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It had started innocently enough. Just a group of classmates catching up after a long summer vacation, talking about where they went, what their summer jobs were, who was dating (or not dating) who…
Of course, Langa had the most interesting story.
“Mom and I spent the summer in Okinawa.”
… If only he would actually tell it.
“C’mon, man…” Henry whined, throwing an arm around Langa’s shoulders. “Okinawa?! That’s like… in Japan right?”
“Yes,” Langa said.
Henry waited for a moment then sighed. “As talkative as ever I see…”
Langa stared blankly at him, then returned his attention to his phone. It had been buzzing non-stop since they arrived at school and Henry was sure Langa would have to turn it off before the teacher found it. Henry wasn’t nosy per se (no matter what his older sister said) but he did glance over, expecting worried messages from Langa’s mom, or maybe even texts with a cute girl or something.
He was surprised by the video.
At first, he thought it was of a snowboarder, which wouldn’t have been that surprising. But then Henry realized that there was no snow on the ground in the video.
Skateboarding?
Since when was Langa interested in skateboarding?
“Langa!”
Langa let out a quiet annoyed sound and looked up. Henry turned as well, finding another of their group walking up, waving excitedly at Langa.
Henry grinned. “Hey, Cici.”
Cici giggled, running a hand through her hair self-consciously. “What are you two up to? Snowboarding videos again?”
She looked expectantly at Langa’s phone, but Langa had already turned the video off and put it in his back pocket. After it buzzed again though he took it out, silencing it with another quiet, wistful sigh. Langa stared down at the darkened screen, his small sad frown reflected back at him.
“What’s with that sigh?” Cici teased, a wide grin on her face. “You texting a cute girl?”
“No.”
“Cute guy then?” Cici pressed. If Henry was nosy, Cici was a gossip.
But to his surprise, Langa actually grinned a bit, his eyes turning a little soft as he stared at his phone.
“Yeah. My boyfriend.”
Henry’s eyes widened.
What?
Langa… has a boyfriend?
“Honestly,” Faith sighed, taking a huge bite of her sandwich and talking with her mouth full. “If I didn’t know better, Henry, I’d say you were upset that Langa had a boyfriend rather than a girlfriend.”
“It’s not that!” Henry protested. “You know it’s not that! I just… Really? Langa? I mean… we were all there last year when he turned away like… a million dates. From everyone!”
“You’re exaggerating,” Chris sighed, stealing one of Cici’s fries when she was distracted by a wave from another of her friends. “It wasn’t a million. Maybe, like, ten…”
“My point is that I didn’t think Langa was into anyone ,” Henry grumbled. “Maybe he’s, like, joking or something.”
“ Langa?” Faith raised an eyebrow. “Langa doesn’t joke. I don’t even think he could lie .”
Henry sighed. “Yeah, but like. He was gone all summer. Maybe he changed?”
“Not that much,” Chirs said. Then he stood up and waved his arm. “Why don’t we just ask him instead of gossiping? Hey Langa!”
Henry felt his face heat up. He didn’t mean to gossip about his friend. It wasn’t even gossiping. It was just… sharing concerns.
Henry was just very concerned.
“So, Henry says you got a boyfriend?” Chris pats the seat beside him and after a long moment, Langa joins them for lunch. “Anyone we know?”
“No.”
“Oh… he from another school?”
“Yeah.”
They all waited, but Langa didn’t elaborate.
“Sooo…” Faith talked around her apple slices. “Is he, like, from around here, or…?
She trailed off, possibly in the hope that Langa would explain more if it wasn’t a yes or no question.
“He’s in Japan.”
Japan?
“So he’s someone you met while on vacation?” Henry clarified and was only answered by a nod.
Henry’s frown deepened. Though, as a teenager, he too was idealistic, it seemed too idealistic to believe that Langa was currently in a very long-distance relationship. “Dude… that’s a bit… far.”
Langa didn’t respond, only pulling out his phone again and pulling up Instagram DMs, clicking on one in particular. Unfortunately, the profile pic wasn’t of a person, but of some sort of symbol, and all of the writing was in Japanese.
