"Wonder what's taking them so long?..." Saitama wondered as he turned the page of his manga.
After having destroyed the meteor and returning to his abode Saitama as anyone could've guessed picked up a manga before promptly plopping himself on the floor and proceeding to read it. However this had occurred a half hour ago which while not significant in itself made the lack of his companions feel more unusual.
"Maybe they decided to get a bite to eat?..." He continued to ponder as he read.
Luckily for our hero the universe seemed to be listening to his thoughts as the sound of his door opening reached his ears.
"There you guys are." He said as he put the manga down "What took you?" He asked as he turned to look at them.
Unfortunately for Saitama while the person who had entered his abode was a friend it was only King and no one else.
"Oh it's you King." He corrected as the other approached.
"Sorry, were you expecting someone else?" He asked.
"Eh just the others." Saitama answered "We all went to stop this big meteor from destroying the city but that was a half hour ago and they're still not back yet." He explained.
"Ah." King sounded as he sat down now understanding the situation.
However before their conversation continued now that King was sitting across from him Saitama noticed that he was wearing the red jogging suit he gave him which surprised him given it was nearing the afternoon and King only jogged in the morning.
"Why're you wearing your jogging suit? did you not have anything else to wear?" He asked.
"No I just haven't gone back home yet since I kinda sorta stopped an armed robbery." King answered causing the other's eyes to widen.
"Wait what?!" Saitama asked completely shocked though not because he thought King was incapable of doing something like that but merely because he didn't think he was ready yet.
"I was on my morning jog and everything was normal but as I continued I noticed it was pretty hot today so I decided to stop by a convenience store I always stop by to get a drink, but when I was approaching it I heard a bunch of loud noises and when I looked in I saw the owner who I knew personally trying to open his safe while a guy pointed a shotgun at him." King explained.
"Then what happened?!" Saitama asked with such interest that if he were in a seat he'd be on the edge of it.
"Well as usual my whole body started to shake and my heart started beating." King began as he looked down at his hand "But as I stood there frozen with fear I heard just barely mister Fukumoto ask for help and then suddenly without even thinking I ran into the store and tackled the robber." He explained.
Letting silence come between them as the words sank in with Saitama he couldn't keep a smile possibly the biggest King had ever seen from appearing on his face.
"That's like when I saved Agoni's grandson from Crablante." He said as he crossed his arms "Without even thinking I just acted and while in that moment I wasn't sure why I did it after beating Crablante I knew it was because I wanted to be a hero and save people." He explained "Needless to say King the same thing happened to you and in all honesty I'm proud of you." He complimented.
"Wow..." King simply replied utterly speechless.
"...Shit I made it weird didn't I?" Saitama asked as he feared his compliment was bit too awkward.
"No it's just...to think I actually made someone who's done as much as you proud...dunno...just feels good." King answered causing the other to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Okay good." Saitama replied.
However before their conversation could continue the sound of the door opening reached their ears and upon looking to see who was coming in they found none other than Tatsuamki, Fubuki, Matsuko, and Genos all walking towards them.
"There you guys are." He said as they reached him "What kept you?" He asked.
"Fans...so...many...fans..." Mutsuko groaned before letting her face hit the table.
"Ah." He sounded not needing an explanation.
"IT WAS LIKE A SCHOOL OF PIRANHA!" Tatsumaki shouted as she sat down on the floor "One minute we're on our way back everything's normal, then without any kind of warning we're swarmed by a sea of people who were either screaming for our autographs, taking our pictures, or begging us if we could introduce them to you." She explained.
"Yep sounds about right." He admitted as he rested his head in his palm.
"I've had people come up to me before but never like that..." Fubuki chimed in as she sat down next to her sister "It was like we were some kind of exhibit or something." She added.
"Mhm." He sounded as he began to just barely listen.
"I've never been treated in such a way before." Genos admitted "And even though it was annoying it also was somewhat nice to receive so much appreciation." He added as he too sat down.
"ONE PUNCH ONE PUNCH ONE PUNCH ONE PUNCH ONE PUNCH ONE PUNCH ONE PUNCH!" The sudden roaring of fans came from outside causing Saitama to sigh.
"Looks like they're back already." He noted.
"They most likely followed us here as we tried to lose them, apologies." Genos replied earning a wave of the hand in response.
"It's not your guys' fault they were gonna come eventually." He assured.
"WELL I'M SICK AND TIRED OF IT!" Tatsumaki shouted as she got to her feet "I'M GOING TO TELL THEM TO SCRAM!" She decided as she headed for the door.
"They're not going to listen to you." He told her.
"THEN I'LL PICK THEM ALL UP AND MOVE THEM SOMEWHERE ELSE!" She replied as she opened the door.
Upon opening the door Tatsumaki instead of going outside and expressing her irritation to the people below was stopped in her tracks as a familiar face stood before her.
"Hello Tornado." Sweet Mask greeted with a small smile on his face.
"Sweet Mask?" She asked surprised "What are you doing here?" She added her look of surprise now being replaced by her usual displeased look.
