"I-Is it cotton candy?" Valerie asked her best friend.
"Really? Ok, not only would you be able to tell if that was the answer, but do I really look like the type of girl that has cotton candy in her bag?" Annie asked.
"... M-Maybe?" Valerie replied, making Annie chuckle.
"Sorry, but like I told you, it'll have to wait until lunch break."
"C-Can't you give me another clue?"
"Ok, I'll give you another hint." the redhead said, not minding to give her friend another hint, yet making sure it was as vague as possible without looking like a jerk. "You think you can not faint at the chance of holding my dad's autograph?"
"... I only promise to try." the blue girl said, making Annie roll her eyes, yet finding humor in what Valerie said.
"Never change, Valerie. Never change." she said as the two kept on their way to class.
Just like most of the time, they were the first to arrive. And just like most of the time, they both sat in their respective seats and did what they always do. For Annie, it was working on both the web formula and the design of her own web-shooters. This is a task that she has been on since a while now. More than a year in the making, although she technically did once stumbled her way into something akin to what her father used back when he was her age. And while most would be content with that, Annie was not most. She was aiming for something more than that. She was trying to recreate the upgraded web-formula that he used back when he was in college. The one that became better in every way possible. So good in fact, that an entire team of researchers would only be able to scratch their heads at the complexity of the compound without understanding but the most primitive bases of it. And that was on their best days. As for Valerie… she just existed.
She just sat in her seat in silence like most times. Sometimes taking a glance at the redhead arachnid girl and her work, only to look away a moment later. Not because she was shy or anything… at least not anymore… well, she wasn't that shy when approaching Annie anymore. But however, she did it whenever her head started to hurt in an attempt to understand something of what was written in that notebook of hers. It wasn't because of her calligraphy, as the younger Parker sister has joked from time to time (because at least to Valerie, it wasn't nearly as bad as she makes it to be). No, it had to do with all the symbols and numbers and letters arranged in manners that she wasn't able to understand that made her head spin. It reminded her of Nadia's own gibberish, with the exception that Annie wrote them on a notebook that she keeps with her always and which looked like it's content was thoroughly organized and not on many different notes on the floor… or walls… or windows… or silverware somehow… or Bill.
She was glad they didn't have a dog or any other pet, because chances are that it too would be covered in notes of the young scientist.
Like always, the rest of the class soon started to arrive. Like always, Momo was first, seeing as how next to the two Americans, she's always the first to arrive in most cases. Soon enough, Kyoka came next, followed by both Mina and Ejiro. Five minutes before the first bell rang, the class had all arrived. Like most days, they all started to have little chat with one another. From making small talk with one another, as was the case between Tsuyu and most of the girls of class, finishing/starting the homework that they had forgotten to do, as was the case of Kaminari and Aoyama (to the shock of most, Mineta, whom didn't look the part, was caught up with even the homework that was do on Thursday), to Bakugo scowling at… well, maybe it would be easier to say what he wasn't scowling at… if that somehow is possible.
As the entirety of class A went about their usual business before the arrival of their homeroom teacher, there was one student that had something in his mind. Midoriya, was taking glances every now and then at the American redhead. The day prior, they all had their first class of heroics under the tutelage of Snipe rather than All Might. While at first somewhat disappointed, he reminded himself that All Might was a teacher of U.A. The students of the hero course in its entirety were his responsibility, not just class A, or him in particular. Just because he was to be his successor, that didn't mean that he should expect special treatment above the rest of his peers. And it's not like class was boring without him, far from it, Snipe seemed like he had things under control for the most part (to some he may as well have a better grasp than All Might truth be told, but Midoriya was too much of a fanboy to ever admit such statement).
However, something happened back then. Something that had to do with the natural redhead of the group.
"Ok, seeing how there is a chance that the dummy could be up in the trees, how about we split up…? Sorta." Annie suggested to her classmate.
"How so?" he asked back.
"Well, how about while you look from down here, I could be up there. I think that maybe it could be more efficient to search that way than to have the two of us stuck on the ground."
"T-That makes sense. But why would you choose to take the high ground?" he asked curiously.
"You saying you're not afraid of heights?" Annie joked, pointing up and making Izuku realize that… those trees were rather tall.
Like, really, really tall.
"O-On second thought… your powers would give you a natural advantage when climbing. A-And seeing how I still have issues controlling my quirk, maybe I should stay down here." he said.
"Well, when you put it that way, how can I say no?" Annie quiped once more, as she jumped upwards and using her powers, stuck to the surface of the trunk of the nearest oak tree (she was guessing that it maybe was an oak tree).
The duo then started to go over the area that was designed for them. While it didn't mean that they would find the dummy in mere seconds, their idea sure was helping them cover more ground than if they were looking the same way most of their classmates did. Annie had pretty good eyesight (which she always found funny since spiders actually have terrible sight in most cases) and Midoriya had a pretty good eye as well. Being a fanboy that was constantly analyzing the smallest frame of a video that was about his favorite hero definitely helped in that regard… although he should probably tone that down a little bit.
"So, Izuku, have you thought of a way for your quirk to work better?" asked Annie while jumping from one tree to another.
"W-Well, not really. I still don't know why I didn't break my arm back at the U.S.J when punching that electric villain, but did so later on." he said, but suddenly remembered something. "P-Parker-san, I thought that you didn't want to hear about… well, that. I-Is there a reason as to why you're asking about my quirk now?" he asked with curiosity.
"Well, that thing? Yeah, I don't want to hear about it. But I'm technically asking about you. But do try and not mention the other stuff. The teachers probably monitor these conversations or something." Annie told him. "Look, take this as just a friend asking another friend about his personal problems at handling his overpowered super power."
"Oh… well in that case. I still haven't got a clue about it. I still try to remember that sensation that I had back at the U.S.J but besides that, I have nothing."
"Mm… you know, maybe it had to do with the stress of the whole deal." Annie said, while jumping towards one tree believing to have seen the dummy, but it turned out to be a false alarm. "Like, you know those stories of normal people somehow pulling near superhuman feats in stressful situations? Like when being chased by a wild animal or when a parent lifts a car off their child? Those sorts of things. Maybe the adrenaline of the moment helped you overcome whatever mental or physical block that you had to help you not break a limb"
"I guess it could be that." Izuku said, while looking over a bush for the dummy. "Although, maybe it's more than just the adrenaline. After all, I got hurt in other situations like that and ever after All Might beat that monster I broke my legs."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Annie said while jumping off the tree and to the ground next to Midoriya. "Welp, back to the drawing board on that… And on the dummy too. I don't think it's in this part of the forest."
"Ok, then we should go somewhere else." he said as the two started to head to another direction. "By the way, Parker-san, how did you learn to control your powers? I'm guessing that you have had them since you were young. Maybe something that you did could help me figure out how to control my quirk. That is… well, that is if you also had issues like I did"
"Um… I'm sorry Izuku, I'm not sure how to help you with that." Annie apologized, as Izuku sighed as if expecting that answer. "Wait I didn't- it's not like I was some sort of pro from the get go! Honestly I kinda sucked with them too!" she said, although she was fighting the urges to slap herself after hearring what she said.
She sucked with them too? What was she thinking?! The idea is for her to try and cheer the guy up, not making him feel worse by using him as a measurement of how bad you can be at something!
"R-Really? It's kind of hard to believe… N-Not like I would ever believe that you would tell me a lie or anything! Y-You've been pretty honest with me so f-far, I wouldn't-"
"Hey, it's cool. No need to ramble ok?" Annie said, trying to ease her friend's nerves. "But yeah, when I was a kid, sometimes my powers would… cause trouble for me. I would sometimes do things like sleep on the ceiling, crawl on walls when I was a baby and not knowing how to get down from a high place. Heck my strength alone was so much of a pain that we ended up changing the label of a jar that we had from 'emergency money' to 'Annie broke something else money'... hehe." she said, while awkwardly laughing.
"Y-You had problems with your strength too?" asked Midoriya.
"If I had problems with my strength, you ask? Pal, I wasn't allowed to help put on the Christmas adornaments on the tree because they were afraid that I would break it."
