Chapter Text
If you had told Akaashi a few months ago that being on the Fukurodani volleyball team meant he was going to be forced into going on strange “exploration expeditions” with his upperclassmen, he probably would have picked a different school. But by now, it was too late for him to transfer, meaning he had no choice but to join in.
He had only been going to Fukurodani for a few months now. Still, he could tell that the biggest instigators of these so-called “adventures” were the second-years, mainly Konoha Akinori and the energetic wing spiker, Bokuto Koutarou. Bokuto may only be a second year, but he had a skill beyond any of the other spikers on the team…except for when he went into his “emo mode.”
Akaashi was just a young first year, but Bokuto had quickly taken a liking to him and preferred his sets over their starting setter’s. Akaashi was glad that the upperclassmen liked him, but at the same time, it was probably the worst thing ever. Being “liked” by the upperclassmen meant that he was subjected to do whatever crazy or random activities they wanted to, even outside of volleyball and school. That’s how he ended up here, in an old, creepy, and abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Tokyo in the middle of the night.
According to Konoha, this place had been a brewing ground for all sorts of backless rumors and ghost stories…so, naturally, they had to check it out knowing full well they had early practice tomorrow. Akaashi hadn’t wanted to go, but he was outnumbered four to one. How Konoha and Bokuto had managed to convince Komi and Sarukui to come along was beyond him.
“Are you sure no one uses this warehouse?” Akaashi asked, glancing around at the crates and boxes skeptically.
Konoha shook his head, “Nah, people use it all the time. Illegally, that is. Rumor has it that it used to be the secret lab of a mad scientist who mysteriously went missing years ago. It’s supposed to be off-limits to the public…apparently, it's so old and unstable that it’s a hazard.”
Akaashi deadpanned, “Then why are we here?”
“For fun, obviously.”
Komi, the second-year libero, took Akaashi’s side. “How is this fun again? All that’s in here is crates and spiderwebs.”
“Spiders!?” Bokuto jumped, his eyes darting around.
Konoha laughed, “Relax, Bokuto. Any spiders in here are going to be harmless. Plus, it was your idea to come.”
“That was before I was aware there were going to be bugs here!”
“It’s an abandoned warehouse, aren’t spiders kind of a given?” Sarukui shrugged.
“Anyway,” Konoha cleared his throat, getting the conversation back on track. “To answer your silly question, my dear Komi, we’re gonna crack open some of these crates and see what’s inside.”
“Um, what if it’s all just some illegal stuff? Like drugs?”
Konoha rolled his eyes, “I dunno…but we’re here, so let's at least see.”
As the group of second-years began attempting to pry open a crate, something caught Akaashi’s eye. It was a small table with different containers of various sizes. He walked over, leaving the others to focus on their crate. Once he got closer, he saw that the containers appeared to be make-shift bug holders, with tiny holes punched into the lids. Inside the containers were dead spiders. Some were big, some were small. Some even looked exotic, not native to Japan. He wondered what they were doing here and why they were left to die. He didn’t necessarily like spiders, but he didn’t think letting them die like this was good either.
As he closely examined the containers, he saw a brightly colored red and blue spider about the size of a nickel lying dead in the corner of its confinement. He had never seen a spider with such coloring, and his curiosity got the best of him. He found a large splinter of wood, then hesitantly opened the lid of the container. He cautiously started prodding at the spider’s body, flipping it over right side up to get a better look at the pattern. It was incredibly intricate, and nothing like Akaashi had ever seen. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought it was a man-made pattern.
Then, the spider twitched. His eyes widened in surprise, but he wasn’t able to react fast enough when the beautiful bug jumped to life, crawling up the wood piece Akaashi was holding and onto his hand. He jumped in fear, instantly flinging his arm around in an attempt to get it off. He eventually did, but not before it bit him.
Konoha came up beside him and squashed the spider that had fallen to the ground. “Woah, what was all that about?” He smirked, looking over at Akaashi.
Akaashi clutched his hand, the barely visible spider bite stinging. “That spider…I thought it was dead.” His face remained calm and relatively emotionless, but his heart was beating like crazy.
“Well, it is now,” He lifted his shoe, revealing the very squashed and very dead spider. “Did it bite you?”
“Yeah. It stings a bit but it’s not bad.”
“Geez, sorry about that dude.”
Akaashi shook his head, “It’s fine, my body usually doesn’t react badly to bug bites.”
“Wait, what’s going on?” Bokuto looked over.
“I got bit by a spider,” Akaashi replied calmly, walking back over.
Bokuto’s face immediately went pale, “It bit you? You know what, I’ve changed my mind. Coming to explore this place was a bad idea. I want out.”
