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He was the last person that any of them had expected to walk into Sia La Luce that evening.
Well, any of them except Reki, apparently, if the frustrated sigh and resigned irritation written across his face was anything to go by.
As Tadashi glanced around the nearly empty restaurant, his face setting with determination as his gaze fell on Reki, the teen pushed away from the table and practically stomped over to where Tadashi was standing – leaving behind a rather shocked Langa and Miya. As the pair silently watched Reki and Tadashi start to talk, Cherry and Joe picked up on the commotion from the bar and wandered over to the kids’ table.
“What’s going on there?” Cherry asked as he approached.
“No clue”, Miya replied, taking a sip of his drink, “but that guy looks kind of familiar, doesn’t he?”
Joe sighed and crossed his arms. “Pretty sure that’s Snake.”
Langa and Miya swung around towards Joe in surprise. “The guy from the tournament?!”, they exclaimed.
“Yup.” Joe nodded, “and I think he has some sort of connection to Adam, so whatever’s going on, this can’t be good.”
All four returned worried eyes to Reki and Tadashi who had made their way over to a different table, out of earshot, and were now talking in urgent, hushed voices.
“I can’t believe I didn’t notice that love-hotel guy was actually Snake….” Langa muttered.
A sudden awkwardness swept over the group as three sets of eyes slowly slid to Langa in utter confusion.
“…the what guy?” Cherry asked hesitantly.
“The love-hotel guy.” Langa replied, browed wrinkled in slight confusion, “That’s what Reki calls him ever since he showed up at Dope Sketch to invite Reki to the tournament. Apparently, they’d already met at a love-hotel.” The other three continued to stare in shock, seemingly waiting for some sort of explanation. Langa gave a slight shrug, “I’m still not totally clear on what that means, though.”
Cherry, Joe, and Miya shared somewhat distraught looks with each other; Langa felt a prickly feeling building inside at their apparent tension.
“Langa, are you absolutely sure Reki said it was a love hotel?” Cherry said, leaning forward, his already intense expression pulled tight.
“Uh, yeah, why?” Langa said, quickly glancing around the table, “Is…that a bad thing?”
Miya sighed, dragging a hand down his face, “You cannot be this oblivious, you idiot.” His face flushed slightly as he muttered down into his hand, “Even someone my age knows what that kind of thing means.”
Langa simply kept quiet, looking utterly lost. Miya and Cherry sent glances in Joe’s direction, neither of them wanting to be the one to explain. After a moment, Joe let out an exasperated groan, rubbing his hand through his hair awkwardly.
“Look, Langa…” he began, “A love hotel is a place where people go…specifically to be intimate with each other.” More silence. “Like, physically intimate.” Joe continued, despite his discomfort, “They, uh, specialize in privacy and discretion so they’re preferred spots for… y’know, the kind of activities you don’t want others knowing about. Get it?”
With every word from Joe, Langa felt that prickly feeling from earlier growing into something that felt a lot like horror. Horror, with a sickening undercurrent of rising anger and something he did not want to admit was heartbreak. Reki….and Snake? When? Why? Why hadn’t Reki told him about it? Langa slowly turned to return his wide eyes to the pair at the other table, trying desperately to wrap his mind around this information as every look and movement between Reki and the other man took on new, panic-inducing meaning.
“So…” he said slowly, “you’re saying Reki and Snake…”
“That’s what we want to figure out.” Cherry answered, fingers pressed to his temple like the mere thought was giving him a headache. “It doesn’t seem like they were exactly happy to see each other.”
Langa pressed his mouth into a grimace, turning back to the group. “Reki complained that he’s been popping up at Dope Sketch lately while he’s working.” he said, remembering the annoyance on Reki’s face as he described how ‘that love-hotel guy wouldn’t just buzz off’. Langa hadn’t thought much of it at the time, assuming the man was just an irritating customer – now he was kicking himself mentally as he realized the situation may have been a lot more distressing.
“Hmph, none of that sounds like stuff between lovers.” Miya huffed, sinking into his seat with crossed arms, “Maybe there’s money involved.” he muttered darkly, causing Cherry and Joe to glance over with alarm.
