Genos fought Sonic and that was to be expected but what wasn’t expected was that he technically won the fight. At least that’s what he got from the cyborg’s unnecessarily detailed oral report. Sonic didn’t exactly pose as much of a threat to Genos without his primary weapon. Even then Saitama still intervened before the battle could have a decisive end but again it wasn’t for the same reason.

“You humored him?” Tomoro didn’t have to feign the incredulity.

The bald man shrugged “sure why not, he went through all the trouble of creating a technique just to kill me so I gave him a shot.”

“You mean you showed him the gap between you two by effortlessly wrecking him right?”

“Pretty much.”

“Okay so obvious question, why didn’t you arrest him?”

“He disappeared in a puff of smoke.”

“Are you being serious?”

“Nope he’s a ninja” Saitama shrugged.

“Is that what happened Genos?”

“Yes, he did release some type of smoke grenade and managed to escape in under its effects. My scanners were able to follow him and I made to give chase but Master Saitama prevented me from-”

“Oi! You don’t have to tell him all of that Genos.”

“My apologies master.”

Tomoro gave the grumbling bald hero and unimpressed look “you know heroes generally don’t let dangerous S-rank ninja assassins get away, especially when they swear bloody vengeance against them and make multiple attempts on their life.”

“Nothing I can do about it until he tries again.”

Saitama said this in his usual bored tone however Tomoro’s eyes narrowed lightly.

“…I don’t believe it” he said in mild disbelief.

“What?”

“Did you actually let this guy go on purpose?”

“What, no that would be crazy” Saitama replied not looking Tomoro in the eye.

“Yes that would be crazy and despite your questionable intelligence I don’t think you’re that desperate for a challenge.”

“…”

“Right, so anything else happen with you guys? It’s been a few days since we last saw each other.”

“Well Genos needed help with finding a missing cat.”

“Master Saitama the executive stated that it was classified, is it okay to share that story with Mr. Sazaki?”

Saitama waved him off “eh it’s alright”

Tomoro looked between the two of them “I’m guessing that this wasn’t an actual missing cat right.”

“No there was an actual cat”

Tomoro blinked “is that true Genos?”

Genos has become more or less his translator for Saitama since the man seems incapable of not being oblivious.

“They were indeed monsters that were feline in nature.”

“Ah, go on.”

~O~

The Hero Association’s main headquarters was abuzz with activity. Just a few days ago a secret meeting orchestrated by Minister Officer of Justice Sitch took place. Including Sitch those in attendance included three A-Class heroes: Heavy Tank Fundoshi, Blue Fire and Magic Trick Man who acted as bodyguards. This was because the rest of the individuals in attendance were criminals, contract killers, mad scientists, weapons merchants and escaped convicts. They were invited under treaty with the intention of using them as contracted mercenaries working for the interest of the Hero Association.

It was a risky gambit designed by Sitch who saw a sharp rise in the number of disasters befalling the world as well as noticed that the heroes within the association were spread thin with insufficient numbers and poor coordination to properly handle the increased string of disasters.

The meeting took a turn for the worst however as a fight soon broke out just after it began. A lone man, a lone young man audaciously challenged the entire room filled with heroes and criminals alike. He easily made short work of the three A-Class heroes before setting his sights on the criminals. Despite there being well over a hundred criminals in the room it became a one-sided massacre with the young man cut a swath through the assembled criminals and in the end Sitch was the only one left unharmed.

Gossip would eventually see this incident spread throughout the Hero Association and so when the President called for a meeting of the executives many thought it would be because of the incident. Admittedly Sitch wasn’t too worried despite being in the center of the disaster, Agoni is a reasonable man and the minister did have the approval of the other executives before commencing the plan anyway.

That’s what he thought but looking at the rarely used Assembly Hall filled with not just executives but also managers, sponsors and other affiliates of the association Sitch had the distinct feeling that this meeting wasn’t about him at all. At the very least he or his incident isn’t going to be the main topic of today’s meeting.

“This is quite a turnout wouldn’t you say Sitch?”

“Sekingar” the executive nodded to the man “that is an understatement.”

The younger manager glanced about the room his cybernetic eye taking everything in “if I didn’t know any better I would say that every important figure and major affiliate of the Hero Association is gathered here right now.”

‘You wouldn’t be the only one to think that’ Sitch thought ‘some of these men and women I’ve only ever seen in reports or on a hologram in meetings.’

It was more than disconcerting.

“Why do you think the president called this meeting out of the blue?”

“I don’t-”

Before he could answer the question proper Sitch was interrupted by the sound of someone barging into the room.

“Alright I’m here, so what is so important that I had to drop everything and attend this meeting?”

Amai Mask’s question told in an indignant tone washed across the room plunging it in near silence. Amai Mask’s position within the Association was a precarious one. Officially Amai Mask is a registered hero and acts as both the public ‘face’ and spokesperson of the hero Association. While this doesn’t grant him significant power within the association in an official capacity, unofficially the man might as well be an executive.

Using his appearance and putting his many talents to use the man is singlehandedly responsible for 95% of all donations gifted by the public. As a hero his power and unflinching, often extremist, views on justice has earned him the top spot within the A-Class in short order. His commitment to improving the association’s public image is such that he deliberately turned down the S-Class rank in order to act as its gate keeper making the only way to S-Class through him.

