In an abandoned shack in the middle of the woods, laid Garou. His breath was heavy, skin was burnt, and face was scared with a set of three slash marks across his right cheek. Those marks having been left there by Monster Mask's gauntlet.

As he rested on his makeshift bed, Garou thought to himself in agony, I need food to fix myself up, but I'm in no condition for a dine and dash. I thought all I'd need is some rest, but my body's barely holding together... Damn it! Stop thinking about that! You need food, man! Now get up! You're going hunting!

Despite his broken body, the Hero Hunter forced himself to sit up and climb out of bed.

Kicking open his door, Garou stumbled out of his shack and grumbled through a dried-out throat, "Food... food..."

The Hero Hunter began frantically scanning the woods around him for anything to sustain his body with. Suddenly, his pupils dilated, as in the distance he saw a strong-looking Buck. Not wasting a beat, the Human Monster began sprinting towards his next meal as fast as he could. In turn, the deer saw Garou coming for it and instinctively began to prance away in fear.

Under normal circumstances, Garou would have caught this creature in no time. However, his body was simply too injured to move anywhere near his normal full speed. Despite using all the strength he could muster, ducking, and dodging around foliage as he moved, Garou could see that his food was going to escape him. With the last of his strength depleting quickly, the Hero Hunter tripped over his own feet and fell to the ground.

Seeing the deer continue to prance off, Garou tried to force himself to stand once more, but his body simply felt too heavy. He felt almost as if he was being pinned to the ground, pinned by the hands of everyone who'd ever mistreated him. Memories began flooding back to the Hero Hunter, memories of childhood., memories of the popular kids who'd gang up on him, hold him in place, and beat him senseless. Now, he was going to die, starving to death in the woods in the same position he'd spent so much of his miserable childhood in. Once this revelation hit Garou, an unbearable rage filled his mind.

Smashing his palms into the ground, the Human Monster launched himself back up to his feet. In his fury, he began violently scratching and clawing at his scalp, drawing blood in the process. Very quickly, the blood stained his white hair a crimson red, and as one last wave of anger pulsated through Garou, the blood vessels in his right eye popped. This turned the sclera of his eye just as red as his hair.

Once Garou had finished this transformation, he glared in the direction that the buck had run off in and began sprinting towards it with redoubled strength. In just a matter of seconds, he'd caught up to the animal that believed it had reached safety. Wasting no time, Garou beheaded the beast with a karate chop to its neck.

Desperate to satisfy his starving appetite, the Hero Hunter started to chow down on the raw meat and bones of his prey, filling his stomach with the nutrients he needed. Simultaneously, the blood and bone marrow rehydrated the Human Monster to a functional degree, but he still needed actual water. Desperate for that life-saving liquid, Garou ran off on another hunt.


At the same time as the Hero Hunter frantically searched for water, the young Hero named Shunshi was being let out of the Hero Association's hospital.

The blue-eyed Hero's muscles had grown back much faster than the last time he had lost them. As such, his Kie had begun to speed up his rate of healing, and after just a few hours, his wounds were no longer severe enough to warrant staying in the hospital.

Once he'd walked out of his hospital room's bathroom, dressed in casual wear, Shunshi said his goodbye to Charanko, "Well, I'll see ya later, man. I'll be sure to help you more with figuring out Kie once you're all better too. Till then, wish me luck in Super Fight."

Before Shunshi could step out of the room, Charanko stopped him by saying, "Hey, dude, before you leave. Uh, speaking of Super Fight... You don't think your boss is actually gonna take my spot in the tournament, do you?"

Smiling, Shunshi shook his head and answered, "I'm sure he's just going to go watch. If he really wanted to learn more about martial arts through practice, then Master would just ask me about it or approach Bang-Sensei... Anyway, there's something important that I need to check up on, so bye for real this time." With that, Monster Mask left Charanko to stew on his feelings of uncertainty.

On his way out, the black-haired Hero decided to pay a visit to the hospital staff in order to ask a question that had been weighing heavily on him.

