Chapter Text
Pleiades had no weaknesses, at least not one that criminals could readily exploit. He was born and bred a superhero, raised solely to fight crime and throw his life away for the people. He spent every waking hour honing his abilities and keeping his powers under control, all to protect himself and the civilians he’d sworn since birth to serve.
His civilian life as Takaya Subaru was no slouch, either; being an ordinary high school student clearly hadn’t stopped him from achieving greatness. At the mere age of sixteen, he excelled in classes, held a perfect attendance record, and even became the youngest student council president his school had ever witnessed. All of these were done on top of extra-curricular activities and literally carrying the world on his shoulders.
In theory, he was invincible. If ‘jack-of-all-trades’ were to receive an update in the dictionary, he’d be listed as the prime example; the definition, even. If he could already accomplish this much during his formative years alone, one could possibly imagine the heights he’d soar once he reached adulthood.
In reality, however…
He had one weakness.
Standing at one meter and seventy-nine centimeters tall, hair fiery red and eyes shining blue, Haruno Taiyo was the chink in Subaru’s armor. Of all the people in the world, even those who’d personally declared Pleiades their mortal enemy, it was one random highschooler who would be the cause of the hero’s downfall.
All because he’d somehow wormed his way into Subaru’s heart.
It should’ve been impossible. There was no way Subaru would ever be distracted by something so insignificant as young love, so hopelessly fleeting and melodramatic of a concept that it might as well be a waste of time. And yet one look at Taiyo and that stupid, frustratingly adorable smile of his was enough to send all logic flying out of the window. He’d never gotten so much as a scratch while fighting armed criminals, but a mere “hello” from the redhead was all it took for his knees to buckle and his heart to give out.
Subaru used to wake up every morning thinking about schoolwork and missions. Now he woke up thinking about schoolwork and missions and Taiyo.
Bright red entered his vision as the bane of his willpower made his way down the stairs. There Taiyo was, excited and ready to take up the space in Subaru’s mind once again. Plastered on his face was a wide smile, more radiant than the halo of sunshine encircling his head and more beautiful than a night sky full of stars. Subaru could only stare dumbfoundedly with his mouth hung agape, taking in a long gasp as though standing in the presence of an angel sent from above. His ruby eyes soon met the clear blue ones of his crush, noticing the way they widened ever so slightly at the contact before collapsing into a squint to make way for an even brighter grin. That should be enough to blind every single student standing in close proximity, but at least they would’ve gotten the dazzling sight of Haruno Taiyo as the last thing they saw before losing their vision forever.
With one hand clutching on his stack of textbooks, Taiyo raised his other to form a wave. It wasn’t one of those general, friendly greetings directed to a body of people walking past a hallway, it was meant for Subaru and Subaru only. The black-haired looked on with butterflies in his stomach and jumbled thoughts in his mind, his whole system effectively shutting down the moment he came to this realization.
Which was why he stood there and did nothing when Taiyo’s foot missed the step below; when, in one swift motion, his whole being fell forward and rolled down the stairs like a tumbleweed. Subaru did nothing when his Prince Charming threw his hands in the air, mouth wide open as books, notes, and stationary flew all over the place and rained down on the hallway below. Just like how the sun peeked through the horizon as the rain cleared up, Taiyo landed at the bottom alongside his belongings and, within a matter of seconds, propped himself back up on his own two feet.
Subaru watched on, mesmerized and awestruck, as the subject of his affection put a hand up to brush his hair back, watching as rough fingers ran through strands of red and wondering how they would feel against the black of his own hair. Taiyo took a small step forward with his other hand outreached, seemingly inviting Subaru to come in close and lead him away to paradise. And Subaru, eager as he was, would gladly take it in a heartbeat.
Instead, Taiyo used that hand to grab a nearby ledge and hold his balance, panting as the one on his hair now moved to his chest to soothe his breathing. At least the suddenness in which the whole sequence occurred was enough to snap Subaru out of his daydreaming state, urging him to rush to the redhead’s aid.
“Taiyo!”
“Ow…”
“Are you okay??” asked Subaru frantically.
“I’m fine, thanks,” chuckled Taiyo, still managing a good spirit despite that fumble. “Sorry, got a bit distracted back there”
“You really should be more careful,” said Subaru, who was literally daydreaming when his crush fell down the stairs seconds earlier. “Are you feeling pain anywhere? Do you need to go to the clinic? Or you can take today off to-”
“It’s okay! I’m fine!” Taiyo continued to brush off the incident, waving a hand in front of his face with a nervous chuckle. The gesture was clearly meant for the students standing around to watch rather than Subaru himself, the former of which thankfully had the decency to leave now that the show was over.
Now it was just Taiyo and Subaru, and an air of awkwardness in between the two.
“I’m just gonna… grab your stuff.”
“Thanks…”
The black-haired proceeded to pick up the pens and notebooks scattered all over the floor, giving himself time to think about what had happened earlier. Not the Taiyo-falling-down-the-stairs part itself, obviously, but rather his lack of reaction to it. He could’ve moved fast enough to catch Taiyo or at least tell him to be careful at that step, but instead he just stared head empty like an idiot.
What if Taiyo had been in real danger? What if, instead of falling down the stairs, he was falling off a burning building? Would Pleiades have any time to fawn over his face before jumping in for the save? He couldn’t allow himself to be distracted like this, not just for Taiyo’s sake but also for the rest of the city’s.
Pleiades was supposed to be the hero who shone light upon the darkness, so Subaru made sure he held up that image for as long as he was alive.
Sighing, he brought his attention back to the task at hand. As soon as he picked up Taiyo’s notebook, however, something stuck between the pages fell out. Subaru carefully reached for it like a good friend he was, and only then did a familiar shade of red caught his eye.
It was a photocard, or more specifically a superhero photocard. Appearing with all his glory was a certain XlamV hero, one clad in a suit of red decorated with shiny golden stars. Surrounding his face were hearts and stars seemingly hand-drawn with a red glitter pen which, combined with the holographic print of the card, looked like something only an avid fan would have.
“What the…?”
“Hey, thanks for helping-” words died on Taiyo’s tongue the moment he saw his best friend with the photocard, whereupon he immediately rushed in to snatch the thing away, “AAAAHH! DON’T LOOK!!”
