Hello everyone, Lealius here with a new chapter
In this one, Izumi faces the Christmas season
With that, enjoy
Shikimoris not Just a Cutie and its characters belong to Keigo Maki
Spider-man and its characters belong to Marvel Comics
Cover Image made by KrystalDragonArt
Shoutout to 501awezome and Diabolos Dragon for their help. Without it, This chapter would not have been possible
Monday December the 16th
After a couple of chaotic weeks, the gang could finally catch a break
-"Everybody, good work on your exams!" the teacher said "Im going to hand out the career counseling print-outs"
They passed the print-outs to each other
-"Since the third semester starts with the school trip, make sure not to slack off too much! Just a little bit until winter break, let's do our best!"
After that, they went to the cafeteria
-"EXAMS ARE OVER!" Nekozaki said, a weight off her back, she looked at her surroundings "The cafeterias so empty"
-"Just cause it's open again doesn't mean people will come" Shikimori said "There's only been morning classes recently, so everyone's either going home or eating in the classroom"
-"Well" Izumi said "Now we have to choose our career paths. Have you guys decided already?"
-"NOT AT ALL!" said both Nekozaki and Hachimitsu, striking a dramatic pose for some reason
-"Better yet" Nekozaki said, getting closer to Izumi, she was excited "WHAT SHOULD WE DO DURING WINTER BREAK!? ALSO ALSO, ISN'T THE SCHOOL TRIP NEXT SEMESTER IN KYOTO?! MAYBE ITLL BE CO-ED GROUPS!?"
-"If" Izumi replied, a little taken back by his friends excitement "IfIm not mistaken, I think so"
-"We should start looking up places we want to go" Inuzuka said, also sharing the excitement
-"That reminds me" Shikimori said "It's been a while since I've eaten here"
-"Yeah" Nekozaki agreed "Were always eating in the classroom. Let's come here more next year!"
-"Since we'll probably be in different classes, that sounds good" Inuzuka said
-"Huh?" Nekozaki was lost
-"I mean, lzumi and I are going the STEM route… Shikimori too, I think?"
-"I am pretty much settled on STEM" the pink haired confirmed
-"And you two" referring to Nekozaki and Hachimitsu "Went with Liberal Arts, right?"
To this, the cat girl and short one faces went pale
-"Did you guys not realize that?"
-"NO WAAAAAAAAAAY!" Nekozaki yelled in despair, almost falling from her chair "We'll all be together until we're six feet under"
-"That's too clingy" Inuzuka said "Also, strange choice of words considering you were kidnapped"
-"Are you planning on repeating your second year forever?" Hachimitsu asked
-"...I see" Izumi said "Even though it's this fun everyday, someday it won't be the norm anymore"
They all stared at him
-"Aren't you dramatic, Izumi"
-"No way" Nekozaki said, face struggling to accept this reality "BUT WE'VE HARDLY GONE ANYWHERE! WE HAVEN'T GONE TO KARAOKE OR EATING WHILE WALKING, AND WE HAVEN'T GONE TO THE AMUSEMENT PARK, THE POOL OR A CONCERT!"
-"Itll be alright" Shikimori said with a small smile "If we actually do that"
Looking at her, Izumi realized something "The reason everyday is so fun, is because everyone is here, afterall" despite the gloomy atmosphere, he felt hopeful "If this is definitely going to end someday, I should spend time with everyone, and make sure this high school life… Is cherished…" he smiled "That's right, I don't want any regrets!"
They all smiled to his positive attitude
-"THEN LET'S START A LIST OF THINGS WE WANT TO DO!" Nekozaki said, having recovered quite quickly
They all gave suggestions, until it was
-"MICCHON, WHAT DO YOU WANNA DO?!"
-"Oh…." she went quiet, not expecting to be the center of attention
-"THE HECK IS OH?! DO YOU REALLY HAVE NOTHING!?"
-"BBQ"
-"We did that"
-"The river"
-"Done that"
-"Shopping"
-"We did all of this in the summer"
She was struggling
-"The aquarium, the movies, summer festival, fireworks, the planetarium"
-"See, you can do it if you try!"
-"She's done all of those with me" Izumi though, slightly blushing "She probably just said whatever came to mind. . . But couldn't she have told me she wants to go again?"
Noticing her boyfriend looking at him, Shikimori meekly clapped her hands together, and whispered "Im sorry!"
