A/N: UwUIllustrator, I usually update this story on Saturday AEST. Sometimes I update it in the morning, sometimes the evening (it depends what I'm doing on that day), but it will usually be updated on Saturday. Thanks for your question.

Rain. Cold, wet and dangerous, yet life-sustaining. It could kill as easily as it could give life.

Genos felt spittle draining from his mouth. The rain poured on his exposed flesh, while onlookers watched in horror. He was nearly dead, only a shell of his former self remaining. He'd let his guard down, and paid the price. Now the Deep Sea King would kill him instantly.

"You're a fool," the Deep Sea King cackled, towering above the near-dead cyborg. "But I give you credit for giving me a few scratches." He tapped his pale cheek. "Of course, they've already healed. Now, die."

Suddenly, a knife was thrown at the monster. It landed deep in his back.

The Deep King grunted, pulling the knife out of his back. As he did, something lightning-fast slashed across his cheek. He yelped out in pain, grabbing his bleeding cheek. Another blunt object rammed his thick hide, causing more blood to spill.

"Hmm?" he gave the perpetrator a sadistic grin. "Another little snack come to play?"

Ayano wiped the blood off her face, wielding yet another dagger. Genos looked up at her, relieved. She was fashionably late, but luckily she'd arrived just in time to save him from complete annihilation. Her uniform was already stained and covered in muck, which made Genos curious as to what exactly kept her held up.

"Hey, there's someone else over there!" a man shouted, looking over the crowd of people.

"Who is that?" a woman asked.

"I think that's Yan-chan, Class B," said another man. "She defended City Z Suburbia single-handedly against some flaming rocks. She's been rising up the ranks really quickly!"

The Deep Sea King healed the injuries Ayano's weapons had delivered. He turned and glared at her, aiming his fists. She jumped out of the way, hands glowing red. Genos watched her in awe. She really was strong, and quite fast, too. She wasn't lying when she said she'd catch up to himself and Saitama in speed.

"Now you're starting to annoy me," the Deep Sea King growled. "Die, you little brat!"

Ayano dodged a punch that would've shattered her spine. She summoned the strings again, sending them towards the monster. They meekly wrapped around his large arms. Ayano scowled. They were much harder to control on such a large target. Sweat appeared on her brow.

"What are these things?" the monster demanded. He tried to pull them off, only to start screaming in agony. Ayano stood on her two feet, the strings wavering slightly. A small grin appeared on her face. Now she was really showing her power.

"What are you?!" the Deep Sea King screamed, glaring at her. "If I known there'd be things like you up here I'd…"

He roared, and whacked Ayano across the side, sending her flying. The strings immediately disappeared.

Genos coughed. "A… Ayano…"

Ayano's body felt like it was going to collapse in on itself. Her ponytail was positively ruined, and her uniform was a wet and bloody mess. She forced herself to stand on shaky knees. The Deep Sea King glowered at her broken form.

"Still not finished?" he asked. "I-"

"JUSTICE CRASH!"

A bike was launched at the monster, bouncing harmlessly off his back. He turned and faced a man wearing an armoured suit; said brown armour was covering his torso and shoulders. He had a black leather suit under the armour and black gauntlets and knee pads. He also had a green bicycle helmet and dark-shaded goggles.

"The cycle is for justice!" the man declared. "Mumen Rider is here!"

Mumen Rider, Class C rank 1, Ayano thought, annoyed. He is going to get in my way.

"You should leave, Mumen Rider," Ayano spoke up, calmly. "You cannot defeat him."

Mumen Rider shook his head. "No! If you get taken down, who will be there to save the day?"

Genos gritted his teeth. "No… you…"

Mumen Rider charged towards the Deep Sea King. The monster easily grabbed his arm, slamming the hero against the ground as if he were a ragdoll. He then tossed him aside like trash. The monster turned back to Genos, grinning sadistically.

"My apologies," he said. "I almost forget to kill you."

"JUSTICE TACKLE!"

