Chapter Text
It's tough having to balance being the only Spiderman, saving the city, trying to live up to his predecessor: the infamous Ryoumen Sukuna, while also trying to just make it through senior year without drawing suspicion.
What doesn't help is the fact that he's started to find himself constantly locking eyes with his seemingly perpetually gloomy classmate, Fushiguro Megumi, who is already always—and it is always, his spidersense knows it—boring his eyes into Yuuji, as if he knows something about him; like a secret. (which he can't... can he?)
☆ ☆ ☆
"Fuck, he's not being shy at all, is he?"
Nobara leaned over slightly to try avoid looking suspicious, muttering under her breath just loud enough for only Yuuji and Junpei to hear.
The three of them were spending their lunchtime sat in the café nearest to school—it isn't too weird that the place was filled mostly with other seniors; that was a regular occurrence.The weird part was Fushiguro Megumi staring at them, or rather just at Yuuji, shamelessly. This had become a regular occurrence too, as of the last three months. His dark eyes are large despite being still lidded with an annoyed expression that he has on no matter what—one of Megumi's trademark traits—which pierces Yuuji's when they meet, not even faltering for a second.
Yuuji's not too sure on how to feel. At first, he thought that if he let Megumi know that he had in fact noticed him staring at him then he would stop, like any other person would—but apparently he wasn't any other person. In fact, it seemed like he couldn't care less about being caught looking at him all the time. No embarrassment at all. He's had classes with Megumi before, for years, and has had zero issue with him at all throughout. Sure, they've probably talked about five times max in all the years (most conversations being just "Wait sorry, what page is the homework on?" Or "Hey, do you have a spare pencil?"). And it's not like there's anything wrong with the guy. He's actually well-liked and quite popular himself among their peers—despite being considerably aloof—at least from what Yuuji has gathered from him. It's just this new habit, like he knows something about Yuuji and he's looking right through him with that fixed gaze, that makes him feel so uncomfortable...
"Yuuji, I seriously don't like this guy at all. Can't we just... report him, or something?" Junpei looked genuinely concerned for him. He had only joined the school halfway through last year, while Nobara, Yuuji and practically everyone else—including Megumi—had been in high school together from the beginning. Nobara snorted.
"What for? Also, literally who do we complain to? Besides, he's not done anything other than creep us out a little but maybe he can't help it! Personally—" she grabbed Junpei's shoulder and pulled his ear close, her forcefulness startling him so much so that he winced, feeling her breath in his ear as she whispered, purposefully loud enough for Yuuji to hear, "—I think Fushiguro's got a little crush~!"
Yuuji almost choked on his drink and just blinks at her. "What the fuck?" Nobara's attempt at stifling a laugh failed as she started hysterically cackling at Yuuji's reaction. That came out of nowhere. Yuuji could only gape his mouth at her in shock. She flailed her arms as she laughed, slapping poor Junpei in the process as he flinched again, stunned, since he wasn't so close with Nobara but her overbearing personality made it impossible to keep a distance—especially since she's Yuuji's best friend.
Yuuji became friends with Junpei not long after he joined the school, which took a long fucking time since for some reason he couldn't grasp how he genuinely wanted to be friends with him. After that, he didn't have much of a desire to befriend anyone past Yuuji. It was only because of Nobara's terrifyingly outgoing but still welcoming personality that made him not mind her company. That isn't to say that he's still terrified of her—he still is—but honestly who isn't? Even after all these years, Yuuji thinks he's still afraid of her.
Nobara finally calmed down, still occasionally bursting into giggles, before suddenly getting serious and giving Yuuji a hard stare. "I'm calling it now. He likes you."
Yuuji scoffed. "No, I'm pretty sure that's not the look of love. More the look of hatred, maybe?" He quickly glanced over at Megumi, who thankfully had steered his interest away from frightening Yuuji and more on finishing his americano before next period, dutifully typing away on his laptop. "Don't be stupid, when could I have possibly spoken to him enough for him to ever develop feelings, Kugisaki?"
