Chapter Text
Langa has joined a band. He doesn’t know how well it’s going to turn out and he doesn’t even know his band mates that well since most of them are Reki’s friends.
“Dude, you’ll be fine! Don’t panic about it, they’ll love you I’m sure,” Reki assured with his usual glowing smile. Langa was about to go and actually meet his band mates for the first time but he was so scared. What if they didn’t like him? What if his talents were way below what they were expecting? God, he hoped Reki didn’t exaggerate his ability too far. “You are literally taking a music major; you are bound to be good. And trust me, if I didn’t think you could compare to my friends, I wouldn’t have recommended you to them.”
“True, but-“ Langa started, still unsure.
“No buts Langa. I’m telling you they’re gonna love you, now get going or you’re going to be late,”
“Finee,” Langa droned, “Wish me luck, bye Reki!” The urge to say ‘love you’ before he left was so strong but he managed to keep quiet.
Reki had told him that there were three people already in the band: Miya, Shadow and Joe. The only person Reki didn’t know was Joe since he was apparently older than the rest of them. Why was he so scared? What’s the worst that could happen?
‘Maybe they won’t like you and think you’re talentless and will laugh at you’
Why now? Why does his brain have to start telling him this stuff now? Whatever, he just needs to ignore it and meet them already.
By the time he got to the front doors of where they were meeting up Langa had already had about a million arguments with himself trying to decide whether this was a good idea or not. In the end he decided it would be best if he at least tries it because that’s what Reki said. Their meet up spot was at a small apartment building in the middle of Okinawa, the room being on the second floor. When he knocked on the door it almost immediately swung open, to a young black-haired boy standing there.
“Hello, I’m Langa Hasegawa. Am I at the right place for the band meet up?” Langa said, trying his hardest to not stumble over his words.
“Hey Langa, I’m Miya, Miya Chinen. Come in,” Miya stepped aside, allowing Langa to walk into the apartment. “Oh, and by the way, there’s no need to be so formal, we won’t bite.”
“Oh. Okay Miya.”
The apartment was only small, there was a living room immediately as you walk in with two doors on the left of him and one on the right. On the sofa in front of him was a ginger man who looked quite a bit older than the two of them (maybe that was Joe?) and a muscular green haired man sitting opposite.
“This is Shadow,” Miya introduced, gesturing to the ginger man, maybe he wasn’t as old as Langa originally assumed. “And this is Joe,” he said, gesturing to the green haired man.
“Hello, I’m-”
“Langa,” Shadow interrupted, “Yes we know who you are, Reki talks about you all the time.”
“Oh, he does?” Langa said, feeling his face heat up at the thought of it.
“Reki may talk about Langa here to you two but I still haven’t even seen Reki before so I know next to nothing about the poor boy. So, let him introduce himself,” Joe advised.
“Oh right. Um- I’m Langa Hasegawa, I am in the same year as Reki. I am a music major and I can sing. I guess?” He could feel his hands starting to shake. Why was it so hard talking to people?
“Cool, I’m Miya Chinen, as you know, and I am also a music major but in the year below you.”
“I’m Shadow and I’m an art major in Reki’s class.”
“And I’m Joe, I’ve already graduated and I own the Sia la luce up the road.”
“Oh, Reki has taken me to Sia la luce a couple times before, you do really good food!”
“Thank you, Langa,” Joe smiled, shooting a knowing look towards Shadow and Miya, who also had slight smirks on their faces. Langa pretended not to notice.
“So, what do you all play?” Joe asked.
“Wait. You haven’t already figured this all out? I thought you were just waiting for a singer.” Langa said, very confused.
“Oh, well we did know that none of us had a great singing voice so we opened that as a separate spot but we waited until we had a singer to tell everyone what we played.”
“Oh okay. So, as you know, I don’t play anything, I just sing.” Langa explained.
“I play drums.” Shadow said, holding up a rockstar symbol with his hands.
“I play bass.” Joe said.
“And I play keyboard.” Miya finished.
“Oh good, we all play a variety of things. Perfect!” Joe exclaimed.
Langa loves music but he never really could wrap his head around the process of creating it. Hopefully he will be able to catch on pretty quickly with his bandmates.
They spent another few hours just chatting and talking about the sort of music they would make. They all seemed to get along very well and it didn’t take long for Langa to become comfortable with being himself around them. Although, he did find himself wishing Reki was there with him every now and then but it was getting late so he had to head home. He will tell Reki about it in the morning.
____________________________________
The next morning Langa woke up really late. Thank God it was a Saturday. He checked his phone and there were 12 messages from Reki.
Reki<3
Reki<3: Dude where are you? 10:08
Reki<3: Helloooo? 10:12
Are you still asleep?
At this time?
