Chapter Text
“Hi Mr Stark!” Peter said happily as the man approached the coffee table they were sitting at, Captain America followed closely behind. Black widow was nowhere to be seen.
“Peter,” Stark smiled.
Hitoshi couldn't help but stare as Stark greeted his classmates, as if he'd known them for a while. It's strange, he'd been trying to meet this guy since his first few days in this universe, and now that he's actually here it felt so unreal.
“Michelle, Ned,”
Stark paused to stare at Hitoshi for a moment after greeting Ned.
“New kid?” He raised an eyebrow.
Peter stood up from where he had been sitting, pulling shinsou up by his arm to stand next to him.
“Mr Stark, this is Hitoshi. He transferred into our class like last week and he's my friend.”
“Hi.” Hitoshi said stiffly.
Stark paused for a moment, giving Peter a weird look before smiling and holding out his hand for a handshake. It was that rich person's smile that didn't actually mean anything. God please don't be another asshole billionaire, Hitoshi needs him to be smart and willing to help Hitoshi get home.
“Nice to meet you, Hitoshi.”
Hitoshi shook Stark's hand quickly before bringing his hand back down. “Nice to meet you Mr iron man, stark, sir.” Iron man Stark sir?!?
“You can just call me Tony. Or Mr Stark like Peter does.”
Captain America was looking at him too. He introduced himself before Hitoshi sat back down next to Peter, and Ned started asking Captain America- no, Steve a bunch of questions for their project. Steve told Hitoshi to just call him Steve when they introduced themselves.
Ned, MJ and Peter were working on the writing part of the project. Asking so many questions and writing down everything they could, really working hard. Hitoshi however, watched Stark.
He needed to talk to him. When would he have the opportunity to say anything without his friends hearing though? Or what about the rest of the avengers, how would they react?
Shit how would Tony react? Would he even believe Hitoshi? He wouldn't believe it if a random kid showed up and claimed to be from a different universe. Was there somebody else here that would believe him?
He pushed away the thought that said Peter would.
Hawkeye stayed and talked for a while. Falcon and Thor left after about 10 minutes.
He wasn't doing any work, at this rate MJ, Ned, and Peter will have done everything.
He’ll talk to Tony before he leaves the tower, that way he can help with the project.
He turned his attention to the project in front of him and began taking notes on everything Steve was saying with Ned. At some point it went from writing as much as possible, to laughing and joking, too putting the stuff they had written into the computer.
They finished the writing portion of the project that day.
They were about to start the diorama when MJ got a call and said she had to go home for dinner. Ned had to go too, so stark called Happy over to drive everybody except Peter home.
Peter was staying at the tower for the week. Why? No idea. He said it was because his aunt was on a business trip but he hadn't mentioned anything like that during lunch when they were talking about going to the tower.
They put all their stuff away and agreed they would come back to the tower tomorrow after school, happy could drive them.
And no, that wasn't his real name. It was a nickname.
It wasn't until Hitoshi sat down in the car that he realized he forgot to talk to Mr Stark.
Happy dropped MJ and Ned off first. By the time they drove away from Ned's house it was really dark out. Hitoshi was sitting in the seat behind the passenger's seat, looking out the window when Happy spoke.
“So, address?” The man said, looking at Hitoshi through the rearview mirror.
“What?” Hitoshi turned to happy raising his eyebrow
“What's your address? I need to drive you home.” Happy said with a sigh. “Or should I just guess and drop you off somewhere random.” He joked.
“Oh uh. You can just drop me off at the school, I can walk home from there.” He doesn't know his address. He just knows how to get back and forth from school and his patrol route.
Happy actually laughed at that.
“I know how to get home from school. The walk is under an hour long. I'll be fine. And I go out at night all the time.”
His smile dropped and he took a deep breath. ”Sure kid.”
Happy started driving in the direction of the school and the car got silent. The silence was a lot worse without MJ and Ned.
“So, how'd you end up becoming friends with Peter?” Happy said, glancing at Hitoshi through the rearview mirror.
“He sat down next to me during lunch at school and…I dunno, I guess we just started talking after that. It helps that me and MJ work at the same place so they came to see us at the cafe.” Hitoshi said as he stared out the window.