“What’s his name?” Cici asked, always the most direct of the bunch. “What’s he like?”
That seemed to catch Langa’s attention, and he looked up, a faint blush coming over his face. “Uh… his name is Reki. And he’s, uh…”
Langa paused over his words as if trying to pick the perfect one and finally settling on:
“Amazing. Reki’s amazing.”
Cici sighed a little bit, probably over the “romance” of it all, but Henry’s concerns were not nullified.
What was so amazing about this Reki?
“So, we gotta find out more about Reki.”
“ WHY are you so concerned about this?!” Faith asked.
“Because!” Henry threw his hands into the air, “Because Langa’s our friend. What if this Reki is, like… mean or something? Langa doesn’t really get social stuff; What if it’s a communication thing? Or a mistranslation? Or—”
“Or you can stay out of it?” Faith rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Henry…”
Henry ignored her. “I’m just saying. Langa already, you know, he’s had a lot this past year. I don’t want him to suffer heartbreak too. If they break up.”
“If,” Chris pointed out. “He seems happy right now though.”
Henry sighed, looking to Cici, who looked thoughtful.
“I kinda want to know more?”
Henry grinned. “See? Cici’s on my side!”
Faith looked dubious and Chris school his head. Henry couldn’t stop grinning, sure that they would soon get to the bottom of this.
They were in their last year of high school after all. They would be heading off to college soon. That was practically an adult. They could get to the bottom of this in a week.
Two tops.
It took much longer than two weeks to get anywhere. Nearly two months to be exact.
It wasn’t that Langa was secretive about his boyfriend, but his one-word answers weren’t exactly forthcoming either.
“So, is Reki our age?”
“Yes.”
“Does he still go to school?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have a picture of him?”
“Yes.”
Henry sighed as Langa didn’t offer to show a picture, but he also didn’t want to pry. Instead, he looked over Langa’s shoulder, no longer surprised to see the skateboarding video. It seemed that most of Reki and Langa’s communication over Instagram involved sending skateboarding videos to each other.
Classes were finishing up for the week, the promise of one final nice weekend welcoming them before the harsh winter weather would set in. Henry walked with Langa to his locker, taking a quick peek inside. “Woah, is that—?”
Langa pulled out a long board with wheels — a skateboard? — painted bright blue. However, unlike the skateboards Henry was vaguely familiar with, this one seemed to have grips on top for Langa’s feet to slide into.
“Reki made it for me.”
It was the most amount of words Langa had said about Reki at once. The way he held the skateboard though, like it was the most precious thing in the world, said mountains more.
Henry grinned at the sight. “That’s amazing. Does he design skateboards? Is that his job?”
“It’s his hobby.” Langa trailed a finger over one wheel delicately. “Can you help me film something? I want to send it to Reki.”
Henry had plans after school with the track team, but Langa asking a favor was so rare, (and Henry was eager to learn more about Reki), that Henry quickly texted his teammates that he’d be by later. Then he texted Cici, letting her know to add ‘makes skateboards” to the pitifully small list of ‘things they know about Reki.’
Chris and Faith acted like they weren’t interested, reminding Henry that Langa was his own person and could make his own choices. It didn’t stop Henry’s worry though.
The four of them had known Langa since primary school, bonding over their mutual love of snowboarding. Langa’s dad had often chaperoned numerous trips to the mountains. Mr. Oliver was one of the coolest dads Henry knew (don’t tell his own dad). He taught the five of them different tricks, corrected their posture— After he passed, things hadn’t really been the same. Langa hadn’t picked up a snowboard all season, and then he and his mom had gone to Japan, though Henry and the others only found out about it after they had left. Henry had been worried about his friend all summer, and Langa wasn’t really one to keep in touch over texting or internet or—
Another buzz from Langa’s pocket had him pulling out his phone, instantly pulling up one of the many messaging apps.
Well… Langa always had trouble keeping up with his Canadian friends over messaging apps. Reki was apparently very special.
A sudden sound at his side distracted Henry from his thoughts and he turned, finding Langa trying to hide a laugh with a gloved hand.
“What’s so funny?” Henry was sure he hadn’t seen Langa laugh since his dad passed away.
