"So this is what they gathered so far."
Sekinin commented as he looked at the information that the Ryuji yakuza gave him, a lot more than what he actually expected. To think this yakuza is so determined to find the murderer that they uncover this much from the victims the scum piled on. Then again, his own reason is similar to theirs, wanting to avenge the very person they failed to save.
Perhaps that was why he accepted the alliance, still, there's at least a good thing, if this particular yakuza fraction
Right now, he was still in the Minato ward, standing atop a building. It was a good thing he had hidden a bag in this area, as so much information had to be put away and kept from potential prying eyes.
Right now, he has to keep this hidden, at least until he can find a way to ensure what will happen from here on out. With Yuri knowing who Sekinin really is, and what he said to Yuri before leaving his adopted older brother without trying to hear him out.
"I can't go back home, he might still be waiting for me… But is he willing to stay there this late already?"
After thinking of much consideration, he knew that Yuri would rather stay there even if it took the whole night, just to speak with him. His mother told him that he and Yor were special when she adopted them, processing more than he did when he was a kid. Well, not exactly spider powers or anything just more than an average human body could have.
But anyway, he has to focus on hiding these papers. Obviously, he can't use the same spot where he first hid the bag, so he now has to find a new spot to hide it. But where exactly, Sekinin pondered the question to himself.
"Actually, isn't there a shrine nearby?"
Sekinin now suddenly recalled a shrine that was in the Minato ward, specifically Motoazabu. The Hikawa Shrine. He even recalls a girl working there, a girl that he somewhat knew for nearly three years, a girl who he heard had special powers. Powers that would make others wary of her, but for Sekinin himself, he was amazed to hear that someone had powers during that time.
Now that he has powers of his own, he wonders if he should visit the shrine again. He recalls going there a few times after the death of his parents with his aunt and uncle. But for some reason, they stopped going there, not because of the rumors they heard from the people but it was something else, not even Sekinin remembers why that was the case.
He thinks he stopped going to the shrine a year ago.
"I wonder how Rei has been doing since I stopped coming to the shrine?"
With a location in mind, Sekinin sets off to the shrine he was just thinking about. And after a few minutes, Sekinin arrived at the shrine, which he noted, looked the same as ever. Well, the stairs are part of the place.
"Perhaps I can hide the bag here and come back for it… But Phobos and Deimos would question me by pecking me about what I'm doing here with the bag. While also pecking me more for not visiting Rei as much as I should over the year."
Now that Sekinin thought about it, he'll be turning 12 in two months. And that is his final year in middle school before next year will be the first year of being a junior. Still, he thought back on the two crows that he got along with before.
Crows that Rei Hino befriended. Perhaps it had something to do with her special ability but Sekinin wasn't sure. But he did wander back to the crow he helped before, and he realized that he hadn't seen the crow ever since… That day. He sighs as he uses his webs to reach the top to prevent walking a ton of stairs.
Once he saw the shrine, he noted it was indeed the same, as if it never changed at all.
"Hmm… Yeah, it's quiet, but I doubt it."
He began to take a few steps forward but then suddenly his spider-sense began to alert him. He turned to see the danger and—
*CAW*
*CAW*
Two familiar crows began to attack Sekinin, and he put his arms around his head to avoid being hurt.
"Phobos! Deimos! It's me, Sekinin! Don't you recognize me?"
The moment he said his name, the two crows stopped attacking, they flapped their wings for a moment before landing on the ground. They look up to Sekinin for a few seconds before letting out caws of recognition. Which lasted for a moment before hearing angry caws from the two crows.
Sekinin immediately understood why the two crows were angry at him, for he had the nerve to visit the shrine after a long time. He sighs at this as he kneels and pets the two.
"Honestly it's good to see you both again… How has Rei been doing since I stopped coming here?"
Phobos and Deimos look at Sekinin for a moment, before both of them begin to attack him again. Sekinin immediately got the message.
"Okay! I get it! I'll visit as often as I can from here on out!"
The two crows stopped before both of them landed on Sekinin's shoulders, one on the left and the other on the right. As if they are waiting for something.
"...Sekinin?"
A voice called out to him which made Sekinin freeze. He looked at the source of the voice, and who he saw was the very girl he hadn't seen in one year. Rei Hino. A girl with long black hair, purple eyes, and in a shrine priestess robes. A girl at first glance, made Sekinin blush. He hadn't expected that after that year that she would grow into someone beautiful.
"Hey… Rei."
She slowly approached Sekinin, confused as to why the boy she hadn't seen in a long time had now decided to come to the shrine. Happy that he did come to the shrine though was again confused why at this hour. A bit angry that he had the nerve to visit her at this late hour. But also worried why at this time he decided to come here.
