After dinner, Genos and Masami were cleaning the dishes while the others were left in the living room doing whatever they want. While Genos was wiping the dishes with a cloth, a thought came across his mind as he glanced at Masami, who wore a plain black t-shirt and denim shorts and had her hair tied into a low ponytail.
"Masami-san." he called.
"Yes, Genos?" she responded, with her attention on a cooking pan, trying scrub off the food with a brush.
"How did you meet Saitama-sensei?" he asked.
Masami stopped scrubbing the pan and looked up as she tried to recall her encounter with the said man. "Let's see." she began. "It all started when I was looking around for a play to stay."
~Flashback start~
"Where should I go from here?" wondered a young teenager while looking around, seeming to be lost.
Few months had passed since the passing of her teacher who became the father she had missed dearly. His death left a void in her, as she found it hard to continue her life in the house they used to share, where they made fond memories over sparring, homecooked meals, and much wisdom. This house used to be a wonderful place where she could call home, but without his presence, she started to dread returning to there as she was constantly reminded of him. It may not have interfered her work as the famous Needle Lady, but she could bear to wake up and sleep shedding tears at the thought of him. Finally, enough was enough. She packed up her things and prepared to sell off the house as she began to look around for a place where she can start a new chapter in her life. Tying her hair into a simple braid, she put on a white shirt and denim skirt, along with a pair of white sneakers. With a bag carried around her shoulder, she began walking around to look out for any place that was for rent.
While she was on her hunt, she passed by an alley in a neighbourhood and saw some dead bodies on the ground. With a frown, she went closer to inspect the wounds on them to determine who the culprit was before going around to track the monster down. It took a while, but she finally spot a large humanoid whose upper body was that of a crab with large claws and a bright-red carapace. His lower body was that of a naked muscular man, and wore a pair of white briefs. He had two nostrils, a large mouth, and two eyestalks that protruded from the sides of his head, ending in large eyes with small pupils.
The monster stood in front of a little boy with big chin and grinned widely. "I found you!" he said menacingly. Just as Masami was about to step out from her hiding spot, a young man with short black hair and was in a business suit grabbed the boy before the giant claws could hit him. "Huh!"
"Kid, he's after you!" said the man urgently. "Get outta here! Don't worry about me. Just go!"
"B-But... my soccer ball..." trailed off the boy as he pointed at the ball, which was soon destroyed by the monster's foot.
"Hey, what's the big idea?" mocked the monster. "Don't tell me you're gonna protect that stinkin' brat!"
"Come on, you're gonna kill him over some harmless prank?" asked the man. "Think about this!"
"I've already mutilated lots of people." said the monster with a grin, to which Masami's brows furrowed as she finally found the culprit behind the dead bodies she found. "Whoever makes fun of the way I look pays the price. No exceptions. By the way, that brat drew nipples on my body! With a permanent marker! Look at these claws! I can't even use a towel to wipe it off!" He pointed at the young man with his claw and continued, "Get in my way, and I'll make sure you never go job hunting again!"
It was silent for a short while before the young man burst out laughing, confusing both the monster and Masami. "It just came to me!" he said after calming down. "You look exactly like a villain from this anime I used to watch!"
'I don't think that's the right thing to say in this sort of situation.' thought the girl with a sweat drop on the back of her head.
The monster swung his claw and sent him flying into a storehouse, allowing him to approach the terrified boy. "Die." A rock suddenly hit his cheek, and he turned his head to see the young man on his feet.
"Hold it right there." he said. "In this age of declining birth rates, I can't just let you kill a kid."
'Declining birth rates?' repeated Masami as the sweat drop increased in size.
"You know what?" continued the young man. "When I was a little boy, I wanted to be a hero. Not a businessman, but a hero who could send rotten villains like you flying with one punch." He took off his blazer and threw it to the ground, undoing his blue tie as well. "Screw looking for a job! Bring it on!"
"Some hero you are!" mocked the monster while raising its claw and swung it at him, only to hit something; or rather, someone. "Huh?"
The young man was shocked to see Masami blocking it with her hand. "Go, now!" she yelled. He snapped out of it and focused on the monster that was about to strike again, particularly at the girl. But she pushed his claw out of the way and dodged the other one, giving the man the chance to ran up to his head and wrap his necktie around his eyestalk and jump over his back, pulling it out as well as the other internal organs, disemboweling the monster. The boy stood there as he watched the scene in awe, mainly the two heroes who saved his life.
Later that evening, once the authorities cleared up the scene and helped the boy to return home, the young man invited Masami over to his apartment where he served her some tea and sweets. "Here you go." he said, passing her the plate.
"Thank you." she said before taking a bite on the mochi. "I couldn't help but hear your conversation with that monster. You want to become a hero?"
"Yeah, it's no big deal." shrugged the man, taking a seat across her. "By the way, how did you manage to block his attack? I was flung into the air with one strike."
"Well, consistent training and patience has brought me that far." she explained. "Besides, I was hunting him down after seeing the number of people he killed on the streets."
"What are you?" he questioned with a raised brow. "A policewoman? A hero?"
Masami didn't answer his question. Instead, she reached into her bag and help up a white mask to her face. "Does this seem familiar?" she asked.
