Archive of Our Own

There are many words that can be used to describe the sky. Vast. Limitless. Everchanging.

For humans, more than that endless ceiling of unreachable clouds, the sky just like the different hues it can show, can be many things as it signifies change – in time and in weather.

Pale blue. A clear day. The sun at the center may be too strong to look at, too strong to fight with sight. But no one will deny the power that it holds to keep the world bright.

Gray. Bad omen. A storm incoming. A war between the drums of thunder and the flashes of lightning stabbing the floating sheets of clouds. Or a solemn, tender dance of wind and water, preparing to wash everything away that its droplets touch.

Rainbow. Aurora. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet – all colors recognizable lining up, dazzling to a curve. Peace. A new chapter. An end.

Orange. Violet. Two colors from the rainbow fusing in perfecting contrast in the palette above along with the king of the day descending to hide and give way.

Blue close to black. A big eye observing the night. Half-opened, hidden, crescent-cut, or full. An eye that watches from the darkness when the sun is away.

For humans, the sky is a reminder of what is to come. It is a symbol of moving forward. Yet it also showcases the beginning and the end - a cycle.

What many do not know though is that the sky, the upper regions, the vault of the heavens, the cerulean lane – whatever humans call it – serves as the home of the creatures called stellars.

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“Each day… he’s growing! Can you see that spark in his eyes, Tsuyu?! My Izuku… he’s… he’s getting stronger! Too bad he still didn’t beat that Bakugou though!” An ecstatic tone fills the air which seems to be filled with nothing if seen by the naked eye. The voice, no matter how high its pitch is or how it beams with pride, remains in the air and not falling on the humans’ ears.

The sky may only be a huge array of darkness right now as seen from their world, but hidden by the clouds and the lack of sun, millions of lights gather. Looking down. Watching. Guiding.

One of these lights owns that voice, standing out not only because of its cheeriness but also as its pink light flickers slightly before radiating more rays.

Happiness is an emotion thought to belong to humans and not to their kind. But when she, herself, shares the characteristics of having a pair of blinking eyes, a small nose, a speaking mouth, moving limbs, and everything else of a human’s image, the distinction feels not so distant at all. Her home may be up above and away from the dwellers of the land, but the connection of stellars and humans cannot be denied.

Humans are fascinating creatures. Humans are what stellars live for. And for her, her human is her everything.

“You should see that spark in your eyes, Ochako.”

Ochako. A name. Even creatures like them have names. Really, how can they be that different from humans?

The desire to descend to the world below inside her branches out, inch by inch, through the light rays escaping her body. Her lights flicker again and become brighter without her noticing when her eyes are sparkling for that green-haired boy below.

If one thing definitely draws the line between a stellar and a human, it is that stellars glow. Emotions are likened to humans with words like happiness, sadness, anger, or confusion, being used to describe what they feel. Stellars, on the other hand, are bound to the light that their bodies emit.

Beaming. Dimming. Flickering. Glistening. Sparkling. Glossing. These are the counterparts of what humans call emotions for stellars.

“Hehe. Sorry… I guess I got carried away in cheering for Izuku,” she smiles, realizing that her fist is still in the air. A bit of sadness touches her still smiling lips though as she decides to bring her arm down.

“I sure hope he recovers faster,” she adds and is met by silence from her friend.

Not liking the lack of response, Ochako tries another. “I mean… he’s been really down lately you know. I really wouldn’t want him to be in more trouble.”

A soft green light, in the embodiment of another girl with longer hair is beside the rose-colored figure. She frowns even when she rarely changes her facial expressions. “Don’t tell me you’re falling?” Tsuyu’s words are always on-point and blunt. This one, however, trails a bit, the last one coming out close to a whisper.

The other girl lets out a nervous giggle that echoes in the airspace. She tries to bring the duty-bound thoughts in her. “I’m just proud of him. And worried,” she says, not really answering the question because a stellar cannot lie to its own kind, especially when its intentions are always exposed through its light.

Tsuyu, with her long hair draping to her back, looks at the brown-haired girl. “Stellars are always proud and worried about their humans, Ochako. All of us shine and exist for our humans. But your sparkle is different and it’s starting to go brighter… too bright for your own good,” she notes with concern, her finger touching her chin.

This time, the smile on Ochako’s face that has always been present, falls. Of course, she cannot hide it anymore, can she? Not to Tsuyu and not to herself.

“You know the rule, right?” Tsuyu presses, while the girl bathing in a pink glow nods, eyebrows furrowing somewhat.

“A star… should never fall for their human,” Ochako says, the disappointment evident in her most of the time cheery voice.

“That’s right,” comes another voice – a gentle yet powerful one – not belonging to either of them.

The dark sky splits in two as a woman emerges, getting all the attention in this sea of stars.

In approaching the two female stellars, her dark long hair sprawls along with different twinkles adorning its locks. It can be likened to that night sky in its darkest hours. Her orbs are light blue, mirroring the clearness of the day. While her skin is so pale yet so bright, much like the moon with its gentle light. Her body glows in purple, which is not a rare color for a stellar to have, but the smoky and cloudy texture of her light makes her stand out.

Midnight. Even her name fits her so well, for she is the queen of the skies and the queen of stellars. She is both the beginning and the end.

Ochako and Tsuyu bow to her, much like the other crowds of stellars that she has passed through.

The queen smiles while the two choose to remain in silence.

“Dearest Ochako,” she says as the bob-haired stellar jolts a bit.

“Ah-yes?”

Though Midnight is their queen, she treats the stellars as her children and not really as her followers. She only sits on the throne as a title, but everything in the sky for her is family. And as their mother, she really does not like seeing their glows getting fainter.

She lifts a pale hand and places it on Ochako’s right cheek, her thumb stroking it before she pulls the younger one into an embrace.

“No need to be afraid,” she soothes and Ochako smiles while pressed to Midnight as she gingerly lifts her arms to hug the queen back.

“What should I do, Midnight?” she asks looking up slightly.

Midnight places her hands on Ochako’s shoulders, as the pink stellar looks at her with her big brown eyes.

“Do you want to meet your human?”

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“Hey Mama! Look, look!” his little voice comes from that small mouth of his, all heightened with excitement and wonder. Cheeks rising to bring out that really bright smile of his amidst the darkness brought by the night, his green eyes reflect the hundreds, no, thousands of stars in the sky.

The woman smiles back, enjoying that stretch of his lips more than the breathtaking gathering of twinkles up above. She could still remember when she gives birth to his really small form after months of carrying him inside her womb. “What is it?” Her smile becomes wider if possible, pulling her long brown skirt before crouching to match her son’s eye-level. Oh how she loves to see how the world looks from his really small frame yet really big eyes.

“That star…! It follows!” his little finger points above as her head decides to follow, only to be welcomed by the cobalt blanket of stars.

“Which one?” she asks.

“That one!” he says again, screaming with all his might.

This time, she does not reply but just looks up, trying to spot which one.

“There are a lot of stars, Izuku. Can you help Mama, find it?” she feigns as she has already found which he is referring to.

The boy jumps up and down. “That one, the bright one… the blushy one!” he says, the smile still perfectly pasted on his small face.

Inko pats his head and brings back the hood of his small coat atop his dark green locks of hair, as it has slid when he jumped moments ago. “You’re so smart, Izuku! You just helped, Mama!” She enjoys the rumble of his small stomach as he lets a grunt of happiness escape him. She loves that his mind is already able to distinguish all these hues in his surroundings. What a smart kid the Omnipotent One above has blessed her with.

The young Izuku lets his small hands hold the hood of his coat, careful to not let it slide again. He looks up again and tries to twirl slowly, his feet trying its best to master the task. Inko places her hands in front of her as if using it as a barrier on her child, far enough to give him space on his little adventure, but near enough to catch him if he stumbles.

“I spin… it spins too!” he says, eyes still fixated upwards as he moves. “I go here,” the little boy says stepping forward that his short legs can muster, “it follows!” he declares.

His mother smiles as she hears the sound of air leaving her nose. “Izuku,” she calls and flexes her hand to invite the boy. Said boy nods silently and comes to his mother, short arms raised, while she grabs his side and carries him in her arms before pushing her knees to stand with his additional weight.

Both sets of greens watch the sky, just letting the lights fill their vision. “Do you want to know why that star follows you?” she asks with the boy immediately nodding, little hands on her shoulders.

“It’s because that star is your guardian.”

“Gu-guard-nyan?”

She nods, enjoying the moment that his mouth is still not able to speak straightly. “Mhm. It protects you!”

“Like a knight? Like Papa?” Izuku inches closer, his small hands clutching on the puff of sleeves covering her shoulder.

“Yes! A knight just like Papa! Wherever you go, even if you can’t see it, it will guide you. It will follow you. It will protect you.”

A sparkle comes from his eyes and it is different from those that are lingering in the sky. “Amazing!”

“Right?” she smiles at her son just enjoying all the expressions he is capable of showing her.

Inko brings her face closer to Izuku, letting her forehead touch his smaller one. The boy stares at her at first, but even without understanding the gesture, he closes his eyes and smiles, leaning close too.

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“Mama… Papa?” Izuku calls as his eyes slowly open, tears escaping. He feels the weight of his eyelids, making it a struggle to fully open them and when he tries to, he flinches, feeling sharp pain flip in his left eyelid. He decides to keep his left closed while he lets his right adjust to the light.

It takes some rapid blinking for the surroundings to finally register and be recognizable despite the still hazy vision.

“Th-this is…” He encounters a bit of a difficulty in speaking as well when he feels some numbness at the corner of his lips. He wants to frown upon tasting a bit of blood but learns that having such expression might not be a good idea as well.

Izuku slowly gets up, his torso bending upwards with his elbows supporting him. The lack of scuffle in accomplishing the simple task makes him realize that he is not in his trainee armor and uniform, feeling the cotton material of his everyday shirt brushing against his skin gently.

He looks around slowly, cautious to not crane his neck too much just in case he is also hit in the area.

“I’m at Old Chiyo’s,” he finally says.

He has been under the care of the royal healer Chiyo Shuzenji for years ever since Toshinori saved him, so this place serves as his home before transferring to the School of Knighthood’s barracks. Each corner and each space only emanates a bubble of familiarity inside him that even if only one green eye is able to peek and everything else is still a blur, he cannot be mistaken.

The white curtains, the fluff of the bed, the smell of mint and sugar in the air – these calm him and remind him of the short old lady. He closes his eyes for a moment as the scent plays with his nostrils.

“Great job for surviving, little boy,” he hears then turns abruptly to his side where the sound comes from, only to regret the decision when an intense sting sculpts a line inside his head.

“O-ow…” Scrunching to the sudden pain, Izuku just feels the short woman approach him and guide him in laying down on the bed again, but not without a click of her tongue.

“My, my, are you forgetting all those years of training just because you’re training for the path of a knight now?” she teases and while he cannot see her, he tries to smile amidst that cut on his lip.

Now that he is more conscious now, he can feel the pain plunge in some parts of his sore body, especially his right arm. The sensation is bearable but he cannot help but grind his teeth a bit. It feels like a portion of his right shoulder and forearm are burning while he could feel something hammering inside his calves. He can still feel his toes wiggle under the covers which is a good sign that he can perhaps walk alone this time.

“I know that you’re not neglecting your readings on the medical field though you are studying knighthood now, little boy,” she starts and he almost chuckles at the nickname little boy. It sure brings back many memories especially on his first step here in the capital city.

“I try to, Old Chiyo.”

“I’m guessing that you can judge from the pain you’re feeling right now what kind of medicine and herbs you’ll be needing, right?”

Izuku could imagine Chiyo smiling by the tone of her voice. “Yes. I’ll need a Kneelroot. I hope you’re not out of stock?”

“Not for you, definitely,” she says.

“H-how long was I out?” he asks mildly stuttering, slowly remembering the fight that led him to a hospital bed yet again.

“Just half of the day, Izuku. Good judgement on healing your biggest and deepest wound during the fight. The spells ate away much of your energy though but it’s not something that good food and proper rest can’t cure,” the old woman says and wipes the sweat forming on his forehead. He feels her hand softly pat his head and he could not help but smile again at the simple touch that comforts him more than she could ever imagine.

However, her touch of comfort quickly turns to a painful tug of his curly hair. “O-o-ow-ouch!”

“That’s for getting into a fight though, hmph!”

“I’m so sorry!” he immediately says and if not for his injuries, he would be bowing and kissing the floor right now. He knows that nothing good comes out when the old lady is upset.