"You… You idiot! Why!? Why did you stop coming here? Why did you come here at this kind of hour!? Why didn't you send me a letter or a call, or even answer mine!? Do you know how much I tried to get in touch with you!? I tried visiting your aunt and uncle's home to see you, only to learn that you were often away! The day and moment when I decided to come by! And when I asked them to tell you to come by at the shrine, you never did! So why, why now!? Why did you stop coming here? Why are you ignoring me!?"
She grabbed Sekinin's shirt pulling him close, while yelling at him. He could see tears forming in her eyes. As if ever since Sekinin no longer visited the shrine, it was like Rei had lost her only friend, a friend who didn't view her as someone everyone should avoid, someone who accepted her strange power, someone who understood her even if it was just one thing in common.
Just seeing her like that made Sekinin feel guilty and wonder why exactly he stopped going to the shrine, why he left the house when she decided to see if he was home when she visited. He even wonders why he didn't recall the conversations between his aunt and uncle telling him of what Rei told him.
"(Wait… Didn't that year when I was experiencing some blackouts?)"
For some odd reason, Sekinin had experienced a few blackouts, as if at one point he lost consciousness for some reason, only to wake up feeling tired, exhausted, or something feeling sore. What was even more strange was that everyone close to him asked why he wasn't where he was supposed to be, like in school, stores, anywhere that they noticed he was missing.
And after he returns some of them ask where he left, why he disappeared like that, and why he looks so exhausted. But Sekinin couldn't remember why, or even had the energy to explain himself.
As if something was possessing him. And now that he thought about it, during the first week of learning how to use his powers. That fight where he saved two girls from delinquents, he blacked out again after being knocked out with that nail bat. Only to wake up to see that he already won the fight.
That made him wonder if those blackouts were caused by him being hurt at that time, but the more he thought about it, the less it made sense. Because the other blackouts he experienced didn't come from pain, well some did. but not for every blackout.
But there were times when he got a bit too angry as some would mock him for not having parents, him being a wallflower, anything that anyone could make fun of him for. And those exact mockers would be rumored to be either beaten up or humiliated after the blackout. He wondered if he had anything to do with it as no one was sure who caused those attacks.
Plus he kept arriving home tired after it happened, too tired to register what his aunt and uncle said every time he came home, and would immediately take a nap. They even had to take him to the doctor to see what was up with him, but the doctors could only tell them that he was experiencing some lasting trauma of some sort.
A trauma that the three Parkers were deeply confused about. His aunt and uncle knew that their nephew was suffering from the loss of his parents, but to think it would have caused that much trauma for him. If anything Seika should be the most traumatized one as she was there on that day, yet Sekinin was experiencing the blackouts while she was experiencing the shock at the time.
But the doctors hadn't found anything else so they just chalked it up as a special kind of trauma that a child is experiencing. But even Sekinin knew that it was not a trauma, not if it caused him to feel those blackouts before he turned 11 when he should have felt those blackouts when he was still 9.
Perhaps that was why he never heard that Rei had come over to see him, as well as knowing that she wished for him to visit. Perhaps to even—
"Are you going to answer me or not!?"
Rei watched Sekinin go silent for a few seconds, pain, anger grew within those seconds. Her voice snapped Sekinin out of his thoughts as he realized that he hadn't answered her question. But what could he even say, would she believe him if he told her why?
"I… I don't know if you'll believe me, but… I experienced blackouts within that year. I don't know why I started to experience that two years after I lost my parents. But it suddenly happens, I black out at certain times, and wake up feeling so tired that I ignore everything around me. I didn't know it was those days when you tried to visit me, had I known then I absolutely would have talked to you, visited you."
Sekinin spoke gently, his blue eyes locked onto Rei's purple eyes. Rei can see the guilt in his eyes.
"I don't think my life was the same after that day… Even to this day after… I think my life wasn't normal, even before that day. And I honestly don't even know why it's happening when it should have happened on that very day. I didn't think it would have affected me this much, even to the point of how I neglected our friendship."
Sekinin felt tears coming out of his eyes.
"I don't think I'll ever get my normal life back… It is far gone… And it likes it getting further and further to the point that…"
Rei went silent for that moment before she wrapped her arms around Sekinin, stopping him from speaking further. As if she knew exactly what was wrong with him at this very moment he began to shift what he was originally speaking.
"You don't have to continue. Just let it all out."
As if that was enough to break a dam carrying all the water, then it absolutely did. Tears pour down from his eyes. Sekinin wrapped his arms around Rei as he sobbed.
"I couldn't save him! Arawareru, I couldn't save him! I had the chance to save him, but it was all my fault that he died! I had the power, but I was a coward to even use it! A coward who hid the very power that could have saved him! No matter what I did afterwards I allowed the murderer to get away!"
