The massacre in Hell's Kitchen, enough to be recorded in New York's criminal history, was quietly suppressed under the forceful intervention of Captain George Stacy.
In the official announcement, it was just an accident caused by an old chemical leak in an abandoned factory.
Except for a few trashy tabloids using headlines like "Gang War, Heavy Casualties" to grab attention for a few days, the whole incident didn't cause much of a stir among New York citizens.
For this city accustomed to noise and crime, as long as trouble doesn't happen at their own doorstep, everything can be relegated to daily background noise.
In a classroom at Midtown High School, the sunlight was just right.
Harry Osborn rushed in almost exactly as the bell rang, an irrepressible excitement on his face, clutching several beautifully designed cards in his hand.
"Guys! Guess what I got!" He plopped down in the empty seat next to Peter and slapped the cards onto the desk.
Peter was buried in a thick Introduction to Quantum Physics and looked up, startled. Gwen Stacy also turned around from the front row, looking curiously at what was in Harry's hand.
"Oh my god!" Gwen's eyes lit up instantly when she saw the writing on the cards and the iconic silhouette of a winged bun hairstyle.
"Harry! Are these tickets for Uta's concert?!"
"Bingo!" Harry snapped his fingers and raised his eyebrows triumphantly.
"Next Friday night at seven, Madison Square Garden. I got four tickets. The four of us, how about it?"
"That's awesome!" Gwen almost jumped up, her hands clasped together, full of the excitement of a fan seeing their idol.
"I thought the tickets were sold out long ago! My dad tried to help me buy them but couldn't get any. How did you get them?"
"Oscorp is one of the sponsors for this tour, you know, there are always some internal channels," Harry said nonchalantly, enjoying the admiring looks from his friends.
Peter blinked on the side, looking at the excited Gwen and then at the proud Harry, his mind a complete blank.
"Uta?" Peter finally moved his attention away from his book and looked at Harry with a dazed expression.
"Who's that? Is it a new AI assistant released by Mr. Tony Stark?"
The air was silent for two seconds.
Harry and Gwen exchanged a look, both seeing the same emotion in each other's eyes—pity for a primitive creature.
"Peter Parker," Gwen held her forehead, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"Do you live in a cave? She's the hottest singer in the World right now, bar none! From her debut to becoming a sensation, it only took her less than three short months!"
"Really?" Peter tried to search for the name in his knowledge base, but came up empty.
"Has she ever been on the cover of Scientific American?"
"Pfft—" Harry finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Peter, can you fit anything else in your head besides formulas and numbers? I'm afraid the only chart you care about is the Periodic Table."
"Hey!"
Gwen didn't bother arguing with Peter and just pulled out her phone, opened the music app's charts, and shoved it in front of Peter's eyes.
"See for yourself."
The phone screen showed the latest issue of the Billboard charts.
No. 1: "New Genesis" — Uta
No. 2: "I'm Invincible" — Uta
No. 3: "Backlight" — Uta
---
In the top ten list, seven songs had the same name attached. And that one called "New Genesis" had occupied the top spot for a whole month.
"See?" Gwen shook her phone.
"This is Uta, America's hottest new star singer—no, she should be called the World Diva. Her songs dominate almost all platforms, and you've actually never heard of her?"
Peter leaned in to look. On the screen was a girl with striking red and white hair wearing large headphones, looking about the same age as him.
He really didn't have much of a concept of these things; in his view, these melodies were far less attractive than an elegant physics formula.
"Oh," he responded dryly.
"Oh?" Harry dramatically clutched his chest, "You really are a boring science geek. Go to a concert, feel the live atmosphere, that's what youth is! Understand? Youth!"
"I'm not very interested in these things." Peter scratched his head, "You guys go, don't waste a ticket on me."
"Hey, I didn't say this fourth ticket was for you." Harry raised an eyebrow and gave Peter a wink.
"Just because you don't like it doesn't mean Mikoto doesn't like it."
Peter froze for a moment.
Harry continued: "You're such an incompetent older brother. Mikoto has been in New York for almost a month, right? Have you seen her do any recreational activities?"
