Archive of Our Own

"YOU!" A voice yelled from behind Langa and he snapped his head around, checking to see who was angry at him now.

He groaned when none other than Ainosuke Shindo approached him, clutching a very familiar cut up net in his hands. Langa suddenly regretted using his knife, maybe he should have just untangled Reki, but that would have taken forever. So, Langa stood there, watching that creepy man walk up to him, awaiting his fate. He tried to figure out what would happen -- would he get yelled out or thrown into the street, depending on how violent the man was feeling that day.

"You cut up my fishing net!" Aiosuke complained, shaking the ropes in Langa's face as they stood on the sidewalk.

Langa pushed the man's hand out of his face, "Something was stuck in it."

"THAT'S WHAT FISHING NETS ARE SUPPOSED TO DO!" Ainosuke's voice raised even louder.

Langa opened his mouth, trying to decide if he should mention Reki or not, but then he remembered Ainosuke's tendencies and made the best decision not to. Instead, he cocked his head, drawing a false confused expression on his face.

"Oh, that's how they work?"

Ainosuke balled his hands into fists, raising one of them high, clearly enraged. There was Langa's answer -- yelling and violence. Ainosuke was not happy that day. Langa flinched, awaiting the sting of the older man's fist hitting him in the face, but when he heard a loud "hey" and he looked up, he was relieved to find he was saved by none other than Joe. Langa didn't know the large man that well besides back when they would surfboard on the same days, but Joe seemed like he wasn't just going to let Langa get pushed around.

Joe tightened his fist around Ainosuke's wrist, glaring at him. Langa appreciated Joe's kindness and relaxed his body, watching the silent conversation between the older men as they scowled at each other.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Adam? " Joe asked, malice lacing his voice.

Ainosuke tugged his arm out of Joe's grip, " Langa decided it would be funny to cut up my fishing net when I was trying to catch some food."

"There was something stuck in it." Langa repeated.

Joe ignored Langa, "Well, that doesn't give you the right to harm strangers on the sidewalk."

Langa was starting to get annoyed. He just wanted to get to work after his visit with Reki, since he had promised to see him that morning yesterday. And work was work, if Langa was late, he was likely to be fired and he wasn't going to let Ainosuke/Adam cause him to lose his form of income. He sighed and walked past the two men, ready to leave, but Ainosuke grabbed his arm.

"Let me go." Langa said, pulling at his arm.

"I challenge you to a surfboarding race, Little Langa." Ainosuke said, his gaze hardening.

Langa continued to try and tug his arm out of Ainosuke's grasp, "I'm not surfboarding anymore, you know that. Besides, why do you wanna suddenly race me?"

"Because I'm pissed." Ainosuke stated bluntly, "And you aren't getting away with messing up my net!"

"Woah, woah!" Joe exclaimed, getting between the two, "Chill pill, chill pill! You don't mean you're gonna hurt Langa do you?"

Ainosuke released Langa's arm, "I'd hate to harm my Eve, but sometimes people need to be taught lessons."

Langa shivered at the many implications in that one sentence. He had always hated how the man treated him, looked at him, spoke to him, it was creepy. Now he was terrified that Ainosuke might hospitalize him, because he did that, a lot. Langa was sure he could just refuse Ainosuke's… demand? Offer? It would be best for him and sure he was scared to the core, but at the same time it sounded…. fun. And he had promised Reki he would show his surfboarding skills, so maybe this wouldn't be so bad, right?

"Sure." Langa said, "I'll race you."

Ainosuke smirked, "Perfect. We'll race tomorrow, I'll be quite excited to see what tricks you'll pull out of your sleeves next time Little Langa."

When he left, Langa seemed to release a breath that he hadn't even noticed he had been holding. Joe looked, well, disappointed. Not only disappointed, but he looked concerned as well. Langa looked away, hoping Joe wouldn't be upset over his dumb decision, because Langa honestly thought it would be fun and he hadn't had fun in a while. Even if Joe was upset, he wouldn't be able to stop him.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Joe asked, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants, "You haven't surfed in a while and you're probably rusty. Adam is sure to be brutal."

Langa looked away, "Why do you even care? You don't know me."

"Because you're just a kid." Joe said, walking up to Langa and placing his hand on the seventeen year old's shoulder.

"But… I'll be okay. It's gonna be fun." Langa replied, staring at his feet, avoiding looking Joe in the eyes, "Besides, I'm doing this for someone, I guess you could say."

Joe looked confused, "For someone? What do you even mean?"

Langa brushed Joe's hand off his shoulder, "I'll tell you later, I've gotta go to work."

