Chương 2: Far From Home
Chapter 2: Far From Home
"I think I'm turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese, I really think so." - Vapors
Monday, February 21st, 2XXX
When Peter had walked into the New York airport, it had been 5:00 AM on Sunday. Now, after his 14-hour flight, he had arrived at the Japanese airport 11:00 AM Monday, with nothing but an overstuffed backpack to accompany him, and he couldn't be more excited. So excited he couldn't bring himself to sleep during the flight, even though he knew doing so was going to leave him jet-lagged for the next week.
Normally, one would be overwhelmed in Peter's situation. Walk into the airplane amidst a familiar world, walk out to see something completely alien, different store brands, different people, oh yeah, and don't forget how everything is in a completely different language. But Peter was prepared. He had been dreaming of moving to Japan since the 5th grade. Honestly, he felt more at home here among all the familiar kana and kanji than he had in dingy dirty Queens.
It wasn't long of course before he was rudely interrupted as it was his turn to greet the customs officer. "PAA-SSU PO-RUTTO!" he demanded in broken English.
Peter however, remained calm and gave a cooperative smile. "Of course sir, right here," Peter replied in flawless Japanese as he held out his passbook for the officer with both hands.
The officer took the passport in one hand, flipping it open and quickly scanning the information before giving it a quick stamp with the other hand. "American, and a minor" he remarked dryly, this time in Japanese. "A tourist then? I assume your parents are around here somewhere."
"A foreign exchange student actually, I'm here to enroll at U.A."
"You better have documentation for that then." The officer eyed him.
"Of course, right here." Peter replied, saying no more than he needed to before pulling out the verification that came with his acceptance letter.
"Everything seems to be in order." The officer sighed at the added work he wasn't going to get out of, and turned towards a fellow customs worker. "Could you help Mr. Parker here get filed for a Student Visa?"
She smiled and gave a curt nod. "Right this way sir." She led him over to the airport customs office, hurriedly explained the situation to the receptionist, and sat Peter down across a man sitting behind a bulky computer.
"So, a foreign exchange student for U.A.? Don't worry, we get a few of those each year. If you were smart and held onto that acceptance letter, this shouldn't be too much of a hassle."
Peter handed the man everything that came with said letter.
"Let's see… verification, documentation, good, good. Ah! Here we go, your pre-assigned student ID number, that means so long as you digitally accepted U.A.'s invitation, you should already be in their system, and therefore, ours. You're real lucky to have this letter kid. U.A.'s a distinguished school, so they do a lot of the tedious stuff for us, really expedites the process, otherwise you'd have to go through the regular immigration channels, and trust me when I tell you that's not a fun process to work through."
He punched the number into the computer. "And there you are, Mr. Parker, right there in the student directory. Now we just translate this over and designate you a temporary resident for academic reasons. All that's left is to fill out some basic distinguishing information for your legal identity. Get you registered in the quirk database, allow the police to identify you should something happen, basic stuff. Plus, you'll be 18 once you graduate, between three years residency and a U.A. diploma, this should allow you to automatically become a naturalized citizen should you decide to stay in Japan after completing your education."
"Alright, what do I have to do?"
"Just answer a few basic questions. First, your name. Answer in the order of family, given, middle. Remember that whatever you answer will be your full legal name as far as Japan is concerned. Although U.A. already has you down as what I assume is your birth name, so you don't really have a choice in the matter. Still, we have to confirm."
"Parker, Peter, Benjamin."
"Good. Saves me some headache."
"Do you need me to write that in romaji for you?"
"No, no. I have it all right here. Just needed your verbal confirmation. Age?
"I'm 15 years old."
"Lines up. Gregorian birthday?"
"October 14th."
"Height and weight?"
"5 foot 6 inches, and 150 pounds."
"Ugh, Americans."
"Oh, sorry, I can convert that to metric if you'd like."
"No need, does it automatically. And I can punch in the rest of the physical description on my own. Now, the big question: your quirk. State your quirk's name and how it works."
Peter smirked, he had already prepared for this question well in advance. "I have a mutant type quirk called Simian. It gives me the traits of monkeys and apes, so increased strength, agility and senses. It makes me particularly good at jumping and climbing."
