Chapter Text
When Hiori was in grade school, he was always asked what he wanted to do when he grew up. At first, his mind wracked with what to put — he hadn’t thought about his future much at that time. He always copied what other people wrote down: a police officer, doctor, or veterinarian. It was always one of those options.
His future was already decided by the time he was born, but he still hoped that he would have at least some control over his life. So when he was bitten by a radioactive spider, gaining some mysterious superpower that had the characteristics of a spider, he didn’t know whether he should feel excited or not.
His parents controlled his every move; they knew everything about him. With them, there was no secret that they didn’t know. But with this new power that he had, he could have something for himself.
He shouldn’t have felt happy about what he gained. He knew what the risks were, he knew what he was getting himself into, and that was why, when Anri and Ego explained what he was going to have to do now, he didn’t back down. He embraced it with open arms and did what they wanted.
Later, Hiori realized he didn’t have a choice in that either. He was a puppet playing by someone’s strings. It was just like his parents, a cycle that kept repeating. It didn’t matter if he didn’t want to protect the streets he lived in or not, he didn’t have a choice. Because a spider bit him, his whole life was flipped upside down more than it already was, if that was possible.
He wasn’t happy, he wasn’t sad. What was he supposed to feel? This was normal for him: to listen to what other people said and follow the rules. Nothing changed.
He was unsure how to feel about that.
___
Hiori stood on the roof of a building wearing the suit Anri made custom-made for him, the one that was supposed to conceal his identity. He stared at the few cars driving across the street through his mask. It was almost midnight, so there shouldn’t have been that many people out. It was also the time when criminals decided to come out.
He swung from building to building, humming the melody to a song that stuck in his head whilst doing homework.
“I can hear you, Hiori.” A monotone voice came in through the earpiece Hiori had in. “Can you focus a little?”
Hiori rolled his eyes as he landed on a new building. “Kurona, there’s barely anyone out.”
“You never know,” He said. “Someone with a gun could pop out and-”
Then, Hiori felt a weird sensation around him. He recognized the emotion easily and started looking around, his eyes landing on the convenience store that was open all night. Hiori had gone there a few times after school with a few of his friends, and sometimes the owner running the store gave them some of the food for free.
His eyes narrowed, and he saw a man in a ski mask with a gun pointed towards the man behind the cash register. The robber was screaming so loud that Hiori could hear him through the windows.
“That’s your cue, Spider-Boy.” Kurona’s voice chimed in again. “Get in there.”
Hiori wasted no time, swinging down and landing on his feet. He took the back door so he couldn't be seen by the burglar, carefully creeping around the store and spotting the man violently screaming at the owner. The owner was panicking, rushing to get the money out of the cash register. Hiori was certain that he had pressed the button behind the counter to alert the police, so he assumed it wouldn’t be too much of a problem.
Hiori shot his web at the gun, tearing it away from the man’s hand. He examined the gun, scoffing at the robber. “C’mon, ya didn’t think you were gonna get away with this, didja?”
Through the eyeholes of the ski mask and his body language, Hiori could tell that he was caught off guard. He also seemed to recognize who Hiori was too.
“Wh-what the fuck?!” He yelled out, astonished. He dropped the bag in his hand and took a step back in fear. “D-don’t come near me!”
Hiori smirked behind the mask and raised his arms. “Oh, I won’t.”
The minute the robber turned around to leave through the door, Hiori shot his webs toward the man. It collided with the man’s back, sticking him to the door. The burglar screamed and practically threw a tantrum at being caught — Hiori found it hard to believe that he was a full-grown adult.
Hiori walked to the candy section of the convenience store, whistling as he picked out a pack of gum, and walked over to the cashier, who still had a puzzled look on his face. Hiori assumed he was still in shock. He threw the pack of gum on the counter. “How is this?”
The cashier stuttered for a moment, looking at the gum and then back to Hiori repeatedly, “Uh- it- it’s free, you can keep it…”
“Really? Thanks, that’s nice of ya.” Hiori said, grabbing the gum. He stepped out the back door again, leaving where he came from. It was best to leave before the police came. Hiori never stayed long enough for them to arrive. It was better that way, Anri and Ego said so themselves.
Hiori found himself walking out of an alleyway and into the street, under the street lamps that lit up the night. He pulled the bottom half of his mask up to pop a stick of gum in his mouth, quickly moving it to cover his face again.
“Uh oh.” Kurona’s, worried, yet emotion-lacking voice, voice spoke to him. “Ahead, ahead.”
Hiori snapped into focus and saw a familiar face in front of him. The black hair, teal eyes, and sharp aura were incredibly impossible to miss, especially since Hiori had to see him every day due to them being in the same friend group.
In front of him, in all of his glory, was Itoshi Rin. He had his phone out, and the brightness on the screen illuminated his face.
It was a bit confusing on what category to put Rin in on how he knew him. Hiori wouldn’t call them friends, just people who knew each other. They didn’t talk often, but they were always around each other. It was, most likely, because they had friends who were friends with each other.
