Chapter 125 - 58-59

Chapter 58: Between Hope, Kindness and Paranoia

It had been two days since the night Izuku had chased the thieves Tinkerer and Rocket Racer, only to tussle with the Pro Hero Silver Sable and then fight the villain known as Electro. As such, he had spent all yesterday in bed, resting off the marathon of injuries he had sustained. His mother almost had a panic attack from seeing how badly beaten up he was, especially due to him getting repeatedly zapped over and over.

However, the teen did something she didn't expect. He completely complied with resting, and instantly went to sleep for several hours. Izuku would then get up to eat every once in a while, but stayed asleep most of the time over those days. And as the morning sun shone into the room on the third day, the teen woke up with a long yawn before doing a few stretches.

'Urgh...still feeling a little off.' he thought as he fully stood up, cricking his back as he kept stretching. Several minutes passed at this, the teen yawning again before going to the bathroom and doing his morning business. And as he left that little room, he went to his desk, soon glancing down at the notebook there. Taking it in his hand, he skimmed through it, looking at the entries over villains he had fought as Spider-Man.

'Still feels unreal that I'm doing this. And yet...' He came to a stop at the Kingpin's entry, only to see nothing had changed since he made it after talking to Nezu. The sight made him sigh, 'I still haven't accomplished a thing since I started working with Mister Nezu. Can I really-'

"Izuku! Breakfast is ready!" exclaimed a voice, interrupting his thoughts.

Turning to the bedroom door, he replied back, "I'll be there in a minute!"

Taking one last glance at the notebook, he closed it and put it back on the desk, sighing again as he left the room. There, he saw that Himiko was already sitting at the dinner table, almost drooling at the sight of the breakfast Inko had prepared. He wanted to chuckle at the sight before walking over and sitting down beside her. The duo soon thanked the mother for making the meal before digging in, Himiko chowing down twice as fast.

But as the meal happened, Izuku saw a certain look on his mother's face. It was one of pure determination, something she didn't show very often. If the teen was being perfectly honest, he had noticed that his mother was more...aggressive recently. Not only that, ever since he had come home after fighting the Enforcers, Izuku had noticed that Himiko had been more hesitant around him as well. He had planned to ask what was going on, but the question never left his mouth. Despite everything, he decided to continue to eat, his mind instead going over how his last few days as Spider-Man had gone. It was like a loop in his head, just failure and confusion, over and over again.

'It never changes.' he thought as he chomped down on a biscuit. 'Even with a quirk, I can't catch a break. Guess Gran Torino was right. I am unlucky.' He closed his eyes for a second, sighing before eating a bit more of his meal, 'Then again, at least I have a chance of being a hero now. I just...keep messing up.'

A few minutes of more depressing thoughts later, the trio finished their meal, Inko soon speaking up at this, "Alright you two, I need you to come with me today." They both turned to her, the mother staring at Izuku before giving Himiko a slight glance of the eyes, "We're going to FEAST. They're doing a soup kitchen today."

"But-" Izuku started, only to see his mother glare at him.

His mouth promptly came to a stop as she pointed at the teen, "Don't you 'but' me, young man. You've been running yourself ragged as Spider-Man, and it won't kill you to take another day off. Besides, Gloria told me that Uraraka and her friends are also coming to help, and it would help you both to talk to people your age."

Himiko slightly shrunk back at that, knowing how little she knew about being social while Izuku bit his lip. He waited a moment before responding, his mind trying to choose words carefully as he said, "But...what if Mister Nezu sends me a new place to check out?"

"Then you can do it tomorrow." Inko instantly replied, Izuku opening his mouth to respond again, only for the mother to flash her palm at him, "Don't. I know you've rested the past two days, but another day won't hurt you. UA and Nezu and all of them aren't going anywhere."

He wanted to respond, but Izuku knew she was right. He still had time after all. "Alright." He slowly said, his mother smiling before getting up and walking into the kitchen. The teen didn't turn to Himiko at this, instead getting up as well as he walked back to his room. But if he had, he would have saw the worried look on the girl's face. instead, Izuku just went back to his desk, his eyes glancing over to the Spider-Man mask sitting on the top of the piece of furniture.

And with a long sigh, he spun around and walked over to his closet, picking out an outfit as he left his vigilante costume hanging on a nearby chair. It seemed Spider-Man would not be making an appearance today.

A long, piercing groan escaped the mouth of a certain scraggly scarfed man named Shouta Aizawa as he stared at the papers at his desk. He was currently grading a set of essays, which were currently getting on his last nerve. The man had assigned his class to do a 500-word essay over the dangers of vigilantism, which he had spent the last two days lecturing about. And despite what he considered to be the best lectures he had ever done, it seemed as if the students weren't listening, as this fifth essay was another disappointment.

To be fair, his class had stayed a disappointment recently. No matter what he did, no matter how hard he pushed them, they just couldn't seem to learn. It had all started when he had been assigned the case to capture the vigilante known as Spider-Man. What followed was the teacher accidentally eavesdropping on his students one day and finding out they were fans. That was fine, as it didn't really matter to the hero, only for the worst investigation possible to happen. Aizawa had to go out of cover, something an Underground Hero never does, only to get insulted by old foggies who claim to be retired heroes, kicked out of buildings due to sighing about some quirkless kid, and then yanked around by his boss who for some reason was suddenly interested with a vigilante. A vigilante that was the reason everything had gone wrong with Aizawa's life recently.

Now, Aizawa had worked with vigilantes before. Granted, they were usually individuals who's quirks weren't suited for heroics, and they handled really petty crime. However, this one was different. This vigilante took on gangs, hero killers and actually did investigations. And as he had recently found out, the one called Spider-Man was someone who had been given a ton of power, and he had no idea how to use it. Not only that, he was also quirkless, which meant no ten years of experience like all his other students. That and the kid had records of being a delinquent. Lots and lots of records...that Nezu wanted to ignore.

And it wasn't just that. Aizawa had lost his best student, Katsuki Bakugo, to the vigilante. Granted, Bakugo needed a lot of work, but unlike the rest of his class, he had drive. He strived to constantly improve, something so unbelievably rare in this day and age. Instead, he had lost the kid so Nezu could get a bounty lifted and put a vigilante in his class. A vigilante that when Aizawa first met, was convinced that the kid shouldn't even touch heroics. He had no years of having a quirk, was a shaking jittering mess, and obviously needed years, maybe decades of therapy.

TLDR; everything was a mess for the hero, and in his mind, there was only one individual to blame: Izuku Midoriya, also known as Spider-Man.

Aizawa then skimmed the sixth essay, only to see it was Shoto Todoroki's. He was a...subpar student. He never fully tried in heroics class, only using half of his quirk. The only reason Aizawa hadn't kicked him to the curb was because of the kid's father, Endeavor. In other words, another problem he had to deal with.

Releasing another long sigh, he began to read the essay, only to raise an eyebrow. Despite the subject being about how vigilantism is something you shouldn't do, the words on the paper were...not exactly what he expected. The first paragraph introduced the topic, only to start talking about Spider-Man. Aizawa leaned back for a second as he continued to read, now seeing the boy go back and forth on the paper about vigilantism, mainly using Spider-Man for every example in a small written up debate.

And as he finished the paper, Aizawa sighed again and put it on a pile. But as he did this, the groan was heard by another man as they walked into the room.

"Something wrong Aizawa?" asked a voice, the teacher turning to its owner, only to start glaring.

"I'm grading papers." Aizawa growled, "What do you want, All Might?"

"No need to be rude." the skinny man replied as he sat down beside him, "I was just going to ask you about tomorrow's heroics lesson. You see-"

"I'm not helping you." Aizawa interrupted as he glared back at the essays.

The response made the hero glare at the teacher, "Now Aizawa-"

"Don't." Aizawa hissed as he glanced back at the scarecrow-like man, "I know it was you that messed up my class, so-"

"You were going too far!" All Might interrupted this time, pointing at the man, only to cough up a smidge of blood. Wiping it a second later, he continued to talk, "They're children Aizawa, and you were pushing them too far."

"I wasn't pushing them far enough, and you know it." Aizawa replied, his voice hissing and growling at the same time.

"You were." All Might responded, "They are just children, and they need to be shown the ropes. You have no need to push them into the deep end on the first year."

Aizawa rolled his eyes at this. "Tch. Figures a musclebrain like you would think that way."

"What does that mean?!"

