Archive of Our Own ^beta

Yuuta takes a deep breath before he walks into the tutoring lab at the university.

Truthfully, he doesn’t exactly need tutoring for sign language. He’s been taking it for a year now, having started his second year of university just a few weeks ago. A second language was required for his degree so he’d chosen sign language during his first semester. That’s where he’d met Inumaki Toge, another student in his class who spoke it as his primary language and helped assist the professor. Now, Toge was there primarily to help the other students and he was just so friendly and attractive that Yuuta couldn’t help but develop a crush.

So, from there Yuuta had started attending the weekly tutoring sessions Toge held. Yuuta didn’t even need help, he understood more than the basics at this point but he’d never pass up the opportunity to spend with his crush and today is no different.

Yuuta straightens up his posture and walks into the tutoring room, waving over at Toge who’s already set up at a table on the other side of the room. Yuuta can’t help but smile when he notices that it’s just him and Toge again today. Never did Yuuta think he’d be praising his classmates laziness.

Toge waves back, giving Yuuta a small smile.

“Hi,” Yuuta says, taking his backpack off and sitting down beside the boy.

Hi, Toge signs back. Is there anything you specific you want to work on today?

Yuuta tries to rack is brain for a response as he pulls out some of his class notes. “I need help with numbers,” he lies as smoothly as he can, but feels himself grimace at the nervousness in his voice.

Toge leans over to look at his paper, tonguing his cheek as he reads over it. He pulls back and gives Yuuta an amused expression. Numbers? He signs. Are you sure about that?

Yuuta nods, not trusting himself to speak.

It ends up working in his favor because Toge indulges him in the end and helps him learn the signs for more numbers. Signs that Yuuta already knows but he’ll never admit that if it means spending more time with his crush.

Although, he knows the next step would be to ask Toge out, maybe confess but… it’s difficult when he considers the possibility of Toge rejecting him. Toge might not feel the same about him and that’s enough to make Yuuta squash down any confidence he’s managed to build up to admitting his feelings.

They’re about an hour into their tutoring session when something out of the corner of Yuuta’s eye catches his attention. It’s a black spider, crawling up the side of the table towards Toge’s arm. Yuuta acts before he can think, reaching over Toge and smashing his hand down onto the spider, squishing it instantly against the table.

The sound makes Toge jump and look over, startled and stares wide-eyed at Yuuta’s hand.

“It was a spider,” Yuuta explains as he reaches towards the center of the table and grabs a few tissues. “I thought it was going to bite you.”

Toge keeps staring and eventually, manages to nods. Thank you, he signs, scrunching his nose when Yuuta wipes up the spider remains with the tissues and tosses it into the trashcan in the corner of the room.

Yuuta can’t help but grimace with mild discomfort as he walks back to the table, opening and closing his hand. His palm feels sore but he disregards it as the aftermath of the smack.

Is your hand alright? Toge signs, reaching for it before Yuuta can react and turns it over to inspect it.

Yuuta feels himself flush from the contact but manages to nod. “I’m fine,” he mumbles.

He looks down at the table when his phone buzzes, letting him know he’s got a new message.

                                                                        Rika

14:15

pick up some more laundry detergent on your way home after you finish with your crush.

Sorry I meant tutor, lol.

Yuuta can’t help but roll his eyes at the second part of the message. Rika, his childhood best friend and current roommate. He knows Rika is only teasing him but it’s still annoying. She knows about Yuuta’s crush on Toge, about how shy he gets around the other boy. She keeps pushing him to ask Toge out but that’s easier said than done.

Toge drops Yuuta’s hand and brings him out of his thoughts with a worried expression. Do you have to go?

Yuuta shakes his head. “No, no that was just Rika,” he dismisses.

Is she your girlfriend? Toge asks him, giving him a teasing smile. You’re always mentioning her.

Yuuta feels himself blush from the words. “No, no, she’s definitely not my girlfriend,” he tries to explain, smiling. “She’s my best friend and, um, we’re roommates while we finish university.”

Toge nods as he scribbles something down in his notebook. He looks back over at Yuuta with a smile, tapping his pencil against the paper. So you don’t have a girlfriend?

Yuuta shakes his head, nervously gnawing on his bottom lip as he tries to formulate words to answer. “No, I don’t date girls,” he admits.

So, you have a boyfriend?

“No, no boyfriend, not yet,” Yuuta answers, watching Toge smile at his answer. Maybe hope isn’t lost after all. 

Yuuta can’t help but feel off on his way home that afternoon. He thinks he might just be feeling claustrophobic from how packed the train is, with everyone trying to get home during rush hour. His head is throbbing and every part of his body feels so sore like someone tackled him.

He closes his eyes at the pulsating headache he feels and tries to focus in on the music coming out of his headphones. He’s almost home, he just has to endure it for a little longer.

The train gets to another stop and the doors open, letting people come in and out. It makes people shove against Yuuta as they pass by him. He opens his eyes when he hears the sound of commotion over his music.

It’s a man, dressed in a nice suit who walks like his time is more valuable than everyone else’s. He pushes past a girl who must be in high school and practically shoves her against the train doors. No one bats an eye, no one even seems to register it. It makes Yuuta frown and wish he could do something about it. He wishes he could shove the man back but that would only cause more trouble than it’s worth. Instead, he pushes past the people and helps the girl up, smiling softly at her as he steadies her on her feet.

Yuuta gets home and doesn’t feel any better. He almost jumps out his skin when Rika ambushes him at the door.

“Relax,” she laughs. “It’s just me.” She takes the laundry detergent out of his hands before the bottle can hit the ground. “What’s got you so flustered? Is it that cute tutor of yours?” She teases.

Yuuta just rolls his eyes and takes his shoes off in the entryway. “No, it’s not my cute tutor.”

