-9 days since alien arrival-
"Congratulations!" said a doctor to Tatsumaki. "You've been cleared for active duty."
"It's about time!" the esper whined as she floated towards the exit.
"Now remember-" the doctor began before Tatsumaki flew out the door. "...don't push yourself." he finished to himself.
'Time to finish where we left off, alien!' she thought as she flew towards City V. It took maybe two minutes at her max speed before she was floating over the spacecraft. She spotted an alien, which looked like an upside head with four eyes stuck to tiny arms and legs, standing guard outside the ship. With a flick of her wrist, the alien found itself flying up towards her, screaming the whole way.
"AH! WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!" the alien yelled in panic before Tatsumaki floated before him. "WHO ARE YOU?!"
"Tell me where you leader is and I'll make this quick!" she demanded, her hand held threateningly to his face.
"W-WAIT A MINUTE! WE HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING TO DESERVE DEATH!" the alien explained quickly before he felt pressure begin to push at him from all sides.
"I'm getting impatient!" she said in a low tone, clearly not wanting to waste any time with small fries.
"Sis! That's enough!" Tatsumaki looked down at the ground to see, to her surprise, Fubuki yelling up to her. "Put the alien down!"
"Now you're siding with them?" she asked as she floated towards the ground, alien in tow.
"The Hero Association heard that you were being discharged from the hospital today, so they sent me here in case you tried to attack them." Fubuki explained.
"Do you honestly intend to fight me?" Tatsumaki asked, her glare sending chills up Fubuki's spine.
"We both know I can't win against you in a fight." Fubuki answered, lowering his gaze before looking up at her sister again. "But they sent me here to talk to you, not fight."
"What's there to talk about? Aliens came and wiped out City A without warning. I'm not waiting around for them to blow anymore away!" Tatsumaki argued.
"Ah, come on! We haven't even done anything! I mean, none of us want to be on this planet anyway!" the alien yelled while flailing his limbs around.
"Then why are you here?" Fubuki asked.
"It was Lady Eyonae's decision. When she heard that her father was killed, she had us fly to the last known coordinates the Dark Matter Pirate's ship sent out before it was lost." the alien head explained. "When this whole thing's been settled, we'll leave."
"Hmph. And why should we believe you aliens?" Tatsumaki scoffed.
"Well, have we killed anyone or destroyed anything?" the alien asked. "I've heard what the others have said when they go out for strolls. You humans run in fear at the sight of us without even trying to hear us out." Tatsumaki glared at the alien before finally releasing him.
"Fine. But one mistake, and you guys are dead." she said.
"Thanks sis." Fubuki sighed in relief as the alien got up and dusted himself off.
"By the way, our leader's with that weird bald human." the alien told them.
"That baldy? Why's she with him?" Tatsumaki asked in confusion.
"You don't know?" Fubuki asked, genuinely surprised.
"I haven't heard anything since the Hero Association made it an official order to get some rest." Tatsumaki growled, her arms crossed in annoyance.
"Well, the Hero Association assigned him to watch her whenever she decided to leave her ship." Fubuki explained.
"Say what?!" Tatsumaki asked, her cool voice betraying her flaring emotions. "You mean that the H.A. assigned that baldy to watch their leader?!"
"Unfortunately, yes." Everyone turned to see Eyonae limping towards the ship. Most of her clothing was gone again, her nose was bleeding, her right arm was bent the wrong way, and she was badly limping. Walking up behind her was Saitama, was looked the same as he did after all of his fights: Perfectly fine. "Now if you'll excuse me...I have to rest and let my injuries heal!" Eyonae grunted as she limped up the ramp into the ship. "No one bother me!" she ordered before the ramp returned to the ship.
"So, you beat her in another rematch?" the alien head asked.
"Yep." was all the answer Saitama gave before turning around to walk away.
"Hold it!" Tatsumaki yelled, making him stop. He turned to see Tatsumaki, Fubuki, and another alien standing in front of the ship.