She made a look of disgust and followed Yuuji's gaze, towards Megumi, for a moment before turning back and shrugging. "I don't know, but you're wrong," she accused. "He doesn't have any bad intentions, I don't think. Maki is always saying how he's really just a 'softie at heart'. Maybe staring at you 24/7 is him showing his softness!" Her grin returned.
Yuuji raised an eyebrow at the subtle mention of Maki to which Nobara's smile promptly dropped as the ends of her ears burned red.
Zenin Maki, mostly known for being captain on the fencing team, who Nobara happens to have a little thing for ('little' being an understatement, though she would never admit that), also happens to be one of Megumi's friends. Yuuji has tried convincing her that Maki definitely likes her that way too, considering how much they've talked over the years, but somehow it still hasn't gotten through her thick skull. At this point he's given up; he can only wait for her to eventually realise it herself.
Junpei frowned, looking back down on whatever assignment they originally sat to complete."Or maybe he's just a stalker?" He murmured grimly, picking up his pen, twirling it, with no intention to write.
Yuuji takes a small sip of his drink and shook his head. "No, I don't think that's it. I think.. I think he knows." He whispered the last couple of words, careful not to draw attention from others to his sudden quiet tone. Nobara narrowed her eyes as Junpei's head snapped up at the thought of what Yuuji could be referring to.
"Wait, you don't mean..?" Junpei's eyes widened in horror. Nobara relaxed after a moment, shaking her head.
"Nah, there's no way. You keep that secret too well. It's been three years as well—if he was going to figure it out, he's smart enough to connect the dots way earlier." Nobara reasoned, leaning back in her chair. Her and Junpei were the only ones who knew Spiderman's identity, since it's impossible to keep a secret from Nobara. At some point, his grandfather also knew for the first couple months, before he...
Yuuji slowly nodded in agreement. He hoped that she was right. He really hoped that she was right.
-
For the last three years and two months, Itadori Yuuji has been the one and only Spiderman. 'Difficult' is an understatement to describe his life during that time: at just 15 he was bit by a weird corpse-like spider who was (from what he's gathered) a reincarnation, or part of the soul, of the previous Spiderman, Ryoumen Sukuna, and having to balance his high school life as well as keeping the city safe.
Since the addition of a Spiderman in the city, crime rate decreased significantly at first; nobody wanted to fight the strangely powerful, sticky, stripy guy with webs and crazy amount of determination. Compared to Yuuji's insane sense of morality, Ryoumen Sukuna was hardly a hero, but one thing that's for definite is his undying hate for gangs and knife crime, especially with how common it was during the time he was alive.
But, sometimes he would actually make life harder for innocent civilians, mostly just to piss off the Police. One of his recurring hobbies was just stealing cats within the city or outside and putting them in a particular Lieutenant-at-the-time's flat on the 7th floor (he was allergic), another being throwing donuts at the Station door every morning before they would release a statement or present a speech in front of its doors (and to be fair to him, a red-faced, embarrassed officer, trying their utmost best to remain serious, with numerous donuts webbed to the glass doors behind them—near impossible to remove unless you have powers—spelling out 'ACAB' was a pretty amusing sight).
Sukuna hated the Police for how badly they handled crime in the city, so every prank was an inferred, if you're sooo useless at your job then I guess I'll have to do it for you.
Nobody really knows how he died, he just stopped showing up after a while and—sooner or later—they found his body and revealed his identity. His death was taken with a pretty varied consideration among different people; some people mourned him, while some people were glad he was gone.
One night, he stayed out with Nobara in a park they have been meeting up in for forever (the once shiny new swing sets might now be concerningly creaky but there's not a chance they're ever stopping their tradition of betting who can swing the furthest), and as soon as he swatted away the peculiarly coloured spider that bit him, he heard a deep voice reverberating through his skull, saying something along the lines of, 'stupid kid', 'finally... get to... come back' or just manically cackling. Did he want to revive himself as Yuuji?
Sadly for Sukuna, Yuuji was strangely still in complete charge of his own body, so his 'masterplan' of returning to stir more shit up was quickly made redundant, and able to inherit his superpowers, so Yuuji naturally took on the role of the next Spiderman.
