The Begging Saitama

"I'm back." Saitama opened the door and called out, carrying a huge pile of discounted goods.

"Got it." Skye's voice came from her bedroom. Saitama didn't mind. In fact, he had something he needed Skye's help with, so even if she were a little ruder, he wouldn't get angry.

He put the discounted food in the fridge, then grabbed two bottles of milk that would expire tonight and went to Skye's door.

Knock, knock, knock!

"What is it now?" The door opened, and Skye poked her head out.

"Milk."

"Oh, thanks. Come in." Skye took the milk and opened the door wider, letting Saitama enter.

Honestly, Skye's room was... well, it wasn't like an ordinary woman's room. It was kind of messy. Network cables, computers, and other things took up almost half the room, while the bed occupied most of the other half, leaving only a relatively narrow space.

Of course, there was also a pink teddy bear in Skye's room, about the size of a person, sitting right on the bed. It gave the room a slightly feminine touch, but only a tiny bit.

"Make sure you drink the milk in time."

Seeing Skye set the milk on the table without planning to drink it right away, Saitama hurriedly reminded her.

"Mm, I will."

"I mean, drink it soon."

"Soon? Why? I'm not hungry yet, and I don't want milk right now."

"Because it expires in an hour." Saitama had no choice but to explain.

"Huh? What did you say?" Skye stared at Saitama in astonishment.

"The milk expires in an hour, so you have to drink it in time," Saitama repeated.

"You, Saitama—you bought more stuff that's about to expire?" Skye stared at him, speechless.

"It was cheap. It was 90% off! I've never seen such a huge discount before." Saitama sounded a little excited.

"Don't tell me you bought other things that are about to expire, like this milk?" Skye could only pick up the bottle, open it, and take a couple of gulps.

"No. It's pretty rare for food to expire in just an hour, like milk." Saitama shook his head regretfully.

Skye could only roll her eyes at that.

"By the way, Skye."

"What?"

"Let's have instant noodles tonight."

"What? Instant noodles? Why?" Skye stared at Saitama in surprise. It wasn't that she disliked instant noodles. She used to eat them often—they were simple, relatively cheap, and tasted pretty good. But once she had money, they didn't show up in her diet much anymore, especially since Saitama often bought discounted beef or vegetables.

"Because I found discounted instant noodles."

"Discounted instant noodles?"

"Mm-hmm. At least they won't expire until tomorrow." Saitama nodded.

"Expire tomorrow? You said you hadn't bought anything else that was about to expire, aside from the milk!"

"Right. The milk expires in an hour, but the instant noodles won't expire until tomorrow. Their expiration times are completely different. That's why I said it's rare to find food like milk that expires in an hour. One hour versus several hours—they're not the same." Saitama explained earnestly.

"..." Skye didn't want to say anything. Besides, she wondered whether letting Saitama buy food had been the right decision or the wrong one. The guy had definitely been broke before. He was used to living in poverty.

"Fine. We'll have instant noodles tonight."

"Mm-hmm. I bought five packs. You can have two, and I'll have three. Too bad there are still some left at the supermarket, but the two of us can only eat five packs tonight. What a shame." Saitama sighed regretfully.

"..."

"By the way, Skye."

"What now? Don't tell me you bought something else that's about to—uh, that'll expire soon?" Skye eyed Saitama warily.

"No, no. I just wanted to ask you for a favor."

"Oh? You want my help? With what? You're already so strong, and you still need my help? Now I'm curious. Tell me." Skye perked up, excitement shining in her big eyes.

After all, Saitama was so powerful and so fast that people called him Translucent. The fact that someone as amazing as him still needed her help made Skye feel as if she was amazing too, as if she was finally being recognized.

"Skye, didn't you say you were an incredibly skilled hacker? That you could find any information as long as it existed online?" Saitama asked seriously. What he needed her help with was truly, truly important.

"Of course! I'm an incredibly skilled hacker. I can't speak for everything else, but this is what I'm best at." Skye nodded emphatically. She was getting more and more excited. She thought Saitama might be planning some big job, and this time she could be part of it. It was fantastic.

"Then, Skye, could you look online and find out when all the supermarkets have sales and what kinds of things they discount? We could use that information. Ideally, we'd find stuff that's 90% off, like the milk." Saitama clasped his hands together and earnestly begged Skye.

Skye had been excited, her eyes full of anticipation, but after hearing Saitama's request, she froze and stared blankly at him.

"Please, Skye." Saitama pleaded earnestly again.

"So, the favor you want to ask me is just... just that?"

"Yeah. That way, I wouldn't have to go to each store one by one, and I wouldn't have to worry about missing the sale times. So this favor is really, really important. Skye, please help me!"

"...Get out!" Skye replied with a single word.

"Huh?" Saitama blinked. He hadn't expected Skye to react that way, especially since she'd been so excited just a moment ago.

"Get out, and take your milk with you!" Seeing Saitama like that only made Skye angrier. She threw the bottle of milk she'd only taken a couple of sips from.

"Ah! No!" Saitama flashed forward and caught the milk without spilling a drop. But when he saw that the two bottles were still almost full, he frowned slightly. "Oh no! If we have two bottles, we might not be able to finish the instant noodles. But they'll expire after tonight. We're doomed. What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?"