Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Guys, don’t worry about it.” Nagatoro said, lifting her arm up to showcase an injury on her wrist. “I’m telling you, it’s nothing.”

Maki Gamou, Nagatoro’s best friend who commonly goes by the name “Gamo-chan,” had a perplexed look on her face as she examined her wound closely. Alongside her was Orihara, Nagatoro’s friend and rival, as well as a prominent member of the school’s judo club whose skills were often considered to be on par with that of Olympic-level athletes.

“Well, it looks like a light injury..” Gamo-chan noted. In her mind however, the wound Nagatoro sustained seemed to be more than just that.

“I’m sure it’ll be just fine!” Orihara replied, keeping a positive, optimistic smile on her face. “Come on, Hayacchi. Let’s get you to the nurse’s office for now.”

Nagatoro gave her a smile back as she allowed herself to be helped up by Orihara. Gamo-chan gave her a playful pat on her back as the three friends began to walk out of the judo club room. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to get very far before another one of the girls in the room spoke out towards them.

“You hurt your wrist?” She asked. The three of them stopped walking and they each turned around to face her.

The girl’s name was Shikki. A rather serious girl, Shikki was a remarkably taller girl who towered over Nagatoro by nearly a foot, and she had a body that put nearly every other girl to shame. Her face knew no smile, and her stern eyes always seemed to convey grumpiness. Shikki was very passionate about judo, so much so that she despised those who she deemed “quitters.” Such a belief was why the girl looked down on poor Nagatoro, who only recently returned to her martial arts career after abandoning it several years prior.

“It’s just a scratch,” Nagatoro said back to her. Shikki let out a quiet “hmph” and walked away from the girl, turning her back on her.

“You got hurt just from that? I guess you weren’t really trying, after all.” Two other girls who were always by Shikki’s side began to chuckle as they followed their friend. Contrary to Shikki’s stern demeanor, these friends were the exact opposite. One could only describe them as stuck-up, bratty followers.

“You’re not gonna say anything back, Hayacchi?” Gamo-chan asked Nagatoro. She had a whole bunch of witty remarks to lob back at Shikki in response and was always ready to get snippy with her. Unfortunately, Nagatoro only let out a light sigh as she went back to walking out of the judo hall.

“Just let them say what they want,” was all she said to her. Gamo-chan looked back at Shikki, then to Nagatoro. She shrugged and simply continued following her. Orihara did the same without saying anything.

The next day, Nagatoro met up with her friends after school in the library. Her group consisted of Gamo-chan, Sakura, and Yoshi. Sakura was considered the “matchmaker” in the group because of her experience with boys; she was the only one who had any sort of experience, in fact. She was also a rather poor academic achiever, who frequently underperformed in her studies. That wasn’t to say that she wasn’t a hardworking girl however, as Sakura was the only one in the group who was juggling a part-time job.

On the other hand, Yoshi was a ball full of energy. However, the poor girl suffered from social anxiety, which hampered her ability to comfortably express herself to other people. Thus, she was only able to do so with her friends, most notably Gamo-chan, who she became a sort-of sidekick to.

“Your wrist, Toro-chan!” Sakura exclaimed, leaning forward a bit so she could get a closer look at her friend’s injury. “It’s broken!”

Nagatoro had her hand held up. She had it covered in several layers of bandages, wrapped snuggly as it held her hand in place. Even so, her injury didn’t seem to bother Nagatoro at all.

“It’s all good, Sakura!” Nagatoro replied cheerfully. “It’ll only take two weeks to recover. I’m completely fine. Besides, I’ve been hurt like this before. It’s nothing new!”

Gamo-chan chuckled lightly as she took a large swig from her water bottle. “This is what happens when you jump right back into judo after not practicing for so long. Ya’ get rusty!”

“What even happened, Toro-chan?” Sakura asked. “You’ve only been in the judo club for a few weeks, and you’ve already hurt yourself!”

Nagatoro paused for a moment. She simply bit into a chip and ate it quietly as if she were thinking to herself, before she answered her friend’s question.

“Things got a bit rough during practice. It’s no big deal though.”

Gamo decided to chirp up and give her side of the story. “That girl Shikki totally beat Hayacchi up. It wasn’t even a competition! It was more like.. a slaughter!”

“Shut up!” Nagatoro retorted, not exactly liking being teased by her friend. “It wasn’t like that, Gamo-chan. I just got hurt, that’s all."

“Suuuure!” Gamo-chan and her friend Yoshi simply laughed.

Sakura frowned, not liking the idea that her friend was beat up by someone in the judo club. She merely looked on at the girl in front of her and let out a quiet sigh.

The girls continued to chat amongst themselves. Gamo-chan kept teasing Nagatoro until she decided that enough was enough, wanting to make it clear that she was only playing and not wanting to actually hurt her. The girls would talk about all sorts of things, from school, to movies, to music, and then to boys, not necessarily in that order. Their chatter and giggles were also quite loud, almost to the point where it became obnoxious. Thankfully, the library that they were in was empty, so the group was bothering no one.

“Seriously, no way!” Gamo-chan giggled as she looked at Nagatoro, waving her hand up and down.

“I felt so bad!” Yoshi exclaimed, taking a bite out of a chip. Sakura and the rest of the girls looked at her and began to giggle as well.

“So I met this guy earlier..” said Sakura.

Just as the girls kept on gossiping, they heard the door to the library open. All four of them went quiet as they turned to see who had walked in. There, they saw a boy. A rather thin looking boy, to be exact.

This boy’s name was Naoto Hachioji, a second year student. He was the only active member of the art club after its President, Sana Sunomiya passed down the responsibilities to him when she reached her third year. Simply put, Naoto was a loner; a nobody. He had only a very select few of friends, and while being in the art club did help him meet other people a little bit, he was still confined in his tiny social bubble. He was dressed in the school’s usual uniform, and his hair was extremely curly and messy, which was almost fluffy even. Nagatoro herself noted that it resembled a sheep’s coat in her head.

Naoto adjusted his glasses as he scanned the room. When he locked eyes with the group of girls in front of him, he gasped. He seemed to have froze for a second before he bashfully looked away from them out of nervousness. A small blush even appeared on his face as he tried so desperately to avoid eye contact with them.

The girls just kept staring at him, not doing anything. They said nothing, nor did they even give him a wave. Their silence did nothing but make the poor kid’s anxiety worse. Then, they simply turned away from him and went back to talking as a group, as if he was never there.

“Anyway, he sent me a message on LINE..” Sakura continued.

Naoto gulped, braced himself, and then began walking. He spotted an unoccupied table in the furthest corner of the room, one near where the girls were sitting at. He was as stiff as a rock as he hurriedly walked past the group of girls. His head was pointed downward, and his eyes were locked on to the floor. Sure enough, he made it to his table and quickly plopped himself down on one of the chairs, before pulling out a large sketchbook from his bag.

For a moment, he looked at the group of girls. They didn’t seem to mind his presence at all. In fact, it was like they didn’t even know he was there. The girls just kept laughing and laughing loudly as they always have been.

“I’m never going to have anything to do with that species,” he thought to himself as he listened in on their gossip.

Nothing happened between the two parties at first. Naoto only kept to himself, working on his very own manga which included a self-insert of himself as its protagonist, Siegfried. Nagatoro and her friends merely kept yapping and yapping about various things. They must’ve broken the library’s “Please Keep Quiet Rule” a thousand times considering how loud they were. At one point, silence filled the room as Naoto batted them a single eye, only to find them all staring at him. A huge blush appeared on his face as he quickly looked away to go back to his manga.

Eventually, Sakura got up and made her way towards Naoto’s end after being asked by Nagatoro to retrieve a book. Naoto tensed up, having felt her presence looming closer and closer. Sakura had her hands innocently behind her back as she scanned the shelves for her target, while Naoto was absolutely frozen with nervousness. He was so nervous in fact that he accidentally knocked over his things when he tried to reach for his backpack, which quickly alerted Sakura to his presence. With his sketchbook now on the ground and its contents visible to everyone, his face couldn’t get any redder as Sakura crouched down to pick up his stuff.

“Oh no oh no oh no oh no,” was what he was repeating over and over in his head. Naoto cursed himself for being so clumsy in front of girls.

What he actually said was a very soft, and stuttery, “Sorry.”

Sakura smiled as she read one of the pages of his manga. “Oh God,” she yelped excitedly. “Look at this!” It wasn’t long before her friends began to make their way over to them.

They began reading over its lines. The very same lines that he wrote. He couldn’t help but think that they were making fun of his work based on the tone of their voices. They even compared it to Two Piece. Naoto simply closed his eyes and pointed his head back down at the ground, trying to calm himself down by taking slow and steady breaths.

“It’s okay.. It’s okay.. Just don’t look at them..”

Then, as if God Himself swooped in to save the boy from his predicament, Naoto heard one of them walking back to their table to collect her things.

“Yukko said she’s at the restaurant with her boyfriend now,” Gamo-chan called out to her friends, putting her bag over her shoulder. “You guys comin’ with?”

Both Sakura and Yoshi nodded with excitement, eager to meet their unseen friend’s boyfriend. On the other hand however, Nagatoro merely picked up the remaining papers of Naoto’s manga from the floor, and after a few seconds of looking over them, turned towards her orange-haired friend and shook her head no.

“I’ll go later,” she told her. Gamo-chan raised an eyebrow as she began to walk towards the exit with Yoshi and Sakura following suit.

“What? Ya’ got a thing for weirdos or something?” She asked. Nagatoro said nothing as her friends left the library, giggling about Yukko’s boyfriend along the way.

Naoto opened his eyes to find that the friends were gone. He was just about to let out a sigh of relief before he turned and saw Nagatoro take a seat across the table in front of him. With her elbows planted down on to the table and her chin resting firmly on her hands, the girl smiled at him. Naoto couldn’t help but think about how cute she was.

“I’m a first year,” she told him. “You?”

Naoto nervously readjusted his glasses. He struggled to even keep eye contact with her. After a moment of hesitation, he finally let out a shy, shaky response.

“..A- A second year.”

He saw Nagatoro’s smile widen, as if she were delighted at his answer. “Really?” She asked. “Then that means you’re my Senpai, then.”

Upon hearing the girl call him her Senpai, Naoto froze. He just stared at her, not sure how to react. It made it even harder for him to keep looking at her. He had to look away.

Nagatoro began reading over the lines in the manga, much to the dismay and embarrassment of Naoto. He feared what she was doing. She’s got to be making fun of him. There’s no way she’s actually interested in his manga. As Nagatoro kept reciting the lines word for word, it was soon made apparent to her that its MC was indeed a self-insert of the boy in front of her.

“Siegfried is you, right?” She asked him. “This is a self-insert and you’ve projected yourself as a swordsman?”

Naoto quickly shook his head, trying to cover his own skin by lying. “..Not really..”

“Oh, I’m not making fun of your creativity, Senpai.” Lies. Naoto insisted that she said nothing but lies. Nagatoro had such a smug look on her face when she said that that it seemed impossible for anyone to believe it. She kept going on and on about the connection between the MC and himself, at one point even saying that she “felt sorry” for the both of them. As Naoto begrudgingly listened on, he looked at her again and couldn’t help but notice her bandaged-up hand.

“..Your hand,” he interrupted her. Nagatoro stopped her babbling and looked at the bandages. “..what.. what happened?”

“Oh, my hand?” She raised her arm up to show him her injury. “I just hurt myself during practice. No biggie, Senpai.”

“..practice?” Naoto asked. She plays a sport here?

“Yeah, practice! I’m in the judo club! We were practicing yesterday, and I went a little too rough. It’s really nothing major though.”

“..is that so..”

A big grin of excitement formed on Nagatoro’s face as she leaned in slightly towards the boy. Naoto found himself shocked and even recoiled a bit due to her getting suddenly getting closer.

“Say, Senpai! Are you in any clubs too?”

Naoto adjusted his glasses again. He cleared his throat, and after a second, he slowly nodded.

“..I’m, uh.. I’m in the art club.”

“The art club? That’s cool! I should’ve guessed. These are nice drawings after all, Senpai.”

Naoto’s face went red when he heard the girl compliment him on his drawings. It just somehow felt good to know that someone took a liking to his work. Still, a small part of him.. doubted her. Like she was using it as a way to somehow gain an angle on him. Before he had any more time to think about that, Nagatoro suddenly rose to her feet.

“Want me to show you the cool fighting moves I can do?” She asked him. She had a very big grin on her face. Naoto gulped as he turned his attention back to her bandaged wrist.

“..but.. your wrist!” He reminded her. “Don’t you think you shouldn’t.. overdo it?”

“Overdo it?” Nagatoro burst out laughing. “It’s okay! It’s not like I’m gonna hurt myself. I’m just gonna show you some basic moves, that’s all.”

“Still, you really shouldn’t..” Naoto bashfully looked away as he scratched his head, not really wanting to take the chance of her accidentally making the injury worse by doing too much. His concerns however, were immediately set aside when the girl suddenly leaned in towards him.

“It’ll be fine, Senpai. Don’t worry,” she said with a smile. Naoto’s blush became even more apparent when she thinned the gap between them.

He simply stood against the wall, watching her push a few tables and chairs out of the way to make room for herself. Once she had the floor ready, Nagatoro stood still, taking in a deep breath of air to prepare herself. Then, Naoto saw something cool happen in front of him.

Nagatoro dashed forward, punching the air front of her with her good arm. In quick succession, she followed up her attack with several spins, ending it off with a marvelous kick, leaving her foot suspended in the air for a few seconds before dropping it back down to the floor. She then took on a mighty pose, and spoke with sheer confidence.

“I live only through combat,” she said. “I have long abandoned my womanhood!”

Naoto noticed just how elegant her form was. She did all that so flawlessly. So easily.. He saw her drop the act and slowly turn around to face him. The look she was giving him was like she wanted him to do something. Perhaps to follow up her performance with his own..

He thought long and hard about what he should do, until he finally realized what she was wanting. The line she had spoken out was from his manga, where his self-insert of an MC tried to make a move on his female comrade, only for her to reject his advancements. He looked back at his manga and saw that after the woman said the line, the MC then complimented her beauty while brushing her hair with his hand.

Naoto thought to himself, “There’s no way she really wants me to do that! She was just showing me her moves! Was she really reenacting my..”

He gulped. It seemed like forever, but Naoto finally managed to gather up the courage to actually approach the girl from behind and reenact the MC’s part in real life. With a deep breath, he slowly approached her, shaking like a damn Chihuahua caught in a blizzard. He was super nervous, super being an understatement, even. Once he was right before Nagatoro, it took him a bit to extend his arm out. He then went in for it.

Slowly, he reached for her. Slowly..

..slowly.. then..

..SLAP!

Nagatoro immediately swatted his arm away from her. Naoto recoiled, taken aback by the sudden movement. He saw her turn around to give him a smile, a devious smile. One that meant nothing but trouble.

“Wow, Senpai!” She yelled. “I didn’t think you’d actually go through with it!” Nagatoro began walking towards him. Naturally, Naoto began stepping back from her, but she kept advancing forward. It was like there was an invisible force field of intense energy that kept pushing him back as she walked towards him. Naoto kept trying to put some distance in between them until his back finally slammed against the wall, his face profusely red as he looked at the girl before him anxiously. Nagatoro swiped the pages containing the scene they were reenacting and held it up in front of his face.

“But there’s no WAY you were really able to do that, Senpai! Not your virgin-looking ass!” His eyes widened at being called a “virgin-looking ass,” but he had no time to comprehend it as he saw her point a finger at him.

“That’s a manly version of yourself!” She continued. “You’re nothing like that! You’re the exact opposite, Senpai!”

Naoto didn’t know what to think. Here was the girl, who he thought had a genuine interest in his manga, now poking fun of his self-insert tactics and his inability to be like the manga version of himself. He had no choice but to look away. Readjusting his glasses yet again, Naoto turned his head to the side, avoiding eye contact with the girl. Nagatoro, however, persisted. She put in the effort to remain in front of him by moving around him.

“Are you seriously looking away, Senpai?” She asked, having her hands innocently behind her back like she wasn’t antagonizing him. “You know, it’s very rude to not looking at someone when they’re talking to you.”

Naoto continued to be pushed by the girl until she had him slammed against the bookshelf. Some of the books even fell to the floor when he collided with it. Nagatoro gave him the biggest, most devious look ever as she had the boy trapped against the bookshelf by her presence.

“Senpai! Can I tell you something? You’re kind of.. wait no.”

“..you’re actually VERY creepy!”

Tears began to slowly trickle down from Naoto’s eyes. The poor boy didn’t even know what was happening. He was sandwiched in between the shelf and the girl, and he was totally powerless to do anything. Naoto was at his weakest here, being slowly but surely driven to the point of tears by a first-year girl.

“Aww, are you crying, Senpai? Are you really crying?” Nagatoro asked, holding out a rag to wipe his tears. Naoto simply stared meekly at the girl, unsure of what to even do.

“S- s- stop it,” was all that he said.

Eventually, after what seemed like endless hours of nonstop, psychological torture, Nagatoro finally let up on the boy as she grabbed her things. Naoto himself was left slumped against the bookshelf, looking down at the floor in defeat. Nagatoro left the hand rag folded neatly besides him as she darted off out of the library, but not before giving him a playful wink and an innocent wave. She acted like she didn't just torment the ever-living Hell out of him.

“Sorry for messing with ya’, Senpai! You can have that, by the way. Bye!”

Naoto heard the door open and close. Then, he was left totally alone. Defeated, shattered, and broken, he simply stared off at the wall in front of him. He gritted his teeth and squeezed the rag in his hand.

“..I let a first-year make me cry..”

Naoto had his eyes closed shut as his forehead was resting on the palms of his hands, his elbows being planted down on to the table.

After the whole incident in the library, Naoto walked himself home. Along the way, he decided to stop by his favorite family-owned restaurant. He figured that a quick bite to eat would be enough to take his mind off of what just transpired earlier. He was really fond of their ramen bowls, after all. They were simplistic, yet they tasted absolutely heavenly.

Except this time however, his beloved ramen bowl couldn’t ease the stress he was experiencing. What Nagatoro did seemed to have really done a number on him. Naoto couldn’t stop hearing her voice in his head. They kept mocking him. Over. And over again.

“Are you crying, Senpai?”

“You’re supposed to look a person in the eye!”

“Creepy!”

“Pfft!”

It wouldn’t stop. He was powerless to do anything against it. Every fiber of his very being wanted to just rip his hairs out in a desperate attempt to make the voices go away.

He hadn’t even touched his ramen bowl. Naoto began cursing himself. Why him? Why was it him that she decided to torment? Couldn’t it have been another guy?

“Why did I even walk into that library..” He thought to himself. Naoto opened his eyes to look at his manga which was laid out in front of him. He just read it over and over, examining it closely. He cursed himself again as he realized how much leverage he had given the girl to use over him after he failed to keep his work to himself.

“If I just kept this hidden..” Naoto sighed. He opened up his bag and shoved the sketchbook in there, before getting up to leave the restaurant silently. His ramen bowl was left completely untouched.

Unbeknownst to him however, something had hitched a ride in his bag.

Naoto returned home soon after, still not feeling the greatest. His parents weren’t home, which was to be expected. His parents, while very loving towards their son, were also very hardworking and committed to their jobs. Their busy schedules meant that Naoto would often come home to an empty house. He called out to them just to make sure that he was home alone, and after receiving no answer, he took that as a confirmation and took his shoes off to change in a more house-appropriate and comfy attire.

Naoto then grabbed his things and walked over to his room. It was one you would expect from your usual suburban high school teen. A simple bedroom designed to fit only one person comfortably, with only a single bed, table, shelf, lamp, drawer, and a small TV.

Naoto plopped himself down on to his bed and simply stared at the floor deep in thought. Nagatoro’s taunting voices still lingered in his head, echoing their insults repeatedly. He took a deep breath to try and relax, hoping that a nice session of solitude in the safety of his room would calm him down. The boy thought about whether he should continue working on his manga, or if he should just toss it after what just happened. After a deep breath, he zipped his bag open to pull out his sketchbook. What was on his hand however, would change him forever.

He looked and saw a thin, eight-legged creature on his hand. A spider, with an unusual color pattern on its abdomen that he’d never seen before. He froze for a second before he yelped in pain as the spider dung its fangs into his skin.

“AH!” Naoto screamed in pain. Quickly, he slapped the spider off with his other hand. It was enough to knock it and send it tumbling down to the floor, and sure enough, it was dead. Startled after just being bit, Naoto stared at the spider with wide eyes, before turning to the bite on his hand. There was swelling, and one could see the marks the fangs had left. Naoto rushed to grab a napkin to dispose of the spider, before darting to the bathroom to tend to his bite.

Chapter Text

“What the hell what the hell what the hell..” 

Naoto was panicking as he had his hand under the facet of his bathroom sink. Cool, soothing water ran down the clearly visible spider bite. The bite itself surprisingly wasn’t as bad as one would think. All he felt was a light sting; a quick prick. What scared him however, was the fact that a strange-looking creepy-crawling-critter had hitched a ride in his bag without him even knowing. 

Naoto gave it another minute before he shut the sink off and went back to his room, slapping a bandaid on the bite along the way. He grabbed his bag and flipped it upside down, literally pouring his things on to the floor. Everything he had in there, his pencils, his sketchbook and his folders, came out like water rushing out of an opened jug. Naoto feverishly dug through his things, scattering them around the floor as he frantically looked to see if there were any more spiders. He flipped the pages in books over and over. He shook his emptied bag in the area, trying to coax whatever was still in there to fall out. At one point, he checked his school uniform. Naoto wasn’t taking any chances. 

Thankfully, he didn’t find anything. Naoto sighed in a huge relief. Spiders gave the boy a bit of the jitters and the idea of being around them didn’t exactly excite him. Once he knew he was all clear, he began to clean up. 

Naoto cursed the luck he was having that day. First, some first-year girl made him cry, and now he was bitten by some strange spider not too long after? What a day for him. Naoto simply sighed, deciding to try and not think more of it. Despite his attempts however, the mental image of the spider kept creeping into his head. The color on its abdomen was like nothing he had ever seen. 

“What the hell kind of spider was that,” he said to himself. Naoto tried to block those thoughts out of his head by choosing to work on his manga, which would thankfully succeed in doing so. 

The rest of his night would go by like normal. Naoto continued working on his manga before beginning to study. Then, he eventually went to bed.

“Look guys! It’s the weird mangaka!” 

A pair of hands shoved Naoto down to the ground, causing him to land flat on his ass. He looked up and saw a group of kids looming over him. 

They were laughing at him, poking fun at the poor boy. “Show us your manga, nerd,” one of them said. Naoto was powerless as they called him all sorts of names. A boy wearing a baseball cap backwards called him a loser. Another one with spiky hair called him a weirdo. Naoto sighed and closed his eyes, deciding to simply take the verbal beating. 

He was having a nightmare, and this wasn’t uncommon for him. Naoto was bullied relentlessly growing up. He was constantly the odd one out, the quiet, awkward kid who was the target of continuous torment by his peers. He didn’t have many friends, and as an only child, unfortunately had almost no one to go to for support save for his parents. His troubled childhood led him to develop his own defense mechanism for safety. Rather than standing up for himself, Naoto would ignore them. He’d allow them to bully him while he avoided eye contact, simply letting it pass him until they eventually gave up. He referred to this as “closing his heart.” 

And for the most part, it worked. The years would pass, and while he'd still find himself a victim of bullying, Naoto would never remember their faces, something he was completely fine with.

Naoto simply sat silently, blocking out his tormentors. The nightmare would continue to unfold. It was similar to ones he had before. Relive being bullied and endure it before it eventually came to an end. Nothing made it different from the rest.. Except for one thing. 

His eyes opened as he heard a voice. A voice of a girl. He knew that voice. It was new, but at the same time, it was like one he was all too familiar with already. Naoto looked up. He saw the kids spread out, as if they were making room for someone. Then, his eyes locked on to the sight of a teenager wearing a school uniform. 

“Awww, Senpai!” She cried. “Are you having a little trouble there?” 

It was Nagatoro, the girl from the library. That first-year who made him cry. Naoto’s jaw dropped slightly as he stared at her. 

“Come on, Senpai! Aren’t you gonna say anything? Don’t tell me you’re so pathetic that you can’t even defend yourself against kids!” 

Naoto’s lips quivered and his eyes began to water. Nagatoro’s evil smile widened, as if she enjoyed seeing the poor boy be reduced to a weak little mess. 

“You’re so sad, Senpai! So creepy and sad. I can’t believe it!” 

Naoto shut his eyes as tight as he could and looked away, trying his best to ignore her. Nagatoro stepped forward and bent down, looming over the boy. She grabbed the bottom of his chin and gently yanked his head forward, making him look right at her. 

“You’re such a sorry excuse for a boy, Senpai..” 

Naoto refused to open his eyes. His ears were filled with their constant laughter, and they only kept getting louder and louder. Out of all them however, Nagatoro’s voice was the most prominent. It was her that he heard the most. He tried his best to fight back the tears from escaping his locked eyelids, and he prayed that the damned nightmare would come to an end. 

Fortunately for him, his prayers were answered. Naoto’s eyes jolted open and he found himself in his darkened room, gazing up at the ceiling.  

Naoto took a second to regain himself. The nightmare he had just experienced was so intense, it was unlike any other. Did Nagatoro really do a number on him? Naoto turned over and reached out for his phone that was resting on a little shelf next to his bed. He checked the time and saw that it was in the middle of the night. 2 AM, to be exact.   Deciding that it was best to try and get some sleep again, Naoto set his phone aside and did just that. He closed his eyes and tried to drift back asleep, which he thankfully succeeded in. He didn’t have another nightmare, but the girl’s voice kept lingering in the back of his mind.. 

The next morning, he would wake up to his blaring alarm and begin getting ready for school. 

“That’s weird.. Do I need new prescriptions?” 

Naoto looked around his room with his glasses on. His vision was.. Surprisingly blurry. Really blurry, to be exact. It was like his eyes had just given up on life. Initially thinking they were in deep need of a cleaning; Naoto took them off. Upon doing so however, his vision improved dramatically. It was such a change that Naoto took a second to fathom it. 

He wasn’t completely blind before without his glasses. His eyesight was subpar at best, and he was able to see decently without them. This, however, was different. Things were so clear and clean that his new vision was quite possibly the best he had in his whole life. It was so pristine, as if Naoto was given a brand-new set of eyes. A big smile soon formed on his face as he realized he wouldn’t have to wear his glasses anymore. 

Naoto went back to getting ready. He walked into the bathroom to start brushing his teeth. He grabbed his toothbrush and some toothpaste, only to be startled when a large glug of it was splattered on to the surface of the mirror. A mere gentle squeeze that was only meant to get a generous amount out was enough to have a lot more be launched right out of its tube. Naoto stared at the blob on the mirror in shock. 

“What in the..” he quietly muttered. “Did I squeeze too hard..?” He went to grab some toilet paper from its holder to go and wipe the toothpaste off. A gentle yank to rip a few squares off however, caused the metal holder to be pulled right off of the wall. Naoto jumped back, and loud “CLANK” echoed through the house as the holder fell on to the tile floor. 

“Nao-kun?” His mother called, having heard the commotion from her room. She and Naoto’s father looked into the bathroom to see what was happening. “What was that? Is everything alright?"

Naoto picked the metal holder and stared at it in disbelief. Maybe it, for some reason, was weakened from the constant wear-and-tear and needed replacement? Naoto scratched his head out of nervousness and looked at his parents. 

“Y- Yeah, uhh,” he stuttered. “I.. I accidentally pulled too hard and broke it, I guess..” 

“Oh dear,” his mother answered in response. “Be more careful next time please, sweetheart.” 

“Don’t worry about it for now,” his dad said. “We’ll fix it later when we get home. Just keep getting ready for school, bud.” Naoto nodded, still trying to ponder what just happened. His parents went back to their room, while he went back to try and brush his teeth again. Naoto set the toilet paper roll and its holder on to the counter, and very gently did he apply a small amount of toothpaste on his brush. Not wanting to also break the sink, he slowly turned it on, making sure to do so very carefully. 

All went well, and he left the bathroom without breaking anything else. Naoto walked back into his room and started to change. He grabbed another white button-up and a pair of dress pants hanging from his closet, relieved that he also didn’t dislodge the wooden bar they were dangling from. 

Naoto swapped his baggy house-shirt with his button-up. Then, he noticed that it seemed tighter than usual. His button-ups were always a little baggy and easy to move in. There was still some slack but definitely less than normal, and it was even a bit uncomfortable for him. 

“Did this shrink?” He thought. Naoto tried adjusting it a bit, pulling and tugging on its collar. He went back into the bathroom, wanting to see if it looked any different in the mirror. Sure enough, his shirt indeed looked way tighter. 

“Hm..” Naoto shrugged and simply unbuttoned it so he could change into another, more comfortable shirt. Before he left however, he took one last look into the mirror, and stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes were glued to his reflection. 

Naoto’s body had changed drastically. The boy went from being skinny, wimpy, and lanky to being fit, toned, and what girls would say, even hot. He was nowhere near big and bulky like a bodybuilder. Instead, Naoto’s new physique was well defined. He twisted and turned to view himself at different angles, even flexing a bit to really see just how much he had changed.  

Naoto was at a loss of words. He didn’t know what to say nor think. How in the world was it possible that his body could undergo such a change overnight? Naoto was never one to exercise. In fact, he even somewhat dreaded the idea of working out, and yet his new body was that of an attractive athlete! Could this be the reason for his increased strength earlier? Naoto shook his head. Surely, he couldn’t be that much stronger! 

..could he? 

“Nao-kun!” His mother called, her voice echoing from her room. “Are you almost ready?” 

“Y- Yeah!” He called back. “I- I’m gonna be ready in just a second!” Naoto rushed back into his room in a hurry, not wanting his parents to see his new body and possibly freak out. He quickly grabbed another button-up and tried it on. It was still relatively tight but not so much as the last one. Naoto then slid on a pair of pants and found that they were also a bit restricting.  

“Even my bag doesn’t feel as heavy,” he whispered to himself. His bookbag that contained his belongings like his sketchbook and a textbook for one of his classes, which weren’t really heavy to begin with, definitely felt way lighter than before. Naoto began to sweat as he threw his bag over his shoulder. What happened to him? He wasn’t like this yesterday. How did all of this happen overnight? Naoto thought back to the spider and how strange it looked. Was all this because of the bite? No way, that spider was too small for its bite to mean anything. The most it could’ve done was give him a painful red sore! Naoto looked at the bite on his hand, and indeed saw a little red lump. 

“I’ll be okay,” he assured himself. Naoto took one last deep breath before heading out.

The rest of his morning went by as usual. Naoto arrived at his school, Kazehaya High School, commonly shortened to just Kaze High, and walked quietly down the hallway along with the loud crowd of his fellow students. He reached for the collar of his shirt and adjusted it again, not finding the tight button-up comfortable. 

“I need to buy new shirts,” he thought to himself. Naoto kept to himself as he continued to walk. No one even noticed him. 

Then, the time came for class. The school’s bell system went off, and Naoto found himself seated in his class. The room was silent as him and his peers were quietly working on a morning assignment by themselves as per the instructions of their teacher, Professor Yamaguchi. 

“Remember, no talking,” Professor Yamaguchi reminded the class sternly. “You are to complete the morning warmup on your own. We will go over the answers in five minutes.” 

No one said anything in objection. The students knew better than to disobey Professor Yamaguchi, for he was known as one of the strictest teachers in the whole school. Unfortunately for Naoto however, those five minutes of silence were about to be utter despair for him. 

He began to hear things. Things no one else seemed to hear. It was as if everyone else were deaf, and he was the only who reacted to them. 

“Why is everything getting so loud?!” He yelled in his head.  

The first thing he heard was like an intense scratching sound that kept getting louder and louder. Naoto looked around frantically, trying to figure out where the hell the sound was coming from. No one was scratching anything. What he was hearing was the sound of his peers writing on their papers. 

The next thing he heard was a tapping sound. It was much slower, yet more intense than the scratching. It echoed through his ears, and poor Naoto began to sweat in a panic. His head jolted up and jerked to the side, staring at the classroom door with wide eyes. 

It was simply someone outside, walking down the hallway. 

The last thing he heard was another tapping sound. This one, however, sounded more.. Sporadic, almost jittery even. It gave him the creeps. He sweat some more and at one point, even had to wipe his forehead dry. Naoto tried to calm himself as he jerked his head to the other side, before slowly moving his eyes upward to scan the corner of the ceiling. 

There was a tiny spider. Not the same one that bit him, but rather an ordinary indoor spider, moving along the walls. Its legs surely being the source of the sound.

One of his classmates sitting next to him, a pretty girl with short hair, noticed the boy in distress and whispered out to him. Of course, even that was blaring loud to him. Naoto almost jumped out of his seat upon hearing her suddenly speak to him. 

“Hey, you okay?” She asked Naoto, looking at him worriedly. Naoto on the other hand, looked like he had just seen a ghost. 

Naoto quickly nodded at her and spoke. “Y- Y- Yeah,” he stammered, trying to regain himself by taking slow, deep breaths. “I- I’m okay..” 

Unfortunately for them, not even whispers could escape Professor Yamaguchi’s ears. Their little exchange didn’t go unnoticed by him, and he spoke up, further spooking the boy. 

“Quiet over there!” He yelled. Professor Yamaguchi eyed Naoto and the girl, and he immediately noticed the panicked state the former was in. With his stern and intimidating voice, he yelled out to him. 

“Hachioji! What’s the matter with you?” 

Naoto felt every single pair of eyes in the room be glued right on to him. All of his peers were undoubtfully staring at the poor boy. Class barely started and he already brought forth Yamaguchi’s wrath. He took one last deep breath and answered back meekly. 

“N- Nothing’s wrong, P- Professor! I- I'm alright!” In reality, Naoto was far from alright. 

“Are you finished with the assignment?” Yamaguchi glared at him. 

“..N- not yet..” 

“Then finish it! Now! Stop messing around, Hachioji.” 

“Y- Yes, Professor..” 

Naoto took another glance at his classmates. They kept staring at him for another few seconds before they too went back to working on the assignment. No one else was looking to be the next victim of Yamaguchi’s shouting. Naoto cursed himself. His face was beet red from the embarrassment. He didn’t like being the center of attention. He then quickly followed his peers in finishing their work. Things went by as usual, and all was well as Naoto breezed through the assignment with relative ease. Unfortunately for him, things took another turn for the worse. 

He finished the first section of the assignment on the front side of the paper, and upon trying to turn it over to work on the backside, he noticed that his hand was stuck to the paper. Or rather, the paper was stuck to his hand. 

“What in the..” He gasped. He shook his hand lightly, trying to get the paper off. It didn’t budge, and it remained in place. “Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no..”  

Naoto shook his hand more aggressively. The paper still refused to move. Naturally, his classmates were confused by the sudden rustling sound in the room and turned to look at the poor boy once again. More and more sweat droplets fell from his head as Naoto tried so hard to get the paper off. 

“Dude, just let go of it,” said a boy next to him. 

“I- I can’t!” Naoto quietly responded. He grabbed the paper with his other hand and tried to pry it off. Horrifyingly enough, it still didn't move. At this point, Yamaguchi had already begun to approach Naoto’s desk, only to see him tear the paper in half. 

“Ripping assignments, Hachioji?” Yamaguchi glared ice cold daggers at the boy. Meanwhile, Naoto looked at the other half of the paper in his hand with wide eyes.

“N- N- No, Professor! It was an accident! I didn’t mea-” Unfortunately for him, Professor Yamaguchi didn't listen to his pleads. Naoto saw him reach for two large buckets, and immediately knew what was coming for him.

Sure enough, Naoto stood outside in the hallway, having been forced to hold two buckets of water as punishment for interrupting the class. To his surprise, they weren’t heavy to him. It felt like he could hold them for hours without even breaking a sweat. 

“What’s happening to me.. Why is this happening to me?” Naoto looked down at the two halves of paper, which were still glued to his hands. They were crumbled between his grip as he held on to the handles of the buckets. Sighing, Naoto closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall, trying to come up with some idea on what was happening to him.

The time for lunch came, and the students began to gather in the dining hall, happy to have a break from their studies. 

Nagatoro and her three friends sat together at one of the tables, gossiping amongst themselves as they ate their food. There was a special that day for karaage chicken, and the group was looking forward to enjoying one of their most beloved meals. 

“I had fun with him yesterday, but honestly he’s just not my type,” Sakura told them. The girls listened as Sakura told them about a date she went on the day before.

“Did he do anything off-putting?” Gamo-chan asked as she took a little mouthful of noodles. “I thought you liked him.” 

“Well, I did, but the more I got to know him, the more I realized he wasn’t for me. Plus, he kinda seemed a little cocky sometimes.” 

“Honestly, those types of guys are kinda annoying,” Gamo-chan said. Sakura brushed her hair out of her face and leaned back against the chair. Yoshi was happily chomping down on some karaage chicken, and Nagatoro was merely eating quietly as she listened in on the conversation. Gamo-chan noticed her silence as decided to speak to her.  

“Well, what about you, Hayase? Ya’ got any boys that interest ya’? 

Nagatoro sighed upon hearing that question. She was very popular, and well-known amongst boys. Many of them attempted to hit on her and her friends, but each one was met with rejection. Truth be told, Nagatoro was driven away by their antics. Most, if not all, were the same: Overconfident, cocky, and to some degree, disrespectful and immature. They went for her for her looks, and frankly, she found that unattractive. Nagatoro was bored by the boys at Kaze High and struggled to find someone who really stood out. 

“Nope,” she answered, sounding as bored as ever to further prove her point. “Never have and probably never will.” 

“What about that guy from the library, Toro-chan?” Sakura chirped up. “The one you stayed behind with. What was that about?” 

That made Gamo-chan giggle as she spoke up again. “Yeah, what about him? Honestly, that was kinda weird of you to stay with him.” 

In sharp contrast to her initial answer, the girls saw Nagatoro’s expression change. She was smiling a bit, and there was a little tinge of red on her face. There was definitely something that Nagatoro wasn’t telling them, but she wasn’t ready to open up just yet. 

“Oh him? That was nothing. He just seemed fun to be around with, that’s all.” 

Gamo-chan smirked. The orange-haired teenager saw right through her friend. She knew it was much more than that, and she saw this as an opportunity to begin her teasing. 

“Sooo.. Ya’ got a crush on him, is what you’re sayin’. You coulda’ just said that, Hayase.” 

“Yeah!” Yoshi piped up. “He’s gotta be your crush!” 

The blush on Nagatoro’s face became more apparent as her friends continued to tease her. Both Gamo-chan and Yoshi laughed as Nagatoro stammered to get a response out. 

“No! It’s not like that at all, you guys! He seemed like a cool person! That's it!"

“Suuuuure, Hayase! Suuuure.” 

Sakura quietly giggled. She gave Nagatoro a warm, friendly smile. “Don’t worry, Toro-chan. We’ll always support you no matter what.” 

“S- Sakura!” Nagatoro shouted. 

Then, out of nowhere, the girls were interrupted by the appearance of two handsome boys. One had spikey-looking hair and the other had a rather messy bowl-cut. They each had a tray of food in their hands as they both waved at the group before them. 

“Whaaat’s this about crushes?” The spikey-haired boy shouted. His voice reeked with cockiness. He took a seat next to Sakura, and his bowl-cutted friend plopped himself next to him.  

Their names were Ren and Ryo respectively, and they were second-year students. If one were to choose two words to describe them, it would be “stupid” and “cocky.” Ren and Ryo were close friends with Sakura, and they both had a particular interest in the group, especially for Nagatoro, whom they constantly attempted to score a date with. The boys were perfect examples of lazy, teenage delinquents, as they frequently skipped out on studies and club work to partake in mischievous activities. Sakura was the only one who seemed to genuinely enjoy their company, as she smiled upon seeing them sit with her friends. Yoshi looked nervous, but she still kept a little smile on her face. Gamo-chan seemed indifferent and Nagatoro looked downright frustrated upon their arrival. 

“Wasuuup, you guys!” Ren called out. The girls responded with their own greetings. “Mind if we sit here?” 

“Go right ahead!” Sakura cheered. 

“Boy, math really is a pain!” Ryo laughed. “It’s gotta be my hardest class this year.” 

“Don’t you guys skip out on classes?” Nagatoro asked. The look on her face, as well as the tone of her voice conveyed both boredom and displeasure with them. 

“Give us a break,” laughed Ren. “Sometimes we just need some free time to recharge, yanno?” 

“Your teacher’s gonna be mad as hell,” said Gamo-chan. “I heard yours might be just as strict as Professor Yamaguchi.” 

“He is! Man, he’s scary as hell!” 

Lunch went on, and the boys continue to converse with the girls. Every word that came out of the boys’ mouths had something to do with either skipping classes, their band, girls, or dates. The boys seemed to specifically focus on all of them except for Gamo-chan, something she noticed very quickly. Sakura was engaged in every conversation with them and was overall delighted by their presence. 

“So, Sakura.” Ren said, leaning closer towards the girl with a grin. “My band’s been gainin’ traction lately.” 

“I’ve heard!” She replied. “I’m really interested in your guys’ music, Senpai. What’s it like, even? Is it like Yaba P?” 

Ren chuckled and shook his head no. “Nahh, our stuff’s ain’t too crazy like that. We try to be less mainstream, really. Honestly, I like to think that our music kind of.. Transcends art, if you will.” 

“Oooh,” Sakura reveled. “It sounds really interesting, Senpai!” 

“If you wanna listen..” Ren pulled out his phone and a pair of earbuds. He opened up an app and slid them both over to Sakura. “You’re more than welcome to. You are my kohai, after all.” 

With a big smile, Sakura giggled and happily put both earbuds in, beginning to listen to their music. Her face was a joyous as ever, and she even started bobbing her head lightly. Nagatoro looked over at her and raised an eyebrow, wondering both why she seemed so engaged with them and if their stuff was even that great. She turned her head back at the boys and saw Ren holding out another pair of earbuds to her, nonverbally gesturing for her to have a listen as well. 

Just then, as if the Heavens had sent in an angel to save her, Nagatoro’s eyes caught sight of a particular boy with fluffy hair walking into the dining hall. It was Naoto, who had just gotten the chance to get his food. The boy scanned the room nervously, awkwardly moving past the many rows of tables to find a seat. A big smile formed on her face as she excitedly lifted an arm up into the air to catch his attention. Unfortunately for her, she had no clue what he had just gone through..

“Senpaaai!” She called out, waving her hand from side to side. Naoto heard her calls and looked up to see her happily greeting him. “Wassup! Come sit over here!” 

Naoto gulped at the request. Here was the girl, who had quickly become the first in his life to make him cry, offering him to sit with her as if nothing happened. Not only that, but she was with her friends, who were all possibly more than likely capable of being just as sadistic, if not more so. Seeing Ren and Ryo didn’t exactly help with his uneasiness either. He recognized them as fellow second-year students who were in the class right next door from his. Naoto took a deep breath before slowly walking over to their table. 

“..excuse me,” he quietly muttered, taking a seat next to Nagatoro. In response, her face seemed to have lit up by his presence. The rest of the group at the table looked on over, confused at her sudden shift in attitude. 

“You’ doin’ okay, Senpai? Sorry about yesterday!” Nagatoro giggled. Naoto simply looked at her and stuttered. 

“..it’s okay. I’m fine,” he told her. Naoto reached into his bookbag and pulled out a hand rag, the same one she left him in the library yesterday, before handing it back to her. 

“..I washed it right when I got home..” 

“What?” She asked, taking the hand rag from him. There was a look of confusion on her face. “Wait, hold on, Senpai. I gave you that to keep.” 

“Oh..” 

By this point, the whole group was eyeing them. Sakura had even paused Ren’s music. The two boys had their eyebrows raised, wondering who the hell this newcomer guy was. Gamo-chan in particular was staring at Naoto, as if studying him. 

“Who’s this, Hayase?” She asked. It took Gamo-chan a second before she recognized him as the boy from yesterday. “Wait, hold on a minute. I remember ya’! You’re that one guy from the library!” 

That seemed to have rung bells in Sakura’s head, who had taken out both earbuds to talk to him. “Oooh, you’re the one with the manga! The mangaka!” 

Nagatoro nodded. “Yep!” She replied proudly. She turned to Naoto, who looked as nervous as ever. “Senpai, these are my friends. Gamo-chan, Yoshi, and Sakura.” 

It took him a bit to get a response out. “It..” he stuttered. “..it’s nice to meet you all.” 

Gamo-chan jokingly corrected him. “Nice to meet you all again, you meant.” 

Sakura used this as an opportunity to introduce Naoto to her two Senpais. “This is Ren and Ryo,” she told Naoto, before turning towards the two boys. “We met him in the library yesterday. He’s draws mangas!” 

Ryo remained indifferent towards the boy, but Ren had a grin on his face as he acknowledged his presence and greeted him. “Mangas?” he said. “That’s kinda cool. I’m a fan of Dragon Sphere. Wassup, man.” Ren nodded his head towards the boy. Naoto let out a weak response. 

“Hey..” 

“Tell him about your band, Senpai!” Sakura suggested. “I’m sure he’d love to listen.” Nagatoro rolled her eyes in secret.

“Oh. Right.” Ren turned his attention towards the boy. “Yeah, me and my boy here are in a band. We make some killer songs, honestly. It’s some really sophisticated stuff. Want a listen?” 

Naoto nodded slowly. “Sure,” he said softly. He looked over and saw Sakura happily slide Ren's phone and earbuds over so he could listen. Naoto stared at the phone before putting both earbuds in. He pressed the play button and began to listen. 

He was never a music-person. It sort of reminded him of your typical hip-hop song, but for the most part, he didn’t know what to make of it, other than it sounded kind of catchy. If there was some deeper meaning or purpose to it that Ren and Ryo had put in, then Naoto failed to understand it. 

He listened to the full thing, which was about two minutes in length, before it finally ended. Naoto pulled both earbuds out and reached out to hand Ren both of his belongings back. 

“Sounds great, huh?” Ren asked. There was a smirk on his face as he grabbed the phone. 

“..I’d say so, yeah..” 

Ren then tried to take the phone back from Naoto’s hand.. 

..only to find out that it wouldn’t budge. 

“Oh no!” Naoto thought. He felt his heart stop and his stomach drop. “Not again!” 

“Hey dude? I’m gonna need you to let go.” Ren tried again, lightly tugging on the phone. It still didn’t move. 

“I- I’m trying!” Naoto replied, being sincere. 

“What do you mean you’re trying? Let go!” Ren then grabbed the phone with his other hand and yanked harder, still not succeeding. Things quickly became a tug-o'-war match between the two. 

“Let go, asshole!” Ryo called out. Naoto began to sweat as he let out another frantic response. 

“I- I can’t!” 

The girls were puzzled. They sat there quietly, not knowing what was happening. Surely a simple task of handing someone’s phone back couldn’t be that difficult, right? 

“Paisen’s got a grip!” Gamo-chan called out, noting how he was seemingly overpowering Ren’s attempt to take his phone back. 

“Senpai..?” Nagatoro called to him softly, looking at the panicked boy. “Let go.” 

Naoto tried his best to relax. He knew that panicking would only make things worse. The first thing he did was breathe. Closing his eyes shut, Naoto attempted to ease up by taking slow, concentrated, deep breaths. 

“Just breathe.. Just breathe..” He thought to himself. “Just- Just try to let go..” He ignored Ren and Ryo’s shouting. 

A few more seconds went by, and Naoto began to feel the phone slipping. 

“Relax.. Relax.. Just.. Let go..”  

Eventually, his plan worked, and Ren managed to successfully yank his phone out of Naoto’s hands. He was even almost flown back by the momentum. Naoto slowly opened his eyes and sighed in relief as he saw that the phone was no longer stuck to his hand. He had seemingly found a solution to his stickiness problem. His moment of relief, however, was interrupted by Ren and Ryo angrily hauling insults at him. 

“What the hell’s up with you, you freak?!” Ren shouted. 

“Freakin’ weirdo,” Ryo called him. Naoto’s face was beet beet red in embarrassment, having caused yet another ruckus. He turned and saw Nagatoro and the girls staring at him in confusion. 

“It’s just like what happened in class,” he thought to himself. His lips began to quiver as Naoto shot up from his seat, before grabbing his bag and marching right out of the dining hall. His tray of food was left completely untouched. Nagatoro wanted to defend him, but she didn't get the chance to before she saw the boy leave. She reached out to try and stop him.

“S- Senpai! Wait!” She cried, but by then, he was already gone. The girl frowned as she looked on, concerned for him.

Lunch eventually ended and the day had gone down yet another spiral for Naoto. Word of what happened in the dining hall quickly spread throughout the school, and poor Naoto was forced to endure the countless amounts of stares by his peers. He tried to get through the rest of the day without an issue, but he was out of luck. He felt every pair of eyes glue on to him and heard every joke about him amongst their giggles. It got to the point where Naoto wanted to run away, curl up in a ball and cry. 

Soon, the final bang rang, and Naoto darted straight for his safe haven: the art club room. He was its only active member, so he knew that no one could disturb him there. Naoto ran out the second the bell rang, and sure enough, he made it to the art room safely. 

“What’s going on.. What the hell’s happening to me?” Naoto slid the sliding door to the art room shut and threw his bag on to a table. He began to pace around, trying to come up with any sort of idea on what’s happening to him. He had no doubt had just gone through the worst day in his life, and he had no clue on what to do. 

The thought of the spider reentered his mind. Before being bit, his life was completely normal. He had no super strength, no super hearing, and no super stickiness. Naoto sat down on a stool and looked at the bite on his hand. There was still a visible red bump but it had grown noticeably smaller than before. 

“Could it really be because of this..?” Naoto stared at it very closely, wanting to find anything out of the ordinary. Any sign of infection, anything unusual for a typical bite. He found nothing strange. It just looked like a plain red bump. 

“Am I really like this because of a spider bite..?” 

Naoto looked at the rest of his hand. His fingers, his nails, his palm, everything around it. Nothing. He didn’t find anything noticeably different.. 

..except for what looked like a tiny hole in the both of his wrists, to which his eyes widened upon seeing it. 

Naoto didn’t know what it was. He knew for sure that it couldn’t be an injury. He never sustained a wound in that area, and he would certainly never poke or hurt himself there. He lightly touched it with his finger. It didn’t feel weird at all. 

“What the..” 

Naoto began opening and closing his hand as he stared at the hole with puzzlement. Did another spider bite him without him even knowing? No, it didn’t hurt and it wasn’t red. He continued to maneuver his hand around, before he jumped back in a fright when a string suddenly shot out of the hole. 

“AH-” Naoto was so frightened that he landed right on his ass. He quickly regained himself and looked up to see a web on the wall. One that wasn’t there when he arrived.. 

“..Did..” Naoto stared at the web in disbelief. “..Did I do that?” He walked over towards it and poked it. The web was indeed real. 

“I could shoot.. Webs?” Naoto tried to do it again, wanting to see if it was a voluntary thing. He wasn’t successful at first. A closed fist didn’t work. An opened palm didn’t work. He went through multiple hand gestures, before he found one that caused another string of web to be shot out right at the ceiling. 

It was a three-handed gesture, with his thumb, index and pinky extruding out while his middle and ring were kept closed to his palm. Naoto looked up at the second web in shock. 

“I can.. Make webs like a spider, and stick to things like a spider.." Naoto listed the similarities, before an idea popped up in his head. 

“..that means I can also..” Instead of saying it, Naoto went to try it. He approached one of the walls, and after taking a deep breath, placed one hand against it, making sure to specifically keep his strength concentrated on his fingertips. Then, he placed his other hand a bit higher, and kept doing so before he no longer felt the ground with his feet. Naoto looked down and saw that he was indeed stuck to the wall, well above the floor.

He took it a step further. Naoto climbed higher to the top until he was able to touch the ceiling. He placed one hand against it, and with another deep breath, Naoto nervously closed his eyes shut and let go of his grip against the wall.. 

Naoto opened his eyes and looked down. He was indeed dangling from the top of the room, his feet slightly swaying from side to side. The only thing that was supporting him was the grip of his fingertips that was stuck to the ceiling, a feat surely impossible for a normal person to accomplish.

A few more seconds passed, and Naoto decided to finally drop. He relaxed the tension in his fingers, and down he went. Naoto managed to stick the landing, and he immediately stood back up. He looked at his hands. A little smile formed on his face as his shock slowly turned into amazement at his newfound powers. 

A brand-new chapter in Naoto’s life was about to begin.. 

Chapter Text

“So, how was it?” Nagatoro asked Gamo-chan, who took a seat next to her. Gamo-chan pulled out a water bottle from her bag and twisted the lid off, before gulping down a large swig of water. 

“Well, bein’ thrown around like a ragdoll all day was something. ‘Pretty tough, but also pretty damn fun, honestly.”

The girls sat down on the steps outside the judo club hall, where they showed up to after school when the final bell rang. Only Gamo-chan was able to get some practice in however, as Nagatoro's injury on her hand resulted in her being sidelined temporarily.

“You’re just not used to this yet,” Orihara added, taking a seat in front of them. “You’re still a white belt, after all. Just keep at it!” 

“Yeah, that’s true,” she agreed. “Still, kinda’ tough getting flung around all day, but hey, at least it’s enjoyable!” 

“That’s the spirit!” Orihara giggled, and then turned her attention to Nagatoro. “How’s your hand, Hayacchi? Is it feelin’ better?” 

In response, Nagatoro waved her bandaged hand in front of them. “It’s alright. ‘Just sucks that I can’t practice.” 

Gamo-chan, quick to cheer her best friend up, patted her back a few times. “Ahh, don’t worry about it, Hayacchi! Give it two more weeks and you’ll be back better than ever!” 

“Yeah,” Orihara agreed. “Give it time, Hayacchi! The judo club’s not going anywhere.” Nagatoro smiled at her friends’ support. 

The three girls would spend the rest of their time talking amongst each other. Gossip floated around their little triangle as they dwelled in their "girl-talk." Jokes were made and laughs filled the air. It was indeed a good time for them.

“By the way guys,” Orihara chirped up. “I heard about what happened in the dining hall earlier. There was almost a fight, wasn’t there?” 

At first, Nagatoro didn’t know what she was talking about. “A fight? What are you talking about?” 

“With those two guys from the second-year class! 2A, I think!” Once Orihara said that, it all came to Nagatoro. Gamo-chan smirked, having too remembered the ordeal that went down. 

“Paisen totally made them look like weaklings. It was hilarious!” 

“Really~?” Orihara leaned in eagerly, intrigued by her friend's recap of the story.  “Who’s Paisen? What’d he do?” Nagatoro’s face went red, knowing fully well what her friend was about to say. 

“Some guy Hayacchi and I met yesterday,” Gamo-chan responded. “He shows up to our table at lunch today, those guys give him their phone, and guess what?” There was a brief pause before Gamo-chan continued, and Orihara eagerly anticipated the next part of the tale. 

“He had such a strong grip that they couldn’t even take the phone out of his hands! Paisen totally played tug-o'-war with them and won!” 

Orihara was shocked. She knew who Ren and Ryo were. They were some of the most popular guys in school, after all. She loved gossip, so stories about them didn’t sneak past her ears. Ren and Ryo were incredibly fit, capable, and admittedly quite handsome, so who could’ve chumped them like that? 

“Woww! He’s that strong?” 

“Yup! Guy’s pretty amazing for doing that, honestly. Those two never shut up."

Of course, Nagatoro was silent. She didn’t want to speak, lest she risk Gamo-chan using this story against her. And sure enough, much to her obvious dismay, her friend did exactly that. 

“And get this. Apparently Hayacchi’s gotta’ crush on this Paisen guy. She hung out with him after school yesterday.” Gamo-chan had such a devious smirk on her face. Nagatoro’s jaw dropped upon hearing those words flood her eardrums, and her face flushed red. Naturally, Orihara’s eyes widened in surprise, and she eagerly turned to her flustered friend so she could spill the tea. 

“Oohh, no way! No way! Hayacchi, is this true? Tell me tell me!” 

“Wha- No! No no no!” Nagatoro tried desperately to make her case. “That is not true at all! He just seemed like a cool person to be around with!” Of course, her attempts to defend herself were futile. Orihara was too busy loving the gossip while Gamo-chan was laughing her ass off. Nagatoro’s blush could only become more apparent.

Nagatoro turned around and saw Shikki and her two friends walking through the doors. They were no longer in their judogis and were instead in their school uniforms. No doubt were they leaving to go home. It was obvious to her that they overheard everything Gamo-chan and Orihara had said. Shikki's friends were giggling while whispering to each other, while Shikki herself only returned her gaze with her usual stare. This time however, she had an eyebrow raised, as if.. Curious.

Did Shikki and them hear about what happened too? It wasn't farfetched to think so.

Nagatoro simply sighed, for only she knew the truth. She remembered his face. It was no “super badass moment” that Gamo-chan was making it out to be. She saw how stressed he was in that situation. How spooked the poor kid was while everything was overwhelming him at once. She wanted to stand up for him, but he ran off before she got the chance. Then, Nagatoro remembered that he was in the art club. Perhaps she could check up on him later..

And while gossip went around the Judo Club Circle, Naoto himself was busy trying to clean up the evidence of his powers. 

“I gotta clean this web up before someone sees it,” he said to himself. Naoto was gripping on to the ceiling again, using his new "stickiness-powers" to support himself as he used a brush to clear the cobweb he had shot out. 

It was a massive web. A rather prominent one too, in fact. It stuck out like a sore thumb and was so out of place that it’d probably be the first thing you’d see. Naoto wasn’t taking any chances. No traces of his newfound abilities would be left anywhere. His art club saw no visitors save for him, and yet he wasn’t going to risk anything. What if the President were to come back and see giant webs everywhere? Naoto didn’t even want to think about it. 

He managed to clean the web. With the art club now spider web-free, Naoto let out a sigh of relief before he dropped back down to the floor. 

“..now that that’s taken care of, I can finally draw in peace..” 

The peaceful solitude of his sanctuary would be disturbed however, when the door to the clubroom was violently slid open. Naoto jolted in a fright, even letting a little yelp escape his lips as his body jerked to the side to see who had arrived. No one but him ever stepped foot in the club room, so who had business there? To his surprise, he saw Nagatoro, giving the boy that ever so recognizable grin. 

“Hey Senpai!” She greeted cheerfully. Nagatoro happily welcomed herself in, sliding the door closed behind her. “You’ okay? You look like you just saw a ghost.” 

Naoto gulped. Great, as if his day couldn’t have gotten any worse, he now had to deal with his greatest fear. A fear that not even his new superpowers could prepare him for: a girl. 

“..H- Hi. Sorry.. You just startled me, that’s all..” Naoto took a seat on a stool. 

“Oh, my bad, Senpai! ‘Didn’t mean to spook ya’. I just came to check up on ya’! You didn’t look too good earlier, so I wanted to see if you were okay!” 

Didn’t look too good earlier? That was one way to put it. 

“..is that so..” Naoto gulped and began to nervously prepare a blank canvas in front of him. A little blush came to his face from being alone with a girl. Naoto already had such a rough day, the last thing he wanted was to have to deal with the menace that was Nagatoro. 

Meanwhile, Nagatoro was simply exploring the club room, humming to herself cheerfully as she examined the various works on display. She saw clay molds of Greek figures paintings that were in a work-in-progress, and finished rough sketches of objects. The room smelled of oil paint. It was her first time being there, so why not look around? 

“Hey, where are the others, Senpai? Is it just us here?” 

Naoto gulped again. “It’s.. Just me. I’m- uh, I’m the only member. How’d you find this place..?” 

She stopped and turned around to look at him, giggling at his question. “I know where the art club is, silly. It’s not like I’d get lost.” Then, Naoto saw her grin widen, and he knew immediately that it meant nothing but trouble. 

“If you're really the only member here, then I guess that means we’re gonna be all alone, Senpaai.” Oh, what fun she was going to have! 

Naoto’s face became even redder. He didn’t like the smiling she was giving him, nor did he like the tone of her voice neither. His jaw loosened, and his mouth opened slightly upon hearing the implications of what she just said. Naoto looked away from the girl, now gluing his eyes to the blank canvas before him. 

Naoto pleaded. “T- This is an art room only for club members! I- If you have no business here, then you need to leave." That, of course, wasn’t enough to ward Nagatoro off. She wasn’t going to give up that easily. Naoto’s body tensed as he heard footsteps coming his way, and before he knew it, he looked back and saw Nagatoro standing right next to him. The gap between them was no more, and Naoto wanted to scream. His position's been compromised by a girl!

“Hey, you haven’t drawn anything yet.” Nagatoro had a hand on her chin as she simply looked at the blank canvas. “I thought people draw in the art club, Senpai. What gives?” 

“I.. Didn’t have the chance to draw anything before you showed up,” he stammered. Naoto glanced around the room, looking for anything he could use as a model. His webs sounded like a cool idea, but he wasn’t about to show off his new web shooters to Nagatoro. “I was just gonna draw anything in here..” 

“Like?” Nagatoro sounded curious. Naoto couldn’t tell if she was genuinely interested in seeing him work, or if she was just trying to lure him into another villainous ploy. Naoto struggled to find a good model, until his eyes caught sight of something. 

“..that.” He pointed his finger and Nagatoro turned to the side. She saw a fresh, juicy, red apple sitting on a shelf. “..I’ll just draw that, I guess..” 

Nagatoro looked at the apple. She blinked a few times, and then giggled, which didn’t exactly help the nervous boy next to her. She’s seen his work. Naoto was an impressive artist with amazing skill, and his self-insert manga was proof of that. Why have him waste his talent on a boring little apple? Nagatoro thought for a minute before she came up with an idea. Her grin widened, and Naoto saw her beginning to set up another stool in front of him before she sat down on it. 

“Senpai, you don’t know anything about scarcity value, do ya’?” She asked him. Naoto gulped again, already having an idea on what she was planning. “I’ll be your model for today! Apples are great and all, but they’re just everyday objects. I’m a real high school girl wanting to be your model. I’m sure I’ll be better than some fruit.” 

Upon hearing that, Naoto’s eyes went wide, and his face flared red. “I- I, u- uh.. You don’t have to! Thanks for the offer, but I’m not interested in drawing a person right now..” 

Then, she lowered her voice. Naoto heard her sound different, like she started speaking.. Seductively. 

“I can change that, Senpai. If you want, I can spice up your drawing by taking my shirt off..” 

Naoto saw her unbuttoning her top. Panicking, his hairs spiked up and he felt his stomach drop. No way was this girl about to strip for him! They were still on school property. Stripping in front of him for a drawing would be immoral! Sickening! She was younger than him. That'd make him a creep! Maybe he should’ve webbed the door earlier.. 

Instead, he merely jumped back and raised his arms up, shielding his eyes from the girl. “H- Hey, wait a minute! Don’t do that, I didn’t ask for that! T- That's lewd, what if someone comes in here! Stop!” 

Despite his pleas, Nagatoro didn’t stop. Her hands kept fiddling with the buttons on her shirt. At this point, some part of Naoto wanted to web her hands to finally stop her. 

“O- Okay, stop, stop! Fine, I’ll draw you, okay? Just no nudes! No nudes!” 

Nagatoro bursted into laughter. She didn’t even fully undo the first button before she finally revealed that it was merely another one of her trolling. Thankfully, she finally stopped and simply sat back.

“Okay, okay, relax! What is wrong with you, Senpai! You looked so funny shielding your virgin eyes from me!” 

From that point on, Naoto began trying to draw Nagatoro. The keyword, however, was "trying", as Naoto struggled to focus on the paper. He frequently peered out from the side of the canvas to get mental images of Nagatoro, who simply sat on the stool with a big smile on her face as she eagerly waited for his completion. 

His mind kept wandering. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t get his pencil to move. Naoto kept thinking about everything that transpired that day. His body went through drastic changes overnight, he broke a toilet paper holder in his bathroom with just a mere pull, he embarrassed himself in class and got on Professor Yamaguchi’s bad side for the first time, he nearly got into his first fight with two boys from the class next door, and now he could shoot webs from his wrists and climb walls. 

Everything just felt so surreal to him. Surely this couldn’t be real. All the stress, all the anxiety he was dealing with that day.. All stemmed from a simple spider bite. 

And to top it all off, here he was now ending his day off with a girl, the very same girl who made him cry upon meeting him. His club room, the place he flocked to for safety, was being invaded by this girl-menace. A long while of idling went by, and all Naoto had gotten done was a mere outline of Nagatoro. He didn’t even draw her face.

Of course, Nagatoro was a bit disappointed at his end result. All that time she spent sitting and that was what he got done.  

“What happened, Senpai?” She asked him. “This is all you did?"

Naoto stammered once again. “I think I’m just.. Tired. It’s been a long day..” Part of Naoto felt mighty guilty for failing to deliver a presentable result after she had sat there modelling for so long. Sure, she was the one that insisted on being his model, but he still should’ve finished it! Someone modelled for him, so he was obligated to see it through. He was still as nervous as ever, and Nagatoro wasn’t clueless to that. 

“Senpai,” she said, her grin transforming into a no-good smirk. “You couldn’t finish your drawing because..” 

“..you’re a wimp?” 

Baffled, Naoto’s eyes went wide again, and he looked up at her. “A- A wimp? No! Why’d you say that? What do you mean?!” 

“Are you that scared of a girl that you can’t even draw one? Look, you didn’t even outline me properly! Have you never been this close to a girl before? Are you too embarrassed to be near one? Is that it, Senpai? Huh? Huh?"

Nagatoro advanced towards the boy until she was completely looming over him. Closing his eyes was pointless as Naoto was able to just feel her presence above him. He looked away and even raised his hands up to shield his face in an attempt to defend himself. Nagatoro was literally circling the boy and Naoto was left helpless as she cornered him from every angle. His eyes began to twitch and even started to water. 

“J- Just go home please,” he pleaded meekly. “You had your fun! Leave me alo- H- Hey! What’re you doing?!” 

Nagatoro chuckled, and looked down at the poor boy with those evil eyes. She grabbed on to his wrists and begin to push his arms back with her own strength. “I could go home, but I’m having way too much fun right now, Senpai!"

She was indeed having way too much fun. “Look at little Senpai! Gonna cry?” 

“S- Stop!” 

She pushed, and pushed, and pushed. Her smirk only grew as his resistance began fell apart. His arms were under her control.. Or so she thought.  

Eventually, she noticed that he started pushing back, and he was doing a damn good job at it. Nagatoro found herself getting pushed back instead. Her smirk disappeared and was replaced with a look of genuine confusion. Nagatoro tried again, and found that no matter how hard she pushed, she just simply couldn’t overpower him.  

What surprised her the most was that Naoto didn’t seem like he was even trying to resist. His face was beet, beet red from the stress, his eyes were already closed shut and little tears were beginning to flow from his eyes. Naoto was on the verge of crying like a baby and Nagatoro still couldn’t turn the table.

“Senpai’s stronger than I thought!” She thought to herself. Eventually, Nagatoro released his wrists from her grip, and Naoto threw his hands down to his knees. He was already crying. Naoto tried to save himself from another torment of teasing and hastily wiped his eyes. Nagatoro merely looked at him, like she was studying him. 

“There’s something weird about Senpai..” 

Feeling remorseful for driving the poor boy to tears again, Nagatoro grabbed another rag and kneeled down. She gently patted his eyes, drying the tears away. 

