A giant appears

At the dining table.

Saitama was eagerly swishing beef through the hot pot with his chopsticks. Feeling waves of hostility coming his way, he couldn't help asking Runo, who kept staring at him, "Am I really that scary?"

Runo wasn't eating anything. She simply held her chopsticks and watched Saitama warily.

"Your bald head is pretty intimidating to little girls," Baicang said, looking displeased at Saitama for "bullying" Runo.

An annoyed Saitama stuffed a freshly cooked slice of beef into his mouth. What, was being bald a crime?!

"Big brother, this guy is dangerous!" Runo warned Baicang uneasily.

"My name is Saitama, not 'this guy'! And I'm your brother's teacher, too. Show me some respect!"

Saitama couldn't understand why Baicang's little sister was so hostile toward him. Was it because of his bald head? Being bald wasn't a crime!

Baicang didn't know why Runo had such a problem with Saitama, either.

"Why do you say Saitama is dangerous?" Baicang knew perfectly well how terrifying Saitama was, but he didn't understand what Runo meant by that.

"Because... because it's a woman's sixth sense!" Runo didn't know how to explain, so she made up an excuse. She couldn't very well tell Baicang outright what she felt when she looked at Saitama.

Baicang had said that this terrifying bald monster before her was his teacher, but she couldn't bear the thought of her brother staying near such a dangerous being. She just wanted him to stay away from Saitama.

"Look... look, he doesn't even have hair, and he wears such an ugly combat suit. He's obviously a pervert!" Runo looked at Saitama with contempt.

Saitama looked thoroughly unremarkable, and she couldn't exactly say he looked like a bad person, so Runo could only pick on his bald head and combat suit.

"You little brat! How am I a pervert?!" Saitama pointed his chopsticks at Runo in irritation.

Runo was initially frightened by Saitama's anger, but after glancing at Baicang, she stubbornly stared right back.

"Hmph!"

Watching Runo, Baicang kept pressing his fingers against his tightly furrowed brow. It was as though he could see Tatsumaki in her.

Ignoring the two as they squared off, Baicang just wanted to eat his hot pot in peace.

Just then.

An emergency news bulletin suddenly interrupted the television program.

"A gigantic creature has appeared in D City and is now approaching City B. Citizens, please stay away from both City B and D City. Heroes are already on their way. Please..."

Baicang's phone also received a message from the Hero Association, telling him to head to the disaster zone and help the citizens once the disaster had been resolved.

"Saitama-sensei." Baicang turned toward Saitama, only to find that he was already gone. The balcony window had been opened at some point, too.

Take me with you!! He wanted to rush to the scene as well.

The gigantic creature had to be the colossal giant from the anime. Baicang remembered that a musclehead had drunk the "Ultimate Assimilation Steroid Biceps King" developed by his older brother, transforming straight from a big, muscular guy into a colossal giant with Dragon-level combat power.

That leap in power was absurd, and there seemed to have been some potion left over. If he could find even a little residue, it would be worth studying even if he didn't use it himself. Saitama would punch the giant to death anyway, so there was no danger. Anything he picked up would be pure profit.

After telling Runo to be good and stay home, Baicang hurried downstairs, mounted his pink chariot, and headed for the disaster site.

"Faster! Come on!" Out on the main road, Baicang encouraged his little electric scooter as it raced along. Unfortunately, its motor wasn't up to the task, and its current speed was only sixty kilometers per hour. By the time he arrived, the giant's corpse would probably already stink.

Just as Baicang was considering whether running might be faster, a delighted voice called out from behind him.

"Senior!" A heavy black motorcycle approached him with two girls aboard. The rider was none other than Mizuki, and behind her sat a girl wearing an athletic tank top and denim shorts.

That must be Tanktop Girl.

"Senior, are you heading to the scene, too?" Mizuki slowed down and pulled alongside Baicang.

Looking at Mizuki's sleek, awesome motorcycle, Baicang found his little pink scooter more irritating by the second. He simply stopped and told her, "Yes. I'm commandeering your bike now. Let's swap."

"Sure! We can just..." Mizuki stopped the bike and agreed without a second thought.

"No way!" Tanktop Girl interrupted Mizuki before she could get off, clearly not on board with Baicang's suggestion.

Mizuki looked at Tanktop Girl helplessly. "But Senior said..."

"Are you stupid? How long would it take us to get there on that electric scooter? No, absolutely not." Tanktop Girl hugged Mizuki, refusing to let her get off.

"Fine, then. Scoot back a little." As he spoke, Baicang began squeezing in between Mizuki and Tanktop Girl.

"Ah! What are you doing?!" When Baicang reached for her hands to pry them away from Mizuki, Tanktop Girl hastily jumped off the motorcycle and glared at him as he settled into her seat.

"My scooter's too slow, and you won't swap, so I had no choice but to squeeze in."

Baicang looked at Tanktop Girl with an innocent expression.

"How could you do that? We're girls!" Tanktop Girl wanted to tear that shameless look right off his face.

"It's fine. I don't mind."

"You..." Baicang's sheer shamelessness left Tanktop Girl speechless.

Seeing that Tanktop Girl had fallen silent, Baicang forgave her rudeness. He wrapped his arms around Mizuki's waist and said, "Full speed ahead! Let's save the citizens!"

"Yes!" Mizuki was easygoing enough to ignore her angry best friend and twist the throttle all the way.

Vroom! Vroom! Vroom!

"Hey!" At the very last second before the motorcycle took off, Tanktop Girl leaped aboard. Luckily, both she and Mizuki were slender, without an ounce of spare fat around their narrow waists, so there was still a tiny bit of room for her to sit. She clung to Baicang to keep from falling off.

"Hey, what are you doing? Men and women shouldn't get so touchy-feely." Baicang turned to look at Tanktop Girl, who was hugging his waist tightly.

"Hmph!"

Now that she knew just how shameless Baicang was, Tanktop Girl didn't want to argue with him. She snorted and turned her head away.

Why was everyone copying Tatsumaki today? Seeing Tanktop Girl acting just like Runo had earlier, Baicang couldn't help grumbling to himself.

"Senior, is this fast enough?" Mizuki glanced back with a smile, confirmed that her best friend had climbed aboard, and stuck her little tongue out at Tanktop Girl, who was glaring furiously at her.

"Faster. Get to the disaster site as quickly as possible." His little pink scooter had already held Baicang up for far too long. Now he only hoped to arrive in time for Saitama to defeat the giant.

"Yes! Extreme mode activated!" Mizuki shouted excitedly and reached up to press a red button on the dashboard. With a tremendous blast from the exhaust, the front wheel of the speeding motorcycle lifted straight into the air.

"Ah!" The rear seat almost scraped the ground. A frightened Tanktop Girl let out a piercing scream and clung desperately to Baicang's waist.

Baicang held Mizuki's waist tightly with one hand and reached back with the other to support Tanktop Girl's back, keeping her from falling.

Fortunately, a few seconds later, the front wheel returned to the road, and the engine roared as it propelled the motorcycle forward.

Reassured, Tanktop Girl breathed a sigh of relief and said softly to Baicang, "Thanks... for that."

But Baicang didn't respond.

Thinking he hadn't heard her, Tanktop Girl repeated herself.

Baicang still didn't respond.

Convinced that Baicang was deliberately messing with her, Tanktop Girl gave his "waist" a deliberate pinch.

Baicang: "Ah!"