Finding her cute, he forgave her
They kept throwing ideas, until they realized they wrote a quite long list
-"Do..don't you think this is a bit much for just one year?" Nekozaki said
-"It should be fine" Inuzuka said, not concerned "After we graduate and enter society, it should be easy to stay in contact and keep meeting up. It's not that hard"
-"Inuzuka-kun" Izumi said, touched at his friends encouragement "Thats a great point! Youre so cool!"
-"What? Quit it!" the dog boy said, slightly embarrassed
-"Well" Shikimori said "That just means it'll be even more fun after we graduate"
In the end, rather than a list of things to do until graduation
They simply went for a list of things to do, and that's it
Izumi was back home, looking at his career counseling print-outs
-"What to choose?" he then remembered something "I guess something that balances out with my duties as Spider-man" he looked at his calendar "It's been two and a half months since I became Spider-man, and a lot of things certainly changed" he frowned "I only wish we were closer to exposing Kingpin. Captain Kamiyas been investigating hard, but he hasn't found new clues" he felt irritated "I wish I could help him in that regard, but Im not an investigator" he stretched his arms "Well, the new year is around the corner, maybe something good will come with it"
He then remembered that christmas was around the corner
-"This will be" he looked down, feeling sad "The first christmas that we spend without dad"
He remembered all the christmas parties he's had with his family over the years
Enjoying delicious food, chatting about anything, and opening presents
-"Things won't ever be like that again, right?..." he shook his head "No, I cant let myself sulk in despair… I have to work properly so mom can enjoy herself… speaking of which, I better think of a present for her"
That's when he came up with an idea
-"Yeah, that should work!" he started to browse through his phone, looking for a particular store
Meanwhile, in an unknown location, three figures were standing in front of a screen
One, the leader of them, was a muscular man with a black goatee and bangs opened
He was Susanoo
The second one was another muscular man with no hair, and an ugly scar on his left eye
He was Tsukuyomi
Finally, a beautiful and tall woman with a slim figure, and green hair color
She was Amaterasu
The three were traditional japanese kimonos
One yellow like the sun, for Amaterasu
One blue like the ocean, for Susanoo
One white as the moon, for Tsukuyomi
-"So, we have a deal then?" the figure on the screen said. It was Kingpin
-"We will, Kingpin" Susanoo sai"
-"I expect you to deliver. Dont fail"
To this, Susanoo unsheathed his katana, silver colored, and slash at a nearby metal pipe, cutting it into two
-"Consider Spider-man… eliminated"
The three mercenaries bow to Kingpin
The next monday, the 23th, Nekozaki and Kamiya were walking around town
-"Say, Kamiya"
-"Hm?"
-"You have any plans for christmas?"
-"Nope" she simply replied "It's been so long since Ive done anything"
-"HUH?! NO WAY!"
To her friend shocked reaction, Kamiya had a calm smile "Im not too interested in celebrating"
-"Then how about this"
-"Eh?"
-"How about you come to our girls-only christmas party on the 24th, after the closing ceremony? Itll be with Micchon and Hachitmitsu"
-"Is…" she was taken back "Is that okay? shouldn't you ask"
-"It's fine! It's fine!" she waved off her concerns
-"Then…" she looked away, slightly embarrassed "It should be fine"
-"OK! I'll run it by them when I get home!"
And with that, they parted ways
It was 1 am
And Kamiya had a problem
Tomorrows party had her nervous. Sure, she has hung out with Nekozaki more, and Shikimori was also her friend, despite what happened during the cultural festival
But she has never participated in an activity like this
She was close to send Nekozaki a message to ask if it was really ok for her to come
Only to decide against it
-"I am never gonna sleep like this"
The following morning, on his way to school, Izumi ran into Hachimitsu
-"Morning, Hachimitsu-san" Izumi said
-"Morning Izumi"
-"Shikimori-san told me you are having a party after the ceremony, right?"
-"That's right. We are having a gift exchange, alongside going to a karaoke place"
-"Sounds good, I hope you get a good gift"
-"Way ahead of you" she showed him a copy of a videogame
-"Crash Brothers? Is that the one youve been waiting for? I remember that you told me"
-"Yes. It took all my savings. You guys wont be seeing me for a while"
-"Hehehe" he found her excitement catchy "Well, I hope you enjoy it"
The school day and ceremony was over
Kamiya went to the others
-"Let's get going! " Nekozaki said "Also, this is Hachimitsu"
-"Howdy"
-"Nice to meet you"
Hachimitsu looked down
-"She's a little shy with strangers"
-"I see… Sorry about that"
-"It's alright" Shikimori said "She was so curious about Kamiya that she was asking questions all night"
-"DONT TELL HER!"