Because of his commitment Amai Mask has an advisory role and is consulted with whenever decisions on class promotions are made. The man, for all intents and purposes, is the perfect hero of the public. But just that as the man himself is not perfect and the personality he shows to the public is not one that is maintained away from it. Behind closed doors Amai Mask is a difficult man to deal with and has several character flaws.

Arrogant, narcissistic, overbearing and stubborn are just some of the words Sitch would use to describe Amai Mask. He also doesn’t take orders well and often does whatever he thinks is best. His extremist views on justice meant that anything he deems ‘evil’ is summarily destroyed no matter who or what. It is for this reason why he is often left out of any reported disasters even if he happens to be in the area. His busy schedule is just a convenient excuse the smart executives use because no one likes dealing with him.

‘Still his attitude doesn’t seem to faze some people’ Sitch noted sardonically.

Of course the ‘people’ whom he is referring to are, of course, the entire female population of the room. From the moment he barged in the rank 1 A-Class hero had the undivided attention of every woman in the room. Even the female executive who is aware of his true personality can’t help but swoon. Sitch could have rolled his eyes at them however his attention too was taken by Amai Mask though obviously not for the same reason.

“What’s this meeting about anyway?” Amai demanded impatiently.

Sitch decided to step in “president Agoni didn’t specify what this was about when he called it.”

“Hmph and where is the president anyway? He is late to a meeting he called all of us for?”

Murmurs went around the room as Sitch’s frown deepened, Amai made a valid point. It was well past the meeting time that was set and the president has yet to even show his face. Being reminded of the fact that they were waiting for a meeting called on short notice that should have been underway already raised dissent among the crowd, most noticeably with the elites. One such elite used this pointed out fact to voice his complaint.

“Amai Mask is right” spoke a man he knew as Narinki “I have very important business to attend to today but I dropped them out of courtesy to attend this meeting because Agoni made it sound urgent” the man began to walk away “time is money and I have him wasting mine. Besides what would having my presence accomplish here? The Hero Association has been operating well without my direct input all this time!”

The business mogul’s words had an immediate effect and Sitch couldn’t help but to agree with them. What use is there in inviting the sponsors to this? They were all busy people, running multimillion dollar corporations and all. Most importantly they did not need nor wanted the input of civilians who, aside from providing funding, have no idea of the intricacies of the association and thus have no practical place in such a meeting.

This is most likely the thought process going through everyone’s mind and the reason why no one made an effort to stop him from leaving. Though just as likely they didn’t want to deal with a pompous elitist. Amai Mask was looking like he was considering following Narinki’s example. Sitch wouldn’t really have a problem with either of their absence but it was one thing for a big time sponsor to abandon this meeting and another matter for Amai Mask to do so.

Narinki’s funding accounts for 7% of the Hero Association’s operation budget so he has the leeway to get away with this much. Amai Mask on the other hand doesn’t but before the A-Class hero could come to an internal decision and even before Narinki reached the doors, they were opened before him. Out stepped the president himself, Agoni whose sharp gaze briefly pinned Narinki in place.

“I apologize for my tardiness there was a bit of business that needed to be taken care of” Agoni spoke gruffly as he walked in followed by an assistant carrying a stack of folders.

Amai Mask was less than enthused with his excuse “that is not good president Agoni. What kind of example are you setting, calling such an assembly and arriving late?”

“Go easy on him Amai, the only reason why we’re late is because I wanted to ensure everyone was present for this.”

Following those words the unthinkable happened, Amai Mask choked on his spit and his eyes bugged out in utter shock. Such an embarrassing display had gone unnoticed however as most of the occupants in the room weren’t any better off. Stepping into the assembly hall was none other than Solaria Nova, wearing a blue pantsuit and heels.

“M-m-Miss N-Nova!?” Amai Mask exclaimed.

“Hello Amai Mask”

“Wh-wh-wha” his stammering only seemed to worsen as she drew close.

Solaria met Amai’s gaze with clear amusement “use your words dear.”

The Idol hero blushed but did collect himself before continuing “what are you doing here?”

“I’d rather answer that question and any other while on the podium.”

“Oh” he answered then just stood there as she walked by.

The former idol approached the stage which has already been prepped with two tables on either side of the podium. Agoni sat to her right while the assistant stood to her left with the stacks of folders. Once she took to the stage she tapped the microphone and receiving a clear began to speak.

“Again I would like to extend an apology to all gathered here for our tardiness. Agoni wanted to begin on time however I noticed some amongst us were running late and so I had him put off the meeting until they arrived.”

She eyed Amai Mask who bashfully shrunk into his seat at her gaze.

“Now for those of you who don’t know I am Solaria Nova and I am the co-founder and co-president of the Hero Association.”

She paused as the room exploded into murmurs but didn’t let it last long.

“Yes, yes it is all very shocking however now you all know why it was prudent I be here. I am the one who called this meeting.”

She took up a remote and pressed a button. The light went low and the white platform just before the podium lit up into a hologram.