"The adornaments or the tree?"
"... Yes. Heck, I even remember the times I wanted to help out with washing the dishes and then my hands would end up getting stuck on the sink… and then I would rip the sink trying to get my hands free… and then I would cry… a lot… before my dad would have to fix it." Annie said… although she did say the later part in a lower tone than before. "My dad would later build a gizmo that would cancel my powers for as long as I used it. With that making things easier for him, he helped me in getting a hold of my powers without causing a ruckus. Even still, there are times when I'm nervous that they still decide to be a pain to me."
"I see… Truth is, with how much of a grasp you seemed to have with your qui- I mean, your powers, I thought that it was something natural in a sense." Izuku told her.
"Trust me, it's not like that. There was a lot of trial and error on the way to how I do things now. But I'm not sure if I could help you though. Like, the way I see it is that it's like trying to explain to someone how to talk or read or even just walking. Can it be done? Yes. Is it easy? Well… at this point it's just second nature to me, so it's a bit hard to explain it to someone else. And unlike my dad or my sister, I'm not the best at trying to teach stuff like this to other people. Guess I still have a lot to learn, don't I?" she asked her friend.
Truth is, Izuku was not exactly expecting that reply from her. Parker was no doubt one of the best the class had to offer. Heck, she might be the best, all things considered. The way he sees everyone in class, having already mastered or having such a grasp on their powers the way that they do in a way frustrated him a bit. Not that he was mad at his classmates, that would be dumb. But the fact that he, the inheritor of All Might's power and purpose has yet to even get a degree of control of his powers without some awful setback made him feel like he wasn't even trying. That maybe he really shouldn't be there and while one might argue that he has only had his powers for a little while compared to the others, that still didn't help that much with the way he felt. But hearing how a fellow classmate and friend, having to deal with somewhat similar issues? Much less Parker of all people?
It… it honestly made him feel a little better about himself. Maybe it was a bit too early to say it, but he was starting to admire the redhead in a way. Always so confident, always so determined and with such a grasp on so many things and yet, here she was, admitting her own faults. Compared to her, he was so much, much, much steps behind that it feels like he hasn't even taken the first one. But then, here was Parker telling her that in her own way, she was in the same position as him. The concept was somewhat hard for him to admit at first. Having someone like Bakugo as his childhood friend, he almost always looked like a prodigy whom everything came to naturally, so he was expecting for her to be a similar case.
But no, it was quite the opposite actually. Which made him ask himself; could it be that Bakugo was in a similar position, yet he never noticed it because of how ahead he seemed? And what of the others? Maybe they were all the same at one point. And with that in mind, he could not allow himself to dwell in doubt. He had to master One for All. Not only for the sake of his dream, not only for the sake of inheriting the title of Symbol of Peace, but to stand alongside the rest as heroes. To tell to the world, here I am! And to be able to look at the path he had walked and be proud of how far he has come.
Because he was sure that is how everyone feels at some point. And he knows that even when he reaches their level, he will still have more of a road to walk on.
"And I do too… Which is why I'll be giving it my all in getting a hold of my quirk!" the green-haired kid said with determination.
"That's the spirit pal!" Annie said, patting the kid on the back. "I know you'll get there. And remember, we're rooting for you."
"We? Oh, you mean you and All Might?"
"Mm? Well, I guess him too, since you two have something going on, but I'm talking about everyone else." Annie said.
"Everyone else?"
"You know; me, Ochako, Tenya -as annoying as he can be- Valerie. Heck I'm sure that Robbie does too alongside a huge chunk of class."
"Are you sure?"
"Course we are." she said without haste before offering a gentle smile. "That's what friends are for."
That… that statement really stuck with him.
To have people genuinely rooting for him. To have them support his dream and his ability to achieve said dream after so long of being told to give it up. It was still different to what he was used to. It was a nice change of pace. And it was something that made him smile.
"Welp, let's see if that dummy is here. Wouldn't want to take longer than it should, right?" Annie said while jumping to the trees once more.
She was right. The rest had already finished the exercise in record time, so they had no excuse to do any less. They were going to find the dummy and… there was a light.
For a moment, a light shone over his face. Now that he thought about it, it wasn't the first time it did. It happened what? Two, three times already? He just didn't give it that much though since he was so focused on both doing the exercise and talking with Parker. But now that the two were quiet he wondered where that light came from. Looking above, he saw his answer in Parker. Or more specifically, in something that Parker was wearing on one of her wrists.
It was that odd bracelet of hers that doubled as a support item for her. Or at least, he believed it doubled as a support item. He wasn't that sure, but he thought it probably did with the way Snipe talked about. That and since she never said anything about the webs that she shoots. Then this was probably the device that allowed her to do so. Man, for a guy that supposedly likes to analyze small details like that, it sure took him a long time to figure that out. And then he remembered something.
When asked to hand it over Parker acted in the least Parker way that he knew of. Not always being on the same page as a teacher wasn't something new for her. But she mostly was more sarcastic, or critical, or aggressive? Was that the right word? Even if not, it was still a far cry from what happened. Not only was she not wanting to give the device away, she practically begged their teacher to not take it away from her. Maybe he shouldn't wonder. It's not his place to ask and she was considerate enough to not do the same when their roles were reversed… But…
She didn't smile like she normally does.
"Parker-san…" Izuku called out, making the girl turn her head from atop the branch she was on to meet his gaze. "Y-Your support item. The one you have on your wrist." he said while pointing at it from down below. "Is there a reason that you didn't want to give it to Snipe-sensei?"
And after he asked, Annie looked at the device in question and after a second, her expression changed once more. Was it sadness? Melancholy?Nostalgia even? He couldn't quite get the perfect gits of her expression, but it was definitely one that was not positive in the slightest.
"It… it just means a lot to me…" she said with a tone that matched her expression.
The inheritor of One for All decided not to question her any further. Whatever the topic was, he didn't want to cause her any distress. So the two continued their search and thank god did they find the dummy rather quickly. He really didn't want to cause her more distress than he did with that question.
"For the last time, I'm not interested in shooting a T.V spot for a skincare cosmetic…! No, I don't care about the royalties and advertising…! Nor do I care about the gift products that come from it…! Ok, if the last eight things didn't get me hooked, what makes you think that… Wait, really? Huh, didn't know that."
Mayday, currently in her Spider-Girl costume and with her mask on, was currently answering the phone of one of the Idaten offices. She was supposed to be waiting for Tensei to arrive from… actually she forgot where he was. It probably had to do with the fact that for the last half an hour or so, she was having a conversation on the phone about the possibility of making a deal with a skincare company or something.
Honestly, it was a mostly boring conversation and an annoying one since it seemed like they didn't know what the word 'no' meant.
"They do…? Well, you learn something new every day… Yeah, that sounds pretty… wait, what am I saying? The answer is still no! Now if you excuse me, I'll be busy with literally anything other than this conversation! Good day sir…! And I hope your aunt gets better!" Mayday said while hanging up the call and sighing. "Why did you made me go through that torture, Isane? Is this about me accidentally eating your lunch last week? Because I said 'I'm sorry' for two days straight. I thought we were past it."
"Hey, this sounded like something a pro-hero was meant to be dealing with and since you want to be one, I thought you should be the one to deal with it… Also how do you accidentally eat someone else's lunch? How does that even make sense?!" answered the aforementioned Isane, a woman in her mid to late twenties of black hair who worked as a member of the support staff of the Idaten agency.
"I was in a rush and it was next to mine in the fridge! It also didn't have a label, what did you expect would happen…?! Also, also, I bought you takoyaki and a side of yakitori to make up for it!"
"But there were chopped onions with the yakitori."
"You're a picky eater, you know that?"
"Am not!"
"Yes you are!" everyone in the room said, all at once."
"Well, who asked you for your opinion?" Isane replied.
"And since when is something like a skincare comercial something that a superhero needs to deal with?" Spider-Girl asked.
"Only one has the patience to deal with that, that's how." Isane replied as Mayday rubbed her temples.
