Chapter Text
After about four hours of trying to stop at least some of the city’s crime, Itadori Yuuji was exhausted. His entire body ached, and his legs felt heavier with every swing. He’d lost track of how many times he’d crossed the same streets, chasing down criminals, stopping robberies, breaking up fights, and dealing with whatever else happened to come his way that night. At this point, swinging through the air had become almost automatic; his body seemed to know where to go even when his mind was barely keeping up. Before he even realized how much time had passed, he was already back at the college dorms.
He landed quietly on the rooftop, making sure there was no one around before pulling off his mask. His breathing was still a little heavy from the last chase, and sweat clung to the back of his neck beneath the suit. He walked over to the old backpack he’d started keeping up there a few months ago, tucked behind one of the concrete structures near the stairwell. Inside, he had a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants. It wasn’t exactly the most convenient setup, but it was better than walking into the dorm covered in dirt and wearing a full Spider-Man suit.
After changing, Yuuji stuffed his suit back into the backpack and headed downstairs, running a hand through his messy pink hair in a futile attempt to make himself look like he hadn’t just spent four hours jumping between rooftops. Itadori quietly slipped through the door, careful not to make a sound. The dorm was completely dark, with only a faint bit of light spilling in from the hallway outside. He paused for a moment, listening. Nothing. No footsteps, no voices, no sign that anyone was awake.
He checked his phone. 1:54 a.m.
Good. It’s so late. He must be asleep.
Yuuji let out a quiet sigh of relief and carefully closed the door behind him. He was just about to make his way toward his room when the light suddenly flicked on. His roommate was standing there with his arms crossed, staring directly at him.
“Where the fuck have you been?”
A million ideas ran through Yuuji’s head at once. What could I possibly tell him? That I was gambling? Feeding the stray cats? Taking a walk at two in the morning? Unfortunately, Yuuji wasn’t exactly known for his ability to come up with convincing lies on the spot.
“I was studying at the library.” Somehow, it was probably the worst excuse he could have chosen. Yuuji almost never went to the library at night. In fact, he rarely went there during the day either, and Megumi knew this.
“It’s two a.m.”
“So? Megumi, exams are coming up soon.”
Megumi sighed and rolled his eyes, clearly not buying it for a second. His expression said enough. they both knew it was bullshit.
“You know, Itadori, I don’t get why you keep lying to me, but whatever. Night.”
“Sorry for waking you up. Goodnight. Let’s hang out together tomorrow? ”
Yuuji gave him a soft smile, trying to hide how uncomfortable he suddenly felt. He hated that look on Megumi’s face. He didn’t seem angry or sad. He just looked… disappointed, and Yuuji hated making him feel like that. Somehow, disappointing Megumi felt worse than getting punched in the face by half the criminals he’d dealt with that night.
They had only met eight months ago, when they found out they were going to be roommates, but they had grown close surprisingly quickly. They were both first-year college students, although their majors couldn’t have been more different. Yuuji was a Biology major, which had seemed like a pretty normal choice at the time. Megumi, on the other hand, was studying Veterinary Medicine. Despite being quite introverted, Megumi had slowly gotten used to having someone as extroverted and outgoing as Yuuji around. Yuuji had a way of dragging him into conversations, plans, and random situations he probably wouldn’t have gotten into on his own.
They’d also had mutual friends since the beginning of college, with Nobara and Maki becoming two of the people they spent the most time with, while Yuta and the rest of their group usually joined them whenever they had time. Somehow, over those eight months, they’d gone from two strangers assigned to the same room to something much closer than either of them had expected. They ate together most of the days, studied together some others and went out with their friends together, and had slowly developed the kind of comfortable routine that came from knowing someone for much longer than they actually had. But Megumi still didn’t know about the biggest thing Yuuji had been hiding from him.
A few weeks after starting college, Yuuji had gone on a Biology department trip to a laboratory with some of his classmates. It was supposed to be nothing more than an ordinary visit, something educational and boring that he’d probably forget about after a few days. But someohow, he’d ended up getting bitten by a strange spider. At first, he’d thought nothing of it. The bite had hurt like hell, but it seemed harmless enough. He’d gone home that evening, complained about it to his friends, and eventually forgotten about it. Then the fever started. And after that came the strength. Then the reflexes. The strange tingling sensation that seemed to crawl over his skin whenever danger was nearby. And abilities that definitely weren’t supposed to be possible. Yuuji had spent the following weeks trying to figure out what the hell had happened to him.
He’d tested his strength in increasingly ridiculous ways, accidentally stuck himself to walls, nearly fallen out of his bedroom window more than once, and discovered that his body reacted to danger before his brain even had time to process what was happening.Somehow, that spider had changed him. He didn’t know why. He didn’t know how. And, frankly, he was pretty sure there wasn’t a single Biology textbook in existence that could explain what was happening to him, but he had these abilities now.