Konoha groaned, “C’mon dude, you’re like a million times bigger than a tiny spider. You’re fine.”
“I don’t care, they give me the creeps!” He shook his head rapidly.
“I’m with Bokuto,” Sarukui said. “We can’t get the crates opened anyway. Plus, if we’re caught in here we might get suspended.”
After a little more prying, Konoha eventually gave in. And so the “exploration expedition” was cut short, and everyone was able to return home to get some sleep. Well, almost everyone.
The sting of Akaashi’s spider bite was small enough for him to completely forget it was there…and not connect his other symptoms with it. By the time he had gotten home, he had a horrible headache. He was used to getting tension headaches all the time, so he didn’t think much of it. He trudged into his bedroom, changed into his pajamas, and collapsed onto his bed.
He squeezed his eyes shut, the pain from his headache getting progressively more and more annoying. He rolled over into his blankets and tried to sleep. It didn’t take long for more symptoms to arrive. He felt warm. Very warm. But at the same time, freezing cold. He was sweating and he just couldn’t seem to get comfortable. His head was heavy and his body began to feel groggy. Great, a fever, just what he needed.
Akaashi didn’t get sick often, so he was always frustrated when he had to miss days of practice because of it. He just hoped that it passed quickly so he could go tomorrow morning, or else his troublesome upperclassmen would be pestering him with texts all day. With that thought in his mind, he forced his body into a shallow sleep.
…..
When Akaashi woke up the next morning to the barking of his alarm, he was pleased to find his headache and other feverish symptoms had completely passed. In fact, he felt better than he had in a while. He stood up and stretched, refreshed and ready for practice. He tended to his morning routine, getting dressed and washing his face. He grabbed his volleyball bag and rushed downstairs to grab something quick and easy for breakfast. Settling for toast, he waited patiently for it to be done.
He picked up his phone and opened the volleyball group chat, reading the messages he had missed. Most of them were from this morning. He saw very few messages that actually had any relation to volleyball and many stupid memes Konoha and Bokuto had sent. His lips curled up into a smile as he rolled his eyes, closing the app and grabbing his toast.
As he was leaving the house, his mom emerged from her bedroom and walked over to say goodbye.
“Have a good day, sweetheart,” She said in a tired voice, giving him a gentle smile and attempting to pull him into a quick hug, which he avoided. “Good luck with practice.”
He nodded, opening the door, “Thanks, Mom.”
Walking out of the house, he felt the warm summer morning air hit his face. He couldn’t explain it, but for whatever reason, he felt amazing today. It was odd, considering he had such a restless night…but he wasn’t about to complain.
As he walked onto the Fukurodani campus, he glanced over at the soccer fields. The players yelled and cheered after somebody kicked the ball into the goal. Aside from their shouts, the school grounds were pretty quiet. Only some of the clubs continued through summer break, so the majority of the school wasn’t there.
‘Hm, I wonder if any of the guys from last night are going to make it to practice on time today…’ Akaashi jumped at his own thought, not because it was strange, but because it seemed…loud. ’I must be imagining it,” He concluded. Thoughts couldn’t be louder at all—they were thoughts. It was just his brain playing tricks on him, he was sure.
He made it to the designated volleyball gym and opened the door, where he was immediately greeted by his fellow teammates. Not to his surprise, most of the second-years he had been with last night weren’t there yet. Akaashi assumed most of them had difficulties waking up so early after being out as late as they were. He dropped his volleyball bag off and began joining the others in their stretches.
That’s when things started getting really weird. All the stretches that Akaashi had found difficult or straining were suddenly nothing to him. He could perform all the stretches with ease, and he didn’t even feel it pulling his muscles. His eyebrows knit together in confusion and he glanced around nervously. He knew for a fact he hadn’t been like this yesterday or at any other point in his life, so why now?
‘What’s going on? How did I become way more flexible overnight?’ There it was again! His thoughts thundered in his head, almost like a narrator was reading his mind. By now, he was seriously beginning to doubt that it was just his imagination.
He checked to make sure no one was watching, then attempted to touch the ground without bending his knees. Because of his long legs, he had never actually been successful in doing it. But now, he bent over and placed his entire hand, palm and all, against the cold gym floor. No pain, no pull, no discomfort…it felt natural, even. Widening his eyes in surprise, he stood back up, not entirely sure how to react. He tested out a few more stretches, accomplishing them without any trouble.
‘Is this real? First my thoughts, now this? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anything like this happening before…should I tell someone? Maybe I should look it up, and see if I’m the only one who has experienced this. What if something is wrong with me? Am I still sick, like last night?’