To this, Kamiya couldn't help but smiled embarrassed, but she was happy
Their first stop was a gift shop, they needed gifts for the exchange
-"REPORT BACK HERE IN AN HOUR, THE PRICE LIMIT IS 1500 YEN!"
-"Eh" Kamiya said, caught off guard "Wait"
But it was too late, the others were gone
Deciding to get a move on, she looked around the store for a bit, but was at a loss
She approached Nekozaki, and decided to ask her for a suggestion
-"Anything you'd be happy receiving should be good, right?"
-"I see… I'll work with that"
She also decided to ask Shikimori
-"Hmmm… You don't have to think too hard about it" she smiled at her "If it's something Kamiya picks out, I'd be happy regardless of what it is"
-"Thanks" she felt relieved
She kept looking for a gift, until
-"Whats up?" Hachimitsu said from behind her
-"Ha" Kamiya was startled "Um you surprised me. You picked
really quickly, did you not have any trouble?"
-"I went by instinct" the short girl replied, a deadpan expression on her face "All the combined knowledge and experiences in my head work out to be "instinct"... Which gives me the best answer"
-"This.. This is" Hachimitsus voice trigger something on Kamiya
-"If I had to sum it up… It's like you're not even thinking"
-"The same thing the coach said"
She grabbed the blondies hands "Cou...Could you please teach me more? Hachimitsu-san… No, sensei!"
-"Very well… So enthusiastic"
Unbeknownst to them, Shikimori and Hachimitsu were watching
-"She's… Shes really opening herself up!"
-"Hachimitsu looks so happy"
Eventually, after buying their gifts, they went to the karaoke place
Food already set on the table, they were ready to go
-"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Nekozaki said cheerfully, to which the others replied in kind "LET'S BEGIN THE GIFT EXCHANGE! HACHITMISTU, YOU OPEN YOURS FIRST!"
The short one open the big bag that was given to her, which was loaded with all sorts of snacks
-"Neko... it's no surprise this is what was in your strangely huge bag. Are you trying to deluxe size me over the winter break?" obviously, she was not mad about this sort of gift
-"I'm next!" Nekozaki said "Whose is this?"
-"Thats mine" Kamiya said
Tearing apart the wrapping paper, she got a book that had a cover of a small hero a top a chimney, overlooking some sort of futuristic city
-"EH?! THE COVER IS REALLY NICE AND ALL, BUT WHYD YOU GO WITH THIS?"
-"Actually, It's one of my favorite books"
-"For real?"
-"It's good for people who don't read much. It's a pretty popular picture book aimed at adults. I've always wanted to talk about my thoughts on it with someone…" she was blushing, embarrassed about talking about her hobbies "...And I don't mean today per se. We can talk about it another time" then she realized something "But Nekozaki doesn't read much so it's probably not the best match. l might've picked something too serious for Christmas… And also"
She noticed her friends holding her chests, or hiding her faces
-"What happened?" Kamiya was confused
-"AM I WORTHY OF RECEIVING SUCH A GIFT?!" Nekozaki asked, on the verge of tears
-"It's impossible not to fall for someone so lovable" Hachimitsu said, using her hands to make a heart
-"Such destructive power" Shikimori said, blushing
-"?... I don't get it, but they seem happy" Kamiya thought, she then went for her gift "I'll open my gift now"
-"Ah, that's mine" Shikimori said
She opened the box
-"It's a hungry hamster that holds a 500 yen coin" Shikimori said
-"Wow" Kamiya said, a hand on her chin, but she was happy "It's amazing!"
