Recognition

Time went by uneventfully, days turned into weeks and weeks to months. In any case, Saitama lived on as usual. He has already forgotten about the crabs and bananas months prior. Though, he still lived with the grief and pain of losing what could have been the best sales he had. His eyes gazed out the window as he picked his nose, still in his pajamas. With nothing else to do, Saitama wore his yellow jumpsuit and headed out.

Saitama decided for today to be a different one, well-not too different from the usual one he was used to. Run around, kill monster find grocery coupons and discounts. Well, he mostly spent his time killing monsters. The occasional thanks from the people he saves is a plus, manages to make his day a bit better. Though, there were some that accuse him of taking their kill or something. He could care less so Saitama just ignores them.

In any case, today should be a bit different. Saitama set a goal for himself. By breaking his 27 average daily kill count. He will go beyond that and kill at least 50 monsters this day, and he even prepared a reward for himself. The wagyu beef cost him a month's worth of cash.

He drooled at the thought of those juicy meat. 'Sigh, since when did the last time I ate high-quality beef?' He questioned himself. Although he does hero work all the time, he still needed money to provide for himself, so he often took up part-time jobs that have decent pay, well it depends on the person to decide how much they'd pay him.

People were often stingy with the prices and Saitama had long given up on persuading people to accept his rates. Now, he just accepts whatever amount they give.

Saitama slid a 100-yen coin into a vending machine and chose a cola. It had been a long day yet he could count the number of monsters he killed in his hand. Which wasn't that much, and at this point Saitama wanted to give up on breaking a record of his.

Beep!

As the machine worked, the cola he pressed had somehow gotten stuck against the glass wall. It didn't take long for Saitama to get irked and started to furiously shake the vending machine. That's why they say more people die from vending machines than sharks each year.

He shook the machine even more furiously when the can didn't budge an inch. At this point, Saitama was considering punching the thing. That so he did.

Bang!

A small but powerful punch hit the machine as it broke down, leaving all the drink unharmed and exposed. Saitama crouched down and picked up the cola he's been trying to buy, and left. 'I'm never buying from a vending machine ever again.'

Currently, he was heading to City-F, which was two cities away. Though it wouldn't take long for him to reach considering his speed. His jog caused a huge disturbance across the city. Later that day, rumors of a powerful monster circulated in multiple cities.

However, Saitama was unaware of this and continued his jog. Half an hour later, he arrived in City-F in search of monsters to kill—and hopefully find a better discount along the way.

...

After a long day, Saitama failed to meet his goal. Not a single monster showed up.

"Guess I'll buy some udon," Saitama said to himself and headed to the nearest udon shop.

Ding!

The bell that hung on the door jingled as a person in a yellow jumpsuit entered. He ordered a bowl of udon and sat next to the window. Seeing a guy wearing a weird outfit stood out to most people, but this one person, in particular, attracted everyone's attention.

Lately, particular news of a bald person in a yellow jumpsuit spread across the cities. Because of the high resolution of the videos, everyone instantly recognized who this person was.

"Look! It's that caped hero that killed a dragon-level threat in a single punch!" Someone inside the store pointed out. "Wait, really? Isn't he like... Super strong?"

"You idiot! How could anyone possibly think that they could defeat a dragon-level threat if they're not strong?"

"Uh... I guess you're right."

Oblivious to the attention he was receiving, Saitama ate his udon quietly. After a satisfying meal, he paid for his udon and left the shop. The sun was already setting and Saitama needed to head home.

Contemplation filled Saitama's mind as he thought about the coupons that expired and sales he missed because of a stupid goal he set. His mind mingled with regret, so much waste... He stopped by a store and bought some eggs for later. Saitama was just about to leave when screams of terror and fear assaulted his ears.

"Kyaa!!!"

"NO!"

His instincts kicked in and soon enough, a young woman was in his arms, unconscious. He laid her down near another civilian and asked for them to help the woman. Everything happened within five seconds, the civilians didn't even have the chance to scream a thank you as Saitama swooped in to finish the monster and quickly left. He did not want to linger in that place for much longer than intended.

He stopped at least a kilometer away from the scene and checked his bag. Good, the eggs weren't damaged.

...

"And here you go folks! for today's news, we've finally found traces of the mysterious hero that killed multiple Dragon-Level threats in less than a week! It's simply unbelievable to think a man was capable of such feats."

The news blared in the unnaturally quiet room, the lights were off allowing the moon to illuminate the room. On the couch sat a small petite girl, waving her finger to scroll through the channel. Though, a particular piece of news attracted her attention hence why she lingered a bit longer to listen.

"As we can see, the man—or the mysterious 'Caped Baldy' as everyone seems to call him, is seen walking while holding a plastic bag... He was last seen a few hours ago, with a large number of witnesses that reported his deeds and action."

The news showed numerous videos and pictures of the aftermath of his fight. Each and every one of them results in the monster's annihilation regardless of their threat levels, they were all killed without the need for a second punch. Not a single one with a complete body, they were all missing a body part or two respectively. Though, most of the monsters were killed with a hole in their body.

Anyone that sees the scene in front of them would be shocked, and the petite girl wasn't an exception. She knows what real strength is like, heck, she could probably count on one hand the number of people that could achieve this. The girl smirked and turned off the television, she was going to make sure she finds whoever this guy is. Things were about to get interesting.

...

Blub!

Saitama sat in his tub, engulfed in the sensation of warm water. He could confidently say this was one of his favorite thing to do, after all, a hot bath after a tiring day is always the best thing next to sleeping.

Splash!

The water splashed all over the floor as Saitama got out of the tub. It's been roughly 30 minutes since he's been there so it's about time he goes out. He dried himself and wore a plain white shirt and gray shorts to match. The bathroom door opened and Saitama exited, he went to his balcony and watered his plant cactus. Now that he thinks about it, do cactuses even need to be watered? Aren't they like... dessert plants?

'No, I shan't think like that, I'm no expert in plants but I at least know that they need water to survive.' He nodded to himself with his eyes closed forgetting about the cactus that was drowning in water.

'Crap!'

"Sigh, I should consider getting a new plant..." After all, there was plenty outside, and a lot of beautiful one's too! And they're just there, waiting for someone to water them... He placed down the watering pot and stood up, before putting his hand up and catching an object that flew to him at an unimaginable speed. If he had not caught it then his place would've been razed to the ground.

The object was small, but the force behind the throw was strong enough to destroy a building with a strong foundation. Thankfully, he was fast enough and caught it on time.

'What was that?' Saitama thought confusingly, the object held firmly within his palm. He opened his hand and checked what it was. Turns out, it was a timed bomb and it was a few seconds away from detonation. Alarm filled Saitama's head, not because of his physical well-being but because of his place.

Without hesitation, he threw the bomb into the sky with enough force to send it flying toward space. He heard it explode in the distance, the explosion was enough to destroy a few city blocks. "Who the heck sent that thing?"

He scratched his cheeks, confusion filled his mind. All of a sudden as if coming to a conclusion, Saitama's face brightened and quickly wore his hero costume and went outside. Maybe if he searched well enough he'd find them?

---

Ay first chapter here, the word count may vary depending on my mood. Though, I can say the average word count should be around 1000-2000 words per chapter.

Feel free to write constructive criticism as I aim to improve and have fun along the way.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter because I'm enjoying writing it so far!