His sudden weakness took such a blow on Sukuna's ego, (Sukuna wouldn't shut up about it in his mind), that Yuuji kind of felt bad—he was one of the ones that respected the late Spiderman (in some aspects)—so he gave him the right to still sound like himself when Yuuji would 'Spiderman' out.
He made a complete new look, with a suit matching his natural hair colour (Nobara is convinced he dyes it even though Yuuji has shown her various baby photos) adorned in the unique stripes he remembered from the spider that bit him. He gave Spiderman a whole different reputation, now loved by everyone as a hero. Sukuna's voice also made it pretty easy to keep his identity concealed as he sounded nothing like himself. So, if anything, using his voice was only a positive for Yuuji.
It was a horrible thing to get used to; having to balance his double life of a teenage boy, dealing with school and maintaining a social life, and being the city's superhero. But it's been pretty smooth sailing until now; he has a decent relationship with the cops as well, though he doesn't think that they'll ever fully trust him (Thank you, Sukuna!), but he's still scared shitless of Captain Geto.
Being a boxer pre-bite, Yuuji settled in nicely in the 'fighting-bad-guys' role, which is awfully embarrassing for the grown-ass men he's put behind bars for doing all sorts (as simple as bullying, stealing, scamming to sexual assault, selling drugs/cigarettes to minors and the like), that is if they ever knew that he was a kid himself.
What's been currently stressing him out is the sudden appearance of these 'scientists' although that's a considerably nice word for them; to Yuuji, they're just madman, smart madmen, sure, but creepy nonetheless. At first they reached out hoping to ask him questions about his 'interesting ability' and how he 'acquired such a unique characteristic'. It weirded him out already but in the moment Sukuna spoke up.
Don't indulge them. Yuuji near jumped out of his skin. I've dealt with guys like them before who tried shit with me. There's no civility there they just see you as a lab rat, he spat.
At the moment, Yuuji—or rather Spiderman—is trying his best to avoid a Dr. Jogo, who's begun using violent threats in order to somehow coerce cooperation from him. But he's just shrugged it off as empty promises. All these bad guys he's dealt with are all the same in reality when they meet Yuuji face to face; all bark no bite.
-
Yuuji leaned forward over his assignment again with a quick glance at the clock; they had about 5 more minutes until they should get going. Suddenly, a shiver went down his side: his spider-sense, and he already knew what it was. He begrudgingly looked up and his eyes met with his again. Yuuji quickly offered him a tight smile before running his hand through his hair and leaning forward on his elbows, his head in his hands as an attempt to hide his face; Megumi just blinked at him, still staring (shameless as ever), but eventually looked away.
He tried racking his brain for any idea of why Megumi was doing this to him, eventually coming up with three theories: either Megumi, for some reason he can't understand, hates his guts (quite likely he doesn't seem like the type of guy to particularly love Yuuji's energetic and loud personality), he does, in fact, have a crush on him, as Nobara says (significantly less likely for the same reason as aforementioned) or... Megumi knows Yuuji's secret.
The most likely answer to Yuuji is the latter, considering that he reckons they are most definitely not well acquainted enough for him to hate him, let alone like him. Then Yuuji quickly scolds himself for even considering Nobara's idiotic suggestion, which earns a laugh from the former Spiderman in his head. (even at 18, Yuuji will never get used to Sukuna's voice suddenly appearing in his head at times)
Yuuji lets out a gasp as he suddenly remembers something, which makes Nobara give him a weird look although she didn't pay much mind to it.
A couple months ago, he did run into Megumi as Spiderman, which should be too much of an irregular experience—Megumi from a young age has always loved taking photos in some form, to the point where Yuuji is familiar with this passion—as he's often seen strolling the city streets, alone or with his friends, always with his camera. Yuuji has also noticed that on some newsletters with Spiderman's face on it has photo credits to a Fushiguro Megumi—so even if he hates Yuuji, he seems to be a fan of Spiderman!
Yuuji was swinging through the city, grinning behind his mask as the civilians below cheer and little kids jaws drop in awe. This is honestly the best part of the job, he thought, feeling warm.
