Among all of the aerial architecture that makes up Musutafu, there's a single speck strung from tall tower to tall tower by a series of strings. This small spot in the sky is often there, but just as often goes unnoticed – like a tiny spider, perhaps. Look out now, because here comes the spider once again today.

The city air is fresh this day. Almost sweet and floral. The pace of living has relaxed into a steadier sort of rhythm. What would usually be the blaring of car horns now plays a tune of distant thrumming. Even the wind has a symphonic whistle to it rather than a crude snap like that of a whip.

It's perfect conditions to take somebody for a swing around the city. Even if that special somebody is burying her face in the carrier's chest, silently screaming, as she hangs on tight to him. Spider-Man chuckles over how dramatic Kyoka is being since he hasn't even once done a single trick or maneuver. It's been a slow and steady swing – meant to be safe as it is possibly romantic – and she is behaving like it's a wild roller coaster ride.

"Are we there yet?!", Kyoka hollers over the howl of the air that surrounds them when they go against the blow of the sky's breeze. For someone that should be more than capable of understanding acoustics, she's much louder than she needs to be.

With her ear jacks that can serve as weaponry so close to his face, Spidey is glad to still be covering that face with a mask in order to hide the amused smile plastered upon it. He tells her, "Almost", both so that she calms down and because it's true that they're nearing his intended destination for them.

After what happened with the symbiote, Shinso, and then Venom … it feels good to take things at a much more lax pace. Lord knows he needed the slow period to recover and mend his wounds. His mom got on his case recently about how much sleeping in he's been doing. But… Actually, he finds himself doing alot more laid back things in his Spider-Man suit these days. There was the favor he did for the Wild Wild Pussycats by watching Kota. And after that, he's taken it easy with small good deeds like getting cats out of trees or making sure toddlers' balloons don't float away.

Maybe it's about time that he gets back into the swing of things – heh, quip only partially unintentional there – by stopping some real crime again. Even with the Yakuza being removed from the city by the pros recently, there's still other criminal activity to foil. Tonight, he can work on making his neighborhood a little more friendly. But first… Today, right here and now, he has a final chance to continue enjoying his technical 'time off'.

Spider-Man sees the skyscraper that he had set his course for and uses a longer length of web to hull himself, along with Kyoka, up over its higher brim. Once clearing the rooftop's ledge, Spidey eases up on how much slack he's giving the supportive string so that their descent is a gentle one. He touches down without much recoil from the landing before he moves to help Kyoka get her footing made firm.

He tells her that they've finally made it and that the ride is over. "Alright, you can look now!" However, she continues clinging to his forearms despite the movement that he makes to let her go. She's silently asking him to take it slow – and so he allows her to set the pace.

Kyoka slowly turns her head to look away from the spider emblem on his chest – and then quickly forces her face forward while grabbing onto him all over again. "You said I could look!"

Spider-Man tenses up – it's one thing for her to hold onto him for transportation purposes via web swinging and another for .. this – he looks around while trying to figure out the problem that she's having. He eventually manages to squeak out, "We're not in the air anymore", all as he attempts to find a solution to her fears.

Kyoka burrows her face deeper into his chest, staying hidden. "Yeah, but– We're really high up.."

Seeing her so scared and sounding so meek makes him snap out of his own uncomfortable mindset. He lifts her gaze by cupping under her chin so that she focuses on him and not their surroundings. "Don't worry, Kyoka, I'll never let you fall."

Staring up at Spider-Man and hearing that, Kyoka's face turns a bright shade of red. She lightly hits his chest and looks away, embarrassed. "No fair calling me by my first name when I still don't know yours!" Her pout is cute but purposeful.

And that reminds Spider-Man why they're even doing this. He nods while finding the resolve that he needs to go forward. "Well, that's what this is all about, I suppose…"

The two of them feel the other's heart beating against their own. With or without a heightened sense of hearing, the pulses pound like a set of drums. An adrenaline rush more than what even traversing over the city on web lines can provide hits them heavily.

Kyoka fidgets with her ear jacks, nervously trying not to make this monumental moment into the big deal that it is by acting nonchalant. "I- If you've changed your mind, then–"

"I want to do this", but Spidey has a way of making special moments special. Almost every thing he says to her has a way of intensifying her heartbeat. Of course, until he follows it up with a fumbling stammer of his own nerves coming out. "...U- Unless you've changed your mind–"

"No! I mean, I didn't! Just– ..It's weirdly scary, right?" Kyoka winces when she realizes that she's being too loud. She's just relieved that the awkward behavior is mutual between the two of them.