"I need to know. How many people has Garou killed? If you know, please tell me," Shunshi asked the nurse manning the help station.

She gave the Hero a mixed expression of hesitance and understanding for a moment before eventually caving-in and checking the hospital records on her computer.

After finding all the data she could on the matter, the nurse answered, "It doesn't look like there have been any casualties so far. The closest calls we've had have been yourself and mister Blue Fire. He lost a lot of blood when he lost his upper arm, but it says here that he seared the wound shut before it could turn fatal."

A feeling of shock and relief spread over Shunshi when he heard this. No casualties meant that no brave Heroes had been senselessly slaughtered. This raised the question, though, of why no one had died, as Garou had claimed that this was what he was trying to accomplish.

As he processed this information, Shunshi told the nurse, "Thanks for your help. I'll be going now." He then walked off in a stupor of contemplation.


When Monster Mask reached the hospital lobby, he was surprised when he saw that Lin Lin was there. She was sitting at a coffee table and angrily filling out a mountain of paperwork.

Smiling at the sight of her, Shunshi began approaching the martial artist and asked her, "Hey, Lin Lin. Did you come here just to see me?"

When Lin Lin saw that Shunshi was walking over to her, relief washed over her face.

"Oh, thank God. I thought I was gonna be here all day. These contracts are ridiculous!" Lin Lin yelled as she pushed the stacks of paper off the table.

In an instant, she rushed up to Shunshi and hugged him. That was until she saw the bandages covering his arm. Out of concern, she broke off the hug and instinctively reached for Shunshi's wrapped up limb.

Realizing the mistake this would be, she stopped her hands just before they could grab the injured appendage and instead asked, "What'd that Garou guy do to your arm?"

Remembering his parents' responses, feelings of uncertainty raced through the young man's mind on whether or not this was something appropriate to share with someone he'd just started dating. Eventually, he came up with what he thought would be an appropriate response.

"Garou used some weird trick I'd never seen before to burn my arm. Don't worry, though. It'll be all healed up for Super Fight tomorrow." This excuse was the best thing Shunshi could come up with off the top of his head. He even gingerly patted his arm for emphasis in an attempt to alleviate the mood.

Despite this, Lin Lin was obviously still worried, as she voiced her opinion on the Hero Hunter, "It's good to hear that you can still compete, but... I did a little bit of digging on this Garou guy. A lot of people in the martial arts world think he's the guy who dressed as Wolfman and won Super Fight last year. I watched the footage of his fights, and he was crazy strong. So, I'm starting to think you should consider-."

Shunshi quickly cut Lin Lin off when he heard this, asking her, "Really? There's footage of him fighting?! I gotta see that!"

Annoyed that she had been interrupted, but realizing this would be a good way to get her point across, Lin Lin pulled out her cellphone and told her partner, "Alright, I'll pull up the footage online. Let's take a seat and watch it."

Getting settled in, the two martial artists quickly plopped down in some of the lobby chairs, as Lin Lin looked up the video footage of the previous year's Super Fight tournament.


As the couple began their research, events were still unfolding nearby the woods Garou was rampaging through.

On the park bench of a playground situated by the woods, an unfortunately unattractive young boy was reading through the most up-to-date version of the Hero Association catalog. This child had a small bald spot on his head, bulbous lips, and a bit of a chubby face.

His reading came to a halt when he jumped at a metallic smashing sound coming from nearby. Curious, the boy went to investigate the source of the noise. Only having to walk around a corner that was obscured by the nearby trees, the kid noticed that the ground was starting to get wet as he found what he was looking for.

A water fountain had been smashed out of the ground, as streams of water were spraying everywhere. Dunking his head into and drinking from one of the streams was Garou.

The Hero Hunter eventually pulled his head out of the water, gasping for air now that he had sated his thirst. After whipping the water from his eyes, Garou noticed the child standing at his side, who was clutching a Hero Association catalog.

"Are you alright? What happened to your face, old dude?" The ugly child asked.

Garou rubbed his new facial scars in frustration as a response, wincing as he thought of the man who gave them to him.

