The three of them laughed and talked at the table, sharing stories that brought smiles to their face. Izukus mother began to really enjoy Peter's company around the house. He was kind, and always did chores when he was asked to. He even chose to help with tasks that weren't his responsibility. Having someone around to share in Izukus passions and dreams had been nice for them.
"My goodness, that is adorable!" Peter exclaimed, "He really did that?"
"He did!" Mrs. Midoryia confirmed, "I would pretend to be a damsel in distress, then little Izuku would burst in saying 'I am here!'"
Izuku blushed in embarrassment, nearly hiding his face, "Come on, mom. He didn't need to know that."
"Oh, I did, I so did. That made my day. I'm just picturing a tiny All Might now, beating up bad guys twice his size. And imagine his voice is high pitched when he speaks!"
They burst out into laughter, Izuku the most of the three, "That would be adorably terrifying!"
Mrs. Midoriya looked at the time, and picked her plate off the table, "It's getting late. You two should go to bed so you can have your rest for tomorrow."
They both smiled and picked up their plates, "Ok, thank you for dinner Mrs. Midoryia."
"My pleasure, Peter. If you like, I can finally let you help with dinner tomorrow."
His eyes lit up, "That would be great!"
Peter stretched his arms and let himself fall onto the air mattress and bouncing a few times. His head landed directly on the pillow, feeling a surge of comfort through his body. Letting out a sigh, he put his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling. It had been a long day today and he was glad to finally rest.
"You seem tired," Izuku said as he walked into the room and shutting off the light, "You going to be alright for tomorrow?"
"Oh totally," Peter replied, "Todays class was just tiring. Too much weight lifting, not enough thinking. My muscles just hurt," He turned his head to him, "We have that rescue course tomorrow right? Those are always fun."
"Definitely!" Izuku jumped onto his bed, climbing under the covers, "So, we better get some sleep."
"Sure thing. Goodnight Izuku."
"Goodnight Peter."
Izuku pulled his overs to his shoulders and rested his head on the pillow, turning his body away and gently closed his eyes. As he drifted off into sleep, Peter continued to stare at the ceiling with a blank expression. It wasn't until he knew his roommate was asleep that he finally got out of bed. He grabbed his bag and threw it over his shoulder, checking to make sure his costume and gear was inside. Quietly he opened the window of the room, looking back at Izuku one last time before he leapt out into the night.
It had been more than a week since his arrival to the new world of heroes and super powers. Much like his own world, this one felt like a comic book had come to life. He's always hearing about heroes on the morning news, sometimes even on talk shows. Very few heroes back home were on talk shows often, then again image here is a lot more important. A hero's entire career may rely on how the public views them based off their acts, looks, or words. They're essentially a new breed of celebrity. He wasn't quite used to that sort of thing yet.
Leaping into the air, the arachnid hero landed and flipped into a shoulder roll. He continued this pattern over and over, jumping from each rooftop. After getting used to using his Nano-Suit in class, he realized how different it was from his classic costume. The nano-suit could bend and shape itself with every movement Peter had made, while his classic suit was fixed on its shape. Still, wearing it again gave him a sense of home, since its one constant he's had since ending up here. Making a new mask wasn't difficult either, just tedious. The only chances he had to work on it were when Izuku was out of the house or staying after school to train more. He hated keeping secrets from the people giving him a home, but it was necessary.
He landed on the next rooftop, his feet planted into a puddle. The splash got all over his boots, causing him to finally stop and take a breather. It was late at night, where the city was the liveliest. He took a moment to look over the ledge and admire the streets below. Even though he still couldn't read Japanese, he had started to recognize a few of the letters and symbols. Specifically, he knew when something was either casual or not, or when something related to a type of subject. He had planned to get a tutor from the school to teach him how to read in their language. It would make things a lot easier for him.
His spider-sense suddenly goes off, making him do a 360 turn. The danger didn't seem to be directly around him, so something about the environment must have changed suddenly. Quickly he shot a web and zipped himself over to the next roof, performing a quick front flip and landing with his heels together. He squatted on the ledge, looking down at the streets and scanned it for anything strange.
