The shades of Detective Naomasa's office were shut to hide his work. It was in no way wrong, but the chief asked him to keep his investigation quiet. He had just gotten off the phone with a Pro Hero watching over the Sport's Festival, and informed him that Peter Parker had once again been attacked by a villain they had never seen before.

The evidence was adding up.

Three incidents where someone attacks and Parker happens to be around. Perhaps it could be chalked up to coincidence, but what if there was a deeper reason for these incidents. He knows there may be two Peter Parkers in two different countries, and recent evidence shows only one of them has legitimate records. The Peter Parker in japan was sketchier than the one in America. In fact, the only reason he hasn't already brought him in for questioning was because of the good he's done seemingly holding the police department back.

But the dots were connection, and he couldn't ignore it any longer.

…

Kendo returned to the arena with her class and sat in the bleachers. As the day went on, more matches took place between rival students. 1-A classmates like Denki unfortunately lost, while Kirishima had managed a victory with a tie breaker. When Denki lost his fight against a member of 1-B, Neito was there to call them out on it, and would have continued to do so without Kendo's interference.

Uraraka faced off against Bakugo, and put up a good fight against him. In the end, however, she lost to him when she passed out from exhaustion. Mina had won her first match, rather proud of herself that all the training had paid off. Unfortunately, Momo was not as successful with her match against Tokoyami.

It was taking its toll.

At the end of Momo's match, she left the arena carrying the only two weapons she had a chance to create. The crowd was cheering behind her for the victor of the match, while she slummed into the shadows of the waiting halls. When she felt as though she was alone, the weapons dropped from her hands with a clank.

The feelings that overcame her were too much, her heart feeling as though it was being yanked from her chest and squeezed with string. Her cheeks were stained with tears, covering her mouth as not to make too much noise. Eventually though, it didn't matter with the volume of the crowd, and she let her feelings loose. Collapsing onto the ground with one hand on the wall, her knees shook despite the tension being released. All her training she had done, whether alone or with Kendo, had all been for nothing. The sum of her efforts resulted in a 10 second match where she lost instantly. Tokoyami's shadow was just too fast, and pushed her out of the ring before she could even do anything.

Everyone watched her fail.

The young pink skinned heroine strolled the halls, hoping to find her friend after the match. What she hadn't expected was to find her on the ground with tears in her eyes and gasping for air. The sight wasn't one she had ever expected to see, knowing how composed her friend often was.

"…Momo?" Mina asked quietly, but just loud enough to be heard over the crowd.

Momo lifted her head in shock, trying as quickly as she could to wipe away her tears and compose herself, pushing onto her feet, "M-Mina …Hi."

"Do you …wanna talk about it?"

Her first instinct was to say no, and hold her feelings in like she normally did. She was taught to be elegant, professional and composed at all costs. Ever since that day in class, though, where she connected with Mina over their feelings for a certain arachnid, she had felt differently around her.

"…I failed, Mina," She choked, "Everyone watched me f-fail!"

Mina quickly came in for a hug as Momo's tears began running again, stronger than before. Her friend hung desperately to her, being she was one of few she felt she could trust with her heart's contents. Mina herself didn't entirely know what the right move was to help her, but a hug seemed to have been doing the trick.

"I had a chance…!" Momo exclaimed, "And I ruined it! I failed in front of all those people!" she gasped, "I failed in front of Peter …"

"Do you still feel that way for him?"

"…I don't know," Momo slumped against the wall, sitting down on the concrete as Mina joined at her side, "To be honest …I've always been jealous of him."

"Jealous?"

"Yes. He would ace his tests, perform elegantly during the Hero classes, impress everyone with his natural talent. I do admire him for it, but I was also envious. I wanted to be as good, if not better. I thought …I could win this tournament, or at least show people what I could do, and prove I was just as good of a hero as him."

"I get that …when he started giving me the admiration I always wanted, I clung so tightly to it. I guess …we both mistook our desires to be better as …something more, huh?"

Momo chuckled, "I guess we did. Maybe we projected those feelings onto the one person we thought could take it."

"I mean, I still like him a lot. Just …turns out it wasn't like that."

"… What's your point? I feel like there's a point that I'm not getting."

