SaiSuiryu

SaiSuiryu is the slash ship between Saitama and Suiryu from the One Punch Man fandom.

Canon
Suiryu was first very confident in his skills as he hadn’t never lost to anyone in battles. He also didn't think highly of heroes. Partly due to Saitama's invulnerability and monstrous strength, along with his heroic sense, Suiryu quickly began to respect heroes, as Saitama is a true hero in his eyes. After witnessing the heroes (Saitama, Max and Sneck) in action in the Super Fight Tournament arena leads to Suiryu wanting to become a hero as well.

Monster Raid Arc
Suiryu and Saitama both participate in the 22nd Super Fight Tournament. Saitama was disguised as Charanko so he could enter the tournament and learn more about martial arts, while Suiryu returned to the tournament after a few years away and missed it last time, unable to fight the previous mysterious winner, Wolfman.

They don't pay much attention to each other at first, but when Saitama easily defeats Zakos in the tournament, Suiryu sets his eyes at him and is interested in fighting him in the finals. Saitama also sees how Suiryu works and how he immediately beats Max in the tournament as well, but the hero doesn't seem too impressed despite everyone else's reactions to Suiryu's skills. Later Saitama also defeats Bakuzan in one hit, which Suiryu thinks is cool and that he will do the same to his next opponent.

Chapters 66 and 69
The tournament continues and soon Suiryu fights Sneck and the Void Fist martial artist brings out his own belief that only the strongest survive, then he easily defeats the hero martial artist. Unfortunately, Saitama happened to be in the toilet at the time, so he didn't see Suiryu's fight and victory, but Sour Face tells him about it. Saitama's semi-final match is against Choze, who he also easily defeats. Then the final battle begins as Suiryu walks up to "Charanko" in the ring.

Chapter 70
As their fight begins, Suiryu tells Saitama that they should have fun, which confuses him. Suiryu attacks the disguised hero several times, but Saitama tries to protect his wig and dodge his attacks. Saitama notes that the wind pressure from Suiryu's attacks affects his wig, so he thinks it's quite dangerous because he'll lose his wig if he's not careful. Suiryu can tell that Saitama is much stronger than he lets on and that he keeps up with his moves. Saitama seems to be paying attention to what the young martial artist is saying.

Suiryu reveals that he sees in Saitama's eyes that he is not looking for fame or prestige, but something fun. And then he also reveals that he himself is after the prize money, but he's also looking for strong guys to fight because it's really fun. When Saitama questions the "fun" part, Suiryu confirms that being strong is fun, as the stronger people are, the more free they can live. Although Suiryu also tells him that it's not enough on its own when you start wanting stimulation. He then wants to confirm if Saitama is also looking for the thrill in the tournament like he is. Saitama begins to wonder and comes to the conclusion that Suiryu must be a positive guy if he thinks being strong is fun.

Saitama tells Suiryu that he came to Super Fight to experience martial arts and he thought it could be fun, but the moment he hits the opponents, the fights stopped and he started to think there was no point in coming. However, after seeing the audience cheer for Suiryu and his oozing confidence, Saitama seems to have hope that Suiryu will be different from other martial artists.

Suiryu and Saitama soon agree that if Suiryu demonstrates martial arts, then Saitama should take the fight more seriously and stop dodging since it is not pleasant for the young martial artist. Suiryu starts to attack Saitama and kicks him, but it is soon revealed that it doesn't really affect Saitama and he has been holding on to his wig for fear of it flying off. Suiryu is happy to see that Saitama is still able to stand and continues to attack him.

The martial artist only uses kicks and when he wants Saitama to punch, the hero backs off as he sensed that he would have lost his wig if he did anything to Suiryu. While attacking Saitama, Suiryu observes him and notes that he is protecting his head and his intuition is sharp.

They stop fighting for a moment when Suiryu asks for "Charanko's" daily routine. Saitama replies that he fights monsters and walks. The martial artist is surprised to hear that he is fighting monsters and says that he sounds like a hero, causing Saitama to realize that he forgot he was disguised as Charanko. He then sheepishly tries to lie that he is considering becoming a hero, which subtly changes Suiryu's attitude towards him.

The young martial artist tells Saitama that he doesn't think the hero industry is good, because the A-Class heroes who he fought against in the tournament were so weak that they weren't even worth talking about. He also says that "hero" is just a name and in reality heroes don't exist. Suiryu belittles the heroes by saying that they can't save the world on their level and how they all pretend to do good because that's what a hero is, but do it because it's just another job. He goes on to say that the so-called great ambitions, ideals, inflated sense of morality and heroic sense of justice are something he does not seek in his own fun lifestyle, as they are only impurities that would lead to boredom.

Suiryu advises Saitama not to limit himself to such lame things because he is also strong, then he notices how "Charanko" hasn't moved or said anything at all. Suiryu says that he's now telling him his true feelings because he's acknowledged him. The martial artist then attacks him again, resulting in the wig being blown away. However, Saitama no longer wants to try to hide his identity. The hero tells Suiryu that those "impurities" he's talking about have nothing to do with anything. He then prepares to punch him and advises Suiryu to not become stronger if he wants to have fun.

Just before Saitama hits Suiryu in the face, he stops, and the wind pressure from his fist manages to completely destroy Suiryu's shirt. Saitama was a little worried that he would end the fight before it even got off to a good start. The commentator thinks Suiryu's shirt was destroyed simply because he flexed his muscles. The martial artist, on the other hand, is speechless.

