Author's forward: Oh my gosh! I'm back, and I'm so happy about it that I feel so silly, but whatever. The months are never getting easy, and finding the concentration to write is hard, but I had to post a new chapter of something today. Today is special. I'm celebrating it's been a year since I moved from my parent's house and I'm living alone. It has been a journey, and I am so happy about it. Let me share my feelings with you with this new chapter!
….
Chapter 2: youth nights
"I'm sorry, I appreciate what you said, but I don't think I can reciprocate your feelings." Langa said with a stoic voice. When he saw the girl in front of him had an expression that implied she was one step about to burst into tears, he bowed his upper body to get in 90 degrees. "Please, don't take this personally. I'm sure you're a nice person, It has nothing to do with you." And with that said, Langa raised his gaze and left the sobbing girl by herself.
Entering the hallways, he turned to the left to where Reki was sitting waiting for him with an annoyed expression on his face, the one someone does when he is tired from waiting in line.
"All done, did I do it better?" Langa asked his best friend.
"Yeah, it was fine this time." Reki answered in a grumpy tone. If his new feelings towards Langa were already confusing, now he was facing a new level of messiness. When Reki found out the next day Saeki Amada spent the rest of the evening crying in the girl's bathroom after being rejected by Langa in the most brutal and cold way, the red haired boy had to instruct him on how to be more gentle towards his female classmates.
—
"I just didn't want to lead her to a wrong idea"
"Dude, she asked you to be her boyfriend and you just told her "no" and left her without any explanation! What were you thinking?"
"That I want to get us some bread." Langa's simple explanation left Reki mute for a second out of exhaustion.
"You are at a new level of clumsiness" Reki was finally able to say. "Seriously, from now on, if any girl wants to talk to you ever again, you look for me first, that way I can tell you how to properly reject her. Got it?"
—
And that's how Reki got his new job as a coach in public relationships. What he never saw coming was how often Langa would be receiving love confessions. This was the third time this week a girl asked him for a moment to talk and the whole situation was leaving the red haired boy in a bad mood. He wasn't enjoying being a witness of his best friend getting constantly hitted on, but he knew he needed to take an eye of this, after all, Langa's reputation was on the line. Since he was receiving and rejecting love confessions it would be only a matter of time to get in trouble with their classmates. The boys could get jealous and the girls would start to say he is cold and unfriendly again, and it was not fair for Langa, not since he had worked so hard to leave his ice prince image in the past.
"You ok, Reki?" Langa asked his notoriously exhausted friend, who snapped out of his thoughts.
"Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry." A dense atmosphere was pushing between the two friends. Langa had his doubts about addressing the situation, but if he had learned something the last year was to better be upfront rather than go around the problem, so he gathered courage and kept talking.
"You know, Reki, I know you told me you would help me, but you don't need to push yourself too hard on this. It's clear to me you are uncomfortable". Reki's mind froze with the realization of his feelings so evident even Langa started to notice them. He didn't like this, he didn't want to have this conversation when he didn't get his own emotions. He was not ready to face that now, he needed time.
"That is so not true" Reki answered with a cheerful attitude"Why would I be uncomfortable anyways? I'm not the one rejecting them, maybe you are uncomfortable." He wanted to kick himself for his defensive last comment, luckily for him, the blue haired boy didn't notice.
"Well, I guess you are not wrong about it, I do not feel great about harming all those girls." Langa said in a sad tone that made Reki doubt.
"What do you mean? Do you actually want to date some of them?" The red haired boy asked, very concerned, worried about the answer he was about to hear, but conscious of himself wanting the best for this beloved friend.
"Of course not!" Langa answered almost offended, the tone of his voice made Reki with a lingering feeling he was hiding something.
"I'm just saying, if you are actually interested in any of them, you should go for it." Reki said, trying to hide his melancholic face. "It's not impossible, you have seen Joe going out with two or three girls with him, and he is busier than us."
Before the red haired boy could continue with his speech, he found himself blocked by his friend with a very serious expression, almost offended
"Reki, it's not like that" Langa said in a more deep tone, leaving Reki surprised in the act "I don't want them to be interested in me in the first place."
