Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Alright, let's do this one last time.

My name is Akira Kurusu. I was bitten by a radioactive spider, and for the past two years, I’ve been Tokyaris’ one and only Ogumo.

I’m pretty sure you know the rest. I saved a bunch of people, fell in love, saved the city, and then I saved the city again… and again… and again … and again. Oh, and I… did mocap for a weird rhythm game made after my exploits too. That’s between you and me, though; none of my friends know about that.

Look, I’m a video-game star, a mouthwash, a scented candle, I have an excellent soundtrack, and a… decent-tasting burger. I’ve had my less dignified moments in my career, but despite everything, I still love being a superhero. Who wouldn't?

No matter how many hits I take, I always find a way to come back.

Because the only thing standing between Tokyaris and oblivion, is me, and there’s only one of me. I mean, who else is there that can do what I do?”

“Mari, do you see it?” called Luka. “It’s the green guitar case on the top shelf.”

Reaching up on her tip-toes, Marinette felt around on the top shelf, stopping when she felt the exterior of a guitar case. “Yep, I’ve got it!”

“Great! Can you bring it out for me?”

Marinette put the strap of the guitar case over her shoulder and closed the cupboard door. “Already on it!”

On the deck of the Couffaine’s houseboat, Luka was messing with a set of electric amps. He had tied his hair back so that it wouldn’t get in the way, and Marinette had to admit that he looked very handsome with his hair tied up like that…

“I’ve got your guitar,” Marinette, setting the base down next to the amp that Luka was working on. “Are we almost ready?”

“Yep, just gotta get this damn amp set up,” Luka replied, fiddling with something behind the machine. “There we go!”

As he stood up, wiping the sweat from his forehead, Marinette passed him a bottle of water.

Luka took the water gratefully and immediately downed half the bottle. 

“You’re a lifesaver, Mari. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“I’m sure you’d get by,” said Marinette, with a tiny laugh.

Luka moved closer until his face was only inches away from Marinette’s. “I don’t think so. You’re a special girl, Marinette.”

Before Marinette couldn’t really comprehend what was happening, she felt a sharp pain at the side of her neck. Instinctually clapping a hand to her neck, she hesitantly moved it away, jumping a little at what remained of the spider that had bitten her.

“Gross…” she whispered, absolutely mortified that something like that had happened in front of her crush. “I’m going to go wash my hands.”

Luka looked a little sad, but he didn’t stop her, so Marinette hurried over to the bathroom, washing her hands and taking a minute to wipe her face. 

That was so embarrassing!

At least she would be able to forget all about it by tomorrow.

“Alright, that’s my shift!” Akira told Sojiro in the back after leaving the cafe. “And with no bad guys interrupting me, too.”

“You really know their schedules, huh?” his father figure wondered.

“All thanks to me, thank you very much!” Futaba called from the basement.

“Listen,” Akira explained. “If anyone’s going to attack, it’d be about an hour from now. The cops got it all wrong with these false forecasts, and quite frankly, if their boss is one of them, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“Well then just tell Morgana I said hi, okay?” Sojiro chuckled.

“Will do!” Akira waved. “And Futaba, do your big bro a favor and tell Ryuji I’m getting home a bit early?”

“Got it!”

He left the place with a spoonful of curry in his mouth and a quiet walk to his apartment. Once on the subway, he put his hands in his pocket, rubbing the leggings of his suit under his pants. “I really need to fix that rip sometime. What kind of superhero can’t even keep his suit consistently patched up?”

But even still, he made it home like any other citizen, ringing the doorbell and seeing his little brother at the door.

“Akira! What did you see today? Some robber with a purse? A runaway train?”

“Nah, it was actually pretty quiet today,” Akira told him as ruffled his hair. “Do I need to put the villain likelihood chart on your bedroom wall?”

“Yes! That sounds cool!” Morgana cheered.

Akira grinned. “Okay we’ll do that tomorrow.”

“After your date with Sumire?” Morgana looked practically giddy.

“I swear, you’re more interested in our relationship than I am,” Akira laughed. “Sojiro says hi, by the way.” He gave Morgana one last pat on the head before moving into the living room, where his best friend and brother was chilling on the couch. 

“Ryuji, did you-”

“Yes, I checked the schedule for the week. Yes, I got the text from Futaba, and no, I am not letting Haru babysit next time.”