"I have a full body costume. Why would anyone think I would be a good choice for a skincare product when I'm wearing a full body costume and a mask that shows nothing of my face?!"
"Be glad that someone like Uwabami hasn't made a call for you… yet. I bet you, that would be worse than whoever was on the call with you." another staff member said.
"Noted. By the way, where is Tensei? Usually I'm the one that ends up making people wait, not the other way around." Mayday said.
"From what he mentioned yesterday after you left, it seems like something important was happening today… either that or he forgot his watch and has no idea how late it is." a male staff member said before taking a sip at his coffee.
"Wouldn't be the first time." Isane said as everyone nodded.
Speaking of the man himself, he finally appeared. Entering the room in full armor, well, with the exception of his helmet. Which allowed for his face to be seen and for his expression to be easier to read. And he looked like a child after being called at the principal's office.
"About time you got here. Who died that made you take so long to get here?" Mayday asked, although she tensed a bit when she saw Tensei scratch the back of his neck. "Oh shoot, someone actually died?!"
"What? No! It's just that… well…" Tensei said, trying to think of a way to explain things. "Let's just say that I got a call from the Hero Association."
"Ok, what did they say? Are they finally giving me a license, or are they going to pull another random excuse to not do it to stall for more time for no reason?" the New Yorker asked, but got about her answer when Tensei gave her a look. "Oh for the love of- Really?!"
"They're really scrapping the end of the bucket for reasons not to give her a license." a staff member said.
"Let's face it. By now, they made a hole in the bucket after all the scrapping." another one replied.
"Ok, what is it now?" asked the New Yorker.
"To put it bluntly, they're sending someone to judge the progress that you've made in the last couple of months. If they think that you've made good progress… well I don't exactly know what happens later. You know how bureaucrats can be." Ingenium replied as Mayday dragged her hands in her mask in annoyance.
"Ugh, another babysitter? Really?" she asked as the others shrugged. "I fought my own set of Sinister Six-like baddies. I gave multiple heroes a fighting chance by getting knocked around by an old snake god… I freaking teamed up with Captain 'Nothing but the Truth' America! I can't believe I need two babysitters now when just last year me and my dad were tangling with the Brotherhood of Scriers!"
"And that's exactly why they sent me in." a very deep voice said, as he entered the room.
Turning around, they saw whom that voice belonged to and he definitely looked the part for what they imagined someone with that voice should look like. He was tall… No, scratch that. He was huge. At bare minimum around two meters tall. He was wearing a fancy white suit with a pink tie, the collar of his shirt reaching up to his chin and adorned with diamond shapes all around alongside a black cape that was reminiscent of a killer whale to most. Why, one may ask?
… Well, it probably had to do with the fact that the man in question… also looked like a killer whale himself. And with that in mind, those diamonds now started to look like teeth and that tie now looked like his tongue.
"... Huh… so I take it you hit the gym and likes to go to aquariums?" Mayday asked.
"Actually yes, I do." the huge man said as Tensei walked next to him.
"Mayday, allow me to introduce to you, Sakamata Kugo. But while on duty, you can call him, The Killer Whale Hero: Gang Orca!"
"No way, Gang Orca?! Are they really going to go that far?!" asked Isane.
"Mm? Why is he supposed to be a big deal?" Mayday asked, making everyone of the staff members want to smash their face with whatever they could find in front of them.
"What do you mean if he's supposed to be a big deal?! He's number ten in this year's hero rankings! He's one of the biggest deals of Japan's heroes! He might be comparable with some of your country's Avengers!"
That actually got the attention of the oldest Parker daughter. This man, Gang Orca, was in the top ten of Japan. While she still didn't get that much of the rankings and all, she was aware of one thing. And that was that the top ten pro-heroes were a very big deal. The best Japan had to offer and with a lot of them more than capable of at least in one way or another, matching the best heroes of other parts of the world. Their rankings included All Might after all, the one that reigned over all of the heroes of Japan as the Symbol of Peace. A man that sometimes gets called the Japanese merging of Thor and Captain America for just how much presence he had. That meant that the Killer Whale hero, as the tenth ranking hero of Japan, could very well be comparable to an Avenger, or an X-Men or a Fantastic Four member…
Or her dad even.
"So, they really are going all out for me, huh?" she said, crossing her arms. "Well, I guess that I should introduce myself. I'm Spider-Girl." she said as the man nodded.
"There's no need for me to introduce myself, seeing as the rest of Idaten have just done a good job at doing so." Gang said, while taking a good look at the young Parker. "I noticed you decided to omit your name. There's no need to do so if you don't want to, but it wouldn't matter, seeing as how I was given as much information about you when I was assigned here."
"Wow, that's not ominous at all." she driedly replied.
"I also am capable of noticing the clear disdain at the idea of me being here."
"I don't think I would go that far, but you gotta admit. After months of following the rules and playing nice, one would think that I would have made some level of progress. So you can imagine how annoying it can be that not only are they putting yet another roadblock on my way, but that they're giving me another babysitter. As if it wasn't enough that I already had one already." she said while pointing at Tensei. "No hard feelings by the way, I just want to make a point."
"Meh, none taken." Tensei replied.
"Well, one of the reasons as to why I'm here has to be because of your current babysitter, as you put it. He has a history of being far too easy-going when it comes to vigilantes." he said, all while the hero scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly as the rest of the Idaten staff present either rolled their eyes, sighed or simply gave him a look that said 'of course'. Something that peaked Mayday's interest.
"Ok, you said that that's one. Is there another reason?"
"You've already said it." he said in quite the cryptic manner.
"And that means what exactly?"
"I'm sure you can tell what I meant." he replied. "It's getting late. Seeing how you already have your mask and equipment on, it would be preferable to get this started already. Also, there's one more thing."
"Should I get a pen? Because it feels like I should have gotten a pen already." Parker quipped while the pro-hero snarled.
"My current ranking is not the reason I was told to evaluate your progress since you arrived in Japan. And as you'll soon see, I'm not as lenient as Ingenium." he told her in a rather stern manner before turning around. "Let's go. We've wasted enough time as it is." and with that, Gang Orca left the room, all while Mayday turned to Tensei and gave him a look.
"Hey, he's not bad when you get to know him. And be thankful that we got him. I heard that one of the pro-heroes that they had in mind was Mirko." Tensei said.
"Oh goodie. They wanted to send a pro that got into punching matches with my dad."
" And whose cooperation skills are so low, they may as well be in the negatives. Honestly it's more likely that she would ask you for a fight."
"I'm definitely not going to have a good time am I?" she asked before sighing. "Let's just get this over with." she said as the two left.
"... Wow, you can still hear Spider-Girl's annoyances." said one of the staff members.
"Well I don't blame her. If I were in her shoes, I would probably be too."
"Hopefully now that they made a hole in the bucket they can finally give her a license." Isane said.
"... Nah, they'll probably just get a new bucket to scratch all over again." another one replied.
"Ok, why do you still have that shit-eating-grin on your face? Are you gonna let Hatsume blow up the cafeteria again to have us be the ones to clean it up this time?" Robbie asked Annie, who was smiling and holding something behind her.
Lunch period was now at hand and, obviously, the students of U.A were currently about to enjoy their food while taking a break from classes so far. As it was custom, the quartet of Americans from the hero course, the purple-haired boy of general course and the pink haired girl from support whom all agreed was to be kept away from coffee or any other energy drink for everyone's sake, sat on their usual spot. When Robbie, Kamala and Hatsume (whom Power Loader had to ask them to drag her to the cafeteria) arrived at their table, they saw a very hyped Anna-May while seemingly holding something. When they asked Valerie and Hitoshi what was up with her, they were just as clueless as them.
"You really want to know?" she asked.
"Well, he did ask, so I take it that yes, he wants to know." Kamala said.
"Not really, but I would prefer to eat my food without having to worry what this wacko has in mind. The only thing scarier than whatever goes around her head is whatever goes in both you and Hatsume's head."
"Yeah- Hey!" Kamala said, hitting him with her elbow.