His voice began to get louder. He didn't know how he managed to hold back his true emotion. The grief, the blame, the shame, the anger.
"That day, that moment, could have been my only chance to stop him, and I wasted it! He died to protect someone! She was killed by the very person who killed him! He threw his life for nothing! HE DIED FOR NOTHING!"
Sekinin cried, and cried, the tears wouldn't stop pouring down. Rei just patted, rubbed his head, comforting him the best she could.
The crying lasted for who knows how long, but eventually Sekinin finally calmed down. And with Rei's guidance, both of them sat down on the top of the long stairs that led to the shrine.
"Are you ready to speak?"
Sekinin nodded as he once again quietly spoke.
"I felt that I wasn't born as a normal child. Not like those novels and manga where someone awakens in someone's body. But something that not even I could ever understand. I don't even know if my parents even knew if there was something wrong with me before they died in that car crash. If this had happened before."
"I don't know if I truly have control of my body whenever this happens, but it happens the moment I reach a certain circumstance. Then as if that wasn't enough… I was bitten by an enhanced spider. Which in turn affects the strange thing that is happening to me. Before, I was away from whatever I did during those blackouts, but after gaining spider powers, my recent blackout, I was in the aftermath of what I'd done."
Rei's eyes widened the moment she heard this.
"You're Spider-Man!"
Sekinin nodded with a solemn smile.
"You're not the only person with mysterious powers anymore Rei, cuz I now have mysterious powers that no one can understand. Well, actually, for them not knowing how I manage to gain my spider powers."
The smile then turns into a frown.
"I don't even know why this all happened, after my parents' death. As if that day broke some kind of seal that was inside of me. I just don't understand why I have to experience all of this, and the worst part is… I felt like this was only the beginning."
Rei didn't speak, as if she was waiting for him to continue.
"His death could have been prevented had I not pointed out the murderer, whom I sensed was the danger. It was my choice that led to his death. I've made the wrong choice when I had other choices to choose from."
"And yet, I felt that it's my responsibility, because with great power comes great responsibility, to ensure I use my powers to prevent the pain and suffering I've faced from happening to anyone else. It's why I became Spider-Man, it's why I wish to save a life, because when you help someone, you help everyone. It's my choice to become a man, a man to make his own choices. It was the choice he made, the choice he said to me. The words I choose to carry."
Rei's eyes widened from what she heard. Then a smile forms on her face.
"You're making him proud. I truly believe so."
Sekinin smiled again before it turned into a frown.
"Thanks… I just wish I could explain all of this to everyone else too. It just feels hypocritical of me to just explain all of this to you, when I could have explained all of this to my family, and his family as well."
"To be honest, Sekinin, like you said, it's your choice, if you wish to keep your powers hidden then it's your choice. You choose wherever to believe that they should know the truth or not. Honestly, I should say that you come clean with them, but…"
Rei didn't say much more, it was his own choice that he needed to make, Sekinin just nodded. Thought back to Yuri, thinking about if he was still out there looking for him this late and…
"So, uh… If you don't mind me asking. Why are you awake at this hour, for me it is truly self-explanatory. Sure you don't have school on a Saturday but…?"
As much as Sekinin didn't wish to change the topic, he did notice it was unusual for Rei to be out this late as well. Rei let out a sigh as she began to explain.
"I've been… Feeling something strange over the past month. I think it all began with the news of that murderer you mentioned. The one who is the reason all those idols were killed. You remember my affinity for fire right? I've been using the flames to see the future of understanding what the strange feeling was… But all I got was…"
Rei tried to recall what the flames had shown her, even if the images are enigmatic and unreliable, they can still be very helpful when the image is the key to revealing the whole problem.
And it was something that shocked her earlier when she managed to get a full image. A green mask, something ugly, something horrifying. And she could have sworn she heard a cruel laugh from somewhere.
She told this to Sekinin who tried to think about what she saw could mean.
Because when he first saw her ability firsthand, he saw something that made him realize that his future was set in stone. A spider symbol, the exact one that he put on his suit, it took Sekinin's willpower not to let out a laugh. To think what he saw, was his future of becoming Spider-Man. But looking back to what Rei said.
"Do you think it has got something to do with that murderer?"
"I honestly wish I could say that, but every time I manage to see something, it's always that unsettling mask. It may be connected, but I don't know."
Sekinin didn't say anything else, but looked up at the sky, more specifically the moon.
"Hey, does the moon look brighter than it did before?"
Rei blinked before she looked at the moon as well. She didn't say anything at the moment, but she smiled.
"No, it just looks the same."
The two then watch the moon together, just feeling this moment of peace. All while another crow was watching the two of them, even eyeing the two crows on Sekinin's shoulders. Curiosity filled that crow's mind.