Spider-Man chuckles as an effort to laugh off his nerves, "Yeah.. It kinda is..", but it doesn't really work.

Kyoka shyly turns her head away again. Despite all the personal experience that she's accumulated during her hero studies at U.A, she still can't bring herself to face her fears in this moment. She has to ask him why he's in a similar state despite his vigilantism, "What do you usually do when you're scared?"

To which Spider-Man responds with a completely monotonous deadpanned response, "Tell terrible jokes and get the snot beat out of me.."

Kyoka snorts. That answer cheered her up, if at least a little. "I'll spare you the beating if you spare me the jokes", but she still teasingly raises her ear jacks to ensure he takes this more seriously.

"It's a deal", Spider-Man holds up his hands in mock surrender. Before, actually surrendering. "So.. I guess I should just rip it off like a band aid.. Right?"

"Actually…" Kyoka steps nearer to him. She's somehow more hesitant about this than he is currently. It becomes clear to him why that is when she asks, "Can I do it?"

"Um.." He swallows his doubts and nods. "Okay."

Slowly, Kyoka lifts up the end of his mask. It is most definitely not like ripping off a band aid. She peels back the bottom of his facial covering as though she's carefully disarming a bomb.

Spider-Man's mask is about halfway up his face, just the point past his mouth, when he unintentionally tells her, "Wait–" She pauses as though to wait for permission, giving him a curious stare. She listens to his heartbeat as it tries to pick a pace between beating fast or slow. But she must tell by the tone of his voice that he didn't actually mean it and so she continues.

And then, fully, Spider-Man's mask comes off. When Kyoka removes the vigilante's facial covering, she gasps – expectedly – but then smiles.

"Relieved that I'm not butt ugly?", Izuku Midoriya – Spidey – takes her smile as a good sign. He returns her expression with a grin of his own.

"Relieved that you're Izuku Midoriya", Kyoka playfully bumps her shoulder against his own.

Izuku does a doubletake. "Really? Why? H- How would you even– ?"

Kyoka fixes the baffled boy with a slightly skewered and prolonged stare. "Dude, come on, you don't think it wasn't obvious? You aren't fooling anyone with the photojournalist cover story, and besides, I'm someone that can literally hear heartbeats."

Izuku hadn't been expecting that. He thought for sure Kyoka only liked him for his alter ego but to hear that would imply– "You mean.. You knew this entire time.. ?"

Kyoka backpedals. She looks away, unable to meet his gaze. "Well.. I mean.. I had my suspicions!" She shrugs and downplays this 'suspicion' of hers. "I didn't know for sure but–"

"Why didn't you say anything?!", but Izuku isn't going to let her off that easy.

"I wanted you to tell me yourself if it was the case!", Kyoka fires back at him with a comeback that – actually kinda makes some sense.

"That's–" And, Izuku has to admit that. "That's fair.." He thinks about it and he kinda gets it. It's a personal thing that should be mutually decided between them both. "And I'm glad you waited."

"I am too because you actually trusted me enough to do it all on your own", Kyoka visibly relaxes when she sees Izuku doing the same. But if there's a mistake to be made in either of them making themselves vulnerable, it's that Kyoka has the chance to jab him with an ear jack now. "Though it took you long enough, mophead!"

Izuku laughs while gently batting the ear jack away from his ribs. "What happened to calling me webhead?"

"It's a mop of webs!", Kyoka giggles right along with him while ruffling his bushy mess of curly green hair.

Their laughter carries out into the city skyline. Soon, Izuku closes on a chuckle. "Well.. Now you know."

"I guess I do", Kyoka smiles while looking at the now revealed face of her personal hero. A gust of wind blows by, kicking up both her and his hair within the breeze. "You couldn't have picked somewhere less cold?", she shivers ever so slightly.

Izuku jumps to attention, as though being reminded of something important. "I prepared for that!" He then hurries over to a gargoyle where he stashed a web sack some time ago – it's that 'important' thing.

"You really did prepare", Kyoka raises both eyebrows when she sees the 'kit' that he had made ready – she must admit to being impressed that he planned so far ahead.

