𝔹𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔹𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 | Keigo Takami x Male Reader

Chapter 20

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Izuku had too many questions he wanted to ask her. He snuck a side-glance as they walked. Nemuri was looking straight ahead. He watched her gaze sweep back and forth across the far perimeter of the park. Does she see something? Is this the way she normally patrols? Is she bored? Why is she here? I can't believe she wanted to come. Why did she come? Izuku quickened his pace to keep up.

"Midnigh- Nemuri," he said, remembering.

She didn't look away from the path ahead, so he kept going.

"Thanks for coming. I know this was kind of a last-minute ask. Mina draws weird stuff sometimes. A lot, actually. And the other Star Guardians from your team-"

"Eijiro really does have detention, Izuku," she said.

"Oh," Izuku stammered. "It's cool." She turned to look at him, a smug grin softening her face.

"He wanted to be here," she said. "Tsu, too, but she was called in to her job at the last minute. And tonight is Dabi's astronomy class at the university-"

"-And Keigo?" he blurted out too quickly.

Nemuri's smile tightened. "He's been busy."

"No worries," Izuku said, looking for a way to change the subject. In the middle of the park, Shoto pushed Ochaco and a free-loading Katsuki on a squeaky merry-go-round. Mina swayed idly in a close-by swing set, its metal chains clanging softly, like lonely windchimes. There was no one else in the park besides them. "It's pretty quiet."

"Like you said, it's probably nothing," she said casually.

Izuku took the folded slip of paper out of his pocket. The frayed edge where he tore it out of Mina's notebook fluttered in the breeze. The shapes of the playground equipment and power lines surrounding Valoran City's metro park were clear enough, but it was the dozens of circles in the sky that worried him. Ochaco said it was too warm in physics class, and Mina was just doodling to stay awake.

"Look!" Mina shouted from the swing, snapping Izuku out of his thoughts. She was at the top of the swing's arc, gesturing excitedly at the horizon. A bright spot had risen just over the silhouette of the skyline. "Twilight star! I saw it first."

Izuku let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. It's just a star. Stars can't hurt us.

"The twilight star is not a real star," Ochaco said. "Technically it's a planet."

"Shoto said everything has starlight in it," Mina argued back.

Shoto nodded his head in agreement.

"What are you gonna wish for, Pinky?" Katsuki said teasingly.

"More stars!" she shouted. "I want to see more stars."

"But it's not dark yet," Katsuki said. "The other stars aren't out yet."

"Doesn't matter." Mina pumped her legs harder. "The other stars are always there no matter what. Even if you can't see them."

"Katsuki is right," Ochaco said, clearly not happy to agree with Katsuki in any capacity. "It needs to get really dark before you can see the stars in the city. It's not like at the camp."

Izuku cupped his hands together and shouted back to them, "You're all right." Katsuki opened his mouth to argue, but then rolled his eyes and took the win.

"Are they always like this?" Nemuri asked. Izuku was sure she was comparing them to her own team. How this kind of talk would never happen if it was only them. They would just get right down to business. Search the park and be done. He couldn't tell if she was disappointed or annoyed or both.