“Since its inception I’ve kept my distance from the Hero Association, really I have too much on my plate with Star Enterprise to take on the burden of another big corporation. I trusted Agoni with overseeing operations and he in turn trusted you all to see that the Hero Association is maintained to the highest standards.”

The hologram was shifting like a slideshow, showing a variety of still images now.

“The idea was simple, ensure public safety and security. Humanity is constantly besieged by threats beyond their ability to combat and needed a rallying point for those extraordinary individuals among us to be organized. We find these individuals and provide the necessary care and equipment for them to combat threats whilst ensuring minimal casualties.”

The hologram shifted again going through destroyed buildings, places with police tape, ambulances carting off heroes and so on.

“Ladies and gentlemen we are failing” she stressed “the situation is getting worse, monster attacks have become more frequent and our forces are stretched thin. We are on a knife’s edge where the slightest mistake could end up causing an unmitigated disaster. Now imagine my shock when upon closer observation of the operational reports of the different branches, I find this.”

The holograms changed yet again though this time it wasn’t just still images, there were also videos mixed in. Said videos were in high quality clearly identifying the ones in it, had their audio cut off and much like the images the topic was of the incriminating variety.

How incriminating?

“Rampant corruption throughout all levels of the Hero Association hierarchy” she continued “clerks laundering donation money to fill their pockets, officers taking bribes, managers participating in cover-ups, executives funding illegal operations, selling Hero Association resources and private information on the black market, illegally capturing monsters to serve as exotic pets and using the heroes under the association’s employ as your personal servants.”

Solaria’s incredulity was reflected in Sitch’s expression as well as quite a few for every accusation that came out of her mouth was followed by an image or video with such high quality that it was impossible not to see the people in it. The last one was a video which featured one of the executives and the recently named S-Class hero Demon Cyborg. The video however did not have the audio cut off and video was played in snippet.

“You called me out here, I assume it is a personal request” spoke the S-Class hero.

“The creature I secretly held as a pet ran away. Please get rid of it.”

Demon Cyborg’s shock was reflected by Sitch and quite a few in attendance.

“Did you take a monster previously defeated by a hero-”

“I will regret it after this is over”

The video cut off to images of a very dead monster, it was massive and there were several of them. What caught Sitch’s attention was the disaster level, it was Demon. The images changed again this time to destruction as well as several heroes being carted off in a special ambulance provided by the Hero Association.

“As you can see this is often the result of when fools let their greed overcome their common sense. We have quite a bit of them in attendance and if they believe we will allow them to run rampant in this organization then they are sadly mistaken.”

As she said this the assembly doors opened and several government types unaffiliated with the Hero Association came in.

“I have already taken the liberty of handing over the evidence of your crimes to the proper authorities. These gentlemen will be taking custody of the accused. Please cooperate so that we may eventually continue this meeting and to those who are taken: on behalf of the Hero Association we no longer have need of your services.” 

Of course kind words would do nothing to calm down the men and woman who are facing imprisonment.

“You can’t do this!”

“Unhand me!”

“Do you have any idea who I am?”

“I’ll have your head for this Nova!”

“For those who insist on not cooperating I will remind you that you are also in the presence of the number one A-Class hero who can and will assist these officers in any way he deems fit.”

A few eyes turned to Amai Mask who sat with one leg crossed over his knee and held a decidedly neutral expression. He was the picture of perfection, like an art piece come to life. Though if one were to look closely they would see veins of concealed effort creeping up his neck, his folded hands gripped his biceps tightly and his aura was that of a caged beat ready to lash out at a moment’s notice.”

The regular employees didn’t want to deal with the top A-Class hero but the executives’ fears were even more profound. Amai Mask was holding himself back to the point where he didn’t even so much as comment on the proceedings. His sharp golden eyes were reminiscent of a predator and they pinned the unruly the moment they started to act up rendering them frozen in fear.

Once they were kept in check Amai Mask directed his attention to Solaria and gracefully inclined his head. He received a beatific smile in return and the tension wrapped around his muscles released, visibly calming him.

“I don’t believe it” he heard Sekingar speak beside him “this…this is going to change everything.”

“Yes” Sitch nodded his gaze sweeping across the room where employees, sponsors and executives were being read their rights and arrested.

Then his eyes found the woman responsible for it all and she smiled at him.

Sitch took a breath, unlike most men he was not as susceptible to her charms but he will give her this

“Change is not a bad thing right now.”

~O~

MASS LAYOFF AT THE HERO ASSOCIATION!

Tomoro almost didn’t believe it the first time he saw it but it is right there on the screen. The Hero Association was going through some kind of overhaul and it included firing a lot of their employees. Tomoro would bet his life’s savings that Solaria Nova had something to do with it. Briefly he thought of just calling her and asking but thought better of it and instead waited until he arrived home to do some snooping around the various Hero Association forums.

Even if she managed to keep her name and the details away from the press there is no way something as huge as this would be kept completely under wraps. Someone knows something and they more often than not post the secrets on certain forums, it’s just a matter of differentiating the facts from the fictions.

‘What is she hoping to accomplish with this?’ was the question he wanted answered.

