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Mumen Rider was a busy guy, being the most active C Class hero in all of Z City. He didn’t come over randomly to hang out the way the other heroes Saitama was familiar with did. That made him better company, in Saitama’s opinion, so he got the invite when Saitama needed a third person to qualify for a group discount at the Italian restaurant he usually couldn’t afford.
It was Mumen, Saitama, and Genos of course, tucked into a little booth and talking shop over pasta and salad. Genos and Mumen had a heated discussion about jurisdiction that Saitama couldn’t follow at all, so he was the only one who noticed when the waitress brought them refills she slipped a napkin under only Mumen’s glass.
“Hey,” Saitama pointed at it. “Phone number?”
“Hm?” Mumen flipped it over. “Oh, yes. Oh dear.”
“You seeing anybody?”
“No, nothing like that. I don’t have the time.” His brow was furrowed over his glasses. “Should I say something?”
“Beats me. I’ve only ever seen this happen to Genos.”
They both looked at him, Genos as stoic as ever. “I don’t usually acknowledge it.”
Seeing the opportunity to change the subject, Saitama poked Mumen in the arm. “So you’re not dating at all right now?”
“My job is too important to me.” He rubbed his arm. “It wouldn’t be fair to ask someone to put up with that.”
Saitama nodded solemnly. “It’s a burden.”
“What about a fellow hero?” Genos asked. “They would understand.”
“I suppose. But it’s never come up.”
“What’s your type?” Saitama asked, enjoying the way this was clearly making Mumen uncomfortable.
“I don’t know if I have one.” He fidgeted with the straw in his drink. “I’ve only ever gone out with people who asked me.”
“Well you must have had crushes.”
“A couple, I guess?”
“Who was your first ever crush?”
“Oh, gosh, um…” Mumen stared up at the ceiling thoughtfully. “I think… my best friend in middle school? We were very close, I didn’t realize it was more until he confessed to me.”
“First crush, not first relationship.”
“Yes, it was him.” Mumen looked a little sheepish. “Before we were friends, he was kind of a delinquent, and I was fixated on helping him turn his life around, but I couldn’t tell you why. I think he knew before I did.”
“So you like bad boys!” Saitama grinned.
“I- I wouldn’t say that…”
“Too bad, it’s decided.”
“Well what about you?” Mumen countered. “Who was your first crush?”
“Oh, mine’s even more boring. There was this girl who lived across the street from me who was always getting in fights. I thought she was so cool.” Saitama laughed. “I wasn’t sure if I wanted to marry her or be her.”
“How old were you?”
“Like five or six? Until she moved when I was nine. Never spoke to her. Not once.” This was starting to get too personal, so Saitama turned to Genos. “What about you?”
Genos looked like he’d been sneak-attacked. “Me?”
“Who was your first crush?”
Genos didn’t say anything for long enough that Saitama started to remember how rarely he talked about his past. He’d even mentioned he wasn’t sure if all his memories were real.
“Never mi-”
“Kamen Rider Hibiki.”
Saitama burst out laughing. He couldn’t help it, the answer was so normal, and here he’d been worried about triggering Genos’ trauma. “That wasn’t even one of the good ones!”
“It wasn’t bad,” Mumen said, charitably. “Genos, you’d have been awfully young for it, though.”
“I was,” Genos agreed. “But we had it on tape. My… my brother was a fan.”
“Seriously?” Saitama said. “I mean, I was already too old when it came out, but I heard it was pretty awful.”
“The writing and the characters were fine,” Mumen said. “But they were trying to do a major reboot of the usual plot and it wasn’t very popular.”
“And then they tried to dial back on the changes and alienated new fans.” Genos sounded bitter. “Not to mention the ending.”
“The ending was considered something of a betrayal,” Mumen grimaced. “A character who…” He trailed off. “It’s complicated.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Saitama glanced at Genos, who was scowling. “So you liked the main guy?”