"Not well enough", Izuku nervously laughs when he tears into the web sack and pulls out a single sheet for warmth instead of several, "I've only got the one blanket so we'll have to share."

Kyoka smirks. "Smooth."

Seeing the sly smile on her face makes Izuku blush. "I- I didn't do it on purpose!"

Kyoka crosses her arms over her chest. "You know I can tell if you're lying by your heartbeat, right?"

"I'm not lying!", Izuku's shout turns into a soft squeak. His embarrassment is too much for him to bear that he has to hide under their shared blanket from her.

"Sure", Kyoka continues to giggle over his antics as she snuggles closer to him, "But I wouldn't mind if you were."

Izuku coughs when choking on his nervous chuckle, "I- Is that so?", he has a hard time deciding on whether he should look at Kyoka or at the city to avoid making things weird.

Kyoka makes it easy for him and looks out at the city. "Ya know.. Now that I look at it, this view isn't so bad afterall.."

Izuku looks at the skyline alongside her; his hand finds hers beneath their blanket. "Lots of great views in the city but–" His voice catches in his throat when he switches his sights from the city to Kyoka. He realizes that he'd rather be looking at her, to put it simply. "..none as great as this.."

It may not be a phone booth, per say, but the park's payphone station reminds Silvermane of the good ol' days. It's somewhat ironically amusing considering the actual rewinding of his age. He may as well have stepped backwards in time. And yet, here he is with one foot in the past and the other in the present ever still. He's trying to reach any remaining Yakuza from the payphone, but to no avail.

When he hangs up the cord connected phone and turns around, he sees the other connecting component between his former life and current. His granddaughter, Eri, sits a ways off on a park bench. She's not running around the playground like he'd expected her to be. Whatever childish distractions might direct her attention away from the cruel adulting world around her don't have any effect. As a matter of fact, she's been quietly disassociating ever since what happened.

Not wanting her to have to grow up fast any more than he'd like to return to his actual age, he makes an attempt to usher her in the right direction. "The other kids not sharing the swings and slides, kiddo?" He hopes that it's just a matter of her lack of social interactions and not entirely to do with the blood shed that she witnessed – not that her upbringing has been 'normal' for a while now…

She stays quiet – save for the growl that comes from her stomach. As the girl's guardian, he knows well to prioritize her well-being in that moment by getting food for her – it might help with comforting her through whatever trauma she has acquired.

"Come on, let's get you something to eat.." He holds out his hand for her to take. She's at least responsive enough to grab it and follow him whenever being led.

Pickings are slim in the park. They are even slimmer when the one doing the purchasing is physically around the same age as his granddaughter. But eventually, Silvermane finds a food truck for them to get grub from.

"What'dya want?" He lets her know that the sky is the limit on the truck's short menu – and hopes that she'll verbally say something at long last this way.

She points. It's better than nothing, he figures. Silvermane looks at the item that the girl's finger is aimed at and sees a picture of a caramel coated apple. It's not the healthiest thing to pick but, then again, neither is anything else that she could choose from a food truck.

"Eh, why not.." He digs into his pants pocket to produce whatever yen he has left on him. He has yet to go into his offshore backup accounts and wants to keep it that way.

Watching Eri savor the candy apple once it winds up in her grubby little hands would have made that worth it though. She inherited his daughter's sweet tooth. Whatever humanity – whatever normalcy – is left in him … it bubbles below the surface. Seeing his granddaughter look so much like his daughter brings back memories to a better time.

But his fondness is bittersweet, much like the apple that Eri eats. He realizes that he kept her cooped up in an enclosed space buried deep underground. She never got to experience a walk in the park with her grandfather until now, nor did she ever have the opportunity to enjoy a sweet snack. Somewhere along the way in his pursuit of power, he forgot what riches he already had in his possession.

Then, Silvermane hears the pay phone he had used earlier ringing back at the park's call station. He turns, torn between two places. He could walk away from this all. He could go with Eri and continue on their merry little stroll. Or he can reconnect with the Yakuza and return to his rightful place as their elder too. He has two callings to choose from, all to start over in two different manners.

"Wait here, Eri" Whether it's his youthful staged naivety or his long festered experience of being greedy that makes him believe he can have both, he won't realize until much too late that the decision doesn't work that way. "When I get back, we'll go on the swings together."

