Chapter Text
Taking a vacation after the NEL to destress was a no-brainer for Reo. After the stress, the losses, and then Nagi getting locked off, Reo needed a week to take his mind off of things. Okinawa's historical sites and luxury hotels made it the ideal place to take a break.
Thing is, keeping up with his soccer training, even during a break, is the only way he'll keep up with the unforgiving pace of Blue Lock. Not that he minds, of course, he's fond of soccer.
Well, he minds right now. Because somehow, despite the state-of-the-art GPS his phone is equipped with, he has no fucking clue where he's ended up. He's had no trouble navigating unfamiliar areas before, but somehow Okinawa is the place he gets lost. Getting lost trying to find a soccer field of all things. Frustrating wraps him in barbed wire as he frantically looks down at his phone and up at his surroundings, trying to locate the soccer field that's supposed to be right in front of him.
He finds somewhere to sit so he can reorient himself, and finds himself in a skate park. He had a rollerblading phase at one point, before he became too good and lost interest. As usual. But he never tried skateboarding, which seems to be what this one is mainly used for.
He hefts his sports bag next to him on a bench, and fiddles with his GPS to figure out where the soccer field was and why it took him here instead.
He couldn't figure out the second part, but reinputting the name and address of the place makes him realize he's an hour away from the place he was trying to get. By car. Reo resists the urge to throw his phone, instead shoving it into his bag. State-of-the-art his ass. MapQuest would've served him better.
He could probably find another place to play, but Reo was done with walking around and being confused, so he laced up his cleats and started doing drills in the open areas around the skating equipment. It…wasn't the best experience, but he was working up a sweat and getting into a groove. He practiced dribbling, shooting, he tried copying moves he remembered from Blue Lock and from different professional games he's watched, but doing it around the grind rails and ramps inhibited his abilities.
At some point he starts playing this game, trying to hit the ball in the same spot on a wall, chasing it and hitting it in the same spot again. Sometimes he hits a direct shot, if he's in a good position, sometimes he traps it and kicks, sometimes he throws in a little dribbling just for fun. It's not really a drill, barely a practice, but he does feel his stress fading away as he focuses on the way he moves his body and the rhythmic thumping of the ball.
That is, until he goes to trap the ball and realizes that move is one of Nagi's-
A scraping sound breaks his focus, making Reo fall on his ass. The ball bounces helplessly away, and Reo watches as a red-headed skater jumps over it as it rolled toward him. The skater stops in front of Reo, still on the ground, and holds out a hand.
"Didn't mean to startle you!" The guy smiled, "I mean, it's kinda your fault for not expecting skateboard sounds at a skate park, but I'll allow it since you seemed pretty focused."
Reo then realizes that the scraping noise was actually the rolling wheels of the skateboard. He took the red-head's hand and thanked him quietly.
"Sorry, I'll get out of your way," Reo offers, "I was just finishing up."
Which wasn't true. It had only been a couple hours, and Reo expected to be practicing for far longer. But he was intruding on a space that wasn't his, so he would concede.
The red-head gave him a curious once over, "Why are you doing that here anyways? There's a soccer field at the high school that would probably be a lot better for…whatever you were doing."
Reo huffed, "My GPS glitched and got me all turned around while looking for a different soccer field. I decided to not mess with it and fuck around here."
"New in town?" The red-head guessed, "I can show you around a bit, if you'd like?"
Reo shrugged, "I'm only here for a week, so I doubt it'll be necessary."
Plus, he'll just get Ba-ya to drive him around. He knows she would be happy to, but he would've preferred a bit more freedom.
"Suit yourself. But hey, while your here," He flipped the skateboard into his hands and beamed, "You wanna try skateboarding?"
Reo didn't want to, which showed plainly on his face.
"Aww, come on. It's really fun once you get the hang of it! Watch," The red-head dropped the board and immediately hopped on and took off in one fluid motion. Reo watched him as he rode around, jumping with the board and doing a trick Reo is 87% sure is a kickflip. Not only was Reo watching the performance, but he was watching the way the skater shifted his weight and moved his feet.
I wonder if my copying abilities would work in this situation.
The red-head stopped in front of him once again, kicking the board up and offering it to Reo, "You still sure you don't wanna try?"
Reo shrugged, "No promises, I'm pretty athletic but I haven't done this before."