"Oh, hey Fubuki, Tatsumaki, and alien head." Saitama greeted after straining his mind to remember them.
"What's this I hear about the Hero Association asking you to lead the aliens around?!" she yelled.
"Oh, that? They asked me to watch the leader while they're here on Earth." Saitama explained.
"Why you? You're just a Class A! If anything, a Class S should be watching the leader! Not some baldy like you!" Tatsumaki ranted, making Saitama grunt at the usual insult to his head.
"Hey, I didn't ask for this assignment. And she hasn't even done anything to the people. She's only been wanting to fight me." he explained before turning again. "I'm going home for today. Tell her I'll be back tomorrow at the usual time."
"Okay." the alien replied.
"What usual time?" Tatsumaki asked.
"Hmm. I think it's the morning. Around eight o'clock." the alien replied.
"Eight, huh?" Tatsumaki mumbled to herself.
-10 days since alien arrival-
Saitama was already standing outside the ship making small talk with another alien before the ramp descended, revealing a fully healed Eyonae.
"Alright. Let's go." she grumbled as she walked off, with Saitama walking behind her. None of them were the wiser to the floating figure in the distance.
'Alright you. Let's see what you do on our world.'
-1:18 P.M.-
Tatsumaki was bored out of her skull. Having decided to tail the bald hero and alien visitor was starting to feel like a bad decision since nothing was happening. All that would happen was that people would run at the sight of Eyonae while shouting out for help, despite her just taking a walk. At that moment, she'd give anything to have a monster attack. She was jolted from her thoughts when crashing sounds were heard.
"GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY STORE! I HAVE NOTHING TO SELL YOU!"
The esper watched from a distance as Saitama and Eyonae exited a supermarket, an angry woman yelling her head off at the two of them.
"HAVING ALIENS ROAMING AROUND ON OUR PLANET IS BAD ENOUGH! I WON'T TOLERATE THEIR PRESENCE INSIDE MY SUPERMARKET!"
"We just wanted to buy something to drink." Saitama explained to her.
"SHUT UP!" the woman yelled. "AND WHAT ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE?! HER BUTLER?! SHOULDN'T YOU BE FIGHTING THESE ALIENS?!"
"SHE'S RIGHT!" came a shout from inside the shop before some of the customers came out and began shouting at her. "WHY DON'T YOU KILL THEM?!"
"MAKE THEM PAY FOR WHAT HAPPENED TO CITY A!"
"HEY!" one of the customers came out. "I've heard about you! Yeah! You're the fraud!"
"A fraud?" another asked before more people started recognizing Saitama.
"He's right! He came out of nowhere! He was at the bottom of Class C, but jumped the rankings by stealing credit!"
'Stealing credit?' Tatsumaki thought in confusion.
"First it was taking credit for smashing that meteor that was gonna destroy City Z!"
"And let's not forget about him stealing credit with the whole 'Clan of the Seafolk' incident! A lot of heroes put their lives on the line to stop them! Then this guy came out of nowhere when the monster was weakened and finished it off to steal the credit!" As the people began to shout out their anger towards Saitama, Tatsumaki was deep in thought.
'A credit stealing fake?' she thought, her eyes closed as she sat on the ledge of a nearby building. She had heard about the meteor and the Clan of the Seafolk, how both were handled by a fraud. 'So, he's the one who smashed the meteor and defeated the Deep Sea King. But since he was in Class C, they think he's a weakling that stole the credit.' She was brought back to her fight with Saitama and her brows furrowed. 'No. There's no mistake that baldy's got some strength. True, I wasn't at my best when I fought him, but he's not a weakling like the rest of Class C. I'll give him that much.' She opened her eyes to look down at the bald hero and alien leader, only to realise that they had left. She groaned before she took to the skies to try and find them. She found them 10 minutes later being yelled at by more people in front of a restaurant. On and on this went as she watched them, a process being repeated wherever they went. Walk into a building, be yelled at by the people inside to leave, be insulted for cheating/coming to the planet, and repeat. It ended when both Eyonae and Saitama stopped and sat on a nearby park bench.
