Burning Bright | Keigo Takami x Male Reader

Chapter 1

I should say now, that this is going to be very plot heavy. The pacing of the story might also feel a bit confusing at first but i've done it in what I believe to be the best way to flow between the original lore and anything else I add. Also because this is plot focused (M/N) might feel like a side character at certain points (probably only in the original lore that I write in, though I'm gonna be changing some things so the only times he should feel like a side character is when he doesn't show up if that makes sense). But I have this planned out and I think this is the best way for me to tell the story.

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The day of the fall.

Star Guardians are destined to protect the universe, but who protects us?

Keigo Takami stood at the edge of a building, watching the sunset as five stars shot across the sky above, each a different colour. To anyone else, they would have just looked like vibrant shooting stars, but Keigo knew otherwise. They were Star Guardians.

Seeing them brought a new wave of pain across his chest, his breathing unsteady as his vision began to blur.

Why were we chosen to carry such heavy burdens, despite being mere teenagers? None of us were ready for such responsibility, and this is the price we paid.

Keigo felt like he had lost a piece of himself that day. That feeling burned him, imprinted itself onto his body. He would never be able to forget this pain, but that was his punishment.

At that moment, he vowed to never again repeat those same mistakes. Never again would he let something like this happen. He would defy the destructive cycle that Star Guardians were forced into. Some people would say that their fate was something that had already been written, but Keigo refused to believe in fate. And he would prove that they were wrong.

Keigo wiped the tears from his eyes before they had a chance to fall. He looked away from the Star Guardians fading into the sunset and down at his hand, which he had pulled out of his pocket, revealing three broken gems.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't save you. Denki, Kyoka... (M/N)."

~

One year before the fall.

(M/N) sighed as he stared at the cloudy sky from his spot on the grass, rain pouring down all around him, the tree above him shielding him from the droplets. He wondered what it would feel like to be able to soar across that sky, or, above that sky. Up above the planet, out there in the universe. He'd more often than not find himself daydreaming about that sort of thing. Over the past few weeks it had become something that would cross his mind frequently.

"(M/N) did you even hear me?"

Just as the words reached (M/N)'s ears, a face entered his vision, obscuring his view of the sky.

"Uh... No," (M/N) said.

The person hovering over him was none other than Keigo Takami, his friend. Sometimes it was still strange for (M/N) to consider himself friends with Keigo. The blonde had only really started talking to him over the past two weeks. It came out of nowhere, but (M/N) wasn't about to turn down being friends with Keigo. The blonde was pretty popular in their grade, mostly because of his friendly personality and his attractive looks, which (M/N) couldn't deny. Though he'd never admit it.

Keigo sighed in disapproval. "The bell rang, we've gotta get back to class."

"Why does lunch have to be so short," (M/N) groaned. "Would be so great if I could just stay here."