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There are certain perks that come with being a superhero.
There are the superpowers, of course—those are obviously handy, not just in matters of saving lives, but also just in mundane affairs. Megumi’s pretty sure there isn’t a pickle jar in the world he can’t open.
There’s also the sense of pride Megumi feels after a heist thwarted or a successful web shot just in time to stop Megumi’s favorite stray cat from falling off a ledge. He knows he’s only one person, but his nightly patrols of the city are still enough for Megumi to feel confident in his role as the city’s vigilante protector, even if he was more a stray cat protector than a civilian protector. Crime wasn’t especially rampant in the city, which is something Megumi’s grateful for, because it makes his job easy, but it also makes his job… boring.
Because while there are certain perks that come with being a superhero, there are infinitely more drawbacks that come with the same occupation.
For one thing, there’s the suit. It may be a Gojo Corp design, but that doesn’t stop it from being the most insufferable pain in Megumi’s ass. Tight, stretchy elastic that Megumi’s half convinced he’s allergic to, given how strong his urge to scratch his arms off is every time he puts it on—the one time he’d been brave enough to bring up the suit’s less-than-ergonomic design to the creator himself, Gojo had brushed him off with a thumbs up and bright grin.
“It’s a rite of passage,” was his cryptic explanation.
Over time, though, Megumi gets used to the suit. What he doesn’t get used to is the growing sense of loneliness as he flies through the tall buildings of his city. After all, prior to being bitten by a radioactive spider, he had spent nearly every night either at Yuuji’s apartment, or in his own room with Yuuji splayed out on his bed, usually reading under the guise of studying. (Yuuji was never quite good at hiding the manga volume he tucked between the pages of his textbook.) Ever since becoming Spiderman, though, Megumi’s forced to say an early farewell to his friend so he has enough time to run back to his room and change into his suit. It’s not like he doesn’t spend plenty of time with Yuuji during school hours, but he treasured the time they spent alone in the after-hours, whether that was a room of comfortable silence or hushed whispers in a world made for them alone.
Plus, Megumi’s a little bit in love with Yuuji. That might play a part, too.
Recently, though, he’s figured out a solution—he had to spend most of his nightly hours as Spiderman, but there was nothing specific in the unwritten rules Gojo had taught him that he necessarily had to avoid Yuuji while acting as his alter ego. So, and this is something Megumi is only a little ashamed to admit, he begins stalking Yuuji.
Stalking is what Gojo calls it. Megumi much prefers the term following, or looking out—because really, all he was doing was looking out for Yuuji. He was accident-prone anyway, so Megumi was technically doing his job and saving a civilian by pulling Yuuji back with a string attached to his hood before the other boy can face-plant in a puddle or by pulling Yuuji back with a string attached to his hood before he can cross the road without noticing the light changing or by pulling Yuuji to the side with a string attached to his hood before he can run into another pedestrian—
—so, he was doing a lot of pulling Yuuji around by the hood.
After the third time of such an occurrence, Yuuji had finally swiveled around to find the source of his unknown movements, and Megumi wasn't quite fast enough to slip into the shadows.
“...Spiderman?”
Which is how Yuuji Itadori meets Spiderman.
Or, well, it would have been, if Megumi hadn’t immediately shot a web in Yuuji’s face and ran.
…in his defense, Megumi hadn’t been expecting Yuuji to notice him.
The next time Megumi sees him at school, Yuuji’s sporting a bandage across his nose. Megumi opens his mouth to apologize, but snaps it shut as soon as he remembers Yuuji doesn’t know who he is.
“What… happened?” he had asked instead.
Yuuji had frowned. “I don’t think Spiderman likes me very much,” was his only response. Megumi had pressed his lips together and silently finished his lunch.
Determined to reverse this misconception, Megumi seeks out Yuuji that very night. He apologizes profusely, sure that Yuuji’s going to gift him back a sucker punch, but when he looks up from his bow, Yuuji’s grinning sheepishly. It’s with the bright laugh that Megumi’s fallen in love with that he accepts Megumi’s apology, and that’s how Yuuji Itadori meets Spiderman.