"I'm here to speak to Saitama, he's home right?" He asked.
"I'm in here!" Saitama called somehow having heard him from the living room.
With his question having been answered Sweet Mask without a word more to Tatsumaki walked past her and into the apartment leaving her to close the door behind him, which as you can imagine only worsened her displeased expression.
"Great..." She thought to herself as she shut the door and followed.
"Oh you're all here." Sweet Mask said as he looked to everyone.
"You were looking for all of us?" King asked whilst raising a brow.
"Originally I was just looking for you and Saitama." Sweet Mask answered "But then I heard about the meteor and I then decided all of you should be included as well." He explained.
"Included in what?" Fubuki asked just as her sister retook her spot next to her.
"After Saitama's exam everyone from major TV networks to internet blogs wanted to get him for interviews." He began to answer before Saitama cut him off.
"Oh no I am NOT doing anymore interviews." He told the other as he stood up so they could be face to face "The last interview I did all of the women in the audience threw their panties at me!" He argued.
"That was a mistake on security's part." Sweet Mask countered "But looking past that you are the top ranking hero in S class and are by far the most popular person in the world so you have to maintain a positive public perception." He reasoned.
"I save people all the time how is that not positive enough?" Saitama asked.
"Excuse me." Genos spoke gaining their attention "I fail to see why this would concern the rest of us, since you said you were looking for us as well." He said.
"Oh right." Sweet Mask said before resuming his explanation "After the exam and the flood of interviews I decided that it would be best for Saitama to do one and answer some questions, however earlier today King stopped an armed robbery not too far from his apartment and you all helped Saitama stop the meteor from destroying the city both events now also in the media's spotlight." He explained "So I thought given that King besides being an S class hero himself is also Saitama's sidekick and all of you beyond helping Saitama seem to be friends of his that you should be included in the interview." He finished.
"WE'RE GOING TO BE ON TV?!" Mutsuko asked sitting straight up as she did her fatigue and exhaustion seeming to be gone miraculously.
"The interview will be televised yes." He answered which caused her already excited expression to intensify.
"But me and Mustuko are not heroes." Genos noted.
"Given your assistance with the meteor I have personally made sure that you both are placed into class A." Sweet Mask replied.
"Wow you have that much pull?" King asked simply receiving a nod in response.
"Wait." Fubuki spoke gaining his attention "What about me?" She asked.
"You've been moved to A class as well." Sweet Mask answered causing her to smile.
"Hold on." Saitama spoke gaining EVERYONE'S attentions "I still haven't agreed to DO the interview." He told them as he crossed his arms.
"Oh PLEASE Saitama!" Mutsuko begged "It would be so AMAZING to be on TV!" She added clasping her hands together as she did.
"I do not care what you decide." Genos admitted "Though I do not want you to inconvenience yourself for us." He added.
"I agree." King spoke as he too crossed his arms "You shouldn't do this just for us." He said.
"I'm with Genos I don't care what you do." Tatsumaki said "Though if you do decide to go on you better make sure the fans keep their mouths shut otherwise I can't be held responsible for what happens." She added.
"You should do what you think is best." Fubuki said.
Looking to his friends and briefly to Sweet Mask even though every fiber of his being was screaming at him to just throw Sweet Mask out there was a small part of him telling him to do it. But it wasn't because this small part of him wanted to do the interview for himself it wanted him to show off his friends and what they were capable of. For while yes the whole point of this was to talk about the exam Sweet Mask himself said that King's heroic feat and the meteor also had the media's attention so this would be a good opportunity for them. Yet even if this was the reason he knew deep down that it would more than likely be all about him and they would just be sitting there in silence unable to get a single word in which would not only humiliate them most likely but also piss Tatsumaki off which he KNEW would not end well.
So as he thought about it for a few seconds longer keeping them all in suspense he soon closed his eyes, breathed a sighed, then said.
"Okay, I'll do it."
Upon hearing these words Mutsuko jumped into the air cheering her excitement unable to be contained and while Fubuki wasn't as expressive in her excitement she was admittedly eager to be on television. As for Tatsumaki, King, and Genos while they were by no means excited for this like the two women were they still were happy to see he agreed to it as they knew more than likely he wasn't doing it for himself but for them. However before Mutsuko could continue cheering and before Sweet Mask could show his appreciation for the agreement Saitama held up a hand to silence him.
"On one condition." He said causing Mutsuko to stop "We all take turns answering questions not just about the meteor, the robbery, and the exam but also about them, I do not want to be the only one getting attention while they sit there next to me in complete silence." He said.
"Of course." Sweet Mask agreed immediately not needing to consider it "I'll personally ensure the questions besides being plentiful are also tailored to all of you." He swore as he headed towards the door.
"And make sure no one calls Mutsuko a monster either." Saitama told him earning a nod in response.
And so as Sweet Mask left the apartment to setup the interview everyone while again not being as expressive as Mutsuko were happy that Saitama wanted them to receive the same amount of praise and attention that he would be getting.