This boy whom Toshinori brought back with him to the capital fifteen years ago is supposed to be restless after all the things his young eyes have witnessed, yet in the presence of the old woman, he finds himself smiling and warming up to her quickly despite the coldness of the world to him. When the old lady welcomes the young Izuku with a smile and a pat, saying, “You did a great job living, sport. Here sweetie, have some sweets,” the lad cries and screams so hard that all the pent up tears he has been keeping during his journey with the knights finally come out.

One of the things that Izuku loves about the royal healer is how she consistently refers to living and surviving as a good job. That broken heart of his is slowly mended when Chiyo reminds him that it is fine for him to live even if everyone in his village is now gone.

Indeed, Chiyo is a healer and Izuku thanks her for healing him. It is through her that he discovers the wonder in treating people, the importance of plants and herbs on this earth, and the passion to learn it. Facing what death is like at his youngest years, while Toshinori shows him what hope is, it is Chiyo that shows him what miracles are.

Izuku smiles again, his vision finally adjusting to the light. “Thank you so much, Old Chiyo. For everything.”

He sees her smile too, her skin further wrinkling. “You really should tell me more stories. It has been a couple of years has it not? For now though, I’d let you rest,” she says, patting his head once more before leaving the room.

Yes, it has been two years since he has started his training and to think that time passes this fast, it almost feels surreal.

To think that that boy who can only mutter characteristics and healing effects of herbs to himself can now let out a battle cry and shout commands to his fellow trainees. That frail healer who almost passes out after casting several healing spells can now recite more advanced incantations while in the battlefield.

Izuku is beyond thankful for his medical knowledge taught by Chiyo. Because of his observations and notes when treating wounded soldiers, he is able to memorize what kind of wounds several types of weapons can inflict. He is also able to note down what types of injuries are the most common. This information urges him to suggest upgrades and customizations that can be done to the armors used by knights.

This young one who is underestimated in his very first step and late start in his journey to knighthood is soaring high right now that his presence and progress are undeniable.

“I barely recognize you,” Toshinori often tells him which returns his bashful side as he scratches his head in flattery every time.

His once-called skinny and flimsy body is now hidden under the layers of toned muscles toughened by training. The scars grazing his skin that some may call as ugly are memories of every battle he has fought. That plain face of his which can easily be overlooked is now recognized by the townspeople even when he is not yet licensed under the Order of the Knights.

His left hand reaches to touch his right arm, his fingertips tracing the rough and uneven skin that even the most advanced of all healing spells cannot undo. Sliding it to the surrounding area, Izuku could just tell that vast difference that this permanent damage has done. In these two years, a lot has happened and he is once again reminded of that incident the year before.

The green-head closes his eyes to try and relax, however, the words ring in him.

“ARE YOU LOOKING DOWN ON ME!? WHERE’S THAT SHEER CONFIDENCE OF CRUSHING ANYONE WHO COMES YOUR WAY, HUH, DEKU?”

A fight so early in the morning and a beat-up self is not really how Izuku envisions this day. While he is already used to Katsuki’s outbursts, today is one of those days that he himself is surprised with how things just escalated.

He sighs. “Kacchan’s right though…” he says.

Ever since last year’s incident, Izuku has not been himself at all. Because in that year, the League – the group behind the bloodbath in his village – comes back and wreaks havoc in one of their training camps outside the capital. Though he believes that the people who support him and the new goals he finds in life have healed him, seeing the red handprint trademark of the League on its members’ masks switches something inside him. Rage engulfs him and he forgets everything else because in seeing that terrible mark, all he remembers is everything that he has lost at the age of four. The fury pumps his body and he launches an attack on his own, as opposed to the values that a knight must have.

“Are you alright… young Midoriya?” he remembers Toshinori’s strained voice as blood spills from his mouth and a glaive pierces his torso all the way to his back.

It painstakingly mirrors that early image of death in his childhood. “You’ll be okay... Izuku,” his mom says as that red liquid of life drains out of her body.

Izuku snaps his eyes open, the tears threatening to come out once more. That scenario that he tries to avoid by wearing his armor with pride happens in front of him once again just because of his emotions controlling him.

Ever since that event, he cannot help but feel responsible that the best knight that this world has seen – the All Might – Toshinori Yagi is now retired. Each day that passes, Izuku could see how fatigued Toshinori is declining to and yet he still stands so proud, armor-clad. After one last mission to infiltrate the base of the League and successfully put an end to it, Toshinori’s days as a knight become numbered. Slowly but surely, he starts to get weaker for the battlefield and the healers – including Chiyo – advise him to stay away from long travels as his internal organs are too fragile to handle gallops and journeys.

Soon, the blond finally announces that he will be leaving knighthood, but would pursue an instructor position at the School. The monarch through King Endeavor, however, grants him a special position in the royal forces as well, recognizing his prowess.

“None of this is your fault, young Midoriya, you don’t have to cry so much.”

How many times has he heard that? Somehow, that has become Toshinori’s favorite line whenever they talk but that must be because his favorite habit is to cry in front of the older man.

The League has met its end. All Might’s golden age has also ended. However, for Izuku, it is only the start of his crumbling self-assurance.

At first, the green-haired boy vows to himself to get stronger and just not let it happen again. There is no point in getting stronger if more people get hurt, he thinks. But maybe, he is already used to Toshinori’s big smile that he becomes too assured and he just focuses on himself. But when the day of the resignation of the knight that saved him comes, that is when it really sinks in Izuku what that wound has brought to this very man; the damage that is caused by his failure.

His scarred arm rises and his fist pounds on his bedside. He wants this ugly scar to be his reminder to do better. But sometimes, it reminds him of how much of a failure he is. The frustration and guilt feel more painful than the injuries he sustained from his fight with Katsuki earlier. He deserves more beating from him.

If only he is stronger. None of this would happen.

A knock on the door brings him out of his mess of emotions though.

“Yes… you may come in,” he manages to say before screaming, “S-sir Aizawa!”

Izuku, at the sight of the dark-haired man (who does not appreciate his shriek), immediately gets up from the bed and if he feels any rush of pain from the movement, he manages to hide it well. One of the things that Shota Aizawa has been keen on teaching in training class is that knights must try their best to hide any pain and emotion as the reveal of any could be an opening for the opponent.

Wearing a helmet is so much easier, the young man admits, but he has no choice at the moment.

The usual bored expression fills Shota’s face as he looks at his student who is once again graced with several wraps of bandages. To say that he is not used to this is a lie, but to say that he is used to the scene is also not a good thing to note as an instructor.

“I won’t make this long, but you and Bakugou are suspended from class for two weeks.” A blunt declaration.

“Two weeks!?”

“Not only did you two defy direct orders from me when I warned both of you, but you two as top students have memorized the Code of Knights and know how important it is to maintain a smooth relationship with your peers.”

Izuku bites his lip, remembering everything. He and Katsuki indeed step on the code with their actions and he regrets everything especially when he is aware of this wrongful act while fighting. His emotions at that time are too heightened for him to think clearly. How shameful, letting emotions rule him again.

“Your suspension is supposed to be shorter than Bakugou’s when he clearly started it. But your aggression during the fight proved that you are responsible too.”

The boy nods. At that time, Katsuki is frustrated at him for being too distracted and not giving his all in their previous sparring exercises and missions. However, he himself is also letting out his own frustrations in every kick and every punch that he lands on the spiky-haired lad. It may look like Katsuki is only starting a fight, but both of them need to blow off that steam looming over them.

Shota brings out a scroll as he speaks, “More than that, the damages both of you caused in the dining hall equal to broken tables and statues, eating utensils, soiled food, as well as cracks on the wall.”

The lad on the bed could only stare at his instructor’s usual deadpan expression. Will he and Katsuki need to pay for all the damages? He only gets some bags of gold when they do field training with the licensed knights, but it is not like he is in much need of it when the school provides all his necessities. As a healer, he also does not need funds for his health as Chiyo gives it to him for free and his knowledge can be sufficient in caring for himself. If his instructor asks for payment, he is not sure where to get the currency.

“The people in the hall who are simply enjoying their break also had their meals ruined,” Shota says in addition.

“I-I’m sorry about that… our shameful act.”

“If you ask me, that shameful act is not just for suspension but worse. Midoriya, I gave Bakugou the same warning, because it doesn’t matter who started it. Both of you are still held accountable because you are not being trained to cause such ruckus or to try and kill each other. You are training to save people and to be a line of defense of this country. The higher-ups have found both of you worthy and with great potential to actually just let it slip with a two-week suspension. Use that time to not only recover your health but reflect.”

With that, Shota leaves a disappointed Izuku.

The lad sighs yet another. He has really done it this time. He can guess that Toshinori may have had a hand in the situation, knowing how the older man cares for both of them. The blond has always watched both of them and the friction of their trouble-attracting-rivalry. Even Izuku is aware of how much tension this friendship (if Katsuki allows it to be called friendship) exudes.

A failure. That is who he is. He will have to repeat it until he finally gets tired and finally fixes himself.

He remembers all the lectures in class, but he defiles all these when he lets his feelings cloud him. He remembers his resolve in pursuing knighthood after a four-year-old girl dies in his arms, but he ends up forgetting that reason when rage plays in his mind.

What is he doing?

Before he could sink further to that pool of self-blame he is currently building, another knock brings him out of his thoughts again. Could it be Shota again?

“Yes, come in.”

“Midoriya!” his last name comes in unison from two different voices and tones – one from Tenya and the other from Shouto. The much more energetic one is from his spectacled friend, while the flat-toned one is from the other. Izuku almost laughs at the sound of the blending.

“Iida, Todoroki,” he acknowledges.

In the world of battles, knights bring honor to not only themselves and their country, but also their families. This is why everyone refers to each other by last names. Though initially Izuku is not used to the custom because of his lifestyle, now he loves hearing his last name. It feels like the Midoriyas will not be forgotten this way.

The lad in glasses steps in first followed by the red-and-white-haired one.

“The class heard from Sir Aizawa,” Tenya starts which makes Izuku clear his throat. As much as he looks up to his friend, he knows his tendencies when it comes to breaking rules. As he prepares himself for an hour-long scolding, he is greeted instead by a low hum of apology. “I am sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing, Iida?” Izuku has his eyes wide at the bowing figure of Tenya.

“Me too,” Shouto follows by bowing his head lightly.

“Wait -why?”

Tenya fixes the placing of his glasses on his nose bridge before speaking in a low tone, something that Izuku is not used to, especially when this is the leader of their batch who always speaks in an authoritative yet noble voice.

“We have been noticing the changes in you ever since that incident, Midoriya. But I deemed it unnecessary or bothersome to pry when you do not seem to want to talk about it. However, as a friend, I should have done something for you.”

The blue-haired boy raises his shaking fist. He has always been the type to communicate his emotions well through his hand gestures. His words may be all serious and principled, but his hands can go into wacky directions at times and it can be a fascinating sight. This time though, Izuku finds it touching.

“Bakugou just got to you first,” Shouto says and the freckled-boy flinches, not expecting that part.

“You wanted to beat me up too?!” Izuku stares at his two friends. Though he has already seen Katsuki’s drive in killing him (as the latter words it every time), he has never felt any intent from these two despite the competitive nature of the path they are all walking on. He blinks.

“It’s not that I want to, but more like we have to,” Shouto says with an unreadable expression, casually adding that he remembers being taught that men communicate with fists and not words. While Tenya is seen shaking his head at the side. Shouto’s knowledge on things especially in social cues is really questionable.

Angular eyebrows meeting and his hands moving all over the place in an up and down motion, Tenya chops the air between Izuku and Shouto. “It’s not like that at all!” he clarifies, roaring to that familiar tone for Izuku.

As much as these two are his dear friends, there really are just times that the denseness can be tiring – especially Shouto the King’s son, who is just getting used to talking after their training camp, Tenya thinks.

“What I am trying to say is that we should have tried to talk to you, Midoriya,” Tenya says looking at Izuku, before turning his head to his companion and emphasizing, “and not break the Code of Knights.”

“But why can Bakugou do it and we can’t?” Shouto asks as Tenya starts yelling his explanation, clearly frustrated at the turn of the conversation.

Red strands and white strands flop a bit as Shouto scratches his head, evidently confused especially when Tenya mentions how things can be dealt with ‘diplomatically.’

“Who even fed you that kind of information!?”

“Sero and Kaminari,” he says bluntly, at first, trying to remember what happened as he looks up. He then adds, “Kirishima said it was a manly way of dealing with things.”

Tenya sighs before screaming an “Unacceptable! I must enlighten them on the subject later! As aspirants to be part of the Order of the Knights, as early as now, we must know the real measurement of honor and manliness and picking up fights is not that, definitely!”

