Chapter 6 — Sixth Punch
"Riiing—riiing—riiing—"
The jarring sound made Saitama shoot open his eyes and slap the alarm clock beside him.
"Ah, a subterranean creature!" he shouted loudly, sitting upright in a panic. But as the familiar interior of his apartment came into view, his expression gradually softened into blankness.
"…Ah, it was just a dream."
Saitama glanced around, yawned, and looked a little disappointed. "So, those thrilling, all-out battles only happen in dreams…"
He scratched at the collar of his striped pajamas, pushed the blanket aside, and got up. With one hand, he fumbled around the small table, trying to find the remote to check the morning news.
Normally, he would only learn about incidents around the country through live news broadcasts, then rush out to uphold justice and deal with evil forces.
"Hm?"
Before grabbing the remote, he found his phone. Glancing casually at the screen, he saw a new unread email.
[From: Gojo Satoru
To: Saitama
Sub: I'm counting on you to do the errand to retrieve the Special Grade cursed item.]
"Huh? How does this person even know my email address…" Saitama tapped the phone a few times. "Oh, right—I must've written it on the application form for the entrance exam yesterday…"
"Meet someone named Fushiguro Megumi at Tokyo Station at 7:30, take the Shinkansen to Sendai, and retrieve the Special Grade cursed object, 'Sukuna's Finger'…" Saitama slowly read the email aloud, his voice getting quieter. Glancing at the alarm clock he'd knocked aside, beads of sweat appeared on his bald head.
"…Wait, there's less than half an hour left?"
…
After hurriedly washing up, Saitama changed into his usual yellow jumpsuit for going out to uphold justice, draped his cape, and sprinted toward the station entrance.
By 7:30, the station was already bustling. The gleaming white bullet train lay silently on the tracks, ferrying travelers with large bags back and forth. Nearby shops selling bento boxes and various goods had opened, with colorful signs attracting customers.
Saitama confirmed the meeting spot and stared blankly at the email on his phone.
"The email says I'm supposed to meet a first-year student called 'Fushiguro Megumi'… but it doesn't say what he looks like…" Saitama murmured to himself.
"Um, are you Saitama?"
A slightly cold, reserved voice spoke from behind. Saitama turned to see a boy in a black high-collar uniform, with black hair and blue eyes, holding his phone while asking.
His hair was stiff and stuck up in all directions, swaying slightly as he moved in front of Saitama's eyes. Instinctively, Saitama's gaze followed it for a moment.
It looked so thick.
"Ah, yes, I'm Saitama," he replied.
The boy exhaled a slight sigh of relief.
"Gojo-sensei sent you, right? I'm Fushiguro Megumi, the first-year student assigned to retrieve the Special Grade cursed item with you. Thankfully, I found you in person, otherwise this would've been a big problem."
"Huh? Why's that?" Saitama asked, puzzled.
Megumi didn't answer immediately. Instead, he flipped his phone around to show Saitama the screen.
On it was the email Gojo had sent him. Aside from instructions to go to Sendai to retrieve Sukuna's Finger, it also included a description of Saitama.
Gojo had inserted a normal photo of an egg, drawn an arrow on it, and labeled it: "Saitama looks like this ^U^"
"…," Saitama's face fell.
"Anyway, I have the train tickets. We meet first, then take the Shinkansen together," Megumi said, scratching the back of his head and averting his gaze. "Gojo-sensei… he's nearly thirty, but sometimes he's just like a kid, making people run errands all the time."
Megumi glanced at Saitama's outfit: a cheap-looking yellow jumpsuit, red rubber gloves and boots, and a white cape. His discontent with Gojo grew.
What kind of partner had he been assigned? This person supposedly a first-year trainee, yet he seemed like an adult. And why was he wearing such a ridiculous costume? Did Gojo think retrieving a Special Grade cursed item was like performing at a kids' park?
Megumi wasn't the type to interrogate someone he'd just met. Seeing Saitama's clueless expression, he politely nodded. "Let's get on the train first."
The train departed at 7:45, fifteen minutes away. Before boarding, Megumi stopped at a small shop on the platform to buy a bento.
"You not getting anything?" he asked, glancing back at Saitama. "It'll be a long ride; you'll need lunch."
"Oh…"
Saitama looked at the bentos, most priced in the thousands of yen. He checked his small wallet—only about 900 yen in coins.
The cheapest bento cost over 1,200 yen (tax included, 1,400). The one Megumi bought cost around 1,800 yen.
Saitama hesitated, finally picking the cheapest seaweed-and-ume rice balls on the menu.
"Then… the cheapest one, please," he said, handing over a 500-yen coin.
Megumi muttered to himself, "So small…" but didn't say more.
On the Shinkansen, once they found seats, Megumi pulled out his phone and notebook, starting to study for the retrieval mission.
"Could I get some tea?" Saitama asked, stopping a passing attendant. Megumi, still writing, cast a glance at him.