“Jeez, what are they teaching you kids in school nowadays.” Joe said, “I’m sure that’s not actually the case –“ Joe suddenly froze, eyes fixed on the other table. The others looked over as well, just in time to see Tadashi reach into his suit jacket and pull out a thick stack of money, sliding it across to Reki.
He was absolutely the last person Reki wanted to see right now.
It was bad enough that the guy kept showing up at Dope Sketch, where Reki technically couldn’t ignore him (not while on the clock, at least), constantly harping on about ‘resolving this issue’. Reki had thought that at the very least he would be safe at Sia La Luce – who would expect a messy high school boy like him to show up at a fancy Italian place? ‘But apparently not.’ he thought, as he got up from his friend’s table to deal with this.
“How did you even find me?” Reki hissed as he approached Tadashi, “Nope, never mind, I don’t even want to know. Just get out of here and leave me alone.”
Tadashi simply gazed at Reki stoically before stating, “Reki-kun, I really must insist on this. Please hear me out.”
Reki sighed and contemplated his bad luck; they’d already made a bit of a spectacle of themselves in front of his friends. If he wanted this over with quickly, maybe letting Tadashi say his piece would help move things along.
“…..fine, follow me.” Reki said, moving over to an empty table across the restaurant where hopefully no one would overhear them. He glanced over to Miya and Langa, seeing that Cherry and Joe had joined them and were talking amongst themselves.
As they slid into the seats at the table - Tadashi primly clasping his hands on the surface, Reki lounging back against the chair - Reki couldn’t help but feel relieved that the groups’ attention wasn’t on them.
“So, whaddya want, love-hotel guy?” He asked as the man across from him frowned.
“I’ve told you my name is Tadashi and what I want is to leave that nickname and the associated incident behind with no loose ends. I gave you money specifically for that purpose.”
“Well, I didn’t take your money, so I’ll call you whatever I want.” Reki snarked back.
“And that’s precisely the problem.” Tadashi sighed, “I simply can’t have you running around speaking about that incident recklessly. Such a thing could inadvertently cause harm to my, and therefore my employer’s, reputation. That would be unacceptable.”
“Alright, how about I just promise to shut up?” Reki said, exasperated, “Would you leave me alone then?”
Tadashi’s eyes narrowed. “I’m afraid the value of one’s word is not as significant as you’d think. Money is no issue and by supplying it, or whatever else it is you’d happen to desire, I can ensure a binding agreement that works for both of our self-interest, which you’d be much more likely to honor.”
Reki took a moment to gaze warily at the man across the table. “Geez, man, what kind of world have you been living in?”, he muttered, “So, basically you can’t trust me unless you’ve given me something? How do you know I won’t just threaten to bring this up over and over again every time I want something?”
“That’s no trouble at all. I have the resources to meet any of your demands and the protection against slander I’d be getting in return is worth more than whatever you could want.”
Reki went silent, gazing at the ceiling for a bit, then leaned forward, resting his arms on the table “And what if I don’t want anything?”
The slight frown on Tadashi’s face deepened and the slightest sign of irritation was starting to creep onto his brow. Rather than say anything, he reached inside the jacket of his suit, pulling out a stack of money to place in front of Reki.
“There’s never a lack of need in anyone’s life. Think carefully, maybe not of yourself, but of the people you care about.” Tadashi looked up sharply. “Are you sure there isn’t someone, anyone in your life who could really use some support? Is your pride really worth denying them help?” he said, cutting a quick glance to the group on the other side of the room.
The anger that rose within Reki was sudden and intense. How dare he. how dare he. How dare he try to imply that Reki was somehow failing his loved ones by refusing. How dare Tadashi try to use the people he loved to talk him into some shady deal. The sharp rage at the nerve of this guy, who tried to use Reki’s friends to manipulate him, propelled the teen out his chair, sending it skidding behind him.
“Oh, hell no - If I didn’t think you were a creepy motherfucker before, I certainly do now and there’s no way I’m taking anything you offer.” Reki spit out indignantly, “You ever show up in front of me again I’ll punch you in the face, got it?!”