“Cool, cool.” Happy muttered before pausing.
“So what's with the bandage?” Happy said and hitoshi froze.
“i-” he paused. “My bike broke and the brakes stopped working. I slammed into a wall while riding it and hurt my chin.”
“Interesting.” Happy whispered.
They arrived at the school shortly after and Hitoshi got out of the car and pulled out his phone. It was 10 pm. No wonder MJ and Ned had to go home. It was probably around 8 when they left the tower.
Hitoshi closed the door and stepped further onto the sidewalk.
“Be safe,” Happy said before rolling up his window.
“I will.”
He drove off a moment later.
The walk back home from the school was different at night. There were always so many people walking during the day, going to and from work and school. It was weirdly silent now.
Hitoshi walked past the cafe on his way back. It looked like they were already doing the renovations. It's a good thing Mr.Talker had money. Hitoshi probably would have given up completely if he lost his job.
Hitoshi made it home and entered his little hotel room, it was just as he left it.
He didn't go on patrol that night. His abdomen and face still hurt slightly and he didn't want to risk getting injured further.
_________
Stark wasn't at the tower the next day. Happy had dropped them off the same as yesterday but the only people there were black widow and Steve.
Hitoshi and Ned sat down at the coffee table first, and MJ and Peter left to go get the art supplies Peter had so they could start on the diorama.
They came back a minute later holding an entire bucket of miscellaneous stuff and Ned started digging through it to find cardboard the second it was placed down.
Hitoshi helped too. They had decided on making a mini Forrest with clay army people inside and a small Captain America standing off to the side.
Steve laughed when he saw Hitoshi making a tiny version of his costume.
It was actually pretty fun, despite Hitoshi having to wait another day to talk to Stark.
Natasha helped with some parts too. Hitoshi had accidentally called her ‘miss black widow’ and she corrected him quickly. By the end of the day they had about half of the diorama finished and happy drove them home, same as yesterday.
And now Hitoshi found himself back in the alley, looking for Arcane. He forgot to feed her yesterday but he's not making the same mistake again today. He had two cans of cat food and he was going to bring the cat toy he bought but he left it at home by mistake.
He took a few steps forward, looking around to see if Arcane was anywhere to be found. It took a minute before he saw a little tail sticking out of a box a bit further in.
He approached the box slowly before gently opening the top, he was greeted with a hiss from a very surprised cat.
He moved his hand away quickly and stared at Arcane for a second.
She was injured. She had a large scratch on her abdomen and her ear was slightly torn up. The scratch didn't look deep, it was just long.
Hitoshi slowly brought his hand up to Arcane's ear and started petting her lightly. He picked her up once she started purring.
He should bring her home. Just to take care of her wounds. And feed her. And use the cat toy he bought.
He should keep her.
No he cant keep her.
He stood up with Arcane purring in his arms, she was surprisingly still as he walked out of the alley and onto the sidewalk.
He was getting a regular paycheck and he didn’t really have any bills to pay so he would be able to feed her.
But when he goes back to his universe she wouldn't have anyone to take care of her.
But if he doesn't end up finding a way to go back, not keeping her would have been pointless.
He was almost back home. He could see the building.
Maybe he could keep her temporarily then give her to Peter before he leaves.
Yea that'll work.
He stepped into the building and walked up the stairs to his room. Arcane hadn't moved the entire walk back but the second he opened his door she jumped out of his arms and jumped onto his makeshift bed thing.
Hitoshi would've let her sleep there if she didn't have a giant scratch on her side that needed to be cleaned and bandaged.
He closed the door behind him and picked arcane up. She wiggled in his arms for a minute, trying to break free before he went into the bathroom.
She gave up after he turned the tub on.
He's never met a cat that liked water before today. He gave her a bath and used one of his shirts to dry her off. He wrapped some bandages around her side and looked closer at her ear to check the damage.
A small chunk was just gone. It was weird. She probably got into a fight with another stray…
He opened the bathroom door and she ran right back onto his pile of blankets. Hitoshi smiled to himself as she started purring and pulled out a can of the cat food from his pocket. He pulled it open and placed it on the ground before lying down.