Despite heading out to retrieve a Special Grade cursed item, Saitama seemed completely unconcerned, staring at the tea in his hands…
Megumi couldn't help but worry. This guy didn't seem capable of handling dangerous cursed spirits.
"Have you done cursed item retrievals before?" Megumi asked suddenly.
"Huh? Uh… no," Saitama replied, holding the tea cup.
"…Do you at least know what we're retrieving?" Megumi continued, feeling a headache coming on.
"Ah, that… the tricky… uh, Su… su…" Saitama struggled to remember, then his eyes lit up. "The Sukumashi finger!"
"You mean Sukuna's Finger!"
Megumi pressed a hand to his forehead, exasperated. Gojo, what had he sent me? This guy knows nothing…
Megumi closed his notebook with a "snap" and took a deep breath.
"If you go into a Special Grade cursed item retrieval mission knowing nothing, you might get into life-threatening situations. Even as a Grade-2 sorcerer, I might not be able to keep you safe. So, I need to give you a crash course before we reach Sendai."
"Let's start with Special Grade cursed items. The explanation has two parts—Special Grade and cursed item."
"Special Grade refers to the highest level, based on the strength of cursed energy. It applies to sorcerers, curses, cursed items, and cursed tools. Special Grade…"
"A cursed item is an object containing curse energy. Its usage…"
"The item we're retrieving is Sukuna's Finger. Sukuna was the King of Curses in the Heian era a thousand years ago. Back then…"
"There are twenty fingers in total, each…"
"…,"
As Megumi lectured, Saitama's expression went from blank to twisted. Finally, he interrupted.
"Can you just explain it in under twenty characters?"
"…,"
Megumi paused, then muttered a few words:
"Special Grade Cursed Item: thing with very strong dark power.
Sukuna: a two-headed, four-armed monster from a thousand years ago.
Sukuna's Finger: a cursed item, a finger from Sukuna's corpse."
"Oh!" Saitama's eyes lit up as he clenched his fist. "That was all under twenty characters!"
"…," Megumi looked out the window, thinking this bald guy was hopeless…
---
"You're really serious, Megumi. You must always be at the top of your class."
In the afternoon, the two arrived in Sendai. Walking toward the school where Sukuna's Finger was kept, Saitama spoke.
Megumi's eyes flickered; after two seconds, he nodded. "Yeah, always first. I'm the only first-year enrolled right now."
"…Huh, really?"
"There's another regular student, a girl. She hasn't enrolled yet, but she'll be here later."
As they climbed the slope, the school building came into view. It was afternoon, and clubs were active. Through the fence, Saitama could see students in tracksuits sweating and laughing on the field.
"Feels nostalgic," Saitama said, thinking of his high school days. "Back then, I joined the track team."
"And?" Megumi asked.
"Nothing special. I got expelled in less than a month for not participating enough. But the long-distance running habit I didn't develop then stuck with me after graduation."
Seeing the lively school, Saitama finally seemed interested. Pointing at the entrance, he quickened his pace. "Megumi, let's go in!"
"Oh," Megumi said, following in quick steps.
"Youth… really nice," Saitama mused, turning his head as he entered the gate.
Suddenly, a shadow as big as a mountain fell, engulfing Saitama.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?"
A coarse, gruff voice came from the front. Saitama turned to see a burly PE teacher glaring at him.
A few nearby students whispered, "Wow, since Takagi lost to Itadori earlier, he's venting on anyone now…"
"Huh!?"
The teacher, Takagi, snorted, brandishing a wooden sword. "You haven't answered me. Why are you entering our school?"
"Ah," Saitama looked at the campus and, recalling Megumi's twenty-character explanation, confidently pointed. "I'm here to find the things hiding dark energy in your school."
"…," Megumi slammed his palm on his forehead in frustration. Why can he say such ridiculous things so calmly…
Takagi's suspicion turned to certainty. He shouted, "What nonsense! I just saw you sneaking around our cute students, wearing that outfit, acting suspicious… You must be a pervert trying to sneak in and attack!"
"Huh!? Pervert!?"
Saitama's face contorted. At that moment, he felt a click at his wrist.
"Oh?"
He turned to see shiny handcuffs on his wrist and a patrol officer looming over him.
"To ensure the students' safety, the patrol officer often walks around our school. You were just caught peeking inside!" Takagi gloated. "Don't even think about stepping in! Go explain yourself at the police station!"
Megumi was dumbfounded. Saitama had been taken as a suspicious person!
"Wait, I can explain…"
Megumi stepped forward to try to clear Saitama's name. Just then, Takagi spun around, saw Megumi, and smiled warmly.
"You must be a first-year, right? Go on in. That was dangerous; you were too close to that bald pervert. Stay away…"
He guided Megumi into the school, his expression completely different from when he confronted Saitama. Megumi struggled, helpless, watching the patrol officer take the utterly confused Saitama away.
"This is bad… what a mess…"
Megumi had no choice but to pull out his phone and call the irresponsible teacher.
"Gojo-sensei, Saitama got taken by the police."
"Really?"