It didn’t take him long to find said answer and it came with the words former Hero Association employee combined with arrested, incarcerated, found guilty of, suspected of and so on.

“So that’s what she’s doing.”

He knew that the woman would act on the information he gave her. She has both the resources and inclination to do that but Tomoro would never imagine that she would act so soon and would be so…overt. It was definitely more than what he would have done on such short notice.

“I underestimated her.”

That would be an understatement since Solaria was apparently cleaning house in the Hero Association. There were more than a few hints in the original story that the Hero Association was corrupt along with being incompetent and that was something the Web Novel got into after the Monster Association Arc but Tomoro never got to finish it before he reincarnated.

‘Not that it matters now, she just went and completely upended an entire arc before it even began.’

Tomoro wasn’t too shaken up about that, he was concerned with the fact that this was basically Solaria’s opening move. If her opening move is weeding out the corruption in the Hero Association then what is she going to get up to in the future? When he thought about it Tomoro didn’t have as much time as he thought he did. The prophecy is set to take place in a couple of months which meant he would be fighting against him before the year ended.

“What am I doing?”

The world might end in a few months, hell the world is going to be turned on its head in a few weeks and here he is sitting around, working an accounting job.

‘Should I be more proactive?’

And there’s the rub.

If someone else were in his shoes then they might have used their meta-knowledge to abuse the hell out of the situation. Thing is Tomoro was like that once upon a time, he exploited the hell out of One-Punch Man lore to get to where he is and…let’s just say things didn’t work out well for him. So now here he is banking his and everyone else’s survival on a single man.

Overseeing Saitama’s growth from some guy in a tracksuit to arguably the most powerful being in the universe was admittedly reassuring to him. Tomoro deliberately went passive, settled into a lifestyle and now he found himself reluctant to go active again. He enjoyed the peace and quiet that comes with domestic life and he would not part with it so easily.

At the same time he knew ‘this isn’t going to last.’

There are so many things coming up in only a few days like Garou, the Monster Association attacks, the Super Fight, the…

“Suiryu” Tomoro cursed “I completely forgot about him!”

A check back to the information he had confirmed that Saitama was supposed to unwittingly convince Suiryu to become a hero during the Super Fight tournament. He was also supposed to save him from Bakuzan and kill Gouketsu.

“Damn, this just got more complicated” he paused “maybe I can still convince Saitama to attend the tournament”

But the only reason why he attended in the original story was because Garou got him interested in martial arts. Bang’s student who foolishly challenged Garou and got beaten was there to conveniently give him a ticket to participate as well.

Speaking of tickets…

“Would I even be able to get one?”

…the answer is no.

The Super Fight Tournament is very popular and is the main attraction in C City. Tickets are sold out within days of being available and the tournament is scheduled not too long from now.

“This is fine” he spoke to himself hastily “the tournament itself isn’t so important, as long as Gouketsu and Bakuzan die then it should be fine.”

But then Suiryu won’t become a hero or at least have heroic inclinations. He’ll just be a playboy slacker who happens to be a martial arts prodigy.

“…we might need him” Tomoro realized.

From his notes on the subject of Suiryu, Tomoro thinks that in terms of skill he might be even better than Garou pre-monsterization. He was able to become an S-Class level master martial artist on pure talent alone while mostly just slacking off, flirting with girls and doing Super Fight Tournaments for the money. Garou got where he is now through diligent training and fighting anyone and everyone with a bit of skill to hone his techniques. Tomoro could go out on a limb and say that his travels didn’t even amount to much since he didn’t even use his martial arts until he fought Tank Top Master. Garou only really started to advance when he went up against stronger opponents that forced him to adapt until monsterization kicked in.

Suiryu has the potential to become a serious asset in the future. Hell with the right training and motivation the guy could even be on par with Garou.

“I’m getting ahead of myself” Tomoro mumbled to himself.

Whatever talent Suiryu has won’t matter in the short future. Garou’s progression is insane and thinking Suiryu could keep up by himself is just unrealistic.

‘At least not by himself but if he had a teacher…’

Bang would be able to whip him into shape but then Suiryu would have to be inclined to seek him out which was improbable.

So where does that leave him?

Tomoro took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, all this planning was becoming tedious. Tomoro was never any good at these kinds of clever manipulations. He’s the type of person who prefers to commit to a single task not matter the difficulty. It’s the reason why he’s here with Saitama as opposed to doing a million other things simultaneously. This kind of 4d chess moves wasn’t for him

“I’d rather just go to the damn tournament and take Saitama’s place” he griped in frustration before catching himself.

‘Is that even an option?’

Tomoro hesitated “would it work?” he wondered before scoffing to himself “of course it would, if Saitama can bumble his way through it then I can have the same effect.”

He knew the reason why he was hesitating though, this would be his first time directly involved with the ‘plot’ and influencing events on such a large scale.

“Time to nut up or shut.”

He just needed to make a call.

~O~

Solaria released a sigh of content as she dipped into the bath. Today was mentally draining, for all the confidence and boldness she displayed Solaria was very conscious of the repercussions of her actions. She revealed the criminal activities of some very important and politically dangerous people, humiliating them before their peers and painted a target on her back. That was the idea of course and Solaria knew the dirty secrets of everyone who attended the meeting now. They may be able to cover their tracks physically and electronically but none of the people in that room can protect their thoughts.