"You set your bar too high, Momo. We're all still in training, so, just try and cheer up!" She poked at the sides of her smile, "Like, I don't know, whisper 'strudels' to yourself!"

She snickered, "Strudels?"

"See, it worked!"

Momo laughed, leaning her head onto her friends' shoulder, "Thanks for being a good friend."

"Any time, happiness is my specialty."

…

Peter's eyes opened suddenly, blurred by grogginess and irritation to the light. His body wasn't sore anymore, but he still felt drained and weak. He blinked a few times to adjust his pupils to the light, a few tears forming and washing out the eye gunk. The last thing he remembers solidly was laying in Kendo's arms, then being carried away. Judging by where he was, they must have taken him to the infirmary. He groaned out loud as he rubbed his face, massaging it to force feeling back into his muscles.

His head tilted to the left, and he saw Izuku laying in the bed next to him. He was covered in bandages around his head and arms, some blood was on the cart of tools next to him. On that cart was a sewing kit, along with other small tools next to it. What happened to him, he wondered.

The time on the clock was much later than when he last checked it. Who knows where they were in the tournament by now?

"…Izuku?" Peter quietly called out, not wanting to wake him too suddenly, "Hey …Izuku?"

Midoryia groaned as he squeezed his eyes closed from exposure to the light. Going through the same motions as Peter had, he found him laying in the bed parallel, looking rather worried, "Peter? You're up." he asked weakly, "What happened to you?"

"Oh, you know, some asshole in purple. You?"

"…Todoroki."

His joking mood switched to concern on a dime, "Did you have to fight him?"

"Yeah …and I lost. But …" Izuku suddenly smiled, "At least I saved him."

He didn't quite understand what he meant by that, obviously there was some context that he was missing. Regardless, at least Izuku was ok, despite the evidence that something had been undergone while he slept, "Izuku," Peter pointed to the cart of sewing supplies, "What's with the tools?"

"Oh, I uh …I'm going to get surgery."

Peter sat up straight in an instant, the covers falling to his lap, "Surgery?! The hell happened in that fight?!"

Izuku looked surprised by his reaction, and guilty for the reason why. He couldn't keep looking directly at him, instead dodging his gaze to the blanket on top of him, "You know how Todoroki doesn't use the fire side of his quirk? Only the ice side? I found out it was because he was trying to reject his dad's power. I saw how much pain he was in and I …I really wanted to help him. I told him that power was his, not his fathers, and it gave him the courage to use it. Of course, it …costed me the match."

"You chose to help him …over winning?"

"Yeah …" Izuku finally looked up again with a smile, "It's like you said; I need to set my own golden standard for the kind of hero I want to be."

It was surprising that he remembered those words, almost feeling as though he said them so long ago. While it wasn't that long, only around a month, it felt longer after everything he's gone through since arriving here. In that short time, though, he's seen Izuku grow and begin to figure out who he is, a fact he respected, and could be proud of.

"So, what happened to you?" Izuku returned, "You weren't apart of any of the matches."

"Yeah …I got jumped by some guys, bad guys …villains."

Now it was Izuku who shot up in worry and shouted "What?!"

"I'm fine now, don't worry. The first guy showed up to kill me and failed, so another guy showed up to kill us both."

Transforming from worry, Izuku's face went to sheer frustration, "Geez, Peter! How many more times is this gonna happen?!"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been attacked, beaten, bloodied and broken so many times over the last month that you've nearly given May and my mom a heart attack, and I'm not far behind! Why are so many of your villains here in Japan?! Why do they all want you dead?! I just don't understand!"

He took a deep breath, retraining himself from getting to verbal with his roommate. He just wouldn't fully understand if he were to try and explain it to him yet. No one was ready for the truth, not now. It was hard enough for his world to accept the idea of gods among them, aliens from space, and now the multiverse. This world hadn't seen any of that yet, and it wasn't worth getting thrown into the insane asylum for, even if someone believed him.

"That's just the price of being a hero, Izuku," He finally answered, "I mean how many times has someone tried to kill All Might? It just …comes with the job."

