Chapter 17 — Seventeenth Punch
Lately, Saitama had been sensing an unusual presence.
For some reason, he could feel an abnormal gaze, persistently fixed on him.
Whether he was on his way to Jujutsu High, returning from it, running his routine ten kilometers, or even rushing to the supermarket for discounted items, the feeling of being watched was inescapable.
…
Saitama stood quietly in front of a shelf, picking up a box of bean sprouts to check the price before placing it in the shopping basket slung over his arm.
The instant the sprouts touched the basket, that familiar sensation returned.
Someone was definitely watching him!
In that moment, Saitama's expression hardened. He spun around sharply—180 degrees!
As his cloak swept behind him, a half-circle whirlwind erupted from him like a rotating tornado. A crackling sound rang out as the pyramid-like stacks of promotional instant noodle buckets behind him were blasted away by the wind pressure, colliding with shelves further away.
The crashing noodles caught the attention of the customers buried in their shopping. Not far off, a store clerk panicked and ran over:
"Whoa! The noodles are all over the floor! What are you doing?!"
"Ah… sorry!" Saitama blinked, quickly apologizing, his expression returning to its usual simplistic, cartoonish look.
Amid the clerk's complaints, Saitama crouched down and helped stack the noodles back up. As he did, a small frown creased his face.
"Couldn't spot whoever's following me, and now I've knocked over someone else's display… just my luck."
Meanwhile, seven or eight shelves away, Genos stood with his back to Saitama, quietly hiding behind the shelves.
—Half a month ago, Genos had gone on a long journey to search for clues about the cyborg who destroyed his hometown. But upon returning, he noticed that Sensei Saitama seemed to have changed significantly.
First, a new enemy appeared near his home. Then there was the so-called "Jujutsu High." To see the invincible Saitama sensei become someone else's disciple was hard for Genos to accept.
So, he decided to follow Saitama quietly for a while to observe.
But it seemed Saitama had already sensed something. Now, what should he do next…
---
Elsewhere.
Ever since Saitama saved him from the bullies, Junpei Yoshino had spent his first day of a school leave day training with admiration for Saitama.
At five in the morning, before dawn, while his mother Nagi Yoshino was still asleep, he washed quickly, changed into sportswear, and went out.
By eight, Nagi Yoshino had finished getting ready for work. She opened the door with a creak.
"Oh, Junpei, you're back. Why go out so early? I tried calling you for breakfast but couldn't find you…" She was arranging some files for work when she looked up mid-sentence. "Uh… Junpei?"
Her hands trembled, and a thick stack of papers fell to the floor. Junpei leaned against the wall, walking in with difficulty. He was panting heavily, his sportswear soaked through with sweat, his long black hair clinging to his pale face.
"Junpei! What did you do? Why are you like this?" Nagi rushed forward, helping her son, concern etched on her face. "What happened?"
Junpei panted, finally managing to speak after a long pause:
"I… I just ran… ten… ten kilometers…"
"…"
Nagi froze.
He ran ten kilometers and returned like this, panting so heavily? Her son's endurance must be awful.
She released her hold, picked up the fallen files, clicked the door shut, and went off to work.
Junpei, catching his breath, dragged himself to the table. There was a plate with an egg-and-sausage sandwich his mother had made and a carton of milk taken from the fridge. He grabbed the sandwich and swallowed it, then drank the milk in one go.
"Then a hundred push-ups, a hundred sit-ups, a hundred squats…"
He took a deep breath, dropped to his knees, hands on the floor, and tried to push up.
But the fatigue from the ten-kilometer run made his body collapse. He fell flat on the floor with a thud, face down.
"Ugh…"
After lying there for half a minute, he struggled to get up and resumed his push-ups.
And so, Junpei Yoshino's training began.
…
Half a month later.
No matter how long it took, he ran ten kilometers every day; even if his arms hurt so much he could barely move, he finished a hundred push-ups; even if his legs trembled with every squat taking fifteen seconds, he completed a hundred squats.
