Chapter Text
It was a cold night; the sky showing off its stars as they shimmered like sequins on a big black canvas.
Kohane would be lying if she said she wasn't lost, yet she made no effort to find her way home. She simply followed the graffiti on the walls through alleyways she didn't completely trust. There was something about the splash of colour swirling around the grey concrete that fascinated her, enveloping her in this odd sense of comfort. It only made her want to explore further.
It didn’t take her too long until she found a street sign. Vivid Street. It certainly lived up to its name. Vivid colours plastered the walls of the buildings and seeped onto the concrete pavements. Bright lights flashed all sorts of hues through shop windows whilst music blasted through the streets.
Kohane wandered through Vivid Street, and soon she found the source of the music. It appeared to be coming from a shop front that looked much like an ordinary cafè, but the music and lights made Kohane second-guess. Luckily for her, the lack of a bouncer definitely took a few of her initial ideas out of the question.
As she continued to listen to the song she seemed to move without thinking, drawn to the enchanting sounds of the singer's voice. It was refreshing and sweet, reminding Kohane of a cold sugary drink on a hot summer's day, she just let herself get whisked away.
The short gap between songs took Kohane out of her trance. The door of this – cafe? – had a flashing neon sign with the words 'open, come on in' displayed on the front. So, with slight hesitation, she decided to go inside.
It was much warmer inside than out. A bell tinkled as she entered; however, masked by the music, no one seemed to notice her coming in.
The smell of coffee greeted her as she continued further inside, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief. Despite ruling it out earlier, it was good to know for definite she hadn't accidentally wandered into a nightclub by mistake – that kind of thing wasn’t exactly Kohane’s cup of tea.
Looking around, she noticed two sections; one looked like an ordinary café much like the façade she first noticed outside. The other had a stage, with an audience crowded around it.
The stage was equipped with large speakers and a microphone stand, explaining how the music got so loud Kohane could feel it on her chest. But maybe that feeling in her chest had appeared because of something, or someone else.
The girl on the stage looked to be about the same age as Kohane herself. She had dark, almost black, hair that faded to blue at the tips littered with various star-shaped hair clips and accessories that held it in place whilst simultaneously reminding Kohane of the sequin-like stars shimmering on that canvas of a sky. And those eyes. Those vibrant, amber-coloured, eyes that glistened in the lights of the stage only served to make their intense colour stand out that much more.
Whilst analysing the girls' features, Kohane found that the girl appeared to be staring back at her. They made eye contact and Kohane's heart felt like it skipped a beat. Of course, there were lots of people watching her and the girl probably couldn’t see everyone in the audience due to the stage lights. Kohane tried to reason with herself but still she couldn’t help but hope the girl had really noticed her. The way she sang enthralled Kohane.
She didn't know the song that was being sung, and yet there was almost a sense of familiarity or nostalgia to it. The lyrics resonated with her and the melody, that sweet melody melted its way into her mind, into her body, every fibre of her being, she felt good. She felt safe. She felt understood. She felt like this song was made just for her…
"Hello there, welcome! I don't believe you've been here before." A deep voice sounded from behind her, making her jump. The man had to shout in order to be heard above the music. “Oh, sorry if I scared you."
"N-no, it's fine. I just wasn't expecting it,"
"Just letting you know, we stopped serving food and coffees a few hours ago, but you're free to stay for the performance."
"T-thanks, I'll come back another time when you are serving…" Kohane wasn't sure who she was talking to or if she would ever come back (part of her definitely wanted to). But it was needless to say that she stayed for the entire performance.
After the girl had sung her last song. She placed the microphone back onto the stand and thanked everyone for watching before stepping down from the stage after most of the crowd had dispersed. Kohane watched as the girl walked past her, she was drenched in sweat but Kohane didn’t necessarily see that as a bad thing, not with the way her skin shimmered in the light, or the way her dark t-shirt clung to her body in just the right way.
The girl, noticing her staring, smiled at her as the two made eye contact – now was her chance. Kohane opened her mouth to say something, compliment the performance, compliment her style, anything. But she couldn’t find the right words, and by then the girl had already moved on, making her way to behind the till and into a door labeled ‘staff only’.
With no reason to stay, Kohane brought out her phone in search of directions for the way home. She wasn’t too far away, only a twenty-minute walk, it told her. She had certainly stayed out longer than she had meant to, too captivated by the performance (the girl who was singing in particular) to leave, but it meant she wouldn’t get home until after midnight. She really hoped her parents had gone to bed. If they saw her coming in at that time she would be done for.