"…Right," Izuku muttered, managing to calm himself down and lower his body back onto the mattress, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I can't blame you for being so worried after everything I've put you guys through. I was really hoping today would be a day off from all of that. I really thought I wouldn't need protection anymore."

The awkward pause only got worse when they just thought more on how awkward it was. If someone didn't break the tension, they would both go insane.

"So …surgery. I've been through that once or twice. Once got stabbed by a broken sword and had to get the shards removed."

"A broken sword? What was the context in that?"

A smile crept onto his face, "Depends. How much time do you have before your surgery?"

…

The festivals events continued with the second round of fights, Tenya faced off in the arena below as his friends watched from the bleachers. Most of the class had either been in the stands, or in the waiting room till their match came up. Momo, however, was somewhat in-between. Rather than sitting with her classmates, she stood quietly at the door leading to the stands, one hand on the wall and the other on her chest. The sight of the arena made her heart heavy with guilt, only seeing how badly she had failed. Mina had tried her best to cheer her up, and the effort was appreciated, but it didn't stop how horrible she was feeling.

"Yayorozu."

She twisted her head in a quick jolt when Todoroki spoke to her, standing a yard and a half away from the door she leaned upon. His expression was blank, but not quite as stern or aggressive as it had been earlier that day. The last time they talked, he wasn't the most pleasant receiver of her words, so her chest tightened at the sight of him.

"…Hello, Todoroki," She greeted monotonal.

"I wanted to say something to you," he stated, "About what you told me earlier."

A small pause took place, as he looked down at the ground. It was obvious to her that something in him had drastically changed since they last spoke. His shoulders weren't as stiff, looking much more relaxed and lower than normal. It eased her paranoia, but not her curiosity.
"Momo, when you confronted me before the festival started, you said 'we are all in this hero gig together,' and that '10 years from now, we could all be Pro heroes. And no matter how strong you think you are, we all will need each other'."

"…I did. Why are you bringing it up now?"

His eyes traveled up to meet with hers, "Part of me believes now that you may have been right."

Hearing those words loosened the invisible grip in her chest, feeling a little lighter on her back. Her blank expression became one of surprise. She had never expected Todoroki to show that much empathy for someone else. He had always been, for lack of a better word, cold to others. Could this sudden shift have something to do with his match against Izuku?

"You also asked me if I was doing this because of someone, and you were right about that too. I did this in detest of my father."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Just trying to make amends, that's all," stuffing his hands into his pockets, Shoto turned around and walked away from her without so much as a goodbye. He was resistant, but the gesture was there regardless, and she appreciated it. The effort he made for her was enough to ease her nerves, and motivate her to enter the stands with her friends.

"Momo!" Mina shouted, "Get over here and hug me! I lost my match to Tokoyami too!"

She snickered silently to herself, walking down the rows and sitting next to her, giving her a side hug with one arm as she cried in an overreactive fashion. Unknown to Momo, while Mina had lost her last match, she wasn't quite as upset as Momo was. She simply wanted to sympathize with her after seeing how she reacted losing to Tokoyami.

"One more match, and we enter the finals," Said Toru, bouncing up and down in excitement, "Who do you think is gonna win? Bakugo or Kirishima?"

"I'm rooting for Kirishima," Mina smiled warmly with her hands on her cheeks, "No way can Bakugo break through his tough armor."

"That's what you said when he fought Peter," Said Tsu, "And he lost."

"He lost the fight, but he won the match," Mina remined her, "I still count that as a win."

Any conversation the students had halted when a figure entered the stands. It was Peter Parker, and his cloths had several rips in them, the most noticeable being the large opening in the chest area of his jacket. Mina was the first to greet them with a smile on her face, "Hi Peter!" She exclaimed.

"Peter," greeted Tsu, "We saw you were in the infirmary with Izuku, and we were pretty worried. Recovery Girl made us all leave before we could even ask what had happened."

"Yeah …sorry. Some idiots jumped me, but I'm ok now. Don't worry, we're both fine."

Uraraka's face wasn't entirely buying that they were ok, more worried over Deku overall, "Will he be ok?" She asked as Peter sat down.

"Yeah, Izuku is a tough guy. They healed him enough so he could walk, but he went somewhere else to watch the match I think."