"I mean that you're reckless. Always have been, and always will be." Aizawa remarked, his glare returning as he pointed at the man, "I don't teach reckless, arrogant snots. I teach my students to make sure that that first week they go out there and be actual heroes after graduating doesn't get them killed by some stupid punk with a knife."

All Might's already beady eyes narrowed at this, "And you believe you should push them harshly because you believe that?! That you should just lie to them every time you can?!"

"If it helps them become better heroes, yes. I'll do whatever it takes, and I won't apologize for my methods." Aizawa then leaned over at this, his eyes now narrowing, "You see, unlike you, I can't just flex my muscles and solve all my problems. I have to use my brain. And my brain is telling me I have to push these kids now, or their first week of being true heroes will end with their heads in a cold case box at the police station."

All Might's body almost shook at the response, the already frown on his face growing as he really wanted to change into his muscle form at this. But with a long sigh escaping his nostrils, he then asked, "If that is the case, why now? Why haven't you been acting like this since the start of the semester?"

Aizawa let out a small growl at this, only to glance away, "Circumstances happened."

The other hero tilted his head at this, "The Sports Festival? I know some things happened, but-"

"No. Something...worse happened. Something that involves the students and Nezu." Aizawa hissed as he looked back down at his essays, "And I will fix it if its the last thing I do." His eyes stared back at Todoroki's essay, his pupils glaring at one hyphenated word: Spider-Man.

"Well, well, well..." chuckled a certain snake-headed woman as she patted Izuku's shoulder, "Been a while since I've seen your hide around here! How you been?"

"Hey Gloria." Izuku barely replied back, the teen trying to show a smile. "Sorry I haven't been around. I've been...busy."

"I figured." Gloria giggled before turning to Inko, showing the biggest smirk her snake face could display, "That and Inko here told me how your classes ramped up recently." Inko gave her a grin back, Gloria chuckling again before glancing back at Izuku, "Still, good to see you. You too, Himiko."

"Thanks Gloria." Himiko responded while shining a fang-filled grin. Despite the girl's usual issue with interacting with...well, anyone that wasn't the Midoriyas, Himiko had found that talking to Gloria was very easy. Honestly, it was easy with any person at FEAST for her, along with the rest of the Midoriyas.

"Welp, its good to see you three, but the soup kitchen won't get started for another hour." Gloria turned to Inko while pointing to the building behind her, "We're just getting some stuff started, and Uraraka told me that her and her friends will be coming in a bit. We're waiting on them since they're such good helpers."

"Oh? It's not because they're free help?" Inko cheekily asked, making Gloria let out a guffaw.

"That too. Though we always put it under," Gloria turned and winked at Izuku, "'Hero training', so to speak."

"Yeah yeah..." Izuku replied, his face showing a slight blush before walking past the snake woman. Gloria and Inko giggled at this before following the teen, the four soon entering the building. It was here that they split up, Inko helping Gloria in the kitchen while Izuku and Himiko went into the main gym area. There, they found the usual residents of the place, Izuku sitting down at a chess game going on between two of elders, Himiko joining right beside him.

And before long, over thirty minutes passed...

It was here that Izuku and Himiko were now outside of the building, the two discussing a few mundane things when they noticed a certain group walking up to the building. At the front of Ochako Uraraka and Tsuyu Asui, the two in cheerful conversation. Right behind them was Tenya Iida, the tall boy talking to Kirishima and Mina while Jirou walked beside them in silence. After that was a set of floating clothes, signifying Hagakure, who was talking to a newcomer for Izuku and Himiko. This one was a tall girl with long purple hair and a huge grin on her face, the teen skipping in her step with a red-haired older male teen walking right beside her.

"Who are those two?" Himiko asked as Izuku now noticed the newcomers.

"Dunno. They look kinda familiar though." Izuku commented as he stood up from the chair he was sitting on. Himiko turned to him, only to see a blank expression on Izuku's face as he added, "Guess we should introduce ourselves."

Himiko glanced back at the group, her body slightly shivering before turning back to Izuku, "Um...could you go first?"

Izuku saw her expression, a small frown appearing on his face before staring at the incoming teens. Despite how much he wanted to show confidence, he knew that Himiko's reaction is the same one he usually has when meeting new people. Biting his lip for a second, he took a small breath before walking down the main steps of the building.

"Hey Midoriya!" called out a voice, the teen seeing it was Uraraka. She was waving to him as the group all turned to see the teen approaching them.

"Hey Uraraka." Izuku replied as he came to a stop at the bottom of the steps. "You're early."

The girl shined a big grin at this, "Yeah, we figured it'd be best to get her a bit before things started." She pointed to group behind her, "That and we got some new-"

"Hi there!" exclaimed a voice, making Izuku almost jump as the long purple haired girl suddenly appeared in front of him, "I'm Nejire Hado! You're Midoriya, right? Uraraka told me all about you! So, do you just volunteer here, or are you a hero student like me? What do you do here? Why do you volunteer here? Wha-"

Bonk!

"Ow!" Hado yelped as hand lightly karate-chopped her head, the girl turning to see it was the older red-haired teen, "Harry! I told you to stop doing that!"

"And I told you I would stop if you stopped harassing people."

"I'm not harassing him! I'm just asking some questions!"

The two began to bicker at this, Izuku blinking at the exchange. He hadn't moved a muscle ever since the girl named Nejire Hado had appeared in front of his face, the teen wondering if she had almost triggered his spider-sense. And as this happened, Uraraka leaned over to the teen and whispered, "Sorry about them. They're two third-years that asked to come along today."

Reality switching back for the teen, Izuku turned to her and shook his head, "Oh uh...i-i-its cool." He glanced back at the two, "Though um...should we break them up or something?"

"They'll stop bickering soon, kero." Tsuyu chimed in, Izuku now turning to her as she put a finger to her chin and asked, "How have you been Midoriya? We haven't heard from you in a few days, kero."

"Oh...right." Izuku replied while scratching the back of his head, "Sorry about that. Things have been...a bit crazy on my end."

"Crazy how, kero?"

"Can't be more crazy than with us." Jirou added as she appeared beside Tsuyu, "Especially with our classes-"

"UGH!" Mina moaned, interrupting the punk rock girl, "Don't even talk about that! I came here to not think about that!"

"Yeah, same..." Kirishima sighed, a big frown on his face.

The sight made Izuku rapidly blink as he saw no smiles on the ones that had told him they were his friends. It was here that he realized how miserable they all look. Each one looked like they had just gone through the ringer and a half, as if everything had just gone wrong in their life.

'What happened?' Izuku thought as he saw what looked like a pure fog of depression hit the other teens. He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, only for the two that were bickering earlier to suddenly reappear in front of the teen. "Whoa!"

"Hi there! Sorry about that!" Hado chimed in, waving at the teen. She then got into Izuku's face again, "So, where do we go to start helping? Do we just go inside, or do we have to sign up somewhere, or do we-"

"Let the guy breathe." the other teen added as he grabbed Hado's shoulder, cutting her questions. The red-haired teen was a smidge taller that Izuku, and he shined a big grin as he said, "Hey there. I'm Harry Osborn, nice to meet ya!"

"Izuku Midoriya." Izuku quickly said, his whole body shaking like a leaf for a few seconds, "Um...nice to meet you."

"Same. So, you help out here, right?"

"Yeah..." Izuku slowly replied, his eyes rapidly blinking as he stared at the older teen for a minute. A click then went off in his brain, making Izuku gasp, "Wait a minute...you were the guy who won the UA Sports Festival last year!"

Harry laughed at this, "That's me! Though uh..." He began to scratch the back of his head at this, "I...got third this year. Tamaki whooped me in the semi-finals."

"Ugh. Same." Hado moaned as she stuck out her tongue, "He's just too good at fighting."

Harry started chuckling, patting Hado's side for a second before glancing back at Izuku. Hopping in place, the green-haired teen gulped before saying, "W-w-well, let me introduce you all to FEAST. Hey Himi-" He turned to see that some of the group was now talking to Himiko. "Er...guess I'll just do it." He glanced back at Harry, "Follow me please."

The introductions into FEAST went by a lot slower than usual. This was mainly due to Hado repeatedly asking everyone too many questions, a problem that Izuku had to admit he had never faced before. Granted, social interaction wasn't something he knew very well, but this was definitely something he didn't know how to deal with. As such, he mainly guided Harry through the place while Gloria and Inko took Hado and Himiko continued to talk with the girls. The sight made Izuku smile, seeing Himiko interact with others her age before turning back to Harry, Kirishima and Iida.

"Well, that's just about all that's here. The soup kitchen won't get setup for a few more minutes, so what else do you all want to do?"

