Chapter Text
Let’s do things different this time.
The atmosphere fills with the sound of drums, beat after beat.
Like, so differently.
His name is Itadori Yuji.
A sudden flashback of Megumi bumping into Yuji. Itadori’s surprised face told Megumi everything that was going on with his body.
He was bitten by a radioactive spider.
Megumi and Yuji sits in the dark classroom where they had their first ever conversation. Megumi adored Yuji’s charismatic energy and surprisingly smart jokes. He glances over at Yuji, his face flustered.
And he’s not the only one.
He hasn’t always had it easy.
As Megumi hits the drums louder, every little traumatic memory of Yuji’s flashes in his head.
The guilt of losing Peter Parker, the sudden unexpected death of Yuji’s brother, and caught at the scene by his father.
And he’s not the only one.
The parallels between Itadori Jin and Fushiguro Toji haunt him. How he and Yuji bond with the traumatic experience they both had, once had to keep their hands in the air so they wouldn’t shoot.
Now he’s on his own.
Flashbacks of Megumi and Yuji sharing sentimental moments increase the aggressive drumming. Their last appearance together, holding each other’s hands one more time at the collider before Yuji let Megumi go back to his universe.
The kiss. The emotional kiss they shared at the collider really made his face scrunch.
You think you know the rest.
You don’t.
I thought I knew the rest, but I didn’t.
I didn’t wanna hurt him.
But I did.
Megumi’s face now showed anger and frustration, hitting his sticks with all his might.
And he’s not the only one.
Megumi crawls over to his sister, Tsumiki. Her limp body covered in rubble and blood was a horrifying sight.
The grief and guilt really pressured Megumi to not get close to anybody anymore. It was excused as a distraction, but deep down he couldn’t handle holding the dead bodies of his loved ones.
“Hey!”
“Yo, Def Leppard!”
Three people stand with various instruments, they all have annoyed faces. Megumi continues to hit his sticks aggressively on the drums, muting the noise of his bandmates.
“Megumi!”
Tokyo, Japan
Earth-65
Megumi finally finishes, glancing at his bandmates. His confused face was questioned the songs length.
“Is the song over?” Megumi asks.
“Seems over.”
“Are you okay?” His bandmate asks. Megumi has been drifting away from his close ones, especially his dad.
“You don’t wanna hang out, and you don’t wanna talk.”
“I didn’t join a band so I could talk about feelings.”
“I did.” The bassist interrupts, reassuring him.
“I joined it so I could hit my feelings with sticks.”
Megumi slams his sticks into the drums once again, until his guitarist holds his arm in place.
“Yo, if you don’t tell someone what’s going on, you’re gonna snap.”
“I’m fine.”
“That’s not how someone who’s fine would say that.” Exclaims the lead singer.
“They’d say, ‘Great. Thanks. How are you?’”
“I’m great. Thanks.” Megumi says with a fake smile, pushing and throwing away the drum set.
“Whoa!”
“How are you.”
“Fine?” Said his guitarist. Megumi grabs his bag and storms out of the rehearsal room.
“Megumi. Come on.”
“I don’t get you, man.”
“You’re right!” Megumi yells back. He speeds his way to the exit.
“I play drums.” Said the bassist, awkwardly raising his hand.
Megumi slams open the doors open, revealing a crowd of people.
I always wanted to be in a band.
Guess I just never found the right one.
The transition from Megumi walking on the streets, squeezing through the people to him in his spider-suit in a train.
In this line of work, you always wind up a solo act.
Yuji’s face is faded on the train window behind Megumi. The lingering past haunts him everyday. Megumi’s face scrunches in anxiety, his eyebrow piercing following his eyebrow. His lips tighten.
Before Yuji…
His eyes pan to the dark window. His memories of his older sister recall in his brain.
…there was Tsumiki.
-
“How many did you take?” Megumi says in surprise.
“I think you look great. I don’t know.” Tsumiki says. Megumi smirks, clicking away through the pictures. As he clicked, he came across pictures of Spider-Man.
“Is this that dangerous menace?” Questioned Megumi.
“No, no, no. He seems like a good guy. Seems to have a good heart!” Exclaims Tsumiki.
Megumi shifts through the photos, clicking the button that slides through the camera roll.
“Why wear a mask if you’ve got nothing to hide?” Says their father, Toji. He holds a pot of miso soup, wearing his police uniform attire.
“All right, no politics at the dinner table.” Says their mother.
“Thank you, Mom.” Megumi exhales with a slight smile on his face. His mother looks back at him and winks.
But they didn’t really know me.
The numerous memories they have made at that dinner table makes Megumi tear up. The days go by fast, faster than he expected.
And I didn’t really know her either.
-
Tsumiki was slammed into a locker, causing her glasses to break. She stumbled to pick them up as Megumi defended her.
CRAACK
“Touch her again, Yorozu.”
“Megumi, it’s okay.” Tsumiki reassured Megumi.
Her face after putting on her glasses showed frustration and anger. Tsumiki’s eyes glanced down at the serum in her hand. It was glowing green and screamed consequences.
Until it was too late.
-
Tsumiki held her breath as she drank the concoction. Her body became disfigured, disgustingly adjusted. She falls to the ground as something transformed inside of her. She gagged and choked in pain, her bones crunching by the unusual adjustments. Tsumiki didn’t regret her decision, but she did regret the suffering Megumi will face. Her hands shifted to large, green claw, lying in the janitor’s closet before her pupils dialated.