Mumen Rider wrapped his arms around the Deep Sea King's waist. It sort of looked like the hero was hugging him rather than tackling him. Ayano would've otherwise laughed at how pathetic it was, but Mumen's Rider sad attempt at an attack had given her an opening. She lunged at the monster from behind, but he turned around at the last second.

"Not again," he grumbled. "I'm finished with you."

He slammed his fist into Ayano, his body tensing up and changing shape. The girl was sent flying in the other direction. She crashed-landed into a sign-post. Safe to say, she wasn't getting up again anytime soon.

"No one expects much," Mumen Rider said, forcing himself to stand. "Not from me. A Class C hero won't be much help. I know that better than anyone. I'm too weak for Class B. I'm not good enough. I know that much. I'm aware that I have no chance of beating you. No one needs to tell me anything like that!"

Ayano coughed up blood. Her eyes struggled to stay open.

"What are you babbling on and on about?" the Deep Sea King asked Mumen Rider. "Begging for your life?"

"And yet," Mumen Rider said, whole body trembling, "It's not about winning or losing! It's about me taking you on, right here, right now!"

Ayano couldn't stay awake anymore. She cursed herself. She still wasn't strong enough. No matter what she did…

She felt someone powerful grab her arm. Saitama.

"Master…" she breathed. "The… monster…"

"C'mon," he said, his voice blurry. "Let's get you to a hospital."

And then everything went black.

"How strange… just yesterday, her leg was broken, but now it's almost healed…"

"What do you mean…? How did she heal so quickly?"

"I have no idea… I took a blood sample, and her biology is completely normal…"

"I checked her medical records. Apparently, she has some kind of condition that makes it hard for her to express her emotions. But aside from that, she's a completely ordinary teenage girl…"

"Ordinary my ass! What kind of ordinary teen can heal an injury in a day that's supposed to take six to eight weeks?!"

"She's an Aishi, right…? Her mother was sent to court 30 years ago for a supposed murder."

"Over flimsy evidence. She was proven innocent. What does that have to do with anything?"

"I don't know… it's just… weird. She's… a weird girl."

Ayano was back at school again. As she walked through the halls, people gave her friendly smiles and waves. Some boys were even blushing. Even Taro himself blushed as she passed his regular spot by the waterfall.

Of course, Ayano had only one destination in mind: the Martial Arts Club. The students there were the strongest in the school, so Ayano was determined to crush them. Naturally, she was interrupted by Midori.

"Hey, Yan-chan!" her friend greeted. "You're like, crazy popular right now!"

Ayano just nodded in response.

"I'm so proud of you!" Midori cheered. "If you work hard enough, you'll be able to reach Class G!"

"Class… G?" Ayano asked.

Midori nodded. "That's where all the best heroes go!"

Ayano sometimes wondered what planet Midori was born on.

After ditching Midori, Ayano made it to the Martial Arts Club.

The room had dark green walls with a light green rim and tatami mats. In the middle of the room was a large grey-green mat, as well as two smaller mats at the front of the room. Three ceiling lights lit the room. The walls were decorated with multiple scrolls of a snowy mountain. Wooden towers were located at the far left and right corners. Opaque windows were located at the back of the room. A changing room was located between the two smaller mats. Four potted bamboo plants were located on both sides of the room and on each side of the changing room.

The leader of the Club, Budo Masuta, stood in front of two students sparring, arms folded. He had dark grey, messy hair and matching grey eyes. He had a white headband with kanji on it, and wore a traditional white karate gi. He wore the red Armband of Leadership on his left arm. Though it wasn't visible, Ayano could tell he had a powerful physique. He was, after all, a disciple of Silver Fang, a Class S hero. He was quite popular, too.

Budo gave Ayano a friendly grin as she walked into the club room. "Welcome to the Martial Arts Club! What brings you here?"

"I'd like to join," Ayano said.

"Interested in joining?" he asked. "We'd be honoured to have a hero with us! All we ask is that you show up at least once a week!"

Ayano nodded, confirming her response.

