#and the complimenting from langa at that scene after they skated it out and reki getting flustered!!

[poputepi]

can't stop thinking about reki and langa... bro we have a secret handshake and we add the infinity symbol after we made up from our fight it's not gay

[ureunyung]

Sk8 AU where Renga kisses Langa while he’s over at his house :3

—

Langa has been talking for hours, ranting about skating— or whatever mess that has spilled from his mind and slipped past his lips. And usually, Reki is attentive and taking in every single word (because how could you ignore anything coming from someone who looks like Langa does). This time, however, Reki cannot focus. The sunset is complimenting the cool blue of his hair in some ironic way while his eyes reflect the sky itself. Reki tries to act like he’s paying attention. He tries to act like he’s listening to a single word coming from those lips, but, oh.

Those lips.

A voice tells Reki he needs to do something. That he needs to act on whatever urge his body is pushing him to do. He can’t think. The redhead cannot think, nor can he breathe in this moment. He realizes he’s been holding his breath this whole time. Since when, he’s completely unsure, but it must’ve been forever considering how tight his chest was feeling in this very moment. He breathes in, inhaling the afternoon breeze seeping through the cracked window, along with Langa’s scent. What cologne did he use again? Or was it a body wash? These meaningless questions, an obvious cover, clouded his mind.

He takes in another sharp breath, manually having to breathe now.

Reki’s hand reaches over to lay on top of Langa’s hair. The boy stops speaking for a few seconds, locks eyes with Reki, and smiles. He continues his rant and Reki’s heart cannot help but skip a beat. A simple sign of affection, one he has shown in the past before, but this?

This is different.

Reki’s hand moves along his hair, lightly moving to just a few fingers as he places a strand of hair behind the other’s ear, mimicking the cheesy scenes he has seen in so many of the romances he had watched with Langa in the past. Reki can feel something, though unsure what, waking up inside of him. He can feel his chest getting tighter by the minute, and the hair on his arms standing up, as well as thoughts racing through his mind ten million times faster than they ever had before. This feeling scares him, but it’s there for a reason. Some reason Reki subconsciously knows about.

Langa’s lips move one last time, speaking some quiet something into the room. Reki’s eyes move back to Langa’s in a swift motion, wanting to take in every feature possible.

“Langa..?”

He stops speaking almost instantly. Which is odd because Reki spoke the name so quietly that you could barely hear it, but Langa did hear it. And for some strange, unknown reason, that makes the redhead’s heart flutter.

Now it’s silent between the two, and this suffocating, thickening tension floats around them both. As if it’s urging Reki to do something about it.

And Reki does.

It’s slow and, he could only imagine, agonizingly painful to watch from a third party perspective, but he doesn’t care. Because his eyes are closed, and the moment feels right. And he can’t back out now. Not after calling his name with such sickening sweetness.

Reki kisses him. Reki Kyan kisses Langa Hasegawa.

[einfalls-los]

On the topic of queerbaiting in SK8

Coming out of the latest episode of sk8 I've already seen a lot of people call it queerbaiting. And while I understand the disappointment, I respectfully disagree.

Listen, I understand we all would have liked to see renga and / or matchablossom become explicit canon in the series. And I do agree that the fanservice did feel a little more intense than in a lot of other series. Hell, I myself have stated in a previous rant after episode 9 that it feels like the series has crossed a line. However - we have not been promised anything.

The writers alwas said this was a series about skating and friendship. Friendship was always the focal point of this series next to skating. They didn't trick us, they have never ever promised us any canon pairings. I feel like Japan in general has a very complicated role when it comes to queerbaiting and should not be put on the same page as western shows but even apart from that.

Looking at Renga - they are probably the closest to canon apart from Tadashi/Adam (but we're ignoring them for this post). With that implicit confession from Langa to his mom, Reki blushing at the compliments and all their unfinished sentences. But while they're not explicitly canon, they're also not explicitly non-canon. The show ends with them skating against each other, doing what they love together with a person they love. That has been made absolutely clear by the narrative, they love each other. Not necessarily in the clear romantic / sexual way a shipper wants to see but at least in some way. And they're teenagers, they got time and neither of them ends up in another romantic relationship that diminishes theirs. They're each other's number one at this point in time, their relationship is at the core of the narrative.

And matchablossom - as much as I love them, have they ever shown to be any more than friends? They are obviously and despite all their bickering friends and close ones at that. But other than that? I have seen people argue how pointless all their scenes full of tension and the heartfelt ones are but I don't think so. Their relationship to each other is very important even if it does not lead to a romantic conclusion. It's part of their characters, part of their arc.