Reki turned to storm away, only for Tadashi to shoot up and catch him around the arm. He wasn’t holding tightly, but it was enough to stop Reki in his tracks, more out of surprise than anything.
“I’m sorry, that was out of line.” Tadashi said a little desperately, “Please-“
But whatever Tadashi had been about to request was cut off as a very muscular hand suddenly closed around his wrist. He dropped Reki’s arm and looked up to find a very pissed Joe holding onto him painfully. Meanwhile, Reki felt firm hands close around his shoulders and looked to see Cherry guiding him back, putting distance between him and Tadashi.
“I don’t know what’s going on here, but you’d better have a damn good reason why I shouldn’t throw you out on your ass right now.” Joe ground out.
Tadashi lowered his gaze, but didn’t back down. Reki glanced back and saw that Langa and Miya had also jumped up from their seats and looked ready to throw down at the slightest provocation. The tension in the room was starting to border on unbearable and suddenly Reki was just very tired. He sighed and rubbed his forehead before moving forward, reaching out and patting Joe on the shoulder.
“It’s ok, Joe. I promise it’s fine.”
Joe frowned and loosed his grip but didn’t move from his position slightly in front of Reki and simply crossed his arms, glaring intimidatingly at Tadashi as if daring him to make another move. Reki could practically feel a similar hostile glare coming from Cherry over his shoulder. Tadashi took back his wrist and rubbed it lightly, silent but seemingly with no intention of leaving yet. Reki just wanted all this to be over with; moving with resignation he turned back to Tadashi.
“Fine. I’ll take the money. Just hand it over and leave already.”
Tadashi exhales, the frame of his uptight body sagging with surprising relief.
He reached back for the money on the table and handed it towards Reki. Hesitantly, the boy reached out and took it, stuffing the cash into the pocket of his hoodie as if just looking at it irritated him. Aware that he was very much unwanted, Tadashi simply bowed, turned around, and walked out of the restaurant, leaving a strangled silence in his wake.
Reki was the first to move, walking back over to the table with Langa and Miya and practically collapsing into his old seat. With a slight groan, he sinks his head into his arms, the new weight of all the money feeling like it was burning a hole in his pocket. Slowly Langa and Miya sat down in their seats and Cherry and Joe made their way to the table as well. No one spoke for a few minutes; everyone seemed to be waiting for some sort of cue from Reki. Suddenly, the redhead sat up, breathed in deeply, and let out a very loud groan, pressing his palms against his eyes. Seemingly satisfied with that small release of stress, he turned to his friends, a remorseful look on his face.
“Sorry about that, guys. I wasn’t expecting him to find me here! Total downer, right? At least it’s over now.” He said, clearly trying to inject some brightness into the mood with a large, slightly faltering grin.
The others simply stared awkwardly, each of them itching to question Reki. It was Cherry who finally broke their silence.
“What…were you and he talking about?” he questioned, attempting to tread carefully.
Reki paused. A part of him was definitely still pissed at Tadashi and he kind of wanted to get a small bit of revenge by flouting their agreement and immediately telling everything. However, he thought back to how worked up his friends got just at Tadashi grabbing his arm, how fervently Tadashi had tried to get him to agree to keep silent (and how scarily persistent he might be if he found out Reki told), and how tired he was of this whole situation and just wanted to forget it ever happened.
“Ah…it was nothing. He just owed me for something and really wanted to pay me back.” Reki replied, trying to keep his tone light.
Clearly, that answer wasn’t satisfying anyone. Reki settled for just sipping at his flat soda, hoping if he just kept quiet, everyone would eventually move on. That proved not to be the case.
“Langa mentioned….a love-hotel.” Cherry said.
Reki choked on his soda and felt his stomach drop. He quickly looked over at Langa who he just now realized was staring at him with a level of concern he hadn’t seen since the end of his first race with Adam.
Damn. He’d found it kind of hilarious (and adorable) the way Langa had no idea what a love-hotel was and he’d been confident that it would just be one of those things Langa didn’t feel the need to understand and therefore wouldn’t bring up with other people. Based on the way his best friend was looking at him, though, someone had clearly explained it to him and Reki felt a flush start to overtake his face as he realized what Langa was probably thinking based on his new knowledge.