He didn’t know him too well — they’d exchanged a few words here and there, but Hiori didn’t think that Rin and he had a heartfelt conversation before. Now that he thought about it, it was a bit odd.
“Ah,” Rin said as he pointed at him, his facial expressions never changing. “You're that Spider-kid.”
It had been two years since Hiori claimed the name ‘Spider-Man’, and he had gained quite a reputation. He had many videos and photos posted of him saving lives, stopping small crimes, and other things like that.
Usually, whenever Hiori came across someone he knew, he would change the sound of his voice, dropping it a few octaves deeper to lower the risk of being noticed. The accent he had was a complete giveaway to anyone.
But with Rin, Hiori doubted he needed to do that. He and Rin barely talked anyway, so there shouldn’t be any correlation.
So he spoke. “Spider-Kid is a bit insultin’, doncha think?”
Rin’s eyes narrowed, and he cocked his head to the side in deep thought. Hiori feared that Rin had caught on to him, but then he pointed to his suit and scoffed. “White and cyan? How unique.”
He chuckled , looking down at his suit, and spun around, giving him a full view. “What? Ya don’t like it?”
“It’s too bright.” Rin said.
Hiori wasn’t sure if he meant Hiori himself or the color of his suit, but Hiori assumed it was the latter. “It stands out, right? That’s kinda the point of the whole suit, y’know?”
Rin rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “I thought it was to hide your identity?”
“Well- that too, but-” Hiori shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. Where’re ya headed so late at night, stranger?”
“I was hungry.” He replied, sliding his phone into his back pocket and stepping closer to Hiori. “Wasn’t planning on seeing Spider-Kid on my way here.”
“Here,” Hiori threw a stick of gum toward Rin, who caught it with ease. “Gum, mint flavored.”
Rin unwrapped it, throwing it in his mouth. “I hate mint.”
“And yet, you're eatin’’’ it.” Hiori giggled, covering his mouth with his hand to hide his smile out of habit. He only realized what he did when he stopped laughing: Rin couldn’t even see his smile because of the mask.
Rin furrowed his eyebrows. “Huh.”
“What?” Hiori asked.
“You remind me of someone.” Rin said as he squinted his eyes and tilted his head, leaning forward a bit. “I can’t remember who, though.”
“Ouch,” Kurona hissed in the earpiece. Hiori almost forgot that he was there. “You see him every day and he can’t remember you? I’d be offended.”
Shut up, Kurona. Hiori replied back mentally.
“Oh, yeah?” Hiori tilted his head, copying Rin’s action. “That’s funny, because I’ve never seen ya in my life.”
Rin hummed, not impressed. He leant back and exhaled. “It’s whatever. I’ll figure it out sooner or later.”
Hiori snorted. “Tryna figure out my identity now, are we?”
Rin blew a bubble with the gum in his mouth until it popped. “Can’t say I’m not interested. You’re shorter than me, and you sound young.”
Hiori laughed. “Please, I’m the same age as you.”
“Uh oh,” Kurona said, and this time, he sounded actually worried. “I don’t think you were supposed to say that.”
He paused as he realized what he said. He basically just revealed how old he was to Rin. He was told specifically not to reveal his age to anyone or make any hints about it. He had just broken that rule.
“My age?” Rin said, intrigued. “You still go to school with this kind of job?”
“Hurry, hurry,” Kurona pushed. “Make up an excuse.”
“Are ya not nineteen?” Hiori managed to stumble out, trying his best to sound confused. When he saw Rin shake his head, Hiori faked a laugh and scratched the back of his head, “Sorry ‘bout that! Ya look older than ya are. My bad if that’s rude.”
Rin shook his head again. “I like it better when people are straightforward, so it’s whatever. Still, nineteen is pretty young.”
“Like ya said, it’s whatever.” Hiori giggled. “Besides, it’s not like my age is really nineteen. It might be around that area.”
“Don’t know if that was the right call, Hiori.” Kurona said, and Hiori ignored him.
“So, what kind of crime did you stop this late at night, Spider-Kid?” Rin questioned, keeping the same teasing nickname.
Hiori pointed at the convenience store behind him. “Place over there was gettin’ robbed.”
“Hm, I like that place.” Rin said calmly.
Hiori nodded. “Yeah, me too. Sometimes, the owner lets me grab things for free.”
“Huh, me too.” Rin said slowly, narrowing his eyes once again. “You keep getting stranger and stranger, Spider-Kid.”
He chuckled. “Maybe we’re more alike than ya think.”
Rin snorted. “I doubt it,”
Hiori opened his mouth to reply, but he heard police sirens behind him.
“Get out of there.” Kurona spluttered out. “They’re literally right behind you.”
“Nice to meetcha, Rin, but I need to go!” Hiori aimed his web at a higher building and swung out of Rin’s line of vision.
“Wait-” Rin tried to stop him, but he was already gone, swinging from building to building. Then, a weird thought came to his head as confusion ran through his mind. “How did he know my name?”