“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere I found while taggin’ up this place. I think you might like it.”
The two Rudies made their way towards the observatory in the Skyscraper District, the highest point in Tokyo. They stopped for a moment on one of the roofs.
“You get enough cans for a boost dash across here?” asked one of them.
“Mhmm.”
“Okay. I’ll go first.”
He took a few paces backwards, and skated towards the edge of the building. When he reached it a great, orange flame erupted from the small rockets on his skates, giving him enough force to propel him to the other side.
“Okay, your turn.” He shouted to the other Rudie. “It’s a bumpy landing, but I’ll catch ya.”
The other Rudie, a girl, started to back up, but then she stopped.
“You’re sure about this?”
“Sure I’m sure.”
“You really sure?”
“Yup. You sure you’re sure?”
“Oh yeah, ok. Sure.”
She took a deep breath, aimed carefully at the spot the boy was standing. What if she missed? She tried not to think about it. She backed right up to the grid fence on the other side of the roof. Then, slowly at first, she began to skate towards the edge, just as he’d done.
Just before reaching it, though, the accidentally pressed the boost dash button. Instinctly, she made to propel herself from whatever surface she was on, whether it was the edge or not.
Emitting a short squeal, she closed her eyes as the cold air blew around her. She felt like she was falling, straight down, nothing to stop her.
Then, her feet finally came into contact with a surface once again.
“Oof! Gotcha.”
She felt them collide. He almost fell backwards, as he caught her.
“Oh god that was so scary...” she uttered.
“It’s okay. You’ll get used to it...” he whispered in her ear. “You were brave, Rhyth.”
She was suddenly aware of how hard her heart was beating against her chest. She looked up at him, and smiled.
“Thanks...”
There was a moment of silence.
“Well, come on, then. It’s at the top.”
“What you want to show me?”
“Yeah. We’ll take the stairs instead of the rails, it’ll be easier.”
“But...” she stopped, thinking.
“What?”
“Don’t you need a key or something? For the door?”
“Nah...” he grinned, moving towards the door. She followed him, curious. He pulled off his headphones, and carefully placed one of the spikes into the keyhole, strategically picking at it.
After a while, it swung open, and he opened the now unlocked door.
“Ladies first.” He chuckled.
“So that’s why you have those spikes!” Rhyth giggled, climbing up the stairs inside.
“Yeah, that, and playin’ rough in races.”

They reached the verandas that lay in a circle around the giant telescope.
“Are we here?”
“Not quite. See the top? We grind up there. You first.” They jumped onto the neon rail and grinded, single file, onto the roof above the telescope.
“Now we’re here.” He said. He was suddenly nervous.
She walked across to the edge, barred by another rail. Her jaw dropped.
“Oh... oh my god...”
“It’s, uh, pretty huh?”
“It’s...” Rhyth was lost for words. She put her hand up to her mouth, and stared at the giant city below.
“You... can see the whole of Tokyo from here!” she exclaimed finally. “It’s beautiful...”
“You like it?”
“I love it, Beat!” she suddenly lunged back to hug him. He just stood there, stock-still. He felt like there was some extremely heavy object inside his stomach.
They eventually broke apart, and looked over the bright specks of light around the city.
“Look, you can see the Garage from here...” Rhyth said, pointing.
“Oh, yeah... looks so tiny, compared to the rest of it, huh?” replied Beat. He was hoping he didn’t sound shaky, for that was certainly how he felt.
“Yeah... and you can even see Kibogoaka Hill, way over there. I never thought you could see it from this far...” she sighed. “I never thought Tokyo could look so beautiful.”
“Neither did I, till I found this spot.” Beat paused, wondering what to say next.
A minute or so passed in silence.  Then it struck him.
“Rhyth... y’know... I could never really thank ya enough for... y’know...” he swallowed. “Saving me, in Rokkaku-Dai.”
She looked up at him, and smiled. He was almost a head taller than her; he might have posed a threat in some other totally different situation. But, there they were... just the two of them, alone, the gorgeous light display sparkling below.
“You don’t have to thank me...” she started to say, but her voice caught in her throat. She looked away.

Just come out with it, he thought. Just say it, get it over with.
He leant over the rail, fiddling with his radio watch. He remembered Garam’s advice; ‘You only got one life. It could end at any time, on any day. So what if you mess up? If you don’t do it, you’ll never know what could’a been. No regrets, dude.’
No regrets...
“Rhyth...”
No regrets...
“Listen, uh...”
No regrets...
“I...”
“Love you...”
He froze suddenly... Rhyth was looking at him, in the eyes, her mouth slightly open as if saying something.
They had both said it.
At the same time.
Hoshit.