“You still haven’t asked him out?” She asks him, placing the bottle on their small kitchen counter. “How long has it been now?”

“A year,” he mumbles, furrowing his eyebrows as his headache keeps pounding. “And to make matters worse, I embarrassed myself so badly today at our study session.”

Rika chuckles. “More than usual?” She tries to lighten the mood but frowns when she notices how distraught Yuuta looks. “Hey, it happens, we all do embarrassing things sometimes. But you know what? Nine times out of ten, you remember things way worse than they actually happened.”

Yuuta leans back against the refrigerator as he contemplates Rika’s words. “So, um, hypothetically, if a guy just killed, just like, squashed a massive spider on the table you were studying at, would it change how you felt about him?”

Rika sucks in a breath and gives him a sympathetic look. “That bad?”

“That bad,” Yuuta mumbles, letting his head hang down.

Rika doesn’t let him wallow in self pity for long. She tries to soothe his sorrows with bad reality TV and his favorite snacks until they head to bed. 

Yuuta wakes up the next day, the same as every other, once his alarm goes off. He gets out of bed and feels none of the aches he felt the day prior. He rolls his neck out and starts making his way out towards the door when he reaches for the doorknob and feels his hand grip it.

He tries to pull his hand back and when it won’t let go, he braces his other hand against the door and feels them both grip against it.

“This is fine,” he tells himself, trying not to freak out because that wouldn’t solve anything.

He tries to pull back again and only ends up pressing his feet against the door, adding to his frustration. One thing leads to another and suddenly, he’s managed to crawl up the wall onto the ceiling.

Yuuta feels his eyes go wide, not believing what’s happening. He tries not to freak out because one, he’s scared of heights, and second of all, he’s on the ceiling!

“Oh my god,” he whispers, squeezing his eyes shut as the reality of the situation washes over him.

There’s a knock on the door and Yuuta’s eyes fly open as Rika starts opening the door.

“Hey, you’re going to be—” The words get lost on Rika’s lips as she takes in Yuuta, perched upside on the ceiling, staring back at her with a nervous expression. She screams, only adding to Yuuta’s panic. “You’re on the ceiling!” She starts freaking out, dropping her cellphone to the ground. “You’re—You’re on the ceiling!”

“I know!” Yuuta winces. “I don’t know what’s happening,” he admits, shaking his head as he tries to calm down. “Rika, help me get down, I’m so scared.”

Rika exhales and puts her hands on her hips as she tries to analyze the situation. “Alright, alright,” she says a few times. “So, you’re on the ceiling, okay.” She nods a few times, looking between Yuuta and the floor as if trying to process that this situation is actually happening.

“I thought we already established that,” Yuuta mumbles, trying to take deep breathes in an effort to ground himself.

Rika runs a hand through her hair. “So, you’re stuck.”

Yuuta nods, moving forward a few centimeters across the ceiling. “My hands and feet are suctioned to the ceiling.”

“Like a spider?!” Rika yells.

Yuuta grimace at the sound of her voice and manages to detach one of his hands to hold his face when web shoots out of his wrist, landing against the wall in a glop.

“What is that!” Rika gasps. “Are you… are you… part spider?” She rambles. “What’s happening?”

Yuuta flicks his wrist again, watching in horror and disgust as another string of web shoots out. “Oh my god,” he mumbles, feeling extremely lightheaded. “I think, I think I’m going to be sick.” The room spins and suddenly, he’s hitting the floor and Rika in running over towards him before he faints.

The next few days are difficult to say the least. Yuuta feels like he can hear and see everything. Everything leads back to that stupid spider that started this whole ordeal and he’s not known a moment of peace since.

No matter how many times he tells himself he’s dreamt everything or made it up, web shoots out of his wrist and he’s hanging off the wall again. It feels like his life is going downhill quickly. At least, he doesn’t alone through it out. Rika is there for him every step of the way, even if she seems just as lost as him. He contemplates telling his parents something is wrong but when he accidentally manages to scale his apartment building when he’s taking out the garbage, which does nothing to help diminish his fear of heights. After that ordeal, he decides to wait a little longer before doing anything dramatic.

It’s early evening one night after his classes have ended and he’s walking home after having gotten off the train. These days, he tries to lay low and stay away from people until he figures out whats happening to him. Rika has taken to calling him Spider-Man the last few days and every symptom he has just points more and more to it.

He’s making his way down the street, headphones in, hoodie over his head as he walks home when he hears commotion coming from up the street. At first, he labels it as other university students being rowdy and decides to ignore it.

The closer he gets, the more he can make out. Against his will, he starts picking up parts of the argument and he can start to see a few guys assaulting someone.

Yuuta has always been the kind of person that hates when others pick on innocent people. Even when its caused him to get bullied or even beaten up in the past. He’s never seemed to let that part of him go, the part that wants to see assholes get put in their place.

“Hey,” Yuuta calls out, slipping his headphones out of his ears. “Leave them alone.”

The guys all turn to look at Yuuta and snicker.

“Yeah?” One of them snorts. “Who says?”

“Me,” Yuuta mumbles. “Obviously.” The confidence he had earlier starts to leave him as quickly as it entered.

“Get lost,” another one mumbles.

Yuuta stands his ground. “Just leave them alone, I won’t repeat myself.”

“Alright, I’m getting annoyed, get lost,” the first guy threatens. “Don’t start something you can’t finish.”

Yuuta presses his lips into a tight line but doesn’t back down. It’s too late now. “Is this really worth it?” He asks them, waving his hands around. “All of this?” He shakes his head. “You know assaulting someone is illegal right?”

Both of the guys, even the victim look towards Yuuta as if he’s grown a second head.

“Yeah, obviously,” one of the guys retorts. “We don’t do this in hopes of receiving a prize for being standout citizens, you idiot.”