His senses tingled for a moment, however, and he noticed Megumi—also below him—running full speed after a boy, who looked about their age, with dark green hair (a great marker to use to find him in any crowd) and he was clutching something. Before Yuuji could make out what it was, they both turned into an alley, out of sight. Without hesitation, he halted in his movements, redirecting himself in their direction before dropping himself down, landing in front of the alleyway where the two had just turned into.
Yuuji treads closer to the slight movement he can just about make out the boys in the shadows, who hadn't seen to notice his presence: the two of them stood opposite each other, Megumi's clenched fists at either side of him in rage, the other boy smirking, clutching what was Megumi's camera.
"Naoya, I swear to fucking god. Give it." Megumi gritted through his teeth. Naoya? Yuuji thought, like, Zenin Naoya? Aren't they... cousins? Naoya laughed in his face.
"Oh? 'Naoya' is it? Too much of a bitch to even be able to say 'Zenin'?" He sneered. Heat rose in Yuuji's chest, Megumi clenched his jaw. Naoya opened his mouth to say something again, probably to something even more fucking annoying, but he never got chance as Megumi dived at him.
He grabbed his shoulder, launching both of them into the air and flinging him swiftly around, slamming his chest into the ground as brought Naoya to a headlock. It all happened so fast, Yuuji's senses didn't keep up for a second. Oh shit, yeah. Martial Artist extraordinaire Fushiguro. Yuuji felt much less like the superhero he was in this moment and much more like he was in the audience. It seems like he's got it sorted without his help?
Suddenly, Naoya somehow flipped them over fully, his hands moving to grasp at Megumi's throat. He spluttered as he choked out a weak, "You- Asshole..!" Well, he stands corrected. Looks like Spiderman does need to help.
Yuuji finally stepped into the shadows with them. Naoya's head snapped but before he could react, Yuuji flung himself at him, shoving him off Megumi and tackling him, rolling them both to hit the wall at the back of the alley. His eyes widened as they stared into the Spiderman mask just inches before his face. He shot when from his wrists at Naoya's hands, now pressed flush against the wall, restraining him to a sitting position with his arms raised.
"What the fuck- mmf!" Yuuji suddenly webbed his mouth shut for good measure; he didn't want to hear whatever bullshit he had to spout. He placed his hands on his hips, satisfied, and smiled (although you can't see his smile through the mask, the crinkle of his eyes gives it away). He leisurely sauntered over to crouch down to pick up the camera, which had fallen to the side at some point during the wrestling. Yuuji examined it carefully: there were a couple scratches on the barrel but the actual lenses and screen remained unscathed, and he smiled to himself out of relief.
"Huh, this looks fun..." Although Yuuji was the one that spoke, it was Sukuna's low voice that rang out in the alley, dark and hypnotic. Yuuji glanced at Naoya as an idea sparked in his mind. He carefully switched on the camera, angling it backwards, in front and above his head and held up a peace sign as he took the selfie: Naoya webbed against the wall in horror as Yuuji posed with genuine joy in front of him, proud of his work. He checked the photo and laughed before switching it off again, turning to point at Naoya.
"I'll come back in a couple hours to dissolve that shit, so you'd better be thinking about what you've done until then. Kay~?" Naoya's wide eyes narrowed in pure anger as he grunted his grievances, but Yuuji just ignored him as we walked over to Megumi, who was still on the ground, leaning back on his palms.
"Hey, sorry about that. Are you okay?" Yuuji offered his arm and Megumi gazed at him in apprehension. Eventually he took it, pulling himself up. His face was flushed, a little red, and Yuuji couldn't tell if it was from the fight or from having to be saved.
He took the camera from his hands. "Uh, thanks." He muttered softly. Yuuji beamed at his praise and slapped his back in enthusiasm, catching him a bit off-guard, causing him to stumble a little (but that could be from the sheer strength he forgets he has).
"No problem, don't mention it! Plus, you got a free photo, too!" Yuuji pointed at his camera. "Just don't flex it around too much, Fushiguro!" And Yuuji flashed him a quick wink.
Megumi's face fell. He turned and stared directly into Yuuji's eyes, sending a shiver down his spine.
"What?"
"Huh?"
"How do you know my name?"
Oh shit.
Itadori Yuuji might know Megumi's name, but Spiderman doesn't—he shouldn't.