Straightening his stance, the Hero Hunter explained, "I got into a fight with a real monster. Barely got away with my life towards the end."

The child's eyes lightened up at this, as he asked, "You were fighting a monster?! You must be practicing to become a Hero then, old dude."

Crouching down to meet the kid at eye level, Garou smiled and asked back, "Mind showing me what's in that book your holding? It'd really help me out to see what it says about the Heroes in there."

Smiling back, the child responded, "Sure. Let's go back to the bench I was sitting at. I don't want my book to get wet."

"Fine by me," Garou answered. With that, the boy and Human Monster went back towards the playground.


As Garou got started on some research on his enemies, Shunshi had finished his own research on the Hero Hunter.

Once the video of Wolfman's last Super Fight battle had ended, Monster Mask inquired, "Was that it? I got a better idea of his techniques, but... He seemed a lot slower, and his moves lacked the same power from my fights with him."

"Wait, are you serious? That was slow for you?!" Lin Lin asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, I think he was at least twice as strong and fast as that the last time we fought. Either he was holding back at Super Fight, or he's improved a lot since then. Eh, regardless, it was still useful to watch him fight other people. It should help me predict his moves a bit the next time I fight him."

Lin Lin's eyes lit up in concern at that, as she snapped, "Wait! You've already lost to him twice, and he put you in the hospital this time. Don't you think you should call it quits on this before he kills you?"

With a hint of annoyance, Shunshi replied, "Thanks for the vote of confidence. But don't worry. I don't think he actually has the stomach to kill anyone."

"What are you talking about? He must have killed a bunch of Heroes by now," Lin Lin protested.

Shaking his head, Shunshi explained his hypothesis, "That's just it, though. He hasn't. He's seriously maimed people, but as far as we know, nobody's dead. The closest call was with Blue Fire getting his forearm cut off, but he burned his own wound shut before he could bleed out. So, I think Garou will unleash all sorts of punishment on you, but only so long as he thinks you'll survive in the end. The guy's obviously crazy, and I need to bring him in for all the assaults he's committed, but he's not an actual monster yet. Besides, the whole point of our new martial art is to beat Garou, and he sucker-punched me before I could get a chance to really test out what it can do in a real fight."

Once he had finished, Lin Lin looked her boyfriend in his eyes and asked him, "And you're sure he won't kill you?"

Putting his hand on top of her's, Shunshi answered thoughtfully, "I'm positive."

Lin Lin smiled cautiously at this before leaning forward and kissing Shunshi on his cheek. This earned the female martial artist a surprised blush from her significant other.

"So, I don't know if your feeling up to it, but do you wanna do some last-minute training before Super Fight?" Inquired Lin Lin.

Gesturing to his bandaged arm for emphasis, Shunshi explained, "I'm in no condition for sparring, but I'm up for some exercises if you are. I've also got an idea for a new technique. You interested?"

"Yeah!" She answered.


As the martial artists left the hospital and began to make their way towards their training grounds, Garou and the kid had made their way well into the pages of the Hero Association catalog.

Pointing at a picture of King, the boy explained, "And this is the S-Class Hero King. He's the strongest! And this is-."

In a playful tone, Garou interrupted, "Hey, does this book show the stats on Monster Mask too?"

"Oh. Do you mean that new A-Class Hero? I think so. Let me find the page..." the kid answered as he started flipping through his book.

Once he'd found the part of the book he was looking for, the child explained, "That armor of his is super scary looking, but I've heard people say he's actually really nice."

"Haha! Nice, huh? Okay, well, let's see what this says about... Hey! It barely says anything about the guy. It just says he's a strong martial artist and started studying with Silver Fang a bit ago. It doesn't even have a picture of his real face!"

Garou almost bit his tongue in frustration at the last two pieces of info. Through all the flames and melting armor, the Hero Hunter hadn't been able to get a good look at what his foe actually looked like. Unless it was during a time Monster Mask was in costume, Garou had no way to track him down.