Meanwhile, Izuku’s lips curl at the suddenly loud company. Here he is letting himself drown in everything that is in his mind when he has friends who care for him. Even Katsuki has his own way of making him realize where he should be looking at. He sure feels lucky as he laughs openly at his friends.

The moment is cut short when Chiyo comes in to scold Tenya and Shouto for being “too noisy when the patient needs the rest he can.” Waving his hands for a goodbye, Izuku smiles at the two being pulled by the ear. He is once again graced by the power of the royal healer who can pull knights (and trainees) by the ear no matter how deadly they are in battle. Even the All Might’s ears are not safe from this woman.

“By the way, Midoriya!” Tenya’s head peeks at the door before it closes.

“Yeah?”

“There’s a star drizzle tonight which only happens every twenty years. The class was hoping we could all go, but you and Bakugou are suspended so hopefully, you can see it from your respective windows.”

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Ochako looks at the unnatural gathering of streaks of lights in their world. On a rare occasion, the stellar is not looking down to observe her human, but her eyes are following this trail. Just right before her, this massive collection can be compared to what humans call a waterfall, but instead of water building up, this one is made up of lights. When these fall to the earth, it is a phenomenon the humans call a star drizzle.

Judging by this formation, these little lights will be going by nightfall just as Midnight said, she thinks. She clears her throat. Only a few minutes.

“Are you really sure about this, Ochako?” Tsuyu asks right behind her.

“Yes,” she smiles, thankful for the existence of the green stellar. Most of them are preoccupied in their whole life by following their humans (just like her) so it surely makes her wonder how Tsuyu is still able to care for her. She is just really too kind and she is blessed to meet her.

“But you’re not even sure if he will make a wish. What if you get lost in the limbo of lights?”

The star drizzle, for stellars, is called the limbo of lights. It may look like these lights will fall to the human world much like rainwater which the ground absorbs and eventually return to the air after drying up.

But this is not the case for these lights. What is a fascinating gathering of lights for the humans is actually a much sadder reality for these creatures of light; for the limbo of lights is the graveyard of the stellars.

When a human dies, their stellar’s job is done as well and they dissolve into glowing dust that remains in the air.

Every twenty years, all the remains gather and fall from the sky, scattering everywhere, looking for peace, finding that space where their humans are laid to rest.

Now one may ask, what is a stellar like her doing, keenly observing this with that look of determination in her face. She herself, wonders, almost laughing at her own foolishness.

These dust scatter in all directions and disappear as they break down in the air trying to find their place.

So what happens when stellar that is not supposed to be laid to rest joins this current?

“Falling into this limbo of lights is our only way to reach the human world,” she says, pausing a bit before continuing, “It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

“But, what will happen to you, Ochako? Midnight said that he has to make a wish for you two to meet… and even if you do meet… you know the rules.”

Ochako shakes her head, the different colors of lights illuminating all parts of her face, complementing her own light that she is shedding. Tsuyu could only stare. Just by her glow, the green stellar already knows that Ochako is beyond saving.

However, for the auburn-haired, that image of Izuku in pain cannot leave her head right now. For nineteen years, she has watched him. She has tried her best but that is not enough especially when right now, he is in pain again.

“He needs my help. I can’t just… stay like this,” her voice shakes in sync with her hands at her sides.

“I must go.”

As those three words leave her lips, she leaps into the limbo of lights, not knowing where the current will bring her – not knowing if there will be any left of her after this.

Ochako feels her body slowly gain weight. As a stellar, all they do is float in the air, so when she feels the crushing heaviness, she instinctively places her arms around her knees and ducks her head. As she feels her body get compressed by pressure, only Midnight’s words ring in her mind.

“Do you want to meet your human?”

“Ca-can I!?”

Midnight nods. “It won’t be easy, dear.”

Ochako nods.

“Stellars can’t lie to other stellars. I know what you’re feeling already even before you confess and I hate to see you like this, Ochako. So I’ll tell you all of these things.”

She nods again just as Midnight expects her to.

“Today is the star drizzle where the limbo of lights will be drained from the sky. You must plunge in when it starts and if the boy makes a wish during the star drizzle, you two can meet.”

As Ochako’s light becomes unsteady, Midnight pats her again. “The limbo of lights is a scary place… I know. But every time there is a star drizzle, the path to the human world opens and that is the only way.”

“What happens… if Izuku does not make a wish?”

“You’ll get lost forever.”

“Wh-at will happen to him?!”

“He will lose his stellar.”

Maybe at such circumstance, she should be thinking about herself, but for a stellar, that is not how things work. Ochako bites her bottom lip. She knows how risky it can be, but she does not think that it would be at this level.

“And that is not all,” Midnight gets her attention again before saying, “You have to grant his wish when you meet him.”

“His wish?”

“If you grant his wish, you can return here and watch him again.”

.

.

A yellowish flicker touches the end of the thin braid of cotton attached to the cup of oil, the wick turning black as everything else around it is cast upon by the small light. The orange light outlines Izuku’s books, the etches on the wood of his table and chair and the surface of the walls where several of his notes are neatly aligned. Izuku encases the light inside his night lamp as the glow now expands to the whole of his room.

When he opens his window and lets the lightest breeze enter his room, the shadows start to dance with the small flame swaying with the wind, but Izuku pays no mind to the ensemble of warm colors inside when his eyes are fixated on the night sky. In contrast to the warmth inside his room, the night provides him the calm and the cool and maybe he should at least shiver in response to the change, but he does not, just enjoying the contrast of temperature.

He rests his arms on the window’s bricked sill placing his weight on it with his feet going light. His emerald orbs take in the dark cerulean layers in the sky.

A star drizzle huh? He and his mom often enjoy this kind of view, especially with how his village barely has any clouds to cover that magnificence every night. However, he has yet to see a star drizzle in his life.

The phenomenon lasts for only seconds yet it takes a lot of years for the event to happen again. In an average lifetime, a person can only witness three or four, even depending if they see one in their childhood.

“When you see a shooting star during a star drizzle, you have to make a wish! Quickly!” he remembers Inko saying, but barely the expression on her face when the words become one with the air. He swears that he can remember her smiling, but sadly, not the image of it.

With a lot of things happening to him, he has forgotten several things about his parents and life as a child. His present is filled with the honorable hardships necessary for knighthood training. At the same time, when the curtain of darkness falls, he tries to further his knowledge as a healer, spending the hours before sleep on reading. It is like he refuses to rest at all; not his body nor his mind.

Dreaming about his mom though is like bringing back everything. All the things he has tried to bury deep down are surfacing again along with the conflict he is currently facing. He holds onto his chest, his scarred hand clenching on his clothing, as the weight starts to pull him down that he almost wants to sink to his knees and just crouch down.

He closes his eyes as images start to flash in his mind. That young girl who thanks him with a smile before dying in his arms. Toshinori blocking an attack directed to him, smiling as blood fills his lips. And his mom in her last moments who tells him that everything will still be okay, that he will still be okay as if telling him that he would be even without her. Ironically, everything else about his mom is not clear, except for that last second with her, so when he dreams about her, he is filled with conflict.

Some flashing of light teases his closed eyelids and he decides to open his tearful eyes, the hot liquid traveling up to his chin. Instead of the sudden glow blinding him, he finds himself mesmerized as lines of stars paint the sky, falling and trailing. The star drizzle is here!

Once more, he hears her voice in his mind.

“When you see a shooting star, you have to make a wish! Quickly!”

He cannot allow those tragedies repeat in his lifetime. The sinking feeling of not being able to save someone because he lacks power – he cannot take to be in that position anymore so only one thing escapes his lips at that moment as the stars fall and everything in front of him is a collection of countless lights descending from the sky.

“I wish I could be stronger!” he manages to say, determination fueling his voice and conviction filling his features.

And the moment he says that, the wind blows so hard that he could feel the warm trail of tears turn cold against his skin. The calm breeze gets swept away by a gust that is so strong that it kills the tiny flame in his lamp and it threatens to scatter all of the papers and pages of his books.

As the dark takes over his room, the wind continues to surround him, touching his face, blowing on the strands of his hair to tickle his cheeks and neck, pulling and pushing the cotton shirt and the padded gambeson that are hugging his body. The sensation is something beyond words, something he has never experienced, but as the wind caresses every bit of him in a way that is soothing, his eyes go back beyond the window and into the array of lights that are disappearing with their trails.

Instead of the color of sapphire getting back its reign in the night, one star remains and keeps his eyes glued to it.

It emits a rosy-pink light, it shines so bright that it stands out and he could not help but reach his hand out and let his fingers trace the air, allowing the image of his hand touch that brightness as if it is within reach. For some reason, it looks a bit familiar. Is that why he could not help but just let his gaze point to it? But as the twinkle peeks at the spaces between his fingers, he realizes something.

Izuku blinks. Wait… He narrows his eyes to check if his vision is just deceiving him but… Is it him or is the star getting bigger…? And bigger?!

The green-head’s eyes continue to widen as he realizes that what he is seeing is true. The star that stands out in the sky is now all-out in dropping to his direction judging by its continuous increase in size. He tries to scream but the sound gets drowned out by the air around him. Panic rushes in his veins yet his feet remain attached to the wooden floor. His lips go dry and fail to produce words while his hands on instinct just move forward to block what is coming in…

Three

Two

One

A massive ball of light engulfs him much more powerful than the wind that surrounded him earlier and as much as he wants to keep his eyes open to see what is happening, the blinding brightness pushes his lids to a close.

All his senses fail to function. He could not see. He could not hear. He could not speak. He could not feel a thing.

Unable to process what is happening, his knees are unable to support him and he falls on his bottom. And slowly, in contrast to that massive drop of light exploding in his room, the light subsides little by little, and he tries to flutter his eyes open as slow to match his capacity in doing so.

His vision is drawn to his ceiling as a ball of pink light floats in the air.

He should probably run. He should probably ask for help. His instincts in warfare should give him the upper hand in this kind of situation. But he does not do anything other than watch and wait.

Izuku tries to make out the figure that the orb of light is shifting into as it expands to something he could not distinguish.

Intently looking at the pink light, Izuku comes face to face with a woman bathing in the glitter.

He could see her slim arms hugging her knees to her chest, a mix of long and short hair strands swaying with the breeze, and a white dress draping around her body. Her closed eyes slowly open to reveal a warm hazel color.

And when their eyes finally meet, Izuku gets lost.

The star drizzle that he saw moments ago is nothing compared to what his eyes can register right now. The dark bricked walls fade to space, his bed, chair, books, and everything else disappear, and he feels like he is floating as well. In a sudden, he is not in his room any more and it is only him, her, and that starry space surrounding them.

At that moment, the lad forgets everything else. He forgets the impulse to defend himself. He forgets the will to ask for help. He forgets his intention to escape. He almost forgets how to breathe when right now all that matters is that rapid beating inside his chest caused by the woman before him.

He just looks at her, too enthralled. Beautiful…

In a sudden, the pink light and the warm breeze surrounding her disappear and both of them are back in the darkness of his messy room. Her eyes go big as her body succumbs to weight and gravity. “KYAAAH!”

“E-eh!?” Though panicking and still registering everything, his rescuing impulse pushes him to immediately prepare his arms to catch her from falling and his thighs immediately push him up to stand.

Star drizzles are supposed to last only for seconds, but it seems that time slows down for both of them the moment their eyes meet.

The girl falls on top of him as his arms encircle around her to protect her while his back hits the cold ground.

“O-ouch…” he winces when he feels the hardness welcome his fall and the injuries from a while ago tingle.

“I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” he hears the girl squeak so close and when he opens his eyes, he realizes how narrow their distance actually is with the ends of her hair brushing on his cheeks. Her face is just inches away from his, her hands are on his shoulders, while his are around her waist. He could feel the top of her body on his, only their clothes separating them.

“GAAAH!” It is his turn to scream and ever so slightly, he touches her shoulders to settle her down to his side as he crawls too quickly to the corner of his room just far away from her. “I’m so sorry!” he says using his arms to cover the entirety of his blushing face.

The young lady blinks her big round eyes at him before laughing so hard that her cheeks puff.

As her giggling fills his room, he takes the time to stare at her.

Though his night lamp has died, the stars in the sky are enough to see the details of her features.

Auburn locks. Her brown hair matches her eyes, a drape of fringe swept to her left side covering a portion of her forehead. The strands of her front hair are long enough to frame her heart-shaped face, while the ones at the back are so short that the ends can be seen from the front.

Like a blanket of snow. She is in a white dress that falls just by her ankles.

