Chapter Text
The lunch rush was over, the kitchen was cleaned and ready to be prepared for dinner service, and the restaurant was empty. Kojiro had been looking forward for a break after a hectic lunch service, but he couldn't really relax when the unmistakable stench of teenage angst was accompanying the usual smells of the restaurant.
A certain redhead had arrived just before the restaurant was closing for the afternoon, looking like an anxious mess, and because these kids made Kojiro too damn soft-hearted, he had sat Reki down with a glass of juice and a plate of leftover tiramisu. Now the ice in the juice had melted, and the kid was staring at his half-eaten tiramisu as if he was observing it drying out.
Kojiro sighed, put the last of the polished wineglasses away and made his way over to the counter. "So kid, are you going to tell me what really brought you here today?", he asked, dropping down to Reki's eye level. "It wasn't the free food, I can tell that much."
Reki's eyes snapped up, and he shot Kojiro a sheepish smile. "I uh, wanted to ask you for advice…" The boy paused, a blush that rivaled his red hair slowly creeping up his neck. "Love advice."
Kojiro resisted the urge to bark out a laugh. "Is this about anyone in particular?"
"No!" Reki answered way too loud and way too quickly.
Definitely about Langa then, Kojiro thought.
"I just wanted to ask for advice… in general." Reki slouched in his chair, trying to disappear into his hoodie.
Kojiro let out an amused hum. Sure, he would let the kid have his secrets, even if his crush on Langa was probably visible from space.
"Alright, I'll bite." When had he gotten so generous with giving advice to this kid? Perhaps it was because Reki reminded him of a louder version of himself at that age. "What do you want to know? Where to take them? How to pick out a gift?"
"No," Reki punctuated it with a head shake. "I was wondering… is there a way to make someone fall in love with you? Like, can you make sure that they have the same feelings as you before you… go all in?"
Reki's wide, anxious eyes made Kojiro feel older than he really was.
"Reki," Kojiro said, more earnest this time. "You can't make people do anything. The only thing you can realistically do is be honest. Talk to them."
"But I can't just say it, Joe." Reki groaned and buried his face in his arms "It's embarrassing. What if I say the wrong thing and ruin everything? I need to make sure that he - that they are at least halfway there already."
Not that that would be a problem with Langa, Kojiro thought to himself. He was about to launch into another grown-up lecture, when Reki looked back up at him. His eyes were pleading, desperate. And well, Kojiro had been in a similar position once, and he certainly would have appreciated a guide to make your best friend fall in love with you. So, he was going to play along and would try to give Reki some ideas that would at least make Langa have an interesting week.
"Fine," Kojiro sighed, grabbed a pad and pencil from the counter and began writing with the confidence of a man who had never been in a stable, long-term relationship. "I will give you some pointers on how to get someone interested and see you as a potential romantic partner. It's not exactly foolproof, so don't come crying to me if this doesn't work out, alright?"
Reki nodded eagerly.
"First, you gotta get them interested. Create some intrigue, make them wonder what is going on in that head of yours." Not that Reki hadn't done that repeatedly since the beginning of his and Langa's friendship.
"Then, you show them that they can have a good time with you. Take them somewhere fun. Show them you are great to be around. You want to be what is missing from their life." The kid also already had that one down, with as often as the two boys were skating together.
"And lastly, you move in for the final blow. Get them close, and alone. Perhaps pick a moment where you are stuck together - an elevator or a shared umbrella. Use that physical closeness to make your confession, when cannot run away."
Kojiro ripped the paper off the pad and put it down in front of Reki, the three steps noted in black on white.
1. Create Mystery
2. Find a Spark
3. Force Proximity
"And that is it?" The kid asked, eyes wide in amazement.
Kojiro felt a pang of guilt. It was meant to be a bit of a joke, instead Reki took it as a genuine guide.
"Sure. Just remember, in the end you will need to be honest." He earnestly hoped that that was the part that stuck. At least he had tried to make his point.
