Burning Bright | Keigo Takami x Male Reader

Chapter 17

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"This isn't working."

"Well, we can't just give up."

"Maybe he really is dead."

"Don't say that."

(M/N) groaned in frustration. They were getting nowhere. After he decided to look for Keigo, he contacted Nemuri again. After some very long talks about how sorry everyone was, they all set off in search of their leader.

"We've been looking for almost 3 days straight now. I don't know what else-"

"Seriously, shut up!" (M/N) snapped. "You're the ones who wanted me to help in the first place." He was still bitter at what they did to him. He hadn't entirely forgiven them, and sometimes he couldn't help the anger that bubbled over. "...Sorry. Forget it."

Nemuri, Denki and Kyoka exchanged looks. They couldn't really find it in themselves to blame (M/N) for his anger.

"No... You're right, (M/N)," Denki said. "We're sorry. We'll keep going, right guys?"

Kyoka and Nemuri both nodded. "So what's the next plan?" Nemuri asked.

(M/N) thought of what else they could be missing. They had tried searching planets they had been to previously, but came up empty handed. (M/N) wasn't Keigo, he couldn't just ask the First Star where he was.

Or could he?

(M/N) thought about how he had abilities that only Star Guardians with a special connection to the First Star had. Special Guardians. Maybe he could try to communicate to Keigo through his mind. He closed his eyes and tried to focus. He had never tried something like this before so he didn't really know what to do. He tried communicating with the First Star, asking where Keigo was. He was surprised when a vision of Keigo appeared. He was hunched over, he seemed to be reading something, (M/N) couldn't see any of his surroundings though, then the vision was gone. But he had a clear memory of how to reach Keigo. It seemed that the First Star actually responded to him.

"I know where to find him."

~

Keigo observed the strange markings on the ground. Touches of the void. But strangely coloured ones. The monster had definitely been here.

This is it, I'll kill it here. To save (M/N).

"Is that from...?"

Keigo looked at the man behind him. "Yeah, it is." Turns out the people here were being terrorised by the creature, though they said they had never actually seen it, it was sapping away life from the land on which they lived. If things continued this way, their planet would become another void wasteland. Being a Star Guardian, Keigo couldn't not help them. "You go back, I'll take it from here."

"Be careful," the man said, then he went back to the village.

Keigo continued onwards, following the markings. The grassy earth was a rich purple colour, and the plant life was a multitude of neon blues and greens and oranges. The remarkable colours made it somewhat hard to track the markings, as they blended in quite easily. He stumbled across a cave at the bottom of a rocky cliff. Purple veins spread around the entrance like lightning. The source of the void's corruption must have been inside. He entered and followed the markings into an opening. There were multiple paths leading off into darkness.

Keigo sighed and sat down against the wall. He was growing tired of this. He missed the others, especially (M/N). He wanted to go back, but he wouldn't feel satisfied until he knew (M/N) was safe from the creature. Even if he never wanted to speak to Keigo again...