Looking over Monster Mask's profile, the kid pointed to an interview block and explained, "It says here that he was fine talking about his normal stuff, but wanted to keep his trump-cards a secret. And the interviewer says that they couldn't get him to take his helmet off."

Frowning a bit, Garou fumed, "Well, that blows. Still, this thing has the faces and stats of just about every other Hero. So it's still useful. Hey, let me borrow it for a week."

"No way. Buy your own," the kid retorted as he continued to thumb through the book.

"Aw, come on. Don't be stingy. Oh, hey. This book lists monsters too. How cool is that!" Garou exclaimed.

"You think so, old dude? This part of the book talks about urban legends and unexplained monsters. It's really scary!" The boy said as he gave Garou a concerned look and pointed to a picture of a one-eyed man with long messy hair, who was covered from head to toe in bandages and had swords for hands.

Quickly swiping the book over, Garou smirked and remarked, "The scarier, the better! Don't you think scary is cool?"

"You've got weird tastes, old dude," the kid bluntly replied.

Handing the book back over to him, the Human Monster expressed his desires, "Man, that's cool. I hope I get into this book someday."

Perking up a bit, the boy declared, "So you really are trying to become a Hero! I want to too, but I'm not very athletic..."

Dismissively, Garou responded, "Well, good for you."

Growing a bit more upset, the child pouted, "You're mean, old dude."

All of a sudden, Garou looked at the park's clock and jumped to his feet.

As he cracked his neck and knuckles, the Hero Hunter stated, "Well, I should be going. It's hunting time."

Garou then patted the boy's head and explained, "Listen, brat. I'll be back to look at that book again later. See ya then."

Initially, the kid looked at this strange man in confusion before smiling and replying, "Um, okay... Sure thing!"

While he walked off, the Hero Hunter yelled to the child, "And I'm not some old-timer! So stop calling me old dude!"

"Huh, what's that? I couldn't hear you, old dude," the boy responded cheekily.

"Oh, so it's gonna be like that!" Garou snapped back as he walked out of shouting distance.

Once he'd left the park, the Hero Hunter thought to himself, That book said Golden Ball would have gone out drinking a bit ago. Even says where his favorite bar is. If I hurry, I might still be able to catch him.

With his goal set, Garou began sprinting across the city at speeds that surpassed anything he'd been used to up until that point.


As the night rolled in over City-R, Garou found the pub he was looking for. Once he stepped in, he saw a man in a red beanie and jacket that read Golden Ball on its back. Golden Ball was sitting at a booth and drinking alongside a mustachioed man in a fancy suit.

He's with Spring Mustachio? Haha! I caught two A-Class Heroes at once! Alright, time to get my funk back. This is gonna be great!

Walking up to the Heroes' booth, Garou exclaimed, "Get up, Heroes. The three of us are gonna have ourselves a little brawl!"

Looking at the teenager yelling at him and his friend in annoyance, Spring Mustachio replied, "You aren't looking that well, my boy. Go back outside to get some more fresh air before you get hurt."

"Yeah, look at the punk's eye. He must be high as Hell," Golden Ball added as he took another drink from his beer. Before he could take a proper swig, though, Garou cleanly karate chopped his glass in half, spilling the drink all over the table.

"We can fight here if you guys want," the Hero Hunter exclaimed as his hand was buried in the table.

The bar's owner quickly rushed up to this commotion and pleaded, "Please, no fighting here."

Sighing, Golden Ball stood up and put the bartender at ease, "Don't worry, chief. We'll handle this outside."

Standing alongside his companion, Spring Mustachio added, "Quite right. This'll be over soon. There's a parking lot nearby we can settle this at."

Once the warriors agreed on their battleground, the three men walked out of the bar. On the way to the parking lot, they made their way through an alleyway in order to reach their destination sooner.

As they trudged along, Golden Ball commented in a drunken stupor, "I don't know what kinda high you're on, but a bloodshot eye can't be good for you. You sure you want a fight with pro Heroes? There's no shame in getting to an emergency room instead."

Not wanting to hear any more of this, Garou retorted, "Shut up, ya boozer. I'm not a-."