Going back to what I said, that it felt like a line has been crossed. At that moment it felt like that to me. Because I was emotional and it's what I wanted it to be. But looking back at it? Yeah, it was intense and with the lense of someone looking for that stuff it's definitely there but especially between Kaoru and Kojiro there is nothing that really implies in canon that they have romantic feelings for each other. I headcanon it as such but I do recognize this is my reading of the situation and not necessarily what the writers intended.

I get the disappointment. I would love more queer rep in anime outside from bl and gl and I would have especially loved to see matchablossom become canon. But being completely honest with myself, that is nothing the show ever promised to me or anybody. And that doesn't mean we cannot enjoy the fandom that comes with the show, write fic, draw fanart and exchange headcanons about the pairings we love. But the show itself never promised us anything and I think it's unfair to judge it based on a promise it never gave.

[le0watch]

It's a cold Okinawan day, with Reki shivering beneath his two layers of king sleeved shirts. One is just a shirt, while the other is a thick hoodie- and he's still cold! But when he glances at Langa beside him through the corners of his eyes, he scowls to see that he's unborthered about it. He's wearing one layer! One! That's ridiculous when Reki feels like his fingers are about to freeze off.

They're at Reki’s house, per usual, and Langa is the one talking for once. Apparently, one of the new resturaunts being built nearby features chicken and dumplings, and how he's excited to eat them again. Reki started to doze at some point, half listening, half trying not to die of the cold.

“I would love to take you with me, so you can try them!” Langa exclaims, a light pink hinting at the corners of his cheeks. Adorable. His blush is so small and faint, as if it we're trying to hide itself from view. Reki thinks that fits Langa to a t. “I bet you'd love it- would you like to go with me, sunshine?”

Reki starts at the use of his new nickname- or, well, one of the several new nicknames Langa had started to call him since they’d started to date. Which, they are still very fresh into the dating scene and being boyfriends- both skirting around too much physical attention or being too shy to initiate it.

Especially Reki, if they're sitting quietly like this. Sure, when they're walking or something he could and would launch himself into Langa's arms, but this is a different story. He has no reason to do that.

Unless, there is one… He concocts a plan in his brain before responding to his boyfriend.

“Of course I would, snowflake,” he replies, feeling a bit of triumph when he sees the flush of pink on Langa's face spread a little. “Now- hey, wanna watch some skating vids I found?”

“Always,” Langa replies instantly, scooting a tad closer to the redhead. Reki smiles; Langa is always so sweet.

“Alright, sit still,” Reki orders, making Langa pause and his eyebrows scrunch with confusion. Then, Reki stands up, walks over to Langa, and arranges himself in his boyfriend’s lap. He hears Langa’s breath catch as he cuddles up against his chest, holding his

phone in one hand while he adjusts himself with the other. He pauses, and looks over his shoulder, asking, “Is this okay?”

With a deep flush on his cheeks and a content light in his eyes, Langa leans forward, curling around Reki’s back. He rests his chin on one of Reki’s shoulders, and slowly, hesitantly, Reki can feel his hands and arms inching around his stomach, pulling him a tad closer. Now it's Reki’s turn to flush, but he initiated it, so he can't run off. He swallows heavily when he feels Langa's breaths tickling the side of his neck, causing a few of his hairs to tickle his skin.

“Yeah,” Langa answers, his voice hushed, as if if he spoke too loudly, the moment would be ruined. His chest is flush against Reki’s back. He's warm. Reki draws his legs in close, allowing Langa’s to curl around his shins. He must feel Reki’s shivering, because he squeezes him, helping to chase some of the cold away.

Both fall quiet, and Reki momentarily forgets what he was supposed to be doing. Langa doesn't seem to mind, because he buries his face in the area where Reki’s neck meets his shoulder. The redhead shudders involuntarily. He's never had someone hold him like this before. He feels soft… and loved.

And Langa holds him like he's a piece of glass, like he's something to be cherished. Reki’s heart swells in his chest, and he grabs one of Langa’s hands with his own lightly, their fingers intertwining. Reki lets out a soft sigh, and then tenses when Langa presses a light kiss to the side of his neck, sending heat through his veins.

Langa pauses, frowning with concern. “Was that too much?” he asks nervously.

“N- no. It's fine… it's fine,” Reki replies in a whisper. He'd dropped his phone, the skating videos forgotten in the tender moment.

They both fall silent once more, merely soaking in the soft cuddles. Reki can feel Langa's heart racing against his back, and frowns with worry.