Subaru barely registered the reaction, hand still holding the exact same position as he muttered out, “Is that… Pleiades?”
“Hahaha, well, um, I…” stammered Taiyo, face turning so red it could rival his own hair. “N- Nevermind. It’s embarrassing…”
“Oh, no, it’s not embarrassing at all!” replied Subaru quickly, averting his gaze also. “I- I’m a bit curious, actually…”
Curious as to why Taiyo owned that photocard, specifically. Not to mention the hearts and stars, too.
“Oh…” the redhead widened his eyes, as though in complete disbelief over his friend’s casual tone. “You don’t find it weird?”
“I’ve seen other people with superhero merch, too. Seems normal to me.” Well, other than the hearts… Why are there hearts on your Pleiades photocard?
“Okay,” nodded Taiyo with a triumphant smile, proudly showcasing the photocard on his hand like a prized possession. “This isn’t just a regular Pleiades photocard. This is an Ultra Rare Holographic Foil-Stamped Pleiades Photocard! There are only like 14 of them in the whole city and I HAVE ONE!! Isn’t it amazing??”
“Wow…” muttered Subaru, more shocked by Taiyo’s enthusiasm about the whole thing than the rarity of the card itself.
“‘Wow’, indeed. Aren’t I so lucky to grab hold of this item on my first try?” A pause, “I lied, I had to trade with Cuc.”
Subaru nodded. It still puzzled him how Taiyo of all people would take these photocards so seriously, given how the hero himself only saw them as a fundraising tool and nothing else.
Unless…
“So, um, do you have one for each XlamV member?”
“Oh, I wish. Whoever has all 14 of them must’ve invested a fortune. Or had contacts with the black market…” Taiyo pondered the last statement, but soon brushed it off with a smile. “Whatever, it’s not like I’m that desperate for the other ones. Pleiades is all I need!”
Subaru felt heat rushing to his face in an instant, “Eh? Wh- Why?”
Taiyo gently brushed his thumb across the star hero on the precious photocard, a shy smile blooming on his blushed red face, “Well… let’s just say I have a teeny tiny crush on him~”
If that revelation wasn’t enough to give Subaru a heart attack, then the blaring school bell certainly did the job.
_______
“Here, the object is being pulled to the right at constant speed and there’s also friction acting on it in the opposite direction.”
“Uh huh.”
“And since it’s in constant speed, there’s no horizontal acceleration. Definitely no vertical acceleration, either. This means the object is in equilibrium and the net force acting on the object is zero.”
“Uh huh.”
“Since the prompt already provided you the mass of the object and the friction coefficient, you can just-” Subaru soon trailed off at the lack of response from his study partner, and one look at the guy was enough to confirm his suspicion, “Hey, are you listening??”
Taiyo snapped back to reality, further grounded by Subaru furiously tapping a pencil to his face, “Ah, sorry. I got a bit distracted.”
“You have an exam coming up,” the black-haired crossed his arms, red eyes narrowed with much disapproval. “You can’t be slacking off like this.”
“Sorry, sorry!” Taiyo guiltily scratched the back of his head, letting out an awkward chuckle. “I’ll get to it soon, I promise!”
“Soon? You should be starting now.”
“Well…” his gaze slowly turned to the TV at the corner, “can I at least finish watching the news?”
“What news?”
As though to answer his question, the news reporter sounded from the TV.
“-Thousands of yens worth of jewellery have been kept safe thanks to the timely actions of our hero Pleiades. All four armed robbers are currently in police custody and a trial is set to commence starting Tuesday. In the meantime, a fundraiser is being held by Pleiades and his sponsor Reisen Corporations to rebuild the jewellery store and support-”
Oh, that one.
Subaru had no idea what was so special about it. Sure, he was glad to have stopped an armed robbery and hosted a relatively successful fundraiser, but compared with other incidents he’d handled in the past this one just seemed much more mundane. And yet Taiyo remained glued to the screen, with stars dancing in his eyes and a wide, dumb grin plastered on his face. With both elbows on the table and chin held neatly in his hands, he looked more like a fangirl ogling over her idol than the high school star athlete he’d gotten to be known as. Admittedly, though, the way his cheeks pressed against his fingers was adorable.
The sight twisted a knot in Subaru’s stomach, strangely enough. Why would he need to feel that way? Subaru loved Taiyo, Taiyo loved Pleiades, and Pleiades was none other than Subaru. That meant Taiyo was crushing on the very same person who’d had feelings for him from the start, so shouldn’t it be a good thing?
Well, the thing was: Taiyo didn’t know that. In his mind, Pleiades and Subaru were two distinct entities. Pleiades was leader of XlamV and the greatest hero this city had to offer, Subaru was just a friend. Pleiades fought crime and protected civilians, Subaru tutored him Physics every Wednesday. Pleiades was special, Subaru was ordinary.
In the end, both of them would only be chasing after the impossible. Taiyo had no hope of entering a relationship with a superhero, and with his heart broken there was no way he’d ever spare a glance at anyone else, even the one friend who’d been yearning for his love since forever.
Subaru had never thought he’d find himself in a love triangle, let alone in one where he had himself as a romantic rival.
“He’s so cool, isn’t he?” muttered Taiyo dreamily, more to himself than to anyone in particular. Sparkly blue eyes never left the screen, not even once to look at the very person he was complimenting without his knowledge.
Subaru’s stomach churned at the sight, though he tried his best not to show it on his face, “Sure, he is. Now as I was saying-”
“How can someone be so freaking cool? Like, being a teenager and having to carry the city on your shoulders? Can you imagine how insane that must be?”
Yes, Subaru could totally imagine how insane it was.
“But he handles everything so flawlessly! How does he do that??”
“A combination of rigorous training and time management skills, perhaps?” replied Subaru curtly, trying his damndest to hide the annoyance in his voice. The grip on his pencil tightened as he spoke through his teeth, “The latter of which, by the way, is something you should be improving on, and you can start by studying-”
“Wait wait wait!!” Taiyo shushed Subaru suddenly, ignoring the way his best friend was immediately rendered silent at the gesture. “Pleiades is talking!”