It was then he spotted a familiar face. He recognized her by her orange hair tied in a pony tail. Down on the street below walked Itsuka Kendo, the girl he had met in the hall on his first day. She was dressed in a casual outfit consisting of a blue skirt, tang top and black collar jacket. He wondered what she had been doing out this late at night. The current time was close to midnight, and they had school early the next day. Most students would either be sleeping or studying right now, so what was she doing out at this time of night?
He wondered if it was a coincidence that his spider-sense goes off, leading him to spot Kendo. He went with his gut and stuck to a building wall high above her, following her closely. It almost made him feel like a stalker, which would make an awkward conversation if he was spotted.
Kendo stopped just in front of an alleyway, a sudden chill going down her back. She looked around and tried to find the source of her paranoia. All she could see were cars and people walking by, but she could feel something else entirely. Peter had felt it as well, like the air suddenly got moist. True, it had rained earlier that day, but this felt different to them.
A puddle began to grow on the ground, coming from the alleyway. It reached Kendo's foot and soaked her shoe.
"Ugh, come on!" She groaned as she pulled her foot out of the puddle, only to find the water floated with it.
The water suddenly formed into a hand and grabbed her ankle. She screamed as she was pulled quickly into the alleyway.
Spider-Man leapt from the ledge and shot out a web, swinging down into the alleyway. Just as his momentum started going up, a sudden blast of water sent him straight to the ground and soaked his costume.
Spider-Man coughed out water as he got to his feet, "Ah geez! Now I need to wash this!"
He held his head as his spider-sense continuously went off. In front of him was a man wearing a deep blue shirt and casual pants. His arm was held up, and it turned to water further down the arm. The water he created wrapped around Kendo's head, holding her above the ground.
"Good to see you, Web Head," The man said.
"Hydro Man, this seems a bit below you," he retorted, "I figured the worst you did was ruin people's laundry. Though, that alone is still cruel and mean you sadistic jerk, don't think that I don't remember what you did to my costume during winter!"
"I suggest you take a few steps back, otherwise I'll drown this pretty little face."
Kendo struggled to hold her breath, her cheeks filled with air as she held her neck with one hand and attempted to tear away the water with the other.
"Come on Morris, she may be a tall glass of water, but she's more palm springs while you're tap."
"You want her? Come get her."
He reached into his belt that was hidden under his costume, pulling out a small pellet and clenching it tight in his fist. With his other hand he shot a web behind Hydro Man and pulled himself forward. Morris turned his other hand to water and formed a fist, throwing it straight for the web head. Their fists collided, and Spider-Mans hand got stuck inside the liquid, "Got you!" Spider-Man said, crushing the pellet in his hand and quickly opening it back up. The web fluid inside suddenly expanded inside Hydro Mans aqua fist, growing up the inside of his arm.
He threw Spider-Man to the side and attempted to shade the webs out of his arm. The panic forced him to drop Kendo, who fell to her knees and cough out water that went up her nose. The web reached Morris's shoulder, just where the water met his skin. His arm suddenly stuck to a nearby wall while trying to shake off the webs.
"Kendo!" Spider-Man lifted her to her feet, "Time to go!"
Kendo coughed, barely opening her eyes as they were still in pain, "P-Peter?"
"Not so fast!" Shouted Hydro Man as his other fist turned to water and shot toward them, stretching a great distance. Spider-Man grabbed Kendo and jumped into the air. He bounced from wall to wall and made his way up the building. Hydro Mans water fist followed them as high as it could but eventually stopped just as they reached the roof.
He set Kendo down for a moment, looking her over and putting a hand on her cheek, "Hey, come on. Keep your eyes open Kendo, focus on my thankfully dry costume."
She blinked a few times, finally regaining her vision, "Peter? Is that you? What …what are you doing here?"
"Uh … well," He said awkwardly, "It's complicated. Right now, we need to get some distance between us and Hydro Man. Can you stand?"