And if there was one thing Yuuji had learned about himself, it was that he couldn’t just sit around and do nothing with them. So he’d started helping people. At first, it had been small things. Stopping someone from getting mugged. Catching a thief before they could escape. Helping people who were trapped in accidents. Then it had slowly become something bigger. He’d found himself spending more and more nights out there, moving across the city beneath the darkness, trying to make things a little safer for the people who lived there. He didn’t know how long he could keep it up. He only knew he couldn’t stop.
— 🕷️ —
The last class of the day felt endless. Megumi could barely concentrate anymore, constantly checking the clock and waiting for the professor to finally let them go. He’d been tired all day, and Yuuji’s behavior lately wasn’t exactly helping. Every time he thought about his roommate disappearing in the middle of the night, some strange knot tightened in his stomach. He told himself it was irritation. It was probably just irritation. Luckily, he had Nobara with him, his best friend and the first person he’d properly interacted with when they started college.
“You seem stressed, Megumi. Wanna go shopping with me and Maki?”
“Nah, I’m staying in. I have to finish some notes.”
“Whatever. I’ll ask Yuuji. Or are you gonna be making out with him?”
Megumi immediately turned bright red. It wasn’t that Yuuji actually liked him. At least, he didn’t think so. But he couldn’t deny that he felt attracted to his roommate. Ever since he’d first seen him, he’d thought Yuuji was attractive. Actually, Yuuji was his type in every possible way, which was becoming increasingly annoying considering they shared a room.
It didn’t help either that Yuuji was so naturally affectionate. The casual shoulder bumps, the way he leaned against Megumi whenever they were sitting together, the habit of throwing an arm around him whenever they were walking somewhere with their friends but ,to Megumi, it was torture.
“Nobara, what the fuck?”
“I’m just saying. There’s always been this kinda weird tension between you guys.”
“I don’t even know if he’s into guys,” Megumi admitted.
“Is the sky blue?” Nobara rolled her eyes. “Just watch a movie together or something and make out already.”
Megumi frowned, leaning back in his chair. “He’s been acting… weird. I don’t know. It’s kinda pissing me off.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s obvious that he’s lying to me, but I don’t really know what’s going on with him. Maybe he’s hooking up with someone. Or maybe he’s dating someone, because every day he comes home at like two in the morning with these lame excuses.”
Nobara raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced by Megumi’s attempt to sound annoyed rather than worried. She knew him too well. Megumi could pretend he was irritated all he wanted, but there was something underneath it, something he wasn’t quite ready to admit even to himself. “I don’t know. I feel like he’s kinda into you. I’ve been telling you this for months, but you should talk to him.”
Megumi opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, Nobara glanced over his shoulder and noticed Maki waiting for her near the hallway. “Maki’s waiting for me. See you later.”
“Yeah. See you.”
Nobara waved goodbye before heading toward Maki, leaving Megumi to gather his things. He wasn’t sure why, but something about Yuuji’s behavior lately had been bothering him more than usual. Maybe it was the lying. Maybe it was the fact that Yuuji kept disappearing every night. Or maybe it was simply the fact that Megumi was starting to realize how much he cared about him. More than he should, probably. Enough that Yuuji’s stupid excuses were starting to genuinely worry him.
Whatever the reason, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. By the time Megumi reached their dorm, it was already getting late. He unlocked the door and pushed it open, expecting to find the room empty. Instead, he immediately froze. Yuuji was standing in the middle of the room, Shirtless.
Megumi’s eyes instinctively moved over him before he could stop himself, taking in the muscles across his back and shoulders. Yuuji had always been stronger than he looked, but Megumi had never really had a reason to pay attention to just how muscular he actually was.
Holy shit.
He quickly tried to look somewhere else. But he noticed his back is covered in…Bruises? Definitely bruises. And cuts. There were several scattered across Yuuji’s back, some darker than others, while a few looked almost fresh. One ran along his shoulder blade, another disappeared beneath the waistband of his sweatpants, and there were smaller marks across his ribs that looked like they’d been caused by something far more serious than an accident during a college workout.
Megumi’s eyes narrowed as he stared at them, his annoyance suddenly replaced by something much closer to concern. What the hell happened to him? But Yuuji turned around, and their eyes met. Neither of them said anything. For a second, the room felt unbearably quiet. Yuuji’s expression changed almost immediately when he realized what Megumi had seen. His eyes widened slightly before his usual smile disappeared altogether. He quickly grabbed a shirt from the bed and pulled it over himself, covering the bruises as though that would somehow erase what Megumi had already seen. Megumi barely had time to process what was happening before Yuuji grabbed his backpack.
“You said we were gonna spend some time together.”
“Something came up. I have to go! I’ll make it up to you!”
“What?”
Yuuji rushed past him and ran out of the dorm, moving so fast that Megumi barely had time to step out of his way. The door slammed shut behind him. Megumi stood there in complete silence. He stared at the door for a few seconds, then at the empty room.His jaw tightened.
What the fuck just happened?
His expression darkened. He phoned Nobara.
“Yeah, Nobara. I think I’ll go shopping with you and Maki. Send me the address, we need to talk about something. ”