The redhead glued himself to the TV screen again, this time also moving his chair forward to get an even closer look. Subaru could do nothing but stare blankly. It was still himself on the TV talking to the reporter about a successful mission, one that didn’t take a lot of his time or effort to complete if he were to be honest. It was no mutated monster or alien invasion, just an armed robbery that, quite frankly, wasn’t even that well-executed in the first place.
But somehow that was enough to get him worshipped like a god, and even worse when people start ignoring the real him in favor of the masked persona.
“He sounds so cool! I wanna hear him talk in person!”
I am right here trying to talk to you.
“Man, isn’t it amazing how calm he is?”
I’m calm too, you know?
“And don’t get me started on- wait, is something burning?”
The sudden shift in tone managed to cut through Subaru’s downward spiral. He didn’t get a chance to ask before sensing some sort of light right underneath his field of vision. For the first time since he entered the library, he looked at something other than Taiyo or his study materials.
He looked down to see his hand glowing brightly, the pencil in his grip now charred to a crisp.
Startled, he immediately dropped what remained of the poor stationary and stomped the spark away under his foot. The light in his hand thankfully turned itself off before Taiyo even got to face him, and now all that was left for the guy to see was his best friend nervously hugging himself for some unknown reason.
“Do you smell something burning-”
“Nope. Not at all,” replied Subaru quickly, far quicker than anyone not guilty of the cause would.
“Huh,” Taiyo took two more whiffs of air, eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. “I could’ve sworn I smelled wood burning.”
“It’s probably from the outside,” Subaru took a quick glance at the window, as though expecting a forest fire happening in a schoolyard to back his case. “The windows are open. Something must’ve gotten in.”
“And what is that ‘something’ supposed to be…?”
“I-,” Subaru stammered; he really shouldn’t have started this knowing how much of a bad liar he was, “I don’t know. I just know I didn’t smell anything.”
“…Okay,” nodded Taiyo, though the questioning look on his face remained. Subaru needed something to drop the topic entirely, and knowing Taiyo it would probably linger in the back of his head for a good while until something else of greater interest made him forget.
But what could possibly be interesting enough to distract-
His gaze immediately drifted back to the television.
No.
He couldn’t just bring up Pleiades again, could he? The one subject that would effectively pull Taiyo back into a distracting tangent, no matter how many times it had already been repeated. In that case he could just wrap up the study session right here right now and the amount of knowledge that got into Taiyo’s head would’ve stayed the same.
The only problem: a part of him really wanted to know why his best friend seemed so obsessed with his alter ego. It couldn’t have been just normal admiration, could it? What if… there really was something deeper at play here?
Caving in to his morbid curiosity, Subaru finally asked: “Why do you like Pleiades so much?”
“Well, ‘cause he’s Pleiades!” answered Taiyo, the earlier confusion now replaced with utter excitement. “Confident, cool hero Pleiades! Always gets things done and never misses a shot!”
The black-haired nodded along, though not entirely convinced. These reasons just seemed way too superficial for Taiyo to behave this way, to needlessly go as far as ignoring his studies and scouring the world for a single photocard.
“You seem to like him a lot though…”
“Of course I do!”
“Like, a lot a lot. Do you know what I mean?” a part of Subaru cringed as he said those words out loud.
“Oh…” Taiyo widened his eyes, the implication sinking in at last. His mouth hung agape for a brief moment before breaking into a bright smile, immediately followed up by an equally bright, joyous laughter.
Much as he wanted to take in the sound of Taiyo’s laugh like one would with a melody, this reaction only confused Subaru further, “What’s so funny?”
“Sorry! I wasn’t laughing at you!” the redhead replied, himself trying to calm down even though far from hysterical. “I just- well… yeah, I do really like Pleiades. But it’s just in an ‘oh he’s so cool I love him so much’ kinda way, you know? Kinda like a celebrity crush!”
“Superheroes aren’t celebrities.”
“I mean, they are famous and all. Who wouldn’t be if they have cool powers and get to use those to save the world?” Taiyo countered, already building up an argument in his head before getting reminded of the topic at hand. “Anyway, Pleiades is amazing. He’s dedicated his entire life to serving this city, all without asking for anything in return. I know the same goes to anyone who sets out to become superheroes, but Pleiades seems to be the most devoted of them all. He deserves so much more appreciation for essentially throwing his life away for us, and I can’t imagine it would be for anything other than pure righteousness.
“So if Pleiades has zero fans, that means I’m dead!” Taiyo laughed despite the morbidness of his joke.
“That’s not funny,” said Subaru as he turned away, mostly to hide the red rising up his cheeks.
“Too much?” Taiyo cocked his head to the side, to which the black-haired nodded without looking. “Yeah, I just realized that as soon as I said it out loud. Sorry!”
Still, Subaru remained quiet, thoughts running wildly in his mind at Taiyo’s words. He’d had a fair share of praises coming his way even early in his superhero days, but none had felt so authentic and sincere as a simple speech from his best friend. Or maybe Taiyo himself was just that genuine: no white lies, no superfluous remarks, just him and his honest self.
Subaru wished he could be that honest with Taiyo, too.
Nonetheless, he shook those thoughts out of his head. There was something both of them should be focused on right now, “Let’s just get back to our studies.”
“Right! Almost forgot about that!” said Taiyo, scratching his cheek guiltily. “Sorry if all this superhero talk was distracting. But hey, anything to convert one more person into a Pleiades fanboy!”
Subaru exhaled through his nose, as though suppressing a laugh. He found the irony behind that statement hilarious, actually.
“Alright, let’s get into it. We’re stopping at-”
He got interrupted once again by a pinging noise, unsurprisingly coming from Taiyo’s phone. The redhead grabbed his phone with an awkward chuckle, the smile on his face dropping almost instantly at the notification on the lockscreen.
“Crap! I have practice today!!”
“What-”
“My track and field club!” answered Taiyo curtly, all while frantically shoving his belongings into his bag. “Sorry Subaru! There’s a competition coming up and I need to be prepared.”
“But your exam-”
“We can study at another time!” the hurried guy stood up, swinging his bag behind his back in one swift motion. He then crouched down to a still sitting Subaru with a pained look on his face, putting the palms of his hands together as though begging for forgiveness. “I’m really really sorry that we didn’t get to study a lot today! I’ll make it up for you, I promise!”