Before he could finish that sentence, though, the Human Monster saw a golden bullet and a rapier coming towards his face. To a normal Human, these attacks would've been too fast to have any hope of dodging. However, from Garou's perspective, they were moving in slow motion.

In the nano-second before they could hit his face, Garou grabbed the bullet and the tip of the sword between his fingers. Both Golden Ball and Spring Mustachio were shocked by this, while Garou simply looked disappointed.

As the mustached Hero tried in vain to pull his sword from Garou's grip, the Hero Hunter complained, "Really? I thought you guys would've had faster attacks than that. Not to mention the lack of power. Sheesh, talk about a letdown."

"Don't get cocky, Hero Hunter!" Golden Ball yelled as he tried to load up another shot.

However, Garou put a stop to this by tossing the bullet back where it came from, destroying the slingshot and piercing the hand of the man holding it. Next, the Hero Hunter pulled the blade he was holding forwards and smashed the face of the Hero wielding it. This blow knocked out a few teeth, as Spring Mustachio fell to the ground, out cold.

As he gave Golden Ball a wicked look, Garou sneered and exclaimed, "You want me to stop being cocky? Sorry, but unless you can beat me, I'm just gonna keep on keeping on this way. And only one of you Heroes has been able to pull that off so far."

Before Golden could ask any questions about that last comment, he got floored by a punch to the face from the Hero Hunter.

Without a second thought, Garou walked away from his most recent victory, lamenting, I was hoping for a real fight. I thought other A-Class Heroes could help me get back in the swing of things, but that wasn't even a challenge. Shit.


Meanwhile, in the training canyon of Shunshi and Lin Lin, the two fighters were wrapping up their practice.

Lin Lin looked on in amazement at the burning rubble of the boulder Shunshi had just annihilated, exclaiming, "I can't believe you came up with something like that by combining our martial arts!"

Looking at the small, burning crater he'd made in dissatisfaction, Shunshi responded, "Well, I didn't do it quite right. Once I'm able to use both arms, the explosion and the flames should be much more controlled. Still, this at least proves that it really works. And besides, you'll be able to pull off techniques like that once you've figured out how to use Kie too."

Looking at her palms in disbelief, Lin Lin commented, "I'm still not sure that this Kie stuff isn't just exclusive to you. I've been meditating on it hard, but I don't feel like I've made any progress past the visualization point."

Smiling, Shunshi reassured her, "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out eventually. Just remember, from what I understand, the key to Kie is finding the part of your soul that is truly selfless. Besides, I got recent confirmation that Kie really isn't just my own special superpower. A buddy of mine who was at the fight with Garou supposedly figured it out as well... He's not very strong, so it didn't do him any good, but his fists did, in fact, catch on fire by his own force of will."

This news left Lin Lin with feelings of both disappointment and hope. Disappointment at not having figured out Kie before someone else, but hope, because she now knew it was truly possible for her.

Psyching herself back up, Lin Lin asked, "Alright, well that's good to hear. But back on topic. You're planning on using our new martial art at Super Fight, right?"

When asked this, Shunshi actually had to take a moment to think it over before he could give an answer.

Eventually, the blue-eyed Hero came out of his contemplation and responded, "Well, I mainly wanted to create this martial art for fighting super-powered criminals and monsters. So, unless there are guys there who can take a boulder-breaking explosion to face without getting mangled or killed, I don't think it'd be right to use it on them."

Lin Lin was more than a little disappointed to hear this but had trouble coming up with an argument against that logic.

A smirk eventually came over her face as she put a hand to her hip and pointed at Shunshi, "Alright. But you have to promise me some things for not putting our hard work to good use."

Cocking an eyebrow, Shunshi asked, "And what's that?"

Her smirk growing, she answered, "Just a few things. First, you gotta buy me whatever I want for dinner during our date."

Chuckling, the Hero replied, "That was already the plan."

Continuing, Lin Lin said, "Next, you have to come up with a proper name for our martial art by tomorrow. Lastly, you've gotta enter it as your fighting style when you register. I expect it to be something amazing."

