your voice leaves me breathless

When he's a kid, Tetsutetsu sits at his father's feet.

Tetsutetsu Kenji is a narrow man, not too tall, and gray to his roots. It's a curse in their family, he always says, the early gray hair, or the always gray hair in Tetsutetsu's case. His father is all worn smiles and gentle but firm hands, and he looks at Tetsutetsu's mom like she's the center of the universe. Sometimes, late at night, Tetsutetsu hears them dancing to old music that he doesn't recognize, and they laugh until the sun comes up.

When he's a kid, Tetsutetsu sits at his father's feet and watches him gaze wistfully out the window. He's never quite sure what his father is looking at; there's this film covering Kenji's dark eyes like his mind creeps somewhere that Tetsutetsu can never hope to reach.

"You have to be careful," his father tells him one evening, voice a passing whisper, face dipped in flitting shadows, "or a city like this will eat your mind."

Tetsutetsu doesn't really understand it at the time, but his father smiles gently and everything is right again, if only just for the moment.

Tetsutetsu grows up in a city that never sleeps. Every single moment of every single day is filled to the brim with unrelenting noise and bright lights, and time seems to slip through his fingers like sand through an hourglass. He lives on repeat like a broken record: school, work, home again, and it's like he's holding his breath, grasping uselessly at the hours and minutes and seconds that tick past him in a whirlwind of color.

He moves into his first apartment with his two dogs when he's twenty-one. His parents are tearful when he leaves, but knows they won't stay in the city for much longer. Tetsutetsu Kenji and Hoshi are free spirits and staying in a place like this saps the life from them. He sees it in their eyes, in the restless way their fingers grasp at the handles on the trains. They'll leave soon.

Tetsutetsu isn't like them. When he leaves, he feels like they're the only ones gaining any semblance of freedom. He's merely opting to stay behind, allowing them to release the weight keeping them there.

He meets Kaminari Denki by unadulterated chance. He's a few paces behind when a man grabs for the shoulder bag a blond boy in front of him is carrying – but the blond boy doesn't let go. In all his maybe five-foot-seven glory, Tetsutetsu watches this lightning bolt of a boy sneer at his would-be thief, even as he's desperately threatening him.

"Oi!" Tetsutetsu calls out, never one to stand by idly, drawing the man's attention to him.

He looks terrified, and rightfully so, because Tetsutetsu is a six-foot-five wall of muscle and doesn't really look too happy.

"Don't be—" Tetsutetsu blinks, and suddenly a taser is shoved into the thief's side. "— a jerk!"

Oh, Tetsutetsu thinks, a little surprised by this spitfire of a boy, as the thief seizes and drops to the ground. It's almost comedic how delicately, the boy steps over him and prances right over to Tetsutetsu, unceremoniously shoving the taser back into his bag.

"Yo!" He greets cheerfully. "Thanks for distracting him!"

"Uh," says Tetsutetsu, eloquently, "it... ain't a problem, I think. You did most of the work."

"Teamwork, then!" He laughs, sticking out his hand. "I'm Kaminari Denki. Mind if I get you a coffee to repay you?"

"Uh," Tetsutetsu replies again, slowly reaching to shake, "yeah? I'm Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu."

He takes the boy's hand, a silent pact, sealing his fate for the days to come.

Tetsutetsu's lived in the city his whole life, and yet Kaminari manages to lead him to a hole-in-the-wall café that he's never seen before. It's a quaint little place, tiny and comfortable with dimmed lights and chalkboard walls, beanbags and couches littering the floor. Kaminari's insistent on buying the drinks and goes to a particular corner booth like he's done it a million times before.

"How do ya know about this place?" Tetsutetsu asks him, gazing around.

"My best friend performs here every Saturday," Kaminari answers, matter-of-factly. "I'm staying with her while I'm in town, so I get to attend her performances and play with her sometimes."

"You're a musician, then?"

Kaminari visibly lights up. "Yeah! I'm on the road a lot because of it – I'm only here for a month and a half, but 'Rou introduced me to this place the first night I came in. She's friends with the owner, so he has her perform here every weekend. Brings in a lotta business for both of them. Music's been our thing since we were kids." His smile softens. "But I wanted to see the world, y'know?"

Tetsutetsu doesn't know. His world exists only within the city limits.

Kaminari leans forward to rest his elbows on the table, dropping his chin on his palm. "What about you, huh?" He asks with a little laugh, the toe of his combat boots nudging Tetsutetsu's shin beneath the table. "I'm doing all the talking. Who's Tetsutetsu?"

Tetsutetsu isn't sure how to answer that. Who is Tetsutetsu? A boy who's spending his life withering away in a city that's constantly on, with no path in mind besides tomorrow? He takes a sip of his coffee - as bitter as he'd requested - while Kaminari's own is some caramel abomination. Tetsutetsu isn't sure how he stomachs something that sweet.

"I work at a gym," he finally says, "and I live downtown in an apartment with my dogs, Mio and Ryo. Nothin' too impressive. I'm no traveling musician or somethin' like that."

"Of course," Kaminari beams, raising his cup in acknowledgment, "that'd be too easy, wouldn't it?"

"Maybe," Tetsutetsu agrees with a crooked smile, and fifteen minutes later, they go their separate ways.

Tetsutetsu doesn't expect to run into the storm that is Kaminari Denki again. Strokes of luck like that are fleeting, a brief, particularly bright light in the passing blur of street signs. Against all odds, the universe has more plans for Tetsutetsu than this fast-lane existence, and three days later, he startles at the sight of a familiar face smashing up against the glass doors of the gym he works in.