-
Megumi arrives at his school dance. A couple of people greeted him as he was looking around for his sister. He stood in the middle of the floor, his spider-senses warning him for danger. He looked back, hit with rubble. An enormous lizard like monster came out of the destroyed wall, glancing around. The monster locked eyes with Yorozu, crawling towards her. The creature was steps away from tearing her into pieces, until a spray of webs stopped it in its place.
Spider-Man had fought this monster, punch after punch. Megumi had slammed the creature on to the hard wall, causing it to be angered. As the monster sprinted toward him, the big lights staggered in the air, falling, and crushed it to death.
Megumi analyzed the monster, drifting within the shadows. It had decreased in size, the lizard head evolving back into a casual face. It showed Tsumiki.
“What? No.” Megumi gasps in fear. He picked up the large piece of rubble, revealing Tsumiki’s face. He caressed her hair, picking off the pieces of pebbles in her scars and scratches. She aggressively coughed up blood, the iron smell hit Megumi’s nose.
“No, no, no. What did you do?” Megumi panics. Holding her in his arms. His grip remained tight, afraid to let go.
“I just wanted to be special.” Tsumiki gasped. Her body trembled in fear and pain, her hands slowly and shakily trailing up Megumi’s arm. She tried holding on tight, her fingers curled and shook.
“Like you, Megumi.” As Tsumiki breathed her last words, she tugged on his mask as a last digit effort. Megumi grabs her hand as it fell weak, unable to answer.
“Everything’s gonna be okay.”
“Don’t.”
“Everything’s gonna…”
“Don’t go.”
Megumi holds the back of her neck, his hand trembling. Her limp body lays below him, dust and pieces of the roof next to them. Her blinks slowly delayed before her head rolled to the side. He hugs her body tightly, quietly breathing as his tears rolled down his face.
Hundreds of scenarios happened in his head. He lost his sister, his best friend on the same day. Megumi felt something in his chest that suddenly sank, his soul drifting away.
Megumi digs his head in Tsumiki’s cold shoulder. The mask he swore on now soaked in tears. He hears something in the distance, footsteps struggling to bypass the rubble. It got slower and closer, a reload of a gun echoed through the destroyed gymnasium. It was Toji, holding out his gun. Megumi knew he had to web away, leaving Tsumiki’s body.
“Tsumiki? Oh, my Tsumiki.” Toji whispers.
Megumi stands behind the lights up on the roof. His eyes held fear. Now that he had witnessed the death of his sister, leaving a deep scar where it will never heal.
“I’ve had enough.” Megumi whispers as he closes his eyes shut, gripping onto the mask Tsumiki so desperately wanted to look under right before she went limp.
I never really got close to someone after that.
Except one.
But he’s not here.
And there’s no way to get there.
“Pressure mounts as Captain Toji Fushiguro leads the manhunt for Spider-Man.”
“Who is he? And why won’t he show his face?”
“Fushiguro Tsumiki, an innocent young girl…”
“I’ve known Tsumiki and her mother for 15 years.” Said Toji.
“Fushiguro Tsumiki ate at my table.”
“She was my daughter.”
“And I will not rest…”
-
Toji grabs some food from the refrigerator, Megumi’s gaze locks on his police hat and coat. Megumi opens the window from outside, attempting to swiftly pass by into his room.
“Hey, hey, hey. How’s the band?” Toji asks.
“It was fine. I quit, so.” Megumi staggers.
“You did, huh? Okay.”
Megumi opens his room door and enters, leaving Toji to look back.
“We caught a break in the Spider-man case.”
“Oh. That’s good.”
“We’re close. I’m telling you, I can feel it.”
The silence stood tall. Megumi was going through his closet as Toji stood by the door.
“It’ll be good for us.”
“Don’t be so sure.”
“He killed your sister.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I was there. He ran from the scene.”
“Maybe he didn’t have a choice.”
“I got a job to do, Megumi.”
“It won’t bring her back.”
“I don’t wanna argue about this.”
“Yeah. I can tell.”
The room stays cold. The awkward silence consumes the environment.
“Are you.. too punk rock to give your old man a hug?” Megumi immediately ran over to Toji, squeezing him so he won’t let go. Toji hugs him back, the atmosphere softens.
“All units, possible superhuman event. Ghibli Museum.” The walkie spoke.
“Oh. Hey, this could be it.”
“Suspect is Nishimiya Momo. Also known as the Vulture.”
“So I’ll see you later.”
“We don’t know the full scale of the threat yet.”
“Cool.”
Megumi goes into his room, increases the volume of the secret walkie he grabbed from his dad.
“49-20 on the scene. We’re gonna need all the help we can get. It’s a real mess down here.”
Megumi unscrews his drum set to reveal his spider-suit. As he grabbed it, a photo of him and Yuji lays on the drums. He looks back at the picture, his face softens. But, he had places to be. He looked forward and put on his gear.
“This is Captain Fushiguro. I’m five out. I need you to look alive. Good chance our guy shows up.”
Megumi reached out his hand, twisted the walkie’s buttons to disable the device. Megumi jumped out of the window, swinging his way towards the scene.
Every web he swung by, his mind kept rewinding back to last year. His unforgettable moments with Yuji. Late night talks, bonding over trauma. He felt so relieved that somebody could ever reply back with “Me too”. Megumi wanted that somebody back.
Someday, Yuji. Someday.