Subaru, frustrated as he was, didn’t have the heart to scold his best friend. The guy was simply far too sweet to be yelled at. “Alright, go have your practice,” he sighed.
“Thank you so much!!” Taiyo exclaimed with a bow, then quickly scurried off to whichever meeting place he had to be.
It was already the second time in a row where Taiyo ignored him for something else entirely, and much as he tried to get past it, the notion left a bitter taste in his mouth. He wondered if Taiyo would ever look at him, look at Subaru, with the same dreamy eyes and longing sighs like he’d always done for Pleiades. Given how flippant and easily distracted the dumb guy was most of the time, though, it was quite unlikely.
Subaru had no idea how and why he’d fallen so hard for Taiyo. They just happened to meet on their respective first days of school: him as a first year and Taiyo as a transfer student. They just happened to be in the same orientation group and Taiyo just happened to strike up an introduction despite their lack of familiarity. They had no classes in common from being one year apart in terms of study levels; and yet the moment Subaru found himself alone during lunch, Taiyo swooped in and accompanied him for the whole period. He didn’t have any obligation to do that - his warm and sunny personality had probably granted him a group to mingle with right on his first day - but somehow it was Subaru he wanted to have lunch with. And along came a bunch more students by his side, some of whom he later got closer with as fellow members of XlamV. By the time second year rolled around he’d made a name for himself as a teen genius and a respected figure within the student body, but it was Taiyo’s kindness and enthusiasm that had gotten him the start he needed.
Maybe he fell for Taiyo because Taiyo felt grounded, because Taiyo had known the Subaru who hadn’t yet put on his mask of perfection and still decided to become friends anyway. The redhead was genuine in a way that he’d never seen in other people’s treatment of him, hero or otherwise. And maybe, somewhere in the deep burrows of his consciousness, he’d been craving that kind of affection for the real him all along.
A vibration in his pocket, in two intervals to be exact, snapped him out of his thoughts. His phone was sitting nicely on the desk, which could only mean one thing.
Subaru put away all his belongings and made his way towards the nearest restroom, keeping his usual pace so as not to arouse any suspicion. Only when he found and locked himself inside an empty booth did he finally pull the secretive thing out: a small, pager-like device with two messages on the screen.
S [4:10 p.m.]
Pleiades
S [4:10 p.m.]
Inamoto-san wants to know if you’re available tonight.
In an unusual turn of events, Subaru did not respond immediately. He did not drop whatever he was doing and rush to the Reisen headquarters nor did he ask the rest of his team to do the same. A small, and admittedly selfish, side of him hoped he could have a make-up study session with Taiyo right this evening, maybe even getting to pick the guy up after practice and hear him talk as they walked back over to his place. If he got to be off duty even for just a single evening, there would be nothing on Pleiades to report on the news and thus Taiyo’s attention would be entirely on Subaru. He’d be able to make his best friend focus on him for once as they go through materials for his all important midterm exam, grinding through so much work that Taiyo’s grades would soar above the skies and into the universe itself.
But how could he do such a thing? How could he, the shining hero Pleiades, the people’s champion and the city’s protector, dare to put his own needs above those of helpless civilians? How would he live on if something especially horrible happened tonight, one that he could’ve prevented but had chosen not to?
Hovering his thumbs above the keypad, Subaru took a deep breath and made a response.
Pleiades [4:15 p.m.]
I’m at your service.
_______
“Powers?”
“Negative. Just advanced weapons and an army of small robots.”
“Any law enforcement?”
“Cops are outside. They’re barricading all exits.”
“Civilians?”
“All evacuated.”
“Good. Thank you, Shinonome-san.”
Subaru put on his iconic red mask, the last item to transform him into Pleiades, before returning to the informant in his earpiece, “How far is it from here?”
“I’d say ten minutes, depending on how fast you jump.”
“Make it five.”
And with that, he leapt from his window.
Concentrating light energy under his feet, Subaru propelled himself up in the air and forward to his destination, leaving a trail of golden light in his wake that soon faded into stardust. One would think they’d been blessed by a shooting star flying so close to the surface if they didn’t know any better. The hero enjoyed a few seconds of air time before landing on a rooftop, upon which he slid and sprinted to the edge before jumping to the next in a single bound.
He bounced from rooftop to rooftop, from building to building, as he made his way to the crime scene. Every slide, spin, and even midair flips he made was executed flawlessly like child’s play. The city felt so much smaller from above; what were once tall and mighty skyscrapers now reduced to just another point in a map, blending in with blocks of townhouses and vendors illuminating their streets with colorful lights. A few hours into the evening and the city had already sparkled and glowed, scenic and golden as though reflecting the starry sky hanging overhead. The weather was perfect today with no clouds in sight, showing off the bright full moon that framed the shining hero’s shadow every time he leapt by.
If he had even one second to stop and take in the scenery, he would; but of course there really was no time right now. After all this was what he was born to protect: the city under his feet, its people, and all of its beauty. One second late and the view might be no more.
“Destination reached.”
It didn’t take a technologically advanced earpiece for him to know where the crime scene was. Lots of screaming, flashing blue and red lights, blaring sirens, the works. A giant, gaping hole on the dome-shaped ceiling was visible even at a distance and, being the city’s largest planetarium, that meant no more night sky viewings every Saturday. It was as though whoever decided to mess with this place was doing so specifically to piss Pleiades off, and boy did it work wonders.
That alone was enough to let him know who was behind the attack.
Subaru took one last leap from a nearby house, swinging himself from a tree branch along the way before landing by the planetarium’s front gate with a slide. His entrance was met with much applause and excitement from the evacuated civilians, some of whom even found the energy to scream his name from the top of their lungs. Subaru only responded with a simple nod - time-saving yet still polite enough of an acknowledgement - as he turned towards the matter at hand.
(Shouldn’t they be somewhere safer right now? he thought briefly. He hoped they didn’t stay behind specifically to see him in person…)
“How is it going?”
“Our guy is still inside,” said one police officer. “Male, average height. Can’t tell what he looks like with the helmet and giant goggles he’s wearing. Got a bunch of drones following him, armed with laser guns and-”
An explosion sounded from the inside, shaking the ground and knocking everyone at the scene over with its shockwave. Subaru tumbled backwards but still managed to hold his ground, even taking the time to shield the officers next to him from incoming debris.