“Are you okay? Your heart’s racing,” Reki says, starting to pull away. But Langa pulls him back in, shaking his head.

“It's okay,” Langa reassures him, lightly applying pressure to the hand he's holding. Reki squeezes back, still confused. “My… my heart races when I'm with you… It beats for you, and only you, Reki.”

Reki feels his face get burning hot, and he has to hide behind his hands at this point. Langa chuckles softly, and pressed another kiss to Reki’s cheek, this serving to only cause the redhead to squeak.

“You're amazing, Reki. You always are, and you're always surprising me, too,” Langa tells him, directly into his ear. Reki shudders as his boyfriend’s breaths and words brush across the skin on his neck. That, plus being held, and being complimented makes Reki squirm, hardly able to handle any of this. He was just wanting some cuddles- but this went downhill really fast! He thinks going to melt into nothing any moment now. “You’re honestly the best boyfriend anyone could ask for- and you ended up choosing me to date. I feel so happy every time I'm with you and-”

“St- stop!!” Reki exclaims, pulling his head beneath Langa’s chin to better hide himself. “Th… that's enough.”

He's back in the skatepark, with Langa dumping so many compliments and praises on him out of seemingly nowhere.

There's another soft chuckle from Langa, and then a kiss is getting pressed into his hair. Man, Langa got confident after Reki first initiated the contact. He’ll have to remember that.

“Alright, for you,” Langa says fondly, and buries his nose into the top of Reki’s curly red hair. “There’ll be more time for that later, after all.”

Reki swallows heavily, and finally remembers why he'd done this in the first place. He fishes his phone from the floor, flipping back to YouTube and playing the first skateboarding video on his playlist. Langa ends up resting his chin on top of Reki’s head, with Reki leaning his back against Langa’s shoulder.

A few hours pass with them in these positions, and the videos begin to blur together. The sun sets at one point, and Reki lets out a large yawn, his eyelids heavy, suddenly exhausted. This fact is made worse when Langa begins to lightly card his fingers through his hair, humming softly.

At some point, Reki thinks he drops the phone. Langa catches it just before it hits the floor, and sets it down on the nearby night stand. Reki’s leaning heavier and heavier against Langa’s chest, until finally, his eyes slip closed.

He's not asleep yet, but nearly there. He feels Langa shift a little, curling ever closer around Reki, using one of his hands to carefully pull his headband from his hair. This hair falls into his face, and it tickles his nose, but it's not too annoying.

Langa buries his face back into Reki’s hair, holding him close carefully. He's holding him so gently, so carefully… it makes Reki’s chest warm despite being half asleep.

Langa doesn’t move for a while, and Reki is just starting to drift off, when suddenly, Langa starts to move. He shifts his arms and Reki’s weight, wrapping one arm around the back of the redhead’s shoulders, and the other beneath Reki’s knees.

Reki gets surprised; Langa is slowly lifting from the ground, holding him close to his chest. A soft kiss is pressed against his forehead, and he's carried a few feet from where they'd started, before being laid out on his bed. His head hits his pillow, and Langa even takes the time to tuck him in. If Reki were more awake, he'd have started crying. No one has ever cared for him this much before to tuck him into his bed.

His hair is then brushed back from his forehead, and Langa presses his own forehead against his. It's such a tender moment, and Reki wishes he could react instead of falling further into sleep.

But then Langa is drawing away, and beginning to walk away. Wait, no! Reki doesn't want Langa to go away- he's cold and Langa gives good cuddles!

Before the taller bt could get too far away, Reki catches the hem of his shirt, forcing his eyes open. His eyelids are heavy weights that continue trying to snap shut, but he keeps himself awake to make sure Langa doesn't leave him yet.

“Stay?” he asks. He's muttering, his letters slurring, but he doesn't care right now. His voice is thick with sleep, and he can hardly see Langa’s face in the dark and through his sleep blurry vision. But he does see Langa pause, look back at him, and if Reki were more awake, he'd think that expression he's giving him was fond. “Please?”

It doesn't take much more for Langa to crawl into the small bed with Reki, squishing himself between the wall and the redhead’s back. Reki’s hand falls, and his eyes snap shut, and he can feel consciousness finally slipping from his finger tips, he hears Langa whisper, “Always, my love.”

His dreams are bright and sweet that night.

[orange-plum]

OK, after yesterday’s episode, watching the SK8 community react, and giving myself some time to get my thoughts together, I think I’ve come to a conclusion in my head about Renga mainly, and SK8 as a whole.

