It had been a few hours since Shunshi had been dropped off at Dr. Stench's lab by Genos. The bony young man was lying down on a medical bed as various automated machines were running scans on his body. As one of the scanners went over Shunshi's chest, it produced a detailed display of each layer of his torso's flesh and skeleton.
The young man being examined was observing Dr. Stench's workshop as the various devices scanned him. He had a mixture of fascination for the scientific wonders around him, as well as concern for what effects they might have on his body.
While Dr. Stench looked over the scans of Shunshi's muscle tissue, the kind old man explained, "Alright... Shunshi, was it? Based on what I'm looking at, and what Genos has told me about your abilities, it would seem that your advanced healing powers have stopped working, at least for the moment. You'd normally heal at an accelerated rate, correct?"
None of what Shunshi had just been told made him feel any less afraid. The concerning news, combined with the burning pain of his broken ribs, caused him to hesitate for a moment.
However, Shunshi was never one to ignore a question, so as he looked at the metal ceiling in contemplation, he answered, "That's right... When I first learned how to use my Kie... uh, that's what I call my powers. Anyway, it would only take me about a week, at the longest, to recover from these injuries. But, I think I should mention that ever since I began my training with Saitama-Sensei, I've noticed that not only have I started punching things harder, but all of my... Kie-related powers have grown too. I can't say for certain, but at the level that my powers were at earlier, I think I could've healed from my current condition in just a day... I'm sorry, but do you know if my powers are gone for good?!" That last question was asked with an emphasized level of fear that the Doctor easily picked up on.
Taking in all that information while continuing to examine his patient, Dr. Stench answered, "Hmmm... Well, in all honesty, you're the closest thing that we have to an expert on how your superhuman anatomy functions. However, what I can tell you for certain is this. Based on what I'm observing of your musculature, your muscles seem to be slowly expanding in size, a size which I'm hoping was what they were like before you wound up in this condition. Once they finish, you should regain control of your abilities again. Now, I don't really have much in the way of evidence to support this idea of mine, but I suppose there's always hope."
Shunshi's eyebrows raised in excitement at this idea, thinking to himself, HE'S RIGHT! He's gotta be! I could feel my strength start to come back after a few hours. I thought it was just my imagination, but I guess I really don't look as much like a skeleton as I did before.
Despite the pain it caused him, Shunshi turned his head to look at the doctor, and happily exclaimed, "I think it'll work...! Your idea, I mean."
"As I said, it's only a theory and an unfounded one at that. You yourself have the best understanding of how your powers work, but you told me that they've never done anything like this before. So, we just need to wait and see what happens. It's important to have hope, but it's equally important not to let your hopes get too high, just in case of failure," Dr. Stench explained cautiously.
Losing a healthy amount of optimism, Shunshi stared intensely at the ceiling, before responding, "Yes, sir. I'll keep that in mind. Thank you."
Chuckling slightly at his patient's attitude, Dr. Stench kindly explained, "You don't need to be so formal with me, young man. Feel free just to call me Dr. Stench if you like."
Ditching the serious expression on his face, Shunshi responded, "Oh, uh... Yes, si- I mean, uh... Sure thing, Dr. Stench."
After forcing himself to hold back some more laughter, Dr. Stench held up his wrist and pushed a button on what looked like a wristwatch. All of a sudden, a chair formed out from the ground amidst what seemed to be a cluster of pixels.
The Doctor took a seat in his newly formed chair, cleared his throat, and spoke to Shunshi in a pleasant tone, "So, Genos has told me a couple of things about you."
"Really, he has...?! Has he said anything good?" Shunshi asked excitedly.
Adjusting his posture, Dr. Stench looked to the corner of the room, before explaining, "Well, when he talks about you, he sometimes tells me that he's trying his best to get along with you. Unfortunately, usually, he just complains about how annoying he thinks you are and that he thinks you're getting in the way of his training..." Hearing this, Shunshi averted his gaze in shame, as the Doctor continued, "Also, while he says that he's certain he'll remain stronger than you for a while, he's somewhat worried that you're growing stronger at a faster pace than he is... I think that might be his way of saying that he respects you, at least partially."
Unsure of how he should feel about this, the young Hero turned his attention up to the ceiling once more.
He then told Dr. Stench, "Thanks for being honest, Doctor. Until a little bit ago, I thought we were getting along great, but now I feel like I can't do anything right by him. I... I just wanna be friends with the guy, ya know...? I think I'd like to rest now if you don't mind."
Realizing right away that his patient needed some time alone to think, the Doctor got up from his chair and pushed another button on his wristwatch. This caused a television to materialize next to the table Shunshi was on.
As the young man lying on the bed before him was surprised, Dr. Stench asked him, "Are there any shows that you'd like to watch while you rest here? A documentary, perhaps?"
Taking a moment to think over his answer, Shunshi eventually responded, albeit with a bit of hesitation, "Well, uh... There's this one, well... anime that I've gotten into recently that's called... um... The Bizarre Adventures Of Jonathan Joestar... Do you have that here?"
For a moment, Dr. Stench almost looked disappointed, but he simply explained, "Not at the moment, but I should be able to purchase it virtually in just a moment. Just wait here a while, and I'll have it playing on the television in just a bit."
He then pulled a remote out of a compartment from the television and set it down next to Shunshi's hand, while telling him, "I'll be in my study. Use this if you get bored of your show and want to watch something else."
Giving off an earnest smile, Shunshi told Stench, "Thank you, Doctor. I really appreciate all you're doing for me."
Smiling back to his patient as he walked away, Dr. Stench thought to himself, I was hoping his tastes in entertainment would be more mature. Maybe a science or nature documentary, but it seems as if he still has a childish nature to him. Well, at least he appears to be a kind and well-mannered person... I hope that Genos gets along with him more in the future. My boy could use more friends closer to his own age.
The following morning, Shunshi had fallen asleep on the medical bed, after watching several episodes of The Bizarre Adventures Of Jonathan Joestar. As such, the television had played a marathon of the show on repeat all throughout the night.
A door appeared on one of the room's walls, letting in Dr. Stench, who was accompanied by two small, floating robots. One of them was carrying a plate with a grill-cheese and chicken sandwich and a glass of milk, while the other one was carrying a fresh set of clothes for Shunshi.
The Doctor approached the sleeping Hero, pushed a button to remove the vitals monitor on top of him, and spoke to him as he slowly woke up, "Shunshi, it's eleven A.M. You need to wake up to eat. I also need to check on how your recovery is progressing." As soon as the monitor finished lifting, Dr. Stench was taken aback by the muscular appearance of the previously bone-thin youngster from the prior day.
While Shunshi got up from the bed, Stench cleared his throat while readjusting his posture, before announcing, "Well, congratulations, Shunshi! It looks like my hypothesis was correct. You seem to have made a full recovery." Having fully sat up, the Hero's face lit up with joy like a neon sign at this news.
Realizing that the pain from his broken bones were gone, Shunshi started looking down at himself in order to examine his body.
"Heheheh! It's true! I'm back to normal! Ha!" Shunshi exclaimed while giggling.