“I’m sorry, Senpai.” Nagatoro’s face too was a bit red. "I got a bit carried away. I just couldn’t help it. Now please stop crying, will ya’?” 

Naoto tried to calm himself down. His fists were clenched up, and he was surprised that no webs were shooting out. “I- I’m not crying.. I’m not.. Really, I'm not.."

“I’ll go easy next time, okay Senpai? Just don’t be afraid to draw me, okay? You’re an artist, Senpai. Don’t be scared of me, please." 

Naoto could only nod softly. He said nothing in response.

Later that afternoon, Naoto would pack up and leave. The sky was already a warm tint of orange, and the sun was nearly about to set. He was able to catch a breath of fresh air as he was now away from the girl-menace. Naoto was finally allowed some peace and quiet, and the walk home alone would be the best thing for him to clear his head.. 

..Except, of course, luck was never on his side. He found himself being trailed by Nagatoro.  

“Great.. Not only do I have to deal with her at school, but now she takes the same route home as me. This is not my day today..” Naoto couldn’t tell if she really did take the same route as him or if she was just trying to pester him again. 

“Senpai, Senpai Senpai!” She cheered. “Senpai Senpai Senpai- Wha- Hey! Senpai!” 

Out of nowhere, Nagatoro saw the boy in front of her dart away. He just booked it into a full sprint right in front of her. Confused, Nagatoro blinked a few times, before she smirked once again. 

“You’re not getting away, Senpai! You can’t outrun me!” Nagatoro took that as a challenge to a race and darted off as well to chase him. 

In reality, Naoto wanted to get away. Just for now, at least. Home was nearby, so why not try and get there faster so he could be spared from more of her tyranny? A little tingle in the back of his head felt her presence chasing after him, so he started running faster. 

He was never a runner, nor was he one for exercise. His old self would’ve surely collapsed out of sheer exhaustion, but Naoto.. Kept going. He noticed that he wasn’t getting tired. He felt like he could run more. Way more! And yet despite his newfound stamina, he still felt Nagatoro behind him. She was still able to keep up with him, for she was one hell of an athlete herself. 

Still, Nagatoro was surprised. This seemingly scrawny, wimpy pipsqueak wasn’t stopping to catch his breath. She expected him to overexert himself and topple over, but he still kept running. She kept the pace with him, but at the same time, struggled to thin the gap between them. Nagatoro grew a bit frustrated but deep down, she enjoyed this. It was a challenge to her, and she loved challenges. 

Plus, this proved to her yet again that there was something indeed weird about Senpai. Something.. Different. Amazingly different. 

They kept this up longer than they should’ve. Naoto cut corners and took detours to try and throw Nagatoro off his trail. Of course, he wouldn’t succeed, and she’d remain behind him. People they ran past would look at them weirdly. Onlookers would raise eyebrows at them, but they didn’t care. Nagatoro wanted to catch her Senpai, and her Senpai wanted to go home. 

“I have to get home, but she’s not letting up!” 

The more they ran, the more likely they’d get lost. If they kept running, Naoto would likely be far from home, and Nagatoro would eventually get so tired that she’d have no way home. He couldn’t keep this up, for his sake but mostly for her.

An idea came to him along the way. Naoto looked at his wrist, before looking up at one of the rooves of the houses.

"I'm in big trouble if this doesn't work. If she sees me.." Naoto shook his head. He had to do it. It was now, or never. He raised his arm into the air, and then.. 

..THWIP! 

Nagatoro slid around the corner not too long after. “There’s no point in running anymore, Senpai! I told you, you can't outrun me! I've got you no-"

Poof. Her Senpai was gone. He disappeared right after he took the corner in front of her. It was like he just up and vanished. Nagatoro slid to a halt and looked around, baffled. She scratched her head to comprehend where the hell he went. 

“What the? Senpai? Senpai! Where’d you go?” No response. Nagatoro checked every nook and granny within her vicinity, and alas she found nothing. Not a trace of her Senpai could be found anywhere. 

“..Fine!” She admitted. “You win this time, Senpai! But don’t think you can beat me again! See you at school tomorrow!” Nagatoro sighed in defeat and walked off home, deep down feeling a bit hurt that she was left abandoned by him. 

Unbeknownst to her, Naoto was up above on the rooftops, keeping himself posted low while he watched her walk away. Wiping some sweat off of his forehead, a sigh of relief escaped his lips. 

“..that girl is something else..” 

That night, Naoto was studying in his room. His parents had to work late again, so he was left home alone. A piece of paper and an opened textbook was laid out in front of him. It was your usual homework deal. Yamaguchi assigned his students a worksheet to complete for class the next day. Naoto was only able to get through half of the assignment before his mind began to wander.. 

Thwip! Thwip! Thwip! 

He put his homework aside and started to practice his webs, shooting them around his room. Naoto did so sparingly, not wanting to make a mess. He shot a web across the room, with the end attaching to the opposite wall in front of him. He pulled gently on it with a finger, strumming it like a guitar to test its flexibility. 

He webbed small objects and pulled them towards himself, catching them all easily. His TV remote, his phone, and even small books. His webs were proving to be quite handy. 

Naoto still couldn’t fathom it. The fact that a mere spider bite was enough to do all of this. A lip curved upward into a little smile. 

“This is amazing. I’m like a spider now..” 

An idea popped into his head again. Naoto walked towards his window and looked at the dimly lit streets outside. No one was out there. It was simply too late for anyone to have a reason to be out. He peered out the window for a good while, pondering something in his head. 

“I’ve never snuck out before.. What if my parents came home while I was gone? What if someone sees me? What do I say?” 

“..and yet, I gotta know more about my powers.” 

It was true. Naoto was a good kid. He never snuck out of the house before, and he surely couldn’t come up with a good enough excuse to sneak out. Curiosity, however, got the better of him. He just felt compelled to learn more about his powers.

Naoto put more thought into it, and eventually decided that he was indeed going to sneak out. He went to put on a jacket, pulling out one of his bigger winter coats from his closet. It was big enough to conceal himself. Plus, it was still kind of cold outside. He then opened his window up and crawled through, literally sticking to the side of his house before he climbed up to his roof. 

Naoto had never been on his roof before. The first thing he did was look around. The view of his neighborhood from the top of his house was something he just had to take in for a moment. He never had a reason to be up there, and now here he was, perched up on top of his home. Naoto quickly noticed that he was still able to see, despite there being almost no light in the area save for the streetlamps below. Did his new powers include night vision? The answer was a definitive yes. 

He peered down from the edge of his roof. The fall was high enough to severely injure someone if they were to stumble downward, and most likely downright kill someone if they were to land on their head. He didn’t know if his powers granted him some special enhanced durability, but he wasn’t about to find out. Naoto chose to play his cards safe. The last thing he wanted was a trip to the emergency room.

There was a space between his house and the one next door. It was small enough for someone doing parkour to make the jump. Realizing that, Naoto had another idea. He took a deep breath to mentally prepare himself. What he was about to do was downright stupid to an average person, but to him? To him, it seemed possible.

"I can do this.. I can do this.."

He took a few steps back to gain some distance, before breaking into a sprint. Naoto ran across his roof and straight towards the edge, and at the last second, he closed his eyes and jumped. He felt himself flying through the air, his arms and legs flinging around in a "swimming" motion, and before he knew it, his feet made contact with the roof of his neighbor’s home.

Naoto was gritting his teeth. He opened one eye. "..Did.. Did I do it?"

And indeed, he did it. He actually made the jump. Adrenaline rushed through his body as Naoto took a second to comprehend the fact that he had just briefly parkoured from his house to his neighbor's. The old him would've surely injured himself trying this, but his new abilities allowed him to do the impossible. He wanted to shoot his arms up in the air and cheer, but chose not to at the last second so as to not catch anyone's attention. A surge of confidence hit him for the first time in his life, and he carried on.

Naoto leaped from house to house, once again having another taste at his newfound athleticism. Gradually, he began traversing the rooftops of his entire town of Hayama, slowly but surely becoming more comfortable with his abilities. Each jump, each leap brought him more and more confidence. This was a new feeling to him. No longer did he feel stiff, or afraid.

No, this time was different. Here, he felt free.

At one point, he reached a gap between two houses that was too great to jump. There was simply too much distance to cover. Still, he pushed himself, and jumped away.

"WOOOOH!" Now flying through the air, he extended his arm out.

..ZIP! A web shot out of his wrist and attached on to the roof of the next house. With a swift yank, he pulled himself forward, zipping him across the rest of the distance which allowed him to land successfully on to its roof. Naoto even stuck his landing with a little roll before running on.

People began to spot him. People looked up and saw a figure running along the rooves, and some peered their heads out their windows to see what was making loud thumping noises on top of their homes. And yet, no one was able to get a good look at him. The darkness of the night and his speed allowed him to go undetected. His face remained hidden.

Eventually, he made it to the top of one large building which granted him a terrific view of Hayama's beach and bay area. Naoto had to stop and stare at the scenery around him. The waters below him, which were illuminated by the glow of the moon, was breathtaking. Never in his life did he ever think he’d see his hometown from this angle. 

“Wow..” Naoto was at a loss for words. The artist within him was fangirling, squealing in excitement. He could definitely sit up here all night and just draw what he was seeing for hours.. 

Naoto carried on after his brief moment of sightseeing. He continued traveling across homes until he eventually arrived at his school. He easily leaped over its fences and found himself on the rooftop of its main building. He sat by the edge and simply looked at the dimly lit school below. 

“At first,” he thought to himself. “I thought this was a curse. I thought the spider bite was the worst thing that could ever happen to me. I wished I could go back to being a normal kid."

"But now? Honestly..” 

“..it’s kinda cool.” 

Naoto smiled. For as long as he could remember, Naoto was a nobody. A kid who struggled to fit in. The only thing he was good at in life was drawing. And now, here he was with powers no one else in the world could ever dream of having. Powers that he thought were only possible in his favorite shonen mangas. Powers that finally gave him the confidence he longed for.

And to think all of this was because of a spider that crawled into his bag. Naoto had a feeling that he had an amazing future awaiting him. 

Unfortunately, his sweet little moment was interrupted when he heard a gasp below. In response, he immediately looked down to see what was up. There, he saw two girls pointing up at him.

He didn’t know who they were. A closer look at them revealed that they had swimsuits on. Swimsuits from the school's swim club.

“Swim club members?” He said. “I thought the school was empty! Did they have to stay late for practice?” His stomach dropped when he saw a little light shine from them. They were recording him. 

“Oh no! I think they saw me!” 

The situation didn’t look too good for him. From their perspective, he looked like a creepy stalker peering at them while they practiced. His face flushed red as he instantly shot up and ran, leaping across the roof and back over the fence.

Even if they did see him, there was no way they could’ve made out his face. He was too high up for them and it was just too dark for anyone to get a clear picture. Still, Naoto wasn’t taking any chances. He ran on top of houses until he eventually made it home safe and sound. 

Whoever those girls were, he knew it wouldn’t be long for that recording to make its way around the school. 

Chapter Text

The following morning, Naoto entered through Kaze High’s main gates and found himself among the crowd of his fellow students. He was able to hear the conversation of two girls in front of him.

“Oh my God,” one of them said. “Did you, like, see the video of that totally creepy stalker last night?”

Her friend nodded. “Yeah! It was totally freaky. Whoever that was should be arrested!”

“Totally!”

His suspicions were true. The two swim club members who recorded him on the roof must’ve shared the video across social media while he was asleep. Naoto himself had yet to see it, but he knew there was no doubt that it likely garnered a fair number of views. It was only a matter of time before it went viral, and the whole school would become aware of it.

Behind him was a clique consisting of three boys, and they too were talking about the recording. Except, they didn’t think it was a stalker. Rather, they had a mixture of answers that opposed each other.

“I’m telling you, man! It was a ghost! That was probably a kid who died years ago!”

“No way, dude, you’re crazy. That was for sure a janitor.”

“A janitor?! What kinda janitor would be up on the roof late at night? I swear, bro, it’s a ghost!”

Naoto was looking around nervously. He didn’t like being the “highlight of the day.” Fortunately, no one was batting him an eye. It was clear that nobody knew exactly who or what was in the video. Rumor, theories, and wild guesses were being thrown out, and yet, no one was able to come to a conclusion. Realizing this, Naoto sighed in relief. Just as a precautionary measure, he kept his head down and proceeded to walk to his locker located on the first floor of the main building.

Naoto pulled out a textbook he needed for his first class, talking to himself in his head. “As long as I don’t draw attention to myself, I’ll be just fine. No one’s suspecting a thing. If people find out, then I’m done for! And that girl..”

He froze as he was reminded of Nagatoro. He didn’t even know her name, but she’d done enough for him to remember her vividly. He heard her voice in his mind, laughing at him, ridiculing him, branding him as a gross, creepy stalker who spied on girls. His thoughts echoed through his head, and he winced.

“She won’t let me hear the end of it! It’ll be a field day for her! I think it’s best if I don’t see her today..”

Then, he just froze out of nowhere. Naoto just stood still, slowly but surely beginning to feel a strange “tingle” in the back of his head.

His initial thought was his senses were going into overdrive again. This was not the case, however, as the feeling was different. He didn’t know how to describe it, but it felt as if his body was being.. Alerted to danger.

Strangely, Naoto sensed something behind him. He didn’t know what it was exactly, but he knew that it was fast, coming in hot, and he needed to dodge.

So, he did just that. Without any hesitation, Naoto immediately ducked. He heard a “dink” sound as something hit his locker. Taking a second to comprehend what just happened, Naoto slowly rose to stand up straight, before looking down. There, he saw a can of soda by his feet.

Naoto grabbed the can and inspected it. It was unopened, and clearly full of liquid. A fresh can, straight from the vending machine. There was no doubt that the soda can was going straight for his head, like someone deliberately threw it at him. Perhaps that’s what his body was alerting to? Did his new powers grant him special reflexes and acute awareness to danger?

He didn’t have much time to think about it, before he heard a voice call out to him.

“Hey you!” He knew the voice. It wasn’t Nagatoro’s like he partly expected, but he knew it. The voice came from a boy. Sure enough, Naoto turned around and saw two larger dudes approaching him, both having a grin on their faces.

It was none other than Ren and Ryo. The former had his hands in his pockets as he stepped right in front of Naoto, looming over him. Naoto, of course, began to sweat, not wanting his morning to start off like this.

“You got some reflexes, kiddo,” said Ren, his voice reeking of sarcasm. “Good morning to ya’.”

Naoto gave him a meek greeting in response. “..O- Oh, hey..”

“You’re Hayacchi’s Senpai, aren’t ya’?” Ren got closer, thinning the gap between them even more as if trying to intimidate him. “Yeah, you definitely are! I knew you looked familiar, man. You remember us, right? It’s us!”

Naoto didn’t know what to say or do. He didn’t really remember their faces, but he definitely knew their voices. And that name they mentioned. Hayacchi.. Was that the girl’s name? A nickname, most likely. He heard one of her friends call her “Hayase” before. Perhaps that was her real name?

Naoto was shouting in his head. “She calls me her ‘Senpai’, but I don’t even know her name!”

Ren chimed in and took over. “I really hope you didn’t forget us, loser. Remember what you did in the dining hall yesterday?”

The dining hall.. Naoto gasped as things finally made sense to him. These two were still bitter about the phone incident and were clearly looking to enact revenge on the poor boy. Sweat started to drop from his head. It wasn’t even his fault!

“O- Oh- Uh.. Look. I’m, uh.. I’m sorry.” Naoto’s voice was soft, and he turned around to avoid their gaze, beginning to put his old “indifference philosophy” into action. He wondered deep down how a sticky situation he had no control over could somehow get even stickier. Of course, him turning his back on them only made the two boys angrier.

“Listen, kid,” Ryo insulted. “You can’t just turn your back and ignore us after you embarrassed me and my boy here in front of Hayacchi and her friends. I don’t care if you’re Hayacchi’s ‘senpai.’ Who do you think you are?” His arrogant grin had disappeared and all that was left was a cold-looking scowl. 

“What he said, pipsqueak,” Ren added on. “You listenin’ to us? You better turn around.”

Naoto gave them no answer. He simply stayed silent, and merely closed his locker shut after putting his textbook into his bookbag. His refusal to respond did nothing but add more fuel to the fire.

Ren finally had enough. Extending both of his arms out in front, he stepped forward to give Naoto a hard push on his back. “I said turn around!”

Only Ren’s idea didn’t turn out the way he hoped. The “tingle” feeling in his head returned, and Naoto once again reacted instantaneously. He swiftly stepped to the side, moving out of the way. Ren, who was unable to anticipate such a quick maneuver, found himself tumbling forward from the momentum, until he was the one who slammed against the locker.

Naoto was shocked. Very shocked. He looked at Ryo recovering from the embarrassing outplay, and then at his hands. He tried to comprehend if he really did just dodge his attack. 

“..I- ..I’m sorry,” was all that he said to them.

Ryo’s eyes went wide when he saw what happened. His pal wasn’t supposed to crash into the lockers, it was supposed to be this loner pipsqueak! His head snapped to the side to look at Naoto, his eyebrows furrowing and his fists clenching.

“You think that was funny, man?!" Furiously, Ryo took a swing at Naoto, aiming right for his temple. Naoto ducked again, the tingle kicking in once more, resulting in Ryo’s punch connecting with nothing but air.

Naoto sprung back up, trying to plead with him. “Look- we don’t have to-” Of course, Ryo wasn’t listening. He took another swing which was easily evaded.

No matter how many times they tried to attack, they were never able to land even a single hit on their target. Ryo threw jabs, hooks, and uppercuts, and none of them ever touched Naoto. At one point, they even tried to “sandwich” him. Ryo stayed in front of Naoto while Ren swooped in from behind, trying to grapple him by the waist to bring him down to the floor. Of course, even this combo was countered when Naoto dove to the side, moving out of the way as he finished his maneuver with a roll. The end result was Naoto staying on his feet while Ren and Ryo crashed into each other, imaginary birds flying around their dazed heads.

“Oh man- Guys, I’m so sorry about that! Are you okay?” That was a genuine question. Contrary to how most would react when triumphing over two bullies in a "2v1 scenario," Naoto was truly concerned for their safety.

The only response he got out of them was an angry yelp before he saw them both lunge at him, wanting to go at it for more.

“You little shit!” Ryo drew his fist back. “Little loner pipsqueak!”

Naoto shifted his body to the side, dodging yet another punch once again. After literally hitting the air for the twentieth time, Ryo tumbled, his momentum sending him forward past Naoto. He ended up tripping over his target’s leg, which resulted in him falling right onto the floor face-first.

Ren tried going for a tackle again, this time literally leaping towards his target like he was an NFL superstar. Naoto side-stepped and watched with concern as he too face-planted on the floor.

Naoto frantically apologized to them; his eyes wide open with shock.  “Oh no- I’m sorry- O- Oh man, I’m so sorry! Are you guys alright?”

Ren and Ryo shot up to their feet, huffing and puffing out of sheer anger. Needless to say, they were both extremely frustrated after being utterly humiliated by Naoto. They were tuckered out and pissed at the fact that none of their attacks came close to even grazing him.

Meanwhile, Naoto simply stood there, completely unfazed. He didn’t even look tired at all. Rather, he was shocked at what happened, astonished by his reflxes, and was genuinely concerned for their wellbeing.

Then, just before Ren and Ryo were able to make another move, all three of them were interrupted when they heard a fourth voice call out to them from the end of the hallway.

“Yo!” It was a girl, and they knew who it was. Naoto’s jaw dropped slightly, and his face even went a bit red out of embarrassment when he saw Nagatoro walking towards them.

“Oh no! Not her! Of all the people who could’ve walked in right now, why’s it gotta be her?!”

With her hands on her hips, Nagatoro stopped beside her Senpai, who could only stare as his already-existent blush started growing more apparent from being near her. She looked directly at Ren and Ryo, her eyes locking on to them. There was no smile on her face.

“Sup,” she said to them, raising her hand up to give the two boys a rather unenthusiastic, almost bored-looking wave. “What’s going on here?”

Ren and Ryo both stammered, being unable to get a response out. Naoto noticed the look on their faces. They too were red, as if they were also embarrassed about Nagatoro being there. Did they.. Did they not want her to see them like this too?

“These guys started acting differently once she got here.. Are they scared of her or something?”

Ren was the first to speak up, although it took him a bit to muster up the courage to give her an answer. Even then, his voice was surprisingly meek, contrary to the tone he used on Naoto earlier.

“..N- Nothing’s going on, Hayacchi. We were just- uh.. We were just..”

Nagatoro’s eyebrows furrowed. Naoto took notice of the look on her face. It was his first time seeing her.. Genuinely angry. He had to admit, it kind of scared him.

She interrupted Ren. “Just what?”

Sensing impending doom approaching, Ryo spoke up, frantically answering on his pal’s behalf. “W- We were just messing around, Hayacchi! Nothing but jokes, you know what I mean? H- Hehe!”

Unfortunately, his answer had the opposite effect on what he had hoped for. Nagatoro suddenly put her hand on Naoto’s shoulder, causing him to flinch. He didn’t know if his superpowers would be enough to save him from her rage.

“Messing around with my Senpai?”

No answer. Nagatoro spoke again, this time using a tone that really made it clear that she was pissed.

“Do you guys have a problem with my Senpai?”

Naoto gasped, unable to fathom what he was hearing. Was she.. Was she really defending him against these guys? Ren and Ryo both flinched, even staggering back slightly. The former shook his hands out in front of him desperately, frantically trying to cool down the fuming volcano that was Nagatoro before him.

“N- No, Hayacchi! No! We have no problem with him! R- Right Ryo?”

In response, his friend nodded, his whole body shaking in fear. “Y- Yeah! No problem at all! We’re all totally cool!”

Naoto and Nagatoro both watched the two delinquents turn tail and run away like cowards, darting down the hallway until they left through a set of doors. Her scowl flipped, and Nagatoro had a proud smile on her face, like she was happy to have successfully driven away two pesky insects. Naoto, on the other hand, looked at her, dumbfounded. He was definitely at a loss of words.

Here was the girl, the same first-year who had been nothing but an absolute menace to him, taking his side and rushing to aid him against a pair of bullies. It was like a complete 180 for her. How could someone who’s been so evil towards him, switch up and protect him when someone else dared to try and torment him?

Was there something she wasn’t telling him? Did she see him.. Differently than what he imagined? Why did she.. Save him?

“Hey Senpai,” she said. Naoto shook his head, snapping himself out of his own thought process. “I’m glad I came at a perfect time. You’ okay?”

In response, Naoto slowly nodded his head. “..Yeah. T- Thanks for saving me, miss.. Y- You, uh, didn’t have to, though..”

“Are you kidding, Senpai?” Nagatoro giggled. “No way would I let those two pick on ya’! Besides, you looked like you needed help earlier, so I came!”

She was right about that. Sure, Ren and Ryo weren’t able to hit him at all, but there was no doubt that those two would’ve kept going for longer had she not intervened. The last thing he wanted was a teacher catching them and telling his parents that he was involved in a “fight.” Naoto nodded again and even chuckled very lightly.

“O- Oh, well.. Y- Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, miss..”

“No problem at all, Senpai! You gotta stop with that whole ‘miss’ thing, by the way. It’s getting ridiculous. Seriously.” Nagatoro giggled again, finding the word "miss" quite hilarious.

Naoto heard her nicknames but refrained from using them. Figuring it was time to finally ask for her name properly, he nodded again, and spoke up after scrounging up the courage within him to do so.

“O- Oh, well.. If you think so, then..”

A pause. “..Will you.. Please tell me what your name is, miss! I mean- ..”

Naoto looked down at the floor, breaking eye contact with the girl. He deliberately avoided her gaze, beginning to think he somehow made some mistake by asking for her real name. The response he got from her was not what he expected, however, as Nagatoro smiled happily at him, before speaking.

“Sure thing, Senpai.” Nagatoro lifted one finger, beginning to draw imaginary lines in the air as "brush strokes" like a pencil. “It’s Naga, which means long, and then Toro! Naga, Toro.”

Naoto put the two words together. “Naga.. Toro?”

Nagatoro said it again, “rewriting” her name in the air. After spelling it out, she ended her last air stroke with a point, poking the center of Naoto’s chest. He blushed in response and even recoiled slightly, staggering back upon being touched. Nagatoro, on the other hand, had a warm, genuine smile on her face. She was even blushing herself a bit.

“Correct! You finally know my name, Senpai. You can call me Nagatoro from now on. Pleasure to make your acquaintance!"

Their wholesome moment was interrupted when the morning bell rang. Soon enough, students began pouring into the hallways so they could make their way to their classes.

“We’ll have time to talk later, Senpai,” Nagatoro told him. She turned around and ran off in the other direction, waving goodbye at him along the way. “Later, Senpai!”

The only thing he was able to say was a soft “Bye” in response. He waved at her slowly, and soon enough she disappeared into the crowd. Naoto walked off and went upstairs to the second-year's floor, his face remaining red as his blush simply refused to fade away.

That morning would certainly be one to remember.

The first half of his day up until lunch went by like a breeze. Yamaguchi still gave Naoto an evil eye; he wouldn’t forget seeing him rip an assignment in half. Even then, he had no more instances of papers sticking to his hands or everyday things overstimulating his senses. The only thing he was concerned about, however, was the video. The thought of it still lingered in the back of his head.

More and more people were talking about it, and they continued to do so all the way through lunch.

While in line to get his food, he overheard a conversation between four girls whose voices he recognized. He turned around and spotted Nagatoro and her three friends. They didn’t notice him.

“Oh man, It’s Nagatoro and her friends!” Naoto refrained from getting their attention, simply choosing to let them be.

Gamo-chan held her phone out to them. They were all looking at it curiously. Naoto already had a guess as to what Gamo-chan was showing them. No doubt was she having them watch the video. 

“Freaky, huh?” Gamo-chan’s eyes darted back and forth between each of her friends. She wanted to hear their thoughts on the matter.

Yoshi nodded. “Super freaky!”

“It’s a yokai,” said Sakura. “That’s someone’s restless spirit who can’t pass on." Gamo-chan had a different take.

“I kinda think it’s staged. That’s probably their friend who went up there.”

While her friends were discussing amongst each other, Nagatoro was silent. She had a hand on her chin as she looked at the video closely, like she was studying it. She was clearly conducting an analysis on what she was watching. Seeing this made Naoto sweat nervously.

“Oh no.. Is she putting two and two together?” He remembered how baffled she looked when he seemingly disappeared from her yesterday. Turning a corner and vanishing right as she followed was something normal people just couldn’t do. It was simply a flat-out impossible feat to accomplish. He started regretting using his webs to get away.

Naoto avoided any more eye contact with the girls. They were still oblivious to his presence. He kept his head down the whole time, and speed-walked out of the dining hall as soon as he got his lunch. He made his way back upstairs and into his art clubroom, where he was sure he was safe.

Minutes would go by, and Naoto simply ate away at his lunch, all the while constantly worrying about the video. Was Nagatoro and her friends talking about it? Were they piecing it together? He wondered what she was telling them. What if she told them what he did when he ran away?

Naoto tried calming himself down. “I can’t keep thinking like this. There’s no way she could find out it was me. It's just not possible! It was pitch black that night.. I doubt anyone can even see me well.”

He set his now-emptied tray aside and began preparing a blank canvas to start drawing. It was the one thing that could help him relax.

“As long as she stays in the dining hall with her friends, I’ll be perfectly safe here. I doubt she’ll come and interrogate me..”

And, as soon as he said that, the door slid open. Naoto almost jumped in a fright. Turning around, he spotted Nagatoro making her way inside, holding a tray of food with a happy smile on her face. Speak of the damn devil..

“Sup, Senpai! Whatchu’ doin’ here eating all by yourself?” Nagatoro approached the boy and stopped in front of him. Naoto gulped.

“..I always come here,” he stammered. “..But what are you doing here? Aren’t you gonna, um.. Eat with your friends?”

She blushed and then giggled. “I figured I’d hang out with you today, Senpai! I told you this morning that we’ll have time to talk later, so now’s later! I couldn’t find you in the dining hall so I thought here would be your go-to place! I mean, this is your loner nest, right?”

Naoto had to comprehend that. She wanted to hang out with him over her friends? She went out of her way to look for him? He couldn’t help but blush.

“I- It’s not my loner nest,” he refuted. “..b- but yeah, I do come here..”

“Sweet! Then it looks like I know where to go everyday now!”

Everyday? That sounded like a blessing and a curse at the same time. Deep down, Naoto kind of enjoyed her company. On the other hand, he knew that the more she hung out with him in his clubroom, the more likely she’d piece everything together. That was something he did NOT want to happen.

The only thing he did in response was nod. He then watched Nagatoro bring up a spare stool, setting it up next to him, before she took a seat. Nagatoro pushed her tray aside and pulled out her phone.

“Oh no..”

“Senpai! Have you seen this yet? Everyone’s been talking about it lately!” To his dismay, Nagatoro showed him the video. She had it saved on her phone; Gamo-chan must’ve shared it with her. Naoto gulped but played it cool. 

“..No, I haven’t yet..”

Fortunately for him, what he saw was what he had expected. It was a POV of one of the girls who recorded him. She panned her camera to the right, asking her friend if she’s seeing things, before looking up and zooming in on to the roof. Sure enough, there he was, sitting there, before he shot up and darted away seconds later. The video showed the girls rushing to try and follow him, but by then, Naoto was gone.

You couldn’t tell it was Naoto even if you tried. It was too dark, too high up, and the girls were just too far for them to get a clear view. The quality was also somewhat grainy, suggesting that she might’ve had an older phone. He was only a darkened silhouette that was quite literally impossible to make out. Not even his fluffy hair could be seen. The only part of him that was semi-visible was his large winter jacket, and even that was relatively hard to spot.

Knowing this, Naoto felt a sense of relief. His identity was concealed, and there was no way anyone could guess it was him.

“..That.. Really is creepy,” he said. Naoto was telling the truth. He could genuinely see how that video could be considered creepy. It reminded him of an average ghost sighting video.

“Right?” Nagatoro agreed. “It’s so weird! I know those two girls, Senpai. They were so scared!”

“..i- is that so..”

“What do you think it is, Senpai? My friends say that it’s a ghost.” Nagatoro put her phone down.

“..I..” Naoto stuttered. He had to come up with something fast. A quick excuse to give her. “..I’m not sure, actually. It could be, well, anything.. What do you think?”

“Honestly, I think it’s a stalker. It’s just so creepy the way it looks like it’s watching them!”

Nagatoro smirked, giggling as she patted her Senpai’s back a few times. “It reminds me of someone in the room, actually. Someone super gross-lookin’.”

His face instantly went red in response. “Wha- H- Hey! You didn’t have to say that! Tha- That’s not like me at all! I- I would n- never spy on people like that!”

“You’re right, Senpai,” Nagatoro seemingly agreed. “You totally look the part, though. You nail the creepy stalker aesthetic! Creepy creepy creepy!"

“H- Huh?!”

His reaction was priceless to her. Nagatoro burst out laughing, kicking her legs around energetically. “Haha, I was just joookin’, Senpai! Quit taking everything so seriously! I’m only having fun.”

“..w- well, you’re having f- fun at my expense.. I would never stalk someone like that.."

“Don’t be so gloomy!” Nagatoro smiled. “It's such a weird look on you, Senpai! Gloomy gloomy Senpai~”

With a highly prevalent blush on his face, Naoto simply stayed silent as the girl continued to laugh. He didn’t enjoy being on the receiving end of her teasing, but he figured it could’ve been worse.

“At least she doesn't actually think it's me.."

Lunch ended, and Naoto managed to get through the day with no further issues. By the time school ended, it was made perfectly clear to him that the entire school had indeed seen the video. He even heard some students proposing a plan to purposely stay late so they could try and catch the so-called “Ghost of Kaze High.”

Ghost. Stalker. Naoto heard many theories, and he figured he’d hear more tomorrow. The short amount of time it took for the video to go viral around Kaze High’s students was proof that he needed to better conceal his identity to prevent any chances of him being exposed. What if someone had recorded him with a better camera? Or in better lighting? What if someone managed to somehow get a clean shot of him up close? Those were risks that he was absolutely not willing to take.

A few hours after school ended, Naoto found himself in one of his town’s shopping plazas. He needed new clothes to help keep himself hidden. He didn’t want anyone recognizing his current ones. For example, his mom bought him that winter jacket. What if she saw it?

Naoto eventually located a small clothing store. He kept a low profile as he looked around, preferring to buy clothes that were out of his usual style to further reduce his chances of being recognized. He also aimed for items that were cheap. He wasn’t willing to spend a hefty amount just to hide himself with expensive designer clothes.

He spotted a plain, olive-colored zip-up jacket. "Perfect," he said to himself. “I’ve never worn this color before..”

Next, he picked out a black turtleneck. Turtlenecks were definitely not his style, so they were a perfect choice for him. Plus, he had to admit that they were kind of fashionable. He liked the look of one.

“With these new clothes, there’s absolutely no way anyone will know it’s me. I just have to make sure my parents don’t see these..”

He continued to shop, until he eventually picked out everything he needed. Well, almost everything. He had the essentials: new tops, a new pair of pants, shoes, and even a black beanie which he picked out just to play things safe. He also picked up a new pair of cheap sunglasses.

Unfortunately, he lacked one thing: something to conceal his face. The shades-and-beanie combo could've worked, but he preferred.. A complete covering. Face masks were an idea, but he dismissed them, thinking they didn’t cover enough area to his liking.

Naoto eventually started walking home, carrying a paper bag containing his newly purchased items in his hand. His path home would be obstructed, however, by the appearance of Gamo-chan and Yoshi, who too went on their own shopping spree.

Except they didn’t buy clothes, they bought food.

Naoto recoiled upon seeing them, and to his dismay, the two girls noticed him as well.

“Great! Nagatoro’s friends are here! I did not want anyone seeing me right now! The orange-haired one in particular kinda scares me..”

To his surprise, there was a big smile on Gamo-chan’s face as she happily waved at the boy. “Hey! I knew it! It’s you, Paisen! The Amazing Paisen!”

Yoshi chirped, repeating after her friend again. “Amazing!”

“A- A- Amazing?” Naoto raised an eyebrow. He looked at them, his face growing red out of nervousness. The two girls eagerly approached him, with Gamo-chan in particular showing an interest in him. “W- Why’d you call me amazing..?”

“Well, duh, Paisen,” she responded. “You made those two idiots look like weaklings during your little game of tug-o’-war with them yesterday. It was great.”

“Badass!” Yoshi exclaimed.

Naoto looked away bashfully, having remembered the phone incident that sparked Ren and Ryo’s hatred for him. “O- Oh.. U- Uh, thanks, uh.. G- Gamo-chan, and Yoshi, was it..?”

Gamo-chan nodded back at him proudly. “Yup. Ding ding ding, you’re correct, Paisen. That’s us.” She smiled before spotting his bag of clothes in his hand. “Shopping for clothes, huh? Gonna be honest, didn’t really think I'd ever see you. shopping. Hell, I never thought I'd see ya' outside of school."

Naoto swiftly held the bag behind him, hiding it from view. “I- I don't shop much, I only buy clothes that are practical.. And they aren’t for me! They’re.. A gift.."

"..."

"..for my cousin."

His stuttering made it perfectly clear that he was lying. Gamo-chan and Yoshi laughed upon hearing his horrible excuse. Naoto initially thought that they were on to him; that they the real purpose for his new clothes.

“Ya’ sure you’re not trying on new clothes to impress Hayacchi?” Gamo-chan smirked. “I know you two’ve been hangin’ out lately. Just what are your intentions with her, Paisen?”

“Are you her boyfriend?” Yoshi teasingly asked.

Naoto recoiled, his face turning red. “Wha- No! No! I- I have no intentions with her! It’s not like that! I swear it’s for my cousin!”

“Suuuure! I'll make sure to tell Hayacchi about your grand reveal later." Gamo-chan enjoyed the moment as she teased poor Naoto. “Looks like the Amazing Paisen isn’t really an amazing liar, huh Yoshi?”

“Yeah! Terrible liar!” Yoshi laughed.

Naoto excused himself, moving around past the girls before going back to walking home. “L- Look, it’s getting late and I- I really need to get home. I’ll.. see you two.. Sometime.. Bye.”

“You got it, Paisen!” Gamo-chan waved gleefully. “See ya’ later!” As always, Yoshi copied her friend.

“See ya’ later!”

That night, Naoto tried on his new outfit while his parents were still at work. He had everything on, from his new tops all the way down to his new shoes, topped off with his beanie and sunglasses. He looked at himself in the bathroom mirror and noted just how.. Different he looked.

“..I never thought I’d find myself wearing something like this before..”

“..I look really ridiculous..”

He stared at himself for a bit longer. Yep, this was the outfit he picked out..

Naoto still didn’t have anything to conceal his face. He tried using a face mask, and then tried tying a shirt around the bottom of his face to wear like a bandana. Not only did it make him look even goofier than he did already, but it also just didn’t cover his face well enough. Even with the shades, anyone who knew him would more than likely able tell that it was him underneath. Naoto struggled to think for an alternative. He needed something. Anything.

Then, an idea came to him. Naoto rushed to his room and grabbed an old t-shirt from his dressers. It was a plain old gray tee which he had stopped wearing years ago. With the shirt now in hand, he threw it over his head.

“Wait.. I could use this as a mask!”

The shirt was indeed covering his entire head. There was some slack, as you would expect, but that could easily be solved by tucking it snugly within the collar of his turtleneck. With his mask problem finally solved, he grabbed a pair of scissors from his desk and cut two small eye holes so he could see. Then, he slid the shirt over his head again, fiddling around with it until the holes were aligned with his eyes.

Naoto stuffed the slack into his turtleneck’s collar. He had to admit, it looked ridiculous, but it did its job well enough. It was easy, cheap, and practical, just as he liked. To cover his eyes, he put his sunglasses on, sliding the frames through the eye-holes and resting them on to his ears so they could fit snugly. Then, he topped his new look with his beanie.

“..For what it looks like, it works,” he said.

It was time to head out. He enjoyed the feeling of freedom from running across the rooves with his powers and he was eager to do it again. He still had a good amount of time before his parents got home.

Naoto remembered the beautiful view of he had of Hayama’s Bay area on top of one of its larger buildings in town, so he set out to draw it. Grabbing his sketchbook, some pencils, and his old backpack from his childhood, he climbed out of his window and ran across Hayama’s rooftops to get to his scenic spot.

Chapter Text

Naoto arrived at school the next morning. He raised his arms in the air to stretch, preparing himself for the day. Readjusting his bookbag on his shoulder, he once again walked through Kaze High's main gates, following the large crowd of other students. He made his way past the school’s courtyard and into the main building, where he went to his locker to gather his things.

Fortunately, Ren and Ryo weren't here to ruin his morning. No one was looking for trouble, and no one came to disturb him. His day already seemed to be off to a much better start..

..Or so he thought. As he slid a textbook he needed for his class into his bag, he felt a presence behind him. Someone was coming.

“It’s Nagatoro,” he thought. “She must’ve been waiting for me. I guess I’ll be starting my day off with another one of her jokes..”

Instead, he heard a different voice. One that wasn't Nagatoro's. One that was unfamiliar to him. “Hello.”

Caught off guard, Naoto quickly turned around. Standing before him was a girl he had never seen before, looking up at him with a smile. She wore a uniform much like the rest of the female students. She looked young, and was most likely a first-year.

That's when his dangersense kicked in. He started feeling the tingle, the buzz in the back of his head. His body was alerting him to something. Something dangerous. Something harmful..

..but what was it?

Naoto didn’t have a clue. He looked around, trying to locate whatever was jumpstarting his tingle. He couldn't find anything. Nothing was wrong around him. There was no Ren and Ryo, and there was no soda can that was flying towards his face. It was just him and this new girl. 

His eyes went wide when he quickly realized that he was being alerted to.. Her, but he didn’t know why. Maybe he was just being awkward? Perhaps he didn’t know how to react when meeting new people? No, it couldn’t be. It didn’t make sense. He never felt this way towards Nagatoro and her friends. There had to be a reason.

“There’s something weird about this girl..” He thought.

Indeed. She looked like an ordinary high schooler, but there was something definitely off about her. Naoto’s eyes scanned the girl. He was analyzing every little detail about her, but he just couldn’t put a finger on it. Her hair was pitch-black, neatly combed straight, and long enough that it went all the way down to her waist. It made her look like a ghost. Hell, slap on a nightgown and cover her face with her hair and she'd end up looking exactly like Sadako. Her skin was deathly pale, like she'd never seen sunlight once in her whole life. Her eyes were an unusual purple color, and he could he swear that there was a very subtle glow in them. Finally, there was that smile, a rather creepy, that really didn't look.. Right. 

Among all that, however, Naoto saw something that really stuck out like a sore thumb. His eyes moved down, and he quickly noticed a pair of two rather large and hefty balloons on her chest that were trapped within their fabric-y prison.

Blushing intensely, Naoto immediately looked away, trying not to seem like a pervert for accidentally staring at her breasts. “O- Oh- U- Uh, s- sorry! U- Uh..”

Instead, the girl merely giggled, seemingly not bothered by it. In fact, it was like she was amused by it.

“Good morning. I’m so sorry if I scared you,” she told him. She spoke rather softly, almost wisp-y soft, and her tone was quite low. “I didn’t mean to. Can you please help me?”

“H- Help you?” He asked. “H- How.. How can I help you?”

“I’m a new transfer student here and I can’t seem to find my class. It says that I’m in 1B. Can you take me there?”

Naoto was hesitant, but nevertheless nodded in agreement. “..Well, sure, I guess.. I can take you there..”

“Great, thank you.”

Naoto began making his way towards the first-year's floor. The girl was right behind, following him rather closely. Along the way, he did his best to try and suppress his dangersense. It was still going haywire. Her very presence was causing his body to go on high-alert, but he pushed those worries aside, figuring that he was just simply being awkward. Though, he was able to feel her staring at him the entire time. She kept her eyes glued to him, and he didn't like that one bit. It made him uneasy.

“You’re very handsome,” she told him, keeping her hands innocently held behind her back. In response, his blush flared even brighter, not expecting to be complimented by her.

“..t- t- thanks..”

“Are you a second-year?”

“..mhm..”

“How terrific. That means I get to call you my Senpai.”

“U- Uh-” Naoto was struggling to get a response out. “I- I already have someone calling me that. T- Thanks, th- though..”

“That’s too bad,” she replied gleefully, as if that were no problem to her at all.

The rest of the journey was awkwardly silent. They eventually made it to the girl’s classroom, where Naoto stood aside, giving her room to walk in. He was as stiff as ever, but he tried to power through it.

“..Your class is right here. 1B, right..?” Naoto pointed at the door. It was here when the morning bell finally rang, and students began making their way to their classes. Much to his dismay, however, the girl remained in her place.

“Thank you so much, Senpai,” she said. She still called him her "Senpai", even after being told there was already another girl who had the honor to. “You’re very sweet and kind. I really appreciate you.”

“N- No problem..” Naoto scratched the back of his head nervously, wishing she would just leave already.

“You can call me Nobuko, Senpai. I can tell that we’ll be seeing each other more later on..”

“...”

“..I know we’ll be seeing each other more. Don't you agree, Senpai?"

There was a smirk on her face, and not like the ones Nagatoro always gave him. Nagatoro’s was always playful, even if it wasn't obvious sometimes, but Nobuko’s on the other hand..

..hers was just eerie. Almost genuinely creepy, in fact..

Now put off, and frankly a bit startled, Naoto took a step back. He wiped some sweat away from his face and turned tail, beginning to walk back down the stairs to get away from her. “I- I have to go now.. Bye..”

In response, Nobuko merely waved at him innocently, like there was nothing wrong. “Goodbye, Senpai. Have fun."

Unbeknownst to them, Nagatoro was down the hallway, watching them afar with a little frown on her face.

Lunch came, and as usual, Naoto walked to his club room with a tray of food in his hands. It was a normal meal: a little bowl of rice and some meat. The boy was looking down at the floor, seemingly deep in thought.

He kept thinking about Nobuko. The image of her was just ingrained in his head, plaguing his mind no matter how hard he tried to distract himself. He just couldn’t stop thinking about her. That face.. That legitimately gross smile she gave him. That.. last thing she said to him in that tone which was actually concerning..

“I know we’ll be seeing each other more. Don't you agree, Senpai?"

It didn't take a genius to know that she was NOT like Nagatoro. Nobuko was genuinely not right. Her presence, her aura was just too.. malevolent and off-putting. Naoto eventually arrived at the club room and went to slide the door open.

“Maybe I’m just overthinking this. She said she was a new student. Maybe that’s just how she acts. Maybe..”

He shook his head and dismissed those thoughts, but was soon interrupted when he heard a girl's voice call to him.

And it wasn’t Nagatoro’s voice. “Senpai.”

Naoto gasped when he saw Nobuko standing before him. Why wasn’t she in the cafeteria? Why was she just wandering in the hallways? Was she just following him right about now? How the hell did she know he was going to the art club?!

“T- This is not good!” Naoto was shouting in his head. “Why is she here?!”

Taking a deep breath to calm down, he gave her a little wave as he began speaking softly. “..O- Oh, hello.. How did you- uh, how did you know I was here?”

“I was just exploring my new school,” she replied. “But did you really think I wouldn’t be able to find my Senpai?”

That last part was.. Very concerning. Naoto gulped in response. He slowly walked into his club room, hoping to God that she wouldn’t follow him.

“What room is this, Senpai?” She asked, pointing at the door.

“..my art club room,” he answered. Her lips then curved upward into a big smile.

“Oh, you’re in the art club, Senpai? How interesting.. Would you mind showing me some of your work?”

“U- Uh, you know, I’m not really allowed to let people in here..”

Nobuko, of course, didn’t listen. Naoto's "rules" he gave her weren't enough to ward her off. She merely brushed past him, gleefully welcoming herself into her "Senpai's" room. Naoto recoiled and followed her, not enjoying her presence at all. “W- Wait a minute!”

She was slowly lumbering around, like a predator stalking its territory for prey. She examined all the works that were on display. Nervous and now on edge, Naoto took a seat and began eating his lunch. He sat there silently, watching the girl as she invaded his space. He never thought he’d ever say this, but he really wished Nagatoro was there to save him again.

“These are amazing..” She whispered. “Did you make all of these?”

“..N- Not all of them. A lot of them were made by the third-years who.. Had to leave to cram for school..”

“How unfortunate. I would’ve loved to meet them. They must’ve been such talented artists.."

Naoto tensed up when he saw Nobuko approach him. She took a seat in front of him. Her eyes were locked right on to him, staring at his very soul. He was extremely uncomfortable, and every second, he prayed harder for Nagatoro to walk in.

There was a moment of silence. Nobuku said nothing and remained fixated on her new "Senpai." Only God knew what the hell she was thinking. Naoto didn’t say a peep. He tried his best to ignore her while he ate, but his attempts were in vain. He just constantly felt her staring at him. She was perfectly still and looked as if she were going to just lunge at him at any second. Eventually, he reluctantly made eye contact with her, and noticed that she wasn't looking at him anymore, but rather at his food.

“Your lunch looks very delicious, Senpai.”

“..It’s okay, I guess.."

"..Wha- Hey!"

Much to his surprise and horror, Naoto jolted when he saw Nobuku suddenly reach into his bowl to grab a handful of rice. She used not a spoon or pair of chopsticks. She just went in and stole a chunk with her bare hands. Nobuko munched down on it with a look of delight on her face. She even licked happily licked her lips.

“Mmmm.. It is delicious. Though, I prefer my meals.. Alive.”

THAT set off alarms. What the hell kind of response was THAT? Shocked, Naoto recoiled again, and stammered, struggling to even speak upon hearing what the hell she just said. If THAT was concerning, then he didn't know what was.

“A- A- Alive? What does that mean?” Not even Nagatoro could make him feel so scared.

Then, as if she didn’t just say anything so worrying, Nobuko giggled like a little schoolgirl. “It’s a joke, Senpai. I was talking about the time I had live octopus in middle school. It was such an interesting dish. I highly recommend."

That wasn’t enough to put him at ease. There was just so many weird things about this girl that Naoto wasn’t sure if she was truly kidding or not.

“..O- Oh.. I- I see.. Is that so.."

A few more moments went by, and Naoto’s prayers were finally answered. It was like God sent in an angel to save him from his predicament. He heard the door open, and much to his joy, he saw his true kohai, Nagatoro.

“Sorry I’m late, Senpai! I had to stay in class for a bit longe- ..”

“..Senpai? Who’s..”

She stood there frozen in place, staring at the two. Slowly, she began to recognize Nobuko from the morning earlier. The same girl she saw with Naoto. The cheerful smile that she had on her face disappeared, and it immediately turned into a scowl.

Seeing the angry, displeased look on her face, Naoto shot up to try and explain himself. “N- Nagatoro! Wait a minute! This isn’t.. This is a big misunderstanding!”

While Naoto was flipping out, Nobuko was simply smiling, as if enjoying the whole ordeal. She turned her attention to Nagatoro, and grinned at the newcomer. “So, this is your kohai, Senpai? I have to admit..”

“..I thought she’d be cuter.”

Both Naoto and Nagatoro were shocked. They were absolutely dumbfounded upon hearing what came out of her mouth. Nagatoro was taken aback.

“W- What?!” Naoto yelled. “T- That was uncalled for!”

“Oh, I'm sorry,” Nobuko said. “I suppose everybody has their own personal preferences, but I didn’t know yours was so low, Senpai. A handsome boy like yourself could do better, in my opinion.."

Nagatoro was livid. How dare this girl call him HER Senpai, and how DARE she belittle her in front of him. She clenched her fists up, and was about to say something back, before she saw Nobuko make her way out the room.

“I’ll be going now,” she told them, brushing past Nagatoro as she totally ignored her. “I’ll see you later, Senpai. Bye bye.”

Now, it was just the two of them. Alone. Naoto could tell that she was angry. He was even angry himself after hearing what Nobuko said to her. Nagatoro slowly turned to face him. She was clearly upset, but Naoto looked at her eyes.

Eyes never lie. He was able to tell that she was also.. Hurt.

Nagatoro whispered quietly to him. “Senpai.. Who was that? I saw you two earlier this morning..”

Naoto was frantic. He spoke quickly and waved his hands out towards her feverishly. “I- I don’t know! I have no idea who she is! I just met her! She just followed me in here!”

A pause. Nagatoro looked like she wasn’t buying it.

“N- Nagatoro! Please!” He pleaded. “I swear, I don’t know her! She’s been following me around so weirdly today! She’s not my kohai!”

Naoto fell silent, before he finally said one thing that managed to get to her.

“..Besides, I wouldn’t let her talk to you like that..”

A blush came to Nagatoro’s face. Her eyes went wide, surprised at what he just said.

“..You wouldn’t?” She asked.

“No!” He repeated. “T- That.. wasn’t nice of her to say that, and I..”

“..I kinda got mad too..”

“..I’m sorry if she hurt you, Nagatoro. She's not right at all. I.. Don't think my standards are low. You're cu.." He cut himself off. They both knew what he was trying to say, but he couldn't bring himself to actually blurt it out.

There was an awkward pause. Neither of them knew what to say. Naoto was super stiff, hoping he didn't just say the wrong thing. Nagatoro was just quiet. She tried to comprehend everything that happened. Most importantly, she was focusing on the last thing he said to her. What he said made her feel.. giddy.

“..were you about to call me cute just now, Senpai?"

Naoto's face flared red again, as if it wasn't already. "N- N- Uh.. N- Nagatoro, I.."

Then, a huge sense of relief hit him when he saw her grin. "You totally were, weren't you? Gosh, I didn't think you'd actually say it! That was super weird of you, Senpai."

He took a breath of fresh air, happy that his true kohai was back to her old self again. Of course, he didn't say anything.

"Thanks, Senpai. That was really nice of you to say that." Nagatoro had a genuine smile on her face. "You can stop being so gross now, by the way."

Naoto nodded. "Y- Yeah.. Sure thing.."

Lunch came to an end, and students were reporting back to their classrooms. The rest of their day went on as usual. Naoto's in particular was a breeze. He thankfully didn’t encounter Nobuko again, and when the final school bell rang, he made sure to keep it that way by getting his ass home as quick as he could.

Soon enough, the sun fell asleep, and the moon rose to replace its spot in the sky. Hayama went dark, and Naoto laid in his bed wide awake while his parents were sound asleep in their bedroom.

That night was silent. Naoto couldn’t sleep. He was just staring at his ceiling. Nobuko was still fresh in his mind. He feared he’d dream about her. The last thing he wanted was to see her stalking him in his sleep. And considering how weird she was, he honestly feared she was stalking him right now at that very moment. Maybe she was outside his house, peering up at his window. Maybe.. There was a chance that she’d somehow appear in his room like a ghost. She certainly looked the part.

He was forced to put those thoughts aside when his quiet night was suddenly interrupted. He sat up and heard the sounds of sirens blaring from outside. Curious, Naoto got up from his bed and looked out his window. At first, he couldn't see the vehicles. There were too many houses around him that were blocking his vision, but he heard them, and it sounded like there were a lot of first responders.

Something big must've happened. Wanting to get a better view, Naoto slid his window open and crawled through it, climbing up to his roof right after.

There, he saw a line of fire trucks speeding down the road, being followed by several police cars and an ambulance. Whatever was happening must’ve been bad if a whole convoy of emergency vehicles were required. Naoto traced the route they were taking with his eyes and saw a bright orange light in the far distance. Thick, black smoke was rising above it into the air.

He gasped, realizing that they were responding to a huge fire. A closer look revealed that it was a larger building, most likely an apartment complex, going up in smoke.

“Oh man..” He whispered.

Naoto only stared at the blaze, wondering what was happening. It was a scary sight indeed. Fires were rare in Hayama.

Naoto was about to head back to his bed, figuring the emergency services would take care of it, but the longer he watched, the more he slowly realized something.

There were people in need of help. Some of them could be dying right now. Naoto had abilities. Abilities that no one else had. Abilities that could help prevent deaths and save the day. Naoto took a second, pondering whether or not he should intervene. Throwing himself into a fiery blaze didn’t seem like a great idea, but he knew deep down that had to help..

..and he had a moral obligation to do so.

He climbed back into his room, where he swiftly went to put his new outfit on. He was literally rushing, grabbing and yanking his clothes out of his closet while making sure not to be too loud, lest he risk waking his parents up.

He threw on his mask, put on his shades, and plopped his beanie on to his head as the finishing touch. Now ready to head out, Naoto crawled out the window again. He was like a spider crawling out of its burrow. After taking one last deep breath to mentally prepare himself, he began heading out to the scene to help save the day.

A distressed father was shouting at the top of his lungs, begging for anyone nearby to help him. He looked up at his apartment building as he helplessly watched it go up in flames.

“Help! Help! Someone please help! My son’s in there! Help!”

Unfortunately, no one was able to do anything. There was just too much fire, and debris began to fall. The flames were slowly but surely damaging the building's structure. The situation looked to be getting worse and running in there surely meant certain death. Going in was suicide.

First responders were forced to hold people, including the father, back from the area for their safety. Naturally, he was pleading with the firefighters who were doing everything they could to keep the situation under control.

One firefighter was holding on to his shoulders. “Sir, you have to step back! I can’t let you in there, it’s too dangerous!”

“My son’s in there!” He repeated, desperately trying to push past him. “My son’s in there! Let me go! I have to get him! Somebody help him!”

Eventually, he stepped back, joining the crowd of panicked people. He began praying. Praying to God to send one of his angels to save his dear boy. Then, as if his prayers were answered, an angel did in fact arrive.

Someone landed right in front of him, like they had just fallen out of the sky. The father looked and was met face-to-face with a certain masked boy. Naoto was here.

“Where’s your son?” Naoto asked him. The father, a bit thrown off by his outfit, pointed up at the building.

“W- We lived on the third floor! He’s still there!”

Then, without any hesitation, the father and the rest of the residents had their mouths gaping open in surprise when they saw the masked boy shoot a web right out of his hands. It stuck to the top of the building, and Naoto used it to pull himself into the air, much to the crowd’s amazement. Then, he dove feet-first straight into the window, crashing right through it. Glass shards splattered across the floor. He was now inside.

Everything around him was on fire, and there was smoke all over. Naoto carefully traversed the floor, avoiding the falling debris and burning-hot rubble. At one point, his head tingled again, which alerted him to a rather large chunk of charred wood falling down right on top of him. He immediately rolled out of the way in response, avoiding what would’ve been a horrific injury. The wood crashed through the floor, and down into the story below.

He got back on his feet and heard a little boy’s cry for help. A cry from the son that the father was so desperate to save.

“It’s okay!” He yelled, hoping to get his attention. “I’m coming!"

Naoto followed the sounds of his cries, where he was finally led to their room. Naoto noticed that the door was locked when he tried to open it. In response, he took a step back, and raised a leg, kicking the door with all of his might. It gave in on his first try and came tumbling down to the floor.

The inside was just as bad, if not worse. Furniture was burning all over, and the smoke was building up. With no time to waste, Naoto ran, listening again for the boy.

“I’m here! Where are you?”

The boy yelped again. Naoto followed his voice and was finally led to a closet. He pulled it open and pushed the clothes to the sides. There, he found a young boy, no older than three or four, huddled up in blankets, looking as scared as ever.

At first, the poor kid was startled by him. A scary-looking stranger in a mask appearing before him while his home was burning was certainly off-putting to him. He even backed away a bit in response.

“G- G- Get away!” He screamed. 

“Woah woah woah! It’s okay, buddy! Look!” In an attempt to calm him down, Naoto took his shades off and mask off, allowing him to see his face.

“I’m just a normal guy? See?”

The boy stared at Naoto with widened eyes. Naoto's plan worked. The boy seemed to be calming down, but he was still undoubtfully shaken up from the circumstances around him.

“..I want my dad,” he told Naoto with a whimper. “Where’s my dad..?”

“Your dad’s outside waiting for you, bud,” Naoto answered. “I’m gonna take you to him, okay?”

Lifting his arm up slowly, he held his hand out to the boy. It took him a moment, but he eventually reached out and grabbed onto Naoto’s hand, holding it. Now that he had him, Naoto gently pulled him in so he could carry him close with both arms. In return, the boy held on to him with dear life, keeping his eyes closed tightly to try and ignore the flames around him.

“It’s okay,” Naoto reassured him. His heart was pounding just like the boy's. He was just as nervous as him, but he had to stay strong. Their lives were depending on it. After putting his shades and mask back on, Naoto began making his way out of the room, leaving the building back the way he came.

“I’m gonna get you out. You’re gonna see your dad.”

Naoto was able to tell the inside was about to collapse. He saw chunks and pieces of the floor starting to give. A large crackling sound was heard, before a long piece of charred wood fell behind him. It nearly crushed him. He knew the place was deteriorating, and it was only a matter of time before it all came down, taking any poor soul with it.

It was time to haul ass. No way would he let this kid die. He had one thing in mind, and that was to bring this kid to his dear dad.

“It’s okay! Just keep your eyes close! We’re getting out of here!”

With absolutely zero hesitation, Naoto broke off into a sprint. He ran straight down the hallway as fast as he could. He evaded everything and anything in his path, even leaping over the holes in the floor. Eventually, he spotted the window, the same one he came through. It was his grand exit. The only way out of this burning hellhole.

“Don’t look! Hang on!"

He swallowed his gut, pushed his fear aside, and just jumped right out of it.

Now in the air and falling fast, he shot out a web, which latched on to the top of the building. Naoto used the web to slow his descent, and eventually touched his feet down safely to the ground. His mission was complete, and he managed to get himself, and the boy out completely unharmed.

People were clapping and cheering. Even the first responders joined in on the round of applause. Mask or not, they were overjoyed to see this masked stranger make it out alive with the father’s son. It’s not everyday you get to see someone willingly throw themselves into a burning building and come back to tell the tale.

They were hailing him as a hero, and though they couldn’t see it, Naoto was smiling underneath the mask. He couldn’t help but feel happy over successfully saving someone’s world. It was his time being praised to this extent, and boy did it feel great.

The father ran up to them as soon as he landed, and Naoto didn’t think twice about returning his boy. He watched him hold his son tightly as he thanked God for rescuing him. Naoto only looked on silently, finding the whole exchange sweet.

“You..” The father said, turning his attention to Naoto. “Thank you! Thank you for saving my son! I can’t tell you how grateful I am..”

“You’re welcome,” Naoto replied softly.

Then, the father asked him the grand question.

“..Who are you?”

There was a pause. The father patiently awaited an answer, looking right into the young man’s shades. Then, Naoto finally spoke.

“..Just someone who wants to help out.”

Naoto stayed at the site, providing aid for the emergency workers and the people in need in however way he could. He helped tend to them, made sure they were okay, and tried his best to comfort them.

Eventually, the firefighters were able to extinguish the flames. Smoke was still floating in the air, but for the most part, the building was rid of fire.

Once things were deemed okay, Naoto took off and went back home, zipping up towards the roof of another building to disappear into the darkness. People looked on, watching their unknown hero zip away with his webs. News reporters who were on the scene were trying their best to get footage of him, but Naoto was gone before they even had the chance.

What he didn’t know, however, was that someone DID see him.

Nobuko stood on top of a building, watching him leave with a smirk on her face..

Chapter Text

"MASKED HERO SAVES BOY FROM BURNING BUILDING! RESIDENTS UNHARMED AS FIRE IS EXTINGUISHED.”

That was the headline of the story that quickly spread throughout Hayama in a single night. People from all over the region were reading into their newspapers, looking down at their phones or tuning into their televisions to learn more about the incident.

There were zero casualties, and some were being treated for only minor wounds. Hayama’s local authorities were being praised for their work. Though, homes were inevitably lost, and the reason for the fire couldn't be determined.

What was most interesting, however, was the so-called “Masked Hero” that swooped in to save the day. Interviews of those who were at the scene that night were trending on social media as they told reporters about seeing an unidentified boy in a mask run straight into the building with seemingly no regard for his own safety, only to come out with a little boy in his arms completely unharmed. No one knew who he was, but he was hailed for his heroism, and the internet began calling him a special nickname..

People who saw him didn’t fail to notice his webs, so they started referring to Naoto’s secret alter ego as “That Spider-Guy.”

The next morning came, and as the sun began waking back up from its slumber, Nagatoro was walking to school along with her friends, who were all staring down at their phones reading up on the tale.

“That Spider-Guy?” Gamo-chan read the name out loud, sounding a bit displeased by it. “So, like, he’s half man, half spider?”

“They said he was shooting out webs and climbing up on them in the air like a spider!” Sakura added. “I think the name fits. It sounds kinda cool too!”

Gamo-chan still didn’t seem to agree. “I dunno, it just sounds kinda tacky. Like, that Spider-Guy? Really? ‘Doesn’t really do it for me, honestly. If I was runnin' around saving people, then I'd want to be called a better name."

Yoshi didn't say anything. Unlike Gamo-chan, she liked the name but couldn’t bring herself to argue her case against her friend. Nagatoro, on the other hand, was silent. She was listening to what her friends were saying, but she was more focused on what the article she was reading had to say about that supposed Spider-Guy.

They wrote about how agile he seemed. How eyewitnesses noted how he seemingly disappeared without a trace once the fires cleared up.

Strange.. Nagatoro remembered how her Senpai seemingly vanished in an oddly similar fashion right in front of her a few days ago. It was a feat that was inarguably impossible for him to perform, unless he had ropes.. Ropes like that Spider-Guy was climbing on..

Webs.. Could.. Could Senpai and that Spider-Guy..

..be connected?

Nagatoro shook her head no. Those were just wild and extremely farfetched ideas that she came up with. Her mind was simply playing tricks with her. There was absolutely zero chance that her Senpai ever be that Spider-Guy. It was silly, and even downright ridiculous to even compare the two.

All of a sudden, her thought process was interrupted when Gamo-chan began yelling out to someone.

“Hey look! It’s Paisen!”

Speak of the devil. Ahead of them was Naoto, who was walking to school alone. She saw her Senpai jolt slightly in a fright upon hearing Gamo-chan’s voice scream to him, before he turned around to look at the group.

Smiling, Nagatoro ran towards her Senpai, waving at him happily. “Wait up, Senpai!”

Naoto gulped as he watched Nagatoro approach him, her friends tagging along behind her. He looked tired, most likely from his duties as that Spider-Guy from last night. He tensed up from the girls’ presence, but Naoto secretly thanked the Heavens for having him start his morning off with them instead of that other girl.

“U- Uh, oh hey.. Good morning..” Naoto quietly greeted them.

“How come you’re walking to school all by yourself?” Nagatoro asked, snickering up at him. “Don’t you have any friends?”

“..I do,” he responded. “They’re both already at school.. And I always walk this way.. By myself, I mean..”

“Well, we’ll be happy to walk with ya’!” Nagatoro cheered. “Come on, Senpai! If we keep up with this snail-pace, then we’re all gonna be late! Let’s go!”

He had no other choice but to continue walking with them. They all seemed to enjoy his presence, especially Nagatoro, who stayed particularly close to him. There was a slight tinge of red on his face as he found himself a bit uneasy around them. He had never been this close to a group of girls before, and he began feeling a bit out of place.

And yet, he was reminded again that he was very fortunate to have been able to start his morning off with them instead of.. Her.

“Senpai-kun?” Sakura called, looking up at him curiously. Stiffening, Naoto looked back at her. “Are you okay? You look tired.”

“Yeah, what’s the deal with that, Paisen?” Gamo-chan joked. “You look like you didn’t get an ounce of sleep last night. You got some nasty bags under your eyes.”

“Are my Senpais bothering you again?” Sakura asked. “If they are, then I’m sorry. I can get them to stop if you want.”

Her Senpais? Naoto was confused at first, but it only took him a second to figure out what she was talking about. Sakura was referring to Ren and Ryo. He remembered how close she was to them back in the dining hall a few days ago. How she was there during their little "tug-o'-war" match.

Naoto shook his head no. “No- uh, you’re fine.. They’re not bothering me. I just stayed up a bit late to study, that’s all.. And you don't have to apologize for them, by the way.. It wasn't your fault."

Nagatoro chimed in, seeing this as an opportunity to commence with more teasing.

“Ooor.. I bet you were up all night watching something crazy, Senpai.”

His face flared red upon hearing that. “Wha- No! I didn’t- I wasn’t- I just had to study! I have an important test today and I really needed some last minute cramming!”

Nagatoro leaned in, beginning to blush herself. “You’re such a liar, Senpai. There’s no need to make up a story. You can be honest with us. We won’t tell.”

“Don’t you make mangas?” Sakura asked again. “Did you stay up to work on one, Senpai-kun?"

Nagatoro chose to answer Sakura's question on Naoto's unfortunate behalf. “Senpai was probably working hard on a lewd manga! He’s a pervy little boy, after all. He probably has all sorts of hentai hidden away from us!”

“He does kinda have a weird vibe.” Sakura jokingly noted.

Nagatoro nodded, agreeing with her. “Yep! It’s the hentai aura comin’ out of him!”

“Be careful, Sakura.” Gamo-chan smirked. “Get to know him a bit more and he’ll make you the MC of his hentai."

Of course, Naoto didn’t exactly like being on the receiving end of all of their collective teasing. His eyes were closed shut, and his face was beet beet red. “..I’m standing right here, you know..”

Then, amidst their giggles and laughter, Naoto opened his eyes back up and looked down to see Nagatoro giving him a smile. Not her usual smirk, but a friendly, genuine smile. Her cheeks were just as red as his, and he had to admit that deep down..

