blackbox | kirishima eijirou

04 | synched smiles

Music is a phenomenon—a beautiful phenomenon that lures the artistic side of our minds as we walk down the streets, filling our minds with stories, snuggling in the blankets, accompany the lonely hour, flashed sceneries in bus rides, filling the void in our hearts and expressing the sad soul possessing a happy human.

It lets us speak the unsaid words we couldn't say, or we just find it hard to express it and hence, we let the lyrics speak our minds along with the melody that could make us sway our hips, bop our heads, drum our fingers, air guitars or even sit still with our heads lying on our arms as a cushion while the tears stream down our faces.

If one were to ask Sakura what genre she listens to, she'd say it depends if her mind finds the melody pleasing to her ears.

If one were to ask her what artist or band she listens to, she'd say it'll be Arctic Monkeys.

The sound of the guitar riffs in their songs are hypnotizing, casting an alluring spell she couldn't get out of. The sound of the drums hitting at a different force—be it hard or soft, it gets her to play pretend. Each sound from their different songs is an unfathomable masterpiece she couldn't get enough of, and if she were to hear a song for one last time before she dies, it'll be them.

Their style, in one way to describe in her own words, if appropriate, seductive.

The lead singer, Alex Turner, sang every lyric of the songs he wrote with his thick English accent. His voice was seductive and may make one feel as if they're being flirted on by some attractive English man. That's a first—but at least as he sang, he sounds real while singing a melancholic song she happened to listen to every time she sits alone on the rooftop of her house at 3AM.

One may be wondering why she's thinking about music and Arctic Monkeys this whole time.

Because currently, she's having an unprecedented conversation about Arctic Monkeys with the redhead in the corner side of the café during her break.

"I cannot believe I finally found someone who listens to Arctic Monkeys, holy shit." Kirishima leans back in his seat with an incredulous look as if he couldn't believe what he discovered for the first time in centuries.

"This is unexpected honestly," Sakura chuckled. "Who would've thought I'd be having a conversation about my favourite band with a regular."

The redhead sat up straight, taking a sip of his iced coffee. "Believe it or not, the first time I came here was to get tutored by Bakugou but then—holy crap! Pretty Visitors started playing and I-I got goosebumps right there and then—"

Sakura simply watched the way Kirishima flailed his hands in excitement and almost grinned when the latter kept on going about the topic.

"Sometimes I take charge of the music, so feel free to request some songs." She smiled at him.

His eyes widened slightly at her words as a grin slowly crawled on his lips. "Really? Then that'd be more of a reason for me to come here!"

A smile formed on her lips as she watched his reaction. "Yeah."

It was Friday, meaning it's been about a week ever since the redhead came here. She noticed he's been coming to the cafe regularly ever since then. How they ignited this conversation that's been going on for about twenty minutes ever since her break started made her question how the hell she's actually doing it.

Maybe because the first time they crossed paths, she finds him interesting.

When she happened to sit around with her phone on her break, Kirishima who was in his school uniform suddenly took a sit in front of her, almost making her drop her phone in which she almost scolded him for it.