His mind was starting to spin, and his heart rate was starting to pick up; he’d jumped from one mortifying situation to another and all these emotions were starting to exhaust him and made it hard to think straight.
Clearly having had enough of the slow pace of the conversation, Miya suddenly cut in “Did you go with him to a love-hotel or not?!”
“I didn’t go with him – he took me there while I was passed out!” Reki snapped before he could stop himself.
If Reki had thought the silence couldn’t get any more intense than it’d been before, he was wrong. The pounding of his heart in his ears seemed deafening in comparison. The stiffness in everyone’s posture as they digested this new piece of information made it seem as if they were barely breathing. Reki didn’t dare look around which unfortunately gave him a direct view of the stormy look on Joe’s face slowly turning murderous.
It was Langa who broke the silence this time, voice full of nothing but quiet, desperate concern, “Passed out? Reki….are you alright?”. The look on his face was sharp and fragile all at the same time, like a jagged piece of ice ready to cut someone or break at the slightest touch.
Reki wanted nothing more than to comfort him; after all, he was fine right? Compared to all the shit Adam had put him through, the minor fender-bender with Tadashi was practically nothing – he just needed to reassure them all that the worst he’d suffered were some minor scuffs and they could all move on.
“Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine! I mean I’ve definitely experienced worse – what do a couple more bruises matter, right?” He laughed, completely unaware of the distress he’d just unleashed on his friends.
It was around the point that Langa started to look nauseous and Miya started to tremble that Joe made an executive decision.
“Langa,” he said, using a tone that allowed for no argument, “I actually have some boxes of meats in the freezer in the back that need to be unthawed. Could you and Miya go take care of moving them for me? They’re heavy so take your time.”
At first, Langa had no earthly idea how Joe could expect him to just leave and he opened his mouth to say as much until he caught sight of how upset Miya was getting. He swallowed, nodded, and got up from his chair, placing an arm around Miya’s shoulders and guiding them both towards the kitchen.
Reki had been about to say that he could go help too, but something about the looks the adults were giving him pinned him in place. He sunk into his chair a bit, getting the distinct feeling that he’d failed in his efforts to relieve everyone’s worry.
Once Langa and Miya had disappeared into the kitchen, Joe leaned forward, resting his head on his steepled hands and sighing deeply. Cherry gazed down at his hands for a second, then looked back up and patted the chair next to him that Langa had just vacated. Reki took that as an invite to move and shifted; he felt a bit better now that he wasn’t directly facing them like a child about to be scolded.
“Reki,” Cherry started, Joe lifting his head to gaze over at the both of them, “you know you can talk to Joe and I, right?”. He cleared his throat a bit, powering through the awkwardness of his words, “About anything. We…. we sincerely care for you and your well-being. You know that right?” Reki slowly nodded, mostly shocked to hear Cherry express his feelings so frankly, if formally.
“You, Langa and Miya have become almost like kids of our own, you know.” Joe interjected, a gentle smile on his face. “You’ve really grown on us and brought a lot of unexpected joy into our lives. We want all of you to be happy and safe – skateboarding scrapes notwithstanding.”, he added with a wink.
Reki wasn’t sure where this was going, but he certainly wasn’t going to complain about the warm feeling he was getting in his chest from the unexpected affection Cherry and Joe were showing.
Cherry resumed, looking at the teen fervently, “So, if there’s ever anything – whether it be personal or financial or whatever else – anything that you feel like you can’t talk to anyone about, you have us. Even if it’s something you think you need to keep from your parents, or your teachers, or even your friends, you can trust us to be whatever support you need.”
“Exactly,” Joe said, “I mean, we all technically break the law together on a weekly basis, so there’s never any need for you to feel scared or ashamed of what we’d think, right?”
Reki snickered, realizing that was true – they were all kind of like partners in crime together.
“We never want you to feel like you have to face things alone, Reki. You won’t be alone as long as we’re here.” Joe uttered softly.
The redhead nodded as the warm feeling in his chest started to expand; after the stress of the last 20 minutes (God, had it only been 20 minutes since Tadashi walked in?), Reki was reveling in the feeling of calm stability exuded by Cherry and Joe’s words. Which made the words that came out of Cherry’s mouth next feel like a curveball to the face.