His eyes widened a bit at this, but Shunshi grinned and replied flamboyantly, "That's a tall order, m'lady. But I accept your challenge. Tomorrow, you shall be blown away by my limitless creativity."

Lin Lin couldn't help but burst out laughing as she asked, "What the heck was that?"

"Just figured I'd amuse you with a bit of extra flare... Hey, it's gotten pretty late, don't ya think? I think we should call it a day and get some rest for tomorrow," Shunshi stated as he looked at one of the Earth's four moons.

Realizing that they'd been in darkness for the past hour, Lin Lin responded wistfully, "Yeah, it'd be best to get some sleep." At that, Lin Lin walked back up to her boyfriend and gave him another peck on the cheek.

Smiling, she told him, "I'll see you at Super Fight tomorrow morning."

Smiling back at her, Shunshi replied, "Yeah, see ya there."

With that exchange, the two then went their separate ways.

As Shunshi reflexively walked along his routine route back to his parents' house, he stopped mid-stride as he remembered the argument he had with them.

Oh, crap. Where am I gonna go to sleep? He wondered in horror.


Meanwhile, back in City-R, Garou was walking the streets restlessly.

After an hour of wandering through City-R's party district, still unable to get the burning, skeletal face of Monster Mask out of his head, Garou overheard a conversation happening just a few feet from him.

"I'm an officer of the Hero Association, so going out with you girls counts as a necessary expense. A front-line fighter like me has to keep an eye out for promising new recruits on the streets. And besides, I need my time off too, you know," a short, middle-aged man in a business suit said to two pretty young girls.

"Then please have your time off every day," one of them responded in a manipulatively cheerful tone.

Smiling back at her, the Hero Association officer asked, "I know. How would you two like to meet Sweet Mask?"

"Really? I'm his biggest fan!" The second girl cooed.

Tapping his cheek, the older man explained, "Great. All it'll cost you is a kiss on the cheek."

"You're not... lying, are you?" The first girl asked with uncertainty.

Smirking to himself, Garou tapped on this man's shoulder to get his attention and asked, "Mind arranging a meeting for me too?" Kissing his own fist, Garou finished, "Here comes my payment."

In an instant, the Hero Hunter had left this man unconscious, with a swollen face on the side of the road. As he groaned in pain, the older man's two escorts laughed at him as they posted pictures of his beaten face online.

Well, that didn't make me feel any better either. Kinda feels like stepping in dog shit, actually. Just great. Garou thought as he walked away.

As the Hero Hunter walked past a street vendor for wigs, a strange bald man walked up to where he was standing and said aloud, "Ah. Finally found what I was looking for."

Quickly getting on edge, Garou turned to stare daggers at the unimpressive baldy standing next to him.

Who is this guy?! Some nobody Hero!? Monster Mask must've bragged about beating me, and now pissants like this think they can make it big by bringing in a big fish like me. I'll show you what you get when you look down on me! As soon as these thoughts raced through Garou's mind, he swiftly karate chopped this unknown Hero in his neck. The force from this attack planted the plain-looking man into the cement, down to his knees.

Confused, Saitama stepped out of the ground and asked in what passed for annoyance from him, "What the? Who're you? You trying to mug me or something?"

The immeasurable difference in strength between himself and this man hit Garou in an instant like a bomb. He immediately became filled with such fear and shock that his sweat began pouring upwards on his face.

Quickly returning a soft karate chop back at his attacker's neck, Saitama complained, "Don't bother me while I'm shopping." This instantly left Garou unconscious on the street.

Walking past this weird mugger, Saitama grabbed an orange wig off the shop's rack and asked, "How much for this one?"

"That'll be three thousand Yen," answered the vendor.

"That's pretty steep," Saitama groaned. Despite his gripe, the Caped Baldy paid for the merchandise, put it in a bag, and went on his way home.


Later that night, when Saitama reached his apartment building, he was greeted by Genos standing at the stairway as opposed to the door as the cyborg typically would.

Seeing Saitama approach, Genos calmly told him, "Sensei, I am glad that you have returned. There is a matter that requires your input."