Silvermane leaves Eri on a park bench when going to answer the pay phone. With his back to her, his expression changes while the sun's light is shaded by a tree's rustling leaves. His face is shrouded by a shadow when he answers the call that he presumes to be a callback from his remaining enforcers.

Despite his physical age, the tone of his voice holds a deep pitch of darkness much like the shadow casted across his face. "You were able to shake the cops afterall.."

The sun shines on his shocked face when he hears a response come from both the phone line and directly behind him, "All except one."

He hadn't noticed the person that had been watching him and Eri ever since he had arrived at the park with her. Nor did he notice that same person holding a cellphone in one hand to make this call and a syringe in the other hand to use on him once being snuck up on.

A needle sticks into Silvermane's neck. The drug that gets injected into the villain has an immediate effect. Silvermane slumps over, rendered unconscious. Afterall, he is physically only a young boy.

Sansa Tamakawa smirks, proud of his plan to use M99 from the forensics lab as a means to seize & snatch Silvermane. "But right now … I'm off duty and working on my own hours", Tamakawa intends to eat the remains of the villain's sins while Eri finishes eating her candy apple.

When Aizawa throws a brief glance behind himself to check on his tag-along accompaniment, he can't help but huff out a slight amount of laughter; he has to hide a small smile behind the capture cloth that he keeps on his possession as a scarf of sorts still. Shinso is trying to appear as though he isn't paying attention – hands in pockets & head downturned – but Shinso is clearly craning an ear to try and listen.

Aizawa supposes he shouldn't discount the boy too much. He IS currently at the front desk of a legal counseling center, acquiring proper paperwork, all in order to become Shinso's temporary guardian.

Shinso hadn't shared much when they continued to talk. But it became somewhat apparent why Spider-Man chose to provide a place of brief residence after Shinso shared his parents having disowned him. With options reduced and limited legally, this seemed like the best next course of action.

Aizawa is in the middle of being given a clipboard with the papers he needs to sign when he notices something – someone – in his peripheral vision. He pauses between turning to sit down so that he can fill out the required forms and keeping an eye on the hallway to his right.

"Excuse me.. That girl.. ?" He happened to notice a certain little girl with a horn on her tiny head being brought to a counselor's office.

Whereas Aizawa wasn't a participant in the Yakuza raid, Hizashi Yamada has a blabbermouth and his position as U.A's principal keeps him well informed. He knows enough about Silvermane's M.I.A status. And he also knows about the villain's granddaughter, Eri.

In Japan, most forms of gambling are generally banned by chapter 23 of the Criminal Code. Not that this stops the collection of criminals currently reserving an underground poker joint.

They go around the table, betting wads of cash instead of chips, all while laying it down on the cards that they've been dealt. Cigarette smoke swallows the room, uncirculated despite the ceiling fan above them all.

A gambler with a mohawk takes a swig from his handy travel flask. He's just passing through this district but still makes time for games such as these. And he's been here before to play these games enough before that he knows the others well enough. "Cmon Folds! Just fold already!", he even gave one of the other guys a nickname.

'Folds' got his name for obvious reasons. Then there's the few other familiar faces. Minus one being Giran – supposedly he couldn't make it for tonight's game. They each share a glance at one another as they wait for Folds to make a move.

Eventually… "I fold."

Everybody collectively groans.

"Whaaaaat?!", Folds is none the wiser to why they all are getting wound up.

But if there's to be any outlet for their frustration, then it comes in the form of another. Spider-Man drops down onto the center of the table. Cards and cash alike are flung from the point of impact.

The unique shape of Spider-Man's eyes form a slithered squint when he stares down the group of gamblers and says, "All in."

"Shit! It's that vigilante web creep!" The criminal crowd clambers to their feet. Despite surrounding Spider-Man, they somehow seem off balance by comparison to his stance.

Spidey feigns offense to their name calling, "That's not nice..", since he's not one to make people feel uncomfortable – aside from, ya know, kicking them in the face if they're bad guys.

The most muscular of the group – probably the only one that bothers lifting weights at a gym – tries making a grab for Spider-Man. "He's lightwork unlike the heroes – he's not even the one with the black costume!" He's more confident than the others.