..she looked kinda cute.

Their walk to the school came to an end, and they eventually arrived at Kaze High’s main gates. They entered on to the campus, ready to start the day. The bell would ring at any minute, and soon enough, the courtyard would be emptied as students would eventually make their way to their classes. The gang was just about to disperse when Naoto spotted something, nay, someone.. Waiting for him.

He turned, and his eyes widened in horror as they locked on to the sight of Nobuko approaching them.

“Ooh, who’s that?” Sakura asked.

“I dunno,” Gamo-chan replied, confused. “I’ve never seen her before..”

“..she’s scary..” Yoshi muttered.

As Nobuko revealed herself to them, the three girls merely stood silently while Naoto and Nagatoro just stared. The former looked on with fearful, wide-opened eyes and the latter looked frustrated and even angry with her. Nobuko, who was holding a textbook up to her chest with both arms, simply smiled up at her “Senpai.”

“Good morning, Senpai,” she greeted.

Senpai?! The girls were shocked. Gamo-chan in particular was surprised to hear another girl call him a name that only her friend had the rights to.

Naoto tensed up in response. He tried to calm himself down, but ultimately could not muster up the courage to return her gaze. He merely looked away from Nobuko, staring down at the ground.

“..G- good morning.. What were you- uh.. What are you doing here..”

“Isn’t it obvious, Senpai?” Nobuko’s smile widened, almost creepily even. “I was waiting for you.”

Record scratch sound effect. Naoto was baffled, and he didn’t know what to think. This creepy girl, who radiated nothing short of icky energy, just casually admitted to waiting for him like there was nothing suspicious at all. If that wasn't concerning enough to sound off alarms, then he didn't know what was.

Both Sakura and Gamo-chan had to do a double take to make sure they heard Nobuko correctly. Did they really just hear her say she was waiting for him? That surprised them. They didn’t think someone like Paisen had other girls lining up for him, though they both didn’t fail to notice how “off” she seemed. Meanwhile, Yoshi didn’t say a peep, as Nobuko’s gross, eerie presence was scaring her.

On the other hand, Nagatoro was absolutely furious. She didn’t like Nobuko one bit, and she just wanted to shove her away.

“..W- Waiting for me?” Naoto repeated, asking for confirmation. “Why..?”

Nobuko giggled again. “Why? Because I enjoy your company, Senpai.”

“...”

“..I really enjoy it.”

Naoto was taken aback by that. Alarms were definitely blaring now. Thankfully, he was saved yet again by the bell. It rang, and he used this as an opportunity to flee the scene.

Clearing his throat, he readjusted his backpack and took off, not looking at any of the girls. Not Nobuko, not Gamo-chan, not even Nagatoro. “I- I gotta go.. I’ll see you guys later..”

Nagatoro and her gang looked on in confusion as they watched Naoto leave. Nobuko kept her eyes locked on to him too, but unlike them, she continued smiling the entire time. Angered at the creepy girl for scaring him away, Nagatoro herself stepped forward.

“Alright, what’s your deal?” She questioned. “Do you have a problem with him or what?”

“A problem?” Nobuko asked, before quietly giggling. “No no, I don’t have a problem with Senpai at all.”

Nagatoro demanded more answers. “Then why are you acting so weird around hi-”

Nobuko cut her off. She didn’t answer her question, let alone even allow her to ask said question. “I actually love being around Senpai, unlike any of you.”

Nagatoro was stunned. Any of you? What the hell did THAT mean? “Huh? What are you sayi-”

Nobuko cut her off again a second time. “I wouldn’t make fun of him with my friends. That’s not what a kohai does at all.”

Make fun of him? What in the world was she talking about?! Did she hear their lighthearted jokes they made while walking earlier? No, there’s no way! They saw her in front of the school when they got there! Unless..

“You heard- Were you- Were you stalking us?!” Nagatoro was dumbfounded. She struggled to even speak. This girl was totally stalking them! And she had the nerves to act like they were at fault!

Gamo-chan had to speak up. “Okay, that’s a little weird, missy.”

“It’s a shame that he’s okay with you hanging out with him,” Nobuko taunted. “You don’t deserve to be his kohai. He needs someone better. Someone like me."

She grinned at them one last time, before turning around and trailing off. “I’ll be going now.”

Fuming, Nagatoro wanted to say more until she was stopped when Gamo-chan grabbed onto her shoulder. Now left by themselves, the four girls watched Nobuko make her leave until she disappeared through the main building's double doors.

“I don't like her one bit,” Gamo-chan told them, letting go of her friend before crossing her arms over her chest. Yoshi agreed, nodding fearfully.

“Maybe that’s Senpai-kun’s ex?” Sakura guessed. “I’ve seen some really crazy exes before. Hina had one, remember?”

At first, Nagatoro was silent. She looked like she was thinking hard about something. What Nobuko said to her really seemed to have hit her.

“I wouldn’t make fun of him with my friends. That’s not what a kohai does at all.”

There were times where Nagatoro did take the jokes too far. He even ran away from her at one point. And even though he apologized for it, she couldn’t help but be scared by the possibility of him doing it again.

Then, after a few moments, she finally spoke.

“..let’s just go to class,” she said softly. Nagatoro began to walk off, and Gamo-chan was quick to follow her after noticing how bummed she seemed.

“Hayacchi, ‘you alright?” She asked. “Come on, don’t worry about her. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

“..y- yeah,” Yoshi agreed, finally mustering up the courage to speak after being shaken up by Nobuko’s frightening aura.

Sakura didn’t hesitate to help comfort her friend. “Don’t take what she said to heart, Toro-chan. I bet she doesn't know Senpai-kun at all.

In response, Nagatoro only nodded quietly, still replaying Nobuko’s words in her head. “I’m fine, guys. Don’t worry about it..”

The girls went off to their classes. Throughout the first half of his day, Naoto tried hard to focus on his lecture without thinking about Nobuko. He hadn't even known her for a week, and she was already ingrained into his head. Meanwhile, Gamo-chan, Yoshi and Sakura all did their best to make sure that Nagatoro was okay. Class eventually ended, and a couple more hours would go by until they were finally released out for lunch.

That is, all except for Naoto, who didn’t even get a chance to get his food. Naoto found himself face-to-face yet again with Nobuko, who was seemingly waiting for him once more by the doors to the dining hall.

“Hello, Senpai.” She waved at him. “Did you enjoy your class?”

Naoto didn’t say anything in response. He was too startled to even get a word out. He just merely stood there frozen in place, staring at the girl.

“Come on, let’s eat together,” she said. “I hear there’s a special for lunch today. I’m sure it’ll be very delicious..”

Instead, Naoto chose a different option, and that was to turn tail and run. Wanting to escape another unsettling encounter with the new girl, Naoto booked down the hallway and back the way he came as quick as he could.

And while running made Nagatoro sad, it seemed to have the opposite effect on Nobuko. Seeing her “Senpai” flee made her smile even more.

“Not hungry? So be it, Senpai.”

Naoto just kept going. He occasionally darted right passed a couple students who only watched him run away in terror with confusion. Naoto didn’t care. It didn’t matter how many of his classmates looked at him weirdly. The only thing he wanted was to get away.

His dangersense was going off. The back of his head kept on tingling, as if Nobuko was somehow always behind him. No matter how far or fast he went, he still felt her presence looming from his six.

He made it to his club room, though he didn’t go in. Sure, it was his safe haven; his oasis, but running there would be the most predictable thing ever. Naoto knew that, so he decided to skip it. He chose to run further down the hallway, and even up another flight of stairs before he finally made it to a location he deemed was safe enough..

..It was a bathroom. Specifically, inside a bathroom stall on the next floor right above where his club room was. 

Naoto let out a sigh of relief. It wasn’t a place where he’d normally spend time in, but he figured he was protected in there. The bathroom was clean and meant for males only. No girl would dare enter one.

It would be like hiding in a bathroom while you were out playing tag, or hide-and-go-seek. It’s a cheap move, but it guarantees safety. Against the opposite sex, at least.

Naoto leaned against the wall to regain his composure. “What is wrong with her..”

“..I never thought I’d ever find myself hiding from a girl in a boy’s bathroom,” he thought to himself. “Especially as a teenager..”

“I’ll just stay in here for a few minutes and then get back to my club room.. She has to be gone by then..”

Luck, however, is and will never be on Naoto’s side. As soon as he said that, his head started tingling again. He gasped, and then he heard footsteps inside the bathroom. Someone was coming in..

“...”

“..I found you, Senpai.”

His eyes widened in fear. Nobuko came, and actually WALKED into the boy’s bathroom. A place where he thought girls weren’t allowed in was suddenly invaded by one.

There was no one in there but them. Just the two of them, all alone, together. Naoto didn’t even have to look through the tiny cracks of the stall door to notice that she was standing RIGHT in front of it, right outside his stall.

She was like a predator that managed to corner its prey, and the only thing standing in between them was the flimsy stall door that was protecting him.

Naoto tried running through whatever options he had as quickly as he could. He could web up the door to prevent her from opening it, he could scream for help, or climb over, or under into the other stall next to him as quietly as he could. Ultimately, he chose to simply stay quiet, and hope she would get the message and leave.

Of course, Nobuko didn’t budge. “Come on out, Senpai. You don’t have to be scared of me.”

Not a single peep came out of his mouth. Naoto was sweating buckets. His dangersense was on high alert. He prayed harder and harder for her to just go away..

“Please don’t hide from me, Senpai. I only want to be your friend. Let’s go to your club room so you can show me all of your fascinating drawings. Maybe later today, you and I can see each other after school. There’s so many spots in this lovely town that I’m so eager to show you..”

“Just look at this place, Senpai. And all the possibilities..”

Seconds felt like minutes, minutes felt like hours and hours felt like an eternity. Naoto just kept on breathing, breathing and breathing to relax. Staying quiet clearly wasn’t working and Nobuko obviously wasn’t leaving. The bell would ring soon and he’d eventually have to come out and face her. He had to make another decision.

A few more minutes went by, and everything just went silent. He didn’t hear her voice, and couldn’t see her shoes from underneath the door. Did she finally leave? Naoto gave it a couple more moments, and sure enough, it seemed as though she finally left..

“Phew, she got the message..”

Unfortunately, he was wrong again.

He heard her voice call out to him.. From below.

“Hi Senpai.”

Naoto looked down to see Nobuko’s head poking out from underneath the other stall. She was grinning up at him, waving. It was a scene taken directly out of a horror movie.

Terrified, Naoto let out a scream of panic. He hurriedly opened the door and ran right out of the bathroom. He didn’t care about the ruckus he was making. That mental image of Nobuko would traumatize him for life.

He sprinted down the stairs, down the hallway, and back to his club room. There, he noticed Nagatoro, his actual kohai, in front of the door. She had a tray of food in her hands, and was about to head inside until she was stopped by her panicked Senpai.

“Senpai? You’ okay? What happened?”

Relieved, Naoto wasted no time. He immediately slid the door open and went in, even breaking the touch barrier with Nagatoro by grabbing her arm and pulling her along.

“Woah- Senpai! What’s up? Why are you in a hurry?”

Naoto slammed the door shut. He had to take a second to recollect himself before he was able to answer her. Breathing heavily, he had his forehead pressed against the door. His tingle faded away, and he could no longer feel Nobuko’s presence. Perhaps he was surely safe this time..

Initially, Nagatoro was upset at Naoto for suddenly yanking her into the room. She even almost dropped her food. She was about to give him a piece of her mind until she saw the state he was in. Nagatoro saw how distressed and panicked he was, and immediately pushed her frustration aside.

Her Senpai was in dire need of help, so it was time for her to save the day.

“Senpai..” Nagatoro whispered quietly, slowly approaching the boy. “What’s wrong? What happened to you?”

Naoto didn’t respond. He only looked at her for a moment, and then looked back at the floor. He shook his head feverishly, as if telling her “no.”

Nobuko wasn’t normal. She was.. Unusual. Different, and most likely even dangerous. What transpired earlier was proof of that. Getting Nagatoro involved would be the last thing he’d want. He didn’t want to admit it, but her safety meant a lot to him.

Displeased, Nagatoro didn’t take that for an answer. “No, Senpai, please. Tell me what happened. What’s up?”

Realizing Nagatoro wouldn’t budge that easily, Naoto decided to finally be upfront. “..It’s that girl, Nagatoro. The one from earlier..”

It only took Nagatoro a second to know who he was talking about. She immediately knew that the encounter he had with her again wasn’t a good one, and she couldn’t help but feel angry over knowing she did something to him.

“What’d she do? Did she hurt you? Did she say something?”

“..She chased me around the hallways. I couldn’t even get lunch. I.. I tried going into the bathroom to avoid her, but she..”

She gasped. Nagatoro felt her stomach drop. What she heard absolutely mortified her. Some creepy girl who literally oozed negative energy literally followed her Senpai into the bathroom? Nagatoro had to take a second to process what he just said.

“..I know that makes me sound pathetic, but..”

“..That was probably one of the scariest things that’s ever happened to me, Nagatoro..”

Nagatoro focused on that first bit. She didn’t like hearing him talk badly about himself. “Hey, no. Don’t say that about yourself, Senpai. I’d be scared too if someone followed me into the bathroom. You didn’t do anything wrong, okay?”

Naoto nodded silently, beginning to gradually ease up upon hearing her comforting words. Then, Nagatoro went to open the door.

“You stay here. I’m gonna go find this creep. I’ll handle this, Senpai-”

Suddenly, Naoto grabbed her arm, stopping her from leaving the room. Nagatoro blushed. She didn’t say a word as she just stared up at him.

“N- No no no, don’t do that, Nagatoro. P- Please don’t do that.” Normally, Naoto would think twice about putting his hands on a girl. This, however, was different. After knowing what kind of person Nobuko was, there was no way in hell he would have Nagatoro confront her. 

Nagatoro looked at his hand, and then back at him.

“Senpai, don’t worry,” she tried to argue. “I got this.”

Still, he didn’t relent. “No- P- Please just trust me on this, Nagatoro.. It’s not worth it.”

Nagatoro finally nodded, ultimately deciding to listen to him. Naoto released her from his grip and then took a seat on a nearby stool by the table.

“..sorry for grabbing you, by the way,” he apologized quietly.

“You don’t need to apologize for everything, Senpai.” Nagatoro sat down across from him. “Everything’s fine now.”

Nagatoro continued with a little giggle, wanting to try and up the mood. “It sounds weird, anyways."

“..Right. Sorry..”

The two sat there for the rest of the time being. Nagatoro even offered him her bowl of rice. Naoto initially refused, but she insisted. He didn’t eat anything up until then, and Nagatoro figured the least she could do was give him some of her lunch. 

As he ate, however, his head tingled again. His dangersense kicked in, and though it was a subtle and much smaller feeling compared to earlier, it was enough to alarm him. Naoto scanned the room, and spotted what was triggering him.

Sitting in one of the upper corners of the room, was a lone spider with a strange color on its abdomen. Not like the one that bit him, but definitely one that he’d never seen before. The spider was frozen in place for a few seconds, before it finally started to move. Naoto watched it walk until it eventually disappeared by crawling into a vent.

“..What’re you starin’ at, Senpai?” Nagatoro asked him.

“Oh, uh, nothing. I was just thinking about something, that’s all..”

Unbeknownst to them, Nobuko was right outside the door. She walked away soon after, grinning.

The bell eventually rang. Lunch came to an end, and a couple hours later, so would their final classes. Naoto wanted to stay for his art club, but then quickly decided it was best to leave straight away, lest he risk another encounter with Nobuko. The chances of her coming at him again remained, so long as he was on campus.

As such, he walked home, being accompanied by his true kohai who kept up beside him.

“..Don’t you have judo practice today?” He asked her. “Aren’t they gonna wonder why you’re not there?”

“Ah, I think I can miss a day,” she reassured him with a smile. “It’s not like I can really do much, anyways. I’m still injured.” Nagatoro brandished her still fractured arm in the air.

“Is that so..”

They continued to walk together. Thankfully, Nagatoro wouldn’t be left abandoned by him this time. They both stuck with each other for the whole ride.

“..hey, Senpai? I’ve been forgetting to ask, how come we don’t have each other’s numbers yet?”

Naoto gasped faintly. He never exchanged contact information with a girl before. This was a new thing for him. It made Naoto nervous. His face flushed red.

“..I don’t know,” he muttered. “I.. Guess we just never got the chance to? We’ve been kinda busy and all..”

Nagatoro pulled her phone out of her pocket. It was your usual smartphone with a black cat-eared case. “Well, then let’s do it now before we forget again! Trust me, if we don’t do it now, we’re not gonna remember until much later on.”

He slowly pulled out his own phone in return, which only had an ordinary red case. “I- I guess so. Just don’t expect much from me, okay? I’m not really good at texting people like this..”

“It’s fine, Senpai! I don’t mind!”

They then exchanged contacts, with Nagatoro happily adding him into her favorites list. She eagerly showed him her screen to confirm that he was indeed now a part of her contacts.

“All set, Senpai! I have you on my phone. Now, just don’t send me anything pervy, alright? I’m really not interested in seeing one of your favorite hentai mangas, hehe!”

Nagatoro laughed, and Naoto blushed harder. “..very funny.. I won’t send you anything like that, I promise..”

Unfortunately, their sweet little moment was interrupted when his dangersense kicked in yet again. Alerted, Naoto looked around to find what was causing his head to tingle.

“Huh? What is it, Senpai?”

He didn’t get a chance to respond before he finally found the culprit. To his horror, he spotted Nobuko in the distance. There she was, standing there like a creep. She just stood in place and didn’t move a muscle. The only thing she did was just watch them from afar with a smile.

“Senpai..” Nagatoro’s jaw dropped. “Is that..”

“..Nagatoro. Run.”

“Wha- Run? Are you being serious right now, Senpai?” Nagatoro didn’t agree with his plan. “We should confront her! Not run away!”

Of course, Naoto insisted. “P- Please just run, Nagatoro.. Trust me on this one..”

“Wait, but what about you, Senpai?”

In truth, he didn’t want to split up. Nagatoro leaving would mean that he’d be left alone with Nobuko again, and that was the very last thing he wanted. He knew, however, that separating was the best thing they could do. Nobuko couldn’t possibly follow both of them, and if she were to pick one, Naoto figured that she'd go after him.

He gulped, preparing himself for what was about to happen. “..I’ll be.. I’ll be fine. You- You get home, a- and please.. Text me once you do, okay?”

She nodded one last time, still unsure of his plan but ultimately deciding to follow through. “..sure thing, Senpai.”

With that, Nagatoro turned around and ran home without him. Once she was gone, it was just them two. Naoto and Nobuko, staring right at each other. There was still a sizable distance in between them, but he knew that it wouldn’t do much to impede her at all. That gap meant nothing; it’d be thinned in no time.

Naoto saw her grin grow bigger, as if Nobuko was delighted to have some more “alone time” with him. The second he saw that; he knew it was his que. Taking another deep breath, Naoto too turned tail and darted away. Nobuko didn’t move at all.

He ran, ran and ran, taking different routes and paths to try and throw her off. The further he went, the less he felt her presence, and eventually he didn’t feel her at all. Still, he didn’t stop. He had to keep going until he was within the safety of his home.

Soon enough, he saw his house and didn’t waste a single moment. He opened his gate, ran into his yard, zoomed straight for his front door, and dashed right inside, closing the thing behind him immediately. After locking the door, he slumped down against the wall, taking deep breaths to try and regain himself.

Naoto ran upstairs to his room. He peered out his windows, looking to see if there were any signs of Nobuko. There was nothing in sight. No strange or suspicious figures standing outside his home. He let out a huge sigh of relief, finally being allowed some fresh air to relax. Deep down, however, part of him still felt as if he wasn’t completely rid of her..

He collapsed on to his bed, not even bothering to get changed. He pulled his phone out and checked to see if there were any notifications from Nagatoro. He saw nothing. Maybe she hadn’t gotten home yet..

Minutes went by, and Naoto kept checking his phone. Still, he came up short. He never once got any sort of confirmation from her. Nothing, not a call, text, or voicemail. A sense of dread came to him. He shot up from his bed, beginning to panic.

“She should be home by now.. There’s no way she lives THAT far, right..?”

He started feeling uneasy. Did something happen to her? Did she stop to run errands or something? Stop to fetch herself some food? Did.. No, did.. Did Nobuko follow her?

His hands were shaking as he just gripped on to his phone. He remembered not really feeling her presence behind him earlier. Perhaps Nobuko really did target her instead. He was contemplating on whether or not he should text her. Ultimately, he shot her a simple message: “Are you home?”

He waited a couple more minutes. Still no response. Fearing the worst, Naoto decided to take matters into his own hands. If Nobuko really did go after Nagatoro, then he needed to be there. No way would he let that sick creep hurt her.

With no time to spare, he hurriedly rushed to his closet, and began to suit up.

Naoto soon rose out from his window in his shabby outfit, now emerging as “That Spider-Guy.” This was his first time operating as his secretive alter ego in broad daylight. None of that mattered to him. The people of Hayama had already seen him the night before. As long as his mask was on, his identity was safe. Plus, he had a mission to complete:

Find Nagatoro.

Though he didn’t know exactly where she lived, he remembered that she took the same route home as him a few days ago. With that to go off of, Naoto searched his neighborhood, scanning the streets and roads below. Along the way, he was occasionally spotted by a few students who were also walking home, one of them being his friend Takao, who failed to recognize him. Ultimately, Naoto didn’t find anything.

He then went back to school and searched the areas there. There were still students who were staying for their clubs, like the swim and track club. Naoto tried to find her there and came up short again. While he was at school, Orihara, Shikki, and her two friends caught sight of him, and they all stared up at the “Spider-Guy” in awe.

The third location he checked was the neighborhoods near his favorite family-owned restaurant. Again, there were no signs of Nagatoro. Naoto began to worry. Did something truly awful happen to her? Where the hell was she? Before he left, Ren and Ryo, who were out with two other girls for a double date of sorts, walked out of the restaurant and saw him. The four of them were marveling at the sight of the Spider-Guy, especially Ren and Ryo.

With nowhere else to look, Naoto was running out of options. He was starting to panic. He perched himself on top of a roof and just sat there, thinking. Where else could she have gone..?

Then, his phone began to vibrate. Someone was calling him. He immediately pulled it out, and to his joy, it was Nagatoro. He answered it without a second thought.

“H- Hello, h- hello?” He spoke into the phone. “Nagatoro?”

“Hey, Senpai! Sorry for calling so late. My sister came home with a lot of groceries so I needed to help her.”

Naoto let out a huge sigh of relief. Thank God nothing bad happened to her.

“O- Oh.. Okay.. That’s fine. So.. You’re home now, right?”

“Yep, I got home safely. Don’t you worry, Senpai. What about you? Are you home too?”

Naoto took a second to answer. He didn't want to tell her that he was out as the Spider-Guy, so he had to lie. “..Yeah.. I’m home. Just in my room, you know. Did you, uh- ..Did you see, you know, her?”

“No,” she responded. “I haven’t seen her at all. You?”

“..Not yet.”

“Well, that’s good, Senpai. You’re at your house. She’s not gonna find you.”

There was a pause, or an awkward silence more like. Naoto didn’t know what to say, and on the other end, neither did Nagatoro. This was their first phone call together, and it was them two checking up on each other.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity for the both of them, Nagatoro finally spoke.

“..were you worried about me, Senpai?”

Naoto couldn’t help but blush. “W- Worried? What do you- uh..”

“People don’t usually check up on someone unless they’re worried about them,” she told him. “..Or if they care about them, you know?”

He struggled to muster up a response. “I- I, well.. I wasn’t worri- I mean, I was, but.. Not like tha- Um..”

Naoto heard her giggle, and despite not being able to see it, Nagatoro too was blushing hard. “You’re so weird sometimes, Senpai."

“..I’m not..” He muttered.

“Hey, I’ve gotta go now,” she then told him. “You stay safe, Senpai.”

“..y- you too. Uh, bye..”

Their call came to an end. Sliding his phone back into his pocket, Naoto was now able to rest easy knowing that Nagatoro was free from Nobuko’s grasp. No harm came to either of them. After letting out another sigh of relief, Naoto stood up and zipped to another roof, going back to traverse Hayama as “That Spider-Guy.”

A lone home surrounded by nothing but trees sat near the outskirts of Hayama away from everything else. Being isolated from the main town, it would make for a nice, solitary vacation spot, except that it was currently being occupied by someone much, much more sinister.

As the sun set and the moon rose, Nobuko stared out from the window, overlooking the scenery.

“Oh, how beautiful this town is,” she whispered, twiddling her fingers for seemingly no reason. “And the people.. Oh, they’re just perfect.”

Nobuko moved away from the window, and navigated herself through a darkened room lit only with dim candles, until she stopped at a desk. There, she grabbed a textbook from one of her classes.

“My classmates are so young and full of energy. They’ll do just fine..”

“..Especially my Senpai.”

She set the book down and turned around. What was behind her was truly horrifying..

There were webs all over, piling up like mounds. Only God knew what those webs were covering underneath. What was most frightening, however, was a young man bound in webs from head to toe, hanging upside from the ceiling. His face was the only thing that wasn’t covered, save for his mouth which prevented him from screaming.

“I have him and his little friend right at my fingertips. He’s a bit scared of me, but I think I can still reel him in just as easily as I have done with you.”

Nobuko approached the bound man and loomed directly in front of him. She returned his mortified stare with an eerie smirk.

“My only problem.. Is that he seems to be a hero to you people.."

The man winced again upon seeing a large spider crawling all over Nobuko. It went up her arm, around her neck, and then up to her face, where it sat comfortably on her cheek. Said spider had the same exact color pattern as the one that bit Naoto, except this one was larger. Much larger.

“I see that my little lovelies have already bitten him," Nobuko joked as she grabbed the spider. "No matter. Senpai's clearly inexperienced. I can do so many things to him.."

"..Maybe I'll spare him, and teach him how to use his powers. I could use a helping hand around here. The two of us together sounds thrilling.."

"..but if he resists, then I'm more than happy to break him, and eat him. He has my blood flowing inside him.. He must taste delicious."

The man’s eyes widened, horrified at what he was hearing.

“But before I do that.. Let me indulge on my premeal.."

Then, the very last thing the man saw was a pair of eight legs protruding out of Nobuko’s back. With one last final giggle, she opened her mouth, and pounced on the man. He let out muffled and agonizing screams as he was brutally devoured by her..

Chapter Text

The sun was nearly setting, and the sky was a warm tinge of orange. Along a lonely road leading back to the neighborhoods was Sakura, who had just gotten off from work. She had her phone held up to her ear as she spoke to Yukko, her friend, to kill the silence.

“ Today was such a long day!” She exclaimed, stretching her arms into the air. “We had way more customers than usual.”

Sakura was always a hard worker for a woman her age. Her parents owned a small, cozy local restaurant, and growing up she would often help out the business in any way she could. She’d host and welcome guests, take orders, sort tickets, and even cook food when the need arose. When closing hours came, Sakura would sometimes stay over and help her mother clean the place. Sakura’s busy schedule at the restaurant resulted in her frequently missing out on hangouts with her friends, and even caused her grades to plummet. Still, she always knew the importance of hard work, and was never, ever picky about the food that she was blessed to have on her table.

“ Oh believe me, Yukko. The place was packed. I was on overdrive the whole day. I was sweating and my feet are soooo sore. I literally might just end up falling asleep as soon as I get home!”

Sakura looked around the area, and then up at the sun. It was getting late, and it’d certainly be dark out by the time she got home. Yukko asked if she made it on the other end.

“ No, I’m still walking,” Sakura told her. “I still have a little bit to go."

Yukko was nervous for her safety, so Sakura had to reassure her that everything was fine. “I’m not scared to walk alone, Yukko. I’ve done this for years! Nothing bad’s ever happened to me.”

She warned Sakura about a popular legend in Japanese folklore. “..Hachishaku-sama?” Sakura asked. “Oh please, I know about that myth. She stalks kids, not teenagers like us, Yukko. Besides, my guardian spirit will always protect me.”

Sakura kept on walking. She stayed on the phone with Yukko the entire time. She was still a few blocks out, and Hayama’s streetlamps were already on, but Sakura still kept going without any worry. Along the way, they engaged in their usual girl-talk, and the subject of boys was brought up. 

“ You and your boyfriend are so cute!” Sakura told her happily. “I heard he took you to the arcade the other day. That’s so awesome! Arcades are so cool. I’ve always wanted to go to one.”

Yukko told her all about her date, which Sakura was delighted to hear.

“..Oh, that sounded so much fun!” Sakura exclaimed. “I bet you two had a great time! Rock Hero is always fun. Honestly, I expected him to be good at that game. Didn’t you say he plays guitar? He should definitely be a pro at Rock Hero then.”

Then, in return, Yukko asked her about her own love life by bringing up a particular duo.

“..My two senpais?” Sakura asked. “Oh, you mean Ren and Ryo-kun? Yeah, they’re so into music like your boyfriend, Yukko. They’re even in a band and they let me listen to some of their songs. It’s pretty good!”

Yukko then asked if she was interested in them. Sakura shook her head. “..No, I’m not into them! Well, not anymore, at least..”

She paused again, before explaining her reasoning to Yukko.

“ They’re super cute but I’ve realized that they’re just not for me, honestly. I’ve thought about it, and I just can’t see myself with someone like them, you know? I mean, it’s the same reason why I didn’t date that other guy. They’re just too cocky. Plus, my friends don’t really like them, either..”

As Sakura kept walking, however, she was blissfully unaware of the fact that she was being followed. Right on her trail was two guys: One with very puffy hair and the other with a baseball cap and goatee. They both looked a bit older than her age. College students, most likely. Lord knows how long they've been following her for. They had such perverted smiles on their faces as they kept stalking the first year girl.

Sakura was too busy with her conversation with Yukko that she didn't notice them until she approached a crosswalk.

At first, Sakura wasn’t bothered by them. Her initial thought was that they were just two random dudes walking in the same direction as her. That was something one would expect when walking down the street, right? Sakura paid them no mind and kept on going, though part of her began to have a bad feeling in her gut.

Sakura continued to walk, ignoring the men while chatting with Yukko. Eventually, she started noticing that the men kept staying behind her. No matter where she went, they were right on her tail every step of the way. Even when she got close to her house, they were always behind her. At that point, her gut feeling worsened, and Sakura began to get scared.

Who were these guys? What did they want from her? Why were they following her?

“ Oh my God, Yukko,” she quietly uttered into the phone. “There’s these two guys following me and they look so creepy. I’m so scared..”

Not wanting to potentially lead them straight to her house, she stopped abruptly and turned around, wanting to face the men despite being terrified. Lowering her phone, she addressed them. “Excuse me, do you guys need something?”

The man with the puffy hair grinned. “ We were just wonderin’ if you were lost,” he said, before stopping along with his pal.

“ A cutie like you shouldn’t be walkin’ out this late,” his friend in the baseball cap added. “We could help ya’ get to wherever you’re goin’.”

Sakura wanted to vomit. These obvious perverts were clearly trying to creep up on her, and their offers to “help her” disgusted her to no end. She felt sick to her stomach.

Her voice stammered. She’s walked home many times, and never once has she ever had to deal with perverted stalkers following her home before.

“Uh.. No thanks. I really should be going now.”

Of course, they persisted. The puffy-haired boy wasn’t going to give up that easily.

“ Nahh, come on. We can’t just leave a cute lookin’ gal like yourself out here on the road. Let us help ya’. My buddy and I know this place pretty well.”

Sakura took a step back. She gave them a meek-sounding “no” in response, but to no avail. The two men continued their advances. She was able to see their gross-looking, devious smiles on their faces. She kept trembling backwards until she lost her footing, in which she fell down right on her ass.

Then, as the guys were approaching her, something miraculous happened, and it happened fast. 

At one moment, the two guys were closing in, and the next, she watched in shock as the boy in the hat was violently yanked away by something from behind. Recoiling, the puffy-haired boy began trying to help his friend up.

“ What the hell is this?!” He shouted. He saw what seemed like.. Spider webs on his friend’s back.

He reached behind to feel the webs on his back, and then shrieked. “Gah- SHIT! Get this off me! I freakin’ hate spiders, man!”

It was a massive web, one far too big to be from a regular spider. They were wondering what kind of freaky-looking unnatural spider was strong enough to web up and yank back a fully-grown adult human so easily.

Suddenly, they got their answer, and to everyone’s shock, it was no spider, but a person.

The newcomer landed feet-first on to the pavement in between Sakura and the boys, as if he’d just fallen right out of the sky. He slowly rose to his feet, stood up straight, and then stared at the college perverts. To their horror, the boys were met face-to-face with a certain masked boy in a beanie.

Enter Naoto Hachioji: That Spider Guy. Hayama’s “Talk-of-the-Town”, coming to Sakura’s aid.

“ ..i- i- ..” The puffy-haired boy couldn’t even speak. “..it’s you.”

Naoto didn’t say anything. There was no need to. His mere presence as his web-slinging alter ego was more than enough to have these guys shivering in their boots. He acted like Sakura’s big, strong bodyguard, and it was clearly working.

A few more seconds passed, and Naoto watched as the two guys started to retreat. They both just booked it the hell out of there. He even heard one of them shout, “We’re sorry, Spider-Guy!” while fleeing. Once they disappeared into the distance and he was sure they were gone, Naoto turned around to face Sakura.

It was like a fantasy to her. The whole thing seemed like a scene ripped straight out of a romance film. A young pretty girl, a damsel-in-distress, being saved by a brave and mighty knight in shining armor..

..except Naoto’s Spider-Guy persona was less “shiny” and more “shabby.”

There was a little hint of red on her face. Sakura was very clearly blushing at the sight of her hero who saved her day. Naoto picked up on her blush and began doing the same. He wasn’t ready for this part of the job at all.

It took him a bit to say anything. Not wanting to risk the chance of Sakura recognizing his voice, he decided to speak in a super low and very deepened tone, much like how your classic superhero would..

..except he was doing a horrible job at it.

“ ..Are you okay,” was what he asked her. He wanted to slap himself for sounding so ridiculous.

“ ..y- yeah..” Sakura quietly muttered as she got up from the pavement. Fortunately for him, Naoto’s plan was working. She didn’t seem to recognize him. “You’re.. You’re that Spider-Guy. The one everyone’s been talking about.”

Naoto slowly nodded, and then pointed in the direction where the two guys went. “..Did they hurt you?”

She shook her head no, smiling. “No, they didn’t. You came just in time.. thank you."

Naoto was able to see the sparkles of joy in her eyes. His blushing underneath his mask intensified. No girl other than Nagatoro had ever stared at him so happily before. He didn’t know how to react.

“ ..you’re.. welcome.. ma’am.” Naoto’s voice was shaking. He took a step back, using this opportunity to make his leave.

“ You get home safe now,” he told her. “I’ll always.. be here for you.” Then, he shot a web into the air, and Sakura watched as her hero webbed himself up on to the rooftops and disappeared soon after.

“ Bye..” She whispered, waving goodbye at him. To her, it didn’t matter how silly Naoto’s voice was. His web-head identity was so dreamy to her. Sakura always believed in guardian angels, but after what happened, she firmly believed that she just met hers.

Sakura raised her phone back up to her ear. “Yukkio, you still there? Oh my God, you totally won’t believe what just happened..”

Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!

After getting Sakura out of that sticky situation, Naoto zipped, swung, and ran all across Hayama before making his way to the roof of his favorite scenic spot. By now it was already nightfall. Beautiful stars were scattered all throughout the sky.

“ Hopefully she made it home safely..” He whispered to himself as he watched the waters below. “Maybe I should’ve stayed longer and walked her..”

Naoto thought about the whole thing. He was asking so many questions to himself. Was scaring them off not enough? Should he have roughed ‘em up a bit more to teach them a lesson? Was Sakura going to be alright? This was his first time dealing with criminal scum as his second identity, so he was wondering if he got his first assessment right.

“ ..Hopefully I didn’t hurt that guy too bad.” Naoto remembered how he used his webs to pull one of them back. “If I was able to break a sink without even thinking about it, then I could’ve done some serious damage to him..”

“ ..Maybe I should start watching my strength while I’m doing this.” Naoto took a second to inspect his hands, the pair of hands that were capable of inflicting some major damage on anything and anyone if he wasn’t careful.

Then, his phone began to ring. Someone was calling him. His initial thought was that it was Nagatoro. Why would she be calling him at this hour? Either she wanted to tease him again, or..

..Nobuko somehow found her and is now standing right smack on her front yard.

Naoto rushed to whip his phone out, and his heart sank when he saw the name of the caller.

It wasn’t Nagatoro. Instead, he saw a simple, three-letter word.

"DAD."

He immediately answered his phone. It didn’t matter if you had superpowers; If your pops called you in the middle of the night wondering where the hell you were, you best answer.

“ ..Hello?”

“ Naoto, where are you?” His dad, while he didn't sound angry, was direct with him. “It’s late and your mother’s worried sick.”

There was no way in hell his parents could know about his alter-ego. Naoto had to come up with an excuse, and fast.

“ ..I’m.. uh.” His voice was shaking, but he tried his best to remain calm so as to not raise suspicions. He just didn’t know what to say!

“ Are you still at school?” His dad asked.

“ No- I’m at, uh- I’m at a friend’s house to work on a group project.” That was the best thing he could’ve come up with.

Naoto couldn’t see it, but his dad was raising an eyebrow. His son never stayed out this late before. “Who’s your friend? What’s the project for?”

Naoto couldn’t think of a name, so he had use one of his friends. “His name’s Takao, and it’s for our- uh- science class. We needed to make a 3D model of an atom..”

“ Oh okay. Why’s your voice muffled, bud?”

Naoto gulped. It took him a bit to respond. “O- Oh, it’s because we’re spray painting right now. I’m wearing a mask.”

Thankfully, he was able to get the ball rolling with his lies. His dad seemed to believe them. “Okay. Yeah, make sure to have a mask on. What time are you coming home?”

“ We’re actually about to wrap up right now,” Naoto answered. “Takao doesn’t live far from us. It’s like, a ten minute walk.”

“ It’s dark out, bud,” his dad said. “Why don’t you have mom come get you instead?”

That was something Naoto definitely didn’t want. “N- No no, it’s okay. I can walk, dad. Thanks though..”

“ ..hm, well, alright then, Naoto. Just be careful, and come home soon. There’s a lot of talk about someone running around at night so I don’t want you out too late.”

There was no doubt that his dad was talking about the Spider-Guy. Naoto was sweating buckets but was forever thankful that he didn’t seem to catch on. “Y- Yeah, I’ve heard about that. I’ll be home soon, dad. I promise..”

“ Alright, bye.” Then, his dad hung up.

“ Bye..”

Not wanting to raise anymore suspicions than he likely already had, Naoto figured it was time to head home. Sliding his phone back into his pocket, he took a deep breath and dove right off of the building. A quick "THIWP" with his webbing allowed him to easily find himself on another rooftop.

“ I still gotta get used to this,” Naoto thought to himself, taking note of the scary and dangerous nature of literally taking leaps of faith off of buildings.

His journey home was cut short, however, when he spotted an orange glow with black smoke rising above it. It was another fire, but Naoto noticed that it was too small to be a house burning down. Naoto zipped towards its direction and discovered that it was actually a car that was set ablaze.

Then, he was able to see a person, clad in pitch-black clothing, with a hood over his head. There was no doubt that this was the pyromaniac culprit. Naoto’s suspicion was confirmed when he saw him throw a bottle on to the car, where more flames began to spread when it shattered.

He was shocked. Who the hell was throwing molotovs at cars this time of night?!

This was surely something he needed to intervene in, even if he was secretly anxious about it. He flung himself into an inferno to save a child not too long ago, but this was different. He’d never seen this level of destructive violence done on purpose before, and stepping in to stop it was completely new to him. On top of that, Naoto sensed a great deal of danger coming from the hooded-man. This was no ordinary bully like Ren or Ryo.

No, it was clear that he was dangerous.

Still, Naoto persevered, and dropped down to the scene, landing a few feet behind the man.

“ ..Hey!” He called out to him, doing his best to try and sound brave. “What are you doing?”

The man turned around upon hearing his voice, and when he did, Naoto was met with the meanest and angriest face he had ever seen in his entire life.

He was taller, and looked to be a bit older than Naoto, most likely a university student just like the two creeps he protected Sakura from. However, this guy was different. There was definitely something wrong with him and you’d have to be blind to not notice.

He looked drugged out, and almost psychotic, even. His skin, while an eerie pale, had a small tinge of red from the absolute rage he was exhibiting, and there were even some veins that were visible. He was breathing very heavily and was gritting his teeth like a rapid dog trying to intimidate someone. Naoto’s presence only seemed to make him angrier. He had what looked like a rusty metal rod in his hands and was gripping on to it so tightly like his life depended on it. Naoto saw how tense his body was, but more importantly..

..he saw his eyes, which had a very subtle purple glow in them.

“ ..woah,” was what Naoto quietly muttered as he recoiled slightly from what he thought was some cracked out druggie.

“ ..who the hell are you,” the man snarled, looking like he was this close to just killing Naoto on the spot. “...”

“ ..what the HELL do you WANT?! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!”

Naoto flinched again, and almost froze. Indeed, he’d never seen someone so hostile like this before. He took a second to regain his composure, before slowly raising his hands out in front of him, gesturing to the man that he meant no harm.

“ ..relax.. okay? I can- ..I can help you, just-.. step away from the fire and I can call someone for you.”

Naoto’s attempts to calm him down were in vain. He continued to look like he could blow a fuse any second and kept shouting at the top of his lungs.

“Help? HELP?! I don’t want your help, I don’t NEED HELP! I don’t need ANYONE’S GOD DAMN HELP!”

Naoto persisted, and inched towards him very slowly, keeping his hands out at all times.

“..please, just let me help you, okay? I- I’m not gonna hurt you. If you could just- calm down, I can get you some help.”

Unfortunately, nothing was working. Naoto’s words only seemed to be ticking the young man off even more.

“You really think I need help?! You really think someone could help me?! Look at me!”

“…”

“ ..LOOK AT ME!”

Seemingly at his tipping point, he suddenly lobbed the metal rod right at Naoto with the sole intention of harming him. Fortunately, Naoto’s “tingle” was able to alert him to the attack, allowing him to avoid the rod successfully. Shocked, Naoto watched it bounce off of a wall behind him.

Then, his senses kicked in again. The young man reached into his pocket, and yanked out a small knife. Naoto was forced to react accordingly and dodge as the man charged at him.

“ I TOLD YOU TO GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!” He continued to yell. The man swiped and swung his knife at the masked web-slinger before him.

As expected, Naoto was evading each and every one of his attacks, but there was no doubt that he was panicking while doing so. This wasn’t Ren, Ryo, or some other bully trying to beat him up. This was a deranged, crazed killer who was intentionally trying to kill him, and it was clear that the man wasn’t going to stop until Naoto was on the ground laying in his own blood. There were moments where his fear nearly clouded his tingle, causing him to experience a few very close calls.

“ No- Please-” Naoto begged. “I don’t wanna do this- I don’t wanna hurt you! Don’t make me do this!"

His pleas were being totally ignored, so Naoto was forced to return fire. After sending his attacker back with a light shove, Naoto hesitantly used his webbing to web up the man’s hand that was holding the knife. The webbing caused him to be driven back further until his hand was stuck to a wall, while his knife simply fell to the ground. Naoto webbed up his other hand to pin him down even more.

Naoto took deep breaths to try and calm down. He had just survived his first ever encounter with an attempted-murderer and he didn’t know what to think. Meanwhile, said attempted-murderer was screaming his lungs off, swearing and hurling various obscenities towards the boy, all while squirming to try and break free from his cobweb-restraints.

“ I’LL KILL YOU! I’LL KILL YOU! YOU HEAR ME?! I’LL KILL YOU!”

Naoto motioned his hands up and downward, gesturing for him to keep quiet. “Look- I’m sorry for this but if you could just- please calm down, I can get you some help!”

Unfortunately, their fight attracted unwanted attention. Naoto began to hear sirens in the distance.

The burning car and the man’s shouting alerted the police to their activities. Naoto felt his heart sink.

He knew how bad the situation looked. The place was a crime scene and he was standing right in the middle of it. The fact that he was wearing a mask certainly wouldn’t help his case. The police would no doubt think he was a criminal. Naoto didn’t know how to explain what just went down and he definitely wasn’t prepared to be seen as a potential menace to society.

So, in the heat of the moment, Naoto did one thing..

..and that was run. With one quick "THWIP", Naoto webbed up on to the rooftops and zipped away. Meanwhile, the man was still swearing and shouting like a lunatic. By the time the police arrived, Naoto was already perched on top of the roof of his own home.

Taking a second to process everything, Naoto sighed, and quietly crawled into his window.

The next morning, only an hour before the school day started, the entire Toro-gang met up on a bench underneath a gazebo. They spent a good amount of time engaging in their usual “girl-talk,” until Sakura decided to share some really huge news.

“ You guys totally won’t believe this,” she said. “But I saw that Spider-guy yesterday!”

Upon hearing what their friend had just said, they immediately looked at her with immense degrees of interest. None of them had seen Naoto’s web-slinging alter ego for themselves, so Sakura being the first to do so was surely something to talk about.

“ No way." Nagatoro, who was seated next to her, was in disbelief. “Are you bein’ for real right now?”

“ Yep!” Sakura nodded excitedly. “I’m telling the truth! He saved me, actually!”

Record scratch sound effect! That last bit forced her friends to do a double-take. No way they just heard that correctly.

“ Waitwaitwait, hold on a second.” Gamo-chan, who sat across from her, leaned in curiously. “You said he saved you? From what? What happened, Sakura?”

“ Yeah! What happened?” Yoshi repeated after her friend.

In response, Sakura began recalling her encounter with Hayama’s Very Own Spider-Guy. “Well, when I was walking home from work, two guys started following me. Like, literally stalking me! I didn’t realize it until I was about fifteen minutes away from my house. I tried getting away from them. It was so scary..”

Her friends were shocked, but they all kept giving the girl their undivided attention. They were like little children reveling in their grandpa’s stories. Gamo-chan in particular began to get upset. She always sought to take care of her gang, and learning about Sakura being stalked made her angry.

“ ..but then, he came!” Sakura continued. “He landed right in front of me like he just dropped from the sky!”

“ Really?” Gamo-chan asked in amazement. “What’d he do? Did he beat them up?”

“ I think he used some of his web-thingies on one of them?” Sakura tried to recall. “I don’t know. It all happened so fast. All I remember is that he appeared out of nowhere, and the guys just started running! Like, they were totally scared of him!”

Nagatoro had the same expression on her face as Gamo-chan. “What was he like? Did you get a good look at him?”

“ I couldn’t tell who he was because he was wearing a mask,” Sakura answered. “But he had a deep voice. Like, a really deep voice. He’s kinda tall too.”

Nagatoro started mentally listing all the boys she knew to see if any of them fit the profile. She was a popular girl, so there was a lot of them to go through. With such a vague description, however, she ultimately came up short. A boy who was "tall with a deep voice" could literally be anyone.

“ Honestly, after all that,” Sakura added. A little tinge of red started to appear on her face. “I really believe that he’s my guardian angel. The way he just came down to save me was like a knight in shining armor. There has to be a really hot guy underneath that mask.”

Gamo-chan rolled her eyes and chuckled. “Here we go again with your little romantic fantasies.”

Then, their hangout was interrupted by the appearance of two obnoxious boys.

“ What is up, ladieees~!” Ren was the first to proudly announce himself. Ryo followed up his pal with his own greeting right off the bat by shouting “Waaaasup” with the same energy.

Nagatoro's morning was ruined. She didn't look happy to see them one bit. She’d never forget about what those two idiots did with her Senpai in the hallways a few days prior. Gamo-chan gave them a soft “what’s up” in response, and Yoshi took a second to mutter a simple “hi.” Sakura was the only one who was excited to see them, so she gave the two boys an enthusiastic greeting in return.

“ School isn’t gonna start for another hour,” Ryo said as he took a seat next to Yoshi. “What’re you ladies doin’ here?”

“ Just hangin’ out!” Sakura answered. “What about you guys?”

Before answering on Ryo’s behalf, Ren decided to take a seat across from him, sitting right next to Nagatoro who only grew more infuriated. “We just got done wrappin’ up a song at our boy’s house. It’s already starting to sound like a hit. To be honest, we might just ditch the whole day today and head back to his place.”

“ We got some heat brewin’ up and we’d rather focus on that,” Ryo added. “We’ll let you girls listen to our stuff later if you want.”

Sakura sounded eager. “Ooh, I’d love to!”

“ Hang on,” Gamo-chan interrupted. “I heard you two don’t even show up to your club meetings, and now you wanna start ditching school? You know your guys’ president’s gonna flip out on you two, right?”

“ Oh jeez, you’re not kidding!” Ryo laughed. “That president sure is scary.”

Ren chimed in. “But you don’t gotta worry ‘bout us, ladies. We know what we’re doin’.”

Then, he turned his attention towards Nagatoro. “Say Hayacchi, we’re cool, right? You’re not mad at us anymore, are ya’?”

The girl only glared at him. “Did you really just ask me that?”

“ Oh come on,” he chuckled. “We really weren’t doing anything with that guy. Would ya’ lighten up?”

Gamo-chan raised an eyebrow at them. She didn’t say anything, but she sure was listening.

The group spent a good amount of time just talking. Ren and Ryo kept making jokes, boasting about their mischievous delinquent activities and their future music careers, all in an attempt to impress the group. Nagatoro just tried to block out their presence. Sakura, on the other hand, was happily engaging with them. Yoshi was nervous and kept stuttering every time she had to speak. Gamo-chan noticed that they weren’t even acknowledging her, but she didn’t care. She didn’t like them, anyways.

Eventually, the subject of a certain masked web-head was brought up once again, when Sakura told the boys about her encounter with Hayama’s Talk-of-the-Town. To their surprise, Ren and Ryo revealed that they too saw “That Spider Guy” when they were leaving the family-owned restaurant the day prior. The news immediately gained the girl’s interest. Even Nagatoro looked at them curiously.

“ Did you see who it was?” Sakura eagerly asked them.

Ryo shook his head no in response. “Nah, he had a mask on so I couldn’t see his face, but I swear, that guy’s a total badass! We walk out, and then all of a sudden, we see him up above on top of buildings! The guy’s runnin’ and jumpin’ around like he was playing Mirror’s Vertex!”

Sakura leaned in curiously before Ryo continued.

“ We even saw him using his webs! He was climbin’ on ‘em and pullin’ himself through the air with ‘em! I’m pretty sure he even used them to jump across, like, fifty feet!”

“ Woow..” Sakura marveled as she imagined her “Guardian Angel” majestically souring through the air with bright, vibrant sun rays around him. “I don’t know anyone who can do all that. I wonder who it is..”

“ Well, whoever it is has gotta be the coolest person in the world!” Ryo responded.

Nagatoro too couldn’t help but wonder who this Spider-Guy was and what he was capable of. He just seemed like he was ripped straight out of a comic book.

Unfortunately, her thought process was interrupted, and her mood was killed even more so than it already has when Ren suddenly wrapped his arm around her. If there was anybody in the world who she’d absolutely hate to be touched by, it was him.

“ I mean, who’s to say we’re not lyin’, and it’s actually one of us behind that mask?” Ren had his cocky grin on his face as he egotistically pointed at himself with his thumb. Ryo laughed at the joke and Sakura giggled softly, while Nagatoro simply wiggled her way out of Ren’s grasp before rolling her eyes. Even Gamo-chan groaned out of annoyance.

Then, the group watched in confusion as Gamo-chan seemingly caught sight of someone, before standing up and shouting:

“Hey Paisen ! Wassup!"

The girls all smiled warmly at Naoto, who was walking along a path near the gazebo when Gamo-chan suddenly called out to him. Ren and Ryo’s attitudes changed, and their eyebrows furrowed in frustration immediately when they saw him. It’s that pipsqueak again..

Meanwhile, the only thing Naoto did was tense up. He just stood there, and the thought of approaching the girls in their “natural habitat” made him nervous. Gamo-chan gave him a friendly wave, and called out to him again.

"G ood morning! You just gonna keep standing there? Come join us!”

The two delinquents grimaced upon hearing Gamo-chan invite him over. On the other hand, Nagatoro’s was extremely happy to see him. Her face lit up with joy once Naoto began making his way over to the group..

..that is, until she saw the state he was in.

When he got to the table, the girls saw that he was a sleep deprived-mess. He looked so exhausted, it was like he didn’t sleep at all last night. His eyes were droopy, he looked like he was struggling to keep them open, and he had bags underneath them.

“ Oh jeez, ‘you alright, Paisen?” Gamo-chan asked worriedly. “You look like you didn’t get an ounce of sleep.”

Naoto nodded softly. “..I’m okay,” he muttered. “I just.. stayed up late working on a math assignment..”

That was a lie. In reality, he spent the whole night staring up at the ceiling, thinking about the young man he just fought.

“ That had to be one helluva math assignment to make you look like that,” Gamo-chan said, noting his awful appearance.

Naoto spent a few moments looking at the group before he eventually locked eyes with Nagatoro. The two just stared at each other, not saying anything at all. They both had a subtle blush on their faces, but Naoto was able to tell that Nagatoro was also concerned for his well-being.

He tried to say hi to her, but was interrupted when he heard Ren chuckle quietly. Turning his attention towards him, Naoto noticed the two delinquents eyeing him with mischievous grins. This couldn’t be good..

“ Hey man.” Ren greeted him in an almost sarcastic and condescending tone. “Lookin’ a little sleepy there, eh?”

Just from his voice alone, Naoto knew they were up to something. He tried to reply with a simple “yeah,” but Ryo cut him off right after.

“ Ya’ sure it was your homework keepin’ you up, or did you spend the whole night watching hentai?”

Naoto was taken aback by that while Ryo began snickering. “..u- uh.. no..? I don’t.. do that.”

“ Oh come on. No way you think I’m gonna believe that. You look like the type of guy to watch that stuff. You don’t gotta lie to us, man.”

As Ryo was picking on Naoto, Ren addressed the rest of the girls. “Seriously, you guys really know this loner? ‘Guy kinda seems like a creep.”

Naoto didn’t say anything back. He just chose to simply look down at his feet. Heading Ren and Ryo target her Senpai made Nagatoro start fuming once again. Sakura frowned upon hearing the two boys bully him. Yoshi was tense and she didn’t know what to do. Gamo-chan was getting upset but she was confused as to why he was just soaking everything up.

For a little bit, Naoto, in his sleepy state, chose to remain silent. He didn’t know how to hit back with his own quippy remarks, so he didn’t want to say anything that would risk further humiliating himself in front of the girls. That is, until he saw Ren wrap an arm around Nagatoro again.

“ Come on, I think we should get goin’. We could hangout more at school. I’m sure Sleepy-Head here can find his own way there, right?”

“ Yep!" Ryo agreed. "I'm down with that! How 'bout you, Yoshi?"

Yoshi stammered. "W- Wha-?"

For some reason, seeing Ren lay his hands on Nagatoro made Naoto mad, especially after noticing how frustrated she seemed. Feeling angry and even slightly uncomfortable, Nagatoro was about to pry herself out of his arm and stand up for her Senpai once again, until the unthinkable happened.

Out of nowhere, the gang witnessed Naoto do the honors for her.

“…”

“ ..Nagatoro!” He called to her. “…”

“ ..Let’s go!”

Despite berating himself in his head for raising his voice out of nowhere, Naoto’s simple, yet direct statement left Nagatoro shocked and the rest of the girls impressed. Even after that, however, Ren and Ryo still didn’t seem to take him seriously. They started snickering in response.

“ Sorry, what?” The former mockingly asked. “I didn’t catch that. Can you repeat that one more time?"

"Yeah," Ryo nodded. "One more time for the whole class, pleas-"

He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence when Nagatoro suddenly rose up from her seat. Ren's arm slid off of her as he looked up at the girl with imaginary question marks above his head.

Nagatoro was blushing profusely. She had a warm grin on her face, and she gazed at her Senpai with bright, sparkling joy in her eyes.

“ Sure thing, Senpai.” She nodded. “Let’s go.”

Nagatoro grabbed her things and hopped off the bench, joining her Senpai as the two began walking away. Gamo-chan watched them with such a big, proud smile, before she too left the gazebo with Yoshi. Sakura was the only one who said goodbye to the delinquents as she hurriedly grabbed her things to follow her friends.

And just like that, Ren and Ryo were left all alone, scratching their heads wondering what the hell just happened.

“ You think it was rude for us to just leave them like that?” Sakura innocently asked.

Gamo-chan merely brushed that off. “Who cares? Those idiots were bein’ jerks to Paisen.”

Sakura only nodded quietly, before Gamo-chan continued. Even from behind, she was able to see just how much more comfortable and relaxed Nagatoro was now that she was with her Senpai.

“ Besides, it was pretty cool to see Paisen stand up for her, right?” Her Amazing Paisen just got even more amazing. Gamo-chan and the rest of the Toro-Gang watched the two in front of them, as they all began to slowly suspect the same thing.

“ Thanks for doing that for me, Senpai. I didn't think you had the guts to talk back to them." Nagatoro gazed up at Naoto once again as she teased him. He stammered a bit, but managed to get a response out.

“ ..No problem, uh- ..”

By this point, Naoto was blushing heavily. Nagatoro couldn’t help but giggle.

“ Your face is super red, by the way.”

“ ..Oh, i- it is? So- Sorry, uh..”

She giggled again. “You’re so gross, Senpai.”

School started, and Naoto was struggling to stay awake in his first class, which angered Professor Yamaguchi to no end. He barely managed to power through his exhaustion until later in the day when the time for lunch came.

Once that bell rang, Naoto immediately went straight for his art club room to doze off in, wanting to catch up on some much-needed rest. There, he sat himself down on a chair and laid his head on a table before quickly drifting off to sleep. He didn’t even touch his food.

Unfortunately, his sleep would not be a good one. Naoto had a nightmare, but it wasn’t like the ones he had before.

In this one, he saw the young man from last night again, his strangely-colored purple eyes that were glowing in the darkness of his eyelids. He felt the heat from the burning car they stood next to, he heard his rageful shouts that shook his throat, and he was met with his same look of murderous intent.

For some reason, even in his sleep, his tingle was going haywire. Even in his nightmare, Naoto felt like he was being.. Alarmed by something. He couldn’t figure out what it was, but there was something alerting him.. almost warning him, even.

There was something about the man.. from the man..

..in the man, that was vaguely familiar to him. Like he had seen whatever it was before..

Then, he heard a voice.

“ ..Senpai..?"

"Senpai? Wake up.”

Naoto slowly opened his eyes. His vision cleared, and he saw Nagatoro standing before him holding a tray of food in her hands.

“ Were you asleep just now?” She asked him. Naoto took a second to sit up from the table and nodded.

“ ..yeah, u- uh.. when’d you get here..?”

“ Just now,” she responded. “Lunch started twenty minutes ago. I just came from the dining hall.” Nagatoro looked over at Naoto’s lunch, which was slowly getting colder from just sitting there.

“ You haven’t touched your food yet, Senpai.”

Naoto nodded again. “..I- uh, I fell asleep as soon as I got here..”

Upon hearing that, Nagatoro set her food down. Naoto noticed how stunned she looked.

“ You mean to tell me you’ve been asleep on this cold, hard desk the whole time?” Nagatoro had her hands on her hips as she surveyed her Senpai’s sleeping environment. Naoto nodded his head a third time.

“ ..well.. yeah, but it’s not that bad, Nagatoro..”

In response, she shook her head no. “No no no, Senpai! These tables aren’t made to sleep on. They’re super uncomfortable!”

Naoto watched quietly as Nagatoro made a fuss about dozing off on desks. Wanting to try and make her Senpai comfortable, she looked around his club room to see if there was anything that would help him rest better. A pillow, a blanket, or even just something soft to lay on.

She ultimately couldn’t find anything, but luckily, she had an idea. Imaginary lightbulbs appeared above her head.

“ Wait here, Senpai! I got something for ya’.” Then, Naoto watched as Nagatoro left the room. Confused, he decided to finally chow down on his lunch. When he noticed that Nagatoro was taking a bit to come back, Naoto chose to get some work done on some drawings.

He had a simple hole-puncher as his model which he used to sketch on a canvas. Naoto continued to work quietly in peace until the door opened once again a while later. There, he heard something heavy being pushed across the floor, alongside with Nagatoro’s huffs and puffs.

“ One and two,” she said. “One and two.. One and two..”

Naoto looked over and saw his kohai pushing a large, green couch into his room. She was clearly forced to put some muscle into it.

“ U- Uh, do you need help?” He asked.

Nagatoro shook her head no. “N- Nah! I got it! One and two, one and two..”

Finally, she managed to get it in an ideal spot: right alongside the wall. Nagatoro smiled proudly and exhaled, before wiping some sweat off of her forehead.

“ ..where did you get that?” Naoto asked.

“ From the needlecraft club!” She answered. “They were gonna get rid of it so I decided to take it off their hands! Now you have something super comfortable to sleep on! Go ahead, lay down on it!”

Naoto was hesitant, but eventually gave in. He slowly made his way to the couch and laid down on his back. He rested his head against the armrest and snuggled in.

“ ..this.. is kinda comfy, actually.. thanks.”

“ No problem!” Nagatoro said happily. “By the way, you should definitely come with me to the needlecraft club sometime. Gamo-chan and Yoshi are members!”

“ ..that sounds nice, yeah..”

“ Maybe we could make you a hat so you can hide your gross sheep hair you got goin’ on.” She giggled.

“ Very funny..” Naoto paused to look at her. “..so, uh.. did you need something from me..?”

Nagatoro giggled again. “Do I need something? Pfft! No, Senpai! I came to hang out today!”

“ ..oh, okay..”

“ That, and I also wanted to show you this!” Nagatoro whipped her phone out, and after tapping a few times on her screen, presented it to her Senpai.

It was a news article, and its headline made him gasp.

“ MASKED HERO IS AT IT AGAIN. MAN FOUND TRAPPED IN “WEBS” AFTER SETTING CAR ON FIRE.”

“ It happened last night!” Nagatoro told him. “Everybody in my class has been talking about it. Apparently this guy was destroying someone’s car until that Spider-Guy stopped him. He literally trapped him in spider webs!"

“ ..i- is that so..” Naoto was skimming through the article. He skipped the paragraphs talking about things he already knew about, until he got to one which was all about the young man responsible. There, he read very, very closely.

His name was Teshima Yasuhiro, a young adult in his twenties. The article listed him as a former third year student at an elite private school called Itan Private High School, and he was supposed to graduate back in 2014 before he disappeared without a trace. Naoto read that Yasuhiro was taken into police custody not long after he had fought him, and had to be sedated for his “violent outbursts.” According to the article, old friends of Yasuhiro who spoke up about the incident claimed that he “was the nicest and friendliest guy in the whole school.”

“ He wasn’t very friendly to me,” was what Naoto said in his head.

“ ..huh,” was what he actually said.

“ Crazy huh?” Nagatoro took her phone back. “Hard to believe we actually have some kind of superhero runnin’ around now.”

“ ..yeah, it is..”

“ Have you seen him, Senpai?”

Naoto took a second to respond. He shook his head, lying to his kohai. “..not yet.”

“ Me neither! None of my friends have except Sakura. What do you think he’s like?”

He paused again. Naoto didn’t know what to say and he struggled to get a response out.

“ ..I don’t know.. a nice guy, maybe..?”

Nagatoro laughed. “A nice guy? That’s it? Come on, Senpai! That’s such a “you” answer! A superhero’s gotta be way more than just a nice guy!”

"W- Well, I don't know!" Naoto replied. "I've never even seen him! Wh- What do you, uh.. think he's like?"

Nagatoro began to think. "Hmmm. .  Well, someone who's the opposite of you, Senpai!"

Naoto was confused. "..w- what?"

"You're a gross second-year while that Spider-Guy's a super brave and super awesome superhero who's not afraid to do the right thing! He has a huge sense of responsibility and will always fight to protect others!"

Unbeknownst to her, Naoto had quite literally shown some of those qualities as his alter ego numerous times.

Still, he was taken aback by her teasing. "That was uncalled for.."

"Relax, Senpai," she giggled. "I'm kidding."

While Nagatoro was laughing away, Naoto instead laid silently on the couch. There were so many questions about the circumstances surrounding Yasuhiro.

How was it that he was able to seemingly reappear a few years after his original disappearance with such a drastic personality shift? If what his old friends were saying was true, then something traumatic must've happened to turn such a nice and friendly guy into an enraged, psychotic lunatic.

The question is: what was it? What happened to him? Naoto thought hard about it, and couldn't come up with anything. There was something definitely off about the story but the numbers just weren't adding up.

Nagatoro stopped laughing once she noticed how quiet her Senpai was. Fearing she might've overstepped some boundaries, she wasted no time in apologizing.

"Senpai, 'you okay? Really, I was just kidding. I wasn't trying to offend you.."

"Wha-" Naoto snapped himself out of his own thought process. "Oh- No, I'm okay. Y- you didnt, uh- you didn't offend me.."

"Are you sure?" She asked worriedly. Naoto nodded in response.

"I'm just.. still a bit tired, that's all.."

"Phew, okay." Nagatoro let out a sigh of relief. "Go to sleep then, Senpai. I brought you that couch after all. I'll wake you up when the bell rings."

"..sure."

Despite initially feeling weird about falling asleep in front of Nagatoro, Naoto eventually did what he was told and snuggled in. He still tried his best to come up with answers to the whole thing with Yasohiru, but he gradually starting dozing off until he was fully asleep once again.

Nagatoro kept her word and stayed with her snoozing Senpai. She did her own thing while occasionally glancing at him. She smiled each time when she noticed how peaceful she seemed. For some reason, she liked seeing him like that.

The bell eventually rang, and Nagatoro woke her Senpai up so they could both head to their classes.

What she didn’t know, however, was that there was an awfully large, uniquely-colored spider sitting near the floor the whole time. It just stayed there motionless before it crawled into a dark, tight space behind a shelf once they left.

When the day ended, Naoto entered his club room once again to work on another piece. He planned on only staying for a little bit so he could head out early into Hayama as his alter ego.

Unfortunately for him, his dreaded other "kohai" came to pay him a little visit. Nobuko walked down the hallways and invited herself into his club room unannounced.

Behind her, however, was Gamo-chan and Yoshi, who both followed the girl to find out more about her.

Yoshi was nervous, but Gamo-chan was as determined as ever. When she saw Nobuko walk inside, she started wondering who the hell she was, and what kind of relationship she had with Paisen.

Chapter Text

Jorogumo. A mythological, spider-like being in Japanese folklore. Its sole purpose in life is to feed, and it accomplishes this by using its sinister shapeshifting powers to disguise itself as a beautiful woman to reel in any unsuspecting human victims. Young males looking for love are its preferred dish, and these beasts will eagerly seek out their targets once they’re on the menu.

Now, in recent years, one has made its vile nest in Hayama.

Nobuko, the new girl at Kaze High. She was no stranger to a Jorogumo's wicked art of hunting. She has fed on dozens of poor souls using her charm and stunning looks to secure them as meals. Her glistering, almost mesmerizing purple eyes, her pretty little face, her robust, alluring chest and wide, lovely hips, coupled with her mastery of deception, has compelled many unfortunate men to take the bait.