“With that being said, we understand that topics like….sex work and sexual assault can be extremely sensitive, complicated, and difficult.”
Reki froze.
“And we aren’t going to pressure you to say any more than you feel comfortable discussing, but…” Cherry floundered a bit, glancing to Joe for help.
“But we just…want to give you a safe place to express yourself.” Joe picked up where Cherry left off, “We know that experiences like that can have a significant effect on a person and that you may be struggling to understand what you should do about it or how you should feel about it and-“
“Wait. Wait wait wait wait wait, stop………..What?!”
Reki interrupted and stared at the two of them, flabbergasted. “What the hell are you guys talking about?! You think I’ve been- what?!” He felt his face going hot as he struggled to catch up. “I- you guys, I haven’t- what exactly do you think happened to me?!”
The two adults shared a meaningful glance and Joe started speaking carefully, “Reki, what Snake did to you isn’t right. Whatever he did to get you into that love-hotel and whatever he did once you were there – whether you were conscious or not – should not have been allowed to happen. Being taken advantage of like that can be scary and overwhelming and we’re here to help you deal with it if you’ll let us.”
Having finished what they wanted to say, Joe and Cherry sat silently, looking at Reki attentively and patiently.
He felt like he was going to internally combust. As the progressively more mortifying pieces fell into place in his head, he was fairly certain he wasn’t going to make it out of the restaurant alive at this rate. The teen was so utterly lost on how to untangle this web of misunderstanding that some primal part of his brain seemed to decide the best course of action was to simply lay his head face down on the table in front of him.
So, with a gentle thunk he did just that.
The cool surface did actually help clear his head a little and thankfully Cherry and Joe seemed committed to let Reki do whatever he needed however long he needed until he was able to speak. When he felt a gentle hand come to rest on the square of his back, he felt genuinely touched by the comforting gesture even if he knew the motivation behind it was completely off-base.
Underneath all the horror and embarrassment at what had been implied, deep down Reki kind of wanted to cry with how…..well…. loved he felt. It was a bit of a revelation how close he’d grown to these two skaters who had seemed amazingly out of his reach just half a year ago and yet were here ready to support him through the worst experiences imaginable.
Reki sighed, feeling somewhat fortified, and lifted his head. Cherry’s hand slid off his back and the two adults looked at Reki expectantly. Taking a breath, Reki began.
“I appreciate all of that, but you guys have got it totally wrong.”
Their eyes widened. “How so?” Cherry asked.
Reki decided to just do what he should have done from the very beginning: tell the people he trusted and cared about what happened. But first, if their reactions were anything to go by, there were two more people who needed some misunderstandings rectified.
“Can I get Miya and Langa back out here? I think all of you should hear this.”
A bit of hesitance played out across Joe’s face “You sure about that? He talks a big game, but Miya is still very much a kid. You think he can handle what you have to say?”
“Trust me, I think it’ll actually help a lot.”
Joe shrugged and nodded.
Reki got up and headed towards the kitchen. He was just about to turn the corner towards the freezer, but very nearly tripped over Langa and Miya sitting on the floor, side-by-side along the wall. The two hadn’t been saying anything, but the way Miya had had his head laying on Langa’s shoulder before they both looked up at Reki in surprise said enough. His heart kind of broke – he could only imagine how these two had been dealing with this horrible misunderstanding about him and it couldn’t have been pleasant.
“Hey guys, did you get all that meat moved?” he said, weakly trying for a little humor.
“Uh, sure.” Langa replied, despite how obvious it was that the freezer had never even been opened. He got up and his eyes narrowed concernedly as he looked at Reki, “How are you doing? Are you alright?”
“Ah, yeah, I actually came back here to get you guys. I want to tell you all something.”
Miya’s hands tightened on his arms and he stood up with a determined look on his face, “Let’s go, then. Whatever you have to say we’ll listen.”
Reki smiled at Miya putting on a brave face, “Thanks, man, I appreciate that.”
The three of them walked back to the dining area and took their seats. Reki inhaled and exhaled; he wanted to avoid any further miscommunication, so he decided to just recount exactly what happened as he remembered it.
