Chapter 1: Introduction
The bustling streets of City Z paved the foundation of an eccentric life. Like ants scurrying in an anthill, people weaved in and out of traffic with a desperate determination to survive. The orangey glow from streetlights lent the towering Christmastime billboards, proudly showcasing the season's newest offerings, a mysterious aura they had yet to obtain. Cars of every color and make lined every inch of the pavement, their fumes contributing to the cacophony of honking and backfiring.
A symphony that perpetually played in City Z, interrupted only by the damned fire alarm she heard now.
Flying towards the apartment blaze, Tatsumaki arrived at the inferno's ground zero. What she saw humans escape a building, choking on the charred remains of their belongings. Her heart ached wth the desire to help. After all, heroes existed to save those in trouble, right?
And then she saw him. Saitama. Standing perfectly still amidst the chaos.
Saitama stood casually, with that all-too-familiar expression. He scratched his bald head as smoke danced around him, with a broom propped on his shoulder. The unbothered, almost disinterested aura exuded from him perplexed her.
"Looks like you've got help from an unlikely hero," she thought, cursing her racing mind for blurting, "Hmph, couldn't have managed without the bald doofus, could you?"
He turned, with a surprised look, "Huh?
Oh, Tatsumaki. Yeah, I guess I’m lucky to have you here."
"Lucky?" She grumbled, floating nearer. "Watch and learn from the top rated S-class hero then." She glanced at the crowd with an imperious look, one arm shoving cars out of the way with her telekenisis. Psychic green aura surrounded her free hand as she grabbed big chunks of dirt. Tatsumaki held all of the dirt, giving it form.
"Stay back!" Her voice sounded regal, like screams on winds of fate.
"I will extinguish the fire!"
As Tatsumaki’s psychic power formed into a gigantic mass of dirt, it swooped down to extinguish the roaring blaze. The dirt snuffed out the inferno. Flames’ last stand desintegrated as Tatsumaki moved like a spring breeze.
People stared, mouths agape, as the S-class hero saved them. When they realized the danger, they scurried off, shouting blessings.
Their gratitude, suffused with timid glances and whispers of "Amazing," were lost; her pride prevented her from even hinting at acknowledgement.
Tatsumaki glanced around, expecting a thankful look from her competitor, Saitama. Instead, she found him cleaning his broom, as if putting away a kitchen utensil. She crossed her arms, rolling her eyes. Her gaze was involuntarily drawn to his bald head.
Those impossibly black eyes were fixated on her, as if he could see straight through her. She itched to ask why he seemed to care so little about his own strength or the world's expectations.
As if sensing her mounting frustration, he smiled. "Tatsumaki, how 'bout I treat you to some ramen? I know this terrific place nearby, just opened this week."
She hesitated, glancing back and forth between the populated business district and the empty Ghost Town section she called home.
"I suppose the residential district has nothing open right now.." Her words trailed off, surprising her. She'd rarely admitted vulnerability out loud.
With an air of disinterest, Saitama shrugged. "You could say that whispers of it being haunted don't tempt many to visit."
Tatsumaki knew she should argue, but his casual mention of her unspoken fears left her oddly quiet. She thrust the silence away.
"Fine!" She snapped, the chill in her voice silencing the neighborhood.
Her eyes bore into Saitama, whose smile never wavered.
"Since when do you buy meals for others?" Anger, mixed with confusion, wavered her voice.
Saitama's grin widened, a slight dimple filling the corner of each cheek. "Aren't we friends, Tatsumaki?"
"We are not!" She countered, but couldn't suppress the rosy blush spreading across her cheeks.
Her emotions teetered on the edge of a blade, caught between the compulsion to deny and an admittance of tranquility she'd never before associated with the hero.
As they ventured through numbing chill of the Ghost Town, the buildings looked like broken teeth in a ghastly grin. Graffiti adorned the walls, scribbles and spurts of rebellious energy, making the lifeless town thrum with a darker rhythm.
Saitama nodded, the full moon casting deep shadows on his expression.
"Well, okay then. Friendship accepted, though."
Tatsumaki tried to scoff, but the quiver in her voice gave her away. "That's not what I meant! Anyway, where's this bright, shining ramen establishment?" she said, changing the subject.
With a playful twinkle in his eye, Saitama led the way through the spectral town that hid their heroes' humble abode. They walked along a sidewalk so cracked and overgrown with weeds that the scattered gravel crunched under their feet.