"Well, seeing how both of you are so eager to find out…" she said, bringing forth the object she had behind her at full display to them all. "Ta-daa!" she exclaimed, revealing… a box?
No, it wasn't a box. It was squared in shape, sure, well, rectangular actually. It looked like it could be the size of a book or something similar. But they weren't exactly sure what it was since it was covered in either a bunch of newspaper or magazine strips of sorts… and on that note, it looked like a little kid wrapped the object and not someone older than ten. Who knew, smart enough to understand the basics of quantum mechanics, too… Anna-May for stuff like this.
"What the hell's wrong with you?" Robbie suddenly asked Annie.
"What?" Valerie, Hitoshi and Kamala all asked in confusion. Not understanding why the boy sounded… offended?
Is that the right word?
"Do you have any idea how much you could have saved with those coupons you just ruined by cutting them and using them in whatever art project this is?" he said, pointing at the badly pasted coupons of the object.
"PFF, please, as if you could actually save money at that overpriced store." Annie replied.
"Are they really going to argue over coupons?" asked Kamala.
"It's called quality products, web for brains. Be thankful that you can even find them at those prices in a country like this."
"Seems like they are." Hitoshi said.
"Whatever. It's not like they'll be of any good since they already expired. Or what, do you really think that I would ruin something that could save us money?"
"The hell are you talking about? That one over there expires next week."
"No it- oh, it actually does." Annie said, looking at where Robbie was pointing and noticing that one of them was in fact still functional… or at least it would have if she hadn't cut part of it and glued to the others. "... Woops."
"Good thing you're not in the management course." Robbie said.
"Excluding Annie's awful financial choices…"
"You're one to talk." both Reyes and Parker told Kamala, who frowned, mainly at the fact that they were right.
"... Anything else that makes that collection of paper mache special?" she asked, as Annie regained that grin of hers
She then started to try and unwrap it, not before trying to convince them to get a bit closer. Of course Robbie didn't listen, so Annie frowned a little. No matter, it wasn't necessary for them to get closer. Just as she was about to finish with the unwrapping of the object, but before she was done, she turned to her friends.
"You, try not to faint." she said, pointing at Valerie. "You, try not to be loud." she said, pointing at Kamala. "And you… keep doing whatever you're doing." she said, pointing at Hatsume, who was working on some cylindrical object.
Afterwhich, Annie finally unwrapped what was left and revealed to her friends… a book.
Well, it looked like that would be the case, so they shouldn't be surprised at that. And considering that despite being… Anna-May, she actually had a functional brain and next to Hatsume, was probably the only other person they knew that would get hyped about a normal book. However, this was not a normal book. It was white, with the picture of none other than the Spider-Man himself, swinging on one of his webs as he always did. The title of the book was 'WEBS', which was written in a pretty eye-catching font that had lines zig-zagging inside of it as if it were some kind of reference to a spider's web (shocking, right?). All while a spider drew a straight line across it with its web. Of course this book was no doubt about Spider-Man and naturally, any sort of published media like books and newspapers talking about the hero most of the time had two names involved. The Daily Bugle who published like 80% of the stories involving the webbed-clad adventurer (at bare minimum). And the one who took the pictures, Peter Benjamin Parker, the father of Annie Parker… as well as being Spider-Man himself.
"So, what do you think?" Annie asked, before they all instinctively turned to both the blue girl and the inhuman girl, who both remained stationary and motionless without so much as making a single sound.
After which, Valerie immediately grabbed her glass of water and splashed it in herself as Kamala seemed to be preparing to shout. Thankfully, Annie was quick to this and reached from across the table to cover her mouth before she could yell.
"Because clearly this table didn't look like the oddball of the school before." Hitoshi said, knowing that a bunch of other students were probably wondering why one girl threw water at herself and another was being gagged for unknown reasons.
"Ok, I'm going to take my hand off your mouth, but you have to promise that you won't shout, understood?" she told Kamala, whom once she nodded, did as she said she would and took her hand off the inhuman's mouth. "Also, why did you splash water on your face?" Annie asked Valerie.
"Y-You told me to not faint."
"You could have just pinch yourself, you know?" Hitoshi told the blue girl. "Also, I know you're going to call me a heathen for not knowing anything about this. But what's with you gushing about some book?"
"It's not just some book, it's WEBS!" Kamala excitedly told her friend although she made sure to try and keep it down. "This is a photobook all about Spider-Man with the best photos of Spider-Man ever taken! A lot of them hadn't been published before this book was made and all of them were exclusive to the Daily Bugle!"
"I-It also has a lot of shots o-of Spider-Man in action in events t-that never made it to the news and are o-only known to have happened because of this book! T-There are even a lot of pictures of S-Spider-Man teaming up with other heroes in there! And they're all accompanied by comments and d-descriptions of what's h-happening without any alteration or interference!" Valerie followed, whom was just as excited as Kamala, the both having a big smile and their eyes sparkling as they looked at the book.
"And they were all taken by Annie's dad, right? Who was Spider-Man all along." asked Hitoshi in a low tone, since not only the book mentioned that he took the pictures, but his friends (Annie in particular for obvious reasons) had mentioned that fact about her father. "Was that ok to do? It doesn't sound legal to your country."
"Sounds shady as all hell. But… not shady enough to warrant jail time?" Robbie said, remembering hearing a bit about those pictures from back when, but he never really paid those reporters any attention, so it was all white noise to him. "Look, you all been very vocal on what I look like. And a lawyer ain't among them… assholes."
"Well, the bills weren't going to pay themselves. B'sides, we have people making money from selfies and whatnot nowadays. Let's just say that my dad was ahead of his time." Annie.
"... So it was probably illegal then." both boys said, making the girl flinch a bit because… yeah, maybe they were right.
Who knows? None of them were going to try and be lawyers. Better ask the legality of the acts to someone that actually went to law school later down the line if given the chance.
"Why exactly did you bring that here? Did you feel like you wanted to show it to us just cause, or what?" asked Robbie.
"Kinda. I found it when I was looking through some stuff for something yesterday. Thought to myself; 'Why not?', so here we are. I also thought that maybe I could look at the pictures and see if I could pull some of the stuff there. Maybe I could practice a move or two and maybe you guys could too." Annie said.
"Annie, sorry to break it to you, but you're the only person with spider powers in this table." Hitoshi said.
"I know that, but you don't need spider powers to do some of the stuff here. Also, there's some team-ups here. Maybe you could try a move from those guys, you know?" she replied, opening the book and showing her friends some of its content.
They all got a bit closer (with the exception of Hatsune, who seemed to be lost in her own world for the time being, working on the piece of equipment that she had brought with herself). There were a lot of images of the web-clad hero doing battle against all sorts of foes, or saving the day from any sorts of catastrophes. Like the redhead said, there were some pictures that depicted the hero working in conjunction with someone else. From the Black Panther, Iceman, even some… shirtless blonde guy with a sabertooth tiger by his side (Kamala and Valerie recognize him as Ka-zar of the Savage Land and his partner Zabu)?
Was that a bipedal orange Steragon or something? There was Spidey and Hercules fighting some robots underground (or at least that's what it seemed to be). Oh, look. Spider-Man was doing a quick team-up with… some flat dude that dressed as a Pharaoh? Who was that guy? He didn't look like an Avenger or a Fantastic Four or an X-Men. Heck, Robbie recognized the name of at least one of those Great Lake guys, but this one was a complete-
"That's Salaam!" both Kamala and Valerie said at the same time.
"... Who?" asked both Robbie and Hitoshi.
"Salaam! He's like Captain America but for Egypt! The top hero there and nicknamed the Light Pharaoh of the New Age!" Kamala said.
"H-He and Mehen have teamed-up with t-the Avengers and other heroes to fight Seth on a couple of occasions. T-They a-also repeatedly stopped dark cults from s-summoning the dark snake Apophis!" Valerie followed.
"Not only that, but he's one of the founders and leader of Egypt's elite hero team; The 12 Night Guarding Pharaohs! He's a big deal!" Kamala finished.
