Café Overture

Kazuki realized all too late that meeting Renka at a café sounded astoundingly like a date. He kept reminding himself that she was just a friendly person that wanted to help him, but that didn’t stop his heart from racing faster with each step he took towards the café. He glanced down at his phone again, checking that he was going in the right direction. Distance to Café Overture: 100 meters. It seemed that his nerves caused him to walk much faster than he expected. He took a breath and pulled himself together before walking those last 100 meters to the café.

“Irasshaimase!” The workers at the café greeted him as he walked into the cool, air-conditioned room.

Various posters of famous musicians, orchestras, and composers decorated the walls of the café along with paintings of instruments and music notes. Kazuki marveled at the images and artwork as he slowly scanned the room for Renka. There was no sign of her. He checked his watch. He was quite early. With a quick adjustment of the watch on his wrist, he decided to find a table and wait for her.

He sat down at a table for two situated under a painting of a guitar with music notes swirling around it in various colors. At first glance, it seemed almost cartoony, just a bit too whimsical for the café with its classical atmosphere, but upon further inspection, Kazuki noticed that the painting was more than just a guitar. More than just colorful notes. The guitar itself was composed of various landscape elements, painted subtly and in such a way that from a distance they seemed like one image of a simple musical instrument. The landscapes varied from mountains to forests and rivers, all overlapping one another but not in a discordant or chaotic fashion. It was rather aesthetically pleasing the way the images merged and the landscapes flowed from one to the next. The forest cutting across a mountain which gave way to a crashing wave that cascaded down into a cityscape.

Kazuki shifted his attention to the music notes, each one containing a little world within its head. People danced in traditional happi coats in one note, while others played taiko in another. One note held a shrine, a miko standing serenely in front of it. Kazuki’s wandering eyes stopped on a green note depicting a farmer wading through a rice field. His chest tightened, images of Yoshino coming to mind. The long stretches of lush, green fields, the sounds of cicadas in summer, the smell of rain in spring.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

The voice caused Kazuki to nearly jump from his seat. He turned to face Renka, a cheery grin painted across her face.

“Did I surprise you?” She giggled. “I’m sorry if I startled you.”

Kazuki shook his head. “No, no. It’s alright.”

Renka sat down across from him, placing her bag on her lap. She rummaged inside of it briefly before producing a folder and a pen. She placed them on the table.

Before Kazuki could ask what they were for, Renka spoke up. “Let’s order something, and then we can talk.”

The way she said it seemed rather serious, yet she kept smiling. Maybe Kazuki was overthinking things. He looked at the menu, unsure what to choose. He stared at all the options for some time. He didn’t want to make Renka wait, but… He looked up from the menu to find Renka gazing expectantly at him.

“See something you’d like?” She queried.

Kazuki looked down at the table. “I’m not sure.” He felt heat rising in his cheeks. He’d taken too long to make a decision. How long had she been watching him read through the menu??

“If you like coffee, the caramel latte is nice. And they even do latte art! It’s very cute.”

“That sounds good. I guess I’ll get that.” He closed the menu and set it down on the table.

Renka raised her hand and called to the waitstaff. “Sumimasen!”

A waitress hurried over to them. Renka ordered their drinks, and the waitress left to prepare their order. Renka clapped her hands together.

“Now, to get down to business!” She exclaimed.

“Business?” Kazuki shrunk back in his chair, furrowing his eyebrows and trying hard not to look horrified. Was she going to try selling him something? Get him to join a cult? He’d heard of people in big cities trying to recruit members to their strange religious groups, but he didn’t expect to run into one of those people so quickly.

Renka gaped at Kazuki’s concerned expression. “Don’t look so worried! I think you’ll like this!”

Yep. Definitely a cult.

Renka drew a few sheets of paper from her folder and set them in front of Kazuki. He half-expected some kind of brochure about Jesus or Buddha or maybe even some deity that no one had ever heard of, but instead…

“Sheet music?” He sat up straight and looked at the compositions.

They had all been handwritten on the paper. Even so, the notes were immaculately spaced and drawn with such care they looked almost as if they were printed. Some had lyrics written along with the musical notation, songs for all moods, both somber and cheerful, melancholic and hopeful. His mouth fell open as he glanced up at Renka.

She wrung her hands together and averted her gaze.

“What do you think?” Her voice nearly cracked.

“You wrote these?” Kazuki studied the pieces more closely, the melodies playing in his head as his eyes glided over the notes.

“Yes, I did.” Renka blushed.

“They’re very nice pieces. I’d love to hear them played some time.”

“Really?” Renka beamed. “That’s actually what I wanted to ask you about… When I heard you playing in the park, it was so nice, and,” she paused, her voice trailing off. “I was hoping, maybe, you could play some of them?”

Kazuki blinked in surprise. He opened his mouth to respond, but the waitress returned with their drinks. She placed them in front of the pair and left once more.

Renka quickly took a drink from her café mocha. Kazuki pondered her suggestion as he reached for his latte. A picture of a cat with music notes around it stared up at him from the foam. His lips turned up slightly at the sight, and he took a sip of the sweet drink. Seeing Renka reacting so shyly after sharing her music and making her request made him feel surprisingly calm. He didn’t want her to be anxious, but he understood what it was like to share his music with a stranger for the first time. It was a nerve-wracking experience, but he appreciated her courage in doing it anyway.

And her music had a lot of heart in it. Much like himself, he could tell that she put a lot of her own emotions and passion into her songs. It wasn’t always perfect, but he could sense her dedication to making something meaningful to her. He felt honored that she would show him something so personal. Her request for him to play her songs had shocked him at first, but maybe she had noticed his own passion for music, the effort he put into each note. He had made his decision.

He set the cup back down, Renka watching him with wide eyes.

“I’ll give it a shot.” He answered.

Renka looked as if she would cry. “You mean it?”

“Of course. I’d like to try to bring your songs to life.”

Renka placed a hand on her chest, smiling from ear to ear, her eyes teary.

“Oh, please don’t cry!” Kazuki panicked, not knowing what to do.

Renka laughed. “I’m sorry. I’m just so excited! I look forward to working with you!”

Kazuki chuckled quietly. “Me too.”

The last thing he expected was to meet a songwriter in the middle of Yoyogi Park, let alone one who wanted him to play her music. Yet, here he was, sitting in a café with someone who clearly cared a lot about music. It warmed his heart, but at the same time filled him with doubt. What if he wasn’t the right person to breathe life into her songs? Seeing Renka so emotional made him want to try his best to succeed in producing exactly what she had envisioned. He didn’t want to fail. Not now that someone else was involved.

“I’ll try my best to make your music shine.” He stated plainly. That didn’t come out quite as dignified as he hoped…

Renka adjusted the ribbon in her hair. “Let’s try our best together!”