The Little Bug's Illicit Profession

"A Chinese Restaurant Owner's Wife's Tale of Saving Fallen Women"

"Except the person in question is Spider-Man..."

Spider-Man x the Twelve Zodiac Talismans x the Wishing Willow

Bailey suspects that her tenant, Mr. Peter, is engaged in an unsavory line of work.

Exhibit A:

He's clearly brilliant and loves learning, yet he doesn't even have a high school diploma. Heaven knows how unbearable that is to someone from China, where people have valued education all their lives!

Exhibit B:

He's always disappearing without a trace, hiding away in a room converted from the attic and avoiding people. Strange noises come from inside now and then. He says, “I'm OK,” but always looks exhausted, world-weary, and utterly dejected.

Exhibit C:

Late at night, while washing clothes, he secretly wears women's clothing. He looks awkward and embarrassed, and every so often she catches sight of bruises covering his body, as if someone has been coercing him.

Bailey worries about meddling, so time and again she swallows the words on the tip of her tongue.

Until one day, he falls past her window naked. His body is covered not only in unhealed wounds, but also in some white, unidentified fluid that makes her avert her eyes.

Bailey can no longer hold back. “Peter, you shouldn't let them treat you like this, even if it's... uh, some kind of special occupational requirement.”

Peter's innocent eyes widen. “W... What?”

Please note:

The heroine has a superpower called “Resonance,” though she doesn't know it. It works much like a Guide in Sentinel-Guide settings and can help the little bug ease his sensory overload. She's not only his partner in everyday life, but also his comrade-in-arms. The bug, mistaken for a male escort, will make Bailey pay dearly for her vivid imagination.

Here's a preview of my upcoming Spider-Man fanfic. Blurb below:

[I Glitched Into the Closet of the Brother I Have a Crush On]

[...Wait, why is my brother Spider-Man?!]

Magic closet x Backrooms x Holland Spider-Man pairing. A younger, 187 cm half-centaur girl versus the boy next door, five years older than her “used to be,” but only 176 cm tall.

*

Five years after being Snapped away, Peter Parker returns and witnesses Mr. Stark, both mentor and father figure to him, sacrifice himself, only to see him return at the funeral (back from the dead).

Tony, wearing sunglasses and holding a Bero, says, “Oh, my dear people, just look at your faces. I hereby officially declare the funeral over and the party started!”

Peter hasn't even wiped away his tears. What on earth is going on?

Later, after Spider-Man's identity is maliciously exposed, Stark Industries makes a powerful move to acquire the Daily Bugle and turn public opinion around. The company announces the recruitment of a new generation of superheroes and officially appoints Peter as their leader, all to fight the Backrooms' supernatural rules spreading across the globe.

An inexperienced boy is forced to shoulder one grand title after another.

“Stark's son,” “the young leader of a new generation,” “the next Iron Heart”... The expectations leave him breathless.

And things get worse: his little girl next door puts him into practice.

“Mia, why are you hiding in my closet?”

“I'm sorry, big brother...”

“But you smell so good...”

Noooo! My childhood friend has turned into an SSS-Rank Sentinel!

[Please note]

① This story has a broad Sentinel-Guide setting. A Guide can treat multiple Sentinels, but can only bond with one partner Sentinel for life, and vice versa. If either one dies, the other would rather die too.

② They were five years apart before the Snap, but are the same age after Peter returns. Calling each other big brother and little sister is just a childhood-friend thing, nothing more.

③ Spoilers for the angst ahead: Iron Man can come back for a rematch because a mutated Spider-Man, with only a short time left to live, travels back after the memory-wiping spell takes effect. He sacrifices himself to give everyone else a happy ending, though the heroine, who accidentally discovers his plan, is the only one who knows.

④ The heroine is a centaur, and her superpower is gravity control. She has two forms: human and centaur. Because of her species' nature, she enjoys pain. With no special kinks of his own, the bug falls apart while patiently learning how to “care for” his little sister.

Theme: With great power comes great responsibility.