"Never heard of him."
"I don't think we're the best when it comes to how good a hero is. So I'll take their word for this."
"I'm with Hitoshi. Those two are that kind of fangirls."
"Ok, can I at least see a picture with someone more recognizable? I'm not about to pull a wiki to know who's in the picture and I know your old man had to taken pictures of him and Cap." said Robbie, turning the page and seeing a man of dark skin in some exosuit with a glass dome over it, while shooting fire at the arachnid hero. "Who the hell is the Scorcher?!"
"Some fire guy, I guess." Annie said.
"Wait, is that a gas station they're fighting in?!" Robbie asked.
"It says here that it was a secret layer beneath a-" Hitoshi was saying before Robbie cut him off.
"What kind of brain-dead jackass makes a secret lair beneath a gas station?! That shit could have blown up!" the latino boy said.
"It did." Hitoshi said, pointing at a small picture down.
"... Change the page. Change the page before I get an aneurysm." Robbie said, as the redhead changed the page. "... That's your old man fighting the Vulture. That's your old man fighting the Vulture while on top of a moving train- HOW DID HE NOT GET CALLED ON FOR THIS SHIT?!" he asked Annie, who shrugged not knowing the answer.
"W-Wait…" Valerie suddenly spoked, calling for everyone's attention. "D-Didn't you tell me t-that I could have h-hold your dad's a-autograph?"
"She did?!" Kamala exclaimed.
Remembering what she told her blue friend, Annie turned the book to the very first page (which did confuse them all a bit with how Japan's books are read from right to left instead of left to right). When she reached the beginning, they could all see that the book actually had an autograph as well as a dedication.
To a very special pretty lady that makes me smile every time I see her.
And said dedication was followed by Peter Parker's very own signature (a.k.a, Spider-Man's signature), all while being adorned by a small little spider at the end.
"See? Wasn't lying." Annie said to the two quiet and unmoving Kamala and Valerie.
"I think you broke them." Robbie said.
"Man, if they're like that with this, just wait until they hear of the cards he used to leave." Annie said, making the eyes of Kamala and Valerie go wide knowing just what exactly she was talking about.
"Cards? What's that about?" asked Hitoshi.
"They're kind of his signature thing to do when he catches a baddie or two. He hangs them on a post and leaves a letter or even something like a business card sometimes. Courtesy of your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man!" she said, although the last part she did as soft as possible and while making sure there could be no one else to hear her safe for her friends. "We have some of his old cards as memoirs of sorts with us. We even have a couple that my sis sometimes left. You want one?" she said.
As if history repeating itself, Valerie grabbed yet another drink from the table and splashed it over her face to maintain consciousness. Meanwhile, Annie had to once again reach to the other side of the table to cover Kamala's mouth to prevent her from shouting. Safe to say that by now, they had cemented themselves as the weird ones of school seeing how everyone was looking at them.
And in a Japanese school where there were students with all sorts of rainbow hairstyles and even skin color, having pointy ears was a normality and having sometimes extra appendages, that was saying a lot. Heck, one of Hitoshi's classmates looked like she came out of a book of creatures from Greek mythology.
"Well, you've un-broke them again. It would be nice if we could keep them like that… for some reason." Robbie said, while Hitoshi kept on looking at the pictures and chuckling at what he saw.
"Is that your dad and a kid on a skateboard being chased by a… big wheel? Is that what you call that thing?" Hitoshi asked.
"Oh that? Well, not everyone can be- Eww! She licked my hand!" Annie said, pulling her hand back, which was now covered in saliva. All while they all looked at Kamala, who gave a goofy smile.
"You see? This is what I have to live with all week long." Robbie said.
And while the group kept on their… talk, if one could even call it that, also while Annie tried to clean her hand on Robbie's jacket and he obviously objecting to that, it was no wonder that there were a couple of students still looking at them. Even if they could not really understand that much of what was being said, as the group always spoke in english while in lunch period (another oddity to add on the list, but hey, at least the two Japanese kids there were sure to ace their english test no questions ask), they still had a feeling that they were being odd somehow. One of those individuals would no doubt be Ida Tenya, however both him and Momo Yaoyurozu were currently not at the cafeteria. They had to be excused, for they were currently dealing with the responsibilities of being the representatives of their class. Actually, both Robbie and Kendo would have to address similar issues the following day as well. So for the time being, where he usually sits, were just his two friends talking with one another. Ochako Uraraka and Izuku Midoriya, whom was looking specifically at the redhead of the group and looking somewhat concerned.
"Is everything alright, Deku-kun?" asked the brown-haired girl, while taking a bite of her rice.
"Eh? Oh, n-nothing. I was just thinking of something." he replied, although still sounding a bit concerned, which was noticed by Uraraka.
"Are you sure? You don't sound ok."
"Well… I guess I was just thinking of yesterday back in class. You know, the way Parker-san acted? It didn't seem like how she usually is."
"Now that you mentioned it, yeah I guess you're right. She's usually a bit more confident, but back then she acted a bit more like a small kid I guess." she said, unsure of how to describe her behavior that day and turning to her friend. "She kinda acted like you now that I think about it." she told him, making him flinch a little because… yeah she was kind of right.
"It kind of took me by surprise, you know? It was like a complete 180 with her."
"Yeah.." Izuku… wait a minute, who said that?
Both Izuku and Ochako turned their heads to see who it was who said that, because they sure as heck didn't say that. And when they did, they were met with the sight of their fellow classmate, Sero Hanta, eating some fried fish as if nothing, while they were talking.
"S-Sero-kun?!"
"Hey Midoriya, is that soy sauce you have there? Didn't know they had some today. Could I have some?" he asked.
"S-Sero-kun, when did you get here?" asked the green-haired kid.
"Mm? What are you talking about? I've been here since lunch started." he replied, surprising the other two.
"Wow, I didn't notice that. No offense but you can sometimes be a bit forgettable." said Ochako, making the black-haired boy flinch a bit.
"Uraraka-san can be very blunt." Izuku noted to himself.
"Anyway, we're talking about Parker's way of acting yesterday, right?" Sero asked once more.
"Well, Deku-kun seems a bit concerned about her. It probably had to do with that bracelet of her's. When Snipe-sensei asked her to hand it over and she didn't want to. Kind of odd, but maybe she had her reasons." Uraraka told them.
"She mentioned it yesterday." Izuku said, gaining the attention of the other two hero course students. "During our exercise back on ground Omega. She didn't mention much. Only that it meant a lot to her."
"Really? I mean, it's a nice assist tool and all, but why would it mean a lot to her?" asked Uraraka.
"You can't really blame her for not wanting to give it, though. I mean, if I had a web-shooter of my own, I don't think I would like to take it off either. Hehe, I would probably sleep with them if I could." Sero suddenly said.
Izuku was about to say something, but stopped upon realizing something. Now that he thought about it, he never really got to know the name of the assist tool that Parker always had with her. Add yet another detail that an observant fanboy like him should have paid more attention. But that wasn't important. No, what was though, was the fact that it was called a web-shooter. More importantly, Sero knew that its proper name was web-shooter. So…
"That's what it's called?" Izuku asked the boy of tape-like quirk.
"Yeah. Man, she's so lucky to have one. I remember being a kid and always… oh." Sero was saying, but suddenly stopped when he realized what he was talking about.
"Oh, doesn't her sister have a pair of assist tools like hers? Are they called, what was it? Web-shooters too?" asked Uraraka.
Now that she mentioned that, Parker's older sister did have a pair of assist tools that were somewhat similar to hers, if only a little bulkier and more noticeable. Izuku even remembers asking if there was any correlation with the two… wait a minute. If the two sisters had similar assist tools like that…
"Hey, how did you know they were called web-shooters?" asked Uraraka to Sero.
"W-Well, since s-she has the spider motee, a-and it shoots something like webs… y-you know, righ?" he said, sounding a bit nervous.
"Oh, I guess that makes sense… wait, didn't you say that you wanted one when you were a kid?" she asked, making Sero a bit more nervous and as she looked at his face for stating the obvious and the contradiction in his story, she noticed something familiar. "Wait, I know that expression!" she said, in an almost giggling manner.