Yuuta frowns. “If you know it’s wrong, then, maybe don’t do it,” he huffs, taking a step back when they both come at him at the same time. Everything seems to happen in slow motion in Yuuta’s eyes. He can see their movements so clearly and it gives him the advantage of dodging every punch and kick they throw at him with ease.

He reaches out and manages to grab one of the guy’s arms, restraining him instantly. “Maybe, it’s time for a career change,” he tells the man, shrugging as he drops the man onto the floor.

The other one tries to take him down and Yuuta steps to the side, accidentally knocking over a trashcan he promises to pick up later.

“And who are you exactly to come in here and play hero?” The man demands, tripping over the trash on the ground.  

Yuuta rolls his eyes as he stops the first guy from getting up with his foot. “Wanting to be a good person doesn’t make me a hero,” he points out, shooting web out of his wrist to tangle around the other man’s feet when he comes at Yuuta again.

His phone buzzes with a reminder of an assignment he has due soon. “Well, time to wrap this up,” he decides. He ends up tangling both of the men in think ropes of web and plastering them against the side of the building.

“Ew, what the hell is this stuff!?” One of the men hisses in disgust. “What are you!?

“It’s just spiderweb,” Yuuta mumbles, picking up the trash before he goes over and makes sure the victim is alright.

“Thank you,” they whisper, staring wide-eyed at Yuuta who only smiles in return. “You saved me, I, I—”

Yuuta nervously laughs. “No, please, there’s no need to thank me. It just looked like you needed some help.”

“Thank you,” they say again before making their way down the street.

That night, after Yuuta is sitting at his desk, struggling to find the words to finish his essay, he thinks back to the person he saved. He’s leaning back in his chair, keeping himself from falling by shooting web against the wall to keep himself up as he tries to teach himself to aim it and use it more accurately.

“I can help people,” Yuuta says to no one but himself as he stares at the web. It’s still kind of gross but he’s growing more familiar with it. It comes out when he needs it but also when he sneezes too hard or coughs. He’ll get better at controlling it, he will.

Helping people seems like the right thing to do. If not him then who else? It’s not even about taking down war criminals or anything out of his area of expertise but maybe helping around the city or his neighborhood or even his university, just until he learns how to use his abilities better. Yuuta has never really believed that each person is born with a specific purpose because that’s a lot of people and anything a person does or says can change the trajectory of their life… but this, it feels oddly specific because what are the chances? Being bitten by a spider could’ve landed him in the hospital and instead, here he is, shooting web, fighting bad guys, and scaling walls.

The web snaps and he’s tumbling on to the floor. He lays back against the floor, deciding he might need a little more practice before he’s actually capable of helping people.

It’s a week later since Yuuta last saw Toge and he’s back again for his usual tutoring session. With everything that’s happened, he’d contemplated skipping but he decides that having some kind of normalcy to his routine might help. That and there’s the fact that he’s down bad.

Toge is sitting at the same table as last time, flipping through a textbook when Yuuta walks up to him. He looks up with confused expression. Are you okay?

Yuuta gives him a tired smile and sits down. “Yeah, I’m just a little stressed about assignments due this week.”

Toge frowns. Is there anything I can help with?

Yuuta shakes his head. “Just you helping tutor me is more than I could ask for,” he says, wincing internally at how cheesy that sounded coming out of his mouth.

Toge doesn’t seem to think so and instead, just gives Yuuta a smile. They fall into a rhythm of going through Yuuta’s assignments for his sign language class that he honestly does need help with this week. His mind has been all over the place with everything that’s going on in his life. And Toge, he’s a nice distraction from everything, helping tune out the noise.

They’re an hour into their session when Toge moves to grab his phone that he keeps facedown on the table to give Yuuta his full attention—something Yuuta has found he likes a lot more than he should—when Toge manages to knock his drink off the side by accident.

Yuuta reaches around him instantly, swift and precise as he manages to grab the drink before it spills all over the floor. “Here you go,” he says, placing it back on the table.

Toge just looks at him, taken aback for a moment as the smaller boy tries to process how Yuuta just did that.

Yuuta feels realization flood him instantly. A week ago, he was a mess of lanky limbs and now, he’s suddenly as agile as Olympic athletes. “It was a lucky catch,” he tries to save himself.

Toge doesn’t seem to buy it but doesn’t push the issue any further. I wanted to show you something, Toge signs, changing the topic. He scoots his chair closer towards Yuuta and unlocks his phone. Did you see this? He asks before pressing play on a video and holding the phone in between them.

Yuuta almost can’t believe how close they’re sitting, can feel himself blushing red when the sound of the video manages to catch his attention instead.

It’s a video of the night before, of him. Horror takes over the shyness he’d been feeling of having Toge so close as he watches the video. It’s him, beating up the guys who were trying to rob and intimidate an innocent bystander. Luckily, it’s dark and the person who’d filmed it had to zoom it.

Toge calls his attention back when he locks his phone and starts signing. It happened just a few streets down. Crazy right?

Yuuta nods. “Yeah… did they manage to identify anyone yet?”

Toge scrolls through the comments for a second. Only the two guys who started the assault. It says that they were taken in for questioning regarding the guy who glued them to the side of the building using— spider web? Toge takes a moment to reread, just to make sure he read that correctly. Yeah, spider web, it says right here that they tested it. But the people they arrested didn’t know who it was.

Yuuta sighs in relief, not that those guys would’ve known who he was but the fear of being discovered is still there. What would they do to him? Would the government come looking for him? He dismisses that thought, thinking back to Iron-Man. A well known superhero who does as he pleases and as far as Yuuta knows, he’s never been detained by the government. But does that mean Yuuta is also a superhero or just a weirdo who can scale walls and shoot web? This is all way too much.