One day, while combing his hair in front of the mirror, Junpei froze in shock.
The comb was tangled with dozens of fallen black hairs.
His hands trembled. Holding the hair, he touched his own head, muttering to himself.
"Am I… finally going bald?"
…
That afternoon.
"What a headache… I just realized the men's shampoo I've been giving Junpei for half a month is fake and damages the scalp. Darn scammers…" Nagi muttered to herself, pushing open the door. "I need to get him a new brand…"
She looked around the empty house in confusion. "Huh? Junpei? Did he go out?"
At the same time, at Sakura High School in Kanagawa Prefecture.
The four high school boys who used to bully Junpei were strutting through the hallway, shouting loudly. Other students frowned but kept their distance out of fear.
"Hahaha, look at them. Pathetic… right, Itō?"
One of them, Nishimura, looked smugly at the students scattering around and spoke to a boy in their group with chestnut-dyed hair, a hint of flattery in his voice.
"Hmph," Itō rolled his eyes. "Boring."
"…."
Nishimura choked back his words, thinking bitterly. But since Itō was the richest and most influential of their group, he had no choice but to humor him.
"Anyway," Itō continued, "since Yoshino's been on leave, the fun's really gone down."
"That guy comes from a single-parent household. No father at home, so even if fed worms, he wouldn't tell anyone," Itō sneered maliciously. "People like him can't be replaced."
"Without him, it's really a headache. Even if we want a new target, my dad warned me not to go too far, unlike that mayor's son in Fukuoka, who got caught because he slipped up."
Mentioning Yoshino made the other three stiffen. They instantly recalled being knocked out by the bald guy in the alley.
Nishimura thought, Itō wasn't there then. His family's car picked him up first, or else he wouldn't be saying this.
Silence lingered. Frustrated at the lack of response, Itō frowned. "Cat got your tongue?"
Honda suddenly remembered something, chuckling: "Why don't we just go to the Eizouken clubroom? That kid keeps all his treasures there. If we smash everything, his face when he comes back will be priceless!"
"Good idea!" the others agreed. "Let's take pictures for memories."
Hahaha…
The four of them laughed and headed for the clubroom. Nishimura kicked the door open first.
"…Huh?"
Sunlight streamed through the window, casting grid-like patterns on the wooden floor. But instead of the empty room they expected, a slightly thin figure stood there.
Junpei Yoshino slowly turned around. Sunlight edged his figure in brightness, but his eyes, shadowed by backlight, glinted a deep green.
After a brief pause, Itō, standing beside the other three, suddenly smiled maliciously and silently, slamming the clubroom door shut behind him.
After a tense moment, Nishimura realized the Saitama who once beat them up wasn't here, so his expression changed. Hands in his pockets, he swaggered toward Junpei.
"Lucky me… thought it was someone else. So it's little Junpei, huh?" He smirked. "Finally not taking leave?"
Junpei remained silent.
"Hey, don't be so cold. We're 'old friends,' right? We were bored while you were gone." Nishimura laughed arrogantly. "Normally, we should welcome your return… but too bad, you made a mistake."
He stepped in front of Junpei, his face turning vicious.
"Didn't we say this place belongs to us? You trespass here, it's a capital offense!"
Junpei coldly stared at him. The grotesque face before him could intimidate anyone, but in his mind, he saw the image of Saitama in the alley, the figure he admired. That memory alone gave him strength.
The face before him was still fearsome. This guy just wanted an excuse to attack him. But that didn't matter.
Why? Because he was starting to go bald. So now…
He was definitely stronger than he used to be!
"This is the Eizouken clubroom," Junpei said, clenching his fists. "It's the clubroom the school assigned to us."
Nishimura's eyes twitched.
"So?"
"So."
Junpei spread his stance and suddenly threw a punch at Nishimura's face.
"I'm taking back our clubroom!"