Mina, standing behind Peter, leaped forward and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, giving him a tight hug, "We were really worried about you guys! When Uraraka told us you and Izuku were injured, I wanted to come and see you but the nurse wouldn't let us! She said that you were beat up or something but I was like 'Peter wouldn't let that happen; he'd beat the crap out of the other guy!'"

"I'll …look I'll tell you guys about it later. Right now, I just wanna watch the rest of the matches!"

"OOooh! Ok!" Mina jumped into the set next to him, "Kirishima is up next! And he's gonna fight Bakugo! What's your bet?"

"Kirishima," He scoffed, "I'll cheer for Bakugo when he smiles at me."

"Told ya!" She shouted, "He's gotta win now!"

Her excitement over Kirishima's prejudged victory didn't go unnoticed. The thought of him brought happiness to Mina. Normally, a lot of things brought happiness to her, but this seemed different. He remembered how indifferent she was with her feelings toward himself, and perhaps this was the reason why. Perhaps her feelings; her true feelings; were actually directed toward someone else.

"You and Kirishima close?" Peter asked.

"Something like that. He and I went to the same middle school, so we've been friends for a while. Getting to see how much he's grown has been fun."

"I'm sure he feels the same way," He grinned.

Fortunately, Mina was rather oblivious to Peter's hints about her connection with Kirishima. She just continued her happy mood while Kirishima's match with Bakugo had begun. She watched very closely at the red-haired hero, pumping her fists into the air with anticipation as they fought. It relieved him knowing that her true feelings may have laid with someone else besides himself, considering how he first reacted to her indirect confession.

The match came and went, and Bakugo emerged victorious over Kirishima.

"Aw man!" Pouted Mina, "That's so not fair! Kirishima totally had him!"

"Next time Mina," He reassured her, "Next time."

Tsu placed a finger on her chin, having to do a bit of math to figure out everyone that was left in the tournament, "So that just leaves Tenya, Tokoyami, Todoroki and Bakugo."

"Hope Tenya has someone watching him back home. Same to the others too …even Bakugo," Said Peter with a groan at the end.

"Tenya said his brother was watching," Uraraka chimed in, "Though apparently he's been having trouble reaching him between matches. He is a Pro hero so I guess he must be pretty busy. I think Bakugo's parents are watching, but I don't know much for Tokoyami or Shoto."

"His father is watching," Momo cut in abruptly, "Shoto's father, Endeavor, is watching him."

"Oh, I bet he's super proud!"

She sighed, looking down at her feet, "I doubt he cares."

Izuku had eventually joined them in the stands as the next few matches came and went. Tenya ended up facing against Shoto in a battle, and didn't emerge victories. Shoto did however express the difficulty in fighting him, which made him feel much better. The gesture hadn't gone unnoticed to Momo once again, as she continued to gather evidence of the change in his heart that was taking place. Tokoyami had fought Bakugo, and lost due to his shadow's weakness to the light that Bakugo's quirk generated. Now it was Shoto verses Bakugo left before a winner could be declared.

"I wonder what this match will be like …besides intense," Izuku muttered.

"Those two are some of the most powerful in the class," Peter added, "As much as it pains me to admit how good Bakugo is. Though I don't know if it'll be as intense as when you fought Shoto."

"You'll have to take notes for next time," Tenya said as he entered the stands with a confident smile on his face.

"Iida!" Peter greeted, "I thought you did great out there regardless of the results."

"Thank you, I appreciate it," He returned.

Tenya suddenly started vibrating unexpectedly, nearly making his friends jump out of their shoes. When asked what was wrong, Iida simply said it was his phone as he pulled it out. He had nearly given them a heart attack with how strong the ring tone was.

While the others didn't notice, Peter took note of how Iida's expression changed so suddenly after seeing the caller I.D. It was a mixture of confusion and worry. He hadn't even spoken a word further to his allies before taking it into the hall out back. Something was wrong, and he didn't need a spider-sense to see that. Without an explanation, he got out of his seat and followed Tenya at a distance.

Entering the hall, he found him on the phone. He seemed to have been speaking to his mother, telling her how he lost. Whatever she said next sent him into shock. He was frozen in place, the phone lowered slightly from his ear as his pupils shrunk in painful focus. His fingers were shaking, and sweat formed on his head as his breathing quietly sped up.