They’re calling him Spider-Man, Toge tells him, laughing as he signs. Because he shoots web. Kinda cool right?

And just like that, maybe Yuuta doesn’t mind being a weirdo who shoots web.

He’s kind of like Iron-Man, right? Toge signs. Except he doesn’t have a costume.  

That sparks an idea into Yuuta’s head. 

That afternoon, Yuuta heads towards the train station to get home. He’s still trying to keep life as normal as possible, choosing to explore his abilities—powers? At night when no one is outside and the dark helps disguise him. So for the time being, that means taking the train home.

He’s approaching the train station when he sees Toge walking out of a store. It seems to be the perfect opportunity to go up to Toge since they had such a good tutoring session earlier. Maybe this is Yuuta’s chance, maybe he can finally ask him out. It’s perfect.

Yuuta is about to walk over when someone else exits the store behind Toge, someone he doesn’t know. It makes Yuuta stop in his tracks as the girl with black hair starts talking animatedly to Toge. Then, another girl, this one with short brown hair also joins them, going to walk on Toge’s other side. Any confidence Yuuta had a few moments ago vanishes as he watches Toge and the two girls start walking in the opposite direction.

A million questions fly through Yuuta’s head as he stands there, blocking people’s path.

Is Toge dating one of them? Did Toge ever mention having a girlfriend? Has Yuuta ever even asked? Did Yuuta just assume he was single?

Yuuta takes a deep breath when he feels his right hand become sticky. He curls his hand into a first as web smudges it. “Great,” he sighs, pulling his hoodie over his head as he starts walking again. He adds feeling overwhelmed to his list of what causes random web to shoot out his wrist without being prompted.

Rika greets him as soon as he gets back to their shared apartment. She’s sitting at the small table they have in their living room when he walks in.

“Have you seen this?” She asks, turning her laptop towards him.

Yuuta walks over and runs a hand through his hair as he sees the video Toge had shown him earlier on her screen. “Yes,” he admits, flopping down onto the floor to lay on his stomach. “I didn’t think—I didn’t even see anyone recording me!”

“Spider-Man,” she teases.

“This isn’t funny,” he groans. “My life is falling apart! All because I decided to stop two assholes from committing a crime.”

“You’re being dramatic, Yuuta,” she snorts. “Your life isn’t falling apart.”

Yuuta turns his head to look over at her and frowns. “They have me on video.”

Rika looks back at her laptop and replays the video. “Yeah, but they don’t know its you! They just assume it’s some random guy, who happens to move like that and shoots web out of his wrists. This isn’t you, this is Spider-Man.”

“They’re going to figure out it’s me sooner or later,” he bemoans. “How many Japanese university students are running around fighting crime while scaling walls?”

Rika taps her fingers against the table as she thinks. “I got it!” She gasps. “You just need a disguise.”

“Like a costume?” Yuuta huffs, focusing in on the flooring. “Where am I supposed to get a costume? The Halloween store?”

“Just something to hide your identity for the time being,” she suggests. “It doesn’t hurt to try and then, you’ll stop worrying so much about getting recognized,” she points out. “It’ll even give you more time to chase after your tutor.”

Yuuta can’t deny that it’s a good idea, not after Toge had also mentioned it earlier. He just needs something to help hide his face, that’s all, just until he figures out what is going on.

It’s the weekend and with that, Yuuta finds himself standing on the rooftop of his apartment building. He’s trying to focus on his breathing and not on the fact that he’s literally so high off the ground that a drop from this height could seriously hurt or even kill him.

He’s been building up to this moment after having spent the last few nights scaling up taller buildings. He’s been shooting his web more accurately as of late and it’s helping build his confidence that maybe he can master this. The more he practices, the more he’s managing to learn and control himself. He keeps reminding himself that there’s a purpose to this, that with everything he learns, it helps increase the number of people and different types of situations he can help with.

“You can do this,” he tries to reassure himself as he readjust his backpack. He shoots his web towards the neighboring building and pulls his wrist back to make sure the hold is secure before he’s swinging off the apartment rooftop.

He squeezes his eyes shut when the momentum makes his head spin as he swings across and lands against the side of the building. “Woah, okay, okay,” he exhales. “I can do this.” With that, he shoots his web out and connects himself to another building until he has a steady pace going.

The night is calm and he’s grateful for that since he can’t even begin to imagine learning how to move from building to building being even more stressful than it already is.

He’s wearing a black jacket with the hood pulled over his head and a face mask covering his face. It’s not much a costume, more like a lazy disguise as Rika had called it but it’ll have to do. No one can identify him like this so it works.

Things are going well and he’s managing to get the hang of it so he decides to head deeper into the city to try his luck with swinging from taller buildings and maybe a skyscraper or two. He’s even managing to keep his eyes open the longer he goes.

He decides to stop at the Tokyo Skytree to take a quick break and check his phone when he notices someone else standing there.

“Hey, kid!” The man smiles, waving at Yuuta as if they’re long time friends. Yuuta startles from where he’d been trying to climb fully onto the top, almost losing his grip.

The man manages to grab Yuuta’s hand and helps haul him up the rest of the way with ease. “You almost got roughed up there, better be careful from now on,” the man teases him.  

Yuuta takes the man in fully once they’re standing in front of each other where the nightlights illuminate them. It reveals someone Yuuta did not expect to be meeting tonight or ever for that matter.

Multibillionaire, Gojo Saturo, also known as the popular and extremely loved superhero, Iron-Man stands before him. This man owns half the city practically, has more money than Yuuta will ever see in his life, and builds and sells technology that is out of this world. This man who works with prominent heroes from across the world is standing right before Yuuta.

“Cat got your tongue?” Gojo laughs, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his extremely nice overcoat.

Yuuta shakes his head, unable to think of a response.

Gojo just chuckles. “So, enough beating around the bush, kid. I know it was you in that video that came out last week. You were the one who glued those guys to a wall.”

“It wasn’t me,” Yuuta tries to deny, frowning.

“It wasn’t you?” Gojo retorts.

“No.” Yuuta stands firm. “It wasn’t.”

Gojo cocks his head to the side and gestures towards the edge of the rooftop. “Just like it wasn’t you who was scaling this building a few seconds ago?”

Yuuta looks away towards the skyline. “Why does it matter if it was me or not?”

Gojo walks closer. “Because I’m here to offer you a proposal of sorts.”

“How did you even manage to find me?” Yuuta demands to know, feeling wary of the man.

“It wasn’t really that hard having my patrol drones keep an eye out for a kid that swings through the city,” Gojo points out with a grin.

“Why should I trust you?” Yuuta asks, gnawing on his bottom lip as the nerves flare through him. He’s grateful for the mask he’s wearing now so Gojo doesn’t see how nervous he is.

Gojo just laughs again. “That’s a fair question. Why should you trust me?” He shrugs. “Well, for starters, as far as I can tell, you have absolutely no idea what you’re doing. Because why else would you be wearing that.” He gestures towards Yuuta’s clothes.

“What’s wrong with it?” Yuuta defends. “It’s my disguise.”

“You look more like a burglar than a superhero if you ask me,” Gojo points out, sliding his hands out of his pockets and putting them up when he sees how defensive Yuuta gets. “Alright, alright, relax, kid.”

“Listen,” Gojo takes a different approach. “I’m here because I want to help you. You’re obviously in over your head here and there’s a reason you’re wearing a, um, disguise, right? You don’t want the government to come after you and make you do their dirty work or whatever it is they call it these days.”

“You know about that?” Yuuta asks him.

Gojo sighs. “Sort of? I mean, you think they saw me flying around in my suit and went, ‘hey, that’s totally fine.’ Yeah, no way. It took a lot of bribing to get them to leave me and my association alone. There’s a lot of outdated policies and protocols when it comes to heroes of the modern age I just can’t stand. I didn’t want that those types of regulations stopping me or those around me,” he explains. “What I’m trying to do here is simple, kid, I’m trying to evolve this industry and get those out of date protocols and regulations out of legislation. And there’s no better way to do that then with the next generation. That’s where you come in.”

Yuuta tries to process everything but it’s a lot. “So, these new modern heroes, they just follow your lead?”

That makes Gojo laugh. “Yeah, no way that would ever happen but I’m not trying to be a leader per say, I’m just trying to make things better for us in the long run.” Somehow, Yuuta doesn’t doubt that.

Gojo doesn’t push anymore that night, instead, inviting Yuuta to come and see him at Gojo Industries the next day after he’s taken the night to consider his proposition. Although, as Yuuta is swinging home later after that night, he can’t help but think he’s already decided on what he’s going to do.

Yuuta gets to Gojo Industries bright and early the next day. He feels so out of place as he watches people come and go in the massive building, looking at Yuuta as if he’s lost.

He manages to find his way to the receptionist who sends him on his way to the top floors where Gojo waits for him. He isn’t sure what to expect because honestly, the man seems a little unhinged. But Yuuta is aware of the legislation in place when it comes to superheroes and the kinds of restrictions the government likes to impose on them. He can’t deny that the security Gojo offers him is extremely appealing.

Yuuta takes the elevator up until the doors open to Gojo’s private workplace. He hits the buzzer and a bright red light beams out and scans his face before opening the door, revealing a large room, filled with people and machines.

“Woah.” Yuuta stares in amazement as he takes it all in. He’s currently studying engineering so this is all within his element. There’s so much going on.

“There you are!” Gojo calls over to him from where he stands in front of multiple screens.

“First time in a robotics lab?” Gojo asks when Yuuta makes his way over to him. He’s typing away on the massive computer, pulling up holographics with a swipe of his fingers.

Yuuta nods as he grips the straps of his backpack. “This is amazing,” he smiles, looking around. “Is this where you build your suits?” He asks, watching Gojo work.

“Sure is,” Gojo says, hitting one last key that makes something rise from the floor. “So, have you given any thought to what I proposed to you last night?”

Yuuta shifts on his feet as he contemplates his answer. “If I join you, what’s in it for you?”

“For me?”

“Yeah,” Yuuta presses. “I can’t imagine you’re just offering me protection and guidance for free.”

Gojo grins. “I don’t seem like the generous type to you?”

Yuuta snorts and shakes his head. “Not even close.”

Gojo walks over to the risen platform and watches as it opens, revealing something red and blue. “Smart boy,” he praises. “I won’t ask for much of you, just a couple of things. One, I need you to be on call if something arises in the city and I’ll need you to go and handle it.”

Yuuta doesn’t seem to buy it. “Just that?”

Gojo moves away from the platform, unveiling a suit, one made from nanotechnology, similar to what the Iron-Man suit is made of. “For the moment,” he says before gesturing towards the suit. “So, what do you think? Consider it an onboarding bonus.”

“That’s for me?” Yuuta asks him in disbelief.

Gojo nods before he presses a few buttons on the platform that active the suit. “I’ve been working on it since I first saw that video of you. I knew it was only a matter of time before I met you so I figured, might as well be prepared. Besides,” he smiles, looking Yuuta up and down. “You need a new disguise if you’re that adamant about hiding your identity.”

Yuuta shakes his head at the words. “It’s not that I want to hide who I am but… I don’t think I’m ready to give up my life as I know it just yet,” he admits. “This.” He gestures to himself. “What’s happened to me, it’s a lot to take in and for the moment, I want to feel like I still have some sort of control over my life.”

Gojo gives him a sympathizing look but doesn’t comment.