Langa spun around and started down the sidewalk again, heading towards the beach shop he worked at. Of course, Langa was lying, he only said it to get Joe off his ass. He planned to keep Reki a secret, and it wasn't because he was selfish, but because Reki was a merman for God's sake, who knew what would happen to him if anyone found out about his existence.

Just Langa's luck, the stress of a dangerous race (beef) and keeping a magical being's existence a secret weighed down on his shoulders, all while he was still trying to sort out his feelings about his father. Things were going to be hard, but he could get through it… right?

His shoes scraped across the ground as he slowed down a bit, thinking about what he would do. He considered practicing after work, if he wasn't exhausted after dealing with customers. So many emotions overwhelmed Langa at once yet he felt somewhat relieved. The feeling of excitement merging with fear and odd amounts of joy, it was something he hadn't felt in so long, not even with them separated.

Maybe this beef would be good for him.

Langa was tired and he wanted nothing more than to go home, but he knew better. He needed to get ready for the next day's race and tell Reki about it. The merman was bound to be excited about it, considering his love for watching people surfboard. Maybe Langa could practice with Reki, it wasn't too selfish to show off once and a while, right?

So, he sat by the edge of the ocean, by the rocks where he and Reki had first met, waiting for the bright red hair to pop above the surface. A few moments passed and Reki's head suddenly slipped above the water. He smiled and his amber eyes sparkled slightly and Langa couldn't help smiling and feeling the tips of his ears go red.

"What's up Langa?" Reki asked, swimming into the shallow waters and laying down on his chest, lifting his tail in the air, "Whatcha doing so late at the beach."

It was pretty late, well for beach goers and people who actually slept, the time was 6:35, and the tide was getting higher every few minutes. Still, Langa wanted to be there for a little bit before going home and heating up dinner's leftovers.

"I wanted to tell you I'm gonna be surfboarding tomorrow." Langa said.

Reki's eyes widened, he looked excited and then his expression changed and he seemed to go through ten thousand different emotions at once before he said, "You don't have to surf right away! Take as much time as you need!"

Langa chuckled humorlessly, "You see, it really wasn't a choice. I'm sure I would've been forced into it even if I said no."

"Then," Reki tried to find the right words, "Then… are you sure it will be fun? It can't be fun if it's forced."

"Well, it's surfboarding, and surfboarding is always enjoyable." Langa said, scratching the back of his neck nervously, "Besides, you'll watch me, right?"

Reki's face changed into a determined smile, "Of course. I'm not sure if I heard it right, but the place you'll be surfboarding will be at S, right? Where Cherry Blossom is?"

Langa nodded, "Yes. And S isn't just surfboarding, they're races."

"Races..?" Reki mumbled, eyes full of stars.

Langa nodded again and Reki looked even more excited, tail swishing in the water.

Suddenly, the redhead asked, "Who're you going against?"

Langa fidgeted with his fingers, "Ah, his name is Adam. I kinda ticked him off and that's why we're racing."

"Adam… I don't think I've heard of him." Reki said, putting his finger to his chin as he thought, "What'd you do to make him mad?"

"Apparently the net you were stuck in was his and he's upset that I cut it up." Langa replied, picking at his skin a bit.

Reki looked away for a moment and then his eyes widened and he looked back, "How does he know it was you who cut the net?"

A shiver went up Langa's spine and he started picking more at his skin, suddenly way more stressed than before. Reki was right, how did Adam know that it was Langa who had cut up his net? Did he do some kind of DNA testing? If so, wouldn't he have found Reki's DNA? Was he assuming things? Had Adam seen Langa freeing Reki? All these questions and worries bounced around his brain and now, he really didn't want to surfboard the next day.

The boys stayed silent and Langa just sat there, wondering what Adam's motives were, itching at his elbows and making them red and raw. Reki looked just as concerned, probably showing it on his face better than Langa was, but it was obvious they both knew they were nervous.

Couldn't Langa just cancel this beef? It would probably make everything so, so much better.

Reki leaned forward and reached out, intertwining his fingers with Langa's and looked the bluenette in the eyes. Langa hated eye contact, but he could get lost in those amber eyes, especially when they looked that determined.

"Promise me Langa, no matter how freaked out you are, kick his ass for me!" Reki said, "I wanna see you race and win! "

As the boys' fingers locked together on the sand, Langa knew that this must be some kind of cultural thing for merpeople, like instead of pinky promises, they held hands or something. At least that's what Langa thought, he knew nothing about the merpeople culture, he only knew as far as Reki's home life and family. Even so, Langa almost didn't want Reki to let go.

"I will, I'll win." Langa said, squeezing Reki's hand.

Reki pulled his hand out from below Langa's, holding it out in a fist, "DAP me up?"

