When it comes to preparation there are three kinds of people the unprepared, the good enough, and the overly prepared. And even though Saitama and friends were by no means your typical every day people they were still not exempt from this rule for once the announcement of the interview went public each person had to deal not only with preparation but also the fans. To begin our observation of each individual we look to none other than Saitama who as you could guess really didn't care about the whole thing and just planned on wearing his costume to the interview. Then we had Genos, King, and Tatsumaki who weren't too different in their approach towards the interview though they still had a small bit of anticipation so while they didn't go overboard they did make sure to look presentable when the time came.
And of course we have Mutsuko and Fubuki who unfortunately are the overly prepared ones of the group for even though Fubuki whilst shopping wasn't as expressive and loud as Mutsuko they both were admittedly exploding with excitement. So now my dear readers with all of this being said and done we look to the day of the interview where our group of heroes await their time in the ACTUAL spotlight.
"ONE PUNCH ONE PUNCH ONE PUNCH ONE PUNCH ONE PUNCH ONE PUNCH!" The seemingly endless sea of fans chanted outside the television station though thanks to impeccable sound proofing from inside it was almost undetectable.
"You need this for your place Saitama." King said as he looked around the area "I can barely hear them." He noted.
"It'd probably be more hassle than it's worth." Saitama replied as he too looked around "I mean wouldn't my walls have to be covered in foam or something?" He asked.
"Not at all Saitama." Genos answered gaining the other's attention "There are many ways to soundproof a space, if you want I could do it for you and ensure that your apartment retains it's current appearance." He offered.
"Oh wow thanks Genos." Saitama replied just as Tatsumaki's impatience reached it's boiling point.
"How long are they going to make us wait?!" She asked as she crossed her arms, her stance coupled with her expression making her look somewhat adorable though none of them were going to say that of course.
"Why're you so impatient Tatsumaki?" Fubuki asked with a raised brow "I thought you didn't want to do this?" She added.
"I. DON'T." Her sister replied with widened eyes as to make herself seem more intense "But I DO want to get it over with as soon as possible so we can all go back to Saitama's." She explained.
"Why're we always hanging out at my place by the way?" Saitama asked gaining their attention "I mean it's not an issue or anything I just find it odd how we don't hangout at like Kings, which by the way is a lot bigger." He said.
"Yeah but none of us would be friends without you Saitama!" Mutsuko chimed in "You're like the glue that holds us all together!" She added.
Unfortunately before their conversation could continue a man with a headset and a clipboard walked up to them and spoke.
"Five minutes till we go live." He told them gaining their attention "So if all of you want to go ahead and get onto the set you can." He added.
"FINALLY." Tatsumaki said as she headed for the stage.
Following after their green haired companion once everyone was on stage they found waiting for them a couch big enough for all of them to sit on as well as a finely made wooden coffee table which had beverages on it.
"Well at least they know how to treat their guests." She said as they all walked over and sat down.
"Where's the audience?" Saitama asked as he looked out to the space in front of them only to find the studio's crew at work.
"They're in another part of the building." The voice of Sweet Mask answered just as he himself walked from backstage towards them.
"Wait what?" Saitama asked whilst looking towards the other.
"In order to assure that there would be no security issues as well as no sudden disruptions from the audience we've set them up in a viewing area where they can watch the show." Sweet Mask explained.
"Oh." Saitama simply sounded "But what about people watching it on television? won't they find it a little weird that there's no audience?" He asked.
"We have an additional crew working in that space and when we go live we'll simply cut between the feeds from both spaces to make it seem as if you're all in the same room." Sweet Mask answered.
"Oh." Saitama sounded once more before he moved his gaze to an empty chair on the other side of the table "Well what about the person doing the interview, who's that gonna be?" He asked.
"It will be me." Sweet Mask answered as he placed a hand to his chest "And before you ask, it seems as though no matter how professional the hosts we looked at were they still were bit too biased towards wanting to ask you more questions than everyone else so me being the host was the only solution to ensure your condition was met." He explained.
"Huh...okay." Saitama replied as he looked back to the other.
"One minute!" One of the crew shouted from the set's front as everyone seemed to be finished in getting ready.
"Here we go." Sweet Mask said as he walked over to the chair "I'll of course start off the interview by introducing each of you individually and asking some standard questions then once that's done we'll move onto the questions the public wants answers to." He explained as he sat down.