As Shunshi started feeling his face in order to enjoy the flesh that had returned to it, Dr. Stench continued to speak to the ecstatic young man, "I'm glad to see you're in a better mood than before. I had some of my assistants here bring you breakfast and some fresh clothes. So how about you eat up and get dressed so that you can tell-?" Before Stench could finish his sentence, he was stunned by another sight. Shunshi had shifted to try and get a better look at himself, which gave Dr. Stench a clear look at the massive, crimson-red burn mark that took up almost half of the blue-eyed man's back, as well as the base of his neck.
Out of concern, Dr. Stench instinctively reached out and placed his hand on the massive burn, both surprising and causing Shunshi to yelp, "Ouch! What the Hell are you doing...?! Uh, sorry. Didn't mean to yell at you like that, but what did you just do? That really stung."
With genuine concern on his face, Stench explained, "While you were... admiring yourself, I saw that there's still a gigantic burn on your back. I'm afraid I don't have any mirrors large enough here for you to get a good look at it, but trust me when I say that it's there. You should take a look at it in the bathroom when you get home."
Slightly frightened by this news, Shunshi blurted out, "Are you serious?!" Reaching around to feel his neck, the young Hero quickly pulled back his hand when he felt the same stinging pain that he'd felt a moment earlier.
With this revelation ruining his good mood, Shunshi angrily asked aloud, "What the heck is going on!? Why didn't this heal too?"
Placing his hand to his chin, Stench hypothesized, "Well, if I correctly remember the details of what you and Genos told me, the injuries that put you into your powerless state were on your back... If I had to hazard a guess, this large burn mark is the aftereffect of your powers having to bring you back from such a dire state. Hopefully, it'll heal with time, but, based on how severe those burns look, it'll definitely leave some nasty scars."
"What the heck...!? Argh, fine. Maybe it'll be healed by tomorrow. If you don't mind, though, I've got somewhere I need to be. Thank you for everything, Dr. Stench," Shunshi bemoaned.
Just as Shunshi was about to start leaving, Stench yelled to him, "Hold on! Shunshi, you... uh... forgot something important." The Doctor then pointed at the robots who were carrying his guest's clothes and breakfast. Looking down at himself, the black-haired Hero realized that he was still wearing nothing but his boxers. Embarrassed, Shunshi face-palmed and lightly slam his head against a wall.
About half an hour later, Shunshi had gotten changed into his new clothes. The top was a dark-blue shirt with silver highlights, while the bottom half of the get-up was a pair of black shorts. His change of clothes wasn't the only thing holding him up, as he had decided to take the Doctor up on his offer of breakfast.
After guzzling down the last of the milk, Shunshi wiped his mouth and asked, "Man, Doc, how'd you know I like dairy so much? You even got me my favorite sandwich."
Stench shrugged at this and answered, "Um, I didn't. I just figured that you could use a bit of calcium and protein after growing back all your body's muscles and having to put your bones back together."
As he stood up to stretch, Shunshi responded, "Oh, that makes sense... Hey, I just thought of something else and... Well, I know you've already done so much to help me, and I don't want you to think that I'm selfish, but... Well..."
Looking at Shunshi patiently, Stench told him, "I'm sure it's nothing too serious. What's your request?"
Letting out a nervous sigh, Shunshi explained, "Well, you know that suit of armor I wear? I made it myself. It's fairly tough, and it's kept me alive so far, but... It's just not enough to really keep me in fights for long against the kinds of enemies Saitama-Sensei and Genos-Senpai go up against. So, I was wondering... Could you remake my armor with the same type of metals you use to make Genos-Senpai's body...? If it's not too much trouble, that is!"
Smiling in amusement, Stench chuckled and answered, "Is that all? That's no issue in the slightest. Something like that is child's play for a man of my intellect. I should be able to finish that up in a couple of hours or more. Swing by again in the afternoon and I'll have it all ready to go for you."
Flabbergasted, Shunshi smiled in disbelief while asking, "Seriously? Thank you so much! This really means a lot to me... Uh, but I really have to go now. Like I said a while ago, there's somewhere I gotta be."
Having grown curious, Dr. Stench asked, "Are you off to let Saitama know that you're okay?"
As he headed for the exit, Shunshi turned to look behind himself and replied, "Oh yeah. I should probably do that too. But, no, I'm off to visit Silver Fang-Sensei to work out an exact schedule with him for my martial art lessons."
Confused, Stench stayed quiet as Shunshi headed out, pondering to himself, Silver Fang? Hmm. That name sounds familiar...
Meanwhile, walking through the streets of M-City, Saitama and Genos were carrying their groceries, as they were making their way back home from a shopping trip.
As they casually strolled along, Saitama looked up at the sky in contemplation for a moment, before lazily asking Genos, "Hey, I know it's only been a day since we dropped him off at your Professor guy's lab, but, doesn't Shunshi heal really fast or something? Do you think he's okay?"
In a neutral tone, Genos answered his Sensei, "I would not worry. The condition that he was in was unusual, so it may take him slightly longer to heal, but I am sure he will make a full recovery very soon, Sensei."
Satisfied with this, Saitama, with his usual emotionless face, shrugged and responded, "Yeah, you're probably right."
After walking for a bit longer, they turned the corner of a large building and saw an intimidating man in a hoodie and a baseball hat walk out of a video game store with a big smile on his face. Genos' facial scanners quickly identified this person as the S-Class Hero, King.
Feeling that Saitama may be interested in learning more about this man, Genos pointed out who was walking by them, "Sensei, that person in front of us appears to be King."
Being the ever knowledgeable fellow that he is, Saitama had no idea what Genos was talking about and asked, "Who?"
"He is a Hero that we met during the S-Class meeting. He has earned the title of the strongest man in the world. Although, that is likely due to you not being more well known to the public. I wonder what he is doing in a place like this," Genos explained to his teacher.
Before any more questions could be asked or explanations given, the ground shook for a moment. Suddenly, the varied screams of terrified people were heard all around, all of them yelling that a monster had shown up. Looking in the direction that the screams were coming from, Genos saw a fourteen-foot tall robot standing in the center of a freshly created crater. The robot's frame was outfitted with shiny and ornate plating and decorations, including a headpiece that looked like a crown, a large spiked wheel that was welded to its shoulders, and even a massive furred cape was billowing off of its back.
Looking at this robot with a slightly puzzled, but mostly blank gaze, Genos asked aloud, "Some kind of monster? Sensei could most likely wipe it out... No, wait. This might be a good opportunity to observe King's strength in person. Let us wait and see how he handles this enemy."
As it approached him, King looked up and glared at this metal behemoth, as it began to speak to him in a deep electronic voice, "My Name Is G4. I Am A Machine God Created By The Organization. You're The Strongest Hero, King. I Have Come To Eliminate You!"
Hearing what this robot said, a good portion of the people who had been running away stopped to turn around and look at the impending fight, with one person asking, "Did that thing say it's fighting King? I guess we don't need to run away. King'll take care of this without a problem!"
As the drumming of his King Engine began to roar, King asked G4 a question, with blatant annoyance in his tone, "Huh, The Organization? What are you talking about? You should just runoff. I'm the strongest man on Earth. I'm ranked as the number 7 Hero in S-Class, King. Did you even know that before you came here?!"
