Ultra Responsibility (My Hero Academia X Spider-Man Reader)

Issue 18 - Dark Times Ahead

"We need to hurry, May. Tony said we're running out of time."

I was supposed to be asleep.

I was supposed to be dreaming about flying, or punching aliens, or whatever eight-year-old boys dream about when they fall asleep with superhero posters watching them like stern, colourful guardians.

Instead, I was crouched on my bedroom carpet, bare knees pressed into the fibres, peeking through the crack of my door like I was spying on my own life.

The apartment felt... wrong.

Not scary-wrong, like a monster under the bed. More like when you wake up, and the house is quiet in a way it's never quiet, like it's holding its breath. The lights were on in the living room. Suitcases were open. Clothes were being folded too fast. The air smelled like laundry detergent and panic.

Aunt May held a photo frame. She had it as if it were fragile glass and a fragile memory at once. Her thumb brushed the edge of it, over and over, and her eyes were shiny.

"Why is this happening?" she whispered, voice cracking. "She won't take Y/N."

Uncle Ben was by the kitchen table, pushing passports into a folder, jaw tight. His shoulders looked bigger than usual, like he'd decided to be a wall and a shield all at once.

"Don't worry," he said, but it didn't sound like one of his everyday don't worries. It sounded like a promise he was making with his teeth clenched. "We won't let her."

My stomach did that sinking thing, like the floor had shifted half an inch.

She.

I didn't know who "she" was, but I knew that adults only ever used one word when the name was too dangerous to say out loud.

I nudged my door open a little more. The hinge gave the tiniest creak.

Both of them snapped their heads up like they'd been waiting for it.

Uncle Ben softened immediately, like someone had switched him from hero mode to uncle mode in one breath. "Hey, sport," he said gently. "Did we wake you?"

I shook my head even though I definitely had been woken up, because it felt like the wrong answer would make something worse.

"What's going on?" I asked. My voice sounded small in my own ears.

Aunt May's lips trembled. She reached for me, then stopped, like her hands didn't know where to land.

Uncle Ben crossed the room and crouched so we were eye level. He smelled like coffee and the aftershave he only wore when he had to be serious. His hand settled on my shoulder, warm and steady.

"We're..." He paused. I watched him pick the following words carefully, like stepping over broken glass. "We're going on holiday."

"A holiday?" I repeated, because my brain was stuck on that word.

"A long one," he added, smiling too wide. Like if he smiled enough, the world would believe him. "To Japan."

Japan.

My brain flicked through everything I'd ever seen, heard, or read about Japan. Robots. Anime. Weird vending machines. Neon city lights. And...

"All Might!" I blurted, suddenly sitting up straighter, excitement sparking in my chest before I could stop it. "That's where All Might is!"

Uncle Ben's smile turned real for half a second. "Yeah," he said, like he was grateful for something that simple. "That's where All Might is."

Aunt May made a shaky sound behind him that might've been a laugh if it wasn't about to fall apart.