I agree with the community. I think SK8 is a canonically LGBTQ+ show. There are enough scenes to blatantly show this. I know sports anime’s tend to queerbait a lot and make relationships seem more intimate with men than other shows, but still. Even by sports anime standards, SK8 does seem to take it a bit further than just “see what you want”. There are canonically queer characters we follow, and the shots/visuals of some character dynamics are intrinsically queer coded. So with that I can agree.

As for Renga . . . I can somewhat agree/disagree with the community. And while their reunion scene has gay implications, I can’t say I am 100% on board with what I see a lot of the community celebrating. The overall message of what I’ve been seeing is “It’s a confession. You don’t have to explicitly kiss or say I love you to be in love and confess. If this was a man and a woman, you would’ve eaten that up as romantic.”

Yeah, I def agree with that overall as a statement. Langa, at the very least, came out on the show. And the way he describes his heart racing with Reki, that he loved snowboarding because he loved his dad, and he loves skating cuz he loves Reki, he’s at least part of the canon queerness of SK8. But Reki, IMO, from what I’ve seen, hasn’t given me a big inclination that he’s pan/bi/gay or whatever he is. We know he likes girls because he’s expressed it in the show, but I haven’t seen any inclination for boys.

And yeah, I’m a big Renga shipper, but I don’t just want to project onto the show my wishes, or see what I want to see by doing mental gymnastics. I really want to look at it and say to myself “Is this character queer coded?” Him blushing because Langa showered him with praise isn’t the same. Lots of people, especially people with low self-esteem (as Reki had been going through) get embarrassed when thrown compliments. I do see potential for Reki to be a “gay” character, but at the moment, I feel myself flashing back on Killua and Gon from HxH.

Not to get crazy into that but Killua is a canonically gay character in HxH, and it’s heavily done in such a manner that he doesn’t even have to explicitly say it for the audience to know. Togashi did a great job with him. And while I ship Killugon, and Gon has the capacity to be a “gay” character, I was never given any blatant implication that he harbors any romantic feelings for Killua. Gon’s love for Killua is just love. I’m not even sure if Gon can experience romantic love, but that’s a whole other can of worms.

My POINT is that while it isn’t necessary for Langa and Reki to kiss or say the words “I like you” for the audience to feel if they do or not, I don’t want to KEEP settling for this narrative in gay media. In a world where it is soooo hard to find explicitly gay canon confirming stories, I think it is necessary to get more confirmation. At least until gay content is so normalized and accessible. It’s super important IMO at the beginning to start pushing for the explicit proof. No wiggle room for people to take away LGBTQ+ voices for their stories, for people to dismiss “gay” characters, to downplay our stories and say “they’re just friends, you’re just pushing shipping” to people who consume this stuff. It sucks to even have this debate anymore when a story is clearly ours.

So, while IDK if I’d say SK8 is queerbaiting, I def feel a certain kinda way with being satisfied with stories being told with implied confirmation instead of visual or verbal. I don’t want to settle for crumbs anymore or the bare minimum. It’s 2021, even a lot of children’s animated shows are finding a way to kiss and say I love you or even going so far as to say “I’m gay.” I’m not going to shit on SK8 for that, because it is a good queer coded show with some canonically LGBTQ+ characters/scenes.

But I won’t lie if I say that I just wish they would push it farther if that’s the narrative they want. There are so few anime out there for gay people with explicit confirmation that isn’t fetishized. You can probably count on both hands the amount of anime that does that (GL is different, rn I’m talking about BL). So I’m not completely with the community on this. Until there are a lot more stories for LGBTQ+ where you don’t have to question if this character/relationship is canonically gay or not, I’m not gonna be completely satisfied with saying “I want to skate with you forever” essentially.

IDK that’s just my take on it.

TL;DR: I appreciate that Renga seems at the very least semi-canon, but I’m not happy with series not taking the plunge and showing us explicit canon gay confirmation, when we live in a world where so few things in media (at least with anime) exist. It just seems like a half-celebration in my heart, at least.

[redxblueihateloveyou]

Actually i don't get Reki at all. Like even in the first ep he was worse even than Shadow and i'm not talking abt Cherry, Joe and Adam. And he was ok and loved skating. But like... if your friend is better than you, then you get depressed and making your friend feel guilty abt you not being good enough? I didn't even ship Reki and Langa, they are just giving me only friendship vibes, but i'm still sad, wtf writers did with his character?

Yeah, same. Like, sorry, I just don’t think Reki’s character can be redeemed for me personaly at this point.  