In the exact instant that King finished his threat, G4 pulled out a sword proportionate to its own size, held the blade only a few inches from King's face. The wind force of the swing knocked the S-Class' hat off.
The King Engine began booming even louder when this happened, as G4 exclaimed, "I Said I Have Come To Kill You! This Is A Performance Test For My Battle A.I.! I Cannot Collect Any Data If I Kill You By Surprise! Fight Me With All You Got!"
Just as his hat touched the ground, King sighed in frustration, put his hands in his hoodie's pockets, and, just as his King Engine blasted at its loudest, he explained to the machine god, "Fine. But let me use the bathroom first. I can't bring out even half of my strength if I have to hold it in. It won't give you satisfying data if you can't fight me at full strength, right?"
G4's processors took a moment to go over this logic, before sheathing its sword and telling King, "I Will Wait Here For Ten Minutes. For Every Minute After That, I Will Kill Ten People. If You Try To Escape, Then This Town Will Be History."
Sharpening his glare, King nodded at the robot and quickly walked off.
Seeing that King had left for the moment, a few of the people who had gathered to watch the fight ran off in fear of the killer robot going crazy in the absence of the world's strongest Hero.
Having watched these events unfold from behind a power-line pole, Saitama, with a dull sense of hope in his voice, asked Genos, "How tough do you think that monster is? It looks a little strong."
The blond cyborg's eyes flashed for a moment, before answering his teacher, "There are very high energy readings coming from that creature, Master. I believe it is a robot. This robot has amazing power readings. He might even outperform me, who was built by the genius Doctor Stench. He must be a Demon-Level Threat at least. I wonder, how will King fight that thing when he returns?"
While the seconds were ticking by in M-City, Shunshi was busy elsewhere with his own business in Z-City. Instead of heading towards Saitama's apartment like he usually would, the young Hero was instead jogging through the streets that lead him towards the mountain that Silver Fang's dojo resided on.
As he made his way through the city, Shunshi was making sure to keep his wits about him. For unknown reasons, and despite the fact that Saitama's place of residence was located here, large amounts of monsters had taken to gathering together in Z-City for many years, even before the Hero Association had officially formed.
Due to the frequent trips he'd made to his Master's home, Shunshi had been ambushed by groups of weaker monsters that stayed hidden in the shadows of this town. These beasts had hoped that a lone jogger would make for easy prey, which only resulted in said jogger getting a good workout in as he slaughtered his would-be murderers.
Shunshi kept both his eyes and ears alert for any potential threats, and just as he was reaching the edge of town, he heard an extensive series of clangs and crashes that were just within earshot. Initially, he chose to ignore this, figuring that some monsters were fighting. However, when he heard the sound of a woman screaming out in pain, he quickly turned around and ran in the direction that he thought the noises were coming from.
After running through nearly a dozen alleyways, Shunshi turned one final corner and found a horrifying sight. A group of five lizard-like humanoids with spikes running down their backs, cornering a young woman, who looked to be in her late teens to early twenties. Simultaneously, two more of these lizard creatures were lying dead on the ground, looking as if they had been beaten to death.
The young woman seemed to stand at roughly five foot two or five foot three, with a lean and fit figure. She was wearing an outfit that appeared to be a cross between a traditional Chinese dress and a martial artists' outfit. She kept her black hair tied in braided loops, and accessorized with a scarf, as well as two large bell hair-ties, bell earrings, and bell anklets. However, the thing that drew Shunshi's attention most was the large amount of blood coming from her forehead, which obscured her piercing blue eyes.
As the most muscular of the lizard monsters grabbed at a nasty-looking wound on its face, it viciously shouted at the young woman, "We're gonna turn that soft flesh of yours' into mince-meat! We'll eat you up and spit you out for-!"
Before the monster could finish spewing vile filth, a sizable chunk of concrete was flung at its skull. The stone took off the top half of the creature's head and became embedded in the wall above the woman. Seeing their leader decapitated in such a way, the other lizards began freaking out. Even the young woman grew frightened at the prospect of what kind of beast could've done that.
The remaining monsters and the woman turned to see what had taken out the lead lizard and saw Shunshi wearing a furious grin. As he smiled, the long-haired man was tossing another piece of cement the size of his head up and down as if it were as light as a baseball.
Bearly keeping his seething fury contained, Shunshi continued to toss the cement in the air as he addressed his onlookers, "Ya know, I got picked on a lot back in high school. Cause of that, there's not a lot of things out there that piss me off more than seeing a bunch of jackasses ganging up on one person to make themselves feel tough. Sorry, but I'm gonna have to put a stop to your fun." The fake smile that he'd been wearing for this monologue disappeared in an instant, as the Hero's pleasant speaking voice shifted into a furious growl, "Permanently!"
Taking up a combative stance, the young Hero rushed at the confused and startled monsters, using the cement chunk to punch one of them in its chest with enough force to collapse its entire ribcage. The bravest of the three remaining monsters roared and tried to jump at Shunshi to bite him while he still had his back turned, but, without even having to look at it, Shunshi spin-kicked the monster's head and shoulder's off of its body.
In a last-ditch effort to kill this insanely strong Human, one of the two remaining lizard-monsters curled into a ball and began rolling forward, using the spikes on its back as traction. The speed at which the lizard was moving in its ball form would require the reflexes of a particularly athletic Human to dodge. Fortunately for Shunshi, his body had long since become that of a superhuman. As soon as the lizard ball got near him, Shunshi side-stepped it and kicked the monster in its side. The force from this light kick left the monster embedded in a nearby wall, with a foot-sized hole in its torso, from which it would soon bleed out.
The last monster tried to run away while its attacker was distracted by its recently killed ally. However, before the creature could get very far, it was blocked by the young woman. She had moved behind the group during all of the confusion and seemed ready to continue fighting.
Wanting to kill her quickly so it could leave, the lizard tried to claw at the woman's face, but the bell-adorned beauty elegantly redirected its attack away from herself. As the monster found itself off-balance, this woman counter-attacked with a series of open-palm strikes. Of note was that, despite the speed and strength of her movements, none of her many bells rang once during her attack.
Surprised by this girl's sudden retaliation, Shunshi decided to give her some space for a second and see if she could handle the last monster on her own. If she couldn't win, he was ready to pounce forward the instant the tables turned on her.
After stunning the monster with a strong, open-palm uppercut to its jaw, the woman took up a stance to ready her final strike. Just as the monster began to recollect its senses, the woman's body began to vibrate slightly as she smashed both of her palms into its gut. At first, the attack seemed to have no effect, but, eventually, the monster's body began to shake violently. Suddenly, blood started pouring out from its mouth, before the creature fell dead on the ground.
Looking at all of his defeated enemies, Shunshi scoffed and thought in a disgusted tone, "These guys were nothing but a pack of starving Wolves... Heh. Look at me. Talking about Wolf-Level Threats like they're not worth my time. Before I figured out how to use kie, I would've been happy to be able to beat any Disaster, regardless of its Threat Level. But now... I've been fighting against Demon-Level Threats so much, even if I don't normally win, I still feel like I should be dealing with more dangerous monsters than things like these... Wait! What am I thinking?! I'm a Hero, and Heroes help people, regardless of if they think it's worth the effort. Think selflessly, Shunshi!"