Noticing the profoundness of the blue haired boy's statement, Reki understood that keeping that conversation will only give him troubles. He was sure there was more Langa was not telling him, but he believed him about not wanting to date any of their classmates (besides, who was he to judge someone for having a secret).
"Ok, I get it, you are right." Reki answered, trying to ease the situation between them, "You shouldn't do anything that makes you uncomfortable in the first place. Just hang in there, we keep rejecting them with kindness and eventually they'll stop."
"Thanks for that, Reki." Langa said with a secret smile that Reki got a second away to turn around and avoid it. It was not the right time or place for him to see something that dangerous, he needed to calm his feelings a little.
"Don't mention it! Let's just enter class, shall we?"
They took their seats as if nothing new was happening between them.
"Hey, Reki, is it true Hasegawa received a confession from Himiko san today?" A male classmate asked him after the lecture was over.
"No way! She is the manager of the football club, she just wanted to recruit him." Reki lied naturally.
"Oh, I see." The boy's expression got softer after hearing Reki and got back to his seat.
I can't wait for this to end and go to S where everything is nice and chill.
—-
The nights at S were every two weeks when the summer was over. When the chosen weekend finally came, at midnight the old and abandoned dark mine turned its lights on and showed its true face, only to be seen by those lucky and crazy ones who carried a special "S" pin with them.
The big screens were on, the music was loud, the underground skaters were appearing and gathering out of nowhere, wearing their best outfits and riding their skateboards through their destiny, all with the same free and excited expression on their faces, all of them emanating the wish of getting that party started.
One could notice, the people lately enter S with more enthusiasm and joy. Part of this new great energy came for relief. After Adam was finally defeated by Snow, the rookie who came from the cold Canadian mountains, an energy wave filled everybody, followed by a silent worry that, out of spite, Adam would choose to close the secret skate park forever. After all, they all acted like this place was a full free spirit place, far away from the conventional rules, but the truth was that all of that was only possible thanks to Adam's great sponsorship. From paying the light bills to bribing the police to look to the other side, it was Adam the one in charge of making the wheels turn, and the one who could stop it. It was amazing for everybody when two weeks after the fateful day, the invitations for every skater to go to Crazy Rock, and have FUN were distributed again and everybody attended having one of the best nights ever.
Since that night, the enthusiasm and fun was more frequent, the adrenally of a challenge never left the mountain, but the darkness seemed to disappear the second the lights were on.
Langa was riding the scooter on the dark way towards the entrance of Crazy Rock while Reki sat behind him, holding onto his friend by the waist thigh and full of excitement.
"Go faster! I can't wait to show the world my new invention!" Reki said with so much emotion as he was a 8 year old kid on his way to meet Santa. One could see the sparkles coming out of his eyes.
"Don't worry, we are almost there, see?" Langa said while signaling front with his head. Reki looked as he said and it was right, he could see the lights and some skaters going around them. Acting almost impulsively, Reki let go of Langa's waist and instead put a hand on his shoulder while the other grabbed the side of the scooter. Langa wondered if Reli ever realized the difference of his behavior when they were alone and when they were near other people.
They heard a loud honk then and a pink delivery car appeared behind them.
"Out of my way, kids! The grown ups have some beef to win!" Said the driver, a big and muscular man dressed up in a heavy metal style, well known at S as Shadow, the self proclaimed anti hero of the underground tournaments.
"Hey, Shadow! I'm waiting for you tonight, don't you dare to back up!" Reki screamed at him full of enthusiasm, passing beyond Shadow's mocking, already knowing the kind true nature of his strange friend.
"You are always so noisy, aren't you, Slime?" A voice talked in the passenger's seat, revealing his owner, Miya Chinen, traveling along while playing video games.
"Miya, you got a ride!" Langa said with a happy smile.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, see you at the finish line." And the car got ahead of them
"Those two never change." Reki said with a happy expression
"I think that's just the way they express their feelings." Langa replied.
The skater duo finally made it into the entrance of S, where they were instantly recognized by the others.