Piles and piles and mounds of webbed corpses rested on the floors and dangled from the ceiling in her den. When a "dish" was secured and her hunger was satiated, Nobuko would lick her fingers clean, sit down cross-legged on the floor, and play with her little lovely spiders like a child in a flower field.

Such is what happened to Teshimo Yasuhiro, a former student from Itan High who unfortunately fell into Nobuko’s trap some years ago. Before his capture, he was an ordinary third-year student with big aspirations to become a doctor.

He was the nicest, friendliest, kindest, and most respectful kid in the whole school. Teachers were delighted to have him in their classes. He met Nobuko when his school year started. At the time, she looked differently and went under another name: “Ena.”

Using a different identity to secure a score.. Who’s to say she was even called Nobuko?

Like most of her victims, Yasuhiro was drawn to her beauty and made the grave mistake of attempting to pursue a relationship with her. He was blissfully unaware of the fate that was awaiting him until months later, when “Ena” seized the moment once the time was right.

On the day of his school's culture festival, “Ena” invited him into her home. Yasuhiro literally walked into his doom when he was suddenly spun around, webbed, and dragged into the basement, never to be seen again.

Unlike the rest of her victims, however, she kept him alive, albeit in a sort of catatonic state while webbed up against a wall, with his arms stretched out to his sides in a T. He was only woken up occasionally to be fed and hydrated, and the sustenance Nobuko provided usually consisted of small cup of water, and a disgusting mash of dead spiders to eat. For some reason, Nobuko refused to let him die.

To his horror and confusion, he'd sometimes wake up to see a completely different girl feeding him. He'd never recognize any of them. Yasuhiro thought they were members of "Ena's" family. Sisters, perhaps, who were all just as heinous as her.

In reality, Nobuko was changing forms every time she moved on to the next target. When she came to him as Ena, she had short, wavy wine-red hair that went down to her neck, was taller, and she presented herself as a polite, patient, soft-spoken yet playful girl who claimed to be a second-year.

Even then however, her purple eyes remained the same no matter how many disguises she put on. They were a dead giveaway that no matter how many "flesh costumes" she hid behind, she was always the same, twisted Jorogumo.

Now, after learning the exciting truth that one of her potential victims had powers similar to her own, Nobuko eagerly awoke her captive.

“Good morning, Teshy-kun.” Nobuko was right in his face as she greeted him in an eerily warm tone.

He was dazed, and the poor thing didn't know how long it's been since he was last awakened. Yasuhiro opened his eyes, confused, he locked on to the eyes, the same glowing, amethyst eyes that he could see in his nightmares. He was utterly terrified to see that she was in yet another form.

Nobuko winked at him playfully, like she was.. taunting him. “Good news. You get to go outside again.”

Yasuhiro said nothing. His mouth was held shut by a piece of webbing. He wasn’t able to say anything. His silence made Nobuko giggle.

“I know it’s been a while since you’ve gotten some sunlight, but don’t worry. All that’s about to change.”

Nobuko slowly extended an arm out, before placing her hand on his cheek, earning her a faint, muffled “mmf” from him.

“There’s someone out there who’s just like me,” she told him excitedly. “Usually I'd just try to eat him.."

Then, her grin widened. “..but I realized that I can’t just let go of someone so special like that. Just like how I chose not to let you go after all these years.”

The Jorogumo started to caress her captive’s face, causing him to wince.

“You were just so nice to me when I first met you..”

She stopped after a few excruciating moments, and instead held her hand gently on his face. Then, a little spider crawled out of her shirt, and up her arm.

“I want you to find him. I want you to meet him, because I want to see what he can do. You can do that for me, right Teshy-kun?”

Much like a horror film, Yasuhiro yelped in pain as he felt the tiny spider crawl into his nose. Nobuko grinned.

“Of course you can. You used to love to meet new people..”

He felt a sudden wave of severe, throbbing pain in his head. It was like the worst migraine he had ever experience.

The spider was invading his mind.

“You’ve always been my favorite, Teshy-kun.."

Yasuhiro was clenching his fists, and his eyes were closed shut as he was in an absolute state of agony. The pain was getting so unbearable, and it only got worse, and worse, and worse..

..until eventually, it didn’t. Somehow, it started subsiding.

The pain was abruptly replaced by a huge rush of energy. Yasuhiro began to feel rejuvenated. Revitalized. Recharged.

He suddenly opened his eyes. Then, he saw red. Red all over. Veins started popping out of his forehead. His eyes went bloodshot, and they began to glow purple just like Nobuko’s.

The spider took over, and he was now one with her. He belonged to her.

Yasuhiro was angry. Anger, hatred, rage, wrath, and spite all ran echoed throughout his head. He was angry at Nobuko.

He was angry at himself.

He was angry at the world.

Seemingly satisfied with her work, Nobuko pulled away and took a step back. Smiling up at the “New-and-Improved” Yasuhiro, she freed him from his webbing restraints and set him on his way.

Yasuhiro wandered aimlessly around Hayama once the sun fell and the moon rose. He slowly felt the need for violence. Mindless, senseless violence. He wanted to watch the world burn..

..so that’s what he did.

He robbed a convenience store. He walked in, beat the man behind the counter to a pulp, and stormed out the building with the necessities needed to make molotovs. Bottles of alcohol, rags, and lighters. He even left with a knife.

Yasuhiro looked for something to burn, which was a simple task. He found a car. Some innocent person’s car. He didn’t know who it belonged to, nor did he care.

He just wanted to destroy it.

Yasuhiro spotted a metal rod along the road and decided to use it to cause some extra damage before he commenced with the flames. He felt an adrenaline rush every time he bashed its windows.

The sounds of glass shattering, the car’s alarms blaring, the thickness of the black smoke and the intense heat from the fire was all so exhilarating. He felt amazing, and he longed for more.

Not too long after, his flaming commotion attracted the attention of an unwanted visitor. His thrill, his fun came to an end when a kid in a mask entered the fray, wanting to know what on Earth was going on. Seeing this little runt angered Yasuhiro even more.

Growling at him like a rabid dog, he yelled at the newcomer to go away. Instead, the kid refused, and offered to try and help him. Hearing that made him want to explode.

He roared at the top of his lungs again to scare him off, but the masked stranger didn’t listen. They just kept slowly approaching him, telling him over and over that he could help him. When it was made clear that he wasn’t going to leave, Yasuhiro snapped, and attacked him out of sheer frustration.

And as this was happening, Nobuko was smiling delightfully as she watched the fight ensue through Yasuhiro’s corrupted eyes.

Naoto ended up escaping from Yasuhiro's wrath after leaving him webbed up against a wall, an act that was eerily similar to what Nobuko had done to him. He fled the scene as the police arrived to take the screaming, mind-warped psychopath into custody. The incident would soon make it to the headlines, and many of Kaze High's students would talk about it.

Pleased with her “Senpai’s” quick reflexes he showcased during their scuffle, Nobuko decided that it was time to see him in person once again. When the final bell rang, she made her way to his art club room, and made her sudden entrance unannounced.

Naoto, who was in the middle of sketching a rough draft on a canvas, recoiled in a fright when he noticed her.

“Oh no, it’s her!”

“Hello again, Senpai.” Nobuko smiled at him. With both hands held behind her back, the girl walked inside, effectively inviting herself in.

“..h- h-” Naoto stammered. He couldn’t even get a response out. “..h- hi.”

“I don’t remember this being here.” Nobuko took notice of the green couch that Nagatoro gave him earlier that day. She brushed her hands along the cushions to feel how soft it was. “It’s lovely. Where’d you get it?”

Naoto struggled to talk again. “..a- a- ..a friend gave it to me..”

While he was an anxious, stuttering mess, Nobuko simply stood there with a grin on her face. She knew full well why he was on-edge around her. She giggled and decided to play along. It amused her to see him like this..

“Are you okay, Senpai?”

Was he okay?! Was she being serious right now? What kind of question was that? The answer was no! He wasn’t okay, especially around her! The last time Naoto saw her, she followed him into the bathroom and crawled underneath the stall he was hiding in! Who wouldn’t be alarmed right now? She’d done a plethora of weird things to him, but that was by far the most abnormal.

“U- Uh- No, not really! I- I mean, you f- followed me into the-”

Nobuko giggled again, and she held out a hand to interrupt him. “I know. I’m really sorry for that, Senpai. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

Didn’t mean to frighten him?! What else was she meaning to do?! Naoto was appalled. So many thoughts were running wild in his head, but he couldn’t put any of them into words.

He said nothing to Nobuko, and only gave her a confused and slightly concerned stare in response. Nobuko giggled again.

“Really, I truly wasn’t trying to scare you. I was always a playful little girl growing up and I just wanted to have some fun.”

None of her answers were making the situation better. There's no fun to be had following someone of the opposite gender into a bathroom. Naoto spoke up again, his voice shaky from being nervous.

“..but th- that’s still not something you do to someone..”

“Oh I know, Senpai. Believe me, I feel awful for putting you that situation. That’s why I’m here to make amends.”

Naoto watched in confusion as Nobuko took a seat right smack in the middle of the couch. The couch that Nagatoro gave him out of the goodness of her heart. She leaned back against the soft cushions and folded one leg over the other, before holding her hands together on her lap like she was trying to strike a pose for him.

“This is very comfortable,” she noted. Then, she locked eyes with her “Senpai” once again. “I promise that I won’t follow you into any more bathrooms. You have my word on that, Senpai.”

Naoto only nodded quietly, still not exactly trusting the girl. Tension filled the room as things went silent. He tried to distract himself by focusing back on to his canvas, and Nobuko just remained there, sitting still, looking at him, smiling.

Naoto tried his best to avoid eye contact with her. He wanted to shut her out; to pretend like she wasn’t even there. Naoto focused on his drawing. He didn’t want to give her even a quick glance.

And yet, he felt compelled to. The whole time, his tingle sensation was flaring, and his eyes were zipping back and forth between her and his canvas.

Things were off. He felt dread. He was alerted to danger, and it was all coming from her, but then he realized something..

Ever since he met her, Nobuko’s mere presence would cause his tingle to react and go haywire. No one else in school had ever done the same to his dangersense.

Naoto had to stop and think. If it was constantly being set off by her, then surely it wasn’t just acting up. Surely, there was something more to this girl..

He took another look at her. Nobuko was staring at him, but her grin had disappeared. Her head was cocked to the side, as if she was doing her own thinking. Her purple eyes were locked on him, and they squinted, like she was.. Analyzing him.

Then, she just smiled again. Nobuko straightened her head and spoke.

“Senpai,” she said. Naoto didn’t say anything in response, but instead peered through the side of his canvas to give her his attention. “You’re an artist, right? Have you drawn people before?”

Blinking in confusion, he nodded. “..yes,” he replied softly.

Nobuko proposed something that he never thought he'd hear. “Then why don’t you draw me? I’ll gladly be your model right now.”

Stunned, he froze in place. The only girl who Naoto had ever attempted to draw was Nagatoro, and now here was Nobuko, offering herself to be his model. Naoto didn’t know what to say.

“..I’d.. rather not right now,” he responded. “..I’m- ..actually about to start leaving in a few minutes..”

“Oh, but I insist,” she told him. “You seem like you’re talented, Senpai. I really want to see what you can do.”

For some reason, the thought of drawing another girl besides Nagatoro felt.. wrong to him. Like, he was somehow betraying her, especially considering the fact that she wasn’t exactly fond with Nobuko.

Naoto gulped. “..really, I have to get going soon..”

Instead, she giggled, and her response left him shocked. “Is it because I’m not the other girl? Your other kohai, Senpai?”

He just sat there, silent. Nobuko was reading him like a book. She held a hand out, reassuring him.

“I promise I won’t do anything gross, as she would put it. I’m just gonna sit here. The pose I’m already in is good enough, isn’t it?”

He gulped again. Naoto really didn’t feel right about this. However, he had a feeling that Nobuko wasn’t going to let him go so easily. Plus, with his dangersense still tingling subtly, he feared what would happen if he did something that could upset her.

After a few moments, Naoto actually found himself hesitantly setting up a blank new canvas, before beginning to sketch the girl in front of him.

Lots of thoughts were running wild in his head. “What the hell am I doing..”

Surprisingly, Nobuko was indeed telling the truth. She was not offering to take her shirt off like Nagatoro did. Instead, she really was just sitting there, like she was a professional who was serious about posing for a photoshoot.

Still, her eyes were glued on to him. Those glowing, purple irises were staring right into his soul. Naoto made his glances short and quick.

“I shouldn’t be doing this.. I shouldn’t be doing this.. What if Nagatoro walks in? What if she sees me..”

His hands were shaking, and he was even sweating. It was like he was being held hostage in his own club room.

Naoto heard Nobuko say his name again, taking him out of his thought process. “Senpai.”

“…”

“You’ve heard of that Spider-Guy, right?”

He froze again. Hearing Nobuko bring up his alter ego made him extremely uncomfortable..

..which is exactly what she wanted.

“..y- yeah, why?" He tried to remain calm.

Nobuko shrugged playfully. “No reason, just asking. Everyone’s been talking about him lately like he's the talk-of-the-town. He seems.. amazing."

There was no way in hell he would blow his cover to her of all people. “..he's been going around, yeah..”

“What do you think about him, Senpai? Do you feel safe knowing there's someone in a mask coming out at night?”

Naoto took a second to respond. He had to choose his wording super carefully. “..he’s.. pretty cool, I guess. I doubt he’s trying to hurt anyone..”

Then, his heart sank when Nobuko asked him second question.

“What would you do if you were him?”

He fell silent again. His hand shook even more that he almost dropped his pencil. Naoto had to wipe some sweat away because he was just so anxious.

“..I- I'm sorry, what?”

“Well,” she began to elaborate. “The boys in my class are always talking about what they'd do if they were the ones in his shoes. I'm curious to know what you’d try to do."

He thought long and hard about an answer that wouldn't sound suspicious. After a few seconds, he finally gave her one that wasn't too much of a lie. Something that was half-true.

“..I’d.. probably go around drawing the city. There's a lot of beautiful sights around here..” His favorite scenic spot sounded nice at that moment. It was his safe haven overlooking the water where he was away from it all.

Nobuko giggled in response. She had him right where she wanted. “That sounds like a you-answer, Senpai.”

“..w- what about you..?” Naoto asked back quietly with a significant degree of hesitation.

“Hmmm..” Nobuko looked to be in thought for a moment, but in reality, she knew what she wanted to say. This was all a game to her.

She just had to say it vaguely.

“..well, I'd probably do the same as you, Senpai. Go around and do the things I enjoy.” Which to her, meant eating innocent men.

“..I- I see..”

Eventually, things became too much for him. Drawing Nobuko behind Nagatoro’s back while discussing his alter ego made him uncomfortable to no end. Wanting to get away from the situation immediately, he suddenly shot up and began packing his things.

“I- I'm sorry, I really have to go..”

He was nowhere near finishing his sketch, but Nobuko didn't protest. In fact, she seemed satisfied with her Senpai, like she had gotten exactly what she wanted out of him. On the other hand, Naoto was too focused on trying to leave that when he did, he didn't even bat her an eye. Nobuko sat there, smiling as he swiftly left the room, sliding the door shut.

Naoto walked down the hallway and left the campus, unaware of the fact that two girls were watching him the whole time.

It was Gamo-chan and Yoshi, who both followed Nobuko to his club room when she walked in earlier. The former didn't look happy. She was wondering what the hell he was doing with a girl like her.

Days past. The duo kept tabs on the boy as he hung out with Nagatoro, and Gamo-chan especially watched him like a hawk whenever she brought him to join their group hangouts.

She spent most of her lunch following him to his club room where she would spy on the boy. When the day ended, she'd stay after school to observe him. Gamo-chan never walked inside herself and made sure to keep herself hidden. 

Nagatoro would always be in there with him. Seeing them together wasn't what bothered her though, it was seeing Nobuko with him instead of her that was pissing her off. She’d watch Nobuko enter his club room uninvited and intrude in their space. A press of her ear against the door to listen in on what was going on revealed that she would be blatantly ridiculing her friend.

She’d make offhand jokes about her, mock her, and taunt about how “low” Naoto’s standards were for insisting on being with her. Nobuko would even flat-out tell Nagatoro that she was more deserving of him even while he was right in front of them.

Gamo-chan would be livid hearing that and she resisted the urge to just run in and drag the girl out by the collar of her shirt. She and Yoshi would run down the hall and back into their hiding spots every time Nobuko announced her leave. When she'd leave the room, they’d see her boasting a satisfied, almost confident smile on her face, like she was proud to have said those mean things to Nagatoro. That, she didn’t like one bit.

Who the hell was she to be hanging out with Paisen after putting her Hayacchi down? What the hell kind of relationship did she have with him? Why the hell did he keep hanging out with her? No way was okay with it, right? Whatever was going on, she absolutely hated it. Gamo-chan did NOT like the girl.

Was he doing something sleazy with her behind her Hayacchi's back? He better have been, because if he was, then Paisen had another thing coming.

Unfortunately, Gamo-chan failed to realize that everything was just one big understanding. In reality, Naoto was trying his best to be the peacekeeper between the two girls. She was oblivious to the fact that he was always on Nagatoro’s side. He was absolutely not okay with Nobuko’s remarks towards her and tried to get her to leave them alone. His attempts never worked, however. Nobuko kept seeing him.

So instead, when Nobuko left, he’d make sure to comfort Nagatoro, and reassure her that his standards weren’t low, and she was, in fact, his actual kohai.

She did some more snooping around. One day, when she saw Nobuko alone in the morning, she decided to follow her. The first bell rang, and she discovered that the girl was in class 1B, the same as Orihara’s.

Perfect . She had someone who could give her some information. Gamo-chan planned to meet her at judo practice once the day ended.

Unfortunately, Gamo-chan failed to realize that her actions would have consequences. Nobuko was acutely aware of her stalking. She stalked her stalker through the eyes of her spiders, just as she had been doing before.

Gamo-chan and Yoshi were now targets.

When the day ended and judo practice was coming to a close, Gamo-chan gestured to Nagatoro to leave without her, telling her that she'd catch up in a bit. Nagatoro nodded and walked out of the judo hall alone.

Then, Gamo-chan approached the Olympic athlete, wanting to see if she had any intel on the girl in question. Orihara, stoked to see her friend, greeted her happily.

Gamo-chan asked her about Nobuko, and unfortunately for her, Orihara didn’t have much to say. Besides telling her that she was a new student who just transferred a few days ago, she knew almost nothing about her. Orihara never had a chance to properly introduce herself and speak to her.

Her answer left Gamo-chan disappointed, but thankfully, she had a solution. Using her thumb, Orihara pointed at someone who could potentially be of some assistance.

Shikki, who was also in their class. More importantly, Orihara told her that she just so happened to be seated next to Nobuko.

Gamo-chan was reluctant. She too wasn't exactly fond of the school’s "shitenno" after what she did to Nagatoro, but she realized that she didn't have any other options. If she wanted to know more about Nobuko, then Shikki was her best bet.

Gamo-chan thanked Orihara, and walked over to judo member and her friends. Orihara waved happily and watched with her hands on her hips, proud to have helped her buddy.

Shikki’s friends Fujimin and Sabane were sitting with her on the stands, gossiping amongst themselves until they noticed Gamo-chan coming up to them. Shikki herself was quiet as she simply drank from her water bottle. She looked up at the girl, acting as stern and as serious as ever.

“Yo.” Gamo-chan stood before her. She folded her arms once again. “I need to ask you something.”

Fujimin and Sabane were whispering something to each other, chuckling, until Shikki hushed them up. Then, she acknowledged Gamo-chan.

“What is it,” she asked.

“I heard you sit next to Nobuko, the new girl in your class."

Shikki raised an eyebrow. “What about her?”

“Where’d she transfer from?”

“Why?”

“Just tell me.”

Shikki sat there for a moment, confused as to why Gamo-chan was asking about her.

She shrugged. “She said she came from the countryside.”

“What’s she like?” Gamo-chan asked again.

Shikki found this whole thing to be odd “..Quiet. Very quiet. She doesn’t really talk to anybody.”

The girl gave her the big question. “Has she mentioned a boy at all?”

Shikki looked at her weirdly. “Not that I know of. What’s this about?”

Gamo-chan wasn’t about to spill the beans. She kept Shikki in the dark, and gave Kaze High's shitenno a vague answer.

“..Let’s just say that she’s been a bit of a problem lately.”

Of course, Shikki wasn’t pleased with her response, but the girl ultimately chose not to question it further. Instead, she decided to be direct, and honest with her.

“Well, if you’re looking to get more information out of me, then don’t bother. I barely even talk to her. Believe me when I say that she just keeps to herself the whole time.”

That wasn’t what Gamo-chan wanted to hear. She was disappointed to learn that nobody seemed to know anything about her. She had to admit, however, that Shikki’s response seemed fitting for her. Nobuko didn’t really give off the “popular-girl” vibe. It’d make sense if she really was the quiet kid in class.

“Is that all?” Shikki asked. Sighing, Gamo-chan nodded, thanked her, and then walked away. Fujimin and Sabane were both snickering at her as she left, while Shikki just watched her leave the judo hall with a hint of confusion on her face. She wondered what could have compelled Gamo-chan to seek out answers from her.

A spider sat in the highest corner of the ceiling, hidden away from the judo club-goers. Nobody was aware of its presence as it stood motionless, watching, listening..

Nobuko observed the girls and heard every single word of their conversation. Unfortunately, Shikki and her friends were now blimps on the vile Jorogumo’s radar. And although she didn’t view them as targets, she did mark them as.. “persons of interest.”

The next day, Gamo-chan and Yoshi met up for lunch, and instead of staying in the dining hall, the former decided it was finally time to pay Paisen a little visit. Yoshi, who had been against the idea of spying on him ever since the start, was nervous, but she didn’t say anything, and could only choose to follow in her friend the whole way through without protest.

“What is his deal?” Gamo-chan irritably asked herself. “Paisen’s always with her even after everything’s she done. I swear, he’s got some nerve..”

Yoshi recoiled at her friend’s sudden frustration. Gamo-chan continued as she marched to his club room.

“Well, I’m not gonna let Hayacchi hurt herself over this anymore. It’s time we have a talk with this guy..”

The club room was empty, save for Naoto. He was sitting alone at the table, minding his own business as he ate his lunch. Neither Nagatoro, nor Nobuko were with him. The quiet peacefulness was suddenly interrupted when the doors violently slid open, and he swiftly turned around to see the duo walk in.

“’Sup, Paisen.” Gamo-chan greeted him in an almost sarcastic, condescending tone. Yoshi said the same thing, except she sounded soft and meek.

Naoto’s eyes widened in shock as he yelled, “It’s Nagatoro friends!” in his head.

“..H- Hi, uh.. N- Nagatoro’s not here, if you're looking for her.."

“I know.” She looked around the empty club room, her arms folded across her chest. "So, this is the love nest that Hayacchi’s been goin’ to, huh? Sketchy.”

“..y- yeah,” Yoshi stammered. “..s- sketchy..”

Now having to deal with Gamo-chan and Yoshi invading his space, Naoto tried to ward them off to no avail. “..um, w- what are you guys doing here? This is- uh, my club room. People aren’t allowed to just- walk in..”

“Oh really?” She scoffed. “So we’re not allowed in here? But I’m sure that she is, though. Right, Paisen?”

He was taken aback. He didn't know who "she" was supposed to be. “..what..”

Naoto recoiled when he suddenly saw Gamo-chan take a seat right in front of him. Locking eyes directly with the poor boy, she leaned back against her chair, her body language conveying nothing short of confidence and frustration, while Naoto’s showed timidness and confusion.

“Who do you think you are?” She asked him. Her eyebrows began to furrow.

Naoto had no clue what she was talking about. “H- Hang on, what?"

“That girl you’re always with, Paisen. Not Hayacchi, the other one. Nobuko. You know, the creepy girl that went up to us in the morning last week? I bet you’ve been getting real cozy with her behind Hayacchi’s back, huh?”

As soon as she said that, Naoto knew exactly what she was talking about, and she got it all wrong. Gamo-chan was falsely accusing him of "betraying" Nagatoro, and that wasn’t what was happening at all. Naoto tried to explain the situation, and plead his innocence.

“What- Wait, what? No! I'm not doing anything with her!"

Gamo-chan rolled her eyes. She was getting more annoyed with the falsely accused and didn’t believe him for a second. “Really? Then why does she keep comin' here? You’re one piece of work, Paisen.”

"You've got it all wrong! I'm n- not trying to han-"

She cut him off. "Then why is she always here?"

"Look, I can explai-

Gamo wasn't letting him talk. "You know you're gonna break Hayacchi's heart, right?"

"I know- Gamo-chan- please, just let me-"

"She's been makin' an effort to see you every day, but you still let that girl come here, even after knowing what she's said about her? Paisen, come on!"

"I've been trying to get her to leave us alone bu-"

"But what, Paisen? What's so hard about telling her to just go away!"

Naoto finally shouted back. His face went redder than a cherry, and he exploded.

"B- Because she won't go away, Gamo-chan! She won't! N- No matter how many times I've told her to leave, s- she won't listen! She even chased me into the bathroom!"

That last bit literally zapped the anger out of Gamo-chan. The two girls' eyes widened, and her jaw dropped in horror. They both sat there, stunned, being forced to do a double-take to make sure they heard him correctly.

"..she what-now?" Gamo-chan blinked.

"She- She chased me! I tried to hide from her in there but she j- just walked in! I think she even tried to follow me home at one point.."

The girl blinked again, struggling to comprehend what he was saying. "..you 'serious?"

"Yes, I'm being serious! It- It's like she's been.. hovering over us for the past few days and she won't stop!"

Naoto had to take a few moments to recollect himself. He, for some reason, felt guilty raising his voice at the girls. He took a deep breath and spoke again, but refused to look them in the eye.

"..Look, I'm sorry for yelling," he apologized. Naoto kept his gaze directed down at the table. "But my life's been.. kinda hard lately. I know you might find this hard to believe, but just.. please know that I would never do that to Nagatoro.."

Gamo-chan quickly went from angry to sympathetic for the boy as she listened to him speak. Yoshi sat there quietly, concerned for his wellbeing.

"I'm really not doing anything with Nobuko behind her back. It's just.."

"..."

"..she's just been an issue, and I don't know what to do."

An issue was an understatement. On top of all the stalking and the creeping and the derogatory jokes directed at Nagatoro, Nobuko was constantly flaring his tingle, and it gave him a headache whenever he tried to figure out why.

"..Well, I'm sorry, Paisen. I didn't know it was like this." Gamo-chan felt guilty for putting those false accusations on him without knowing the bigger picture. "..."

"..."

"..do you want us to deal with her for ya'?"

Jolting, Naoto frantically shook his head no, and nervously waved his palms out to them. The last thing he wanted was to get them involved, even though he failed to realize that they were already knee deep in the danger zone. There was no going back now. They were under the Jorogumo's vile, watchful eye. "No no no no, y- you don't have to, Gamo-chan. It's okay.."

Of course, Gamo-chan insisted. "Ya' sure? If she's really been that much of a pain in the ass, then I'm not just gonna let her keep tormentin' you, Paisen.

"..I- It's fine. Don't worry."

"But I can handle her for ya'! She's tiny, how bad could she be?"

"Gamo- don't. Please.."

The girl sighed one last time, finally relenting. "..fine."

The group failed to notice a spider sitting underneath the couch, tuning in on every last bit of their conversation.

The final bell soon rang. Naoto had one heck of a day. Wanting to seek out some nice, quiet alone time, the boy planned on heading over to his favorite family restaurant..

..but unfortunately, a sudden rainstorm swept over Hayama, effectively cancelling his plan. Naoto had nothing to protect himself against weather. No umbrella, no jacket, nothing.

“..Today was so sunny out,” he said, looking out the window. “The forecast said the weather would be clear..”

Naoto sighed. He had no other choice but to go just go home, so that’s what he did.

He left his club room, exited the campus, and walked out into the rain. Naoto held his backpack over his head to shield himself from the falling water, which didn’t work out too well. His clothes were quickly soaked.

“..at least home’s not far away..”

Then, he saw Nagatoro darting off in the distance. She too was drenched, but she didn't have anything to cover herself with. She was running in the rain, desperately trying to make it to her safe, dry house.

Naoto ran to catch up to her without a second thought.

Chapter Text

Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap.

A sudden and unexpected downpour of rain swept over the skies of Hayama as dark storm clouds blocked out the sun. The day went from warm, sunny and vibrant to windy, gloomy and cold a bit after lunch ended.

Nobody anticipated this drastic change in weather. Some students stayed on campus in their club rooms to wait out the rain, while others simply endured it and bee-lined it home.

Nobuko was a part of the former. She sat in the library all by herself. The room was quiet, and mostly empty, save for the young library assistant who worked at the desk, and a small group of boys who gathered to talk about video games and anime. She could hear their whispers and laughter, but she wasn't bothered by them one bit.

Nobody in that library was aware of the vile monstrosity that shared the room with them.

She had a bunch of “props” set up on the desk below her so she could look like a “normal” student. A textbook that was opened to a random page, a blank piece of paper with a bunch of math problems, a few pencils, and an opened box of sweets that she happily helped herself to.

Despite being a man-eating spider monster, Nobuko absolutely enjoyed Pocky.

She folded her arms on top of her book, and then laid her head down on them as she closed her eyes. To someone that was unsuspecting, they’d likely think that the girl simply decided to go to sleep. In reality, what she was doing was far more sinister.

She had a handful of her little lovely spiders scurrying about all over campus, and she used each and every one of them to “survey her score.” Using their eyes, she saw everything around the school, essentially becoming a sort of "eye in the sky."

One spider allowed her to see her Senpai begrudgingly walk out into the rain with his backpack over his head. Another gave her vision of the needlecraft club, where she saw Yoshi quietly working on a bunch of handicraft projects with the rest of her club-mates.

A third spider had eyes on the judo club. Nobuko watched her “prime target,” Gamo-chan, bidding Orihara goodbye before she left the hall. Her classmate Shikki was staring at her silently, while her two lackeys Fujimin and Sabane were both snickering and giggling at the orange-haired teen.

Nobuko smirked. She was looking forward to.. shaking Gamo-chan down.

She “switched the channel," and tuned in on to her beloved Yasuhiro and looked through his eyes, where she discovered that he was in fact in police custody following his altercation with Naoto.

Sitting in his cell at Hayama's police station, he was idle, quiet, and unresponsive, having likely been placed under another “catatonic trance" since his capture.

“Don’t worry, Teshy-kun..” Nobuko said in her head. “I’ll get you out.”

With him confined by the law, and both Gamo-chan and Naoto now being on the move, Nobuko decided that it was time to make some plays.

She sent out two spiders, one to follow the former and the second to follow the latter. They were to keep tabs on them while Nobuko planned to release Yasuhiro herself once the rain stopped.

“I still have plans for you, Teshy-kun..” After watching through his eyes for a few more seconds, she “switched channels” again to the spider that was on Gamo-chan’s trail.

“…”

“..I just need to take care of some errands first.”

Her smirk grew wider, and then opened her eyes back up.

Splash, splash splash! Nagatoro huffed and puffed as she ran through the rain and over puddles.

“This sucks. It wasn’t supposed to rain today!”

Nagatoro was hauling ass back home. She was freezing cold and completely drenched. Her white shirt was damn-near almost see-through. A dry-off and a change of clothes were quickly needed or else she’d likely end up with a cold the next day.

She cursed the weather, but there was no time to waste. She was to keep pumping her legs and zoom to safety.

Suddenly, Nagatoro came to a stop when she heard a voice from behind calling out to her.

“Nagatoro!”

She turned around. There, the girl saw her Senpai trying to catch up to her.

“Senpai!” Nagatoro shouted back. Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to stand around for too long, as the wind started to pick up. Nagatoro had to cover her face with her arms, before she began running again once it calmed down.

“Come on!” Nagatoro was gesturing for Naoto to follow. “We need to go!”

Naoto stayed close behind. The two kept running and running and running. There was no sign that the weather was clearing up, and it even looked like it was getting worse.

“If we don’t run any faster, then we’re gonna get soaked, Senpai!”

“What do you mean? We’re already soaked!”

Eventually, the pair managed to find shelter underneath a gazebo. They both sat their water-logged backpacks on top of the wooden table once they got there.

“Looks like we’re gonna have to wait out the rain here,” Nagatoro told him. “That sound good, Senpai?”

He nodded. Naoto had to wipe away a dozen droplets from his face. “Y- Yeah, sounds good.”

Nagatoro plopped down to take a seat and reached into her bag. She pulled out two little rags, which they used to dry themselves off.

“This sucks,” she sighed. “I thought today was supposed to be sunny.”

Naoto looked up at the ominous gray clouds that were hovering way over their heads. “I guess it’s just a passing shower. It should be gone by tonight..”

“Hopefully you’re right, Senpai..”

For a time, there was nothing but an awkward silence, and the two weren’t saying anything to each other. Naoto was trapped under a gazebo with Nagatoro and he didn’t know how to feel, though he had to admit that it was so much better than being with Nobuko.

And while she was too prideful to admit it, Nagatoro felt the same way.

Naoto was only staring off into the distance, until Nagatoro decided it was time to commence with her usual teasing.

“Senpai, you weren’t ogling at me earlier, right?”

Confused, Naoto turned and raised an eyebrow. “..huh? What are you talking about..?”

She grinned, and her face reddened slightly. “Well, the rain’s made my shirt a little see-through, and I thought a creeper like you would’ve loved to take a quick peek.”

See-through? Oh no no no no.

He began to blush profusely once he noticed that some parts of her skin were indeed faintly visible beneath her soaked white shirt. Not wanting to seem like a “creeper” that Nagatoro was trying to make him out to be, he quickly jerked his head the other way.

“Don’t act like you weren’t totally looking at me!” Nagatoro laughed. “I know you really wanna see more of what’s underneath since you’re such a closeted perv and all.”

“Stop calling me that!” He meekly fired back. “I wasn’t looking at you.."

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure! I am not a closeted perv..”

“Sure thing, Senpai. Whatever you say..”

“…”

“Help! I think he’s trying to violate me!” Nagatoro giggled as she let out a fake cry for help. Of course, Naoto tensed again and his blush only flared even more.

“Hey! Don’t say that!” He didn’t appreciate the accusation, even if it was just for pretend. Someone walking by could’ve easily heard that and actually think something’s wrong.

The girl laughed one last time. Her face was as red as his. “Hehe- sorry, Senpai.”

“..this girl have superpowers of her own because I don't know how she still has this much energy to keep messing with me.." Naoto did nothing but simply stare at the rainy situation around them.

Nagatoro wanted to continue her teasing, but was cut short when the wind suddenly picked up again. This time, the breeze was much stronger. Both Nagatoro and Naoto had to shield themselves from the violent rush of air. Some of the rain was even blown on to them.

“Gah!” Nagatoro recoiled. “Senpai, I don’t think the weather’s gonna clear up by tonight if the wind keeps picking up like this!”

The gust only lasted a few seconds, and the two were finally allowed a moment to breathe once it was over.

“Nagatoro, are you okay?” Naoto glanced at her, but quickly turned away again. He still didn’t want to be “caught” peering at her soaked uniform. Nagatoro noticed this and grinned again.

“You just can’t help yourself, can you Senpai? Gross."

Instead of dignifying that with a response, Naoto decided to just change the subject altogether.

“..look, you might be right. It’s getting a little cold and the rain’s probably not gonna let up any time soon. We probably just have to run home..”

Nagatoro nodded, but she was a bit reluctant with the plan. “Okay, sooo.. how far do you live?”

“If you turn at the intersection, I’m on the other side of the tunnel,” he replied.

“..that’s kinda far.” Nagatoro was right. Naoto’s house was bit way’s away from where they were now, though unbeknownst to her, the distance wouldn’t have mattered to him. Once they split and Nagatoro was gone, he could just simply web up on top of the houses and bee-line it the whole way through.

“..it’s not that bad,” he told her. “What about you?”

Nagatoro pointed off in the other direction. “My house is that way, past that convenience store over there.”

“You’re much closer then. You’ll have an easier time getting home.”

Naoto wanted her to leave first so he could thwip away without being noticed. When he noticed that Nagatoro was just sitting there, he decided to go instead.

“..I guess I’ll see you later, Nagatoro.”

Before he had the chance to start walking, however, Nagatoro called out to him again.

“Hold on, Senpai..”

The girl had an idea, though she was heavily conflicted about it. Nagatoro took a second to think. She didn’t want to leave him out in the rain, but what she was about to propose was incredibly weird for her.

With a huge blush on her face, Nagatoro looked up at him and asked him a question..

“..why don’t you wait out the rain at my place?”

Naoto tensed again. He gasped, and his jaw dropped a tiny bit at the offer.

Nonetheless, he ultimately accepted it.

The duo made it to the Nagatoro Residence after running through the rain again. Nagatoro was the first to enter, and she happily held the door open for her guest.

“Come on in, Senpai!”

Naoto slowly stepped through the front door. “..thanks for having me..”

The first thing he noticed was that the place was quiet. Nobody seemed to be home. Naoto then saw a few pairs of shoes lined up neatly against a wall. High heels and dress shoes, both of which likely belonged to her parents.

He tried to imagine what her family was like based on her “tease-y” behavior. What if her whole family likes to make jokes like her? Thinking about that made him nervous.

..wait a minute.. was he about to meet them right now? Naoto anxiously felt his stomach sink.

“..is your family home?” He asked her quietly. Nagatoro shook her head no, which gave him a huge sense of relief.

“They’re gonna be out late today, so no one’s home right now. We got the whole place to ourselves, Senpai.”

The confirmation put him at ease, although he faced another dilemma. Being alone with Nagatoro in her own home for the first time was.. different.

“..is that so..”

After taking her shoes off, Nagatoro gestured for him to follow as she began walking towards another part of the house. “Come on, let’s get ourselves dried off.”

He was reluctant to do so, and declined instead. “..t- thanks, but I could just wait here until the rain stops..”

Nagatoro giggled. It was easy for her to tell how nervous he was. “You’ll be there for a while then. Besides, if you wanna catch a cold tomorrow, then be my guest, Senpai.”

Naoto wasn’t sure how true that last statement was. He didn’t know if his superpowers included a “super-immune system,” but he eventually gave in. Even if that were the case, drying off sounded nice because wearing a soaked long-sleeve and dress pants wasn’t exactly comfortable.

Naoto took his shoes off and slowly followed Nagatoro. He was taken to the laundry room, where fresh towels were awaiting them.

Nagatoro was the first to get dry. Instructing him to wait outside, she closed the door and began to change, and then emerged wearing a new set of comfortable clothes. Once she was done, Nagatoro fetched Naoto another towel and outfit to put on.

Specifically, she got him a red long-sleeve, gray sweatpants and white socks.

“These are from my brother’s closet so they might be a little big on you.” Nagatoro handed them to him, before doing the same with the towel. “Use this to dry yourself.”

“..thanks..”

“No problem, Senpai! I’ll run your wet clothes in the dryer once you’re done. They shouldn’t take long.”

Naoto nodded, and went to close the door. Suddenly, Nagatoro stopped him for just a second.

“And if you’re wondering.” She held up the towel she used. “This is the one I used so you don’t have to worry about accidentally sharing a towel with me, but I know you’d probably like that.”

His face flushed red again. “..Very funny..” Finally, he was able to get the door closed and start actually changing.

Despite his new physique, the red long-sleeve he was given was still noticeably baggy on him. Her brother must’ve been a big guy. Naoto changed into the rest of the outfit before stepping out the laundry room. There, Nagatoro followed through with her word and started up the drying machine with their clothes in it.

“We’ll find something to do in the mean time,” Nagatoro said, before she began walking to the kitchen.

“..where are you going?” Naoto asked apprehensively.

“Going to make us some hot chocolate. You can wait for me in my room. Head upstairs and it’s the second door to your left.”

“O- Oh, okay..”

“And don’t do anything sleazy in there, Senpai. I know your kind.”

“My kind? What are you talki-” Not even wanting to question that, Naoto shut himself up. His cheeks flared red again as he anxiously made his way to his kohai’s room.

“..this better not be another one of her jokes..”

Sliding the door open, he stepped inside and looked around. Nagatoro’s room was what you’d expect from a typical suburban household. A small space to fit only one person comfortably, a little bed next to a window with a black cat statue perched on top of a shelf behind it, a TV, and a bookshelf against the wall. She also had two tables, one that was much smaller sitting in the middle of the room , and another that was much larger off towards the side where she’d study and do homework on.

“My first time in Nagatoro’s room..” Naoto felt super  awkward. He’d never been inside a girl’s room before. Hell, this was the first time he’d ever been to a girl’s house. Not knowing what to do, he sat on his knees nervously in front of the center table.

“What am I doing.. Why am I even here? I should’ve just webbed away when I had the chance..”

“..although it would’ve been rude to leave Nagatoro out in the rain like that..”

Naoto let out a long sigh. He did nothing but glance back and forth between the table and the window as he waited for what felt like an eternity for Nagatoro. For a brief moment, he actually considered making his leave through her window.

“..I don’t know what to do..”

Finally, after a long dreadful wait that really wasn’t all that bad, Naoto saw the door slide open. Nagatoro walked in, holding two mugs of nice, refreshing hot chocolate. A faint little white line of steam was rising above the warm liquid.

“Sorry to keep ya’ waiting, Senpai! Here ya’ go.” She placed his mug in front of him. Then, she took a seat across from him, before beginning to sip down on her own beverage.

“..thanks..”

“No problem!”

There was silence again. Naoto sat timidly with his hands planted on his lap. His eyes were darting all over the room, and he wasn’t taking any sips from his coco. Nagatoro, on the other hand, was eagerly enjoying hers.

“You’re acting weird, Senpai.” Sip. “Is something wrong?”

He gave her a little nod. “..just.. still a little cold from the rain, that’s all..”

Nagatoro giggled. “Well, drink up! That’s why I made you some hot chocolate."

He did exactly that. With a shaky hand, he lifted up his drink and took only a little baby sip. Fortunately for him, the hot coco tasted delightful.

Noticing his uneasiness, the girl giggled again and leaned forward. “Are you sure you’re cold, or are you nervous because this is your first time at a girl’s house?”

The out-of-pocket question nearly made him spit out his drink. Stammering to get a response out, Naoto bashfully avoided eye contact with her.

“..th- that’s.. not it.”

“Be honest with me, Senpai. Is this actually your first time?”

A pause. “…”

“..I’m not telling.”

His answer made Nagatoro burst out into laughter again. “Not telling? That’s so funny!”

Meanwhile, Naoto wasn’t enjoying the clearly-obvious teasing. “…”

“Even if you’ve never been to a girl’s house before, do you at least know what to do, Senpai?”

Naoto wasn’t sure if she was trying to bait him to say something funny. “..I don’t know..”

She was grinning. “Come on, think!”

Finally, he gave her another answer that she found amusing. “..uh..”

“…”

“..do homework, and study and stuff..?”

“That’s one, but we don’t have any tests coming up," Nagatoro joked. Naoto didn’t say anything else, and instead meekly took another sip from his mug while keeping his eyes fixated on the wall next to him.

What Nagatoro was about to say would shock him.

“Here’s the answer, Senpai. When you’re alone in a girl’s bedroom, you’re supposed to have some fun with her while it’s just the two of ya’.”

Have.. some.. fun?! You what?! If her goal was to make his face redder than a strawberry, then she deserved a performance bonus and an Elite Challenge Reward because she was doing a fine job at it.

“H- Have fun? W- wait, what? Y- You don’t mean..”

Hilariously, the answer was the exact opposite of what Naoto was thinking (shocker). With a playful smile on her face, Nagatoro got up and walked over to the TV. After shuffling through the shelf that it was set up on, she turned around, and showed him a video game:

A copy of Jas Gear, a fighting game.

Naoto was dumbfounded, and embarrassed for thinking of something else. Who could blame him though?

“..Jas Gear? Oh..”

“Yep! My brother loves to play this all the time. We’ll have some fun!” Nagatoro switched on the TV and started preparing the game. “What’d you think I meant, Senpai?”

Naoto didn’t know what to say. “..nothing.”

“Suure, Senpai. Gosh, you’re so gross.”

The two shifted over in front of the TV. Nagatoro grabbed two controllers and gave one to her Senpai. She booted up her console, where the main menu of Jas Gear displayed on the screen. Then, with the press of a few buttons, she brought them both to character selection.

“..so.. you play this too?" Naoto asked.

“A little bit,” she replied. “I like to think I’m pretty good at this game. What about you?”

“..yeah, actually. I used to play a lot. Not anymore, of course..” Naoto picked a blonde swordsman as his character.

That made her chuckle. “I should’ve known you were a gamer, Senpai. Maybe now you can stop being so weird around me.” Nagatoro chose a green-haired cat girl that had oversized “paw-mittens” on her hands and feet, and freakishly large eyes, but also unusually tiny and super thin pupils to contrast it.

With their characters selected, Nagatoro picked a wasteland-themed map in a desert with rocky canyons all over. After a few seconds in the loading screen, the first round started, and the game’s narrator kicked off it off with an epic-sounding “FIGHT!”

“Get ready, Senpai! Watch this!” Nagatoro was the first to make a move. She closed the distance between her and Naoto’s swordsman, before trying to hit him with two basic attacks..

..which something he easily evaded with a simple step-back and block.

“Now here comes my finisher!” The girl mashed all the buttons on her controller, then sent out her ultimate attack.

Unfortunately for her, Naoto did another simple step-back again, causing her finisher to fail miserably. Then, he returned the favor in kind, and secured the round in his victory with a finisher move of his own.

Round one was over. The Cat-Girl was down, and Naoto won with only a sliver of damage done to him. Flawless!

Even if he was as stiff as a statue, playing Jas Gear with Nagatoro somehow felt enjoyable for him. Plus, he was also fond of that game. Naoto was ready for round two, until he looked over to his opponent next to him..

..and she did not look happy.

“..Why is she upset?” He thought to himself. “…”

“..hang on.. has she really played this game before? It sounded like she was mashing every button on her controller instead of properly executing combos..”

“..did I go too hard against an obvious beginner?”

Finally, he spoke. “..Nagatoro? Are you, uh.. okay?”

Nagatoro was gritting her teeth, and she looked like supervolcano that was just seconds away from erupting in molten fury. The ticking time bomb looked over at her Senpai with her enraging eyes.

She said nothing, and instead started up the second round.  Naoto gulped.

When round two started, Naoto made sure to go easy on her. He allowed her to get a few hits in, but the sounds of feverish button mashing confirmed that Nagatoro was in fact doing just that with her poor controller. And whenever Naoto hit back, Nagatoro seemed to get even angrier.

Then, an idea popped into Naoto’s head, and while he had some second thoughts about it, he decided to lend the newbie a helping hand.

“..Hey, Nagatoro? Instead of.. doing that, try doing a combo on me.”

The girl froze. “..Senpai?”

“..H- Here, look. Hand me your- uh, your controller for a second.” Naoto held out his hand. Nagatoro wondered what he was trying to do, but nonetheless gave the thing to him.

“..your character can do this. Watch.” Taking control over her character, Naoto demonstrated a basic combo while Nagatoro watched intently with a faint little blush on her face. He performed a spin kick which flung his character up in the air, then followed it up with a jumping uppercut that inched him a bit higher. He finished the combo with a third strike, which involved “ground-slamming” her opponent to the ground.

The combo was successful, and his character lost a substantial amount of health. Naoto showcased it again, this time going much slower so she could follow along, and the end result was him scoring a victory for her.

K-O!

“See?” He returned her controller. “Try to do that to me next round, and try to go slower with your attacks.”

“Oh.. okay.” For some odd reason, she found it.. cool to see how knowledgeable her Senpai was at the game. There was no way in hell that she'd ever admit that though.

Round three started. Nagatoro did her best to replicate the combo, which she eventually did after a few attempts.

"..there you go!" He quietly congratulated her. "Just like that."

Naoto still went easy, though he retaliated a little bit.

“You can do so much more than just spamming one move. Like this.” Naoto did another wombo-combo attack, which dropped Nagatoro’s health significantly. In fact, she was stun-locked, and was open for a finishing move.

“And once your opponent’s stunned, you can do thi- !!”

Naoto yelped in surprise. He didn’t get a chance to demonstrate his finisher, as Nagatoro decided to be a little sleazy, and blow air into his ears right as he was about to do so.

How the hell did his tingle not alert him to that?!

Now that she had her opponent “stun-locked” in real life, Nagatoro secured the round with her own finisher. With glowing fists, her character jumped wayyy up into the air, and literally dove straight into her opponent like a missile.

K-O!

“Aaaaand you lost, Senpai!” Nagatoro confidently pointed at the loser in triumph. “I thought you were good at this game! Loser loser loser!”

Shivers were actually shooting down his spine. “Y- You cheated!”

“Nuh-uh! That’s called being a master strategist! Now quit bein’ a sore loser and get ready for another round!”

Naoto took a second to regain himself, and then reluctantly agreed to play again.

The two continued to play for the rest of the day, and Nagatoro proved herself to be a “master strategist” by putting her opponent in.. unusual situations to turn the tide in her favor.

She pushed and kicked him, and even tugged on his ear to scare him.

She broke multiple touch barriers by tickling him from behind, causing Naoto to burst into laughter. Even his superpowers did little to protect him from the ticklish sensation.

She planted her foot on top of his back and pushed down, forcing him to play in an uncomfortable hunched-over position.

She eventually ceased her odd “strategies," and the two continued to play normally. They had to admit that they were having a damn good time with each other. Naoto couldn't believe it, but he was actually having fun with her!

Soon enough, the rain finally stopped, and the afternoon sun shined over Hayama once again. Though, it was close to nightfall when it did.

Naoto grabbed his stuff and changed back into his outfit which had been completely dried while they were gaming. Then, he was walked out the door by Nagatoro.

“..Thanks for having me today," Naoto said as he stood on her front porch. “I had.. a lot of fun gaming with you today..”

“Me too!” She happily replied. “We should totally do this again sometime.”

“Yeah.. just- don’t cheat next time, please?”

“Oh come on, it wasn’t cheating! Besides, I know you enjoyed it, you little closet perv.”

For the first time ever, he actually let out a soft chuckle after being called that. Perhaps he really was growing used to her. “…”

“Oh, and Senpai?” A small blush came to Nagatoro’s face.

“..hm?”

“..thanks for coming over.. It means a lot.” The girl was looking at him with eyes that were so full of joy.

Seeing the affectionate gaze she was giving him made him pause, and he too started blushing. He gave her a little grin in return, and then responded.

“..y- yeah, no problem..”

“You look so weird lookin’ at me like that,” she joked, before she happily waved at him goodbye. “Later, Senpai!”

“See ya..”

The two exchanged their goodbyes, and Naoto walked off towards her front gate while she closed her door. His day, while it didn’t pan out like the way he thought it would, was definitely one to remember. Naoto couldn’t wipe the blush away..

..However, right as he was about to leave the premises, he felt his tingle again. Naoto stopped in his tracks and looked around his surroundings, wondering what the hell could’ve tripped his dangersense.

“Oh no.. is she here..?”

“..no.. there’s no way..”

He continued to scan the area thoroughly. Naoto couldn’t find anything that was even remotely dangerous. No crazed psychopath, no perverted college student going after Sakura, no Nobuko, nothing. What was alerting him?

Just as he was able to give up, he spotted something. Right on the post of Nagatoro’s gate..

..was a fairly large spider..

..and it looked identical to the one that bit him.

Confused, he slowly approached the arachnid and leaned in to get a closer look at it. It wasn’t the same spider, but there were definitely similarities. He was baffled when he discovered that it was indeed the reason why his dangersense was tingling.

He killed the spider that bit him.. Were there more of these? He felt his tingle getting more intense, and he couldn’t figure out why.

Wanting to examine it further, he leaned in closer.. and closer..

..until he was forced to jump back when a wave of fire was suddenly blasted in his face.

Naoto let out a loud yelp as he landed right smack on his ass. Thankfully, he wasn’t burned, but he was damn well terrified.

Initially, it was hard for him to even comprehend it, but he was positive that he wasn’t seeing things. That spider quite literally spat fire at him. Taking a second to try and process what the hell just happened, he slowly pushed himself up, and was horrified to see that the thing was gone.

“..what in the..”

Then, he heard Nagatoro’s voice call out to him. “..Senpai?”

Naoto turned around and saw his kohai back at the front door. She had heard him scream and was wondering what the hell happened. Nagatoro was surprised and confused to see her Senpai down on the ground like he had just seen a ghost.

“..Are you okay?” She asked him.

Naoto didn’t say anything for a moment, and only stared at her with widened eyes. There was absolutely no way in hell that she’d believe a fire-breathing spider almost burned his face off. He had to come up with an excuse, and fast, otherwise he’d risk looking like a lunatic and a creeper for remaining on her property for seemingly no reason.

“..u- uh- sorry! A- uh.."

"..."

"..a cicada flew in my face!” Great excuse, Naoto.

Nagatoro raised an eyebrow. “..a cicada? But it’s not even summer, Senpai..”

“Y- Yeah, I- I know, but, uh..” Instead of trying to explain himself, he decided to just flee the scene. “..s- sorry, I- I’ll go now. B- Bye!”

Nagatoro was batshit confused as she watched her Senpai hurriedly excuse himself in a rush. She stood there, trying to rationalize what she saw, until eventually retreating back into her home with a shrug.

Naoto had a strange feeling in his gut that bad things were about to unfold, and wasted no time in getting back to his house so he could suit up.

Meanwhile, while Naoto and Nagatoro were spending quality time with each other, Gamo-chan was hanging out with someone special of her own.

Ichiro Nagatoro, Hayase’s older brother and eldest sibling. A university student, Ichiro was an easygoing and friendly individual who shared some of his baby sister’s quirks. He was an excellent athlete and all-around good fighter, and even taught Nagatoro some of his moves when she was growing up. Gamo-chan would frequently train with him at her family’s martial arts academy, the GAMOU Fighting Gym, and eventually grew to respect him greatly.

What people didn’t know, however, was that Gamo-chan secretly had a huge crush on him.

The two were sparring in one of the academy’s many boxing rings. Gamo-chan was a gifted boxer herself, but her skills were nowhere near that of Ichiro’s. She was purely on the offensive, but none of her attacks were landing as Ichiro was effortlessly bobbing and weaving through each and every one of them.

“Good offense,” the taller man told her. Ichiro continued to evade every single one of her punches, until he found a good opening, and softly “booped” the bottom of her chin with his fist to simulate a crippling uppercut.

“But you’re too focused on one spot. You gotta be more aware, otherwise you’ll get hit with a counter like that.”

“Puh-” Gamo-chan paused, before backing up. Usually, the girl would be flustered and shy around the him, but this time she was the exact opposite. Gamo-chan silently pranced around in circles in front of him, looking like a lot was on her mind.

Which, there was.

Ichiro immediately took notice of her unusual attitude. “You seem tense. You’ doin’ okay?”

“..Yeah, I’m okay,” she told him in an aggressive, almost dismissive-sounding tone. “Don’t worry. Let’s just go again.”

Ichiro raised an eyebrow, but nonetheless did what he was told. The two went at it for another sparring round. Gamo-chan was noticeably more ferocious with her punches.

She was upset with Nobuko, who was still fresh on her mind. She was angry at her for trying to pry herself in between Hayacchi and Paisen’s relationship, and while Naoto specifically asked her to not get involved, she was resisting urge to go against his wishes and tell the girl off herself.

“Dammit, Paisen,” she said in her head. “Just lemme handle her for ya’..”

Gamo-chan continued her assault, and Ichiro eventually had to stop the session due to her ever increasing fury.

“Woah, hey. I thought you said you were fine.” Ichiro pulled back from the girl, and Gamo-chan let out an angry sneer as she turned around. “What’s up? You’re usually never like this.”

Gamo-chan wasn’t sure about telling him. Ichiro was protective of Nagatoro, and she didn’t want to risk getting him upset by telling him about some girl trying to ruin his sister’s relationship.

“..I don’t wanna talk about it."

She wanted Nobuko off of her mind, and sparring was the best way to distract herself. So, she did just that. The two boxers kept going at it for more rounds, and occasionally stopped to take a breather and a water break. Ichiro wouldn’t pester the girl any further, but still remained curious as to what was upsetting her.

They continued to spar even after the rain had stopped. It wasn’t until nighttime had came that Gamo-chan finally decided to leave the gym (which was essentially her second home).

Using a little rag, Ichiro wiped some sweat away from his forehead as he watched his sparring partner pack up her things. She was now out of her boxing clothes and in her casual attire.

“You sure you’re okay?” He asked her with concern. “You didn’t look happy this entire time.”

Gamo-chan gave him another vague answer yet again. “..everything’s fine.. 'just had a rough day, that's all.."

Then, she started walking out the door, giving him one last look before she left. “If you see my parents, tell them that I already went home.”

Ichiro gave her a nod, and the feisty girl ventured out into the darkness.

Her apartment wasn’t too far from their gym, so Gamo-chan didn’t have to walk much. It’s not like it bothered her, anyways. She's left the gym at much later times before, and a peaceful leisurely walk home at night didn’t scare her one bit. The street lamps gave her plenty of light.

Though the ground was mostly dry by the time the sun went down, there was still the occasional puddle on the road left behind by the rain. Her feet would make a little “splash” sound every time she stepped into them. The air, however, was still a bit chilly.

Things were quiet for the most part, and Gamo-chan kept walking. Eventually, she found herself becoming a bit bored, so whipped out her phone and decided to call up Yoshi to alleviate the boredom.

Yoshi lived in the same apartment complex as her. Maybe the two could meet up once she got there!

Before she was able to press the “call” button, however, Gamo-chan saw something up on the rooftops. Coming to a halt, she scanned the top of the buildings, and her eyes caught sight of a swift, shadowy figure running about.

“..no way,” she muttered. “..is that..?”

Her suspicions were confirmed, when she saw the silhouette use some kind of rope to help leap across a great distance between two houses. Gamo-chan gasped when she realized who she was looking at it.

“..it is! It’s him!” She was 100% right. The figure in question was none other than That Spider-Guy, Hayama’s very own masked superhero.

And she had no idea that she was seeing Paisen in his web-slinging alter ego.

He was running in the opposite direction as her. Gamo-chan really wanted to go home, but now here she was actually looking at her hometown’s hero in the flesh! She’d been wanting to see him ever since Sakura told her about her experience a few days prior.

Gamo-chan simply couldn’t pass up the opportunity. So, she turned around and gave chase. Gamo-chan started racing, and she tried her best to keep up with the guy.

The girl was no slacker when it came to athletics. Gamo-chan was a young, healthy, and fit woman who was very much capable of running at impressive speeds while maintaining excellent stamina, but seeing that Spider-Guy move made it clear that he was in an entirely different league than her.

Forget the fact that he was running faster. Him leaping from house to house, and pulling himself across the air to cross great distances with his webs? This guy must been crazy strong.

She saw him a few more times, but eventually lost sight of him. Still, Gamo-chan continued to go after the hero. She kept running in the same general direction as him, hoping that she’d come across him again.

“Where’d he go now?” She found herself in an alley way. Gamo-chan took her eyes off the path in front of her and used them to scan the rooftops again.

“Come on, come on.. Where are you?”

Unfortunately, she was too distracted staring at the roofs that she didn’t see the woman that was standing in her way. Gamo-chan ran face-first into her, and fell back on to the ground.

“Oof!” The girl landed on her rear. She took a second to rub her head, before looking up at the woman that she bumped into. “Crap- I’m so sorry about that. I didn’t see you..”

The woman didn’t say anything, and only stood there.. creepily. Gamo-chan couldn’t see her face, as it was hidden away by the darkness. Unsettled, she addressed her again.

“..uh.. are you..?"

The woman’s eyes opened, and Gamo-chan saw a pair of glowing purple orbs staring right at her. Her heart dropped, and her blood went cold in fear when she saw four more smaller pairs open up above them right after.

She then suddenly began rising up into the air like she was levitating. Gamo-chan stared in horror and thought that she had just encountered a ghost.

However, she was no ghost, and she was not levitating. The answer was revealed when Gamo-chan spotted eight long spider-like legs coming out of her back, with each of them supporting her.

She came into view, allowing Gamo-chan to get a good look at her six monochromatic eyes, her pale skin, and her large mouth that had razor-sharp fangs. The woman spoke in an oddly bone-shivering motherly tone.

“Hello, my dear..” Enter Nobuko’s monster form.

Failing to recognize her, Gamo-chan screamed in pure terror, and scrambled to get back up and run. She didn’t make it far unfortunately, and found herself suddenly being bound in webs. Nobuko spun her around and pulled her in once she was subdued. The Jorogumo grabbed her by the collar of her shirt.

Gamo-chan kicked and squirmed in a vain attempt to break free. Nobuko silenced the girl’s cries by slapping some webs over her mouth, and laughed maniacally in her prey’s face.

"I'm so sorry for this.. but you've been too loud."

The Jorogumo’s mouth opened wider than what was humanely possible. She was going to devour the poor girl right there and then. Gamo-chan’s entire life flashed before her eyes when she realized that she was about to be eaten by a spider demon. She closed them as tight as she could, and tried to let out the loudest scream possible.

Unfortunately, the silky gag made that futile, and no one was able to hear her muffled cries.

“Don’t worry.. I’ll be gentle..”

Chapter Text

Naoto was pumping his legs hard.

He didn’t know why, but the kid had an unusual, ever-looming sense of dread and danger in his gut. Leaving Nagatoro’s house and seeing a spider that looked almost exactly like the one that had bit him nearly melt his face off with flames compelled him to get home and suit up as quick as he could.

He high-geared it the entire way there, webbing up on top of the houses to take as many shortcuts as possible. He ran like there was no tomorrow. There probably wasn't going to be a tomorrow, anyways..

..for Nagatoro, that is.

Naoto was fearing for her safety. If there was a strange fire-spitting arachnid crawling around her home, then she was not safe..

...

..wait a minute. A thought came to his head, and it hit him like a freight train.

A fire-breathing spider.. hanging around a house..

..no..

..was that thing responsible for the burning apartment complex last week?

Naoto’s eyes widened in horror. He thought back to that night it happened, where he voluntarily dove into that fiery inferno and saved a helpless man’s son from falling victim to that hellhole. It was his first act of heroism ever since he donned his shabby “Spider-Guy” outfit.

He remembered that the cause of the fire was never found, and the place seemingly went up in flames for no reason. It all seemed like a stretch to him, but Naoto just couldn’t stop thinking about the potential correlation between them.

The theory only made him run faster. If he was correct, then Nagatoro could die, and he was not about to let that happen.

No one was home when he got there. Naoto wasted no time and swapped into his webber-clothes, where he must’ve set a world record for the fastest time to get changed. He dove straight out of his window and went right back to Nagatoro’s house.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Naoto kept a low profile and perched himself on top of another house that wasn’t too far away from hers. Now that he had a good view of the Nagatoro Residence, the only thing he did was watch.

Minutes past, and still nothing. He was looking for any signs of a fire, like smoke or the smell of flames. Hell, he was even trying to feel if his tingle again. Nothing. He leaped from house to house, circling the perimeter to get a glimpse of different angles to spot anything. Nothing.

Nagatoro always called him gross as a joke, but if she knew what he was doing now, then she’d definitely mean it for real.

He gave it a bit more time, and still there wasn’t a speck of danger in sight. Nothing was happening at all.

He continued to patrol around the home for another few hours. The sun was nearly about to set, but Naoto remained. He refused to leave and instead chose to stay and watch over the place like a guardian angel, for he wanted to make sure that Nagatoro was okay.

The unexplained house-fire, and the strange spider was lingering in his head. Naoto was hoping that his theories were wrong.

“..am I just overreacting?” He asked himself, eventually starting to doubt the possibility of any real danger occurring. “I don’t see or feel anything..”

“..but what if it’s true? What if they’re really connected? What if their house burns down while I’m not there?”

“What if Nagatoro..”

He shook his head no. Naoto did not want to imagine that.

Then, he felt his phone vibrate as someone was trying to call him. It was probably his mom or dad trying to see where the hell he was. Naoto pulled it out, and saw Nagatoro’s name on the caller ID.

He let out a soft gasp, and quickly answered it without even a second of hesitation. There was no harm being done to the house, so there was no point in her calling him, right..?

“H- Hello?” He answered.

“Hey Senpai! What’s up?” She spoke in her usual cheery-tone, which further disproved the idea of her being in danger. Naoto let out a subtle sigh of relief and responded back quietly.

“..hey. N- Nothing much. Are you.. okay?”

He heard her chuckle on the other end. “Am I okay? I was about to ask you the same thing, Senpai.”

“..h- huh?”

“The way you freaked out in front of my house when you left earlier. I heard you scream, so I ran out and saw you on the ground.”

“O- Oh, that? I told you.. A- A cicada flew at me..”

“I don’t think cicadas come out in the spring, Senpai.” Nagatoro giggled a second time. “Ya’ sure that’s what happened?”

Naoto nodded. Damn, he knew that excuse was terrible!

“..mhm.. that’s what happened, yeah..”

He couldn’t see it, but Nagatoro began to smirk. Operation Teasing, commence.

“Or did you go crazy because that was your first time over at a girl’s house?”

“W- What?” He stuttered.

“You know, you’ve never been alone in a girl’s bedroom before, so when it happened, your brain probably short-circuited, and you were like-”

“Oh man, I can’t believe I was finally able to be with a girl for the first time!” Nagatoro put on a stupid-sounding impression of her Senpai, which caused her to cackle to no end.

“That’s not what happened!” He asserted. Man, even on the phone he wasn’t safe from her jokes. “I promise, I’m telling you the truth..”

“Sure thing, Senpai. Whatever you say. You’re so gross.”

Naoto was too flustered to even respond to that. It took him a few seconds to speak up again.

“..look.. are you okay?” He repeated his first question.

“Yeah, I’m totally fine, Senpai.”

“…”

“..you sure?” He asked again.

You sure? Why would he need confirmation for that? Nagatoro raised an eyebrow. “Yes, I’m sure. Gosh, Senpai. You really are being super gross right now.”

Naoto paused. “..sorry. It’s just..”

“..you haven’t seen any.. uh..”

“..any spiders around, have you?” Naoto tried to explain things SUPER carefully.

..Spiders? Nagatoro blinked in utter confusion.

“Spiders? What are you talkin-”

It hit her. The realization hit her like a god damn GTA NPC.

“..is that what really made you freak out earlier?"

Naoto froze. “..uh..”

“Did you walk into spider webs?” She asked him directly. Naoto was able to hear her trying to contain her laughter.

“..k- kinda..” That was.. partly true.

“Oh my God, you’re worried about me because of a spider-web? Are you kidding, Senpai?”

Nagatoro couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing. She failed to understand the gravity of the situation.

..Unfortunately, that was the gist of it.

Naoto fell silent, and struggled to say anything after that, but thankfully for him, he didn’t need to. Nagatoro spoke up again.

“No, I haven’t seen any spiders, Senpai. Besides, I don’t see how that’s something you’d get worked up about. Are you sure your brain isn’t short-circuiting right now?”

Damn, he knew it! He knew he’d sound like a maniac. “N- No, m- my brain is not short-circuiting. It’s just..”

“…”

“..nevermind..” Naoto ultimately decided to just drop it altogether. No point in trying to explain the situation as best as he could just to end up looking like a complete buffoon to her.

