One Punch Man: Neutral Grounds

Chapter 38

They had made it halfway to the apartment complex when another random hero encountered them. This one was slender, appeared to be a martial arts fighter in a white fighting uniform, and he simply got into a fighting stance. His black eyes narrowed with a silent rage, and his topknot of black hair was set with chopsticks to keep in place. There was a scowl on his clean shaven face, and he lacked sandals to show he went barefoot everywhere.

"Um...who are you?" Zenchu frowned.

"I am the B class hero, Fighting Foot!" the man said and did a dramatic leg lift to show off the bottom of his left foot. What Zenchu saw was how the underside of his foot was completely blackened with dirt and street grime.

"What?" Saitama asked with confusion.

"Ah...do you even wash your feet? I thought you'd at least have the decency to protect your feet with linen. Even sandals," Zenchu asked. That got Mitsumi to hiss with laughter and press into Saitama's neck.

"Anyways...um...that's nice. Take care," Saitama said with a small shrug and started to walk off. Then the hero jumped in front of him to stop him.

"I'm here to challenge anyone that thinks they are heroes!" Fighting Foot said. Saitama tilted his bald head at the guy. Mitsumi blinked at him and looked at Saitama when he looked at her with mild confusion.

"They are heroes. S class," Zenchu said and crossed his arms over his chest. Then he snapped his tail out to show he wasn't human. "I'm a monster, though. Friendly one. Yes, we exist. Neutral Grounds is our restaurant."

"Oh. That place?!" Fighting Foot grimaced. "It should be exterminated!"

"For what purpose? Two monsters are now human again," Mitsumi said with a small smile. "They wanted to be human."

"And that guy?!" the hero pointed at Zenchu.

"I'm not attacking anyone. Doesn't that say something?" Zenchu snorted. "Anyways, you should go somewhere else. We're going home."

"Not until I test your power!" the hero said and got ready to attack.

"Your turn, dear?" Mitsumi smiled.

"Yeah. I don't wanna know if he's wearing underwear or not," Saitama said, pressed a kiss to her mouth and brought up a hand to simply grab the man's foot when it was brought up to kick at him. He didn't even need to put Mitsumi down. Now the hero started to scream out his shock. "True heroes don't attack other heroes. Even with shows of strength. It's degrading. It's disgusting. And it's beneath a true moral standard."

"Okay! Okay!" the man cried. Saitama now let the man go. He fell over backwards and right onto the ground. Mitsumi frowned at this, but Zenchu was sniggering softly at the whole thing.

"Act like a hero. If you really want to show off what you're made of, you would have offered to assist with things. Not outright give a boast of strength to prove a point. That's stupid. And be glad I'm letting you walk away dressed as you are. My fiancée tends to shred clothing off of others to fully shame them," Saitama said with a neutral glare.

"Yeah...it's why I don't get into trouble anymore," Zenchu nodded. "Shall we go home, Lady Mitsumi?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"Ugh. Now I have foot dirt all over my glove," Saitama grimaced and got Zenchu laughing. "I don't want to touch you with it."

"Yeah. Take the glove off for now?" she asked. He nodded to do just that and started to walk off with her. Zenchu clucked his tongue at Fighting Foot and followed them both.

"Wait!" Fighting Foot said.

"Nope," Saitama said and kept walking.

"What can that girl do? Why is she so special?" the hero demanded.