I've Seen This Episode Before!

When Peter had come over on his own initiative earlier, Kraft had already sensed something was off. After glancing at him, he found him even stranger, though he couldn't put his finger on why. Only after sizing him up for a long time did he finally spot the source of that oddness—Peter Parker's old-fashioned glasses were gone.

"Oh, these?" Peter touched the bare bridge of his nose and said nonchalantly, "Didn't I make a friend this semester? His father is the chairman of the Osborn Group. The Osborn Group needed volunteers for a study on curing nearsightedness, so I signed up. It got cured by accident."

"Oh? Weren't you afraid they'd accidentally blind you?"

Kraft knew the friend Peter was talking about. He had met him a few times—Harry Osborn, a rich kid with a fairly decent personality.

But Peter Parker was being far too bold. He had casually joined an experiment that hadn't been fully perfected yet, without worrying something might go wrong. If he usually had this kind of courage, Kraft wouldn't have looked down on him so often.

It was only an adjustment for nearsightedness, hardly a human experiment, but Kraft still didn't particularly like that sort of thing.

"The research was already in its final stages, so safety was guaranteed. Even if it failed, it wouldn't harm the participants. I only got to join because of Harry."

Peter explained briefly, then suddenly seemed to remember something and slapped his forehead.

"I need to go help over there. We'll talk later."

With that, he slipped away.

"I feel like that guy is hiding something from me..."

Peter seemed much more confident than before. Could curing nearsightedness also fix psychological problems?

Kraft shook his head and didn't dwell on it.

Maybe he'd successfully gotten together with Mary Jane?

Remembering how timid Peter had been in the past, Kraft shook his head with a laugh.

"How could that be..."

"Phew... That was close. Kraft almost noticed something was wrong..."

After slipping away, Peter Parker walked into a secluded corner and let out a long breath. Then he knocked himself on the head in frustration.

"Ugh! What a coward! Why am I so scared of that brat Kraft?!"

Of course, the Osborn Group's nearsightedness research had been a lie, though it wasn't entirely unrelated. His nearsightedness had disappeared after a spider bit him during a visit to an Osborn Group product expo.

Along with it had come a greatly enhanced physique, a miraculous danger sense, and the ability to walk freely on walls...

Just like a spider.

Peter Parker had only gained these strange abilities two days ago, but he had already taught Flash Thompson, who had always bullied him, a lesson at school. His relationship with Mary Jane had also taken a brand-new turn, and that had made him suddenly confident.

Confident enough to take the initiative and provoke Kraft when he saw him today. Unfortunately, Kraft's long-standing intimidation was too deeply ingrained. Besides, unlike Thompson, Kraft had never bullied him through sheer strength, and Aunt May was backing him up as well. So after Peter Parker had rashly gone over to provoke him, one casual glance from Kraft quickly cooled his head, and he decisively admitted defeat and ran away.

But after admitting defeat and fleeing, Peter Parker felt a little embarrassed. He already had special abilities—how could he still be so easily bullied by a younger brother four or five years his junior?

Peter Parker felt that he needed to reclaim his dignity as the older brother.

"Woof?"

A bark startled Peter Parker out of his self-encouragement. Looking down, he saw a goofy-looking yellow Shiba Inu tilting his head at him.

"Oh, Quinn, good child. Why did you come over here?"

This hilariously adorable and exceptionally intelligent dog had recently become the shelter's star mascot. Peter naturally liked him very much. He crouched down, rubbed Quinn's head, and affectionately touched his nose to the dog's black snout.

I can't believe Kraft managed to raise such a well-behaved dog! No! This must all be Alice's doing. That brat definitely doesn't have the patience to train a dog!

As Peter Parker played with Quinn, he thought this with a hint of envy, jealousy, and resentment.

"Big brother! Peter Parker is hiding something from you!"

After returning home and putting on his red scarf, Quinn immediately tattled to Kraft.

"Oh? What is it?"

Kraft was helping Alice, who was cooking, and asked absentmindedly. He wasn't particularly curious about Peter's secret, but if he could use it as leverage to tease him after finding out, that would be great.

"I don't know. He didn't say," Quinn said, wagging his tail as he circled Kraft's feet. "He only said that he almost got found out by you, big brother, then he started rubbing my face nonstop."

"Oh, I see..." Kraft put the chopped potatoes onto a plate, shook the water from his hands, and reached down to pat Quinn's head. "Good job. I'll give you an extra meaty bone later."

This stupid dog was being so eager to claim credit because he wanted a reward, wasn't he? Kraft had already intended to reward Quinn for helping at the shelter today, so he simply went with the flow and gave him the reward he had planned to give him anyway.

"Yay! Thank you, big brother!"

Unaware that he had been fooled, Quinn happily wagged his tail and ran out of the kitchen to show off in front of Bear.

Before long, the sound of him arguing with the little black cat came from the living room.

Yeah, Kraft was used to it by now.

Ever since the two little troublemakers had caused trouble a few times and been thoroughly taught a lesson by Kraft, they had basically limited themselves to arguing. Occasionally, Bear would get annoyed and smack Quinn a couple of times before jumping up somewhere high, leaving the defeated dog to bark wildly below.

"That smells amazing." Not long after, Martin's head suddenly popped around the kitchen doorway. He smiled as he looked inside and praised, "I haven't even eaten yet, and I'm already drooling. Alice's cooking just keeps getting better and better."

Although he knew perfectly well that Alice was only a robot, she was simply too considerate and well-behaved. She was far better than that brat Kraft, so Martin Lee quickly accepted her as a member of the family.

After dinner, Kraft, who had spent all day busy at the shelter, didn't plan to return to the lab to keep working. The family sat in front of the television, chatting while watching boring programs to pass the evening, then each went back to their rooms to sleep.

And Kraft dreamed again for the first time in a long while.

The futuristic, high-tech scene filled Kraft with delight, but the protagonist of the dream that appeared next left him dumbfounded.

Kraft went through the entire dream with his mind in complete chaos. When he sat up in bed, he still wore an expression of utter disbelief.

Because this dream...

No...

I've fucking seen this episode before!