The new suit is awesome to put it lightly. It’s red and blue with a mask to match. Gojo makes Yuuta try it on and at first, it fits lose but Gojo prompts him to press the spider symbol in the middle and it vacuum seals to Yuuta’s body perfectly. Even the mask is out of this world. The eyes double as a control center that overwhelms Yuuta at first. It’s like having a mini computer at his fingertips as it pulls up maps, data bases, even his phone screen so he can use it hands free. Gojo can also reach Yuuta easily while he’s wearing it, allowing him to see what Yuuta sees as he swings through the city.

“So it’s simple,” Gojo explains as he puts Yuuta through the training course to get him comfortable with the suit. He holds up a ring and tosses it at Yuuta. Yuuta catches it easily with some web and brings it closer to examine. “Keep the ring on and it’ll active the suit when you need it, so don’t lose it.”

Yuuta holds up the ring to the light in amazement. “I won’t lose it.”

“If you lose it, I’ll charge you for it, just a measly 345 billion yen,” Gojo teases.  

They spend the rest of the day training, with Gojo suiting up and helping Yuuta get his combat skills up while learning to use the suit to his advantage.

He goes home that day and rushes to show Rika the new suit who freaks out just as equally as he had.

“So, you just met Gojo Saturo?” She asks in disbelief as she touches Yuuta’s arm in the suit. “The multibillionaire superhero?”

Yuuta shrugs. “Sort of, yeah?” He says, retracting the suit back into the ring. “I’m kind of working for him now too.”

Rika gasps. “What?” She grins. “You’re working for Gojo Industries?!” She almost yells.

“But don’t go around telling people,” Yuuta warns her. “I’m keeping all of this on the down-low, just until I get settled in.”

Rika reluctantly agrees. “Fine, but as soon as I can tell people, I’m telling everyone!”

Yuuta spends the rest of the weekend trying to get the hang of the suit. He’s getting better at moving through the city with his web and even manages to get a lost dog back to its owner.  

He’s in a much better headspace come the week and he’s all smiles when his tutoring session rolls around. He walks in feeling confident, having told himself over and over again that’s its fine if Toge has a girlfriend because he’s down that bad that he’ll accept it and move on.

Are you feeling better today? Toge asks him once they get settled in. I remember you were feeling kind of down last time.

“Yeah,” Yuuta says, smiling at the fact that Toge remembered that. “Last week was rough but things are starting to pick up.”

Yeah? Toge smiles back, looking towards Yuuta’s hand and noticing the ring on his finger. He gives him a funny look and points at it. Did you get married since the last time I saw you? He’s teasing and Yuuta can’t help but eat up the attention.

“No,” Yuuta says, feeling his face flush. “Definitely still single.” He decides to take the opportunity. “What about you?”

Toge tongues his cheek. What about me?

“Are you… are you single?” Yuuta tries to his luck.

Toge laughs softly. Is there a reason you’re asking me?

Yuuta shrugs, looking down at his notebook. “No, it’s just that I saw you last week with a couple of girls. I didn’t know if one of them was your girlfriend.”

Toge chuckles. I don’t date girls, he signs. And if that doesn’t make Yuuta’s heart race.

“Good,” Yuuta smiles. “Me neither.”

They go back actual academics for about ten more minutes until Toge eagerly leans over to show him another Spider-Man video. He’s all smiles this time that Spider-Man has an actual disguise. Yuuta counts the new suit as another win.

I think that whoever he must be, he has to be cute, Toge admits, zooming into a particular video.

“You think so?” Yuuta nervously smiles. “He wears a mask so, we can’t be sure.”

Toge disagrees. No, I know he’s cute. He’s also like part spider right? If he’s climbing buildings and shooting web.

“So I take it you like spiders?” Yuuta tries his luck again.

Toge just smiles, cute enough that it melts Yuuta to the core. I like spiders.

Nothing can kill Yuuta’s vibe the rest of the week as he continues the daily patrols Gojo has assigned him. He’s swinging through the city with the biggest smile on his face under the mask. Nothing seems to get him down, not even the petty criminals he manages to stop or the dazed high schoolers who crowed him in the street to ask to take a picture of him.

He’s in the middle of helping direct an older couple towards their destination when Rika’s call comes over the control center of his suit.

“Rika,” he answers as he continues his patrol for the evening.

She’s mainly calling to ask him where he put her scientific calculator Yuuta had borrowed after having lost his until it turned up wedged between his bed and the wall. But as soon as Toge’s name comes up in conversation as Yuuta swings across Shibuya, the conversation turns into teasing.

“You still haven’t asked him out,” she tries her best to sound exasperated on the other end of the call.

“Actually, I asked him if he was single,” Yuuta points out as he starts climbing up a tall building to look over the area from above.

“Well, duh, of course, he’s single!” Rika states as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

Yuuta rolls his eyes under the mask. “And how would you know that?”

“Because he’s obviously into you.”

“There is absolutely no way you know that kind of information.”

Rika sighs. “Come on, Yuuta, you’re an engineering student, how can you be so oblivious?”

“I am not dumb,” he defends himself, finally reaching the top and willing his dinner to stay down when he sees how high up he is. He isn’t sure if he’ll ever get sure to the height or over his fears.

“Are you being serious?” She deadpans. “Why else would he spend his time tutoring you when you’re already in upper-level sign language classes!”

The sound of her voice makes Yuuta wince. “Well, have you considered that maybe he’s just a nice guy.”

“You’re both oblivious,” she points out before she ends the call.

“I am not oblivious,” Yuuta says to himself as he gets back to work.

The calm doesn’t seem to last for long though. Yuuta should’ve seen this coming considering how smooth things were going and how little he’d heard from Gojo as of late.

Yuuta is on his way to class when his phone starts buzzing as alerts come in, surging him to head towards a bridge north of the city. Since this is the first time Gojo has requested his assistance, Yuuta decides to skip class and heads to the location.