Glancing over at the woman, he saw that she must have used the last of her strength to kill that monster. She'd fallen onto her rear-end and placed her less bruised hand over her head wound in an attempt to lessen the pain.
Speaking of selfless... Good God, I suck, Shunshi thought to himself as he felt like an ass.
Walking over to her and taking a knee, Shunshi introduced himself while smiling softly, "Hello there. My name's Shunshi. Do you mind if I take a look at that wound on your head? It looks like it might need treatment, and I know basic first-aid. Also, mind if I ask you what your name is?"
Looking at Shunshi doubtfully for a second, the young woman eventually softened her expression, took her hand away from her face, and introduced herself, "My name is Lin Lin."
As Shunshi and Lin Lin introduced themselves to each other, Saitama and Genos were still in M-City, patiently keeping an eye on G4, just in case King didn't come back in time to take care of the robot.
Saitama was considering going over and asking the robot if it would leave, and taking care of the problem should G4 not be willing to cooperate. Unfortunately, just as he started moving his leg to take a step forward, ten minutes had passed. The Machine God's shoulder opened up and shot a small missile at one of the surrounding groups of people.
During the few split-seconds that the missile was flying towards the civilians, Saitama tried to think up a way he could stop it, but with what little time he had, he couldn't think of a way to block the missile without the people getting caught in the explosion. Fortunately, Genos, having set down his groceries, quickly shot an incineration blast at the projectile, hitting it with just enough force not to destroy it, but to redirect it into a telephone pole, causing a massive explosion that otherwise would've atomized the civilians.
Turning to face the direction that Genos and Saitama were standing, G4 began pulling its massive sword back out, having recognized the blond cyborg as a threat to collecting its desired combat data. With the same motion it used to draw its weapon, G4 swung its blade at Genos.
However, the Cyborg For Justice side-stepped the attack and shattered the sword with a punch before it could even make contact with the ground. Not missing a beat, Genos took the moment that G4 was disoriented over the destruction of its sword and quickly charged power into his fist for an attack. Throwing a punch that was nowhere near close enough to hit the Machine God, one would assume that Genos had a malfunction. However, his wrist suddenly opened up, revealing four small jets that started propelling Genos' fist through the air while staying connected to his arm with a thick metal cord. Once the fist made contact with G4's face, the small rockets began blasting out enough flames to power a rocket ship, giving Genos' punch that much more force.
Overwhelmed by this attack's kinetic force, G4 got launched so far into the air that its massive metal body had been flung above the buildings. Soon enough, the robot reconnected with the ground with a mighty crash that shattered the street beneath it.
As soon as the cord connected to Genos' fist finished rewinding itself into his metal arm, Saitama asked his top pupil, "What was that? A rocket punch?"
Before Genos could give an answer, his scanners went off, alerting him just a second too late that his foe was still functioning.
Suddenly, the jet pack on G4's back lifted it off of the road and into the air. The blond cyborg didn't have enough time to get out of the way of G4 as it dropped out of the sky and slammed its foot down on him. The mechanical Hero barely had enough time to raise his arms up, drop to one knee, and stop the foot from crushing him.
Seeing Genos struggling underneath his opponent's foot, Saitama casually asked him, "Need a hand, Genos?"
Instantly, Genos, as his artificial face began to crack, started to spark with electricity as he shouted, "NO! In order to reach the goal Sensei has set for me, Reach the top 10 of S-Class..." suddenly, all of the electricity that the blond cyborg had been building up exploded out of him, propelling him through G4's foot, as he continued to proclaim, "An opponent like this," he, then, unleashed a flurry of punches all over G4's body, knocking it off of its balance, before finishing his declaration, "MUST BE DEFEATED BY ME!"
Having no visible reaction to this, even as Genos' attacks caused himself and the ground to shake, Saitama emotionlessly replied, "Okay then. Just make sure that you don't lose, you hear?" Picking up the groceries that Genos had dropped, Saitama turned around and walked away to go and find directions, somewhat confident that his student could handle the robot.
While Genos continued to tear up the streets with G4, Shunshi was finishing the treatment of Lin Lin's wounds.
In order to give her injury a temporary bandage, the young Hero had actually ripped off a strip of cloth from his new shirt, unintentionally and unknowingly revealing his well-defined abs to her.
Once he finished tying the cloth-bandage around her forehead, Shunshi explained to his patient, "Alright, the wound doesn't look bad, shouldn't even leave a scar of any kind. You should definitely clean it as soon as you can, though. Keep it from getting infected and all that. But I'm no professional, so you should see a doctor to make sure you didn't get a concussion or anything."
Distracted by her savior's abdominal muscles, Lin Lin only caught the general idea of what Shunshi said, causing her reply to be a half-hearted, "Uh-huh, yeah... I don't think I need a doctor, they just scratched me. I'll just clean it once I get back to my dojo."
Not paying attention to what part of his body Lin Lin was staring at, Shunshi's expression brightened when he heard what she said, responding, "Oh, you study at a dojo? Well, that answers one of the questions I had for you. I was wondering if you were a martial artist, what with those cool moves I saw you pull off... Hey, so... Mind if I ask what you're doing in Z-City? This place is crawling with monsters, and I don't recognize you as a Hero from the Hero Association's listings."
Still transfixed on his midriff, Lin Lin only answered with a, "Uhhh... I'm sorry, what was that?"
Cocking his eyebrow, Shunshi restated with a slight twinge of concern, "I was just asking what you're doing in Z-City, cause of how dangerous this place is... Are you sure those lizard freaks didn't wack you too hard in the head? You seem a little out of it."
Having listened to enough of Shunshi's sentence to understand what he'd asked, Lin Lin blushed slightly when she realized that she'd been ogling him, before quickly stammering out, "Oh, uh... Yeah, I'm sure I'm fine... I was just here to, uh, finish practicing my Ringing Strike. Since it's a lethal technique, I was hoping I could find a really weak monster that I could test it out on... But I ran into an entire pack of monsters, and you saw how well that turned out."
Gesturing to one of the dead monsters, Shunshi smirked and playfully asked, "If you're Ringing Strike thing is the attack that made that monster puke its own guts up, I'd say you succeeded. And didn't you kill those other two that were dead before I showed up? The vast majority of people couldn't do that unless they were carrying some half-decent firepower with them."
Looking a bit unsure of herself, Lin Lin pointed out, "Maybe... But you were able to handle those guys like they were made of paper... By the way, what's a guy like you doing in Z-City?"
"Oh, well, I come here for my training all the time, and I'm currently on my way to train with my new master," Shunshi answered as a somewhat casual air overcame their conversation.
Her curiosity peaked by this explanation, Lin Lin asked, "Oh. Well, I guess that explains how you handled those monsters so easily. You must be used to fighting those things. But, anyway, who's this master you're talking about?"
Looking more than just a little excited at getting asked this question, Shunshi clenched his fists and exclaimed, "I managed to convince Silver Fang-Sensei to train me!"
Taking a moment to process what Shunshi had just said, Lin Lin eventually asked, "Silver Fang... Wait, do you mean Bang?! That guy is a legend in the martial arts community!"