Langa slowly took his hand and awkwardly bumped his fist against Reki's. Reki smiled and Langa thought that maybe now, he had fully made this promise. That he would win for Reki and that he would beat Adam. And maybe, Langa could show off too, because sometimes showing off wasn't too selfish of a thing.

"I'll see you tomorrow man." Reki said, turning around and swimming off into the distance.

Langa still had his fist held out and he dropped it into his lap, "You don't wanna watch me practice?"

Reki spun around and laughed, "Sorry man, but I wanna see your skills at S. I want it to be a surprise! You work hard!"

Langa didn't want to practice alone, but he still nodded and grabbed his surfboard from behind the large rocks, which he had placed there that morning. As he did so, he also watched as Reki swam away, leaving Langa alone on the beach once again.

As the blue haired boy walked into S for the first time in months, everyone was shocked. S was an illegal surfboarding race, not just any, that takes place in the evenings, hidden from the main beach. Everyone had just assumed Langa, AKA Snow, had left due to the dangerous circumstances. So everyone was whispering like crazy as he approached the beach, dressed in his bright blue wetsuit, surfboard tucked under his arm.

Miya Chinen tapped his foot on the floor, nudging the 'Anti-Hero of S', Shadow with his elbow, "Told ya he'd come back, you owe me five thousand four hundred forty six yen."

Shadow groaned and handed the younger boy a stack of paper yen. As the exchange went on, Langa stared out into the ocean, his eyes scanning the horizon for the familiar red hair of his new friend. If Langa had to be honest, he was so incredibly nervous. He had practiced for as long as he could the night before and yet, he still felt like he couldn't keep his promise to Reki. Langa didn't want to be a liar, his mother had always told him if you make a promise, you should keep it and never, ever break it.

“You’re back.” Someone’s voice appeared by his side and he looked over to see Cherry Blossom.

Langa nodded and kicked at the wet sand, “Yeah, I am.”

“You might still have a chance to cancel this,” Cherry said, tugging his mask down for a second to get some fresh air, “It’ll be best for you.”

"I don't wanna cancel it." Langa replied bluntly.

Cherry sighed and pulled his mask back up over his face, as he turned to leave he said, "Then you're an idiot."

"I know." Langa whispered, even though he knew Cherry couldn't hear him.

The sun was travelling ever closer to the edge of the sky and Langa was beginning to get worried. If Adam didn't get there by nightfall, then the beef would be cancelled, because it was dangerous to surf in the dark and only people with a death wish would race then. Maybe Adam had a death wish and maybe Langa did too, the boy didn't know.

The water splashed across his feet, icy and cold.

Langa loved it.

It was just like when he would stand by the beach at age seven, watching his father surf those large waves and when he came back, Langa would excitedly ask to hop on one too and race across the water. It was just like when he would walk on the shore, picking up different, pretty shells he found and bring them to his mother and they would make crafts with them. It was just like the many times he had attended S before his father's death. It was just like home.

People started shouting behind him and Langa knew exactly why, the feeling of peace leaving him to be replaced with seriousness. He turned to face Adam, who wore his usual red wetsuit that resembled a matador costume. Langa eyed his surfboard, which looked much more dangerous than usual but he kept his calm.

Adam approached him and when he reached Langa, pulled out a bouquet out of seemingly nowhere, "It's been a while since we've raced together Little Langa, so flowers were simply the best way to stitch our relationship back together."

Langa simply batted the flowers out of his face, watching them fall into the sand and scatter across the ground. Behind them, Shadow gasped loudly and Joe had to hold the angry florist back. Adam's eyes flicked over to his own hand, silent with shock. Clearly he was surprised by Langa's sudden outburst, but Langa was done with going along with whatever Adam did.

"Let's get this over with." Langa said, dropping his blue surfboard into his hands and heading towards the water.

"So rude," Adam said, following suit and standing beside Langa, "I was just appreciating you."

Langa started into the water, feeling it splash against his legs and he placed the surfboard into the ocean, ignoring his opponent completely. The race would begin as soon as they both stood on their boards. How do people race on surfboards? It's quite simple actually, they simply surf the waves until they reach the lighthouse figurine (with actual lights in it!) that was anchored to the ocean floor. The first person to reach it was the winner and Langa was going to be sure it was him.

Adam placed his own surfboard in the water and both of the blue haired males rested their chests on the boards, Langa quickly attaching his ankle to his before doing so. A loud air horn sounded behind them and they started swimming out into the ocean and Langa was already behind, because Adam was such a fast swimmer. Langa kicked his legs hard, trying to catch up to his opponent. He was going to win and he wasn't going to get hurt either! If Adam tried any dirty tricks, Langa would stop him.