Reki was special indeed.
Langa flinched as if he had forgotten Henry was there. After a moment of hesitation, he lowered his phone, showing Henry the video that was playing. Again, it was a skateboarding video, though this one involved a cat hopping on a skateboard and sitting on it comfortably as it rolled downhill. It was cute, though it didn’t really explain why Langa laughed.
When the video ended, the phone automatically closed out of the video link and back to the messaging app. Henry saw that underneath the video was a note from Reki, surprisingly written with English letters.
MIYA 😹
Langa laughed again, quiet but no less sincere, quickly messaging back.
“Isn’t it like… middle of the night there?” Henry asked, genuinely curious. “Doesn’t your boyfriend need his sleep?”
Langa’s smile never left his face. “It’s early morning there. But yeah, Reki doesn’t really sleep. He says he’s always too excited.”
Well, that would explain the messages Langa got at all hours. Though Henry wondered if Reki purposely stayed awake to talk with Langa longer.
He wondered if Reki was just as in love with Langa as Langa clearly was with him.
Turns out they were heading towards a skate park. Which made sense. With the skateboard and all.
Henry didn’t even know there was a skate park nearby.
“Hey, is it okay if I invite the others?” Henry asked. “Cici and all… them…”
Them being Chris and Faith as well. But still, skateboarding was kinda like snowboarding. Sorta. Except with wheels. And no snow.
What was the point without snow?
But Langa didn’t seem to mind and soon had a whole audience for… whatever it was Henry was supposed to film. Soon Henry found himself relegated to ‘support’ as Cici took the phone from him, insisting that she was the better videographer than him.
Henry groaned. He took an out-of-focus shot one time .
Langa had watched their argument patiently while standing on his skateboard. He didn’t wear any protective gear, insisting that it would just be resistance for what he was attempting.
“Okay, ready?” Cici asked, holding out a thumbs up.
Langa nodded and Cici pressed the record button.
Langa began to move, his knees slightly bent, just like they would be on a snowboard, but the movement still looked strange to Henry, especially when Langa moved a foot off the board, gaining speed on the pavement. Then he moved to go down one of the hills, gaining even more speed before turning (how was he able to turn that tight on those wheels?) and heading right towards one of the pipes that stuck out of the ground.
The obstacle didn’t even phase Langa, and he easily popped an ollie over it. Then he turned again, heading up one of the ramps. His speed decreased on the vertical slope but quickly picked up as he headed down towards the other ramp.
This time, though Langa lost a bit of speed heading up the ramp, it wasn’t enough to completely lose his momentum, instead, it launched him in the air. He spun a 180 before his skateboard caught the edge of the ramp again and he flew down, just as fast as he would have been on a snowboard. Going up the opposite ramp much more Langa was able to perform a 360 before coming down the ramp once more, easily stopping right in front of Cici.
“Woah.” Cici hit stop on the phone, her expression of awe reflected in Faith and Chris as well. “Langa that’s amazing! Where’d you learn how to do that?”
Langa’s face turned a little pink and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Reki taught me. It’s kinda how we met… I caught his skateboard and he taught me to ride.”
“Woah,” Cici repeated. “Is he a good skateboarder too, then?”
“Reki’s amazing.”
Henry got the feeling Langa wasn’t just talking about skateboarding.
“So what was with the filming?” Chris asked. “You gonna send that to Reki?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?” Faith prodded.
Langa chuckled. “He asked if I was practicing. So when I visit, we can go skating together again.”
“Aww,” Cici squealed, handing the phone back over.
Henry tilted his head. “Visit? You’re going back?”
Langa nodded. “Mom had a temporary job while we were visiting this summer. They want her back to finish up a project so we’re visiting again over the holiday break next month.”
“But you’ll be back right?” Chris asked. “Best time to hit the slopes.”
“Yeah…”
Langa didn’t look too excited about that. Henry wondered if he had gone snowboarding at all since his dad passed away. He thought maybe Langa had gone with his mom at least once, but…
Maybe not.
“Well, I hope you enjoy your trip!” Henry said. “But maybe this time you can keep in touch? We’d love to hear more about Okinawa.”