After that, it gets easier. Megumi doesn’t necessarily have to hide in the shadows to go about his work of… following Yuuji around, so it’s not long before the two begin to strike conversation. It’s stilted and awkward, especially in the beginning, with Megumi forced to be so reticent about any information he doles out, and Yuuji, for all intents and purposes, talking to a stranger. Still, Megumi likes to think that the two of them form another sort of friendship. Nothing nearly as close as what they have with each other during Megumi’s regular hours, but any time spent with Yuuji, at least for Megumi, is time well spent. He thinks the same must be true for the other as well, at least to some extent, even if Yuuji doesn’t necessarily know it’s Megumi he’s spending time with. At least, he thinks, until a certain evening a few weeks after their first encounter.
“Err, Spiderman?”
Megumi turns back, tilting his head in a wordless question.
“Look,” Yuuji starts, and the tone of his voice gives Megumi a bad, bad feeling. “It’s not that I don’t—well, it’s not that I don’t appreciate the attention you’ve been giving me.” He moves his hand to his neck. “I’m… flattered, really. But, um…” With a big inhale, he finally looks up to meet Megumi’s eyes through the mask. “I’m sorry, but I’m not interested.”
Megumi’s mouth opens. He has, maybe for the first time in his life, been rendered utterly speechless.
At Megumi’s silence, Yuuji continues haltingly. “In you. Romantically.”
“What,” Megumi finally croaks out after another stretch of silence. “I…” At Yuuji’s expectant gaze, he swallows. “Uh, I’ve never…” He pauses. “Flattered by what?”
“What?” Yuuji asks with a blink. “Oh. I mean… you’ve been flirting with me, right?”
Megumi’s only response is a breathless wheeze.
“It’s not that I dislike you!” Yuuji says quickly, eyes wide. “You’re really nice, and you’ve always treated me well, but—”
“Flirting,” Megumi interrupts, his voice strangled. “When have I ever flirted with you?”
Yuuji stares at him. “Kugisaki almost got mugged once, but you turned around and asked if I was okay first.”
Megumi does remember that. He doesn’t know how to explain it was instinct without sounding like a fool.
“I really do think you’re a great friend,” Yuuji continues, blissfully unaware that he’s pressing the sharp knife of embarrassment further and further against Megumi’s gut. “I mean, who wouldn’t want to be friends with Spiderman?” Yuuji grins. Megumi wants to die. “I… actually like someone else right now, though.”
The knife against Megumi’s gut feels a lot sharper now.
“Oh,” Megumi says pathetically. He takes a step back. “You’re… in love with someone else?”
“In love?” Yuuji looks surprised, but his expression softens quickly. “I… guess. I really do like him.” Yuuji looks like he’s unsuccessfully biting back a soft smile as he stares at the sky. “We could call it love, huh, Megumi?”
“What.”
“What?”
“You.” Speak Japanese, Megumi screams at himself. “You—what?”
“What?” Yuuji repeats. “Do you know Megumi?”
“Do I—” Megumi chokes on his words. “I—”
“Wait.” Yuuji takes a step closer to Megumi. “Don’t tell me…” He takes another step forward. Megumi itches with the urge to run (either that, or it’s the suit again), but his feet are glued to the ground. He holds his breath when Yuuji takes yet another step forward, completely and terribly paralyzed when Yuuji’s hand moves towards Megumi’s mask. The breath leaves him all at once when Yuuji’s fingers carefully pry his mask off. “...Megumi?”
Megumi swallows. “Hi,” he breathes out. “I’m in love with you.”
Yuuji’s expression folds into a brilliant smile. “I know,” he murmurs before closing the distance between their lips in a chaste kiss.
Maybe, Megumi thinks when he tangles his fingers through Yuuji’s, the perks of being a superhero outweigh the drawbacks after all.