"So you decided to come clean with me?"
As if this night wasn't eventful enough, this will do it for Sekinin because Yuri had somehow managed to track him down to Hikawa Shrine. How it was possible, Sekinin didn't know, but it did help that he didn't have to swing all the way home to see if he was still there or not.
"Yes… Though I'm surprised that you decided to come here, Yuri."
Yuri shrugs as he looks at his little brother and the girl next to him. Sure, he could have explained the reason, but he did wonder whether the girl next to him was the rumor girl with mysterious powers.
"I'm guessing you two are acquainted with each other."
Both Sekinin and Rei nodded, Rei in particular as she didn't know that a police officer, a promoted captain, had shown up at the shrine.
After realizing it was nearly three in the morning she had to say goodbye to her friend while she was walking Sekinin down the long stone stairs, only to find the very officer with a police car parked.
"We just catch up with each other. But, uh, is there a problem officer?"
Even though she knew what was going on just by hearing the two talking to each other. Rei had to make sure Sekinin wasn't getting into so much trouble just in case.
"Not… Well exactly, but uh…"
Yuri glances at Sekinin for a moment, as if wanting to confirm if Rei knows Sekinin's secret identity. Sekinin nodded as he spoke.
"She knows who I am, I've even told her. I wanted to make up with her for not visiting her for over a year."
Yuri nodded as he slowly approached Sekinin.
"If I'm being honest, I'm shocked and disappointed. Shocked that you're the very vigilante that my boss ordered me to hunt you down. Disappointed that you never told any of us about being Spider-Man. If anything, it explained so much of your behavior over the month."
Sekinin stayed silent, listening to what Yuri had to say. Rei was about to speak up for him, but Sekinin stopped her.
"Because I was afraid, afraid that you all would look at me strangely, after my sudden growth spurt, having everyone look at me weirdly because of my sudden height, having powers that literally classified me as a mutant or someone inhuman. To view me as a freak…"
Before Sekinin could say anything more, he felt a pat on the head. He didn't even realize he lowered his head, but once he looked up he saw Yuri giving him a small smile.
"That doesn't matter to me, to me, you're still the little brother that I saw when your mother allowed me to carry you. Honestly, I don't think I'm normal as well, well, not in your definition of not normal, but it's something that I felt when your mother adopted my sister and me."
Sekinin nodded as Yuri looked at him then at Rei. He let out a sigh as he looked back at Sekinin.
"Nothing is going to change my mind about you. You're Sekinin Parker, and no matter what you will always be a Parker."
With no hesitation, he hugged Yuri, as if he was so glad that what he said brought relief in his struggling heart. Yuri then looks back at Rei once again.
"I'm guessing you're still in shock that he now looks like a tall teenager?"
Rei let out a sigh of acceptance. The moment she saw Sekinin once again, she thought that if that boy was still the same boy she befriended nearly three years ago. The spider that bit him really changed his body.
"I'm guessing it was the same to you."
"Oh, most definitely! When I received a call from his aunt about his sudden growth spurt I thought it was rare for anyone to develop. You wouldn't believe how surprised we were when we saw him when we visited him."
Sekinin mumbles while still tightly hugging his adopted older brother. Yuri just chuckled as he spoke.
"I believe that you young lady needs to go to sleep, it's not healthy to be out this late. But as for you young man, I'm surprised your aunt and uncle haven't called me yet. Though I wonder how you were able to get away with this for so long even for a month."
Sekinin chuckled as he explained his unique ability to Rei and Yuri, both were stunned that someone could actually be in two places at once while acting like a superhero and a normal classmate.
"Huh, no wonder I felt like when I told you about what happened that week ago, you looked so angry yet so focused. I was worried if what I'd told you led you to do something crazy or bad, but I guess the news from hours ago really changed what I had expected."
Yuri said as Rei realized something.
"Wait, so you actually fought a guy with gauntlets with shockwaves!? The same guy who escaped custody that same night!?"
Suddenly the air went still, Sekinin stared at Rei for like a minute, as if he was processing what he just heard, then looked at Yuri, who now looked like he wasn't stressed enough as it is.
"Sadly yes, apparently someone disguised themselves as one of our officers, and the police car that took him away drove to somewhere that we couldn't pinpoint or locate. I honestly don't know why or how none of us noticed that someone was able to disguise themselves as one of our police officers. But what can't be undone is that Shocker is now on the loose."
"Great! Just great! As if this night hadn't been enough for me! Let me rephrase that Rei, I'm still glad to see you! But still!"
Sekinin immediately complained, then immediately made sure he left Rei out of his complaining, then went back to complaining about the Shocker's escape.
"Believe me Sekinin I am just as mad as you are. But we can only hope we will find evidence from the security feeds as well as the last known locations of where that police car went to see what we might have missed."
"Good, you're already on it Yuri! I'll just help—"
"No! Sekinin, you may not know, but it is literally late at night and honestly, sooner or later your aunt and uncle will notice your disappearance and will actually call me. Even if you have a special ability, your body looks more tired than when I saw you last week."