Flushed skin. Barefoot. Exposed arms. The tiny night lights accentuate the top of her chest as it rises and falls, her clavicle being outlined by the sheer contrast of shadows. Because of her short hair at the back, he could see the ends of the white straps of her dress peeking in a knot just by her nape.

While he is busy noting even the smallest details like the length of her lashes and the shine on her lips, he fails to see that she stops her laughter and her eyes are now fixated on him. She blinks and that small action is enough to snap him out of his gawking while the growing warmth on his face makes him conscious as he tries his best to cover it.

The girl crawls on her palms and knees as Izuku starts to tremble.

It is not everyday for it to rain stars, for one to find its way to his room and transform into a beautiful girl, after all. As a knight-in-training, his guts must be made of steel, however, it is not fear that shakes his insides, rather that uncertainty of not knowing what is happening at all. The mystery clouds his mind until he succumbs to the blankness and just watches her come close to him once more.

He stiffens when she places a hand on his shoulder but he does not let his guard down. The girl just comes close to stare into his eyes and he stops himself from drowning again in her gaze.

Ever so slightly, a warm smile fills her lips as her eyes water a bit. “It’s really you… Izuku.”

For what seems to be an eternity of losing his voice (not counting his screams earlier), he finally manages to speak in front of her. “Ho-how did you know my name?”

Evidently taken aback, the lass backs away and sits on the floor, legs folding under her bottom. She bows before saying, “I’m your stellar. You humans call us stars though. So let’s go with that.”

“What?”

“You have no idea how glad I am that you’re finally looking at me again!” her voice sounds so cheerful and so sweet that he could not choose which of those words fit it best.

“Who… or what are you?”

.

.

.

The smell of iron and rust strangely similar to that smell of blood spilling envelops Izuku’s nose, but it does not make him wince even the slightest. The warmth of the air mixing with the puffs of brown dust coating his sweating skin does not faze him, but he lowers his widening eyes when he feels the ground beneath him shake as more clouds of dust come to block his vision.

Instinctively, he places an arm just on his eye-level, perhaps out of fear, but he brings it down instantly. He has chosen this path and he should not back out now.

Blinking and narrowing his eyes to scrutinize each of the scenes unfolding, he lets his green eyes roam around the area, taking in each of the men’s own battles.

There he sees some glides for openings, some sneak attacks behind the puffs surrounding the area, and some all-out brawls with fisted gauntlets as weapons. Dirt and wounds scratch their faces, heads, and limbs as if being blemished is the only way for the world to know their feat in battle.

Kling. Klang.

“Todoroki, your shield can also be used for offense!” an ebony-haired man announces, a small scar under his right eye, as his messy lump of hair frames his face.

“Yes.”

He notes on the scroll he is holding with the charcoal pen in his hand.

“Kirishima, learn to dodge! Your skin is not an armor!” he continues, looking on the other side.

“Yes, sir!”

Kling. Klang.

“DIE!”

“Bakugou, stop shouting every time you attack! That will put you at a disadvantage,” he says as he turns to the middle of the arena.

“SHUT UP, AIZAWA!”

The man called Shota Aizawa sighs and shakes his head before muttering, “Bakugou is definitely not fit for stealth missions.”

Swords being unsheathed, metal hitting metal, and letting out roars of bravery, honor, and pain – these send a strange tingling to Izuku’s knees and fingertips. His very first step drops so low, so soft, so out of place in that heated arena where the trainees are currently taking their class.

His mere presence can never catch the attention of everyone in the middle of their spars and training, but someone much more charismatic, massive, and robust can. Someone like that man standing near him.

The clashing sounds stop, the screams die down, and all eyes (even those scarred and patched ones) fall on the large man and his small trembling figure. Even he can see his shadow trembling, next to that big sturdy figure.

“All Might,” Aizawa acknowledges before rolling his scroll to keep it inside his coat.

“Hey Aizawa. I brought the boy that I told you about some days ago.”

The man’s dark eyes fall on the green-head whose sweat is dropping to his cheeks.

“Go on, young Midoriya,” the blond man whispers so low yet it manages to give him the biggest push.

Swallowing that lump of tension in his throat, he takes a deep breath before screaming to the top of his lungs, “It’s-it’s a pleasure to meet you… Mr. Aizawa and f-fellow knights! P-please take care of me!” His feet closes in, shoulders tense as his hands fall to his sides, and he bows so rigidly that bending almost looks painful to his back.

At first, the silence continues to stretch that only the echoes of his voice become the remnants of sound present, but this breaks when a spiky blond starts laughing maniacally and hits his fist to his chest armor.

“The useless Deku who can only crush plants is going to be lumped with the other extras here? Are you mocking us, All Might?!”

His announcement is soon followed by heaps of laughter (and a bit of protests on the ‘extras’ comment) from other men in the area.

“Oi, oi, Bakugou, that’s not a good thing to say,” another spiky-head says, but his concern drowns out from the number of people choosing to look down on the young lad in between the greatest knight of the century and their instructor with a reputation for sweeping out assassins and spies.

Though bowing, the freckled boy can already see the expression filling in the face of the ace of this batch. His whole being is so unimportant that the question is not even directed at him. He expects this to happen, but those words being slapped to his bold attempt to change feels a bit hurtful.

Izuku Midoriya, the green-haired lad who is known for mixing herbs, for studying the way of the healers, and the kid known for being the only survivor of the all-out attack on his village years ago, decides to enter the School of Knighthood yet his introduction is toppled down upon by none other than Katsuki Bakugou. This same boy is never fond of him when he arrived at the capital city anyway, so he is not in the very bit surprised.

When he is still a child, barely five, some bandits with rogue sorcerers choose to attack his village and claim many lives in that peaceful place where smiles and laughter are born. The group has no deep reason for the bloodshed like revenge and resentment, not that these are acceptable for killing. Unfortunately, to get the attention of the kingdom and mark the name of their group – the League – in the growing list of terrors that the monarchy has to deal with, lives are sacrificed for their selfish and shallow reasons.

When Toshinori’s group arrives at Izuku’s village only to be welcomed by the horror of the red dye everywhere and the stench of dead bodies in the air, the reality that this kind of killings still exist hit their pride as supposed defenders of the land. Desperate to see even just any sign of breathing in the very dead place showered by the lightest drops of rain, the legendary knight spots a shivering green-haired kid kneeling beside a lifeless woman. “H-help…” the only words that leave his small mouth.

Izuku thinks that after the events that unfolded in his younger years, he should stay away from blood and death. Yet he still chooses to embrace a life involving both. Each day passes to remind him how fragile life is especially under his hands that are tasked to heal. But the feeling of being saved lifts him. How else would other people being saved feel?

But the death of a silver-haired girl opens his eyes to a different perspective. Eri. At least he gets to know her name, but that brave smile of hers eats his insides every time he remembers it - every time he remembers he is unable to do anything for her.

As he stays protected behind the walls of this city and behind the shields of the knights, more lives are still in danger especially to those areas that he cannot reach.

“This may sound absurd… especially from someone like me, but I want to be a knight… and a healer!” he manages to tell that knight who saved him, during the late girl’s funeral. Izuku remembers how the brave little angel thanks him for treating her, but the moment she closes her eyes to fall into an eternal sleep, it dawns on Izuku that he can save more lives if he fights as well.

So when the words “Of course, you can! No one says you can’t young Midoriya. Only you can mold your future,” leave Toshinori’s smiling mouth, Izuku could not help but just let the tears wash away all of the feelings in his heart.

Fists clenching on his sides, Izuku trembles more but not out of nerves anymore. He has decided to take this path and abandon his weak self. This is not the time to be bowing and hiding – not when the greatest knight supports him as well. So he stands straight and lifts his chin, letting the foreign feeling of looking up encourage his next movements. He looks straight into the direction where the proud youngster is standing with his smirk perfectly etched on his face. For the first time ever since Katsuki started looking down on him, Izuku feels the urge to wipe that expression off his face.

Izuku opens his mouth to speak but bites it when he feels that he would stutter again. He closes his eyes for a bit, trying to gather all the composure he can before raising his hand to make a fist at his chest-level. He takes another deep breath and finally lets it out, “I know that I don’t look like I can do this. But I’ll be sure to crush anyone who comes my way, even if it includes you, Kacchan.” He says oh so calmly that it matches his gentle looks and his usual demeanor, but that fire in his eyes is so uncharacteristically out of him that the boys, could only look at him with wide eyes.

Shota smirks, liking that light of determination in his green eyes, while Katsuki can be heard screaming in the background.

A large hand finds its way atop his green hair, that the intensity in the atmosphere dies down and his eyes return to that roundness of innocence. “A-All Might!” He is so engulfed by his emotions that he almost forgets that the man is present.

The mentioned man laughs to all his glory, his large figure erupting to that iconic happiness of his. Everyone else in the arena looks at him as if he is brighter than the sun illuminating all of them. He is not even wearing his golden armor now and is only in his cream-colored cotton garments and dark pants, but the heroic aura in him is beyond what he is wearing.

“This young one right here will be joining you bunch of youngsters starting tomorrow! And as I keep on saying, I have high expectations in your batch! So keep on fighting, you little ones!”

Not only a bard is capable of producing a melody that can touch even the faintest of hearts because for the very first time in his life, a harmony of roars enters Izuku’s ears and he could feel the power and valor crawling into him. The screams turn to chants and cheers of “All Might! All Might!” and finally, the lad smiles. He is really here that it almost feels dreamlike (though he has never dreamt of it) to breathe the same air as these knights-in-the-making as well as the very symbol of might.

Toshinori looks at him as he lifts his hand from patting his head. “Young Midoriya, this is only the beginning and I trust that you are ready for what’s to come.”

He nods, “Yes!”

Toshinori’s smile stretches bigger as he leaves, the image of his muscular back walking away, being burned to the eyes of these trainees. Even the very back of this man is able to emanate such supremacy that they could not let their eyes look away even a second until his figure is already hidden by the walls when he turns.

The natural surrounding noises seem to return upon the knight’s departure. Some sigh in relief of tension, some scream in wonder in seeing All Might, and some just return to their usual chatter.

But one of the sounds that comes back is that of a mocking questioning tone from Katsuki, “Hah? You mean to say, All Might approved of you joining? Seems like the geezer’s senses are getting rusty,” he says, stomping his way to Izuku as the latter just stares at him.

“I don’t know why and I don’t care how you managed to do that, but remember this, Deku. You’re still useless in the battlefield and that won’t change. Don’t drag us down to your mud, got it?” His face comes so close, threatening the green orbs with his crimson ones.

Katsuki starts to return when Izuku speaks, “You’re wrong.”

The blond turns to his back and glares at the other boy, a grunt leaving his lips.

“I decided to be a knight and I’ll show you that I can be one… no matter how hard it is!”

Katsuki screams, “Damn you! Who do you think you are now!?” and is about to land a punch on Izuku’s face, when some chains wrap on his forehead and pulls him back.

“DAMN YOU TOO, AIZAWA!” he manages to scream despite the pressure digging into his skin.

“This is why I tell you to stop screaming before attacking. It makes your moves predictable,” the man heaves out another sigh before swiftly pulling the chains to send Katsuki’s body flying a bit before falling to the ground.

As Izuku waves his hand for the surrounding haze of dirt from the fall’s impact, Shota comes closer. The younger boy bows a bit before standing straight.

“Izuku Midoriya, right?”

“Y-yes!”

His dark eyes look up and down Izuku’s small figure and the boy swears that it turns red but only lasts a second. “Too skinny and flimsy. Work on muscle training first before picking up fights with Bakugou.”

Clearing his throat, Izuku says, “Yes!”

“Just because All Might recommended you, that does not mean there’ll be any special treatments here. You’re also late in entering this class where everyone has already progressed so if you have any thoughts of lax, you might as well quit, understood?”

“Yes, sir! I have to work extra harder than what is expected of me!” his voice escapes from his curved up mouth and if he intends it to be tough-sounding, it ends up sounding too happy.

Shota does not seem to mind though as he just nods and leaves.

Feeling the air passing through his nose and mouth, his smile beams brighter at the sight of training. He looks up and sees something sparkle in such a clear day.

Izuku rubs his eyes. What is that?

When he looks up again, he only furrows his eyebrows as the sun’s rays pierce his vision. Despite the raging light, Izuku swears that something up there sparkles gentler and tamer than the sun, as if watching him silently.

.

.

.

The green-haired paces back and forth while the lass sits on his bed, watching his every step, fascinated by each movement.

Tap. Tap.

Her round eyes follow each time his foot connects to the floor and when he slides so slightly before going to the opposite direction.

Tap. Tap.

Her hair touches her cheeks as she continues to lean down and watch.

