Special Sale

It was a hot Saturday evening when Genos first saw him. The cicadas could already be heard chirping from the nearby trees and the cyborg's gears whirred in response to the heat. The seventeen year old was in the midst of locking the glass doors of the grocery store when he heard a loud wail behind him.

"I missed it!" A twenty-something year old man in a blue tracksuit was kneeling on the ground clutching his spiky black hair in agony.

The man gave one last cry of defeat before Genos thought it appropriate to go up to him and ask what was wrong.

Instead of replying, the stranger dug his hand into his tracksuit pockets and shakily pulled out a crumpled flyer that advertised, in bold colorful letters, today's bargain sale. Circled repeatedly on the paper was the date.

It was obvious that the older man had been eagerly waiting for the sale, so much so that he was actually sobbing over missing it. Genos would have reopened the doors to allow him in, but there were barely any items left in the store. He awkwardly brought out his hand to hopefully comfort the sad figure, but before he got too close, the other man abruptly stood up. From this distance, Genos was able to examine the older man's face. Beyond the gross frown lines, the man had a sharp chiseled face that most people would call handsome and really thinning hair. Before he could inspect the man even further, the other turned around and sluggishly started walking, still upset about the sale.

"Wait!" Genos surprised both the tracksuit man and himself, he usually doesn't bother socializing with others. He only started working in the grocery store to help the owners rebuild the parts of the building which got destroyed after he fought a monster that terrorized the area a month ago. The husband and wife were at first just grateful for saving their lives but his decision to help held firm after finding out the couple had two young children. Other than towards the family, he kept silent even in front of other customers.

Genos quickly pulled out his black flip-phone from the large pocket in the front of his apron and walked towards the man.

"As of yet, there will be no other bargain sales," at the sudden drop of the older man's shoulders, the blond quickly continued, "but I can contact you if there is one...if you don't mind."

The tracksuit man straightened his back in surprise, "Oh, yeah. Thanks!" He pulled out his own cellphone and they exchanged numbers.

"What is your name? So I can save it. Mine's Saitama." Genos looked up from the screen of his phone at the older man—Saitama's smile.

"Genos..."

"Great!" Saitama put away his phone and jogged off. "Thanks again!"

Genos stared after Saitama until he could no longer see his moving figure along the horizon.

"Saitama..." he whispered, the tracksuit man was one of only a few of his contacts. His gears immediately whirred at the sound of the other's name, so he snapped the phone shut and dropped it back in his pocket.

He needs to finish cleaning up.

The next sale was only two weeks later. The storeowners accidentally received extra shipments of produce the week before and now they were on the verge of expiring. The items were priced at such low prices, they were practically free.

Genos hadn't contacted Saitama until the few days before to remind the older man.

Genos: There will be another bargain sale this Saturday.

It took a while for Saitama to respond, during which the cyborg wondered if he had the right number. Genos thought there was no need to text him other than for sale reminders, but he began to question his decision. Should he have at least sent one greeting? Just to make sure Saitama would get it?