His mind was racing, trying to come up with a plausible explanation for this strange phenomenon. His thoughts were cut off when the captain called for them to run ten laps around the gym outside before starting on spiking and receiving drills. Akaashi sighed, deciding that his newfound flexibility could wait until later. He followed the rest of his team outside and began the laps.
As he ran, he couldn’t tear his mind away from what happened while stretching. He didn’t see how it was possible. He was so caught up thinking about it that he barely realized he had finished his laps, in record time and without getting tired at all.
Impossible. He hasn’t even been running that fast, just a light jog. And he always started feeling out of breath around lap 6 or 7. He looked back and saw the only other person who was close to finishing was Bokuto.
When the second-year ace finished, he walked over to Akaashi.
“Agaashi, what was that? You never beat me at laps!”
Shaking his head in confusion, the setter replied, “I’m not entirely sure. I guess I just zoned out…”
‘...’ Great, even the silence in his head felt loud. How was that even possible?
“You should consider zoning out more often,” one of the third years said as he breathed heavily, completing his laps, too.
Akaashi followed them back into the gym, unable to decide if he should be overjoyed with his amazing physical performance today or worried. It just didn’t make sense. He had always relied on facts and logic to make sense of the world around him, but nothing that was going on had any logic to it at all. Something…was not right.
Once everyone was back in the gym, it was time to do some practice matches. Akaashi hoped that nothing else started happening. What was next? Was he suddenly going to be a god at volleyball or something?
Yes. That’s exactly what happened.
It was a feeling like nothing Akaashi had ever experienced. A strange tingling made all the hairs on his neck stand up straight, and a ghostly ringing in his head. And he knew, he just knew, exactly where the ball was going before it got there. He was able to get into the perfect position for all of his blocks, receives, and sets…it was scary.
He was constantly looking over to his teammates, praying none of them noticed what was going on. For the most part, they assumed he was having a really good volleyball day.
To throw off any suspicions some of them may have, he started making a few mistakes on purpose—like being slightly off on his receives or having his blocks not be right on. It felt a little weird, purposely messing up, and part of him felt bad. But at the same time, he didn’t want anyone questioning how he had gotten so much better in a day…mainly because he wouldn’t know how to answer them.
‘No one on earth would believe me if I tried explaining this. Maybe it’s best to keep it under wraps until I have it all figured out.’
And so he spent the rest of his practice monitoring his playing, making sure he wasn’t playing too good or too bad. It threw him off to hold back on his jumps (that had also become significantly higher), the power of his hits (again, way more powerful than usual), and his impeccable instincts, but he knew it was better to do this until he could figure everything out.
For the first time in forever, he wished it wasn’t summer break. Summer break meant longer practices, and longer practices meant he had to get through today while simultaneously freaking out internally. Overthinking was his specialty, and right now, his mind was running wild.
After a long and rather confusing day, practice finally came to an end. Akaashi had never rushed out of the gym so fast…one, he wanted to leave as soon as possible, and two, he was still able to run insanely quicker than he had before.
He threw open his front door and clambered on the stairs, not bothering to take his shoes off. The first thing he did was throw his volleyball bag on his bed and then sit down at his computer.
The next ten minutes were spent googling whatever had happened to him today and seeing if any results came up. Unfortunately for him, none did. For the five minutes following that, he was banging his face on his keyboard in frustration.
‘Am I the only one? I should see a doctor about this. But I don’t want to end up as some obscure case study…’
He decided to give it one more try and began typing his search into the bar. By now, his overthinking had turned more into a low-key panic, and he was starting to worry. He stopped mid-type when he realized his right ring finger was stuck on the “I” key. He lifted his hand, wondering if maybe he had spilled soda or something that would have made his keyboard sticky. The keyboard lifted into the air with his hand.
‘Sh**.’
Grabbing the keyboard with his other hand, he began pulling. After a few yanks, he was able to get his hand off…with the “I” key snapping out of place and still sticking to his finger for dear life.
“What the…” he went to set down the keyboard but found that the entire thing was now stuck to his other hand on the left. Great, now he had a key stuck on one hand and the rest of the keyboard on the other. Could this get any weirder?
He exhaled slowly before flailing his arm around in a feeble attempt to get the keyboard off. It didn’t work. That’s when he decided to throw safety out the door and use his foot, not caring if it broke the keyboard. All that led to was snapping the keyboard in half, and leaving it still ever clinging to his hand.
By now, his breath was shaky and rapid. What was going on today? Why was his life suddenly filled with unexplainable things?
“This is not normal…” he said, staring skeptically at his hand. He began to wonder what else it would stick to. Using his right hand (with the “I” key still very stuck), he walked over to the wall, and hesitantly placed his remaining fingers against the paint.