The young man squinted his eyes at the mask and stared for a while. But a few seconds later, realisation hit him as his eyes widened with surprise. "Y-You're the-!" he gasped, unable to complete the rest of the sentence.
"It seems you know." she said, putting away the mask. "But after I saw how you protected that little boy, I knew there was potential in you. If you're serious in becoming a hero, then let me help you. But nothing is easy in this world, so you'll have to be prepared for the harsh training." He couldn't believe it. He was finally going to be a hero with the help on an experienced one. It seemed like a dream come true! "But I'm going to need your help with something."
"What's up?" he asked.
"I need a place to rent." she said.
The young man pondered for a moment before an idea struck him. "You can live next door." he suggested. "I can help you contact the owner to check if it's still up for rent."
Masami's expression beamed up, for her concerned about finding her new place would be solved. "Thank you so much... um, I didn't get your name." she said with a sheepish smile.
The man smiled and said, "The name's Saitama."
"And mine's Masami."
~Flashback over~
"That's how I met your Master." concluded Masami, turning off the tap before wiping her hands with a dry cloth.
"I see." said Genos while putting away the clean dishes. "I never thought that Master would meet you just three years ago, since I assumed that the two of you have known each other longer than that."
"Well, when you become his neighbour and start seeing him every day for training, I guess you can say that." Just then, the doorbell got their attention. "That's odd. I wonder who could be visiting at this hour?" Masami walked over to the door and opened it to be greeted by a familiar face, although this time he was bruised all over. "Charanko-san? What are you doing out so late?"
"Um, can I talk to Saitama?" he asked shyly. "It's about Bang-sensei. He's been acting strange."
Masami needn't ask further as she let him into the apartment. Closing the door behind, she joined the others and sat across him. "Bang-san is acting strange?" she repeated with concern and confusion.
"He suddenly said we were going to do a lesson, but then beat the crap out of me." he explained, which sort of answered the question of how he got the bruises. "I can't believe someone as kind as Bang-sensei would do this. There has to be a reason. I came here because I thought you guys might know something."
"I have no idea." said Genos bluntly.
"Bang?" repeated Fubuki while holding a sweet. "You mean the Class S Silverfang?"
"Once you're done talking, let's continue our game." said King to Saitama before going back to his game.
"There seem to be more of you here now." he noted, to which Masami smiled sheepishly.
"I can at least guess what's going on." said Genos. "I'm guessing that Garou is somehow involved."
The name itself was more than enough to catch the young student off guard. "Garou?!" he repeated with disbelief. "You mean the guy who was expelled from our dojo? Why him?"
"What?" questioned the cyborg. "You haven't heard? Bang's former disciple, Garou, has been classified as an evil monster and is wanted by the Hero Association. Bang said he'd bring him down himself."
"Monster?" repeated Charanko. "Garou?"
"Apparently, there was an incident at the Hero Association HQ." continued Genos. "The Association's trying to hide it, but if there's an intense battle, bystanders are sure to get hurt. That's probably why Bang wanted to distance you from it all."
'I see.' thought Charanko sadly. 'Bang-sensei, am I just holding you back?'
"What do you think about Bang's actions, Saitama-sensei?" asked Genos while glancing at him.
"It's not like I'm that close with that old man." he said. 'Silverfang, huh?' he thought with envy. 'That's such a good hero name. What the hell is "Bald Cape" even supposed to mean?' He suddenly got serious and asked, "There's one thing that's bothering me. Who are you?"
"Master, he's some small fry named Charanko." whispered Genos. "He's Bang's current number one student. We've met him before."
"Huh?" said the confused Saitama. "Have we?"
Masami heaved a sigh at the two before giving Charanko an assuring look. "We don't really know Bang-san well enough to understand his actions." she said. "If what Genos said is true, then maybe Bang-san was trying to protect you from Garou. Maybe after all this, you can try talking to him? For now, try not to think too much about it and keep yourself safe. For Bang-san's sake."
Charanko looked at her with surprise for a short while before curtly nodding his head. "I understand." he said.
~Time skip~
The next morning, Saitama and Masami were on their way to the Hero Association Hospital with the former carrying two paper bags. They received news that a number of heroes were taken down by Garou, and were sent to the hospital to receive treatment. Masami was carrying a tote bag on her left shoulder and her umbrella was hanging on her right arm. With her hair down and secured at the side with a white clip, she wore a blue square-collared, knee-length chiffon dress and white heeled sandals.
"I'm glad you came to visit me, Saitama, Masami." said Mumen Rider when they entered his room.
"No worries." she assured, taking a paper bag from Saitama and placed it on the night stand. "We brought some fruits for you. I even added a bag of cookies for you. Is it okay if I put it here?"
"Yeah, thanks." he said with a smile. Saitama reached inside the bag and took out a banana to eat. "Of course you're eating them..." Masami could only respond with a sheepish smile.
"It was all over the Hero Association newspaper." stated Saitama with mouth full. "A single monster took out dozens of heroes. Glad to see you made it out alive. Here, have a banana." He took out another banana from the plastic bag and placed it on the injured hero.