"Fantastic!" Budo handed her a headband. "You are now an official member of the Martial Arts Club! I'm looking forward to teaching you everything I know!"

"Is it true that you are a disciple of Silver Fang?" Ayano asked, putting the headband on.

Budo nodded. "Yes I am! I'm his top disciple, actually - not to brag, of course. All of us here are his disciples. You're welcome to become one as well - I can introduce you to him anytime! Of course, you don't have to if you don't want to. You can still be apart of the club without being his disciple."

"I already have another teacher, but thank you for the offer," Ayano replied, politely. "Can you teach me how to spar?"

"I sure can!" Budo replied, enthusiastically.

For the next half hour, Budo taught Ayano the basics of martial arts. He was a great teacher, even if he tended to get over zealous at times and shout random Bruce Lee quotes.

"Water stream rock smashing fist!" Budo yelled, waving his hands in a similar fashion to that of a stream. The simple move knocked Ayano onto her feet.

"Bang-sensei taught all of us that move," Budo informed her. "It takes some practice, but I'm sure you'll have it down pat soon enough! You're a fast learner."

"Thank you," Ayano said. She could see Budo was a real threat. Once again, she'd have to be patient. But she would take him down, no matter what.

"I wanna get as good as Raibaru," Mina Rai, another member of the club, commented. "I heard she even beat Bang-sensei himself in a fight!"

"Raibaru?" Ayano asked.

"Raibaru was the former leader of this club," Budo explained. "She also used to be a disciple of Silver Fang - his top disciple, actually."

"She was a mentor to all of us," Juku Ren, another member, added. "And seriously strong! She was known as the Indestructible Rival! Aside from Bang-sensei, no one could beat her!"

"Well," Mina coughed, "almost no one."

There was an awkward silence.

Ayano frowned. She had heard the rumours. If Raibaru really was as strong as they all said, she could be an even bigger threat than Budo.

"Oh, whoa, look at the time!" Budo shouted. "Class is going to start soon! Come on guys, we gotta get ready!"

Ayano realised talking to Raibaru would be harder than she'd anticipated. The girl was horribly depressed due to the death of Osana. Ayano decided, to get Raibaru's trust, she would become her new best friend.

As soon as the last bell rang and cleaning time was over, Ayano followed Raibaru out to the school's exit.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" Ayano asked, approaching the friendly-looking girl before she left the school. She had a soft smile, flushed cheeks, pale skin and orange-amber eyes. Her ginger hair was tied back into two slightly curled pigtails. To keep her hair up, she wore ruffled pink and white polka-dotted scrunchies and a purple ribbon. She also wore black shoes with white loose socks. She was a bit shorter than Ayano. Truthfully, appearance-wise it was hard to believe this girl had been the top disciple of Silver Fang. But Ayano knew better than anyone that appearances were deceiving.

"Uh, sure," Raibaru greeted her, quickly. Seemed she was eager to leave the school grounds.

"I'm very sorry to interrupt you," Ayano bowed. "I've heard rumours about you being very strong, and I was rather impressed, so I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Ayano, and I am the Class B hero known as 'Yan-chan'."

"Oh, well, thank you," Raibaru smiled, briefly, sadly. "It's nice to meet you, Ayano, but I have to go now."

"Can I walk home with you?" Ayano asked. "I'd like to hear what you have to say about martial arts. Because I'm a hero, I want to learn some tips from you to become a better fighter."

"Well…" Raibaru looked over the school gate, sighing deeply. "I guess so... nothing better to do..."

Ayano walked the whole way home with Raibaru, using charm techniques she picked up from reading Cherry Touch. Sure enough, Raibaru was already becoming her friend.

"You joined the Martial Arts Club?" Raibaru asked, trying to smile. "Great! Budo is a great teacher. You'll get stronger in no time." She smiled. "By the way, I never got to tell you, but… that thing you did with the meteor? And your fight with the Deep Sea King? Those were amazing!"

"Thank you," Ayano smiled.

