Archive of Our Own

Looking around her tiny apartment, Otani Hoshi felt… empty. Like, for most people it's gotta be an accomplishment getting your first apartment. She was 27 and had only now got her own. She was thankful for that, if nothing else. Hoshi headed out the door for work, closing it gently behind her. Her cat Butterscotch would fend for himself tonight.

The Otani family had once been respectable if lower-class merchants, her father liked to recite. Dad had access to a full memory bank of family history and the litany of ancestors rolled over her like a wave of mud each time she compared herself to them. Graduating high school with pretty good grades, failing at University because she had not been ready at all. Getting a full time job and then getting stuck in it for years with little room for advancement in the field while her old peers lost touch and climbed up, up and away.

Her old classmate Jirou Kyoka had even become a bad-ass Hero! She'd even run into Earphone Jack once on the street, and Jirou had given her a small wave. Hoshi felt it was more the 'hello, citizen' wave than the 'hey, haven't seen you in a while!' wave. That was the first time they'd met since Hoshi's worst week of her life. So far, the little voice nagged. Shut it, she told her depression brain.

That's not fair. She didn't give Earphone Jack any more than a small nod either. Who is she to judge the woman? Her job is stressful. Her job is important.

Hoshi was a security guard now. Overnights, lonely, not doing a lot of work, and free time between tasks. Perfect for someone like her. She'd pass the cars through the gates if they were expected, call the fancy people in their mansions if their guest wasn't already on The List, and watch cameras to make sure the rich asshole kids didn't climb over the back gate to the little unrealistic square of synthetic heaven they called home.

Tonight was quieter than usual. It was 0035 and her last car full of guests was almost half an hour before. Hoshi had her tea and her noodles warmed up, and the camera monitors lit up automatically when they sensed motion so she could just prop her phone up in front of them and kick back for a minute. She'd hear any cars coming, and she kept the volume low on the streaming site she opened. Same old gamer stuff, mostly. A few people watching Heroes at work, never good quality footage as they ran or held the phone up over the crowd or whatever. She selected one that looked nice, a young man alone in his room playing an acoustic guitar.

Ding-dong! A new stream from one of your favorite channels is starting now! Click now to join!

Huh? Oh yeah, she had liked a few back in the day but who… why not? Hoshi tapped on the screen, to be greeted by a picture of someone holding a phone up, a field of white fabric visible as they held the phone close to their chest. The view rustled a bit before a tangled mass of purple and black came into view before the woman in the dress walked away from the phone, now propped up on a counter or something. She could see small cords dangling from her ears.

Holy shit, it's Kyo! The sentiment was echoed in the comments scrolling by too fast to property read. Earphone Jack used to stream sometimes, playing music or game nights with her friends, or her boyfriend at the time. Hoshi had not seen one in years.

Jirou gave a little twirl for the camera and then walked back over, picking it up. A better way to do it than just saying "we'll wait for people to start watching" and doing nothing for 15 seconds if you asked Hoshi. Which nobody had.

EJ looked into the camera and gave a small smile while finger combing her hair, then looking at some comments. "Hey nerds, been a while and I have been stuck inside the house all week so it's Q and A time. Hit me with 'em. Keep it PG-13 or you get blocked.

OK, why have I been inside? Got affected by a quirk while I was on patrol, got involved in a thing with a kid having a traumatic day and she accidentally used it on me. Won't go into too much detail but basically I can't go outside until it wears off, which is in about an hour.

Can I say happy birthday Ami? Ami, I hope you have a wonderful birthday!"

She continued for a few minutes, mostly just doing shout-outs or answering basic questions. A car full of teenagers that have most likely been at the booze came up, interrupting the reverie long enough for Hoshi to see they were residents who passed through the gate with their remote. She gave them a wave and they ignored her. A stray dog jumped the fence and starting eating scraps out of the trash can. She decided he deserved it; he was probably a good dog. Most dogs are.

EJ was showing how she can tie a knot with her jacks when she decided to walk into the kitchen, a messily lived-in space that made Hoshi feel better about her own. Chargebolt was whisking something in a bowl, wearing gym shorts and an apron, no shirt. The fans went nuts when EJ zoomed in on his upper back and shoulder area and made an "ow ow ow!" sound. He turned around, revealing the apron front that said "Punching Villains and Baking Treats", featuring an outline of Sugarman on the right side and the logo for his line of frozen pies on the left. He clearly did not know he was being recorded, blurting out "damn babe, you look great! Who's the lucky guy?" with a smirk as he slopped a bit of the mix over the edge of the bowl.

"If you must know," she sighed breathily and flipped the camera back to her face, flopping her free hand in front like she was fanning herself "it's Momo. Creati, for you hero stans. We have a lunch date tomorrow and I was checking to see how the dress does with the shoes."

This kicked off a round of questions about Creati and other old classmates. Chargebolt added, "Yeah, her tea game is impeccable".

Jirou snorted. "I don't think she'd call it that, Jammingway. But Yaomomo's tea services are impeccable, absolutely. Where'd you learn a fancy word like that?"

He replied with trademark grin in place, "Oh, Mido taught me! You'd probably never know it but Deku is a giant nerd!"

Bitch please, everyone knows that.

As the stream was winding down, Hoshi decided to send a comment of her own. Just to see.

"Hey Jirou-san, my name is Otani Hoshi and we used to go to school together. What was the first moment you realized you could be a hero and help save people's lives?"

We used to go to school together and then my house burned down and I tried my best but the fire department wasn't in time, and I got 1st and 2nd degree burns over 30% of my body. All my possessions were gone and I had nothing. I spent the next month in the hospital and missed graduation. I haven't talked to you since, and this is the first thing I say? What a dumb question.

The hero was quiet for a moment, and then stared into the camera with clouded eyes. "Hoshi-san… the moment I knew was when the class arranged to visit you in the hospital and I gave you that little stuffed toy dog. It was the only thing I could do to make you feel better and I saw how happy you were holding it. I knew then that making people feel that feeling was what I wanted. Um, let me see something… yeah OK, thanks guys for a great hour and I will see you all out on patrol again starting tomorrow! Keep safe and rock out!" She threw up the horns, calling out her old sign-off with most of the usual enthusiasm, but she was looking off to the side.

Before she could process the answer (lies, she'd never liked you, why should believe any of it, go back to dreaming) Hoshi's phone rang. It was an unknown number. Something told her to pick up.

"Hoshi-san? Um… it's Kyoka. Earphone Jack. I saw your comment and it took me back to that day and I…."

They were both at a loss for words. Hoshi got there first. "Hello, Kyoka-san. It's been far too long."

A laugh answered her. "Yeah, yeah it has. So, wanna talk?"