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"He's going to fall!" Bystanders exclaimed as they intently watched the screen. It was the final beef between ADAM and SNOW. A narrow, wooden bridge was the only thing in the way from one side of the track to another for Langa, but it was likely he couldn't make it.
Langa continued at full speed towards the wooden plank. "Is this kid serious?" Kojiro said, astonished. Kaoru and Miya were quiet, but their eyes panned over towards Reki ever so often.
"He'll be fine. He always is," Reki huffed out.
Langa crossed the bridge and a piece snapped. Langa fell.
He was falling down heights nobody could even dream of surviving. Stuck in an empty void, Langa did nothing, he felt nothing, he would become nothing. That's what he always thought, but his quiet and ambitious manner never showed that.
Meanwhile Reki felt frozen in time. He couldn't even think straight. What if Langa actually died.
No he wouldn't. He's Langa and he was always fine no matter what. He'd pull some reckless move and be totally fine. Reki tried to reassure himself with him thoughts.
"LANGA!" He screamed out. Hoping, begging for a reaction. Nothing in return. No reaction. Just the silence of heavy breathing in the crowd, anxiously waiting to see what would happen next.
I can't just stand here, Reki thought. He grabbed the motorcycle and sped down the course towards the bottom of the cliff. He couldn't even tell what was going on, he couldn't watch the race as he was driving.
He slowed down as he neared the bottom. He could hear the gasps of those around him as they stared intently at their phone screens.
"So much blood," one woman gasped in disbelief. She covered her mouth in shock and looked away from the screen. It must have been bad.
Reki practically threw himself off the motorcycle spriting towards Langa. Once he was in view he froze. It was like everything in his life had no meaning. Nothing leading up until now had meant anything. His everything. His best friend. His lover was on the brink of death.
"Langa...," Reki whispered as he rushed over, lifting up his frail head, cupping it in his palm. Langa opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. His face was covered with blood. Reki attempted to wipe it with the sleeve of his sweatshirt but there was so much.
"I'm sorry," Langa choked out. If he had known those would be his last words, he would have said something different.
"No," was all Reki managed to say. "I'm," He couldn't finished his sentence. Langa's eyes were closing and the beating of his heart slowed at an alarming rate. Reki's palm was against Langa's chest. If it was going to be his final breaths, Reki wanted to be there.
Next thing he knew it was quiet. There was no huffed breathing of Langa. No pitter patter of his heartbeat. No words. No movements. The only thing that could be heard was Reki's screams and sobs. Tears streamed down his cheeks, dripping onto Langa's pale face.
A car screeched behind Reki. "HOSPITAL! NOW!" Shadow shouted from the front seat of the car.
"It's no use. He's already dead," Reki choked through tears. He couldn't feel anything, yet he felt every negative emotion possible. Shadow's face went blank, Miya's went pale next to him. Kaoru and Kojiro had painful looks of horror on their faces knowing damn well this was ADAM's fault.
Reki took Langa's lifeless body in his arms, hugging him tightly towards himself. He couldn't hold back anything. He let out screams of pure agony and pain. Occasionally coughing in between cries, the tears never stopped.
Nobody spoke. Nobody moved. Nobody could. He was gone forever. Langa was dead.
-
"Are you gonna be okay kid?" Kojiro asked in the kindest tone he could. Reki sat still in the car.
"I don't want to go home," He whispered out.
"Where to?" Shadow asked.
"The park. The skatepark right by the water," Reki explained, his voice was scratchy and his nose was stuffy.
Shadow nodded and they were on their way.
Once they arrived the car sat in silence for a moment giving Reki a minute to get out.
"Thanks," Reki mumbled quietly, but loud enough for at least Miya who was sitting next to him, to hear.
Reki stepped out of the car and simply carried his board under one arm and Langa's under the other. The tears slowed but they had never stopped.
He wanted to laugh and smile thinking about the memories he shared with Langa, but the pain was unbearable. He choked through tears as he walked his way up to his favorite spot. The memories came flooding through. When Langa first landed his ollie. The sunny afternoons they would spend here. The day they finally made up after Reki had ignored Langa for so long. Reki's heart physically ached just thinking about it.