She grabbed onto his shoulder and tried to pull herself up. She was still weak but still managed to stand up straight, if not a little off balance.
"It won't take him long to break free," He warned, "We need to get moving."
A pillar of water suddenly shot up into the air, startling the young heroes. Quickly Spider-Man picked Kendo up and jumped off the roof as the water followed them through the air. He began to web-sling over the city, his momentum weighed down by the extra passenger.
"What does he want from you, Kendo? I mean, besides your charm!" Spider-Man shouted over the wind.
"I don't know!" She shouted back, "I've never seen him before! Have you?!"
"Uh …not relevant."
"That's very relevant!"
Spider-Man pushed his foot off a building and sharply changed his directions, taking a left turn onto the next street. The sudden pace change made the pillar of water crash into a wall and fall to the ground.
He continued to web-sling and finally gain more distance between him and his enemy, "You have to think, Kendo! Why would someone come after you?! Did anything happen recently that you're not telling me?! Anything at all?! Did you …I don't know, leave the faucet on?"
She thought about this for a moment, and a thought came to her, "No, but …hold on."
He parked them on the roof of another building, far away and hidden from their hunter. Kendo took a moment to adjust herself and regain her composure. Once she had, she reached her hand into her pocket and pulled out a small brown cloth bag. It was tied together with a string that was woven in with it.
"I found this in the street today and put it in this bag. It looked important."
She carefully undid the strings and opened the bag. Inside looked a familiar yet distinctive object. Sitting at the bottom of the bag was a crimson stone, not to different in detail from the golden glow that was the reality stone. This one held a more condense and dangerous power as he recognized it to be the Power Stone. Unlike its golden brother, this crimson monster can boost the ability of its user. At its full potential it can even grant the user omnipotence.
"Where …how did you get this?" Spider-Man asked, hovering his hands around the bag.
"It was lying in the street. I didn't know if it belonged to someone, but it looks expensive. I was on my way to take it to the station and turn it in, hoping that the police could find the owner," She eyed him curiously, "You seem to know what it is. Is it yours?"
Without warning he takes the bag from her, taking a moment to inspect the object in more detail. It almost looked like a ball of fire trapped ironically behind cloth. He was thankful that Kendo hadn't figured out how to use it, or even know what it was.
"Peter are you going to answer me?" She asked again, "Just what is going on? Is that stone what the water villain is after?"
"Uh," He tripped over his words, "Let's worry about that later."
Tying the bag tightly, he placed it against his waist and webbed it, sticking it perfectly to his suit.
"Hey! I just bought that bag!" She scolded.
"I'll buy you a new one. Right now, we need to- Look out!"
He pushed Kendo to the side just as a heavy stream of water collided with his chest, sending him flying to the other side of the roof. He hit the ground with a thud and just barely managed to stay on all fours. Hydro Man landed on the roof with his fist transformed into water as he approached the arachnid slowly.
"I'll be taking that stone now, bug!"
"*cough* Arachnid! Someone please get that right! *cough*"
Hydro man readied his fist and pointed it at the young hero, "I'm gonna enjoy killing you, kid."
"Then you, my friend *cough* need a therapist."
He fired the aquatic fist at his target and expected an easy kill. However just as it reached him, a massive hand suddenly expanded and covered them like a shield. Spider-Man looked up and saw Kendo kneeling above him, her hand having grown six sizes larger and stopping the water from hitting them. She struggled to get to her feet and push back against the villain as Spider-Man stood up as well.
"You ok?" She asked him, barely managing to block all the water.
"Yeah, I'm ok. Just don't move," He shifts himself closer to her and aims his arm over her shoulder. His left eye closes as he aligns the center of his wrist with Hydro Man. A small web bullet fires off and smacks the villain in the face, cutting off his stream of water. Hydro Man cried out in shock and pain as he attempted to pull the webs off. In this moment of distraction, Spider-Man picked Kendo up and leapt over the edge of the roof. He spared no hesitation in web slinging the pair as far as he could.