-"ISN'T IT!" Shikimori said, feeling happy that she liked it
-"They seem to really get each other" Nekozaki said
-"I dont get it" Hachimitsu said
Next was Shikimori, her gift courtesy of Hachimitsu
It was a new eye liner
-"A new color came out so I totally had to get it" Hachimistu said, totally nailing it with her choice
-"Whoa, it's really cute!" Shikimori said
-"YOU TRAITOR!" Nekozaki yelled, jumping at Hachimitsu
Looking at the their of them with their playful banter
Kamiya could not help but giggle… She was really having a good time
But before their enjoyment could continue, someone opened the door
-"Huh?" they looked at the door
And saw Susanoo, Amaterasu, and Tsukuyomi entered
-"Did you girls invite someone else?" Kamiya asked
-"N-No" Nekozaki said, not expecting this
-"Can we help you with something?" Shikimori asked
-"Which one will do, brother?" Amaterasu asked, ignoring the pink-haired question
-"Anyone will do" Susanoo said
-"Ooh!" Tsukuyomi, not containing his excitement, quickly dashed at Hachimitsu, holding two crescent moon short swords next to her neck
-"WA!" the short one panicked
-"HACHIMITSU!" Shikimori, Nekozaki, and Kamiya yelled
-"CAN WE TAKE HER, BROTHER?!" Tsukuyomi said with lust in his voice "PLEASE, PRETTY PLEASE!?"
-"Very well" Susanoo said
-"HEY!" Nekozaki said, approaching him "GET AWAY FROM HER!"
-"Amaterasu!" Susanoo called
-"Yes brother" Amaterasu revealed two mirror-like objects from beneath her sleeves "Bask under the suns light"
The girls were engulfed by a shiny light
-"Agh!" they had to cover her eyes, it was like trying to watch directly to the sun itself
Eventually the light fade out
-"Ngh" Kamiya said, adjusting her vision "Shikimori, Nekozaki, Hachimitsu, are you ok?"
-"I" Nekosaki rubbed her eyes "I am fine"
-"Same here" Shikimori said
But, there was one issue
-"Wait! Wheres Hachimitsu?!"
Hachimitsu was gone
-"Those guys must have taken her!" Nekozaki said while panicking "What do we do now?!"
-"I'll call father" Kamiya said, already on the phone
Meanwhile, Izumi was finishing his shopping before dinner
Then, he saw the news notification
And when he read a particular name… His eyes went wide in fear
He quickly dialed a number
-"Izumi-san!" Shikimori said terrified
-"Shikimori-san!" he felt slightly better that she could hear her voice "Are you ok? What exactly happened?"
-"I am fine, but… some people took Hachimitsu!"
-"What?!" he could not believe it, why would anyone do that? "Where are you now?"
-"Were still at the karaoke place. Kamiyas father is already here, he has taken our testimonies. He's talking to the owner now, trying to check the footage to see who were the kidnappers"
-"I am glad you three are safe, but poor Hachimitsu-san"
Specially on Christmas
-"Micchon!" Nekozaki called
-"I'm coming!" she yelled back "I have to go, Izumi-san, they want us to look at the footage to identify the kidnappers"
-"Be careful, Shikimori-san. You, Nekozaki-san, and Kamiya-san. Dont leave until the police says so"
-"We will. We'll do what we can to save Hachimitsu. Be careful as well"
And she hung up
-"Hachimitsu-san" he thought of her friend "Hang in there"
Looking around, he saw a deserted alleyway
It was Spider-man time
At their usual meeting place. After the incident with his former senpai, they had agreed to meet up in secret whenever a kidnapping happened, since Spider-man skills could be necessary
-"Spider-man" Captain Kamiya said "I guess you saw the news"
-"Yeah. Any idea who they might be?"
-"Susanoo, Amaterasu, and Tsukuyomi"
-"Huh?"
-"Not the actual gods, obviously. They are known in the black market as mercenaries, working for anyone who can afford them"
-"Mercenaries… Afford them" he made the connection "Are you thinking?"
-"That Fisk is behind this?" he bitterly said "Yes, I do"
Izumi was angry
-"Any idea where they might be?"
-"I do. They left their coordinates for you"
-"Why would they do that? If they are mercenaries, wouldn't they want to be more discreet?"
-"I thought the same, but, if we go with the fact that Kingpin hired them, he must be countering what happened at the party"
-"You mean Vultures attack?"