"W-What expression, Uraraka-san?" asked Izuku.
"You're a fanboy too!" she told them both. "That's the exact same look Deku-kun has whenever All Might is brought up!"
"W-What? C-Come on, why would I-"
"Is it her sister? I mean, I get it, she's so cool! I wish I could meet her!" Uraraka said.
"...N-Not exactly." he murmured.
"Really? Then who else?" the girl asked once more as the boy of green haired started to realize something.
"Wait…" he suddenly said, drawing the attention of the other two students once more. "If not Parker-san's sister… then that means-"
"W-Wait, don't say it outloud! Do you want me to get killed?!" Sero quickly told Midoriya, trying for him to keep a bit quiet.
"Mm? How" Uraraka asked, but as for Midoriya's doubts, they had been answered by the way Sero behaved.
"Then… her dad?" he whispered, making the boy of black hair sighed.
"Busted."
"I don't get it." Uraraka said. "Why didn't you want Deku-kun to say it outloud.?"
"Are you kidding? The guy is still seen as a vigilante! You know what people think of them here! Imagine how some of the others outside of class would act if they were to find out! Thank god there don't seem to be many who know her name. And it looks like the few that do know it haven't figured that out." Sero told the two.
Yeah, he was right. It shouldn't be a surprise that in a nation like Japan, where pro-heroes are but another branch of law-enforcers, that there wouldn't be that many sympathizers for the so-called vigilante. From the pro-heroes themselves, to their parents and their friends, the news and pretty much everyone else. They have made vocal how frowned upon said practice was. Maybe there could be a few exceptions to the rule for them. Something simple, like helping a pro stop a purse snatcher, or if there were cases in which the individuals in question acted in self-defense. But that was it. Small stuff really. But to try and act as a full-fledged pro was not ok. That was something that should only be handled by pros and no one else. Heck, Izuku remembered the stern talk that the pros gave him when he tried to save his childhood friend from that sludge villain a year ago.
They had reasons to, no doubt. Now that he thought about it, he also kinda made their jobs harder because if he were to be taken again, then the villain would have gotten two hostages, making for double the heroes' efforts to try and rescue them. And that was just something relatively small. Someone like Spider-Man was on a league of his own when it comes to vigilantes. Even when some try to deny it, he was easily comparable to many pros. To the point that he has been the one vigilante to have eluded All Might during his time in the States (even if he was now learning that the rumors surrounding the two were an over-exaggeration).
And it's not just All Might. Mirko, Endeavor, heck even some of the heroes of his native country, as well as other nations even. That was probably the reason why Parker was so secretive about her parentage. And if what happened during friday before the villain attack… yeah, he could hardly blame her for not wanting to share much about her.
"Look, please don't tell anyone. Especially people like Ida. I like the guy and all, but you all saw how he acted when Parker was outed. I don't want to get into too many problems." Sero said, basically begging the two of them.
"I-It's ok, Sero-kun, we won't." Midoriya said, for he understood the reason behind his worries… still. "So… y-you're a Spider-Man fan? I… I never t-thought someone from Japan would ever be one." asked Midoriya, but making sure that he was whispering low enough so as to make sure no one outside of their little group of three heard a thing.
"I know but, why wouldn't I?! Spider-Man is just the coolest!" Sero whispered, still though the excitement was very obvious. "Did you know that he rescued the queen of Ksavia when she was just a small kid?! By then that country had had their borders closed for over fifty years! And some say that it would have remained like that if not for him rescuing her when she and her father visited the States back in the day! How cool is that?! Although, I'm not sure if queen is the right term. I think it's archduchess or something now that I think about it."
"Really? Wow, I didn't know that." Uraraka said, voicing not only her surprise, but that of Midoriya as well.
"Yeah, there's tons of stuff that people either don't know, or overlook when talking about Spider-Man! For example; one of the very first things he did was rescuing a NASA astronaut when the capsule he was piloting lost its guidance packet -although they tried to blame that on him for some reason- but we don't talk about that! There's also the time he and the pro-hero Ryuk teamed-up to defeat this big monster thing! Oh, fun fact, the rims of the lenses of his mask aren't actually black! They're just a really darker shade of blue, but it's only noticeable when light hits them in a certain way… actually I'm not entirely sure about that. Maybe it was just the lighting that made them look that way. It's really hard to tell by just looking at photos of the guy."
"Wow, you really are a fan of his, aren't you? You're starting to sound like Deku-kun a bit." Uraraka said.
"Well, yeah. I actually know a couple of guys that like him too! We even made a little club of sorts and, not to brag or anything, I'm probably his biggest fan out of all of us." said Sero, with a prideful grin on his face.
"That's nice. Although maybe you're not that much of a fan of his. You know, considering that you didn't notice that one of his daughters was one of our classmates all along." Uraraka said, taking a bit out of her lunch and making Sero feel as if someone had dropped a bucket of cold water on him.
"Uraraka-san can be very blunt." Izuku noted, as he then tried to cheer his other classmate up. "N-Now Sero-kun, U-Uraraka-san didn't mean that."
"No… it's ok… she's right, you know?" Sero said, sounding very bummed about it.
"Mm? What? Did I say something wrong?" asked the girl with brown hair.
Izuku was about to try and say something to make his classmate feel better, but he beat him to it by talking first.
"You know, I always wanted to be a hero. Ever since I was a kid…" he spoked all of a sudden. Surprising the other two by how serious(?) he said it. "I know, everyone wants to be a hero, I'm not special in that regard… But I've always been very self-conscious about my quirk. It's kinda flashy and all, but it really doesn't scream hero like others do. With a quirk like the one I have, might as well get a job at a convenience store or something."
"D-Don't you think that you're being too harsh on yourself?" asked Deku.
"Not really. I've always known that. Especially compared to anyone with a more heroic quirk. Kinda like you two." he told them both.
Midoriya didn't even know how to reply to that. He himself was quirkless not that long ago. He always wanted to be like everyone else growing up. To have a quirk of his own and to be able to be a hero once he grows up. And now… here is one of his classmates, someone that the green-haired boy thought had a pretty cool quirk, telling him that his quirk wasn't as cool as his. That the once quirkless boy had something that a quirked kid, one that managed to get into U.A, felt he wished he had…?
"I didn't even know what kind of hero I would even want to be growing up…" Sero continued. "Then there was this one time, me and my parents were walking on the street when all of the sudden we saw something on the news of a T.V nearby."
The image of his young self came to mind. One of him, no older than eight years of age. Walking down the streets and stopping to see something that was happening back in the States and that was being transmitted on one of the big T.V's on top of one of the buildings. The footage was one that didn't look very favorable. There was fire, ruble all around and one could even feel the panic all around.
"And then all of the sudden, I saw him. Out of nowhere, he showed up on the scene. And he started to rescue a bunch of people, all by himself." he said, recalling the sight that his eight-year-old self saw that day. Of a figure in a red and blue costume swiping in and rescuing all the scare citizens in such an awe-inducing manner. "The way he was swinging by while rescuing people. And then when he stopped and started to fight that big villain? I wondered if I could do something at least as close as what I was seeing. I was so glued to the screen that I didn't notice my parents telling me that we were already leaving. When I started walking, I asked them what hero he was… they frowned and said that he wasn't a hero. And that I shouldn't try to be like him." he said, although the last bit he sounded a little down once again.
"That… that sounds kind of rough for someone to tell a kid." Uraraka said.
"Yeah, I guess. I really didn't understand what they meant. Still don't that much, actually. But, I didn't let that stop me. So when I had the chance, I looked him up and I started to learn as much as I could of him. I watched videos of him swinging by. Of him fighting bad guys. I even saw him doing something like getting a tree out of a cat. Heck, I guess that it's already obvious that the way he uses his webs is the reason I use my quirk the way I do." Sero said, smiling now. "I know that everyone wants to be like All Might and truth is, he's also someone I look up to. I mean, who doesn't… but… if someone were to tell me who do I want to be like, it's Spider-Man. Even when I was feeling unsure about coming here, the idea of being like him kept me going and it looks like it paid off, didn't it? And now, I get to have a chance to hang out with one of her daughters? Not only that, but if her sister is a pro-hero, then I could try and be her sidekick! How awesome would that be?! And maybe… I don't know, maybe I'll get to know him." he said, still with that hopeful smile.