"An animal type quirk, pretty standard."
Exactly the point Peter thought. He probably could've claimed to have a spider type quirk, and people still probably wouldn't suspect a thing. Maybe someone would guess he and Spider-Man were distantly related at most. Animal quirks were just that common. But he thought he'd cover his bases. Something as simple as changing the animal would be enough to throw everyone off his trail completely. Spider-Man's main identifying feature was his webs, the rest of his abilities were pretty standard, and Peter wasn't planning to use his web shooters in his day to day life anyway.
As for why he chose "Simians" instead of some other animal? A few reasons: for one, he thought it fit his increased strength and acrobatics particularly well. Another reason was that it was non-specific, humans were also simians, if he had chosen another animal, like a squirrel or something, he might have to explain why he didn't seem to look like that animal. Following that same logic, it would help cover his butt if it was found out he used to be quirk-less. Think about it, how different is a young monkey from a normal kid? Makes sense why the extra strength and agility wouldn't show up until adolescence. Would even explain the extra joint in his pinky toe if that ever became an issue.
"Thanks for having a simple quirk kid, sometimes I have to take ten minutes copying down a five page description. Of course, you're also young, so your understanding of your quirk will probably evolve over time. If that happens, you can change your quirk listing. I would suggest doing that through the school; U.A. has to update their student quirk registery all the time. Saves you a trip to QSD (Quirk Services Department), trust me, they're worse than your DMV." Peter shuddered at the thought. "But that just about finishes things up, Mr. Parker." A push of a button later, and a nearby machine whirred to life, spitting out a credit card shaped piece of plastic. "This is your Visa card." Peter reached for the held out card when the man flicked it up at the last second. "Do not lose it," he said with a pointed glare before handing it over.
Peter held up the card to get a better look at it. "Thank you so much, I promise I'll keep it close."
"You better, I'm not going through the hassle to bail you out. Now get out of here!" Peter was halfway out the door when he called again. "Oh, and kid, one last thing…"
Peter hesitated and turned back, a half look of concern on his face. The man merely smiled. "Knock their socks off."
Peter couldn't help but feel a grin crawl across his face. "I will!"
With new found energy, Peter ran the rest of the way out of the airport.
≈*≈
"WOOHOO!" Peter called as he reached the crescendo of his swing, transitioning flawlessly into a triple front flip and sticking to the side of a skyscraper's antenna spire. "Not quite like the towers back home, but it has its own charm." Now that he was done burning some excess manic energy while familiarizing himself with the city, Peter lowered himself down into an alleyway, and walked down the sidewalk, now back in civilian clothes.
Time to get down to business he thought to himself, taking in a large refreshing breath of air. Now that his head was calm enough to think clearly, he began prioritizing what needed to be done. He still had a little over a month before school started, more than enough time to settle into a new life. First things first, He'd need a place to stay. Simple enough, only question is, where do you start looking?
He could check online for available housing, with the whole internet at his fingertips it shouldn't be too hard to find a place. But that could take a few days before he was set to move in, and he wasn't too keen on the idea of sleeping in a web hammock in the park. Just because I'm a spider person now doesn't mean I have to live like one.
He could also try stopping by a couple real estate offices, they could probably find him a place to situate himself faster than he could with just his cell phone. Especially if it means making an eager customer out of a gullible foreigner. Still, he would rather keep things as casual as possible.
If possible I'd like to find a landlord who's not too nosy, I hand them the month's rent, they hand me the room's key. As little bureaucracy and paperwork as possible.
A more formal contract could be used to screw him over. Avoiding that would be more convenient if he was going to spend so much time working as Spider-Man.
So maybe he could use his maps app to find some nearby tenements and poke around for a willing landlord. With how quickly he could swing around town, he could probably knock out half a dozen places in only a couple hours. If this was New York he'd have no trouble doing just that with almost guaranteed success. But he was still unfamiliar with Japan's social landscape, sure he'd done his research, but hands on experience? He had none.
