Chapter 16: The Dread of Cleaning
Managing hundreds of reports was hard enough, but nothing was more difficult than dealing with their top hero. Sekingar worked hard, and his motivation was fueled by the thought of elevating his rank and one day going down in the history books as a hero. His obsession knows no wall; he did everything to achieve it.
He took his steps with long strides, impatiently thinking of something. He fumbled through and opened the door to his office; it was a mess, and crumpled paper littered the ground. His eyes darted at every piece of paper lying about, and his hands fumbled through the papers uncaringly. Within a few seconds, he found what he was looking for.
A piece of report not long ago, two A-Class, reported missing. They received a distress signal from one of the A-Class that went missing. Though, when help arrived, the two were nowhere to be found. Traces left by a fierce battle has been identified, but no bodies were found.
Sekingar took a deep breath. The single message left by the A-Class hero was vague. A single word, 'Monster' that left them with no clues didn't help. Whatever that 'Monster' was, it should be a strong one. To make two high-ranked A-Class helpless...
'I have to report this... More and more suspicious activities have been going on inside City-Z... This will bring trouble in the long run.' He didn't have to imagine it... Rumored with monsters infesting the city, it wasn't hard to think that a gathering between monsters would happen. 'But, an assembly between powerful monsters... It would require a hidden power of formidable power to control them. But, Monsters are unpredictable by nature. Them co-existing is unheard of.' He gritted his teeth.
The possibility of monsters with calibers matching their S-Classes still haunts him. A situation where the monster wins, and the hero falls. It will substantially affect their morale to see an S-Class hero fall. He stepped outside his office and headed to report his findings.
...
Sitch waited and waited. He expected Sekingar to come to look for him regarding 'that'. Only a few knew about it for now, but he planned to announce it later. Sitch knew Sekingar's potential, and since he wanted a promotion, this was the perfect situation to prove his worth. He was the one that planted the documents within the pile of papers in Sekingar's office, fully intending to use him.
The reports did happen, and the two A-Classes were indeed missing. This is where Sekingar comes in. With his brilliant mind and cautious personality, Sekingar was the perfect man for this job.
Knock!
The door opened with a knock and comes the man he expected. Sitch invited him to sit, which he did so nervously. He was very concerned and anxious about the recent news. Sekingar prepared himself, though he was stopped by Sitch who raised a hand.
"I know what you're going to say, and let me tell you something, only a handful of executives know of this," Sitch spoke. And continued, "I'm placing a lot of trust in you by revealing such important information." Sekingar breathed sharply. He was experiencing a constant rush of shocking news.
"Then—" Sitch raised another hand, preventing Sekingar from continuing. "Since this is the case, I will be appointing you to this task. Form a strong team of heroes. I permit you to choose from the A-Classes." Sitch sat down on his chair and dismissed the confused executive.
On his way out the door, he heard Sitch say faintly, "Do your best, else our reputation as the Hero Association would collapse. I mean—why would they trust us in protecting them if we can't even save our own heroes?" The door shut closed. Leaving Sekingar to wonder.
He stepped inside his office soon after and tidied the room. 'This is a huge opportunity for me... Though, I am quite skeptical about something... The monster that defeated the two A-Class heroes... Where has it gone? And where did it take them?" No other reports have been made, nor witnesses to leave statements.
That part of the city has been devoid of any humans for a while now, so the electricity would have been cut off, leaving the idea of possible camera footage useless.
'Sigh... I have work to do.' He thought bitterly and stacked the papers on his desk.
...
Genos waved, saying his farewell to his master, and headed to get himself fixed. He didn't receive much damage during their trip, but his weekly maintenance is due. "Oh, right, Sensei. That child we found a few days ago is still in your apartment. I've sent her to a daycare a few times, but all resulted in her destroying things and being an overall pain in the ass. Now, rumors have spread. Besides, none wants to take care of her." He casually reminded his master and left.
Saitama's eyes widened. He had forgotten about that kid... He wondered what she was up to. But first, he has to take care of this woman... He thought about where he would drop her to. But no place came to mind. Saitama doesn't know her, but she has given him no choice.