Shunshi's eyes lit up at this, as he excitedly replied, "I know, right!? And he's gonna help me perfect my martial arts skills! The guy's my hero! It's a dream come true for me...! Uh, wait a second."
Looking up at the sky, Shunshi realized he was taking longer than he'd intended to, so he told Lin Lin, "Sorry about this, but I'm running late for my lesson. I need to get going, but I'd love to talk some more about martial arts with you. Do you wanna swap phone numbers?"
Looking a little surprised, but pleased, Lin Lin took out her newly cracked phone and responded, "Oh, sure... Tch! One second, those freaks cracked my screen, and now my phone's acting slow."
After spending a minute trying to get Lin Lin's phone working, the two martial artists successfully exchanged numbers, said goodbye, and went their separate ways.
As Shunshi raced towards Silver Fang's mountain dojo, he thought to himself with a smile, Well, she was nice. Maybe I can figure out the basics of that martial arts style from her, and incorporate some of it into my own techniques. Hehe, should be fun!
While Lin Lin jogged out of Z-City to search for the nearest hospital, she calmly thought to herself, Man, I sure am lucky that guy came around. I was worried that that would've been the end of me for a second there. Maybe I can figure out how he trains, and then I'll be able to take on monsters as easily as he... Wait a second! Did I really just give some random guy my phone number!? Gah! He probably won't stop calling me now, will he!? I need to block his number or he'll start stalking me and...
As Lin Lin was thinking over all the different ways that her thoughtless action may have been a mistake, the image of Shunshi's smiling face and rock-hard abs ran through her mind.
With a more calm attitude, the martial artist wrapped up her thoughts, Well, he did save my life after all... And he's honestly really handsome. I think it could be fun to hang out with him some more... Hold on. He said his name is Shunshi? That name sounds familiar... Is he that new Hero...? Nah, couldn't be. Everybody knows that anyone who isn't S-Class in the Hero Association is a complete wimp.
Meanwhile, back in M-City, Saitama arrived at a twenty-two-story apartment building. After asking for directions from a few of the people living in town, he heard that King was rumored to live in this structure.
After taking a second to examine the apartment complex, Saitama saw an open window on the top floor. Without even preparing himself, the bald Hero effortlessly jumped all twenty-two stories, unintentionally shattering the pavement he had been standing on as a result. Once he reached the window, he glided through it and gently landed on the room's floor without making any noise.
Quickly examining his surroundings, Saitama realized that he was in a very high-end apartment, at least in comparison to where he lived. After looking around for a second, Saitama saw King sitting in front of a large television in his living room and playing video games, so he approached him silently.
King had just finished getting through his video game's opening and began speaking to himself as he was given the option to name his in-game character, "Now the name entry screen... Using my real name's too embarrassing, I'm twenty-nine after all. Tough choice..."
At this point, Saitama was standing just a few feet behind the Hero Association's strongest and most feared warrior, so he casually suggested to him, "Why don't you go with King?"
Smirking at this suggestion, King replied, "Nah, using my Hero name is a bit awkward... If anyone saw the game character calling me King Onii-Chan, I'd probably kill myself out of embarrassment."
Suddenly, it hit the fearsome man that there was somebody else in his apartment with him. Turning his head, King saw a bald man wearing a shirt designed with poorly drawn breasts that read Oppai on it, smiling at him.
Stunned with fear and confusion, King thought to himself as he stared into this stranger's simple expression, Huh? Wha... What?! Who's this guy?! What's he doing here?!
Gesturing with his thumb, Saitama pointed to the window that he came through and explained to King in a pleasant tone, "Sorry to barge in, but the window was open."
Sweating profusely at this point, King retorted in a deadpan tone of voice, "Dude, this is the twenty-second floor... This-."
After standing up to back away from this bald home invader, King began to shake violently before continuing to speak, this time in a threatening tone, "This is quite bothersome. You can't just walk into someone else's home! Don't you know that I'm an S-Class Hero?"
Unfazed, Saitama, with his typical emotionless voice, replied, "I know. You're King, right?"
Shocked that this man knew who he was, but seemed unconcerned with it, King was once again stunned with fear as he thought, Huh...?! Wait! It's... It's that guy! The B-Class Hero, who was at the S-Class meeting!
While King was trying to figure out what was going on, Saitama had grown a semi-serious look on his face as he looked at King's television and stated, "Hmm... I gotta say... I didn't think you'd be a guy who's into this kind of game."
On the T.V. screen, an anime girl with outlandishly huge hair, who looked to be in middle school, appeared in front of the naming screen and spoke in an unbelievably high-pitched voice, "Onii-Chan, tell me your name!"
Realizing the horror of what his uninvited guest was seeing, King screamed at the top of his lungs, "STOOOOOOOOOP!"
Either not noticing or not caring about the emotional panic attack he was causing King, Saitama picked up and examined a game case that had a robot on it, prompting him to ask, "Hm? What kinda game is this? Is it any fun?"
Devising a quick plan, King shouted at his bald intruder with fake excitement in his voice, "Ah, that one's an action game!"
Raising his eyebrows with slight interest, Saitama asked, "Do you pilot a giant robot in this?"
Nodding his head vigorously, King answered, "Yes, yes!" Grabbing the game case for the game he was playing, he threw it onto the ground in an over-the-top fashion while continuing to shout, "Yeah, I'm really into that kind of action game! I thought this would be the one, but it turned out to be a dating sim! I bought the wrong game!"
Looking at the game that King had just slammed on the ground, Saitama commented emotionlessly, "But it says Doki Doki Sisters right on the cover."
Continuing to act in an over-the-top fashion, King shouted, "For real?! And here I thought it read Angry Angry Shooting Star! They lied to me! I'm gonna throw this stupid dating sim out!"
Seeing that the girl on the screen was about to say something else, King quickly unplugged the television while giving the excuse, "Whoops! Gotta turn off the power now. They charge a lot for power, you know! How embarrassing is this!? A twenty-nine-year-old buying a dating sim by mistake! AHAHAHA!"
Handing King the robot game, Saitama emotionlessly told him, "Then, show me this one instead."
Grabbing the game case, King enthusiastically responded, "Yeah, you're right. That's how it should be... Wait... Ummm... You wanna try this one?"
Looking minimally puzzled by King's question, Saitama asked him, "Is that a no? I thought you were bored."
Unsure of how to respond, the strongest S-Class Hero simply answered, "No... Uh..."
As King tried to process this situation, he thought, What's wrong with this B-Class? He's showing me no respect, even though I'm clearly older than him, the jerk...! Why is he here anyway?
As the two men continued on with their odd back and forth, a few miles away, Genos and G4 were bursting up and down the streets of M-City, exchanging blows in their attempts to destroy one another.
While Genos was shooting through the air at knee-height in comparison to the Machine God, the gigantic robot tried to punch its young opponent into the ground. However, the blond cyborg activated the rocket boosters in his thighs, launching himself behind G4, causing its fist to get planted into the street instead. Once he back-flipped behind the robot, Genos fired off a couple of smaller rockets on his shoulders and slammed down into his enemy's shoulders, digging his hands into G4's neck in the process.