The trio shared a glance, only for Harry to cross his arms and stare back at Izuku, "My kouhai here told me you want to be a hero too, right? Is that why you volunteer here?"

Izuku nodded back, "Yeah! I uh...I saw an interview of All Might and he said that heroes don't do charity anymore these days and I wanted to do something like that."

"I see." Harry shined a big grin at this, "That's wonderful!" He put his hand to his chin at this, "Sounds like something we should have learned at school...guess UA is slacking at that."

"Say, Osborn-senpai!" Kirishima chimed in, Izuku and Harry turning to the teen, "Midoriya here is super strong. You should challenge him to an arm-wrestle!"

"Oh?" Harry raised an eyebrow at that, "Is that so?"

Izuku shook his head at this, his face slightly red as he replied, "W-w-well...I kinda did beat him. And his friend the other day. I uh...I'm kinda strong and-"

"Not kinda, you are!" Kirishima interrupted while pointing at Izuku, "You could lift anything like its nothing! Its awesome!"

"I'm not that great." Izuku shook his head again, "I-"

Harry glanced between the two before patting Izuku's shoulder, making him turn to the red-head, "Well, I've trained with Kirishima here and if he says you're strong, you probably are. Would you mind if I have match with you?" Izuku stared up at him, a big frown on his face. The sight made Harry just smile, "You don't have to say yes."

Izuku blinked at this, thoughts spilling out in his brain, 'Wow. He's really nice. I...I better not turn him down.' Taking a deep breath, he nodded back, "Sure. I'll arm-wrestle you. Though uh...just to warn you, I might hurt you."

Harry let out a laugh at that, "Don't worry about me." He pointed to his chest, "I can take any pain!" He then frowned at that, "Well, almost..."

Izuku and Kirishima chuckled at that before they walked over to a table. Sitting on either side, Izuku gripped Harry's hand with his own. He instantly felt the older teen's grip. Kirishima's grip was rough and jagged, just like his quirk while Tetsu's was firm and cold. Harry's though...it was like it was heated, yet slightly shaking compared to the other two.

Kirishima put his palm over both their hands and asked, "You two ready?"

Harry instantly nodded while Izuku did a small gulp before glancing up at Kirishima. The teen's face instantly told everything Izuku needed to know. It was the same face Kirishima gave Izuku when he was about to arm-wrestle Tetsu. It was saying two words: Don't throw.

Taking a deep breath next, Izuku glanced back at Kirishima and slowly said, "Ready."

"Alright. On three. One...two....three!"

Kirishima lifted his hand a split-second later as the hands gripping each other pushed. It was like two palms slamming into a wall, both applying pressure like they were weights pushing down a person. The push instantly made Harry gasp, letting out a "Whoa!" as he felt Izuku begin to push his hand down.

One second passed as Izuku's hand began to push Harry's down, the teen already feeling his arm twist as Izuku keep pushing against him. "Urgh...he's right." Harry muttered out, "You're good." And as those words left his mouth, Harry's eyes narrowed as he added, "But I'm...better!"

Izuku went wide-eyed as he suddenly felt a push back. Harry's grip on his own hand began to tighten as Izuku felt Harry begin to push their hands back into the place they had started at. And as he began to push, Izuku felt himself bite his lip as he saw their hands go back to the start. But as this happened, Izuku's eyes went to Harry's face, now seeing a confident smile. It was a smile like All Might's, one full of inspiration, optimism and power.

And as he saw that, Izuku's face morphed into his own smile. It was the one that he wore while he was wearing the mask. The one he had on while he was web-swinging. The grin shined at this, Kirishima seeing this and smiling as well as he whispered: "So manly."

Izuku's eyes then went back to the hands that were stuck in a deadlock, only to tighten his grip. Harry slightly flinched at this, only for Izuku to suddenly push. The force instantly made Harry gasp, only to feel his hand slam into the table a split-second later.

Izuku had won again.

"Whoa!" Harry yelped as he released himself from Izuku's grip, soon waving his hand as he flinched in pain. "Yow!"

Izuku also flinched at this, soon blubbering out apologies, "Oh, I am so sorry! I-I-I didn't mean to hurt you, I-"

Harry shoved a palm in front of Izuku's face, "Don't." He put the palm down as he added, "Don't apologize."

"But-"

"Don't." Harry chuckled, shaking his head. He then patted Izuku on the shoulder, "Don't apologize for winning."

"Yeah!" Kirishima chimed in, "That was awesome! How'd you beat Osborn-senpai so quickly?!"

"I uh...well um..." Izuku muttered out, only for Harry to stare up at Kirishima.

"Don't make him nervous. He doesn't have to tell me anything." Izuku turned to Harry at this, his eyes slightly wide as Harry glanced back at the teen. Shaking his head again, Harry added, "Don't worry about it." He glanced down at his hand and flexed it for a second, "Though I gotta say, that was rough. You got one heck of an arm."

"Um...sorry."

"I told you to not apologize." Harry repeated before glancing back at Izuku.

"Still...uh..." Izuku looked away at this before muttering out, "Sorry about that. I...still don't know my strength sometimes."

Harry nodded back at this, "Its cool. And thanks for the match. Nice to know there's still someone stronger than me out there. Though I gotta say, they told me you should totally be a hero with your strength." Izuku looked back at Harry, only to see him staring down at his hand, "They're not wrong." He looked back up at Izuku, this time showing a new smile. It was one that Izuku knew he had seen before, only for Harry to say, "But I get it if you don't want to instantly go down that path."

Izuku blinked at this, only to shake his head, "No. I...I want to go down that path. I want it more than anything."

The older teen's smile grew at this, "Then you should just do it."

And as those six words hit Izuku's ears, Harry's face began to morph in his mind into another's: Martin Li's. Li had said something similar to the teen, which had pushed him to go even further as Spider-Man. The words repeated themselves in the teen's head, the face of Harry returning in his eyes before he did a small nod as two words came out of his mouth, "Thank you."

A little later...

Izuku had to admit, no matter how many times he went out as Spider-Man, helping others at the FEAST always felt just as good, if not better. Today was no different as he helped out at the soup kitchen. Him, Kirishima, Iida and Harry had mainly helped with the heavy lifting before helping give out food, the group all lining up and working in an almost perfect sync. Soon, there was a giant line, the group serving everyone they could. Harry and Nejire quickly commented on how busy it was, both surprised at just how much they had to do in such a short amount of time.

And as they served person after person for a few hours, Gloria dismissed the teens so they could have their own meal. As such, they soon gathered around a table, all eating and talking up a storm. Inko had also joined them, sitting beside Himiko as she helped the girl talk to the other girls her age.

"So, how have you girls been doing at UA? Anything exciting?" Inko asked them first, only for all the girls except Hado to frown, "Oh? What's wrong?"

"Meh." Mina moaned, "Let's just say things have been...not fun."

Inko tilted her head at this, "Why's that? Are the classes hard or-"

"No." Mina shook her head, only to let out a hum, "Then again, kinda. Let's just say our homeroom teacher has gone like...through a villain arc or something. He has been brutal recently."

"No kidding." Hagakure added, "Aizawa-sensei is so not cool."

As that name left the invisible girl's mouth, Himiko and Inko almost flinched. The shared a quick glance, having a mental conversation for a second before looking back at the girls. "So...this Aizawa-sensei. Why has he been so bad?"

"No idea." Jirou replied while crossing her arms, "Since like a week ago, he's been on our cases everyday. Especially when Bakugo left." Inko and Himiko felt their bodies trying to flinch as they heard that name, only for the punk girl to continue, "Like, I know nobody in the class except maybe Kirishima liked the guy, but...I have no idea why he's so angry that that guy left."

"Yeah." Hagakure chimed in, "I mean, its like him leaving made Aizawa-sensei go on a war path. He keeps pushing us more and more every day." The two watched the set of floating clothes scrunch up before flopping over, showing the girl was now slumped down onto the table, "Heck, some of us were thinking of quitting hero classes. I thought for sure Kaminari was gonna bail."

"Same." Jirou sighed, "Its like everything just flipped itself on its head. Makes me wish we could figure out why so we could make it stop or something."

"Meh..." Mina moaned out as she tried to imitate Hagakure, flopping onto the table, "I just want it to end."

Inko opened her mouth to respond, only for nothing to come out. She knew exactly what was going on here. After all, everything they had just said was part of the consequences of her own actions. Just hearing about Aizawa made her think back to the night when she first met him and Nezu, the argument that followed, and the obvious disdain the man had for her son. Even now, it seemed that encounter's consequences were still happening. Not only that, the mother knew that her son, the one who had no idea that she was partially responsible, was sitting just a few feet over.

