Chapter 2

"Well, that was lame." Saitama muttered to himself as he stared down at the mountain of a monster he'd just defeated. One minute he was shopping for discount lobster. The next found him being pummeled by this brute of a monster, though he didn't even feel a single punch. And finally, he jumped to the creature's eye level before practically caving his face in with a single punch. Saitama stared for a moment longer before turning and bringing out some flyers he had on his person.

"I wonder if there are any other sales nearby."

-Much Later-

Saitama was now heading for his home, his mood a little soured after his brief encounter with Custom ZO...M...whatever it was. Beating it for insulting his head was nothing compared to the fact that all recently purchased eggs were now broken somehow. Oh well, at least it helped him decide what to have for dinner.

"Eggs over rice sounds good." he said to himself as he gathered his groceries and walked on. He could see the chained fence that lead to the abandoned district of City-Z, where his apartment resided, before stopping and looking over his shoulder. He looked for a moment before shrugging, turned back towards the fence, and leapt the fence with ease. He walked on for a moment when he heard the fence behind him clank around, as if someone was messing with it. He turned to see...

"Stupid high fence!" grunted Vaccine Girl as she made it to just under the barbed wire atop the fence, an annoyed scowl on her lips. "If I only had even a fraction of my old strength, I could've just busted through this stupid...uhhh." she trailed off when she realized she had an audience.

"Vaccine Woman?" Saitama asked in surprise.

"Uh...hi?" she meekly waved her hand at him before jumping off the fence. "What are you doing in the abandoned district?"

"I live here." he said. "Why are you here?"

"I...need a place to hide." she sighed, head hanging in shame. She sounded even more defeated as she asked, "Can you help?"

"Um, sure." he shrugged. A quick hop back over had him landing behind her. He then scooped her up under one arm, much to her chagrin, before hopping back over and putting her back down.

"Thanks." she bit out.

"Okay. See ya." Saitama waved before turning to leave.

"W-Wait!" she yelped as she ran in front of him, blocking his way.

"What now?" Saitama huffed, his patience being strained after the day he's had. Vaccine Girl looked like she had just bitten into a lemon before grunting out the words.

"Can. I. Stay. With. You?" she managed to squeeze out through gritted teeth.

"No." he answered without hesitation.

"OH COME ON!" she snapped before taking a deep breath to calm down and glare at him. "Look. I'm not asking on a whim. I'm asking because I'm both desperate and weaker than I thought." Saitama was wondering what she meant, seeing as all monsters are tougher than humans, or at least the monsters that he's face, before noticing that some spots on her head seemed darker than the rest of her skin.

"Were you attacked by someone?" he asked. You could see the depression hanging over her head at his question.

"A bunch of stupid kids threw rocks at me and called me an Ugmon." she whimpered while drawing circles on the ground with her clawed finger. "I couldn't beat a single on of them back."

"Ugmon?" Saitama asked.

"I think it's short for ugly monster." she groaned before looking back up at him. "Look, I'm not asking to stay permanently. Just until I can get enough strength to defend myself." Saitama merely stared down at her, earning another groan from the diminutive monster. "If you're worried I'll attack humans again for no reason, then don't be. I already said I gave up on that. No point if you're just gonna kick my ass all over again." Saitama still stared down at the little monster, his face giving nothing away. Finally...

"Okay."

"Am I really gonna have to resort to beg...wait, what?" she blinked after registering his words.

"Come on." he said, his back to her as he kept on walking. She blinked some more before her legs finally started moving.

"Wait for me!"

-Saitama's Apartment-

"So, you live in this buidling by yourself?" Vaccine Girl asked Saitama as they walked up the stairs to his room.

"Yeah. No one else will live here." he answered as they reached his door. "The water and electricity still run. Plus, the rent is super cheap. I have to send the money by mail though, but other than that, it's good."

"It's better than good. I can just stay in one of these other rooms!" she said, a smile coming to her lips.

"I don't have any keys to them." he said as he watched her grapple with the doorknobs. A few unsuccessful attempts later found her pouting in the middle of his room.

"I hate being this weak." she grumbled before she felt a cloth being placed over her body. "What the heck?!" she yelped before pulling her head through a hole, revealing it to be a simple white T-shirt that covered her down to her ankles.

"If you're gonna stay here, then you should wear something. It's bothering me that you're wandering around naked." he said as he began washing his gloves in the bathroom.

"Mmm." she grumbled while looking down at the shirt. Why were humans so obsessed with clothing? Well, she hasn't existed for that long, so maybe she was just out of it? With a sigh of "Fine." she slipped her arms through the sleeves and began looking around. It was a tiny apartment from what she could see. She didn't know much about human society other than it was full of polluting humans, so it was all new to her.

"What is all this stuff?" she asked while fiddling with the remote.

"You don't know?" he asked while hanging up his gloves, earning a flat look from the small monster child.

"I was created to exterminate humanity. I don't think the earth thought it prudent to instill a lot of knowledge of how you humans live." she deadpanned.

"Oh." he nodded before gathering his pajamas. "I'm gonna take a bath. Don't break anything."

"Yeah yeah." she waved before the door shut, leaving her alone in the room.