Maybe walking itself is something normal especially on the land of humans, but for a creature like her who is only used to staying in midair, for feet to make sounds and touch the ground like that is impossible. Even the feeling of her weight keeping her at place feels foreign. Her eyes sparkle as that big smile continues to occupy her face.

“So you’re saying… that you’re my star? A stellar…”

“Izuku, you’ve mentioned that for the fourth time,” she says her eyes not leaving his feet. A while ago, every time he speaks, she looks up to meet his face, but since he has been asking the same thing for a few times now, she lets him be if that is his peace as she just enjoys watching his soles turning.

His silence, however, urges her to look back at him. Yet their eyes miss each other when he looks up, hand on his chin, and his bottom lip pointing upward.

The smile not falling off her lips grows bigger and her eyes this time focus on his face. The freckles carefully placed on his cheeks in a symmetrical way fascinates her. Her fingers touch her palms as she closes both hands and places it under her cheeks, letting her flesh relax on it.

She has been watching over him ever since the world welcomed him so she knows that he will react this way. But to finally see it in front of her surely feels different.

His eyes are much brighter than when she just watches him from the skies and she is just so glad to be here right now.

Mentioned boy crouches on the floor, hands on his curly hair as he starts muttering under his breath.

“Mom used to tell me about stars as guardians so I really shouldn’t be surprised. But it’s not like a lot of people already told me about that myth or legend… or maybe it’s not really a myth or a legend when it is right here in front of me. But other than that, that means they are real! So Mom wasn’t lying when she told me about it as a kid? But then, does this mean other magical creatures like fairies and dragons exist? I mean it’s not like I doubt their existence when they are written over the books and we still have spells and magic right now, but magic is just energy that are believed to be derived from these creatures… but it’s not like any of the books I’ve read mentioned really encountering one… I really should stud—”

“I-zu-ku!” she interrupts his rambling by placing her hands on his cheeks which freaks him out with a yelp escaping his mouth from the instance of the movement.

For a brief moment, she enjoys the feeling of her palms touching his face until he chips, “T-t-too close!”

Immediately, the brown-haired girl lets go, her hands raising, but not reducing their distance though. “Sorry… you’ve always been so far away so I can’t help it,” she says casually, but that hint of melancholy is present in her tone.

The feeling is something she cannot explain or express properly. She has been by his side all these years, yet only from afar. That may not make sense for anyone else but her.

Concern fills his eyes and she swears that she does not mean that kind of look to occupy his face. It is just that she never thought that the day that she can finally reach him would ever come. How many times in the past has she tried to stretch her hand out to him, only to further realize the space that separates them?

“But don’t worry! Let’s forget about that. Do you believe me now?” her attempt to hide the low light tempting to leave her.

Izuku’s face falls a little as he forces a smile. “Well… to be honest with you, it still feels… unreal…”

When a human is born into this world, a star is also born into the sky. The star is tasked to watch over their human until they die. These are some of the things that she tells him when his face makes that confused turn and he fails to put his question to recognizable words. As much as Ochako finds that moment cute, she could not help but feel sorry when he looks like he is struggling to understand.

Nineteen years and he only finds out about her now, how can she blame him if he refuses to believe her? As much as she knows everything about him, she is just a stranger for him whatever she says. He just has this really kind heart that he chooses to listen to her anyway.

The girl feels a little pang in her heart as she looks down on his unmoving feet.

She has spent years watching this boy grow just as she grows with him too, but the realization that only she knows him and he does not know her somehow tears something inside her chest.

Her eyes are witness to all the hardships and struggles he has been through. From the very first time he is able to stand on his own by empowering his little legs to his very first scratch on his knee after a stumble. And if she is there with him in his smallest steps, she is also there in his toughest days. From his last memory of his mother, to losing his youngest patient, and of course, to being saved by Toshinori. All those times, she is with him, crying silently. Even now, as he tries to be stronger, she cries for him. She especially cries for the things that he refuses to shed tears on.

She shakes her head and faces him bringing out another of her smiles that she reserves for him. This day finally comes so in return of all those pain, she can at least mend some of his experiences by smiling at him, she thinks.

“It’s okay! You don’t have to force yourself, Izuku! But if there’s one thing I’d really like you to believe is that I’m here to help you. I hope you’d let me!”

He looks at her and slowly, his lips mirror that smile of hers. Seeing her reflection in his big green eyes when he finally lets her have a peek on what kind of smile he can give to her, sets her chest afloat. Heavy. Light. She could not tell anymore.

She just feels her cheeks go numb as a foreign feeling creeps. She places her hands on her face as that unfamiliar warmth touches her palms. Could this be the thing called blushing? The human world sure is interesting.

Placing her focus back on Izuku, looking at his smiling face up close once more makes all those years of suffering to not be able to reach him worth it. Though it has been a year ever since he stopped looking up at the sky, what matters is that right now, she is here with him and he is looking at her.

“Th-thanks… uhmm what should I call you?” he tells her and she feels her heart be full.

Finally, this is her time to be known by him. “Ochako. You can call me, Ochako.”

“Ochako,” he says, tone bending to uncertainty but hearing her name roll from his lips is too good to be true so she does not mind.

“W-would you tell me about yourself? And about stars?” he follows up and she could not help but feel giddy. He is only asking her the usual thing to be asked in such a situation. But deep inside her, all the little things that he is doing and saying are enough to keep a happy bubble inside her. Funny though that for a few moments of landing here, she is already starting to adapt emotions rather than light.

“I’ve known you ever since you were born,” she reminisces.

Unlike humans, stars or the stellars do not have a concept of age. When they are born, they just come into existence, with the consciousness screaming inside of them – that they must guide, they must protect. Their whole existence is wrapped around their humans. They are made for their humans.

When the skies grumble with thunder and lightning, that is the time when stellars battle it all out on whose human gets to live the longest, and whose human has to fade from the world during calamities. It is like a war is ensuing up in the sky along with the happenings down below.

Stellars cannot really meddle with affairs of the physical world, but they can do things that will have an influence on the life of their humans.

“What kind of battle… do stars have?” Izuku asks.

Ochako chuckles, not sure how to respond to the way that he would understand.

“Hmm… I guess whoever shines the brightest to be noticed wins…?” she says, stopping herself from giggling. When she puts it to words, the battle seems to be less epic than how she has explained it earlier. Izuku’s face looks otherwise though. She can tell that he is too interested in the topic at hand.

“But it really is hard to notice because the clouds hide us from view. When all stars enlighten the sky, it turns into lightning.”

“Really!? That’s amazing! That makes sense! I can’t believe that what we view as a simple weather change is related to something like that.”

She nods, liking his enthusiasm. She hugs her knees and tilts her head just looking at him.

He jolts a bit and immediately hides his fascination with a nervous laugh. “S-sorry… Just got carried away.”

“Why are you saying sorry?”

“I can get too fixated on things…” he scratches his neck.

“Don’t say that Izuku,” she says but not in a reprimanding tone. “You’re a wonderful person and you always try your best.” Truly, she is aware of that tendency of his, but it makes up who he is. It is something that he should not be ashamed of at all.

When his face looks at her with a bit of a shock, it is her turn to apologize. Forget about him being too fixated on things, is she not the same when it comes to him?

“Anything else you want to ask?”

“O-oh! Is rain related to the battle as well?”

Her smile melts to a sad one and he notices this. Before he can take back the question, Ochako simply tells him, “When it rains, it means stellars are crying.”

Ochako vividly remembers how many stellars cry during the times when she wins to protect Izuku. And as much as she finds happiness in filling her task, seeing everything else around her creeping with tears, makes her cry herself.

“Even if we fight for our humans, at the end of the day, no one really knows how to win. We give it our all to shine, and hopefully our glow makes the humans give it their all as they live, but no one still knows what tomorrow may bring. I really don’t know how it works, but maybe, if both the stellar and the human try their best, they can both succeed in living a full life.”

She remembers the little Izuku unable to cry, trying his best until the golden knight appears to save him. So she cries for him as drizzle showers upon his village on that fated day.

And now right in front of her, she can see the very same boy, but a stronger version of him.

The same pair of beautiful eyes that has seen a lot of things ever since he was a kid. She almost comes closer to him but stops herself, remembering her place. She should really stop getting lost in his eyes.

“What happens to the stars-- stellars when their humans die?”

“Stars spend their lifetime caring for their humans so we actually do not mind what happens next after that.”

For a stellar, all they need is to fulfill their task. They barely care about themselves. But more than that, Izuku does not need to know. She knows him too well and his big heart that takes responsibility for everyone and everything.

“Say, Ochako, I’m sorry.”

“Eh?”

“You fought for me, but right now, I continue to be just me. A lot has happened and I’m still so weak… Right now, I’m a real failure. You’ve been watching me… so you must know that I am suspended, right? I’m so sorry…”

“What!? Don’t say that, Izuku!” This time she comes close and forgets her consciousness on their distance. She lets her palms squeeze his cheeks for the second time and her eyes bore into his.

“Listen, you are a wonderful person and you deserve everything. You have no idea how much you have touched the lives of the people around you. You have no idea how your journey has inspired many… I know this because I’ve been watching you, all this time,” as each word leaves her mouth, she can see the tears filling his eyes once again.

How many times has he tried to stop himself from crying, when he is such a crybaby? His heart is so pure that almost anything can touch him and just bring him to such a state. The only bad thing about that that she sees is that it makes it easy for things to bring him down. Guilt always weighs him down even if he should not take all the blame.

So maybe, she descends from the sky to come and take some of that baggage that he purposely places on himself off him.

This time, Ochako forgets all the rules, reprimands, and all the reasons why she is brought in this world. She hugs him, her arms encircling his shaking figure, his head on her bare shoulder. She feels the hot tears stain her skin as her hands dig in the curly locks of his hair to pat him.

“It’s okay. You’ll get stronger. I’ll be here to help you, I promise.”

.

.

.

 “Your notebook?”

“It’s here.”

“Medicine for headache? You forgot it last time,” a playful tone.

“S-sorry…” he pauses but hums an extending tone before, “It’s here.”

“Mmmmmmmmmmm,” she laughingly mocks his previous tone before getting to her point when he makes a face, “Your handkerchief?”

“Right here, Ma’am.”

“Great! Looks like you’re all set for the day, Izuku!”

“Thanks!”

Life can be weird when you live with a stellar and for this knight trainee, the fact is only revealed now. Izuku has read about many magical creatures - the fairies, the giants, the sirens, and many more - yet not one talks about the stellars. When she introduces herself to his life on that night, he has no idea how his days would unfold.

Of course, there are many adjustments and he finds himself taking note of everything that she talks about in one of his notebooks - what she eats, what her powers are, and a lot more.

Stellars are not much different from humans when it comes to forms and he has realized that. They have no pointed ears, sharp teeth, or anything that drastically different in appearance to mankind. It is only that they glow and these are all based on emotions. So Ochako tries her best to keep her emotions at bay to stop glowing.

Izuku finds it fascinating though. A creature that is beyond knowledge and he talks to one everyday and all the time.

Her residence is his room and somehow right now even the timid him is just used to having the girl around.

Every night is still a mania of blushing for him though, especially when she gets too much into her sleep and starts hugging him out of nowhere. While he has offered her the bed, they end up arguing about who gets to sleep on it so the final verdict is to share. Izuku has never felt this conflicted in a loss. When he loses battles, he always finds ways to bounce back despite the bitterness of the fall. Yet when it comes to this stellar, he thinks that he would never win against her. Against those eyes. Against that smile. So the very first nights of staying together have always been sleepless.

His mornings are not exempted from the madness though. It takes the poor guy several weeks to get used to waking up to her sleeping face snuggled close to him or to hearing her “Rise and shine, little boy!” after she has heard that the royal healer calls him that.

While Izuku is very much used to her presence after more than half a year, he still could not help but have that beet red face most of the time. He barely interacts with  any female his age and while he is generally alright with treating female patients (and should probably used to them), she is different; and her being a stellar is not even his reason.

From the very first time he lays his eyes on her, she has always been different and that is not because she is a stellar.

To think that that blushy star he has been referring to as a kid is this beautiful girl named Ochako is beyond him.

Even Toshinori knows of that pink star. In one of their conversations, Izuku once asks him why the former knight’s troops entered their village, to which the blond answers, “It’s because a rose-colored star kept shining on that place in that rainy day.”

And now that that star is right here with him, everyday of his life is just so bright.

Meals become livelier, evenings of slumber turn to nights filled with chatter and laughter, and mornings are welcomed with feelings of scatter.