“…bombs,” the policewoman finished her sentence at last.
“Is he wearing a jetpack that has tentacle-like claws extending from it?”
“Well, yes,” answered another police officer, surprise evident in his voice. “How did you know?”
Taking a long drawn breath, the red-clad hero cracked his knuckles. “Not my first time dealing with him,” he answered simply.
Subaru dashed inside the planetarium, leaving a trail of light behind his back as his powers propelled him toward the gate. Entering through the ajar, slightly busted entrance door - because he wasn’t that type of jerk who created new holes every time they enter a scene - he was soon enveloped by clouds of dust and smoke.
It was quiet. Too quiet. There was nothing else but thick brown dust no matter where he turned, not even flashy displays of light typical of the explosives used by his frequent foe. At this point he was pretty sure the guy was deliberately messing with him, but damaging his favorite location in the whole city just to lure him in like this? Now that was a new low.
He curled his fingers together as his hand began to glow, and soon a sphere of light formed inside his palm. He aimed at nowhere in particular and flung the sphere up into the air, its light cutting through and splitting the smoke cloud in half near effortlessly.
It took one second, two seconds, before another flash of light flew back from the clouds like a response, this time aiming directly at the ground where Pleiades stood.
The hero jumped out of the way, making several backflips just as the light - a laser beam, to be exact - made contact with the ground. The impact caused a mini explosion on its own, sending much dirt and debris flying while leaving nothing but a gaping hole on the marbled floor. From the smoke clouds came a menacing figure, a silhouette that would pass for a regular human being if not for six tentacle-like structures seemingly sprouting from their back.
“Well, well. Long time no see, Pleiades.”
Subaru didn’t need to look up to know who that was, “Enough with this nonsense, Claw.”
The so-called villain cackled to himself. In all honesty, he looked less ‘threatening menace’ and more ‘that geek people avoided in high school’: just some lanky-framed, barely-cracked-voiced teen with a thinly-veiled inferiority complex over his place in society. Remove all the fancy technology and he could just pass off as a student among Subaru’s class without his knowledge.
“What? Isn’t this fun?” asked Claw in a mocking tone. “Come on. Don’t be such a buzzkill, I have so many plans for-”
He didn’t get to finish before finding himself in the way of a light sphere, to which he leaned away and watched as it hit the ceiling instead. The sphere predictably bursted into an explosion upon contact with the hard surface, raining debris down to the equally damaged floor below.
Claw couldn’t care any less, though. “Rude,” was the only thing he remarked.
“I don’t have time for your games,” replied Subaru. And true to his word, he immediately lunged toward his adversary.
“Someone’s eager today!” Claw exclaimed with a manic grin on his face. With the flick of a wrist, he deployed dozens of spider-like drones into the makeshift battlefield. Their eyes glowed bright red as they fired off laser beams toward the hero, mindlessly crawling around the place just to do the heavy lifting for their creator.
Subaru was no stranger to these kinds of mooks. He ran side to side with armored forearms in front of his face, getting close enough to fire a slash of light that cut the first row of drones cleanly in half. One still managed to reach for his side despite all that, but thankfully he caught it in his peripheral vision and blasted it promptly with his light. The surrounding drones soon followed suit as a way to gang up on him, and of course they all met their end in pretty much the usual ways: either a punch to the jaw, a chop through the spine, or a bright, burning star to the face.
Even as he heaved and groaned from all the drone attacks, Subaru raised his forearm to block out yet another laser beam coming from above. It seemed like Claw was getting frustrated by his useless machines, as evident by the way he stopped floating about and started charging toward the hero himself. He continuously fired the laser gun attached to his wrist, green light blasting holes on the walls as he desperately tried to land even one hit on an insanely agile Pleiades. The hero ran and leapt away with near inhuman reflexes; every dodge, slide, back handspring, and counterattack was done flawlessly as if on instinct, all without breaking so much of a sweat. He planted his feet firmly to the ground after one last backflip, knees bent all the way down as light cumulated beneath his heel. And just like that same old trick he used to move across the city in five minutes, he thrusted himself upward.
There was no way a regular human could discern his movements with just the naked eye. Jumping with a speed much faster than he’d ever been, the great and powerful hero Pleiades was reduced to nothing but a trail of light from afar, a golden shooting star that flew up from the ground, bounced off from the ceiling, and crashed directly into the unaware assailant mid-air.
The sudden force on his back got Claw flying all over the place, but that did nothing to shake off or drop Subaru to the ground. Hell, his grip only got tighter even when his back was dragged across the windows by sheer force, glowing and burning rapidly through the jetpack until the heat reached one of the inner engines. In one swift motion and only with a millisecond to act, he let go of Claw and kicked the guy away with much force, just as the jetpack exploded into a rain of green flames in the air.
Subaru managed to plant his feet on the side of a pillar, just as Claw and whatever was left of his jetpack crash landed into the ground. The hero then made his way down by jumping from wall to wall, effortlessly landing on the ruined marbled floor with his signature slide.
He took one look at the planetarium in front of him. What was once a place full of life and wonder, from the meteor collection to the space holograms to even the giant projection screen to gaze upon the stars, had become nothing but a pile of rubble enveloped in clouds of smoke. A lump formed in his throat at the thought of losing this cherished place; sure, he could raise enough money for rebuilding efforts, but that would still take forever to accomplish.
He caught a glimpse of tonight’s troublemaker even from where he was standing. The guy just seemed so small and weak with all his equipment gone that Subaru couldn’t help but feel a bit pity for him. Still, that was the same person who’d made a wreckage of his favorite place in the world, and the black-haired was sure to make him pay for what he’d done.
Hands bathed in light once again, Subaru slowly approached the frantically crawling figure of Claw. Fearing that the guy would try to reach for one of his weapons again, he stood in position for his finishing move, ready to fire another blast of light before a voice in his ear suddenly shouted:
“STOP!!”
Subaru flinched, stopping dead on his tracks just as told, “Huh?!”
“Pleiades, disengage! NOW!!”
“Why?? I’m almost done!”
“No, you have to stop!” the informant in his ear shouted frantically. “We have a situation!”
“Can it wait, then? I’m almost finished with this case.”
