Chapter 99
[130]
“Hmm. Shido’s returning by helicopter today at noon.” Goro Akechi remarked, looking at his phone as he took a sip of his morning coffee.
“Mmmm. Finally.” His other half smiled in his head. “I can’t wait to consume his brain.”
“Now now, be patient. We’ve talked about how we’ll do this. I get to say my piece first, then we’ll tear him apart and you can eat what’s left over.” Akechi looked up at the Shido Sciences Tower before scowling. “However, there is a bit of a snag. Even with my connections in the corporation, there’s no way that we could get anywhere near that landing pad.”
“You want up?” The voice in his head asked. “Why didn’t you just say?”
A sinister smile grew on Akechi’s face. “I like the way you think.”
Back at Leblanc, the morning was just beginning for two teens in the attic.
“Wow. And I thought the Lizard had claws.” Ren exclaimed, checking out the scratch marks on his back in the mirror.
“Sorry about that.” Haru sat up in Ren’s bed, covering herself with the blanket.
Much to Ren’s surprise, Haru was very dominant in the bedroom, far more than any other girl he’d experienced yet. With a fetish for roleplaying and name calling, his night with Haru was certainly a night to remember, one that Ren didn’t regret in the slightest. After an exciting night between the two of them that lasted multiple rounds, the pair were enjoying an early morning together since they didn’t have to worry about school.
“Don’t worry about it.” Ren assured her. “These will heal in no time.”
“Still,” She stood up and hugged him from behind, tracing his various scars with her fingertips. “I’d hate to cause you even more pain than you’ve already been through.” When she realized what she was doing, she immediately panicked. “I’m sorry! D-Does that hurt?”
Ren chuckled at the flustered girl. “Not at all. It uh, actually feels kinda nice.”
“Oh. I-I’ll keep doing it then.” She smiled, pressing herself against him while continuing to feel his scars.
And boy were there a lot of them. An electrical burn on his back, a stab wound in his shoulder, claw marks on his chest, various surgical scars, a patch of regrown skin from the hole in his right side, a scar just above his right eye, and his left forearm which was covered in teeth marks from his most recent fight. He’d gone through so much in such a short time, and what did he have to show for it besides a tapestry of wounds across his body?
“I’m sorry.” Haru apologized sadly.
“Huh? I told you it was fine.” Ren was confused.
“Not that. I’m sorry for...everything. Everything you’ve had to go through, all the pain that you’ve-”
“Haru.” Ren interrupted. “Nobody forced me to do this. It isn’t anyone’s fault, least of all your’s. And I still haven’t regretted my decision to become Spider-Man.” He smiled at her. “It led me to you and the others after all.”
“I think we still would’ve found each other.” Haru stated. “Even if you hadn’t been bitten by that spider. I think some people are just fated to meet.”
“You might be right.” He looked at her before leaning in for a kiss. Just as their lips were about to meet, the cafe’s bell rang, telling them that someone had just entered. Sighing, Ren turned back to Haru. “Do you have any clothes with you?” Her cheeks heating up, Haru silently shook her head.
When Ren finally came downstairs, dressed in his casual clothes, he spotted Sojiro standing behind the counter sniffing the air.
“Did you light a candle in here last night? Smells like lavender and sandalwood.”
“I...thought it would improve the...atmosphere?” Ren lied. He and Haru had made sure to clean up after last night and y’know not burn the cafe down. Plus, they ended up using the charcuterie board for...unintended purposes. He’d never eaten food off of another person’s body before last night, but Haru was full of interesting ideas like that.
“Y’know most people that come here like the smell of coffee.” Sojiro stated, furrowing his brow. “Don’t go trying to mess with my cafe’s atmosphere without my permission.” His scolding was interrupted by the sound of footsteps in the attic. “Is someone else up there?”
“Uh, that was Maurice.” Ren lied again. Immediately after, as if to mock him, said cat meowed as it walked past him. “Shit.”
Sojiro smirked and crossed his arms. “Oh I see. Good on you kid. And smart thinking lighting a candle. I don’t want my cafe smelling like sex.”
“Haha, yeah.” Ren replied, sweating. ‘I didn’t even think of that.’ He thought nervously.
Before they could continue, the bell rang again and a familiar figure walked in.
