Chapter Text
Standing here at the Shibuya Crossing with the wind blowing gently against her, Eiko comes to the sudden realisation that Kongming can see into the future.
How else would he know that she would use the road usage permit right here, right now to save another singer who’s singing the exact same song that has touched her heart? The exact same song that she currently needs to figure out how to make it hers, no less. She doesn’t know much about this kind of paperwork, but she knows—mainly from Owner’s daily complaints—that bureaucracy is a nightmare, so Kongming must have had this done days before as well.
So yeah, Kongming can definitely see into the future. That’s the only explanation that makes sense.
“This all looks in order. There’s no issue if you have permission then,” the officer says to her partner, snapping Eiko out of her thoughts. She hands the permit back with a smile, adding: “Take care not to play too loudly, alright?”
“Yes, ma’am! Thanks for your hard work!” Eiko replies quickly, snapping a salut at the two officers as they walk away and leave her alone with the street singer. Who she lies through her teeth about knowing.
Oh right, there’s still that.
Before Eiko can say anything, the other singer has already turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow. “Uh, who are you?” she asks.
“Ah, sorry! Did I trouble you? I’m Tsukimi Eiko, call me Eiko!” she blurts out, fumbling with her words. Owner has told her that she gets like this when she’s nervous, so Eiko forces herself to calm down for a moment. “I want to hear more of your singing, is all,” she tries again, slower this time. “Sorry again, if I was poking my nose into your business or something-”
“No, it’s fine. You really helped me out. Thanks, Eiko.”
“I’m glad then, uh,...”
“Call me Nanami.”
“Nice to meet you then, Nanamin,” Eiko grins, offering a hand.
Nanami gives her a hesitant smile as she shakes her hand. Her fingers are rough. Does she play another instrument as well? “You gonna perform out here?” she asks, looking over Eiko’s shoulder, probably at the guitar case.
Speaking of performing. Eiko sighs. “Well, that’s the plan… but”—She fidgets with her cap—“this is my first time, and I’ve got cold feet.”
Nanami hums in understanding. There’s a second where neither of them say anything, and Eiko’s about to ask if she can listen to Nanami plays again when Nanami beats her to speaking. Again. “The police are still looking at us.”
“Oh.” Eiko sneaks a glance back, following Nanami’s gaze to see the officers. “They’re probably suspicious.”
“That’s fair, honestly,” Nanami shrugs, knuckles rasping against her cajon in a steady beat. “You play the guitar, yeah?”
“Oh. Uh, yeah.”
“Wanna play together, then?”
Eiko’s pretty sure that her quickly moving to get the guitar out of the bag half-way through Nanami’s question is enough of an answer. Nanami laughs at her then, and it takes them a solid minute to recover before Nanami can ask her what song they should do and if she’s gonna sing as well.
She doesn’t think she’s imagining Nanami’s slightly disappointed look when she says no to the last question.
[ ♪ I'm still alive today ]
There’s comfort and familiarity in the song.
Of course there is. Eiko has listened to this song so many times in the past years. She has it on loops on rough nights, in the shower, on her way to work and on her way back home. She lived and breathed the song throughout the first year, and at this point when the scar has somewhat faded, she can admit that waiting for the studio release of “I’m still alive today” had been her way of staying, well, alive through the first month.
There’s Nanami’s singing which adds so much more to it that Eiko almost slips up on her guitar. Muscle memory guides her hands true in the end, but she isn’t actually concentrating on that. Not since Nanami’s first verse, or even her first word.
Nanami sings: “Everything seems to be alright,” and Eiko can’t help but feel comforted. Even with the challenge of Summer Sonia weighing on her, and the entire deal with the damn Pudding Geezer dragging at her.
Her gaze meets Nanami’s.
Eiko loves this song. She sometimes thinks, with an irrational possessiveness and wishfulness, that it is her song. But Nanami is on an entirely different level. She’s amazing, with how she manages to turn Maria’s song into her actual own thing in a way Eiko has not managed to do.
I want to sing like that, Eiko thinks. Pauses. Amends herself: I want to sing in my own style.
Nanami winks at her during the short instrumental before the chorus. It’s a watch-me sort of wink, as if Eiko’s eyes aren’t already glued on Nanami since the first moment she has heard her sing. She’s vaguely aware of the audience that they’ve gathered, but really, all of her attention is on Nanami.
The song ends in a blink of an eye. Way too soon, in Eiko’s opinion. She wants to hear more of Nanami’s tone, wants to see more of Nanami’s colour, wants to go to wherever it was that Nanami’s voice has taken her to for some minutes there.
Eiko wants.
“Do you want to do some more songs?” Eiko asks.
Nanami, who's catching her breath, manages a nod and a thumbs up.
Time passes quickly with Nanami’s singing. By the end of their impromptu busking session, Eiko’s hands hurt from playing and her legs are complaining and she’s so tired but also so so awake.
Too awake, even.
Nanami’s packing up, so Eiko starts putting her guitar away as well. She’s aware that she is drawing that simple action out, pulling the zipper at a snail’s pace and faking re-tying her shoelaces but can anyone blame her for not wanting the moment to end?
“Are you going home now?” Nanami asks, looking back at her.
She’s probably gonna head to BB now, but that’s kinda the same thing as home anyway so Eiko nods. “And you?”
“Yeah. It’s getting a bit late anyway.” Nanami looks at her phone, the corner of her lips tilting down into a small frown. “Well, whatever.”
“You good?”
Nanami shrugs. Her other hand comes up to tug a stray strand of hair back behind her ears. “Yeah,” she answers carefully. “Nothing to worry about. Something comes up at work, that's all.”
“Well, if you say so,” says Eiko, watching Nanami’s furrowed brow. Whatever it is from work has clearly got her down, and she doesn’t want to see that type of expression on Nanami’s face. She wants to give something back, so she jogs to catch up to Nanami with a bright smile.
They’re kind of the same when it comes to their passion for music. There’s some subtle differences in there that Eiko knows exist but can’t figure out in the short hours (she’s pretty sure Kongming would be able to give her a full list, alphabetized, in 5 minutes or something), but she knows enough. So she asks: “Do you wanna do this again tomorrow?”
A grin splits Nanami’s face, to Eiko’s relief. “Yeah, sure! Let’s do it then.” She quickly taps at her phone, swiping a few times before handing it over. “Here, do you wanna give me your number? We can talk more tomorrow?”
“Sounds good!”
She waves Nanami goodbye when they have to part at a junction. Seconds later she loses sight of Nanami in the crowd, and it is just her standing here alone now, only the echo of Nanami’s singing still playing in her head. Eiko sighs, stretching her arms before stuffing them back into her jacket’s pockets, pausing slightly at the feel of the permit there.
Huh, she’s guessing this is how she’s finding herself then.
Even without Kongming here, she can picture him bowing slightly with an affirmative hum.