"Thanks, Joe." Reki grinned as he carefully folded the list and put it in his pocket. "I knew you were the right person to come to with this."
"Well," Kojiro said with a wink, "I don't have the reputation as Okinawa's greatest flirt for nothing."
"That's not why I asked you," Reki said with a raised eyebrow. "Obviously I'm here because you managed to get with Cherry."
"What?" Kojiro felt like he had just stumbled off his board. "Wait kid, you think I'm in a relationship with who?"
"Cherry? Your boyfriend slash rival?"
"You have the wrong idea."
"Oh," Reki sounded genuinely confused. "I thought since you spend so much time together… And besides, everyone at S thinks-"
"Everyone at S is delusional," Kojiro interrupted. He needed to stop this, before it became a full-blown rumor that could make its way to Kaoru. What the two of them shared was nothing but a decades long friendship that included the occasional ill-advised drunken kiss. "I don't know what gave you this idea, but you need to let it go. We are just two people who've known each other way too long to get rid of each other. It's a… convenience thing."
Reki looked at him, and then to the spot be behind the counter where a framed picture of Kaoru and him in Italy was definitely not hidden. Kojiro shook his head again, to make his point.
"Okay." Reki slowly slid out of his chair, eyebrows furrowed. "If you say so, Joe." He walked over to where he had propped up his board. "Anyway, thanks for the advice. I've got to go and… plan mystery stuff. See ya!"
The door closed softly behind Reki as he scrambled out into the afternoon sun.
Kojiro stood alone in the silence of Sia la Luce. He picked up the half-eaten plate of tiramisu, but he didn't move away from the counter.
Was he really that obvious? Reki was a high schooler with no emotional subtlety, yet he’d pegged Kojiro’s complicated mess with Kaoru as a settled domestic partnership. Kojiro tilted his head back and groaned. If it was visible to a kid like Reki, then he really hadn't been half as smooth as he thought he was.
"Great," he muttered to the empty restaurant and went to put the plate of tiramisu in the sink.
That evening at the skate park, Reki was so distracted that he almost had to bail on a simple kickflip. The revelation that Joe and Cherry weren't together was thoroughly confusing, and honestly a bit concerning. He had banked his whole plan on getting Langa to become his boyfriend on the fact that it had already worked out for Joe and Cherry. He certainly thought they should be together.
"Okay, what is up with you?" Miya snapped when Reki stumbled over his own board. "You're even worse at skating than usual, slime."
Reki shot him a dirty look, when Langa stopped in front of him.
"Is something on your mind?", he asked, thin brows furrowed in concern. Reki almost had to take a step back from how close he was.
"I talked to Joe earlier." He said before really thinking about it, then added "I bumped into him. On the street. Totally random."
Right. That would hide the fact that he had specifically gone to Joe for advice. "We kind of got talking about stuff and, well. I always though he and Cherry were a couple. But I guess they aren't?"
"They aren't? I saw them run errands together last week." Miya frowned. "They were bickering the entire time like an old married couple."
"So their rivalry isn't just an act?" Langa said softly, face unreadable.
"That's the thing - I think they actually do like each other." Reki said, plopping down to sit on his board. His two friends joined him. "At least Joe didn't deny that they liked each other. He just said that they are… convenient."
"They're always together." Miya shrugged. "It would be weird to spend time with someone you don't like."
"Wait Miya, does that mean you like us?" Reki grinned and leaned into Miya's space.
Miya shoved him. "We were not talking about me, slime."
"Okay fine. So Cherry and Joe - what do we think? They should totally be together right? Maybe they just haven't realized yet?" Reki said, eyes switching between his two friends.
"Imagine the chaos while they finally figure out their shit," Miya snickered.
"I think it would be sweet, if they were together," Langa said. The small smile on his lips as he said it made Reki's insides turn to mush.
He stuck his hand his pocket to stop himself from doing something stupid like reaching out and taking Langa's hand. His fingers brushed a certain piece of paper, and inspiration struck.
"Wait, guys. I think I have an idea how we can help."