Desperate to get the vicious cyborg off of itself, G4 quickly tried to reach behind its neck to grab Genos. Unfortunately for the robot, its mechanical limbs weren't flexible enough to reach that spot of its body. In the next instant, the Cyborg For Justice fired his incinerator blasts at full power inside of the rampaging robot's body, causing flames to erupt from every possible opening that G4 had.
The surrounding citizens who had been watching in awe of the S-Class Hero all had to shut their eyes for a moment, as The Machine God's body violently exploded with enough force to knock over people who were standing hundreds of feet away.
As he back-flipped away from the explosion, Genos found himself thinking back to the time that he and Shunshi fought off the Shaving Lord. Despite his artificial face being cracked on its left side, he smiled for a split second out of pride for how well he handled this Disaster in comparison. However, when he noticed the panicked people that had gathered behind him, Genos recomposed himself.
As Genos looked at the melted remains of his enemy, he calmly explained to the people around him, "I have melted him from the inside. He should not be able to move again. His gigantic body was his own downfall." This seemed to work, as the crowd began to calm down. However, the movement of something inside of the melted slag caught Genos' attention.
Pushing aside a giant slab of melting metal that was resting on it, a three-foot-tall robot stood up as slag oozed off of it. This robot was made from black-colored material, had two glowing white eyes, pill-like features, and a simple-looking power core in its torso. Despite its unassuming appearance, the small robot was effortlessly and menacingly walking through the melted debris.
This shocked Genos and caused him to ponder, Is that the pilot...?! No... It's the robot's true form!
All of a sudden, the true G4's head, shoulders, and kneecaps opened up, revealing a series of cannons.
Realizing the danger of what was about to happen, Genos turned to the crowd and shouted with clear urgency, "EVERYBODY BACK OFF!" Unfortunately, as soon as Genos yelled this, a barrage of missiles and lasers erupted from G4, and they were all homed in on the metal youth's current location.
As Genos' fight against the Machine God raged on, Shunshi had arrived at Silver Fang's dojo a few minutes earlier.
By this point, Shunshi was on his hands and knees, bowing to his new martial arts instructor and awaiting directions from him. At the same time, Charanko sat behind Silver Fang, looking at his new fellow student very anxiously.
Staring at Shunshi a bit awkwardly, Bang coughed and explained to him, "Shunshi, while I appreciate the sign of respect, it'll make it much easier for me to start your first lesson if you stand up and look at me."
Quickly shooting to his feet, Shunshi did his best to hide his embarrassed expression, while asking, "Right...! Uh... So... How shall we begin my first lesson, Bang-Sensei?"
Switching his expression to a much more serious one, Bang answered his new student's question, "First, tell me everything you're capable of. Martial art techniques, physical strength and speed, and any other miscellaneous combat abilities that you think are relative. And, if your miscellaneous skills require explanations for how they function, then be as detailed as possible."
Gathering his thoughts on what exactly he was capable of as fast as he could, Shunshi, in an almost machine-like tone, started his explanation, "Yes, sir! I have spent the past eight years studying many forms of martial arts, and, as a result, I have mastered Judo, Krav Maga, Shotokan, and Kickboxing. I'm also fluent in Jujutsu and Taekwondo. In regards to my physicality, the last time I tested myself and recorded what I can do, I found that I could outrun a typical car, could lift over seven tons, and take a sledgehammer to my head without getting injured. However, according to Genos-Senpai, I've grown a few times stronger since then. My biggest miscellaneous skill of note is my ability that I call Kie. It grants me a few powers that've saved my life more times than I can count. First off, by thinking about how I want to protect people, I can produce a layer of white flames around my body and clothing that burns most things to the touch, excluding myself of course. The flames also multiply my body's durability, although I'm unclear on the exact amount... If I had to guess, I'd estimate it to be by a factor of two, maybe two and a half. The next power I have as a result of Kie is an accelerated healing factor. Because of it, I can recover from what would be serious or even fatal wounds to others, with just a single night's rest. The last power that I have is... well... this." To adequately explain his ability, Shunshi made a tiny version of one of his Light Balls in the palm of his hand, startling Charanko, before continuing to explain, "I call these Light Balls. Not the most creative name, I know. I'm able to make them when I think of how much I hate evil monsters, and when I throw them, they explode once they make contact with something solid, but they won't explode if I hit myself with one. That is unless I want it to. It used to take me a few seconds to charge up one that could explode with enough force to do any real damage against monsters, but ever since I started training with Saitama-Sensei, the force of these explosions have grown exponentially, and the amount of time that I need to give the explosions more power has been considerably shortened. Nowadays, I'm not even really sure myself of what kind of explosive yield I could make if I really tried... Uh, also, in recent moments of desperation and passion, I've found a more creative way to use the Light Balls. By putting a bunch of really small ones on my knuckles and fingertips, I can improve my striking force considerably."
Despite having asked for a detailed explanation of his new student's abilities, Bang hadn't expected him to go on for so long, and in that much detail. As such, the old man was looking at Shunshi with a shocked and confused expression.
Clearing his throat and recomposing himself before Shunshi could notice how bewildered he was, Bang calmly asked, "I see. Very interesting. But, just to be clear, you haven't studied any of the superhuman martial art styles?"
Feeling like he'd done something wrong, Shunshi answered Silver Fang's question in an embarrassed tone, "Uh... No, sir. I've always assumed that I'm not good enough to practice any of those martial arts... I'm sorry in advance if all this turns out to be a big waste of your time, Silver Fang-Sensei."
Smiling with confident eagerness, Bang reassured Shunshi, "You should have more confidence in yourself. If you were able to master and study so many different types of martial arts, then you'll make excellent progress in your studies here. In fact, if what you tell me is true of your talent with the martial arts, then I wish you'd have come to study here sooner. Now, let's begin your first-!"
"Wait! Hold on!" Shunshi shouted frantically.
Looking understandably surprised, Bang responded to his new student's interruption with a, "Huh?!"
Bowing desperately to apologize to his new master, Shunshi nervously explained himself, "I'm sorry! I forgot to mention a new aspect of my powers that I just discovered today! I'm so sorry!"
Looking around awkwardly as a result of Shunshi's overreaction, Bang coughed and hesitantly responded, "Ummm... That's alright. Just go ahead and explain what it is."
After bowing once more, the young man began his explanation, "Yes, sir, Silver Fang-Sensei. I'm sure you remember my odd appearance after I'd been injured at the battle against the aliens. Well, the reason I looked like that was... Well, I nearly died. But when I started thinking of all the people who the aliens had killed, and how powerless I was to save them, it caused a huge amount of fire to shoot out of me, even melting my armor off in the process. But, somehow, the flames healed up my back, at the cost of taking all the muscle out of my body. I got it all back after I rested for a day, but, as you saw yesterday when Genos scanned me, it left a giant burn mark in place of where my back used to be."
Processing this, Bang began rubbing his beard as an inquisitive look spread across his face, and wondered, So, an even greater healing ability, on top of his already accelerated passive healing powers when infuriated and in desperate situations. However, it comes at the cost of rendering him unable to fight for the rest of the day... Perhaps there's a way that we can make this ability viable in combat... and perhaps there's even more to it than what young Shunshi himself understands.