"I got to meet both sides of the man, although granted I wasn't aware that the two were one in the same at the time."
The voice of All Might rang in Midoriya's head. The way he described how he felt about the wall-crawler. Not as this foe he had to vanquish. But as a compassionate and caring man that he considered to be a good friend. And as Spider-Man. As the other side of the person…
"As Spider-Man, I saw someone worthy of respect and recognition, a sentiment that grew tenfold after what happened last year."
"But seriously, please don't tell anyone, please. I can tell that you two may be more understanding, but-"
"Hey, it's ok! No need to worry, we get it!" Uraraka reassured him as Midoriya nodded.
"We won't tell. Promise."
Sero looked at the two classmates of his… and couldn't help but to smile. He slipped up and here these two were telling him that it was ok. He has two classmates like these on top of getting to call the daughter of his childhood hero a classmate as well? Just what did he do to get such a streak of luck since getting to U.A?
"Thanks guys. It means a lot to me." he told them with a grateful look. One which they acknowledge with a nod. They ate what was left of their lunch. Preparing themselves for what was about to happen and with something that they were reminded by Sero's words. If he worked hard enough, then he could become the sidekick of Parker's sister. And his best chance of doing so, would be to do well at the Sports Festival. They all had their own goals for the Sport Festival. The inheritor of All Might's mantle will have to give it his all. It's only fair for him to do so after hearing so many of his fellow classmates give their reasons for why they do what they do. But… he still wanted to do something beforehand.
"Sero-kun…" Midoriya suddenly spoke, gaining the attention of the black-haired kid as he saw his classmate offering the soy sauce that he asked for a bit ago. "I'm sure that you'll get to impress Parker-san's sister. And that you'll get to meet her father too!"
"Really? How can you be sure of that?" he asked.
"Well… because that's what friends are for!"
"I'm home!" Annie said, finally arriving at her house after a day of school.
She was about to enter, but she then remembered how here in Japan, they had to take their shoes off. Odd for her, for she was still trying to get used to it. She took her shoes off and left them at the entrance before walking down the hall. Then, as she was doing so, she heard her mother talking. At first she thought that it was probably her on the phone or something, but then she heard another voice. More importantly, it was one that sounded awfully familiar to her. Walking to the kitchen, where she was hearing the voices, she was greeted by the sight of her mother, with a cup of coffee and talking to…
"WHAT THE HECK?!" Annie thought, for the person her mother was talking to was…
"-And then I said; 'that's not the villain we're looking for! That's his wife'!" laughed none other than the Symbol of Peace himself, All Might, the number one hero of Japan. Someone comparable to the likes of the Avengers and more importantly…
He was one of her teachers.
"Hahahaha! Oh my god! Who would have thought that good old Toshinori Yagi would be able to tell a good joke for once!" Mary Jane laughed at the tale her old friend shared with her. "Seriously, I remember the ones you used to tell back in the day and let me tell you! Thank goodness you decided to be a superhero and not a comedian! Good god, would you have starved to death if you did that!"
"Hey, I wasn't that bad was I?" asked the hero with a humorful tone and his always bright smile.
"You weren't that bad, you say? Toshi, the only other person I knew back then with a worse sense of humor than you was Peter!" MJ told him while chuckling.
"Well, you married the guy! What does that say about you then?"
"Huh, a decent joke and able to win one over me in an argument? Are you sure you're not a skrull posing as old Toshi?"
"Um?" the two suddenly heard. Turning around and seeing the younger Parker redhead standing near the doorframe of the kitchen.
"Oh, Annie! I didn't hear you coming!" MJ greeted her daughter.
"Uh, yeah. I… I just got here actually." Annie said as her sight then turned to the Symbol of Peace, who was still drinking the cup of coffee that the older redhead gave to him.
"Hi there, young Parker! How was school today? Full of learning and education, I hope!" the towering man asked.
"Oh… yeah, I guess. Well, you know how school is since you're a teacher there… Kinda thought you would be there and not here at my house… N-Not that there's something wrong with that, or anything! I was j-just pointing it out." Annie said awkwardly before realizing something. "Speaking of which, not wanting to be rude or anything, but is there a reason you're here? Is this some school stuff?" she asked, before an idea that she was not very fond of popped in her mind. "Wait a minute… is he here to tell mom about me at school?! N-No that couldn't be! T-There's no way he's ratling me about something that I did at school! I mean what could he be telling mom about… Uh-oh."
"Oh, none of that, young Parker! Since I had a free day, I thought it would be best to use it to try and reacquaint myself with a friend of mine! Right, MJ?"
"Wait, friend?! How, when, what?!"
"Come on, Annie. Your dad is not the only superhero I have a history wi-"
"MOM!" Annie yelled, red as a tomato and clamping her ears.
"Not like that!" MJ said, while chuckling at her daughter's reaction. "We went to college together… well for a bit actually."
"R-Really?"
"That's right!" All Might said this time. "I spent some time studying at the E.S.U for a bit as an exchange student alongside a friend of mine! There was where I met with both of your parents and became friends with!"
"And let me tell you. The stories I have to tell involving this guy over here… well, I'm not sure if they could still call you the Symbol of Peace if word were to go out, you know?" MJ said.
"Come now, MJ, you're talking as if I did something awful during my time in college."
"Awful? No. Dumb and somewhat embarassed? Oh, too bad you didn't have kids. The field day I would have telling your rascals all about you back then!"
"As if I couldn't do the same with your child!"
"Could you?" MJ asked in a daring manner.
"... Ok, maybe not."
"Uh… so, you two went to college together? Wait, does that mean you went to college with my dad?!"
"He was my tutor actually!" he stated, surprising the young redhead. "I must be thankful for having him! Lord knows how many tries it would have taken me to pass some of those exams without his aid! Compared to him, I may as well still be a child when it comes to intelligence!"
"Please, Toshi. It's Peter who we're talking about. Everyone looks like a kindergartner compared to that big brain of his." MJ said.
"Indeed!" said the hero. However he then took a peak at the clock that was hanging on the wall of the kitchen and realized the time. "Oh my, time sure flies when one has so much fun, doesn't it?"
"So, I take it you have to leave now?" MJ asked.
"So it seems! The duty of a hero and all. I'm sure that you're familiar with it! Plus, I still need to prepare some classes for my little students!"
"Guess it can't be helped. It was good to see you again, Toshi. Not gonna lie, it was nice to have someone to talk to like back in the day."
"Oh I know what you're referring to, MJ! It was quite pleasant to have been able to catch up with you!"
"Same here! We should do it another time, don't you think?"
"Why of course! If it helps, I'll bring the sweets this time around!"
"Oh, I'll be holding you to that one, Yagi."
"I'm sure you will… It was nice to talk to you again, Mj. If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to reach me." All Might told the older redhead.
"Got you. That offer is both ways, Toshi. Need something? Just call me." Mary Jane offered.
"I will!"
"You bet, you will. And you better, I know how you super types always are, not asking for help when you should."
"Yeah, I guess I do have some issues there, don't I!" All Might chuckled, while preparing to take his leave. "Have a good day, MJ."
"You too, Toshi." she told him as he nodded.
"And as for you, young Parker! I hope you are ready for what's to come! The Sport's Festival is just around the corner! And believe me, I'll make sure that you're all up to standards!" he told his young student. "You'll all go beyond, Plus Ultra style!"
"Um, yeah, sure." Annie said as her teacher nodded.
"Excuse me, I'll be going now." said the hero as he finally took his leave.
