"… Brainwashing, a villain's quirk, huh? Guess I wasn't blessed with a better quirk like some of you at the hero course." He told him, bitterness in his voice.
Peter paused for a second, deciding to digest the information he'd been given.
...
After taking it all in, he smiled in interest.
"Wait, really? That's so cool, man! I don't really know how it works but you could just tell a criminal to turn themselves in, right? Or to let go of hostages? It's crazy how they put you in general education, you'd make an amazing hero!"
The boy's eyes widened in surprise and confusion, was he not expecting someone to compliment his quirk? To Peter, it sounded like the guy hit the genetic jackpot.
"What…?" The purple-haired boy muttered, still looking at Peter in shock.
"I uh, said your quirk was cool? Do you not get that a lot?" Alright, Peter was starting to get confused.
"You don't think that makes me a villain or something?" Shinso looked absolutely shocked, it reminded Peter how he looked when he started climbing up walls.
Good times, good times.
Except for that time he crashed into a billboard, those weren't good times.
"No, not really. It's just a shame that they favor combat quirks over ones like yours, which I'm guessing doesn't really help destroy robots, right?"
"I- Yeah, where are you getting at?"
Wait, where was he getting at? He might as well keep talking and see where it leads him.
"I'm not really sure, man. You just seemed cool and I wanted to make conversation, which I see it's going well! Anyway, got any pets? Cool hobbies? C'mon, let's get to know each other."
"I… got a cat? I like cycling from time to time, I guess?" He answered with an unsure tone, he looked around to see if he was being pranked.
Was this what people meant when an extrovert met an introvert? Peter thought it was like that, he might have to ask Mirio about it to be sure.
"Cool, cool, I'm more into photography and all but I can respect that. Favorite heroes?"
"Eraserhead, but seriously, do you really not see me as a villain, or are you pranking me? Cause I'm not in the mood for that type of shit."
Peter winced at that, he could relate to people thinking you were a villain after being called a menace for 2 straight months, but maybe it wasn't the exact same.
"Dude, I think you're just a guy with a useful quirk that got screwed over. I d-"
Peter paused mid-sentence, his eyes going wide as he got an idea.
"Wait, you said you wanted to enter the hero course, right?"
Shinso raised an eyebrow and gave a nod, his tired eyes looking around in confusion.
"That means you gotta do good in the sports festival, right?"
Shinso gave another nod. "Yeah, what are you trying to say?"
"I'll help you!" Peter grinned, holding out a fist for a fist bump. Shinso only looked at the gesture cautiously.
"Why? You don't even know me."
"Well, I guess I believe in you."
Alright, going off by the shocked expression he gave off, he wasn't following what Peter was talking about.
"Look, don't think this is pity or anything, alright? I think I'm good at judging character and you just seem… how do I say this? Bitter cause of the hand life dealt, but you still seem like a good person. So I guess you could look at this as a leap of faith, you know? I'm going to help you become a hero!"
Peter saw how his words slowly sink into the boy, he swore he saw a single tear threatening to spill out of his eye before he wiped it away with a light chuckle and a small smile.
"That… was the first time someone other than my parents told me I could be a hero, you know? You might be crazy." He said softly, a small smile still on his lips as his eyes adopted a reminiscing look.
The two sat in silence for about a minute, the wind being the only thing letting them know that time still moved on.
"Alright, Parker, where do I start?" Shinso asked with a grin, Peter only grinned back.
"Well, I gotta get someone else to help us out, but I know just the guy to ask!"
...
"Scarf man! Wake up! Dude, c'mon!" Peter yelled at the man in the yellow sleeping bag while nudging him with his foot.
Right after Peter decided to help Shinso in his quest to join the hero course, the two exited the roof and walked to classroom 1-A, Aizawa's natural habitat.
Well, outside of dark alleys, but whatever.
"He teaches here?" Shinso asked, hands in his pockets as Peter kept nudging the sleeping man.
"Yeah, It's cra-" As Peter was about to respond, a chill went down his spine which was followed by the sound of shuffling inside the bag.
And it did not make him less scared about this whole thing that his spider-sense was going off.
"Problem Child." The underground hero growled, slithering out of his sleeping bag and standing tall before the two teens. He did not look happy. "Explain as to why you're waking me up during lunch, and you better hope that it's good enough to avoid detention."
Alright, time to pitch this idea! He didn't watch so many episodes of shark tank to have this fail.
"Uh, we need your help?" He responded with a nervous chuckle, his teacher only narrowed his eyes down at him before shifting his gaze toward the taller boy.