The walk home was almost sad. Kohane had put music on to keep her mind occupied but everything on her playlist sounded so boring. After the performance she had just witnessed, there was nothing that could possibly top it. Despite all the good that was brought to her by that performance she also felt a sort of disappointment that was hard to describe. A mix of dread and loss. Perhaps she would never be able to listen to music again. It would be impossible to ever find something as spectacular as what she had just heard, it was too beautiful, it blessed her ears but cursed her soul. Nothing she could find would ever be on that level of brilliance. She was Odysseus, and the girl's song was that of the sirens. Perhaps even- Ok. Maybe she was getting a little carried away. But still. Her normal music just couldn't compare.
Kohane decided then and there that she was going to watch another one of that girl’s performances if it was the last thing she ever did. Maybe she would even get a chance to talk to her.
____________
It had been a couple of days since she had gone to that strange little coffee shop in the outskirts of town. Unable to get the girl and her singing out of her mind, – even just thinking about that night made Kohane's chest tighten and her stomach flutter – she had decided she simply had to return.
She planned it out meticulously, spending way too long trying to pick an outfit (the girl had a really cool style, and Kohane wanted to show her she could look cool too.) So, after school had finished, she went home to get changed before making her way back to Vivid Street (with the help of Google Maps.)
Vivid Street looked different during the day. There were certainly a lot more people about, although music still carried its way through the street. It wasn't quite as beautiful as the girl's singing but it still sounded good. It appeared to be coming from a street performance with a large crowd of people gathered around it.
Kohane made her way towards the crowd to get a look at who was performing. It appeared to be two boys who couldn’t have been much older than Kohane herself. They were both wearing their school uniforms. Kohane recognised it as the one for Kamiyama High School. One of the boys had ginger hair, the other had a split dye of two different shades of blue.
Kohane watched them for a while and she had to admit they definitely had talent, although not quite as much as the girl she had watched in that café the other day. She decided to stay and watch them a bit longer. Afterall, she couldn’t guarantee that girl would be there again, not this early at least, she couldn’t hear her singing. It suddenly struck Kohane that she didn’t recognise any of the shops in the daytime. She wouldn’t know where to even go. A feeling of horror began to rise in her chest, maybe this whole trip would be for nothing.
Once the two boys had finished, they thanked the audience and started packing up. Kohane, along with the rest of the crowd applauded. She watched as the two boys walked into a little café. Kohane got a good look at it. The sign on the front said ‘The Weekend Garage’ and- hang on- that was the place! That was where she had heard that girl sing! What a happy coincidence.
She waited a minute- as to not look like she was following those boys like a total creep (although looking at Kohane, you probably wouldn’t be freaked out if the tiny started following you, she was probably as threatening as a hamster!) – before she decided to enter. This time the jingle of the bell could actually be heard.
Very few people turned to look at the source of the bell, too busy with what they were already doing. However, one person that did look up, Kohane noticed straight away. It was that girl again. She would recognise those amber-coloured eyes anywhere.
At first, she gave Kohane that fake friendly smile all public service workers paint across their face when speaking to customers, but something in her gaze softens when she makes eye-contact with her, just subtle enough that if Kohane hadn't been so intent on soaking in her beautiful face she would have missed it. Perhaps she remembered her from the night before too! Kohane couldn’t help but smile a little at the thought, she really hoped that was the case.
“You can take a seat anywhere, I’ll be over to take your order shortly”
And with that Kohane found herself a table. She picked one by the window, it had a lovely view of the street outside but angled so that she was still facing the rest of the cafe, the prime spot for people watching, really. Looking around the place she also couldn’t help but notice how a curtain was drawn across the space where the stage previously was, like a temporary wall hiding it away.
She decided to read over the menu, she only really wanted a hot drink or a cake but if she saw something that looked nice, she could justify coming back here another time.
True to her word, it didn’t take long before the girl came over to Kohane’s table with a notebook and pen.
“Are you ready to order?”
Kohane nodded, taking a deep breath to pretend she hadn't practiced her order several times over in her head before the girl returned.
“Umm… can I please have a cafe mocha with whipped cream…" She took a moment to glance at the 'add ons' in the coffee section. "Chocolate chips, and extra caramel sauce."
“Hold on let me grab my pen real quick" The girl replied and clicked it on, clearly not anticipating Kohane’s large order. "Alright, a cafe mocha with-?"
"Whipped cream, chocolate chips, and extra caramel sauce"
"OK, is that a regular or large?"
“J-just a regular, if that’s alright.”
‘If its alright’? Of course it’s alright she wouldn’t have been given the option if it wasn’t. And she stuttered, why did she stutter? God, Kohane was overthinking everything that came out of her mouth.
“Great! Anything else for you?”
Kohane shook her head and with that, the girl left to go make it.
Kohane thought over the conversation again and couldn’t help but cringe a little. God, she felt like such a loser.
The girl came back a little while later, drink in hand.
“Here you go. Is that all for you?”
“Yeah, thank you.”
“Great!”
Kohane watched as the girl walked over to a booth and sat down, she couldn’t see exactly who was there but she thought she saw the ginger tufts of that boy who was performing earlier with who Kohane assumes is his friend. She assumed he’s also sitting there. It was a pretty fair assumption as soon the ginger boy moves to the side a bit and she sees the top of his head too.
She's probably dating one of them, Kohane thought to herself. But why does that thought make her want to throw up? Maybe her coffee was too sweet? No that wasn't it, she had a massive sweet tooth so finding things too sweet wasn't a problem she ever had. Kohane would put a pin on that thought and come back to it later.
Meanwhile she sipped her perfectly sweet coffee and thought back to the other night. She still kept an eye on that booth, though. She wished she could see inside, she’d be able to tell if that girl really was dating one of them. Unfortunately for her however, it just wasn’t possible from where she was sitting.
Soon, the sound of the bell chimed through the coffee shop and the girl stood up from where she was seated to greet the new customers, similarly to how she had done when Kohane had entered.
They were seated and shortly after, their order was taken. Kohane watched the girl walk back behind the counter and begin to make their order. She watched her graceful hand movements dance around the coffee machine as the girl, barely even looking at what she was doing, repeated what she had done many times before. Then carefully, so as not to spill anything, she took the drinks to their table.
Kohane went to take another sip of her coffee only to find a small dribble fall onto her tongue, dejectedly she looked into her cup, only to find she had finished it, she placed it back on the table and continued to watch as the girl made her way back to the booth that the boys were seated at, it still made her heart sting.
She expected the girl to sit down with them again however, instead, she only said a few words, if only Kohane could lipread, then she'd know what she said. The girl turned to walk away before about-turning on her heel and walking back frantically back to the boys, seemingly panicked, the ginger boy pushed her forward with an exasperated expression, and she once again started to walk away. The best part of people watching is getting to see strange little moments like that. Maybe it was the ginger one she's dating? They don't look good together at all, she looks like a literal angel, and he's just some mediocre looking guy. OK, maybe that's too mean for no reason, she doesn't know either of them (he probably could be hot to Kohane if it wasn't for the fact she's a lesbian) but in some weird way she feels justified.
It was then that Kohane realised the girl was looking at her. Not only that but she was heading right for her. Suddenly Kohane realised she was nervous. Why?
"Hi there!" The girl said with a smile.
"Oh! Hello" Kohane replied, she could feel her face getting hot.
“Mind if I take a seat?” She asked, gesturing towards the chair opposite her.
“Oh… yeah. Sure, of course.”
“I’m An, ” the girl introduced herself. "And you are?"
“Kohane,” Kohane replied. “It’s nice to meet you, An”
“Nice to meet you too, Kohane! It's also nice to see you’ve come back. I saw you the other day after my performance, right?"
“O-oh yeah, it was really good!”
“You think so?” The girl- An- then said, “I’m glad.”
Kohane looked back at An's bright amber eyes, they darted around her face like they were analysing her features. It made Kohane nervous again, and yet she still couldn’t figure out why.
"So when are you next going to sing?" Kohane asked, breaking the silence.
The girl blinked a couple times and looked back up at her eyes, shaking her head as she did so almost like she was snapping back to reality.
"Oh sorry, what was that?" She asked.
Kohane realised she'd probably just zoned out and happened to be looking at her, that almost made her feel disappointed.
"When are you next going to sing?" Kohane repeated, a little louder this time.
"I perform every Friday at 6pm" She replied, "We stop serving food at 7 though"
Suddenly the chime of the bell once again rang throughout the coffee shop and a couple, most likely in their 60's entered in.
“Well,” she continues. “It was nice talking to you, but I’d better get back to work.”
"Oh, OK then, bye."
"I'd better take this off your hands too." An said, picking up Kohane’s empty cup. "You can pay at the counter by the way."
And with that, she was gone to serve the couple.
Once Kohane had seen they got their order (she didn't want to bother An while she was busy.) She walked up to the till to pay.
“Thank you, Kohane. I hope to see you again soon!”
“Bye!" Kohane dropped her spare change into the tip jar.
"Bye~"
And with that, Kohane went home. Next time she would go to that café was going to be a Friday evening.
—————
Friday finally came around. Kohane was watching the clock but it was almost as if time was slowing down just to taunt her. It didn’t help that her last class had a teacher with the most monotonous voice she had ever heard, droning on and on, it was making it hard to even pay attention. ‘A watched pot never boils’ but with her mind wandering… It was difficult not to keep staring at the clock.
But eventually, after 50 long, agonising minutes, it was time to go home.
Even when she did get home however, she still had 2 whole hours to go before she got to hear An sing again. God, why is time so cruel?