Peter knew what this was. He was the same way anytime someone mentioned his Uncle.

The phone dropped seamlessly out of Iida's hands, thankfully not reaching the ground before Peter could shoot a web and catch it, yanking it into his own grasp. The action forced them to make eye contact, tears starting to form in Iida's eyes. Based on experience, Peter knew there was nothing he could say that would help, not with the wound so fresh. Instead, Peter slowly walked over to his friend and placed the phone back into his hands, before pulling him into a hug. He hadn't expected him to hug back, not with how he was in shock. Peter just knew that this one hug would go a long way in the future.

Even Peter could feel how the vibe suddenly changed in Iida. Carefully, he pushed Peter away and wiped out any tears that may have formed, standing straight with his arms at his side.

"…Iida," but Peter couldn't speak any more than that, he didn't want to hurt him.

"Guys?" Izuku called out, Uraraka seemingly clinging to his good arm as they approached them, "Is something wrong?"

"Midoryia …Uraraka …Peter," Iida began, "I know that this is sudden, but I have to leave now," His tone changed slightly, just hinting at the pain he was trying to hide, "A villain got my older brother."

Both Uraraka and Izuku gasped, the latter being the first to respond, "Wait …you're saying Ingenium is hurt?"

"Yes."

"Do they think he's gonna be ok?" Asked Uraraka.

"I don't know many details yet. That's why I have to go right away."

As much as they wanted to stop him, Iida took off rather quickly with only a wave goodbye. Peter couldn't blame him for reacting the way he has, trying to force the feelings down instead of facing them. He must be feeling so much more than he can handle.

"I know what he's going through," Peter said suddenly, almost startling his friends after the break of silence, "There must be so much going through his mind that the only way to cope with it while it's so new is by forcing yourself to feel so little. He just needs time with his family before he can accept it. On the bright side …at least his brother is still alive."

"…Yeah," Uraraka muttered, "But I'm still really worried about him. He's our friend, and I feel so useless not being able to help him." Uraraka looked down at her feet, holding her fingers together in self-pity. That kind of attitude wasn't healthy for anyone, especially not someone as sweet as her.

"It's ok, Ochaco," Izuku smiled at her, "He'll be alright."

Seeing his smile was enough to make Uraraka feel a little better, even make the natural blush on her cheek only get deeper.

"Let's just …watch the last match, guys," suggested Peter, "We'll call him later, yeah?"

They both nodded, following behind Peter as they went back to their seats.

The final match came and Bakugo fought against Todoroki. In the climax of the battle, Momo noticed how Todoroki seemed to surrender and allow Bakugo to beat him. She didn't understand at first, until she thought more about what was going through his head. It was doubtful he felt he needed to win anymore, having nothing more to prove to his father now that he accepted his power. Perhaps losing was simply the better option for him, emotionally.

After the final gathering where the top three were awarded their medals, one of the three more resistant to it. Bakugo didn't feel as though he earned the victory, and his anger forced them to tie him up while they bestowed the medal. It was enough to make Peter laugh, despite his mind still being on what Iida had just gone through, and is likely still going through.

Everyone finally began to walk home together in groups. The sun was starting to set as everyone left the arena dressed in their normal school outfits rather than their gym uniforms. Mina stayed at Kirishima's side, talking about their fights and getting rather pumped up over it. They were making each other laugh and smile, a faint blush on Mina's face. Peter, still wearing his torn-up cloths, walked alone until he saw Kendo just ahead of him.

"Hey!" he said, rushing up to her. Upon seeing him, Kendo dropped her expression and gave him a tight hug, the relief that her friend was ok enough to almost make her cry.

"I'm really glad you're alright, Peter! I was so worried!"

"I'm alright, Kendo. Thank you," They let the hug, go, but Peter kept his arms on her shoulders, "Thank you …for coming to my rescue."

Kendo blushed slightly, putting a hand on his cheek, "Guess you owe me now."

"I guess I do."