“Thanks a ton for all of that. You might wanna take Morgana to your place in a bit. I’m expecting company in about half an hour.”

“I thought your date was tomorrow !” Ryuji teased, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“That’s what I said!” Morgana laughed.

Akira shook in exacerbation. “You know what I meant… King Crimson usually shows up around this time.”

“I know, I was only teasing. Come on, Morgana.”

Ryuji attempted to take Morgana’s hand, but he raced out of the room before he could. “Race you to the car, uncle Ryuji!”

“Seriously, how do you do this?” Ryuji asked his brother. “He’s got so much energy…”

Akira simply smirked. “Years of practice. You’ll get used to it. That’s why I made you the babysitter instead of Futaba.”

Upon closing the door, Akira took off his normal outfit and threw on the jacket he was currently using for this iteration of his suit. All he had to do now was lie down at the top of a building at the usual spot, maybe grab a snack from his secret stash, and wait to hear that laugh he knew all too well…

“BOW DOWN BEFORE YOUR KING, PUNY CRETINS!”

“There he is!” Akira sprung up and webbed the protein bar he was eating to the wall. Jumping and running down the side of the building, he wasn’t thinking of if he was going to lose or how much collateral damage there would be after, because he had Futaba to thank for figuring all of that out. The only thing he really needed to worry about was if he could beat his current record and maybe be home in time for dinner.

When Maman and Papa told her that her body was going to be going through some changes over the next couple years, Marinette was pretty sure they hadn’t been talking about sticking to walls and being able to hear everything for a five mile radius.

Was this some kind of weird special puberty? Did she need to go to the doctor? …was she dying ?

Halfway into an anxiety spiral, Marinette took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. 

At least today couldn’t get any worse.

Then, she heard a feral laugh coming from behind, as a towering man with bulging muscles and red skin grabbed ahold of her.

Of all his villains, King Krimson was one of the easiest to deal with. The man had a sizable ego - maybe he was compensating for something - and was easy to rile up because of it, which made him prone to being reckless and foolish. The only downside to fighting him was the substantial damage he could cause with his powered-up punches. Plus, he loved to take hostages, which put Ogumo in some sticky situations. 

Heh… sticky situations.

“WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT, PUNK?” bellowed King Krimson, lunging towards Ogumo. The girl caught in his arms screamed, but his grip on her was firm. 

Ogumo leapt up in time to avoid King Krimson’s punch. “I’d tell you, but that’s a bit of a waste of our time and neither of us want that.”

Engraged, King Krimson swung his free fist towards Ogumo once more. Dodging his attack once more, Ogumo extended an arm towards the villain, catching one of his arms with his web and yanking him to the ground.

“He falls for that every time…” Ogumo thought. “This is so easy it’s sad…” he taunted while shaking his head in disgust. “I’m not going to try to tell you to stop, because let’s be honest, you never do, but could you at least try to learn from your mistakes in these fights? I’m yawning over here! Now just put the girl down so we can all go home. I can get some dinner and you can work on your fighting strategy. I’d consider that a win for both of us. Sound good?”

King Krimson regarded Ogumo with a cold indifference. “YOU MUST THINK I’M A FOOL!”

“I mean… kinda?” Ogumo shrugged. “This is beat for beat how our last fight went.”

“THEN I BET YOU WON’T PREDICT-”

But Ogumo was already lip-syncing exactly what he said. “Said that too.”

“…YOU’RE A REAL HOOT OF A ‘HERO,’ YOU KNOW THAT?”

“I get that a lot.”

As Ogumo stepped closer, he was finally able to get a good look at King Krimson’s hostage. The girl was absolutely tiny - even shorter than Futaba, which was no small feat - and she looked terrified. But something about her… Ogumo didn’t know what it was.

Ogumo was about to kick King Krimson’s ass extra hard for picking on a kid, when the girl jerked within King Krimson’s grip.

It happened so quickly.

The girl grabbed onto King Krimson’s head with both hands and yanked hard . King Krimson had been startled by the sudden movement and loosened his grip on his hostage enough for her to slip out of his hands when she sent him flying.

Wow, the kid was pretty strong. Almost superhumanly strong…

Unable to dwell on that thought for more than a few seconds, Ogumo swung over to where King Krimson was lying in a crumpled heap on the ground and webbed him securely to the sidewalk. 

“Are the police on their way?” he asked, pressing onto the communicator in his ear to turn it on. 