"Look! Snow is here!"
"And he brought his mechanic, they must have a new trick!"
"This is gonna be a blast!"
Truth to be told, Reki was not as amazing with tricks at skating as his pro friends, but that didn't end up leaving him behind as much as he used to fear. When he almost defeated Adam thanks to the use of his rain adapted wheels and everybody discovered he was the creator of Langa's personal skateboard, people started to praise him as a mechanical genius (yet no one praised him more than Langa, obviously). They already knew him for working with Manager Oka at DOPE SKETCH, the skateboard store, but now he had the recognition of his own designs, making a ton of people ask him for advice and boards, which also made the business go up, and so Reki's views of himself.
Manager Oka was right after all, Reki was not a natural pro like the rest of his friends, but that didn't mean he had to feel excluded from what he loves. He was a passionate boy with lots of underrated talents. He was good at reading people's movements and styles, which made him able to understand what they needed to skate better, plus he was very creative at the time to find a solution and experiment with his skateboards. With that new attitude in mind, Reki studied even harder how to make skateboards, that included taking particular arithmetic and physics classes, making him develop his own particular style, one that concentrates more on the design of the skateboards accordingly to their users
"Hey, Mechanic Star, any recommendations for today's beef." A group of skaters approached Reki while they were securing the scooter and preparing their boards.
"Glad you ask." Reki said, full of confidence. "The land is still dry and smooth, so there should not be any inconvenience to try some tricks, but if you're on the same beef as shadow I recommend you to use home hard wheels."
"Yoh, Mechanic Star, thanks for my new board, could you check it out before my beef? I want to make sure I'll beat these fools." Said another skater while hanging his skateboard to Reki, who accepted it full of joy. None of his friends would have thought Reki's self-invented nickname would ever get catchy with the rest of the competitors at S, yet when people found out the red haired student was more prone to give you a hand if you use it. So, the name Mechanic Star got canon.
"All right, there you go." Reki handed the skateboard to his owner. "It's lighter than others, which means you can make the ollies easier, just do the landing like you showed us the other day and there shouldn't be any problem."
"Thanks a lot, dude!" He said to Reki while handing him the payment.
Being the two of them alone again, Langa leaned closer to Reki, with the neutral expression he always showed when they were surrounded by strangers
"You're certainly doing more personalized skateboards these days." He finally said as his redhaired friend counted the night's profits.
"Don't worry, Langa, no matter how popular I get, you are the only one here who has the honor to ride on my new Reki Master!" And he took off a new skateboard from a suitcase he was carrying. It was deep blue and made in seven layers, but took care to make the edges as sharp as possible, and then smoothing them enough to be safe to the contact.
"You really have a thing for naming stuff."
"That's how you put the brand on the market" He reassured Langa with a joyous smile " I took inspiration from the american's jets, with those sharps wings, the wind doesn't collide but get to pass through without resistance, a minor detail, but I think it could make you go even faster, especially when you are in the air"
"Reki, this is simply brilliant!" Langa's eyes were sparkling for the cleverness of his friend.
"Nah, it's nothing!" Reiki answered, clearly happy for being praised by his best friend and the best skater at S "Now, go there and show it to everyone at S!"
And the beefs of the night began. And just as the self proclaimed Mechanic Star stated, Langa's movements were sharper than usual, it was like seeing a knife cutting through the place. And even if the body was made out of canadian maple, he decided to make the tail out of a stronger wood to make a better elevation, combined with the special sharper nose, every time Langa did his signature backside rodeo was like seeing a plane take off, and Reki was just excited of seeing the blue haired boy flying all over the place like the first time.
"Woah, amazing!"
"Yeah, look how Snow is flying today!" The crowd said at every Snow's Beef.
"This is what "S" really is about!"
That made Reki think about the mine, and how not so long ago the people who lived in Okinawa worked underground for long and exhausting hours every day. He wondered if they would ever think about the sky, and if they ever imagined their descendents would conquer it by flying with their skateboards all night long. Maybe they were proud of them for doing it, for defying the rules and making something new and exciting out of the old working place.