He waits until he’s far away from university before he takes the path through the park, switching into his suit behind the trees to hide him.

If he thought he’d faced anything stressful since developing his abilities, he had been wrong. He meets Gojo on top of the bridge where the man is currently is trying to torch two broken beams back together before half of the cargo trucks that are stuck plummet to their deaths.

It’s nerve wracking to say the least but after everything is done and everyone is safe, Yuuta can’t help but feel adrenaline pump through him.

Gojo reassures him that it’s normal, that the more he pushes himself, the stronger he’ll get and the more they’ll be able to do.

“Who knows?” Gojo laughs. “Maybe one day you’ll join the association officially but until then, back to patrols, kid.”

Yuuta can’t help but replay Gojo’s words over and over in his mind as he swings through the city. He hadn’t even considered the possibility of joining the association one day. It’s exciting to say the least, to be part of something bigger than himself, something that would allow him to really save people from dangerous situations.

It’s Toge, to Yuuta’s surprise, who ends up taking the initiative.

Are you doing anything Friday night? Toge asks him after they’re done with the tutoring session.

Yuuta just watches him sign from where he’d been shoving his things away into his backpack. “This Friday?”

Toge nods, shrugging. Yeah. Do you want to do something? He signs. With me.

Yuuta’s mouth moves faster than his brain. “Like a date?”

Toge just smiles, cute and sweet just like Yuuta remembers. Yes, he signs, if you want it to be a date, it’s a date.

“I want that,” Yuuta confesses. “I would really like that.”

I’d like that too, Toge admits, slowly reaching over to hold Yuuta’s hand, rubbing his thumb over the other boy’s ring.

Yuuta feels like he’s on cloud nine and can’t help but think back to Rika. Maybe she had been right. Maybe he and Toge were both super oblivious.

The days leading up to Friday seem like a dream for Yuuta. He and Toge spend practically everyday texting, about anything and everything. It makes Yuuta feel warm on the inside as he does his daily patrols through the city, smiling when a new text message from Toge pops on his control center.

They decide to get dinner on Friday evening and head to an arcade that Toge likes to frequent in his spare time afterwards. It’s going well, really well to the point that Yuuta almost thinks he’s imagining everything.  

What’s your favorite retro game? Toge asks him as they walk down the sidewalk towards the arcade after dinner.

Yuuta purses his lips as he thinks about it. “Maybe like Kirby?”

The answer makes a smile spread across Toge’s face. He scrunches his nose as he signs. Really? Kirby? 

Yuuta shrugs. “I like Kirby. Kirby is cute,” he adds. “What about yours?”

Toge lights up at the question. Street fighter, easy, he answers.

They’re in the process of walking up the stairs towards the arcade on one of the higher floors when movement catches Yuuta’s attention out of the corner of his eye. He turns his attention towards it but decides that it has to be his nerves messing with him because there doesn’t appear to be anything out of the ordinary.

Still, the feeling of unease doesn’t leave him as they enter the arcade.

They’re halfway through a round of street fighter when Yuuta’s phone starts buzzing in his pocket.

Yuuta furrows his eyebrows and pulls his phone out of his pocket.

                                                            Gojo 

21:05

URGENT SPIDEY

ASSOCIATION AND I WERE CHASING VIGILANTE IN THE EAST.

HEADED TOWARDS YOU.

WATCH OUT KID. ACT SHARP.

Yuuta curses under his breath and wills his ears to listen in. There’s nothing out of the norm, just the sound of the arcade machines and people laughing and talking. But then, Yuuta hears it, faint but coming in quick.

It’s the sound of rumbling, most likely from turbo engines.

“My mom is calling me,” Yuuta lies through his teeth when Toge notices the worry on his face. “I’m just going to step out for a moment and answer this, I’ll be right back, okay?”

Toge nods. Hurry back.

Yuuta gives him a small smile. “I promise if not, next game is on me.”

Toge seems to like that because he teasingly sticks his tongue out at the other boy.

As soon as Yuuta is outside, he makes his way to the staircase, thanking the heavens when he finds it empty. He switches into his suit immediately and starts scaling the roof to get a better view.

Gojo’s voice and a few others Yuuta doesn’t recognize fill his head instantly. He assumes they’re all from the association.

“Kid, stop them before they get further into the city!” Gojo orders.

“Gojo, are you seriously having a university student doing your dirty work?” A man’s voice sighs like this isn’t the first time he’s gotten onto Gojo.

“Oh, hush, Nanami, the kid is a lot stronger than you’d think,” Gojo laughs through the connection. “Heard me, Yuuta?”

“Loud and clear,” Yuuta replies, pulling himself onto the roof.

Everything is calm as he looks over the city until the sound of the turbo gets louder and louder until the color of blue breaks over the dark sky, heading directly towards him.

Yuuta is taken aback for a moment as he watches his first real villain get closer. He feels that same adrenaline course through him as he crouches down into position, waiting for the perfect opportunity to intercept.

The villain gets closer and Yuuta extends his right arm out, shooting web out of his wrist in abundance as he tries to stop them before they can get any further. Yuuta feels his feet scrap against the rooftop as he tries to hold the villain back. It’s making the muscles in his arms ache as he wills himself to hold on.

“You can do this,” he tries to encourage himself through clenched teeth. The turbo seems to get stronger the tighter Yuuta pulls.

He looks over his shoulder when the sounds of Gojo and the rest of the association get closer. He just needs to hold on a little bit more, just a bit more.

The soft sounds of footsteps coming from the staircase and eventually, the door that leads to the roof gets Yuuta’s attention.

“It can’t be,” he whispers, feeling sweat drip down his back as it gets harder to hold on.

Sure enough, Toge opens the door and cautiously walks out onto the rooftop. “Yuuta?” He calls out, stopping in his tracks when he comes face to face with the scene on the roof.