Momo walked on her own, holding onto her arms as she looked at the ground. Despite her friend's support, she still felt horrible for how her first match had gone. When Peter saw her walk by, seeing her posture, she looked to Kendo for permission to check on her. Once granted, Peter took off at an even pace.

"Hey, Momo," Peter approached her, tapping her shoulder lightly, "I heard about what happened with your match. How're you holding up?"

"What do you mean 'holding up'?"

"…Mina and I talked."

"…Oh."

Peter stuffed his hands into his pockets, "I know what it's like to lose in front of people. Spider-Man has lost countless times against supervillains he first meets-"

"This isn't about you!" She suddenly shouted, making her fellow classmates around her stop and stare, "I wanted to show everyone I was just as good as you and I screwed up! Why do you have to be so freaking perfect at this hero thing?!"

Mere seconds after she spoke, she covered her mouth in utter shock. There was nothing she could do to prevent it; her mind had just snapped in a single moment. Tears formed in her eyes and flowed over her knuckles.

"…I'm so sorry," She muffled through her hands, "I didn't mean to …I didn't mean to say that …"

Peter wanted to find the right thing to say to her, more than anything he wanted to make her feel better. Ever since they first met, he always noticed a small hole in her confidence, yet always portrayed it as skill and elegance. Now, though, it seems the hole has only gotten bigger. Losing her first match in only a dozen seconds is enough to hurt anyone's confidence, especially in a tournament where impressing others is key. Words were entirely lost to him, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

Shoto had stopped as well to look back at her reaction, a hint of sympathy washing over him. It was strange, but there was a piece of him that wasn't there before, and it was telling him that he should try and do something to cheer her up. The problem was that he had no idea what he should even do, it's not like he was experienced with the 'friend' dilemma.

"…Momo, I'm sorry I made you feel like that," Muttered Peter, "I'm not perfect at this. I've screwed up before too."

"I know …" She choked, "I just … "

Every one of her classmates had different thoughts on the matter. Some wanted to hug her, others wanted to look away, and the rest were somewhere in-between. Bakugo didn't really care as much as everyone, even if he did stop to look like the others had. Mina held onto Kirishima, feeling as though her efforts to make her feel better before had completely failed. Mei didn't know her very well, yet could feel what she was trying to say about wanting to be better. Normally she was so upbeat, but this managed to bring her down to earth.

Kendo of all people knew how much she wanted to prove she was strong. Having spent so much time training with her, she knew what victory had meant to her, to prove to everyone she was worth the recommendations she got coming into U.A. Momo would hide it, but she struggled with confidence just like her friends.

It didn't help that everyone was watching her now.

A sudden alarm broke the awkward tension that had built up between the many students. The sound came from a police car that drove up just a few yards from the closest walking student. Stepping out of the vehicle was Detective Naomasa, the same man who had interrogated Peter before the station attack weeks earlier. He was dressed in a nice shirt with a tie, and a tan trench coat.

It seemed strange trying to talk to 40 plus students as they were walking back to class, but business was just that, "I'm looking for Peter Parker of class 1-A?" he called out.

He didn't want to just walk away from Momo, but Peter felt as though this was important, so he began moving toward Naomasa, stopping just two yards away, "Detective Naomasa. What can I do for you?"

"I'm terribly sorry to do this to you, I really am. Quite a bit of evidence has come up and I'm afraid I need to take you in for questioning. I'm legally bound to say that if you don't come quietly, I'll have to arrest you."

As much as Peter couldn't believe what he was hearing, he also expected it to happen sooner or later. There was a good chance this was about everything that was brought up during Norman Osborns court case. The police probably started looking into the claims and found holes in Peter's story. He could only look upon all his friends as they looked back in utter shock.

"What?!" Shouted Izuku as he rushed over to him, "You can't be serious! Peter hasn't done anything wrong! You can't arrest him!"

One by one, the other students, at least those closer to Peter than others, started crowding around Naomasa and argued their points on why he shouldn't be doing this. The only few who stayed back were Bakugo because he didn't care, Kendo and Momo out of pure shock, the rest of class B, and Mei, having no idea how to respond.

Naomasa started feeling overwhelmed by the angry super powered children, to a point where he felt threatened enough that he was reaching for his taser. Upon seeing that action, Peter jumped into the air and landed in front of Naomasa, startling and silencing everyone who got between them.

