Ｏｕｒ Ｌａｄｙ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ Ｕｎｄｅｒｇｒｏｕｎｄ (Sk8 the Infinity)

9: Lover Tell Me, if You Can

"How's this? I went with toe clips so you can change stances," Reki was looking over Langa's modified skateboard after the strap broke. 

You never really thought that Reki could get something like this done so quickly. But you were sure that he would take your doubts and turn them into challenges. That was why you decided not to vocalize your doubts this time. Although it wasn't like you ever did. 

Langa had been standing on the board, getting used to the new feel of it. His foot was clipped on by the toe-clip Reki mentioned he put there. It was much more like what you imagined what something like that would be. And yes, it was more durable. Reki made sure of that one. Langa pressed his foot against it. His eyes lit up as he gasped.

"Reki this is great!" he turned to the redhead, enamored with his work.

"You can just call me Mechanic Star Reki!" Reki pointed to himself. 

"This is much better than before," Langa looked back down at the skateboard.

"Hey, listen to me."

"I think you lost him," you said. Your foot had been wrapped with a cloth bandage you kept for this kind of situation. Now, it was propped up on and extra chair laying around as you observed the interactions between both of your subjects. You wiggled the toes of your injured foot. Even though you were okay, Reki still insisted that you prop it up on something just to be safe.

"But this alone won't do," Reki said. "Are you sure you can win against Chinen with this board?"

"Is he as good as people say he is?" Langa asked. 

"He's on the Japanese National team," you said. "I'm pretty sure he's at least above average."

"At least?!" Reki said. "Don't you mean, extremely above average?"

"That could mean anything," Langa said. 

"It means that he's exceptionally good," you said. "He's basically a prodigy."

"It's unlikely that you're actually gonna win," Oka passed by the open door. "Might as well bow your head and cancel the beef."

"No way!" Reki pumped his fist in the air. "We're definitely gonna win!"

"But I'm the one skating," Langa said.

"Yeah, but cheeky brats like him need to be taught a lesson."

...

Nighttime was always a risk to young women. You knew this quite well, having been risking it the first few times you went to S. However, the rest of those times you went there, Reki would pick you up at your house. Of course, there were some exceptions where you had to meet at a certain spot, like those first times. What all of them had in common was that mama's words would echo in your head. It went to that one night, where it all changed. 

Tonight was not one of those nights where you would go to the underground. You were actually in an empty parking lot, helping Langa practice for the beef. Reki thought it was a good spot since there's a few things Langa would have to maneuver through. It would resemble the rocks and crevices on the winding track.

"Drop your hips a bit more!" Reki called to Langa as the three of you were going downhill to another part of the lot. It was under a roof of concrete where it was most likely empty. No one would really be out somewhere at night unless it was a bar or working overtime. "Get used to the downhill speed!" Reki instructed the other boy. 

Langa was already going pretty fast, and went even faster when he did as he was told. Someone with is experience would be likely to fall due to the conflicting forces. However, Langa could keep a steady posture throughout everything. It must've been that familiar feeling of snowboarding down white slopes in the cold that brought this idea up. Snowboarding was best done on hills after all, where plenty of snow could be used to ride on and break a fall.