Skating To A New Dawn

Dawn Is Slowly Breaking

"Damn, I lost!" Langa said, standing there bent over, hands on his knees while trying to catch his breath. Eiji was equally out of breath and barely caught the drink Langa threw towards him a minute later, his reward for winning.

"I should work out more. I haven't done so in a while. You run amazingly fast. And your limping stopped, so it's a double win for you."

"You're right. I hadn't even noticed. My doctor told me my ankle had already healed, and the limping was psychosomatic. It's all thanks to you. That was fun, right?"

Eiji scratched his cheek, feeling a bit nervous because there was something he wanted to ask Langa.

"This may be a bit sudden, but would you go running with me in the mornings? Reki isn't up for sports before school. And running isn't his sport. I need to start working out again and someone to join and challenge me. And you're incredibly fast."

"Yes, sure, that would be great. I mean, if that's possible with your ankle?"

"Don't worry; according to my doctor, I can go running as long as I don't run marathons or something in that league. I can move my ankle just fine. It's just that I can't pursue an athletic career with my injured ankle any longer. Doing sports as a hobby is fine, though. I could show you some great paths to go running."

"Sounds great! I'll look forward to it. I think it would be hard to keep up with you. It will be fun!"

"I think we both lack some practice, so we should be at the same level. If you give me your address, I can pick you up." Langa nodded, then gave him his address.

"Wow, that's pretty close to my house," he commented before saving it to his phone.

Then, Eiji grinned at him, handing his board to him.

"So, wanna use my skateboard to practice?" Langa's face immediately fell.

"Don't tease me. Why do I always fall off the board as soon as I stand on it?" Langa complained sourly. "Maybe a skateboard isn't meant to stand on." 

Eiji chuckled, then placed the skateboard on the ground and stood on it without the board moving even an inch.

"Wow, it doesn't move. Same as when Reki did it."

"And Reki probably told you that your stance and balance on the skateboard are all wrong."

"Yes, he did, but I didn't get it right. Probably because I snowboarded for too long. I'm used to my feet being attached to the board. And a snowboard doesn't move if you stand on even ground, even if your balance is wrong."

"How long did you do it?"

"Fifteen years."

"Wow, so you snowboarded as soon as you could walk? Well, then, snowboarding is engraved into your soul. It's hard to get rid of that. I saw your beef, and the way you turn and brake is not how skateboarders do it. You turn and break as a snowboarder would by shifting your weight to one of the board's edges. You shift your weight like that in skateboarding, too, but if your angle is too wide, you'll fall off. Do you want to give skating a new try? You can use my skateboard."

Langa nodded. Eiji hesitated slightly, then decided to ask Langa something before handing his board to him again.

"Langa, one more thing. Are you serious about skateboarding? If you aren't, please be honest with Reki. He's my best friend, and I don't want him to get hurt. Reki breathes skateboarding and easily gets over-excited, so he often doesn't notice when people aren't as passionate about it as he is. But for Reki, it's a way of life, something he could never live without. So, if you aren't as serious as he is, tell him now. I don't want to see him get hurt again. That's all I'm asking."