‘It has been a while since I used telepathy so extensively’ hence the mental drain.

It’s not exactly easy to do a subtle deep mental scan of dozens of people. She had to do this whilst maintaining a persona and under their combined scrutiny. Luckily she was an award winning actress who hasn’t lost her touch. On a serious note she already made contingencies and is continuing to make adjustments for any form of retaliation or escape from persecution by the wealthier ones.

The different agencies investigating will find a continuous stream of incriminating evidence generously gifted to them at different intervals. The assets of the accused will be seized and their accounts frozen pending the investigation. The corrupt politicians, judges and various bureaucrats willing to take bribes or allied with them will be pressed not to lend their aid. The former executives and wealthy sponsors will soon find their money and connections useless and be at the mercy of the justice system they can no longer abuse.

“Such is the faith of those who cross Solaria Nova” she smirked sardonically to herself.

While this was indeed a victory for her and the association there was still much more work to be done. The Hero Association has more problems than rampant corruption. There needs to be some serious changes in policy with regards to how they handle disasters and taking care of their heroes. Then there are the future events like Silver Fang’s rogue former student, dealing with the Monster Association and the prophecy that is most likely referring to him.

At the reminder Solaria raised a wet hand to her temple, all of this is supposed to happen within the year.

“If I only knew about this sooner”

She blamed Tomoro for that and while she does understand his point of view in sticking to One-Punch Man with his strength and knowledge Tomoro could have done much more to prepare the world for the coming calamity. He didn’t however and the reason behind his not taking these necessary steps was so he can maintain his fragile knowledge of future events.

“Damn that man and his passiveness” Solaria scowled.

Just then her phone rang and with a gesture it appeared floating before her.

“Speak of the devil.”

She accepted the call and put him on speaker, keeping the phone afloat and began to wipe down her skin with a bath sponge.

“Mr. Sazaki, I was just thinking of you.”

“Miss Nova, is this a bad time?”

“No, I am currently taking a nice relaxing bath.”

“…I can call back.”

That is adorable.

“Nonsense, this is actually a good time, I am expected to be very busy this week. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call? I take it you have seen the news?”

“I have, you sure didn’t take your time or pull your punches.”

“Time is not something we have the luxury of unfortunately. I saw an opportunity to weed out the malcontents in one fell swoop and so I did. I recall you were the one to suggest I clean house remember.”

“Fair enough but that’s not the reason why I called”

“Oh?”

“Do you have any plans for the Super Fight Tournament?”

Solaria frowned “not presently.”

“Can you get me a ticket to the tournament?”

“You’re going to attend?”

There was a beat of silence “I want to participate.”

Solaria blinked in mild shock and some confusion though it did not bleed into her amicable tone “really, you?”

“One of the Monster Association’s strongest is going to try recruiting the fighters. I can guarantee only the strongest among the S-Class can fight him.”

“I am aware and I am grateful for the assistance but that still doesn’t explain why you need to participate.”

“It’s for personal reasons. Can you get me a spot or not?”

‘Now I’m even more curious.’

“Hm, it’s hard to say. Don’t they reserve the positions for fighters beforehand?”

“Not a problem, bang’s current student is going to challenge Garou and end up hospitalized so I can take his spot.”

“If that’s the case then I very well may be able to do just that though it will take some time.”

“I understand, thank you.”

He hung up leaving Solaria in silence once more and the thought occurred to her ‘he’s hiding something.’

They both have their secrets but what would compel him to enter a martial arts tournament?

“If you’re a magical girl parody then I’d be a Dragon Ball parody…”

She vaguely remembers the popular anime series from her past life. What she does know is that there exists a show that is very similar to it. That particular show places a heavy emphasis on fighting, martial arts, tournaments and bombastic battles, the typical shonen affair. If he’s identifying himself as a ‘parody’ of such a thing then he is implying he is a martial artist.

‘And if that is true I can’t imagine a man of his strength would be an unknown.’

With a thought she accessed the phone still floating before her. It rang for a moment before the sound of young woman picked up.

“How may I help you Miss Nova?”

“Do you remember those ‘anomalies’ you observed on Tomoro Sazaki’s profile?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Follow through with your investigation into them and send the information to my private server.”

“It will be done Miss Nova.”

Solaria hung up, dismissed her phone and closed her eyes to enjoy the rest of her relaxing bubble bath.

~O~

Several days went by with the Hero Association continuing to dominate the headlines as more is revealed on the circumstances surrounding the decision to fire a rather large percentage of their staff. There was further controversy as it was observed that most of these individuals were indicted in some form. More news outlets picked up on this which raised a lot of questions and clamors for answers and the Hero Association had no choice but to react.

They reacted by hosting a press conference and it was here that Solaria Nova revealed her ties to the Hero Association. Not only was she the previously unidentified co-founder and one of the secret benefactors but she will also be taking an active role in the Hero Association. She named herself the new director of operations and went on to address some of the pertinent questions held by public in a Q&A session.