“Already on it!” replied Futaba. “Go check on his hostage already, idiot!”

“I’m getting there, I’m getting there. Just had a slight slip-up on the game plan, that’s all.” Ogumo gave King Krimson a swift kick in the ribs for good measure, before moving back towards the girl he had been holding hostage.

“Well you can’t predict everything he’s gonna throw at you,” Futaba said. “People can surprise you.”

Ogumo scoffed. “Have you met my villains?”

“Fair point… so what was different about this time?”

Noticing that the girl was starting to move again, Ogumo realized he had to hurry back over to her pretty quickly or else there was a good chance that she would run away before he could get a solid explanation. “I’ll… tell you later. Got to go.”

“Kay! See you in a bit, big bro!”

Turning off the communicator, Ogumo crouched down next to the girl, who was currently hunched up against a wall, hyperventilating with her head pressed against her knees.

“Hey, you’re alright,” he said softly. “He’s gone. You’re safe. What’s your name, pigtails?”

“M-Marinette.”

“Nice name. I’ll help you through this, alright?” At Marinette’s hesitant nod, Ogumo continued. “Good, now I need you to take a couple of deep breaths for me. It’ll help you calm down.”

While a touch shakily, Marinette complied. “Good job, kid,” he said, patting her on the shoulder. 

The moment he touched her shoulder, he felt something tingling up his arm, like his Third Eye was trying to tell him something. 

Whatever she had, that was the exact same wavelength that Futaba showed him his third eye had.

“You’re… like me…” he whispered. “That- that explains so much!”

“What are you talking about?”

Ogumo was about to explain when he heard the sound of sirens in the distance. Crap. The police were on their way and they did not like Ogumo one bit. 

“Sorry, I gotta go. If I see you again, I’ll give ya a holler, promise!”

Akira never liked leaving conversations unfinished, but hopefully he’d see that pigtailed girl again… he had to.

And here he’d thought he was the only one… how was that possible ?

Chapter Text

Marinette was totally not freaking out, thank you very much.

This didn’t have to be a big deal, right? Sure, she got captured by a villain, met a literal superhero and tossed a guy over her head like it was nothing, but it wasn’t like that sort of thing was totally unheard of. Tokyaris had loads of villains, and almost as many heroes. 

On her way home, Marinette looked Ogumo up on the internet, surprised to find that he was pretty well known. He had his own wiki and everything, and his article on there had some weird trivia, such as the fact that he knew about and shouted out the owners of Ogumopedia… She was getting too distracted. The guy was weird, but he was a good hero. Just the other day, he’d stopped a runaway train all on his own!

As she scrolled through the news articles, Marinette remembered what Ogumo had said to her right before he’d left.

You’re like me…

That couldn’t be right. Could it?

She was Marinette Dupain-Cheng; just a normal girl with a normal life. There was no way she was anything like Ogumo. He was a hero, and she was nobody.

Unless…

That spider that had bitten her yesterday. Could it have had something to do with everything that had happened?

Ogumo meant spider in Japanese. Had Ogumo got his powers from being bitten by a spider like her? That might explain all the weird things that had been happening to her lately.

By the time Marinette got home, she was too emotionally and physically exhausted to do much other than collapse into bed. Her phone was long dead, so she plugged it in. She would have gone right to sleep if it weren’t for her phone buzzing with a series of texts from Luka. She must have missed them when her phone was dead.

Luka: Are you okay? I know the spider thing was probably a bit embarrassing, but it’s not a big deal, I promise.

Luka: Marinette?

Luka: I’m worried about you. Please reply when you get a chance.

Marinette: Sorry for not replying sooner!

Marinette: I kind of got caught up in a villain attack.

Luka: Really? What happened? Do you need me to come and pick you up?

Marinette: I’m fine, I promise!

Marinette: I’m home now.

Luka: That’s a relief. Are you sure you’re good?

Marinette: Never been better. Are we still on for lunch tomorrow?

Luka: I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Goodnight, Melody.

Marinette: Goodnight, Lu.

Unbeknownst to Marinette, her younger sister, Tina, had come up for bed and was very interested in who Marinette was texting. “Are you texting Luka again?” she asked, shoving herself next to Marinette so she could see her phone. “YOU ARE!”

“Stop being so nosey,” grumbled Marinette, turning off her phone. 

“He totally likes you, you know?” said Tina. “He literally has a romantic name for you.”