All in all, it was odd to have her teacher home. Let's be real, a teacher being at a student's house usually doesn't end well for the kid in question. But it looks like this didn' seem bad at all. He wasn't a teacher visiting the house of a student to tell her mom about her school performance. He was a friend wanting to catch up with his friend. And with the whole moving thing still being relatively fresh and truth is, her mother probably needed to have some time to reconnect with an old friend of hers.
All in all, this was pretty-
"Now young lady. Would you mind explaining what was that about blowing up the cafeteria?" MJ asked her child, making the young Parker pale in fear.
Back with All Might, he was outside of the Parker household. He couldn't help but to chuckle. It was very good to reconnect with a dear friend of his. It was quite refreshful to him and it brought back good memories for the most part. He was now in his true form, knowing that he couldn't be wasting time in his hero form for too long. That and it would be best to try and avoid people questioning why the Symbol of Peace suddenly entered the house of a foreigner woman. The last thing they all needed was a scandal brought to by out of context rumors.
Just then, his phone rang. His now iconic 'I am Here!' ringtone of himself actually… which good thing neither MJ nor her child heard. That wouldn't be good for his image. He looked at the ID of who was to be calling him and saw that it was none other than his good friend, Tsukauchi Naomasa. A little odd for him to be calling him at times like this. He wondered what could be the reason behind it.
"Tsukauchi, is that you?"
"All Might? Are you busy at the moment?" the detective asked the hero.
"Mm? No, not really. Why is there something urgent at hand?"
"Not exactly but… I would like to talk to you about something…" the detective told his friend. "It has to do with this Nomu character from the U.S.J attack."
My Hero Academia: Legacy Bits! - Fanaticism Times Two!
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! Today's the day! That Wash limited edition figurine will finally be mine!" Kamala said in excitement.
Kamala had pre-ordered this special limited edition of one of the top pro-heroes of Japan. A literal washing machine/hero… because of course, why not. As of now, she was inside of a manga store that sold all sorts of otaku and geek stuff for Japan. Comics (or manga as they called them there), posters, figurines. Heck they were even selling a couple of pillows there that were… something alright. Nothing warrant of a M rating or even an R rate… but it sure was something.
Japan, right?
And while Kamala was waiting in excitement for her little statue of a sentient washing machine to come (alongside others that did the same as her that were also looking very excited as well), Robbie and Annie were waiting by her side. Yeah, Kamala had asked Robbie to accompany her for the day and he in turn asked for the young Parker to do the same, because…
"Shinso was busy, Hatsume is Hatsume and do you really think I would get Valerie into this?" asked Robbie.
"And someone else had to come with you two, 'cause…?" Annie asked.
"Like hell I was going to deal with this alone."
"Whatever. Well, it's not that bad. And at least the drawings in this stuff are pretty cool, you gotta admit that."
"At least when they're not drawn by someone who obviously hasn't felt the touch of a woman in quite a while." Robbie said, looking at some of the covers.
"Now Sunny-Boy, that is very uncall for. Just because you don't like something, doesn't mean that-" Annie was saying until Robbie showed her one of the covers of one of the books (comics, mangas, mangos, he really didn't care about the differences).
And while it wasn't anything not appropriate for someone her age, she had to admit that the lady in the cover sure was… something alright. Good thing Valerie wasn't there with them.
"Well… we still shouldn't think less of them… maybe. Every industry has at least one."
Just then, they heard the door of the store opening. When they turned to see who it was, they saw that it was none other than Izuku Midoriya, sporting casual clothes and catching a glimpse of the two Americans.
"P-Parker-san? Reyes-san? What are the two of you doing here? This doesn't look like something you'll be interested in." the boy said.
"Not really, but unfortunately for me, spageti limbs over there forced me to come here with her."
"And skully here dragged me here to keep him company." Annie followed. "By the way, what's up, Izuku? Are you also here for the mini washing machine statues?"
"Uh? Oh, no. Y-You see, the owner of the s-store told me that he had these rare All Might cards. And s-since I had a poster that he liked, he agreed on trading them with me for the poster." he answered.
"Sounds lame to me."
"Imagine they're about cars."
"Sounds reasonable to me."
Just then, Kamala approached her two friends. She was eagerly waiting for the clerk to come by to start handing the figurines to everyone. She looked as if she was a small child on a sugar rush. All in all, it was quite the scary sight for Robbie. Good god, he might be the one with hell powers or whatever, but she looks like she's the one in need of an exorcism.
"It's almost time! I'm so excited! Are you guys excited?! Of course you are! What a silly question, right?!" she told them with an energetic tone.
"... And now, I'm fearing for my life. Thanks a lot Khan." Robbie said, while Kamala finally took notice of Izuku next to the two.
"Oh, sorry there! I didn't notice you, are you here for the Wash-" Kamala was saying, but stopped upon seeing something that the boy had.
"Oh, n-not really. I d-don't have the money for it at the moment. B-But I'll try and see if the c-clerk of the store will trade this for some cards that he has." he said, showing the poster to her.
It was of a younger All Might, sporting a costume that neither Reyes, or Parker ever saw the guy wearing. Granted they're not exactly fanboys of the guy, but they did know a bit of him. And that costume didn't look like one they were familiar with. It was him mainly in a
black under-costume, alongside a long bright red color that was held by golden pins to the costume. He had a white belt, with a golden triangular bucle in the middle. He had white boots, as well as what looked like big white sleeves of sorts, similar to a degree to the golden ones of his later costumes. however these ones didn't have the fin-like look to them and were white instead. And finally, he had a chest piece that seemed a bit like armor of sorts. And both it, the boots and the sleeves were adorned with blue lines.
"No. Way… That's the Student Costume All Might Poster!" she said, in an almost shrieking manner. "Oh, this is the first time I've ever seen it in person! I almost thought it was a myth!"
"Wait, you know about the costume?"
"Of course I do! To celebrate his five-year anniversary as a hero, a costume designer recreated the costume that he once used while he was still a student of U.A! He was so touched by the gesture that he wore it for well over a year!" she said and then she looked at the hoodie that he was wearing. "And is that hoodie the one based on his Young Era costume?!" she asked as Izuku smiled and nodded.
"Y-Yeah! I'm surprised you've noticed! He actually used this costume for most of his early years as a pro-hero! He actually wore it while he was in the States as a student! Or at least that's what he says."
"Dude! He wore that costume when he first met the Avengers! He even had it the first time he teamed-up with Thor to fight some trolls! I had a picture of that as my wallpaper!"
"Thor? Wait a minute…" Izuku said, while taking a look at what she was hearing.
She had a red shirt with the symbol of a golden eight-point star and the upper part of the shirt (above the star that is) was colored black. She was also wearing a dark blue jacket that had the wrists and the upper part of it colored red. From the height of the shoulders, there were two golden lines that divided the two colors and in the center of the jacket, the same eight-point star of her shirt. Or at least it looked like that's how it would look if she were to close the jacket. And lastly, she actually had a red scarf that combined with her attire, reassembled…
"Wait… is that a Captain Marvel jacket? And a shirt of her days as Ms. Marvel?!"
"You know Captain Marvel?!"
"Of course I do! All of them in fact! All Might once helped the first Captain Marvel fight a giant Kree centinel near Italy! He also has spoken highly of both the second Captain Marvel and the current one, Carol Danvers, whom he considered a great friend! There were even rumors that they were actually dating at one point!"
"Marvel Might, yeah! I know all about that! Even if it turned out to be just exaggerated rumors!"
And while the two fanboys were conversing with one another, gushing about their personal favorite superheroes, they ended up leaving both Robbie and Annie on the sidelines. Although it was a somewhat wholesome sight to see, at the two sharing mutual passion of heroes with someone that could understand them… and also a bit creepy.
"Well, at least they're getting along. Isn't that nice, Rob- wow, what's with that face?!" Annie said as she saw that Robbie saw the two talking with a mortified expression filled with dread.
"Oh god there's two of them." was the only thing he could say while the two talked.
Safe to say, it was a pretty horrifying sight for the boy.
Side note, the costume All Might has in the poster, was the one he used in the flashback of him and Nana in his internships with her. Because I know my dumb self probably had problems making that obvious.