"Oh! Uh, it's..." Yuuji panicked; what the fuck could he say to save it? "It's on your camera." He blurted. Luckily, for Yuuji, 'Fushiguro' was in fact written on the strap of his camera, now draped across Megumi's forearm as Yuuji frantically held it up to show him.
"Oh, right." Megumi stared at the strap, but he didn't seem entirely convinced, his eyes returning to search Yuuji's. All of a sudden, even behind the full-body suit and mask, he felt utterly exposed under Megumi's gaze.
"I-I'm gonna go now," he stammered, uselessly. "Uh, get home safe, okay? Maybe keep the strap around your neck so it doesn't get stolen again. Kay, bye!" Yuuji sort of slurred all his words together at the end as he hurried to just get out of there, not even waiting to hear anything else Megumi might've had to say.
But, he still felt his stare.
Yuuji groaned; he wanted to bang his head into a wall.
Megumi is onto him, he has to be—Megumi isn't stupid, if Yuuji messed that up, who knows what else he's made obvious for Megumi to connect the dots. He's onto him because he's a fucking idiot; he's never, never, fumbled that bad in keeping his identity secret, so why did his brain suddenly decide that Megumi's gratitude was all it took to short-circuit and-
Can you shut the fuck up, Sukuna groaned. It's not that big of a deal if one other kid knows. You're telling practically everyone, anyway.
Yuuji scoffed. Two people seems like 'everyone' to you because you didn't tell anyone, he retorted.
Yeah, because I was a better Spiderman who could keep his identity actually hidden.
Were you even popular enough to have friends to tell? Bitch...
Yuuji ignored Sukuna's incessant retorts after that, mostly being insults. But, he figured he was right. It could be so much worse. It eased his anxiety a little—after all, he doesn't actually mind Megumi, it's Megumi who hates him; always staring daggers at him and never backing down even when Yuuji's eyes meet his.
Oh, who was he kidding? Anybody figuring out his identity is bad, Megumi or not.
He stretched his arms as he yawned, his gaze falling on the clock laying on the wall opposite and noticed the time. "Oh shit, we should go."
Yuuji quickly gathered his stuff before downing the remainder of his, now cold, hot chocolate. Junpei stood waiting for him, since their next classes were nearby, so they could walk together. They heard a growl beside them.
"Actually, that bitch better be in love with you, Itadori."
He glanced back to see Nobara surging with rage, and, following her line of sight, he saw that Maki had now arrived, talking away to Megumi and laughing at something he said. Inumaki and Panda were there too, but he figured Nobara couldn't see anyone other than Maki anyway.
"I hate how close they are, it pisses me off."
"Weren't you just defending him, saying he's not that bad?" Yuuji glared at Nobara.
"Yeah, yeah he's fine," she waved him off, "but not when it comes to Maki. Then, he can fuck off."
Yuuji just scoffed, before following Junpei out the café, who nodded at him with a quiet, "Let's go."
He spared one final glance at Megumi, who was now smiling at his friends. Huh. Yuuji doesn't think he's ever seen him smile like that—or at all.
His gaze forced away as Junpei has finally had enough of the delay and he's dragged out of the café, Megumi watching as the door closes behind him with a soft jingle.
☆ ☆ ☆
The bell rang for the next period.
"See you later!" Yuuji went to push open his classroom door, glancing his shoulder and waving Junpei a quick goodbye. Without looking where he was going, he instantly collided into someone, both of their books crashing to the ground in a heap.
"Shit! Sorry." Yuuji immediately crouches down to pick up their books before smashing his head into the other.
"Ow," they groaned in unison, falling to sit back on the cold tiles. He looked up, rubbing his forehead, and Megumi's wide eyes stared back at him. They froze in place. Is he in this class? Yuuji thought for a moment. This was a chemistry class, but Megumi was not a science kid.
"Oh, Fushiguro!" He tried his best to offer a warm smile, hoping he wasn't externally showing any of his shock or his complicated emotions regarding the other, considering their 'interactions' the last few months.
The other's gaze softened, or more so hardened in Megumi's case, as he relaxed for a moment. "Itadori," he said simply. "I didn't see you, sorry."