Like what should I even stand for in his character? I do not respect his life position at all. Like I dislike Makoto for being a shadow and not wanting anything in his life, but hey, at least he’s genuinely happy for Haru’s success. I adore Rin who never gave up and dove into the hardest challenge possible from the start to get on Haru’s level, cause he wanted to swim with him for the rest of his life and he got there. And then there’s this..  it’s like.. he loves to skate, but apparently not enough, cause his doesn’t want it, if he isn’t the best at it, so he’d rather... not skate at all? He wants to be as cool and on the same level with “naturally talented ones” and wants to compete with Langa, but he doesn’t want to do anything for it or search for his own unique style or smth to beat them in another way? And on top of that he’s also sad about seeing Langa succeeding? The whole thing is... like.. no, thank you?

Like are they really gonna go with the “you made me want to be great at this like you, but if only you are great at this, than screw both you and this?” lolz. Even if they will go with the psychological block bc of his friend’s injury, it’s gonna be lousy af now. It’s like is there even a route left which could make him look...ahem... presentable at this point? Idk.

I also was right about the fact that he’s the type who prolongs the whining instead of doing things, unlike some other characters who were in his position too; realistic maybe he is, but I don’t want it, honestly, like I see such things every day and I do not like it.

From what I’ve seen in the tag some are already trying to apply here like 50 mental disorders to excuse him and stuff like “it’s realistic” and at this point I’m honestly used to people on the internet using mental disorders not for spreading awareness, but bc they’re thinking it’s “trendy”, which is a cringe galore and shame on you. But it still makes me kinda sad all the time. Also there’s nothing unrealistic about not giving up and getting where you want, it’s just harder for, to say, “ordinary” people, that’s why most rarely choose this option (although it’s for you to decide if you’re ordinary or not, cause everyone can be extraordinary, you just need to find it in you). Anyways, drowning in a self pity is not the trait I’ve ever found appealing in people, along with the constant comparing yourself to others.

Sadly many prefer to use these excuses to get out of everything along with being lazy or jealous, esp the young generation. At this point, it’s like the same thing as with this other fandom. Like, sometimes when someone is trying to hit someone because he saw that he’s more talented than him, that just means that he’s an asshole, there’s no need to come up with ridiculous excuses to justify this and try to make him a hero. And sometimes ppl are just jealous, as simple as that. And no, not everyone is like that. At this point ppl on social media are like... fuck your hard-working characters, who are inspired by talent and do not give up on trying to prove yourself even if the whole world is against them. Let’s promote being emo and how it’s okay to spend your life on walking around telling everyone how you’re a useless trash, like this will help you in life.

Also if seeing someone succeed, esp your best friend, makes you sad, might want to reconsider the way of living your life. Just saying.

Also since when you have to be the best just to enjoy doing what you love doing? I’m like... personaly I do not get it. Looking at my vids 10 years ago they look like utter trash, but I tried and tried and yeah, I might not reach some levels of mega talented ppl, but hey, I’m still trying and searching for stuff I can improve all the time and watch talented ppl tutorials like “holy fuck, you can do that?”.

But hey, at least he doesn’t want to only make boards, he wants to compete... (or does he? I’m honestly not sure at this point lol)... I mean, there’s... that. but I thought, when he’s gonna realize it, he’s gonna be back on track, but n.o. xD back to self pity. ok then. Some go like “its only been 3 episodes” and I’m like “this... ain’t a 24 episodes anime tho..(?)”.

So far I’m just confused about what are writers intentions with some characters are. Like the most interesting ones at least for me are technically a background for some reason idk. I was literally sad about the wasted amount of screentime on Reki being.. well, nothing new.

Sad part about this is that people like this also need a constant reassuring to the point of them just sucking your life out of you, too, so I honestly do not know how to deal with this life position. Ppl like this have a tendency to never be happy, so Langa would just have to run after him and feed him with compliments for the rest of his life to water his tiny self-esteem or say smth “don’t give up, don’t give up, fighting”? It’s like... well, ok. Friendship, yeah, but ship? Nah, not for me. Also I do not smell any huge romance there tbh, and from Reki’s side this is all just a mess tbh.

The saddest part was that he saw that Langa won after his yelling and he didn’t care for that. Like Rin was mopping bc he wanted to swim with Haru, so when he saw that Haru wanted to swim with him, too, that was it for him. And that’s the problem all the viewers who watched Free! got hit with while watching this. My DMs are literally all about “why do I not feel anything about them?” or “sometimes cute, but smth doesn’t hit me shipping wise”. Cause I think most expected for some reason that he would also put Langa first, but at the end, they’re not on the same track, bc their priorities are different.

