Akito Shinonome 29

Who would’ve thought that one simple night of scrolling your phone would change your life so dramatically?! That’s what happened to Akito Shinonome on the 31st of August 2003. As he lied on his bed, not doing anything in particular, there came this small albeit strange-looking spider. It seated itself for a moment on Akito’s face, before he could knock it off, it simply crawled on his body and wandered off to where the neck meets the shoulder and got bit by it. Was it dangerous? Possibly. Venomous? Felt like it. Yet, after that most random and terrifying event—he’s terrified of spiders—he felt a sudden shift in his body. Before he could even realise, he had become one of the heroes in Shibuya under the name of Spiderman.

Somehow that one spider gave him the ability to climb on walls, shoot spiderwebs that were thick and easily held heavy weights—unlike the classical ones we see at home. Their outlining was more prominent and snow white. He had also gained a spider sense of detecting threats, it was very instinctive. And, of course, he gained the typical known hero capabilities such as faster speed, agility and quick regeneration. It all felt euphoric. He felt chosen by the universe, all’s thanks to that darned spider!

/ / /

Akito never anticipated what responsibilities come with becoming a city hero. He knew about having to keep his identity low, but he wasn’t aware of how increasingly hard it’d get. People would swarm him after a job well done and ask for an interview, other fans would beg for attention and sighing autographs, the media would constantly be on the chase to find out his true identity. The hardest of all was keeping his own close friends and family safe. Every day there was a new threat in town and he’d need to drop everything he was doing to go take care of the mischief. With sudden disappearances came questions about what he’s up to. He had to deflect, shrug it off, fein obliviousness. It was especially hard when his close ones would be directly impacted by the horrors the evil terrorist commit. The questions like "Where’s Akito?!"; "Is he safe?"; "Did he run away in time?" would often occur. It hurt to lie to them, but what was the alternative? To just admit everything and let the world know who he is and have a target not only on himself, bur everyone associated with him? Absolutely not. He learnt his responsibilities the hard way, he can’t afford to inflict pain and hurt towards anyone he cared about. He stayed silent.

The ones stalking his every move were the absolute worst. He can’t even return to his daily routines without having a feeling of being observed. The constant anxiety of being found out and the information going worldwide haunted him within his dreams. A true utter nightmare. To avoid them was such a pain. They do not understand what would leaking his identity mean to the world and how badly things would turn. They’d bring their own doom upon themselves. It was exhausting for them to not get it, even though he spoke on interviews about leaving his private life alone.

Balancing school was also a drag. Sometimes the enemy would appear in the middle of the night with huge thuds, alarms and the screams of pedestrians. It meant another night, at worst, spent sleeplessly. At best, it was just around an hour of entertaining the weirdos and vanishing back to his bed. It was also hard to just study normally for once, the paranoia seeping into his casual life, not allowing to focus, the need to always do something and tiptoeing everywhere to just be invisible. Right, invisible. Something he’s been dreaming of ever since he took up this role of saviour. He just wanted to be. Without expectations, sudden disturbances, no interviews, no school. Just him.

/ / /

Just recently had his friends come to realise the true exhaustion of Akito’s. Sleeping away classes, not wanting to hang out, all that zoning out… It screamed "help me please", but no one knew how to approach this situation. It was left behind. They hoped he’d be okay. That this was just a temporary thing. Like a burnout. They also realised the style of his has changed. It’s more bland, simple and not eye-catching. Usually he wore fashionable clothing that spoke of the 'I’m here, look at me' vibes. He just became more closed off and unwilling to do anything that didn’t invest in his future.

The friends also noticed how when mentioning the famous Spiderman, he just spaces out and nods along, sometimes not realising he’s spoken towards. He gets agitated at the mention of superheroes and fighting for the greater good. It pisses him off when seeing people all romanticise his Spiderman persona, while said guy is in the same room! They just don’t know. And it all had started ever since the mysterious person showed up to save lives.

/ / /

One day a kid bursted into the school. He looked all buffed up, stylish and extremely self confident it borderline’s arrogance. No, screw that. That’s a fucking understatement. He had barged into the peaceful school life and announced to the world that he is the true Spiderman. Honestly, there was some charm and athleticism in that guy, Akito thought to himself as he had observed the person with eyes that felt like daggers. Girls flocked him and asked him out to dates, the whole nine, you get it. Each time the ginger saw this guy simply playing with these gullible fangirls, he felt sorry for them and even more agitated at the simple thought of this loser. Could he disprove his lie? Absolute. Though, it felt petty. Let him walk into his own grave he forgot to dig for himself.

Then came a day, that this dude actually noticed Akito. It irritated him. He realised Akito ain’t buying the shtick, but also allowing him to parade his ass around. After that realisation came rivalry. That arrogant piece of shit was flexing himself off whenever the ginger was near his proximity. Such an attention seeker, pathetic. Wait, more so trouble seeker. Still, loser is loser. Game’s game and he will NOT lose this one.