“Toge!” Yuuta yells before remembering himself. “Dammit, I mean—-listen, just stay right there!”

The villain manages to up the turbo and the recoil sends Yuuta through the rooftop, making him go through the ceiling. Instantly, the top floor of the building starts caving in and Yuuta can feel every hit as he tumbles through the rubble of it all.

He pushes his way out because there’s people in this building and because Toge is still on the roof. He pushes his way out because he needs to help, needs to do something. He pushes his way out because this all he’s ever wanted to do in life, help others.

Yuuta stands on wobbly legs but manages to clear some of the debris. He ropes the few people that were on the top floor in web and starts moving them towards the staircase.

“Everyone, head towards the bottom floor!” He directs, clearing a path for them as they move.

He swings back up to the ceiling, watching as Gojo and the association finally arrive and start fighting the villain over the building.

One of them manages to blast the villain in midair but the momentum sweeps over the area, taking Toge with it just by the seer force of it.

Yuuta acts instantly, jumping off the building and swinging around until he spots Toge who’s plummeting to the ground as he covers his face from all the debris.

There’s no moment to think of a better plan as Yuuta falls after him. He tries to push himself down faster, shooting web to attach to lower parts of the building so he’ll move faster.

Finally, he manages to reach Toge and doesn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around his waist as he tries to shield him from the fall. Yuuta reaches his right hand out and shoots out as much web as possible as he attaches it to a different structure. He doesn’t trust it to stop their fall so he keeps his arms tight around Toge as they fall until they stop barely a few centimeters off the ground.

Yuuta opens his eyes in disbelief as he takes this scene in. With Toge tucked in against him, with people crowding the area, and with the rest of the heroes still fighting in the air.

“You’re alright,” Yuuta says as he helps Toge stand up straight. “It’s alright, now.”

Toge looks shaken as he tries to stand on steady feet. Thank you, he signs with shaky hands, clearly startled from the fall.

Yuuta nods and moves to help dust Toge’s hair free of debris. “Don’t mention it.”

The date couldn’t have ended worse in Yuuta’s opinion. Not when he had to go back up and help Gojo and the association finish securing the villain. It was a long, gruesome processes but finally, they manage.

Yuuta feels dead on his feet as he swings back to his apartment after he noticed Toge had left. Yuuta doesn’t blame him, he probably would’ve bailed if his date had ditched him too.

He’s in the process of scaling his apartment building when he hears someone call his name from the ground.

“Yuuta!”

Yuuta is convinced he’s losing his mind

“Yuuta!”

He looks down and almost falls off the wall when he sees who it is.

It’s Toge, standing there, waving Yuuta down towards him. “Yuuta!” He calls again, motioning for him to come down.

Yuuta realizes two things in that moment. One, that Yuuta is still clearly wearing the suit, mask and all and two that Toge clearly knows it’s him. So, that means— Of course, Toge knows. What else could this mean?

Slowly, Yuuta attaches web to the top and makes his way down the building upside down. He feels nervous as he goes because his crush is right here and he’s clearly not freaking out so that must be a good sign.

Toge smiles when Yuuta gets closer.

“Hi,” Yuuta says through the mask, swallowing his nerves as he greets Toge upside down.

Toge steps closer and reaches forward with his hands until he’s holding Yuuta’s face between them. His fingers search for the edge of the mask but struggle to find it so Yuuta decides to help him out and detaches it himself by using his control center inside his mask.

Toge beams even brighter as he slowly pulls the mask off of Yuuta’s face completely. He doesn’t look disappointed or anything that Yuuta had feared, no, he looks excited.

“Yuuta,” Toge whispers, going back to cupping the sides of Yuuta’s face. He leans in until their lips meet and he presses a kiss to Yuuta’s upside down lips. They laugh softly at the motion but it’s sweet regardless. 

The kiss makes Yuuta lose control of the web holding him up and he’s falling onto the ground before he realizes it. He’s back on his feet instantly when he notices Toge’s soft laughter at having watched him fall. 

“You knew,” Yuuta says as he stands up and brushes himself off. “You knew it was me.”

Toge shrugs and leans against the side of the building, neither admitting or denying.

Yuuta moves closer and comes to stand in front of him. “How long have you known?”

Long enough, Toge signs as he smiles again. Long enough to know Spider-Man was cute and kinda shy. Yeah?

Yuuta can’t help but smile at the words. He moves closer and reaches for Toge’s hand. “Can I kiss you?” He asks, the worry of rejection still burning heavy through him as if he’s going to wake up soon and realize he slept past his alarm.

Toge nods and leans in, meeting Yuuta in the middle and Yuuta practically melts into the kiss. It starts off soft but Yuuta soon realizes just how much they like each other when Toge wraps an arm around Yuuta’s neck and pulls him down where he can reach him. Yuuta isn’t much better off because he’s instantly wrapping his free arm around Toge’s waist, holding him snug against him. He licks against the seam of Toge’s lips, feeling his head spin from all the emotions he’s feeling. It’s nice, it’s everything he had envisioned it to be. It gets even sweeter when Toge reciprocates Yuuta’s feelings ten times over, biting and licking at his lips.

It makes both of them forget they’re outside of an apartment building, in the alley like some kind of creeps until someone is shouting out of a window above them.

“Still convinced he doesn’t like you, yeah right!” Rika yells from the window of their apartment. “You two are idiots!” She calls down before she shuts the window.

Yuuta laughs as he pulls away, feeling his cheeks burn. “I like you,” he confesses, swiping his tongue along his lips. “I like you a lot.”

Toge just smiles and signs. Yeah? I think I like you a lot more. 

”I don’t think that’s possible,” Yuuta teases but goe willingly when Toge pulls him back in for another kiss.