tv wife | katsuki bakugo

irl

"OH, HEY," Jiro blinked in surprise. She had kept the group chat muted for so long, she hadn't realized the secret plan of Denki coming to check up on her. However, he didn't seem the happiest either, almost mirroring her emotions at the moment. "What are you doing here?" Jiro stared at him, cocking a dark eyebrow in his direction.

Nonetheless, she moved aside to let the blond in.

His jaw clenched, he tilted his head to the side while averting his eyes. "The others told me to check on you." Jiro nodded quietly, closing the door as soon as he walked in. She swiftly locked it, approaching him with her hands shoved in her muddy brown sweater. It was old, but the age is what made it special to her.

"Do you want something to drink?"

"No, I'm fine."

"You seem on edge,"

"I don't really want to talk about it."

Jiro nodded curtly and didn't push it. It was almost awkward to interact; Jiro was never one to talk very much and he didn't seem like he wanted to talk. He might as well have head out and stayed at home the rest of the night. Instead, he forced himself to speak. "Is there anything you do to destress or. . . get your mind off of things?"

Her mind flitted to the recording setup in her room. That sense of anxiety and stress came back, swirling in the pit of her stomach as she swallowed harshly. Her brows furrowed before she responded, "Make music, usually." Denki ran his thumb over his knuckles and she glanced down at his hand, now realizing how harsh his clench was.

His knuckles were a bright white, showcasing the force he had put into his grip over nothing. His nails dug into the skin of his palm, but not enough to draw blood; he didn't need that wake-up call yet. "Do you think. . . do you think we can make a song?" He finally managed to finish his sentence.

Still, he avoided her gaze.

She didn't blame him.

Jiro didn't exactly want to make eye contact either.

"Yeah, sure. I have all the shit to, so. . . " The girl trailed off, unsure of what to continue her sentence with. Denki nodded slowly, finally turning to look her in the eyes. Jiro didn't shy away and kept her lips pursed. "I feel really shitty." He suddenly confessed, making her gaze soften. However, she parted her lips to confess the same statement, "Same,"

"I won't ask about it if you don't." She muttered.

"Sounds like a deal."

The last word hit her extra hard, but she powered through it anyway, taking quick steps towards her room. Just like with the front door, Jiro locked her bedroom door. "Will Mina be home soon?" Denki asked quietly, tuning her guitar in the background as she started powering up her PC, double-checking the plugs in her digital mixer and audio interface.

"Don't think so. Even if she is, I don't really want to talk."

He fell silent at that and the two filled the room with the echoes of clicks, soft guitar strums, and impatient foot tapping. She finally had everything set up, only to see that he had finished tuning the instrument long ago. Now, his fingers were busy pulling at the strings playfully, small huffs leaving his nostrils at the sound that resonated within the instrument.

"Do you care for the genre?"

"Not really."

Short questions, short responses. The two worked together like a well-oiled machine and Jiro was almost impressed watching him snatch the notepad from her, his wrist sliding across the neat lines swiftly. Every time he finished one line, another would be open to him before that was imprinted on; it was an endless cycle of creativity.

It almost scared Jiro. Of course, Denki was a bit of a dunce, but he had never failed to do anything in the arts. He was exemplary at pottery in high school (as evident from the polished and painted things in his bedroom), always scored high on creative and persuasive essays, and made spray painting look easy.

It had been a while since he had done the latter, but she still remembered the first time that he had dragged the others out after finals, encouraging them to vandalize a brick wall before they all made a break for it. "You're writing fast," She commented suddenly, moving one of the parts of her headphones to settle at the side of her head instead.

"I have a lot on my mind," He replied.

It was the closest she would get to an answer until he finished the lyrics, but she knew better than to prod. Jiro rolled back in her chair, the insistent mouse clicks, button swipes, and Denki's scribbling being the only sounds to fill the room. Occasionally, she would catch him looking at his phone.

"Is that your inspiration?" The purple-haired girl asked, eyes narrowing as he turned on his phone for the fifteenth time only to stare at the lock screen with a lost glint in his eyes. Denki blinked furiously for a moment, "Yeah," He admitted sheepishly, scribbling out a line only to rewrite it.

She didn't pester him anymore after that.

It was almost perfect. That's what Jiro thought as she finished up the first set; a steady beat that dropped low at the second chorus. There was a set of keys playing in the background that blurred out around the same time, syncing perfectly. However, there was still something missing, aside from vocals.

"I'm done," Denki announced, standing up as she handed him a set of headphones. He took it, slipping it on before he grabbed the guitar, waving it at her suggestively. "I want to add this in the song if I can." She stared at him, caving in to his request. "If you send me chords, I'll add it in as you want."

He took in a breath, glancing down at the lyrics once more. He didn't need to hear her track before he sang along with it; he trusted her to know. Deep down, he knew that the two were feeling something so similar, yet so different. Jiro listened along quietly, unsurprised at the infinite talent and raw emotion in his voice as he sang into the mic.

She didn't need to guess his inspiration.

As his lock screen flashed at the display of a notification, she knew.

Jiro wasn't guessing anymore.

—

1. thank u sm for 25k, i'm ever so grateful for all of u
2. i'll be dropping off the map :) i'm hoping to catch up on chapters for this + my other books (as well as getting my mental health back up lol)
3. seen a lot of votes, thank u again <3 it encourages me a lot
4. don't be afraid to comment!! i go thru all of ur comments, promise. and i love each and every one of them, haha. shoutout 2 all my ghost readers too, i see u angels >:)