It took Arcane a minute before the smell hit her and she bolted up to eat the food.
Hitoshi fell asleep with a smile on his face that night.
_______
“We should put tiny cap in the middle.” Sam said holding the miniature captain America figure Hitoshi made.
“No he's supposed to be in the front on one side, he can't be all the way in the middle.” Peter grabbed the mini Captain America and put him inside the diorama.
“It'll help him stand out though!” Ned said, pushing mini cap into the middle.
“He's not supposed to stand out.” MJ moved him back.
“Hey Steve, were you at any point standing in the middle of everyone during the war!” Sam yelled to Steve who was standing a bit further away talking to Natasha.
“I can't remember, sorry,” he said before continuing his conversation from before.
“I'll take that as a no.” MJ said and Ned groaned, putting his head on the table.
“I think it'd be nice to have him stand out, he's the most colorful part of this entire project.” Sam said from the couch.
“he isn't supposed to stand out!” Peter responded.
“Let's do a vote,” Ned stood up. “Raise your hand if you think mini Captain America should be in the middle.” Ned raised his hand, followed by Sam.
“You don't count Sam!” Peter said loudly.
“Yes he does!” Ned shouted. “Okay now raise your hand if you think he should be on one side.”
MJ and Peter raised their hands.
Ned turned to Hitoshi “you're the tiebreaker Hitoshi.”
He was silent for a moment, before shrugging and continuing to work on the little details in the back of the diorama.
“We win, Sam's vote doesn't count.” MJ smiled
“Dang it!” Ned dropped back into a sitting position.
Stark had shown up today, but he left shortly after. Steve has been coming to help with the project and Natasha was here to ‘babysit’ as she had put it.
Sam apparently didn't plan on coming, but when Bucky (?) told him he was going out for the day he came because he was lonely.
Thor was here too. And he brought his brother.
Or at least that's what they were told, Hitoshi hasn't actually seen either of them today. Also isn't Thor's brother the one that tried to destroy New York? Loki right? Were they just fine now or something?
“Shit I gotta go,” MJ said after checking a text on her phone.
“What? But we're nearly done, can't we wait another 30 minutes?” Ned said, frowning.
“Can't sorry, I promised my dad I would be home in time to eat dinner with the family instead of 9 pm like the last two nights.”
“It's fine, we can finish tomorrow.” Hitoshi sighed. And he'd be lying if he said he wasn't relieved they would be coming back again.
He had one more day to talk to Stark and he wasn't going to fuck it up.
“I would've thought you would want to finish it sooner rather than later.” Peter said, smiling at Hitoshi.
“I gotta feed my cat. It's good to get home earlier anyways.” He shrugged and Ned and MJ paused putting their stuff away to look at him.
“You have a cat?!” Ned gaped.
“Uh” he paused. “Yeah?”
“Since when?” MJ said with a pinched expression”
“Last night.”
“You got a cat last night and you didn't tell us?” Ned frowned. “Do I even know you anymore?” He shook his head dramatically and Peter laughed.
“What's its name?” Peter asked as he helped put Ned's stuff away.
“Arcane.”
Peter paused and looked up at Hitoshi, mouth agape.
“That's-” he paused. “A good name.” He looked like he wanted to say more, but didn't.
“Friday, can you tell happy to come?” Peter said to... nobody?
“I notified him and he's on his way now.” Hitoshi jumped at the sudden voice. And he looked around at the ceiling where it came from.
“Oh I didn't introduce you to Friday yet?” Peter said, smiling.
“No?! Who the fuck is Friday.”
“Language.” Sam said from the couch in a mocking voice, followed by Natasha laughing quietly.
“It was one time,” Steve sighed.
“Friday is the AI that pretty much runs this entire building.” Ned said, picking his bag up.
“Stark has an AI running this entire building?” Hitoshi's face turned into a pinched expression. “That's pretty much asking for it to turn evil and try to kill everyone or something.” He shook his head.
“Yeah that's actually what happened to the old one.” Peter laughed.
What.
Hitoshi stared at Peter with wide eyes.
The elevator door opened a moment later and Happy stepped out.
A moment later they were back down and happy was driving away.