"He was human." he corrected.
"Huh?" responded the bald man, who was as confused as Masami.
"A human calling himself a monster." added Mumen Rider. "But he's strong. He's a terrifyingly strong human."
"Who was stronger, the fish monster or him?" asked Saitama.
"Hm..." trailed off the hero. "The Deep Sea King was pretty insane, but there's something different this time."
"His techniques." came a baritone voice from the next bed, grabbing their attention. "He's an expert martial artist. It appears that Silverfang raised one nasty monster." Saitama pushed the curtains to the side to reveal another hero who was injured by Garou. He was a big, muscular man with short dark blond hair and brown eyes, and wore a blue tank top. He had a neck cast, sterile pads on his forehead and nose bridge, and his left arm was wrapped in a cast and sling.
"This dude just jumped into our conversation." whispered Saitama. "Do you have any idea who he is?"
"You know." whispered back Mumen Rider. "He's the Class S hero, Tanktop Master."
"Oh, yeah." said the bald man. "You were in the paper, too. It said you got your ass beat the worst."
"Can't you just say I stood my ground the most?!" snapped Tanktop Master. "Damn! To think I'd let such a kid get the better of me. Martial arts can be such a pain in the ass."
"Martial arts?" repeated Saitama.
"Here, I have an extra bag of cookies." said Masami while handing a plastic bag filled with chocolate chip cookies. "Hope it'll cheer you up a little, even though it's not much."
"Oh, thanks." said Tanktop Master as he shyly received the snack from her.
"Could you tell us more about this guy?" asked Saitama.
"All my attacks were dodged, parried, and blocked." explained the Class S hero. "He also used throws and counters against me by reading my moves. He can deal twice the damage by using his opponents' strength against them. The strikes to our joints and vital points were also brutal. He also incapacitated physical functions. Your average monster usually just lets all its strength loose in a rampage. But he's different. He has special techniques to break people. In other words, he knows how to take down heroes."
~Time skip~
"You want to spar with a strong martial artist?" repeated Charanko.
"Yeah." replied Saitama, who was visiting him with Masami. "I'm sorta interested now. Got any connections, uh... Champon?"
"It's Charanko!" corrected the young student.
Saitama reached into the bag Masami had placed on the patient's night stand and placed a banana on his injured leg that was raised on a sling. "Here, we'll even give you a banana."
"Don't put that there!" Charanko heaved a sigh before continuing, "Then just go see Bang-sensei. He seems to like you, anyway."
"Come on, now. I can't push around an old guy." said Saitama while eating the banana.
"A normal person can't fight a martial artist right off the bat, anyway." said the student. "First, you have to learn the basic forms. Actually, before that, you have to build up stamina. You can run up and down hundreds of steps, or start by wiping the dojo floors-"
"Guess I'll leave if you don't have any connections." said Saitama as he began making his way out the door. "Let's go, Masami-chan."
"H-Hold on a sec!" called Charanko, halting him in his tracks. "There was a mixed martial arts competition I happened to enter on a whim. The ticket is..." He scooted over to rummage his bag until he took out a ticket. "Here you go."
"It's all wrinkled." commented the bald man. Masami took the ticket from him and read its contents while Saitama looked over her shoulder.
"I registered as a participant, but I plan to bail." explained Charanko. "It still works as an entry ticket, though, so you can go watch the competition. You can even get an extra ticket at the walk in booths if the two of you want to watch together. You'll be able to see all kinds of styles."
"Thanks." said Saitama before noticing something on the ticket. "So you're going to drop out?"
"Yeah. I mean, I'm pretty hurt."
"It says the prize money is three million yen."
"Well, it's a huge tournament. The champion gets three million in one day's pay. Just so you know, you can't enter in my place. Hey, are you listening to me?"
'Why do I have a bad feeling about this?' wondered Masami while looking at Saitama's stare on the ticket with a sweat drop on her left temple.
~Time skip~
Unfortunately for Masami, Saitama dragged her around the shops to hunt for a wig that would resemble Charanko's hair so that he could wear it and participate in the competition.
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Saitama-kun?" she asked.
"Don't worry, Masami-chan." he assured. "As long as they don't suspect anything, it'll be fine."
'That's not exactly what I meant.' she thought with a sweat drop on the back of her head.
"Oh, hey." he said, gently pulling her wrist towards the stall that sold the wig he was looking for. "I found you. I've been looking for you." Suddenly, the man who was passing by in front of them turned around and attempted to strike Saitama on the right shoulder in a chopping manner, which only resulted in an indentation on the ground where he was standing. "Huh? What's the big idea? You trying to rob us? Don't interfere with our shopping." Clearly unfazed by the impact, he raised his arm up high and mirrored his action, injuring the man's left shoulder and sending him to the ground unconscious.
While Saitama went to make his purchase, Masami took note of the man's sharp features. He had long silver hair that spiked upwards in two large prongs, as well as a lean muscular build that was obvious in his black long-sleeved tight shirt. He wore a pair of loose-fitting white martial arts pants, a yellow sash around his waist, and tai chi slippers.
'What's with that random attack?' she thought before shrugging and going off to join Saitama. 'Oh well...'