“But-”
“Sorry, I know it might be urgent,” Subaru sighed, turning to the side so as to hide the earpiece from his enemy, “but I swear I’ll make this quick and-”
Words died from his tongue as his eyes landed on a pile of rubble. Or rather, blocks of debris arranged with a cavity in the middle like a mini cave. Inside was a young man with hair of fiery red, staring at the hero wide-eyed with his whole body curled up into a ball.
“…Eh?”
“Pleiades, HELP!!!”
Subaru grabbed him out of the rubble just in time for a nearby bomb to explode. Urging the guy to get up on his feet, even as he stumbled over something in his arms, the hero dragged him all the way across the hall and into a safe corner, all while shielding him with his whole body and trying his damnedest to clear the jumbled thoughts now forming in his head.
No, no, no!
Why is Taiyo here???
“Pleiades!” Shinonome’s voice returned at last, prompting the hero himself to yell back with much panic.
“I thought you said we’re clear of all civilians??”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!!” the informant cried out. “They were supposed to be evacuated already, but someone ran back inside just minutes earlier!”
Subaru slowly turned towards Taiyo, whose only response to that was an awkward chuckle, “I’m your biggest fan…”
“What,” asked Pleiades flatly, masking how absolutely terrified he was right now, “are you doing here?”
“Well,” Taiyo guiltily shot a glance down to the box he was hugging tightly, “I left my package inside so I wanted to go back for it...”
“You what?”
Both flinched at the sound of exploding bombs, some of the resulting shrapnels even made it close to their hiding space and rained dust all over. Gesturing for Taiyo to stay put, Subaru took a careful peek at the main hall, where Claw had seemingly gotten up on his feet and a hold of his primary laser gun. His movements were staggering and exhausted, however, unable to even make three steps forward before needing to stop for breaths. By all means it should’ve been easy to take him out in one go.
“What are we gonna do now?” whispered Taiyo, as though talking any louder would get another explosion coming his way.
“You stay here. I’m going to handle this.”
“Eh? Is there anything I can-”
“No,” answered Subaru shortly, turning away purposefully so as to avoid Taiyo’s worried gaze. “You shouldn’t be here in the first place. I can’t put you through any more danger.”
With that, Subaru discreetly made his way out of the hiding spot and into the main hall, keeping himself obscured by large pieces of concrete that were originally part of the ceiling. The smoke had cleared out somewhat with the lack of bombs thrown this time around, providing him a clear view of his opponent in his dazed, pathetic state. There really was nothing stopping him from charging ahead and taking the guy out in one go, but with the unintended presence of his crush an innocent civilian, he had to be smarter.
Once he made sure he’d made his way as far from Taiyo as he could, Subaru flicked a light towards where Claw was standing. Its presence triggered the guy enough to blast his laser gun repeatedly in the direction it came from, all while screaming “Pleiades!!! Come out!!!” repeatedly on top of his lungs like a madman. He was impulsive, he was disoriented, and thus he’d let his guard down.
Subaru - who’d obviously seen it coming and avoided the shots altogether - sprang back into the main hall for his final move. He fired a beam of light in what was meant to be the sneak attack to end it all, only for one of the namesake claws on the villain’s back to take the hit in its owner’s stead. Claw turned to face him before he even got to wonder since when that piece of scrap could act on its own, and soon the remaining tendrils rushed in to entrap him in their metallic talons.
The hero evaded the onslaught with all the backflips and handsprings he could muster, launching spheres of light in between each move. Some managed to hit and disintegrate the claws instantly, while others flew so far off that it was a wonder how the ceiling hadn’t yet collapsed from the sheer damage inflicted. Who could blame him for missing, though; he had to be quick on his feet and had no time to aim accurately.
With what few seconds he had in between jumps, Subaru took a glance at Taiyo at last. The redhead was still there, thank goodness, yet the mere sight of him cowering at all those explosions in his proximity was enough to invoke Subaru’s guilt. He’d been so careless leaving Taiyo alone like this. What if he’d gotten hurt from all those careless counterattacks? What if one of those light beams had hit and killed Taiyo on the spot without his knowledge, or simply caused the whole place to collapse and bury him with it?
Subaru needed to end the fight right now. He was getting sick of this cat-and-mouse chase, anyways.
For the last claw standing, Subaru gave it special treatment by letting it grab his forearm. He could see the way its owner’s face lit up at the sight, to which a part of him wondered if it was even worth pitying the guy anymore. Regardless, he grabbed the tendril with his other arm and yanked as hard as he could, feet planted so firmly on the ground that the retracting of the claw did nothing to make him budge. Claw, on the other hand, immediately lost his footing from the sheer strength of Pleiades’ arms alone, helplessly flailing about with a yelp as the red-clad hero swung the tentacle on his back around like a weight in a hammer throw. Sensing that the guy was getting dizzy enough from the spin, Subaru pulled the tendril once more, effectively launching his screaming opponent towards his face. Thankfully that was exactly what he wanted.
His free hand glowed in golden light as he curled his fingers into a fist. Knees bent, feet firm, he brought his fist all the way back and thrusted it forward with all his might, whereupon Claw came just close enough for his light-laced knuckles to make contact. The sheer strength of his punch, combined with the enormous force generated by his pull, was enough to send shockwaves all over Claw’s body and into their surroundings. He could only manage a cough before Pleiades released the light energy from his fist into his abdomen, sending the once self-proclaimed terror-inducing villain flying across the battlefield. The claw still attached on Pleiades’ forearm did nothing to help matters - the tendril just shattered and ripped itself apart in an instant - and with nothing else to break his fall the guy plunged straight into an opposing wall and found himself buried under the resulting rubble.
Pleiades stood tall in the main hall of the ruined planetarium, smoke clearing up as though letting the people outside gaze upon the star hero. He panted and heaved from the exhaustion that was slowly taking over, but he couldn’t allow that just yet. There was one more thing he needed to do.
From the rubble, Claw let out a bloody cough. The taste of salt and iron invaded his mouth as he crept one eye open, just enough to see the hero who’d just defeated him approaching closer. He smiled despite the blood pouring out from his teeth, still managing to let out a cackle that unnerved Pleiades ever so slightly.
“I suppose this is it,” he managed to croak out, not resentful but instead triumphant, for some reason. “Well, then, it certainly is my pleasure to die by the hands of-”
Pleiades walked past him without a second thought.