Once again, Happy dropped off MJ and Ned first. Then started driving to the school to drop off Hitoshi.
“Did an AI actually take over the tower before?” Hitoshi said from behind Happy.
The man chuckled before responding “yeah that happened. Surprised you didn't already know, it was all the Media would talk about. Not to mention it's one of the events that really made the avengers famous.”
“Hm.” Hitoshi stared out the car window. “If the first AI became evil and I'm guessing killed people, why is the tower still run by an AI?”
Happy paused, taking a minute to think about the question.
“I think Tony sees his AI as his kids. He messed up with the first one and felt guilty about it so he restarted with another.”
“That's not good parenting.”
“I know, hopefully he doesn't do that with his real kids.”
“If he has real kids.”
Happy paused, looking back at Hitoshi for a second before focusing back on the road.
The silence lasted long before happy spoke again. “He has a real kid.
Hitoshi looked at happy.
The media didn't say anything about him having kids.
It..made sense though.
Hisashi and Aizawa didn't tell anyone when they fostered Hitoshi. And he's pretty sure Mandalay and her group didn't go public with taking care of eri and kota.
If Hitoshi was a pro hero, he wouldn't tell anybody if he had a kid either. Too much publicity.
...wait…
Peter. Hold on-
Is Peter his kid? No right? How old is starks kid anyways? It would make sense why Peter is staying at the tower though.
And Peter could've gotten the money for that suit from stark.
Also Stark knows Peter is Spider-Man right? He's pretty sure all of the avengers know actually. Thor called him man of spiders. Or was that in his head?
Holy shit is Tony Stark Peter's dad?
No, that's actually stupid. He's thinking like Todoroki.
The confusion must have been evident on Hitoshi's face because Happy raised an eyebrow.
“Is…” he paused. “Is Peter?..”
Happy laughed and shook his head. “No-” he said as his laughter stopped. “No, Peter isn't Tony's son. Technically. Biologically. I'm pretty sure May and Tony are working something out so Peter can be at the tower more though so I think he's one of his legal guardians now.”
“Oh...” Hitoshi sighed.
“His daughter is usually at the cabin they have with pepper. I'm surprised Peter hasn't told you about her honestly.” Happy said as the car rolled to a stop. They were at the school.
“I'll have to ask Peter about it tomorrow.” Hitoshi said as he stepped out of the car. “Thank you for the ride Mr happy.”
“No problem. Be safe, kid.” Happy said, and he waited for Hitoshi to respond before rolling up the window.
“I will.” Hitoshi said and the car pulled away, same as before.
The silence in the air was louder than last time.
He should text Peter. He has Peter's number.
He needs wifi. They left the tower earlier than they usually do so it's only 8. Something should be open.
Hitoshi walked in the direction of the hotel, hoping to spot something open on the walk. His eyes caught a familiar looking restaurant with a glowing open sign on the door. Right under that? A free Wi-Fi sign. He still had some money left, and he had plenty of cat food and snacks to last him until Monday.
He stepped into the restaurant and was greeted by the nice smell of food and an overall friendly vibe. There were a lot of people here, probably on dinner dates.
He sat himself down at a small table in the back and opened his phone to connect to the wifi. A waiter came a minute later and he ordered the cheapest meal on the menu and a coffee before opening the group chat Ned, MJ, and Peter had added him into.
‘Hitoshi: hello.’
‘Ned: HITOSHIIII.’
‘Hitoshi: I need Peter.’
‘Ned: how rude you didn't even yell my name back to me.’
‘Peter: hi Hitoshi!!! What's up?’
‘Hitoshi: Does Stark have a daughter?’
‘Ned: hi Peter!’
Peter: yeah mister Stark has a daughter she's super sweet, maybe she can come by the tower one day and you can meet her! Her name is Morgon!’
‘Peter: Morgan*’
‘Ned: oh yeah I met her once.
‘Hitoshi: I was talking to happy as he was driving me home and he confirmed your ai takeover story btw.’
‘ned: I feel like I'm being ignored.’
‘Peter: sorry Ned! I'm reading you’re messages I swear! Also I don't know why you needed my story to be confirmed, Hitoshi. I'm truly hurt you didn't believe me.”
