"I've become too strong..." Saitama thought with despair, as he looked down at a sealed package of crab that was on sale.
After having "saved" what was left of City A from Vaccine Man and making sure he was turned over to The Heroes Association, Saitama went to a store in City D due to the sale they were having as to do some shopping. And while he was the top ranking hero of S Class, which meant he made a great deal of money, he was still a sensible man who knew how to exploit a good sale. Sadly though it is because of his global fame that even when he's just walking about doing shopping he can know no peace, such as now where everyone in the whole store was just staring at him with wide eyed amazed expressions on their faces.
"Oh my god it's really him!" He heard someone whisper, no doubt to someone else.
"He's so amazing!" Another exclaimed in a hushed tone.
"Mommy! Mommy! can I get his autograph?" A little boy asked his mother, as they walked passed him from behind.
"Shh, we don't want to disturb him while he's shopping sweetie." The mother whispered in reply as they continued on.
"It's funny in a sort of depressing way..." He thought to himself, as he continued to stare at the package in his hand "I always wanted to be a hero who could end every fight in one punch...and I guess I did like the idea of having fans and praise too..." He continued before putting the item into his basket "But now after a total of three years of training, praise, and being a hero both for fun and to make a living...it's all so...boring..." He realized with a slight sigh beneath his breath, before he resumed his shopping.
Picking up a few more on sale items as people continued to stare, whisper, and in general fangasm over his mere presence, Saitama with a slight bit of joy coming to him headed for the checkout, as he was immensely eager to leave this place and go back home. Unfortunately, just as he reached the checkout lanes all the other customers immediately vacated them as to give him clear passage, which while convenient only annoyed him more.
"You don't have to leave your spots everyone..." He told them, hoping that maybe just ONCE they'd listen to him.
"Oh no it's fine One Punch Man!" One of the customers exclaimed "We wouldn't want to keep you waiting so go on ahead!" They added, earning a collective nod in agreement from everyone else.
Unable to keep a twitch of his eye from happening, Saitama with a heavy sigh being released from his lungs chose one of the many empty lanes to go into.
"I wonder what he's buying?" Someone asked, as they all now seemed to be looking towards his items.
"Probably something to make him stronger, you know like a diet tailored specifically to him." Another answered, as he reached the cashier.
"So I think I know how much I owe already, but I might be off by a few yen..." He said as he reached into his basket, to begin handing the items over.
"STOP!" The voice of a man cried out, before the sound of running footsteps was heard.
Looking towards the direction in which both noises came from, Saitama saw a man wearing a tie and a tag on his shirt which read "Manager" running towards him.
"Um is something wrong?" He asked as the man reached him.
"DON'T YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT PAYING MISTER ONE PUNCH MAN SIR!" The manager shouted as loud as he could while pointing towards him "WE WOULD NOT EVEN HUMOR THE IDEA OF CHARGING SOMEONE AS GREAT AS YOU!" He added.
"But I have the yen." Saitama replied as he held up his coin purse "It's really no issue, besides if I didn't pay for this stuff it'd be like I was stealing..." He reasoned.
"NONSENSE!" The manager responded in protest "YOU SAVE THE WORLD PRACTICALLY EVERY DAY! FOR ME TO MAKE A HERO AS GREAT AS YOU ARE PAY FOR WHAT HE NEEDS TO CONTINUE SAVING OUR SOCIETY FROM EVIL WOULD MAKE ME NO BETTER THAN THE VILLAINS YOU STOP!" He argued.
"That's...completely ridiculous, look I'll just pay for what I've got, it's really no big deal I have WAY too much money as it is anyways." He assured..
Suddenly though without warning, as Saitama looked towards the manager for a response he found that he had become teary eyed, before he then fell to his knees.
"OH THANK YOU SIR FOR YOUR GENEROSITY! YOUR HEROISM KNOWS NO LIMITS!" He praised.
"Dude calm down!" Saitama exclaimed, as he was taken aback by this sudden display of gratitude "All I'm doing is paying for my items like any normal person would!" He insisted.
"Look at him he's paying for his items!" Someone exclaimed.
"He's not even going to abuse his hero status, that's how amazing he is!" Another exclaimed.
Feeling a blood vessel in his head beginning to enlarge due to anger, what he had hoped would not happen again as it had before did, for everyone in the store began to rally together and cheer.
"MAN HE'S SO COOL PAYING FOR HIS ITEMS LIKE THE REST OF US DO!" Someone shouted.
"YEAH! IT'S LIKE HE'S NOT EVEN TRYING TO BE A HERO BUT A NORMAL GUY!" Someone else shouted.
"HE'S THE GREATEST HERO IN THE WORLD!" One final person shouted, before they all let out a resounding cheer.
"...I just wanna go home..." Saitama sighed, as he dropped his coin purse on the checkout counter and began to leave.
"HOLY CRAP DID YOU SEE THAT?! HE'S EVEN GIVING THEM MORE MONEY THAN HE WOULD NEED TO!" Someone shouted, causing them all to cheer.
"ONE PUNCH ONE PUNCH ONE PUNCH ONE PUNCH ONE PUNCH ONE PUNCH ONE PUNCH ONE PUNCH ONE PUNCH!"
Thankfully Saitama was already out the door when they began to do this, so it quickly began to quiet down as he gained distance from the store.
"I've become too popular..." He thought to himself, as he rubbed the side of his forehead.