Sometimes Izuku feels like his heart is a spinning wheel of emotions that takes a turn every time she is involved. Sometimes he would be touched and be near to tears by her words, sometimes he would be bothered and exasperated when she throws in her playful jokes (which he admits are good ones), but most of the time he feels his heart elated. The joy that she has brought with her upon her arrival is undeniable, especially when he feels his lips always stretching to that smile of his a lot especially as of late. His heart is always beating as long as he is alive, but it is always turning when he is with her.

He would lie if he says that he hates it. He is very fond of her. In everything she does and everything she says.

He just worries for her a lot. She is that bubble of energy that keeps him going everyday. She absorbs all his worries, encourages him, and pushes him to be a better person in every way each day he wakes up.

And Izuku starts to think what can he do for her? Ever since they met, all she has been doing is to make his life better that somehow, all the darkness in his past is now nowhere to be seen because of her light.

His confidence grows and his performance at the School of Knighthood improves as well. He is able to face anyone without his doubts weighing him down anymore. His mind is as clear as day. Having her around has definitely changed a lot of things inside of him.

Every night they talk and no matter how tired he is, seeing her smile and seeing that pink light surrounding her calms him. And maybe even if he is really embarrassed to admit, being close to her just warms his heart.

All this time, she has been with him, watching him. He is never alone. And now that he is able to talk to her, he just feels the urge to thank her every second.

Sometimes though, he feels a bit of pain when she gives the night sky a look. There are times when she just goes silent and looks up. Does she miss being up there? Is the sky calling her?

“I must fulfill your wish before I can return to the sky,” she has told him in one of their many conversations. Though he at times tries to know more details on this, she has been very careful in avoiding it, which he respects. Ochako is conscious enough to assure him that she would be going back to the sky to watch over him like always.

So even if the day comes that she is not with him anymore at this land, he would still see her rosy glow in the sky.

If Izuku chooses to be honest, every time he remembers her words, he gets that twinge inside his chest. At first it is really small and maybe a bit unnoticeable. It is similar to being pricked with a needle – something that is instant and can just be overlooked. However, that pricking becomes more frequent much to his dismay and he starts to acknowledge that it would really pain him to see her go.

Even if she would never leave him, the skies would still part both of them. But he knows full well that having her near him has been the most joyous thing that has happened in his life. But he is never that selfish to take away that smile of hers especially when he looks at her and sees her gazing into the sky with sad eyes that refuse to shed tears.

Izuku decides that even if she is back in the sky, if she keeps on glowing, he will know that she is happy there. That is enough.

“Ochako?” he asks before opening the door to exit his room for another day of training.

“Yeah?” she cocks an eyebrow before snickering. “You forgot something didn’t ya?”

Izuku pouts a bit. She has been poking fun at him as of late when he forgets so many of his things in consecutive days, but he would never tell her that it is because he is a bit distracted by his thoughts of her.

“We’ll be having a few days off from training. Uh, would--would you like to go somewhere?” He recovers from being teased but when he finally asks her, his voice ends up jumping inside his throat. This is his very first time to ask a girl out somewhere, he just realizes.

“Eh? Somewhere?”

It may have been just his ears playing at him when he hears Denki ranting about wanting to be with a lady to attend a festival the next night, but Izuku confirms it when he sees the village preparing on his way back to the barracks.

Lanterns are being hung at each home. Stalls are being opened, ranging from food to games and to different goods. The decorations are filled with sparks and spikes of orange, red, and yellow, anything that symbolizes the flames.

He has been unable to keep track of most days ever since Ochako comes in his life, as each day is just full of happiness. Yet he must be so out of focus that he fails to realize that the Fire Festival – the grandest celebration of the year is here.

The capital holds the Fire Festival to honor the flame of life and the fire emblem which is engraved in every corner of the King Endeavor’s ruled lands.

Knights-in-training are expected to show up and help in the security of the event, however, each year only one batch is required and Izuku’s group already went last year. While they are allowed to be volunteers (and he initially planned to), now is different for he is decided on what he would be doing this year.

“Well…” some warmth fills his cheeks as he places a hand to scratch the back of his head. “I-if you only you want to go…” he looks at the ground first before checking to see her and he instantly feels his mouth go dry in doing so because her eyes are just as beautiful as that night he met her.

“Of course! Anything for you, Izuku!”

He laughs nervously. Hearing her say such things still makes him blush even if it is natural from her as his stellar. “Well… I actually want to bring you somewhere… I’m hoping you want to go.”

“Eh?”

“I mean… I don’t want you to do this for me… I want you to go if you want to,” he starts saying as he finds his green strands the perfect plaything right now when his fingers are just brushing it unnaturally.

The silence from Ochako urges him to continue talking though. “So… I hope you think about it! Bye!” he says so fast and leaves as fast. Stellar or human, this is still his first time to ask a girl out. How cowardly to leave, but he could not handle it anymore.

Meanwhile, a stunned Ochako who is left inside his room feels herself blush as well. Ever since her arrival on earth, she has been doing everything for Izuku’s sake. She, after all, descends for him. So when he says that, she could not help but glow in a furious pink.

She holds onto her cheeks. She has been doing great at keeping her emotions in check but when he says something like that, maybe she is still so bad at it.

Actually, she really is still bad at it.

Ochako is good at doing it consciously but her subconscious is pretty good at letting her feelings seep through her defense. Most of the time, it attacks during her slumber especially when she ends up wrapping her arms around him on pure instinct of wanting to be near him. Some of their mornings are raining with apologies from both sides on the occurrence, but an embarrassed Izuku tells her that she has been doing it for many months that he is a bit used to it. And that of course makes her pink glow more radiant and more intense than usual.

Months of staying here under the skies are months of huge adjustments for her. Her home up above has always nurtured the energy of stellars naturally, and staying in the human world changes a lot of things.

Stellars do not really eat. They just breathe. The skies are made to lessen their energy consumption so they can float instead of feeling the fatigue that humans endure because of their weight. The only activity that they really do other than watching over is to twinkle. So the very first time that she takes real food inside her mouth, she could not help but sigh in contentment. These are some of the delicacies that the humans eat everyday while thousands of them are unable to. She sure feels lucky to be able to experience this. Most especially, that one rice cake that Izuku brings her is the one that stands out for her. It is called a mochi if she remembers it right. The knight trainee makes sure to bring her some on his way home from his everyday training.

Stellars can only float. So when she feels gravity pulling her down all the time, it surely feels like she is chained and trapped. The limits of humans can be a bit saddening, only looking at things from below. So feeling this weight makes her realize how amazing these creatures really are. Even without the powers of the stellars to float and see everything from a distance, they can still be capable of amazing things. So day by day, she enjoys the thump of her feet on the ground. Izuku is also kind enough to buy her some footwear, noticing how she seems to be fascinated with her feet touching the floor. He even brings her a dozen pairs, saying that he would not want her to have a blister so he brought that many. The memory makes her giggle.

Stellars live in a stationary world. Air exists to pass through as breathing, but not as a wind that can caress the skin and let her hair flow. There are no gusts that can force one to close their eyes. There is no chilly breeze that can make one shiver. There is no rainwater falling upon the whole of her home. No droplets that can flick on one’s skin. No waterfalls crash the sounds in its surroundings. There are no rivers that pass through to part lands and flow in one direction. There is no water to quench one’s thirst.

But this world is too different. In this world, she feels how air current is changing direction and temperature. She feels water flowing on her skin, escaping her palms but letting her skin still be soaked.

All in all, this is a foreign world that is not made for her kind, but the feeling of moving and changing makes her feel warm inside.

People often view the sky as a symbol of change, but up there, nothing really changes. They all remain as lights watching over their humans. It is down here that you can really feel what life is. It may be bad to think like but is it so wrong to feel this place more like home as everything still feels warm despite time moving forward to uncertainty?

“Ochako-dear, do you know why stellars are not allowed to fall in love with their human?”

Sure it is a rule that is already engraved in their senses and it is treated like a fact already rather than law. Ochako, however, never finds herself curious at the matter as she looks at it as a part of her being, even until she learns the day that she has broken that very rule.

“I’m not so sure… Midnight.”

The queen nods at her and pats her head. “Stellars are creatures of light. What humans call emotions are light for us, but that is not all. Our light is our lifespan as well.”

Ochako’s head bobs and she looks at Midnight, eyes widening at the truth that she has only heard right now.

“Our ancestors, the light giants are selfish creatures, ruling the skies for a stretching eternity. They were so selfish that they started colliding with each other because 'not everyone can be as bright as any of them.'  At first, they destroyed everything around them that emitted any speck of brightness. But when everything else is gone and only they exist, they started destroying each other too. Their bodies break down to little lights that are now known as stellars. Because of fear that this may repeat, our kind is tied to humans' existence, to do everything for our humans and not for ourselves. We actually have  a longer lifespan than them, however, their death will bring us to our death too because of how attached we are to them.”

“How is this related to… falling in love?”

“Humans describe love as an emotion that brings you other emotions. It can bring you joy, it can bring you sadness, anger, pain, jealousy, anxiety, and a lot more. For stellars, our life spans and so-called emotions are connected to our light. We flicker, we dim, we glimmer, we glisten, and a lot more. Strong emotions mean emitting strong light which could drain our lifespan.”

And at that moment the realization dawns in Ochako. “So… when a stellar falls in love… they die?”

Midnight shakes her head slightly, a rare frown on her lips. “It’s not that we die, instantly. But it will eat away whatever is remaining in our lifespan. And you know, there is only one stellar for a human. When a human dies, their stellar dies and crumbles to dust that go to the limbo of lights until they rest in peace when they descend during the star drizzle. However, when a stellar dies first, their human still lives. Unlike stellars that are made for humans, humans are not made for our kind.”

Ochako looks at Midnight, her eyes continuing to widen, her heart unsure if it can take more.

The queen still continues, this time, her hand falling to Ochako’s shoulder for a gentle squeeze. “For stellars, our humans are our everything. So being unable to fulfill our duty because of that so-called love, means that we will be abandoning our very core. I once lost a child… and before perishing, he told me that I must not let it happen to any of us anymore.”

“I-I’m so sorry…”

Midnight smiles removing her hand from her. “Don’t be. This is why we try to suppress our light if it is only out of what we feel. We only use our light to guide our humans, only for them but never for ourselves.”

Ochako looks at her smiling face before looking at the limbo of lights from a distance. “What should I do?”

“I don’t want you to perish. But I don’t want your glow to go faint too. That’s why the question is. What would you like to do?”

The pink stellar is hesitant to speak out her answer, but the look on her eyes says it all.

“I figured,” Midnight laughs a bit before stroking her cheek. “You may see him. You are his stellar and as long as you do it to help him.”

“But remember. This is our realm, our habitat, which makes it easier for us to breathe and gather our energy. The human world down there is different. Once you are down there, you have to try your best to not let out any light because when you are down there, you cannot regain any energy. Your focus is to fulfill his wish and you have to come back here,” Midnight explains with Ochako nodding.

“Unfortunately, unlike the limbo of lights which brings you to the human world, the way back up is not as easy. You will have to use much of your light to come back up so be sure to save your light.”

Fists clenching, Ochako looks outside Izuku’s window, seeing his figure walking along with Tenya and Shouto. He looks back and sees her, but before he could smile at her, she raises a hand to stop him. They would see her too so he should not acknowledge her. He should forget that she is there.

She still smiles at him though and tries her best to suppress everything. She is already used to watching him from afar, right? So she should stop herself from falling further.

“…save your light,” she echoes Midnight’s words. Maybe when the queen lets that leave her mouth, she is referring to something more than just being cautious in using her light.

More than her desires of finding comfort at this foreign world and more than her growing feelings for him, she is nothing but a stellar who needs to fulfill the happiness of her human.

“I promise… I’ll make your wish come true… and that would be it.”

.

.

.

“Are you okay, Izuku?”

“N--I mean-yes! Yes!” Izuku shrieks and covers his mouth, almost saying no when he really should not. Never has he thought that going out with a girl feels like this. Something far from hunger bubbles inside his stomach, as his heartbeat, quickens against his ribcage, almost hurting.

“Are you sure?” Ochako asks staring at him. He is so weak to this staring game that he ends up screeching more unrecognizable words.

What is he doing? The mere task of asking her already drains out much of his calm, so he already knows that he will be nervous when they do attend the event at the plaza, but he does not expect these other feelings surfacing all at the same time. After all, when he decides to ask her out, it is meant to be his way of gratitude to her. But right now, maybe he should be the one who is thanking the One above to bless him with the sight.