‘MJ: wrong your. You type too fast.’
Hitoshi put his phone away as his food arrived. He didn't need to see the rest of the conversation.
The dinner was actually pretty good. He put some in a to-go container before leaving the restaurant and walking back home.
Arcane greeted him as he stepped through the door and he pet behind her ear before sitting down at his desk and doing his homework.
After he finished his homework he checked the time. 2 am. He wasn't tired. It was probably because of the coffee mixed with the fact he hasn't patrolled in a while. Picking up Arcane doesn't count.
It didn't take long before he had his costume on and he found himself standing on the roof of a nearby building.
He didn't actually expect to find anything today. It's quiet. Or at least it was until he saw some guys robbing an ATM.
Hitoshi used his scarf to swing down onto the street and get a closer look at the people. Three men, one woman. They were trying to pry the ATM off of the wall with a crowbar. It wasn't working.
“I feel like there has to be a better way to get money right now.” Hitoshi said from behind the robbers and all four of them turned to face him at once.
“Oh nooo it's off brand Spider-Man, how scary.” One of the men said while rolling his eyes and the others laughed as the women continued prying the ATM open.
“Wha-” Hitoshi paused and his stance went from relaxed to rigid. “I don't even look like Spider-Man!!” He yelled, lifting his fists.
“Uh huh,” the man said as the woman finally got the ATM open. Hitoshi should use his quirk now, right?
“What are you going to do with that money anyway?” Hitoshi said, directing the question at all of them.
“None of your -” the man stopped talking as Hitoshi activated his quirk. His body went rigid and one of the other men looked at him confused.
“Didn't even finish answering, how rude” Hitoshi said before directing his attention to the women holding the crowbar. “What about you?”
“What the hell are you-” the crowbar fell to the floor as she stilled.
“What the hell!? What'd you do to them?” One of the men yelled, and the other grabbed a fistfull of cash and stuffed it in his pockets.
“What do you think I did?” Hitoshi tilted his head. The man hesitated, he looked like he was about to respond but he stopped himself before picking up the crowbar and running at Hitoshi.
Hitoshi moved out of the way as the man swung at him, he saw the other guy running away in the corner of his eye. He could catch him later.
The man swung again, the crowbar barely missing his side as Hitoshi backed away and threw his capture scarf out to wrap around the man.
Once Hitoshi saw the scarf wrap around him he pulled it tightly and the man fell to the floor, unable to move.
“Man who even uses a crowbar to rob a place? You know you could've just unscrewed the screws holding the ATM to the wall right?” Hitoshi asked and the man grunted, trying to get out of Hitoshi's hold.
“What the fuck is-” Hitoshi pulled on his quirk and the man went still.
He commanded the man to stand up after untying him and made him stand next to the other two. He used the duct tape he had to hold them all together, it wasn't very strong but it would give him an extra few seconds if his quirk came undone.
He yelled at a man passing by to call the police before pulling himself onto the roof of a nearby building and beginning to scan the area. The man that ran off couldn't be far, it's only been like 3 minutes at most.
Hitoshi used the scarf to swing around the area. He knew it well enough by now to know what buildings to latch onto.
It took 12 minutes of swinging before he saw the man running below. You would think he would've found a place to hide already.
Hitoshi dropped down on top of the man after following for a minute and lowering himself closer to the ground so he wouldn't kill the guy when he fell.
The man yelled as Hitoshi sent them rolling into the concrete. Hitoshi got up the second they stopped, he threw his scarf out at the man but he moved out of the way before it could fully wrap around him.
Hitoshi got up and ran towards him, tackling him to the ground and holding his hands behind his back.
Hitoshi used his knee to hold the man's torso down.
“You know this really could've been avoided if you didn't run.” Hitoshi said, sighing. They were pretty far away from the other criminals, but Hitoshi could still feel his quirk activated so all he had to do was brainwash this guy to follow him back over and then he could let the cops handle the rest.
The man squirmed from under Hitoshi, a few bills falling out of his pocket as he did so.
“How much money did you take?” Hitoshi asked. He doesn't actually care, he just needs an answer.