“Do you guys remember when Shadow got hit with a baseball bat and put in the hospital?”
Everyone at the table nodded, a little surprised to hear the incident brought up.
“Well uh, I actually showed up at the hospital when I first heard, but, that was when Langa and I were…not getting along, so when I saw him there I left.” Reki said, a little down at recalling that sad time in his life and the way he’d acted.
“I knew I’d seen you. I tried to go after you, but didn’t manage to catch you” Langa said quietly, his words soothing a little bit of residual hurt in Reki’s chest.
“And after that is when I found you in the elevator right?” Miya commented.
“Yeah, I was a real dick to you, sorry ‘bout that.”
Miya waved his hand in a gesture of dismissal “It’s fine; I’m over it.”
Reki chuckled and continued, “Anyways, I was running out of the hospital and I wasn’t really looking where I was going, so I ran into the street and next thing I know I got hit by a car.”
“Hold on-what?!-” “Reki-!“, Miya and Langa yelled over each other.
Everyone at the table stared at Reki, slack jawed in disbelief.
“You got hit by a fucking car?!” Miya exclaimed (Joe being too shocked to reprimand Miya about his language).
Reki rubbed his head self-consciously. “Yeah, luckily it wasn’t going that fast so I didn’t get any major injuries. It was enough to knock me out though.”
“Snake was the one driving the car.” Cherry said, starting to catch on.
“Yup. Now this is where things get a little fuzzy because I was knocked out, but when I woke up I was in a love-hotel with him. I don’t know what his deal is, bringing someone he hit with a car to a love-hotel, but he also tried to pay me off to keep quiet about the accident, so I guess he just really wanted to keep things discreet.” Reki explained.
Understanding was slowly starting to dawn on everyone’ faces.
“I turned down the money ‘cause I didn’t need it and the whole thing gave me bad vibes anyways and apparently that really bothered him, because afterwards he kept showing up around me insisting I take the money in exchange for my silence.” Reki reached a hand into the pocket with the money, “Though I guess I kinda broke that promise now…but screw that guy! I’m keeping the money anyways!”
The redhead leaned back in the chair, relieved to have everything out, “And that’s the whole story – just a guy being a weirdo about a minor car accident.”
Everyone else at the table seemed to deflate a little bit with relief.
“So just to be clear," Cherry started, “You’re sure Snake did nothing inappropriate to you?”
“I’m sure.” Reki nodded, “The most he did was take my shoes off when putting me on the bed and be a real jerk about skateboarding. Nothing felt off with my body when I woke up, so I’m confident he left me alone. He doesn’t seem like the type who’d want the additional trouble anyways.”
Now it was Joe’s turn to lay his head down on the table as he heaved a big sigh of relief “Thank god, I swear I’ve been this close to a heart attack for the past half hour.”
“I mean, it’s still not great.”, Cherry commented, “He did still hit you with his car and take you to a very improper location. But it seems the worst didn’t come to pass and for that I’m glad.”
“Yeah, sorry to cause such a crazy misunderstanding. But…” Reki paused, his expression going soft, “It meant a lot seeing how much you all care, so….yeah, thanks.”
Everyone at the table smiled gently, letting the moment of shared affection linger. Then Joe reached out and ruffled Reki’s hair, “Man, you seriously have no idea how much Kaoru and I dodged a bullet there!”
“What do you mean?” Reki asked.
“Well, we were going to talk through how you wanted to deal with the situation and if you’d decided you didn’t want to go to the police, we were just going to go find the guy and, uh, take care of it ourselves.”
Reki wasn’t quite sure how seriously to take that as Joe laughed and Cherry surreptitiously avoided eye contact, but he decided to just be grateful the situation had ended with no unnecessary loss of life and move on.
Joe suddenly stood up, “Miya, Langa, did you guys actually go in the freezer?”
The boys shook their head no.
“Great! Then after all that stress I think we deserve a treat. I got some high-quality gelato I’ve been saving as a special surprise and this seems like the perfect time for it!” He turned and started to walk off, throwing back as he went “Kaoru, make some tea would ya? It’s the only thing you’re good for in the kitchen, so you might as well help.”