Then another idea hit him. This wasn't a Spider-Man problem, this was a Peter Parker problem, so he should do what people expected someone like Peter Parker would do: Why don't I just go to U.A.? he thought. It was deceptively simple, but really quite perfect. This would be no unusual situation to them: Foreign exchange student lost in Japan looking for a place to stay, happens every year. With luck, the hero filled faculty and staff would be more than willing to lend a helping hand, and chances are they'd know just what to do. They might even have a boarding option all set and ready for him. Though, he'd like to avoid that if possible. He was planning to sneak out every night past curfew afterall. And from what he knew of U.A.'s security, even Spider-Man might have a bit of trouble consistently getting past it. That detail had been a comfort for quirkless Peter Parker, but the vigilante Spider-Man wasn't so keen on the prospect. Still, there'd be no harm in stopping by U.A., even if nothing came from it, it would only take a second and he would need to familiarize himself with the campus eventually.
Stopping his walk as he passed a bus stop, Peter decided to wait the five minutes before the bus returned. Might as well save on web fluid.
≈*≈
The campus was massive, like, full city block huge! At first he thought it was just the main building, and that alone would already make it something to behold. But apparently the cityscape surrounding the school was also part of the school! There was no way he was gonna be able to explore it all now. Instead he made his way straight through the gate, hoping it would lead him to the main receptionist desk. And walking through the front doors of the main building, he wasn't disappointed.
"Excuse me, I'm a foreign exchange student that's going to be attending here in April. I just arrived in Japan, is there anyone I could talk to about my current arrangements?"
"Of course! Welcome to U.A.! You must be wondering about the entrance exam. Don't worry, people come in asking about this all the time, especially around now, we'll get you all sorted."
"Entrance exam? I didn't hear anything about that."
"Then it's a good thing you came here. All applicants have to compete in a written and a practical exam to get in, we only have a limited number of spots you know."
"A practical exam? We don't have anything like that in America…" Back in the states, you were automatically enrolled in the high school in your school district, and if you wanted to transfer somewhere else, it was largely a legal issue. If there were academic requirements, or a need to reduce the number of applicants, that was decided based on your transcript. Grades and test scores, things established long in advance. At most you had to take a general knowledge test, and he had already done that for his application. Although, being quirkless, Peter had never looked into the possible other ways prominent hero schools might select their students.
"Really?" She tilted her head slightly puzzled. "Hard to imagine doing it any other way. I suppose the first thing we have to find out is if you got in through recommendations or if you're a regular applicant."
"I have Oscorp in my references, but that was only after I did the written tests and submitted my application to the foreign exchange committee."
"I see, if all you have are work references on your résumé, then you're probably a regular applicant. But, I can still check the list of students on recommendation for the alternate test. What's your name?"
"Parker. Parker, Peter."
"Let's see… Yaoyorozu… Yoarashi… No Parker I'm afraid. But that's alright, that just means you'll be taking the easier test with everyone else."
"I suppose that's good. So what do I have to do?"
"You said you already completed all your written tests? Then just make sure you're here before 11:30 on February the 26th for the practical exam. It only lasts 10 minutes, so be sure you don't miss it. You'll figure out the rest on your own easily enough, there will be people at the exams to help direct you."
"The 26th! That's this week, man I almost missed it. That's pretty early if school doesn't start till April. Thanks for letting me know."
"It really is no problem. Now, is there anything else I can help you with?"
At that moment, a small white cat looking person in a suit walked up to the receptionist. "Oh! Nezu sir, do you need anything?"
Peter hid a bewildered look. Nezu? I knew they were an animal, but still, seeing them in person, you mean this is…
"That's me, the one that could be a mouse, or a dog, or a bear, but the most important thing is: I'm the principal! And as the principal, I'm going to take a short break for some tea. Could you please put me down on the itinerary as doing just that in my office?"
"My pleasure, sir. Enjoy your tea."
Peter decided this would be as good a chance to ask as he'd likely get. Principal Nezu was an object of interest for him afterall. "Excuse me, Principal Nezu, sir?"
"Oh? And who is this young man?"
"I'm Peter Parker, a foreign exchange student attending in April, I was wondering if I could ask you about my current arrangements, among other things."
"Ah yes, Mr. Parker, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. Mr. Osborn has spoken very highly of you. Why don't you come have some tea in my office with me and we can talk?"