As much as Sekinin didn't want to admit it, he knew Yuri got a point, right now it was nearly June and the near mark of him becoming Spider-Man for two months. And that he's been acting like he's two people within those months that his body felt a bit sluggish and more tired than usual even if he's back home sleeping throughout the night and scouting in the city at the same time.
"Okay, so maybe I am a bit tired, but you at least have to let me help! At least for a moment!"
Yuri didn't say anything, he sighed as he silently just instructed Sekinin to follow him to the car, to give him a ride home, while explaining what he could do during that car ride. Sekinin, noticing this, smiled as he turned to Rei giving her a hug which surprised her, but she just accepted it as she could see he was really trying to mend their friendship.
She let go of the hug as she handed him ofuda scrolls, some for sleeping while some for energy. She specifically told him to only use them in his normal identity as she doesn't want to see on the news that Spider-Man is blacking out in broad daylight. Sekinin chuckled as he swore he wouldn't as he said to Rei he would make sure to visit her in the afternoon with Nijika.
Rei smiled when she heard the name of someone else familiar who visited the shrine with him, and she could already imagine Nijika's scolding Sekinin when she realized where Sekinin was taking them to. She said to him to just get some sleep as the two parted ways, at least with amends, and for Sekinin to really do his best to make up for that lost year for Rei.
Sekinin and Yuri entered the police car as Yuri began to drive him home. Within a minute Yuri began talking to Sekinin.
"Once we get at least some information about what we missed, you are going to scout those familiar places while also seeing potential areas where the police car would have been last seen. While we have detectives and experts on the force, let's just say I have special help that no one can expect."
"So, you're saying we should team up?"
"Yes… And no. Well, yes we should team up, because there are places that actually need Spider-Man's help. But at the same time no one can know about us working together, as I mentioned before, my boss wishes to capture you and have you arrested for being a vigilante."
"Yeah you have a point, Yuri. Plus, some of the police officers are neutral with me, but some…"
If Yuri hadn't explained to him that his boss wanted his capture, then Sekinin would have believed some of the police officers who just didn't like him in general were actually trying to kill him, which one or two officers were trying to do in that first month.
"So I'll just wait for you to call me to see what you found out?"
"Yes, and… Huh, I didn't expect someone else to be out this late."
Sekinin turned in confusion on his side of the window, as he saw someone familiar, a familiar blond girl. Someone he realized that he hadn't messaged all day. He asks Yuri to stop the car next to her as he did so, as Yuri felt that Sekinin knew the girl walking on the streets, but is very concerned about why she is out that late, and wonders how many kids are out this late.
The blond girl who wears a school uniform of a prestigious school that Sekinin knows is from, with blue eyes that are like Sekinin's but different. The uniform she is wearing is for elementary students of said prestigious school.
"Hayasaka-tan!"
Sekinin lowered the window for the girl to see who was calling him. The moment she saw him her blue eyes widened as she couldn't help but say in a friendly tone.
"Parker-kun! Why are you out this late? Isn't it a bit dangerous for… You…"
She stopped midway as she realized that the boy in front of her was no longer the boy she had seen in those two months. That left her completely stunned. They'd been messaging ever since they first met each other and she hadn't seen his face in quite a while. For her to see the little boy that was close to her height suddenly look like a teenager really shocked her to the core.
"P-Parker-kun!? Wait, is that really you? How did I even manage to recognize you?"
She asks with absolute shock, as Yuri notices she was talking with a persona of some sort even though she looks like she is generally a bit happy to see his little brother. And that same persona dropped when she saw the difference in her friend.
Sekinin chuckled as he realized that Ai— Suddenly Sekinin had a realization. He mentally questions himself why he is thinking about this now of all previous days he could have realized. He now knows two Ai, one who is literally in front of him, and the idol who is loved by the whole country.
Even if he just met Ai Hoshino and willingly cut off their conversation he can say he does somewhat know her. As for Ai Hayasaka, well he does know her because he met her one day, which was a week before Sekinin was bitten by that spider.
It was during a day out with Sekinin studying in a local library in the Minato ward as the library in Shimokitazawa was closed for the day. He met a girl who looked like she was getting too tired, as if she was exhausting herself with something, as if she couldn't tell who she even was at that point.
Sekinin, being the kind wallflower boy he is at that time, approaches her and gives her a bottle of apple juice. Even sat down next to her while slowly making her his friend as he gave her the confidence to just relax as he talked about something he would usually talk to Nijika or Usagi whenever they were down in the slump (mainly Usagi).
She giggled at his attempt at a bad joke, enjoying the company of someone who just met but still acted with kindness, which really helped her relax. While she doesn't say why exactly she was looking down, she did thank Sekinin and ask for his name. Sekinin gave his name while she did the same.
Sekinin even asks if it was all right if they exchanged contract information with each other, and Ai, who felt like she could take the time to communicate with him through phones, agrees as the two exchange contact information.
The two communicated up until yesterday as Sekinin was busy with his plans of meeting Ai Hoshino had the Shocker incident not happened. Even though the outcome was somewhat the same, that didn't mean what happened now was something he couldn't ignore.