I actually think it was just mistake for all of our Free! hommies including me to go at it from the wrong point of view and from the beginning expecting it shipping wise to be like that one other Utsumi’s work. I mean, she’s just a director there, not also on the storyboard or anything else. Should’ve gone watching it with a clear head. The main ship just does not hit any spots for me either. And my heart does not lie there at all. I do blame Free! for this, cause it’s like impossible to compare bc of those our scenes, I keep seeing, but at the same time, they do not hold up not to the dynamic, not to anything at this point. Like I do not know where they’re going with them, but this is just not my type of a ship in general and definitely not the one I can go crazy about. I honestly do not think 3 episodes can change that. It’s says a lot if at this point I do not even care much for their reconciliation, I’m like.. tell me about the seniors’ drama tho xD So I’ll stick with my side ships.

Also, unrelated to the question, but did Adam seriously just went and hit Cherry with a board in the face?!!!! (THE FUCK DUDE?) Like, this was definitely not how I thought this was gonna go. I also kinda felt like Cherry was in love with Adam in the past. All in all this was like a... strange episode, at this point I just feel sorry for my baby Langa, Joe and Cherry were very cute (esp at the end) and my god Cherry is hot, but like I also want something complex pls, so idk I’m  still waiting for the Adam/Tadashi shananigans.

At this point I’m like “I love watching this, but what am I watching?” haha supernatural skating soup opera it is then. 

Also I just love Langa my dude, my man. How he’s such a puppy in real life, but so freaking hot when he skates??!!! T_T 

[babysgarage]

i’m gonna type out a long rant i said i’d save for after the last episode airs now it helps me declutter my brain 

okay i legit didn’t want to ship reki and langa from the start, partly bc they didn’t really fit my favorite tropes, partly because i really adored their relationship from the start and i didn’t wanna set myself up for a disappointment by expecting more but here we are 

i mean already by episode 2 they were shown to share a single braincell and were idiots together but i also raved about how caring and sweet they were to each other and how it made me notice that all other relationships between between to main characters/best friends in shonen and sports anime i’ve seen until now always had them as bickering rivals who viewed each other as goal posts they wanted to surpass, while also caring a lot about each other obviously 

but with these two it was never about that, they showed them bonding over stupid shit like watching videos on their phones and passing ketchup between them on a skateboard and reki helping langa with his job search and bandaging up each other’s wounds and becoming more comfortable with physical affection etc, and even when the difference in their skills caused their big fight, the main reason reki was upset was bc he thought he wouldn’t be able to skate next to langa, it never was about /beating him/ (the only time they even mentioned langa and reki racing against each other was in episode 11, and that was just encourangement for reki to win against adam and another way of emphasizing they wanted to skate together)

so i enjoyed the show for its animation and visuals and humor and the very sweet platonic friendship between the two main characters and i would’ve ridden it like that to the end but- you could see them growing closer in each ep and it gave me the same feeling as a certain other skating anime, and then came the conversation between langa and his mom where she asked him ‘do you like this person?’ and he yelps, blushes, looks away and stutters a ‘well.. yeah’ and hold the fuck up, am i seeing this right? are they legit doing this? or are we all just misinterpreting it? bc if it was what we thought it was, then it was a big deal, but no one from the japanese speaking side of the fandom that i follow seemed to be freaking out like the rest of us did so idk. the scene did have a comedic end so maybe we were supposed to take the entire thing as a joke, which, okay, i wouldn’t like it but i’d accept it. except they also gave us 4 episodes of langa looking like a kicked puppy because reki wasn’t there. and then there was a wholeass 3 episode arc where he figures out that his heart beats faster not because the skating itself, but specifically because reki is there to watch him/cheer him on/skate with him when he does. and then we have them making up in ep10 where langa showers him with compliments and they both blush and talk about skating together forever (’infinitely’) and they make an infinity sign a part of their fistbump routine and at this point i gotta ask myself ‘are yall trying to use this skating thing as a metaphor or smth?’ 1) because that’s a common thing in sports anime 2) because joe literally says ‘skaters are idiots. making friends, fighting, making up, you do everything trought skating’ uhhhh does that count for confessing to your crush too? so they finally make up and they go back to being happy (FINALLY) again after 4 weeks of being miserable without each other and langa even says "I always realize how much something meant to me after I lose it, like I did w/ you Reki" just... why go through all this fuckery of strengthening their relationship when it was strong from the get-go if you’re not really planning on going anywhere with it