Cocking an eyebrow, Saitama asked, "What's up, man?"

"Follow me to the roof, please," Genos requested.

Shrugging, Saitama answered, "Sure."

The powerful Heroes then jumped to the roof without a second of hesitation. When they arrived at the building's top, Saitama was slightly surprised when he saw Shunshi sleeping there. He was asleep in what looked like a very uncomfortable position, with his head rested on his backpack.

"Shunshi arrived here earlier. He claimed that he needed somewhere to sleep and that his Kie would keep him warm while he slept on the roof. Since he was not intruding in your home itself, I decided that I would leave the decision of whether or not to make him leave up to you." Genos knew his Master didn't care for lengthy explanations but felt that this situation had called for one.

Saitama didn't seem to notice, as he asked his top student, "Why didn't you just invite him in...? Whatever. I have a spare sheet and a throw pillow. He can use those."

"While he remains up here?" Inquired Genos in earnest.

Looking genuinely baffled, Saitama answered, "What? No! Wake him up and tell him he can at least sleep on the floor in my house if he wants."

Genos seemed a bit surprised by this at first but quickly came to understand the situation and responded, "Yes, Sensei."

With that, Saitama went to put his party wig in his closet, as the young cyborg woke up his fellow student and informed him of the new circumstances.

When he heard that he was actually being invited to stay at Saitama's place, Shunshi was shocked but truly grateful for his Master's generosity.


That night, Saitama's thoughts were filled with a mixture of excitement for Super Fight's reward, as well as concern over the idea that he might be getting yet another new roommate.

"Hmm. Well, if Shunshi does stay, at least that'll mean more rent money for me. And he does spend most of his time after training going around doing Hero work, so it's not like he'd be here all day like Genos usually is... Still, it would probably be too cramped regardless. The world's strongest man thought to himself as he brushed his teeth.

Shunshi had already fallen asleep next to the front door as Saitama started making his way from the bathroom back to his futon.

Before Saitama could lay down, Genos, who was working on some last-minute dishes, asked him, "Master, may I ask you something?"

Looking a little groggy, Saitama answered, "I want to get some sleep, so make it quick, dude."

"I think I should hunt down the Hero Hunter. Would you care to join me?" Genos asked.

This took Saitama a bit off guard, as he asked back, "Okay, forget about the quick thing. What brought this up?"

The Demon Cyborg paused for a moment to collect his thoughts before explaining, "Garou has now defeated Shunshi twice. The first time, he put a hole in Shunshi's chest. According to the report, he had ripped Shunshi's arm off in their most recent encounter. The disrespect this shows towards you is unforgivable."

What's he talking about? Disrespect? The Caped Baldy pondered internally.

A slightly confused expression formed on Saitama's face as he concluded aloud, "Oh. So, you think we should get payback on this guy for roughing up our friend."

Genos looked a little frustrated when his objective was put this way, insisting, "He is not my friend. This... This is merely my duty as his Senior and as your number one disciple to defend the honor of your-."

"Nah, I don't think we should. Shunshi told me he wanted to go after Garou himself. So let's let him take care of it," Saitama explained nonchalantly.

Genos' eyes widened with this response, as he almost yelled, "Are you saying we should make no attempts to defeat or engage Garou?! Even if we do come across him?!"

Shaking his head, the Caped Baldy motioned for Genos to quiet down as he explained further, "That's not what I mean. What I'm saying is, I'll just leave the active chase to Shunshi. That being said," Saitama paused for a moment, as he glanced at Shunshi's bandaged arm, before looking back at Genos with a more serious face and declaring angrily, "If I do come across Garou, he's getting punched."

The look in his Master's eyes gave Genos all the reassurance he needed, as he simply nodded and put away the last of the dishes. After that, the two conscious Heroes went to sleep as well.


The next morning, Shunshi could feel that his arm was no longer sensitive, so he took his bandages off. However, he was shocked when he saw that his arm had taken on the same burnt scarring color that his back had.