Making one more powerful leap, Spider-Man brought himself and Kendo into a dark alley and climbed up the side of the wall. He found the darkest corner and held Kendo against the wall with one hand, shielding her with the other as he remained as close to her body as he could without contact.
"Keep your voice low," he whispered, "And don't move."
Her heart was beating too fast from the adrenaline. She tried to slow her breathing, but it made her chest hurt. She needed to find something to focus on and calm her down. That's when he realized how close Peter was to her. Their chests were just an inch from touching one another. She hadn't been this close to someone before, much less a boy her age. It caused the blood to rush to her cheeks, but at least managed to take her mind off the immediate danger. She wasn't going to scold him for being so close, after all he was trying to protect her.
Hydro Man came flying across the streets, looking around the area for his targets, "Come on out, heroes! I'm not gonna hurt ya! Hand over the stone and the girl goes free!"
Her breathing sped up again, fearing interaction with the mysterious villain. In seeing her panic, Spider-Man held the side of her head.
"Kendo, it's going to be ok," Peter slowly moved his hand up to his masked and removed it, placing it gently on her shoulder. He locked eyes with her and held the side of her head, his fingers running through her hair, "Just focus on me, ok?"
Though her chin quivered, she managed to calm herself down again. This was the first time she had seen his face, despite meeting him a week prior. His gentle brown eyes soothed her and relaxed her heartrate. She finally allowed her shoulders to slump and release their tension, letting her head fall back.
Hydro Man finally grew bored and stormed down the street, setting off a few car alarms. Once he was sure that he was gone, Peter grabbed Kendo and brought them to the ground by a web.
"Peter …" She started as she took the mask off her shoulder and stared at it, then at him, "What's going on? Who was that guy? What does he want with that stupid stone? And why are you dressed up like that?"
He rubbed the back of his neck, just barely avoiding her gaze, "It's …a bit of a long story. I can't really explain it."
"Well try to."
"Basically, you're right. That guy wanted the stone and he's not the only one. I need to keep it out of their reach."
"Why you? Why not leave it to the police?"
Peter sighed, "Because the police don't know what their up against. It's complicated."
"You can't go out fighting villains!" She scolded, "You're a student at U.A High School! You don't have your heroes license yet! If you get caught, you could be sent to jail!"
"I'm used to that," He retorted, "And I'm aware of the risks. But I have to do this myself."
"Why?!"
"Because It's my war!" he shouted, startling her, "These are my enemies and I brought them here! Its my fault! So, I must be the one to fix it and stop them from hurting people! I don't care if I don't have a license. A hero doesn't wait to act!"
"It's illegal to act!"
"I know! And I don't care! I'm going to keep doing this and …and I need to not to tell anyone."
She turned away in disbelief, crossing her arms in thought.
"Kendo, please," Begged Peter, "You can't say anything about this. I saved your life, you owe me."
It was true that he did save her, despite not having to. Its not that she didn't admire what he was doing. He felt responsible and just wanted to make it right. If she could, she would probably be doing the exact same thing and take out bad guys. The problem is that it's not so simple. She didn't want Peter getting caught by the police and arrested for trying to do the right thing.
"Peter …" She began, "I don't …Look I admire what you're doing, and I get it. But the police will come after you if you get caught. If they catch you, you'll do time in jail. Its just how the law goes."
"I can't worry about the law if people are going to get hurt."
His retorts stopped her at every turn, and she was running out of options. She wasn't sure if she could live with the guilt, knowing that he would be out here fighting villains illegally. The thought of him going behind bars pained her, especially if she could stop it.
Kendo locks eyes with Peter and looks at him sternly, "I just …need time to think about this. Find me tomorrow at school, and we can talk about this then …ok?"
He understood why she was being so cautious. Doing hero work without a license was punishable with jail time. It wasn't likely that he would be able to convince her to change her mind right now with adrenaline still pumping through her system. A night of sleep might be the best option.
"Ok, we'll talk about this in the morning," he said, carefully taking the mask out of her hands and pulling it over his head, "Kendo…you need to understand that the world won't wait for you."
