Welcome, everyone! Through the vote we held it has been decided that Hoshi's story is going to split from the one with Takashi in it and become its own thing, so here we are (: I hope you all enjoy! The rewrite of Sorry will be dropping pretty soon, but this was just so fun to write and I'm excited to explore and get to know Hoshi even more with you guys! Happy pride month!!!

Cover contest right off the bat at the bottom bc the one we have right now... y'all... pls adjlksds its so bad I'm so sorry ahHLADHLS

Third person pov

Enji Todoroki stands firmly by the belief that soulmates do not exist. Or he did until like, four seconds ago.

The media claims them to be rare and precious-- something to be cherished if ever found, like an uncut gem shiny with purity. Someone who will love you fuller and deeper than anyone else in the world ever could. They boast that your soulmate is your destined partner as set by fate, and that once you look them in the eyes, an unshakable bond will form. A reliance will develop, a promise, a pact. It's such a romanticized thing, and Enji hates it. Hated it. He isn't sure how to feel anymore. 

To him, it had always screamed weakness. It's a fairytale made up for those feeling weak and unloved and alone. He refuses to feed into it. The thought of having a connection like that to drag him down makes him feel nearly physically ill with rage. Why would anyone want a complete stranger to have such power and feeling over them? It had just seemed so idiotic. Not worth it in the least. In terms of love, Enji has never claimed himself to be a professional, sure. All he does know is that he does not need it to be powerful. It will only hold him back. That's why he was always so harsh on his children. They needed to know the hardships of the world and be ready to face them. They'd get hurt if they didn't.

Enji had been so sure, again, four seconds ago, that if he did have a soulmate... he'd be able to just toss them aside. That he'd be strong enough to do so. That it wouldn't even effect him, with his strength and tenacity. 

If he'd had the liability of love before, would he have made it this far? Though he became Number One Hero through a shameful turn of events, the title is now his, and he must live up to it. He knows he will never size up to All Might's reputation in society's judgmental gaze. He will never fill the shoes he left behind for them. All he can do is hold the pillar steady until Shoto climbs atop it and takes his rightful spot. There will be some time before then, he knows, but he is willing to wait. He can be patient. Shoto is so strong, so resilient, and he will be a better hero and man than Enji ever was. Enji is all the gladder for it.

Except now his foundation has been very much shaken, and he doesn't know what to do. He has no idea how... how to cope with this, with any of this! It had all been a mistake. If he knew it was coming, he'd have avoided it for his own sake. But he'd run into them anyway, and now he could hardly move, or breathe, or think.

Enji had been snapped from his thoughts at the flash of another camera. His bland expression had twisted into something more annoyed, startling the teenage girl who'd snapped the photo to begin with. She and her friends had shrunk back under his glower, giggling to one another at his intimidating form. Enji's jaw clenched, and he'd swallowed his irritation and sharp remarks as best he could. Since becoming Number One, the spotlight had somehow become more heavy. He hadn't realized that was possible. He vaguely wonders how All Might did it. He doesn't dare reach out to ask. He can-- has been doing this. Until right now. This second. 

Everyone was waiting to see what he'd do, and he'd just been so stressed at the time. They all wanted to see hw he'd measure up. His kids were distant and probably hated him, and that was all by his own fault, he knew. Coming home to an empty, quiet home night after night made him miss the days when Natsuo, Fuyumi, and Touya would all rush down the halls with tiny, pounding footsteps, shouting about trivial things he couldn't be bothered to remember. He never thought he'd say such a thing. They'd been so annoying back then, but with all the recent stress, he hasn't had much time to connect with other people. It feels like his entire life is flashing before his eyes right here, right now.

He had told himself he didn't need connections like that, that like open love and affection, it would weaken him. That Enji was fine without other people, was fine being alone. He believed himself a little less everyday, especially now as he stands alone in this crowd, attention all on him but not with him. He's not sure what to do about that. 

Things had been simple. He texted Shoto sometimes, but seldom did he ever get a reply more than one word. Fuyumi came around sometimes, but she dipped in and out so often it's like she's hardly there. Enji is sure he'd only get a middle finger and eyeroll if he dared reach out to Natsuo, so he doesn't bother trying. 

In the end, it was just him. And who's fault was that? Only now it's not only him. Is it? He doesn't know. He doesn't know where they went. They'd just been here-- so small, so blue. Enji feels frantic. He can't breathe.