The sun reflected off the water, shining in Langa's eyes, making it difficult to see. His arms and legs were weak from the night before, when he had practiced and practiced and practiced until sun down. The cold of the sea water stung his skin, it almost felt like burning. Despite all these feelings that just didn't sit right with Langa, he continued forward, ignoring the urge to give up and turn around and claw at his skin until all these things went away. He was just being sensitive.

They were beginning to near a wave and Langa took that as a chance to catch up. He was lankier and had practiced like hell the night before, so he was sure to get ahead. Langa ignored all the terrible sensations that lingered on his skin and stood atop his board, focusing on the approaching wave and the wave only. As the watery wall got bigger and the breeze blew through Langa's hair, the bluenette felt excited once again. Almost like when he was nine years old, being helped on smaller waves by his father, who was patient with Langa every step of the way.

The wave pushed up below his surfboard and suddenly, it was like Langa was soaring. He was so high up for the first time in a long time and he felt as if he could touch the clouds and suddenly, all the bad sensations were gone, or maybe he was just blocking them out. Of course, he needed to pay attention, so as he continued to race down the wave, feeling Adam's presence just behind him, his eyes scanned the water for the mini lighthouse.

There it was! It was bobbing up and down only a few miles away, Langa could reach it. Langa zoomed down the wave, awaiting the next one, his eyes scanning for any approaching water. Instead, his eyes fell on a rock that sat in the middle of the ocean, a familiar face looking at Langa in awe as he flew across the water. Reki.

Langa motioned for the merman to hide and Reki followed his directions. The redhead's eyes flicked over to the other man who jumped across the waves extravagantly, his crimson eyes on Langa. Reki didn't like the look that flashed across the man's -- Adam's (?) --  face as he caught up to Langa.

However, Langa hadn't noticed that Adam had caught up, since his attention was fixed on the water, which was rising, slowly transforming into a wave. Just as Langa was about to ride it, he felt a hand land on his back and shove him. He lost his balance and crashed into the water, falling down to the ocean floor. He held his breath, trying to reach the surface, but his surfboard was suddenly too heavy and his legs too tired.

He tried to find his way to the surface again, but this time it wasn't his weak legs that stopped him. The cord that connected his ankle to the surfboard had wrapped around something that Langa couldn't see and he tugged at it, trying to get free. His vision was starting to get blurry, he needed air, so his body immediately reacted, forcing his mouth open and letting water fill his lungs.

Oh God, was Langa going to drown? Adam had really kept his word, he did teach Langa a lesson -- one that he was a cold blooded killer who drowned innocent seventeen year olds. Langa started to slow, his eyes were going black and he couldn't breathe, all there was was water. Water, water, water.

Langa hardly noticed when someone cut him free from whatever he was stuck on. He hardly noticed when their arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him up out of the water, allowing cool, evening air to blow across his face. He only noticed when suddenly, he was coughing up water, gasping for air, his lungs burning.

The person who had saved him held his head gently in their hands… and that someone was Reki. His amber eyes were filled with concern and his face was very close to Langa, their breaths mixing with one another -- Reki's slow, steady one and Langa's fast, shaky one.

"You saved me…" Langa managed.

Reki smiled, "I did."

Someone from the beach yelled, "LOOK, IT'S SNOW!" And Langa quickly ushered for Reki to hide.

The merman grimaced and dipped below the water, staying close to Langa, keeping an eye on the bluenette as he kicked his legs to stay afloat.

Someone reached Langa and brought him to the shoreline, handing him a towel. Langa shivered, freezing cold as the breeze blew cool, the sun now replaced by the rising moon. The first person to run over, concerned, was Joe, who helped dry off the teen.

"Hey, Snow, are you okay?" He asked.

Langa's hands tightened on the towel that hung around his shoulders, those bad sensations suddenly returning. His legs ached. His clothes felt too tight. The crowd, shouting and asking if Langa was okay and complaining at Adam, who also stood on the beach, was far too loud. His lungs burned and he just wanted to get home right away.

"I need to go home." He replied, turning and heading towards the exit of S.

People tried to catch up to him, asking him if he was alright. One of them was Miya Chinen, one of the younger people at S, who grabbed at Langa's arm in concern.

"Snow, are you okay!?" Miya asked, "Adam went too far out there!"

Langa harshly tugged his arm out of Miya's grasp and felt horrible when he said, "Leave me alone. Don't touch me." In a rude tone.

Miya looked hurt and Langa wished he could apologize, but he started running out of S when others started approaching him. Langa regretted returning to S that night, that beef hadn't been the best and he had been a complete and utter asshole.

I'm sorry Miya. I'm sorry Reki.