After a few more moments passed and a few of the lights above them shifted slightly to make the set look as it should even though the building was soundproofed to near perfection the cheers and roaring of the studio audience could still be heard.
"Three!...Two!...One!..." One of the crew who was standing next to the camera exclaimed before pointing towards Sweet Mask telling him that the feed had been switched.
"Hello everyone." Sweet Mask greeted with a smile "Now normally it is at this time where the news or any other regularly scheduled program would be broadcasting, but as all of you watching know it is in this moment when the rare opportunity to interview not one, not two, but three S class heroes as well as three A class heroes, excluding myself has presented itself." He explained.
"Tsk, probably practiced some script..." Tatsumaki muttered beneath her breath as she looked off to the side with a scowl.
"But before we begin with the interview let's meet the heroes who will be answering your questions starting with One Punch Man." He introduced as the camera moved from him to Saitama.
"Hey." He greeted with a slight wave of his hand.
Suddenly for just a brief moment the whole building itself shook as the combined shouts and screams of excitement and joy from both the in studio audience as well as the massive crowd outside the building was so loud it caused everything for that instance to shake.
"Next is the third highest ranking hero in S class Tornado Of Terror." Sweet Mask introduced as the camera moved to her.
"Hmph..." She simply huffed as she continued to avert her gaze from the camera.
"Then we have the eighth highest ranking hero in S class who also happens to be One Punch Man's sidekick, King." Sweet Mask introduced as the camera moved to king.
"Hello." He greeted with a slight nod.
"Moving past him however we meet the three A Class heroes responsible for assisting One Punch Man and Tornado Of Terror in dealing with the meteor a few days ago starting with the highest ranking of the three who happens to be Tornado's sibling Blizzard of Hell." Sweet Mask Introduced.
"It's a pleasure to be here Sweet Mask." Fubuki responded with a smile.
"Finally we have the other two A class heroes and while they may be at the bottom of the rankings this is their first official public debut as heroes so please welcome Genos and Mutsuko." Sweet Mask Introduced.
"Hello." Genos greeted in the same manner as King.
"Hello everyone! It is SO exciting to be here!" Mutsuko exclaimed waving towards the camera as she did.
"And now that introductions are done we can begin with the interview starting of course with the hero everyone's been dying to know more about, One Punch Man." Sweet Mask said as he looked towards Saitama "To start things off we'll be asking a question in regards to the exam you took part in a few days ago." He explained.
"Okay." Saitama simply replied his clear disinterest in the whole endeavor showing quite well.
"Among all of the people we surveyed this question was the one in most demand, it being how do you go about your daily life with how strong you are?" Sweet Mask asked.
"What do you mean?" Saitama asked in return.
"He means how can you do things like open a door and use regular objects like pencils and silverware without breaking them." Genos answered.
"Ah." Saitama sounded before proceeding to answer "Well I don't really think about it too much I just go about my everyday life and do things I've always done." He explained.
"So your strength never get's in the way?" Sweet Mask followed up.
"Not that I've noticed no." Saitama replied.
"Well alright then." Sweet Mask said before he shifted his gaze to Tatsumaki "Next is a question for you Tornado." He told her.
"Fine whatever." She replied.
"After the meteor inciddent a rumor suddenly surfaced and within a few short hours it became the hottest topic of discussion across all social media platforms as well as fan forum websites." He explained.
"First of all that isn't a question." She told him glaring daggers at him as she did "Second of all WHY would I even care about some stupid rumor?" She asked.
"Because the rumor involves both you and One Punch Man." He answered just as a member of the crew walked over and gave him a piece of paper "I quote." He began before he looked towards the paper "Ever since One Punch Man became the hero that he is the apartment building in which he resides is empty per his request as his neighbors began to annoy him with their endless hounding for autographs and pictures, however a few days ago S class hero Tornado of Terror was seen moving multiple objects into the apartment directly next to his does she have reasons of her own or is it something else?" He read before looking back to them.
Once Sweet Mask had finished reading each of them had their own reactions to what they had heard and while some were expected others not so much. Looking first to Saitama while the information of her moving things into the apartment as first surprised him he simply shrugged it off as something harmless like in case she lost track of time while hanging out at his place she'd have somewhere close by to sleep so she wouldn't have to go all the way back home. Next there was Tatsumaki and where everyone in both the audience and crew expected her to get mad or annoyed as it was expected she instead had a shocked expression on her face accompanied by a sudden flush which in turn shocked them as well. After her we had King who at first was shocked much like the audience and crew once a few seconds passed he actually found it wasn't THAT shocking of a revelation given both her and Fubuki's demeanor around Saitama most of the time.