His green eyes peek at her. Perhaps he is so used to her everyday look already that part of Ochako’s trademark in his mind is already that white dress and bob hair. So to see some of the strands framing her face in a loose braid, short ones let down still hiding her nape, and to be in a dress with a maroon corset hugging her waist and some laces and ribbons gracing her form; he sure is too overjoyed to see her like this. The dress that ladies wear in their village surely suits her as much as her stellar clothes do.

Currently, they are in the plaza and despite the busy place, Izuku could only look at the girl beside him.

It is a given that Ochako staying in his room is a huge secret. Not only is she a different creature from them, but having someone else other than knights-in-training (especially that she is a girl), staying at the barracks is against the rules. Izuku should probably rethink his codes since he allows this, but at the same time, he knows that he cannot let her stay elsewhere.

These circumstances do not mean that Ochako can never leave his room though. Thankfully, her stellar powers allow her to hide from other people aside from Izuku. So she relies on it when they have to go out of the barracks. However, as a creature of light that is focused on shining bright, to hide her presence takes a toll on her body and she feels like throwing up every time she uses this ability. It could also be because staying here in the human world makes it harder.

Ochako and Izuku’s tactic is for the stellar to hide as they briskly walk the halls of the barracks and to show herself again once they are in a safe distance.

He worries for her though and even tells her that it is fine to not go out anymore. But when some blush dusts her cheeks and she tells him that she actually wants to go, he immediately nods at her with a determined look on his face to make the day perfect.

Things do not go their way though because, in the middle of going out, some of Izuku’s friends spot him.

“Hey, how’s it going, Midoriya? You coming with us to the festival?” that is Kirishima.

“Midoriya! Good timing! We were just gonna drag Bakugou out of his room. More hands are always better,” that is Hanta with his usually smiling face.

Izuku raises his palms, faking a smile. “N-no… I actually have to… go.”

Then Denki steps closer and stares into Izuku’s unfocused eyes and sweaty figure. “Let’s leave Midoriya alone for today,” he says which makes the green-head sigh in relief until he chips in, “These are the eyes of someone going on a date! Make way for our champion!”

“W-wait…! That’s…!” he tries to explain but gets three elbows nudging him in response.

Before the trio leaves, the blond makes a sign at him asking him for “details later.” He could only swallow hard, hoping that he could also swallow the red shades on his face, especially when he remembers that Ochako is there, hearing everything.

The gods are not yet done playing with both of them though.

When Ochako and Izuku reach the stream near the town’s square, the stellar finally shows herself as she pants and pales. Izuku starts rummaging in his bag for some medicine he has prepared earlier. He really does not want to see her like this but this is the only way for them to escape. In the middle of grabbing his vial, the royal healer arrives at the scene.

After Chiyo dramatically drops the bags on her hands to the ground, the next events come in a blur (and more blushing) because the old lady says she is so proud that her little boy finally has a girlfriend (after scolding Izuku for not treating someone ill quickly – not knowing that she interrupts him the moment he plans to).

“No wonder he is being praised here in there! He’s inspired! How did I not know?” she says which contributes to the awkward air surrounding the two. But Chiyo is not done yet with her bag of surprises because after giving Ochako some medicine, she says that a lady has to be prepared for the festival, thus, volunteering to set her all up.

“I used to wear that when I was your age,” the old woman beams at the dress she lends Ochako.

Izuku sure cannot believe how all those things manage to happen just when they plan to leave. He sighs with a straight face before glancing at her again. Despite the hustle and bustle of everything, maybe seeing her all glammed up is not really a bad thing.

When she looks at him, he immediately looks away, hiding his smile behind his scarred hand. How can she just look so cute?

“Izu—” her voice falters when music starts playing and they see the once scattered crowd come to small circles

“It’s the dance,” Izuku says, his eyes brightening at the scene. Since he is busy last year guarding the townspeople, seeing everyone’s merry expressions matching the music as well as the illumination of the flames on the torches dancing at the background is something he missed last year.

Other than the fire emblems embroidered on the flags and painted on the woods, the plaza is surrounded with torches, lanterns, and different lamps. But of course, it will not be a Fire Festival if there is no bonfire at the center.

“A dance…” she says, looking at the whole of the festivity. The lad looks at her, hoping that she would love the Fire Festival. Though not as bright as the stars in the sky, her kind, the flame is the only light that he can offer her here in this world.

“Oh, right… we’ve danced before,” Izuku says which evidently catches the stellar off guard.

“Eh?”

“Yeah!” he says and realizing the excitement, he immediately bows his head. “S-sorry! Was a bit ecstatic haha! I told you before that I don’t really remember much about my childhood especially my mom, but there was this one time that I was looking at a pink star. I was twirling while looking at it and it was twirling too. Of course, it wasn’t a dance, dance, but at that time, I think I was dancing. But I’m sorry it was probably weird if I put like that!”

His rambling continues, half-amazed with himself to be casually talking to her after his earlier thoughts; and half-embarrassed that he actually chooses a childish point of view of many things. Why cannot he just choose some topics that would boost him? Like knighthood, how he is doing greatly at training and how he is surpassing his weaknesses before. Or how about herbs and healing spells? Ochako says that there are no plants or anything similar in the skies so maybe that would make him look much better than how she sees him. Though Katsuki often calls him a nerd, why cannot he use his knowledge in talking to her? Instead, he ends up mumbling the most inaudible noises and squeaks or he brings up such lame topics. Sometimes he even thinks about how she can be so dedicated to him, asking him everyday how his day went. Is she not bored with him? Of course, she is his stellar, but probably he just could not imagine anyone who would be interested enough to just watch over him.

Unknown to Izuku, Ochako is too touched by that lame topic that he dubs.

“You remember that…?”

Her question snaps him out of his muttering and he ends up looking up, probably looking at the skies and reminiscing on that pink glow watching over him. It may be unfair when she is just right beside him right now, but at the same time, he is not sure if he can look at her in the eyes right now. “Yes! I’ve been remembering a lot these days… I remember that you were also there when I first stood up against Kacchan… then you were also the one who guided All Might…” he flexes his fingers counting the instances and close to a whisper, he says, “You’ve been such a blessing.”

Ochako’s hiccups drag his attention back to her and he sees her shoulders trembling as she tries to stop the tears that are clouding her brown orbs.

“I-Izuku…”

At first, the green-haired lad raises his hands, wanting to touch her but not sure what to do. Should he pat her? Should he rub her back or her head? Should he place a hand on her shoulder? Panic overwhelms him, especially when he sees a faint glow starting to form around her body and he does that one thing that maybe he should not do.

His arms encircle her, taking in her smaller form close to his chest that must be all noisy right now and he sure wishes that the crowd’s noise is much louder than that inner one beating. He attempts to cover her glow by his embrace but maybe it is not that helpful when the light is starting to go brighter.

“O-Ochako! Please try to control… your light!” he whispers to her, holding her close.

He feels Ochako nod the slightest and he lets go of her, their eyes gazing at one another.

Her rosy glow is still not disappearing, but perhaps because of the orange lights emitted by the flames around the area, it is not really evident at all to the people around them

“S-sorry…” she says wiping the tears and smiling. “I was just too happy!” her smile goes bigger and she starts fanning her face with her hands.

He smiles. He does not mean to make her cry at all and he should really be apologetic but looking at her now, she is just dazzling. One may say that it is because of her stellar light, but if you ask him, that is not the reason at all. Maybe even if she is not emitting any light at all, she would still dazzle in front of his green eyes.

“You’re really beautiful.”

“Eh?”

He sees the pink glow grow intense, but instead of it enveloping her body, the pink is just seen on her cheeks.

Eyes widening and skin adapting the same color, he starts stammering an explanation which makes no sense. He really should watch what his tongue says though. Trying to change the topic and possibly breaking that awkward atmosphere, Izuku offers his hand. At first, he offers his right one, the scarred one, but suddenly conscious, he switches hands.

“W-would you dance with me again?”

She tilts her head at him before shaking. He almost frowns and pulls his hand away but she speaks. “I’d accept if you use your right hand. You should not be ashamed of it. It’s proof of your hard work.”

And so, though a bit nervous, he lifts his hand and asks one more time, “Would you dance with me again?”

“I’d be honored to!” she beams and accepts his hand as he gingerly pulls her as they sway to the music. Their eyes look down, watching their feet, as the appendages move clumsily trying to not bump into each other even by a hair. Their fingers hold onto each other tightly, both sides ignoring the comfort found in holding hands. His other hand finds its way at her back, while her other is on his shoulder.

“Sorry… I don’t really know how to do this,” she says with a small laugh.

“Don’t. I’m not really good at it either,” he shares the same nervous laugh.

“But I might fall,” she says, eyes widening whenever their feet almost bump.

Izuku chuckles. “I’m holding you so it’s okay. I’ll catch you,” and when he says that she looks at him blushing madly, he starts reciprocating the blush and realizing what he said.

“I-I mean…!”

“Y-yeah don’t worry I-I got it!”

Silence falls upon them again but Izuku does not give up and tries again.

“Uhm maybe… we should stop looking at our feet?”

“Oh… okay!” she says and pulls her gaze from below to him.

They look at each other and clear their throats. They almost laugh, noting that both of them have big eyes that they can see their reflection on each other’s pairs. But rather than laughter, something has clicked in them earlier that makes the familiar warmth crawl to their faces again. They both have the urge to let go and just hide the incoming blush but none of them do. Their hands further clasp tighter. As the tension transmits to their hands, their feet start to be light and move to the tune more naturally. Small steps or bigger steps, they do not feel their legs at all because the light feeling in their feet almost feels like they are floating.

Without knowing and just letting the music flood their ears, the beat and the tempo seep through their veins and they just move to what instinct dictates. A twirl. A hop. A turn. The awkwardness gets drowned out by each step to the music and by the waves of the flames touched by the wind. Their shadows cast on the ground below their feet, dancing to their movement as well.

“I’ll be stronger. I promise you,” he suddenly says, full of resolve. And when pain flashes very slightly on her features, he misses it when he is too focused on holding her steadily and keeping his promise to her.

She nods immediately, feigning her smile.

For this night, maybe she can enjoy the warmth of his hand, the way his eyes are looking into hers, and the warmth of being this close to him. Only tonight.

.

.

.

For the first time in her life, Ochako feels that feeling of being trapped in the middle between giving up and going desperate. The light in her body is uncontrollable, flashing to be too strong for the eyes for a few seconds then suddenly dying down so dim that it is barely visible. Yet despite this attention-grabbing dashes of light and darkness, she does not alert the people around her for she is using her powers to hide her presence. The feelings stirring inside her make it unstable that it starts to manifest in her natural light.

Ochako has forgotten all things now though because nothing matters at the moment but Izuku, whom she heard is rushed to Old Chiyo’s.

The pink stellar is grateful that the chance meeting with Chiyo back then means that she can show her presence to her and introduce herself as an acquaintance of Izuku. However, this newfound relationship with the old lady to be useful in the current scenario is something that she is not hoping.

“Izuku!” she yells upon opening the door to the hospital, seeing a beat-up green-haired lad.

Plasters and bandages surround his body, knots and patches everywhere. Some of his blood are visibly soaking the white wraps. His arms, chest, and torso are all covered while a portion of his face is mugged. Cuts mark the skin on his cheek, drawing a line across his freckles, but not deep enough to be bandaged. The corner of his lips has an abrasion about the size of a thumb, while both his eyelids are swollen closed. When she looks at his face as a whole, able to tell the inflammation, tears form at the corner of her eyes.

Red. Purple. The discoloration on his face makes her not want to look at him.

She almost sinks to her knees when she sees him but Chiyo’s presence pushes her to keep on standing to approach her though her legs are shaking.

“O-old Chiyo… is he okay? Please… please tell me he is okay.”

Chiyo frowns at her, her eyebrows furrowed. When Ochako was still watching from the sky, she could see the old woman playfully patting on Izuku’s wounds whenever he ends up in the hospital, but right now, the serious worry on her face makes her heart pound in pain.

“He is… but this is the worst state I’ve seen him,” Chiyo admits eyes lowering and closing for a while before glancing at the poor boy.

“Sometimes, I wonder if it is really a blessing that he knows how to heal himself… He really has good judgement so he focused his healing spells on his puncture wounds around his torso and those near his vital organs. That is why we can still see all the other hits he sustained, especially his face.”

“Wh-what happened…? I… I just heard from… the passersby in the barracks… that he was rushed here…”

Chiyo faces Ochako this time. “He saved Toshinori.”

According to the other knights-in-training, during the Fire Festival when everyone is busy, a group of men comes to take advantage of the festivity to enter the capital. The next day, their plan to kill Toshinori is carried out.

“I don’t understand. Why, why would they do that?”