“That’s an inside joke,” Marinette insisted.

Tina laughed. “Is the inside joke that he has a crush on you?”

“I don’t think you know what an inside joke is,” said Marinette, failing to hold back the fond smile on her face. “Aren’t you meant to be in bed by now?”

“... maybe,” Tina grinned, before eventually admitting, “I wanted to wait for you.”

“Well, I’m home now, so I reckon it's time for both of us to get some sleep,” Marinette said, picking up Tina and depositing her in her own bed. 

“Gotta rest up for your date with Luka tomorrow,” teased Tina, with a yawn.

Marinette pulled the duvet over her. “Still not a date.”

“He’s still in love with you,” Tina mumbled, turning to her side.

Sometimes, Marientte wondered if Tina was actually right about Luka having a crush on her or if it was truly some flight of fancy of a little girl.

She wasn’t sure which she wanted to be true. 

Despite the appearance of that strange girl, another day had gone by, and it was back to business as usual. Not that many customers came by LeBlanc at this hour, so it was the perfect time for Akira to take things a little slower and collect his thoughts all alone…

Until he sensed that he wouldn’t be. Before the bell rang, he knew that in a few seconds, two teenagers came in, both with hair as blue as Yusuke’s.

“Alright, what are you two lovebirds looking for?” He spoke softly once they had arrived, barely even glancing in their direction.

The girl blushed bright red from her cheeks to the tips of her ears. “We’re not dating,” she mumbled quickly.

The boy nodded. “Yep, just good friends, isn’t that right, Melody?”

Akira kept his cool while trying to calm the obvious couple-to-be down. “Sorry, my bad. I’m not one to pry into other people’s business. Well, unless they’re being really uncertain about their order, but that’s a story for another day.”

But the moment he really looked at the girl, who was still trying to cover her embarrassment with her collar, that grin faded. The exact same girl King Krimson had captured the day before.

He knew he couldn’t exactly get her to talk to him without looking as suspicious as possible, so he hesitated. A good opportunity would strike eventually, he just needed to be patient…

And fortunately for him, Akira remembered the one thing Ann had taught him in their younger years when Shiho came into the picture.

Tweenage girls are very clumsy around their crushes. and he just planted the seed of embarrassment in her mind that he needed to cause the exact scenario he was hoping for.

When Akira handed Marinette her latte - which contained a truly staggering amount of cream and sugar - she reached for the wrong part of the cup, missing the handle, and Akira caught it seconds too late, so he wasn't able to readjust his grip.

In the end, he was lucky that the coffee wasn’t too hot, thanks to all the milk, so Sojiro won’t wring his neck out for scalding one of their guests with hot coffee.

“I’m so sorry!” he exclaimed, snatching up a rag to hand to Marinette. “I hope it doesn’t stain…”

Marinette took the rag from his hands, trying to scrub out the coffee stain, but it wasn’t budging. “This was my favorite sweater too…”

“Here’s an idea,” Akira said, as if the thought had only just come to him, rather than being pre-planned. “There’s a laundromat not too far from here. If you leave your sweater with me, I’ll wash it for you. That way, you two can continue your date.”

“Not a date!” Marinette hissed. 

“Right, right. You can continue your totally platonic hang out.”

Marinette hesitated for a minute, before pulling off her sweater and shoving it into Akira’s hands. “Try your best to get the stain out. I really like this sweater.”

Akira gave her a mock salute. “On it, Pigtails!”

He had her hook, line, and sinker.

This laundromat had always been where Akira had his most serious talks with people who knew about his secret identity. It was small, enclosed, quiet, and there was always an excuse to be there for long periods of time. 

He breathed in, taking in the cold air that had calmed him down from some fond memories he had here. His first plans made with Futaba, his embarrassing reveal to Sumire when he noticed his suit got caught in with the rest of his laundry, Morgana kicking his feet on top of the machine waiting for the conversation to be over, and… well, maybe those memories weren’t all so fond.

Eventually, Marinette pushed open the door to the laundromat, loitering in the doorway for a moment. “Did you manage to clean it?” she asked. 

Akira pulled the sweater out of the basket on top of the dryer, tossing it over to Marinette. “One sweater, stain free, as promised.”

“Wow… how did you do that?” Marinette marveled, examining the sweater for any signs of the coffee stain. 