“…Eh?”
Moving several blocks of debris out of the way, Subaru made it to Taiyo’s hiding place at last, “Are you alright?”
“I- I’m fine…” answered Taiyo in between breaths. A breathy chuckle soon escaped those pale pink lips of his, making him sound less scared and more... excited, somehow; exhilarated, even.
Subaru didn’t know what that expression was supposed to come across as, but there was no time to dwell on it now, “Let’s get you out of here.”
“Okay…”
“Wait!” Claw chimed in with a strained scream, hurling out more coughs right after. “What about me? Aren’t you gonna finish me off??”
Subaru didn’t answer, not even bothering to turn back.
“Oi!! Why aren’t you doing something??”
“Here, climb on my back,” the hero continued on with Taiyo, as though Claw never once existed. The redhead, however, wasn’t dumb enough to not notice the tantrum-throwing villain in the back.
“Can you just leave him like that?” he asked following a quick, concerned glance at Claw.
“He doesn’t matter.”
“HUH!?!?” screamed the guy in question, louder than his wrecked vocal chords had the right to maintain. Apparently those words were hurtful enough for him to stagger on his feet, so much pain in his expression that one would think he’d just been cheated on instead of merely getting his ass kicked.
Subaru, regardless, continued to ignore him, “Come on, we don’t have much time.”
“I know. It’s just,” Taiyo looked down at his arms once again, “I need to hold this package…”
“The pack-” Subaru suppressed a sigh. Much as he wanted to reprimand the guy for his skewed priorities, he knew giving in to his anger right now would just drag this on for longer than it should. If Taiyo wanted to escape with the package, whose mysterious contents were apparently precious enough to throw away his eighteen years of life for, then so be it.
“Alright. In that case I can just carry you in my-”
He was immediately interrupted by a sudden weight on his back, tumbling backwards as he felt strange arms enclosing his own. It took Taiyo holding him still and shoving it out of the way for him to realize it was just a still-injured Claw, now more battered up and desperate than ever. A second attempt to stand up was quickly halted by a nudge on the shoulder by Pleiades’ foot, and - with the exhaustion taking over - he was reduced to nothing more than a kicking screaming toddler.
“Damn you, Pleiades!! Why aren’t you finishing the job?!”
“I’ll let the police take care of you.”
“That’s not how it works!!” Claw continued to whine, to which Taiyo and Pleiades could only exchange confused glances. “You’re not supposed to leave our battle hanging like this! We’re supposed to be finishing each other off until one is left standing! Does our rivalry mean nothing to-”
Pleiades kicked him hard in the stomach. He had enough of a moral high ground to know how bad it was to kick someone while they were down, but goodness he just wanted his so-called enemy to shut up. He gave Claw no time to heave for breath before grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, enforcing direct eye contact as he gritted out the following words:
“You mean nothing to me.”
With that, the hero dropped his opponent to the ground and turned away. He didn’t question why Claw went quiet all of a sudden, nor the way he just seemingly stayed where he was without much of a fight. His attention right now was on Taiyo and Taiyo only.
“Uhh, is it okay to just leave him here? What if he gets up and-”
The redhead didn’t get to finish before Pleiades swept him off his feet, doing so in such a smooth fashion that it seemed like he weighed nothing. Held firm yet gentle in the shining hero’s arms, as if he were a precious fragile item and not just some random teenager, Taiyo could do nothing but gawk. Incoherent noises escaped his mouth as his sky blue eyes sparkled, as his mind went into overdrive at the glorious sight of the one and only Pleiades. The intricate red mask, those rosy cheeks, even the tiny scar on his lower lip that clumped with dried-up blood… Taiyo examined each and every detail he could gaze his eyes upon. He’d never thought the day would come where he’d be in such close proximity to his hero, and with that accomplished he felt he could just die right then and there and have no regrets whatsoever.
Subaru, who was starting to get awkward with the staring, quickly cleared his throat, “It’s okay. Let me get you out of here.”
With the awestruck mess that was his best friend in his arms, Subaru leapt upward to the giant ceiling hole and out of the ruined planetarium, disappearing into the night just as quickly as when he’d first arrived.
Ribbons of light formed under his feet and decorated the vast midnight sky as he moved from roof to roof. Lights had gone down as the city entered the hours of its slumber, serene and quiet just like the way he promised it to be. Subaru loved the night not just for its stars alone, but also for being the only time of the day where he truly let himself relax and enjoy this sliver of peace in this ever so chaotic world.
But he might have to skip on the indulgence for the time being, for there was still another weight on his shoulders - or, more literally, in his arms - that he needed to take care of.
Firmly within Pleiades’ grasp, with one arm around his neck and the other clutching his seemingly precious parcel, Haruno Taiyo gazed upon his hero in awe. He didn’t fear the heights nor the rapid shifting of his surroundings, both of which would’ve made even the bravest of daredevils nauseous. He had no fear because Pleiades was here, because he knew from the bottom of his heart that the shining hero would save him no matter how great of a height he’d fall from.
And of course Subaru would. He would save Taiyo again and again, a million times if he must. He would do anything to keep Taiyo safe and sound, even if it meant the loving gaze he yearned for would only be for the mask and not the person.
As his destination came into view, Subaru began to make his descent. Rather than landing on an adjacent rooftop, he planted his feet on the building’s wall before bouncing off with slightly less force, just enough to reach another wall across from it but at a lower height. He made his way down slowly this way, jumping from wall to wall in this parkour-like motion until he finally reached the stable ground. While he was more than capable of landing in one single stylish move, he would rather not have the civilian in his arms dying from the shock of such a sudden impact.
“Here,” said the hero as he placed Taiyo on his feet. The guy wobbled ever so slightly before finally standing firm on the ground, partly thanks to Pleiades reaching out in time to hold him still.
“Wow. Thank you so much, Pleiades!” Taiyo squealed, sounding more like he’d just gotten out of a rollercoaster ride than a life-or-death situation. Subaru couldn’t understand how his best friend could be so nonchalant, let alone thrilled, after what he’d gone through, but then again that guy was a whole enigma that he was never able to solve.
Nonetheless, he pushed back his personal feelings for the sake of professionalism, “No need to thank me. It’s just what I do.”