“The only spider that I can see a nervous bean-sprout like you being scared of is that Spider-Guy, but lucky for us, we don’t have to worry about him because he’s a superhero."

“..y- yeah.. right..”

Nagatoro was speaking to that guy on the phone and she didn’t even know it.

“Anyways, what’re you up to, Senpai?” She asked him. “Are you home now?”

He gave her a lie. “..yeah.. I’m just working on homework and stuff..”

“Well, don’t let me distract you,” the girl said. “It’s getting late. Go get your work done before you end up falling asleep on your desk.”

“Alright, sure.. Uh..”

“…”

“..sorry for sounding weird, Nagatoro..”

She giggled in response, and teased him with another sarcastic, quick-witted remark. “It’s fine, Senpai. I’ll call you if I find a spider in my bedroom. Don’t fry your brain even more. See ya’!”

“..bye..”

Nagatoro hung up the phone, and Naoto stood up to his feet once she had done so. He gazed at her house one last time to make sure there weren’t any disturbances.

The place was as calm and as peaceful as ever. Maybe he truly was overreacting. Maybe Nagatoro really was safe after all..

Still, Naoto had a strange feeling in his gut. Finally, he decided to leave. With a single THWIP, Naoto zipped away from the scene.

Nightfall came, and Naoto still hadn’t returned home yet. He stayed out and continued to patrol the streets of Hayama.

Even if Nagatoro was indeed telling the truth.. even if she really was totally safe, there was still a chance that someone else wasn’t. If those spiders really were the cause of those unexplained house-fires, then he needed to be ready to swoop in and save the day.

Who knows, maybe another kid wouldn’t be so lucky.

He ran, ran, and ran, remaining on high-alert as he scoured the town. For the most part, nothing was happening. There were no fires, no sirens, and no cries for help. Hayama was peaceful just like any other night..

..until, one moment, he heard what sounded like a scream. A terrified scream for help. Alarmed and somewhat startled, Naoto bolted to where it came from.

He was led to a quiet, nearly pitch-black alleyway. There, his dangersense went haywire, even more so than it usually did, and he was met with what was perhaps the most horrifying thing he had ever seen in his whole damn life.

It was Nobuko in her monstrous Jorogumo form. He failed to recognize the girl because of her demonic, hellish appearance. Goosebumps spread all throughout his body when he saw each and every bit of vileness. Her eight freakishly long spider legs that protruded out of her back, her large mouth, deadly fangs, and her six, glowing purple eyes.

Something else caught his attention, however, and it made his blood go cold. In Nobuko’s arms was a helpless young woman bound in webs about to be eaten by the Nightmare Spideress. Said woman had long, orange hair..

..orange hair..

…

..oh no.

“..Ga-..”

“..Gamo-chan!”

He didn’t want to go near that thing, but he also didn’t want to let Gamo-chan be turned into a human Happy-Meal.

He had two choices: either run away and leave her to die, or suck up his fears, remember that people saw him as a hero, and do his duty to save his friend.

The answer was obvious. After a few brief moments to do a lot of mental prep, Naoto jumped straight into the scene, landing a few yards in front of them.

“H- HEY!” Naoto shouted, wanting to get the attention of the Devil-Spider. His voice, while loud, was shaking with uneasiness and fear.

Having sensed the arrival of another, Nobuko pulled away from the frightful Gamo-chan she was about to devour, and moved her aside so she could see the hero who intervened.

She smirked deviously, absolutely delighted that she was finally able to meet Hayama’s One-and-Only, aka her Senpai in the flesh.

Oh, this is going to be so fun..

“It’s you,” she said to him, speaking in a manner that was unrecognizable from her “human” voice. “So we’ve finally met..”

Naoto recoiled. The monster just freaking spoke! Gamo-chan tried her best to turn her head to see her savior who came at the nick of time.

“..u- uh..” He stammered. He struggled to get words out. “..w- what?”

Nobuko’s eyes flickered, and she pointed at him with her index finger. “You and I aren’t so different..”

She then pointed at herself. “..you’re just like me.”

In some ways, yeah, but Naoto didn’t have arachnid appendages and more than two eyes. Gulping, Naoto addressed the beast again.

“..l- listen..” he said. “Just- ..”

“…”

“..let her go, a- and we can both walk away. N- Nothing has to happen..”

Senpai’s choosing to handle this in a more diplomatic approach because he’s scared of me? Nobuko’s evil smile only grew bigger. Oh, she was going to have so much fun toying with him..

She stood there for a few dreadful seconds. Naoto was hoping that she wasn’t about to pull anything, and Gamo-chan had her eyes shut the entire time as she prayed that her head wouldn’t be bitten off right there and then. Then, Nobuko, seeming like she was genuinely taking up the offer, began to gently lower the terrified girl to the ground.

“There..” she whispered.

Naoto stood there, blinking in confusion. A part of him felt like this was some sort of trick. His suspicions were quickly confirmed when the back of his head started tingling again, as if alerting him to a source of danger that was about to arise.

Which it did, when Nobuko suddenly extended an arm out, and shot webs at him from her fingertips. Naoto did his best to dodge and managed to successfully evade the attack. He didn’t have much time to comprehend what just happened, as before he knew it, Nobuko started charging at him. Her monstrous legs were the ones actually doing the moving, while Nobuko herself simply dangled in the air like a marionette puppet.

Naoto stumbled back, but Nobuko quickly closed the distance in between them with terrifying speed. She lifted one of her spider-legs up and slammed it down on the ground to try and squish him much like a human would with a real spider. There was so much power in her legs that she left little craters in the ground every time she stomped. 

He was able to move out of the way, but boy was it too close for comfort. Nobuko tried again with another leg. Her abundance of extra limbs allowed her to do so in rapid succession.

Naoto avoided being stepped on each time, albeit very barely. His dangersense allowed him to anticipate her attacks, but that didn’t stop him from narrowly escaping certain death.

He failed to realize, however, that while he was struggling to keep himself safe, Nobuko was in fact testing him. How fast his reflexes were, how he handled himself in a sticky situation, and she was damn-well enjoying every bit of it.

Naoto finally made his first move, but not in the form of an attack. Instead, he webbed a wall behind them, and pulled himself towards it. He zipped past Nobuko and came to an ungraceful sliding halt. Then, he wasted no time in grabbing the bound Gamo-chan, before getting the hell out of there.

You’re running, Senpai? Disappointing..

He didn’t want to fight. He only wanted to save Gamo-chan. He ran as fast as he could to flee from the demon. There was so much going on that the poor girl couldn’t fathom what was happening. She was too scared and shocked to even say anything, not like she was able to, anyways.

“D- Don’t worry,” he tried to reassure her. The only thing Gamo-chan did was stare up at her savior with petrified, widened eyes. “I got you, I- I got you!”

Eventually, he stopped against another building once he felt like he was far enough. Setting the poor girl down, Naoto began to free her from her webbing restraints, ripping and tearing them away while trying not to hurt her.

Gamo-chan started hyperventilating once he pulled the gag off, and Naoto had to shush her.

“H- H- Hey, it’s okay!” He said. “W- We’re safe, we’re safe! Y- You just gotta keep quiet..”

She looked around their surroundings in terror, fearing that the monster that was literally just about to eat her would burst out from the darkness.

“I- I- It-” She finally began to speak. “I- It’s you! Y- You saved..”

Naoto nodded slowly. He held one finger over his mouth, gesturing to her to hush up. “Y- Yeah.. A- Are you okay?”

She only gave him a very brief nod, before his dangersense kicked in again. Gamo-chan quickly caught sight of something above them. Panicking, she pointed up on top of the building they were hiding at.

“L- Look out!”

Naoto turned around and looked up. There, Nobuko was perched on top of the roof, gazing down at the two below, having indeed followed them.

You can’t run from me, Senpai.

“I thought heroes don’t run away,” she taunted. Naoto was forced to push Gamo-chan aside to safety when Nobuko jumped down on them, while he himself dove out of the way.

Nobuko immediately continued her assault upon impact. She was having the time of her life.

He begged her to stop. “P- Please stop,” he pleaded. Unfortunately, Nobuko wasn’t going to. She laughed maniacally in his face, finding his cowardice despite being a “superhero” most.. amusing.

You’re a hero to these people but here you are begging for mercy! Entertain me more, Senpai! Entertain me!

Nobuko shot out another web, which Naoto failed to evade. It stuck to his torso, and he didn’t have much time to yank it off before she used it to flail him around like he was a human mace.

Naoto screamed, and let out an agonizing yelp of pain when he was smacked right into a wall, the force of which resulting in some parts of it even caving in. If he didn’t have his superpowers, then he surely would’ve just died from blunt force trauma right there and then.

Nobuko cackled even louder, but was admittedly impressed by his durability. “Aww, did that hurt?"

She flung him again, this time sending the poor kid flying over her head and down on to the ground. Naoto then found himself being dragged against the puddles that were left by the rain.

“The itsy bitsy spider went up the water sprout,” Nobuko sang, before slamming him against the wall again.

Webs were shot at his wrists to hold him in place. “Down came a goddess..”

Nobuko approached the defeated hero, and hovered so close to his face that their noses were nearly touching.

“..and took the spider out.”

Naoto was still conscious, but he was in what was probably the worst pain he had ever felt in his whole life. His body was definitely going to be littered with bruises and scratches.. if he got out of this alive. He tried as hard as he could to break free from the webs.

Nobuko giggled at his misfortunes. She grabbed the top of his beanie, and with one swift pull, yanked all of his facial coverings off.

His face was now visible to the monster before him, but he didn’t know that she already knew it was him from the very beginning.

Nobuko was surprised by the complexity of his disguise when she saw his sunglasses fall to the floor. Even she found it hilarious that he was wearing a shirt fashioned into a makeshift mask. Smirking, she giggled in his face again.

“Nice outfit,” she said. “I like it.”

Naoto grit his teeth but was forced to look away and close his eyes when Nobuko started violating him by gently caressing his face with her hand.

“You have such a handsome face..”

Whatever nightmare he was having, he prayed to God for it to end.

“You don’t have to be scared. I told you we’re alike. I can tell..”

She leaned in closer, as if she wasn’t already.

“I don’t have to hurt you, you know. In fact, I don’t want to..”

“..you have a lot of potential, which impresses me. If you’d let me, I can show you just how to.. tap in with that potential..”

She began whispering in his ear, which only made him even more frightened.

“I can teach you everything you need to know..”

…

…

…

..SMACK!

Nobuko jolted forward when something unexpectedly hit her from behind, though she was more confused than hurt. She turned around and saw that the assailant was none other than Gamo-chan, who used the opportunity to strike her with her bag while she was distracted.

Her bag contained a number of things. Books, binders, and her gym clothes, so being hit with that would surely hurt a normal human. Though reminder, Nobuko was anything but a normal human. She was completely unfazed by her futile attempt.

Smirking, she loomed over her. Gamo-chan stepped back, regretting her decision to attack, but it was too late. Nobuko picked her up and held her close. She’d soon face the consequences of her actions.

“N- NO, NO! LET ME GO!” She yelled.

Instead, Nobuko turned around to the bound Naoto again, her smile growing larger. “If you want to be a hero to these people, then let me show you lesson number one..”

“…”

Naoto gasped when he saw her mouth open up once again.

“..You can’t save everybody.”

He clenched his fists. Gamo-chan was about to be eaten again, but this time, he was powerless to save her.

“..no..”

He used all the strength he had left in one last go to free himself.

“..no..” Gamo-chan wasn’t going to die!

“..NO!” He wouldn’t let her! After one, grand, final push, he managed to free one hand, before yanking on the second web to free the other.

Then, he rushed up to the demon, thinning the gap between them swiftly. He jumped up to her, and then drew his fist back..

“..LEAVE HER ALONE!”

With all of his might, he threw a heavy, heavy swing at her. Surprised, Nobuko didn't react in time, and was decked right across the face. She was forced to drop Gamo-chan, and found herself stumbling back, even falling to the ground herself. That was easily the single most powerful blow anyone has ever done to her.

She had to take a second to think about what just happened.

..Senpai’s strong..

Nobuko got back up. Naoto was just standing there, staring right at his adversary looking as angry as ever. He’d never been this mad before, but now, he had a reason to be.

No one, not even a demon spawn from Hell, would dare hurt his friends.

Unfortunately.. his anger quickly dissipated when he heard Gamo-chan say his name.

“…”

“..Paisen?”

Naoto stared back at her, slowly realizing that his true identity was now revealed to her.

“..Gamo..”

He didn’t say much of anything else, before his head tingled again. Nobuko swooped in, and swiped at him with one of her legs, sending the boy flying back.

“AH!” He landed right on his back. Now that he was down again, Nobuko lumbered towards him slowly, while webbing Gamo-chan against a wall to make sure she was out of the way this time.

“No one's ever hit me that hard before.."

She stepped up above him, and held one leg up. “..."

"..I'm so much more into you now."

"Don't worry, I'll make this one quick.."

Before she was able to administer the finishing blow, the sounds of sirens began to blare in the distance. Nobuko looked up, upset. Damn, the police..

Uninvited guests would soon interrupt their little charade. Nobuko looked at her Senpai, then at the powerless Gamo-chan.. before turning around and fleeing.

These people aren’t ready to see me yet.

“We’ll meet again.. Spider-Guy.” Nobuko gazed at him one last time, and then she was gone, leaving the two to themselves.

Naoto got back up after a few moments. His mask was off, and the police were coming at any second now. He needed to be gone by the time they arrived. He ran up to Gamo-chan, and ripped away at the webs again to release her.

“G- Gamo-chan.. we gotta go!” Naoto pulled in his beanie, mask and glasses with his webs.

The girl blinked multiple times, astonished by the fact that he was shooting out webs in front of her. It was a feat that further confirmed his identity as That Spider-Guy.

“P- Paisen, b- but the police!” She argued. “W- We should tell them what happened!’

Naoto threw her bag over his shoulder to carry it for her, before he suddenly took the girl in his arms. Gamo-chan yelped in surprise upon being grabbed unexpectedly. It was something he wasn’t comfortable with, but considering the circumstances, it had to be done.

“T- There’s no time! Just trust me!”

Then, THWIP! He zipped up to the rooftops and was up and away before the police arrived. All they found was a bunch of craters and damage left behind by the scuffle.

Gamo-chan, unfortunately, was panicking after being taken on her first web-swinging joyride.

Naoto took them both to his scenic spot, where he figured they’d be safe. He peered over the edge of the roof, scanning the entire area all around them to make sure that Nobuko didn't follow them.

Meanwhile, Gamo-chan was just sitting down, still trying to process the fact that he was That Spider-Guy.

“Paisen..” She got up and slowly made her way towards him. “You’re..”

“..you’re him.. you’re really..”

Naoto looked at her and didn’t say anything. He merely nodded. “…”

“..S- So, that means y- you’re the one everyone’s talking about..”

Another nod.

“Y- You’re the one who saved the kid from that fire..”

“..You’re the one who saved Sakura a couple days ago..”

“..And now, you’re the one who saved..”

“…”

“..me.”

He gave her one last nod. “..yeah..”

“..how long have you been doing this for,” she asked, her entire world having been flipped upside down.

“..since you guys started hearing about me,” he answered softly.

“..How did this even happen to you. How did you become..”

Naoto sighed at the second question. “..I was bitten. Not long before.. I started doing this..”

“..bitten?” Gamo-chan cocked her head to the side, to which he nodded again.

“..by a spider.”

Gamo-chan couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “..So is that why you’re able to shoot webs?”

“..mhm..”

“…”

“..please don’t tell anyone, okay?”

She was taken aback by that. This revelation was by far the best and absolutely coolest thing to have ever happened to her that year. “But why not, Paisen? This is the coolest thing ever! You’re literally a badass superhero! People will love you!”

“B- Because this was supposed to be my secret!” He countered. “I didn’t want anyone to know about this..”

He went on, and Gamo-chan listened intently, giving him her complete, undivided attention as he explained his reasoning.

“..Y- you think people will love me for what I am, but to me.. I don’t think that’s the case..”

“..I’ve been bullied my whole life growing up because kids thought that I was the weird kid. They used to talk down on me, push me around.. make fun of my drawings..”

“..if people at school knew what I was, then I’d probably look even weirder to them. My life might be made harder than it ever has been..”

He paused, took a deep breath, and then continued. “..plus, I haven’t even been doing this for a week and I already have people trying to kill me. If any of my family, like my mom and dad, found out what I was doing every night, they’d freak out..”

“..and I don’t wanna do that to them. So please, Gamo-chan..”

“…”

“..keep this between us.”

Gamo-chan was at a loss for words. She didn’t know about the hardships Naoto was facing during his literal first week on the job. Feeling pity for him, she slowly nodded, and decided to comply with her friend’s wishes.

“..Okay..”

“You’ promise?” He asked her, to which she nodded again.

“I promise, Paisen. Man, you weren’t kidding when you said your life’s been kinda hard lately..”

“..mhm..”

The girl went over and sat down next to him. Usually, Naoto would be fuming red with embarrassment from being so close to a girl other than Nagatoro, but his mind was too busy trying to comprehend the events that just transpired earlier for him to even be bothered.

“..thank you,” she said to him quietly. “Thank you for saving me back there. I.. Don’t even wanna think about what would’ve happened if you didn’t come.”

“..no problem.” Naoto spoke in a low and soft tone.

“So no one else knows about this,” the girl asked. “Not even Hayacchi?”

He shook his head no. “It’s just you, Gamo. Nagatoro doesn’t know, but..”

A pause. “…”

“..sometimes, I do think about telling her.”

“She cares about you, Paisen,” Gamo-chan reminded him. “You shouldn’t hide this from her for too long.”

Naoto thought about it hard. Gamo-chan was right in that he shouldn’t keep a lie away from his kohai, but he didn’t know if she was ready for the truth.

The only thing he gave her in response was a quiet “Maybe.”

“..how’d you even know that I was in danger?” Gamo-chan changed the subject.

“..I heard you scream,” he answered her. “I was around the area when it happened, so I went over to you as fast as I could.”

Gamo-chan paused for a moment. “Well, you managed to get there just in time,” she said.

“..mhm..”

The two stayed up on top of the roof for a bit longer. At that point, it was already nearing midnight. Figuring that they’ve spent way too much time out, Naoto decided it was time to go. He scanned the area one last time to make sure the coast was clear, and once he deemed that it was, he stood up.

“It’s late,” he reminded her. “We should probably head home now.”

Gamo-chan, having just survived her encounter with a Hungry, Hungry Spider-Lady, had some objections to that. “With that monster-thing crawlin' around? I don’t think so, Paisen.”

“I don’t think it’s gonna bother us again any time soon..”

He knew she feared the possibility of Nobuko popping and devouring her once they separated. The poor girl was probably due for some hardcore nightmares that night and he was well aware of that. Hell, he wasn’t sure if he was going to get some quality sleep himself.

He thought for a moment, and then finally came up with a solution.

“..where do you live?” He nervously asked. “I can take you home.”

Gamo-chan gestured her head towards the general direction of her house. “Not far from here. It’s probably like a ten minute walk..”

“…”

“..what about you though, Paisen?”

“I’ll stick around for a bit longer once I drop you off to see if whatever that thing was is really gone. I’d rather have it come after me than you..”

The girl was flattered by that last part. Paisen was really putting himself in harm’s way just so she could sleep soundly tonight. If that wasn’t heroic, then she didn’t know what was.

She agreed to his plan, but was still iffy about it. Even if he did have a much higher chance of defending himself against that beast, she still didn’t like the idea of it attacking either of them while they were alone.

“..Alright then, Paisen. Just make sure to live to see tomorrow, okay?”

He gave her a nod. “I will. Come on, let’s go.”

Naoto held his out his hand to her, wanting to carry her like he did earlier..

…

..which was something he still wasn’t anywhere near comfortable with doing, as evidenced by his face suddenly turning beet, beet red.

“..I need to, uh..” His voice was full of awkwardness. “I need to carry you again.”

“Oh- Right. Yeah, yeah I know.” Gamo-chan nodded. She had too much pride to admit it, but she too was shy about being carried by a guy, especially if it was Paisen of all people.

Naoto ungracefully took the girl in his arms and webbed away. Having been given the directions by the girl, he managed to make it to her house in record time. After dropping her off, Gamo-chan thanked him one last time, and the two exchanged awkward “goodnights” and “goodbyes.” She went inside, and Naoto followed through with his plan and patrolled her neighborhood, keeping tabs on her house much like he did with Nagatoro’s to make sure that Gamo-chan was safe.

Nobuko never returned, and Naoto eventually left to go home himself once he realized everything was going to be alright.

The next morning, news of the incident was all over the headlines, but that wasn’t a cause for concern.

What was, was the fact that the police station was broken into sometime that night, and Teshima Yasuhiro was nowhere to be found. Photos were provided, which depicted a massive, gaping hole near his cell which was his likely method of escaping. Though, authorities were stumped because he had no means of accomplishing anywhere near that level of destruction, leading to them to suspect a third party being involved.

What that third party was, however, was a complete mystery.

Naoto’s stomach dropped when he woke up to the news. There were now fire-breathing spiders, a crazed lunatic, and a monster-demon on the prowl in his hometown. He feared that Hayama wasn’t the safe, quiet town it used to be.

He stared at his Spider-Guy outfit for a solid twenty minutes, thinking long and hard about something..

..and ultimately decided to bring it with him to school in a separate bag. If danger really was lurking about, then he needed to be able to suit up and deal with it, regardless if it was during school or not.

Later that day, Naoto was staring out the window of his art club, all while holding on to his shirt-turned-mask.

From his view, he was able to see the baseball club going through another one of their practice sessions. There, Naoto saw Hosokawa, a second-year kid who was in the same class as him.

Hosokawa was the “Orihara” of the baseball club. His exceptional skills in the sport led him to be speculated by talent scouts to go play professionally once he was done in high school. Naoto used to be secretly envious of his social skills, for Hosokawa was described by many to have always been very charismatic, popular, friendly, and well-liked by his peers.

However, this time, things were different. Naoto stared at him not with jealousy.. but instead, with worry.

What if a gifted athlete like him perished in a fire? What if he was stabbed by Yasuhiro..

..or what if he was eaten by that monster? What if he died, and Naoto wasn’t able to save him?

The words Nobuko said to him were echoing in his mind.

“If you want to be a hero to these people, then let me show you lesson number one..”

“..You can’t save everybody.”

He looked at his mask, questioning his ability to be a successful hero to these people.

“..can I really do this?” He asked himself. Naoto already faced great horrors and he only had his powers for a week..

..Could he really do this?

His thought process was interrupted when he heard the door to the club slide open. Turning around, he looked to see who had arrived.

It was Gamo-chan. “’Sup, Paisen.”

Naoto sighed in relief, fearing that it was Nobuko. “..Oh. Hey.. ‘You, uh..”

“..you’ doing okay?”

Gamo-chan made her way over to him, nodding. “I’ve been better. My parents were flippin’ out about why I came home so late..”

“..and I didn’t really sleep well..”

He was right. The poor girl was in fact too terrified to go to bed.

“..me neither,” he told her.

Gamo-chan peered out the window and spotted Hosokawa hitting an impressive homerun. He ran around all four bases with ease, while the opposing team watched the ball fly way over their heads.

“There goes Hosokawa killin’ it again,” she pointed out. “He’s definitely going pro once he graduates. ‘Hard to believe he’s in the same class as a superhero.”

“I used to wanna be like him,” he admitted to her. “Where’s, uh..”

“..where’s Nagatoro?”

“’Doing something in the judo club. She might come later.”

“I see..”

Gamo-chan then noticed the “mask” he was holding. “..what’s the other shirt for, Paisen?”

Blushing out of embarrassment, Naoto tensed slightly, and then nervously lifted it up for her to see, showcasing the eyeholes he cut in it.

“..it’s my mask.”

No way. This whole time, Paisen was running around with a shirt on his head? Astonished, Gamo-chan held out her hand.

“Wait, really? Can I see?”

He reluctantly gave it to her. There was no point in hiding it from her, anyways. She already knew the truth.

Gamo-chan inspected the thing, turning and flipping it around. Then, she peered through the eyeholes.

“God, can you even see through these?” She chuckled softly.

Naoto looked away bashfully. “Y- Yes..”

“…”

“..it’s really bad, I know.”

“Do you have the rest of your outfit? Lemme see.” Gamo-chan never got the chance to get a good look of his getup when she discovered the truth, so she figured now was a good time.

He nodded, and timidly led her into another part of the club room, where he hid the bag containing his clothes behind a “wall” of art supplies in a cabinet. Laying it on a table, he opened it up and pulled out each and every one of its contents. His beanie, his glasses, jacket, everything.

“So that’s why me and Yoshi saw you buyin’ clothes last week,” she noted. “You were buyin’ these, huh?”

He nodded. “..yeah..”

Gamo-chan stared at the clothes, surprised by how shabby and raggidy they were. They were as far as you could get from being a proper superhero suit.

“You really need an upgrade,” she laughed.

Naoto turned red, not exactly liking the girl judging his outfit choice. He went on to say something but stopped when Gamo-chan suddenly began leaving the room.

“Come on.” She gestured for him to follow with her hand. “I wanna take you somewhere.”

Raising an eyebrow, he wondered (and even slightly dreaded) what the girl was planning, but nonetheless did exactly as he was told out of curiosity.

“Uh.. Where are we going?” He asked.

“You’ll see,” was the only thing she said to him.

The two walked down the hall, and down the stairs, where he was eventually led to the first-year floor. Naoto shuddered when he realized where they were.

“I don’t fit in here..” He thought to himself.

“Hey Paisen?” Gamo-chan spoke up again. “I know you said not to tell anyone, but you’ cool with me tellin’ Yoshi?”

Yoshi? Yoshi?! The other girl?! Naoto was flabbergasted.

“W- Wha- Wait, hold on!” He stuttered. “I thought you promised to keep this between us!”

“Relax.” she reassured him. “I know it seems like I’m going against my word, but I promise she’ll be the only one who'll know. She knows how to keep a secret.”

“Besides, I need her help for what I’m about to do. Yoshi’s my main girl, Paisen.”

“A- And what are you about to do, exactly?” Naoto wasn’t liking this.

Gamo-chan looked at him, smirked, and then gave the nervous boy a vague answer.

“Gettin’ you an upgrade.”

Naoto had no idea what the hell she meant, but all was about to be revealed to him soon.

They eventually arrived at a classroom similar to his club room. However, instead of filled with art supplies, this room had various sewing equipment, textiles, and clothing. The room was mostly empty, save for one person who was working diligently at a desk.

Naoto looked around, already having an idea on what the room was. “..this is..”

“The needlecraft club,” Gamo-chan answered. “I’m not really a member, I just come around here sometimes. Yoshi is, though.”

And that one person was in fact none other than Yoshi, who perked up from her sewing machine to see her newly arrived friends at the door.

“Gamo-chan! Senpai! Wassup!” She sounded as ecstatic as ever.

Naoto gave her a little wave in response, and Gamo-chan made her way over to her pal with positive vibes. “’Sup! Anyone else here, Yoshi?”

She shook her head no. “Nope! I’m all alone.”

“Great. Paisen, shut the door.”

Oh God.. What was Gamo-chan doing? Naoto gulped, and did what she asked, already beginning to regret following her.

When he turned around, he saw Gamo-chan whispering something inaudible to Yoshi. Great, she really was telling her about his secret.

And, as he expected, his theory was correct, when Yoshi’s eyes suddenly went super, super wide like she had just been told about something awesome. She gasped, her jaw dropped slightly, and stared at the boy with the most awe-stricken eyes ever.

Naoto began to sweat. Could this girl really keep a secret?

Gamo-chan giggled, and then pulled away. “You gotta promise me that you won't tell anybody, okay? Not even Hayacchi or Sakura. This is our little secret that stays between us.”

She struggled to get words out. Her little mind had just exploded by the revelation.

“O- O- Okay!”

To prove that she wasn’t lying, as well as to blow her mind just a tiny bit more just for some giggles, Gamo-chan turned her attention back to Naoto.

“Hey Paisen. Go ahead and prove it to her by catchin’ this with your webs.” She went ahead and grabbed a spare ball of red yarn..

“Think fast!”

And then chucked it right at him.

Naoto begrudgingly did exactly that. He had no reason to deny the truth. Gamo-chan already spilled the beans to her friend. At least it was just them in there..

With one single motion, he extended his arm out, and swiftly yanked the ball towards his hand midair with his webs. He held it up to show them that he indeed caught it the way they wanted.

“..there. I did it..”

Gamo-chan clapped gleefully, and Yoshi.. well, it was like multiple atom bombs were going off in her head at once, because her mind was effectively blown away again.

“’Told ya’! Paisen’s amazing, isn’t he?” Then, after she was done giving him her little round of applause, she went over to a shelf, and grabbed some measuring tape.

“Alright, arms out,” she directed him. “Lemme take your measurements.”

M- Mea.. Measurements? For what?

“W- Wait, what for?" He asked. “What are you trying to do? Y- You said you were going to g- give me an upgrade, but..”

“…”

“..what does that even mean?”

Chuckling one last time at his utter confusion, Gamo-chan finally revealed the truth. “I’m gonna make you a suit."

Record scratch effect. What did she say?

“..a- a suit?” Naoto had to do a double take. Even Yoshi seemed surprise at that.

“Yeah. A superhero suit. You need to know someone’s measurements to make them a costume, Paisen.”

“..but why?” Naoto asked. That was indeed the question. Why?

“Because if you’re gonna be a hero, then you gotta wear more than that raggidy ‘For sale’ outfit you had on. You need something that makes you more official.”

He didn’t know how to feel about that, but Naoto did have to admit that it was indeed a pain having to change into his shabby alternate attire. A costume would perhaps make it easier..

“..hold on, w- what if the other club members see you two making it?” He pointed out. “Won’t they get suspicious?”

“They won’t,” she replied. “They always leave this place alone during lunch, so it’s pretty much only Yoshi here. The only time they do come is after school, so we’ll make sure to hide our progress then.”

Naoto thought about the offer, unsure about it. “..I don’t know..”

“Come on, Paisen. This is my way of saying thank you for saving my bacon last night. Besides, you can count on us to make somethin’ cool for ya’. I know how to sew, but Yoshi’s the wizard that can really make the magic happen.”

Yoshi began to blush after her friend complimented her sewing skills, but she also wondered what she meant by him “saving her bacon.”

The girls gave him a few more minutes to think. It was clear that Naoto was still questioning whether or not getting them two involved, even if they were just trying to help, was a good idea.

“..I..”

“…”

“..f- fine,” he finally relented.

“Great! Arms out, Paisen.”

With a lot of hesitation, he did what he was told, and Gamo-chan commenced with the measuring process. She first wrapped the tape around waist, and then his chest, and then his arms.

“..your arms are thicker than I thought,” she noted. Paisen wasn’t just some scrawny nerd. “Do you workout?”

Kind of? Running around town all night was definitely an exercise, but he didn’t want to tell her that he quite literally bulked up overnight.

“..uh.. I guess?” The boy was super tense from being so close to Gamo-chan, which caused her to giggle again.

"What an answer."

The girl continued to measure the rest of his body. She did his legs, his neck, and his feet. At one point, when she was measuring his head, Naoto closed his eyes shut to avoid eye contact with her. He was redder than a strawberry, and she laughed again.

Fortunately, she finished up quickly. “Alright, you’re all set.”

“..t- thanks.. but.. I don’t even know what to wear..” Naoto scratched his head.

“You’re a spider,” Gamo-chan said. “You have your theme already. Just think about what would match with a spider-themed aesthetic. Darkbat dresses up like a bat, and Iron Hull wears a metal suit because, well, he's iron."

Her descriptions of various fictional superheroes didn’t help him much. In the case of Darkbat and Iron Hull, they’re able to at least look the part..

..but how the hell was Naoto supposed to look like a spider? Was he supposed to don eight legs like the monster he faced last night? Did he need to have multiple bulbous eyes on his head? He was at a stump.

“..I’ll.. I’ll try to think of something, I guess..”

“Alright.” Gamo-chan pulled out her phone. “And while you’re at it, here’s my number.”

Your number?! He began to blush profusely again. No other girl besides Nagatoro had given him their number before!

“W- Wait, what?”

“Calm down, Paisen. I’m not askin’ you out. It’s just so I could let you know when your costume’s done. Yoshi, give ‘em yours too.”

“H- Heh?!” Yoshi was just like Naoto. She had virtually no experience with interacting with other boys, so offering her number was something that was completely new to her. Still, she ultimately did exactly that.

“Perfect. Run along now, Paisen. Think of somethin’ for us.”

“..alright..”

With their numbers now saved in his contacts list, Gamo-chan sent him on his way, reassuring the boy one last time that no one was going to find out about their little side project. Naoto spent the rest of his day brainstorming ideas for his costume, while also wondering if he had just made a terrible mistake.

When he got home, he sat at his desk for a long while, going through sketches upon sketches of concept arts. He still had no idea what to put down. Whatever idea he came up with felt unsatisfactory and joined the rest of the crumpled-up papers in the trash bin.

“Why is this harder than I thought..”

The only thing he had was a skin-tight suit, akin to the tights most superheroes wear. He had nothing else after that.

He needed something to conceal his identity, something that was easier to put on than a beanie, shirt and glasses. He thought hard about it, but eventually looked into full-bodied suits.

A full-bodied, skin-tight suit..

..with a separate head portion that was easy to remove and put on? That might work..

..yeah, that'll work. He now had the first thing down.

Next was the color scheme, which he struggled with. Most superheroes wore bright and vibrant colors, most likely to look appealing to kids. However, he didn’t know how to feel about wearing colors that were so.. tacky.

“Oh who am I kidding. A skin-tight suit is tacky in itself..”

Naoto was stuck on this part for a while. He didn’t really have a favorite color to go off of. Eventually, he looked to one of his favorite shonen manga.

Wait a second.. Manga.. Manga..

Mangas are black and white. Black and white..

“..yeah, that might work.” A black and white body suit. That was good enough.

Now, he slowly started to get the ball rolling. He imagined his suit being a character in a manga that was easy to draw, and plain and simple while also unique and distinctive.

What exactly was easy to draw? Two big white eyes, instead of having multiple smaller ones to fit the spider-aesthetic. Plus, he thought that their large size made him look more friendly.

Superheroes also tend to have different colored arms and legs, so he decided to incorporate that tradition into his suit. He added long white “boots” that went up to his knees, and “gloves” that nearly covered his entire forearms. He noticed a bit of plain-ness in his design, so to stay true to the spider-theme, he added little subtle lines to them which resembled a spider’s webbing.

His suit was nearly complete. It looked simple for what it was, but the torso area was a bit.. empty. He felt like he needed some sort of detail there. Naoto did some more research and found that most superheroes sport their symbols on their chests.

Bingo. He found exactly what he needed.

He spent some time working on his symbol, but eventually came to a final result. A thick, bold spider with a little black marking in its center. He ended up adding it on to his back as well.

After some hours of work, his costume was finally finished. He took one last look of his sketching.

A skin-tight, black and white full-bodied suit, covering him from head to toe, with big eyes, white forearms and calves that were lined with faint webbing, and a thick, prominent spider-logo to represent what he was.

He smiled. He kind of.. liked what he made.

“So, this is what ya’ got?”

Naoto met up with Gamo-chan and Yoshi the next day in the needlecraft room, where he presented the former with his sketch. It was basic, but she kind of liked its simplicity.

“Not bad,” she said with a grin. “Yep, we can easily do this."

Naoto blushed. He was a bit shy when it came to sharing his artwork to others, whether it be a manga or a quick sketching. Still, he was glad that the two were able to do this for him.

“..t- thanks. I- I’ll be on my way now..”

Naoto excused himself but stopped before he could get to the door when Gamo-chan suddenly called out to him.

“Hold up one second, Paisen..”

“…”

“..you got a name? It’s getting a little annoying having to call you That Spider-Guy all the time.”

A name? Naoto froze. He spent so much time designing his costume that he neglected to come up with a proper name for himself.

“..I.. didn’t really think of one,” he admitted. “I actually don’t mind the name I’ve been given..”

“Well, ya’ gotta more official, remember? You should be somethin' like The Spider-Guy instead of just That Spider-Guy, you know? Let's think.."

She held her hand up to her chin and began going through a bunch of possible names for her pal.

“..Super-Spider?”

Naoto shrugged. “..Maybe..?”

Yoshi chimed in, wanting to give her input. “Creepy Crawlie!”

He didn’t like that one. Creepy Crawlie? Creepy was something Nagatoro would’ve called him.

“..not that one.”

“Black Widow?” Gamo-chan suggested.

“That might work.. I think that’s taken, though..”

“Tarantula Hawk!” Yoshi exclaimed.

Naoto shook his head no. “I- I’m not hairy like a tarantula and I don’t have wings.. and besides, isn’t that a real insect..?”

“Lord Recluse?” Gamo-chan asked.

“That makes me sound like a villain.. and I think that’s taken too..”

“Webber!” Yoshi shouted.

“..I guess?”

Gamo-chan gave him one more. “..what about Venom? Spiders are venomous, right?”

Naoto thought about that one, but ultimately passed on it. “It sounds cool, but it makes me sound like a villain again. And I don’t think I can.. Well, shoot venom out of my body..”

Instead of going off of their suggestions, he started to think of one himself. That Spider-Guy sounded appealing to him. Maybe he could alter that somehow..

“..what about..”

“…”

“..what about Spider-Man? It’s kinda like That Spider-Guy, except it sounds a bit better, I think..”

Silence. Tensing up, Naoto looked at the girls, and saw Gamo-chan trying to hold in some laughter.

“W- What?” Oh man, please don’t make fun of it, Gamo..

The girl held up his sketch. “Sorry, it’s just that you’d be more of a Spider-Boy because of this onesie you’re about to put on.”

Naoto blushed again and began to frown. He was about to change it, when Gamo-chan smiled.

“I like it. Alright, Spider-Man. One suit comin’ right up.”

Relieved, he smiled back and them, and the girls got to work.

Chapter Text

..BOOM!

Over at Hayama’s police station, a part of the wall leading to its holding cells came crashing down. With smoke and debris now quickly filling the air, the building’s alarms were blaring, and two officers came rushing in to see what the hell was happening.

One of them began frantically yelling into his radio. “A- All units! Break in at the station! I repeat break in at the-”

SHWIP! SHWIP! He wasn’t able to see the several strands of webs being shot at him from the dust cloud, and before he was able to even finish his sentence, both he and his unlucky partner were both pinned to a wall. They wiggled and wiggled, their arms bound to their sides, and more webs were flung to cover their eyes.

Then, an ominous silhouette appeared, and through the ashes, emerged Nobuko. Still in her monstrous Jorogumo form, she welcomed herself into the police station, her glowing eyes darting around the room to locate the target she was after.

“Ohh Teshy-kuuun~,” sang the monster-girl playfully. “I’m here to pick you uuup~.”

Nobuko walked along the many cells, swaying her body from side to side. She eyed each and every one of them with a big grin on her face like a child strolling through the candy isle in a grocery store. She even had her hands held not-so innocently behind her back and hummed a happy little tune to herself, ignoring the fearful eyes she received from the scared individuals who had the unfortunate privilege of spending their nights in Hayama's police station.

Finally, she found him. Yasuhiro, still in his unresponsive, catatonic state induced by the spider that crawled its way into his mind, slumped against the against the concrete wall on the floor.

“There you are, Teshy-kun. Oh silly, you know there’s a bed right here, right?” Nobuko jokingly pointed at the vacant bed next to him, poking fun at his "choice" to lay on a cold, flat surface. Not like he had a say in it.

Giggling, she grabbed two of the thick, metal bars trapping him inside, and with such terrifying, monstrous strength, pushed them apart to the sides. It was as if they nothing but malleable clay to her, and she easily bent them like paperclips.

“Told ya’ I’d come get ya’. Did’ja miss me?” Nobuko laughed again, knowing full well he couldn’t respond. She stepped forward into his cell and stood over her victim. Yasuhiro’s mouth was opened slightly, and his eyes were rolled into the back of their sockets.

“Poor thing. Don’t worry, Teshy-kun. We’re going home now~.”

Then, with one swift flick of her wrist, the Jorogumo shot webs from the tips of her fingers.

SHWIP, SHWIP. SHWIIIIIP.

He was rolled, turned, and maneuvered, until he was inside a silky cocoon. A webby bodybag, if you will. Nobuko picked him up, held her dear Teshy-kun close in her arms like a teddy bear, and marched out of the station.

She returned him to her den, her burrow: the lone, abandoned house in the outskirts of Hayama. Placing the captive boy back with the mass of webbed mounds in her “living room,” Nobuko began to change.

She sunk back into her “human costume,” hiding her spider-legs and the rest of her Jorogumo features back into her body and slipped out of her garments. She pulled every piece of clothing off of her, starting with her shirt and going all the way to her underwear, until she was ultimately stripped down to nothing but her naked body. Her smooth, silky skin, being illuminated by the moonlight seeping through the windows, was glistening from the orange glows that were being provided by the many candles she set up.

Nobuko stepped into a bathroom, and looked at herself in the mirror that was cloudy and even shattered in some areas. A testimony to how run down the place was.

She brushed her fine, gorgeous hair out of her face with her hand. With a slightly less than pleased look on her face, she leaned forward, resting her hand on top the dirty sink, and began massaging her jaw.

“Jeez, Senpai. You really didn’t hold back, huh?” Nobuko opened her mouth and pressed her finger against her gums, pulling it out after a few seconds. Inspecting it, she found a little trace of blood on them.

She was bleeding.

“..no one’s ever made me bleed before.” If not for her own superpowers, the force behind Naoto’s punch would’ve straight-up killed her. Her head would’ve spun around a thousand times before flying off of her neck. It’d be a messy decapitation.

She was still in pain from their fight earlier. Him actually inflicting pain on to her was a feat that he really deserved some praise for. Stepping out of the bathroom, she made her way to another part of the house: her bedroom. It was run-down, messy, decrepit, and dark. Much like the rest of her nest, but she didn’t care. Not one bit. All she needed was some lights, a nice bed covered in webbing, and a place to eat her meals.

Crashing on to the silky mattress, she laid flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling with her mesmerizing eyes. Her bare body was like a magnet to her little lovely spiders, and dozens of them began congregating, crawling on top and all over their mother. While most would squeal, thrash, and flee from what was essentially pure nightmare fuel, especially for those with arachnophobia, Nobuko instead laid still, and found much diabolical enjoyment from being massaged by her babies' many legs.

She saw it as a loving, motherly moment, an act to show her children some well-deserved maternal love by letting them scurry their eight little footsies all over her. They tickled her, the tingly sensation from them creeping up and down her legs, wriggling about on her sides, exploring her midriff, neck, and face..

..It felt amazing. She loved it so much. It was like a masseur was lightly brushing the tips of his fingers all across her body and she couldn’t get enough of it.

The only thing that was missing was That Special Someone.. A boy whom she fancied, a boy she just wanted to snuggle up with, cuddle with, lay on top of, bite gently, and then plant a very passionate and wet kiss right smack on his lips as his sweet, sweet love-bug.

“..Senpai..”

Nobuko thought about him, Naoto Hachioji, replaying the fight they had over and over in her head.

…

“..You really are amazing..”

Nobuko pictured him, imagined him. The fact that he was the first person in forever to make her bleed, proved that there was so much power, so much potential, held within him that he didn't even know about. Her blood, the divine blood of a goddess, was flowing in his veins, and he was oblivious to the greatness that was inside of him.

He was stronger. Better. Better than he’d ever imagined.

…

..and Nobuko needed to show him all of that.

She turned to her side, watching a little flame dance on the tip of a candle. “…”

“…”

“..oh Senpai..” A blush came to her face, and she closed her eyes.

There was no way in hell she’d let him go. He was too great to just use as another meal. If he understood what he was capable of, then Hayama.. and the rest of Japan..

..and maybe even the entire world, would be nothing but a sandbox for them to play in.

…

..and she wanted that more than anything. In such a sick, twisted fashion, she dreamt of the day where they both could just run their hands through anyone they wanted like they were nothing but grains of sand in said sandbox.

Nobuko’s lips curved upward into a smile, and she soon drifted to sleep. Her mind ran wild with daydreams, fantasizing a moment with just them two, while all of humanity were merely just chips at their fingertips, ready to be picked, plucked, and eaten without remorse.

Up on the rooftop of his favorite scenic spot, Naoto sat on its edge, his legs dangling in the air. He was wearing his suit, but not the one he fashioned out of cheap clothing. Instead, he wore the new one, the skin-tight black and white suit fashioned by the courtesy of his truly, Gamo-chan. She even included nifty zipper compartments to safely secure things like his cellphone in!

It was like he had shed his skin, just like a real-life spider would do when it molts.

A part of Naoto felt weird from wearing something so closely fitting and “gimpy,” but he had to admit that what Gamo-chan had said was true. The suit made him feel more.. official, and it helped solidify his identity as Hayama’s new, one-and-only Spider-Man.

Plus, it wasn’t that tight in some areas, and, as gross as it seemed, did wonders in showing off the definition in his muscles.

In his hands was his mask. He looked down, inspecting it as he ran his fingers along the big white lenses which looked exactly like he had asked for.

Gamo-chan wasn’t kidding when she said Yoshi was the Needlecraft Wizard. She got every detail from his sketch fitted perfectly down to the dot, from the subtle webbing-lines on the white parts on the suit to the bold spider-logo on his chest.

“They didn’t do half bad,” he whispered, a little smile beginning to form on his face.

Still, no matter how perfect his suit may have seemed, a thousand thoughts were still fresh on his mind, lingering. Thoughts of uncertainty, reluctance, fear, and unreadiness on whether or not he had what it took to take up the mantle as Spider-Man.

Gamo-chan almost died just days ago. Some beast, some demon from Hell, nearly took his friend away from him, and it was by the sheer grace of God that Naoto was able to find the strength, the courage within him, to save her. Between that, the fire-breathing spiders, and the fact that a crazed killer like Yasuhiro was now on the loose..

…

..Naoto had doubts if he could even do this.

A gazillion replays of possible scenarios where he’d fail to save his friends ran rampart in his head. He’d be destroyed if Gamo-chan was killed, he’d be devastated in Nagatoro bit the bullet, he’d be a shattered man if his family..

…

..No! Naoto shook his head and gripped his mask even tighter. No way, no! He shouldn’t think like that. How stupid of him!

He already saved lives. He already threw himself into the fiery pits of Hell to help someone, and even came face-to-face with the Devil herself. He had the power to do this.

This town needed someone to save them, to be its protector against her wicked forces, and he was going to be that someone.

Rising up to his feet, Naoto stood tall, gazing upon the waters of Hayama, his home. The spectacular view he had before him was another reason that pushed him to be its superhero. Its natural beauty needed to be preserved. Kept safe.

Naoto took a deep breath, and slid his mask on. Seagulls flew by him, and from below, he looked like a courageous superhero, standing proudly over the town that was now his responsibility to look out for.

“…”

“..I can do this!”

“I’m..”

“...”

“..I’m Hayama’s Spider-Man!”

Smiling, he readied himself, and then took his first plunge, not as That Spider-Guy, but finally, as the one and only Spider-Man. He leapt right off the edge, plummeting down to the streets below.

Right off the bat, Naoto was immediately able to tell that it felt so much better to move around in his new suit than in his old gimmick. For one, he didn’t have to worry about his shades being dislodged, or even risk having them fall of every time he zipped around. Two, the thin fabrics of his costume allowed the wind to hit his body a lot more than it did before, and it felt amazing to him.

For the first time in his life, he didn’t feel constricted, or stiff anymore. He felt loose. Unbound. Free.

All over Hayama he went. Naoto didn’t even have any set direction, or a particular location he wanted to go to. He just wanted to test out his threads, and damn was he having a lot of fun with it.

He received the awe-stricken gazes from people below, some of them being fellow classmates at his school. Orihara, who was on her daily jog, slid to a halt and pulled her earbuds out to watch him go.

Ren and Ryo nearly dropped their bags containing fresh new clothes in amazement when their super awesome superhero idol passed by the mall, earning them the giggles of the girls they were on dates with.

And, at one point, he was even spotted by his club president, Sana, who was practicing how to ride her motorbike. She stopped what she was doing, and observed him, not knowing that it was her kohai beneath that mask.

He soon ended up in parts of Hayama he’d rarely been in, or never even gone to, but that didn’t stop him. He swung, ran, zipped, and thwipped about, and eventually, began doing something he really never thought he’d ever do.

It was an act that was extremely dangerous and even illegal. Not like what he was doing wasn’t already both of those, but this was just as bad.

Train surfing.

When he saw one passing by, he just had to zip towards it. Setting his sights on his new target, he chased after it, and eventually managed to catch up before he anchored on to the back of the last train-car with a quick web-shot.

He held on tight, his grip proving more than enough to secure himself. He actually hitched a ride on a speeding railway. Before, he would’ve been absolutely mortified and petrified with fear, to the point where he might've actually soiled himself, but now, it’s only helping with having his first day as Spider-Man be a great and memorable one.

The train entered a dark tunnel, which didn’t bother him one bit. He held on with one hand, and kept a foot planted firmly on the car to keep him stable, while he let the rest of his body loose, and allowed them to dangle by the momentum.

“This is really happening.” Naoto couldn’t contain his excitement. “I’m actually riding a train!”

“…”
“..this is so cool!”

The train exited the tunnel, filling its heroic surfer’s eyes with bright lights from the morning sun. He passed by more cozy homes, each of them coming and going like cars on a highway as the train zoomed through more neighborhoods. Naoto gawked at the lush, green trees that flew by. He just wanted to reach out and touch them; let his hand graze, and brush past the foliage. Such a task was impossible. He was just too far away, but what was so bad about the fun of doing a little imagination?

His next move was a daring one, but only to those without superpowers like his. Using both of his hands, he planted both of his feet back on to the train, and with a little leap, pushed himself outwards to its side, where he began climbing, nay, crawling along its vertical exterior. His fingers glued to the metal chassis, his shoes refusing to break contact with its windows.

Naoto earned the stares from its passengers; some even being startled by his sudden appearance. A businessman in a suit nearly dropped his phone in his hands, his eyes growing wider than the moon itself. A little girl, who turned her attention away from the stuffed teddy bear she was cradling in her arms, was marveled by the sight of the funny looking man in a costume outside her window, and went to pull on the sleeve of the woman seated next to her.

“Look mommy,” she yelped, pointing at skin-suit clad lad. The mother, unlike her daughter, was stunned by the sight, unable to believe what she was seeing.

Naoto grabbed a hold of the edge above him and pulled himself upward, now standing on top of the train as opposed to hanging off of its behind. Looking around, he took this moment to really admire everything. The train was like his own amusement park ride, almost like his own carousel even, something to take a ride on for leisure. To clear his head. To just enjoy himself.

He sat down, and did nothing, except take everything in. Despite the bustling “Chugga chugga chugga chugga” sounds the train made as it sped through its tracks, he was at total peace. He found quiet solitude amidst the loud noises. Naoto leaned back, supporting himself with his arms behind him with a little grin of relaxation on his face underneath his mask.

He didn’t know how much time he spent on that train, but he was soon in for a surprising revalation. Tilting forward, he looked flabbergasted when he saw the silhouettes of skyscrapers peering over in the distance.

What he was seeing was Yokohama, the capital city of Kanagawa, and the second largest metropolis in all of Japan, falling behind Tokyo which stood in first place. The destination of Naoto’s train ride was confirmed to be as such when his eyes caught sight of a giant ferris wheel, the Cosmo Clock 21.

Naoto was dumbfounded. Hayama to Yokohama was, on-average, a 45 to 50 minute train ride coming from Zushi Station, and about 35 if you drove, but it seemed like only fifteen minutes had passed!

“I must’ve been so lost in the peace and quiet that I forgot all sense of time..”

Standing up, he stared at the buildings that gradually loomed closer and closer. Naoto wondered when exactly the train would come to a stop at Yokohama Station, but an idea quickly came to his head.

It was a bold one, but one he just had to do. Instead of waiting to arrive at the station, he decided to make use of his early “Exit Pass,” and webbed right off of the train and on to a nearby building, making sure to not touch any power lines that were strung out from above him.

His superhero-package included superhuman durability, but he’d rather not put that through a benchmark test. Laying a finger on a live powerline would either just barely zap or totally incapacitate him. Or.. maybe even give him electric powers.

That wasn’t too far off from the list of possibilities, considering he got his spidey-ness from being bitten by a spider. There was probably another world where he actually had electric powers. He might be listening to dubstep there too.

Naoto webbed on, eventually making it to the city’s downtown area, where its main skyscrapers were laid out. He was gawked at by its citizens. They’ve heard the news about him, the Masked Hero, helping out the little town of Hayama as his initial alter ego, but they were shocked, bewildered even, to actually see him in the flesh, wearing a new disguise, making his appearance in their city.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man was having the time of his life. Naoto found zipping and thwipping around Yokahama to be so much better than in back home. The buildings, the structures.. they were just so much larger. Bigger! The saying, “There’s no place like home” was true, but when it came to wanting a thrilling experience as a superhero, you just couldn’t beat doing it in the big city.

He found himself running up one diagonally, completely perpendicular to the side of the skyscraper he was sprinting on. It was a feat totally impossible for ordinary, non-superpowered parkourists, but to him, it was an experience he just simply couldn’t get at home.

He started going faster. He wanted to go faster. His heartbeat was racing, not out of fear, but out of excitement. Pure, adventurous excitement. It was like he was some sort of adrenaline junkie, unable to be forever satisfied, and instead fixated on wanting to push the limits and find the next source of thrilling dopamine.

Finally, when he got to the very, very top, he jumped off. He was in the air, his legs bent, his arms outward to his sides like he was in an arch pose skydivers would be in when they freefall. He even stuck his right arm out higher into the sky, pretending to reach for the sun.

The mask was blocking it, but his mouth was gaping open from happiness, his eyes lit with bliss.

However, something just now registered in his head, something horrifying. Once again, Naoto had gotten so lost from the sheer amount joy he was experiencing, that he completely failed to realize just how dangerously high up he was from the ground.

This wasn’t like plummeting from the buildings back home, this was falling who-knows how many feet from a several-story tall skyscraper. The Earth below was quickly coming closer. The height in which he was falling from, and the speed he was going.. Naoto wasn’t sure if he’d survive such an impact, even with his powers.

All sense of logic came back to him, and fear spread began flooding his body. Panicking, he flailed his limbs out, not knowing what the hell to do.

“Oh crap oh crap ohcrapohcrapohcrapohCRAAAP!”

It took him almost a fatal amount of time to finally regain his composure, but thankfully he managed to do so. He shot a web, anchoring it to another building, and there..

…

..he had his first swing, the first of many more to come.

Naoto plunged downward, hanging on to the stiffened thread of web with both hands before being shot back upward into the sky in an arc. His first swing wasn’t a graceful one, but it saved him from possibly shattering his bones nonetheless.

Cars below him honked their horns, and people were left startled by a man suddenly dropping from the Heavens, only to return to where he came from a second later. His mask was doing wonders at hiding the frightened look on his face from his audience.

“Oh crap- Holy cra-” Naoto shut himself up before even finishing that sentence, and instead focused on keeping himself in the air. He webbed on to another building, and repeated the process.

He did this a few more times, each attempt being somewhat better than the last, until he realized something.

The act of swinging on his webs..

…

..was just like swinging on a swingset! Something he used to do as a kid!

And, there was a certain rule to swinging he also remembered. One that he needed to follow.

Legs in. Legs out.

Using the next swing to apply that rule, Naoto kept his legs tucked in behind him as he torpedoed down. Then, he brought them forward, and kicked them back out once he went up. His feet faced the clouds, and sure enough, he was sent flying way, way higher than before.

A simple change in form was all that was needed to increase his swinging efficiency.

He swung just like this again and again, slowly but surely overcoming his fear, his anxiousness of being hundreds of feet in the air. He gradually become more relaxed, and comfortable with the prospect of his new form of travel.

Before, he’d absolutely have an accident in his pants from even peeking over the edge of a rooftop, but here, things were different now. There was no reason for him to be scared anymore. Naoto was in total control of everything. The speed he was going, the height he was diving from, the building he chose as an anchorpoint for his webs.

Everything was under his control.

He was going fast enough to completely obliterate someone if he were to crash into them, but still, he was in control.

It was like Naoto was on a roller-coaster, a mega roller-coaster, trying to overcome his acrophobia. Climb up the hill, and go down the drop. Up the hill, down the drop.

Up and down. Up, and down.

And Naoto would eventually conquer that phobia, because with every swing, he’d take it a step further. Dive holding on with one hand and finish off with a flip. Turn his body around and fall back first, swinging upward with his chest facing away from where he wanted to go. All these tricks only helped boost his confidence even more.

At one point, instead of merely relying on momentum to zoom upwards, he shot a web with one hand, and yanked on it with the other, using force to propel himself into the air.

Wanting to finally come to a stop, he searched for a suitable building, and to his luck, Yokohama had just the spot for him.

Ahead of him was Yokohama Landmark Tower, the second tallest building in Japan. It wasn’t called a landmark tower for no reason. It’s sheer height dwarfed its brethren, and because of it, stuck out like a sore thumb.

Setting his eyes on the target, Naoto made his way there. It was too tall for him to make it to the top in one swing, but he had a solution to that.

At the peak of his final swing, he shot out a web, attaching it to its walls, and pulled himself closer, performing his classic web-zip on top of his new method of locomotion. His feet made contact with its structure, which ever-so slightly increased in width at its base for aesthetics most likely, and began running up the tower vertically, using his webs to provide a little more momentum.

Completely, at a definitive 90 degree angle.

He continued on until he reached the top, jumping up to the roof before finally skidding to a halt. Naoto pulled off his mask to take in a well-deserved breath of fresh air, and gazed upon the new view he was rewarded.

Needless to say, if he thought his scenic spot back home or on top the train was nice, then this.. this was the greatest thing he’d ever laid his eyes on.

He was able to see everything. The other buildings, the ports, the Cosmo Clock. It all looked so amazing. He was so high up in the clouds, it was like he was an All-Seeing Eye, staring down at civilization’s breathtaking looks.

He could only imagine the view at night.

Naoto was gawking, his mouth slightly open to form a big, silly smile. “Oh man..” he muttered, before sitting down on the edge, his legs hanging ridiculously high up above the rest of the world.

If not for the 45 minute train ride, he’d for sure make this place his new scenic spot.

Naoto leaned in, resting his arms on his knees, his eyes starting to become lost in the bliss of Heaven before him. His moment of tranquility was interrupted, however, when someone began calling his phone.

Ring ring ring! Ring ring ring!

“Hm?” Confused, he snapped out of whatever giddy trance he was in and pulled out his cellphone. Looking to see who it was, he read over the caller’s name.

To his surprise, there was not one, but two names, both calling from a video call instead of a regular one.

Gamo, Yoshi.

Grinning, he tapped the “answer” button, and the little squares containing the faces of his two new female friends popped up on the screen, each of them being eager to talk to him.

“Sup, Spider-Maan~!” Gamo-chan teased, jokingly calling him his hero name instead of her usual nickname she’d assigned him. “Tryin’ on your new suit, I see.”

“Spider-Maan~!” Yoshi sung, repeating after her friend. “Waaasup~!!”

He wished they said his name quieter. He wasn't worried about being heard on his end, but more so about them being heard on theirs. Who knows if their parents were able to hear them talking with Hayama’s One-and-Only, for example. That’d cause his identity to be narrowed down, opening up the possibility for him to be exposed!

“W- Woah, hey!”” He stammered. “Not so loud, please!”

Gamo-chan giggled, and shifted her camera to show her bedroom door that was closed shut. “Don’t worry, Paisen. My room’s all hunkered down. My family can’t hear me.”

Yoshi did the same. “So is mine!”

That was a relief, but still, it was a bit too close for comfort. Naoto wanted to keep things clean, incognito, so nothing could be linked to him.

He was able to see the each of their rooms when they moved their cellphones. Gamo-chan had a closet behind her, and based on the way she was facing the camera, she seemed to be on her bed, laying on her stomach with her arms folded out in front of her. There was also posters of various musical artists he didn’t recognize, and..

..trophies? She had quite a few of them. He was oblivious to what they were for, since he hadn’t had the slightest idea of what extracurricular activities the girl was a part of. He only knew that she visited the needlecraft club a lot.

Yoshi’s was a bit harder to tell, since she was apparently on the floor leaning against her bed. He couldn’t know what her room looked like, but he did see a rather large chip bag in her lap.

The big thing he wondered, was how they knew he was out. Though, he already had a good idea in his head, not like it wasn’t painfully obvious enough.

“..Just don’t yell my secret identity out loud like that,” he requested, before clearing his throat. “But anyways, uh.."

"..."

"How’d you know I was out here?”

Gamo-chan laughed at the ridiculousness of his question. “Oh come on, Paisen. Like we’d miss the guy running on top of houses wearing the suit we made for him.”

“Common sense, Spider-Man!” Yoshi chirped, this time doing what he asked and whispering his name very quietly.

“..fair point.” Naoto scratched the back of his neck.

“Really though,” Gamo-chan continued. “Yoshi said she saw you while walking her dog. Apparently he went crazy and barked a lot when you passed by.”

“It was the good kind of barking!” Yoshi happily clarified. “He wanted to play!”

He? Wait, Yoshi had a dog? Naoto watched with curious intent as the cowlick-clad gal reached for something outside of the screen, before pulling in the little buddy in question.

It was an adorable daschund! The buffed-colored furball excitedly squirmed in the gal’s grip like it had enough energy inside of it to power an entire city several times over. The adorable pup licked at the bottom of her chin, earning a few happy giggles from his master.

Naoto found this loving exchange between a human and her best friend very much wholesome.

“His name’s Cookie!” She announced. He couldn’t help but smile at the name. Cookie? It surely sounded something she’d name a dog. Plus, she said “his”! It was a boy!

“He’s only a year old! Isn’t he just adorable~?” Yoshi petted her good boi a thousand times, and to further prove that last part, the hyperactive wiener dog began digging its nose into his master’s opened chip bag, having been drawn to its smell. Yoshi pulled him away, and set him back aside out of camera view, but Cookie wouldn’t go down that easily.

He agreed without question. “He is adorable..”

“So, where’ya at now, Paisen?” Gamo-chan asked him, trying to guess where Spider-Man was.

Boy, was she in for a surprise. Deciding to show her instead of just telling her, Naoto stood up and turned around. He held his camera out in a selfie-angle, allowing her to take a good look at the absolutely magnificent background behind him. Only then, did he finally give a verbal response in the form of one, simple answer, his voice sounding almost jolly.

“Yokohama,” he smiled.

Long story short, both Gamo-chan and Yoshi’s mind exploded. He was in Yokohama! Not only that, but their eyes were clearly zig-zagging all over the each of their screens, individually scanning what was in the distance.

“Holy crap! Paisen, you’re in-” She stuttered, spotting something else that caused a secondary explosion in her brain.

“Is- is that-”

“Is that the Cosmo Clock?!” Yes. Yes it very much was. Naoto held in a chuckle, and nodded, amused by her surprise.

“Mhm.”

“But it’s- it’s so small!” Gamo-chan was at a loss of words, just like she was when she first learned the truth of his identity.

“Not smaller,” Naoto clarified. “Just far away.”

“How freakin’ high-up are you, Paisen?!” The girl found this to be both absolutely terrifying, yet absolutely badass as hell.

“Well, I’m not sure how tall the Landmark Tower is, but I think it’s pretty tall. The view is terrific up here.” Naoto was having fun with this. Not just because the reactions of his friends were kind of hilarious, but also just from being so high-up above the world made him ecstatic.

Gamo-chan finally cracked a smile, and even laughed a bit. She’d just laid her eyes on the coolest damn thing in all of human history, and she was enjoying every bit of it.

“You’re freakin’ crazy, you know that?” That lighthearted, teasing declaration from the young woman had some truth to that, but it gave them both a chuckle, and in Naoto’s case, a small case of rosy cheeks.

Meanwhile, Yoshi, despite also being astonished by his daredevil stunt, gulped and wiped some sweat away from her forehead indiscreetly, having had a fear of heights. “…”

“…”

“..that looks really scary..”

“It was at first,” he told her. “But, I think I’m getting used to it now.”

Man, imagine if she saw him swinging? Hoooo, boy. She’d probably vomit.

Naoto continued, albeit with a tiny bit of hesitation. “..besides, I.. have to thank you both for this. You guys made my suit for me, and I.. really appreciate that.”

“..so, really.. thank you.”

He was a little nervous at first. Showing that much gratitude and praise for someone like that was definitely something he needed to work on. Part of him even feared that Gamo-chan would poke fun of such a gross-sounding "thank you" just like Nagatoro might’ve done, but the girl proved to be a much more caring and sincere person underneath that tough facade she put on.

She gave him a warm smile, and nodded. “Don’t mention it, Paisen. I wouldn’t have taken you seriously if you kept wearing that dusty outfit, any ways."

The two shared a brief laugh. Naoto, for the first time since meeting Nagatoro, had begun to realize that he might’ve just found himself an actual, genuine friend, someone he could comfortably talk to and confide in.

Of course, he couldn’t forget Yoshi. She was the Needlecraft Wizard who made the magic happen, after all.

He spent some time just bonding with them, telling the girls all about the various experiences he had before getting to where he was. Him train surfing, learning how to swing, and nearly crapping his pants the first time he tried it. Gamo-chan was, in one word, enthralled, and went on about wanting him to take them both up to the top of the Yokohama Landmark Tower one day, with Nagatoro included.

Of course, Yoshi was a bit less excited about the idea.

Still, Naoto was, deep down, ecstatic to have made new pals. Best pals, more like. The two had done so much for him, that he started to find it hilarious that he initially wanted nothing to do with their “species” when he first met them in the library. Now, here they were, helping him in the start of his journey as Spider-Man.

Maybe that Spider-Monster unmasking him in front of Gamo-chan was a blessing in disguise..

Speaking of Spider-Monsters, the topic of the Arachnid-Anomaly was brought up by the judo-goer.

“Did you ever find out what that spider-lady.. thing was?” Gamo-chan asked him. “Did you ever see her again?”

The fight between him and Nobuko was weeks ago, but in that time frame, he hadn’t encountered her monster form again.

She’d go to him in his club room dressed in her human disguise to spend time with him (more like unsettle him), but Naoto never ran into the actual evil within.

“No,” he shook his head. “Hopefully we won’t have to any time soon. It’s been a while now..”

Yoshi hated hearing about the scary demoness that tried eating her friend. Gamo-chan, a bit worried and even nervous, tried shaking the uneasiness out of her.

“..that’s not good,” she said.

“Not good at all..” Yoshi muttered.

“I’m sure I could take care of it again if it shows up,” he responded. “…”

“…”

“..hopefully.”

Hopefully, alright. To say he could “take care of it again” was a bit of a stretch. Naoto did manage to stun Joro-Ko with one good, rage-empowered deck across her face, but that only happened when she was distracted by Gamo-chan hitting her in the back with her backpack. Before that, he was absolutely getting his dish served to him.

And Gamo-chan remembered all of that.

“..can you even fight, Paisen?” She questioned him. “I don’t mean anything bad by it, it’s just..”

“…”

“..that thing was all over ya’.”

Naoto wasn’t offended by that. She was right, after all. Nobuko was giving him a whoopin’ and the fight only ended because she fled before the police could show up. Sighing, he decided to be honest with her.