Reki<3: Come onnnn. 10:15
I want you to tell me about yesterday.
Reki<3: Langa 10:18
Langa
Langa
Langa
Reki<3: Wake upp. 10:22
I’m waiting at the skatepark. Meet me there.
Oh my god. It’s been half an hour since Reki first texted him and he’s only just woken up.
Langa: Oh my god. 10:38
I am so sorry. I only just woke up.
I will be as fast as I can I promise.
Reki<3: It’s okay! See you soon <3 10:39
Langa just sat there for a moment just staring at his phone. Reki wrote a heart. Langa needs to stay focused and try and get to Reki as fast as possible. His face felt so hot, but it was a good thing, he was happy.
When Langa finally arrived at the skatepark Reki noticed him immediately and his face clearly lit up.
“Langa! You’re finally here! Took you long enough,” Reki teased, jokingly rolling his eyes.
“I’m sorry Reki I didn’t realise how late it was.”
“Don’t sweat it, man. It’s fine I promise,” Reki assured, giving Langa a bright grin.
“Okay. Let’s skate and then I’ll tell you about yesterday.”
“Sure.”
The skate around the park was mostly quiet, but it was comforting. Langa knew that Reki wasn’t mad at him for waking up so late so he has nothing to worry about. That’s one of the things he loves about Reki, no matter how dumb Langa can be he will still always forgive him immediately with no second thought.
Eventually, the two of them got tired and they sat on the ledge to rest.
“So, tell me about yesterday!” Reki said, seemingly excited.
“Nothing much happened really. We spoke about what we play and what sort of music we’d want to make and were just generally chatting,” Langa said.
“Ah, so nothing overly interesting.”
“No, but I did find out that Joe is actually the owner of sia la luce up the road!”
“Really? Of course that’s a key detail you’d remember.”
“Yeah,” Langa laughed.
____________________________________
A few weeks had passed and now Langa was getting a lot more confident in the band. They have all started on their first song together, Langa had been assigned to write the lyrics which was not the role he expected to be given. He spent ages sitting in his apartment trying to come up with lyrics that didn’t centre around Reki but it was so hard. The time he did manage to come up with something he had been drinking that night and went a little over the top. He wrote about how he feels around Reki and his anticipation for Reki to finally make a move and become closer to him. He named the song The View From The Afternoon.
The next morning, after he had sobered up, Langa was looking over what he had written the night before. Is this really how he felt? When he thought about it he never realised how much he wanted Reki to make the first move. Oh god. He cannot tell anyone what this song is really about. Whatever, he needs to send this to the rest of the band.
Band (name???)
Langa: Hey, I have come up with lyrics for our first song! I’ve called it ‘The View Frim The Afternoon’
Miya: Cool, send it pls
Langa: Here. 1 attachment- The View From The Afternoon.docx
Miya: Thanks, I’ll look through it soon
Langa: Thanks Miya, lmk what you think
Miya: I will
God, he hopes the rest of them don’t catch on that it’s about Reki, that would be so embarrassing. It left him blushing just thinking about it. Oh well, all he can do now is wait for Miya’s response to it.
Half an hour later, Miya finally got back to Langa.
Miya: Hey, I’ve looked at your song and I have some feedback. Sorry it took so long, I got interrupted half way through.
Langa: Oh thanks! Please give me the feedback, and don’t worry about taking too long, I’m not in a rush or anything.
Miya: Okay then. The song is great, there were just some grammar mistakes that I had to touch up on in the lyrics. There were also a couple lines that had too many or too few syllables so I had to change them but I hope it still gets your message across.
Langa: Thanks for that, I hope actually producing the song goes well
Miya: Yeah, it should do as long as Shadow and Joe are both happy with the lyrics and everything. I’ll also send the updated version to the group chat
As Langa read Miya’s last message Joe text the group chat.
Band (name???)
Joe: Langa that song seems great! There were just a few mistakes I noticed. But I’m assuming Miya has taken care of that?
Miya: Yeah I have. Here’s the updated version. 1 attachment- The View From the Afternoon2.docx
Joe: Cool, thanks.
Eventually, Shadow had finally replied and was also happy with his work. They all decided that they will meet up on Saturday and start working on it.
The next day, Reki and Langa were sitting on their usual spot at the skate park. It was a mild day since it was nearing the end of winter now so Langa kept shivering every now and then. But the cold weather did mean the park was empty and they had it to themselves.
“Oh yeah, I finally came up with lyrics for the band’s first song.” Langa suddenly said, making Reki jump slightly.
“Oh really? What did the others think of it?” Reki asked, asked suddenly perking up. God, he’s so cute.
Wait. What.
“Um, well, Miya proof read it for me and- and the others said they said it was good so we’re going to start working on it on Saturday,” Langa stuttered out, trying not to blush at the thought he just had.