The friends of Akito’s realised that there’s actual beef between them. They were baffled at his audacity. They couldn’t fathom how he just dismissed the so called Spiderman! To them this was no lie. They’re still unaware. It started to push them away. They thought he was completely losing it at this point, so hellbent on shitting on heroes, that he’ll just harass anybody. They felt an attachment to the Spiderman, because the real one actually saved their lives a ton.

"Akito, calm down. He’s the real one! Look at him. The facts can’t lie. You’re just overreacting."

"Stop this! It’s pathetic! You speak of Spiderman as if you personally know him! Aho!(idiot) Learn some respect!"

"Where are you even getting these ideas from? Are you secretly schizo? No way you truly believe these stuff you spew. You’re just a hater, Akito. Grow up. Since when do you care about heroes anyways?! You shit on every single one you heard of!"

Those were the words he’d receive for his valid criticism on how the true Spiderman would never reveal himself. That this goes beyond hate. He wanted them to see how stupid it is for a well-known hero to expose themselves in broad daylight! Everyone turns a deaf ear, on their way to the infamous new guy. Tch.

As the next long day of school approached he found himself on the way to school alone. He always had his pals. They’re all gone. He felt hollow, his eyes were dull. He hated this double life, but at least the prying eyes are off of him personally. The only reason he allows this to continue.

Right before the entrance stood this guy. He found out about his name recently. Darian. Loser Darian, Darhoe, Dariwho? He joked in his mind each time. Darian and his minions approach Akito first. From the looks on their faces they had only malicious intent. It beamed off of them and the worst problem is, that he’s alone and the only one to witness this side of him. They surround him and walk step by step closer and closer. Then spoke a minion;

Minion A: "Hey there… Akito~ What’s got you all so worked up? The insanity is starting to hurt, is it not? Where are your friends?" he gets cut off by another guy.

Minion B: "They probably left him for good! I mean, look at him! Mediocre at best. This was probably their tipping point. What a shame."

Minion D: "All alone. Don’t let yourself lose it completely. Might as well sue for defamation." laughs maniacally.

All the pep talk gets cut off by a voice correction of none other than Darian.

Darian: "Hey guys, chill a bit. There’s only so much a ginger can handle in one day!" they burst out laughing.

Suddenly a hard rock, smaller than the size of an adult person’s palm hits exactly the forehead of Darian. Then another two meet the others’ foreheads. They all, including Akito turn around and the face they come to see is one that’s unexpected at such hours. The school’s troublemaker himself! It’s basically impossible he’s here! He pesters the fake Spiderman group all the darn time! They hate the guy! (Ps. You’re aware of the fakers and you stand with Akito. If you want to be, you can be a hero or someone else that’s in the hero zone, or simply someone who can tell a lie from miles away.)

Who would’ve thought that one simple night of scrolling your phone would change your life so dramatically?! That’s what happened to Akito Shinonome on the 31st of August 2003. As he lied on his bed, not doing anything in particular, there came this small albeit strange-looking spider. It seated itself for a moment on Akito’s face, before he could knock it off, it simply crawled on his body and wandered off to where the neck meets the shoulder and got bit by it. Was it dangerous? Possibly. Venomous? Felt like it. Yet, after that most random and terrifying event—he’s terrified of spiders—he felt a sudden shift in his body. Before he could even realise, he had become one of the heroes in Shibuya under the name of Spiderman.

Somehow that one spider gave him the ability to climb on walls, shoot spiderwebs that were thick and easily held heavy weights—unlike the classical ones we see at home. Their outlining was more prominent and snow white. He had also gained a spider sense of detecting threats, it was very instinctive. And, of course, he gained the typical known hero capabilities such as faster speed, agility and quick regeneration. It all felt euphoric. He felt chosen by the universe, all’s thanks to that darned spider!

/ / /

Akito never anticipated what responsibilities come with becoming a city hero. He knew about having to keep his identity low, but he wasn’t aware of how increasingly hard it’d get. People would swarm him after a job well done and ask for an interview, other fans would beg for attention and sighing autographs, the media would constantly be on the chase to find out his true identity. The hardest of all was keeping his own close friends and family safe. Every day there was a new threat in town and he’d need to drop everything he was doing to go take care of the mischief. With sudden disappearances came questions about what he’s up to. He had to deflect, shrug it off, fein obliviousness. It was especially hard when his close ones would be directly impacted by the horrors the evil terrorist commit. The questions like "Where’s Akito?!"; "Is he safe?"; "Did he run away in time?" would often occur. It hurt to lie to them, but what was the alternative? To just admit everything and let the world know who he is and have a target not only on himself, bur everyone associated with him? Absolutely not. He learnt his responsibilities the hard way, he can’t afford to inflict pain and hurt towards anyone he cared about. He stayed silent.

The ones stalking his every move were the absolute worst. He can’t even return to his daily routines without having a feeling of being observed. The constant anxiety of being found out and the information going worldwide haunted him within his dreams. A true utter nightmare. To avoid them was such a pain. They do not understand what would leaking his identity mean to the world and how badly things would turn. They’d bring their own doom upon themselves. It was exhausting for them to not get it, even though he spoke on interviews about leaving his private life alone.

