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

Issue 90 - Demons

Patrolling Esuha City on foot felt wrong in my bones.

Not bad wrong. Just... wrong. Like putting a fish in trainers and telling it to enjoy the pavement.

I walked with my hands in my jacket pockets, head turning every few seconds out of habit, checking rooftops, fire escapes, alley mouths, windows, anything high enough to matter. Beside me, Fat Gum looked like he could have been taking a casual evening stroll if casual evening strolls involved being built like a brick wall with a smile. Kirishima stayed close, red hair catching the streetlights every time he turned his head, while Amajiki drifted along like a ghost trying to apologize to the air for existing in it.

"Thanks again for letting me shadow you tonight," I said to Fat Gum. "Bit last minute."

Fat Gum laughed, easy and warm. "It's no problem at all. Besides, with the kind of experience Spider-Man's already got, I had no worries about letting you help out."

He hooked a thumb at Kirishima. "And Red Riot here vouched the hell out of you."

I looked at Kirishima. He puffed his chest out proudly. "I mean, yeah. You took down Abomination. Kinda hard not to bring that up."

Amajiki immediately folded in on himself more. "Can we not bring up the giant murder monster again... I was already thinking about going home..."

Fat Gum gave him a huge grin. "There's that weak heart of yours again!"

Amajiki made a strangled little noise that sounded like he'd just been personally betrayed by gravity.

Kirishima, thankfully, changed the subject before Tamaki melted into the curb. He bumped my shoulder with his. "So how's the new agency thing going with you and Ashido?"

I nearly tripped.

"Subtle," I muttered.

He grinned. "Come on, man. I want details."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Can't really give any. Mina and I are kind of under an NDA."

Kirishima blinked. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

He whistled low. "Man, that sucks. What kind of hero work needs that much secrecy?"

I looked straight ahead and did my best impression of someone who absolutely did not have an Avengers logo burned into his brain.

"No idea," I lied.

Fat Gum chuckled beside me. "Must be some interesting work study if it's got you this cagey."

I shrugged like I hadn't spent the last few days trying not to randomly grin in public.

We kept moving.

Esuha at night was alive in a different way than Tokyo. Less towering, more grounded. Bright shopfronts. Bicycles rattling by. Restaurants half full. People heading home from work, from dates, from bars, from wherever ordinary people got to go when they weren't carrying a double life around like luggage.

I still didn't love walking.

I glanced up to the rooftops again and sighed. "I feel like a fish out of water down here."

Fat Gum looked over. "How so?"

"I'm better up high," I admitted. "Roof tops, ledges, signs, all that. Easier to see trouble. Easier to get where I need to be. Walking feels..." I kicked lightly at the pavement. "Too slow."

Fat Gum gave that some thought, then nodded. "That may be true for your quirk. But patrols aren't just about spotting crime."

I looked at him.