章 18: CH.18

Minutes passed before becoming a whole hour in the day. During that range on time, Izuku was carrying Tatsumaki on his back with some difficulty. Sure, the girl was light to carry, however the distance from the seaside park and her home was much. So there was no way out of his situation.

Hence, the walking continued for the teenage boy. The teen could already see the sun rising from the horizon while entering an abandoned part of town. It surprised Izuku since he didn't expect Tatsumaki to live in that direction. But after sometime of getting to an apartment building and getting to a floor, he was over his shock and drawing close to a door with the designated number on All Might's phone.

However, something suddenly caught the teen's attention. It wasn't something that he had seen before, but someone that he knew on the media. So, with wide eyes, the teen saw Saitama in his hero costume and about to opening his door.

"C-Cape Baldy?! You live here?!"

Saitama suddenly stumbled upon. Not surprising, by his reaction, he was clearly caught off guard. But that didn't stop him from turning to Izuku's direction with a comedic upset look on his face.

"Oi! Don't go about calling me by –" Saitama stopped. He had been upset, however seeing Tatsumaki's unconscious body immediately made him to have a numb look on his face. "Oh…Tatsumaki…"

FEW MINUTES LATER

Both Izuku and Saitama were seated in Satiama's apartment on the floor. The two of them had taken Tatsumaki to her apartment, where she was now being attended by her little sister, Fubuki. Now it was just Izuku and Saitama, the former of which was clearly nervous as Saitama poured a cup of tea for the teen and handed it to him.

"Uh…thank you." Izuku said nervously. "I hope I'm not too much trouble for a Pro Hero like yourself."

"Not at all." Saitama assured him. However, it was hard to take him seriously with that stoic look on his face. "You brought Tatsumaki safely." He said. "That was pretty nice."

"Y-Yeah, it was." Izuku smiled.

A sense of relief came over the teen upon being praised. Sure, it was nice being praised by All Might, however to get praised by yet another hero was great as well. However, a thought came to the teen that made him to look around confused.

"I've never been to the home of a hero…I never expected it to be so small." He said. Then another thought came that immediately made him apologize to Saitama. "S-Sorry, Caped Baldy. I didn't mean –"

Saitama roughly sighed. "It's fine…J-Just don't call me that. Call me Saitama, that's my name." He said.

"U-Uh right…Saitama."

Izuku was somewhat relieved. However, he couldn't help but feel puzzled by Saitama's reaction.

"Sorry…I hope I'm not overstepping things, but uh…can I ask why you don't want to be called Caped Baldy? And why do you live here?"

"The name's stupid." Saitama said straightforwardly. It was now clear by the annoyed look on his face that he didn't like the hero name one bit. "That's the last time I let the public decide a name for me. Sure, I wasn't bothered because…well I couldn't care, but now I think I should've."

"Oh…"

Saitama then sighed and relaxed. "Well there's nothing to do about that…As for why I live here, I kind of like the seclusion. Being in town, I always get crowded by a bunch of fans who want to touch me or get an autograph and a bunch of thugs who think they can beat me. It's kind of annoying…That's why I don't have my address posted to the public like some heroes do these days."

That's so cool." Izuku said in mild astonishment. "I knew you were strong, but I didn't think you were so modest."

"Modesty has nothing to do with it, it's who I am. But thanks." Saitama replied. "So might I ask how you got here? I don't recall ever seeing you around here."

"Oh right…" Izuku said and then displayed All Might's phone. "This is All Might's phone…You see, Tatsumaki came at a bad time and fought him and well…she became unconscious."

"I see…" Saitama said. "I guess that clears up what that cyborg was talking about."

"Cyborg?"

"Yeah." Saitama answered. "He's name is Genos and he wants to be my disciple…Anyway, let me not get sidetrack. From what he told me, he drew Tatsumaki to a fight and strapped something to her forehead to suppress her quirk concentration…I guess that thing put a big strain on her even after the fight."

"Oh…I had no idea." Izuku replied with a small frown.

"Yeah. But there's no helping it now. She'll be fine. Don't worry."

Izuku nodded in response. He could've said something; however he couldn't put it into words. Hence, as he sat there and drank the tea the hero gave him, he became silent until Saitama brought up another topic.

"So about All Might. You're the kid he's training, right?" He asked.

Izuku's eyes widened and he dropped the cup. "Y-You know?"

"Yeah…He's a good colleague of mine." Saitama plainly said.

"I had no idea!" Izuku exclaimed cheerfully. "To think, two of the best heroes out there are close. This is something even your fanbase don't know."

"Well…they don't know where I live so…" Saitama said and shrugged his shoulders. He then continued. "Yeah, All Might and I are close to being friends. I don't see how that's interesting. He attended U.A and I attended years later when he graduated. Since then we've known each other. He actually was one of my main inspirations to become a strong hero."

"Wow." Izuku was astonishment. The expression on his face clearly showed his fascination of the heroes' backstory even though it was short. But then a thought came to him.

It was not a secret that All Might attended U.A High. The Pro Hero was number one on the hero chart and the symbol of peace, justice and just about anything. However, now that Izuku thought of, the fact that Saitama actually attended U.A made him realize a thought he had since come to term with.

"Huh…I guess you really have to have a quirk to be there." Izuku said deeply. The smile he had on his face then disappeared as he became serious and tightened his fists on his legs. "It's a good thing All Might has given me a chance to be a vessel for One For All. I won't fail him."

That's nice." Saitama commented. "But who says a person without a quirk can't be there? I attended U.A and made it out just fine."

"Huh?" Izuku was confused. "Sorry, but…what do you mean? You have a quirk, Ca…I mean Saitama."

Saitama suddenly smirked, which surprised Izuku. It was a known knowledge among fans of heroes that Saitama rarely showed an expression. As such, while Izuku stared at the Pro Hero, he could sense some form of confidence and pride coming from Saitama.

"What if I tell you I'm actually quirkless?" Saitama asked. "I once heard that years ago, before having a quirk became a thing, nothing seemed impossible if you put your mind and body into it. And that is what I did in order to become as strong as I am today."

"What?! Really?!" Izuku questioned excitedly.

Something about Saitama gave Izuku some added boost of hope. For years, he had been quirkless and ridiculed for dreaming to be something he couldn't be. But now, here he was, before one of the greatest heroes in Japan and hearing he's actually quirkless.

Yes." Saitama confirmed. "You're going to train with All Might soon, right? Then listen. Trying to become strong isn't easy. That's why you must be at your most seriousness to be strong. That is how I became strong after doing an intense training workout plan."