Her eyes turned to the girl sitting beside her, Himiko Toga. She knew Toga would be thinking the same thing, and she was right. Himiko's eyes had now switched to Izuku, watching the teen talk to Harry and Kirishima before glancing back at the girls. Though she said nothing about the information the two had just learned, her face told Inko everything she needed to know. Izuku hadn't heard the conversation, but if he heard even one word of it, it would be a disaster in the making.

As such, Inko knew exactly what to do next: Change the conversation. And with a small bite of her lip, a bulb went off in her head, making her glance back at the girls and ask, "Well, if that's the case, let's talk about something else." She turned to smile at Himiko for a second, the girl noticing the grin before the mother looked back at the girls again, "You girls have any plans tomorrow? It is the weekend after all."

Mina and Hagakure shared a glance, only for Tsuyu to speak up, "I don't have any, kero."

"Same here. Just going to do some training." Uraraka added before turning to the others, "How about you all?"

"I've been so tired that I haven't planned anything." Mina moaned out, Jirou nodding in agreement while Hagakure's clothes did what the others suspected was a shrug.

"I see." Inko turned to Himiko again, "Sounds like they're free. And if that's the case..." The mother watched as the girl just blinked at her, her expression showing just how little she knew about being social. As such, Inko turned to the girls and asked, "You girls don't mind if I ask you a favor, do you?"

They all shared a glance before Uraraka replied, "What is it?"

Inko put a hand on Himiko's shoulder, "As you all probably know when you hung out with Izuku last time, Himiko is in the same basket as him: She doesn't have many friends."

"Wha-" Himiko tried to say, only to see Inko turn to her with a smile filled with kindness. It was the one she used all those days ago when Himiko first met the mother.

A second later, Inko glanced back at the girls, "You wouldn't mind showing her around town, would you? Maybe go shopping and such?"

The girls all blinked at this, all turning to each other and doing a small, quiet conversation. Moments later, Mina gave the biggest grin she could as she replied, "Sure! We'd love too!"

Himiko went fully wide-eyed at this, shocked as she just heard that multiple people would want to hang out with someone like her. The idea was something she believed was impossible...and Inko had just made it happen like it was nothing. The girl couldn't believe it. It was so unbelievable that water began to form in her eyes, the girl blinking the tears away.

And as Inko saw this, she mentally shook her head, 'Poor girl. She really is just like Izuku.' She turned to the girls, 'I hate doing that, as it makes it look like I'm using them, but Himiko needs all the help she can get.'

Taking a small breath, the woman began discussing with the girls with what they could do tomorrow, Mina and Hagakure perking up at the idea of having fun while Uraraka giggled at the sight. Tsuyu tried to show a smile, Jirou doing the same as they all began to talk. They began to go over what they could do, only for Hado to appear and join in as well. She had been talking to Gloria, asking the woman a pile of questions while eating at the same time.

And as this happened, the scene switched to the other side of the table as a question rang out, "So it's true? You work with X-Less?!" Izuku gasped as he saw Harry nod back at his question. Izuku leaned back at this, "Wow. Even though he's an Underground hero, his profile is known for him not liking interns."

"Yeah, he's uh...let's just say he's a rough and tough kind of guy." Harry chuckled while scratching the back of his head. "But he's really helped me out with my quirk." He let out a long sigh at this, "I just...well, my quirk wasn't enough for me to win the sports festival this year."

"Oh. I'm sorry for bringing that up then." Izuku instantly replied, his face now showing a big frown.

Harry just shook his head at this, "Eh, its fine. I mean, I won last year, so it's cool. Besides, Amajiki deserved it after kicking my butt." He leaned back at this, "Speaking of, I totally gotta get Mirio over here sometime. He'd love to help out. Heck, it might be good to have Amajiki come too. It could definitely help him in the talking department."

Izuku wanted to ask what that meant, only for Kirishima to speak up, "So Midoriya, what have you been up to? We haven't seen you since we met up at the mall."

The teen slightly frowned at that, "Well uh...let's just say I've been busy. Bunch of classes and stuff."

"Same." the teen moaned, "Like...UA is awesome and all, but its been brutal recently."

"Oh? I saw you all...react earlier." Izuku said in the nicest tone he could make. "What happened with your class? Is it your teacher?"

"Well...it's our homeroom teacher." Kirishima admitted as he crossed his arms, "I don't know why, but he's been really pushing us recently. He says it's for the final exams, but he feels like..." He did a small shrug, "I don't know. It just feels like he wants to punish us."

"I am in agreement!" Iida chimed in, chopping the air at the same time, "Our teacher has been very strict as of late." He stopped chopping the air at this, the teen slightly looking down at this, "I...do not know why, but he has been pushing us considerably. Several classmates have even been thinking of leaving."

"Wow." Izuku muttered out, his frown growing before adding, "I'm sorry that's been happening to you all."

Harry slightly leaned up at this, "Don't apologize for their teacher. Aizawa is like that with everyone." He crossed his arms at this, "Granted, I don't think I've heard of him going this far, but it's still like him."

"You've had him too?"

Harry shook his head, "No, but I heard enough about him in my first year." He then shined a small grin, "But let's stop talking about school. What else do you do Midoriya? Surely this isn't the only charity we could try."

Izuku blinked at this, only to start talking about the little odd jobs he would do sometimes at FEAST. This was followed by a new conversation, Harry suggesting that they should make a chat and see if they could meet up again. And as this continued, Izuku had to admit that Harry was probably the nicest individual he had met from UA since Uraraka.

Before they all knew it, another hour or so passed after this, the group then helping clean up most of the soup kitchen. As this happened, most of the students announced they had to leave early so they could get to the train, the people at FEAST thanking them. This was followed by Uraraka telling Izuku one thing, "We should meet up again. I'll text you later."

"Um...yeah." Izuku replied as they both shook hands.

"Yeah! Same with the rest of us." Harry added as he patted Izuku's shoulder. "That and I totally gotta have Mirio challenge you."

"Oh uh..." Izuku glanced away, his face slightly flushed as he muttered out, "Y-y-you don't have to do that."

"Sure I do!" Harry chuckled as he pointed to himself, "I'm his best friend, and I wouldn't be a good hero-in-training if I didn't recognize a good challenge." He patted Izuku again, "Cheer up man. No need to keep a frown on your face."

Izuku blinked up at the teen, the other hero students all smiling at the interaction. And as this happened, Izuku did a small nod back before saying, "Okay. Thanks Harry."

"No prob. I'm just being a good hero student and all."

As those words hit Izuku's ears, before his brain could process what he was about to say, he asked, "What kind of hero are you trying to be?"

"Who, me?" Harry pointed to himself, only for Izuku to nod. In response, Harry's grin grew as he replied, "Well, my best friend Mirio wants to be a hero that will save a million lives, so I'm gonna save a million and one as the Laser Hero: Cardiac!"

The whole group went slightly wide-eyed at this, mainly due to this being the first time they had heard of such a statement. In response, Kirishima let out a "So Manly!" cheer while the others nodded in agreement and Iida chopped the air. As for Izuku, he felt slightly elated, as he knew he wanted to be like that one day.

A few minutes later, Izuku waved goodbye to the hero students, only to feel something shift in his pocket. Blinking for a second, he reached down and grabbed his phone, pulling it out and tapping it. There, the screen shifted to a message, showing one text had been sent from Nezu.

Nezu: Good news Young Midoriya! I made contact with Ryukyu and she's agreed to let you meet Eri tomorrow. I'll give you the details shortly.

As the teen read the text, Izuku shined a big smile on his face. 'Today's been a good day.' he thought as he walked beside his mother and Himiko, the teen putting away his phone a second later. 'And tomorrow might be better.'

It was here that his mother spoke up as she saw the smile on his face, "Something good happen?"

"You could say that." Izuku replied as his grin grew, "Looks like things might be looking up."

The sounds of keys clicking on a keyboard rang out as a certain silver-haired Pro Hero stared at her laptop screen. Image after image appeared on the computer, her eyes scanning over each picture that went by. This was followed by her opening several text documents, the woman pausing for a second to sip a cup of coffee before getting back to work.

"Spider-Man..." she whispered as she continued to type, letters appearing on a document set as a report to the hero commission. The woman had to admit, the individual she had fought two days ago was not what she had been expecting. After that battle, she had reported to the commission president, the woman very angry that Sable had failed her duty, only for Sable to reveal to the president about Rose's interference. This was followed by a back and forth that Sable could only describe as...irritatingly blank.