“Ah… yes, sensei. It extended to the actor as well. I ended up watching some other series he was in.”
“Pretty normal. How old were you?”
“Seven or eight? I think. When it became a crush, at least.”
“Early bloomer. Like me.” Saitama nodded. “You know, you’re a big name hero and all. You could probably meet this guy.”
Genos had that just-been-struck look again. “I couldn’t!”
Saitama smiled. He was too good. “Just to tell him you’re a fan. He’d probably like it.”
“No, no way.” Genos shook his head so fast it blurred. “Abusing my position just to meet a small time actor?”
“Come oooon,” Saitama teased. “Imagine if it went well.”
“He’s married! And I wouldn’t want that now anyway.” Genos’ vents were starting to steam, so he scooted out of the booth. “Excuse me sensei, I’ll be right back.”
Saitama watched him make a beeline for the bathroom to cool down, smiling fondly. The kid was too easy to rile up, really.
“Saitama,” Mumen said, voice low. “How much do you know about Kamen Rider Hibiki?”
“Huh? Not much. Why?” It was a weird question to ask so seriously.
“Hibiki is the main character, but the viewpoint character is a teenager named Asumu. He meets Hibiki and asks to train under him as his student.”
That already sounded uncomfortably familiar. “Ah…”
“Hibiki and several other characters are called oni. They’ve trained to the point they become more than human, you see.”
“Trained?”
“That’s a theme during the series. That anyone can change themselves if they work hard enough.”
Saitama swallowed, mouth dry. “What are you saying?”
“Only explaining the series to you.” Mumen took a sip of his ice water. The napkin with the phone number on it was still sitting on the table, forgotten.
“What happened in the end that pissed everyone off?”
“Asumu, the student, decides not to become an oni and study to be a doctor instead.”
“Sheesh, after a whole series of identifying with the kid, I can see why the fans didn’t like it.”
Saitama saw Genos coming back, bangs a little damp. He must have splashed water on his face. “You think I should watch it?”
“That’s up to you.” Mumen glanced at Genos, and back at Saitama. “What do you want?”
That evening, after they got home, Saitama settled by the computer while Genos put their leftovers in the fridge. A quick search found what he was looking for.
“Hey, Genos?”
“Yes sensei?”
“You wanna watch Kamen Rider together?”
“If you want, sensei. The newest one?”
“Nah.” Saitama picked up the laptop and started sorting through cords to figure out how to hook it up to the tv. “I heard a lot of good things about this one from a few years ago, W.”
“Kamen Rider W?”
“Yeah, see, it’s about two guys, an older one and a teenager, and they turn into one Kamen Rider.” He sat up and touched his index fingers together. “Fused like, you know?”
“I see.” I sat down in his usual spot at the table.
“It’s a pun, Kamen Rider Double, get it?”
“I get it.”
“So they’ve got to work together, as partners.” Saitama ducked behind the television, to plug things in and hide his blush. “Equals.”
“I see…” Genos sounded thoughtful. Saitama didn’t want to see the look on his face.
“Well uh, I heard good things, so.” Saitama leaned back out. “I think I got it. Click on that video.”
Genos did. The light changed, but Saitama couldn’t see what was happening from back here.
“Did it work?”
“It’s playing but there’s no sound, sensei.”
“Damn! I thought I had it that time.” He extracted himself from behind the tv stand. “Is it another cable?”
“We can just watch on the laptop, sensei.”
Saitama unplugged everything again and settled the laptop on the table, then nestled in next to Genos. “It’s a small screen,” he said, as if that explained anything. “You sure you don’t mind?”
“I don’t mind at all, sensei,” Genos said firmly. Saitama ignored how quickly he was heating up.
“Well, how about a couple episodes before bed, to see if we like it?”
“Okay, that sounds… nice.”
Maybe they were both overheating. Saitama shifted so his arm was just barely touching Genos’ elbow, turned up the volume, and clicked play.