Chapter 13

"How the hell did this happen again?"

Saitama was lost in thought as he wondered about City Z at the request of Alley. Despite his much needed break from Genos, he couldn't help but wonder how he got suckered into his latest predicament. After all, he wasn't patrolling alone.

"Mr. Saitama sir, where are we going today?"

Peering over his shoulder was a snake kid. He didn't quite learn his name let alone understand where he came from. But, Alley asked him nicely to help her out for the day and look after him. He's low maintenance, which was good, however the questions he asked were rather strange.

"Well, at the moment, we're on patrol, making sure the people are safe or whatever. Normally nothing really happens around here, so for the time being, we are going to look at the flyers in the store windows. Tomorrow is usually when the sales go on so I want to be ready for those."

"Sales?"

"Yeah, food goes on sale all the time, the cheaper you get them, the more money you save."

"Oh… you don't hunt?"

"Sometimes I do, but sometimes it's just easier to go to the store and get meat already prepared."

"I could help you hunt, I am a good hunter! Dad even said so, and Snek! I learned a lot from Snek"

"No kidding, I am sure he has some tricks to show and teach you to say the least."

Saitama paused at one of the store windows. He took out a small paper and pen and wrote down what is on sale tomorrow. "Okay, so I can get pork cutlets tomorrow… looks like leeks are on sale…"

"What are leeks?"

"Veggies."

"Oh…" the snake boy paused. "What's a veggie?"

'He's nearly as bad as Genos, only he's full of reasonable questions' Saitama thought.

"Veggies, you know, food that grows in the ground. Sometimes in trees…"

"I don't eat those. I haven't tried them before. But maybe it's because I hunt my food and don't have room for anything more."

"So… what's your name?"

"Tempest!"

"Timus?"

"Tempest, my dad let me pick it. It's from my favourite show!" he explained proudly. "It's the name of a dragon!"

"Ah…" Saitama fell silent, yet as he continued on patrols, he paused and saw a street was closed off to traffic, yet those walking through could still get by, yet the people there were all screaming and swooning aloud. Tempest however hid himself under Saitama's cape and began to shutter. His coil grew tighter for some reason. "Whoa, hey, what's going on?"

"Please… Mr. Saitama, can we keep moving… please…" he whispered fearfully.

"Oh? Something scary is over there?"

He felt the kid nod his head quickly. He then thought to himself what was there in this world that would scare a strong kid like him? Saitama hasn't seen him fight, but, just looking at him, he knows the serpent boy can hold his own against various threats. There should be very little in his world that would make him shutter like this.

"Okay, let's move on then…"

"Saitama."

He froze as another voice spoke his name. He turned and paused to the person. "Oh, hey… Loni something…"

"Amai… Amai Mask."

"Right, what's up?"

He noticed Amai's eyes were glared at his waistline. "Uh, dude, my eyes are up here. What are you looking at?"

A sneer followed on the face of the movie star. "You appear to have something… clinging to you. Do you want some assistance in removing it?"

Before Saitama could speak, Amai was already within striking range. However, before he could land a blow, Saitama caught the hand with great ease. "Whoa, what's with that attitude, this here is a friend of mine. I said I would look after him today… what's with you?"

When he let him go, Amai glared down once more at the coiled body. "You don't realize what you are tending to. That there is a monster, forged from the house of evolution!"

"We were already told about him and his siblings this morning…"

Amai froze in fear. "They… told you?" he asked with great caution.

"Yeah, Alley explained everything. Funny though, if you squint, the kid looks like you."

This repelled him.

Amai was forced back just as people began to gather. "Oh It's Amai Mask!"

"But who's the bald freak?"

"Who cares! Amai Mask! Over here!" squealed the women.

"Looks like your adoring public awaits, I'm heading out… Later…" With that Saitama went on his way. When he was a good three blocks away, Tempest came out of hiding, but he was sniffling. "That's who scares you huh?"

Tempest nodded his head. "He wanted to kill my siblings and I…" he whispered. "We didn't do anything wrong, but we have to die according to him…"

"I don't see why. You're kids," Saitama said. "Quite frankly, some people just have a bug up their ass about everything. I've seen that guy a few times before, when he's not happy about something, he's seriously not happy. I haven't seen him look like that since I took Hunter on as an apprentice… a fake apprentice of course…"

Tempest cleared his tears. "Amai… didn't like Hunter either?"

"God no," Saitama explained. "At the time he had a grudge against Garou… wait… Alley said you're her brother?"

Tempest nodded. "Garou adopted us, but if anyone asks who my father is, I instantly say it is him. He raised us… he took us in…" Tempest then paused. "My older brothers told me you showed him mercy… Mr. Saitama… thank you…"

"It's just Saitama, and why are you thanking me for that? I told the others too, he was just some guy in a monster costume, not a real monster."

"But… since you showed him mercy, perhaps that's what made him take my siblings and I in… He showed it to us…"

"Everyone is capable of it. I think Garou has shown mercy on more than one occasion but no one noticed it. Besides, he's changed since I fought him. I think your mom did most of that, but he's become a good hero to say the least, and it sounds like he's being a good dad to you."

"He's the best…" Tempest said.

"So… You wanted to hang out with me today… why?"

The little serpent boy shrugged his shoulders. "I heard a lot about you from my brothers and wanted to see it for myself. You are a hero in our family, they hold you in the highest regards. Draven would tell us stories about you and how you helped our family when no one else would. You didn't hold dad to his past actions."

"Living in the past does nothing for your future." Saitama said. He paused at another store. "Ooo, there's a mixed veggie special tomorrow…"

Tempest giggled. "You like your veggies,"

"Vegetables are cheap, I prefer meat myself."

Tempest suddenly perked. "Can I hunt meat for you? I can if you want me to! I am really good at it."

"Meh, it's okay kid, you're still growing, and you need it more than me anyways. Let's continue patrols and see what else is on sale…" Saitama paused. "Say kid, do you have a human form? I heard Alley made something that can turn you into one right?"

Tempest shrugged his shoulders again. "Dunno." He said, "I don't know what it's like to be human… is it fun?"

"You get legs… legs let you run and kick stuff… something to think about."

Tempest nodded his head in agreement. "Maybe… but I don't know if I would make a good human…"

"Well, if you find out, let me know"