“..Honestly? No.. I don’t know how to. I got into a couple scuffles before, but that was.. way different than what happened with us.”

Hearing what he said to her, Gamo-chan thought for a moment.

A superhero that can’t fight..

If he didn’t know how to throw a proper punch, then what good were his powers? That simply wouldn’t do..

She was silent for a minute, taking her time to process hundreds of ideas in her head.

“If that’s the case..”

Then, a lightbulb went off, and something inside clicked.

She might have found a solution to this problem.

“..how about you come on down to my family’s gym later today, Paisen?”

Speechless, Naoto took a second to speak. “..your family owns a gym?”

The girl nodded. “Yep. It’s our business. I help out as a trainer sometimes, but I could take you under my wing for free. I’ll text you the address.”

She threw in a playful wink, and then smiled. “Consider this another thank you for saving my life.”

"Senpai's gonna work out for the first time!" Yoshi yelped, teasing her Spider-pal.

Naoto was moved by this friendly gesture, but nonetheless curious about what she had planned. He already had some idea that she had experience in fighting, but he wondered what kind of training she’d put him through.

“..what will you have me do?” He asked.

“I know a bit of judo like Hayacchi, but I’m geared more towards boxing. I could train you with that.”

"Boxing Spider!" Yoshi yapped.

The idea sounded good, but he wasn’t sure whether or not it was ideal to get her involved. It seemed dangerous..

..but, she kind of was involved already. That monster had already seen their faces, so there was no doubt that it knew who they were. Plus, he really did need some martial arts training, and Gamo-chan’s offer looked to be the perfect window..

After a lengthy thought process, the answer was obvious to him.

“…”

“..I’ll do it. What time do I have to be there?”

Gamo-chan, pleased with his choice, answered him. “Great! Get there later today at six! I’ll be free of any clients then.”

"Workout!" Yoshi babbled.

“Do I have to bring anything?”

“Just some comfortable workout clothes. Don’t wear your suit.” She let out a laugh.

"No suits!" Yoshi repeated after her.

Oh yeah, like he’d definitely do that. Naoto shot her a nod.

“Alright, 6PM it is, then.”

“Yep, it’s settled. I’ve gotta run now, so I’ll see you then, Paisen.”

“Me too! Have fun with training, Spider-Man! She's gonna work you to the bone!" Yoshi exclaimed.

“Mhm.. bye.”

Before he was able to leave the call himself, Gamo-chan said one last thing to him.

“Smell ya’ in a few hours, Spider-Man.” Naoto saw her shoot him a playful salute, before finishing off her statement with:

“Hayama’s.. One-and-Only, Spider-Man.”

Then, she finally hung up.

Feeling.. strangely giddy at being called that, Naoto stood up, replaying those words over and over in his head.

“..Hayama’s One-and-Only, huh?”

Looking down at the massive drop below, he smiled, took a deep breath, and then took another plunge. It was reminiscent of a child eagerly hopping on the front seat of the next biggest roller-coaster ride after conquering the last, having done it all on their own.

Chapter Text

4:47 PM.

That was the time the digital clock Naoto had on his nightstand said when he looked over to it. For a moment, he was replaying what Gamo-chan had said to him over the phone a few hours ago over and over in his head.

“Great! Get there later today at six! I’ll be free of any clients then.”

Gamo-chan was going to train him in the art of boxing at her family’s gym, as “another thank you for saving [her] life,” in her own words. While that was most definitely true; that Gamo-chan was eternally grateful for him saving her from becoming a late night snack for Joro-Kun, the girl also wanted to teach him how to fight properly so he wouldn’t get his rear end handed to him if his Arachnid-Archnemesis showed back up with her filthy fangs again.

The fight that night was so utterly one-sided, it was awful. Things were definitely not in his favor that night, unfortunately. Nobuko proved herself to be the superior spider, and there was no way Gamo-chan and Naoto would let that happen again.

The place, according to the address she had texted him, wasn’t that far away. He was getting ready a little earlier than he should’ve, but he figured it’d be a good idea.

Standing over his bed, Naoto had an opened box laid out in front of him. Inside were the pieces to his initial Spider-Guy outfit, all folded up neatly within its container. He even had the receipts he had gotten when he bought them in there too. Naoto wanted to hide away any link to his alter ego.

He began folding up his new molt, the official, black and white skin-tight suit that came with the birth of his new alias: Spider-Man. He set the costume in there, placing it on top of his old “molt.” He took a brief moment to just look at the eyes of his mask, its large lenses “gazing” back at him.

It was like Naoto was looking into a mirror, staring at what had essentially become his second face, the face of his secret, alternate identity as a hero.

“Hayama’s One-and-Only,” he muttered, a soft, tiny grin beginning to form on his face. He kinda liked the sound of that.

He remained there for only a few more moments, before finally putting the mask inside. Closing the lid shut, he grabbed the box and walked over to his closet, burying it deep behind all sorts of closet material so as to not let it be found by any nosy snoopers who might want to sniff around his room, not like there was anyone in his house who would do that.

With the suit now tucked away, he then began properly getting dressed for the gym. Remembering Gamo-chan’s instructions to wear something comfortable, he rummaged through his wardrobe and selected a few pieces:

A thin, dark-red long-sleeve that used to be very baggy on him but was now a snuggly fit with a small, yet non-restrictive amount of wriggle room, and a pair of soft, grey sweatpants. He slid some simple white socks and went downstairs, taking with him only his phone.

“I’m heading out again,” he announced to his parents. Naoto was met with the curious, and in his mother’s case, concerned faces from his parents.

In what was a very rare occurrence, Mr. Hachioji and Mrs. Hachioji had a day off from their busy work lives.

“You are?” His mom asked. Her head perked up from the table she was tidying up to look at her son, surprised. “But you just went out earlier!”

“I know,” he responded. “But Takao and Hino invited me over to play video games at their house, so I figured I'd go."

Of course, that was a lie, but his parents knew Naoto wasn’t a gym-goer. He needed a cover-up story that was believable, so he feigned a hangout with friends.

“But you know how dangerous it is to go out, Nao-kun.” Considering recent circumstances, she had every reason to worry about her son, and she was also entirely right about how dangerous Hayama seemed at night due the events that unfolded after his actions as Spider-Man. “Whose house are you going to?”

“Takao’s,” he answered, lying about the former friend he mentioned.

“How far does he live?”

“Not far. It’s about a ten-minute walk from here. I was there before."

“Do you want me to drive you instead?”

He shook his head no. “It’s fine, mom. I can walk.”

Seeing that she was still uncomfortable with her beloved baby-boy heading out so suddenly, Naoto tried once more to put her at ease.

“I won’t be late, mom. I promise. I’ll be home by 9 sharp.”

Fortunately, while Mrs. Hachioji was certainly a worrisome lady, she wasn't too restrictive with her child's life. What Naoto had said seemed to have done the trick, but there was no doubt that his mother would constantly have him in her thoughts until the second he got home.

“..well.. okay, sweetie. Be careful though, please. You be back by 9. No later than that.”

With a nod, he went for the door, but was stopped by the sound of his father calling to him. Turning around, he faced him.

“Son.” His dad, who was on the couch watching some documentary show while his wife and son were talking, spoke in a calm, yet stern tone.

“Don’t do anything crazy,” was all that he said to him. His father was certainly beginning to grow suspicious of his son constantly going out every day.

Nodding, Naoto responded. “I Promise, dad. Bye.”

The two men exchanged goodbyes, with Mr. Hachioji keeping his eyes locked on to his boy until he was out the door. Naoto was able to feel his dad staring at him from behind. It was like he had eyes on the back of his head. Soon enough, he left his neighborhood and continued straight for Gamo-chan’s gym.

“..this must be it.”

Looking over the address one more time on his phone, he peered up and read the name of the building he had arrived at, confirming it to be in fact Gamo-chan’s family gym.

GAMOU Fighting Gym, was what the large sign above the glass door said.

For a moment, he seemed tense, and a teensy bit awkward.

“..is this really a good idea?” Naoto wasn’t sure. The kid had never trained a day in his life prior to becoming Spider-Man, and here was at the doorstep of his female friend’s family business.

Am I gonna meet her parents? Siblings? Relatives? They do own this place.. what if they’re here?

..god, what if things get weird?

Luckily, he shook those negative thoughts out. Gamo-chan was doing him a favor out of the goodness of her heart as a friend, and also as a token of appreciation for him after he saved her bacon.

He didn’t know it yet, but his relationship with Gamo-chan wasn’t going to go down the romantic route, but rather it’d turn into a best friend, supportive brother/sister dynamic, someone he could go to if things went sour.

Taking a deep breath, Naoto walked through the glass doors and went inside. There, he was met with cool air conditioning, rock music, and a giant boxing ring ahead of him.

And in that boxing ring was the gal who had arranged this whole meeting, talking with a much taller man who had his back faced towards the newly arrived Spider.

Naoto couldn’t see his face, but he deduced that he was a frequent gym-goer based on his clothes and how he held himself.

“That guy’s huge..

He watched as the man and Gamo-chan engaged in a friendly exchange, with the latter hinting that their conversation was something much more based on the barely visible red blush on her face.

But, he heard her say something that immediately took him by surprise.

“I promise I won’t rough up Hayacchi too much.”

“Hayacchi?” Naoto nonverbally smoke to himself. “Wait a minute, that’s..”

“..Nagatoro’s nickname!”

His eyes went wide.. for two reasons.

One, it seemed to have suggested that the man knew who Nagatoro was, and two, the way Gamo-chan said she wouldn't "rough her up too much", implied that..

..oh crap.

She was either already here, or she was going to be here.

“..this is gonna be an interesting day..”

The two shared a quick laugh, indicating that what she said was nothing but a friendly, goodhearted joke, even if it did sound like she was gloating a little. He saw them fist bump each other, and the man turned around and left the building, but not before giving the girl a quick, playful salute.

Ichiro, not knowing who Naoto was, didn’t acknowledge him, but even in that brief moment in time, the newcomer was able to get a good look at him. He saw his long, blonde-dyed parted hair which flowed down to the bottom of his neck, his impressive body that still looked admirable even through the pump cover he had on, and how he had a smirk, a face that he..

..recognized. Or rather, had seen somewhere else before.

Naoto wasn’t able to give it much thought, as Gamo-chan started calling out to him.

“Heyoo, Paisen! You made it!” She made her way over to her arachnid-ally. “Wassup~”

He only gave her a small wave and a soft “sup,” before, reluctantly, inquiring about the man she was talking to. “Who was, uh.. who was that?”

“Interested? Nosy, much~?” was what he thought she was going to say.

Instead, she smiled, and gave him an answer that shocked him once again.

“Oh, that was Anitoro, Hayacchi’s older brother.”

Hayacchi’s.. older.. brother?! That was him?!

Naoto had to do a double take. No wonder he looked so familiar. It was like Nagatoro had literally copied his face! That guy was built like a unit, no wonder the shirt she gave him was still big on him.

Ichiro just unknowingly walked past the “Senpai” her sister had teased so much since the day they met.

“..oh wow.” Naoto had to contain his bewilderment. “They really look alike..”

“Oh, damn right they do,” Gamo-chan agreed. “If you think they look similar, wait ‘till you meet her sister. Now that spooked me the most.

Naoto remembered Nagatoro having an older sister because she mentioned her over the phone before, but he was still surprised to learn about the uncanny similarities between the Toro-siblings. Plus, the fact that all three of them hailed from a large family was kind of interesting, to say the least.

Three kids, and two parents, most likely. That came down to a total of five, compared to his three-person household where he was an only child.

“I bet,” he said to her. “Oh, uh.. is Nagatoro gonna be here today too? I heard you two talking about her..”

“Gee, nosy much?” She joked, having just echoed what he thought she’d initially say, just in a different way.

Naoto’s face flared, stunned by her joke, but Gamo-chan quickly put him back at ease with a giggle.

“I’m just messin’ with ya’, Paisen.” She even gave him a playful nudge on the shoulder. “Yeah, she’s comin’, but she’ll be here in about an hour or so. I think she’s actually out with her sister, in fact.”

That confirmed his earlier suspicion. Naoto feared the idea of Nagatoro being there while he trained with Gamo-chan, but at the same time, he was also a bit excited to see her again.

“Oh.. alright.”

“What is it?” She smirked, giving him a smug grin that was all too similar to devious Nagatoro’s smiles. “You’ been thinkin’ about her lately?”

His face lit up with red again. Dammit, Gamo-chan! Quit it!

“Wha- No, no! That’s not what I meant at all!”

“Mhm, mhm, yeah. Whatever you say.” Gamo-chan winked, and then gestured for him to follow as she began walking towards another area of the building. “Well, come on, I guess. Might as well let borin’ ol Gamo-chan train the Amazing Paisen until Hayacchi gets here. I promise I won’t take up too much of your time.”

Of course, those were all just jokes, and my God was she having a lot of fun with them. Naoto wasn’t enjoying the blatant teasing, but he didn’t say much back.

Gamo-chan led him to an empty, square room devoid of any other gym-goer. The mats that were laid out on the floor suggested to him that it was one of the many sparring areas in the complex.

He had to admit: Gamo-chan’s dad owning a gym business this large was actually kind of cool to see.

Along one of its walls was a rack, where dozens of various boxing equipment like gloves and headgear were hung up by their Velcro straps. She brought him over and chose a pair of thick, white training gloves.

“You’ll be wearin’ these for today,” she declared. “Catch.”

Gamo-chan tossed the gloves over, and Naoto caught them with ease. Inspecting the recently acquired handwear, he put them on without question.

“So, just because I’m curious, Paisen,” Gamo-chan said. “What’re your powers again? Besides, yanno, shootin’ webs and stuff?"

Thank God there were the only people in the room. Naoto almost broke into a sweaty mess, still not quite sure about discussing his double life in public.

“..Uh, well,” he stammered. “I can run fast. Well, way faster than I ever have in my life, and.."

"..."

"..I'm also a lot stronger than I was before.."

“How much stronger?” She asked, genuinely curious. She already had an idea in mind (one didn’t need to be a genius to understand that swinging around super tall heights required a ton of strength), but she still wanted to know just how strong he was exactly.

Naoto wasn’t sure what to tell her. He’d, by this point, showcased his awesome might many times, not all of them intentionally.

Ultimately, he chose a simple feat, one he had done when he first got bit.

“..I accidentally ripped a toilet paper holder right off of my wall,” he revealed. “I wasn’t even trying to do that. I just needed some toilet paper..”

Astonished, Gamo-chan stopped and looked right at him, blinking. “Seriously? Like, you went to grab some like a normal person, and the thing just came off?”

He didn’t the implications behind her choice of saying “like a normal person,” even though she honestly didn’t mean anything by it.

I’m a normal kid, just with.. an extra talent! That’s all.

Naoto nodded. “Mhm.. I, uh.. I also pulled someone off of Sakura.. with one hand.”

“Using your webs,” she asked further.

Another nod.

“Wow..” Gamo-chan paused again. She blinked once, and then twice, staring right at him in shock. “…”

“…”

“..you’re something else, Paisen.”

Naoto’s face fired red again. However, while he was internally (and secretly) reveling in her compliment, he noticed that she seemed a bit.. nervous.

Oh god, did I say something wrong? Naoto tensed up, fearing he had just scared her.

Fortunately, he didn’t do anything at al, but she was in fact nervous for different reasons.

Gamo-chan had been a part-time trainer for quite some time ever since she became old enough for her father to approve of it, so she’d worked with a handful of clients at the gym. Some were strong enough to bench-press 225 pounds in their first three months of training. Some just needed a good routine to maintain their incredible athletic prowess, and some took a bit to progress past just the bar itself.

However, none of her clients had come even remotely close to what she’d be handling with Naoto. She personally witnessed him getting back on his feet after being slammed into a brick wall that had enough force to completely crush, and shatter a normal human’s spine into a hundred thousand pieces, and if what he just told her right now was true, then he was also strong enough to cause her head to spin a thousand times at a million RPMs if he were to slap her. Or, hell, take it clean off her neck with one punch.

He was no ordinary client. Naoto wasn’t some aspiring bodybuilder or gifted athlete. He was a superhero with actual superpowers. He was their neighborhood’s very own, friendly yet ridiculously strong Spider-Man, and she was going to train him. While she was no doubt pumped up and hyped to have the opportunity to train a superhero, she was also very nervous about the fact that her client had enough strength to kill her in one blow.

She wiped some sweat away from her forehead. Gamo-chan was certainly in for a wild ride.

“..you better hold back, Paisen..” was what she said to herself in her head.

Naoto looked over and noticed Gamo-chan take a second to breathe, as if trying to relax. She even shook herself a bit to wriggle off some of her nerves, proving to him once more just how apprehensive she was.

He was many things, but a fool was not one of them. He knew he had to control his strength, but the need to do so was even more important than ever so he wouldn’t risk hurting Gamo-chan.

Never in a million years would he ever think about harming her.

He took a mental note to himself. “..pull your punches, Naoto. Pull your punches..”

A brief moment of silence swept over the room. Neither teen said a word to each other. Fearing the awkwardness of their situation, Naoto broke that silence and spoke up.

“..you okay?” He timidly asked her, knowing full well how nerve-wracking training a novice gym-bro with superpowers was.

She didn’t respond right away. “…”

“…”

“..yeah, I’m all good, Paisen.”

“…”

“..c’mon. Follow me.”

Gamo-chan gestured for him to follow as she turned and left the room. Naoto didn’t think twice about following her instructions and did what he was told. Along the way, a little voice spoke in his head spoke to him, and it repeated itself over and over.

“Don’t hurt her.. Don’t hurt her.”

They went back into the main area of the GAMOU Fighting Gym, where Gamo-chan continued onward until they eventually arrived at another section of the building.

Instead of a sparring room, this one had rows of red, hefty punching bags set up along the walls, each one of them being suspended from a tiny chain connected to the ceiling above.

Naoto looked around, noting how they weren’t alone in the room this time. There were other gym-goers, some being accompanied by trainers just like he was, using the punching bags as well.

“..what are we doing?” He asked softly, still not having a single clue about what kind of training Gamo-chan was planning on subjecting him to.

Pausing for a moment to stretch, Gamo-chan answered her curious trainee.

“We’re gonna start with punchin’ this for a few times. It’s a super simple exercise and it’ll give me a good look at how you hold yourself in a fight.”

Blinking, Naoto gave her a nod. “Oh.. okay.”

“Now, put ‘em up, Paisen,” Gamo-chan instructed. “Lemme see your stance.”

“..alright..”

Letting out a timid exhalation, Naoto did what she requested. Balling his hands up into fists, he raised them in front of his face. Both elbows were bent at a 45 degree angle, and he hid behind them like one normally would do to protect their head.

However, as one would expect from a fresh, amateur fighter, he was incredibly off-balance and uncomfortable. His stance was as stiff as a tree trunk, his hands were shaking like they were cold. Naoto’s lips quivered from the sheer nervousness he was experiencing. Goosebumps ran rampart all over his body, and the hairs on his arms were totally upright and erect.

The fact that this was his first time working out in public didn’t help him at all. He felt like every single pair of eyes in the room were glued on to him, judging him, criticizing him. Hell, he even thought Gamo-chan would break out into a chuckle, seeing how poor his form was.

This is embarrassing..

“Heh, yeah. You’re definitely new at this.” Gamo-chan grinned.

That only made him feel worse! Naoto reddened, thinking she was indeed making fun of him.

“..c- come on, Gamo-chan..” Naoto grimaced, wanting to disappear.

Fortunately however, his fears were simply unfounded. Gamo-chan wasn’t mocking him at all.

He heard her tell him, “Not bad, Paisen, but watch me.” He looked over, and gazed at his trainer as she got into her own stance so naturally that it amazed him.

She stood firm and unhindered with such talented ability that it was like second nature to her. She was loose, whereas he was rigid. She looked free while he seemed constricted. Most importantly, she was unquestionably and certainly fully confident in herself, while Naoto clearly seemed the opposite.

“It’s easy to feel jittery,” she said, “but remember, the most important thing to do is not let the adrenaline get to yourself. Loosen up, take some deep breaths. In, and out. In, and out.”

Gamo-chan inhaled and exhaled, wanting her trainee to mimic her actions so he could relax. Sure enough, he did just that, and began copying her as she breathed.

“Feelin’ better, Paisen?”

A little nod from him. “..A little..”

“Good. Again, remember to be calm and relaxed. You gotta be comfortable with yourself.”

Instead of just having him remain still, Gamo-chan started bobbing up and down. She performed little hops on the tips of her toes, which only made her look more and more like an esteemed, renowned boxer to the boy. Naoto figured she also wanted him to mimic those movements, so he did just that.

“There ya’ go, Paisen. Now you’re gettin' it!"

Gamo-chan's little praise made him blush, though he did his best to hide it from her.

"Be light on your toes, and make sure to always guard your face. Keep your hands in front of you, and kinda' go low like you're tryin' to hide behind 'em."

Naoto followed her instructions to the tee. "Alright.."

"Then, once you're ready.."

"..."

"..take the shot!"

Naoto watched in awe as Gamo-chan stepped forward and threw a punch with her right hand at the punching bag. Her fist twisted slightly before it connected with object, causing it to sway back a good distance as the chains holding it in the air dangled and clanged about.

"..woah," was all that came from his mouth.

"That's what we call a cross, Paisen. Your right hand's usually gonna be a lot more powerful than your left, so you'll be using this for your harder punches."

"I see.." Naoto tried his best to take in the new bits of knowledge he was being given.

"Now you try it! Don't go too hard, and try not ta' break it." Gamo-chan winked and stepped back, placing her hands on her hips.

It was a simple enough task to follow, but Naoto wanted to be extra careful to not showcase too much of his strength. They were still in a public setting, sharing a workout room with other gym-goers, and knocking the bag loose with one punch would certainly earn them some stares.

Alright, Naoto. Go slow.. relax.. don't go too hard..

He bounced in place, remaining in his stance as he stared at the target he planned to attack.

"Be light on your feet," she reminded him. "Focus, breathe, keep your eyes on the prize, and once you're ready, go for it. Make sure to turn your wrist a bit too."

Naoto took a while to mentally prepare himself for the exercise. Finally, he mirrored Gamo-chan's previous actions and shot his fist out, hitting the thing with his knuckles.

The bag thankfully didn't break off of its anchor point, and merely swayed back again, albeit a slightly smaller distance than what Gamo-chan had done.

"Woo!" Gamo-chan cheered. "Great job, Paisen. Again!"

Naoto did what the gal said without much hesitation, sending the bag back a second time. Gamo-chan was quick to notice that he was only using his arms to punch and not the rest of his body, so she sought to correct him.

"Try usin' your whole body this time. Punchin' with your arms is one thing, but you'll have a lot more power if you use your shoulders, hips and legs."

That bit of advice seemed contradictory. He needed to watch his strength, but Gamo-chan was asking for him to put in more in his attacks. Nevertheless, he ultimately chose to listen to her instructions.

His third attempt saw him throwing a much harder and stronger punch with the added force from the previously mentioned body parts. The strength in his punch was much more apparent when the bag flew back a considerably larger distance, yet it thankfully remained connected to its chain.

"Good!" Gamo-chan cheered again. "Now, watch me again."

Naoto dropped his stance and turned his attention back to the gal just like she requested.

"This is called the ol' one-two. Use your left hand to throw something called a jab, and then follow it up with a right hand cross. Like this!"

Gamo-chan demonstrated the basic combo by performing it on the bag a few times. Her left hand went it first for a quick jab. Naoto noticed that her prior advice about crosses and jabs were true when her off-hand punch was indeed noticeably weaker and less powerful than her dominant hand. The bag had barely moved when she hit it.

Then, almost instantly, she threw in her right hand, essentially finishing the combo.

"See that? Super simple. Just two movements. One-two, one-two."

Naoto blinked. "..Okay.. Yeah, I think I got it.."

"Sweet! Give it a try."

Naoto got back into his stance and performed the one-two himself. His execution was less elegant and graceful than Gamo-chan's, but it was admittedly decent and promising for a novice. Gamo-chan noted that he needed to have a bit more smoothness and pizzazz in his movements, but nevertheless praised him for his efforts.

After all, no one's good at anything the first time.

"Atta boy, Paisen!"

For the next hour or so, Gamo-chan and Naoto practiced with the punching bags, with the former making him do the exercises multiple times over and over again so it could be glued to his memory. As they went on, Naoto slowly began to feel his social anxiety leave his body.

The old him would've definitely been uneasy with the idea of working out in public, but the "butterflies" in his stomach were fading fast.

He wasn't worried about being judged by the others anymore. The only thing that remained on his mind was perfecting the movements and listening to his friend's teachings.

"You're gettin' the hang of this, Paisen," Gamo-chan commended. "Keep this up and you'll be a pro in no time."

"Heh- Thanks.." A stupid, silly grin formed on Naoto's face as he once again felt giddy from being congratulated by her.

Before he was able to resume his training, Gamo-chan stopped him. Holding a hand out, she called, "Alrighty, that's enough."

Confused, Naoto dropped his hands and lowered his stance, looking at his trainer after discontinuing his attacks on the bag. "Huh?"

Gamo-chan gave him an answer in the form of a quick hand wave to follow her. "I think you're ready for phase two, Paisen."

"..Phase two?" Clueless Naoto was clueless indeed, but he nevertheless followed her.

"Yep, you heard me. Phase two. C'mon." The fiery-haired gal shot him a wink, and continued walking along without any further explanation, causing her web-headed-trainee to tense up with uncertainty.

Naoto wasn't sure about the implications of what Gamo-chan had just said to him, especially not after that playful, yet slightly off-putting eye gesture she gave him. Just what in the world was she planning? Was this another trap that Nagatoro would've done to him? It sure seemed like it. It didn't help that they were best friends and were almost completely similar to each other. Naoto didn't know how to feel.

However, his restlessness was put to rest when his logical side took over. This whole time, Gamo-chan had been nothing but completely supportive of him. Sure, she may have teased him once or twice, but she never once ridiculed or mocked him for his lack of fighting skills. The girl was definitely showing up to be a heartwarming, gentle soul, not just during their gym session, but rather, ever since the two first crossed paths with each other in the dining hall. It'd be foolish of him to even think that this whole thing was just her playing a trick on him.

It slowly became clear to him that Gamo-chan was genuinely trying to build him up to be a better superhero, or rather..

..a bigger, better, and much more confident person, and she was doing this as his friend.

Naoto felt his heart warm up with giddiness when he realized that. Though, again, he'd never admit that out loud to her.

He found himself being led back into the matted sparring room where Gamo-chan initially gave him the gloves he had on. He saw her hanging hers back up along the walls before going about to rummage through the other pairs.

The room was still empty, and as he looked around, Naoto slowly began to piece together just what she had in store for him..

..and he froze.

A sparring room, with no-one in sight except them two..

..oh no.

She might be trying to spar him now!

He gulped as sweat started falling from the pores in his head. Naoto wasn't ready to get physical with her yet!

Oh crap, no! No no no no no! Come on, Gamo-chan! Can't I just go back to hitting a punching bag?

While he was having a small panic attack about the prospect of getting hands-on with Gamo-chan already in his first day of training, she herself turned around to show him the new gloves she put on in place of her old ones.

"Yo, you' okay, Paisen?" Gamo-chan wasn't blind to the mental breakdown he was in the middle of. "…"

"..."

"..you havin' spider-sensory-overload or somethin'?"

While those were undoubtfully funny-sounding words, it didn't do much to save him from his episode of spider-psychosis. Naoto took some long, concentrated breaths to relax, which he eventually succeeded in doing so. Focusing back on to the girl, he took notice of the gloves on her hands.

They weren't anything like the ones he had on. Hers were more like cushions than gloves, with nothing resembling fingers or even a hand in general anywhere. They were black, irregular shaped pads with red stitchings on its edges, which were rounded in its design. Her gloves looked vaguely similar to guitar picks, and they curved inward slightly in its middle region, causing them to look bent if one were to view them from the side.

"Y- Yeah.. I'm alright, uh.. what's, uh.."

"..what are those for?" Naoto was perplexed by them.

Giggling, Gamo-chan answered him, lightly tapping them together in a slow, drawn-out clapping motion. "These are punchin' pads, Paisen! You're gonna be hittin' these for a bit."

His eyes went wide again. He's gonna be hitting..

..those..

..while they were on her hands?!

Naoto felt his stomach sink again. So he was partially right about getting physical with Gamo-chan! Very painful thoughts of her holding her painful, shattered hands with pure tears of agony after accidentally breaking them began flooding his imagination, and he tried blocking every single one of them out.

"A- Are you sure that's a good idea?!" Naoto was indeed unsure if that was a good idea.

Gamo-chan chuckled, amused by his reluctance. "Paisen," she said, trying to give him some reassurance. "It'll be all right! Look, if you managed to not knock those punchin' bags right off of their hooks earlier, then you can sure as hell manage to not break my fingers. Come on."

"..I don't know.." Naoto was still unsure of things.

"If you're really so scared that you're gonna bust up my wrists, then just go softer than you did before! You got this."

Then, she approached him, and Naoto felt her place a hand on his shoulder. Gamo-chan, with a smile that represented nothing short of warmness and pure kinship, spoke something that he definitely needed to hear.

"I have faith in you, Paisen. Do me a favor, and have some faith in yourself. I already believe you, now you gotta do the same."

Those words were enough to move him. Naoto once again felt a warmness in his heart that he hadn't felt in forever, and he couldn't help but blush. It had been a long time since anyone besides his family had voiced their complete support for him. Now, he had people who had his back.

First Nagatoro, and now Gamo-chan. Naoto needed to thank them for their loyalty by being the best hero, or rather, person, he could be for them.

With that tiny boost of confidence from his friend, Naoto smiled and nodded, signaling to her that he was indeed ready for the second phase of training. Taking that as her cue to carry on, Gamo-chan gave him her own nod, and marched to the center of the ring.

"Alright, put 'em up." She echoed the command she initially used to see his stance earlier. Naoto, now in position facing her, did what he was told and got back into his stance.

"We're gonna be practicin' that one-two combo we did earlier," she directed. "Cross your right hand with my right hand, and jab your left with my left. I'm gonna kinda meet you halfway like this."

To showcase to him what she meant, Gamo-chan held her hands upward, with both arms bent at 45 degrees, and swung one down in a downwards slapping motion, vaguely like she was clawing at something.

"You got that?" She asked. Naoto nodded firmly.

"Mhm."

"Remember, concentrate, breathe slow, and keep your eyes on the target. Don't go too rough and break my hands."

Another nod. "Got it."

Grinning, she held her palms up, readied her gloves, and gave him the green light. "One-two, go!"

Naoto performed the combo. Both individuals moved their arms and their hands made contact, making a satisfying, cushioned "SLAM" sound that reverberated throughout the room. Their gloves connected again as Naoto went to finish the move with the final cross with his right hand.

To his joy, her hands were indeed intact.

"Nice! Again!" Gamo-chan commanded him, and he did what he was told a second time with another round of success.

"Again!"

One-two! Clean!

"Again!"

Thud-thud! Thud-thud!

"Again! Harder this time!"

Bum-bum! Bum-bum, bum-bum! Even after using a bit more strength as instructed, their combo was finished with no issue.

"Again! I'm gonna go fast now!"

Dun-dun! Dun-dun, dun-dun, dundun-dun! The increase in speed did nothing to affect their success rate.

He was getting the hang of this! Despite being someone who used to loathe exercise before, Naoto was making remarkably quick progress in his drills. Whether it was one of his hidden talents he never even knew existed, or it was because that strange tingle in his head he always had was giving him a helping hand, Naoto kept up the great work with Gamo-chan.

And she wasn't oblivious to the results her friend was showing right in front of her eyes. Pleased with the character development she was witnessing, Gamo-chan decided to take things up a notch.

"Okay Paisen, I'm gonna start taking a swing with my right arm," she said as she swung it in a wide arc. "I want you to duck under it, come up and follow it up with the one-two. Got it?"

"Yeah!" Naoto spoke with confidence, seemingly for the first time in decades.

"Alright. Go!"

One-two! Naoto carried out the combo with ease, but Gamo-chan didn't swing her arm out like she said she would. Naoto did it a second time. Nothing.

He did it again, still nothing! Naoto was confused, and nonchalantly continued performing the exercise while Gamo-chan seemingly refused to follow through with her own instructions a second time.

Naoto was figuratively scratching his head, having no clue what the girl was doing. Was he doing something wrong? Was he supposed to be doing something different? He tried relying on his dangersense to feel when she'd swing, but he came up short. It didn't alert him to anything!

Then, right smack in the middle of his thought process, he saw Gamo-chan's arm finally move in the corner of his eye. She took swing nice and slow, giving him enough time to duck under the limb. There, he came back up and executed the combo to its end just as he was told.

Naoto was dumbfounded, not by her sudden movement, but by the fact that his dangersense didn't react to that! It went off against fire-breathing spiders, Yasuhiro, that freaky Spider-Lady, and hell, even Nobuko all the damn time herself! But here, it was like it just short-circuited on Gamo-chan!

Did it only sense actual threats? Did it ignore allies, or rather.. friends?

He tried to process his bewilderment, but stopped when he saw Gamo-chan give him a wink.

"You did it, Paisen."

Hearing her compliment, he took a second, it was at that moment where he began to finally realize what she was doing.

"Remember, concentrate, breathe slow, and keep your eyes on the target."

Those words that she told him just moments ago was what she wanted him to do all along. Gamo-chan told him what her plan was, but she wanted him to concentrate and anticipate her movements instead of outright knowing when she would do them.

There was a brief pause in between them, and Gamo-chan took that moment to congratulate him for following through with her advice.

"Atta boy, Spider-Man. Atta boy."

She grinned, and he did the same back to her. "..."

"..."

"..."

"..Again!"

The two continued going over the girl's drills for as long as she saw fit, and they were surely enjoying it. Gamo-chan was pumped by how much her friend was growing not just as a fighter, but as a person in such a small amount of time, and Naoto himself was ecstatic to have found someone he could really count on.

In her eyes, Paisen was once a weak, lonely, shrunken nerd who was blossoming into a confident, proud, heroic icon for her home with her help.

And in his eyes, Gamo-chan was once a girl who was a part of a clique he heavily misjudged when they first met in the library, and he was super glad to have gotten the chance to get to know her better.

He was a goodhearted, responsible kid who just needed a push to break out of his anxiety-induced shell, and she was a warm, gentle young woman who hid her true nature underneath a tough, scary facade.

Gamo-chan took her swings faster, and commanded him to do so which he did without question. She demanded him to hit harder with more power, and he did just that with no issue.

Soon, their workout was finished, and the two friends sat together on the mats. Gamo-chan was just barely sweating, but Naoto on the other hand looked like he still had the energy to go a thousand times more; a testimony to how much his stamina was increased thanks to the spider bite.

And no bones were shattered during their time together.

"You did amazing, Paisen." Gamo-chan took a large swig from a water bottle. "Man, you look like you're still full of energy."

"I kinda am, yeah.." He chuckled softly.

"So other than havin' super strength that I totally wasn't afraid of, by the way," she winked playfully at him, "you have, like, superpowered endurance or something?"

"Pretty much, I guess. I wasn't tired when I was swinging around Yokohama, and I'd imagine you'd need a lot of stamina to do that."

"Oh, no kiddin'. I know some guys in my class who get winded just by goin' up a flight of stairs, and you're over here climbin' all over buildings like it's a Sunday afternoon jog!"

"Yep.."

"The school marathon's probably gonna be a piece of cake for you. You'd probably break the record for the fastest time ever."

"I'd try to at least get an average time to not stand out but.. yeah, probably.."

"I swear, you're all kinds of badass, Paisen. You know that?"

"Hah, thanks.." Naoto couldn't help but blush.

Gamo-chan definitely meant what she said, and was intrigued at what else he could do. She wanted to know what other awesome powers he had in his Spider-themed hero package.

"There anythin' else you can do, Paisen? Can you do a funny dance move like those videos of jumping spiders moving their legs in the air?"

He knew exactly what she was talking about, and he just had to chuckle. Those videos were indeed quite funny to him. However, while he was many things, a dancer was not one of them, and he knew that for a fact. No amount of confidence boosting, or training would help him with that.

"No no no, I- I can't do that, hah- haha.. but.."

"..."

"..I don't know how to explain it but.. I have this.. feeling in my head. It's weird.."

Gamo-chan cocked her head to the side, curious. "A feeling? Do you have, like, an imaginary talkin' spider?"

He shook his head. "No, it's more like.. a tingle. I feel it whenever there's something bad nearby."

"Soooo.. a dangersense? Like a super-intuition of some kind."

She was spot-on with that guess. "..yeah, exactly. A dangersense. I just don't know how to describe it. It just.. happens."

"It sounds like it's your instinct that's just amped way up," she tried to explain. "My guess would be that it's kinda like how they say dogs can sense stuff we can't see, like ghosts or something. You can feel whenever something's off even things look completely normal, right?"

Naoto was impressed. She was nailing what he'd been feeling. "Yeah.. So like.."

"..."

"..a sixth sense, basically."

"Yeah," she nodded. "Or.."

"…"

"..a Spider-Sense?"

For some reason, he liked the sound of that. It just went so well with his Spider-Man name. "..."

"..I should start calling it that," he laughed.

"Glad to have helped you out, Paisen!" Gamo-chan laughed as well and even gave him a pat on his back.

But, their lighthearted moment ended as quickly as it came when Naoto decided to change the subject. A total buzzkill move. "It's weird though. I didn't feel it with you today.."

"You think it's because you knew I wasn't going to hurt you? You don't think I'm a supervillain, do ya'?" Gamo-chan joked, having once again guessed the functionalities of his newly-named Spider-Sense with perfection.

"Probably.. well- for that first part, I mean. It's just.. I've felt it with a few others before, but.."

"…"

"..for some reason, I always feel it with Nobuko.."

That caused her smile to fade away immediately. "..well, she is kinda weird, Paisen."

"I- It's not even that, Gamo-chan. There's something about her that's just.. off. Like you said, I'm sensing something in her that's just not right."

Gamo-chan didn't know what to say. On one hand, she definitely agreed that Nobuko was a strange, weird and creepy girl, but on the other, she thought she was just that. A creepy girl. Nothing more.

And it made sense. Nobuko was just a first-year girl who stood only an inch taller than Nagatoro, and nothing about her seemed to point to her being a threat legitimate enough to cause his Spider-Sense to go haywire like he was describing. Gamo-chan sure as hell wasn't scared of her, so why the hell would Naoto's sixth Spider-Sense react to her?

"..maybe your Spider-Sense has a few bugs?" She guessed. "Honestly, she's weird, but I don't think she's.. evil, like you're tryin' to say."

Naoto also didn't have any explanation to that thought. He just sat there, pondering. "..maybe.."

Then, Gamo-chan stood up, and went back to the ropes to hang her pads back up. "Well, enough of her for now, Paisen. Let's call it a day."

"Y- Yeah.. Sounds good.." Naoto stood up to do the same, but was stopped when Gamo-chan turned around suddenly.

"..."

"..one more thing," she said. Naoto gave her a "hm?" in response.

"..It just kinda occurred to me, Paisen. If you can shoot webs out of your hands.."

"..."

"..then can they come out of anywhere else?"

Record scratch sound! Naoto had to do a double take, having very much been taken aback by that.

"U- Uh.." He stammered, having been caught absolutely off-guard by the dirty implications of that cursed question. Gamo-chan, meanwhile, was laughing her ass off, especially at his hilarious reaction.

"Haha, sorry! Too weird of a question, Paisen?"

Ya' think?!

"U- Uh-huh! I kinda don't wanna answer that.."

"Don't worry," she grinned. "You don't gotta."

Gamo-chan let out a final laugh as Naoto awkwardly hung up his own gloves. Meanwhile, their moment was interrupted yet again when they both heard the door slide open.

They turned, and saw a confused Nagatoro in its doorway, staring at them both with utter confusion.

Chapter Text

"..Gamo-chan..?"

"..Senpai..?"

Nagatoro blinked twice, staring right at Naoto and his new friend and trainer Gamo-chan, her eyes being so wide that they dwarfed dinner plates as they remained locked on her two fellow teens with total utter confusion on her face. Naoto, on the other hand, reciprocated her gaze with his own stunned and panicky look. Meanwhile, Gamo-chan was instead overjoyed to see that her best friend had finally arrived.

"Heyy, Hayacchi," she happily greeted her. "Waaasup~!"

"..h- hey, Nagatoro." Naoto gave her a jittery hello and an awkward hand wave.

"Sup." Nagatoro returned their gestures with much less energy and excitement, namely compared to Gamo-chan's, the tone in her voice being so blank and empty.

The Spider in the room felt a sense of dread trickle not from the back of his head, but rather down his stiff little spine that was quaking with nervousness. He felt each individual hair on his body perk up when his kohai's eyes glued on to him like a predator stalking its prey.

She had looked at Gamo-chan for a second, but Nagatoro's dark, scary pupils chose him as their unfortunate target for the majority of the time, and he wasn't liking it.

What.. What was she upset about?

"What's goin' on?" The girl asked. A tiny hint of what seemed like anger irradiated from her voice.

What was she getting angry over?

"We were, uh.." Naoto stuttered as he did his best to explain himself. Sure he had superpowers, but no amount of spider-webs or silky slings could save him from Nagatoro's wrath if he pissed her off more than she had already seemed. "..."

"..."

"..training."

"Training?" Nagatoro repeated, raising a single eyebrow as she looked on with face indicating that she wasn't really believing him despite it being the complete truth. "You never seemed like the typa' guy to workout, Senpai. What're you trainin' for?"

"..well I, um.." Naoto looked to Gamo-chan, desperate for some backup. It didn't help that he wasn't sweating in the slightest. He looked like he hadn't even worked out at all.

Thankfully, Gamo-chan came through for him. "Summer's comin' up and Paisen wanted to look good this year."

Naoto wasn't sure whether that was a good excuse or not, but it was an excuse, nonetheless. He let out a very subtle sigh of relief, though he jolted once more when he noticed that Nagatoro still wasn't buying their story.

"For?" She questioned. Naoto took a second to respond. He wasn't sure why she seemed so pressed, so jealous and suspicious of his training session with Gamo-chan.

"..just to.. change things up a bit for once.." That was the best he could come up with.

Gamo-chan came to his rescue a second time, and he was sure as hell glad she did it. "Why, what's up? Somethin' wrong, Hayacchi?"

Nagatoro, still unamused with them, gave the two an answer very matter-of-factly. "Senpai's never even been interested in this kind of stuff, so I don't get why he's here."

Even if her response kind of stung him a bit, and even though he'd never outright admit it, she was right. Naoto's name and "exercise" were never exactly synonymous with each other prior to him becoming Spider-Man.

"T- That's.. I mean.. Y- You're not wrong, but.." The poor itsy-bitsy Spider just wanted to ball up into a death-curl and shwivel away from existence.

He felt his blood run cold, when he saw Nagatoro's fear-inducing, soulless eyes focus back on to him, the cold, black vastness in them piercing into his skin like a knife.

And what she said shocked him to the extreme.

"You weren't following me, were you? Stalker."

Appalled, flabbergasted, and slightly embarrassed even though he was nonverbally thanking the almighty Heavens that no one else was around to hear that accusation, Naoto tried to plead his case and fight for his innocence.

"WHA- Nagatoro! I wasn't- I- I'm not a stalker!"

Gamo-chan once again stepped in, wanting to deescalate her petty pal. Holding a palm up to stop her, she spoke. "Now now, you don't gotta rough up my customer, Hayacchi. He came a while before you did because I wanted to help him get in shape before summer out of the goodness of my heart. Nothin' more than that."

"Besides, what's wrong with wantin' to get a little exercise?"

Naoto felt like he was forever in Gamo-chan's debt after she stuck up for him a third time. Sighing a relaxing bit of relief again, and he saw Nagatoro fold her arms and mutter a faint "hmph."

"Whatever," she said, seemingly dropping the whole thing, albeit very begrudgingly. "..."

"..."

Nagatoro turned and addressed her Senpai with one final remark. "..Sleazer."

He wasn't jolly about that at all. "C- Come on, Nagatoro!"

Gamo-chan chuckled. "Now, you wanna get to trainin', Hayacchi? Or are you just gonna keep messin' with poor Paisen here?"

"Yeah, sure." Nagatoro walked forward and brushed past her Senpai, occasionally darting her eyes back and forth to give him more dirty looks. Poor Naoto indeed wasn't blind to that, and every time their gazes met, he felt a tinge of anxiety fall from his backside.

Nagatoro sure is scary when she's mad..

"Great!" Gamo-chan, now glad that her friend had moved on from the petty spectacle, turned and called out to her trainee. "Paisen, I know we said to call it day earlier, but you can stick around for a bit. I don't have a problem with that."

Naoto nodded. Remembering his promise to his mom about being home by 9 PM, he looked at the time on his phone, and saw that he still had plenty bit before his curfew came.

"..alright, I can stay for little longer, yeah.."

"Awesome. Just sit by the side and watch."

Naoto did just that and moved over to the sidelines as he was told. A part of him was kind of excited to see the two go at it in a spar, but another began realizing something..

If Nagatoro acted that dramatically seeing him step out of his shell, then she'd probably flip once she found out that he'd be coming back again to train with Gamo-chan some more, which he figured she was planning on.

It might be extremely difficult to keep his secrets away from her, and things might've been turning out to be way harder than he had hoped for.

Naoto sat there, pondering.. and then gulped.

Maybe he really should come clean to her soon.

For a while, the only thing he did was remain sitting against the wall, spectating the two girls as they remained locked in with each other in a spar, boxing one another. Nagatoro had changed into a more proper fighting attire: A tight dark gray sports bra with matching-colored shorts. She was barefoot, and she was clad in proper lime green stitched boxing gloves, pads, and even headgear. Gamo-chan remained in a loose tee and shorts, just as she had been in all day, but she also had on the same boxing equipment, though the linings on hers were maroon red in color, as she partook in her first proper sparring session ever since training the superhero in the room.

Her last session before he had arrived was with Nagatoro's brother, Ichiro, who completely bulldozed her. Though, she'd never admit that.

As he watched them spar, Naoto saw how prominently tanned Nagatoro was. Her complexion wasn't understandably something he hadn't really paid much attention to before until he noticed how pale her midriff that was left exposed for all to see was in comparison to the rest of her body. Her tanlines were an obvious giveaway to both how active she was and how much time she had spent under the sun, and though it was extremely gross for him to admit it..

...

..it sort of intrigued him.

Not only that, but the muscles she sported were becoming eye candy to him. Nagatoro was impressively toned and fit, slim yet trimmed away with fat to show off the beauty that was her muscular anatomy. Sweat which was dropping from all of her pores made her body glisten, and it only helped her look even better.

Everything about the kohai in front of him just looked so.. amazing. Her remarkable physique, her firm stance, her long beautiful black hair that went down to the middle of her back, the look in her eyes that were indeed locked on to the prize before her, and the serious expression on her face that conveyed nothing short of business, determination, and focus to find an opening in Gamo-chan's posture.

She looked badass. She looked awesome. She looked..

...

..cute.

His face flushed with red, and he shook his head feverishly to wash those gross, nasty thoughts away. His glasses would've surely fallen to the floor had he had them on. Naoto berated himself. He couldn't believe he was dreaming of Nagatoro like that!

Those perverted thoughts, if Nagatoro had mind-reading powers, would've literally proven her accusations! That he was nothing more but a dirty, weird, stiff-jointed sleazer who enjoyed watching her from afar. Naoto slapped his own forehead, cursing his own brain out for even imagining her like that.

But no matter how much he tried to fight it, he really, truly did find her attractive in that moment.

His mind soon went to ponder other things, however. Namely, why Nagatoro got so worked up seeing him and Gamo-chan together. There was no attraction between them. He certainly found her cute as well, but he meant it when he genuinely only saw her as a friend. A soon-to-be-best friend, for that matter.

...

..wait a minute..

Did jealousy play a part in that?

Did she truly get jealous over seeing him with Gamo-chan? Did she actually think he was being sleazy with her friend behind her back? It surely seemed that way, and it was also the only plausible explanation.

She didn't really like him being with Nobuko.. not like he did himself, either, anyways.

Naoto frowned. He didn't want her to get so jealous over something that really wasn't a big deal. He definitely wasn't fooling around with Gamo-chan, and certainly didn't plan to. His heart, despite him not knowing it yet, was slowly, but surely, becoming Nagatoro's.

He enjoyed her company very much, and it disheartened him to know that she would over exaggerate such little things.

Naoto kept watching the two girls trade blows, each one of them blocking and parrying their attacks as they both went in to with their own punches. Nagatoro performed the "one-two" combo that he had also learned under Gamo-chan, and her opponent easily negated the assault by shielding her face with her arms. She retaliated by going in for a wide-arced swing, but Nagatoro simply ducked, much like he had done so earlier too.

After allowing Gamo-chan's arm to safely swing by above her, she shot up and followed through the opening that was now made in front of her with a punch he had yet to be taught:

An uppercut, specifically with her right hand. Though Gamo-chan blocked that one as well, Naoto was nevertheless impressed with his kohai's fighting prowess.

She had no superpowers, but Nagatoro definitely had him beat in the hand-to-hand fighting department. That was to be expected, as the girl was a part of the school's judo club. Naoto was Spider-Man, but he had zero fighting experience prior to becoming the Web-Slinger.

Which reminded him of something. Although he was set to receive some good training lessons from Gamo-chan, he had to wonder..

...

..would they do him any good?

Sure, Nagatoro and Gamo-chan were both fighting, but they were doing it in a controlled environment. None of them were getting scrappy or dirty, and they both remained calm as they eyed each other's every move to wait for an opportunity to strike. The Spider-Demon Lady, however.. the monster that pushed him to get the training in the first place..

...

..would surely be anything BUT that.

That thing wasn't fighting fair when they faced each other. No, she fought with pure malice, pure brutality, with nothing but pure intent to hurt him. That wicked being flung him around, slammed him into concrete, and even tried to crush him underneath her grotesque spider legs.

She wasn't boxing. She wasn't sparring. She was trying to kill him.

He frowned again. Indeed, how effective would Gamo-chan's lessons be? The training she gave him was meant to be used against other boxers, not against giant scary arachnid women.

A superhero like Hayama's One and Only Spider-Man was supposed to be able to fight off and protect his people against any kind of threat, not just other humans.

Naoto looked down at the floor, thinking long and hard about how and if his friend's lessons truly meant anything..

..but then, his thought process was interrupted when he heard Nagatoro shout.

"HAH!" Her voice echoed throughout the room. Naoto's head perked up to see what just happened.

To his surprise and awe, he saw Nagatoro go in for another opening when Gamo-chan took another swing. His kohai dove under and avoided her punch, but instead of coming right back up to execute a combo..

..she spun around and grabbed her opponent's arm with both of her hands. Then, with her back now in between them, she used an insane amount of might, and threw Gamo-chan over her shoulder, sending her straight down on to the mats where his trainer literally flipped and landed on her own backside.

Holy crap! Naoto was utterly amazed by the feat his kohai had just performed, and he was glad he hadn't missed that! His mouth was left agape as he stood motionless in awe, like a superfan after their favorite musician just performed an exhilarating solo.

Nagatoro stood victorious against her foe, who laid supine facing up at the winner in triumph. Though having successfully "slain" her "enemy," Nagatoro exhibited good ol' fashioned sportsmanship after their friendly sparring match came to a close. Grinning innocently, she held out a hand to her friend, offering to help her up, which Gamo-chan gladly accepted after returning the same lip gesture in kind.

Even still, the victor of this battle wanted to use this opportunity to boast a couple lighthearted jabs at the loser. "I told ya' so, Gamo-chan. I always win."

"Don't get ahead of yourself now, Hayacchi." Gamo-chan smirked. "You just got lucky again."

"I didn't get lucky, I just outplayed you. As always."

"Bold words for the judo club underdog. Bet you can't do that to Orihara."

Nagatoro didn't take offense to that. Instead, Gamo-chan's nickname for her as the "judo club underdog" only seemed to pump her up even more, like it had increased her drive to keep going.

"Oh, trust me, I will. One day."

One day.. Nagatoro seemed to have a bit of a rivalry going on with not just her best friend in the room, but also another girl named Orihara. That name didn't resonate with Naoto. He didn't know who she was.

Speaking of Naoto, the Spider in the room was absolutely enthralled by the girls' performance. He saw a glimpse into Gamo-chan's excellent combat capabilities, even if it was just for a brief moment, and more notably, Nagatoro's ability to maneuver the battle into her favor despite being outclassed in both height and most likely weight by Gamo-chan.

Nagatoro's height wasn't even in the 5' range. Gamo-chan stood much taller than her, but that didn't save her from being slung right over the smaller girl's back like she was nothing.

And seeing that gave him idea. What Nagatoro had done definitely wasn't a boxing move. He may have had a very minuscule amount of knowledge about fighting, but he knew that wasn't something you'd learn from here.

No, that was a judo move, and he realized something.

Maybe Gamo-chan's lessons really meant something. Maybe he wasn't meant to just copy her movements to a tee. Maybe..

..maybe..

..maybe he was supposed to learn the fundamentals. The basics. How to punch, and when do it.

It'd be like how an art teacher teaches how to shade things. You don't just copy what they're doing and brush the tip of your pencil exactly like how they did it willy-nilly. You learn how to do it, why you might want to do it, and when to apply those techniques when the need arises.

And in this case, he saw how effortlessly Nagatoro used the techniques she learned in judo to gain an advantage over Gamo-chan.

As the two gals prepared to go at it for another round, Naoto smiled, having potentially learned something that could actually help him in his journey as Hayama's Spider-Man. Not only that, but also at how totally rad, badass, and undoubtfully attractive Nagatoro looked with that smirk on her face when she got back into her stance.

...

...

...

The trio all sat down in the middle of the matted room after the two best friends had finished up a few more rounds of sparring matches. Both girls were incredibly sweated up and tired, but they were managing to recover their stamina just fine with nice, controlled deep breaths. Gamo-chan did them a solid and provided them both with water bottles to make themselves feel a little better.

"You really are gettin' better at this, Hayacchi." Gamo-chan smiled. Out of the few dozen rounds they went for, she had won about half of them.

Nagatoro giggled in response as she wiped some of the perspiration away from her forehead with a rag. "Well I haven't been slacking off in my training, Gamo-chan. I've been practicin' really hard these last couple days, especially in judo."

"You ain't wrong about that," her friend replied.

Naoto, who was seated next to Nagatoro, felt her elbow give him a quick nudge. Looking towards her, he saw her smirk, before speaking. "It also helps that I got my very own stalker cheerin' me on in the audience, hehe."

Oh come on! This again, Nagatoro?! Naoto didn't say anything back, and only looked away bashfully. "..."

Gamo-chan found the whole scene to be hilarious. "Paisen's been makin' some nice steady progress himself. 'Pretty good for a beginner, really."

Nagatoro's eyes closed on him, and she even raised one eyebrow. "Oh really now~?"

Again, Naoto didn't say a peep. He felt her eyes zero in on him like a hawk. Thankfully, Gamo-chan was doing the talkin' for him.

"Yeeeep. I can tell he's got lots of potential, definitely." Gamo-chan gave him a subtle wink, backhandedly referring to the start of his amazing career as a superhero. "I call him the Amazing Paisen because of that."

That made Nagatoro burst into laughter. "The Amazing Paisen? Oh my Gosh! That's so funny!"

Naoto's redness on his face only flushed even more. He turned his attention to Gamo-chan, and his face reeked of desperation as he nonverbally conveyed the message, "Why did you just instigate this blatant patronizing?!" to her. Gamo-chan didn't say anything and merely winked.

It seemed like she was planning something. Naoto sat motionless, until his suspicions were quickly confirmed when he heard Nagatoro speak again.

"I kinda like that name. Maybe I should have my own nickname for you, Senpai."

Naoto blinked. Wasn't Senpai already hers? He nervously brushed his long, sheepy hair away from his face and replied, "..."

"..maybe?"

He had just opened himself up for another round of teasing and he didn't even know it. Taking that as her cue to commence with what she always did best, Nagatoro placed a hand on her chin to get into an adorable thinking position, before she began brewing up some ideas.

"How about.."

"..."

"..Sleazy Senpai!"

Naoto once again turned his head away to shield himself from the playful verbal assault. He'd much rather be referred to as the Amazing Paisen, thank you very much!

"I- I- I don't like that name at all!"

"Sleazy sleazy Senpaaai~" Nagatoro sung. She even did a little goofy dance to match the rhythm of her mocking tune. "Ooh! How about Shady-Senpai!"

"..."

"..no! What about Stalker-Senpai! Or Stalker-pie!"

"W- Would you cut it out with those names?!" Naoto yapped back. He was only two things in life: a normal goodhearted kid, and a superhero, not a creepy stalker like she kept leading him on to be!

Gamo-chan once again swung in to save his day. She'd done it so many times that it was like she was his own Spider-Man. Or, Spider-Woman for that matter. "The Spectacular Senpai sounds kinda cool too. Trust me, Hayacchi, Paisen's way more awesome than you give him credit for."

Unbeknownst to either of them, Gamo-chan had a name in the back of her mind that she didn't dare to say, because she had a request to honor. From Naoto.

Spider-Senpai. It definitely sounded rad to her, but that name wasn't ready to be heard by Nagatoro yet.

"I gotta see the progress he's been makin' to say he's as amazing as you say claim he is," Nagatoro told her. "The only thing that's amazing about him is his art!"

Naoto wasn't sure whether or not he should take offense to that. She was praising him for his artistic talent, but at the same time made it sound like that was the only thing he was good at, like she was undermining the rest of his abilities. Nevertheless, he kept his cool and didn't say anything about it.

Besides, he knew she didn't mean any harm by it. His kohai had a tendency to run her mouth sometimes, though deep down, he had to admit that it did kind of sting a bit..

..if only she knew the amazing truth about him and his Web-Headed alter ego.

Then, it was as if what Nagatoro blurted had caused an imaginary lightbulb to go off above Gamo-chan's head. An idea came to her. If Nagatoro really wanted to see the awesome progress he was making..

..then she'd gladly let her.

Gamo-chan called out to them both. "Hayacchi. Paisen."

The two oblivious lovers looked at the girl curiously, both of them giving her a soft "hm?" in response.

"Why don't you two spar for a bit," she suggested. Her gaze locked on to the boy who was stunned by her idea. "If Hayacchi really doesn't think you're amazin', then you should go and prove her wrong."

"After all, she's typically all bark and no bite most of the time. You gotta show her what you can do at some point, am I right, Paisen?"

Naoto was shocked. The smirk she had on her face when she said that made it unclear to him whether or not she was trying to defend his honor, or trying to allude to her wish for him to come clean to Nagatoro about his life as a Spider-Man. Which, in reality, was the latter option.

"I.. I don't know, Gamo-chan.." Naoto indeed was unsure of things. He looked to his kohai to see how she was responding to the idea.

Nagatoro was also uncertain about the idea of sparring with him. For one, she was underestimating her Senpai's ability to fight, and figured that a match between him and her would only last a few seconds with her reigning supreme over the boy.

However, there were other things fueling her reluctance: Her fear of accidentally hurting him, and the prospect of getting close to him.

Nagatoro was a very skilled fighter, and she demonstrated that many times that day. To fight someone she thought was so horribly unskilled was a bad idea to her. It'd be like pitching a pro boxer against an infant who just barely learned how to walk.

Then, there was the thought of breaking multiple touch barriers with him. She had done so before, especially at her house while he stayed over during the rain, but the mental image of her laying on top of him, trapping her poor Senpai in a randori seemed a bit..

..too much for her.

They both remained sitting frozen like statues, still very much unsure with themselves. The awkward quietness only lasted for a couple of seconds, until Nagatoro was the first to make up her mind.

"..."

"..."

"..I'll do it," she said as she nervously scratched the side of her cheek. "I- I guess I wouldn't mind.. taking care of him for a while."

Hearing that made Gamo-chan overjoyed. "Great! What about you, Paisen?"

He took a bit longer to respond, but if Nagatoro was down..

...

"..s- sure.. I- I still have a bit before I have to go home anyways.."

"Aaalright! That's what I like to hear!" Gamo-chan shot up from the floor and raced outside the room. "You two wait here for a bit!"

With the girl gone, the two teenagers were left alone by themselves. Naoto's body language was all hunched up and bundled in, with his hands buried deep in his lap. Nagatoro sat in the same position, not even batting her Senpai an eye.

"..."

"..y- you sure about this, N- Nagatoro?" He was the first to break the silence and ask for her confirmation that she was indeed okay with Gamo-chan's idea.

She nodded. "..w- what can it hurt, right..?"

He agreed with that. "..right.."

Naoto did nothing but stare at the floor, until he saw Nagatoro's head instantly zip towards his direction in the corner of his eye.

"If you go down without a fight, I won't ever forgive you. Got it?"

Her eyes had been enlarged, her cold black pupils had shrunk, and she had an overall menacing and threatening aura in her face as she stared ice cold daggers at him. The super scary expression she had on was enough to rival Nobuko's creepiness and her monster form.

Recoiling, Naoto stammered, and then feverishly nodded. "U- U- Uh.."

"..yeah, s- sure thing..!"

...

...

...

Naoto and Nagatoro were both positioned in front of each other in the middle of the ring, wearing standard white judogis supplied by Gamo-chan after she had returned. Naoto was staring at the floor, thinking about how his life landed him in a peculiar situation this was, while Nagatoro was just locking on to him with her Umibozu eyes.

That is, until she spotted Gamo-chan leaving again.

"Hey!" She called. "Where are you going?"

Gamo-chan flashed them a peace sign and a shit-eating grin. "'Gonna go get some lunch. I'm super hungry after training all day!"

Her response brought out a loud, flabbergasted "HUH?!" from the both of them.

"You're just gonna leave us?!" Nagatoro shouted.

Naoto followed suit with his own appalled statement. "B- But this was your i- idea!"

The only thing Gamo-chan did was laugh, and by then she was already halfway out the door. "Oh, relax! I'll be back in a minute! You guys just do your thing, and watch over the place for me, yeah?"

"Watch the plac- What do you mean watch the pla-" Nagatoro didn't even have a chance to finish her question before Gamo-chan slid the door on them, effectively shutting them up leaving the two awkward kids alone yet again together.

They didn't know that while Gamo-chan indeed wanted Naoto to spar with her, she also wanted to be her hero's superpowered wingman and orchestrate some alone time with the girl he sooo obviously was head over heels for. He didn't know, but she totally saw the look on his face when he was watching Nagatoro sparring her earlier.

More silence filled the room for a minute. Naoto's blood went cold when Nagatoro gave him another case of her "Ghostly Eyes," before simply sighing.

"..whatever. Let's just get started.."

Naoto nodded, also wanting to just do something. Anything was better than quietly sitting there in an empty, soulless room. "..s- sure.."

Nagatoro took a moment to stretch. "We're gonna be startin' off with a randori, 'kay?"

Her opponent had no clue what the hell that meant, so he merely nodded again. "S- Sounds good.. what's, uh.."

"…"
"..what's that, though?"

Nagatoro clarified things for him. "Just a judo term for sparring. That's all."

"..oh, a- alright.."

After readying herself, the girl began cracking her knuckles. Loosening up her joints, Nagatoro got into her stance, bending her knees to bring herself lower to the ground. She curled her fingers up which made her look like she was aiming to claw at him like a cat.

With a smirk on her face, she zeroed in on to her target with combat-ready eyes.

"Now.."

"..."

"..Come at me with everything you've got, Senpai!"

Naoto's face went cold, and sweat began running down his head as he very hesitantly got into his own fighting stance.

Dammit, Gamo-chan! Come back!

...

...

..and how in the world did things lead to this?!

Chapter Text

Art by LittleFreddy. Twitter link:

https://twitter.com/LittleFred2021?t=5hpDXq2Cdx2Dgdnhk4wOJQ

Author's Notes:

lol we ended up seeing GTA 6 before this

On a serious note, heyoooooo! I'm back, and I'm bringing YOU GUYS back to the world of The Amazing Mangaka, also known as (for those of you who forgot, I don't blame ya) Earth-04112021. Wow, almost a year since I promised those three chapters. I'm sure you guys would like an explanation.

This year was NOT my year for writing or anything creative in general. I promised 2023 would be the year for Spider-Naoto, but I guess the universe had other plans for me. School related bullsh*t, jobs, personal matters, trouble making the transition into uni, writing blocks popping up again and again and again, on top of losing those chapters from the promised HEROES AND VILLAINS special (album's still a banger a year later) a couple months ago, I just couldn't bring myself to write. I couldn't. I took up drawing some time ago and even made some pieces for this fic, but even that came to an end recently.

I know all that sounds like excuses. All my supporters and readers have every right to feel angry for not only delaying so long but also not even communicating what was happening on my end. Hell, this is only ONE chapter out of the three I promised. A lot of people were super invested in this story, but I unfortunately wasn't invested in YOU GUYS, and I'm so, so sorry for that. I don't expect any forgiveness.

But, I will try this time. Harder. Come 2024, that will be the year for Naoto. This year was already a good year for him and Spider-Man, with season 3 of the anime, Spider-Man 2, Across the Spider-Verse, and the manga that's really kicking up, so let's keep that going next year.

Time management and discipline were both always something that plagued me, but I'll do my best to do MY PART for you guys, because y'all are a big part of the story. You helped make it, and I'm forever appreciative of that.

We'll be kicking the story back off with a long one. Almost 9k words, in fact, so get ready. Reread the story if you have to, take some breaks, celebrate with the family, cherish them, tell them you love 'em, all that good stuff. It is Christnas, after all.

I hope you enjoy. Cheers. :)

Oh, and Edew! I'm stealing how you format your author's notes in CBP! Sorry! x)

Nothing could have prepared Naoto for what was about to happen to him. No amount of training or brain-tickling from his Spider-Sense could protect him from the unfortunate, inevitable and impending doom that was coming.

"How did this happen?"

"How did I get here?"

"What did I do to deserve this fate?!"

Those three sentences, along with a bajillion other thoughts of similar context, were what the poor lad was screaming over and over in his head

Why was having a mental panic attack?

Because of the predicament he was in.

Naoto was strong enough to swing across Yokahama like the city was nothing but a playground to him. He was fast enough to run up a 90 degree angle on a skyscraper without slipping. He was brave enough to take a leap of faith off the top of the Landmark Tower, which stood only 30 feet shy from 1000, to make his way home..

..but yet..

..he was so utterly and hopelessly powerless against Nagatoro, his cute little kohai, from pinning him down to the floor during their first ever sparring match.

"Aaaaaand now, you're pinned!" The smaller yet much mightier warrior playfully laughed in her Senpai's face as she laid on top of him, one arm around his neck and the other gripping on to his sleeve, effectively keeping the Spider in the room glued to the mats with no hope for escape.

"Ach- AGH!" Naoto squirmed, desperate to break free but finding no such success.

It all happened so fast. Just moments ago, the two were staring each other off as they prepared to spar, only for him to freeze up with nervousness from the mere thought of getting physical with his kohai. It was a mistake that ultimately caused him his downfall, because Nagatoro didn't hold back at all. She swooped in to take advantage of the boy's hesitation and threw him down on to his back.

Now he was within the tanned fighter's grasp, like a fly caught within a spider's web, in an ironic twist where he, Hayama's One-and-Only Spider-Man, was the fly, and Nagatoro, a mere civilian, was the spider.