“Nah, I have to thank you! You literally saved my life back there! I would’ve been dead in two seconds if not for-”
“Why did you do that?”
The sudden raise in the hero’s voice caught Taiyo off guard, “Eh?”
“Why did you run back in?” Subaru scolded, professionalism be damned. “You were supposed to be evacuated from the scene. The battlefield was clearly dangerous. Why did you come back?”
“Oh…” the redhead looked down to the brown cardboard box in his arms, “I wanted to come back for my package. It’s for-”
“I don’t care what it’s for. It’s not worth getting yourself killed over. Why did you do that to yourself??”
That might have come off a lot harsher than he intended, for Taiyo could do nothing but stare silently. His breath hitched as the excitement in his eyes was quickly clouded by sorrow, his mouth pressed into a thin line. For someone who had borne witness to a multitude of horrors over the years, it was somehow the saddened gaze of his usually sunny best friend that made Subaru falter. And he shouldn’t even have been this emotional in the first place: they were supposed to be strangers, after all.
“I’m sorry,” Taiyo averted his gaze. “It really was foolish of me to run back inside. I’m so sorry for bothering you.”
“That’s not the point,” Subaru exhaled through his nose, his voice small. “It’s just that… I tend to escalate battles when I’m sure that all civilians have been cleared off. That way I can quickly get rid of the threat and proceed to the recovery efforts. If I miss even one person… if I cause even one innocent death because of my own oversight…” he clenched his fist, imbuing it in traces of light with his anger and regret, “I will never forgive myself.”
A myriad of scenarios began running in his head: the building collapsing, the bombs exploding, his own light blasts missing their targets and striking the surroundings,… He could’ve survived it all without much of a scratch, his nemesis could’ve been taken down much more easily that way. But Taiyo? Strong and athletic as he might be, Taiyo was still a regular human, and there was no way a regular human could survive through any of those circumstances. It was thanks to Shinonome that he was even aware of Taiyo’s presence in the first place, or else the redhead would’ve died horribly without him noticing at all.
The bright light emitting from his fist snapped him back to reality, just in time to realize that his powers went haywire again. He shook all the imagined scenarios away from his mind - as they were, after all, imagined and thankfully not real - before turning his attention back to the silent redhead. That helped to make his fist stop glowing, at least.
“Apologies, I didn’t mean to get emotional,” he quickly cleared his throat. “All I’m saying is that you have to be careful when you’re-”
One second. One second was all it needed to occur, which was why he’d failed to react. In the one second that he’d let his guard down, the one second he’d dedicated to expressing his concerns for this civilian who was definitely not his crush, Taiyo leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek. It was soft and warm, lasting for mere seconds but felt like a whole eternity. Words stuck in his throat as the once valiant hero was rendered speechless, with none but a small, barely audible gasp escaping his person. One kiss was all it took for his face to flush all over with red, which would’ve effectively blended his features in with his mask if not for his stupid powers acting up again. Standing in front of the figurative sun was now an actual star, glowing in white and gold as he bathed the entire street corner in his light. It got to the point where Taiyo himself had to shield his eyes from all the brightness, yet his equally radiant smile didn’t seem to falter one bit.
“Oh my goodness,” he said in between laughs, “you’re glowing!!”
Subaru squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, forcing the light coursing through his body to die down. Waking up an entire neighborhood just from being embarrassed was the last thing he wanted right now.
That didn’t mean his bewilderment had disappeared alongside it, though. “Wh- What was that??”
“Thank you,” Taiyo smiled, though it was unlike the bright, sunny way he’d usually sport. Subtle and kind, loving yet shy, those pale pink lips made a small upward curve while the corners of those crystalline blue eyes drooped ever so slightly. A smile so soft and kind yet never before seen, as though he’d been reserving it for no one but his one true beloved.
A smile that he was willing to give Pleiades, but never Subaru.
“Thank you for saving my life,” he continued. “I was nothing but an additional burden for you, all because I was foolish enough to run back inside. You could’ve left me to die from my own recklessness and I wouldn’t even blame you. But you didn’t. You were clearly busy fighting a supervillain and yet you still came to protect me.
“No words can describe how grateful I am for having a superhero like you by my side, so…” his voice trailed off as he coyly turned to the side, face now painted with a faint blush of red, “that’s why I did… that.”
Subaru, in turn, averted his gaze, “You can’t just… kiss people randomly like that. You don’t even know who I am…”
“I know, I know,” Taiyo rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry if that makes you uncomfortable, I won’t do it again. But…” his gaze returned to the hero before him once more, just in time for their eyes to meet, “just for this time, please consider it a token of my gratitude. I mean itwasn’tlikeI’llgetanotherchancetokissmysuperherocrush.”
“What?”
“Nothing!” shouted Taiyo suddenly, the pink on his face intensified ever so slightly. “Just… thank you. For everything.”
Subaru could only stare blankly. He couldn’t make out what exactly the dumb redhead had said near the end, but being able to catch ‘kiss’ and ‘crush’ somewhere along that very fast delivery was enough to send butterflies all over his stomach.
“I- I should get going now,” he quickly turned around, mostly as an excuse to keep his smitten expression away from Taiyo. “It’s getting late. You should go home, too.”
“Oh, right!” exclaimed Taiyo. “Been nice meeting you! Hope we meet again!”
Subaru didn’t turn back; he’d probably melt in the presence of this metaphorical sun if he did so. Still, it’d be rude not to respond, “Have a good rest of your night.”
And with that, he jumped up to a nearby rooftop and leapt into the night.
Taiyo looked on as the familiar trail of golden light bounced from place to place. The beating of his heart could still be felt against his ribcage, though not from the danger adrenaline but instead from the excitement of a first kiss. He still couldn’t believe it: him, kissing a superhero, kissing Pleiades of all people?? All sorts of common sense should’ve warned him against making a move on a stranger - especially one that deliberately hid their identity for a living - but for now, even just for a short while, he had no regrets. Pleiades was amazing and he would do anything to let it be known. Whatever embarrassment he should’ve had would be tomorrow’s problem.
Speaking of, he should be heading home now. His parents must have been worried sick if the planetarium incident had already made it into the news.
Then he turned around.
“EHH?? I’m back at my house already???”