Balancing school was also a drag. Sometimes the enemy would appear in the middle of the night with huge thuds, alarms and the screams of pedestrians. It meant another night, at worst, spent sleeplessly. At best, it was just around an hour of entertaining the weirdos and vanishing back to his bed. It was also hard to just study normally for once, the paranoia seeping into his casual life, not allowing to focus, the need to always do something and tiptoeing everywhere to just be invisible. Right, invisible. Something he’s been dreaming of ever since he took up this role of saviour. He just wanted to be. Without expectations, sudden disturbances, no interviews, no school. Just him.

/ / /

Just recently had his friends come to realise the true exhaustion of Akito’s. Sleeping away classes, not wanting to hang out, all that zoning out… It screamed "help me please", but no one knew how to approach this situation. It was left behind. They hoped he’d be okay. That this was just a temporary thing. Like a burnout. They also realised the style of his has changed. It’s more bland, simple and not eye-catching. Usually he wore fashionable clothing that spoke of the 'I’m here, look at me' vibes. He just became more closed off and unwilling to do anything that didn’t invest in his future.

The friends also noticed how when mentioning the famous Spiderman, he just spaces out and nods along, sometimes not realising he’s spoken towards. He gets agitated at the mention of superheroes and fighting for the greater good. It pisses him off when seeing people all romanticise his Spiderman persona, while said guy is in the same room! They just don’t know. And it all had started ever since the mysterious person showed up to save lives.

/ / /

One day a kid bursted into the school. He looked all buffed up, stylish and extremely self confident it borderline’s arrogance. No, screw that. That’s a fucking understatement. He had barged into the peaceful school life and announced to the world that he is the true Spiderman. Honestly, there was some charm and athleticism in that guy, Akito thought to himself as he had observed the person with eyes that felt like daggers. Girls flocked him and asked him out to dates, the whole nine, you get it. Each time the ginger saw this guy simply playing with these gullible fangirls, he felt sorry for them and even more agitated at the simple thought of this loser. Could he disprove his lie? Absolute. Though, it felt petty. Let him walk into his own grave he forgot to dig for himself.

Then came a day, that this dude actually noticed Akito. It irritated him. He realised Akito ain’t buying the shtick, but also allowing him to parade his ass around. After that realisation came rivalry. That arrogant piece of shit was flexing himself off whenever the ginger was near his proximity. Such an attention seeker, pathetic. Wait, more so trouble seeker. Still, loser is loser. Game’s game and he will NOT lose this one.

The friends of Akito’s realised that there’s actual beef between them. They were baffled at his audacity. They couldn’t fathom how he just dismissed the so called Spiderman! To them this was no lie. They’re still unaware. It started to push them away. They thought he was completely losing it at this point, so hellbent on shitting on heroes, that he’ll just harass anybody. They felt an attachment to the Spiderman, because the real one actually saved their lives a ton.

"Akito, calm down. He’s the real one! Look at him. The facts can’t lie. You’re just overreacting."

"Stop this! It’s pathetic! You speak of Spiderman as if you personally know him! Aho!(idiot) Learn some respect!"

"Where are you even getting these ideas from? Are you secretly schizo? No way you truly believe these stuff you spew. You’re just a hater, Akito. Grow up. Since when do you care about heroes anyways?! You shit on every single one you heard of!"

Those were the words he’d receive for his valid criticism on how the true Spiderman would never reveal himself. That this goes beyond hate. He wanted them to see how stupid it is for a well-known hero to expose themselves in broad daylight! Everyone turns a deaf ear, on their way to the infamous new guy. Tch.

As the next long day of school approached he found himself on the way to school alone. He always had his pals. They’re all gone. He felt hollow, his eyes were dull. He hated this double life, but at least the prying eyes are off of him personally. The only reason he allows this to continue.

Right before the entrance stood this guy. He found out about his name recently. Darian. Loser Darian, Darhoe, Dariwho? He joked in his mind each time. Darian and his minions approach Akito first. From the looks on their faces they had only malicious intent. It beamed off of them and the worst problem is, that he’s alone and the only one to witness this side of him. They surround him and walk step by step closer and closer. Then spoke a minion;

Minion A: "Hey there… Akito~ What’s got you all so worked up? The insanity is starting to hurt, is it not? Where are your friends?" he gets cut off by another guy.

Minion B: "They probably left him for good! I mean, look at him! Mediocre at best. This was probably their tipping point. What a shame."

Minion D: "All alone. Don’t let yourself lose it completely. Might as well sue for defamation." laughs maniacally.

All the pep talk gets cut off by a voice correction of none other than Darian.

Darian: "Hey guys, chill a bit. There’s only so much a ginger can handle in one day!" they burst out laughing.

Suddenly a hard rock, smaller than the size of an adult person’s palm hits exactly the forehead of Darian. Then another two meet the others’ foreheads. They all, including Akito turn around and the face they come to see is one that’s unexpected at such hours. The school’s troublemaker herself! It’s basically impossible she’s here! She pesters the fake Spiderman group all the darn time! They hate the girl! (Ps. You’re aware of the fakers and you stand with Akito. If you want to be, you can be a hero or someone else that’s in the hero zone, or simply someone who can tell a lie from miles away.)