"You're going to be a great hero," Raibaru told her. "I can feel it! Back in the day, I kind of wanted to become a hero myself, but… I don't entirely trust the Hero Association. There's a lot of drama going on there. There's some heroes that just want to become popular, and don't actually care about being heroes. Plus, I... I don't really like the whole class system either. Feels kind of like a medieval thing."

"You were Silver Fang's top disciple," Ayano said, "and the Martial Arts Club members greatly respect you. You were the Indestructible Rival. If you don't mind me asking, why did you quit?"

Raibaru's face creased. "I don't want to talk about it, Ayano. I mean… I haven't... never even really told Osana about it, to be honest. I just want to forget about it and move on."

"I understand," Ayano said, sympathetically. "It was rude of me to ask."

"No, it's fine," Raibaru assured her. "It was a pretty big deal. I let a lot of people down, but… it was for the best."

"Of course," Ayano nodded. "It must've been hard, but it's behind you now. You can look forward to the future."

"Yeah," Raibaru agreed. She beamed. "Thanks for walking with me today. I thought you were going to pester me with annoying questions, but… instead, I made a new friend."

"My pleasure," Ayano returned the beam. "Let's walk together some other time."

Raibaru nodded in agreement. "Maybe I can give you a real lesson next time."

"I would be honoured," Ayano agreed.

As Ayano got home, she realised she had mail. Not just any mail, however. Fan mail.

Sitting on her couch, Ayano read through the fan mail. She had a surprising amount of it for a B Class hero. Most of it was from teen boys who thought she had it going on. There were a few from girls as well, some asking if she was in a relationship with Genos. Others were just thank you letters. At the very bottom, though, was a letter from a mysterious sender. Ayano opened it up, reading fine blood-red text.

I know what you did, you bitch. You won't get away with this.

Ayano tilted her head. She scowled, crumpling up the letter and throwing it in the trash. Words couldn't scare her. Aside from that, there was also a letter from the Hero Association.

She opened it up. A satisfied smirk appeared on her face as she read the contents.

Yan-chan - Class B, rank 2.

Ayano turned on her computer, checking the Hero Association's chat forum. A lot of people were bad-mouthing her sensei, calling him a fraud. They were calling him out for taking credit from other heroes. Ayano pursed her lips. She hadn't seen Saitama in a few days, due to hospital visits and catching up with schoolwork. But she was aware of what he'd done. He'd made himself look like a fraud to give all the other heroes credit for defeating the Deep Sea King.

As much as Ayano hated him, she also had a surprising amount of respect for her master. She remembered what Raibaru had said about the Hero Association, and realised that not every hero was as humble as Saitama.

Ayano decided to pay Saitama a visit tonight. After all, it'd been a few days. But before that, there was something she needed to take care of.

Well. Someone.

A group of executives watched over Saitama as he gained his promotion to Class B.

"So that's Saitama… the one who finished off the Deep Sea King." one said.

"Hmm… what do you think? Some say he's a fraud." another said.

"He set the new world record for the fitness exam, so his physical ability is far from fraudulent." another added.

"Interesting. Though if you want to believe the rumours, he cheated on the written exams too." a fourth pointed out.

"Rumours are just rumours," a man wearing glasses interrupted the executives talking. "It doesn't make any sense to have any doubts about him at this point. The situation before us is that he's wanting to move up. For the time being, why not let him do so? If he's for real, he'll make it in Class B."

The executives unanimously agreed with his point.

"That does remind me," one of them spoke up, "he's not the only hero that's been rising up the ranks lately."

"You mean the Class B Hero, Yan-chan?" another asked.

"That young lady has been getting a lot of attention recently," the be-speckled man said. "Her display of talent during the meteor crisis, and her fight against the Deep Sea King showed that. Plus, doctors reported that her injuries healed at an inhuman rate. She's certainly quite powerful, definitely worthy of Class A. Some say she, too, is a fraud. Others say she has hidden potential."

"She goes to Akademi High," an executive commented, furrowing her brow. "From what I've heard, a lot has been happening there. You've heard about the death of the heroine Osana Najimi, aka Tsundere-chan."