"Guys …it's ok," Peter stated without turning around to face them, "Just let him take me."

"But, Peter," Tsu objected, "You don't deserve this!"

"Yeah!" Shouted Toru, "You haven't even done anything!"

"With all due respect, Detective," Shoto made his way through the crowd, his hands in his pockets as he held a very serious expression, "Peter Parker has done nothing but help people since his arrival at U.A. The station and school attacks, the assassination attempt at the court room? Peter has only tried to do the right thing. On what charges are you arresting him?"

"That's classified," He answered.

"If you don't have an answer," he stood in front of Peter, "Then you don't have him."

"Son, if you don't stand aside-"

"No one has the right to call me 'son', sir. I doubt you can arrest everyone here, or even so much as take us. Unless you give us a good reason, Peter Parker is going nowhere."

Shoto's commitment to this was surprising, but enough that everyone stood at his side, shielding Peter from Naomasa's view entirely. He was hoping that he could do this without starting anything, but it seemed he would have to just share his reasoning.

"Ok," Naomasa gave in, "Peter Parker has been at the center of many villain attacks. The police looked into the claims made in Osborns trial toward Peter, and a few of them managed to check out. Peter Parker is to be brought in for questioning on these claims."

"Oh, come on!" Shouted Mina, "I don't buy any of that for a second!"

"It doesn't matter," He held up his badge, "It's the law. I know Peter has done some good. He's a good kid and a great student, but this can't be avoided any longer because of that. I'm sorry."

Peter's hand reached one shoulder of his classmates at a time, pushing through them. A look of guilt, and sorrow rested on his face, silencing any of their arguments in a second. It warmed his heart to see them defend him, showing just how close he had grown with them in such a short time. However, he wasn't going to let any of them risk their safety to keep himself out of trouble. This was something he simply had to face. Making his way fully to the front, his arm was grabbed by Mina, who looked like she was about to cry. He patted her hand, and smiled as he pushed her grasp off.

"It's ok, guys," Peter said, "Let me go."

As much as many of them wanted to argue, Peter seemed to have made up his mind.

Naomasa gently took him by the shoulder, guiding him over to the police car as everyone watched in despair.

"Wait!"

Kendo's voice rang out as she rushed through the crowd as quickly as she could. Naomasa worried there would be trouble, but still kept his composure through it. When Kendo reached them, she took a second to catch her breath before saying "Take me with him."

"What?" he questioned, "Why would I do that?"

"I was at every villain attack too," She said, "I fought with him every time. And I …I don't want him to be alone."

He was originally going to say no, but hearing the sadness in her voice made him give in to the gesture, "Fine, just don't cause any trouble."

Peter wanted to say something in objection, but all words ceased when she took his hand and locked her fingers around his. The look in her eyes told him there was nothing he could do to change her mind. He smiled, almost tearing up when she touched shoulders with him, stepping into the vehicle and locking the door behind them.

Peter looked out the window, seeing that Izuku was standing up front in the crowd. Their eyes locked on one another, trading thoughts and feelings with one another. Izuku was utterly speechless, holding onto the straps of his bag as he watched his friend drive off in the police car. It felt as though his heart had sank to the bottom of his check and shattered upon landing. Everyone who cared enough could only stand frozen, unsure of what to do.

Even Bakugo, as little as he cared, stood in surprise.

Mei was holding a bag of her inventions in her arms, before carefully dropping it to the ground by her feet. She placed a hand on her chest, trying to understand why her heart was beating so fast, so aggressively. Peter is just a working partner, nothing more, right? Why was this affecting her as much as it was? She was angry, confused, stressed and even scared. She was supposed to value her inventions over people, so why was this so different? Why did she care so much? Did she see him as a friend?

The crowd slowly began to disperse, seeing nothing else they could do now. All that remained behind were a select few. Mina stayed in distraught, accompanied by Kirishima. Izuku was still frozen in place, Uraraka perhaps being the only thing keeping him from falling over. Momo had been silently crying in the back, hating that the last thing she said to him was something of an insult.

And on everyone's mind; 'How could this happen'?