Looking past him however both Mutsuko and Fubuki's reactions were near mirrors of Tatsumaki's wide eyed and slightly flushed as if there was someone who had seen her they feared that they were also seen by either the same person or someone else. And finally we had Genos who honestly didn't seem at all concerned with the rumor and in truth after he had introduced himself was simply staring near dead eyed at the camera.
"Well Tornado?" Sweet Mask spoke as he rested his head on his hand "What do you have to say in response to this rumor?" He asked.
Thankfully it seemed as though the gears in Tatsumaki's mind began to work once more as upon hearing his question she swiftly turned her head to look at him before responding.
"IT'S CHEAP REAL ESTATE NOTHING MORE!" She shouted hastily.
Another brief moment of silence took the air as everyone took in her response and while of course Saitama was one to accept it as the truth for he had no real reason to question it the audience, the crew, and even Sweet Mask though wanting to dive into this a bit more knew very well that would more than likely upset her which NO ONE wanted.
"Fair enough." He replied before he moved his gaze to King "Now onto you King," He said as to gain the other's attention "While there were actually a lot of questions that tied for most requested the one that won the right to be asked first is the one you've constantly seemed to dodge." He explained.
"How I became Saitama's sidekick right?" King asked earning a nod in response.
"That's right." Sweet Mask replied.
Unable to keep a sigh from escaping him as he didn't want to talk about it King knew that there was no point in trying to dodge it as it would yield no success and so closed his eyes before recounting the past.
"Even though my title is the second strongest man in the world I wasn't always like this." He began as he thought back "In truth I was just like everyone else an average joe just trying to go about his life hoping nothing bad would happen to him." He continued "But then one day I was attacked by a giant purple octopus which gave me these scars on my face and while at the time I was fully prepared to die within the fraction of a second suddenly I was okay." He went on "When I looked for my attacker I instead found Sai-...I mean One Punch Man standing above me and while at the time I was speechless later on I found I was unable to get rid of this feeling of guilt as I hadn't thanked him for saving me, so I went to his apartment and thanked him in person." He explained "And whether it was because he saw something within me or maybe it was just the way I thanked him for saving my life he invited me and from that moment on he's been both a mentor as well as a good friend to me." He finished as he opened his eyes.
Upon reopening his eyes however he found that nearly everyone had tear filled expressions as if his story somehow touched them on an emotional level he couldn't understand. The exceptions of course being Genos who was still stone faced, Saitama who was already familiar with the story so it didn't affect him, Fubuki and Tatsumaki who instead of looking to him with tear filled eyes actually looked at him with expressions of amazement, Mutsuko who seemed like she was going to suddenly erupt in a fangasm, and Sweet Mask who while having an expression similar to the sisters was more so surprised.
"Incredible." Sweet Mask said as he looked to Saitama "Is this true?" He asked the other.
"Yeah pretty much." Saitama replied with a shrug "I mean there is a bit more to it like we played some video games and talked for a while but other than that it's pretty much all that happened." He added.
"I see." Sweet Mask said "Well that was so far our most insightful answer but perhaps the others can match it?" He asked as he looked towards Fubuki "Moving on to Blizzard Of Hell this question was asked not only by the public but also by a few heroes as well, it being why haven't you until recently move up into A class?" He asked.
"Well..." She began as she looked down towards her lap "The thing is...even though I am a powerful ESP user my sister is entire LEAGUES above me and while I won't go into the reasons why we are so far apart in terms of sheer power the truth is I still have a long way to go before I can call myself her equal." She answered as she moved her gaze back towards Sweet Mask.
However as she did so for a brief moment out of the corner of her eye she saw Tatsumaki giving a somewhat softer expression than she usually did though the moment she had refocused her attention on Sweet Mask she looked away and reverted back to her usual glare.
"That does make sense." He told her as he crossed his arms "I cannot begin to tell you how many heroes I've seen try out for S class because they let their egos get too big only to have them be brought back down to reality in the harshest of ways." He explained before looking to Genos "Now it's your turn Genos and for your question everyone simply wants to know where you came from as well as how you came to be a cyborg." He said.
Feeling all eyes including those of his friends fall onto him Genos thought carefully as to what he was going say thanks to the advice Fubuki had given him during the whole House of Evolution fiasco.