"She was killed by another student in a murder-suicide," said a different executive.

"A murder-suicide, hmm?" Sweet Mask mused, gazing at the man holding up a newspaper. "My condolences go to the young lady's family, but why did you interrupt my acting schedule to inform me about this? I am not affiliated at all with that school."

"Ayano Aishi is almost in Class A," the man replied.

Sweet Mask dipped his head. "Her again, hmm? Interesting. She's been gaining popularity recently. I think we'll need to have another meet-up at some point."

Kuroko Kamenaga gazed at a picture of Ayano Aishi. According to Shiromi, she was dangerous. And now Shiromi was acting even weirder than she usually was. She'd said something about encountering Ayano, and then her memory had gone blank. Interesting.

Whatever the case, Ayano was a threat. Not just to heroes, but to humanity as a whole. But until Kuroko got more orders, she had to wait. Wait and wait and wait.

Curse you, Saikou… she thought. You make us wait for too long.

Saitama was feeling quite relieved, making his trek home more enjoyable. Finally, those interviews were finished. They had gone on for way too long. He glanced at the piece of paper in his shorts pocket, certifying that he was now indeed a Class B hero. Well, at least he was catching up to one of his disciples.

Speak of the devil, and Ayano herself walked over to him. She was wearing a large hoodie and floppy pants. It seemed she'd ran all the way here.

"Master," she greeted with a bow. "I heard about your promotion to Class B. Congratulations."

"Thanks," he said. "What's your ranking?"

"Class B rank 2," she answered.

"Hey, not bad," he said. "You're not too far from reaching Class A. Keep it up." He turned and faced a small noodle stand on his side. The smell was incredible.

"That place looks pretty good," he said. "Wanna get something to eat?"

Ayano nodded. She followed him into the stand. It was rather homely, with only a flexible, plastic wall covering the outside.

"Welcome!" the owner exclaimed.

Ayano sat next to Saitama, gazing at all the sizzling delectables in front of her peripheral.

"The house special, please," Saitama said. He faced his female disciple. "What do you want, Ayano?"

"I'll pass," Ayano said.

"Seriously?" Saitama asked. "I swear I've never seen you eat anything, dude."

"I don't get hungry very often," Ayano admitted.

"Why are you even here, then?" he asked her, sighing.

"To see you," Ayano answered. "I believe Mumen Rider would also like to talk to you."

"Oh, that's me!" a new voice said. It belonged to a young man with short, brown hair, and large glasses obscuring his eyes. He was wearing the same outfit as the top Class C hero.

"Let me buy your food," Mumen Rider told Saitama.

"Uh, cool, but why?" Saitama asked.

"To celebrate your promotion," Mumen Rider answered. He glanced at the paper in Saitama's pocket. "You were at the Hero Association."

There was a moment of silence.

Saitama blinked. "Oh, you're that guy…"

"I've been on the lookout for you," the C Class Hero told him. "I couldn't say everything in my letter."

"I see," Saitama said, a smile appearing on his face.

"Letter?" Ayano asked.

"Oh yeah," Saitama said. "Genos and I got some fanmail. Well, mainly Genos, but anyway. Did you get any fanmail?"

Ayano nodded. "I did."

"How much?" Saitama asked.

"About a box full." Ayano responded.

"Seriously?" Saitama grumbled.

"You must be pretty popular, then," Mumen Rider commented, grinning. "I've heard a lot about you. You're Yan-chan, right? We met when we were fighting the Deep Sea King."

"I remember you," Ayano replied. "It's nice to meet you."

"Mumen Rider, at your service," he said, shaking her hand. "You sure you don't want any food?"

"No thank you," Ayano said.

"A drink?" he asked.

Ayano shook her head.

"She's weird," Saitama informed him, "but hey, she's still my disciple. Anyway, I could totally go for some mozuku right now."

"Hey," Mumen Rider turned to the shop owner, "give us your best mozuku!"

"Comin' right up!" he replied.