and you absolutely have the opportunity to go somewhere with it because the literal theme of the main antagonist is about how wrong and fucked up his view on love is and he’s going up against langa in the last episode, who could make a case for, yknow, a healthy and good version of love that he himself learned of during the show (and of course that version of love could be platonic but that’d make me write another wholeass rant about some very problematic aspects of the show and also, like, i know this is utsumi’s ‘passion project’, i know she also worked on free! and bfish so i thought maybe she’d like to do something more lets say unquestionably romantic&gay if she were given the opportunity) idk why but my hopes are back at 0 where they were when the show began but we’ll see i guess. maybe yoi just really spoiled me and gave me too much confidence in my instincts 

[le0watch]

"the moon is beautiful tonight."

it was said so quietly, langa almost thinks he hadn't actually heard it. he glances to his side, where reki is sitting, his knees hugged to his chest. his cheeks are a deep red, spreading over and across his nose. the moon's light shines brightly, highlighting his face just enough for langa to see the curves of his cheeks, the freckles peppering his skin, the honey amber of his eyes. he's not looking at langa, but at the moon instead, its perfect sphere reflected against the soft candlelight of his gaze.

he's beautiful, stars surrounding the moon's reflection, making his eyes look like a bit of the night sky captured in his skull. langa could get lost staring into them, to forever drift through the stars and galaxies in his amber orbs. a few strands of his fiery hair frames his face, bringing ever more of langa's attention to his gorgeous eyes.

langa can't stop the breath from being caught in his chest. at the way reki blushes so adorably. by why is he blushing? he normally only does following a stream of compliments that langa had released, or due to the brushing of their hands. maybe if due to his gorgeous eyes catching langa's watching him, a softness at their edges.

but none of that had happened. they've sat here together, under the night's sky for about an hour now. it had started off with langa pointing out some of the constellations he knew, followed with reki asking for the stories behind each. and because of the interest langa had taken in them when he'd been younger, he happily obliged, retelling each of the stories he knew behind the shapes of the stars.

his favorite is o'rion. langa likes to imagine that instead of the ancient hero, carved into his place among the stars, that it was reki, instead, forever shining like the sun he is.

he hadn't even been looking at the moon. but now, after reki choked out that sentence, his gaze drifts to it, finding it to be large and full, bright against the black backdrop of the sleeping sky.

he has to agree that it is, in fact, beautiful.

but that still doesn't explain the feather light flush covering reki's cheeks and nose.

a cat with a pure coat of silver fur approaches them, tail held high, curved at its tip. its eyes are an unearthly green, watching the two boys curiously.

"it is," he replied, softly, not wanting to break the state of their quiet comfort. the still of the night they had melded into.

somehow, he thinks, he must have answered wrong. because of smiling back at him, reki frowns, his eyes dropping, chin burying itself in the fabric of his sweater's sleeves. langa frowns, too, guilt rising in the pit of his stomach over a mistake he doesn't understand.

"reki, i-"

"tell me more about the stars, langa," reki said, interrupting him. langa stops, mouth still half way open to form his apology, eyes blinking slowly, like a confused owl. reki looks at him, now, with a bright smile that langa knows is forced. what had he done? he'd messed up again, and he doesn't even know how. and now, reki isn't going to explain why, not now, and langa knows he shouldn't press.

so, he tells him more about the stars. he traces the constellations with his fingetip, and he doesn't comment on how he feels reki's gaze on the side of his face the rest of the time theyre there, laying in the grass, skateboards abandoned nearby.

the silver light cat trots away, tail lowered.

langa later tells joe about the confounding experience. the morning sun's fresh rays of light pours in through the windows, gleaming off of the slicked counter and tabletops. joe pauses in the cleaning of the glass he'd been focused on, eyes darting to langa's face.

"he said what to you, word by word?" joe asked, somehow serious of the smallest of a thing. what does it matter what reki had said? langa did something wrong, making those bright honey amber eyes dull to a brown pebble. he just needs to know what he did, so he knows how he can fix it.

"'the moon is beautiful tonight'," langa repeated, recalling each word easily. he remembers anything and everything reki ever says to him, filing each phrase and thing that leaves his lips in sections of his heart. especially the things that matter most- like the time he'd admitted to wanting to skate with langa forever, the day after that and the day after that!

joe's eyes widen, but his lips quirk upwards into a light smile. he chuckles softly, setting the cup he'd been cleaning aside, with the rest of the drinking cups.