"...Four years ago my town was destroyed due to a rampaging cyborg, why he was rampaging to begin with as well as why he sought to destroy my town I to this day do not know, however a kind man who was following the trail of destruction the cyborg left behind him discovered my dying form and per my request gave me this new body, and so to this day I continue my search for answers all the while I do my best to protect the lives of those around me so they might not suffer a similar fate." He answered.
As it had already done before silence took hold of the air as everyone allowed his words to sink in and while Mutsuko and Fubuki had already heard his backstory this new delivery whether it be due to it's more compact nature or perhaps how he described it impacted them as well.
"I'm sorry that happened to you Genos." Sweet Mask said though his expression and tone didn't really sound all too genuine "Hopefully you'll find the cyborg responsible." He added.
"That is my goal." Genos replied his normal glare seeming to get a slight bit more intense.
'Well it seems as though we are almost at our first commercial break." Sweet Mask said as he looked towards Mutsuko "However before that we still have a question to ask you Mutsuko and surprisingly enough this question doesn't have anything to do with your unique appearance." He noted.
"Whatever it is I'm ready to answer!" She exclaimed simply happy that people wanted to ask her a question period.
"The question is this, what kind of powers do you possess? beyond flight, incredible speed, and immense strength?" He asked.
"Hmm..." She hummed as she thought "Well I have a few actually for starters I can control any mosquito regardless of species and use them as I see fit." She began "Then you have my proboscis which can extend and should it impale something be used to drain it of not just blood but any liquid in it's body." She continued pointing to her horn "And then finally my most amazing feat is my ability to heal from blood I can restore countless wounds and even lost limbs and organs with enough blood however before I adorned this BEAUTIFUL crimson color I possessed a black and white color scheme which was my original form." She explained gesturing to herself as she did.
"So this is your final form then?" Sweet Mask asked.
"Mhm! every member of The House of Evolution has one!" She answered.
"That is very fascinating." He replied before he turned towards the camera "Well there you have it ladies and gentlemen our first batch of questions all answered but please don't go anywhere as after a brief commercial break we'll be back to answer the next batch." He said towards the viewing masses.
Once his sentence was finished one of the crew signaled that the feed was cut for the time being meaning that they were allowed to relax and take a breather.
"Excellent work." He praised as he rose from his seat "If any of you should need to use the restroom I'd advise doing so now before we're live again." He said before walked away no doubt going to do just that.
Though as he left the set and disappeared into the building somewhere our group of heroes didn't move from their spots on the couch mainly because during that whole interview none of them had even taken a sip of their beverages which by now were cold so they didn't need to go to the bathroom.
"...So..." Saitama spoke gaining their attention "I'm already sick of this." He said as he looked to them "Wanna just leave?" He asked.
"We can't do that!" Fubuki exclaimed "What would Sweet Mask think!" She added.
"Pfft who cares?" Tatsumaki asked as she crossed her arms "I'm with Saitama on this let's get out of here." She said.
"Well I'm not surprised YOU want to leave." Her sister replied as she looked to King "What about you King?" She asked.
"To be honest I just wanna go home." He admitted "Don't get me wrong I'm flattered by all of this attention but it's a bit much for me, I just want to play some video games and relax." He explained.
"Genos?" Fubuki asked as she looked towards the cyborg.
"All of this seems pointless to me." He told her "What do interviews have to do with being a hero?" He asked.
"See he get's it." Saitama said with a smile.
"I'm with blondie." Mustuko said causing Fubuki to look at her with widened eyes.
"WHAT?!" She asked "YOU WERE THE ONE MOST EXCITED TO DO THIS!" She argued.
"Yeah but I thought it was gonna be like those other talk shows where they have you talk about stuff that you like and so on but this just seems really scripted and boring." She explained.
"Whelp guess it's settled." Saitama said as he stood up "Let's get out of here." He told them as he began to walk away.
Following in his actions everyone excluding Fubuki rose from their seats and proceeded to follow him leaving her with a shocked expression.
"You guys can't be serious!" She said as she watched them walk away "What is Sweet Mask going to think?!" She asked.
"Who cares?" Both Saitama and Tatsumaki said this time causing them to give each other a high five.
Completely stunned by the sudden turn of events while she was beside herself by her friends' actions she also didn't want to be the only one sitting there so before they got too far away she quickly rose from her seat and followed.
"Wait up!" She called as she hurried to catch up with them.