In this session she confirmed the rumors surrounding the mass firing of Hero Association staff that it was basically her cleaning house. Every single individual that was fired had participated in, benefitted from or otherwise kept quiet on their knowledge of illegal activities done within the association using its resources. Naturally she could not disclose any specifics on the matter due to the pending investigation but at that point it was a non-issue.

The damage was already done, the public was in an uproar with many critics, analysts and theorists taking to news stations, interviews and forums to air their grievances. To Tomoro the whole thing blew up into a fiasco but funnily enough people seem to be just as if not more focused on Solaria taking an active role in the Hero Association than the scandal surrounding the illegal activities of its dozens of former employees.

Tomoro wasn’t even sure if this was part of the plan or people were just that interested in the actions of the woman herself. According to at least half a dozen forums Solaria’s cult was making moves with members looking to fill in the vacant spots now in the Hero Association. Aside from that new information on the low profile cases were being leaked. It seemed a lot of information was being ‘leaked’ to the press to keep this momentum going.

It was frankly out of control and Solaria struck him as someone who wouldn’t let things get out of hand like this which leads Tomoro to believe that this whole fiasco was very deliberate and really the end goal was pretty obvious to him. With the media and the public distracted with the scandal and snooping around Solaria’s business people seem to conveniently overlook that during all this more than a dozen or so Heroes were put in the hospital by the ‘Human Monster’ Garou.

Tomoro understood the reasoning behind wanting to create a smokescreen to cover up Garou’s actions. This was a pivotal moment for the Hero Association with such a huge change and they couldn’t have Garou undermining their genuine attempt at changing things for the better by highlighting the fact that they are failing to apprehend a lone young man who is sending scores of Heroes into the ICU. Despite the knowledge that came from this realization it all still felt excessive to him.

‘Best not to think about it’ is what he thought but it’s been several days, the Super Fight Tournament is literally tomorrow and he hasn’t heard from Solaria since he asked her for the ticket.

If she doesn’t come through then he’ll be forced to steal Charanko’s ticket, wear a wig and impersonate him in the tournament. The very idea of pulling off something so ‘Saitama’ made him physically ill but it was an unfortunate option if he wanted his plan to succeed. His thoughts hovered on the idea until the very day before the tournament on a Friday just before he got off work.

*Bzzt*

Taking out his phone he found to his relief a text from Solaria.

Mahou Shoujo: Been busy all week.

Tomoro sighed in relief “cutting it close but I’ll take it”

Tomoro: I understand, did you get it?

Mahou Shoujo: I have it but you’ll have to pick it up.

Tomoro: Where?

The place she texted was somewhere in the heart of Z City’s Entertainment District and he even posted a time.

Tomoro: I’ll be there

Mahou Shoujo: It’s a date ;)

“Wait what?”

Mahou Shoujo: And wear something nice

“…she’s not serious is she?”

~O~

Later That Night…

Turns out she is serious.

 “I’m so glad you could make it~” greeted Solaria whose now bright blonde shoulder length hair came down in curls at the tips. She also wore lip gloss and diamond earrings.

Tomoro felt his eye twitch lightly at the woman standing before him. It was such a bizarre dichotomy that he felt he needed to ask the most obvious and pertinent of questions.

“What are you doing?”

“What do you think?”

Well currently the two of them were standing in the middle of Z City’s Entertainment District’ amongst a crowd of passersby. She was wearing a short blue long sleeved party dress whose length only barely passed her inner thigh, has a large enough cleavage window that it’s a mystery as to whether she’s wearing a bra and is so tight that it might has well be a second skin.

So in answer to her question of what he thought she was doing there is only one answer that came to mind.

“Disturbing the peace.”

The woman laughed melodically at his words “you’re exaggerating.”

He gestured around to which she noted that literally every man in the vicinity was giving her furtive looks. One guy walked into a lamp post, another tripped over his feet and another got slapped by his date who then stormed off.

Tomoro looked back at Solaria with a raised eyebrow.

“Well at least they know how to compliment a lady, unlike you” she added with folded arm glare and hip cocked to the side.

Tomoro internally sighed “you look…nice”

It was a generic compliment that was ultimately meaningless and they both knew this.

Solaria shook her head “you are really bad at this.”

“Noted, now can you-”

“Here, let me show how it’s done” she interrupted “my, you are looking very handsome tonight Tomoro~”

The man blinked “what are you-”

“I especially like that you lost the glasses.”

It was true, for this meeting Tomoro did not bring his glasses. He counted it as a work disguise and so he hardly ever wears it outside of going to work or his neighborhood. The latter is because he didn’t want to raise a fuss given that he still looked like a gangster without them. He also let his hair down and wore an open purple jacket over a white t-shirt, black jeans and purple sneakers. All this made for an appearance that was far removed from his usual professional business look.

“Thank you?” he replied back awkwardly.

“You are welcome” she then linked her arms around one of his and half dragged him along “now come, we have much to do tonight.”

“Where are we going?”

“Why, to commence our d.a.t.e of course.”

“What?”

“Date Tomoro”

“Miss Nova-”

“Please, call me Star tonight.”

This was getting ridiculous.

“Alright ‘Star’ tell me what this is all about or I’m cutting this ‘date’ short.”