“You get really good at removing stains when you’re a part of my profession.”

“... a barista?” Marinette muttered, giving Akira a suspicious glare. 

Akira’s eyes darted to the side. “Eh, one of those things. More of a family hobby though. Passes the time.”

Marinette narrowed her eyes at him. “Okay? Look, I’m gonna go…”

Crap, he was losing her already! “Alright, you and I both know this, so let’s get the bombshell out of the way. You’re the girl who fought King Krimson with Ogumo, right?”

“IT WASN’T ME I SWEAR!” Marinette exclaimed, her face going bright red. 

“Yeah, I guess you wouldn’t want to admit that to some random guy…” Akira falsely pondered, only to pull down the collar of his shirt, revealing Ogumo’s suit. He wore it under all his clothes in case he had to make a quick change. “But would you admit it to the guy who straight up saw you?”

“Ogumo has X-Ray vision?”

Akira closed his eyes and did a shooing motion. “What? Of course not, that’s dumb, my powers are all documented on my wiki, you should know that. Come on, you've checked the forums, right?”

“There are forums?” Marinette gasped. “I didn’t know…”

Akira whistled. “Wow, you must be really new to this.”

“I didn’t even know I had powers until yesterday…”

“Had any weird experiences with spiders lately?” asked Akira. At Marinette’s hesitant nod, he grinned. “Let me guess: you’ve been sticking to everything, your hearing’s gotten way more sensitive and you’re flinging webs everywhere.”

“Everything except the last one,” Marinette replied. “That doesn’t sound fun…”

“How old are you? Because I’m just gonna let you know I was sixteen when this happened to me - full disclosure: I do not know if this will affect puberty.”

“Gross…”

“Tell me about it. You learn to control it, though, so don’t worry. You’re lucky you have a teacher for this.”

“Who said I wanted you as my teacher?”

“Well, you haven’t stormed off yet, so…” Akira was still grinning. “Come on, you’re at least a little bit curious, right?”

“... what if I am?” Marinette asked.

“Then meet me on the roof tonight, and I’ll show you what being a hero’s really about.” Akira went to leave the laundromat but stopped in the doorway. “Oh, and bring a suit.”

“Where am I meant to find a suit?” 

Akira simply shrugged. “Be creative. Let’s see what you can come up with, my little bug.”

“You’re way less cool than your wiki says,” Marinette grumbled. 

Akira feigned mortal injury, slumped against the door. “Ouch, you wound me little lady! Next you’ll be saying my suit is lame.”

“I mean… it is kinda boring.”

“Ah, shot through the heart!” Akira exclaimed, staggering out of the laundromat. “Tell my girlfriend… I love her!”

He was kinda… weird, but Marinette supposed she could ask for a worse teacher.

Now all she had to do was make a suit by tonight.

No pressure.

It had been a hell of a time-crunch, but Marinette somehow managed to wrangle together a half-decent suit, pulling out red and black fabric from her secret stash. If Tom and Sabine thought her behavior was a little weird, they didn’t say anything about it. 

With her suit complete, Marinette checked that Tina was asleep before sneaking out through the skylight. 

Meanwhile, Akira tapped his foot, looking at a watch that wasn’t really there and wondering where Marinette was. 

“I get it if she got too busy at the last second, but I would’ve at least appreciated a heads up.”

He heard the ladder being used, its rusty noise being one he hadn’t heard since his first day as Ogumo, prompting him to turn around.

“Hey, ya made it! Ready for a swing?” Akira asked before he finally got a good look at Marinette’s outfit. “Whoa, you look amazing! Where did you get that?”

“I… made it?”

“You made this?!” He was so lucky she couldn’t see him blushing under the mask. “Well now you actually are making my suit look lame.”

“Sorry?” Marinette said hesitantly.

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Akira said, waving it off. “Anyways, you ready?”

“What will we be doing?” Marinette asked. 

“Nothing crazy for your first time. Just a routine patrol.” Akira stood up to stretch. “Oh, and make sure you call me Ogumo out in the field. Do you have a hero name yet?”

“I’m still thinking,” admitted Marinette. 

“Fair enough. I’ll call you Red for now.”

“Red?” 

“Your suit’s red,” Akira replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Well, more red than mine at least. I can call you something else if-”

“No, that’s okay. In fact… I’ve got an idea. How does… Scarlet Spider sound?”

Akira grinned. “It’s perfect.”