針女 - (One Punch Man x OC)

Chapter 5: The Ultimate Master

The sun was setting when Masami stood outside the arena waiting for Saitama and Genos who were going through the hero qualification test. She wore a crossed front knee-length lilac dress and white sandals with her hair tied into a bouffant bun, with her umbrella hanging from her forearm.

'It feels nostalgic.' she thought, staring at the hall with a small smile. Just then, she saw Saitama and Genos leaving the hall, and walking towards where she was waiting, each with an envelope in their hands. "So, how did it go?" she asked excitedly.

"It was easy." replied Genos before holding up his results to her. "It says I'm qualified to be an S-class hero."

Masami stared at the giant "S" hard. Though she didn't taken the test, she was aware of how the system works. Being an S-class hero right after the test was not easy unless that hero had done something to impress the association, excluding getting perfect scores in the tests. "Did you anything other than the physical and written tests?" she asked.

"Yes." he replied. "I went through an interview, and they asked if I was the one who destroyed the building that belonged the House of Evolution. It seems my reply was what made them to decide to put me as an S-class hero."

"And since they felt no need to go through the trouble of interviewing me..." trailed off an upset Saitama as he held up his result. "I'm stuck being a Class C hero."

Masami scanned the result and noticed that he didn't do well in the written test but scored perfectly in the physical test, making her smile. 'That's Saitama-kun, after all.' she thought before placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay." she assured, smiling at both of them. "What matters most is the two of you passed. And as a celebration, I'll cook dinner!"

"Alright!" cheered Saitama as he started walking home eagerly, followed by the others.

"Masami-san, Master said you have retired from being a hero." stated Genos, remembering what Saitama had told him the previous night when the woman was asked about registering as a hero. "Did you go through the same process as we did?" This seemed to peek Saitama's interest, as he slowed down to listen to their conversation.

The woman placed a finger on her chin, looking up to recall her experience. "How shall I put it?" she asked before removing her finger and looked at the two. "I was a hero, but during those years, the Hero Association didn't exist until three years ago when I decided to stop."

"May I know what name did you go by?" asked Genos.

"People used to call me the Needle Lady." she said before sighing. "And to this day, I don't like that name, but if it's what made them happy then I just went by that name."

Her reply caused the cyborg to gasp, causing his master to look at him. "What's wrong, Genos?" he asked concernedly.

"The Needle Lady." started the said man as his system started going through the old news on the said hero. "She was the one who saved people from big monsters and syndicates, wielding a narrow longsword that resembled a giant needle, and wore a white mask with three vertical lines on her right side. It was said that she disappeared three years ago when the Hero Association wanted to recruit her."

"That was me." said Masami before showing her umbrella. "Although I've retired, it doesn't mean I should stop protecting myself and others around me. But at the same time, I don't want people to recognise me and may persuade me to continue. So I decided to use my sword as the body of this umbrella and modernised the whole thing, though it hurt me to melt the hilt to make this curved handle."

"That's very smart, Masami-san." complimented Genos, smiling at her before he stopped at a junction in a neighbourhood, looking at Saitama with a dark smile. "Master, I guess I'm now officially your disciple. Please continue to guide me as my mentor."