Peter beamed at that. "That'd be perfect, Nezu sir," he said as he followed him back to his office. "So you're an animal with a quirk, right? Could you tell me about that? That is, if it's not too much trouble of course; It's something I've been interested in for a long time." Okay, maybe he was exaggerating when he said a long time. But ever since that spider gave him his quirk, he was determined to learn everything he could on the topic of animal quirks. And if there was anyone who could be considered an expert on the topic, it'd be the high specs genius who actually was an animal with a quirk.
"Why Mr. Parker," Nezu gasped, wide-eyed in astonishment. "I would love to engage in a discussion about the progeny of attempts to observe and induce Amutagenesis in non-hominids."
≈*≈
And so Peter soon found himself in the aforementioned office with a cup of tea in hand, doing his best to follow Principal Nezu's lecture as it flitted about from one topic to the next. If I knew he'd be this long winded, I probably wouldn't have bothered to ask in the first place. Not that he hadn't learned anything, the conversation had been quite informative, if not nearly impossible to keep up with, even for someone as familiar with neogenics as Peter was, especially considering his pedestrian level of proficiency with the Japanese language.
"…And that concludes the results of the 43rd trial of implanting X-genes into mice utilizing CRISPR." Nezu finished, punctuated with a relaxed sigh as he drained the last of his tea. "Any questions?"
"Yes actually. There is still one big question I don't think I caught the answer to. You've made it clear that animal quirks are something we cannot reliably produce, if at all. But maybe we're just using the wrong methodology. You spoke a lot about injections and genetic engineering. Do you think it would be possible for an animal to develop a quirk through mutagenic radiation instead? UV rays from the sun are the only method I can think of that could cause an animal to naturally develop a quirk out in the wild. And just like how humans developed quirks naturally, most of the animals that we've found with quirks were discovered in the wild, not developed in a lab."
Nezu took a moment to consider. "Hmm… radiation you say? I suppose it could be possible. But not as incidentally as you describe. There's an uncountable number of variables in play out in the wild, so even if UV radiation is part of it, it still couldn't be the sole factor. No, any such procedure to replicate Amutagenesis in a lab using radiation would have to be meticulously designed and targeted, and even then… Hmm… It certainly could not be done in just one blast. Perhaps if the animal were to receive multiple regular treatments. And that could still only produce regular mutagenesis. Yes, such a treatment could only serve to activate an already present quirk factor that lies dormant in an already specially bred or genetically engineered animal. Radiation alone could not produce Amutagenesis from scratch."
"I, I see… Thank you, that's very… interesting." Peter didn't know what to make from this new revelation. It seemed he was still a far ways off from unraveling the mystery of his quirk. The implications of this new information created more questions than it answered, questions he didn't particularly want to take to their logical conclusions at the moment.
"No, thank you, Parker-san, that was a truly invigorating discussion. Now, what was our purpose in coming here again? Ah yes, you had some concerns about your arrangements here at U.A.? Well, allow me to start by assuring you the support course is honored to have such a distinguished student as yourself. I looked over much of your application personally, some of your innovations are really quite inspiring. Now that you're here, I have no doubt you'll do this school proud. Speaking of which, how are you enjoying Japan, Parker-san?"
"That's actually one of the things I wanted to talk about. You see, I live with my Aunt. She's my only family left now that my uncle has died. It happened only a couple weeks ago actually."
Nezu nodded in solemn understanding. "My condolences."
"Anyway, in light of his death, we had to scrounge up money just for the flight to get me over here, and now I realize I don't have plans for any place to stay. I'm sure U.A. is familiar with the situation of a foreign exchange student struggling to find living accommodations, so I came here to see if anyone would be willing to offer any advice before I tried to scour the city looking for an available apartment on my own."
"A good insight. And one you will be rewarded for. I have been considering for some time the idea of expanding boarding options here at U.A. I think extending the opportunity to our foreign exchange students is an opportune stepping stone. And while the initiative is still in its infancy, luckily for you, we do have one or two-"
*knock knock knock*
"Come in."
A thin man in a lab coat stuck his head through the door. "Principal Nezu, I was just checking in to see if that new shipm- Oh, my apologies, I didn't know you had company."
