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

Issue 39 - The People v. Spider-Man Part 3

Ashido's trainers squeaked against the polished floor as she was guided up to the witness stand, still in her U.A. uniform like the court had dragged her straight out of a classroom and into a storm.

She raised her right hand, swore the oath, sat down.

And then she looked at me.

Not at Spider-Man.

At me.

My stomach did a slow, miserable flip. Because this was it, wasn't it? The part where people you care about get pulled into your mess and asked to bleed neatly into a microphone.

Matt stood, cane in hand, and moved with that careful confidence of his. The room settled a fraction, like it respected his posture even if it didn't respect me.

"Miss Ashido," he said, voice even. "For the court, could you describe your relationship with the defendant?"

Mina Ashido swallowed, then nodded.

"I've known Y/N since middle school," she said. "We were in the same class. He was... quiet. Kept to himself. People... they weren't nice to him."

Her jaw tightened, like she was biting back a bigger version of the sentence.

"He got bullied a lot," she continued, eyes flicking around the room like she didn't want to give the bullies in here any satisfaction. "He was the American exchange student. He was different. And kids can be... stupid cruel about different."

I felt my shoulders curl in, instinct. Like I was back there. Like I could feel lockers again.

Ashido leaned forward a little, hands clasped on the desk.

"I hated it," she said. "I hate bullies. So I stuck up for him. I tried to, anyway. I'd step in. I'd tell them off. I'd... fight his battles."

Matt nodded, walking slowly, letting her words land.

"And during that time," he asked, "did you ever see Y/N Parker retaliate? Did you ever see him fight back? Use any sort of quirk to get revenge, or harm anyone?"

Ashido shook her head immediately.

"No," she said. "Never. Not once. I tried to get him to stand up for himself, but he wouldn't. He'd just... take it. Like he thought he deserved it or something. Which he didn't."

My throat tightened. That sentence hit me like a shove.

Matt paused. I could feel him pivoting the question without looking at me. Like he was mapping a room by sound.

"And did you ever know, at any point, that my client was Spider-Man?"

Ashido let out this tiny, humourless laugh.

"No," she admitted. "It never crossed my mind. Not once. I mean... now it makes way too much sense, but back then? No."

"Sense," Matt repeated, turning slightly toward her. "In what way?"

Ashido's expression softened, and I hated how fast it made my chest ache.

"Spider-Man was always there," she said. "For me. For people. Like... like a guardian angel."

The prosecutor shifted in his seat. A few people in the crowd murmured. Mina kept going anyway, like she'd decided she wasn't going to be intimidated by suits.

"He saved me during an explosion at his birthday party," she said, counting it off on her fingers. "During our graduation when a villain crashed it. From armed thugs. And most recently... during the Sports Festival."