His voice was soft, hypnotic to listen to, making Yuuji's nerves suddenly stutter. Considering the fact that he hardly ever talked—habitually using the least words possible at any given moment—it surprised him a little since he didn't expect Megumi to suddenly acknowledge him; let alone speak. Every time Fushiguro Megumi speaks it's always with an utmost sincere tone, which now weirdly made Yuuji's head melt a little.
He snapped out of his reverie and resumed helping to pick up the books scattered around them. Megumi slowly got to his feet as he sorted out the ones in his hands.
"Do you—" Yuuji stopped as he looked up to meet Megumi's outstretched hand, offering to help him up. He felt his neck to the tip of his ears unnecessarily redden at his unusual gesture of physical contact. He took his hand as he was hauled up, mentally noting how strong the other was with just one hand while carrying books in his other. "I— didn't know you were in this class." He thought he imagined for a second that Megumi's ears were also red but he couldn't quite tell before he turned his head away to face the classroom door.
"Uh, yeah. I've been doing the work without coming to class since I figured showing up was a waste of time." He shrugged, scratching the back of his neck. "But I got complaints about how I need to show my face at some point, regularly."
All of a sudden, Megumi, who normally wouldn't dare take his eyes off Yuuji, was now averting his gaze.
Yuuji made a silent 'Oh' sound with his mouth. Yeah, it tracks that Fushiguro Megumi of all people could manage just fine in a chemistry class without attending any lessons. He's just a genius like that. Annoyingly genius, but genius nonetheless.
As he realised that this was probably the longest conversation they have ever had, Megumi suddenly turned away, holding his belongings and wordlessly clacking the door shut behind him as he entered the lab alone. Yuji blinked at his abrupt disappearance but just sighed. So much for development in their weird relationship.
After a short while, he also joined in entering the lab, taking his usual seat near the back corner of the room by the window. He didn't share his desk with anyone, mostly because he also rarely showed up for labs (having his Spiderman duties and all) and his previous partners got sick of his unpredictability and always asked for a different pair. He gathered his books on the desk, shuffling his seat forward as he glanced up to the front of the room. Dr. Shoko stood with her palms leaning back on her desk with a soft smile, which was out of character from her usual nonchalant demeanor. The person she chatted with turned out to be Megumi.
Suddenly, her eyes met Yuuji's as she stood up straight and pointed in his direction. Megumi turned and upon seeing Yuuji being the one who she pointed at, he grimaced slightly but his expression was unreadable as he nodded back to the teacher and walked over to sit in the empty seat. Is he pissed that he has to sit with me? Yuuji thought with a frown. Honestly, what had he done wrong to him? Yuuji was starting to have enough and opened his mouth, going to speak his mind.
His words died in his throat as he was interrupted by Dr. Shoko clapping her hands for the attention of the class. Fine, it would have to wait.
"Okay, okay, shut up!" She spoke unenthusiasticly but her voice still carried itself across the room with her authoritativeness. "I mentioned this before but I'll say it again," she flicked some dirt from under her nail out of boredom. "Lab examinations are coming up soon so for the next few weeks you will be practically working with a pair."
What? Pair work? Yuuji alongside pretty much everyone in the room groaned in unison, his head falling into his hands. The last thing he has time to do was any form of group work, let alone practical lab work, which guaranteed him having to come in to class to get the work done—annoying for Spiderman, sure, but also annoying for any other senior who picked this as a filler class, now having to put in effort?
"Oh, save the drama—you all knew about this." Dr. Shoko waved away their protests, unimpressed as ever. "And for the pairs, I've already decided how to handle it you'll be glad to know." She grinned wickedly at the collective disdain, but to be honest Yuuji didn't mind who he would have to work with in the class. So long as it's not—
"You will pair with whoever is sat with you today, end of question." The entire class erupted in complaints while the two boys froze.
Megumi and Yuuji instantly locked eyes as both their heads snapped to look at eachother. Pairing? With Megumi? The same guy who hates his guts and can't even hold eye contact when confronted face to face, who otherwise creepily stares with zero remorse? That Megumi?
Great! This is going to go just great.
.
.
.