Diving Deep (requests closed)

Ogiwara - Chains of Friendship

It was always such a rush to feel the wind in my (h/c) hair as I rode the trails. I just wish I was feeling it right now instead of looking down at the chain dangling loose on my bike. Sighing, I kneeled down to see if I could get the chain back on the spokes, doing my best not to pinch my fingers between the pieces of metal.

The end result, however, was a still loose chain and a vastly messier me. Grabbing my water bottle, I poured some of the liquid over the rag I kept with me when biking and started trying to clean the grime of my hands. Meanwhile, I contemplated how I was going to get my bike back down the trail and back home.

Finally shrugging it all off, I brushed my (s/c) hands on my pants and started walking my poor bike down the path as best I could, helmet dangling from the handlebars. At least this gave me time to enjoy more of the scenery I had been riding past earlier!

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It was a good 15 minutes of slowly pushing my bike up and down the hills I had been riding on before I saw someone riding towards me. As the person got closer they slowed down, an expression of concern on his face.

"Are you ok? You didn't get hurt did you? Oh! Your chain came off! Do you need some help?" I almost couldn't hold back a laugh as he almost tripped getting off his bike, he was hurrying so fast to try and help.

"I'm ok, thank you for asking! I didn't get hurt, luckily. And yeah, I could use some help, please! The chain slipped a ways back the other way when I was going uphill, but I managed to catch myself before anything worse could happen. At least it was at a low incline, instead of further up ahead in the rocky areas, ya know?" I smiled brightly, happy that what I said was true. Things could have been a lot worse, after all.

"Yeah, that's true! It's good that you are looking at the bright side of things!" The grinning boy said as he began fiddling with the chain, crouched down beside my bike as his own leaned up against a nearby tree.

"I figure why worry over stuff the things I can't do anything about, when there are still plenty of good things happening to focus on! For instance, I just got to meet someone new because of my bike chain! If it hadn't slipped off, I might not have gotten this chance to meet you!" Giving him another smile, I pulled a couple or snack bars out of the small pack on my bike.

Offering him one, I sat down on a nearby tree stump as he slowly worked the chain back onto the spokes, the snack bar caught between his teeth slowly dwindling as he took a bite from time to time. I hid the smile wanting to grow across my face at seeing his messy orange hair when he finally took off his helmet.

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"Thank you so much, Ogiwara-kun! Now I can finish riding the trail before I head back home!" Giving him an enthusiastic hug, I pulled my helmet back on and climbed on my bike.

"Hey, mind if I ride with you?" I looked over to see his grinning face, his eyes almost seeming to sparkle with his cheerfulness.

"Sure! But you have to catch up first!" I shouted, taking off down the trail before he was even fully on his bike.

"Hey, (y/n)! That's not fair!" He yelled, clipping his helmet on as he hurriedly climbed onto his bike, almost falling over in the process.

"Life isn't always fair! Sometimes it knocks you down, but as long as you keep getting back up again, then everything will be ok! So get up and get moving! This is a race! Whoever finishes last has to buy the winner lunch!" I called back, slowing down just enough for him to almost catch up before I took off again, my laughter trailing behind me as I raced ahead again.

His eyes seemed thoughtful for a moment before he gave a quick grin and began pedaling faster, a look of determination on his face as he worked hard to finish first.

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At the end of the race, I was more than happy to be the one paying for our meal. Even if he was a bit of a messy eater, it was still the most fun I'd had in a long time.

"Hey Ogiwara-kun! Let's do this again next weekend!"