Solaria sighed “look I won’t lie to you Tomoro, this past week has been…trying and it will only get worse with tomorrow kicking off the Monster Association fiasco. Is it wrong for me to want to blow off some steam before that?”

Okay that was understandable but “why are you dragging me into it?”

“Because you seem like someone who could use some fun in his life.”

“I have fun” he grumbled.

“Oh really, and what do you do for fun?”

“I don’t have to answer that.”

She gave him a pitying look “that’s sad.”

“And I know this was not caused by your concern over my well being.”

He stopped in the middle of their walk. He did not move an inch even with the mild pressure of Solaria’s telekinesis attempting to push him along.

The woman frowned “must you be so stubborn?”

“Solaria I don’t care what you do on your own time and you shouldn’t care what I get up to. We’re both trying to save the world so our interests align but we’re not friends” he told her straight.

Solaria stared at him for a moment “you are…without a doubt…the absolute worst Mr. Sazaki.”

‘Here we go’

“I mean here I am a young, wealthy and beautiful woman offering a token of friendship with the opportunity of more and you reject me?”

The accusation would have been more devastating if not for the genuine smile of amusement on her face.

“I must say this is a first for me.”

“Obviously you just haven’t met the right people.”

“Oh well, if you won’t humor me then I suppose I might as well drop some of the pretenses.”

This caught Tomoro’s attention as he eyed her “so you do want something.”

“Of course I do” she confirmed “I was willing to let us have some fun before getting down to business but since you are apparently incapable of doing so I might as well skip it.”

“What do you want?”

“I want information Tomoro.”

“I have literally given you everything I know.”

“Yes, but so far I know nothing about you.”

“Didn’t you do a background check on me?”

“I certainly did and I find that there isn’t much about you. You simply appeared five years ago to take online classes for a degree and that was it. No family, no friends, no digital footprints and admittedly high quality forged documents. It made me curious.”

“You should let it go” he spoke lowly.

“I would however I did not build my empire on blind trust. Given how invaluable your information has been I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt however I was able to find something after a thorough investigation.”

“Solaria-”

“Shiva.”

“…”

“What does-”

“Shut. Up.”

He spoke with no inflection or intent however the Esper felt a chill run down her spine.

“For someone harping about friendship, you have a stupid way of going about it. I’ve been nothing but straight with you since the moment we met. I told you everything you needed to know and a damn good more than what you didn’t just to be thorough. The only thing I ask for is a ticket to a tournament so I can help instead staying inactive like I’ve been doing for years. And what do I get for that? You attempting to drag me along on some asinine misadventure for your own amusement, blackmail and snooping around into my past that is best left buried. If this is what I have to look forward to in working with you Solaria then I’d rather just go back to how it was before I met you.”

“You are right, I was out of line.”

Tomoro looked at her but she didn’t meet his eyes “can I have the ticket now?”

“Of course” she pulled the ticket out of somewhere but didn’t immediately hand it over “I still want to know why you intend to participate in the tournament.”

He glared at her.

Solaria rolled her eyes “I am the director of operations Tomoro. If you’re going to be in C City I need to make adjustments to the plans put in place for dealing with the invasion tomorrow.”

She got him there.

“I want to sway Suiryu to our cause” he finally admitted.

Solaria frowned “the Super Fight champion?”

“He’s a genius that might be on par with Garou but right now he’s just a lazy playboy coasting off his prodigious talents.”

“Is he worth it?”

“Look at it this way, he’s easily S-Class just by being a lazy playboy, imagine if he actually trained properly?”

Solaria thought on that a moment ‘having another S-Class hero join our ranks would be good.’

“I take it you will be the one to train him.”

“If things go to plan yes.”

“Okay” she handed him the ticket “I trust you.”

He took the ticket and pocketed it with a nod.

“If it’s any consolation I did not find much information on ‘Shiva’ other than unsubstantiated rumors.”

“…good.”

He began to walk away however he was stopped by Solaria who held onto his arm “there is still one matter to deal with. Actually it is the main reason why I even invited you here at this time.”

Tomoro suppressed a groan “what is it?”

In response Solaria nodded her head to the side.

Tomoro glanced to his right just in time to see the odd sight of a young fierce looking man with golden eyes, silver done up in two prongs wearing a ripped black shirt, white martial arts pants and slippers. The youth had two tears in his shirt and a cut on his cheek that looked recent.

‘Garou?’

And as he saw the unmistakable form of the one of the main antagonist he suddenly remembered what this is.

‘Wasn’t he supposed to encounter Saitama?’

Except since Saitama isn’t as close to Bang as he was in the original story he didn’t meet Charanko and so he wouldn’t visit him in the hospital and get the ticket which wouldn’t give him a reason to visit the district to get a wig to impersonate the guy.

His thoughts were then interrupted by Solaria “if your information holds true tonight is to be the night where he encounters One-Punch Man and is summarily knocked out until tomorrow.”

“Yeah.”

“This presents a problem” Solaria lamented “I would prefer if that boy doesn’t continue hospitalizing more heroes throughout the night and since One-Punch Man is not here…”

She trailed off meaningfully to which Tomoro blinked and dumbly pointed at himself “you want me to be Saitama’s stand-in?”