“Good morning Boss.” Makoto greeted, before turning to Ren and nodding with a smile. “Ren.”
“Makoto!” Ren said in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“I was invited.” Makoto said, showing her phone. “Futaba texted me to come here. Something about a surprise.”
As she was speaking, the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs gave way to reveal Haru standing at the bottom of the steps, wearing Ren’s clothes.
“H-Hi...Makoto.” Haru waved.
“Haru.” Makoto greeted with flushed cheeks. The group was silent for a moment.
“Well,” Sojiro broke the silence. “This is awkward.”
Thankfully, the tension was broken when the door opened once again. “Doodo Dodoo!” Futaba mimicked a trumpet as she entered followed by Yusuke carrying a pair of bags. “Presenting the new suits!”
“Futaba!” Makoto turned to her. “What if a customer had been here!?”
“A customer? At Leblanc?” Futaba raised an eyebrow. “Please.”
“That’s it! No curry for you tonight young lady!” Sojiro scolded her.
“So the new suits are finished?” Ren asked excitedly. “Can I see mine?” He walked toward the bags greedily.
“I want to see mine too!” Makoto said, excited to have her first superhero suit.
“Hold on there buckaroos!” Futaba stopped him. “How about a bit of thanks for working so hard on these things? I busted my ass all of yesterday adding the finishing touches to them!”
“So that’s why I heard grunting coming from your room last night.” Sojiro said, relieved. “I was worried for a moment there.”
Futaba’s eyes suddenly widened and she broke into a cold sweat. “Y-Yup, th-that’s why!”
After giving their thanks, Ren and Makoto excitedly changed (in separate rooms) into their new outfits before walking out onto the main floor. Ren’s suit was different from his original, now sporting some new white highlights across his torso and limbs, this costume was definitely more eye-catching than the original version. Makoto’s suit, on the other hand, stood out even more compared to Ren’s. With a white upper body and hood, pink webs highlighting her biceps, fingertips, and inside of the hood, and a black lower body from the stomach down, complemented by cyan shoes, it was drastically different from any other spider suit before it.
“Whoa.” Ren admired Makoto’s suit as she stepped out. “You look great!”
“Th-Thanks.” She rubbed her arm awkwardly. “So do you. Um...So do these have to be skin tight?”
“Trust me, they do.” Ren assured her. “Normal clothes aren’t meant to move the way we do. With my homemade suit, chafing got to be more of a problem than the villains.”
“Yes, and with these suits you should be incredibly comfortable as you swing from rooftop to rooftop.” Yusuke added. “And thanks to a blend of silk and a special polymer, your suits are both incredibly light and protective...At no small expense to myself.” He said, a grimace crossing his face. Ren made a mental note to thank him with food later.
“My turn!” Futaba raised her hand before stepping up. “I added a bunch of goodies to your suits! Now, the lenses of your masks have built-in cameras linked to my computer so I can see what you’re doing in the field. They also feature a heads-up display that you can use to answer calls, pull up images, and view your webshooter settings.” She stated proudly, hitting a button on her phone.
In response, both suits’ lenses lit up as a stream of code flooded them before giving a readout of important data relative to the suit.
“Whoa.” Ren said in awe, looking at his hands.
“Speaking of which, your webshooters are now built into the wrists of your suits. I’ve added a few more modes to them too, but I’ll let you find those later. If you check your waists, you’ll see that I’ve added slots for extra web cartridges so you shouldn’t run out in the field.”
As she felt the cartridges on her waist, Makoto paused at her hips, on either side there seemed to be a metal disk nearly the size of her palm. “What’s this?” She asked, pulling it out.
“Ah, I see you’ve found the Web Grenade Mark 2.” Futaba smirked, pushing up her glasses. “Now they can stick to surfaces before detonating. Also, they actually detonate when they’re supposed to now. The timer is 3 seconds and should appear on your HUD after you throw them.”
“Futaba, Yusuke, this is incredible!” Ren said. “I-I can’t thank you enough.”
“The feeling is mutual.” Makoto added her thanks as well.
“You both can thank us by not dying out there.” Futaba replied. “Makoto, please watch his back and make sure he doesn’t get himself killed.”
“Hey! I’m the veteran here!” Ren chimed in.
“Yes, and you’ve almost died how many times?” Futaba asked.