He laughed as Reo took the board, "I'll be surprised if you even stay on the board when you start rolling!"
Choosing to play it safe, Reo set the board on the ground before trying to get on, rather than throwing it down and jumping on like the skater did. But he does mimic his posture and the position of his feet, so when he pushes off and rolls away, he doesn't overbalance and fall. He shifts his weight, just like the red-head did, and starts turning back towards the skater. Reo registers his shocked face and smirks.
And for my final trick…He shifts his weight and the position of his feet, stomps hard on the back of the board, and successfully lands the jump.
"What?!" The red-head yells as Reo rolls to a stop in front of him, "It took me months to land an ollie like that! Were you lying when you said you don't skate?"
Reo shrugs, a smug smile on his face, "No, this is my first time. But I am super athletic and I pick things up really easily, so don't feel too bad."
Reo picks up the board and tries to hand it back to the dumbfounded skater, who just stares at him slack jawed. He's very expressive, putting his entire body into his reactions. Throwing his hands up, he whines, "You're worse than Langa!"
Reo's eyebrows knit together, "Who?"
He sighed, "My best friend, who's also a super-genius skateboarder. He picked up an ollie in two weeks, as opposed to my three months. And your two minutes."
The red-head glared at him, and Reo held his hands up placatingly, "Listen, I'm just used to copying people for soccer all the time, so I immediately understood how to move when you showed me. It doesn't have anything to do with raw talent, just a skill I transferred from soccer to this. You figured it out completely on your own, which is impressive itself."
"Yeah, yeah, all I hear is that you're better than me because you're better than me. Whatever, man. But tell me," Something shifted in the red-head's gaze, a playful note in his tone, "Did you have fun?"
…Did he? Reo liked using his copying ability, and realizing he can use it for absolute bullshit was cool, and he always enjoys being better than other people (as per Blue Lock's ideology). Something warms in Reo's chest at the skater's sparkling eyes and wide grin, and he's thankful his answer won't disappoint the other teen.
"Yeah. It's fun."
"Hell yeah it is!" The red-head throws and arm around Reo and leans in, "My name's Kyan Reki, by the way. You can just call me Reki."
"Mikage Reo, just call me Reo."
Confusion flashed on Reki's face, "That name sounds familiar. Like the phone brand?"
Reo suppresses a groan with a sheepish laugh, "Eh, something like that. My dad is actually the CEO of the Mikage Corporation."
Reki's mouth falls open, before he snaps it shut and shrugs, "Well, I know worse rich people than you, Reo."
Reo doesn't have time to express confusion before Reki pulls away from Reo and starts talking again, "But hey, if you want real fun, there's this skateboarding event happening every night this week. I'm going to all of them, but if you wanna come tonight you can meet me back here at twelve."
"Twelve…in the morning?"
Reki smirks, "Yeah, it's super underground, and not super legal, so you have to be in the know to get in. But fortunately, you know me, and I know the founders."
Reki holds out his hand, "So whaddaya say? Wanna see what 'S' is all about?"
This sounds like the perfect opportunity to get thrown in jail, or a career ending injury, but Reo's feeling a bit reckless for no reason in particular, so he shrugs and says, "Do I have to do any skating?"
"Only if someone challenges you. So you better not piss anyone off," He said playfully.
"I think I can handle that," Reo took his hand, "I'll see you then, Reki. But, really, I have to be getting back to my hotel."
"Awesome, see you then!" He beamed, and Reo turned away to start the trek back to his hotel. He hoped. Maybe his GPS was still glitched and he'd end up in the middle of the ocean.
He took the chance to reflect on what exactly he got himself into on his walk. A chance meeting with a deranged skaterboy led him to promising to go to an illegal skating event. It can't be as exiting as Reki made it sound. What exactly made it illegal, anyways? Loitering? Skateboarding in public is frowned upon, but it's not prohibited. And plus, Reo's not even interested in skateboarding. What is he thinking?
Deep down, he knows. He's just trying to find ways to avoid thinking about Nagi. Trying to avoid copying his moves but subconsciously doing them anyways, about his own role in Nagi's lock off. How he gave and gave and it still wasn't enough-
He stops that train of thought. It's over now, no need to get worked up over it. He's going to check out this skating thing, then get up in the morning and proceed with his soccer training and that's going to be that.
And nothing more.