"It's quite alright, Curt, come take a seat, there's someone I'd like you to meet." Nezu then turned back towards the teenager sitting across from him. "Peter, this is Dr. Curtis Connors. He'll be your support course teacher."
"Wait, you mean the Dr. Connors? The renowned neogenicist? I'm a huge fan! Especially your work on epigenetics and amutagenesis." Peter exclaimed, accidentally slipping back into English.
"Uhh, thanks, I see you've noticed I'm an American." Connors scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "And, you are..?"
"Ah! My apologies." Peter bowed, returning to formal Japanese. "I'm Parker. I- I mean Peter—well, you can call me Peter—It's a pleasure to meet you sir, I'll be in your care," he blustered as he hurried through the standard introduction.
Dr. Connors practically glowed at the realization of who he was talking too. "Peter Parker, of course, why didn't I see it earlier. I was the one in charge of grading the long form essay questions on your tests. Your responses were simply brilliant." He said as he took Peter's hand in both of his and shook it vigorously.
"You really think- WOAH! Robot hand." Peter yelped as he noticed what he was shaking hands with. "You have a bionic arm?! How awesome is that!?"
Dr. Connors again sheepishly scratched at the back of his head, notably with his mechanical arm. "Just a fancy prosthetic, nothing too special. It was a gift from Power Loader, for which I'm very grateful. He's another of the support course teachers here, much better at the mechanical stuff than I am." Curt had a fond smile on his face as he recalled the memory of his friend's gift. "I really do believe it's those little everyday acts of heroism—slaving away all night just to make life a little easier for one of your colleagues—that sets the people here at U.A. apart. That's what makes them heroes, and they deserve the license and title that goes with it, every part of it."
Peter thought back to Uncle Ben. His quirk was nothing special. No fortune or special resources, just a working man doing his best to provide for his family. But he was the most heroic man Peter had ever met, just by doing good to his fellow man. "That's absolutely right; I couldn't agree more, Dr. Connors."
Nezu clapped his hands, err- paws. "Excellent! it's so good to see the driving principles of our school reflected in both students and faculty. And it does seem that the faculty here at U.A. can do a simple act of heroism for you, Parker-san. As I was saying before, we have one or two board rooms available for you to stay in at your convenience."
Dr. Connors spoke up at that moment. "Principal Nezu sir, with all due respect, the boarding program, as it currently stands, is in its infancy. It's underdeveloped at best. Those rooms are little more than broom closets with cots. Not nearly enough room for the kinds of support course projects Peter will surely be working on in his spare time. Besides, what 15 year old kid, upon traveling to a foreign country, wants to be finished with school for the day only to be met with more school at home?"
He turned now to the young teen whose company he was beginning to enjoy. "If you're in need of a place to stay, then if it's alright with you, I have another suggestion: Some of the other civilian faculty and I live in an exclusive block of tenements not far from campus, makes the commute rather convenient. Anyway, the rent is cheap and I'm sure they wouldn't have any issues with an exchange student moving in. In fact, my niece Setsuna moved in with me to attend U.A.'s hero course on my recommendation, not unlike your own situation. And to top it all off, I distinctly remember there being an available room two doors down from mine."
Peter just stood there slack jawed in amazement. He couldn't believe his luck, it was perfect! Exactly what he was looking for.
"Well kid? What do you say?" Curt prodded.
Peter closed his mouth, resetting his expression to a smile before making it his turn to vigorously shake his idol's hand in both of his own. "I'd be honored, Dr. Connors, I cannot thank you enough, really."
"Well I can hardly refuse to endorse such a heartfelt proposal. Parker-san, I see no issue in you using our off-campus faculty housing." Nezu commented.
Curt returned Peter's smile. "It's about time I headed home myself, come on, I'll get you all set up."
Principal Nezu watched the two exit his office from his place on the couch. Parker-san, I can already tell you bring out the best in people. I know now I made the right decision in inviting you to attend our hero academia.
≈*≈
Dr. Connors had offered Peter to ride in his car with him to the tenements, which is where Peter was when he decided to broach the topic of the elephant in the room. "So… if you don't mind me asking, just what is-" Peter began in their English lingua franca.