He knows he made mistakes. So, so, so many mistakes, and they're all coming back to him right this very moment. He's volatile, and mean. He's an undeserving father, and he's lucky Shoto will even look at him these days. Enji doesn't know if there's a way to make it up to him. Nothing will erase the past, but he's been trying to do better. He does his best to show his kids that. Enji is no professional. This is all new to him-- he grew up angry and no one stopped him. Changing that after so long is foreign, but he's trying. Now he's going to have to try harder, because this... he can't... he doesn't know how to...

"Endeavor, Endeavor!" A recorder had been shoved in his face, and a growl had bitten past his lips unbidden. This reporter was just as eager as the rest of them, desperate for even a mere crumb. If he'd stayed and talked to them, would this have been avoided? "Hawks, the Number Two Hero, has a higher approval rating than you! How does that make you feel? Will you makes moves to overcome it?"

A flash of anger had shot through him like a knife, and he wishes he could summon that rage now. He hadn't let it reach the surface at the time, continuing his strong stride forward straight into the downfall he never saw coming. These meager patrols felt useless in the long run, but his PR team had told him that if he wanted people to have faith in him, they needed to see him. See him doing hero work, walking around commercial areas and backstreets, keeping an eye out and protecting, interacting with fans, taking photos. He was in no position to tell them no. The situation was dire, and all of Japan was looking to him. He wished they weren't. Enji wouldn't be gawking like a fish on land if he'd just ignored them. If he weren't so competitive, and rude.

"Endeavor! Do you feel pressured by society's expectations of you?" Another voice in the ever-growing crowd around him had asked. He can still remember the way he grit his teeth and stayed silent, still walking, head held high. 

"Endeavor, have you spoken with All Might?!" A woman had cried out, and he hadn't stopped walking.

"Endeavor, just one quote on the fall of Kamino for Star News!" 

"Endeavor, what's your opinion on Hawk's quick rise in the ranks?!" 

"Endeavor, how is your family feeling about the change?!" 

The question about his family was what had led him here, spurring him into him walking faster. His mind flashed back to the divorce papers Rei had sent to him, and to her curled signature set neatly on that dotted line. To his own signature, added right under it in agreement. He was trying to change. Maybe signing those papers was why Shoto hadn't blocked his number yet, and why Fuyumi still came to eat dinner with him at home some nights. He didn't know. When he'd thought about it before, a dark feeling had crawled up into his chest, dampening his already-low mood. The sensation had made him feel slower and more tired, a sigh fighting its way from the back of his throat. Now, he feels... he feels light, and airy, and dumbfounded. 

Things came to a head when a sharp turn around the corner had him slamming into something unexpectedly. He, of course, didn't move. He was a wall of a man, over six feet of pure muscle bulked up throughout the years. His gaze immediately dropped as the small figure bounced off him like a rubber ball, careening backwards into the sidewalk. Their bag dropped with a sharp slapping sound, the papers and books they had cradled in their arms flying in every direction. For a moment all he could do was stand there, staring. For a moment, things were still okay.

The person he'd run into was pathetically tiny, yet he can't stop thinking about them even now. A head of wildly curly, deep blue hair that seemed to know no one direction. He'd almost thought it a child when he first saw them, but he knew that not to be true now. They'd made a humming sound that seemed less pained and more considering than anything, still singing so clearly in Enji's ears. There had been a few more flashes as photos were shamelessly taken of Endeavor and the scene, snapping him momentarily out of his processing. He had opened his mouth to offer a gruff apology, reaching out to tug them back up. He was stopped almost immediately when they looked up.

And that was the end, he supposed. The thing that led to this. To this hole in his chest, so deep and unfillable. This want that urged him to move. There was something looming inside of him, telling him he needed to go find the small someone he'd knocked over. 

Pools of an oceanic blue-- deep, alluring, radiant in their appearance-- had met his much lighter turquoise ones in a shocking jolt that froze him in place. His breath had escaped him all in one fail swoop, his lips parting in surprise as his heart all but stopped beating. It felt like a lifetime had swam past him all in a single second, Endeavor's shoulders slackening and his arms falling uselessly to his sides. The small someone had furrowed their brows at him, seeming almost confused. Had he experiencing the same thing? Enji almost thought it was a quirk when he first felt it. He knows now, still standing here, that it isn't.