"THAT'S even meaner", Spider-Man teaches the musclehead the errors of his ways. He shows his superior strength despite his short stature and size by heaving the larger fellow over the room's poker table. "And for the record.. I'm the same guy regardless of the color scheme!"

The others rally to help fight alongside their friend. "Then we won't have to worry about squashing more than one spider!" Which wouldn't usually be a problem even if they all decided to attack at once, except, Spidey is still recovering from his struggle against the symbiote.

They make him put in a little more effort than he often does when up against D-list fodder. But it's nothing he can't handle with a little help. Suddenly, Spidey is joined by a familiar ally.

"Eraserhead back in action!", Spider-Man cheers on his old 'partner' when Aizawa springs a surprise attack on some of the criminals who triggered his Spider-Sense.

Aizawa judo flips another scummy scumbag that tries taking him from behind. "Not exactly", but isn't too occupied or out of practice to continue chatting with Spider-Man.

"Oh", Spider-Man – on the other hand – has to pause mid fight. The irony is not lost to the situation. "How does it feel to be a vigilante?"

Eraserhead gives Spider-Man a glare. "Just shut up and fight."

After the HPSC essentially suspended his underground hero license, he wasn't so sure about re-entering the field. But Aizawa couldn't turn a blind eye to a matter involving a young child. Despite whatever grievances he may have about the HPSC or his former boss Nezu, there is a reason that they appointed him as U.A's next of kin principal.

Even when fighting alongside a vigilante as one himself now, Aizawa prioritizes a child's safety. He watches Spider-Man's perimeter and supports the web patterned character. Something's different about this fight from when they fought alongside one another before. It's more reserved. It's more cautiously careful.

Aizawa quickly dispatches the remaining threats before Spider-Man can. To which the vigilante places his hands on his hips and acts offended. "I had that, ya know."

"Okay", Aizawa refrains from pointing out the way Spider-Man favors one side to more restrictive movements now.

"I did!" But Spider-Man can tell by Aizawa's voice that there's something wrong about him being criticized. "It's not like they were the Sinister Six or something.."

Again, "Okay", Aizawa avoids arguing with the kid and just goes along with what's said.

Spider-Man crosses his arms in a pout, plus an angry huff. "Whatever! What are you doing here anyways?"

"Following a lead", Aizawa shifts from Spider-Man to the environment when seeing that his lead won't be coming from an interrogation since the thugs are unconscious.

Spider-Man follows behind the underground hero turned vigilante, feigning to also be inspecting their surroundings. "Yeah? Me too! LOV?"

"Silvermane", Aizawa spares only a single glance back during his ACTUAL analysis of the scene's setting.

"The Yakuza", Spider-Man's eyes widen at the mention of the criminal organization's leader, "Did something happen during the raid?"

Aizawa hums. He's about to deny Spider-Man a response before reconsidering that choice and deciding a second set of hands can be useful. "Without disclosing details to a vigilante–"

"You're a vigilante too now, technically!" Spider-Man interrupts Aizawa to point out that they're on equal terms now when it comes to that shared information either way.

Much to Aizawa's annoyance. "As I was saying…" He sighs and puts it as simply as possible. "Without disclosing too many details, Silvermane managed to evade custody."

Now it makes sense what an old retired underground hero like Eraserhead is doing active again in a place like this. "You think he's hiding out somewhere in the underbelly."

"It's the only theory I have to work with", Aizawa gives up on searching the scene and his next sigh is with an extra added amount of frustration upon finding nothing of use.

Spider-Man sees that his old partner could use some help and figures it doesn't hurt to offer his assistance. "Well… I owe you for Shinso, so count me in!" He gives his fellow vigilante a salute to show his support.

Aizawa's dead stare isn't really a glare but it accomplishes the same thing when he fixes Spider-Man with a look, "I really don't need your help."

Spider-Man huffs out a laugh and gets back at Aizawa with a mimicry of the response he was given earlier when put under scrutiny towards working alone, "Okay."

AUTHOR NOTES

Good to see you're still hanging around Pikapowerz! I can't promise a fully fledged redemption arc for Shinso, but I do like the 'frienemy' dynamic Venom & Spider-Man have sometimes, so you can still expect what I hope will be a nice journey for his character.

I'm glad you caught that reference, Round 1 FIGHT! I always like weaving in nods to moments and/or quotes, but it's even better when somebody notices!

-Courtesy of your friendly neighborhood author