“I-” the man started to talk. Hitoshi pulled on his quirk, but he wasn't able to move before a loud bang was heard, really close.
Hitoshi was rolling off of the guy before he even processed what the sound was, his quirk snapped. Why did his quirk come undone? He didn't get hurt?
At least, he didn't think he was hurt until he felt blood on his stomach, followed by pain.
It wasn't excruciating, he could definitely move, it was just surprising. He looked up and saw police standing not too far from him, one was standing in the front, pointing a gun at Hitoshi. Hitoshi watched in shock as the criminal stood up and ran, another cop running after him.
The one holding the gun didn't move.
Hitoshi's ears were ringing, so he didn't know what the guy was saying, but he did know he was a vigilante. And he's still not completely sure about the rules in this universe but he's not risking anything.
Hitoshi was up and running in seconds. Another shot rang out, but it didn't hit Hitoshi. He ran through an alley and climbed onto the roof of a building, he jumped across, continuing to run until he recognized the rooftops around him. It was pretty exhilarating. He's pretty sure he got shot though.
He couldn't be bothered to check.
He took extra turns on the way home. Making sure he wasn't followed.
He didn't enter through the main door like he usually does, instead crawling back through the window like he had done so many times before. It was more difficult this time, his body felt just a little heavier, and he dropped to the floor the second he was inside.
His breathing was heavy, his lungs burning as he rolled onto his back. He looked at his hand. It has blood on it.
Hitoshi jumped when he felt something touch his leg, he sat up quickly and felt relieved when he saw it was just Arcane. He sighed, bringing his non bloody hand to rub the side of her face.
…why was he bleeding?
Hitoshi took his goggles off and lifted his shirt, looking down at his torso.
Okay, good news and bad news. Good news, he one hundred percent didn't have a bullet in him.
Bad news? A bullet sliced through his torso. He would say it just grazed him if it wasn't deep enough to leave blood everywhere.
It was painful.
Right now his guess is that the cop shot through the gap that was between Hitoshi and the criminal when Hitoshi had the man pinned. They probably thought he was assaulting a random guy on the street so he didn’t want to blame them.
He was still pissed though.
It hurt to clean. And to bandage. And it hurt more a few hours later when he had to clean and bandage it again.
He put bandages in his backpack before going to school that morning, and no, he didn't get any sleep.
_________
There were more avengers at the tower today
Hitoshi counted everybody he saw. Clint, Natasha, Sam, Steve, Tony, a red guy with a gem in his head, a lady who Peter called Wanda, Bruce Banner, Thor, some guy next to Thor that Hitoshi assumed was Loki, and a dude named Scott.
They apparently all showed up for a ‘very important meeting’ that was done before Peter finished school today and they stayed because it started raining.
Now, Hitoshi found himself sitting on the sofa next to Ned, Sam, and Bucky, playing Mario kart because they finished the project within an hour.
“That doesn't count!!! That doesn't count right!” Sam yelled as he stood up. Ned won. Every round. And this time he took the first place spot from Sam at the last second.
Hitoshi laughed as Sam dropped to the floor in defeat. He didn't even care about winning, it was just funny seeing how everyone else reacted when they lost.
“You can't laugh, you haven't won a single round!” Ned nudged Hitoshi with his shoulder.
“I also haven't gotten last place in a single round so I think I'm still pretty good,” Hitoshi smiled smugly.
“Hitoshi and Bucky have been fighting for second place for two hours.” Sam said as Scott approached where all of them were sitting.
“Can I play next round?” he said, sitting beside Sam on the floor.
“Yeah I don't really wanna keep playing so you can have my controller” Hitoshi said, passing the controller over.
He did wanna keep playing. It was fun. He needed to replace the bandages on his stomach before anything else though, it wouldn't be good if it bled through.
Hitoshi asked Steve where the bathroom was before picking up his bag and walking down the hallway.
Was it weird that he brought his backpack to the bathroom? Extremely. Does he care? The pain in his stomach is making it hard to tell.
As soon as the bathroom door closed behind him he dropped to the floor. He sat holding his stomach while lying down for a good minute before sitting up and forcing himself to change the bandages on his side.