Basically, the commission president had confirmed to Sable two things: First, Sable started by telling the president that based on what the hero had observed, Spider-Man could be recruited. She admitted the vigilante had a distinct talent, one that needed to be refined, but it was definitely a diamond in the rough. Unfortunately, this was turned down, as the president declared that if they recruited the vigilante, not only would the commission lose face if the truth got out, (Which it would eventually since they would have to at some point give the vigilante a license) but also that this truth could break their hold on the hero society. This honestly sounded ridiculous to the hero, but as she continued to talk to the commission president, she realized that it was pointless. Her boss seemed to have a distinct hatred for the vigilante, something Sable already knew about, but found it was possibly greater than she ever could imagine.

But that was not all. Despite Sable's complaints about the issue, it was the second thing that was most worrisome. Turns out, the Kingpin has interest in the vigilante, and had told this to the commission president. This was all that she told Sable, but the hero knew better. It was blackmail, something the Kingpin was very good at. At least, in terms of what Sable knew about the man.

The hero had offered to go after the villain several times, telling the president she could easily just kill the man, but it was always rejected. Despite how easy it was to insert a bullet into the man's head via sniper rifle, the Kingpin had many 'contingencies' over the commission. This of course included more blackmail, certain 'deadman's switch' plans that would expose the commission if anything happened to the Kingpin, and a bunch of other things the villain would do that Sable couldn't even begin to imagine.

In other words, the hero was stuck.

And so, she stopped typing and saved her report before opening an online video. There, it showed the vigilante she had been hunting, this video being the one where he took on the villain called Mysterio. She watched as Spider-Man slightly bumbled his way through the fight, slowly figuring out how to beat the fishbowl-wearing man.

The sight made her lean back in her chair, taking another sip of coffee before muttering, "It seems this will be more complicated than I thought." She put the cup down on the table, crossing her arms as she added, "Maybe..."

And before she could complete her thought, a small buzzing noise rang out in the room. Glancing down, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a phone, only to sigh as she saw who was calling. "Rose." She whispered before tapping the phone and putting it to her ear. Letting out a long deep breath, she responded with four words: "What do you want?"

Chapter 59: The Girl Who Admires Spider-Man

A long deep breath escaped a man's mouth as he stood in the middle of a large room. The man was huge, his form being one of pure raw muscle from the top of his bald head to the bottom of his feet. His fingers flexed themselves for a second as every nerve in his body tingled, his eyes closed as he cricked his neck. And as he exhaled another breath, he opened his eyes to see he was now surrounded by thirty men. They were all musclebound, most in fighting positions as they stared at the man in the middle of the room. Sweat poured down their faces as they stared, as they all knew what was about to happen.

And with one more breath releasing itself from the man's mouth, he slowly yet firmly yelled, "BEGIN!"

"GET HIM!" one of the thirty roared back, only for all the men to rush down the one in the middle. It had begun.

"Come." the man in the middle of the room whispered, the first of the thirty reaching him a split-second later...only for a fist to slam into the man's face.

"Blaugh!" the first of the thirty yelped as they were sent flying back, their body crashing into two others.

"Get the boss!" Another yelled as three more leapt at the man in the middle of the room.

"You're gonna lose today, Kingpin!" another roared as they threw a punch at the large man.

"Weaklings." Kingpin sighed as the three from before all leaped on top of the tall man, only for two giant muscled hand to grab two of their backs, the man flinging them off him a second later. One crashed into the man that had yelled their boss's name while another flew into two more thugs, only to be joined by the third man that had leapt onto the Kingpin. This was followed by three more thugs slamming their bodies into the Kingpin's back, only to bounce off his giant muscular body.

"Worthless." Kingpin growled as another thug leapt at the man, trying to do a kick to the Kingpin's head. But as they were about to strike, Kingpin's right hand grabbed the man's mid-air foot. The thug let out a scream as the hand squeezed the man's foot, crunching sounds ringing out through the whole room as some flinched at the noise. This was followed by Kingpin spinning around, swinging the man like a bat, knocking five more thugs away. He then threw the thug into a group of three more thugs, knocking them all out in one blow.

"He's just one man! We can-urk!" one of them yelled, only to let out a wheeze as a giant hand suddenly grabbed the thug's neck, soon feeling Kingpin squeeze him like a squeaky toy. Seconds later, the man's body was flung across the room, knocking out three more thugs as he barreled into them like a ragdoll. And as this happened, a punch to the face caused another thug to go flying, crashing into the wall on the other side of the room without hitting anyone. This was followed by three more thugs all punching the Kingpin at the same time, all hitting his sides, only for one to get grabbed by the shirt and flung into another. The third gasped at the sight, trying to backpedal as Kingpin spun around to face the thug, a resounding backslap smacking the thug's face before knocking him off into another wall.

Twenty men had fallen, and barely a minute had passed. The remaining ten all backpedal and formed a circle around the towering man, the Kingpin cricking his neck at the sight. "Well?" he asked as his eyes glanced over each thug, seeing the utter fear in every single face.

And as another second passed, one of them yelled, "Get 'em!"

All ten charged at this, some leaping to tackle the man while others prepared to punch and kick. But as this happened, the Kingpin just stretched out his right arm and sweeped it around, instantly clotheslining three thugs. His arm came to a stop a split-second later, all three flying off his arms as the other attacks hit the man's body. Three bodies leapt onto the Kingpin, trying to topple him over as three punches and a kick smacked his frontal body. But the blows did nothing as he reached out and grabbed two that were hanging onto him and threw them into the other four, knocking them over like bowling pins. He then grabbed the final man, yanking him off his body with a single stretch of the arm. The thug let out gasp, only for the Kingpin to release him...and grab the thug's neck a second later.

"Pathetic." Kingpin commented as he lifted the thug up, the man's face going blue as the Kingpin did the tiniest squeeze. Sighing at the sight, the Kingpin flicked his hand a second later, causing the man to crash into the rest of the downed thugs.

"Worthless. You're all worthless." Kingpin sighed as he walked over to the edge of the room, a new thug walking up and giving the man a towel. Kingpin took it and began to wipe his forehead, only to barely feel anything. "Didn't even work up a sweat." He glared down at the thug that had just given him the towel. "Get rid of them. I want forty new ones tomorrow," He leaned down at the thug at his next words, "And make sure they can actually fight."

"Yes sir." the thug squeaked out as the Kingpin exited the room, the man glancing back at the knocked out thirty thugs with a gulp going down his throat.

And as the Kingpin entered another room, he walked up a nearby desk, glancing down to see a cellphone sitting there. Taking it in his hand, he tapped the screen a few times, only to put it to his ear a second later. This was followed by a voice coming through the device, the Kingpin growling as he said, "Report. And it better be good news."

"Yes sir." a voice replied, "As you requested, I was able to get the deal on the shipments. I'll have them delivered to Hammerhead within the next week."

"Good. And your other two assignments, Rose?"

A small pause followed this, only for the Rose to respond, "I am sorry to say that neither have been accomplished. That being said, I do believe this time will be the end for Spider-Man."

"Oh? And why is that?" Kingpin asked as he walked around the room and put the towel from earlier on a nearby rack.

"Let's just say I believe I've predicted exactly where he'll go next."

"Very well." Kingpin sighed as he walked to the other side of the room and opened a door, revealing it to be the entrance to a closet full of clothes. "And the girl?"

"Still working on it. I have a lead, but based on the information I've been able to obtain, the girl is under Sir Nighteye's protection. She's not at his agency, but he has moved her somewhere that none of my contacts have been able to find."

A long pause followed this as the Kingpin stared at a rack of black and white suits, the man's eyes shifting between a few. And as he stared at the clothing, he let out a small hum before saying, "Fine. Continue your search. But know this, Rose..." His hand began to slightly tighten around the phone as the tone of his voice lowered, "I will not allow a vigilante to interfere with any of my operations, even the decoys. And as for the girl, I must have her. That power she wields should not be wielded by any other. Understood?"

And despite the low, dangerous tone ringing out of the man's voice, the Rose instantly replied, "Understood sir. I will find her...and kill Spider-Man."

Meanwhile...