By the time the paramedics had arrived at the scene they pronounced Langa dead on the spot. Hearing it come from someone else was some how even more painful for Reki. All hope was lost.
Reki was the sun and Langa was his opposite half, the moon. Reki had lost the moon. There were no tides or waves in the ocean. No ups and down, just flat nothingness. There was no light at night it was dark and cold for Reki. He lost his other half. He lost his happiness.
Reki sat and stared out in front of him at the two skateboards. Both created by him, but completely different in every other way. He gingerly swiped his hand across the bottom of langa's board, feeling evedy scratch and ridge that wasn't there previously.
The tears would occasionally, very gingerly fall onto the back of Langa's board as Reki clutched it dearly. It was darker than the night normally. Thick, dark clouds covered the moon, blocking any reflective light.
Reki looked up at the sky, which resembled a dark void of emptiness. "Why couldn't you stay longer?" He asked himself, but he'd like to think he was speaking to Langa.
Just then a gust of wind blew past Reki, leaving his board motionless, but Langa's board rolled down the cement.
When Reki had caught up to it and stopped it he realized were he was. The exact spot Langa had landed his first ollie. Reki stared at the spot for a while and then looked out at the ocean. Despite the howling wind the water was calm. Only little waves as the water made it's way to shore. It resembled a bay more than an ocean.
Reki's phone buzzed in his pocket. He didn't care to look at it. Not a single person could call him and he would pick up. Not now. Not ever, that's what he thought in this moment at least. He wouldn't even notice that it was his mother worried sick about him. He didn't care.
...He stayed out there until the sun poked through the clouds at dawn. His eyes were puffy, and cheeks were stained with tears. Eye bags sagged and he didn't even want to move.
"Reki," A hushed yet deep familiar voice said. Reki hummed in response but said nothing more.
"You can't stay here for the rest of your life," Kojiro said.
"Says who?" He grumbled back.
"I know it's tough...,"
"No you don't," Reki snapped. "You have Kaoru. You have your best friend. Langa he was... even more. I loved him... but I never got to tell him," Reki said as more tears formed in his eyes. He covered his face with his hands in attempt to hide.
"I know kid. I know," Kojiro said, sitting down besides Reki, patting his back in a gentle manner. Reki only choked out more tears.
Meanwhile at Sia La Luce, Miya, Hiromi and Kaoru sat still at a round table.
"Was it best to send Joe?" Miya asked.
"He knows how to deal with emotions better than I do. Just leave it to him," Kaoru reassured him.
They were all in shock of the events that occurred the previous night. Kaoru was the only one who hadn't cried, but it was clear that he was shaken up by the events.
...
“You should get home. Your mother is probably worried,” Kojiro suggested. Reki just shook his head. Kojiro gave him a minute and decided not to say any more.
“What time is it?” Reki asked.
“it’s about 8am now.” Kojiro said after checking his phone for the correct time.
“My sisters are probably on their way to school, so I’ll head home now,” Reki said in a monotone voice.
“Don’t you want to see your sisters?”
“They look up to me. I can’t let them see me like this,” Reki’s expression saddened on his face.
“I understand. Go get some sleep kiddo,” Kojiro said as he stood up. They parted ways, but Kojiro made sure to watch until Reki was fully out of site.
Instead of going home Reki turned towards what was once Langa’s home. Hesitantly, he knocked on the door. A skinny, woman with a kinda face answered the door. She had a balled up tissue in her hand and looked nearly as wrecked as Reki.
“I’m so sorry,” was all Reki managed to say.
“Thank you. You were the only reason he smiled again. Thank you for taking care of my son,” Nanako said, a tear ran down her left cheek. She had been meaning to thank Reki for weeks now, but never got the chance to.
“But I. It’s my,” Reki tried to explain.
“It’s not your fault. He was always getting ahead of himself,” Nanako let out a forced chuckle.
“Is he really gone forever?” Reki was still in shock.
“He still exists, just in your memories now.”