He put the bloody bandages back into his backpack because no way I'm hell he was letting somebody find those in the trashcan.
When he opened the bathroom door he was surprised to find Stark standing just a little bit down the hall, further from where everyone else was gathered.
Stark has his phone out, but he put it in his pocket when he noticed Hitoshi staring.
“Hey- Hitoshi? Right? Can I talk to you for a minute?” He said using his thumb to point further down the hallway.
Hitoshi…can use this. This is his opportunity to talk to Mr Stark.
“Yeah…” Hitoshi said after a moment of thinking.
Stark turned and started walking, gesturing for Hitoshi to follow. Hitoshi's steps quickly matched starks as they walked.
After a little bit, he leaned himself against the wall before looking at Hitoshi.
“So…what's your deal.”
“What?”
“You know- your thing- your.. your eyes are purple, you dyed your hair and apparently that was also purple before, you just brought your backpack into the bathroom for some reason and you act weird, I know you're been watching me every chance you got, what is the issue.” He said, making exaggerated hand movements.
How did he know about the hair dye?..scratch that Natasha probably told him. Hitoshi knew he wasn't exactly being subtle with watching stark but he didn't think it was that obvious.
“I-” this is good right? Easier to explain his situation. “I don't -” he paused again.
Why the hell is this so hard?
“Are you from another planet? Different universe? Here from a secret country to murder me because I killed somebody you loved when you were six? What's your deal?” Stark said, crossing his arms.
Hitoshi's eyes widened as he stared at the man. He was pretty spot on with that second guess actually.
“I'm from another universe.” Hitoshi said, quietly but fast. That wasn't as hard as he thought it would be.
Stark's eyes widened slightly, and he tilted his head while nodding. “Well, that explains some stuff I guess- and Bruce owes me twenty bucks- how and why are you here?” he asked as his expression turned more serious.
“Uh I don't…” he stopped. Taking a minute to remember exactly how he arrived. “A villain in my universe pushed me through a portal and I woke up here. I don't really have a reason.”
Stark hummed, taking a second to think before speaking again. “Superpowers?” It was asked like a question. He was asking if hitoshi had any.
“No.” Hitoshi said without hesitation. He still doesn't know how anyone in this universe would react and he's not willing to find out.
Stark nodded before asking another question. “And why exactly have you been watching me like your life depends on it since your first day here?” He tilted his head as he spoke. Arms still crossed across his chest.
“...I heard you were really smart so I was hoping you would know a way for me to get back.” He felt kind of stupid saying it out loud. He has no real reason to believe Stark could help him.
“Okay well,” he started, pushing himself off the wall and taking a step towards hitoshi. “As much as I am truly honored that you believe I can help with this, I am not the guy you should've come to.”
He was suddenly filled with disappointment as he processed that. What the hell is he supposed to do now?
“Oh. Yeah sorry, I don't.. I don't know why I thought you would, that was stupid sorry,”
“Don't apologize. I mean I would come to me too, I did invent time travel and everything.” He shrugged. “And I think I know somebody who can help you with this little problem.”
Hitoshi raised his head at that, staring at Stark with wide eyes.
“Have you heard of a guy named Stephen? Stephen Strange to be specific.”
________
Hitoshi sat down next to the couch to continue watching his friends play video games. He actually found it more entertaining than actually playing it himself.
Stark had handed him a paper with an address written on it. Apparently this universe has a wizard called Doctor Strange. And that wizard also happens to know quite a bit about different dimensions.
Hitoshi found his eyes drifting over to Natasha as he sat. He knows she told the other avengers about him, that's the only way Stark would know about his hair.
Did she tell Peter? She must have, right?
But Peter didn't say anything about it.
Hitoshi turned his attention back to the TV. It was just MJ, Ned, and Peter doing a round this time. They all sat next to each other on the couch, Hitoshi sitting close by but on the floor. It felt like a small weight had been lifted off his chest from finally talking with Stark, and he found himself laughing with his friends.
Peter asked if Hitoshi wanted to stay for dinner after their match was over. He had asked Ned and MJ when Hitoshi was in the bathroom and they were staying too.
Hitoshi agreed. It wouldn't really make any sense to say no.