“I’ll… try.” Langa looked a little unsure, but he offered a small sincere smile.
Suddenly they were all pulled out of their thoughts by Langa’s phone ringing. It was from one of those messaging apps, this one apparently having voice chat too. The picture that popped up was the same as the one from Reki’s Instagram profile.
Langa gasped and quickly picked up the phone. “ Reki?”
The voices that came through were loud and childish and definitely not what Henry expected Reki to sound like.
After a moment of surprise, Langa began to laugh. The voices grew louder and more indignant. Langa smothered his laughter with his hand and spoke in soft Japanese. Henry couldn’t understand the words, though he was sure he caught Reki’s name in there.
The voices groaned in protest but a moment later another voice came on the line.
“ Langa?”
“Reki.” Langa’s voice was soft, his face turning the same pink color it had earlier when talking about Reki.
They continued to converse in quiet Japanese before Langa sighed quietly and hung up the phone, a small smile on his face.
“Oooh!” Cici exclaimed. “Was that Reki? He sounds cute!”
Langa gasped and looked around at them. Had he forgotten they were standing there?
“Um. Yeah. His little sisters were messing on his phone and called.”
Henry giggled. He may have done that to his own sister once or twice when they were younger. “What did they want?”
Langa chuckled quietly. “To say that they missed me and that Reki was sad I wasn’t there. They asked when I was coming to visit.”
Henry laughed, hearing the others join in. “Well, I guess it’s good for them and Reki you’ll be visiting soon right? Can’t keep making international calls on accident.”
“Right…” Langa agreed, staring at his phone. If Henry had to put a label on the expression, he would have to say ‘heartsick.’
To their surprise and delight, Langa did message them a few times while on his trip to Okinawa, sending pictures of the palm trees (Cici and Chirs were jealous), and the food (Henry didn’t realize there were Italian restaurants). After much cajoling from all of them, he also sent a picture of himself and Reki, and they finally ( finally ) got to see what Langa’s boyfriend looked like.
Objectively, Henry could agree Reki was cute, with red spiky hair held up in a bandana. Tanned skin was covered in an array of small freckles, and the grin on his face practically outshone everything else.
Henry was more interested in Langa’s expression though. He wore one of his quiet but sincere smiles, though it seemed bigger as if Reki’s mere presence could bring joy to Langa.
Henry hadn’t seen that smile in a very long time. He had almost forgotten what it looked like.
After the holiday break, they were all back in school, now getting ready for the final exams that would give them their diplomas so they could move on to colleges and universities. Closer to that adult life that Henry was just starting to feel a little apprehensive about.
Was he ready to be an adult? Wasn’t there a middle step? Was college the middle step?
“You’re thinking too much,” Faith had said, “C’mon, let’s plan a trip to the slopes this weekend to get your mind off of it.”
“Yeah!” Cici exclaimed. “Chris, you’re coming too right? Langa?”
Chris nodded, but Langa was more hesitant. He had been growing quieter lately, both a little sad after his return from Okinawa and probably because the snowfall meant the skatepark was closed. But Henry could understand the hesitation. If Langa hadn’t picked up a snowboard since Mr. Oliver died, then—
“You don’t have to snowboard,” Henry offered. “If you just wanna come out and support us, that’s ok. We’ll get hot chocolate and poutine too!”
Finally, after a long moment, Langa nodded. “Okay. I’ll… I’ll ask mom.”
Henry grinned. “Just let us know, okay? Chris will make all the plans.”
“Why am I making the plans?” Chris protested, but obligingly pulled out his phone and began to look up hotel reservations near their favorite ski resort.
Henry grinned at Langa, trying to reassure him. “It’ll be fun, okay?”
Langa didn’t look so sure, but he gripped his backpack and nodded.
Faith ended up being the one driving up there, the rest of them cramming into her car. Cici had claimed the front seat as soon as Faith announced she’d drive, leaving Henry, Langa, and Chris to squeeze into the backseat. Henry, as the shortest (if not by much), sat in the middle, and he struggled not to complain as his legs began to cramp up.