Meanwhile, Charanko was sweating and shaking in fear, while sitting behind Bang.
Making explosions, shooting fire out of his body, and growing his flesh back?! What kind of monster is this guy?! Charanko screamed into his head.
Once he finished processing all of this information, Silver Fang snapped both of his students to attention by yelling, "Aaalllll right! It's time to start your first training session with us, Shunshi!"
The dark-haired Hero visibly flinched at this, primarily due to the frightening and eager grin plastered on his new master's face.
Meanwhile, back at King's apartment complex in M-City, the building had a massive hole on one side of it. The center of this hole was placed where King's apartment would be. Lying dead on the ground next to the building was a, now headless, giant crow that, due to its size alone, could've caused city-wide destruction and an untold number of deaths.
Inside of the strongest Hero's apartment, Saitama was calmly sitting cross-legged while King was sitting on his knees, looking at his rubble-covered floor in dejection.
In a mildly curious tone, Saitama looked at King and asked him, "So, is this fun or something? Being a Hero full of lies while being scared shitless?"
Very weakly, King responded, "It's not fun..."
His expression remaining unchanged, Saitama continued to speak, "Well, it's none of my business, and I don't like preaching."
Continuing to whimper, King explained, "All of my accomplishments are probably yours, Saitama..."
Looking out the hole in the building and towards the setting sun, Saitama explained to King, "Being a Hero isn't about accomplishments, because you're still the Hero that everyone looks up to."
Having started to sweat again, all King could say was, "No, I..."
Continuing with his statement, Saitama explained, "You are the one. The strongest Hero. The one who'll win, no matter what. So, King, are you gonna keep this up? Or will you quit being a Hero?"
Gripping his pants legs, the strongest Hero could only find the strength to explain, "I don't have the guts to decide..."
Stretching out to stand up, Saitama emotionlessly told him, "If that's the case, then just become strong, and you'll be alright, don't you think? Anyways, I have to get going. See ya."
Moved by the bald Hero's simple yet powerful words, King found himself jumping to his feet, as Saitama slowly walked towards the ledge that was once the wall of King's apartment.
Unable to understand Saitama's actions, King asked him in desperate confusion, "Wait! Hold on a sec! Aren't you mad at me? You've been trying your darndest to become a Hero, but I-!"
Before King could even finish that sentence, Saitama had grabbed his groceries and jumped out of the building while calmly yelling back, "I might come over from time to time to play video games with you. Till then, dude."
Feeling like a weight had been lifted off of his chest, King blankly looked at the sun on the horizon and responded to the world's greatest Hero, "Huh...?! Oh, uh... Okay..."
Miles and miles away, Genos had arrived at the laboratory of the brilliant Dr. Stench. With his one remaining arm, Genos was carrying the crumpled-up body of G4 through the halls of the lab. Eventually, he came to the door of the Doctor's workshop. When the young cyborg walked in, he saw Stench and his robots constructing an alternate version of the armor that Shunshi wore whenever he was out doing Hero work.
This model of the armor had flexible dark-silver metal replacing the grey kevlar sections of the suit. On top of this, while the primary armor remained black, the main sections were now clearly made from a much more refined material, evident by the prominent shine these pieces gave off.
Looking at this armor with concern on the half of his artificial face that hadn't been shattered, Genos asked his caretaker, "Doctor Stench, is that a new model of the armor belonging to Shunshi...? And has he recovered from his condition yet?"
Taking off his welding mask and putting down the welding torch that he'd been working with, he answered Genos' second question in a happy tone, "Oh, hello, Genos. Yes, he made a full recovery and left some time ago. I'm surprised he hasn't told you yet. Guess that Silver Fang fellow must be keeping him-." Having been turned around for the initial exchange of words, Stench only now noticed the horrid condition that Genos was in, gasping in shock. In fact, the young cyborg had been damaged so severely that even his braincase had been exposed.
Despite his robots still working on the armor's construction, Dr. Stench was horrified to see his boy in such a condition, and couldn't help but ask, "Genos! What happened to you!?"
Answering Stench very flatly, Genos explained, "I fought a robot that referred to itself as G4. It had extremely advanced technology that I hope you will be able to salvage in order to improve on my own design. I still wish to become stronger... I am sorry, but could you please answer my first question." Genos then dropped the remains of G4's body on the ground next to him with a very audible clang.
Stench spent a moment looking anxiously at the remains of the robot that had put Genos in this awful state, before asking, "First question? What do you mean?"
"The armor that you are making. Is it for Shunshi?" Genos calmly clarified.
Unsure of why this concerned his ward so much, Stench answered, "Oh... Yes, I was making it for Shunshi. He asked me earlier today if I could make some better armor for him. Something about him wanting to be able to stay in fights longer. It was a simple request, and I'm almost done... Are you alright, Genos?"
Genos, once again looking at the armor, explained a fear he'd brought up with the Doctor previously, "I am afraid that he may one day become much stronger than me... Stronger than I can compete with... The difference in our strength right now is still perfectly acceptable, and I am still significantly more powerful than him, but... but the rate at which his abilities are growing is faster than anything I have ever experienced in my time of fighting evil. On top of this, now he will be learning the teachings of two masters that can show him two different, but compatible ways of obtaining power. And even you are making armor for him now. I believe it is possible that... No. I am afraid of the possibility that no matter what ways I try to improve my mechanical body, he will surpass me by the end of this year, or even within the time frame of six months... I... I..."
All of a sudden, Genos began to lightly cry, and as the clear oil that his tears were made from rolled down both sides of his face, he sadly exclaimed, "I do not want my quest for strength in the name of justice to have been for nothing! I do not want to see Sensei and Shunshi laughing at me for being so weak one day! I just-!"
Very quickly and without warning, Dr. Stench placed his hand on Genos' shoulder before bringing him in for a light hug.
Since Genos was stunned silent by this, the Doctor took this opportunity to tell him, "My boy, listen to me. You are not weak, and you never will be! I think there's still boundless room for you to grow. And... If what you've told me about this Saitama man is true, then he's not the type of person who would ever judge you over something like this. And in regards to Shunshi... He and I conversed quite a bit while he was recovering here, and the only bad thing I can say about him is that he's a little immature... And also that he needs to pay attention to whether or not he's wearing a full set of clothes... The point is, I don't think you should be worried about competing with him, because that thought doesn't even seem to be in his head. What he does seem to be thinking about, in regards to you, is nothing but admiration and an earnest desire to be your friend."
Hearing all of this, Genos quickly got lost deep in thought. While he was thinking, Dr. Stench had let go of him and called over a couple more of his robots to pick up the machine parts that Genos dropped on the ground, and ordered the robots to carry them to his lab.
As he walked towards his lab to work, Stench turned around, smiled, and told Genos, "If becoming weak is something you're worried about, then don't be. I'll make sure that never happens. I'll take a look at these parts and get to work on incorporating martial art techniques into your next body's combat reflexes like you asked me to."
Before Dr. Stench could close the door to his lab, Genos, looking at the ground, called out to him, "And please, make sure to do as well of a job with Shunshi's armor as you can, Dr. Stench."