"And that is another web cartridge done." Izuku commented to himself as he closed the square capsule in his hand. The teen was currently upside-down in his room, his feet sticking to one strand of webbing that was dangling from the ceiling as he leaned over and put the cartridge down on his desk. "Looking good. Now I need to-"

"Hey Izuku, before you go-ack!" yelped his mom as she opened his door, walking into the room before flinching at the sight of her upside-down son. Her face switched from a neutral expression to anger as she added, "Izuku! How many times have you told you to not do that...that ceiling-hanging thing!"

Izuku frowned at the scolding, the teen's eyes glancing back and forth for a second before responding, "Um...I think three times?"

"Izuku..." Inko growled, crossing her arms at the same time.

"Sorry." Izuku replied as his feet let go of the web strand, his body instantly flipping upright as he landed perfectly. "I was just-"

"I know." Inko interrupted, sighing at the same time, "I know you were trying out your quirk and..." She shook her head for a second, "Sorry. I'm still getting used to that."

"Sorry mom."

"Its fine." Inko took a deep breath next, closing her eyes for a second before saying, "Now, as I was saying before I walked into you doing...that, I gotta go to the hospital. So, I need you to help Himiko before you leave to meet that little Eri girl you told us about."

"Okay." Izuku nodded, "I'll uh...try to help. Not sure how much I can."

"You'll be fine." Inko responded as the two walked out of Izuku's room, "Just remember to get home before it gets dark out, alright? Don't go on some Spider-Man vigilante crusade or something."

"I...will try not too. I am gonna have to be Spider-Man to meet Eri."

"I know. I just...I'm just worried is all." Inko sighed again as she shuffled up to the front door before glancing back at her son, "Just remember, don't go overboard. If you get in over your head, call the heroes."

Izuku didn't respond with words for that one, instead just nodding again. His mother then gave him a small hug and kiss on the cheek before leaving, the son waving goodbye to the woman. A few minutes later, Himiko walked into the main room wearing a pair of red shorts and a pink sleeveless top, along with some sandals. "How do I look?"

"Looks...good?" Izuku replied in a very obvious unsure tone. He began scratching the back of his head at this, "Sorry, I'm not good at fashion."

"Oh. Okay." Himiko glanced down at herself, scanning her new clothes over, "I think it looks cute."

"When uh...when are you supposed to meet the others?"

Himiko looked back up at Izuku, "They said they'd be at mall by noon."

Izuku turned his head to stare at a clock on the wall, seeing that was two hours from now. "I'm supposed to meet Eri a little after noon, so we should be good." He glanced back at Himiko, "We'll take the train. You cool with that?"

"Sure." Himiko nodded, Izuku nodding as well before he went back into his room. Closing the door behind himself for a second, he glanced down and pulled up his shirt. There, he saw that his Spider-Man costume was under his shirt, same with lower part being under his pants. He then looked up and grabbed his mask that was sitting on the desk before equipping his webshooters, hiding them in the long sleeve shirt he was wearing over his costume.

He glanced back a second at the desk at this, seeing several notebooks lying there, along with his hoodie he usually wore. Biting his lip at this, he mentally said, 'Since I don't know what my plans will be after meeting Eri, might be best to not wear the hoodie. I'll just keep some spare web cartridges in my pant pockets.'

Leaving his room a second later, he walked over to the front door, only to see Himiko shivering like a leaf. The sight made him slightly frown before asking, "Nervous?"

"Y-y-yeah." the girl replied, a slight gulp going down her throat. "Sorry."

Izuku shook his head, "Don't apologize. I'm the same way."

She glanced up at him, her eyes widening as she watched the one she considered to be her only hero admit something so simple. Himiko wanted to respond to that, but after staying with the Midoriyas, she had found that Izuku really was like her, even if she couldn't believe it sometimes. As such, Izuku opened the front door, the duo soon leaving as Izuku closed and locked the frame behind him.

Two elbows laid down on a firm wooden desk as their owner let out a sigh. They slightly slumped over, their head in their hands as they stared down at the two papers below them. One paper was inside an open folder, which detailed a series of investigations over the vigilante known as Spider-Man. The other was in a separate folder, which was the very small file on a certain girl named Eri. The paper had almost no information on the girl, just her suspected age, height, and the usualy basic

info taken from a medical exam at the hospital.

The one staring at the paper was the Dragoon Hero: Ryukyu, who was releasing a long sigh out of her mouth as she took the other paper in hand. On it was several paragraphs over random sightings on the vigilante known as Spider-Man. It mainly went over how he had suddenly appeared on the scene one day, only to take on villains that heroes should have been stopping. And as she read the file again, as she had already both folders in and out several times, she had to admit...she wasn't a fan of the vigilante. Granted, she didn't usually have an opinion on vigilantism, but even she knew that the teenager, and it was very obvious Spider-Man is a teenager, had no right to do the acts he had been doing.

But that led her to stare at the other file. Within those few papers in that folder, it went over the little girl she had been taking care of the past week or so. When she was found and taken to the hospital, the hero soon found out that the girl had been malnourished, abused and basically taught nothing. Heck, she was surprised the girl could talk considering how little the girl knew about the world.

And yet, this girl was somehow connected to Spider-Man. The two cases couldn't be more distant, and yet somehow both knew each other. At the start, Ryukyu couldn't fully believe it. After all, even though Sir Nighteye had told her that he found evidence of the vigilante at the crime scene where her and some other heroes saved Eri, there was no sign of him that night. Granted, Nighteye's intern confirmed to the others that he fought Spider-Man, but wouldn't give many details. He barely talked at all about it, which Ryukyu suspected was because of Sir Nighteye telling the intern to not say anything. The man loved his secrets too much.

But then she had received that email. It was from Nezu, someone that she didn't really try to interact with that often, as it always led to trouble, but this was different. This time, Nezu had told her one thing: Spider-Man wanted to meet Eri. Somehow, the principal of UA knew Spider-Man (Which shouldn't have surprised the hero when she started thinking about it) and now she was waiting at her agency building for the vigilante. Even now, she was thinking back about the call she made to Nezu, discussing why he wanted the vigilante to meet the little girl, only to find out that Spider-Man had been wanting to meet her ever since that night to check up on her.

It sounded...nice. Almost too nice.

Sighing again, her eyes turned to door of her office. Getting up, she walked out of the room and went to the guest quarters of the building, soon reaching a certain door. Creaking it open, she glanced inside and saw the girl known as Eri, who was still asleep. Seems she was going to sleep in today, something Ryukyu missed doing sometimes.

Closing the door back, the hero spun around and walked back to her office, her mouth opening as she voiced her thoughts, "I hope this works." She then pulled out her phone, staring at a text message from Sir Nighteye. The content was something that made her face form the biggest frown, as she knew it was about to get very complicated very quickly.

And with one last glance back at the guest room door, she bit her lip as she whispered, "I hope today goes well for you, Eri." She looked back down at the phone again, "Cuz I have a bad feeling about this."

Some time later...

Ryukyu's bad feeling walked off the bus, a smile on his face as he remembered what he had just done. One train trip ago, he had dropped off Himiko with a few of the girls from Class 1-A, the teen waving them off before getting on the train again. There, he rode for a good while before getting off himself, Izuku now walking up to the street where the Dragoon Hero's agency building was. He stared up at the place, a large brown building with a banner showing off the hero on its front.

'So cool.' he thought as he continued to stare, his smile growing before glancing around. 'But I can't just go in as Izuku Midoriya. Mister Nezu said I shouldn't show Ryukyu my civilian identity due to my...bounty.' That last thought made his smile disappear. He still couldn't believe he had such a thing, especially since he was convinced that he had barely done anything as Spider-Man despite so many others telling him otherwise.

After seeing no one was really around, mainly just civilians walking the sidewalks, the teen turned to a building across the street from the agency and saw a small alleyway to its left. 'That'll do.' Slowly walking over to the alleyway, he glanced around again, making sure no one was watching before turning invisible. Wallcrawling up the building next, he quickly made his way to the top and while still invisible, switched to his Spider-Man costume before putting his regular clothes under his suit. Reminding himself that his web cartridges were in pant pockets, he switched them to a small pocket he had in his costume before checking his shooters, 'Looks good. Now, Mister Nezu said I have to meet Ryukyu through her agency rooftop entrance...'

Looking back at the agency building, the teen fired a webline straight at the roof. Smiling at the sight, he tugged on the webline before attaching to the roof of the building he was on before smirking to himself, 'Always wanted to try this. Let's see how good my balance is thanks to this spider quirk.' he mentally chuckled before starting to walk on the webline, only to shine the biggest grin under his mask as he easily walked over the street on just a thin, barely visible webline. 'So cool.'