On his left side, Chris was already asleep, snoring loudly with his head against the window. To his right, Langa was nose deep in his phone, carrying on a conversation with Reki.
Upfront the girls were talking about their math class, something that bored Henry, so he turned to Langa instead. “Flirting with Reki?”
“I, uh…” Langa tried to hide another blush.
Henry laughed. “I’m just teasing. What are you guys talking about?”
“Skateboarding,” Langa said. “I’m trying to explain the differences between it and snowboarding to Reki, but some of the… technical terms are harder to translate to Japanese.”
“Oh…” Henry tilted his head. “Maybe you should invite Reki here so we can go snowboarding together. Nothing like experience to learn the difference!”
Henry had hoped to cheer Langa up, but instead, his friend’s face turned sadder. “Yeah…”
Henry tilted his head, about to ask if something was wrong when Langa’s phone rang. Cici and Faith were startled out of their conversation, and even Chris snorted as he woke up.
Surprised, Langa answered it, his phone accidentally pressing the speaker button.
“ Langa !”
The voice was excited as it spoke in Japanese. Then, before Langa could answer, a computerized female voice came over the phone.
“Langa! I’m borrowing Carla from Cherry so you can talk in English and not have to think about the translation ok?”
Langa blinked in surprise, then asked in quiet English, “Is Cherry okay with that?”
The computer repeated the question in Japanese and there was a beat of silence before another voice answered. It wasn’t Reki’s and sounded a little older.
The computerized voice, Carla, answered.
“If it means Reki doesn’t keep asking questions, Carla is more than happy to help.”
Langa grinned. “Okay, so then…”
Langa continued to explain some more about snowboarding, talking more about the subject than Henry had ever heard from him before. Reki asked excellent follow-up questions, his excitement evident in his tone, even though Carla’s spoken translation lacked the same enthusiasm.
Eventually, the conversation drifted to Langa’s current trip to the slopes.
“So you’re going snowboarding, right, Langa?” Reki asked through Carla.
Langa nodded, “Yeah. I don’t know if I’ll go on the slopes, but we’re getting hot chocolate as well.”
“Ehh? Hot chocolate?”
Carla didn’t even need to translate that, as Reki repeated the words in very accented English, sounding dubious.
“Huh? Have you never had hot chocolate before?” Henry asked, nearly forgetting that Reki wasn’t in the car with them, but on the phone. He flushed with embarrassment when Carla repeated his question, resulting in more questioning sounds from Reki.
Langa laughed and spoke quickly in Japanese before switching to English. “I’m driving up with… my friends. Henry, Chris, Cici, and Faith, meet Reki…”
“Hi, Reki!” Everyone chorused, Cici even waving eagerly though no one could see her.
“Hi!” Reki called back, followed by a few words from the older man on the phone.
Langa blushed and held back a laugh. “Oh. And meet Cherry… and Carla I guess.”
Another chorus of ‘Hello.’
“Langa.” Reki’s voice said quietly, then another stream of Japanese came over the line. This time Carla didn’t translate, as Langa spoke quietly back in the same language.
“See you,” Langa finished in English, then held his phone out as Reki came over the line again.
“Bye-bye, Langa’s friends!”
“Bye, Reki!” Cici called back, echoed by Henry and the others. Langa grinned and took the phone off of the speaker, holding it up to his ear as he and Reki said their own private goodbyes to each other.
Though Henry didn’t speak a word of Japanese, he was sure that the words “I miss you” were said somewhere in there.
But when Langa hung up the phone, he looked happier than he had 10 minutes ago.
“Delivery for Langa Hasegawa!”
Henry blinked at the delivery guy who had walked in their little study group at Tim Hortons. In his hand, the delivery guy held what had to be two dozen roses. Maybe more.
A gift from Reki?
But to his surprise, Langa glared at the roses. “No.”
The delivery guy faltered. Apparently, he was unused to recipients denying flower deliveries. Especially this close to Valentine’s Day.
“Uh, er… that is to say—” The delivery guy stumbled over his words. “I, uh, have to deliver them.”
After a long moment, Langa sighed, taking the flowers and signing for the delivery. Then he turned back to them and immediately began to tear the flowers apart, subdividing them up into smaller bundles.