Spider-Man leapt into the air and swung away, leaving her by herself. She held her arms against the cold of the night as she tried to process all that had happened. What he's been doing is clearly illegal. The logical move is to call the police and tell them what's been happening. If she does that however, Peter will be arrested and his career as a hero will be put to a stop. It's one thing if it was a total stranger, but this is someone she knew. They weren't all that close, but he was still her school-mate. Would it really be fair to just turn him in like that?
She just needed time to think. A night of rest should do her some good.
Kendo returned to her home and went straight to her room, collapsing onto the bed. She wished she had never picked up that stone. If she hadn't, she never would have found out about Peter's nightly trips of heroism. It would be so much easier if she was oblivious to it all. Of course, she could pretend to not know. However, the guilt would be too much for her to bear eventually. Trying to keep a secret like that would break her. At the same time, its not so easy to just tell the police when the person involved is someone like Peter.
He's kind, and always does what he believes is right. It was clear by the way he spoke that he wasn't doing this for fame or thrill. He was doing it because he truly believed that It was the right thing to do. If she was to be perfectly honest with herself, she admired that about him very much. But she knew that what he was doing was wrong, she just wished turning him in didn't have to be the only option.
Then again, maybe it didn't.
The young night turned old and grey, leaving behind a sun to carry its memory. The sky lit up orange and guided the students of U.A to the school. Peter and Izuku were walking together like they always had. However, something about Peter seemed off. He wasn't as talkative as he usually was with Izuku. Instead he was quiet and reserved, choosing to keep his eyes on the ground rather than what's ahead of him.
"Peter? Are you ok?" Izuku asked, snapping him out of his funk.
"What?! Oh! Yeah. Sorry, I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night," He laughed nervously.
"Really? Well that's a bummer. You might want to have an energy drink before class or something to be safe. Don't want you falling asleep during rescue training."
Peter nodded and attempted to fake a casual look as he kept his eyes forward. It was only then that he noticed the orange haired girl walking a few yards in front of him. She seemed to have the same vibe that he was giving off. He didn't think he'd see her until they were in the school building, but perhaps this was a good opportunity.
"I'm gonna go talk to someone," Peter said, not giving Izuku time to answer as he darted forward.
"Kendo!" He called out, making her stop in her tracks and turn to face Peter. Her expression was of sadness, she clearly had a lot on her mind since the night before, "Kendo," Peter continued, "We should talk …about last night."
"I gave it some thought," Kendo stated, "And I'm willing to let what I know slide on one condition."
"What's the condition."
She took a step toward him, being almost as close as they were the previous night, "I need you to stop."
Peter looked dumbfounded, "What?"
"I'll forget about your trips through the night If you stop them entirely. I truly believe that what you were doing was noble, and I admire it. Really, I do. But if you go to jail because of this, and I didn't do anything to stop it …" She looked away, her eyes becoming glossy, "I couldn't live with myself."
He knew where she was coming from. She has this power inside of her, and she wanted to use it to do the right thing. If she didn't and something terrible happened, it would feel as though it was because of her. Should there be anything in this world that he understood, it was that when you have great power, it also comes with great responsibility.
"…Ok," He said quietly, "I'll …I'll stop."
She looked back at him, smiling brightly, "Thank you, Peter. I'm sorry to have to be the one to burst your bubble, but I just want you to be safe. Please …please don't hate me."
Peter suddenly pulled her in and gave her a warm hug, his hand on the back of her head, "I don't hate you, Kendo."
Her faced turned red as she hugged him back, feeling the weight in her throat finally fade away.
"Uh, guys?"
They both turned to face Izuku, who just started to reach them on his walk, "We don't want to be late."
"Right!" Peter said as he let Kendo go, "Let's get going!"
Kendo smiled, staying at Peter's side as they walked. It may have been an awkward silence for the rest of the trip to school, but at least she felt like she had done something right.
Even though Peter had a smile on his face, inside he was hurting. If there was one necessary crime he hated to commit, it was lying.