A few seconds later, he was on the agency building roof, the teen noticing a small entrance with a door. Walking up to it, he knocked on the door and waited a few seconds. The teen could feel a bundle of nerves racing up his back as he waited, knowing he was about to talk to a top 10 Pro Hero. It was so cool. Almost too cool, as he then facepalmed himself.

'You idiot! You forgot your hero autograph book!' he mentally yelled at himself, only for attention to instantly be diverted.

Creeeeak!

Removing his hand from his face, the sound of the door creaking open rang out, causing the vigilante to backpedal. A second later, his eyes went wide as he saw the No. 9 Hero, Ryukyu. The woman was just a bit above his height despite being several years older, and was wearing her traditional hero costume. He could feel a definite presence from her, not something that would trigger his spider-sense, or any kind of killing intent, but rather...a presence of strength. True strength, and not just normal power, but something more. This...was a true Pro Hero before him.

"Hello." She slowly said, jolting Izuku back into reality as he now saw that she was scanning him over. The woman was wearing a slight frown, her unhidden eye narrowing as she looked Izuku over from top to bottom.

"Uh...hi." Izuku squeaked out. "I um...er uh...hi."

She raised one eyebrow at this, her frown still there before she asked, "So...you're Spider-Man, yes?"

Izuku felt a lump go down his throat as he replied, "Y-y-yes."

A second of silence followed, only for her to say, "I see. Alright." She spun around and gestured to the teen, "Follow me."

Blinking under his mask, the teen didn't move for a second before beginning to follow, soon closing the door behind himself as he entered the building. He then saw they were at the top of some stairs, the hero quickly making her way down. Staring at the sight for a second, the teen began to follow, whispering to himself, "Wow. So cool."

One story down later, the hero opened a door and Izuku followed, only to find himself in a room that looked like a traditional Chinese layout in a distinct coloring of red. Decorations of golden dragons were on the pillars of the room, complete with a large desk that the hero quickly went around and sat down at. Following her, he made his way to another chair in front of the desk, only to see the hero nod to it.

Sitting down, he glanced back up at the hero, his body almost flinching as he saw her stare at him for a second. It was like she was scanning him all over again, her gaze deepening before she spoke up, "So...it really is you. Even though you haven't shown your quirk or anything, I can tell. You're Spider-Man."

"That uh...that's me." Izuku squeaked out again.

She did a small nod, "Relax, I'm not gonna do anything." She leaned back in her chair at this, "Though I will say, I do have some questions. For starters..." She reached down and pulled out her phone a second later, quickly tapping it till it showed the text she had received from Nezu, "How do you know Nezu?"

'I had a feeling she was gonna start with that.' Izuku thought as he stared at the phone. Last night, Nezu had told Izuku that he wasn't allowed to say anything about their mission against the Kingpin, as the HPSC has heroes and their sidekicks in their pockets, which meant they could be Kingpin's pockets too. Nezu assured Izuku that Ryukyu wasn't one of them, but that didn't mean her employees weren't. The teen had noticed that no one else was in the office, but that didn't mean no one was listening in. In other words, he had to be careful, which was something he would admit he was not good at.

"That's...a long story." Izuku slowly replied, "One that uh...well um..."

He was already messing up, and he knew it. Thankfully, Ryukyu had already caught on as she interrupted, "Don't." She let out a long sigh, putting a hand to her face and rubbing it, "I can tell that you don't wanna talk. If Nezu wants secrecy, he'll get it no matter what. That being said, there are still things I need to know."

Her gaze switched back to the glare as she placed her phone down on her desk, "I'll start with this instead: How do you know Eri?"

Izuku felt his mouth recover at this as he asked, "Is...is she here?"

"Answer my question first."

"Uh...well..." Izuku leaned back in the chair, his mind going over that night. It was here that he realized he still didn't really have a story to tell. In fact, he could barely think of what to say again. And as his mind went over this, he went over just the beginning, the first encounter with the girl.

Taking a second to collect his thoughts, the teen began. He told Ryukyu how it had been a chance encounter, one where he found her running down an alleyway. After that, he told her about the attack from Electro, the hero now taking out pencil and notepad as she wrote down the villain's name. And as she listened, her glare began to falter as he finished telling her about his encounter with the electric villain. But as that part ended, the teen suddenly clammed up. She could tell despite not being able to see his face that something was really wrong.

"Then um...well, I got into another fight." he slowly said after a few minutes of silence. "I...well..."

"What's wrong?" she asked, her glare now fully gone. There was a look of worry on her face now, the teen noticing this as he felt himself slightly soften as well.

"Well..."

"Spider-Man?!" gasped a third voice, only for Izuku to feel something slam into him. Surprised his spider-sense didn't go off, he glanced down to see a certain white-haired horned girl. She looked up at him with wide eyes, "Is it really you?!"

"Eri?!" Izuku replied, the girl nodding back. He then smiled widely under his mask as he put his hand on her head. "Hey there! I came to visit!"

"Really?!"

Izuku nodded back, "That's right!" He chuckled, only to feel her tighten her grip around his leg. "Whoa!"

He then saw tears begin to form around her eyes as she whimpered out, "I missed you."

"Oh." Izuku whispered out before leaning down and hugging her. "I'm so sorry."

Ryukyu watched the exchange with widened eyes. After all these days with Eri, she had never seen the girl express so much. It was like looking at a totally different individual. The sight just made her blink as the girl glanced up at vigilante and asked, "What happened? Why did you disappear like that?"

"Well...that's um..." Izuku tried to say, "Sorry about that. After what happened after you got knocked out, I couldn't just go back to you."

"But why not?! They said they found me without you!" Eri asked as she continued to cling to his leg. The teen chuckled as he patted her back before helping her readjust the hug.

"That uh...well, let's just say I lost a fight after you got knocked out and...well, after I saw that Ryukyu was going to save you instead, I decided to leave you with her." Izuku replied, Eri blinking at him as Ryukyu's eyes glanced between the two. She had a feeling there was still a lot left she didn't know.

He then put a hand on her shoulder, only to hug the girl again, "I'm sorry I left. Some stuff happened after you were knocked out, and I...well, I failed to help you." He released the hug and gave her a small bow, "I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

Eri just stared at him, the girl now releasing her hug around his leg. She watched as the teen fully kneeled down and bowed to her, the girl blinking at the sight. That is, till she let out a: "Okay. I forgive you." She then hugged him again, the teen feeling the girl try to tighten her grip while doing so.

Izuku could feel some water forming in his eyes at this, only for Eri to suddenly release the hug as she asked, "Can I show you my room?"

The teen slightly flinched at this, "Well uh..."

Eri turned to Ryukyu, "Can I?"

Izuku glanced back at the pro hero, Ryukyu's eye going between Izuku and Eri. She had never seen the girl show this kind of initiative. Granted, she was still showing her usual frown, and her movements were still sluggish, but she was showing initiative. Shrugging a second later, Ryukyu gestured with her head to a nearby hallway while saying, "Go ahead."

Eri tried to smile at that before tugging on Izuku's hand, "Follow me." Following the girl a second later, they went down a hallway before walking up to a door, Izuku opening it for her. There, he saw it was a basic bedroom with a nice big bed, some drawers filled with clothes and toys scattered across the room. Walking up to the bed, Eri hopped up on it while Izuku sat down beside her. As they did this, Ryukyu stayed just outside the room, almost closing the door before listening in.

Izuku glanced around at this, only to look back down at the girl, "So...this is where you've been staying, huh?" Eri nodded back, Izuku chuckling at the sight, "Nice place."

Eri looked away at this, "T-t-thanks. Um...Ryukyu set it up for me."

"That was really nice of her."

"Yeah." Eri slowly replied, Izuku glancing down and seeing the still big frown on her face. "I still don't get why she wants to help me, but she's been really nice."

"Well, that's what a hero does." Izuku chuckled, Eri glancing up at her at this. Izuku blinked as he saw the big frown appear on the girl's face. There was a hint of curiosity in that expression of hers, but he could tell that she didn't know what to say. It was like looking at a younger mirror of himself. Alone in the world, as you were something that others hated for something out of your control. The only difference was he had a bully hurt him while she had a villain hurt her. As such, he knew he had to switch subjects. Standing up, he then asked, "Say, wanna have some fun?"

"Fun?" Eri tilted her head at this, the teen grimacing at the response.