'I'm going to regret this...' Was his final thought before dragging the unconscious woman to his apartment.
...
A troubled expression showed on his face. He did not expect the woman to wake up as he was fiddling inside his pockets to find his keys. She wore a disgusted face, misunderstanding the situation.
"I, uh..." Saitama was left speechless. He did not know how to get out of this predicament. Sounds of someone tumbling over something reached their ear. The origin came from inside the apartment. Saitama worried, he cared deeply for his items, and it would be a shame if one of them were to be broken... Each one cost more than 100 yen after all.
Although that was the case, it didn't matter anymore since he could finally earn a decent amount of cash!
Saitama was elated by the thought. His keys jingled as he inserted them through the door handle, opening soon. He hesitated but gestured inside.
"... You wanna go in?" He asked, hesitant to continue. "You-! Shameless! Why would I come inside a man's apartment—!"
Her stomach growled. Earning a blush from Fubuki. "...I'll consider it if you give me something to eat."
"Ok. Stay there for now, I'm gonna take a bath. I smell like rat poop." He dramatically covered his nose and added, "Also, you smell worse than me." He ended their conversation and closed the door, heading straight inside the bathroom.
'Ugh, why does that man infuriate me so much..!' She complained silently. Inside, Saitama washed thoroughly, and although the smell was awful, it wasn't as terrible as getting covered in monster guts. Saitama remembered the day he almost needed a new suit because of that...
It took him two weeks to remove the stains and smell off his suit. That forced him to use his old tracksuit from his training days. A hint of nostalgia glinted in his eyes. He finished up and went out, nothing but a towel covering his most vulnerable spot. Saitama looked down and noticed the mess. He didn't realize it earlier, but that child had ruined his apartment.
A look of shock appeared at the sight. An absolute mess. "You little—! We were only gone for a few..." Realization struck his face, and an idea popped. "Wait, let me get changed first..."
...
Bang!
The door slammed open and barged the cyborg. "Sensei! I heard there's trouble—!" His face changed to that of complete seriousness, 'The situation is much worse than I had initially thought...' He rubbed his chin, thinking. 'I was the one that left her alone, that means I must face the consequences!'
He dropped down on the floor and slammed his head, hard. "I sincerely apologize, Sensei! I wasn't competent enough, to think this little runt would ruin everything—" He spoke hurriedly, as if afraid of something—rather, someone. Saitama raised a hand and waved it off, "It's fine, Genos. Unexpected stuff happens, and this is just one of them." Saitama was neutral, showing no signs of fluctuations in his emotion. 'It's strange seeing master like this...'
"Right, Sensei. I saw the woman we met down the sewers outside... I think her name would be 'Fubuki', the Blizzard of Hell. She is at the top of the B-Class ranking at number 1. Though right now, she pathetically huddled herself in a corner and covered herself in a thin layer of psy—"
"Genos, stop." Saitama facepalmed. He kept on forgetting things. He looked down at the kid and uttered, "We'll continue later." He step out and closed the door behind him. "So, uh. You good?"
"Like hell I am. I'm covered in shit." She spoke in between her breaths. She wanted to return to her team, but Fubuki didn't want them to see her pathetic side. Saitama thought hard and came up with something. "Can't you just like, use your psychic thing to remove all of that nasty stuff?" He placed both hands on his knees and questioned.
"R-right! Why didn't I think of that... Haha..." She bitterly uttered and moved. A lot of things have been inside her mind lately. So she wasn't able to think properly.
Whoosh!
Within a second, every piece of filth was removed from her body. Though, the smell remained. Saitama sniffed, "Yep, you definitely need a shower." Finally deciding, Fubuki was about to say, "...Then, let me—" When Saitama cut her off. "Right! I think I saw a bathhouse not far from here..." He stifled a laugh. Saitama had changed his mind, and having a lady take a shower inside his bathroom felt weird...
He didn't give her any time to respond and went inside. "Sigh... Now, Genos. Teach her everything you know about cleaning..." Somehow, even though Ena didn't quite understand... She felt something ominous about to happen.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone