Chapter Text
Whenever he could be, Denki was spending as much time as possible in the town square down the street from the crew’s house, listening to the band that played there, just so he could hear the purple haired girl he had met that one time sing. If he got the additional pleasure of occasionally catching a glimpse of a certain purple haired guard on his patrols, then who was he to complain.
Denki had accepted the teasing from not just Hanta, but most of his friends about his “type” being what they declared purple people. But he just couldn’t help it. He’d always been a fan of music, so when he had heard the musician singing on one of his supply runs, he had completely stopped in his tracks to watch the show the girl and those she was with put on for the people of the town square.
It was always her, accompanied most commonly by a man with long blonde hair who played the fiddle as she sang, occasionally they’d have other musicians with other instruments rotating around daily, but that didn’t matter to Denki. In Denki’s eyes, she had the voice of an angel, and he was determined to at least learn her name, even if she never gave him the time of day again.
Though he’d admit he really hoped that she’d at least give him the slightest chance, even if it was just to be friends. No matter what though the blonde was determined to respect her wishes. She was just really cool and an amazing musician, who Denki wouldn’t deny he had moved around things in his schedule just to hear some of her performance.
Today seemed to be Denki’s lucky day, because after the show the purple haired singer made her way down the side stairs of the stage and started walking over to him, him. Denki was shocked to say the least when she sat on the bench in front of him, turning to face him with a smile.
“I’ve noticed that you’ve been in the audience a lot lately. Do you like music that much,” she asked, a bit of a tease evident in her voice, but Denki just froze and looked at her for a moment.
Then, he caught himself and nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. “I mean, I do really enjoy music, but I think it’s more so your voice that has me coming back so often. You really do have a beautiful singing voice,” the blonde smiled brightly, looking at her.
He noticed her cheeks go slightly red at the compliment, her hands fiddling with some of the fabric on the edge of her bag. “I uhm, thank you for that. My name is Kyoka,” she said, holding out her hand to the blonde. “My name is Denki, it’s great to officially meet you Kyoka,” he spoke, shaking her hand gently.
“Would you wanna go talk more at a cafe? There’s one a little ways down the road, Hizashi, the one who plays the fiddle, he owns it with his Husband,” she explained, standing from the bench as she pointed down the cobbled path leading in between the buildings. “Oh! That’d be great! I’d be happy to join you,” he grinned.
The two walked down the road to the small cafe. It was easy to see from the outside in, it was a cozy little building, much different from the taverns and bars Denki had been in before. Kyoka opened the door, leading the blonde into the dimly lit building and up to the front counter where she pointed to a plaque with some drinks written out.
“Ah! Kyoka, long time no see,” the blonde from the stage, who Denki pieced together to be Hizashi, greeted jokingly from behind the counter. “Yeah yeah,” she teased back before turning to Denki, “Is Tea good,” she asked, smiling. Denki could only nod from behind her, still taking in the room around him.
He briefly registered Kyoka talking to Hizashi, asking for some tea, before the girl started walking to a table in the corner. It was still in the light of the window, but just out of the way that they wouldn’t be in view of anyone walking past the cafe.
Denki followed the musician excitedly, sitting across the table from her as she sent another one of her signature smiles his way. “So, Denki, do you play an instrument,” she asked, leaning back against the cafe chair and looking directly at him.
“Oh, man I haven’t played in forever. I used to play guitar back home in my free time, I haven’t touched an instrument in a few years now,” he chuckled lightly.
“Really? That’s such a shame. If you ever wanted to get back into playing, Hizashi holds music nights here sometimes, usually it’s when Shouta has a later shift in the guard,” she shrugged.
Hizashi brought over a tray with the tea and teacups, the two others having a small exchange as Denki thought that over. Getting back into music seemed so fun, he’d had such a passion for it back at home… maybe it was something he should get back into.
As the blonde man walked away from the table, Kyouka poured the tea into the two cups. “I think… I think getting back into music would be really fun,” Denki said, taking the tea cup that she held out for him. “Sweet, usually if he’s gonna have a music night he’ll post a flyer on the boards in the square. If you don’t have a guitar anymore, you can borrow one of mine to mess around with,” she smiled, lifting her cup of tea to her lips.
“That sounds perfect! Thank you Kyouka, I didn’t even think about getting back into music after the Pardon happened,” he laughed happily. “Do you know why you stopped,” she asked.
The question made Denki think again, reflecting back on the past. “I guess, my guitar just didn’t make the stuff I ended up packing when I joined Kats. I’m sure none of the crew would’ve minded, I just ended up leaving it behind,” he said, after a moment of his quiet.
He stared into the teacup in front of him, watching some of the stray tea leaves settle into the bottom of the cup. “Well, at least you’re finding it again,” Kyouka smiled.
“Yeah, I guess I am,” he spoke quietly, smiling softly into the cup. He was going to get him music back. Maybe one day he could visit home and get his guitar, or he could buy a new one from the town shops here. There were so many possibilities, but for right now Denki was happy to reflect on the fact that he had someone, others, who would play with him, and help him find that love again.
For now, he supposes that’s all he needs. And if one of those someones just so happens to be one of the purple heads of hair that first caught his eye, well, then even better.