"langa, that phrase holds meaning in our language," joe informs him, and langa's heart skips a beat. oh, no, what if it was something important, and langa had just brushed over it like it was no big deal? what if he'd offended reki, and there was no way of returning the honey he loved to those amber orbs he adored?

"what? what does it mean?" langa asks quickly, desperatly. he needs to make it up to reki as soon as possible, so joe needs to hurry up and tell him already!

another chuckle, and joe leans back against the wall across from the counter, large arms crossed over his even larger chest. "i told kaoru that very phrase, before we were together," he said, instead of answering langa straight on. langa's eyebrows furrow with his confusion and impatience, and he wants to demand that joe just tell him already. but joe is hokding a hand up, probably to calm him. "i told him this phrase on the night we got together. so that he would finally know. i couldn't tell him outright, so saying that instead helped me tremoundously. now, as you know, we're together, because he understood."

his eyes had gone soft as he spoke, remembering the night that he and cherry finally became official. it had been a pretty night, with them standing together a tad off from the rest of the ground, joe's jacket draped over cherry's shoulder. the moon hadn't been to remarkable that night- a small sliver, more dark than actual light. langa recalls just hearing the whisper of joe's words brushing through the air, against his ears.

"the moon is beautiful tonight," joe told cherry, his voice low like it had been a secret. langa's head tilted in confusion when cherry's eyes widened with surprise and disbelief, glazing over with something like admiration. reki beside him had gasped, hands coming up to cover his mouth at the scene, a light pink flushing his face. langa's confusion had only grown, furthered by the rolling of miya's eyes and shadow's blanching noise.

cherry had, surprisingly, pressed closer to, even if a tad begrudgingly. "i'm glad that you do," cherry had finally responded, and didn't sound like he was hissing through the cracks of his teeth anymore.

and then, just like that, they'd been official, and everyone cheered for them, leaving langa behind in his utter confusion.

now, it's dawning on him, and his mouth drops open, heart skipping another beat. he could feel his cheeks heating up, like he was outside in the summer's heat instead of inside in joe's a/c cooled restaurant. joe smiled at him as his eyes went back to his face, nodding a little, confirming langa's suspicions.

langa ran from the building as soon as he knows for sure, needing to find reki right then.

he doesn't find reki until later that day, as the sun sets and the moon is peeking over the horizon. reki is at the skatepark, alone, sitting on top of his board and idly scooting himself side to side. the last of the sun's light catches around him like a halo, making him the sole originator of all sunlight for a moment or two, before it fades, leaving him in shadow.

but langa can still reki's beautiful face, honey amber eyes looking at the cracks in the ground, tracing them almost like they are the constellations fallen to earth. he can't stop himself from smiling, at the freckled face, the lightly tanned skin, the fire red hair and amber eyes.

he makes his way to where he sits, and plops down on his own board beside him. reki jumps a little, not noticing his arrival until he's directly beside him, their bent knees brushing in the middle. the moon is slowly rising, a sliver of it sliced off. but it is still large, still bright and beautiful. like the boy he loves sitting beside him.

"hi, reki," he said in greeting, offering a small smile and wave.

reki flushes a little, already, waving back, shy. "hey, langa," he replied, and looks back up at the star dotted sky, capturing some of it in his eyes once more. if reki's eyes were the universe, langa wouldn't be surprised in the slightest. "wanna tell me about more of the constellations?"

langa hums, a light, song like note. he scoots ever closer to reki, the edges of their boards bumping, their thighs meeting. the flush on reki's face darkens, and his gaze flickers at their connected legs. "maybe in a minute," langa said, and brings their shoulders together. reki goes completely still, knees locking him in place. he leans closer, wetting his lips only a tad nervously. he's waited for so long to say this, and now he could communicate it in the way reki would prefer. he tilts his head towards the dark sky, towards the moon, now halfway high. "don't you think the moon is beautiful tonight?"

it must be the way he says it, because reki's honey amber eyes dart to his, and his flush deepens even further at how close their faces are. langa is now completely invading reki's space, their noses inches apart, their breaths mingling in the cool night air.

wide honey amber eyes stare into his own, searching, and he smiles warmly, nodding, a minute thing.

reki's lips part, his gaze drifting to langa's mouth. langa makes sure to lean in closer, slower now, however, to allow reki time to pull away. he doesn't. instead, he leans closer, their noses bumping, brushing against one another intimately.

"me too," reki whispered. his words are nearly stolen by the breeze, but langa catches them, bottles them into a small jar and stores it away to keep forever.

finally, their lips meet, warm and soft and chaste, with only the moon watching.