“Ah okay, cool, what is the song about then?” Reki asked, seeming slightly confused at Langa’s painfully obvious embarrassment.
“Oh, uh nothing in particular. Just starting new things and having new experiences I guess,” He lied.
“Oh right, you’ll have to show it to me some time.”
“We probably will once we’ve finished working on it,” Langa really hopes that day doesn’t actually come.
“Cool, I’ll look forward to it,” Reki said, smiling. Langa noticed his knee starting to bounce up and down as he stammered “Oh yeah, I was meant to ask you, do you want to, uh, like come over to mine tomorrow, if you’re not doing anything. I’m not forcing you of course and if you don’t want to hang out with me it’s okay I promise.”
“Of course I want to come over tomorrow, why wouldn’t I? You better have some alcohol though,” Langa laughed, half joking.
“Obviously I have some, I always do.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Langa said, starting to get ready to leave since it was getting late.
“Yeah, come round whenever,” Reki smiled, seeming relieved.
Langa left, waving to Reki behind him and not turning around until the redhead started to get up and leave himself.
As he walks home, Langa wonders why Reki was so nervous to ask him to hang out with him. He is never that awkward asking Langa for anything, why was it different this time?
____________________________________
The next day, Langa couldn’t wait any longer to see Reki. It was only noon but Reki did say that he could come over whenever. As he started gathering his stuff to leave, he thought he should text Reki before going there instead of turning up unannounced.
Reki<3
Langa: Hey i’m gonna come over now, I cba to wait any longer lol
Reki<3: That’s fine!!! The sooner the better <3
He keeps doing that. Sending hearts after his text messages. It makes Langa wonder if he knows it makes him get all flustered every time he sends it. Maybe Langa should try sending one back sometime.
Just as he was about to knock on Reki’s door, the door opened, shocking Langa slightly.
“You’re finally here!” Reki said, as if it had been years since the last spoke to each other.
“It’s only been 10 minutes since I texted you Reki.”
“But still, I couldn’t wait to see you,” All the anxiety Reki had yesterday seems to have vanished, “Come in, I have something to show you.”
Reki grabbed Langa’s arm and dragged him inside, almost tripping him up. After Langa took his shoes off, the other moved his hand down from Langa’s forearm to his hand and locked them together. He could feel the heat rising on his face as Reki pulled him along to his bedroom, ranting about something to do with school.
When Langa finally entered Reki’s room the first thing he noticed was a huge canvas in the middle of the room and the only thing on it was Langa, surrounded by snowflakes. It was beautiful and left him speechless. He must have been staring for a bit too long when Reki finally said,
“So, do you like it?”
“Reki, oh, my god of course I like it! It’s amazing I don’t know how you do it, it’s captured me perfectly! I love it so much!”
Reki laughed nervously, “Really? I didn’t think it was that good.”
“Not that good?! Reki how could you think that? It’s amazing! You’re amazing!”
A flush started to raise on Reki’s face, almost matching his fiery hair. “Thank you Langa.” He gave the redhead a warm smile, feeling as if no words were needed to express his awe.
“So, what do you want to do?” Reki asked.
“I don’t really mind, it’s a bit early to drink so you can pick what to do,”
In the end, they ended up watching movies on Reki’s laptop and chatting about anything they could think of until the sun started to set.
“Do you want something to drink?” Reki asked, despite knowing the answer
“Of course, and i’m sure you know what I want,”
“Yes, yes, I won’t be long,”
Reki left the bedroom, leaving Langa behind with just him and his thoughts. Usually this would be a nice thing for Langa but recently the only thing on Langa’s mind has been Reki and the sort of stuff they could do together if they were dating, which of course is very unlikely. He doesn’t even know if Reki likes guys, let alone Langa himself. It’s an endless cycle of ‘oh, my god! He sent you hearts over text! He must like you!’ to ‘No, he’s probably straight and has no interest in dating you and was just being nice to you by sending hearts’
Langa is still pondering over this when Reki finally walks in with two beers in his hands, saying “Sorry that took so long, I accidentally dropped one so I had to clean that up.”
“Don’t worry, it’s fine I promise,” Langa smiled, taking one of the cans out of Reki’s hands and immediately taking a swig from it. He could already feel warmer and he hadn’t even finished his first drink. This is going to be an interesting night.
The two spent the next couple hours chatting and laughing and drinking until they were both drunk and exhausted. He doesn’t know how it happens but they end up on Reki’s bed, cuddling against each other and Langa listening to Reki’s rhythmic breathing as the redhead falls asleep. Not long after, Langa also falls asleep with his head resting on Reki’s chest. Langa hopes this won’t be the last time this happens.