Skye

"Ah! I'm finally saved!" After swallowing the last piece of bread in his hand, Saitama sighed with satisfaction.

"You eat so much." Skye watched Saitama devour enough bread to last her three days in a single sitting and couldn't help commenting.

"Because I haven't eaten anything for a whole day."

"You haven't eaten for a whole day? You—you're a hero, aren't you? Why would you go a whole day without eating?"

Skye looked at Saitama curiously. Her gaze couldn't help drifting to his head. His gleaming bald scalp was impossible to miss; compared to the rest of him, it stood out the most.

"Because nobody here will take my money." Saitama pulled out his wallet with a tragic expression and dumped a handful of small-denomination coins onto the table.

"What's this? Money? It isn't dollars." Skye examined the coins, puzzled. They looked like real currency, but they weren't dollars—or even the currency of any country she knew.

"I don't know either. Anyway, nobody here will take my money, so I can't buy food and have to go hungry. But luckily, I ran into you. You're a really good person." Saitama looked at Skye gratefully. She'd treated him to bread even though they'd only just met—she had to be a good person.

Saitama seemed to have forgotten that he'd just saved Skye.

"A good person? Me?" It was the first time anyone had called Skye that.

"Mm-hmm!" Saitama nodded emphatically.

"...By the way, Saitama, where are you from? Judging by your complexion, are you Chinese? Japanese? Or maybe Korean?"

"Huh? I live in Z City."

"Z City? Where's that?"

"Z City is Z City!"

"..." Skye felt like she was having trouble communicating with Saitama. He kept saying he lived in Z City, but couldn't tell her what country it was in or where on Earth it was. It was as if he had no concept of countries at all.

But Skye's impression was right. In the world Saitama came from, monsters had become so rampant that the planet's countries had long since ceased to exist as a concept. Earth had been divided into only a few major areas.

"Fine, let's not talk about that, Saitama. Why did you want to become—um, what was it you called it? A hero?"

"Because I felt like it."

"Because you felt like it?" Skye looked baffled again. She couldn't quite figure out what was going through Saitama's head.

"Yeah. I felt like it, so I became a hero." Saitama answered casually, but then his expression suddenly turned serious. "Hey, Skye!"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know how to get to A City?"

"A City? I've never heard of it. Is it some kind of abbreviation?"

"...Forget it. The supermarket sale will be over by now, so there's no point going to A City. Damn it, discounted steak! I haven't eaten meat in a whole month. Damn it!" Saitama clutched his head in anguish.

Skye blinked. She didn't quite understand what Saitama was talking about. But she understood what he meant by a sale and going a month without meat. And that only made it more confusing.

"Saitama, aren't you a hero? Why haven't you eaten meat in a month?"

"Because meat costs too much. I don't have much money, and I have rent to pay soon. Damn it, this is a nightmare!" Thinking about it made Saitama look utterly devastated. His life suddenly seemed so bleak.

"Meat costs too much? You don't have money? And you still have to pay rent?" Skye stared at Saitama, bewildered. "But—but—but aren't you a hero? How can a hero be broke? And even have to pay rent?" Saitama had suddenly shattered her entire idea of what a hero was.

"Isn't it normal for heroes to be broke? I have to train every day, then go out and be a hero. I don't have time to find a job, so I can't earn money. The only money I have comes from kind people after I defeat monsters. So it's normal for me to be broke, right?" Saitama explained.

"..." Skye suddenly felt sorry for Saitama. More than a hero, he seemed like a beggar who couldn't find work and had to rely on other people's charity. But no matter how she looked at it, how could a hero possibly be this poor? He hadn't eaten meat for a whole month? Beef wasn't expensive in the United States—in fact, it was quite cheap. Eating beef for all three meals every day was perfectly normal, just like eating rice or steamed buns with every meal in China.

So how miserable did you have to be to go a whole month without meat? The more Skye thought about it, the sorrier she felt for Saitama.

"Um, I think I'm lost. Do you know how to get to Z City?" Saitama asked for directions again.

"Z City? Sorry, I've never heard of it."

"Oh no, I think I can't get home. Damn it, I've asked so many people, and not one of them knows the way." Saitama looked troubled, but then his expression changed, and a hint of delight crept in. "But does this mean I don't have to pay rent?"

"..." Skye.

"No, wait. Even if I don't have to pay rent, I still have a lot of household items in my room that I bought with money. This is bad!" Saitama cried out again.

"..." Skye said, "Um, it sounds like you can't get home, but you don't have any money either. Do you want to stay at my place for a while?"

As soon as she said it, Skye began to regret it. The place she'd found wasn't very big; it was just enough for one person. It would be a little cramped for two, and, most importantly, Saitama was a man—a man she'd only just met. Even though he'd saved her, and she really did owe him, inviting someone to stay with her so abruptly still felt a little awkward.

"Really? Is it really okay?" Saitama's eyes lit up, and he fixed Skye with his fish-like eyes.

Feeling uncomfortable under Saitama's gaze, Skye looked away. "Sure. If you don't mind sleeping on the couch, you can stay there for now."

"No problem at all." Saitama grinned, showing off a set of gleaming white teeth.

Though suddenly and inexplicably moving in with someone else wasn't ideal, Saitama didn't have much choice.

Saitama couldn't find his way home, and even this world seemed strange. He hadn't encountered a single monster all day, and everything about the world seemed different. He still didn't know what was going on, but he had a vague feeling that he might never get home.

He couldn't get home, everything around him was unfamiliar, and most importantly, he had no money. So when someone offered him a place to stay for a while, Saitama was naturally very grateful.