Cherry got up and smacked Joe in the back of the head, muttering as he made his way to the kitchen counter to start preparing the drinks.
Reki turned back to his friends, briefly looking down at the table before saying “I, uh, I’m sorry about worrying you guys. It must have felt terrible to think that something bad happened to me.”
“I wouldn’t say getting hit by a car doesn’t count as something bad happening to you.” Miya retorted, before softening his tone, “I’m just glad you’re fine.”
Reki reached out and patted Miya’s head, grinning widely and enjoying the annoyed sounds as Miya batted him away. The redhead glanced over at Langa, who’d been quietly gazing at Reki with one of his subtle sweet smiles.
“Hey Miya, can you go see if you can get Joe to give me a double-serving of gelato?”
“Huh? Why should I do that?”
“Come on, man,” Reki begged, “I totally deserve it after tonight! Plus…”. Reki slid the stack of cash out of his pocket. “I’ve got wealth to share now.”, he said with a sly smile on his face.
Miya gazed at him for a moment, then extended his hand.
Without really paying attention, Reki slid a couple bills onto his waiting palm. Miya glanced down, his eyes widening slightly, “Dude, did you just pay me $100 to go ask for ice cream?”
Reki quickly looked down at the stack of bills, jaw dropping as he slowly realized the magnitude of the sum he’d been given.
“Well, whatever, no take-backs.” Miya said, sliding off his chair and heading for the kitchen.
Shaking off the shock of his sudden (more significant than he’d thought) wealth, Reki turned to Langa. “You doing ok, man?”
Langa nodded, “As long as you are.”
Reki laughed, “Yeah, I’m fine. Still, though, it couldn’t have been easy dealing with whatever you were thinking about me. I kind of regret not explaining what a love-hotel is sooner so you wouldn’t’ve been so blindsided by this.”
Langa glanced away, “It’s fine, I just….the thought of anyone hurting you makes me feel sick, so that’s what was hardest.” His voice trailed off as Reki stared, at a loss for words.
Langa turned back and met Reki’s eyes “I know I’m not always great with talking and feelings, but… I-If there’s any reason you didn’t think you could tell me about the situation with Snake, I want to know so I can fix it.” Langa looked down at his clenched hands on the table, “I don’t want you to think you can’t talk to me about your problems.” He said, his voice low.
Reki swallowed, feeling his heart thud at Langa’s worry, “Nah man, it wasn’t an issue with you. I was just hoping if I ignored the situation, it would eventually go away.” Reki gave a small laugh, “In the end, you were still the one who knew the most about it. You were the only one I complained to, after all!”
Langa glanced up with a smile.
“Believe me,” Reki said leaning in close, “There’s no one I trust more than you, with the good and the bad.”
Reki reached out and squeezed Langa’s hand assuredly. They sat that way for a while, just smiling at each other, the weight of Reki’s hand on his own a comforting presence as Langa’s mind wandered.
He thought back to that feeling he’d had when Joe first told him about love hotels, that feeling he was ready to admit was heartbreak, and to the way Reki’s words just now felt as though they’d mended it completely. He wasn’t sure how much more time they’d have to themselves, so he turned to Reki and, returning all the trust that Reki put in him, said, “I want to always be the person closest to you. Is that weird?”
Reki seemed to stop breathing for a moment, then a rush of color flooded his cheeks as he flustered. He looked away, taking his time deciding how to respond, before finally lifting his eyes and shyly smiling. “No, because I want that too.”
As one of those rare, bright smiles spread across his face, Langa turned his hand and gently wrapped his fingers around Reki’s.
They gazed at each other happily, neither one quite sure where to go from there, but certain that this felt like a turning point of some kind. They’d have plenty of time to figure it out. For now, their little bubble of happiness was interrupted by Miya sliding into the dining room from the kitchen, face full of mischief.
“If you give me another $100 I’ll confirm whether or not I caught Joe and Cherry kissing in the freezer!”
Quickly followed by a flying spoon hitting him square in the back of the head and the sound of familiar yelling filling the restaurant, followed by noises of laughter and family.