𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐑𝐒! ➛ a. keiji ✔

𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝟬𝟯 ── 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳

listen to the song above for a soundtrack!

───── ◦'𖥸'◦ ─────

two weeks had passed between akaashi receiving the lyrics and actually deciding to do something with them. ever since then, not a word was spoken between the musician and [y/n]. in fact, what held him back from talking to the writer was the tension he'd feel whenever he'd open the forum or even get near the off-white envelope in which the letter had come. keiji knew it was stupid, still he fell into the black hole he'd later call "guilt".

yes, guilt. after all, he had been using someone else's lyrics for his own selfish purposes, and that was the most dishonorable act a musician could ever do. however, the bigger issue that bore its fangs at the man was not doing anything with the beautiful poems, even though he had texted @musicalities about how talented they were. you need to do something and actually show them you're grateful, you piece of shit! he'd constantly tell himself, day after day, every morning.

one could argue and call it laziness, but keiji decided to give it the name of "i can't pick up my guitar even with all this great external stimulus". in truth, he'd been trying his hardest not to give up on all that and quit it, yet knowing that this stranger on the internet had his back had inspired him to at least try. so that was what he did.

grabbing his acoustic guitar, (he had a feeling the song was fit for the acoustic one instead of the electric one) the man started strumming chord progressions he knew would fit into his idea of the song's melody. the pattern went up and down multiple times, creating a melody of g and c chords, the strings almost melting together in harmony. humming a simple but steady melody, akaashi now had his song.

the blue-eyed man put his recording equipment together — he still had all those cables and microphones, you know, just in case he got out of his creative slump — and started to sing. as his soft, tender voice filled his own ears, akaashi felt at peace, just as if he was back in the good old days, when he'd stay up all night writing with only the company of the moon and the blissful stars by his side, shining through the crack on his windowsill. even though the words were not entirely his, he felt a sense of ownership over them: he did know how to sing of heartbreak, at the end of the day. the video was done, and thus he sent it to [y/n], hoping they would say something.

from: @akaashikeiji

[sent a video]

what do you think?

sent from tokyo, japan

the response came as quickly as the first message itself:

from: @musicalities

looks great! you should post it on youtube or something

sent from unknown

a smile creeped its way upon keiji's face. just as he was about to ask the user what part they liked most, he heard a knock on the door. he wondered who it was, but the wondering ceased as soon as he heard the signature "i can't wait for more than three seconds for you to open the door" knock. koutarou must have forgotten his keys. again. letting his black-and-grey haired friend in, akaashi noticed the man had brought them a bag of groceries and pizza.

the truth was, neither of them could cook. bokuto had tried his hand at gastronomy once, and ended up making a flour-y mess that would last for weeks hadn't he profusely apologized and spent the whole evening cleaning it up with keiji. akaashi himself, on the other hand, had aimed at chocolate chip cookies and landed on burnt volcanic rocks. hence why bokuto always brought food, otherwise both would starve.

"forgot your keys again?" keiji asked, even though he already knew the answer to that question.

"you know it," bokuto said with a wink, placing all the items he had bought atop the wooden table. akaashi took his friends' confused frown at all the music equipment set on the living room floor as a cue to both explain it to his musically illiterate friend and take it away from their path. the room was already small enough, after all.

"this is just for music. guess i'm back on my track..." akaashi said. "how's watanabe-san?" he asked, hoping to hear about his manager — and maybe divert the subject away from his career.

the question evoked a bright smile from koutarou. "she's great! just came back from her house. well, i was getting groceries, but i was at her house before. she redid some decoration and it looks-" the man stopped on his track, analyzing his blue-eyed friend's face. akaashi, on the other end, stared at him stoically; blinking was all he could do. "oh, well. you don't seem very interested. i won't bother, then." the then excited bokuto turned into a sulking one, his smile turning upside down as he averted eye contact with his friend.

akaashi had realized what his naturally neutral facial expressions had cost him. "no, please, go on. i'm dying to know about your girlfriend's decorations," he said, trying to sound as sincere as he possibly could.

noticing akaashi was interested in what he was previously talking about, bokuto's frown turned into a cheerful smile once more. "oh, okay. then, it looks like a christmas tree but in a good way-"

even though the musician tried his best to keep his focus directed at koutarou, he couldn't help but think about the lyrics he had just sung. his blue eyes, now weary from tiredness, dazed off and turned bleary, as if he had been watching his friend move through a veil of thick fog. he wondered why they had wrote such angry lyrics, and why they were directed at that boy, and what that boy had done to anger them. they seemed like such a nice person, who could have hurt them that way...?

"-and you can barely tell the wall from the ceiling! it looks so cool." bokuto finished his rambling about ichika's wall decorations. still, he knew akaashi was tired and had tons of things on his mind already. "anyways, whatcha thinking about?" he asked, hoping to hear more from his friend.

"oh, uh..." akaashi stammered, "nothing. just thinking."

───── ◦'𖥸'◦ ─────

a/n: heyo! im back hehe :) sorry for the late update by the way, i was doing some school stuff and completely forgot yikes :P anyways, did you like the chapter? what do you think is going to happen next? if you're liking the story so far, please consider giving it a vote and sharing it around :) i don't mean to be petty, but i don't think this book's getting as much love as elementary got. idk why, but if you have any constructive criticism, don't be afraid to tell me! i'll accept any kind of criticism if you put it kindly :)) 

as always, thank you so much for reading! signing off, 

— 𝖒.