"Uh...yeah. Let me set something up for you." Izuku commented as he pointed his wrists to the ceiling. Eri watched as webbing shot out and stuck to the top of the room, the teen slowly making a webbing swing in the middle of the place. Chuckling at the sight, he spun around and lifted the little girl up, placing her on the swing as he pointed to the two makeshift webbing ropes. "Hold on to these, alright?"

"Um...okay." Eri whispered as her tiny hands grabbed hold of the webbing. And as he saw her tighten her small grip, Izuku smiled under the mask before giving her a slight push. The little girl gasped as she felt herself start to go back and forth, only to let out a "Whee!" as he continued to lightly push the swing.

"There we go. Fun, isn't it?" Izuku chuckled as he continued to swing her, the girl trying to form a smile on her face as they did this for a few minutes.

"Yeah!" Eri replied as she swung back and forth. And as the girl continued to have fun, a certain pro hero's eyes stared into the ajar crack of the room's door. The sight made her smile, glad to see a spark of happiness in the girl that had been so reclusive and hidden ever since she first met her.

A few minutes passed at this, Izuku soon letting her down as he sat back down on the girl's bed. He then glanced up at the clock Eri had in her room before looking back at the girl. "So, what else do you want to do?"

Eri looked up at him, her smile trying to form slowly fading as she then whispered, "Well uh...could I ask you something?"

Izuku nodded back, "Sure."

"Um...are you better now?"

Izuku tilted his head at this, "What do you mean?"

"Well uh..." She glanced away at this, the frown reappearing on her face, "I know how you were last time we met. You know, with Mister Li and all."

"Oh...right." Izuku felt himself flinch at that one. He had to admit, the girl cut like a knife, though she had a point. Last time he saw her was when Martin Li died, then she got knocked out a little bit later before getting rescued by Ryukyu. And as that last memory went through his head, he patted the girl on the shoulder as he decided to be honest and say, "I'm still...recovering, but I'm okay."

"I'm sorry..." Eri muttered, looking down at the same time.

Izuku shook his head. "Don't be." He then turned to glance around the room, seeing a few stuffed toys. Pointing his wrist at one, he fired a webline and tugged on it, slinging the toy into his hand before looking back at the girl, "Say, why don't we have some more fun?"

Eri blinked at him for a second before slowly nodding, "Okay."

And so, another hour or two passed, the teen playing with the girl. Ryukyu watched as they did this, the two no longer talking about hurtful topics or memories, just a teen helping a little girl figure out what fun is. The sight made her smile, only for another hour to pass and Izuku saw the girl was starting to get tired. Knowing it was a little early to go to bed and almost too late for a midday nap, the teen told her he had to get going.

With that, Eri hugged him again as she whimpered out, "I don't want you to go."

Izuku could feel his heart strings strain at that. He slowly gave her a hug back, "I'm sorry." he said before whispering into her ear, "Don't worry, I'll come by another day. Until then, be good, okay?"

"Okay."

Thwip!

The sound of a webline firing out of a webshooter rang out as a certain teen did a small diving swing across a fourway. "Woohoo!" he exclaimed as he completed the swing and fired another shot of webbing. It had been an hour ago since he had left Ryukyu's agency building, the teen feeling the wind hit his face as he swung around.

'I feel great.' he thought as he swung down another block.

And as continued to do this, he felt a buzz go off in his pocket. Glancing down, he pulled out his phone, seeing it was another text from Nezu. This time it was a list of locations, the teen blinking at it before seeing at the end of the text that Nezu wanted him to call as soon as possible.

"Guess I could do that right now." Izuku commented to himself as he adjusted his swing before landing on a nearby rooftop. There, he put the phone to his ear as he called the principal. A few rings later, a voice crackled through the device.

"Hello young Midoriya! Did you enjoy your time with young Eri?"

"I did. Thanks for that." Izuku sat down at the edge of the rooftop. "So...I saw that list you sent me."

"Indeed. Did you look up any of the locations?"

Izuku shook his head, "No. I decided to call you first."

"I see. Very well. Give me one second here." Izuku could hear the sound of a lighter clicking before an exhale sounded out. Nezu started talking again a few seconds later, "So, as with these locations, this is part of a new plan I have devised for you to use to fight the Kingpin."

The teen blinked at that, "What do you mean?"

"Well, as you can probably tell, the last few...let's say, missions I've had you done have resulted in nothing but traps. As such, I did some digging, and it seems a certain agent of Kingpin's is using these locations to catch vigilantes like you."

"Really?"

"Oh yes. You see, every location, even the one where you chased down that semi you bugged, are all hero commission owned places. As such, I found that one of the main commission agents seems to be tasked in eliminating you."

Izuku blanched at that. The hero commission was going that far for him. A small-time vigilante. 'No way.' he thought, 'Why would they go that far? I've barely done anything.'

"Judging by your silence, you're probably a bit baffled."

"Well uh...yeah. I mean, why would they go that far?"

"Because they wish to eliminate every threat, even the smallest ones."

"Oh."

"Yes. Oh." Nezu chuckled, the stoat leaning back in his office chair and taking another puff of smoke. After the past few conversations with the teen, he knew it was best to not compliment him, as it seemed to confuse the young man. Instead, he found the more sideways approach was needed. "As such, I have a new plan. To start, I want you to scope out the final commission location that I originally wanted you to go for." Izuku opened his mouth to interrupt, but Nezu was quicker, "I know what you're thinking. However, this time I want you to only scope it out. If anything seems fishy, do not engage, as it means its just another trap, and we will not spring it."

"Oh...okay. That sounds good." Izuku replied before glancing down at the phone, staring at the list of locations. "And the rest of these?"

"I'll tell you after you scope out the commission area. If something happens, I want the next plan to be as flexible as possible."

Izuku shrugged at this, "Alright. I get ya."

"I knew you would." Nezu chuckled, "Now, when would you like to start?"

Izuku stared at the phone for a second, his mind going back to Eri as she had told him that he was her hero. 'Maybe...maybe that's all I need.' Letting out a deep breath, he slowly replied, "I'll do it tonight."

"Alright. I look forward to hearing from you soon."

The principal instantly hung up, the teen blinking at the phone. Nezu always seemed to do this, always quick and to the point. As such, he put the phone away and began to start swinging again, his thoughts swirling as he passed down a block, 'Better get myself some supper first before hunting tonight. I'll delay going home till I'm done with this last location.' He then fired another webline as memories of earlier went through his head, 'Eri...I'm glad you're alright. Here's hoping you have more happy days ahead.'

Bzzt! Bzzt!

That was the sound of a phone vibrating as a somewhat-short woman with sea green hair going down to her shoulders. She had a big smile on her face, complete with an orange bandana on her head. The rest of her costume was rather simple, a blue sleeveless shirt with puffy shorts, gloves and boots. Her eyes shifted around as she felt the vibration go off in her pant pocket, the woman currently walking down a hallway filled with others.

"Good morning, Ms. Joke!" a passing person said as they waved to the smiling woman. "Here to see a patient?"

"Yes." the Pro Hero responded back, doing a small nod. She then saw the individual, who was a nurse, about to reply, only to shake her head, "Don't worry, I know who I'm visiting."

"Alright. Good luck to you." the nurse replied before walking away, Ms. Joke glancing back at the medical worker for a second before fast-walking to the end of the hall. She took a quick right next, slipping into a nearby hallway bathroom. There, she put her in hand in her pant pocket and pulled out her phone, sighing as she saw she had just missed a call.

"Blast it. Doesn't he know this job is already hard enough without the constant updates?!" she growled, her grin disappearing as she tapped the phone a few times before putting it to her ear, "What?!"

"Now now, no need for anger. I was just calling for-"

"An update. I know." she groaned, rolling her eyes. "Why don't you just leave the investigating to me? I'm going to check this hospital for that stupid girl and I'll tell you when I find her."

"Chameleon..."

"Shut it Rose." the shapeshifter hissed, their face starting to morph before going back to Ms. Joke. "I'm already ticked off that I have to use my quirk like this. You know I hate impersonating heroes."

"Its the easiest way for you to get all the info. Those idiot doctors and nurses respect heroes too much to-"

"I know." she interrupted. "I just...hate it. Don't worry, I'll get it done."

"I know you will. I'm sorry." Rose replied, a second of silence following before he continued to speak, "Well, regardless of your hatred for the job, please update me when you can. I'm about to finish my other project, and if I can find the girl now, it'll fix everything."

"I know." Chameleon repeated, biting her lip for a second before asking, "Wait...what's the other project?"

And when she heard those next words come out of Rose's mouth, she knew he was grinning as he said, "Oh, just something I like to call...The End of Spider-Man."