Langa arrived at the finish line before the others. The crowd bursted in cheers and screams of emotion, and as always, the blue haired boy was received by his best friend.
"Langa, that's four beefs in a row that you won! I'm sure you are breaking a record!" Reiki complimented him while giving him a side hug.
"You really think so, Reiki?" Langa asked a little bit shyly from his friend over emotion.
"Well, of course I do! You're even more undefeatable than ever!" Reki contemplated the space around for a mere second, his arm still over Langa's shoulders, the people's enthusiasm was expanded all over, some were preparing their skateboard for their respective beefs and others were simply talking. That was the environment he was looking for, not the awkwardness he felt at school, nor the confessions and people asking him too much about Langa, at S he was known as Snow and as long as he kept skating that was all that mattered.
"Hey, Snow, are you up for another beef?" A couple of skaters asked Langa, who was starting to look a little bit paler and Reki was noticing.
"You ok, dude?" Reiki asked him.
"Yeah, but I'm starting to get a little tired"
"Well, it makes sense, you have been racing non stop since we arrived"
"How could I not? This skateboard is perfect for me." Langa's compliments made Reki proud, but a little embarrassed at the same time, so he decided to focus on helping his friend.
"We're gonna skip this one, sorry." Reiki answered the group, he could not reject girls in the name of Langa, but he could reject beefs for Snow.
"Ow, man, I was really hoping for just one more chance." A greedy competitor said.
"Come on, Snow! Just one more, please?" Another one said.
"I already told you…." But Reki didn't need to continue his explanation
"I see there are some skaters very eager for a beef." A peaceful voice sounded on the whole arena, followed by the appearance from the distance of a pink haired skateboarder. He was dressed up in a very traditional ninja outfit, but he was riding a very modern skateboard. "I would be pleased to fulfill the role of the main attraction instead."
"Look, Cherry is here!" Someone screamed.
"Cherry Blossom is back at S! How many surprises in one night!"
The crowd started their cheers and screams all over again.
"Glad to see you joining us again, Cherry." Another voice said, this one was deeper and came from a very muscled green haired skater landing from a cliff with all his strength. He was not afraid to show his body in his open outfit, and the second he arrived he greeted everyone around.
"Guys, Joe is in the house!"
"Let's raise the roof!"
And even more emotion filled the mine. One could have thought a celebrity just entered the arena, and it would not be far away from the truth. After all, S was like another dimension, with its own kings and royalty.
"Your fans were starting to miss you, how much has it been? four nights?" Joe asked Cherry with a relaxed tone.
"Only three, learn to count, gorilla" Cherry said to Joe in a condescending tone.
"Come on, don't be like that, we are here to celebrate, am I right?" Joe asked his friends of many many years.
"Celebrations are only meant to occur after the warrior stands undefeated on the battlefield, otherwise it's just calling a bad omen." Cherry Blossom answered with a very dignified tone. Joe simply stood there, smiling, so the pink haired ninja turned back to the group of competitors.
"As for those who came looking for a challenge, don't worry. I'm also here to prove my new invention," Cherry Blossom pressed the tip of his skateboard and it turned on with a pink light on its lines. "Say hello, Carla 2.0"
"Hello, contestants, my name is Carla 2.0. The temperature tonight is 22°c and there is no probability of raining, the night is perfect for a beef."
The crowd looked amazing at Cherry Blossom's new creation, some of them gasped and did repressed screams of excitement.
"You heard already. Let's not waste more time. I'm ready to compete."
To be continued….
…..
Author's note: See you next time to see how Cherry has been doing since his beef against Adam, what does Joe think about it, and what are our young protagonists doing, because I'm already putting the third chapter on my head!
Thoughts during the creation process: If there was something that made me take my time to put this chapter, besides being a lazyhead, it was the fact I don't know anything about skating, so I had no idea of what could be Reki's new invention. I felt on a block, but then I remember, this is an anime, nothing they are doing makes any sense, at this point all of them could be magical and would explain a lot. So I used my imagination to think of something that could sound cool on a skateboard and don't worry to much about it, let's be honest, it's not the main attraction to this story.