One Punch Man: The Reveal

Flowers

"But he's -just as you said- a B class!" They denied, some smirking and scorning King.

"That's because of how blind you are." King said with a new confidence.

"You dare mock us?"

"I dare to. S-Saitama is the strongest man in the world, stronger than B-blast, yet you refuse to accept the truth... H-he's one of the smartest ones as well, but still you deny it." King kept biting his tongue accidentally, but with a deep breath, he continued. "Your entrance test should've measured his strength, but he broke every single record. Did you realise, that his pattern of mistakes should've spelt out in code, the word, 'Pathetic'?" King said, and with a wave of an official's hand, the results of Saitama's exam was brought over.

"What code?" The man, wearing a lab coat asked. Obviously a smart man, struggling to understand the message.

"Cipher code, he said."

"Do you know how to decipher the code?"

"The number of questions was perfectly twenty six, yes?"

"Yes."

"Each number was a different letter. 1 was the letter E in this case. So he made a mistake on questions 1, 4, 5, 12, 16, 23, 25. Which would become E, H, I, P, T, A, C. An anagram of those letters would be Pathetic"

"There'd only be one T!" The mathematician argued.

"Do remember that there were sections for each question."

"So there was a section a) and b) for question 16... He got just b) wrong, which must have meant that there'd be two of the letters." He understood.

"Yes, so there's be two T's. Understand? In the given time, he had made a cipher code in his head, and on purpose got them wrong, and in the end, got 7.5 wrong. Which would give him 71% in the test, which is a bare pass for you guys, who require 70%." King finished his explanation, that the mathematician had no choice but to accept.

"How have you been able to remember this is so much detail King? They do say that the more there is of detail means it is a lie." A man asked.

"Have you heard of Saitama Yuusuke?" King asked. A few connected the dots and gasped.

"The man who used to be the CEO of a high grossing company yes?"

"I thought Saitama Yuusuke was that graduate from Harvard, who got only three questions wrong."

"What? Isn't Saitama Yuusuke that famous lecturer whom everybody can remember the words of what he teaches, and therefore get's amazing scores after his lectures? I've heard that his lessons are always jam packed."

"Well, this Saitama, the B-class hero is the same Saitama that you all know. He graduated Harvard, and was the offered the job as a lecturer, but then returned to Japan to become a CEO. He then, left his life to become a hero for fun. Then, decided to become a professional hero. This man was off the charts for three years, doing nothing but training. His strength seems unreal." King concluded.

"And this is the man who broke all our strength test machines? The one who outsmarted us in the exam? And he isn't an S-class hero!!??" A man who sat at the head of the long conference table yelled, and by the reaction of the rest of the men, he must have been the most important member there. 

"Yes." King said with even more confidence.

"And you allowed a man to become an S-class hero without an exam!???" The rest of the hero association leaders looked down in shame. 

"Do not blame them sir. It was my fault for not telling them sooner." 

"And we appreciate you for telling us. Say, where is this Saitama now?" 

"He's battling something right now, though I'm not sure if they've finished yet." 

"Check." The others immediately turned on the multiple screens in the room, which showed the scenery of the broken City Z. 

In the centre of the destruction were five people. They were talking to each other amiably, laughing at something one of them said. 

Even Tatsumaki seemed to be enjoying herself, much to the hero association's surprise. 

"They're not fighting anything?" 

"They must've finished then." 

"How long has it been since you've arrived?" 

"Five minutes or so..." King replied, checking his watch. 

"Destruction Measurement Department! Has there been any signals from City Z?" The important man asked, clicking a button as he did so. 

"There has been a Dragon level danger" Was the lady's reply. 

"Has it been taken care of?" He urgently asked. 

"Yes. Tatsumaki, Bang, Genos and Fubuki were on the case. They seem to have solved it with just one punch." 

"Has there been reports of a fifth member?"

"Yes... I'll quickly search which hero he is."

"No. There's no need." The man took his finger off the button and faced King once more. "I'm guessing this is what you meant by you taking all the credit from. He's always overshadowed by the heroes who are with him, including yourself." 

"Yes. Do you remember the incident with the Sea King? All of those heroes failed to kill the monster. Saitama defeated it with one punch. Everyone accused him of cheating, making him the villain when he should be receiving praise. When Genos and he infiltrated the House of Revolution, He defeated a monster whom Genos, actually, no one could defeat, yet you praised Genos for destroying a building. When Saitama destroyed an oncoming meteor, you only promoted him to rank 7 from 101. A meteor neither Bang nor Genos could destroy. That day, there were no casualties. Yet he was taunted by other heroes, the heroes who laughed at Saitama, saying that he cheated. The population and the heroes all began to chant how he should stop being a hero, yet he still persists today." King explained, and the association hung their heads in shame. 

Some, still not understanding the situation, held their heads high. 

"So? We made a few mistakes."

"A few? I've seen what Saitama has had to face, as if he were a fraud, a hoax, a lie. When I should be the one jeered, he's the one who gets the hate. Just imagine. What if you were a young student at school. You place flowers at the back of the room every day." Some looked confused at the analogy, but King continued. 

"Everyday, you wake up early. Buy, or pick some flowers with the little money you have, and place it in the vase. You do it for years to brighten the class room, but one day, another person comes along to admire the flowers, and another student arrives to see the person with the flowers, and believes that the person must've been the one who had been doing the work for years. Everybody praises the person, and with happiness that they were getting praised, the person doesn't deny it. Though you're not getting the attention that the person is getting, you still continue to put the flowers in the vase, because it is something that you love to do. That is how Saitama must've been feeling." 

Though it was a bit of a weird analogy, they had a better idea of how Saitama felt like, and the ones with high heads, sunk them low. 

King then left the room, wanting to keep the last word. 

He left the building, to find Saitama waiting for him. 

"How'd it go bud?" 

"Surprisingly well." King smiled. 

"Then I'm glad. No stuttering?"

"At the beginning, but not all the way through. You might be getting more attention from now on though." King rubbed his neck nervously. 

"You revealed my past didn't you?" 

"...Yeah..."

"Haaaa.... I guess I'll just have to suck it up then." Saitama laughed, and took King onto his back, in a piggy back ride. "Let's go. We're all having dinner tonight at Tatsumaki's. It's larger there anyway." 

The 'two' strongest men alive disappeared, the entire thing being videoed by the association as further evidence.