“I...actually lost count.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
While the others were busy conversing, Makoto felt a hand on her shoulder. “Um, Makoto?” Haru whispered. “D-Do you think I can speak to you in private?”
The brunette raised an eyebrow but nodded nonetheless, following the other girl up to the attic. They stood in silence for quite a bit as Haru struggled to decide where to begin. Desperate for this awkward moment to end, Makoto decided to speak up first, pulling off her mask.
“So...You and Ren…” Makoto eyed the other girl’s attire before turning her attention to the messy bed and discarded bathrobe.
“Um, yes. We...did ‘that’ last night. A-Are you mad?” She asked with a look of concern.
“N-No! Of course not!” Makoto shook her head. “We had an agreement. Everyone gets their turn, then we have him decide.”
“You see, that’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.” Haru stated. “What if...What if we called off the agreement? What if instead of having to decide between us we could...share?”
Makoto was speechless, taking a moment to collect her thoughts. “...Share Ren? Like, the three of us take shifts? Haru, Ren isn’t a toy, you can’t just pass him around-”
“No, not like that.” Haru interrupted. “What I mean is...well…” She struggled to speak, unable to vocalize her thoughts. “Screw it.” She finally said, leaning in and pressing her lips against Makoto’s.
As she felt the other girl’s lips on her’s, Makoto’s eyes went wide, staring at Haru who had her eyes shut. While she certainly wasn’t expecting the kiss and wasn’t sure how to feel about it, Makoto didn’t pull away. In fact, after a moment of hesitation, she opened her mouth slightly, granting Haru access to her tongue. After a few more pleasurable moments of connection, the fluffy-haired girl pulled away, causing Makoto to moan slightly.
“‘That’ is what I mean.” Haru said, unable to meet her gaze. “I’m sorry, but that was the only way I could think to-”
“It’s fine.” Makoto assured her. “I think I just...need some time to think. Is that okay?”
“Of course! Take your time.” Haru replied, beaming. “A-And please, if you aren’t interested, don’t let this make things awkward between us. I-I still want to be your friend.”
“Y-Yeah.”
“Makoto! Haru! You guys coming down?” The voice of Futaba called from downstairs.
“Coming!” They both replied before sharing another glance.
When they reached the bottom of the steps, they spotted Ren scarfing down a plate of curry with his mask pulled halfway up his face. Somehow, this boy had managed to steal both of their hearts in the short time he’d known them. And now, Makoto was actually entertaining the idea of entering a three way relationship! Did things like this really happen?
“You wanna go on patrol?” Ren asked her, still chewing his food. “Test out the new digs?”
“O-Okay.” Makoto replied, her voice unintentionally cracking.
An hour later, they were swinging through Shibuya, doing flips and tricks as they swung between buildings, Ren with the practiced ease of a professional while Makoto took a more careful approach.
“It’s pretty amazing isn’t it?” Ren turned to the girl as the two sat perched on a tall building. “Even after months, it still makes my heart race every time I swing.”
“Definitely.” Makoto breathed out, looking down at the street below. While she was still excited to try out her first super suit, her mind was preoccupied with Haru’s proposal. “I-I still can’t believe it’s real.”
“Yeah, I felt that way for a long time. I still do sometimes. Makes me wonder how Narukami felt, being the first one like this. But I guess now we have something he never did.”
“What’s that?” Makoto asked.
“A partner.” Ren stated, turning to her. And while she couldn’t see it, Makoto knew he was smiling under his mask.
It was then that Makoto felt the urge to kiss him, maybe that was the pheromones talking again, but she couldn’t help it. Ren appeared to feel the same, leaning into her while pulling up the edge of his mask. Just as they were about to kiss, all of the screens around them changed to the same broadcast with a message that read ‘Breaking News.’
As they turned their attention to the news, the screens all displayed a live video feed of a large, inky black figure racing up the side of a skyscraper.
“We are receiving multiple reports of a monstrous creature climbing up the side of the Shido Sciences building! Authorities are unable to identify the figure, but they believe its target may be none other than Masayoshi Shido himself. Shibuya residents are advised to remain indoors and stay clear of the area surrounding the building.”
As the pair of heroes turned to the nearby Shido Sciences building, they were just able to make out the black figure climbing the tower.
“Well,” Ren got up and stretched. “Ready for your first superhero team up?”
“Definitely.”