"Well, this sucks." Saitama groaned. "Everyone keeps shoving us out the door. Can't get lunch anywhere. Wanna try another city?" he asked Eyonae. She didn't move as she stared at the ground, her body slumped over from where she sat. "Eyonae? You okay?"
"I'm...fine." she sighed while rubbing her eye. "Can I have some time alone?" she asked. "You can get your food while I stay here."
"You sure?" he asked her. She glared at him but said nothing, leaving him to shrug and stand. "I'll be quick." he said before speeding off somewhere.
'He's leaving her alone?' thought Tatsumaki in surprise. 'What kind of idiot is he?!'
"Are you going to just keep floating up there?" Eyonae shouted, her eye looking straight up at where Tatsumaki was floating. The esper blinked her eyes in surprise before lowering herself down to the ground in front of Eyonae. "Why have you been following us?"
"Somebody has to make sure you don't do anything to our planet." Tatsumaki stated while glaring down at Eyonae.
"Isn't that Saitama's job?" Eyonae asked, making the esper 'hmph' in response.
"That's because the Hero Association's full of idiots! If they had any brains, they'd have assigned a Class S hero." Tatsumaki scoffed. Eyonae had to stiffle a laugh at her words, making the esper's temper flare. "What's so funny?"
"A Class S hero should be watching me at all times. That's what you just said, correct?" she asked the esper. Without giving her a chance to speak, Eyonae continued with, "How would they fair any better when you, the second highest rank in Class S, can't even hold a candle to me?"
"What?!" Tatsumaki snapped, her green aura flaring. "You think you can take me?"
"Considering how our first encounter went, I know I can take you." Eyonae replied with a grin. If looks could kill, then Tatsumaki's scowl could've destroyed the city in mere seconds.
"Don't get cocky!" Tatsumaki smirked, her eyes narrowed down at Eyonae. "Not only was our fight interrupted by that bald hero, by I was still recovering from an injury."
"Funny. I wasn't at my full power either. Shall we see which of us really is stronger?" Eyonae asked as she hunched over, ready to power up and knocked Tatsumaki out of the air.
"Anytime, cyclops!" Tatsumaki replied, her hand raised to crush her with her psychic powers.
"What's going on here?" Both of them turned to see Saitama standing there, a few paper bags in one hand and a couple of drinks in a holder in the other. "Oh, hey Tatsumaki. What are you doing here?"
"Stay out of this, Baldy!" she yelled, her attention back on Eyonae. "I have business with this alien!"
"Can it wait until after lunch?" he asked, holding up the bags to show the picture of a burger on them.
"What is it?" Eyonae asked, her shifting to the bag for a moment before moving back to glare at Tatsumaki.
"Just some burgers and fries. It was the closet restaurant nearby, so I grabbed some take out." Saitama explained. "I grabbed some extra in case one wasn't enough. Why not join us?" he asked Tatsumaki, making the esper glare at him.
"You're kidding, right?" she asked with a skeptical look. Her look fell into shock when her stomach growled, making Eyonae chuckle.
"Let me guess. You were so busy tailing us that you forgot to eat?" Eyonae guessed, which was confirmed when Tatsumaki turned her head away, a small blush on her cheeks.
"S-Shut up! I can skip a few meals to make sure you don't start anything! And why do you care? It doesn't concern you!" Tatsumaki ranted before turning to Saitama. "...I guess a few fries couldn't hurt." All three of them were now sitting on the park bench eating lunch, a warm breeze blowing the air.
"Hmm, this is pretty nice. What did you call it again?" Eyonae asked after taking a bite of her food.
"That's a cheeseburger. And the little yellow things are called french fries." Saitama explained before eating some of his own fries. As they spoke, Tatsumaki sat in silence while eating her food.
'What am I doing? I'm sitting here, eating food with an alien and this bald jerk of all people.' she thought while side-eyeing Eyonae, who was casually eating her own food. She cleared her throat to get their attention. "Hey, Saitama. I've been hearing some things about you."