Peter saw how Shinso perked up at the glare, he took a second to regain his composure before answering. "Oh! Uh, I'm Hitoshi Shinso from 1-C. And I-I'm a huge fan."
Well, that could've gone worse, maybe Aizawa's softie side will kick in because he said he was a fan! At least he hoped.
Aizawa raised an eyebrow at hearing Shinso intro, he quickly regained his composure before continuing the pseudo-interrogation
"And why did Parker bring you into my classroom?"
"I wanna get him into the hero course cause the exam screwed him over for having a non-combat quirk. I know how you transferred from 1-C in your first year so I came to you!
"How did you know about that?"
"Uh, don't worry about it."
He will never know how Peter watched the sports festival videos that Aizawa was in cause he thought he was cool, he'll never know.
The man only gave a hum and a nod. "You." He turned the purple-headed boy in front of him which made him tense up. "What's your quirk?"
"Brainwashing, I couldn't do anything against robots so they put me in 1-C."
"How many points?"
"2 Villain points and 21 Rescue Point, sir."
Now, Peter was sure that Aizawa thought he didn't hear him, but that spider gave him a good sense of hearing for some reason."
The man gained a reminiscent look in his dry eyes as his rough features grew softer. "Just like me, huh?" He said under his breath, Peter being the only one who heard his statement.
Peter could only smile softly at the man, not having it in him to say a funny remark.
"I'll think about it, now get out so I can go back to sleep." He grumbled, pushing them out of the room and slamming the door. Peter heard him say something quietly to himself along the lines of 'I have fans?' He couldn't help but grin.
"Alright! Step one complete! high five!" He exclaimed, offering a high five to his newfound friend with a laugh. While the boy was less enthusiastic, Peter could see the joy behind his tired eyes.
"Now what? Do we just call it a day?" He asked, scratching the back of his head in curiosity.
"Well, how much do you train your quirk?" Peter asked him, his answer would determine step two.
"Not much, I don't have anyone willing to help me train it, why'd you ask?"
Peter only grinned.
They were taking a trip to the support studio, they had a quirk guru to consult!
...
Well, he should've expected this if he was being honest.
The next step in Peter's 'Hero course Shinso' plan was paying a visit to none other than Izuku Midoriya. The plan had been to show up and ask him to give them tips to improve Shinso's quirk but it quickly devolved.
And by quickly he means the second he mentioned the word 'Quirk'.
As of now, Izuku had cornered the purple-haired boy and started asking question after question about his quirk while somehow writing it all down in his note app.
You know? Peter was glad that Izuku had kept his love of heroes and quirks even after All Might said what he said, it showed that he hadn't given up on his dreams fully.
He couldn't help but be proud of his friend.
"Izuku can sure talk fast, huh?" The girl holding a wrench asked from beside him.
"Yeah, he sure can."
Now, Peter had only been in the support studio once and already knew that Hatsume was both strange individual and a huge safety hazard, but she seemed cool enough so he didn't mind.
Besides, she seemed passionate about making gear, and Peter respected that.
"He's been a huge help making my babies! Even though he mutters.", She comment, grabbing a towel and wiping the grease and soot off of her face.
While she seemed cool, it didn't make it any less weird how she referred to her gear as 'Babies', but whatever.
"Eh, he's just dedicated, you know?"
"Yeah, it's kinda cute." She commented with a grin.
"What?"
"What?"
Peter paused as he looked from the pink-haired girl over to his freckled friend.
He did this a few more times before simply giving a shrug.
You know what? Good for him.
"Hey, you still need to make the new suit, right? And your web-thingies?" Hatsume asked, tilting her head and looking at him through her goggles.
Yeah, why?"
"I wanna help! You seem super marketable so if you use my babies, i'll get tons of business!" She outstretched her gloved hand before realizing the glove was covered in oil and taking it off. She looked up at him with her golden eyes and smiled as the crosshairs in her eyes zoomed in and out. "What do you say?"
Now, Peter had to say he was slightly skeptical. As he's said before, he was pretty sure that Hatsume being anywhere near anyone classified as a hazard, but having a pair of extra hands could speed up the process of getting his suit.
Screw it, she couldn't be too much of a danger, right? He outstretched his own hand and shook hers, her only reaction was grinning somehow wider. She shook his hand eagerly before letting go. "Great! You'll be my very first client!"
Was it bad that his spider-sense was ringing just because he was close to this girl?
Probably.
"Great to hear, man."
"Call me Mei! Now I just gotta ask you something."
"What's up?"
"What's your name?"
Peter only groaned and dragged his hand across his face. Maybe this partnership with Mei wouldn't be as good as he thought.
...
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