When his fingers inevitably got stuck, he immediately regretted his decision. How stupid would you have to be to test this on something that isn’t portable? Was he just stuck here until his mom or dad got home from work?
‘They’re going to think I’m crazy.’
Luckily, he was only stuck there for a total of fifteen minutes. During that small amount of time, he was able to gain control of his emotions, and, to his delight, his hands were freed from the keyboard, the “I” key, and the wall. He made sure to take note that calming himself down was able to solve the problem. With that in mind…he was curious to test it out a little bit more.
‘I know it’s not permanent so…it couldn’t hurt, right?’
He examined his fingers closely, though he didn’t notice anything different. He wasn’t sure how—or why—he was able to stick to things like that, but he wouldn’t lie and say it wasn’t at least a little intriguing.
He walked back over to the wall, this time sticking both his hands to it. He kicked off his shoes and socks, biting his lower lip and glancing back at the wall. Was he seriously going to try and climb a wall? He felt ridiculous, but the connection did seem strong enough to hold him. Though, he still had no idea if his feet could do the same.
Letting out a sigh, he said to himself, “I’m alone in my bedroom, it’s not like anyone is going to see anything anyway.”
He placed his right foot on the wall and pulled himself up. Much to his surprise, it worked. Hesitantly placing his left foot on the wall, he climbed slightly higher. He continued until he reached the ceiling.
‘So far so good, now to try the ceiling.’
When it turned out to be successful, any worries he had from earlier today had been replaced by pure inquiry. Sure, it was weird and unnatural…but at the same time, it was kind of cool. It wasn’t every day you suddenly woke up with the ability to climb on walls like some kind of bug.
‘Some kind of bug…’ He repeated the thought.
Wait. The Spider. Akaashi gasped, the realization setting in. It had to be the spider, it had to be. It’s the one thing that’s new and different in his life. The only odd variable. It’s the only thing that made the slightest bit of sense.
He heard the front door slamming closed, startling him and causing him to lose his focus. He fell from the ceiling and crashed onto his floor.
“Keiji? Everything all right?” His mother called from downstairs.
After regaining his composure, he yelled back, “Yeah, fine.”
He stood up, still thinking about everything that’s happened today. He was still so…confused. He wanted to learn more about these abilities, and how the spider correlates. He decided he needed to sneak back into the warehouse and examine the spider, squished or not.
Looking down, he noticed he was still wearing his sweaty volleyball clothes. He quickly changed into something more casual, blue jeans and a red hoodie. It was warm outside, but he didn’t want to risk another bug bite in the warehouse this time.
He greeted his mom as he left, “Hey, mom. I’ll be back soon, I’m going with some of the guys from the team.”
“Alright, just make sure that if you’re not back for dinner you can find something on your own.”
“Got it,” he nodded, then left.
Once he reached the warehouse, he did a quick check to see if anyone was watching before he slipped inside. When he found the squished spider on the ground, he pulled out his phone flashlight to get a better look.
He only had to see its squished remains for a second to know that yeah, it was not a normal spider. The guts of the spider were off, but not in a way he could explain. More like, in a way he could just feel He sighed, rubbing a hand across his face. Just what kind of spider was it? Why was it in this warehouse in the first place? As much as he’d like to analyze it, he knew he didn’t have the means. All he could do was guess.
When he stepped out of the warehouse, he was hit with warm and bright rays of light. The sun was positioned in the perfect place to completely blind him. He put his hood up to try and block it out, then stuffed his hands in his hoodie pocket as he began to make his way back home, all while lost in thought.
‘Why were there a bunch of spiders sitting in a dusty old warehouse, anyway? If they were pets, why leave them there to die?’ He was still drowning in questions, most of which he knew he’d never get an answer to. ‘Komi did say the warehouse had been used for illegal purposes, maybe they were exotic pets smuggled into Japan. Rare venomous spiders, or something.’ Before he could think anything else, he felt that strange tingling from before.
That’s when he heard a scream from his left. His head whipped over and he stared down an alleyway, only to see a woman getting pinned against a wall as a man in a black ski mask attempted to rob her with a knife.
Akaashi stopped in his tracks, staring at the scene unfolding before his eyes. He looked around at all the other people walking by, pretending like nothing was going on. A crime was going on right in front of all these people, was no one going to help her?
‘The police! I should call the police…No, they probably won’t get here in time.’
He looked back into the alleyway, not knowing what to do. Should he help? What if the man stabs her? What if the man stabs him? As he stood, millions of different scenarios ran through his head at breakneck speed…but eventually, he took a deep breath and decided to do something. Or, try to, at least.