"The deal with the arm? Don't worry, I get it all the time."
"Actually, I was gonna ask what a renowned American biologist is doing teaching gadgetry at a Japanese high school."
"Why Peter," Connors began in jest. "Quirks are a biological trait. Heroes need equipment that's compatible with their physiology. Plus there's the issue of specialized first aid and dietary supplementation. Those things are a part of hero support too, you know, it's not all mechanical. I thought you'd be more privy to the idea given your aptitude for organic chemistry."
Peter had no trouble immediately applying that idea to his existing perception of hero support. His own web formula mimicked some of the enzymes spiders used to make their webbing after all.
"Though, I suppose that doesn't really answer the question, either of them. Luckily, I can answer both questions at the same time." Connors continued. "You see, my quirk is called epimorphosis, it's a limited form of long term regeneration, the same process some animals use to regenerate lost limbs, like when a lizard sheds and regrows its tail."
Peter and Connors both unconsciously glanced towards the robotic right arm clutching the steering wheel.
"A small side effect of my quirk is that it makes me somewhat more susceptible to cancer, the unrestrained proliferation of cells. When I was young, I had a particularly nasty tumor in my right arm. It was decided that the arm had to be amputated in hopes that my quirk—coupled with a Dr.'s healing quirk not unlike our own Recovery Girl's—would present a way for my arm to be eventually regenerated. However, an unforeseen stroke of misfortune left my quirk factor impaired in the rest of my arm due to damage done to my DNA by the radiation treatment for the cancer. In short, I developed a rare genetic disorder whose symptoms included chronic localized quirklessness."
"That's horrible!"
Connors merely nodded and continued with his story. "I have since dedicated my life to research ways to potentially induce or re-catalyze my quirk factor and regrow my arm. This eventually led me to continue my work at Oscorp's Japanese offices, which focuses on the treatment of similar neogenic disorders. The arrangement worked out well for me. My sister already lived in Japan, so it was a simple transition. However, when my grant money dried up and my research went bunk, I had a fall from grace, so to speak. That's when Principal Nezu—who I had met previously through my research—offered me a position as a teacher at U.A. I was both desperate and grateful, so of course, I took the job. Didn't help that my niece, Setsuna, practically begged me to because of her own aspirations for U.A. So that's what I've been doing for the past two years. Love the job, and the kids, even if it means giving up an arm and a leg to teach them. And hey, it can't be all bad. I got this sweet bionic arm out of the deal." He finished with a joke to try and lighten the mood. It was a tactic Peter was intimately familiar with.
Peter couldn't help but relate to his idol even more. The big reason why Peter was drawn to his research in the first place was a desperate attempt to try and find a cure for his own quirklessness. It seems Doc Connors had similar motivations. And then he came to Japan in hopes of change, only for some bad luck in a lab to leave him in a foreign land with his life turned upside down. Yeah. Peter thought in dry irony, not like me at all.
"Hearing what you had to go through, it only makes me respect you more. I can't imagine what it must have been like for you to go through life without a quirk."
Peter hated the words before they even left his lips. He so desperately wanted to relate, to let Connors know that he actually understood him perfectly.
Maybe he could say that he also grew up without a quirk and was a late bloomer or something. But he couldn't. Dr. Connors just knew too much about Neogenics. If Connors started asking for details and looking into his history, Peter's cover would be blown, no clever excuse he could come up with would be enough to fool someone like Connors.
"Thank you, Peter. I'm at least glad something I did was able to inspire you, as a teacher of the next generation, that means a lot."
Pretty soon, they arrived at Doc Connors place. Opening the door, they were met by a girl Peter's age with wild, dark green hair just past shoulder length wearing a cozy tan sweater and sitting drinking tea at a small table. "Who's this, Oji-san?"
"Setsuna, this is Peter Parker, one of my new foreign exchange students, and our new neighbor. Can you help make him comfortable while I go get things sorted out with the landlord?"