“Think of it as practice for tomorrow.”

‘Whatever’ he thought at her words ‘a quick tap on the shoulder should-’

“Let’s make this more exciting~”

“What?”

If he did not like the sound of those words then he definitely hated what came next.

“Ahem-KYAAAH, isn’t that the ‘Human Monster’ Garou!?”

That gained the attention a few people, most importantly it gained the attention of the man himself.

“Quick, do something. Aren’t you supposed to be some big shot hero?”

…is this woman for real?

 He almost asked the question but his attention was taken by another voice.

“Big shot hero, eh?”

‘God dammit’

The moment his eyes landed on the silver haired youth he ducked down to avoid a fist to the face. The movement was so sudden it was as if he teleported to the human eye. Garou was already reacting to the sudden movement however not even his perception was fast enough to keep up. Tomoro appeared behind the now wide eyed young man and slammed both his fists into the sides of his temple. Garou could only let out a gurgle of shocked pain before his eyes rolled up and he collapsed in the street.

And just like that Garou the ‘Human Monster’ was defeated.

“That was anticlimactic” Solaria lamented in the brief silence that followed.

‘Why is everything silent?’

It wasn’t that the crowd was silent but that they weren’t even paying attention to them.

Noticing his observation Solaria spoke “I made it so that the people around us ignore our presence, can’t have them making a fuss about this.

“And yet you had no issue making a fuss yourself. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I was bored” she half shrugged.

Tomoro stared at her and it began to dawn on him who he was dealing with. People are funny when they set goals for themselves it usually falls within the realm of possibility but sometimes they set impossible goals either as part of their own delusion or deliberate motivation.

But what happens when you achieve the impossible?

Saitama became the strongest man in the world and the crushing loneliness of being at the top would have slowly killed him from the inside. Usually when one achieves a goal they move on to the next because life is like a journey and the end is death. In Saitama’s case the man couldn’t set another goal for himself because fighting is the only thing that made him feel alive. Before he ever saved that kid from the crab monster he was listless and borderline suicidal.

He can’t do anything else because even before he became One-Punch Man there was literally nothing for him to live for.

Unlike Saitama, whose rigid disinterest in almost everything outside of getting that high on a good fight, Solaria faces a completely different issue, that of excess time. When one is functionally immortal they literally have all the time in the world and she hasn’t been idle in putting that time to good use. She was a hero who became arguably the most powerful esper in the world and one of the strongest beings on the planet. She built her empire through a series of books she herself wrote as her own memoirs and turned a small company into a trillion dollar mega-conglomerate.

Her many talents are validated by her numerous awards and public recognition. Even her vanity is validated by public opinion and the literal largest cult of simps in the world calling themselves her fans and numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Really Solaria has achieved the impossible several times over and in the span of several lifetimes. There is no doubt that Solaria is at the peak of her success or maybe she has been for a while and the high of achievement has passed.

So what’s next for her?

Tomoro knew the answer to that, it’s basically Saitama’s life story and even if they are vastly different people the trend would remain the same. Unless she moves on to the next goal then the only thing Solaria can look forward to is…boredom, mind numbing boredom.

At least that would have been the case until he showed up and suddenly things were looking exciting again.

“I mean here I am a young, wealthy and beautiful woman offering a token of friendship with the opportunity of more and you reject me?”

The smile she kept was a red herring and he should have been paying attention to her eyes. For all her renowned acting skills and mental prowess the eyes are called ‘windows to the soul’ for a reason. And what Tomoro saw in those eyes was a subtle kind of desperation. She was genuinely trying to be his friend in her own odd way and he basically threw it in her face.

He shook his head “damn.”

“You have been staring for a while now” Solaria piped up with a curious smile.

…it occurred to Tomoro that Solaria Nova wouldn’t act like she does now with anyone. If she did then this side of personality would be more widely known.

‘Is this what she’s like in private?’

Must be, he didn’t see the reason why she would act like this otherwise, it hardly portrayed the public image she built up so far. The woman before him was vastly different from the one he met under the pretense of business.

“What are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking about you, hence my migraine” he grunted dragging the unconscious Garou by the collar and tossing him on a pile of trash.

“You’re just going to leave him there?”

“He’s a big boy” Tomoro waved off “let’s go.”

“Go where?”

Tomoro looked to her “I don’t know, you’re the one who planned this ‘date’ I was just supposed to show up.”

Blue eyes widened and twinkled in mirth “well, well could it be that the indomitable Tomoro Sazaki has become one more amongst the legions of men to fall for my charms?” She punctuated this with a flip of her hair.

His reply was a dry “don’t flatter yourself, I don’t go for the high maintenance types.”

Solaria linked their arms as they walked.

“Oh please honey, I’m rich I ‘maintain’ myself. Your job is just to stand there and look pretty.”

“I’m already starting to regret this” he half groaned.

“See, it’s not so hard. The brooding deadpan really brings out your best features.”

“Please stop.”

In the end Tomoro actually did enjoy himself and the two parted on better terms having become friends. He made a half hearted promise to hang out after they deal with the coming events.

~To Be Continued~