5 Chapter 1: Devil Blade's Awakening 1

A man on a hospital bed opened his eyes. He looked up to the ceiling but the blurriness remained in his eyes.

"Where am I?"

He was confused, right before he lost consciousness he was still thinking of how the mysterious bald hero killed the monster in one punch.

Right after he said that, he notices two figures to his right. They were startled when they noticed Devil Blade looking at them.

"Your finally awake mister!"

Exclaimed a young kid. Devil Blade squinted his eyes and notices that he recognized this kid. It was the same one from the incident.

"Thank you for saving my son."

A greatful voice appeared. He looked at the middle-aged man with his trimmed beard.

Devil Blade couldn't help but ask, "Are you the kid's dad?"

"Yes!" Answered the dad.

"How long have I been out?" Devil Blade asked. His whole body felt replenished and he felt that he could run a marathon. He was curious to know as his meeting was abruptly cancelled due to the monster incident.

"You've been out for a week now. Me and my son visited you every day along with a wonderful woman too!" The dad laughed as he brought out a lunchbox.

Devil Blade notices a note stuck onto the lunch box, it read 'Please wake up soon! Also, make sure to eat well.'

He couldn't help but bring out a smile, this note made his heart melt. He never felt close to anybody particulary because he was an orphan from a young age. All he knows is that there was a book attached to him when he was left at the entrance of an orphanage.

"Well, I suppose we'll leave now. Take care young man!" The kid and the dad bid farewell as they closed the door to his room on their way out.

Devil Blade opened the lunch box only to find a pleasant smell enveloping him. His mouth was watery as he looks at the warm, tender chicken meat with mixed vegatables and rice.

He ate the meal at a slow pace, cherishing the cook of someone special in his heart. The setting sunlight made its way to his room from the window. Devil Blade looked extremely lonely but his emption wasn't sadness, rather gratitude.

A nurser came in to check up on him as he was eating. She took some tests of him to confirm whether he still had injuries of some kind.

"Your body had been healed from the injuries you've sustained so you'll be discharged tomorrow morning." The nurse informed him. Her eyes show a bit of hesitation when she was going to tell Devil Blade of something. "There's a scar on your back from the cut. It is extremely long as it extends from your left shoulder to near the waist of your lower right back. It is also jagged in shape."

Devil Blade had forgotten about his injury on his back. Now that he realized this, it was completely normal for such a slash to leave a mark on his body.

The nurse was surprised when she looked at the calm eyes of the man in front of her.

"It doesn't bother me that much, I just have to cover it up to not scare kids. No big deal!" He said with a big smile. He then got off of his bed as he takes off his shirt. He went up to a large mirror in the room and turned his back to see the scar.

"I'm more glad that I ended up surviving that monster's attack, a scar is well worth it for a life."

The nurse felt glad that he wasn't too bummed out as she makes her way out. Devil Blade stood there for a good minute or two to make out the scene from a week ago.

"Who was that hero?"

...

Morning, at the hospital where Devil Blade was currently at.

"It's morning already?" Yawned Devil Blade. He turned over to the cabinet where it contains his clothings. He had gotten his clothes when the woman who brought his lunch, also broughr spare clothes from his house. The woman seems to be close to him as Devil Blade lived alone.

Knock! Knock!

Devil Blade turned around to the door while he was changing his shirt. He saw a man dressed in all black come into his room. He had dark black hair and a short beard. He looked to be in his late 30s.

"Hi, my name is Yoro from the Hero's Association. I'm here to report on what happened at the monster incident." The man greeted Devil Blade as he finds a chair to sit. He then faces Devil Blade, not even fazed by him changing clothes. Devil Blade didn't mind this too as he continued to change.

When Devil Blade was finally done, he sat on a chair facing Yoro.

"Uhm... I guess I'll have to stsrt when the monster arrived?"

Yoro nodded as he looked at Devil Blade attentively.

Devil Blade gave a big cough before he began.

"When I was planning to meet with my editor to discuss my latest volume, I thought of a shortcut to deal with time." Devil Blade stuttered before continuing, "I walked into a narrow alley that lead to a bigger area. I didn't see that much people walking as it was an empty park. The cafe that we were planning to visit just so happens to be at an urban area. While I was 30 minutes early, I decided to go to a bathroom in a building. After I walked out, I saw a monster walking. It turned its head when he heard me, that's how I got injured."

Devil Blade began to explain how it all went down. Yoro continued to listen until he heard something that made his eyes pop. "Wait hold on! Can you repeat what you said again?"

Devil Blade was startled before cooling down. "Huh?.. Well like I said, a bald hero dressed in a yellow jumpsuit wearing red gloves saved me and the kid."

"Are you sure that's what the hero wore?" Yoro asked with doubt filling him.

"Yes! I'm positively sure I'm not mistaking the looks of the hero that saved me." Devil Blade reassured.

Yoro was in a daze, Devil Blade couldn't help but ask.

"What's wrong?"

"Cough! It's just that saved you is a notabld figure in the association."

"Hero's Association? Really?" Devil Blade was shocked.

"Yes, that's right. 10 years ago he..." Yoro cut off his sentence immediately as he tried to change the topic. "Forget what I just said, anyways you're good to go. Just make sure to be safe from dsnger. Bye."

Yoro then exited the hospital as he gave a call. "One Punch Man is back from retirement."

A deep voice could be heard from the phone, "What? Explain."

...

Back at the hospital.

Devil Blade gathered his things before walking out of the hospital, he had a laptop case around him where he kept his writings.