Setsuna nodded, and one of her hands flew over to Peter before stopping in front of him, fingers held out in a gesture inviting a hand shake. Peter stared for a moment before accepting, gently shaking the disembodied hand. Meanwhile, Setsuna herself walked up to Peter at a much more leisurely pace, her wrist reconnecting with her hand at the tail-end of the hand shake. "Pleased to meet you, Peter-kun. Let's try to get along."
Normally, one would be suspicious at how quickly Setsuna had put them on a first name basis. However, as an American, Peter was honestly relieved at how quickly they had gotten past what he felt were unnecessary formalities. Besides, Doc Connors had introduced them rather informally, and Setsuna probably knew from experience with her uncle that Americans liked to be called by their first names, so there was really no point in looking too deep into the gesture.
"Likewise, Setsuna-Chan. Your uncle has said a lot of good things about you."
"Good to see you two getting along. Don't be afraid to make yourself at home, Peter." And with that, Doc Connors left the two kids behind as he went to find the landlord.
A second after Doc Connors left, Setsuna looked back to Peter. "Tea?" she asked with a tilt of her head. Her hands, already partially covered by the sleeves of her sweater, detached once more to pour him a cup before flying back to hand it to him.
"Thanks," Peter said as he followed her back to the table. "That quirk of yours must be really useful, I can see why your uncle recommended you."
"Thanks, Peter-kun. I can see why he recommended you too. Uncle Curt has said a lot of nice things about you." She replied, mirroring his prior compliments.
"Wait, how could he have said nice things about me if we hadn't met before today?"
Setsuna smirked at his confusion, and Peter noted her particularly pointy teeth when she did so, making her look extra mischievous. "He was the one to review your application. When Oscorp gave such a glowing recommendation, he insisted on being the one to evaluate your submission. Whatever you did must have really impressed him, you were the only one I overheard him talking out loud to himself about while reviewing candidates. Only one he called by name too. Something about an open design contest?"
"Really? I can't imagine my submission would have caught his eye. I just developed these little tracer chips you can stick on a villain with a wrist shooter. The only thing unique about it was that it could be calibrated to a special frequency so that electric type quirk users could sense the static signal without a receiver because of a quirk (pardon the pun) of the cerebellum. But all that does is prevent the signal from being intercepted by regular radio receivers." Hey, I wonder if I could use that same principle to lock onto similar signals with my spider-sense. It's a buzzing in the back of my skull, so it's probably a similar electro-chemical phenomenon in the cerebellum. It even reacts to external stimu-
Peter's thoughts were cut short by Setsuna giggling at his ramblings. "You are such a nerd. No wonder why Uncle Curt seems to like you so much: you sound just like him."
"Well this wouldn't be the first time someone laughed at me for being a nerd," Peter quipped back, playing along with the self-deprecating humor. "But enough about me, what about you, Setsuna-chan? You're going to attend the best hero course in the country on recommendation, you must be pretty incredible to manage that. I bet you can use your quirk for way more than making tea."
"Hehee, you're not wrong. I decided to spend my last semester of middle school here getting home schooled by Uncle Curt just to better prepare. My quirk is called lizard tail splitter, it lets me separate any part of my body and control it autonomously. So yeah, there's a lot it's good for. For one, it makes me pretty much impervious to slashing attacks, so I won't get hurt in a knife fight. That offers a lot of peace of mind."
"I can only imagine. Probably a lot of piercing attacks too if you can separate in time to allow the attack to pass through. If you could get that down to reflex, you'd be real hard to hit."
"Mmhm! I like it a lot."
Man, my spider-sense is pretty incredible for sensing danger, but what I wouldn't give to be immune to knives the next time I have to stop a mugging.
"Room service" a voice called from the other side of the door.
"That must be Lee-san. He's a good friend of the landlord, Mr. Ditkovich, so he got a job as the building custodian. Sweet old guy, really dedicated to his craft." Setsuna informed as she sent a hand to open the door. "Good evening, Lee-san. Need any help?" She asked as an army of her body parts began swarming around doing menial tasks to help clean.
"I really am lucky to have a true believer of cleanliness like you among the tenets." The man wearing stylish amber tinted glasses remarked as he plugged in the Jack of his Kirby vacuum cleaner, and went to work.