"Every day it's school, home, homework. She's also a sixteen-year-old girl, at the age where she should love to play and have fun. Shouldn't you take her out to relax?"
Gwen also nodded repeatedly: "Harry's right, Peter. Although Mikoto looks cool, I think she must want more friends and to participate in more group activities. A concert is a great opportunity; most girls like that kind of thing."
Peter fell silent.
He thought of Mikoto during this time. The speed at which she integrated into this family was surprisingly fast; she would prepare dinner with Aunt May, discuss the news with Uncle Ben, and listen expressionlessly to him talk about interesting things at school.
She seemed to adapt well, but Peter always felt a lingering sense of detachment about her.
She never took the initiative to mention her past, nor did she ever ask for anything. She was like a kitten that had wandered into a human home; although she accepted the warmth and food here, she always remained vigilant, ready to show her claws at any time.
She had no friends, no hobbies, except for occasionally staring blankly at a frog charm she had carved out of wood herself.
Her World seemed to consist only of this small house of the Parkers.
Harry's words were like a stone thrown into the lake of Peter's heart. Yes, he, the "older brother," really seemed to be failing in his duties.
He only thought about not letting anyone bully her at school, but forgot that she also needed happiness and the carefree time she should have at this age.
"You're right." Peter looked up, his eyes much more serious, "I should ask for her opinion."
"That's more like it." Harry smiled and stuffed one of the tickets into Peter's hand, "The mission is yours, Parker. Be sure to invite your sister to the scene."
Peter squeezed the smooth ticket, which was printed with Uta's confident and flamboyant smiling face. He suddenly felt that taking Mikoto to see another side of this World might be a good idea.
At least, it could bring a few more expressions belonging to a sixteen-year-old girl to that face that always seemed a bit indifferent.
Dinner at the Parker house was always accompanied by old songs playing on the radio and the aroma of food. Aunt May made Spaghetti Bolognese today, and the rich scent of tomato and basil filled the entire dining room.
"Mikoto, try this, I added extra Parmesan today." Aunt May used a serving spoon to add another large scoop of sauce to Mikoto's plate, piling the pasta into a small mountain.
"Thank you, Aunt May, that's enough." Mikoto looked at her plate, feeling a bit helpless, but her heart was warm.
Uncle Ben was watching a rerun of the evening news. On the TV, the anchor was reporting a story about a chemical leak in an abandoned factory in a measured tone. He shook his head: "This city always has something to worry about."
Peter rolled the spaghetti on his plate absent-mindedly, the fork and plate rubbing together to make a slight scratching sound.
He glanced at Mikoto opposite him from time to time, looking like he wanted to say something but was hesitating. The concert ticket Harry had forced on him was in his pants pocket right now, like a piece of hot iron.
Mikoto had noticed his abnormality long ago. Ever since he got home, this guy had been distracted, his eyes wandering, like a hamster that had hidden a secret and didn't know how to speak up.
She wiped the corners of her mouth with a napkin and decided to take the initiative, lest she feel uncomfortable being stared at by him.
"Is there something on your mind?"
Peter was startled by this direct question, and his fork slipped, hitting the plate with a "clang."
"Ah? No, nothing's wrong." He quickly picked up the fork, his eyes darting away.
"Your face is wrinkled like a walnut." Mikoto raised an eyebrow, "Tell me, what trouble did you get into at school again?"
"I didn't!"
Peter immediately retorted, his voice rising an octave, then deflated under the gaze of Aunt May and Uncle Ben.
He took a deep breath, as if having made a decision, pulled the beautifully designed card from his pocket, and carefully pushed it to the center of the dining table.
"This—" He scratched his head, his cheeks flushing.
"Next Friday night, there's a concert. Harry got tickets and asked if we—if you wanted to go together."
Mikoto's gaze fell on the ticket. An image of a cartoon girl with red and white hair wearing large headphones, with the artistic font "Uta" and "New Genesis Tour" next to it.
A concert?
A noisy image of a sea of people, screaming, and massive sound waves mixed together immediately surfaced in her mind.
She had always kept a distance from such places. In Academy City, she would rather play video games in an arcade all afternoon or read free manga in a bookstore than attend an idol's handshake event or concert.