Like Rei, Gyaru Ai—Sekinin decided to just tell the difference in his head as if he said Ai H, then it wouldn't even change a single thing. So in his head, Gyaru Ai, and Idol Ai. Should the two of them ever meet up with him at the same time?
Sure he can call them by their last names but he felt like he knew Ai long enough for him to call her by her first name, until he can actually call her by her first name without thinking about Ai Hoshino.
Anyway getting off topic, like Rei, Ai doesn't know Sekinin is Spider-Man, and unlike Rei, while he does know Ai, he didn't know her long enough for his secret to be revealed, plus he had to make up the lost time for Rei because of his blackouts so it was something he had to do to get her forgiveness.
"I just got a sudden growth spurt all of a sudden, it was rare for my body to change this much."
Sekinin softly laughs as Yuri just watches in amusement as he sees Sekinin trying to explain that his unknown puberty growth was the reason for his body change.
"Anyway, Hayasaka-tan. Why are you even out here late at night?"
"Eh? Parker-kun, I should ask you the same thing! Did you get in trouble with the police? Am I also in trouble Mr. Officer?"
She asks in a worried tone, Yuri chuckles a bit as he can see that she is just acting with a tone that means she is worried but at the same time she is cautious behind that persona. He can see that she is worried about Sekinin as he explained.
"Yes, both of you are in trouble for staying out this late. Did you want to get a ride home? You can join us as I can drop you off first before sending this little brother of mine back to his aunt and uncle's home."
"Oh! Thank you for the generosity, Big Brother Officer. Parker-kun, did you get into a fight with your aunt and uncle? Is that why you're out this late?"
Sekinin was trying to explain himself to Ai as he realized that he didn't have a backup story to cover why he was exactly out this late. So he just decided to admit that he wanted to see a friend whom he hadn't seen in a year. Ai nods in understanding as she hops in the car, and Yuri just smiles as he asks where Ai lives.
She explained that she lived a few blocks away from her home as she lives in the Minato ward, and the car drives to the location. Sekinin and Ai spoke as if it had been too long since they last saw each other in person.
"Parker-kun… Is it alright if I call you Sekinin, I just realized we're still each other's surnames."
"Sure I don't mind calling you Ai as well. (I really need to make sure I don't get confused between her and Idol Ai.) Also, what are you doing out here this late? I'm amazed that someone like you is out this late."
"Oh, it's because I realized I forgot something very important at school. It is a hairpin that belongs to my mother and she gifted me hers on my birthday. I dropped it while I was leaving the school as I didn't realize until I remembered where I last had it. I arrived here hoping I must drop it near the school gate as the school was closed, thankfully it was near the school gate."
She showed the hairpin she mentioned.
"I felt disappointed that I had realized until this late hour that I'd forgotten about it. I was worried about how I was able to get home safely but then you and your big brother showed up, Sekinin-kun. So thank you for giving me a ride home safely!"
Yuri gave a glance to Sekinin while Ai was talking as he silently articulated to Sekinin, "Does she know about your identity?" As Sekinin responds with the same thing as Yuri, "No, she doesn't." Yuri nodded as he asked Ai if she was going to become a middle school student next year, and Ai confirmed this.
She then told Sekinin as she remembered the birthday present he gave her on her 12th birthday. It was a black cat hairpin, Sekinin didn't know what to get her once he was informed of the date of her birthday so he just decided to give this particular hairpin to her. She loved it and is shown to be wearing it along with her mother's hairpin. Her birthday was on April 2, way before the day Sekinin's life changed.
Soon the car arrived at an apartment where Ai exited the police car.
"Thank you, Officer Yuri! See you sometime tomorrow, Sekinin-kun!"
She left as Yuri drove off while Sekinin was saying his goodbyes. Yuri notices the look on Sekinin's face as he asks if he knows her more than she knows him. Sekinin nodded.
"It was the week when I was training to master my powers. I saved her and a friend of hers from thugs. I think it was the granddaughter of the former prime minister and the niece of the current prime minister. Fujiwara, I believe that was the name when I overheard Ai saying while she was protecting her."
Yuri's eyes widened at this information, he was surprised that he met someone who came from a family with that much power. He chuckled again as he quickly changed the topic.
"So as I was saying. We'll be working together but not in an instant. You keep doing your Spider-Man identity while I keep on the lookout for the missing criminal. Perhaps this is all connected somehow, but unless we find something that does connect, then we can rely on luck and fate for us to find something."
"Got it. Oh, Yuri, I also got information about Kamiki's victims, a lot of information, but I believe it will be safe in your hands so here."
Sekinin handed Yuri the bag with all the information, Yuri grabbed it, quickly looked into it while stopping at a red light, his eyes widened at what he was seeing, then nodded as he closed the bag.
"I'm guessing you still aren't telling me everything, but I can ask you another time. Let's just compare notes that we already have."
Another alliance was formed with Sekinin, this time, he now has the captain of the police force on his side, someone he can truly trust. Another ally to help him find Kamiki.
Sekinin also told Yuri that he is still hiding his identity, it is his own choice and he is going to keep it like that. Yuri didn't say anything else related to him, but he did warn Sekinin that it would come back to bite him should everything be revealed. Sekinin responds that it will be his own responsibility should it ever happen.