back, holding onto her arm. "If you didn't want us to find out, then you should be more careful about where you kiss your boyfriend."

Masae's eyes widened at the comment, and the twins just looked at each other.

"Kiss? Who did Reki kiss?" Nanaka asked, her little face scrunched up in confusion.

Reki spluttered; his face was flaming. "But, I —"

The momentary surprise on their mom's face turned to a smile. "That's wonderful, sweetie! I knew Langa was fond of you!"

Then Chihiro stood up on her chair, pointing both chopsticks to the sky. With an air of triumphant glee, she announced, "Reki kissed Langa!"

Reki's face was almost as red as his hair now, and he didn't move from his spot in the middle of the kitchen. It was as if his feet were glued to the ground, leaving him blubbering like a fish to escape the embarrassment — his mouth opening and closing with no sound coming out.

Nanaka and Chihiro started chanting, jumping up and down, and circling their brother. "Reki kissed Langa! Reki kissed Langa!" they giggled.

Reki looked like he was about to pass out, but he finally found his voice. "Agh! Everyone, be quiet!"

The girls, of course, did not quiet down. They paraded around the kitchen, now singing, "Reki and Langa, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Ahhh!" Reki cried, tugging his headband over his eyes and mussing up the hair that Langa had lovingly smoothed into place so he wouldn't have to face the wrath of his siblings — not to mention the annoyingly happy look on his mom's face.

Masae began to laugh, but then Koyomi nudged her with an elbow. "You still owe me ten bucks, you know."

Masae rolled her eyes, swatting Koyomi's shoulder gently. "Oh, fine."

Koyomi giggled at the exasperated but warm look on her mom's face. She looked around the room at her siblings, who were still parading or being paraded around, and laughed harder. Koyomi really didn't know how her mom could stand it, but she couldn't imagine their home without the chaos.

The noise continued for a while; Koyomi threw teasing remarks at Reki and laughed when he couldn't come up with a coherent response; Chihiro and Nanaka marched around the room, coming up with increasingly silly renditions of that elementary school song — the best of which had to do with skateboarding and falling in love with your annoying teacher; Masae stood on the sidelines, a fond smile on her face as she watched the chaos unfold. Needless to say, they didn't eat dinner until it had nearly gone cold.

Once everyone had quieted down, they gathered around the table. Masae served the lukewarm food, shooting the twins a look that said, I don't want to hear it, when they opened their mouths to complain. When Masae sat down, everyone lapsed into comfortable silence as they ate.

Koyomi glanced at her family members one by one and was flooded with unexpected warmth when she reached Reki. Even though teasing her brother was one of her favorite pastimes, Koyomi couldn't help but grin to herself as Reki fumbled with the chopsticks, a dopey smile on his face.

It seemed like Reki had finally found his happiness. She hoped Langa would stick around for a long time. She hoped Langa would always keep Reki smiling. She hoped walking into the kitchen and finding Langa at the table would become a daily occurrence. She hoped he could be family. She also hoped she could be a flower girl at his and Reki's wedding, but she might've been getting ahead of herself. That was a question for another day. And hey, if she made some extra cash out of the whole ordeal, who's to say she wasn't happy too?

I hope you enjoyed this little fic! I feel like I'm going to get sucked back into the fandom now. I'd forgotten how much I missed them. T_T

Please don't hesitate to leave a comment if you have something to say! Constructive criticism is welcome. :)