“They said that those men are victims of oppression and were deeply angered by Toshinori stepping down. They wanted the All Might to protect them from the evils of this world but his retirement crumbled the fear of criminals. And they blamed him for the sudden rampant crimes.”

“But that’s wrong! He is not responsible for everyone’s lives. He’s just human too.”

“Yes, lass. But the thing is, for those people, the knights are the symbol of peace. Especially All Might, the greatest knight of the century. I know that what they did is wrong… but it’s really pitiful. Especially this little boy. He felt responsible.”

Ochako looks at Izuku again, aggrieved by his current look. Slowly, she approaches him and strokes his forehead with her thumb. “Izuku…”

Chiyo says that Izuku tries to connect with the men and admits that “he” is the reason that Toshinori retired, so he should be the one to blame. Feeling mocked by his words, the men attack him as he accepts each of their hatreds, as well as, to allow Toshinori to escape with the other knights.

Backup comes immediately but Izuku has already embraced all their hits, barely surviving; only because he knows how to heal himself.

“This boy, he is probably thinking ‘I can heal myself anyway, I can endure this.’ How foolish.” The old lady’s words may be strong, but her tone is too sad.

Izuku is now healing thanks to Chiyo’s expertise and Ochako spends her days staying by his side, just holding his hand, waiting for him to open his eyes again.

Many of his knight trainees come to visit, as well as, Toshinori. They wonder at Ochako’s presence and role, but choose to not interrogate her identity right now when Izuku is still recovering and she cannot recover from crying.

“See, Izuku? A lot of people worry for you…” she says while looking at the vase of flowers that are near his bed. Those are from the children that Izuku healed even before his knight training.

The stellar grabs Izuku’s left hand between her palms.

“I hate to see you in pain… but I didn’t think it would be this painful to be beside you too,” she manages to say on the third day that he has yet to wake.

His wounds are now dried up because of the healing spells, but his green eyes are still hidden from his lids and she is left wondering each time, until when?

“No… this is my fault… I… I should not have… I should have just watched over you…” Ochako says and strangely, light does not come out of her. She wants to ask herself if she is already too human-like to not have the glow or if she is better at handling her emotions. None of those ‘good signs’ cheer her up though because right now, all she wants is to see him smile at her again.

She only wants him to be free from his burdens. She only wants him to have his wish. She only wants him to have everything that he deserves. She only wants him to be happy.

So why is he unconscious on the hospital bed covered in wounds?

“Izuku… I’m so sorry…” she says, for how many times already. Her hands grip on his limp ones, as if afraid to let them succumb to gravity. “I should have stayed away. I should have stayed in the sky. That way I could have watched and protected you. Maybe I could have prevented this from happening.”

Then she remembers Midnight’s words.

A faint glow starts to outline her form as she looks at him. Midnight says that she has to use her remaining power to go back up but maybe overstaying and the recent turmoil of emotions have drained most of her light. She could feel it inside her. She could feel how little energy she has left.

“I wish I could be stronger.”

“Then I’ll make you stronger. Even if that means that I can’t be with you anymore. Even if that means that I can’t watch over you anymore. If you’re stronger, you can definitely live even without your stellar.”

If her light is also her lifespan, maybe if she gives it to him, he would wake.  So she closes her eyes fighting the tears.

Stellars are not allowed to fall in love with their humans. Midnight tells her many things, but really, the only reason that they should not fall in love with their humans is because of how strong their feelings could be that they can do anything even destroy themselves.

But everything has always been for Izuku. So she would not mind perishing if it is for him.

“Ochako?”

Her eyes instantly open. “Izuku!”

Instead of replying, he tries to get up from his bed, eyes still closed.

“Don’t get up! You have to lay down.”

But Izuku ignores her, his arms shaking as he tries to lift his body.

“Izuku!”

“No…”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m… I’m trying to be stronger. You still have to go back to the sky, right?” his voice sounds so strained. So weak.

“Izuku…?” her tears finally fall.

“I really hate… to see you sad while looking up. So I told you. I’ll be stronger for you. So you can finally stop… worrying about me. And you can finally go back to your home…”

“No… that’s not…”

“I’m really thankful for everything, Ochako. But I’ll try my best so you don’t have to be so sad.” He smiles and despite the wounds on his face, his smile is still radiant and she could not help but cry more. How can she let him be this hurt?

Ochako places her hands on his cheeks as she bites her quivering lips. He is still smiling at her even when he jolts at her touch. He places his hands on her hands on his face, gently squeezing.

“I’m sorry, Izuku…” she says before placing her lips on his.

At that moment, stars collide as the two feel that they are floating amidst the dark sky, similar to that time when Ochako falls on Izuku after he makes a wish. Nothing else in the space but them. Slowly, the images of lights surrounding them and dancing around them come, but instead of stars, the lights resemble the flames in the Fire Festival. As their lips touch and when Izuku places his hand on her cheek and pulls her closer to feel more of her, he feels her tears wet his cheek.

Slowly, they pull away and he sees Ochako’s pink glow. It is that glow that has guided him ever since he was a kid. And right now, it is that glow that keeps him going.

But why is her smile so sad?

Ochako’s hands remain on his cheeks as she feels every bit of the warm light inside her be released. She feels like flame slowly bowing to the wind. That light is her life as a stellar and as something that has always been part of her body ever since she was born, feeling it slipping away strangely feels light and comforting.

“I love you so much.”

And so she sleeps.

.

.

.

A black space. Blank. Not even light. Only darkness.

When she gives Izuku her last speck, she is sure at that moment that when her life slips away, she would be nothing.

Is this supposed to be the feeling of dying?

She would rather not feel anything than feel every bit of this empty space.

Where is she?

This is just an endless darkness.

Until when will she be like this?

She cannot feel anything. She cannot feel her body. She cannot feel herself. But it is cold. It is cold inside. It is cold outside. If that makes sense.

Is she now a floating mass of nothingness but cold?

Before fear turns, in a snap, a purple glow is suddenly at the center of the pitch black.

“Dearest Ochako.”

The voice. It is familiar.

“Midnight?”

“How long will you be sleeping?”

“I used up all my light, Midnight. I did everything you told me not to.”

“Did you do it because you’re a stellar who wants to keep your loyalty to your duty? Or because you really wanted to do it?”

“I did it because I love him. I didn’t want him to be hurt anymore.”

“Then wake up.”

“Eh?”

“Your human is panicking and has not been sleeping for days now. Wake up, Ochako.”

Her eyelids twitch as she feels her lashes tickle her skin. It is like something is in front of her, forcing her lashes to bend back and touch her eyelids. Something awfully close.

She opens her eyes, not used to the sudden light. She closes her eyes once again, face scrunching.

Is it her or… is it too bright?

She opens one brown eye and is met by the color of flesh, blurry, too close for her tired eyes to recognize.

Ochako blinks and tries to focus on her vision.

Close. Open. Close. Open.

Are those… freckles? The diamond trail being followed is too iconic to miss. She lets her hazel orbs travel a bit up and she sees Izuku, eyes-closed, nose just by her forehead.

“I-Izuku…?” her voice comes out a bit hoarse as she feels dryness hold onto her throat.

“Mmmm?” he mumbles still sleeping.

“But… but why?” She tries to lift her hand and realizes that she is still in the human world. Before she can even have time to process her surroundings, Izuku’s GAAAH startles her.

The boy tries to get away from their closeness, but his legs are too sleepy to actually move and he almost falls from the bed, only that Ochako manages to catch him by his clothes.

“Caught you…” she manages with a sigh and a smile.

“Th-thanks…” he says before letting himself be pulled, then straightening his figure.

“Y-you’re awake…” he continues, stating the obvious.

“Yeah…” What is happening? Is she not supposed to not exist anymore? She is sure she felt herself perishing and feeling life leaving her body. Is she dreaming?

“I’M SORR--!” Izuku starts bowing instantly but fails to realize that they are still too close to each other which gives both of them a whack on the forehead.

“O-o-ow…” she winces as he grunts in pain as well, before apologizing again.

Wait. That hurt. She is not dreaming!

As her eyes widen, the blushing Izuku plays with his fingers and starts saying, “I’m sorry… for the bump and… uh for falling asleep next to you… and for just being clumsy. I-it’s been days… I must have just… climbed… out of tiredness, but I swear! I didn’t do anything! Please forgive me!”

Ochako looks at him and she would probably blush too on a normal circumstance, but right now, she just cannot comprehend what is happening. “I-I don’t understand… what happened? How long was I out?”

Izuku looks at her, head tilting. “It’s almost been a week I guess?”

“Wait! More importantly, how about you!?” Ochako says and lunges to him, immediately checking his temperature with her palm, eyes scanning his face, his neck, and his hands. Not minding his blushing and their proximity, she almost forces his shirt open before his “O-ochako!”

“Where are your wounds!? You’re okay!?”

The green-haired smiles, still not recovering from his blushing feat though. “You healed me. Don’t you remember?”

“Huh?”

Izuku nods. “I too… was having a bit of a hazy feeling that time to be honest, and you were also crying and apologizing… I almost thought you were saying goodbye but then you kiss—ed…!”

Izuku’s and Ochako’s eyes go wide as the former fails to continue his narrative. Instead, they look at each other and no one dares to look away despite the blood curling to their faces and sweat glistening on their skin.

“KYAAAAAAAH”

“No, I mean… but uhmm…!”

“S-stop…! I… I…” words fail to leave her mouth as the flashback comes to both of them. The kiss. The tears. The farewell.

Ochako feels all of the embarrassment in her body join forces to make her heart pound so loud that she can hear it in her ears and that heat on her face be almost unbearable.

Different urges now reside in her. She wants to hide. She wants to scream. She wants to punch something. She cannot explain it.

Wait. Another realization.

“I’m not… glowing.” She looks at her hands.

Izuku stops at his own panicked thoughts and looks at her.

Ochako closes her eyes. Nothing. No light. No energy. Nothing.

“What’s wrong?”

“I… I don’t have a light anymore, Izuku.”

The brown-haired girl tries to look into herself, but no remnants of being a stellar remain. Her powers are not in her anymore.

“Wh-what should I do? I… I don’t have powers anymore.”

She cannot go back anymore. She cannot even produce the faintest light. Even the color of emotions do not emit any light anymore.

She looks outside the window. Weird. Just moments ago when she awoke, she feels like it is brighter than usual, but it is actually the evening right now. It is like she used to shine but now… she has no light anymore. Is that why her vision is brighter now? Because she herself is not glimmering anymore?

Izuku continues to watch her and he swallows before speaking. He has been keeping it all this time. But when she miraculously heals all his wounds with that kiss and she, in turn, loses consciousness, his days are spent worrying if he lost her. But now, she is here. Still with him.

“Does that mean you won’t be going anymore?

Ochako looks at him. “I have nowhere to go… I can’t… I can’t even protect you anymore,” her voice shakes as her fingers tremble. “I’m sor—”

“Then stay here. With me. I’ll protect you,” and then he smiles.

And she looks at him. Staring at his lips all curled up. Looking at his eyes, never tired of the pair no matter how many times she has looked at him. And in that evening, a human like Izuku, who is not supposed to emit any light, shines the brightest in her eyes. Possibly brighter.

And he looks at her. Staring at her lips that are slightly agape. Looking at her eyes, big brown ones that he would never get tired of looking at. In that evening, even when she says that she can no longer emit light, she still shines the brightest in his eyes. Even brighter.

.

.

.

“Midnight, what’s the real reason why stellars should not fall for their humans?” Tsuyu asks.

“I already told you. Because the intensity of falling in love will make us run out of light -- our lifespan.”

“Then how come Ochako did not perish?” Tsuyu's emerald light radiates, evidently pleased with her friend's story. That dimming at the center of her light though is her confusion.

The queen smiles, looking down. "She did not really run out of light."

Midnight watches from the skies, a tear almost escaping her sky blue eyes. A pink star is now gone from the sky, but it is now glowing in all its rosy glory below. A stellar is not supposed to fall in love. A stellar is not supposed to use all its light. And Ochako does all those things that a stellar must not do.

But maybe, just maybe, one has to lose its glow to discover its true light. 

Save your light. Those are Midnight's words. But it goes the other way around. This time, it is Ochako's light that saves her.

Her blue eyes then fall on the green-haired lad whose face is currently glowing in pink too. She smiles. Surely, his wish has something to do with all these too. To be stronger means to have her by his side. What a pair of lovebirds. The queen chuckles. Now that there are two humans with no stellars, she has to take over and watch them.

When a star falls and one makes a wish, maybe something brighter and more beautiful can be born below the skies.

So what happens to that stellar that is now human and that knight trainee? Perhaps that is for another story.

Fin