Naoto squealed. There was a very prominent and deep shade of red on his face, both from the rush of adrenaline that came with his futile attempts to break free from the girl's entrapment, and how unbelievably close he was to her. Never in his life did he ever think so many touch barriers could've been broken in such a short amount of time. The two skipped the usual hand-holding and hugging and web-zipped straight to laying on top of each other.

With her chest seemingly forever cemented on to his, Nagatoro wasn't going anywhere, and neither was he.

It was like there was an anvil on him.

"Y- Y- You- Y- You could've given me a h- heads-up!" He babbled. "A- Ach!"

"Well that's what happens when you space out!" Nagatoro laughed. She too was blushing all the while, perhaps even more so than he was, but she was nonetheless doing a much better job at keeping herself together. She was winning, after all.

"Did you get scared or somethin'~?"

Naoto could only look away from his kohai bashfully. He shook his head no a million times per second. "..I- I wasn't scared!"

"Ya' suure~? 'Cause you froze up like a Popsicle, Senpai!"

"I- I'm sure! N- Now just let- me-"

"Not so fast!" Nagatoro cut him off before he had any chance to finish that sentence. She pressed herself closer, applying more pressure to keep the Spider pinned. "We're not done. You gotta try to escape~!"

"But I'm already- Ach! N- Nagatoro!"

Naoto already knew what being pinned to something felt like thanks to Nobuko and her webs, but somehow, this was different. He found that Nagatoro was giving him just as much as a struggle as she did despite having nowhere near her monstrous levels of strength. Either his kohai was much, much stronger than she looked, or he was just too flustered to retaliate. Naoto figured it was a mix of both.

"You gotta try harder than that, Senpai!" Her cocky, triumphant smirk widened. "In twenty seconds, it'll be my win."

His heart came to a stop once he heard that. He had to endure twenty seconds of this torture?! No way!

"A- Ach, T- Twenty seconds? N- agh- Nagatoro!"

Nagatoro's grievous gloated grin grew larger hearing him struggle. "Fifteen seconds," she announced quite vocally, beginning the countdown to her seemingly guaranteed win. "Come on, I've seen little kids in junior divisions do better than you!"

Naoto didn't know what to do. Too distressed to think and too embarrassed to move lest he somehow shatter the touch barriers even more than they already have been, he tried his best to run through his options.

He'd either surrender to his enemy and beg her to get off, which Nagatoro would never let him hear the end of, or he'd rise up and push her off with his strength..

...

..which would, unfortunately, run the risk of severely hurting her.

And even if she was being an absolute menace to him in that moment, Naoto would never even consider doing that in a million years.

So he chose option A.

"ACH- O- O- Okay!" He yapped. "N- Nagatoro, you win! Just get- off me, please!"

Of course, he should've known that option A had a zero percent chance of actually working. Nagatoro blatantly ignored his pleas, and only pressed herself closer to him; punishment for trying to take the easy way out.

"Nope, no way, Senpai!" I wanna see why Gamo-chan calls you the Amazing Paisen, because right now, you're lookin' like the Unamazing Paisen!"

Naoto clenched his teeth. "P- Please!"

"Ten seconds!"

Realizing that there was no way Nagatoro would ever relent, Naoto had no choice but to roll with option B. He took a big deep breath to prepare himself, wanting to make sure that if he was really going to force her off, he was going to do so very, very gently.

"Alright Naoto," the voice in his head said to himself. "You can do this.."

"…"
"..just don't hurt her.."

He started trying to wriggle and pull his arm free from Nagatoro's grasp, an action she immediately took notice of.

"There ya' go, Senpai!" She teasingly applauded him. "Keep it up!"

Her grip was strong, but Naoto could swear that he was just a smidge bit away from freedom. Still, Nagatoro had him on the ropes.

"Five seconds! Don't you give up on me now!"

"Don't hurt her, don't hurt her.."

"That all you've got?" She mocked with an innocent giggle. "Or am I too strong for ya'?"

"No!" Naoto defied with another shake of his head. "It's just- You're-"

Nagatoro cut him off. She leaned in, her face looming ever so closer to his as her already happy lips curled wider.

"I'm what, Senpai? Tell me!"

Naoto tensed up. "You're- .."

"Yoooooou'reeee~?" She eagerly wanted to know what he was going to say.

"Y- You're-"

"You're heavier than I thought but-"

"..."

..It was a statement that had just slipped out of his mouth. He didn't exactly realize what he said in the heat of the moment, but when he did, Naoto heard the loudest imaginary record scratch and boom-from-a-defunct-social-media-app in his head as he locked eyes with Nagatoro's shocked, jaw-dropped stare.

"..."

"..."

"..I- I AM SO SORRY I DIDN'T MEAN TO CALL YOU-"

Unfortunately, the damage had been done. There was no going back now. Nagatoro, gritting her teeth and growling wrathfully out of pure anger and frustration, let go of his arm and grabbed a very firm hold of his shirt's collar, pulling him in to berate her Senpai as her stunned gaze warped into one of fury.

"DID YOU JUST CALL ME FAT, SENPAI?!?!?!"

"N- NO! I- I- I MEANT-"

Nagatoro clenched him harder, literally yanking him in closer to her to show him the red hot flames of bloodlust in her eyes.

"I PINNED YOU DOWN BECAUSE OF MY SKILL, NOT BECAUSE OF MY WEIGHT! IF YOU KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT JUDO, YOU'D KNOW THAT EVEN A GIRL MY SIZE CAN TAKE DOWN SOMEONE LIKE YOU BY USING PROPER TECHNIQUE, NOT BY BEING FAT!"

"I- I WASN'T CALLING YOU F- FAT-"

Nagatoro slammed him back down on to the mats, looking as if she was fighting the urge to just strangle him right there and then. "WHY YOU.."

Unfortunately, her impulsive act of rage caused her to forget that his arms were free, and she failed to notice him grabbing on to her shoulders.

"ACH- Nagatoro, I- I'm sorry but please get OFF-"

Closing his eyes, he finally executed his plan and tossed her over to the side, rolling his body with her as he went along with the momentum.

Things were silent right after. Naoto did nothing and stayed perfectly still. He was on his knees, bent forward holding himself upright with his hands, both of which remained fixed on to the rubber flooring.

Then, he opened his eyelids, initially planning on getting up and properly apologizing to Nagatoro who he thought was also in the process of recovering from being thrown next to him..

...

..that is, until he discovered where she was.

Nagatoro wasn't besides him. No, instead, she was on her back underneath him, arms up above her head staring blankly at her Senpai who, from her point of view, was dangling right above her in what was one of the most suggestive positions imaginable.

Naoto didn't throw her aside, he flipped themselves over. His hands, mere inches from her red-flushed face, kept the girl trapped in place, her eyes locked on to his as she struggled to even comprehend what was happening.

It didn't take him even a milisecond to start blushing, and when he did, he blushed hard.

"I- I- ..."

A desperate attempt to explain and apologize was made, but Nagatoro stripped him of that chance. Turning just as red as he was, she clenched her teeth again, clasped on to his judogi, and used all of her might to Y E E T him away.

He screamed like a girl.

...

...

...

...

...

Naoto, after having been flung away by his extremely flustered kohai, found him and said kohai next to each other against the wall, a good amount of space between them. The two young and dumb teenagers took the time to just process what just transpired earlier at their own pace. Nagatoro was awkwardly sipping on an ice-cold bottle of water while Naoto himself sat still like a garden gnome, being as tense, embarrassed, and jittery as all hell.

Twiddling his thumbs, he began to feel the gaze of Nagatoro's dreaded Toro-Eyes periodically zero in on him without even needing to rely on his Spider-Senses, an act that did nothing except make the situation even more awkward than it already was.

"..nice.. throw?" Naoto spoke with a tone softer than the ghostliest whisper. He didn't even know why he broke the silence.

"Yeah, super glad I did that." Nagatoro's voice absolutely reeked of sarcasm.

Nothing else was said. Naoto wanted to strangle himself with his own webs for that stupid attempt to make conversation.

"..."

"..."

"..."

For what felt like the longest seconds of his life, Nagatoro finally rose to her feet. He looked up at her apprehensively, partly expecting a hardy kick to his face. "..."

"..."

"..I'm gonna see if Gamo-chan came back," she said, not even bothering to look back at the boy who was still on the floor. "..."

"..."

"..later, Senpai."

Watching her make her way to the door made him realize something: She was most definitely owed an apology for that nastiness.. that lewd.. p o s i t i o n  he put them in.

So, he was quick to stop her. Shooting up as well, he extended a hand towards her.

"N- Nagatoro! Wait a second!"

With a pause, the girl did exactly as he had hoped and turned around. Naoto felt the hairs on his body perk up when she looked back at him, yet despite being riddled with goosebumps, he still spoke nonetheless.

"..I'm sorry for doing that. I.."

He struggled to finish that thought. He tried to explain why/how he ended up on top of her, as silly as it was, but he couldn't find the words for it.

Fortunately for him, however, Nagatoro.. dismissed it. By the grace of God, she dismissed it. Nagatoro closed her eyes, sighed, and shook her head.

"..It's fine, Senpai," she exhaled. "It wasn't your fault."

What she said next surprised the Spider in front of her. "..."

"..."

"..It's mine. It was my fault for being so rough with you. I should've remembered that you're a beginner.."

"No no-" Naoto wanted to protest that. He was the one on top of her, after all!

But, she seemed pretty adamant on that, so for their sake, he chose not to fight it.

"..it's.."

"..."

"..."

"..."

A sigh. "..."

"..let's just try and forget it ever happened, okay?"

Nagatoro wasn't against that idea one bit. She nodded with that suggestion almost immediately. "Yeah.."

Another wave of awkward silence filled the room again. Both high schoolers didn't know what to say after that, until Nagatoro finally spoke up.

"..Senpai."

"Hm?" Naoto gave her his full attention.

"..why are you really here? It's gotta be more than just wanting to look good for the summer, right?"

Naoto almost gulped at that question. "..Well.."

He went quiet, as he didn't really having a good enough answer to give her. Part of him had to wonder.. if now was the time to be honest with her.

Gamo-chan's words she said to him still echoed through his head.

“She cares about you, Paisen. You shouldn’t hide this from her for too long.”

"I'm here because I'm Spider-Man and there's another monster spider on the loose that almost killed Gamo-chan, so I want to train as hard as I possibly I can to protect you guys and our home."

That long sentence was what he wanted to say.

However, he gave it more thought..

..and realized that he couldn't. He couldn't say that. He didn't have the guts to tell her the truth.

..So, he said something else instead:

"..because.."

"..."

"..because I want to improve myself." It sounded ridiculous, and he quite literally pulled it out of his ass, but he tried his best to build something off of it. "Gamo-chan said she'd help me become the best version of myself I can be, so she told me about her family's gym and.. well, here I am.."

Nagatoro's eyes went wide in surprise, as that was the last thing she would've imagined her Senpai saying. "Better yourself..?"

He nodded. "Mhm.. I know it might sound surprising but.. Honestly? I gotta hand it to her.. She was a lot nicer than I expected, and she really did guide me through this whole thing really well.."

There was a brief pause for a moment. "..."

"..."

"..plus, even though it was a bit nerve-wracking at first, practicing boxing with her was actually kinda fun.."

Nagatoro was stunned, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. To her, martial arts and her Senpai from the art club weren't synonymous at all. In fact, a small part of her that was hidden very, very deep within her soul was amazed by his words.

As if she couldn't have been hit with a freight train like that harder, he went on to say something else that really blew her mind apart.

"..I know our training session wasn't exactly, well.. fun, but.." Naoto stuttered, his eyes no longer connecting with hers and his face flooding with red again.

He shocked himself for somehow finding a way to make this bullcrap make sense.

"..I'm sure it would be if we took it slow.."

Nagatoro's world had stopped. "Senpai," was the only thing she could mutter. "..."

"..."

"..take it slow?"

A nod. "I don't expect you to agree with this," he continued. "..amd I'm probably not even making any sense right now.."

"..."

"..but I guess what I'm trying to say is that I wouldn't mind doing judo again with you, Nagatoro, so.."

"..."

"..."

"..if you're okay with it, then can you teach me a bit more like Gamo-chan did?"

He ended his ramble with a question. Naoto zipped his mouth shut and waited for Nagatoro to respond, fearing he in fact probably didn't even make any sense.

Miraculously, he did make sense to her, but there were still so many things going on in her head. A million different words could describe what she was feeling in that moment. Mystified, stunned, perplexed, baffled.. you name it. Even after that.. accident, he was still willing to give sparring with her another shot.

She looked her Senpai dead in the eye, face red as ever, and didn't say a single word for a minute. Her continued silence put him in an ever-growing state of distress.

"..I knew I should've just been honest," a voice in his head scolded. She probably would've reacted better if he did..

Then, as if God or the Almighty Spider-Deity Herself was watching over him, he was saved from the tension when she finally moved her lips to speak.

"..Senpai."

Gulping, Naoto responded. "..Nagatoro?"

She took a moment to continue. "..."

"..are you being serious?"

No way, she might be believing it!

His heart almost skipped a beat. Naoto didn't know whether or not that answer was good or bad. Either way, he didn't waste a second to nod at that question.

"Yeah, I am.."

He was almost stumbling over his own words. Nagatoro ended up doing the same.

"W- Well.. If that's the case, then.." She really did believe it!

As her face began to blush, she moved one hand to her hip, and used the other to anxiously twirl a few strands of her silky smooth hair. Nagatoro was looking over at nothing instead of him.

"..."

"..I- I guess I wouldn't mind teaching you for a bit.."

Naoto felt a huge wave of relief hit him like a tsunami. "Yo- ..you mean it?"

She nodded, and the lost little Spider struggled to contain himself with joy. His lips curled into a tiny grin.

"T- Thank you!"

"Just-" Nagatoro stopped him abrutply. "..."

"..."

"..just try not to have another accident again.."

He gave his kohai a firm nod, nonverbally swearing to honor her request to the best of his ability.

"I promise."

There were still hints of uncertainty and reluctance in her eyes, but she nonetheless acknowledged his pledge to her with another nod of her own. She ultimately had faith that her Senpai would keep his promise.

She'd also make an effort to not be too extreme with him.

All worries aside, it seemed like he was able to live to lie another day.

...

...

...

...

...

Thump, THUMP! Nagatoro fell to the floor, rolling a full 360 degrees and ending her fall by slapping the mats with her hand and foot.

Naoto followed suit, performing the same motion with obviously less grace.

"Not bad," she congratulated. "You know how to do an ukemi?"

"A little bit," he replied. "I've seen this stuff before, but I never really knew what they were for.."

"It's a falling technique. It's supposed to help prevent getting hurt too badly. In judo, where everyone's getting thrown around a lot, it's important to try and minimize injuries as much as possible."

He nodded, taking in that crucial bit of information. "That makes sense. This could help me a lot, actually.."

That wasn't far from the truth, considering he's fallen from great heights and thrown into solid walls with a force of a monster.

"We'll work on that later," she said. "For now, I wanna try something else. Stand up."

Without question, Naoto did as he was told and rose back to his feet. Then, to his surprise, he found Nagatoro inching closer to him before grabbing his collar and sleeve.

"Woahwoah- Are we sparring already?"

"Not quite," she clarified. "I'm gonna teach you a few basics. Don't worry, I'm not gonna throw you."

"Oh.. Okay." Naoto let out a very faint sigh of relief as he did the same and slowly moved his hands up to grab her uniform as well.

As they both stood there holding each other's judogis, Nagatoro took this moment to commence with her lesson.

"Senpai, do you remember what I said earlier?"

He shook his head. A lot of things were said by her, so she needed to be more specific.

"..Not really..?"

"How even a girl my size can take down someone like you with proper technique?"

"Oh.. Right. Yeah, I remember.."

"Good, because I'm gonna show you how true that is."

He raised an eyebrow. "..wait, what do you- wHA-

Out of nowhere, Nagatoro suddenly closed the gap between them and pressed herself against him, leading the poor boy to let out a funny-sounding, panic-induced cry of shock. Then, he felt the girl wrap her right leg around his left one, which kept it locked in place and unable to escape. Her maneuver caused him to stagger and almost fumble from being thrown out of balance, his remaining leg beginning to cave in on its knee, and she began pushing further into him.

Her unexpected attack went completely undetected by his Spider-Sense. In one moment, Naoto was standing there answering his kohai's question, and the next he was sent plummeting back-first to the floor. The poor spider closed his eyes and braced for the impact, wondering helplessly why she was being rough with him again.

He thought they were taking things slow!

However, despite all hope in a gently-paced sparring match seemingly being tossed out the window, Naoto's back never touched the ground. He opened his eyes and blinked curiously, and quickly found that he was kept suspended in the air at an angle, being held on to in place by Nagatoro.

"Don't worry, Senpai," she reassured him, her face hovering over his. "I've got ya'."

He blinked again, twice. "O- Oh.. Well uh.. T- Thanks.."

Nagatoro gently pulled him back up on to his feet. The whole thing was like the end of a romantic partner dance, where a man would hold a woman in a lovely pose at the end of a duet. Only in this case, Nagatoro was the man and he was the woman.

That extremely gross thought made him blush, and he tried to shake his head away from it. Nagatoro had the same exact idea too, but she was doing a much better job at handling herself.

"What.. what was that about?" He had to ask.

"In judo, being able to control your opponent's center of gravity is key to ensuring a successful takedown." Nagatoro spoke like a professional, as fully expected from someone who frequents the sport. "So, even though I'm smaller than you.."

In the middle of her sentence, she wrapped her leg around his again, lowering him down to an angle above the floor a second time. "I'm still able to bring you down just as easily as I would if I was your size by knocking you off balance. Get it?"

Naoto's face was still cherry-red as he nodded in a somewhat uneasy manner. "A bit, yeah.."

She straightened him back up again, and allowed him a few seconds to understand what she was saying before going on to demonstrate a second takedown method. This time, the judo-goer shifted to his side to pin his right leg instead, virtually achieving the same result and earning a soft, muffled "woah" from him.

"See what I mean?" She made sure to hold on to him tightly. "Weight does play a tiny part in it, but proper technique is what's important. There's way more to judo than just brute strength."

"I- I see.." Naoto couldn't deny that this was all incredibly useful information to him.

"Now, why don't you try it, Senpai?" Nagatoro positioned him upright once more. Her suggestion made his cherry-flushed cheeks return, as if they hadn't left already.

"..You want me to..?" His voice tensed, knowing full-well what she wanted him to do. He didn't need to finish that thought.

Was she really asking him to be on top of her again?!

"Pin me," she confirmed his suspicion. "Take me down just like I showed you, and don't worry about being gentle."

Blink. "..wait but I thought we-"

She cut him off. "I can take it, Senpai. Just don't go too crazy."

Another blink, and then a finally nod seconds later. "..well.. okay."

Naoto took a very deep breath to mentally prepare himself, and he did his best to carry out her request as best as he could.

Verrryyy slowly and carefully did he begin performing the takedown on her, very much lacking the grace and confidence Nagatoro displayed. She may have had the skill, but he still had the size, mass, and undisputed strength over her. Gentle was an understatement. He needed to do this with caution.

His chest lightly brushed against hers, his mouth floated over her neck in such close proximity that he instinctively held the air in his lungs so she couldn't feel his shaky breath on her skin, then his jittering foot hugged hers. Naoto held a meek grip on her gi and reluctantly lowered her at a snail's pace, making sure to keep her as steady as ever while also deliberately going against her command to not be gentle. Ultimately, he never went all the way, and he stopped her at an angle just like she did.

His lips were starting to quiver, and a bajillion thoughts flooded his mind.

He was the man in this duet now.

"Keep goin'," she ordered. The ponytail her hair was in drooped and swayed, and she wasn't plannin' on having him stop until her head was touching the mats.

"O- Okay.." Continuing on, Naoto lowered her further, further, and further. 45 degrees, 30 degrees, 25.. until she at long last made mat-fall. He even almost wanted to give himself a pat on the back for doing it.

Instead, his own thoughts congratulated him. "Phew.. I did it.."

But, the action ended with him on top of her once again. It brought back unpleasant memories of a moment that had happened mere minutes ago.

Thank God Gamo-chan hadn't come back yet. Naoto was quick to get off of her. Nagatoro did the same, but she looked a little less than pleased with his performance.

"Let's try that again," she said, not agreeing with how.. merciful he was. "You got the first part down, but do it like you mean it, Senpai."

He frowned. "Sorry, it's just.. You know what happened.."

Get it together, Naoto! You're Spider-Man! You need this training!

"I know. It's okay, Senpai." Nagatoro didn't like seeing her Senpai hold himself with unpleasantries and insecurities he had a knack of clinging on to. It wasn't a good look on him. "I want you to do this."

"I know.."

Dammit, Naoto! Web yourself a spine!

"Senpai, you can do this."

As sad as it was, he fully expected her to share his thoughts and scold him.

"Step it up, Senpai! Come on," was what he imagined her saying.

Instead, what she actually said.. melted him.

Warmly.

"I know you can."

I know you can.

Four words.

Four simple words that no one had ever said to him before.

Hearing that, coming from the lips of the girl before him, the girl with a Goddess of a face he'd never have the balls to compliment her on, was enough to finally instill within him the strength to endure.

"..Right.. Okay." With a flushed face, he went to perform the pin a second time.

And pin her he did, this time with much more fervor like she asked but still the same amount of care to not hurt her. A loud "THUD" echoed through the air as Nagatoro fell to the ground, to which her muscle memory, almost in an instinctive fashion, performed an ukemi to gracefully break her fall.

"Good. You're still bein' a little gross, but you're gettin' there." Nagatoro, now happy with the spectacle, went back to her old teasing ways, and it somehow did wonders to help him. She gave him a playful wink, proud that he was slowly but surely pushing past his barriers, and he replied with his own teeny-tiny grin.

It was kind of nice seeing his kohai like that..

"Y- Yeah.."

"Now, stay like this for a moment. I'm gonna show you somethin'." Nagatoro lowered her eyes to his hands as she lightly clasped his wrists, earning her a soft "uh" from her Senpai. "See how your hold on me's kinda weak?"

"..Mhm, do you want me to..?" He went to apply more pressure, thinking that's what she was getting at, but the girl stopped him.

"No no no no no, keep 'em like that. Check this out."

He felt one of her hands pull away and slither over and around his back, seizing a handful of his gi from behind. Confused, Naoto did his best to try and turn his head to see what the tanned fighter was planning, until he suddenly found himself in a hug with Nagatoro when her other arm followed suit. It fired up his nerves once again, though the hug he was ensnared in was less of an affectionate embrace and more of a bear-hug of sorts.

Then, Nagatoro, with her Senpai unable to escape her noodle-armed prison, did something that flipped his world upside down.

Literally.

In one swift motion, she used her entire body to roll him to his side, using the both of her arms along with her hips and legs to move him with such ease. It was like he was a mere pillow to her. A stuffed animal, more like.

It all happened so fast that Naoto blinked in a daze, and the Spider could do nothing but freeze up once again, now well-within the grasp of his kohai who had him in complete control from behind.

The position they were in was painfully gross too.

"How did you-" Disorientated and vermillion-faced Naoto couldn't even get words out, which brought out a giggle from her.

"A common mistake a lot of beginners make is relying too much on brute strength to keep someone pinned, just like you were about to do, right Senpai?"

He nodded only once, and she continued, peeking over his shoulder.

"Well, when you do that instead of using proper technique, someone could easily do.."

"..."

"…"

"..this!"

Naoto let out a silly shriek of terror when Nagatoro abruptly threw him over in the other direction. "WA-"

"See?" Nagatoro laughed again, finding the funny sound he made very humorous. "It doesn't matter how much bigger you are compared to me, I have a gazillion ways to break out of a hold like yours. I can easily throw you around like a ragdoll anytime I want!"

"Y- You don't say.."

With a big grin, Nagatoro promptly released him from her hold. She was the first to stand to offer him a hand to get back up, and he took it with no second thought.

"Now you know there's more to judo than just being fat," she joked, not wanting to miss a chance at teasing him about his prior comment earlier.

"I didn't call you fat!" Naoto tried to fight back. "I meant.."

"..."

Though of course, he gave up on that. "..nevermind."

"So you were calling me fat!" She pointed a finger at him. He shook his head no feverishly.

"Wha- No! What are you-"

"It's fine! Now I know my Senpai's a creepy stalker and a body shamer."

"I am not a-"

"I should let Gamo-chan know when she gets back."

"Nagatoro!"

Naoto's riled up, agitated face was enough to make the girl burst out laughing. She spent the next few seconds getting her kicks out, much to her poor Senpai's chagrin, and decided to finally move on before he exploded.

"Alright alright, I'm done." Nagatoro exhaled, wiping one last little tear from her eye. "Sorry Senpai."

"..uh-huh," he pouted, his arms now folded across his chest. "Sure.."

"Oh, don't be like that. Now c'mon, let's practice it one more time."

...

...

...

...

...

The two teens went about practicing the motions over and over again. Each time she had him perform the maneuver did Naoto begin to find himself being much more graceful with the takedowns. She even taught him a few other common judo tricks.

And with each passing lesson, there were more falls, grunts, thuds, blushes, and teasing. Naoto grew accustomed to all but the last two. There was nothing he could do, even with his powers, to fight against The Way of the Toro.

Still, his confidence began to increase. Each successful performance and praise from Nagatoro helped build his psyche. He could just feel himself already becoming a better Spider-Man.

And it was all thanks to his dear kohai. A kohai he just needed to lie to.

The culmination of the brief teachings with the Toro all came down to one final request from her: another spar. Admittedly, he was still a bit uneasy about the prospect of a full-on sparring session with her, but his newly taught tips and tricks and the kind, reassuring words (obviously mixed in with some playful teasing, as per her usual antics) was enough for him to take on the challenge.

Naoto and Nagatoro stared each other off once again from opposing sides of the mat, preparing to begin their second battle.

"Ready?" She asked.

A nod. "Ready."

Both parties shared a bow, and they approached each other. He grabbed her gi, and she grabbed his. No moves were made by either participants.

It was like that for the first initial moments of the exchange. It was as if they were both reading each other to a tee, anticipating who would be the first to go for a play.

Nagatoro, a smug, almost tauntingly smirk on her face, wanted him to go first, and Naoto was trying to decide if he really should.

A very subtle aura of suspense surrounded him, but the choice was soon made for him.

His kohai drew her first card.

She pushed inward, and threw him down to his side, mirroring what had happened earlier. He almost failed to perform an ukemi, not that he really needed to.

"You froze up again, Senpai." She giggled, but deep down was she secretly disappointed. "What did I just teach you?"

"I know, I know.. Sorry." He got right back up and prepared for another round. She still couldn't resist the urge to throw a playful jab at him.

"That's a point for me, by the way."

"I know, just give me a second."

They went about it again. This time, he drew the first card, but the move he made.. was sloppy.

He tried to go in to snag her foot with his, but he took so long and seemed so.. hesitant that she just had to take advantage of that again.

"Come on, Senpai." Nagatoro was beginning to think he had somehow forgotten all about her teachings. All that confidence he seemingly displayed, all gone once an actual spar had begun.

"Hold on.." he said.

But he couldn't hold on. He wouldn't. It was time for him to lock it in.

For real.

No more freezing up. No more being indecisive. Naoto had to be proactive.

Don't wait, don't think. Just act. Like a spider..

Naoto wasn't sure where he got that last part from, but it helped him get serious.

They grabbed each other again, and the third round started. Naoto executed first once again and went in to ensnare her left leg with his right.

A stagger from his kohai, but she still had the skills, and she anticipated this. She knew the protocol. Quickly stepping back, Nagatoro managed to successfully prevent herself from being thrown off-balance and freed her leg.

Then, while he struggled to perform a follow-up, she closed the distance, pressing the side of her body against the front of his torso. Pulling his arm upward and wrapping her own around the back of his neck, she was now in a very good position for a devastating blow.

In a spectacular show, judo-pro Nagatoro threw him over her shoulder. Naoto landed flat on to his back.

"Another point for me, Senpai." Nagatoro led him in points and she looked down, putting on a smirk but deep down wanting.. knowing her Senpai was capable of more.

Naoto got back up. He was trying his best to lock it in, but her expertise and proficiency prevented him from fully utilizing her teachings.

It was an impossible battle. Yet.. he refused to back down.

"One more round." Nagatoro grabbed his gi again and he did the same. "Focus, Senpai. You got this."

"Remember what I taught you."

He gave her a low "mhm," her words still finding their way to warm his heart.

The way she could effortlessly switch from childishly teases to comforting support was so lovely.

If they were in an actual ring, the iconic bell sound would've rung to commence their final round. Naoto was going to go all in on this one.

He didn't know if it was because he was motivated by her or if he (and she too) was enjoying their little game together. It didn't matter.

What he did know, was that he made the first move again. In a repeat of what occurred before, he went in to snag her leg, and she backed up when he did.

Except before she was able to repeat her own move, he too pounced back, preventing another defeat from happening.

He almost missed the proud grin on her face when she saw that.

Not wasting any time to swoop in for another attack, he tried doing the same move a second time: catch her left leg. She easily countered it.

She tried to catch his after, and he, with some difficulty, did the same.

Both challengers were at a stand-still. Stepping and stepping, senpai and kohai trotting and stomping all over the entire mat, feet prints appearing and disappearing from its foamy material, both trying to find an opening in one another for an advantage.

It was like they were dancing.

Nagatoro was going easy. She very easily could've ended the whole fight a while ago, but did she want to? No. It pleased her to see her Senpai break out of his comfort shell.

And he was all too pleased with himself for the same reasons.

Then, he saw it. An opportunity, a door to victory. His kohai in a good position for him to take down, her right leg wide out in the open.

So, he took it. No hesitation. He caught it, and pushed forward.

Naoto performed the same takedown technique Nagatoro had first taught him, and it worked. Down went the Toro, and there the Spider laid on top. Like a spider with its prey underneath it.. except she was decidedly NOT his prey.

He almost wanted to expel all of the air in his lungs.

Nagatoro's long hair was nestled out in all directions. Her entire body laid flat, and she looked up at her victor with the happiest goddman grin known to all humanity.

She wasn't wallowing in sorrow or shame upon meeting defeat. No, she looked delighted.

"..Senpai.." She said with heavy breaths.

Her senpai looked right into her eyes, breathing in the same manner. "..y- yeah..?"

The Spider's heart went to skip a thousand beats after what she did after.

To his utter surprise, she raised her two hands. Her soft, soothing hands, and she made to connect their palms with his cheeks. Cupping his face, she exclaimed with utmost glee.

"You did it!"

Becoming entirely still like the buildings he swung on, his jaw went agape, and his skin become redder than red could ever possibly be.

And he couldn't, for some reason, look away.

"..y- yeah.."

His lips began to curve.

"..."

Upwards.

"..y- yeah, I did!"

Countless emotions were flooding the Spider's body. He couldn't pick out exactly which one he was feeling, no matter how hard he tried.

...

...

...

...

...

"So, how was that for a first-time judo session, Senpai?"

Naoto and Nagatoro spent a few more hours at the GAMOU Fighting Gym, biding their time together by sparring a third, fourth, and fifth time. Eventually, the girl whose last name the facility took from returned from her abrupt lunch break, and to the two goofball teenagers' joy, Gamo-chan had brought them both a share of her chow.

Ramen bowls for each of them, no chopsticks being forgotten. The Spider and the Judo-goer were both ever so appreciative of the gesture. Of course, not as appreciative of the teases from the fiery-haired boxer, however.

Now, they were both walking home together alone once more, having since changed into normal clothes. Goodbyes were shared with their friend, and they went on their way.

The sun had already set, and the Moon took over its spot in the sky. It was also a half-hour past nine, the time he promised his mom he'd return home on, so he was already anticipating a stern-talking to.

But the Spider would wait 'till he crossed that bridge.

"It was good," he said. "It was a little out of my comfort zone, but I enjoyed it.."

"You could say that again." Nagatoro giggled at the floof-haired boy. "I'm still surprised someone like you even thought about going to the gym."

"Hey, I still went, didn't I?"

Another giggle. "Yeah, for now. Then later down the line, I'm gonna text you to train again, and then you're gonna be all-"

Nagatoro put on a very silly impression of his voice, obviously not entirely accurate at all. "But I don't wanna I'm sooooooreeee~"

He let out a chuckle. Indeed was he slowly beginning to grow accustomed to her antics. "Nah, I'm gonna try and stick to this from now on. It's.. actually kind of cool."

It was cool, but the bigger reason was that he needed to.

"Oooh." Nagatoro pretended to be dumbfounded, deep down loving to see her Senpai wish to improve himself. "Look at you wanting to change. Who' you' trying to impress?"

"Impress? Haha, that's not what this is about.."

"Uh-huh, suure. Don't let this get to your head, creeper."

"I'm not a creeper, Nagatoro."

"I know you aren't. Creeper."

They kept walking for another while, reaching about the half-way point into their trek. Eventually, they'd get to a point where they'd have to split, their homes being nowhere near each other.

But until then, he had a question for her.

"Nagatoro."

"Yeah?" She looked up at him.

"I.. knew you were in the judo club. You told me when we met, but I didn't know that you did other types of martial arts."

She nodded matter-of-factly. Nagatoro was always proud of her sporty-proficiency. "Oh yeah, I always come down here to train with Gamo-chan."

A laugh. "What, did you think I was some kind of weak little girl?

"No, not at all!" Naoto instantly denied that. "It's just that I was a bit surprised to see you how well you did against her when you first arrived."

He couldn't lie about how cool and badass she looked with all of her boxing gear on, hands up and ready to throw down with the Gamo.

Nagatoro's face crimsoned. It sounded like he was praising her. "..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..it is because I'm short, isn't it?"

That was a very clear joke. One needed to be alarmingly dense to not know that considering she had a frisky little smirk underneath her nose. Naoto just shook his head, stiffing out yet another fidgety laughter.

"No- Eh, Nagatoro.."

A full-fledged cackle that came from her lasted for a minute, and she finally calmed down to be straight with him.

"But seriously, I really do train with her. It's been that way for years since my brother introduced me to her."

That surprised him. "He introduced her to you?"

"Yeah! Wayyy back when we were kids."

"Oh, so.. I'm guessing he was the one who trained you then?" These were some good questions to get to know her.

"Him and my sister," she corrected. "She trained him, and then they both trained me!"

The order she gave him was interesting. "..So that means you're.."

She shot up. "The youngest! She's the oldest, he's the middle, and I'm the baby." lets goooo k sorry lets keep him in 2020 back to the story

"..Huh.." Naoto did find that interesting indeed.

Nagatoro being the youngest.. He had to wonder what her two older siblings were like.

"..you know, I actually saw your brother when I got here. I didn't say hi, but Gamo-chan pointed him out."

Suddenly, she gasped, and cupped her hands over her mouth to mimic a surprised damsel in distress.

"So you were stalking me!"

Of course, he was left flabbergasted. "Wha-"

Her joke and the taken-aback gesture he gave her resulted in the little judo gremlin bursting into laughter. It was her hardest one yet. Nagatoro even had to wipe some tears away from her eyes mid chortle.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm kiddin'." She genuinely was. "Go on."

The only thing he did was pinch the bridge of his nose. She just didn't seem to have an end to her energy. Still, he did break a tiny grin.

"..I saw him with Gamo-chan," continued the Spider. "You two really look alike.."

"He looks like me," she joked again. "He took my looks."

The fun-sounding, cheerful tone in her voice when she said that seemed to have indicated that the two Toro siblings had shared a good relationship. At least that's what he took from it.

"..I'm not sure if that's how that works, but I guess.. It's cool that you had the both of your siblings to train you, though."

She nodded affirmatively again. "Wouldn't be me without them, Senpai."

"Yeah.."

Another question arose, this time from her. "What about you, Senpai?"

"Hm?"

"You're a pretty good artist. Did'ja have anyone teach you too?"

A pretty good artist.. That warmed his heart, as much as he didn't like to admit it. Involuntarily scratching the back of his head, he answered her question truthfully.

He did have a teacher.

"..well, I did, actually. A long time ago."

"Oh reallyyy~?" She leaned in, seemingly interested. "Were they a creeper like you too?"

"Nagatoro."

A wink. "Sorry."

He knew that "sorry" was genuine, so all he did was smile. "..she wasn't a creeper, but she was definitely interesting."

That wasn't far from the truth at all.

The pronoun he used sparked more of her interest. "She".. Nagatoro didn't say anything this time. Meanwhile, as Naoto began to think about the supposed mystery teacher, he began to hear her voice again in his head for the first time in a long while. He'd never forget it.

...

...

Last year, back in the art club, before Nagatoro or Gamo-chan's time, when he was a first-year.

"Your color's are getting muddy over there," she told him. "Watch your blending."

"Right," he said.

She directed him towards another side of the piece they and other members were working on. The members that existed in the art club, before they all left.

"Let that side dry before you fix it. Work on something else."

He said again, "Right."

"Stay focused. Don't start getting lazy."

"R- Right!"

Prep for that year's culture festival was being completed. Pieces and portraits were being displayed for their exhibit, but one in particular caught her bad eye.

"Someone didn't hang that right." It was crooked. "Fix it."

He did so without hesitation. "Right."

And it went well. The festival was a success. Their showcase attracted a lot of visitors, and each piece earned the praises of many. All thanks to the woman in charge that day, the woman he looked up to. Figuratively, and literally in that moment.

The art club's old president, Sana Sunomiya. She was an amazing person in his eyes.

Amazing enough for him to fancy her at the time.

"A lot of people came by," he pointed out.

A simple nod. "Yeah. Well done, Hachioji. I can see where my cousin gets her skills from now."

He blushed. "T- Thanks, President.."

Then, to his dismay, Sana brought to him less than pleasant news. Placing a hand on to his shoulder, which effectively earned him a shiver, she spoke in her usual monotone, authoritative voice.

"I need to ask you a favor, Hachioji."

"..huh?" Confused little Naoto pointed his head up to her like he was looking at a Goddess.

It was a simple, yet broad request. "Can you take care of my club for me?"

"..take.. care..?" He didn't know what he was hearing.

"I'm going to be focusing on my studies from here on out. Once this school year ends, I'll be a third year, and I'm going to be occupied with cram school. I won't be showing up to the club for a while."

"..you aren't?"

She shook her head. "No. Same goes for the other second years."

"..oh.."

There was a pause. Naoto needed a minute to think, and she allowed him so.

Taking up the responsibility of the art club.. It was a huge task for him.

But Sana had faith in him, more than he had in himself, and she trusted her gut that he was able to tackle that burden. So, he finally made his decision.

"..I'd.. I'd be honored."

He made her smile. Still having her hand on his shoulder, she began to slowly, yet affectionately caress it.

"Thank you, Hachioji. I'm counting on you."

...

...

...

"..Senpai?"

Nagatoro's voice brought him back from wonderland. Naoto was very clearly reminiscing about that day, his mind having been lost in nostalgia. The day where his teacher, his old crush, chose to pass the torch down on to him him. Doing so, while embracing him.

Back when the club didn't solely consist of just him. When various other members were each pumping out various pieces of art, sometimes together. Those were good times..

His "gross-ness" made the new girl in his life raise an eyebrow. "..Senpai."

"..sorry, what?" He shook his head, returning to Planet Earth.

"You were being weird." Nagatoro's lips zipped to their side. "Like, weirder than normal."

He staggered, clearing his throat and apologizing right away.

"..oh, sorry. I was just thinking, that's all."

"Thinking about that teacher of yours?"

He nodded. "Mhm.."

Subtlety was never Nagatoro's strong suit. Jealousy was very clearing souring through her after hearing that.

"..really, huh? Well, she must've been pretty neat, then.."

The girl said that with blatant sarcasm, and Naoto could easily tell that her statement was fueled by envy. Envy for a girl she'd never even met.

So, he went to calm her down and explain the whole thing.

"I wasn't thinking about her like that, Nagatoro. She left a lasting effect on me."

His kohai looked towards him, wanting to know what he meant by that. Naoto continued further.

"..She was definitely neat, and she was an interesting person.."

There were.. quirks of the Prez that he knew about, and he'd absolutely not tell her any of them. "..."

"..."

"..but she was also pretty amazing. Not just as a person, but as an artist too."

She was listening completely. "..really?"

"Yeah.. You know how you said you wouldn't be who you were if it wasn't for your brother and sister?"

She nodded. "..yeah?"

"Well, it's the same with me and her. She taught me pretty much everything I know about art. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be as good as an artist I am today."

"..."

"..well, I'm not the best, but.. you know what I'm saying."

And she did. "..I get ya', Senpai."

If only Sana could see him now.

"There's nothing gross about it, Nagatoro. She's an inspiration to me, and.. I owe a lot to her."

Nagatoro went quiet for a minute. Hearing her Senpai openly express his appreciation to someone who was so crystally-clearly a big influence on him.. made her feel some type of way.

The type of way that made her realize that it was wrong for her to be jealous of such a thing. A lot of mental hurdles had to be overcome, but she made those nasty feelings inside her go away. For both their sakes.

"..."

She nudged his chest.

"..That's pretty gross, Senpai."

At first it seemed as though the first part of his sentence had completely swung over her head, but he was able to tell that that wasn't the case. Her shy, almost tiny grin, slightly hunched back and the reddening of her cheeks were all tell-tale indicators that she was only responding in the only way she knew how in "gross" situations:

Jokes.

So, he returned the favor. "..."

"..."

"..maybe just a bit, h- hehe.."

Each of their smiles broadened. Nagatoro straightened up and held her hands behind her head, flaring her tanned elbows in both sides.

"It sounds like she was pretty great, Senpai. Was she strict?"

Oh, most assuredly. Sana was all business during her reign over the art club.

"Oh yeah," he nodded wholeheartedly. "She was the very serious type.."

A little laugh. "Hah, so she must've been pretty hard on ya'."

"Sometimes," he chuckled back. "It wasn't that bad though."

Then, it was as if that was the perfect que/set up, because her trademark "Toro-Smirk" returned.

"..Well, just wait until ya' start training with me for real!" Nagatoro announced with all might in her voice. "You've got no clue what 'pretty hard' is.."

"..."

"..I'm gonna put you through the wringer harder than she ever did! Are you ready, Senpai? Because you better be!"

She stopped walking, and excitedly reached one arm out to point a finger, while she curled the other into a fist and fixated it on to her hip. Nagatoro's goofy gesture prompted him to chuckle again, as he found it most amusing.

And he had one thing to say. With some new confidence, the Spider said:

"I am. I'm ready."

End notes:

Aaaaand, that's that! End notes, time!

If the title wasn't obvious already, it's named after Jaden Smith's song, "I'm Ready," which was featured in Insomniac's Miles Morales. Good ahhh game. Jaden controls a good portion of my Spotify playlists too.

Sorry if this chapter seemed.. rough. Especially the judo parts. I know next to NOTHING about the sport. I watched videos upon videos to try and get an idea on how to write how it'd play out, but still, I'm pretty sure my lack of knowledge made itself known. Next chapters will be written better.

Sorry if this was also pretty f**kin' long too!

Speaking of next chapters.. THREE chapters, 15, 16, and 17 will all be out on Sunday, December 31, to end this year off with some Spider-Naoto. And I promise, they'll actually come out, haha.

Merry Christmas to you all. I hope each and every one of you got some good gifts, good food, and a good ass time with the familia! May 2024 be a wonderous year, from me to you!

Cheers. :)

Chapter Text

Art by LittleFreddy. Twitter link:

https://twitter.com/LittleFred2021?t=5hpDXq2Cdx2Dgdnhk4wOJQ

Author's Notes:

It's 2024! Happy New Years, everyone! Here's to a good '24 for you all!

I missed the 31st window by a few hours. You guys might also notice that chapters 16 and 17 aren't out. Well, I decided to release them separately. They were just so.. badly written that I just couldn't bring myself to post them. It'd look pretty bad. In hindsight it was a mistake saying I'd release three at a time after a year's worth of writer's block. I need to get back into a consistent schedule. That would be much better and healthier for me as a writer instead of trying to pump out three at once. Plus, I figured starting 2024 off with a consistent release schedule (not that this was released consistently..) would be better than three mediocre ones on one day.

Sorry to those of you who were expecting them. Hopefully this one's good enough to make up for it. Chapter 15 was for sure going to come out, no matter what.

It's a shorter one this time, but it's a fun one: the beach! Every romcom's got a beach episode, so I enjoyed writing this one. You might also notice that the title's a reference to another fic in this fandom, Cherry Blossom Palette. Specifically, it's sequel series, Summer by the Sea. Written by Emtendew and edited by P. Serrulata, it's a pretty great story! I still need to catch up on Summer by the Sea, but I finished all of the first story. Really recommend you guys do the same.

Anywho, on to the story! Hope you guys enjoy. And of course, Happy New Years once again. Cheers. :)

Tap. Tap tap tap tap tap.

Naoto's fingers tapped, tapped, and typed across his phone screen, tapping a buncha' letters, letters and more letters as he walked along a sidewalk with a plastic bag in his hand.

Tap tap tap tap tap tap.

He had his messages app opened, and he was texting someone.

Tap tap tap tap.

Specifically, his mom.

Tap tap tap tap tap.

"Got the eggs you wanted. They're organic."

She texted back not a minute later.

"Thank you, honey. Head on home now."

"Will do."

However, he had other plans in mind. There was a small alleyway he had made it to, and after sending that last "Will do" text to his mother, Naoto looked around his surroundings before inconspicuously disappearing into it.

Then, like a spider emerging from its burrow, Hayama's Spider-Man had shot up on to the roof tops, a little backpack strapped snugly on to his back containing the organic eggs for Mama Spider.

"Now's a good time to do a little patrol work," he said to himself, before pulling his phone out again to check the time.

It was 9:30 AM, on a Monday. Seeing this made him grin underneath his mask. Why?

Because his parents weren't home. Not Mama Spider, not Papa Spider. He had the house to himself, all the time in the world, and most importantly..

..it was the first Monday of summer break.

It had finally arrived. The first long dreadful semester of his second year at Kaze High had ended, and Naoto was at long last able to divert more time dealing with the problems a student faced to the problems a superhero faced.

He had passed his classes, but although they were easy, his duties as Spider-Man had definitely done a number on his sleeping schedule and had been a major distraction from his studies. Knowing that it wasn't going to be anymore, Naoto was hoping that the next school-less month would give him a much-needed break from trying to balance out two responsibilities.

His friends had also passed their exams, albeit with a little less grace for some of them. While he was able to breeze through his (barring a few nights where he stayed up late cramming), two of them, Gamo-chan and Yoshi, both had to spend some time with their noses in their books to ensure that they weren't headin' for summer school.

How Sakura did on her finals was completely unknown to him. The girl was busy with other things in her life, but Naoto kept up a high spirit and was sure that she had done alright. He also didn't really know, or even see her all that much as well.

For Nagatoro? Well, despite everything else she had going on, from her obligations to the judo club to training her Senpai, which they surprisingly remained consistent at for the past couple weeks after their initial training session, she too managed to pass her exams. Nagatoro, beneath her childish antics, was a pretty good student. She, like Sakura, just had a lot on her plate. 

Everyone in the group were now free men. Err, free women.

Though, there was one girl he didn't know anything about. The other one, his second "kohai.." one he didn't really want to remember..

..Nobuko..

..he hadn't seen her in a while. She stopped coming to his club room one day. Perhaps to study, most likely, but he didn't even want to know what her situation was. He didn't ask around, and it wasn't like the rest of the girls liked her either.

It still made him shudder to remember the awfully gross things she had done to him. And they were, in fact, pretty gross.

Putting that aside however, with no more homework to keep him occupied, Naoto threw his phone back into his pockets and web-zipped away, going straight to traversing through his hometown to do some "patrol work" like he said. What he was patrolling for was simple, as he was only looking for one thing:

The Spider-Demon, the monster that pulverized him enough for him to take up training with Gamo-chan and Nagatoro to make sure that it wouldn't happen again. There was a very small chance that it'd make itself known in the morning of all times, but he just wanted to make sure.

The words it spoke to him were still ringing in his ears even weeks after their encounter.

“If you want to be a hero to these people, then let me show you lesson number one..”

“..You can’t save everybody.”

It scarred him, but he had to power through it. Naoto now had a lot of time on his hands, so he was going to use it to make sure his home was protected.

He was not about to let that thing show him "lesson number one."

...

...

Thwip thwip thwip did he zip zip zip throughout Hayama. He flew over and over all over the place, swinging and swinging through, over, and between buildings.

Nowhere did he see even a single trace of the monster. He'd probably have more success finding her at night.

Not that he wanted to fight her, of course.

Naoto kept this up for a bit longer. Fifteen minutes had passed, and he was already a considerable distance away from his home, so he figured that it would've been best for him to start heading back now. He did have eggs on him that really needed to see a fridge, after all.

Landing on top of another rooftop, he checked a notification on his phone that he had missed earlier during the middle of his swinging. It was from his mom again, having been sent a while ago.

"We're going to be home late tonight. Don't wait up for us."

That was a usual occurrence in the Hachioji household. He shot a text back, the time gap in between their messages not being long enough to raise any alarms, not that it probably would've, anyway.

"Sure thing."

She responded soon after.

"Thank you, honey. Love you."

"Love you too, mom."

Part of him kind of wished that his parents also had the luxury of summer break, being as hardworking as they were.

Right after he sent that last text however, his cell started to ring, and it wasn't from his mom again this time.

In big letters, the caller I.D. read "Nagatoro."

Nagatoro was calling him.

Surprised, he wasted no time in answering it. "Hello?"

His kohai sounded elated on the other end. "Hey, Senpai! Whatcha' up to~?"

"Nothing," he lied. "Just heading back home right now."

"Oooooh," she ooh'd. "From stalking me?"

He pinched his nose, breaking out into a little chuckle as much as he tried not to. "No, Nagatoro. I wasn't stalking you."

"Yet." He heard her giggle at her own joke, before becoming serious again. "For realsies though, where are you right now?"

"I just went out to buy my parents some groceries," he replied.

"Oohh, are they making something for dinner today~?"

He shook his head, even though she obviously couldn't see it. "No, my mom just asked me to grab some. They're not home too, so.."

"Oh." Her voice lowered a bit, seemingly put down by that revelation. "Bummer. So what, were you home alone all day?"

"Pretty much. I'm used to it, though." Naoto definitely was. "They're pretty busy all the time."

"..Still though.." Nagatoro paused, wanting to finish that thought but ultimately deciding against it. Naoto didn't question a thing.

"..Anyways, when will you be home?"

"In a bit, why? Did you need something?"

"Yeah!" Her tone shot right back up, like her mood had done a complete 180. "I needed to see if you were down to go to the beach today, Senpai!"

That surprised him. The beach..?

"..The beach..?" He repeated his own thoughts. The beach wasn't something he normally went to.. at all. He couldn't even remember the last time he went to the beach. "..You're going today?"

"Yep! With everyone, in fact! Even Sakura!"

"Sakura?"

"Yup! Now that summer break's over, she's finally free to hang out again!"

He was glad about that. "..Well, that's good to hear, but.. I don't.."

"..."

"..I don't know, Nagatoro."

"Oh come on, Senpai!" His kohai wasn't going to let him off that easily. "It's summer break! If you don't do something now, you're gonna miss it!"

"But it just started.."

"Well, knowing you, you're gonna spend the whole-time drawing, and before you know it, second semester will start!"

"..I guess, but I wouldn't mind-"

"Oh, come on, Senpaiii~!"

"..well.."

"Please~? Don't be lonely Senpai today!"

"I'm not being lonely Senpai.."

"..."

He went silent, thinking. Naoto was definitely in fact uneasy about the prospect of going to the beach, with the Toro Gang especially, but part of him did in fact start relenting..

..the beach with his kohai, if not to just please her, did sound kinda neat, as much as he didn't want to admit it.

"..."

"..."

He also knew that Gamo-chan wasn't going to let him hear the end of it too. She was most definitely going to be there, and she also had his number. He could already picture the angry texts he'd receive from her if he chose not to go. "..."

"..."

"..well, alright then. If it's okay with them, I'll go."

That last part made her laugh. "If it's okay? Senpai, we all want you to go!"

"..Oh.." That also kind of surprised him. He didn't quite know why, but it did.

"We weren't not gonna invite you, Senpai! You're our friend!"

"I know, it's just.."

"..."

"..you know what, nevermind that. Sorry."

She let out a giggle at his silliness, but secretly did she despise that wretched, negative attitude he seemingly always had on. "We really gotta work on that gloominess, Senpai."

"Yeah.." He agreed.

"Here, we're all meeting at a park not too far from school. I'll text you where it's at. Meet us there at around ten! We'll start headin' over once you get there."

Naoto already knew what park she was talking about. More than likely did he swing over it a couple times. Hell, maybe he did even that day, in fact. "Alright then. See you in a bit?"

"Mhm! Laters, Gloomy Senpai!"

"Bye.."

Hanging up the phone, he slid it back into his pocket and just stood there, crouching at the edge of a high building deep deep deep in thought.

"The beach with Nagatoro and them.."

"..."

"..."

A sigh. "..this is gonna be an interesting day."

Accepting the fate he had bestowed upon himself, he knew there was no going back. The deal was sealed, and there was no flaking out now.

His fingers formed the iconic gesture, and off he went with a thwip.

...

...

...

...

...

The summer sun was hot, and the blue skies were clear. Naoto, now dressed in proper beach attire (or at least what he thought was proper beach attire), trotted over to the designated spot Nagatoro had texted him. 

He thought about bringing his suit along, as ridiculous as that might've sounded, but he feared the very minuscule chance of the monster popping up while he was out having fun. But, he decided against it, wanting to just make this day about Nagatoro and the gang.

And at some point prior, Gamo-chan and Yoshi had reached out to him themselves.

Gamo-chan:

"Hayacchi said she got Spidey to go to the beach! Can't wait to see ya there, Paisen!" 👍👍👍

Yoshi:

"Spider by the beach!" 🕷️🕷️🕷️

Their texts had such a tiny timeframe in between them, it was like they had both coordinated them together! To send them both at the same time.. Together! Man, Gamo-chan and Yoshi's friendship was something else. He only hoped that they still kept their promise to hide the Spider's identity from everyone else.

And they did. The Gamo and the Yosh just liked to have fun.

Then, before long, Naoto began to hear the laughter of the Toro Gang in the distance. Pressing on, he finally saw the girls, Sakura included, giggling and joking amongst themselves on a bench. All of them were in short shorts and t-shirts, but Nagatoro, who was standing, was wearing such a long white tee that it looked as if that was the only thing she had on! Fortunately, Naoto was quickly able to eject amogus those gross thoughts from his head before they got the chance to know about them.

However, he saw others that he really didn't think he'd see. Others that he also didn't want to see.

The two buddies from the class next door to his. Sakura's two Senpai: Ren, and Ryo. They had joined their hangout, obviously having been invited by the gal herself. The girls weren't noticeably put-off by their presence, despite their disliking of them which they had made apparent before in the past, since their bright-blonde-paletted Cherry Blossom friend was doing a fine job at keeping them occupied away.

Still, if he remembered anything from his interaction with them, it was how they tried pressing him in the hallways some time ago, and how they went on to disrespect him even more in front of the girls underneath a gazebo a few days afterwards. Both times needed the assistance of Nagatoro for them to finally stop, and he was, deep down, ashamed of that.

He was a superhero, and yet he was powerless against two powerless bullies. Was it weakness, or morality? He didn't know.

They were annoying, but, he chose to endure them, for both his sake and the rest of the group's. That day wasn't the day to be Gloomy Senpai because two guys he didn't like showed up. Plus, he had to admit that even though they weren't the best, they still weren't.. well..

..her.

..

..

Nagatoro was the first to notice her Senpai, almost like she had her own Senpai-Sense. Turning around, she shot an arm up and waved it happily to gain his attention.

"Senpaaai~! You made it! Over here!"

She most definitely did get his attention.

"Heyooo, Paisen!" Gamo-chan gave her own gleeful greeting, being just as excited as her friend was.

Yoshi pointed the both of her index fingers at the incoming Spider. "Senpai actually showed up!"

Sakura waited for him to walk over before she gave hers, not really wanting to shout like the rest of her friends.

"Hello, Senpai-kun~. It's good to see you again!"

Naoto gave his own modest hello to everyone. "Hey, guys. I'm here.."

On the other hand, Ren and Ryo were quiet, they themselves not expecting the quiet kid from the other class to show up. Some part of them were clearly upset at his arrival, seeing as they both wanted to be alone with the gang with no outside "third-party" to intervene.

They only stared at the newcomer. Confused, taken aback, disappointed. Naoto returned their gaze, a bit uneasy but way less so than he would be before he had his powers.

Tension quickly surrounded the group, and the girls could feel it. Nagatoro and Gamo-chan were both cringing, already knowing that would've happened when they discovered those two were coming. Yoshi, of course, was the nervous, quiet wreck in between her two pals. Figuratively, that was.

Ren was forced to speak when his kohai nudged his arm. Sakura, not at all oblivious to the bad energy and feeling responsible for it, wanted him to just say something. Nice, specifically, like a simple "hello."

To which, he did. "..Hey, dude. 'Decided to hit up the beach with us, eh?"

A simple nod. "..Yeah."

"Well, look at you bein' a player." Ryo said after him.

Naoto didn't know what the H-E-double-hockeysticks that meant, so he just nodded again. "..."

"You're not gonna be all Sleepyhead-Senpai on us again, are ya', kiddo?" Ren asked sarcastically. Naoto shook his head, quiet again but still looking at him in the eye. It was something the old him wouldn't have ever done.

Seeing the rising conflict and not wanting to risk having their day already be ruined before it even began, Nagatoro took the initiative and got the ball rolling. Swooping in, she patted her Senpai's back and gestured for everyone to get moving.

"..Aaalright, everyone. Let's go. The beach awaits!"

"Yep!" Gamo-chan was wholly and fully on board with that idea. "To the beach!"

"The beach!" Yoshi chirped.

The only thing her Senpai gave was another, quiet "Mhm."

"..."

...

...

...

...

...

"I still can't believe you got Senpai-kun to come, Toro-chan."

The group was about halfway to the beach, trotting along a road surrounded by bushes and trees. During their walk, Sakura had struck up a conversation, her two Senpai by her sides behind the rest of the Toro Group.

"..what's that supposed to mean..?" Naoto asked. He didn't sound offended, just mildly curious.

"Well, I never took you for the beach type, Senpai-kun."

Sakura seemed to be quite the reader, because she was spot on with that assumption.

"Oh, well.. You're right. It's been a long time since I've gone."

Gamo-chan came to his defense. "Nahh, Paisen's great! The Amazing Paisen's been comin' outta his comfort zone lately!"

That he was, Gamo-chan. That he was.

"Amazing!" Yoshi piped up once again.

"Oooh, really?" Sakura was intrigued. "Is he really that amazing~?"

"Yeeeeeep," the fiery-haired gal responded. Nagatoro, out of nowhere, took that as an opportunity to back up her friend's claim.

"I've seen it with my own eyes, Sakura. I didn't believe it at first, but Senpai's really been growing!"

"That's so wonderful~" The blonde Cherry Blossom exclaimed. "It's always nice to see people grow."

"Tell me about it! Before, he woulda totally been outta' place back then."

"Outta place?" Naoto raised an eyebrow, nervously. "Nagatoro.."

His kohai shot him a quick wink. "Oh come on, Senpai! It's true! If we went to the beach when we first met you.."

"…"

"..you'd totally be like one of those things underneath the rocks!"

He was confused. "The rocks..?"

She answered his question with a yelp. "Sea lice! Except you'd be the odd one out away from the group.."

"..."

"..a loner sea louse!"

Sea louse.. Naoto wasn't sure how to feel about that. "I'm not a sea louse.."

Meanwhile, Gamo-chan and Yoshi were cackling their asses off, absolutely loving their tanned friend's joke. Cackle, cackle cackle cackle!

Sakura was too letting out a few giggles. "But he's not that anymore, Toro-chan, is he?"

"Oh no!" She shook her head. "Senpai's nothing like that, Sakura. Like we said, he's been comin' out of his shell lately.."

"..."

"…"

"..like a creepy hermit crab!"

Even more cackling by the girls followed, much harder this time. Cackle cackle cackle cackle!

"Hermit crab Paisen!"

"Hermit crab!"

Naoto's face flushed redder than a well-steamed, freshly served crab he was being compared to, and he whimpered again.

"Nagatoro.."

The gal in question was quick to brush aside his concerns with a nudge, giving him another wink. "I'm just kiddin', Senpai. Y'know I'm just playin'."

He did. "..."

But, he didn't expect the thing Gamo-chan did right after that. Suddenly, the orange-haired boxer closed the distance in between them, and threw one arm around him from the side to pull him into a very rough, but clearly affectionate embrace.

"Yeah! We love seein' ya' change, Paisen! It's badass."

Gamo-chan winked, but Naoto almost fell over and stumbled. He had indeed grown closer to the girl, following everything that happened between them. From saving her from That Monster, her finding out the truth about his identity, and having her and Yoshi help him become the very superhero he was now by fixing him up some new threads.

He truly did make a new best friend out of her.

Still, never in his life did he ever expect a hug from her. It made his world stop spinning. She was practically leaning against him, and they were so close together! In fact, her hair was pretty much in his face and he was able to smell it!

Her orange hair.. Her long, dyed hair that had an aroma that smelled rich, nice.. pleasant and..

He shut his eyes. Once again did he eject sus those gross f**kin' thoughts from his brain.

Get it together, Naoto..!

While this was happening, Yoshi was at a loss of what to do. Normally she'd copy exactly what her friend would say or do to a tee, but initiating physical contact with Senpai? A boy? And not just any kind of physical contact.. a hug?!?! That was something she'd definitely need to think twice about.

So, she did the next best thing in her mind: doing a very shaky and awkward finger-gun motion at him.

"..B- B- Badass..!"

And as for Nagatoro.. While this was happening, the tanned judo-goer wasn't exactly enjoying the spectacle or her friend's method of praising him in front of her. Naoto's eyes opened and they locked on to hers, immediately seeing how she was giving them both another case of her trademark Toro-Eyes.

Those wide, blank pupiled dots that were very much like that of the mythical Umibozus of legend.

She was jealous!

In a swift motion, she instantly broke the contact between her friend and Senpai by removing her arm from him. Both Naoto and Gamo-chan were badazzled by her behavior, but the former was more confused than anything while the latter began to see this for something.. captivating.

"What?" She smirked, looking at her best friend and rival. "I can't give Paisen affection?"

"No," she glared. "It's just that Senpai's gettin' all sweaty from this heat, so you really shouldn't touch him unless you want his sea louse sweat on you."

Her voice was cold and almost threatening but Gamo-chan wasn't at all intimidated. Both girls, and the Spider included, knew that what she said was nothing but a big fat lie. Naoto was nowhere near sweating. The sun was hot, but it wasn't excruciatingly hot. Confounded, he just watched as the two began to bicker.

"You don't say that to any of us when we're sweaty!"

"This is different."

"How?"

No answer. Nagatoro only tugged her dumbfounded Senpai along by his arm, shooting another quick glare at her gal-pal.

"It just is."

Those three stupid words for a stupid, petty response only caused Gamo-chan's smirk to grow even wider. Concurrently, the acclaimed Amazing Paisen that was unfortunately caught in the middle of their crossfire could do nothing but squawk incoherently as he was hopelessly dragged away again by his dear, jelly kohai.

All the while, the rest of the group, Sakura, Ren, Ryo and Yoshi, watched in puzzlement.

...

...

...

...

...

CLICK! Ren lengthened one of the metal legs of the canopy they had brought to the max, before settling the bottom of it into the sand.

"You all good over there?" He called to Ryo, who was working on another leg.

A click again. His buddy shot him a thumbs up. "Yep! This one's good."

The bowl-cutted boy then looked over to their fellow Senpai. "What about you, Senpai?" The last word was said with some sarcasm. "Ya' got that leg all ready?"

Naoto took a moment to fiddle with it. Sometimes a canopy leg could be difficult, and his was no exception. Eventually however, he managed to work with it. Click!

"Yeah. This one should be good.."

Naoto turned to watch Gamo-chan, who was also helping the boys set the thing up. It was the last and final leg that she was working on, and she needed put in some of her muscle power to get hers right. And when she did, the girl backed up with her hands proudly on her hips, looking excited to finally start the summer with a good beach day.

Naoto turned away to look at the water, and the rest of the gang began assembling their "beach kits," which consisted of towels, bags, sunscreen, and for some of the hardcore athletes in the group, swim gear!

They based fairly close to the shoreline, so they wouldn't have to walk far for them to finally get some swimming in.

"..I can't believe I'm actually here," he said to himself in his head. "The beach again.."

"..in the summer."

He shook the canopy leg he was responsible for to make sure it was firmly planted into the sand. It was.

"This should be alright.."

Turning back around, his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates when he saw Gamo-chan again.

Just seconds ago, she was in baggy red tee, and now she was in a black two piece bikini. It did wonders to help show off her toned, physically fit body.

Her abs, her well-defined curves.. She immediately saw him gawking at her, and she just had to play with that.

"Well then," she said. Seeing her see him staring, even if it was genuinely an accident, caused him to look away instantly in that same second. "I take it that you saw somethin' that ya' like, Paisen."

"..I didn't, no.."

"I caught you staring, Paisen-boy~" Most girls would've probably been fearful of a guy ogling at them, especially if it was from someone like him, but judging by her laughter however, she wasn't feeling any of that at all. In fact, she actually seemed.. a bit flattered by his.. ocular admiring. 

"I wasn't.." He was staring, just at the water and not her.

Nagatoro caught wind of their conversation, and she just had to eye them again. Yoshi, meanwhile, happily threw off her clothes to reveal her pink bikini.

"Beach day!" She joyfully announced, the both of her arms waving. Her body was just as impressive as Gamo-chan's, but definitely less toned. She was more on the slightly softer, kinda chubbier side, but was nowhere near being fat.

"Damn right it's beach day!" Ren practically ripped his own shirt off to reveal his chiseled build. He was a cocky bastard, but one had to admit that he had quite the physique. His buddy Ryo did the same, and he also looked like a Greek god just as much as he did.

"Woohoo, it's time to get our feet in the water!"

Sakura marched on over, having already taken her clothes off to show every beach-goer her own tiger striped bikini. "Ahhh, I've been waiting for this day all semester! Senpai-kun, aren't you excited~?"

Naoto tensed up, hearing her question be directed towards him. "..I guess.."

"Well, come on and get that shirt off, Hermit-crab Paisen!" Gamo-chan demanded. "I wanna see how amazing you are at floatin'!"

Almost gasping, Naoto glued her eyes on to her.. once again almost taking them away to not potentially "ogle" at the bikini-clad Gamo-chan.

"Floating..? You mean, you want me to swim..?"

She laughed. "Well, duhhh. Why else would we be at the beach?"

He'd never admit it to them, but he wasn't that much of a swimmer. He wasn't sure how well Spider-Man would do in the water.

"..uhhh.."

"Besides." Gamo-chan continued on. Finding Nagatoro, she pointed a thumb at her. The tanned cutie was the only one of the two, besides her Senpai, that was still in her clothes.

"I bet she'd like to see you shirtless."

Hearing Gamo-chan say that.. made the both of them freeze. Senpai and kohai felt like they were turning into the sand, and it was only a matter of time before they both were blown away by the ocean breeze.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..HUH??!?!"

Their reactions rocked Gamo-chan. She went bonkers, laughing at their radazzled and badoombazzled faces.