Not once in the next hour did Stark mention anything about their talk. Does anybody else even know?
Wanda and the red guy- vision, Peter has called him, made dinner. Hitoshi expected them to order something but this was nice too.
It was after everyone had eaten when Hitoshi was putting his sweatshirt on, getting ready to leave when Steve came up to him holding a little container with some food inside.
“Do you want this?” Steve said, holding the container out to hitoshi.
“What is it?” He asked, raising his eyebrow slowly.
“Just some leftovers. I'm offering some to everyone.” That wasn't true. He went straight for Hitoshi after getting them.
“Sure.” Hitoshi responded. “Thanks.” He took the container from Steve's hand and put it in his backpack. He'd be stupid not to accept free food, even if he still has some leftovers from the restaurant.
“No problem.” Steve smiled before walking back to where he was talking with Bucky.
Overall, it was a nice day.
_________
They got an A on their project.
Ned cheered when Peter told them the news.
They were all sitting in the cafeteria, eating lunch on Friday. It was nice. It was really nice actually.
Hitoshi never really gets group projects like this at UA, not counting teams during hero training. It was really great to just spend the week hanging out while they worked and Hitoshi actually found himself joining the conversations during lunch today.
___________
Hitoshi went on patrol during the day today. It was Saturday, so he didn't have anything to do. Usually he would hang out by the cafe but that isn't really an option right now. Speaking of the cafe, how is he gonna get paid on Monday? Does he just show up?
Right now, he was sitting on a very tall building, his legs swinging back and forth as he watched the tiny people walking below.
He has Dr. Strange’s Address in his pocket. He should probably go meet that guy right? He felt the cold creeping through his costume as he sat at the top of the building. It was pretty chilly up here.
He should buy a coat.
Okay now he's just procrastinating. He forced himself to stand, and was preparing to swing off the building with his scarf when he heard a familiar thump on the roof behind him.
“Spider-Man.”
“Mind jack.”
“That's still not my name.” Hitoshi groaned as he turned around to face the hero, who he was sure was a hero now after meeting the avengers.
“You know, I'll stop calling you mind jack if you figure out a real vigilante name.” He laughed as he walked close to the edge Hitoshi was standing on.
“I'll think of something.”
“Doubtful.” Spider-Man replied as he sat down on the edge of the roof and began kicking his feet. Hitoshi sat down next to him.
"I've already thought of something." Hitoshi said, and no. He didn't.
"Oh yeah? What is it?" Spider-Man tilted his head.
".... Eraserhead."
"...that's a dumb name. Arcane is way better. If you like it I can call you that though." He shrugged.
"It's not a dumb name..." Hitoshi muttered quietly to himself.
“Hey how did you get up here anyway?” He asked, turning to face Hitoshi.
“I swung.”
“There is no way you swung around the city using that.” Spider-Man pointed at Hitoshi's capture scarf. It was pretty torn up now, hitoshi hasn't had the time to fix it.
“I did.”
“Nope! Don't believe it” Peter turned to face forward and Hitoshi laughed.
Right, this was Peter.
Should Hitoshi…tell him? That he knows his identity? That he's actually from a different universe and will probably go back after meeting the wizard guy Stark told him about?
That he's Hitoshi.
He thought about it for a minute. If Peter can keep his own identity a secret for at least a bit, Hitoshi trusts that Peter could keep his a secret too.
He's gonna tell him.
“Hey-” he paused. Taking a deep breath as Peter turned to look at him. “I know who you are.”
The lenses on Peter's mask widened, and he stared at hitoshi, completely silent.
“What?”
“I know your identity. I saw you take your mask off on a roof one time.”
Peter stayed silent, he appeared to be thinking of something to say.
“Damn.” He finally spoke, turning his head back towards the street below.
“I'm pretty bad at the whole secret identity thing huh?” Peter laughed, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.
Hitoshi laughed too. “Yeah you're…not great at it.”
They were silent for a moment longer. Hitoshi felt slightly guilty now. He has to tell Peter.
“I'm Hitoshi.” he finally spoke. He expected a reaction, Peter to jump up in surprise or something. Instead the reaction he got had him questioning a lot of things.
“I know."