Akaashi was worried, but he knew he couldn’t just let this happen. Sure, he wasn’t always considered the most inviting person, but he had basic morals and, y’know, sympathy.
‘My parents are going to kill me if I get stabbed…’
“Hey, knock it off,” Akaashi said calmly, stepping into the alleyway. His face bore his infamous deadpan expression, trying to intimidate the criminal as much as he could despite the fear creeping up his body.
The criminal looked over, a little surprised someone was trying to do something. His surprise turned to amusement, “And what’s a kid like you going to do if I don’t?” He pointed the knife at Akaashi.
“Not sure yet, but it probably won’t be nice,” Akaashi shrugged, making sure he looked composed and confident when in reality, his heart was racing.
“Yeah, right. Don’t get too cocky, kid. Remember who’s holding the knife. If you run away now, I won’t hurt you.”
‘I don’t think my conscience would like that.’ “Funny, I was just about to say the same to you,” he tried to keep his hands from shaking. What was he doing? Could he take this guy on? Sure, he had improved agility and strength now, but just how well would it hold up against another person? And that’s not even addressing the fact that Akaashi has never actually fought someone before. Hand-to-hand combat was a lot different than spiking a volleyball.
By now, the criminal was getting frustrated. “That’s it, I gave you your chance. Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he lept towards Akaashi, knife firm in his hand.
The strange tingling sensation pulsed through Akaashi’s body, and he was able to easily jump out of the way at a speed much faster than the criminal’s.
‘So it’s some kind of…sixth sense, almost.’
The man grunted angrily, then ran in for another try. Again, Akaashi dodged like it was nothing. Because to him, it was nothing. As the man doubled forward, Akaashi took the opportunity to land a solid punch in his gut, and then kicked the knife out of his hand and sent it flying who knows where. Akaashi’s movements were sloppy but effective. He couldn’t help but feel a burst of satisfaction from performing well in his first-ever fight. Honestly, it was a surprise he was fighting at all. He wasn’t typically one to get violent, nor was he the type to step in during dangerous situations. For the most part, he liked staying lowkey, unnoticeable, if he could.
But right now, he was feeling something else. He didn’t know what was in that spider venom, but for whatever reason, it was making him feel invincible.
The man took a gasp of air but quickly regained his composure. He gritted his teeth and threw a punch at Akaashi, but the setter caught his hand and stopped the punch cold.
Tightening his grip on the criminal's hand, Akaashi gave him an uncharacteristic smirk, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Mustering up some of his strength, he shoved the man backward. To his shock, the criminal went soaring before crashing down at the end of the alleyway, almost twenty feet away from where he had been thrown.
Akaashi’s eyes widened and shot down to his hand. Had he just done that? He had known the spider made him stronger, but this…this was a completely different level of strength. He hadn’t even used all his power in that shove. It was more than the human body should be able to do. It felt like something straight out of a comic book.
Coughing, the criminal rolled over and looked up at Akaashi with a horrified expression. “What…the h*ll…You—you’re a freak!” He groaned in pain as he stood up on shaky legs, his eyes filled with terror. “Fine, you win…I’m out of here!”
He didn’t say another word before running off. Well, limping off, to be more accurate.
Akaashi only stared in silence. He was still too shocked by everything that had just happened.
“How did you…how did you do that?” A voice said from behind him. “Who are you?”
Akaashi inhaled sharply as he remembered the woman. He quickly pulled his hood further over his face, then said slowly, “I’m just someone who was in the neighborhood and thought I’d help. Are you alright?.”
“I’m fine, thanks to you. You saved me.”
“Don’t worry about it. Anyone would have done the same,” he took a step away, but the woman’s hand shot out and grabbed his arm.
“But they didn’t,” she said, trying to see his face. “You saw it. Everyone on the street just walked right past. But you didn’t. You’re a hero.”
He opened his mouth, trying to think of a response. “I…glad I could help.” He gave her a stern nod, before gently pulling his arm out of her grasp and walking away.
For the rest of the walk home, all Akaashi could think about was what that woman had called him. Hero. A hero. Was he a hero? He was just doing the right thing…did kindness classify as hero work now? It was a little sad the world had come to that point, but what she said wasn’t wrong. There was no way everyone on that street just happened to not notice. They did notice, they just didn’t care enough to do anything about it. Or too scared.
If a hero was doing something everyone else was too scared to do, then yeah, maybe he was a hero. And he had to admit, the title did have a nice ring to it. He wasn’t sure how or why he had gotten these strange powers from that spider…but he was sure of one thing: if he could use these abilities to help others out like he did today, being a hero didn’t sound all too bad.