"Like what?" he asked while sipping his drink.
"That you're a fraud and a cheat. What's that about?" she asked.
"I'm actually curious about that as well." Eyonae said. "Something about a meteor and a king of some kind?"
-Meanwhile-
Inside a meeting room of the Hero Association were several executives looking at a live viewing of the two heroes eating lunch with the alien leader. On another screen was Child Emperor, who was broadcasting from his own lab. When the bug drone spotted Tatsumaki following the two, Child Emperor informed the H.A. of Tatsumaki's presence. Afraid that Tatsumaki might start something, the executives had been watching both her and those she was following. They had watched the Caped Baldy and Eyonae being ejected from various establishments before coming to a park bench, where Saitama disappeared for a moment.
"Why would he leave the alien alone?" asked the bald, fat executive.
"Maybe he's testing her? Seeing if she does something while he's away?" suggested a female executive. They nearly shit themselves when Tatsumaki and Eyonae spoke and were about to fight, only for them to be interrupted when Saitama returned with some food. He somehow managed to calm them down and was now eating with the two of them before Tatsumaki started talking about why people called Saitama a cheat and a fraud. Everyone, Child Emperor included, were curious as to how Saitama would answer.
"For the meteor, I smashed it. Plain and simple." Saitama began. "As for the Deep Sea King, that was because I was late to the fight. By the time I finally arrived, the monster was already worn out from fighting all the other heroes before. Beating it was too easy."
"That's the same story that he and all the civilians at the time gave." said the bearded worker to the other executives. "He even asked the civilians to look after the fallen heroes so that he could steal credit for their hard work later on." Some of the executives did not look pleased with his words. Whether he was strong or not wasn't the problem. The problem was the impact this hero could have on the Hero Association's image.
"That's a lot of crap!" they heard Tatsumaki say. "I've fought you before, so I know that you're actually pretty strong. If this thing took out all those other heroes, then they were just a bunch of weaklings."
"Heh. That's rare, hearing Tatsumaki actually telling a hero that they're strong." said the executive with a cybernetic eye.
"Tell me the truth." Tatsumaki demanded. Saitama only stared at the two before looking up at the sky.
"I heard somebody in the crowd say that the monster was weak for being beaten by a Class C hero. Said their Class A and S ranks didn't mean a thing if they lost to a creature a Class C hero beat in one punch. Can't really remember it all. Anyway, I said that it was already weakened so that all the heroes that fought wouldn't look bad." he explained, his thumb to his chin in thought.
"Wait a minute. Does that mean that-" one of the executives began before Tatsumaki spoke again.
"So saying that you were a credit stealer, and that the monster was already weakened before you got there, was all to save the other heroes asses from bad publicity?" Tatsumaki asked in surprise.
"Yep." Saitama answered simply. No one listening, both in the meeting room or next to the bald hero, could believe their ears.
"Doesn't it bother you?" Both heroes turned to Eyonae, who was staring at Saitama with curiosity. "Having them all hate you, that is."
"It doesn't matter what they think. I don't really care." Saitama replied as he stood up and brushed the food crumbs from his uniform. "It doesn't stop me from being a hero." Eyonae just stared at him before turning her gaze at the ground. She sat in silence, leaving the two other heroes to watch her in confusion before rising up off the bench.
"I'm calling it a day." she said solemnly before turning and walking in the direction her ship was, with Saitama catching up after throwing away the garbage from the meal. "I can get there by myself!" she snapped when Saitama was a few feet from her before running off at high speeds, leaving Saitama and Tatsumaki in the park. The drone flew as fast as it could until it reached the ship, stopping when it couldn't find a way inside.
"I really need to upgrade these things for higher speeds." C.E. grumbled from his own monitor.
Eyonae quietly laid on her bed inside her own room, her mind repeating Saitama's words from earlier.
"Not caring if people hate you." she whispered to herself, a sad smile crossing her lips. "I wish I could brush off the hatred."
A/N: I really wish they'd give the executives at the Hero Association names.