Cackle cackle cackle cackle!

"G- G- GAMO-CHAN!" Nagatoro yapped, her face as red as all Hell. Naoto's response was that of similar manner.

"D- Did you really have to say it like that?!?"

The fire-haired girl wiped some tears away from her eyes. "Yep! You guys are so adorable!"

That shocked them even more. "G- GROSS!" Nagatoro cried, almost instinctively.

"..I- I'm g- gonna get drinks.." Poor Spider-Man used that purely as an excuse to save his web-slinging ass from that g r o s s situation. Gamo-chan watched him trail off, still very much getting the last of her laughs out.

"Make sure to get me something, Paisen! HAH!"

Yoshi raised her arm, having also been giggling at the jokes in the background and also wanting something to drink. "Me too! And a water!"

"I'm coming with!" Sakura suddenly announced. She ran off to catch up to her Senpai-kun, gesturing for the both of her two other Senpai-kuns to follow. "Come on! I'm gonna need your guys' help!"

Ren didn't exactly want to. "But we're-"

Neither did Ryo. "How many drinks are we even gonna-"

But neither of them were able to convince their kohai otherwise. She was already long gone, closely behind Naoto, and they were given no choice but to comply with Sakura's wishes to lend their helping hands. She probably didn't even hear what the hell they said.

Naoto wanted to be alone in the venture, but he wouldn't protest. Then out of nowhere, he heard another voice call out to him.

"Senpai!" It was Nagatoro's. He stopped, and turned around.

There, his kohai took her chance to slide her shirt off. And, for the first time in his life, he'd seen the body she hid underneath her uniform.

Her slender, tinier yet just as toned form.

It made him blush. She may not have had much to offer physicality-wise compared to her friends.. but that didn't stop her from looking just as..

...

..pretty.

Reddening, she said four words as her tee slid from her arms and down on to the towels they had laid over the sand.

"..Get me something too."

It was a command that he needed no further instruction for.

"..O- Okay.."

...

...

...

...

...

"We're gonna be grabbing some food down at another shop nearby from here."

Naoto stood by the vending machines, looking at Sakura and her two boys. In the Cherry Blossom's hand was a few yen, and she held them out to him.

"Here. For the drinks."

He felt obligated to decline the offer. "Oh, no thanks. I can take care of it.."

"Are you sure? I'd hate for you to spend your money on today, Senpai-kun. We invited you, after all."

Naoto was still adamant on his decision. "Really, I'm sure.. It's just a few drinks, anyways. Not like it's gonna cost a lot."

"Well, okay." Sakura reluctantly lowered her hand back down. "If you insist."

He nodded. "Go ahead and get the food," he said. "I'll meet you three back with the others."

"You got it, Senpai-kun. See ya' in a bit!"

Throwing up a peace sign, Sakura and her two Senpai walked off, leaving the Spider alone. Finally.

"See ya'.."

He turned to look at the vending machine and its contents. No one else was in line behind him, so he had all the time in the world to decide on what he wanted.. or rather needed to get for the rest of the girls.

They didn't exactly give him a list of specifics, so he just had to choose on what he thought looked good.

There were a bunch of flavors and brands that he didn't even know about. Some were definitely native to Japan, and some were more than likely imported from other countries.

It took him a bit to decide. The money he had on his character, which he had pulled out from his wallet, was more than enough to cover for the girls' drinks. After a bit of some thinking, he chose to simply go with some basics.

Apple, blueberry, orange, watermelon, strawberry, and a water for Yoshi. He'd let them choose what they wanted from his pickings.

The cans made a ruckus falling down from within machine after it had ate up his bills, and he went in to grab them once they landed.

But before he did, he drew his hand back and froze. A tingle, an alarm.. his Spider-Sense.. was going off.

And he heard a voice from behind him. It wasn't Nagatoro's, Sakura's, Gamo-chan's, or anyone from the group he came with. It was that of another girl.. a girl he knew..

..a girl whose voice he'd never forget.

"Hey, Senpai."

End notes:

Hope you enjoyed this short one! Part 2, aka Chapter 16, will be out on Saturday, January 6th, and 17 will be out on Saturday, Jan 13th! I'm gonna try and stick to weekend releases, Monday at the latest if I need more time. Cheers!

Chapter Text

Author's Notes:

i have returned like a missing father with a gallon of milk

Hey guys! I'm back.. again! Once again this year proved to be a difficult one to maintain not just a steady schedule of consistent updates, but also consistency in my real life bullshittery as well. School, work, saving money, evading taxes (joke :3), the usual shtick. It got to the point where the chapters that I had as rough drafts remained in the vault until now, where I'm slowly but surely rekindling my drive to write again.

On the flip side however, this year has also been a blast! I had an amazing few trips and events that occurred these last months that were all definitely ones to remember:

A weeklong stay in Hawaii, a weekend camping trip, Anime Expo in LA (MY HOME), a few Dodgers games, seeing them take home the World Series.. VEGAS! I gambled like an addict, and will not disclose whether or not I was successful in my endeavors. Oh, and bars and clubs too. Can't forget those. :P

It was all so much fun! Not just that, but I've had other things happen that I would wholeheartedly consider accomplishments as well.

Crushing new PRs in the gym, both in weight and cardio training after being back on the grind once again for the past few months, improvements in my drawing, reconnecting with old pals and getting hammered as FUCK with them during Halloween parties.. Yeah, I could definitely say that this year has been great. HOPE YOU ALL HAD A GREAT HALLOWEEN!

Now, as for The Amazing Mangaka.. Welcome back! To Earth 04112021! Again! This time.. it's up to us to feed the community because the manga ended now lmao! WOW, I managed to let the manga end before I came back. That's a pretty shitty look, lmao. Sorry!

Also, maybe not feed the community entirely. I know fanfics aren't a lot of folks' cup of tea. That's fine! We can make fanart too! :D

The manga was so sweet by the way. Loved it through and through. Here's to hoping Nanashi makes a sequel. If not, then here's to hoping he cooks something new and just as amazing!

We're picking right back off with the Spiders by the Sea plot, the sort-of beach arc type shit that I named after EmtenDew's CBP: Summer by the Sea fic. Give it a read! And speaking of fics, make sure to read The Spectacular Spider-Naoto by 3dd1e56! A Spider-Man always supports another Spider-Man. My fic even inspired him to write his! Ain't that just a fuckin' heart warmer, bros. <3

And just like I did with Change, and how TheGoldCard does it for his fic, Away We Go (READ THAT TOO), I'll be shoe-horning in music references in the chapter titles! Recall that Chapter 11 was the start of something I called the HEROES AND VILLAINS special, being titled SUPERHERO which came from Metro Boomin's song on his 2022 album.. HEROES AND VILLAINS, these next few chapters will fall under an arc that I will be calling..

..A GREAT CHAOS, taken after the name of an album by an artist named Ken Carson. Goated ass fucking rapper. I fw him. This chapter's named after another album from another artist named Destroy Lonely, who's under the same record label as Ken. They're both my favorites right now and are dominating my Spotify playlists.

So now, sit back, relax, and enjoy! Read at your own pace, go back to past chapters to refresh your memory of the story if you need to, and once again.. Enjoy!

Cheers!

OH wait, one more thing: Since I haven't written and revised much in a while, the writing in these next coming chapters might be a bit plain, boring.. and perhaps even iffy. Lemme know how you guys think I did here. I gotta get back into the groove again.

OKAY NOW CHEERS FOR REAL! :3

Naoto's whole body froze in total horror upon hearing the voice of a certain someone he had hoped he'd never see since the semester ended.

"Hey, Senpai."

He fought the temptation to turn around with as much power his spider-bitten, superpowered body allowed, but alas curiosity got the best of him, and the Spider by the Beach did as such. There, he was met with exactly who he thought was behind him:

Nobuko, wearing an absolutely oversized white tee, not unlike the one Nagatoro had on, covering her entire body and then some, leaving only her ghostly-white legs visible for all to see.

Plus most importantly of all, flip flops.

Naoto gulped, almost dropping the fresh, cool cans of soda he had just bought. "..."

"..."

"..Hey," he stammered, very, very shakily. That was the only response he was able to mutter out.

His apprehension earned him a giggle from the fellow Spider. Her amethyst eyes narrowed in on him, her hands moving to hold themselves behind her back. "Did I spook ya'? My bad. Hehe."

He said nothing, petrified like a deer (shikanoko nokonoko koshitantan) caught in a pickup's headlights. She merely continued anyway.

"Didn't expect to see you here of all places."

One could've very easily said the same about her, given her deathly pale, vampire-like complexion.

"Y- Yeah, u- um," he finally managed to speak. "I'm just here with.. Uh.. Friends.."

"..."

"..what are.. what are you doing here?" The Boy-Spider found it hard to converse with the Girl-Spider he didn't know would become his mortal enemy.

Nobuko giggled again, loving the cowardice from Hayama's One-and-Only. "You serious, Senpai?"

He blinked, falling silent again.

"It's summer," the disguised Jorogumo explained gleefully. "Everyone goes to the beach during the summer!"

Not him, though he nodded with jittery hands. "..I guess.."

"And I passed all my classes so I don't have to worry about summer school," Nobuko winked.

"..That's good," Naoto almost struggled to whisper.

"What about you? You got summer school?"

"..no.."

"That's good to hear, Senpai! What about your friends?"

"..they all passed.."

"Wow, that's great too! Tell 'em I said good job!"

"..I will.."

...

...

If it wasn't clear enough, Naoto was hating the conversation. It was like he was back to his pre-Nagatoro days, when he was merely that one artist kid who stuck to himself all the time. When he couldn't remember faces to save his life because he couldn't bring himself to look at people in the eyes.

He was doing that very thing now. He failed to notice Nobuko leaning closer to him with an ever-growing mischievous, almost malicious grin because of it. Though, she sure did feel her presence.. hovering over him like a UFO.

And he hated it. He wanted to run, but She wouldn't let him.

Nobuko was a roadblock, a hazard in the road preventing him from going forward. The cornered Spider wished for whatever mystic spider-psychic that might've existed somewhere out there to make the scary pale girl go away so he could return to his friends, but she wouldn't.

"Are you with 'em right now," she pressed, leaning even further with her ever-growing smile like she was really interested in the answer.

Instinctively, he leaned away. Naoto didn't want to say a peep, because he knew that whatever answer he would gave would be a lose-lose scenario for him. If he said no, she'd ask to hang and stick to him like a pesky mosquito on a web. That was obvious.

If he said yes, same thing. And, if he were to walk back to the gang, with her close by, either beside him or behind, and Gamo-chan-

No, Nagatoro saw her..

...

..he didn't even want to think about what might happen.

Naoto was wondering where in his life did he go wrong to be in this situation. Maybe it was him saying yes to this hangout. Perhaps it would've been better to spend another hour or so as Spider-Man?

All the while, the Jorogumo was growing evermore delightful by the behavior of her man.

Suddenly, the universe decided to intervene and answer for him, and the answer wasn't exactly one to please him.

"Senpai," they both heard. Turning, they were met with Sakura, Ren and Ryo, who had returned as quickly as they had left, each of them empty-handed of the food they told him they were getting. Naoto gulped. Seeing her made him wish he could turn into sand so he could be blown away by the wind now that Nobuko knew the truth.

And it made her ecstatic.

"..you're back already," Naoto said to the blonde Cherry Blossom. In some strange way however, some parts of him were actually relieved that he wasn't alone with the Demon anymore.

"Yeahhh," she answered with her usual strung-out, sing-songy tone. "The lines for every shop we wanted to go to were so long!"

Ren piped up with folded arms, looking annoyed. "Everyone in town comes out here when school's finally out."

Ryo was the same as he addressed Sakura mainly. "I told you we shoulda' gotten here early!"

"I know I know, sorry!" Sakura giggled, looking totally nonchalant about it. "But it's fine! Look, Senpai-kun's got the drinks!"

Indeed he did. They were still nestled safely in his arms. The gyaru moved to take some of them from him, to which he was glad for because they were kind of too cold for comfort. Sakura took two: an apple and orange, and gave them to Ren.

She gave another two: watermelon and blueberry, to Ryo.

Then kept one for herself: the strawberry. Naoto now only had to carry one in his hands: a cold water which Yoshi had specifically requested.

"And you brought a friend too!" Sakura noted, shooting a smile at Nobuko who returned the gesture with a friendly smile and a slight wave of her own.

"Hello."

Meanwhile, poor Naoto's eyes were darting back and forth between them. Nobuko wasn't someone he could classify someone exactly as a "friend."

"Oh my God, your eyes are so pretty!" Sakura pointed out, feeling like she just had to compliment her after being captivated by her sharp, shimmering, mesmerizing Demon eyes.

Nobuko giggled again. "Why thank you."

One of the blonde's eyebrows raised in question. "Have we met," she asked. "You look familiar."

They did in fact meet, but it was only brief. Sakura couldn't really remember. (go back to chapter 6 if u forgor bc i dont blame u that s**t came out long ago lol)

Nobuko shrugged. She smirked, for she remembered. "Can't say we have. We might've seen each other in the hallways once or twice."

"Oh! Are you a first year?" Sakura wondered.

A nod from the Demon. "Mhm."

"What class?"

"1B."

"Oh wow, you're right next to me then! I'm in 1C."

"1C, huh?" The Demon raised her head upward slightly, her grin growing wider and wider.

Sakura was keeping it friendly. "Yeah! I'm Sakura! And these are my two Senpai: Ren, and Ryo-kun."

The two boys both exchanged similar sounding, pretty much flirtatious "Sups" and "Hey there's" to the new girl, and she responded in kind.

"Hey."

"And I'm sure you already know Senpai-kun, right?" Sakura pointed to the tense Naoto, who up until now, hadn't spoken a word.

Nobuko stepped closer to him. "Oh yes, I do know him. He's my Senpai also."

"And I know him very well," she followed up with a hint of.. sadism. Hearing that made Naoto's back actually tingle in horror. Even Sakura was left a little bemused by that.

However, who didn't bat an eye at that questionable statement was Ren. The boys were too hyper fixated on her beauty. Being self-proclaimed ladiesmen(217), they just had to do what they say always said they do best:

Shoot their shots like Steph Curry. (that man done shot over 2 people earlier this year we aint finna forget that)

Wanting to be the first to spit some game, Ren stepped forward to gain the floor. "You know," he said to her. Nobuko looked up at the shirtless attractive male, her smile fading almost in surprise. "You can come back with us, if you want."

Naoto had a heart attack at that moment. Was he being serious?!

The Jorogumo cocked her head to the side in confusion, putting one hand on her hip. "I'm sorry?"

"Yeah 'yanno, we already got a canopy set up right next to the shoreline just back over there." Ren gestured his head towards the direction of the beach as he clarified his intent towards her. "You can hang with us if you're down for it."

Finally, Ryo decided it was time to shoot over his bro. "Yeah and while we're here, we can get ya' something too."

Now, Naoto spoke up. Though, in a stutter. "W- Woah hold on guys- Uh-"

But Ren hushed him. "Ah come on, don't be like that, Senpai. Let your lady-friend kick it with us today."

"Yeah you weren't about to leave her alone just now, were ya'?" Ryo teased.

Without giving him a choice nor a chance to say anything, the bowl-cutted delinquent forcefully handed him the watermelon-flavored drink he was holding and marched up to the vending machine, pushing past the Spider-Boy.

"It's on us," he told her, turning around to shoot her an inviting grin.

Naoto was looking around like an anxious little boy lost in a grocery store aisle. He saw Sakura's perplexed look on her face, the Cherry Blossom being baffled by the behavior of her two Senpai.

He saw their super smug smirks. Ren had his arms folded across his chest in an attempt to display his big and proud muscles, while Ryo was leaning on the vending machine with one arm to look.. sexy.

Meanwhile, he turned and saw Nobuko, who looked..

..disappointed.

She had one eyebrow raised, and she looked back at her "true" Senpai. He noted the complete switch-up in her attitude. Whereas she was sly, sleazy, and.. sinister-ly playful with him, she seemed unamused, confused, and even somewhat put-off by them. Much like Nagatoro was when they always tried to woo her.

Her facial expression was pretty much asking him the same thing he was wondering: "Are these guys serious right now?"

Naoto didn't know what was going on. She stood there for a few moments.. eyeing Ryo from head to toe like she was judging him.. Examining him..

..until she finally broke out into a soft chuckle.

"Fine. I'll bite." Her head lowered, then rose back to meet his gaze. "Is there another watermelon in there?"

He immediately checked upon hearing her question. "Oh there's plenty."

"I'd love one, then."

Then immediately bought her a cool can of watermelon delight upon hearing her request. It was not an expensive purchase at all. When Game-Spitter-Ryo held out the drink to his new lady-friend, the lady-Demon took it from his hand, muttered a soft but polite "Thank you," popped it open and downed a rather large swig of it, all in one gulp. A good half of the soda, now gone down her throat. A pleased look and a brief lick of her lips indicated that she had indeed enjoyed the sugary fruit concoction.

Ren was then quick to swoop in to her side, leaving her in the middle of him and his buddy. "Shall we," he asked, gesturing towards the direction of their canopy.

Before answering, she shot one last look at her Senpai, downed another much smaller gulp, gave him a wink, then turned and smirked right back up at the other boy.

"We shall."

There, the three began to walk, the pale Jorogumo sandwiched in between them. They went ahead in front of Naoto and Sakura, both of whom were left scratching at their heads at what just happened.

"Senpai-kun..?" She uttered with fluttering eyes.

He took a bit to respond. "Let's just.."

"..."

"..let's just go."

The Spider and the Cherry Blossom in the tiger-striped bikini started to follow behind, the latter staying close to the former's side.

...

...

...

...

"..Hayacchi wins!"

With a fist pumped in the air and the bottom half of her body submerged in the water, Yoshi excitedly announced the victor of a swimming race between Gamo-chan and Nagatoro.

"Dammit, how the hell'd that happen?!" Gamo-chan was frustrated by her defeat. "You've been practicing, haven't you?"

Nagatoro couldn't resist the urge to rub her W in her best buddy's face. "Meh, not since we started doing judo, no. I can tell you definitely haven't, though. That's 2-0, by the way."

"2-0!" Yoshi playfully repeated, this time for Nagatoro instead of her orange-haired bestie. The tanned cutie had to high-five her for that.

"Grrr.. You won't have that lead for long! Run it back!"

"Whatever you say, loser~"

Gamo-chan locked in to win this time. "Yoshi!" She barked. "Get ready to countdown again!"

"Yeessss ma'am!" The pigtailed Yosh shot another fist in the air.

The two got back into positions, both lined up evenly on each side of Yoshi who stood a bit further ahead from them. Their happy gal-pal was ready to start the countdown..

"On your marks.."

"..get set.."

..until Nagatoro stood up straight, stopping her saying "Go."

"Hm?" Gamo-chan looked up at her and did the same. "What's up?"

"Gamo, look." Something back on the beach caught Nagatoro's attention. Yoshi and Gamo focused in on what she was trying to see.

They saw Ren and Ryo approaching with the drinks they requested..

"..Gamo, is that-"

..with the pale-skinned Nobuko they all recognized.

Gamo's face dropped as her shoulders did the same. "..You gotta be kidding me.."

Soon, Naoto and Sakura came into view, but that didn't help with bringing back the smiles on their faces at all. Yoshi looked nervous, Gamo looked angered, and Nagatoro..

...

..Nagatoro looked like her day had been ruined.

Without even giving it a single thought, the flame-haired teen began marching back to the shoreline, so angry in fact that there might as well been flames in her eyes.

"..what are you doing?" Nagatoro asked her friend, but she kept pressing on.

"Just a second."

By the time she had gotten out of the water, Ren and Ryo were already helping the newly arrived Nobuko with getting herself situated under their canopy. When Gamo got close, the two girls gazed at each other. Nobuko knew exactly who she was and so did Gamo-chan.

They both had differing looks on their faces. One looked jolly, and the other looked dead f**kin' serious.

And the one who looked jolly was the first to speak.

"Sup," she greeted, with a salute and a swig of her watermelon drink.

Gamo's eyebrows furrowed. "..."

"..."

"..hi."

"Hey-hey, Gamo!!" Ryo waved cheerfully, blissfully unaware of the beef between them. "Wassup~! This is Nobuko! She's your Senpai's friend! We just met her right now!"

She wanted to strangle someone. Nobuko was not Paisen's friend. She watched Nobuko move her her hand to hold it on her hip.

"..did you now?" Gamo asked.

"Yeah, we've seen each other a few times," Nobuko said, ignoring her question. She kept her eyes locked in on Gamo as she tilted her head up at her. "You got a nice body, by the way."

She didn't even respond to that backhanded compliment and walked off, figuring that it'd be best to show her no reaction despite the intense urge to do so. Nobuko's grin widened, while Ryo went from being hyped up to puzzled.

Gamo went up to her dear Paisen, who was in the middle of a conversation with the Cherry Blossom. She was able to overhear it when she got closer.

"..so she's a friend from school?"

Naoto shook his head in an uncertain way. "..not really, she's.."

"..she's uh.."

He wasn't able to finish that thought when he saw Gamo step right up to him.

"O- Oh, uh, one second, um-"

He cleared his throat. "..Hey."

Gamo repeated that, looking the complete opposite of being happy. "Hey."

"Hey Gamo!" Sakura, however, was in fact happy to see her friend. She held out the can of strawberry juice she was holding. "All the food stores were wayyy too full to wait in, but we got the drinks instead!"

"I can see that." Gamo wasn't impressed by the drinks and kept her focus on her Paisen. "Listen Sakura, can you give us a second?"

She didn't argue, though she did wonder why. "Oh, well sure! Do you need to steal Senpai-kun real quick?"

"Mhm."

"Oh, alrighty!" The blonde looked back up at her Senpai, who looked back at her. "Do you wanna hand out the drinks now?"

Naoto blinked. "Oh, um- Go ahead and set them back with our stuff for now. I'll hand them out to the rest of the others with you when I'm done, okay?"

She nodded. "Alright! Later, Senpai-kun!" Sakura waved a goodbye and he did the same back.

"Later.."

With her out of the scene, it was now them two alone: the Hero and his Gal-Bestie, his Girl-in-the-Chair, with the former knowing deep within in his gut that the latter was planning on giving him an intense interrogation.

To which, she did exactly that, with a very clear, concise, but also a whisper so as to not draw any attention..

"..What the fuck?"

Naoto very quickly held his hands up to plead innocence. "Look- It's not my fault!"

"Not your fault?! Why is she here?!" Gamo was keeping her wrath in check by speaking through her gritted teeth.

Naoto's hand snapped to gesture in her direction. "She came up to me from behind, Gamo! I wasn't trying to meet her!"

"You didn't tell her to scram?!"

"I- I- I was trying to, but then Sakura and them came back and introduced themselves to her!"

"And you didn't stop them?" The girl put on an upset poker face.

"What was I supposed to do?! They were the ones that brought her!"

"They were?"

Naoto pointed at Ren and Ryo. "Yes!"

Gamo looked over, and immediately pinched the bridge of her nose. As much as Naoto fought to defend himself, he also completely understood her frustration. Most of the girls didn't like Nobuko, and when they saw her.. well, that only proved his earlier suspicions.

She sighed, still sounding pissed but otherwise slowly but surely coming to the realization that it wasn't his fault, much to his great fortune. Gamo had a knack of being too impulsive and brash sometimes. "..."

"..do you know how much this'll hurt Hayacchi?"

He knew exactly how much it would hurt her. "You don't have to tell me that.."

Looking back over the ocean, he saw his true kohai and Yoshi still in the water. They were whispering things to each other, but obviously given the distance, he couldn't hear a peep.

But, he did see the dejection in her body language even from afar. He wasn't blind.

Senpai and kohai met each other's far away gazes, then rose his hand in the air to wave over the water bottle Yoshi had asked for. Nagatoro's body visibly perked up with it, and after a moment or two with some hesitancy, the two gals began making their way towards them.

Letting his arm drop, Naoto turned to Gamo-chan, exhaled a deep breath, and did the same. The girl followed suit, keeping her arms folded across her chest.

Both parties knew that there was an awkward talk awaiting them..

By the time Nagatoro and Yoshi were out of the water, Ren and Ryo were already guiding Nobuko towards it, with Sakura trailing behind them. No words were said in between the two girls as the two groups kept out of each other's way, but Naoto did in fact see them exchange glances at one another. It was quick, but it was enough to make Yoshi evermore uneasy and make the frown on Nagatoro's face even worse.

It made him feel even more horrible about the situation he had brought upon them.

Sure enough, they finally met up with each other. The first thing Senpai did was hand Yoshi her water bottle.

"..Hey guys," he muttered. Yoshi slowly took it from him.

"..Hey," they both said in the same tone, before Yoshi topped that off with a soft "Thank you" directed towards him.

Gamo stood quiet.

"..your- uh, your drink's with our stuff." Naoto told Nagatoro, his hand instinctively moving to scratch the back of his head. "Sakura put them there.."

Nagatoro refused eye contact and merely looked to the side, doing the same as Gamo-chan by crossing her arms and even almost slouching a bit. "..."

"..."

"..what'd you get me?"

She didn't give him anything specific before he left, so Naoto just listed off the things he came back with.

"Um, it's all sodas. There's apple.. blueberry, watermelon.. orange.."

She nodded twice. Slightly. "..Thanks, I'll grab one later.."

He did the same back. "Okay.."

Nothing else was said. There was an incredibly awkward tension between them, and they could all feel it. Nagatoro was doing the most complex mental math in her head to figure out why her Senpai and them had come back with the girl she didn't like, and Naoto was clearly able to tell how much of her being there was affecting her.

It only made him feel worse.

Naoto stood there, unable to find the words to help alleviate the situation. He had hoped he could explain everything to Nagatoro, but she wasn't interrogating him like Gamo-chan did. No, her silence wasn't helping. He wasn't sure how to comfort an energetic girl when she suddenly goes quiet.

So, in what felt like the longest minute in their lives, Naoto made the wisest decision anyone could make..

...

..turn around and walk towards the canopy.

"Senpai," Nagatoro immediately called, being snapped out of her trance upon seeing her Senpai leave. "What are you doing?"

The girls looked over, as he sat down on the towel they had placed down.

"..I just need a minute."

Nagatoro's shoulders dropped. She didn't like that answer.

Nor did Gamo-chan. She wanted him to say something else. "Paisen.."

He sat with his knees up and his arms rested on them. "Just give me a minute, and then I'll.."

"..."

"..I'll join you guys.."

"..."

"..maybe."

Gamo-chan's fists balled up at his composure. Though, surely did she relent. With a defeated sigh, she turned back to her friends.

Yoshi was just as anxious as he was, while Nagatoro's was responding negatively to her Senpai's very clear sulking. She was right about to step up to him, but the tanned girl was stopped by Gamo.

She directed to lead them two away from Paisen, with a quiet but very simple, "Come on."

Nagatoro wasn't given a choice on the matter, and she only gave her Senpai one last glance before she was taken away back to the water.

Naoto watched them leave, and then cupped his hands over his face when they were gone, resisting the urge to just scream his heart out.

Chapter Text

Author's Notes:

"toxic," by Ken Carson, from A Great Chaos (Deluxe), 2023.

"FE!N," by Travis Scott, featuring Playboi Carti, from UTOPIA, 2023.

"how u feel," by Destroy Lonely, from If Looks Could Kill, 2023.

Honorary mention of this chapter's working title being "JORO'S BODY" in reference to another Ken Carson song, Jennifer's Body. Could also be called "SENPAI'S BODY" because a couple readers were ready to read the gang see THAT before I died lmao

nobuko's opium asf lets be honest

Eternal Atake 2 did not hit as hard as Eternal Atake 1, by the way.

That has nothing to do with this fanfic but I'm only including it here because I'm listening to it right now as I write these author's notes. Might be cringe asf naming these chapters after rap songs but fuckkit idgaf I'm having fun :3

CHEERS! :D

"..BOOM!"

"..HELL YEAH!"

"..AAAHH.."

The whole group was having fun in their own ways at the beach. Ren and Ryo had their fun flexing their muscles in various poses on the shoreline, with Sakura taking pictures on them using the latter's phone while Nobuko watched next to her.

On the other hand, Yoshi went back to being the announcer for more swimming races between Gamo-chan and Nagatoro.

"HAYACCHI WINS!"

"HAYACCHI WINS AGAIN!"

"ANOTHER WIN FOR HAYACCHI!"

The girl was scoring win after win against Gamo. Nagatoro looked dialed in, even more so than she was earlier.

"Make sure to take alotta' pics!" Ren reminded as he held up his trunks to display his incredibly toned quads.

"Lots of 'em!" Ryo repeated much like Yoshi would do, doing the same with his thighs.

"I'm taking a lot, don't worry!" Sakura answered.

"They have some nice looking bodies," Nobuko commented, feeling the waves hit her and Sakura's ankles periodically.

"They really do!" Sakura agreed. "Ren and Ryo-kun workout a ton so it's only expected."

"Fair point," Nobuko replied. "It really shows."

"What about you, Nobu-chan? Do you workout?"

Nobuko found herself a bit surprised by Sakura's nickname for her. Nobu-chan..

There was a ring to it that she kind of liked.

"..Eh, once or twice a week maybe. You?"

"Nahh, not really!" Sakura said with glee. "They've tried to get me to at least run with them soooo many times, but I just can't be bothered!"

The blonde Cherry Blossom turned her attention to the racing swimmers a bit away from them. "Same with them over there. Gamo-chan's been trying to get me to go to her family's gym for the longest!"

Nobuko raised an eyebrow, curious. "Her family owns a gym?"

A nod. "Yep! Her and Toro-chan go there all the time. They train together!"

Interested, Nobuko watched as Nagatoro won yet another race against Gamo-chan, who splashed water at her in defeat. Despite the fact that the race was originally intended to be a friendly competition, Nagatoro looked determined. Very determined, for whatever reason.

It made her grin.

"Oh, I can tell. She looks hyper-focused over there." Nobuko gestured towards the tanned judo-goer-turned-swimmer.

"Oh yeah, her and Gamo-chan always get competitive like this. They have a little rivalry going on."

"Really?" Nobuko inquired, intrigued.

"Mhm! And it seems like Toro-chan's in a killer-mode right now!"

"It really does.." Nobuko nodded, her eyes zeroing in and her grin growing more.. sinister-ly.

Their conversation was interrupted by Ren's sudden yelling.

"YO! Howz' about we all hop in the water now?"

"We'd love to!" Sakura yelled back happily with a wave. Ryo began trekking towards them, wanting to see the pics she took on his phone.

"Did you take a lot?"

"How many times do I have to say yes?" Sakura joked, handing it back with a giggle.

"Just gotta make sure." Ryo smirked as he swiped through the dozens of pics, growing evermore happier with each one.

"..Oh yeah, these'll do."

"..."

"..DAMN, I look big in this one!"

"How often do you guys workout?" Nobuko asked. Her question helped immensely to fuel the boy's inflating ego. He loved when chicks appreciated his body.

"Six days a week," he told her proudly. "Monday through Saturday!"

"Wow, you guys are really on it, then."

Ryo held his hands up behind his head, becoming more and more cocky by the second. "Ahhh, well we've always been active our whole lives. Especially once we started middle school."

"Seems like it." Nobuko gave a smirk of her own.

"Yo if you guys are down standin' around over there, we can start heading in now!" Ren chimed in suddenly, half-joking with some impatience. "The water's waitin'!"

"Chill, bro!" Ryo was still swiping through the pics. "The water ain't goin' anywhere."

Sakura, however, was ready to start swimming. "I'll get in now!"

And on the other hand, Nobuko had other plans.

"I'd love to, but I didn't really bring sunscreen." The Demon tugged on her humongous white tee. "Nor a change of clothes, really."

Ryo, of course, insisted, eager to not only have fun with her but also to see what their new lady friend had looked like under her shirt. Even if it was indeed massive on her, it still didn't do much to conceal the mound of her large breasties.

"Ahhh, come on!" He tried to coerce her.

"Yeah! I have sunscreen in my bag!" Sakura told her. She was also insistent on getting her new friend in the water. "Plus some towels too if you need 'em! Here, I'll go grab-"

The blonde went about to do just that, but was quickly stopped in her tracks by the Jorogumo.

"Hold on, Sakura. Juuust a second," she said, looking back at the canopy.

Specifically, the person back at the canopy..

...

..Naoto. Her dear Spider-Senpai sat down on a towel, his knees propped up to his head which he kept pointed towards the ground, very clearly deep in thought of something.

It.. amused her.

Sakura too noticed her Senpai-kun isolating himself away from the group.

"..Oh man," she muttered. "I wonder what happened to Senpai-kun. He seemed fine earlier.."

Ren just shrugged him off with a literal shrug. "Ehh, guy's probably shy. I always kinda got the vibe from him."

"Ya' got that right," Ryo nodded, before gesturing for them all to start heading out with a slight armflail. His egotistic ass was done gawking at the pictures of himself. "Alright, I'm ready. Lemme just go and put this back-"

But while the boys were in a rush, Nobuko was not. "Hold on, hoooold on," she cut him off.

The pale Demon held her hand out to Ryo. "Gimme your phone. I'll put it away for ya."

And then turned to narrow her eyes on to the boys. "I'll join you guys in a bit."

Surprised, the bowl-cutted boy's eyes went wide. "Uh- You sure?"

"You're really gonna waste your time with him?" Ren asked, not really sounding pleased.

But she was. "Yep. Give it."

Nobuko shook her hand to coax him into hurrying, and he did with some more moments of hesitation. Then, she made his way back to her Senpai.

Her true Senpai.

...

...

...

...

...

Naoto was wondering where he went wrong that day. It was supposed to be a normal hangout. Just him, Nagatoro, Gamo-chan, and the rest of their buddies together at the beach, celebrating the beginning of summer break..

..of course, he didn't really count on Ren and Ryo being there, but hey, one can't win 'em, right?

As he sat still away from his friends, he just had to think: Did he cause all this? Was Gamo-chan's anger and Nagatoro's heartbreak all his fault? Realistically it wasn't, but he just had to overthink it.

If he just shoo'd Nobuko away like Gamo-chan had questioned, then maybe he wouldn't have had to deal with any of this. He knew how much they both didn't like her, so maybe he should've grown a pair and told her to scram.

He had powers, for Christ's sake. Superpowers. The power to swing from buildings, shoot webs, run and climb up walls, and fight off some monster that almost ate his friend, but yet blowing off some girl he himself wasn't comfortable with was too much for him?

His own thoughts were strangling him with the question of why did he freeze up in that moment?

Naoto buried his face deep within his hands once again, wiping away his shame with gritted teeth.

"..I'm such an idiot," he let out with an exasperated sigh. Perhaps he was being too harsh on himself. Melodramatic even, but he couldn't help it.

Matters were only made worse when the reason for him sulking alone suddenly appeared.

"Can't swim?" He heard her ask. Looking up with a jolt, he saw the Demon standing before him, one hand on her hip.

He blinked. "..."

"..."

"..."

"..do you need something?" He asked with another sigh.

There was a degree of sarcasm in her answer. "Yeah, I wanna know which bag is Ryo's." She held up his phone to show it to him.

He had no goddamn idea. "I don't know.."

She shrugged, and bent down to open up some random, baby-blue colored one. "I'll just put it in here."

Naoto watched uneasily as Nobuko rummaged through one of the group member's bag to set the boy's phone in. Naoto was hoping that was all that she needed to do before heading back to start swimming, but he was a fool to think that.

To his dismay, his "kohai" propped herself down in front of him, sitting down cross-legged.

He gazed at her, and she gazed back. With a smile.

"How you been, Senpai?" She asked, completely nonchalantly like there wasn't any tension between the two.

His spine tingled, and the hairs on his body stiffened. "..."

"..what."

She giggled and repeated herself. "How you been, Senpai? Everyone can tell that you're being a little weird right now, so I came to see how you're doing."

"Plus," she added. "It's been a while since we last seen each other, hasn't it?"

He wanted to keep it that way. "..."

"..It has, and.. well, I've been fine. Just.."

She finished his thought for him. "Out of your element?"

He looked over, confused. Out of his element?

"I can tell you haven't been to the beach in forever," she clarified. "Especially with friends like this."

He wasn't sure if that was an objective statement or an insult. "..."

"..Yeah, I haven't.."

She chuckled. "Did that girl force you to come?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Which girl?"

She knew the answer but she wanted him to say her name. "The tanned one."

"..."

"..Nagatoro?" Naoto said. "No, she invited me earlier. I had nothing going on today, so.."

"Oh. Well, how sweet of her," she suddenly interrupted. "She invited you to this hangout and she's not even hanging out with you?"

Naoto noticed the tone in her voice, and he.. didn't like it. Especially not the implications behind her statement.

"..It's not like that," he protested.

"I'm just sayin'," she shrugged again. "Her senpai's sitting back here alone, not having fun, and I'm the only one who came up to you? Thaat's kinda.."

"...

"..kinda messed up, right?"

Naoto found himself taken aback, and even upset with what she was trying to say. "..."

"..what are you trying to say?" He asked his own thought out loud.

"Do I need to repeat myself again?" Nobuko joked, not taking him or anything serious.

It caused him to get fired up. "..."

"..are you being serious?" Naoto asked again, with a growing degree of rightful hostility.

Nobuko chuckled again, and held up her hands. "Alright alright. I struck a nerve. Sorry."

She wasn't. Her goal was to rile him up, and she succeeded.

For the first time in a long while, Naoto actually got upset with someone. His eyebrows curled in frustration, but very quickly did he calm down. He wasn't about to blow up at a beach of all places.

Nobuko leaned back and used her arms to support herself. "Don't go and tell Spider-Man to beat me up now," she giggled again.

He was too irritated with his fake kohai to grasp what she just said, so he just brushed it off as her just talking nonsense..

...

..until he couldn't when she said something else.

"..Speaking of Spider-Man, you know I saw him a while ago, right?'

His head perked up again to look at her. Naoto's anger quickly dissipated and was converted into confusion..

..because he didn't remember seeing her.

"..."

"..you did?"

Nobuko smirked again. "Yeah. Like, a while-while ago."

He raised an eyebrow. "..where?"

His question to her was dodged when she asked him something instead. "Why, did you seen him too?"

Naoto paused, stammering. "Uh- I- No, I haven't yet- uh, b- but you said you saw him?"

"Middle of town," she finally answered. "At night."

At night.. 

"..really..?" 

She nodded. "Yeah. I was, uhh.."

Nobuko paused, seemingly recalling the events with a look to the sky. "On the phone with a friend while walking home from school, and then.."

"..."

"..well, let's just say something preeettyy bad happened.."

Something bad happened.. What the f**k happened? Naoto had no idea what she was talking about. He pressed her, wanting to know more about her story because he sure as hell didn't know jack-nor-s#!t.

"..what do you mean something bad happened?"

She threw her head back to let out yet another chuckle, aiming to edge the poor boy (pause). "Oh, I can't even tell you. It was that bad.."

...

..He wanted to take that B.S. vague answer and toss it across the sand. "..Nobuko. What.."

She ignore his question again and continued on. "But as much as I was terrified.. well, okay, surprised, more like.. I was also.."

"..Amazed. He really is as amazing as people say he is.."

Naoto almost had enough. "Nobuko, just-"

"What happened?"

His cluelessness only made her smirk grow wider. "You really wanna know?"

He did, and signaled that with a quick, almost impatient nod.

"You really really wanna know~?"

Now he was getting irritated again. "Yes!"

Breaking out into another s@#t-eating laugh again, Nobuko pushed herself back upright and leaned in towards the Spider-Man, her cold, piercing, amethyst eyes narrowing in..

..like a predator about to pounce..

"He-"

"Nobu-chaaaan~!"

Naoto jumped and his head snapped to face the direction where the call had come from. Even Nobuko found herself surprised by being snapped out of her mindf##k game with him. They looked and saw the tiger-striped, bikini-clad Cherry Blossom waving happily at her.

"Are you comin' back~?"

Nobuko's eyes fluttered, blinking three times with an agape jaw before she turned back to her Senpai. Then, her smirk returned as quickly as it disappeared.

"Yeah~!" She called back, echoing her voice towards Sakura while still keeping her Demonic eyes towards her man. "Where's your sunscreen~?"

"It's in my bag!" The gyaru shouted. "The blue one!"

The blue one.. Nobuko looked over at it. "Oh, this is her bag, haha."

She moved to dig through it again, and indeed pulled out a small, cute white-colored spray-bottle with a yellow cap on top. "Ah, here it is."

The demon held it up in the air so she could see it. "This it~?"

Sakura nodded from afar. "Yeah! Bring it over here, I'll put it on ya!"

"Okay~!"

She pushed herself back up on to her feet, shooting her Senpai one last evil look.

Her little mind-game was interrupted, and she wanted to mindf##k him just a bit more.. but she figured that leaving him in suspense was good enough.

"Well, I guess I'll be telling you this story another time, Senpai. Laters~"

But Naoto wasn't going to let her tell him another time. He wanted to know now.

"Woah hold on," he tried to say as he too rose back up. "Just wait a sec-"

However, he paused and immediately went frozen when Nobuko did the unspeakable:

She took her shirt off right in front of him to showcase her beautiful, curvaceous, voluptuous body, the fun parts being concealed with an all-black bikini.

It made him go absolutely f**kin' red. His eyes glanced at her very very prominent and profitable anterior (thank u for that line, Lamar) before him. Those melons looked at him first.

His brief, one-millisecond staring and quick reaction to turn away made her smirk grow even more. Without saying a word, she threw her tee back down with her stuff, and sprayed a tiny bit of the sunscreen at his direction.

"Bleh-" Naoto tried to cover himself. Then, she turned tail and left, chuckling beneath her breath along the way.

But not without purposefully swaying her ass from side-to-side to tease him some more, of course.

Naoto was once again left there, awkward and somewhat embarrassed like a chronic loner thrown into their first high school party. By the time he managed to bring himself to stand back upright, Nobuko was already long gone, back with Sakura and the boys. He was able to see the blonde doing exactly what she said and applying the sunscreen all over her body from a distance.

However, this time he hwas left alone at a complete loss for words (and thoughts) after what she had just told him.

She saw him.. Him, as Spider-Man, one night while talking with a friend. She couldn't have, because he didn't remember EVER seeing her!

And there certainly wasn't another Spider-Man running around. There's no way she could've seen him.

And what she was going to say after.. Something about something bad that happened..?

He didn't know what that possibly could've been. The closest thing he could remember that lined up with what she was saying was him saving Sakura from those creepers a while back..

..but she wasn't there for that. He'd remember.

Maybe.. saving that kid from the fire? His first heroic act as That Spider-Guy? No, she wasn't there either..

...

..Yasuhiro? That guy with the car on fire that attacked him? No, not that..

...

..saving Gamo from that monster? No, definitely couldn't have been that..

It was almost giving him a headache. Whatever cryptic bulls#2t she pulled was doing a number on his thought process. And he was thinking hard.

Replaying those events over and over again, remembering everything to a tee to see if there something he had somehow forgotten.

Yasuhiro..

The monster..

Her..

The purple eyes that glowed in the dark in the dark..

It was all too much, so he eventually retreated elsewhere to think some more.

Instead of sitting back down under the canopy, he simply walked away. Back to the vending machines.

And unbeknownst to him, someone else was watching him go. This time, it wasn't Nobuko.

It was Nagatoro, still in the ocean with the other girls. She had a frown on her face.

...

...

...

...

...

Nagatoro, now in some sandals, trotted through the sand-covered pavement. She had a towel wrapped around her neck and was dripping a bit, having just gotten out of the water to follow her Senpai.

She eventually tracked him not by the vending machines, but rather a bit ways further ahead at another smaller building where the bathrooms were. She saw him go in ahead of her.

Nagatoro figured he just needed to use the bathroom, but after seeing him leave so suddenly after Nobuko had left him.. It made her wonder if he really left for something else.

She approached the opened door that was held in place with a little doorstopper. Other beach-goers exited the bathroom and when she went up to it, she placed three fast knocks on its frame.

"Senpai? You in there?"

Naoto, who was indeed in a stall leaned up against a wall while doing some more mental math in his head, heard the voice of his true kohai coming from the outside. He paused with some degree of reluctance, but nevertheless made his way out the building to meet her.

Nagatoro folded her arms across her chest and looked up at him worryingly as he slowly appeared before her. "Hey, Senpai.." She greeted warmly.

He put his hands in his pockets. "Hey.. How'd you, um, how'd you know I was here?"

"I saw you leave our stuff so I.. followed you," she hesitantly told the truth, her head tilting down a bit to break eye contact. "..sorry."

If anything, he was at least glad that it was HER that came instead of Nobuko. "..It's fine.. Don't worry about it."

The two stood there in silence, not really having a clue on how to comfort one another yet.

Eventually though, Nagatoro was the first to break the silence. "..I saw that other girl talking to you. You left as soon as she did."

He nodded. "..Yeah."

"..did she say anything to you?" Nagatoro looked back up at him, her eyes meeting his again.

Naoto took a second to respond. "..No."

"Are you sure?" She pressed. Naoto shook his head no again.

When their conversation was briefly interrupted by another beach-goer piloting excusing himself to squeeze by them to enter the bathroom, Nagatoro slowly took her Senpai's hand and guided him to the side of the building, away from any passerbyers.

He didn't react to it and let himself be pulled with no resistance.

"Senpai," she pressed again. "You can tell me. I'm not gonna laugh.."

She was being genuine, and he knew she was. He just didn't know what to tell her, so he looked away.

"Senpai?"

Then, he let his shoulders drop before answering. "..It's nothing, Nagatoro. Really."

She didn't like that response, but he continued, and she allowed him to speak with no interruption.

"I'm just not in the right head space right now. I'll be fine, trust me."

The thing was that she didn't trust him. The girl got closer. "Senpai.."

He didn't flinch. "Go have fun with Gamo and them. I'll be there."

Nagatoro didn't even think twice about arguing that. "No," she refused.

Naoto was a bit surprised by her stubbornness, yet again struggling to say something else. "..."

"..sorry if I'm ruining the mood, Nagatoro. I'll-"

She cut him off, sounding more and more displeased with his gloominess. "You're not ruining the mood, Senpai. Stop saying stuff like that."

He locked eyes with her again, stunned. "..."

Nagatoro stared into his gaze, looking concerned, sympathetic, empathetic, and dead serious. With a sigh, she lightly tugged on the sleeve of his shirt.

"Take this off."

Now perplexed, he stuttered. "..what?"

"Take this off," she repeated. "We're going swimming."

"..Swimming?" He raised an eyebrow. "But I'm not wearing trunks-"

"Then we'll go to my place after this and you'll freshen up there," Nagatoro said with absolutely no room for argument. Naoto blinked.

"..why?"

"Because we're at the beach and I know that whenever I'm not in the right head space, Senpai, I like to get active to take my mind off of things. Maybe it'll work for you."

It made sense but.. He still didn't know how to react. "..I-"

"Senpai." She grabbed his forearms, much like she did when she first met him. But now, instead of holding him with a deathgrip, she held on very tenderly. "Please."

Pausing, Naoto thought again for a moment, and realized that he had no choice. If his kohai, his real kohai, was dead set on something, she was going to get it.

And he wasn't going to fight it. Slowly he relented, and even slower did he remove her hands from him.

"..Alright. I'll go swimming."

Nagatoro finally broke out into a small, adorable grin because of that. "Thank you."

She turned the corner and led the way. Naoto followed a bit further behind. He grew a bit more nervous at the thought of taking his shirt off, especially in front of (or rather behind) his kohai, even if his physique had.. improved.

He eventually did, however. Slowly but surely, and slow enough to start lagging behind the girl.

Nagatoro sensed that her Senpai was falling behind, so halfway, she stopped and turned around.

"Senpai you better not have-"

But she then found herself really coming to a stop when she was met with the unexpected:

Her Senpai's Amazing body.

Underneath those clothes he always wore, his trademark white long-sleeve for school and the loose tee he just had on a few moments ago, was a body ripped with muscles chiseled to perfection.

Well-defined pecs, visible abs, broad shoulders, wide neck, notable traps, pumped biceps, impressive triceps, vascular forearms, you name it. Naoto had it all. He was both aesthetic and proportional. Not too big but definitely not too small. The ideal body for a Spider-Man.

Her eyes trailed to look at each and every muscle group instead of his eyes, which made the both of their faces totally flush f*3king red.

"Um-" Naoto tripped over his words. Nagatoro's jaw too busy hanging lose to even let out words.

Never in her f*#king life did she think he'd look like that.

Even worse, they heard giggles off to their sides. Girly giggles. They both looked over, and saw a group of them leaning against a wall together, clearly ogling at their awkward moment AND at the boy's body.

Moreso the latter, to be honest.

Wanting to very quickly escape this cursed area immediately and also wanting to get her Senpai away from those girls ASAP, the flustered and secretly jealous Nagatoro instantly turned back around and kept walking.

"U- U- Uh let's keep going-"

He didn't protest that at all. "Yeah I- I- I'm with you on that-!"

They moved to flee even faster but they couldn't escape the feeling of their gazes.

...

...

...

...

...

"..I wonder where they ran off to."

Gamo-chan and Yoshi had both also gotten out of the water after Nagatoro left, and they were now under the canopy, the last known location of Paisen.

The former was looking towards the direction of where they went off to, while the latter's attention was focused back on the beach, specifically at the pale disguised Demon that was having fun with Sakura and the other boys.

Yoshi seemed nervous just looking at her.

Gamo took notice of this quickly and did not think twice about comforting her.

"Hey, don't worry, Yosh." The orange-haired gal placed a hand on her bestie's shoulder. "She's not gonna do anythin'."

Yoshi only gulped and turn away upon being pulled by her.

While scouting the area for any signs of them, somewhere deep within Gamo was a part of her hoping that he was spilling the beans about his secret to her. Though, she figured that that was so very much unlikely.

Sure enough, the two girls eventually saw the Senpai and Kohai return.

"There they are!" She exclaimed. Yoshi too looked over, and they, like Nagatoro, were in for a surprise..

...

...

...

"..HOLY SHIT!"

Gamo had screamed that at the top of her lungs, earning them the looks of nearby beach-goers and even the rest of the group way back at the water.

The returning party didn't exactly like the attention. Naoto tried to keep his head down by the time they got back to the canopy.

"Paisen you're-" She couldn't even finish her sentence, having been caught COMPLETELY off guard by his incredible physique.

She and Yoshi both made his suit, but even they were left speechless! Yoshi was.. in simple terms: too frozen like ice and redder than a tomato to say anything.

"Yeah, I know.." Naoto meekly responded. 

Gamo's big secret, one that absolutely no one in the group knew about, was that she had a crush on Nagatoro's brother, in part because of his own sexy physique, but Paisen's.. she couldn't help but feel some type of way.

"Dude- Have you been hiding this from us?!" She asked loudly. Very loudly, in fact.

The embarrassed Naoto tried his best to answer that. "What- No, I-"

But the just-as-flustered (and just as horny) Nagatoro interrupted them. "Gamo please just- Where's the sunscreen?"

"The sunscreen?" She asked.

"Yes the sunscreen. I'm taking him swimming. Where is it?"

"Uhh." Gamo looked around their bags and shouted towards Sakura.

"SAKURA! SUNSCREEN!"

"I put it back in my bag!" The blonde echoed. Even from afar, she was ogling at Senpai-kun.

"..wow, Senpai-kun's.." She was too much in awe to finish that statement.

Ren and Ryo didn't know what to say about Hayacchi's loner Senpai having a body that rivaled theirs. "Dude, what the hell.." the former muttered, sounding somewhat jealous as one could argue that Senpai's body was a lot better than his.

Meanwhile, Nobuko.. The excited lookin' eyes of the Demon meant that she was gettin' thirsty. And not for the watermelon drink Ryo had bought her.

Gamo grabbed Sakura's blue bag and took the sunscreen bottle out.

"Okay uh- arms out, Paisen." She popped the lid off and went up to him, secretly taking one last peek at him. However, Nagatoro suddenly swiped the thing out of her hands with her cat-like reflexes. "What the-"

"I'll do it," she told her, very matter-of-factly.

"Wha-" 

"Shush it." Nagatoro wouldn't hear a single peep from her. "Come on Senpai let's go," she ordered swiftly.

And he followed that ordered just a swiftly, both because he knew it'd be useless not to and also because he wanted them to get done with going bollucks over him already. Naoto stretched out his arms on both sides, his fingers pointing towards the left and right of himself, as Nagatoro got to work with spraying his body down with the sunscreen.

Pchiiit. She got his chest and stomach first.

Pchit-Pchit-Pchiiit. Then his arms.

Pchiiiiiiiit. Then his back.

Pchit-Pchit-Pchiit-Pchiiiiit. Then his legs. She sprayed a couple more times to get the other spots she might've missed, like the underside of his limbs. No one realized that Nagatoro was taking her time with spraying him so as to get a good view of her man.

Finally, she reached her other hand upward to cover his eyes. "Now keep your mouth closed."

He did an excellent job at that. Nagatoro finished off the sprayjob by coating his face and each side of his neck.

Now, his skin had a handy layer of protection against the powerful sun.

"Okay, all done. Thanks for.. not being gross." she commented despite herself being the one that was the gross. Nagatoro handed off the bottle to Gamo-chan who put it back in Sakura's bag.

The cool and kind of sticky sensation from the sunscreen on his skin made him feel a tad bit uncomfortable. Naoto looked all over his body. 

"You're welcome but uh, did you really need to put on this much..?"

His kohai put a hand to her hip. "Unless you wanted to get all sun-burnt and red by tomorrow, then yes, I needed to put that much."

She had a point and he knew it. "If you say so.."

Naoto then jolted slightly when he saw Nagatoro wrap around him to give him a push from behind, once again secretly admiring his back. "Now onward, Senpai."

"Onward-" Naoto tried to look back. "Wait aren't we supposed to wait a bit before-"

Nagatoro kept pushing him towards the ocean. "Nooope we're getting in now. C'mon guys let's go."

Gamo and Yoshi did not question her orders and followed. They walked behind them, both trying their hardest to get over Naoto's.. surprise.

"Say Paisen," the former said, trying to change the subject to talk about something else. "Do you know how to swim?"

"No not really," he answered quickly, still being pushed by his kohai. "I haven't done it in a long time!"

"Okay cool, so you're probably just gonna sink then."

Yoshi repeated after her pal. "Sink..!"

"Way to make me feel better about this!" He almost pouted.

"Dooooon't worry, Paisen. We're here now. You- Uh, got us to teach you now! Hehe!"

Nagatoro objected that. "Who's us? I'm the one that'll be teaching him. I've been beating you all day."

"Oh please, like you'd be a better teacher for him than me."

"I'm the one that trained with him, aren't I?"

"Yeah now you gotta do that while trying not to stare at him for too long."

Both Naoto and Nagatoro looked back at Gamo-chan with the same flabbergasted, dumb-struck face. "Huh?!?!"

"You were the one that wanted to put the sunscreen on him first!" Nagatoro fired at her.

"To help him out!" Gamo fired back. "Not to gawk at him like you were doing!"

"Ew, I wasn't gawking at him!"

Naoto, still being pushed, turned back around. "Look whatever you guys are gonna do, can you just not have it involve pulling me into the deep end?"

"Don't be gross and I won't have to do that!" Nagatoro suddenly barked at him.

"How am I being gross?!" He barked back.

She barked again, flushing red. "You better not let that body of yours get to your head!"

"Wha- Who said- Gah! You guys! Come on!"

Naoto gave up, his own face being just as red. There was a reason why he didn't like being the center of attention.

...

...

...

...

...

The sun was now close to setting. Naoto's swimming lessons with the girls went just as he would've expected.

It started off with Nagatoro jokingly going against his wishes by pretending to pull him into the deep end, much to his comedic horror.

Gamo was the first to actually demonstrate the fundamentals of swimming by floating on her back in front of him. Nagatoro did the same, just with extra bit of nagging him to not stare at their stomachs. The teasing was standard protocol at this point.

It took Naoto a bit to get it down. Swimming was indeed not his strong suit, but eventually he was able to ungracefully float for just a few seconds before his nerves took over. The task of trying to keep his mouth and nose over the water to breathe and feeling it all slowly creep up and seep in was difficult.

Of course, their lessons also involved the girls playing impractical jokes on their poor student by splashing him with water, scaring him with seaweed, and even having Yoshi fish up a starfish to do just that. At one point, Gamo had scooped up a handful of wet sand and chucked it at him while he was trying to tread. Karma however, bit Nagatoro in the ass when Gamo poked fun at her for being a bit too close to the shirtless male while demonstrating proper treading technique. Nagatoro accused her of doing the same ogling, and it became a back-and-forth kind of thing, much to his annoyance.

Most significantly, they were also away from the other group: Ren, Ryo, Sakura and Nobuko. He could feel their gazes, especially the varying degrees of thirst from the two girls and the scorn and jealousy from the two boys. However, Nobuko stared with something else other than thirst. Something.. sinister.

Thankfully, they never interacted and Naoto managed to ignore them.

Their last lesson involved a friendly race that included not just Gamo and Nagatoro, but rather Naoto and Yoshi as well. Nagatoro came out on top, with Gamo once again close behind. Yoshi was third, and as expected, Naoto was dead last with a poker face.

Now, he was back under the canopy, drying himself off with a towel as he watched Nagatoro, Gamo, Yoshi and Sakura play a quick game of volleyball, while Nobuko stayed back at the shore with Ren and Ryo who were both taking selfies with her.

It was hard to deny it, but although the day was a bit.. interesting, to say the least, especially after Nobuko had come into the picture, he had to admit that it was kind of fun. He saw the genuine smiles on the four girls' faces and couldn't help but smile as well.

Some strange part of him was also grateful for the boys for indirectly keeping Nobuko away from him.

"Alright, that's enough." Gamo caught the ball when it was hit towards her. "I'm gettin' hungry."

"Awww!" Yoshi whined. She was enjoying their game.

"C'mon, food sounds good right now, right guys?"

Nagatoro wholeheartedly agreed. "Yeah! I'm kinda starvin'. What about you, Sakura?"

The blonde was also the same. "Oh, I'd love to get something to eat. GUYS~!" She cupped her hands over her mouth and shouted towards the other three. "Let's go see if the restaurants are less packed now~!"

Ren echoed back with enthusiasm. "Alright, one sec~!"

The four moved back over to the canopy, where the Cherry Blossom initiated another conversation with the Spider.

"You didn't tell me that you also worked out, Senpai-kun~"

He was already halfway through putting on a shirt when he answered. "Oh, uh- Yeah. I've been at it for a while.."

"Don't feed his ego, Sakura." Nagatoro giggled. "You're gonna turn him into a player."

"Oh, but he looks so great! Can I see again?"

Naoto wasn't sure how to feel about that. "Um- M- Maybe another time. I kinda wanna get food too.."

No one saw it, but Nagatoro absolutely did not like that question of hers.

He tried to take the spotlight off of him, but the returning of Ren, Ryo, and Nobuko made it difficult.

"She's got a point, dude." Ren said, approaching him. "You totally took us by surprise with that shirtless-shit you pulled."

"You been holdin' out on us or what?" Ryo joked.

"No it's-" Naoto tried to defend himself. "I'm still not really comfortable with walking around like that.. Especially in public."

Ren patted his back, almost aggressively. "Well, lemme be the first to tell you that you'd pull a TON of girls your way if you showed that off some more."

"Totally dude." Ryo agreed. "Chicks dig that kinda stuff."

Nobuko then made it worse by speaking up herself. "He's right. You'd be surprised on how you'd attract, Senpai."

She winked at him, giving the boy another implication that made him freeze. The other girls, namely the three that knew of her history with Senpai, feigned smiles but were really frustrated with her presence. Nobuko didn't seem to know or care, however.

Naoto fought hard to change the subject. "Thanks guys, but really- ..Can we just get something to eat now?"

"Sounds like a plan." Gamo had the same idea as him. She looked towards Sakura. "Sakura, you said there were restaurants you wanted to check out?"

Sakura snapped out of her trance. She was too busy staring at her Senpai-kun to re-picture what he looked like underneath. "Wha- Oh, right! Yeah, there's a couple ramen spots nearby that we wanted to see earlier. Maybe we could try those!"

"Ramen sounds nice," Nagatoro added. "Senpai?"

"I could go for some ramen, yeah." He nodded.

"Aaalright!" Gamo clapped her hands. "Then it's settled. Get your stuff, guys! Let's eat!"

"Eat!" Yoshi chirped.

Everyone had big smiles on their faces, especially Nobuko..

...

...

...

...

...

"Yay! It's not as packed anymore!"

Sakura was ecstatic to see the spot they were looking for was indeed seeing less customers than when they had originally arrived. It was a small ramen cafe not too far from where they set up shop, a ten minute walk at most.

The place had an outside menu written in a playful font and colorful colors which they all gathered around to read.

"Man, this place already looks good." Ren noted.

"Spicy miso ramen.." Ryo read over. "Chicken ramen.."

"..oh dude, they even have karaage chicken!"

Ren saw what his bro was looking at and grew excited. "Oh what the hell, that sounds amazing!"

"Everything does sound amazing." Nagatoro leaned in with a hand on her chin. "What are you gonna get, Senpai? Don't be plain now."

"Plain?" He looked up from the menu and over to her. "Who said that? I'm just not gonna order much, probably, that's all."

"Plaaaaaaain," she teased. "Plain-plain."

He rolled his eyes and looked over the menu again. "The spicy miso ramen sounds good. I'll try that."

"I was thinkin' of getting that too! Hey, you're not copying me, are ya?"

He pouted. "Would you still have said that if all I was getting was a bowl of rice?"

She shrugged happily. "Probably. I'd call you extra-plain if you did that. And a weirdo."

"Very funny," he said. Nagatoro just nudged him, her usual antics and all.

"All I know is that I'm gettin' that chicken!" Gamo announced. Yoshi had the same idea.

"Same!'

"Sakura, you want two orders?" Ren asked. "So we can share?"

"Maybe! Lemme keep looking, first."

The only person in the group who hadn't stepped up to the menu was Nobuko. She waited for everyone to back away so she could have some room. Her sudden appearance briefly startled the poor Naoto.

"Senpai," she asked, now standing next to him. "You said you're getting the spicy miso ramen?"

He nodded. "Uh- Yeah. Are you gonna get that too..?"

Petty Nagatoro on his other side grew petty. Was she only doing that because he was getting it? She didn't know but either way, she didn't like it.

"Honestly, yeah. It sounds great. I might even get two plates."

His eyes widened. "Two plates..?"

"Yep. Either to eat at home or to finish here. I'm starving."

She paused, and then turned around towards her Senpai..

...

..then to Nagatoro.

"She might need more than that over there, though."

There was an audible record scratch sound effect. Everyone in the group fell quiet upon hearing what Nobuko had said to her.

Naoto and Nagatoro both blinked.. stunned. "..."

"..."

"..Huh?" The latter asked. That was the first thing she said to her that whole day.

A smirk appeared on Nobuko's face. "I said you might need more than that. Two plates, I mean."

While she smiled, Nagatoro's eyebrows furrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Her question made her laugh. "I mean.. Look at you."

"Look at me? What are you-"

Sensing an argument from the rising anger in Nagatoro's voice, Gamo-chan came forward, knowing full well what she meant from the get-go. "Woaahhh.."

It took Naoto a bit to catch on, but when he did, he was not happy. "Hey, come on now, don't say-"

Nobuko interrupted his chance to defend his kohai by continuing her assault on Nagatoro. "It's obvious that you might need to eat more, considering that you're kinda.."

"..."

"..small compared to the rest of us."

Naoto felt a knife pierce his heart for Nagatoro even if he wasn't the one being insulted. Angered and disgusted herself, Gamo rose her voice.

"..Are you being serious right now?!"

Nobuko completely ignored her, the Demon's eyes focused on Nagatoro. "Your Senpai's over there with every man's dream body and you're standing next to him skinny as hell."

"Personally, I'd order more than just a plate of miso ramen so I wouldn't look too unremarkable next to him, but that's just me."

Too unremarkable.. Nobuko was hitting a low-blow. Targeting Nagatoro over her tiny frame and weight, that being their first interaction ever that day, which, to make things worse, was something the tanned girl was secretly very, very insecure of.

Sakura gasped. "Nobu-chan.."

Even Ren and Ryo were stepping up to diffuse the situation. The former held his hands up. "Heyheyhey now.. Let's not-"

But Gamo wasn't down for diffusing it. "We let you hang out with us, and you go off and do all this to Hayacchi?!"

Nobuko laughed. "Let me? You were getting mad at Senpai when I came back with him. The only reason why you didn't do anything else to me is because you knew you were being stupid.”

No one realized it, but Nobuko’s game plan was to rile the girl up, and it was working. Gamo was this close to just socking her on the spot. “I was being stupid?!”

“Hey hey hey, let's just calm down.” Ryo also tried his best to descelate things.

Naoto looked over at his real kohai to see how she was handling the situation, and to his dismay, she was looking deeply affected by it.

It angered him.

Seeing her so hurt, and being targeted for no good reason made him angrier and angrier, until he found his voice within himself.

“..Nobuko." The boy stepped up to her. "If you don't have anything nice to say.."

"..then leave."

The group, namely Sakura, were surprised by his sudden assertiveness. Even he was surprised himself.

Nobuko held up her hands innocently, closing her eyes while still keeping her smirk on. “I mean, I'm not wrong, am I?"

“Nobuko.” Naoto wasn't having it. She could mess with him, but Nagatoro? That's where he drew the line.

She opened her glowing eyes. "You really think I should go, Senpai~?"

Gamo stepped up next to him, taking Nagatoro’s side next to her. She was completely, 800% down with Tough-Guy-Paisen. “You got three seconds, missy.”

Finding the whole thing hilarious, Nobuko stood there before, sure enough, she eventually did back off, though more by choice instead of from Naoto’s growing anger and Gamo’s pitiful attempt at a threat.

“Sure thing, Gamo-chan. Sure thing. I'll go. No one's gotta get hurt."

The Demon looked at her two new Senpai. “You two, I'll see you guys around.”

Then she looked at the others. “And the rest of you? Sakura, Senpai? Yoshi?"

With one final, shit-eating grin, she flashed a piece sign. “Have a nice dinner.”

Before finally.. turning around and leaving. The group watched as the girl disappeared in the distance, never to be seen again..

Gamo’s mood didn't approve after her departure. “...”

“..ucking bitch.”

However, she quickly turned to Nagatoro, speaking to her like a warm mother. “Hayacchi, you okay?”

Naoto did the same, opting to focus back to his real kohai instead of blowing a fuse of stupidity from his fake one. “Nagatoro..?”

They received no response from the poor girl, except a very faint and restrained sniff.

The girl was crying, reduced to a single tear over having her insecurities be poked at, which drizzled down her cheek.

“Hayacchi..” Gamo, despite her anger, did her best to sound as comforting as she could be for her. Leaning in, she placed a hand on her back..

..but the girl too turned tail and ran away. “I- I-”

“I- I have to go,” was the only explanation she gave them.

Gamo tried to stop her with an extension of her hand. “Hayacchi- Wait!”

It, of course, was futile, unfortunately. Nagatoro was gone.

Balling her fists up, Gamo looked up at her Paisen, giving him no word because she figured he knew exactly what she wanted him to do.

And he did. With a nod, Naoto wasted no time in chasing after her. The rest of the group watched silently, speechless, stunned, and disappointed that the day, for everyone this time, was ruined.