“Do you guys want some? They’re just gonna go into the trash otherwise.”
Henry shared a glance with Chris but found the taller boy just as confused. They thought things between Langa and Reki were good. Sappy and in love and all that.
What—
“Did you and Reki have a fight or something?” Faith asked the question that was on all their minds.
“Huh?” Langa looked up where he was brutally tearing apart a rose. “Oh… no. Why?”
“Your treatment of the flowers say otherwise.” Cici grabbed the flowers before Langa could do more damage. “Faith and I will take them if you don’t want them.”
“I’ll take some too,” Chris offered, “Forgot to get a gift for Mom.”
Cici nodded and began to divide the roses up into three equal bundles. “So? What’s up with… your disdain of roses.”
“Oh…” Langa tilted his head. “Those aren’t from Reki. They’re from…”
He trailed off without saying anything, but the dark look on his face said a lot. Henry almost felt like stabbing a rose himself.
Cici sighed, handing Faith her bundle, and another to Chris. “Well, whoever it was clearly doesn’t know you really. Three dozen roses? That’s overkill.”
Langa laughed, though his heart wasn’t in it. “Yeah…”
“So did Reki send you a gift?” Henry asked. “For your birthday?”
Instantly, Langa perked up. “Yeah!”
He dug through his backpack and pulled out a card covered in illustrated flowers. It took Henry a moment to realize it had been hand-painted. The sunflowers were the easiest for Henry to recognize, the other flowers too… “Flower”-looking for Henry to name properly.
“Oh wow!” Cici exclaimed, leaning over to see the card better. “Sunflowers right? And… carnations? And, um…”
“Tsubaki, er… Camillas,” Langa said, tracing one painted petal delicately. “Reki…”
Langa hadn’t said Reki was an artist too. What other talents did Reki have?
“What do they mean?” Faith asked, “Er, I mean… I’ve just heard flowers have different meanings in Japan.”
Flowers had meanings? Henry learned something new every day.
“Loyalty, love, humility…” Langa had that heartsick look in his eyes again.
Oh boy.
Not for the first time, Henry wished the distance between Japan and Canada was closer. If only so Langa didn’t look like that so often.
Henry stretched, feeling the warm sun on his face. It was the first actually warm day, and of course, it would come towards the end of March. The last remnants of snow were starting to melt, the geese were flying back north, and final exams would be upon them before they knew it.
Yay…
Beside him, Langa had an arm around his skateboard. It would be the perfect day to use it. They had walked by the skate park that morning and found the snow had melted from most of it and Langa had promised to teach Henry and Faith how to skate. Cici and Chris weren’t interested but would tag along for support later.
“Ready?” Henry asked. “Faith said to head out without her. She had to talk with the teacher about—”
“LAAAAAANGAAA!”
Langa gasped, whipping his head around towards the source of the voice. “Reki?”
Henry looked as well. Just at the end of the school parking lot was a figure with red hair and a yellow sweatshirt waving at them.
No. Waving at Langa .
“Reki!” If Langa’s voice didn’t give away his excitement, his actions did. Faster than Henry could blink, Langa threw his skateboard in front of him, hopping on to continue its momentum. He popped an ollie at the sidewalk curb, and picked up speed in the parking lot, dodging cars and other students.
At the other end of the lot, Henry watched as Reki did the same, riding a skateboard Henry hadn’t even realized Reki had been carrying.
Neither even came close to slowing down as they drew closer together. Henry thought for sure they’d just crash, but then at the last second Reki jumped off his skateboard and into Langa’s waiting arms. Just when Henry thought that Langa had caught Reki safely, Langa’s skateboard rolled out from under him and they both crashed to the blacktop. Neither seemed to mind though as they laughed, staring into each other’s eyes as if the world only comprised of Reki and Langa.
Which was honestly not true if the angry car horns had anything to say about it.
The sound of something hitting the curb startled Henry out of it enough to look down, releasing that Reki’s skateboard had rolled away from the couple. Picking it up, Henry ran over to them, waving apologetically to the motorists trying to get home.