-"Yes. After you saved the people there, your support has increased, while Fisks image took some damage"
-"And he's angry and went after someone who's innocent"
-"It's just who he is"
-"I'll save Hach, I mean, the hostage"
-"We'll be close by to interfere when the time is right, but be careful, these guys are dangerous" the captain said, ignoring that slip of tongue
He could feel his body shaking with fear, but that hasn't stop him now, and it was not gonna do it now
At an abandoned warehouse
-"It shouldn't be long before Spider-man shows up, brothers" Amaterasu said
-"OH, I CAN HARDLY CONTAIN MYSELF!" Tsukuyomi said, a blade next to Hachimitsu, who was tied up, and with a napkin covering her mouth, having her gagged
Suddenly, Spider-man, Izumi, entered through a window
-"Welcome, Spider-man" Susanoo said, standing next to the hostage "I am Susanoo, this one here is my dear sister Amaterasu, and this is my dear brother Tsukuyomi" he bowed to the web-head "A pleasure to meet you"
-"This is not pleasant at all" Izumi thought "You guys are working for Kingpin, aren't you?"
-"That's irrelevant to the case. What matters now is that we have a duty to fulfill if we want to get whats ours"
-"I dont care about that. Release her, now!"
-"We will if you defeat the three of us" Susanno replied, preparing his sword "However, we are not without a sense of fairness, so we should take you on one at the time. I do warn you, we fight to kill"
Izumi found it strange that an enemy would give him so many warnings, but no point in complaining
-"Tsukuyomi" Susanoo commanded
-"YES, DEAR BROTHER" the bald mercenary with two moon swords said as he took a step forward "I AM GONNA ENJOY THIS!"
Izumi took a battle stance, unaware of the meaningful look Susanoo and Amaterasu exchanged
-"HERE I GO!" he dashed at the young hero
-"He's fast!" Izumi thought, dodging an upcoming slash that passed his face closely
-"GOOD, YOU ARE AGILE" he licked his lips, Izumi felt disgusted
Using his left blade, he went at the hero with a downward diagonal slash, followed by an upper slash with his right blade
Izumi kept on dodging, the blades that, while not cutting him, were keeping him on the defense
-"He indeed has quite good reflexes" Susanno said, stroking his chin in thought
Tsukuyomi sent two slashes at the same time, trying to cut off Izumis head
However, the young hero ducked, and used this opportunity to throw a punch at his opponent's face
-"Sorry about this" he said
The fist connected against his opponent, who took a few steps back
-"Hehehe" the criminal laughed, despite the hit he just took, he was not bothered "YES! FINALLY! SOMEONE WHO CAN FIGHT BACK!"
Izumi shivered in fear a bit at how excited his opponent was
-"It appears we will have to interfere sooner than expected" Susanoo whispered, then looked at his sister, who nodded in agreement
Time to put their plan into action
-"MORE, MORE" Tsukuyomi said as he kept on his barrage of attacks
Despite his crazy state, each attack was done in a precise manner, not in a reckless one, keeping the hero on his toes
But suddenly, he jumped back
-"Huh?" Izumi was confused
And in a quick dash, Amaterasu dashed forward, drawing his mirror like objects
-"Bask under mi light!"
And he was greeted by the same light that she used against the girls earlier on
-"Agh!" he covered his eyes
Then his vibrations went off on his head
-"What the"
By instit, he jumped left. However
-"Ngh"
He grabbed his left side in pain
Susanoo stood a couple of feet away, his katana sword tainted in blood
The blood of Izumi
-"Impressive" he said, taking off a pair of special sunglasses he was wearing for some reason "Despite being temporarily blinded by my sisters light, you were still able to dodge my attack"
-"You" his hand was tainted in blood, thankfully it wasn't a deep cut "You said you will fight me one at the time"
To this, Susanoo gave him an amused look "And you believed me? Hehe"
Izumi couldn't help but feel bad at how easily fooled he was, and that he forgot something important "That must be the light that Captain Kamiya warned me about! Thank goodness for my vibrations"
But he had a problem now, how can he fight back?
This process kept on going for some minutes
Tsukuyomi would keep the hero on the defensive with his attacks, regardless that they were missing. Then, Amaterasu would use her light to temporarily blind him. And finally, Susanoo would charge forward with his katana sword to deliver cuts
After a bit, Izumi had different cuts in is arms and belly, all of them dripping blood
-"I need to think of something!"
Once more, Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu exchanged positions, and once more, the latter would use her blind to blind him
Fortunately, as he was about to be blinded by the light, he noticed the mirror like devices she was using below her sleeves
-"Those mirrors" he said while dodging another attack by Susanoo, yet another cut on him "She must be using those to generate the light" he also noticed something else "I saw them using a pair of glasses, they must be to protect themselves from the light!"