≈*≈
Having finished setting things up with Mr. Ditkovich, Peter was now comfortably in his own room unpacking his things. His living situation was about as good as he could hope for. Mr. Ditkovich had made it clear that so long as he got his money for the month, he was happy. Just the kind of casual arrangement Peter was hoping for. And at only 65,000 yen a month (or about 650) it was about as cheap as he could ask for as well. His 4,000 dollar stash (now about 2,800 between rent, currency conversion, and travel costs), would last him a few months at this rate. More than enough time to find a good paying job.
Back in New York, things had been pretty tough, but now that he was here, life was—dare he say it—downright pleasant. His first day and he had been on the receiving end of an unheard of stroke of luck. Things were looking up, all that was left was to hope he didn't jinx it.
Setsuna, Nezu, Connors, they never even asked about my quirk, and yet they all seem to hold me in high esteem regardless. Could my life have really been this peaceful all along if I had just come to Japan sooner? Uncle Ben still alive, working happily as a support course student, no one batting an eye at my quirklessness, and no responsibility that keeps me fretting over risking my life as a costumed vigilante. The possibility troubled Peter somewhat. Still, another side of him argued, being Spider-Man isn't all bad.
Peter moved to lean out the window, elbows on the windowsill as he gazed out at the city scape beyond. No, not bad at all.
With Peter Parker's living situation all sorted out, and day falling away to night, it was time to see to the real reason why he came to Japan, it was time for Japan to get a load of the amazing Spider-Man!
A/N: a slower chapter, but a necessary one. Spider-Man action next time. While I have your attention, I thought I would comment on a few notes, like Peter's canonical age and height:
Peter's birthday: apparently, no one can agree on Peter's birthday. There seem to be two major candidates. August 1st, the release date of Amazing Fantasy 15, (Spider Man's comic debut), and October 14th, New York's official Spider-Man day, which supposedly corresponds to Peter Parker's birthday. There is similar evidence for both:
August 1st: it's mentioned (I believe in TASM2) that spider man is a Leo. (Though this could just be a reference to Andrew Garfield being a Leo) And Tom Holland's MCU Peter Parker was canonically born August 10th 2001.
October 14th: it's mentioned in the comics that Peter is a Libra, and of course there's the aforementioned Spider-Man Day reveal. This is also the position of the marvel wiki.
I went with October 14th, though thankfully both dates avoid a potential problem with Peter's age. That being how he could be in his first of 4 years of American High school (Freshman, age 14-15), and then transfer to being in his first of 3 years of Japanese High school (1st year, age 15-16). He enters Midtown in August at age 14, turns 15 in October, gets bit by the spider, and enters U.A. in the spring in time to turn 16 in October of his first year. This is still possible with an August birthday, but would make it far more likely for Peter to be a Midtown sophomore, and while I couldn't find anything to indicate whether Peter was a Freshman or Sophomore when he was bitten by the Spider, only that he was 15, I had already committed to making him a Freshman in chapter 1. As a side note, this makes Peter 2 days older than Kirishima
Peter's height and weight: the wiki states him to be 5'10" and 167 lbs. However I assume this is for an adult Peter Parker, and Peter has been consistently depicted as being on the shorter side to reflect his status as a young and inexperienced hero, so I made him 5'6" which is how tall he says he is in a quip made to the lizard during the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon, which shows Peter at the start of his Junior year. With this in mind, I subtracted off the extra 4 inches of weight, and shaved off an extra bit to reflect his less developed musculature to put him at an even 150 lbs. As a side note, this makes him an inch taller than Deku.
Amutagenesis: this is a fan-fic, not a sci-fi lecture, so I don't expect people to understand all the nerdy jargon, but considering I made this word up, and it's a somewhat important concept, so I thought I might as well explain it. The idea is similar to abiogenesis, for those familiar. Basically, it describes the mystery of the event of how quirks first appeared. Or how humans were able to spontaneously develop large scale mutations despite the absence of mutagenic or epigenetic factors. In short, the phenomenon of 1st generation quirk users, and patient zero in particular. In subsequent generations, the process is well understood with regular mutagenesis. 2nd generation quirk users and beyond undergo SSM (spontaneous stable mutatification) through the epigenetic catalyzation properties of the X-gene inherited from their parents.
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