Hearing this, the old-timer silently chuckled and replied, "Well, of course, I will."
Standing with no one else around him aside from the robots constructing Shunshi's new suit, Genos looked more deeply at the armor and thought out loud, "Perhaps..."
Back in the mountains located just outside of Z-City, Shunshi was having his first lesson with his martial arts idol, Silver Fang. Unfortunately for Shunshi, this consisted of a sparring match.
Audible crashing sounds could be heard coming from inside of the dojo. Entering inside, one would see Shunshi, covered in cuts and bruises, getting launched across the dojo before slamming down hard onto the ground.
Sitting up and grabbing his burn mark, Shunshi groaned in pain, "Ouch ouch ouch! My back, my arms, my face, my... everything!"
One the other side of the room, Bang, with a small scuff mark on his cheek, audibly laughed and jovially declared, "Not bad, not bad. But still, not quite there yet! You gotta work on those reflexes, accuracy, and striking speed of yours. Gotta look out, cause next time I might not go so easy on you."
Charanko, who had been sitting off to the side to spectate, thought to himself in shock, "Holy crap! I know that Bang-Sensei was just playing with him that whole match, but to think that he'd be able to brush Master's cheek with one of his strikes! It's really intimidating!"
While lightly brushing off the spot on his face that Shunshi had managed to make contact with, Silver Fang inquired, "I noticed that during our match, half the time, you would switch from regular punches to swiping at me with your fingers like they were claws. Why was that?"
Holding his eye, which was quickly turning black, Shunshi answered as best as he could, "Uh... I, uh... My armor has clawed fingers, and spikes on the knuckles, so I try to switch back and forth to throw off my enemies... Why? Does it suck?"
Calmly shaking his head, Bang answered, "No, not at all. It's quite interesting actually. Though it definitely needs some work and polish to it. Keep working on it, and we'll see if we can incorporate that into what I'm going to teach you in the coming lessons. You've got about a half-hour left here. Spend it meditating with Charanko and explain to him what exactly you thought about the first time you activated your Kie." Bang then turned and smirked at Charanko before continuing, "We'll see if we can get that same kind of power flowing through you as well, Charanko."
With these instructions, Shunshi, on shaking knees, bowed to his martial arts master and approached Charanko with a smiling. Simultaneously, the orange-haired youth smiled back a nervous smile. The Hero got into a meditative position and began trying his best to explain to Charanko what kinds of feelings he needed to channel in order to try and gain control over his Kie. At the same time, Charanko did his best to listen, not wanting to let down his sensei.
While Silver Fang walked off to prepare something to eat, he rubbed the spot on his face that Shunshi swiped at one last time.
Pulling his hand away, Silver Fang looked at his palm and thought, He showed so much promise and potential for growth! I haven't felt this alive since... Before, Garou chased everyone off. Is Shunshi's potential possibly the same as Garou's...? No, there's a world of difference between those two. Garou would surely annihilate him... Still. It's quite impressive that he was able to make contact with me at all. Not many can make the same claim. The future is looking just a bit brighter for Fist Of Flowing Water Crushing Rock.
Close to when the half-hour mark had passed, Charanko was sitting cross-legged across from Shunshi, whose injuries had somewhat healed up by this point.
Scratching his head in confusion, Charanko complained, "I'm not getting it! Run it by me one more time."
Despite wearing a smile, Shunshi's thoughts were those of frustration, Are you kidding me!? This is like the tenth time!
Letting a sigh out through his nostrils, Shunshi calmly explained, "Close your eyes and concentrate on selfless thoughts or think about the people who are important to you. Think about them being threatened and put in danger. Then think about your desire to protect them as a literal flame burning inside of you. Let that flame grow, let it consume your body, before finally letting it explode out in an eruption of righteous power."
Processing all of this, Charanko began thinking hard, so much so that he started to lightly sweat before finally taking in a gasp of air and exclaiming, "I... I think I at least got the picture of it in my head!"
Excitedly putting one of his fists into the air, Shunshi stated, "Awesome! Now we just need to work on the tapping into the emotional part of this, and we'll be ready to get sta-!" Suddenly, the black-haired Hero stopped himself when he heard what sounded like miniature helicopter blades coming from outside.
Recognizing the sound from when Saitama and Genos received their fan-mail, Shunshi excitedly stood up and shouted across the dojo, surprising Charanko, "Hey! Silver Fang-Sensei! It sounds like your mail's here!"
Walking around the corner with a bowl of noodles, Bang looked a little excited himself and asked, "Oh, really?"
Once they had retrieved the box of letters, Shunshi, barely keeping his excitement contained, eagerly inquired, "If you don't mind me asking, Master, what kind of fan mail do you usually get?"
Smiling back at him, while taking one of the letters out of the box, Bang replied, "Oh, nothing too fancy. Just some letters of appreciation from admirers or up-and-coming martial artists aspiring to be like me. Though, on occasion, I get some really cute fan letters from little children asking me to be their grandpa. It's honestly adorable! Hahaha!"
Too embarrassed to say this out loud, Shunshi thought to himself while smiling eagerly, Until recently, I was among those writing letters of appreciation for you, sensei.
Picking up one letter, in particular, that was marked with the Hero Association's sigil, Silver Fang commented with minor intrigued, "Oh, Shunshi. This one's addressed to you. I guess they got my message."
Accepting the letter, but naturally confused, Shunshi asked, "Uh, what message?"
"I contacted the Hero Association this morning and told them not to bug me today since this was your first day of training with me and all. And, I guess, since they knew you were here, they sent this letter to you with the rest of my mail."
Nodding in understanding, Shunshi swiftly opened the letter and began reading its longer than typical contents, "Let's see here... Oh, cool. I got promoted to number 5 in A-Class for my service in holding off the aliens."
Looking mildly surprised, but even more so happy, Bang proclaimed, "Congratulations, Shunshi. You're well on your way to getting that handshake from Atomic."
Perking up a bit more, the young Hero replied, "Oh, yeah! I didn't think of it like that. Awesome...! Uh, after I read the rest of this, I gotta head over to Saitama-Sensei's for my muscle training, so let's see what this says here. 'Due to your frightening costume and vicious nature in a fight, that contradicts your friendly and helpful attitude to the general populace and other members of our association, you will be given the Hero Name of Monster Mask,'... Holy crap! I have my own Hero name!"
Unsure of why he was so excited about something so trivial, Charanko put on a half-hearted smile and told Shunshi, "Uh, good job. I'm real happy for you."
Snapping his attention back to the letter, Shunshi, in a crazed tone of voice, exclaimed, "Wait! There's still more." Going silent as he read the last part of the letter, Shunshi seemed like he suddenly had a stroke and passed out on the floor.
"What the Hell? What did that letter say?!" Charanko asked the room while panicking.
Picking it up and looking it over inquisitively, Bang was also a little shocked when he read the last paragraph of the letter, "Due to the rate at which you are climbing through the ranks, and the excellent work that you've been doing for the Hero Association, some of us here in the higher-ups are considering you for promotion to S-Class. Start working even harder than you already are, and this consideration may very well become a reality. Good luck, Monster Mask!"