Now that he knew what their strategy was, all he needed was a way to counter attack
-"YOURE BORING ME, SPIDER-MAN!" Tsukuyomi said, and dashed at the hero once more
After a few attempts of cutting him, he switched with his sister once more
She got her mirrors ready
But right before she could activate her light
Izumi grabbed them
-"Huh?"
-"Not anymore!" and crushed them, bits of glass and cables falling to the ground
-"No way!" Amaterasu was terrified
-"Take this!" Izumi threw a punch at her opponent, who was send flying against a couple of boxes, crashing them as she landed on them
-"SISTER!" both brothers yelled in concern
-"She's out cold" Izumi said "Take her and leave, theres no reason to continue this"
-"Dont you dare to mock us, freak" Susanoo said, dashing at the hero with his sword ready
However, Izumi fired some web at his feet
-"Huh?"
He then pulled the web, alongside with the criminal, and sent him towards his brother
-"Gah!" they both yelled as they collided with each other
The three criminals were on the ground, not making any attempts to get up
-"Time to set Hachimitsu-san free and get out of here"
He went to her, untying her hands and legs
-"Mgmgngnmh" her mouth was caught on the napkin
-"Huh?" he took off the napkin
-"IT'S A TRAP! BOMBS!"
His vibrations went on crazy, and as if they were guiding him, he went to a nearby pillar
And found a bomb that was counting down
His eyes went wide
6
He grabbed Hachimitsu
5
And, by using his web, jumped out from where he came from, and then put her a couple of feet away from there
4
He jumped back in
3
He grabbed the three unconscious criminals
2
He fired the web at the wall next to the window, and pulled himself up
1
And landed outside the building
0
The entire building came on down hard as a loud bang noise was heard on the area, smoke coming up in the sky as a small fire took place
He tied up the three criminals with his web, making sure of getting rid of their weapons first
-Its over" the exhaustion finally catching up, he sat down, covered in blood, but otherwise fine
-"Are you ok?" Hachimitsu asked
-"Ha…Ha… Yes, you?"
-"I am fine"
They heard the sound of sirens coming nearby
He stood up "I am leaving now"
-"Thank you" she said, smile on her face
-"No problem" and, because of the exhaustion, he said something that he otherwise would not have "Enjoy your new videogame"
Hachimitsu tilted her head, how did he?
But he left by climbing up a wall
Hachimitsu kept looking at where the hero left from, just as police and firemen vehicles got at the crime scene
Back at home, and after patching up his wounds, Izumi was waiting for his mom, and while he did so, he was on the phone with someone
-"Thank goodness Hachimitsu-san is safe" Izumi said
-"Yes, I was so happy when the police brought her" Shikimori said "She came to us on tears"
-"I can't blame her, that was terrifying. It says here that Spider-man saved her" he felt happy that he saved a friend once more "What a relief"
-"Yeah" for some reason, she was not sharing his relief "Anyway, we are free to return home, so I have to go"
-"Sounds good. Give my regards to Kamiya-san, Nekozaki-san, and Hachimitsu-san. See you tomorrow"
-"Take care Izumi-san"
-"You too, Shikimori-san"
He hung up
He heard his door opening, and his mother entered
-"Welcome back mom" he said
-"Hi Yuu" she replied with a smile
-"Table is set up and the food is heating up"
-"Thank you. Sorry that I had to work today"
-"It's fine"
Suddenly, he extended a gift for her "Merry Christmas mom"
-"Aw, thank you Yuu"
She unwrapped her present, and what she saw made her put a hand on her chest
-"Aw, Yuu"
It was a photo of the three of them, when his parents were younger, and him as a small kid wearing a Santa Claus outfit
-"You were sad that the photo was damaged, but I was able to find a place that could restore it. and" he scratched the back of his head "This is the first christmas we spend without him, so…" he sniffed a bit "I wanted to find a way for"
-"It's beautiful" she said, wrapping her son in a hug "He's here Yuu" she broke the hug, and put the photo on the table "He will always be here"
-"Yeah" he smiled "Our family will always be together"
-"Meow" their cat meowed
-"Hehehe, yes, that includes you as well, Gin-chan"
And thus, the family went to eat, chatting happily while listening to some music
Later at night, Hachimitsu was on her bed, but she was not sleeping
One could say that, due to her terrifying experience, sleep was not gonna come to her
But that was not the only reason she was up
He was thinking about Spider-man
-"How did Spider-man know that I got a new videogame?" it didn't make sense "The only person that I told was"
Her eyes went wide when she remembered a certain purple haired friend of hers
She also remembered what happened when they met at the train station before their study session
The bag of the bakery he had gone to, just like Spider-man when he saved it and was rewarded. Him grabbing his back in pain, just like Spider-man
The times that when she teased Nekozaki about Spider-man, he looked uncomfortable or coughed nervously
-"Iz"
Him arriving late at school, Spider-man "patrolling around" Nekozakis neighborhood and helped her with her family issues
Issues Izumi was aware of
-"Iz"
The evidence was undeniable
-"IZUMI IS SPIDER-MAN!"