“Sorry! Bit of a reunion going on over here. You’ll have to go around! Sorry!”
Langa and Reki paid no attention to the annoyed drivers or the students who had stopped to stare. Exchanging quiet words in Japanese, Langa and Reki continued to hold each other. Henry couldn’t understand the words, but he understood the meaning. Soft loving words that Henry would have easily found in one of Cici’s romance novels.
Reki slowly reached out, tracing a hand down Langa’s face gently before drawing him in. Soon they were kissing and Henry turned away, giving them as much privacy as he could in a public parking lot.
Definitely one of Cici’s romance novels.
“Reki!”
The shout broke whatever spell Reki and Langa had been locked in. Both of them (and Henry) turned towards the source of the shout and Henry was surprised to find four more persons walking up, three older men, and one younger boy barely out of middle school maybe. All four of them stood out in the crowd of secondary school students and teachers, but the one in the clown makeup stood out the most.
He did know it wasn’t Halloween right?
“Reki…” The one who spoke possibly had more muscles than Henry had ever seen. Except maybe in old pictures of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Reki and the man argued in rushed Japanese that Henry had no hope of understanding, even if he did know the language. Soon, the younger boy and the scary clown man joined in, the four of them launching into what sounded like a heated argument. Langa meanwhile spoke quietly with the last man, this one having long pink hair that was swept over one shoulder.
Each of the newcomers held a skateboard, so Henry could only presume they were more of Langa’s skateboarding friends from Okinawa.
Strange friends.
“Uh,” Henry tried to speak up, holding out Reki’s skateboard. “Reki? You, uh… lost this?”
Reki broke out of his argument with the others and glanced back, spotting the skateboard Henry was holding. “Oh! Uh… Thank you!”
Reki looked to Langa as if asking if he got the words right, and beaming when Langa nodded.
Henry grinned as Reki took the skateboard, holding it under one arm.
“So… are you guys visiting from Okinawa? Bit of a long trip…”
Langa opened his mouth to translate, but then the pink-haired man’s board started speaking in the same feminine computer voice they had heard over the phone months ago. She translated Henry’s question, and it was quickly answered by the pink-haired man. Carla translated the answer back to English.
“This is Reki’s graduation present. The rest of us are chaperoning.”
Henry wasn’t sure how the junior high student could be a chaperone.
“I thought they were coming in at the end of the month,” Langa said, the grin still wide on his face.
Without prompting, Carla translated Langa’s words and Reki grinned broadly, standing on tiptoe to kiss Langa’s cheek. “Surprise!”
Langa turned and swiftly kissed Reki on the mouth once more.
The younger boy with them gagged and rolled his eyes, though the others stared at the two with a mix of fondness and exasperation.
They pulled away after a long moment, Langa’s face starting to glow red. Reki didn’t seem to mind their audience though, his smile somehow growing wider.
“So, are you guys staying long enough to hit the slopes?” Henry asked. “Snowboarding?”
Carla translated the question and Reki nodded eagerly, grabbing Langa’s hand, whispering something quietly. Langa nodded in response. Then Reki turned to Henry.
“Hot chocolate too?”
Henry laughed. “Yeah, man. We’ll get you some Canadian hot chocolate. And poutine. And maple syrup!”
Carla translated his words, Reki’s face growing brighter and brighter at each one.
The muscular guy turned to Langa, asking something else that Langa quickly responded to. Turning back to Henry, Langa translated.
“They’re trying to fight off jetlag and asked about the skatepark I had mentioned in my messages. Do you mind if—?”
“Nah, you guys go on ahead. I’ll wait for Faith and the others and we’ll meet you there. You know they’ll wanna meet Reki too… and you gotta introduce us to everyone else.” Especially the scary clown guy. Henry had to know what was up with that.
Langa nodded. “Yeah. See you.”
With that and a few short farewells, they all mounted their skateboards and rolled off. Langa held Reki’s hand until they reached the street, then they took off in what had to be a race, each of them moving faster than Henry’s eyes could keep up with.
Henry had seen Langa snowboard down mountains, catch an enormous amount of air from hills, but this?
This was the first time he had truly seen Langa fly.