Warmth had bloomed like a sunflower against Enji's will, opening up wide and bright towards the light. He hadn't-- still couldn't-- breathe. He could only stare as the short man's gaze flitted away from him, instead scanning about for his belongings. Endeavor felt useless even after the small man had left, rendered immobile by a single look. Surprise pelted in him like rain, disbelief and a severe lack of knowing what to do. The not knowing what was happening kept him rooted in place, and his eyes had remained trained on the face of the man he'd knocked over right up until the point where they ran off.

He looked younger than Enji at least, but not so young that Enji would assume him to still be in high school or anything of that sort. He was two thirds Enji's side, petite in frame, with tiny hands and expanses of milky pale skin. His hair curled around his face, capturing it perfectly. They were lithe where Enji was bulky, blue where he was red. He watched them scramble to their feet, muttering in a voice that still sang in his ears like a song. It felt like the clouds had parted. He realized his heart hadn't stopped. It had sped up so fast he couldn't hardly feel it anymore.

"My bad, bro!" The voice had said as the man pushed himself to his feet, a cheerful chime as he hauled his ratty duffel back with him. He swiped his books up of the ground quickly, piling them into one of his arms. Enji had continued to stand and gawk, unable to do anything but focus and wonder. Enji had taken him in, soaking the man's appearance in like a sponge. Reporters had been and still were clamoring around him, trying to ask him questions. He hardly heard them, let alone processed them. "I totally spaced. Thanks for uh... doing your hero... thing? You're very... tingly."

The man had then waved a hand at him before giving a grin, seeming satisfied with himself before rushing past. Endeavor had whirled after him on instinct, but the crowd of reporters was larger and denser than it had been a few minutes ago, and the blue-haired man was just so small. Enji hadn't found it in himself to muster up the power to rush after him. The small someone's voice still rang in his ears, smooth like velvet. Yes... yes, tingly was a very good way to describe this. Tingly, and revolutionary, and powerful.

It was like a tsunami coming to head, peaking in its massive size, defying gravity's laws before accepting them and crashing back down in all its glorious decimation. Beautifully destructive, breaking away at him, washing everything he thought he knew away. Enji felt like a turtle flipped on their back, unable to think clearly. All he could do was stare at where the stranger had vanished, wondering desperately who they were, where they were going, what they liked to do. 

The realization almost made him choke, the overwhelming want, want, want washing through him in a sharp and jagged way that cut into his skin and made him bleed. His throat was closed up, unwilling to let him speak as his mind struggled to sort through everything. He felt so unbelievably euphoric, and he had no clues as to how or why. It was all so sudden. Out of nowhere, just like that small someone had been. His mind sprinted towards a conclusion, jumping, reaching for the answers and grasping them tight. Enji's entire body tensed as his thoughts sung, a breath of air coming into him like a new life.

Soulmate, soulmate, soulmate, soulmate- 

Enji's mouth went dry. He stared aimlessly at where the little man had vanished, eyes still wide and face feeling pale. His flames flickered, dissipating against his face. His adam's apple bobbed. He tried to convince himself that this wasn't the case, that this wasn't happening. But he couldn't deny something that felt so secure and sure in him. His anger from before, over everything, about everything... it seems moot now. Standing there, unable to move, only able to mull over himself and what just happened, horrified, intrigued, and unsure. 

Not for the first time, Enji found himself questioning himself and his beliefs. And that tiny someone seemed to be none the wiser.

~~~

CONTEST ALERT WEEEEE WOOOO WEEEE WOOOO

I'm sorry I know my contests are literally the worst!!! If anyone with artistic ability feels inclined to draw Hoshi for the cover, myself and everyone who will be forced to look at it every time I update this will be eternally grateful. 

Prize can be... uhhkhdaks what's not completely lame?? You can request a one shot of any kind for any of my stories or for canon bnha, or you can request I update something in particular if you're really diggy with it, or you can request access to a piece of Patreon content if I've ever mentioned something that caught your eye. Assuming anyone reads this or like wants to but anyway yes thank you. I hope you enjoyed!

If this does well I'll definitely add it to Patreon's early access alongside Feral, Mind Boggled, I Don't Know A Shoto, Just A Myth, and Freeze Frame! Just let me know what you guys think!