The following day, the 25th, Izumi and Shikimori met for their christmas date
After spending time shopping and eating, they were watching the lights spectacle
-"Whoa, so cool!"
-"Izumi-san!" she yelled, happily pointing at the spectacle "It's totally different from last year! Ah! Look! Santas hiding over there!"
He had a big smile, just as he always did whenever his girlfriend was happy "I'm so glad it turned out so well this year too!"
Suddenly, he took a hold of her hand
-"Huh?" she looked at him, blushing
-"Its" he was embarrassed "It's cold"
She smiled, despite how nervous she was "Yeah, it is"
The night sky was taking place, and, despite the cold, Izumi took out a gift for her "Here" he wrapped the scarf around her neck "For you"
Shikimori was surprised and touched "Thanks, but… I also got you a muffler"
-"No way!" what a sweet coincidence
She put it on him
They kept walking down the street, both enjoying their mufflers
However, his got tangled up on a branch
-"WHA" he was pulled back, and landed on a nearby bush "UWAAA!?"
Some things never change, regardless of superpowers
-"IZUMI-SAN?!"
-"HMPH! HMPH!" translation: Help me, Shikimori-san
-"Yes, Yes" she giggled
She grabbed his wrist, but
He felt something pressing against his muffler, specifically, the area around his lips
Something soft and warm
It was her lips, although he didn't need to know that
Eventually, he was released
-"Thanks, SHikimori-san" he checked his muffler "Looks like there's no damage to the muffler"
-"That's good"
-"Huh?!" he was confused, as her entire head was wrapped by her muffler, no doubt hiding her embarrassment
-"SHIKIMORI-SAN, DID YOUR MUFFLER GET CAUGHT SOMEWHERE TOO?!"
-"Y-Yeah, something like that"
-"I…see"
They held each other hands and kept on walking, happy they have each other, and wondering what next year will have in store for christmas
-"Hopefully no more mercenaries" Izumi thought
Meanwhile, Kingpin was talking to someone over the phone
-"Im sorry that Spider-man got away" it was his mole infiltrated on the police force
Uragimono Natsumi
-"No worries" Kingpin said "I was not actually expecting them to defeat Spider-man. What's important is that weve learnt something valuable"
-"Yeah" Natsumi smiled smugly "I should have realized of it before, but I saw it with my own eyes"
-"I had my suspicions as well, but now, we have what we need"
-"What's the plan then?"
-"For now, continue with your duties as an officer, once I have a plan in mind, Ill let you know"
-"Will do, boss" and he hung up
Kingpin looked through his window "It's time to teach him a lesson once ore"
And thats the end of that, and boy, a lot to unpack
Izumi faced three new villains, they are based on a trio of villains called Pterodax from Spider-man the New Animated Series (the MTV show) but I gave them more of japanese liek names
As one of my readers correctly pointed out, having USA villains suddenly be at Japan is a little weird, and while I cant change that for Kingpin this deep into the story, the future ones will have more of a japanese origin, so thank you 501awezome
Sorry if this fight was done with quickly, I just didnt wnt to split this into two chapters like usual
And boy, Hachimitsu has connected the dots. Whats she going to do now?
And Kingpin has learnt something valuable, his plan worked, and he has something quite horrible in mind
Next time, Izumi meets some new faces, as well as going on a trip
As usual, thank you all for reading, leave any reviews or send a PM, and I will gladly answer
Once more, shoutout to 501awezome and Diabolos Dragon for their help. Without it, This chapter would not have been possible
Until next time
Peace