Saitama noticed how upset Shunshi was, so he allowed his student to use his bathroom and clean himself off as best as he could for the day's tournament. Once Shunshi was done, and out of the restroom, the Capped Baldy had secluded himself in there as well in order to see how his orange wig looked on the shiny skin of his head.

"Not too bad," Saitama commented. To his horror, though, Genos was looking in through the cracked door to see his Master trying on the wig.

"Sensei... To think you'd go this far," Genos mournfully stated as he trudged towards the apartment's main room.

Poking his head out the bathroom door, Saitama desperately explained, "It's not what you think. It's not like I'm planning on wearing a wig for the rest of my life."

Overhearing this exchange as Genos walked into the room, Shunshi asked him, "What's going on, Senpai?"

Pulling out his cellphone, Genos explained, "One moment, I need to make a phone call."

After quickly dialing a number, the young cyborg spoke into his phone, "Hello? Dr. Stench? This is Genos. We have an urgent matter to discuss... No, not about the mad cyborg. Saitama-Sensei is facing a big crisis. Can the enhanced fibers you used to make my hair be transplanted onto living tissue? Yes... that is correct... it seems he will need them after all... Yes. Can you make a black hair version? In regards to timing, are you free, Dr. Stench...? If possible, as soon as you can... Next Wednesday? Okay. I will come with him. I understand! I look forward to the day! Thank you for your support!"

Turning to look at Saitama, the Demon Cyborg dramatically asked, "Saitama-Sense, are you free next Wednesday?"

With a stern expression, the Capped Baldy stated, "Don't decide the fate of other people's heads on your own." He then put the wig on his barren scalp and continued, "It's a disguise to make me look like Charanko. I'm entering the same tournament as Shunshi."

Shocked to hear that Charanko's concerns were valid, Shunshi spoke up, "Wait! Sensei, you can't be serious. You're the world's greatest Hero, so I know you always need to keep improving for the sake of Humanity's safety. But, if you want to know more about martial arts, then why don't you just have me show you?"

Desperate to participate, Saitama quickly came up with an excuse, "Well... I've seen you fight plenty of times now. I want to experience the skills of lots of martial art guys. Know what I mean?"

This logic clicked with Shunshi, as he hesitantly responded, "I see... I mastered multiple martial arts to get to my skill level, so I suppose that makes sense. And, if it's for the sake of the world, I guess it's ultimately necessary... Okay. If we face off against each other, I'll do my best to demonstrate the full extent of my martial prowess to you, Master!"

As a single drop of sweat slid down Saitama's face, he lamented, I didn't realize how easily Shunshi could make me feel bad about something... I should probably split the prize money with him or something... And avoid hitting his arm.

Surprisingly, Genos spoke up against what Shunshi said, "What do you mean if you face off against Sensei? Of course, you will face off against Sensei. You are speaking as if you are not certain of your victory against the other combatants."

Blinking in bewilderment, Monster Mask responded, "Well, I mean... I heard that there's going to be some really strong fighters in this year's competition. And Master and I aren't the only Heroes who're participating."

Shaking his head, Genos bluntly explained, "You are the second top disciple of Master Saitama. Have more confidence in yourself. Otherwise, you are disrespecting Master's teachings."

Looking to the ground, Shunshi replied, "I suppose you're right... But, there's still only two of us, Genos-Senpai."

After the three Heroes had finished with their banter, they headed out to go attend Super Fight.


While the Heroes were heading out for the Super Fight tournament, the Hero Hunter stirred in the streets of City-R. After getting hit by Saitama's love tap, Garou had finally woken up. He found himself laid out on a pile of trash bags, surrounded by crows.

Quickly, Garou sat up and thought aloud, "Huh?! The Hell am I doing here?" Rubbing his neck in pain, he asked himself, "What happened last night? Everything is so fuzzy."

Climbing to his feet, Garou rolled his neck and continued, "Whatever. I'm sure it'll come back to me later if it matters. Better make my way back to the shack." With his mind made up, the Hero Hunter trudged back to his make-shift residents in order to decide which Heroes to target next.