Chapters 71-74
However, the referees soon decide to stop the match as it is revealed that Saitama used a wig to disguise himself which is against the rules due to an incident in the previous tournament that led to the ban on disguises and fake names. They decide to disqualify "Charanko". Everyone is surprised and Saitama's identity is questioned. This leads to Suiryu being declared the winner of the 22nd Super Fight Tournament by the commentator. Suiryu didn't want to stop the fight and decided that play time is over and the real fight starts now even though the match is over. Saitama notices this. The martial artist initiates an attack chain that causes the battle ring to split in half and get damaged. Saitama asks wasn’t he doing this for fun, so Suiryu tells him that there's no fun in losing. The referees want the fight to stop already, but the audience is loving it. Saitama notices the staff running towards them to stop their fight, but Suiryu replies that he has to finish this before that happens. The commentator points out how they have never seen Suiryu's face like it is now, full of passion. Suiryu then yells at Saitama to watch carefully as he shows him martial arts, and the hero seems to smile at that. The martial artist then performs one of his special combo attacks at Saitama, hit after hit. The staff decide to keep their distance because it feels too dangerous to get closer.

While everyone else is impressed and confused at how Suiryu can stay in the mid-air due to his attacks, Suiryu notices how unimpressed Saitama's face looks. He wonders if his attacks have any effect. He then changes tactics and breaks the other side of the ring, stomping his way towards Saitama and then punching him. Saitama only flew slightly backwards in the ring, and to Suiryu's surprise, it still didn't do anything to the hero. However, Saitama begins to realize something about martial arts and tells Suiryu that he may have finally understood it. Suiryu asks if he's managed to get Saitama to understand what martial arts is all about, to which Saitama replies that apparently, it's all about moving in a way that looks cool.

Suiryu is speechless and finds the hero’s conclusion far too shallow even after the hero saw his techniques. Saitama suddenly wants to test it out and tries to imitate Suiryu’s spinning around movement, though Suiryu thought he is making fun of him and attacks Saitama. Unfortunately, Saitama accidentally hits Suiryu with his hip and sends him flying towards the audience at high speed until he hits a wall. He also took Saitama’s belt with him and Saitama’s pants dropped. The hero is disappointed he couldn’t act cool at all, but runs away when the staff start chasing him. Meanwhile, Suiryu is shocked by what happened and despite the tournament declaring him the real winner, he thinks he lost for the first time as he couldn’t defeat “Charanko”.

The tournament finally holds a closing ceremony and present Suiryu his award. They think Suiryu got away without a scratch, but he starts wondering if that’s true. He thinks what would have happened if Saitama’s punch would have connected. Either way, he decides to forget him for now and enjoy the victory.

However, the monsters come to the stadium. Suiryu and the rest of the contestants who didn’t want to become monsters are injured badly, and when monsterized Bakuzan wants to torture and kill Suiryu, he yells for help from any hero, scared to die. But no one hears him, or so he thought. When Bakuzan is about to stomp on unconscious Sneck, he is saved by Saitama. The hero then tells Suiryu he heard his call for help and that he did well holding out on his own, and to leave the rest to him.

Chapter 75
When Suiryu realizes that a hero has come to save him, he is greatly relieved. Bakuzan first laughs at Saitama, but then recognizes him, as does Suiryu. The monster then wants revenge for losing to Saitama in the tournament at the time when he still was a human and starts doing his special technique attacks. Worried, Suiryu is already thinking that the hero can't take so many hits from Bakuzan. But Saitama ends up killing Bakuza with one punch, while he can't remember who the monster was. This leaves Suiryu speechless and Saitama comments on how unlucky Suiryu has been since winning the tournament, but then tells him that the monster has been defeated and he can try to do his best next time. Suiryu is a bit baffled by him, but thanks him for saving his life.

Then the young martial artist asks who Saitama really is and Saitama tells him his name and that he is a professional hero. Suiryu notices that he seems to have joined the tournament under an alias and Saitama sweats a little as he realizes he revealed his real name. Suiryu is puzzled as to why Saitama would enter the tournament under a false name or wearing a wig, then asks if he is there on a secret mission for the Hero Association. Saitama denies it, saying that he just wanted to experience martial arts (and get the prize money). The hero also adds that he heard that some hero hunter who is also a martial arts master was causing trouble, so that got him interested. Suiryu wonders if Saitama's reason for entering the tournament was to come up with countermeasures, but Saitama denies that as well, saying that he just had nothing else to do. This confession leaves Suiryu speechless again.

Either way, Suiryu brings up that he's alive thanks to Saitama. He also says that he came at the perfect time, which confuses Saitama as he thinks it should have been better if he came earlier so he could have helped them before they were all in this situation, beaten and injured. Suiryu disagrees and tells him about Gouketsu, how even Saitama wouldn't be able to defeat him because the monster is just that strong. He also talks about monster cells and how monsters are now able to turn people into monsters. Suiryu also mentions how many strong monsters are roaming around now and they should stay in the arena because it's safer there. Saitama didn't know there were monsters roaming around and then asks where Gouketsu went. Suiryu is confused but tells him that the broken arena wall is where Gouketsu went because he was the one who broke it. Suiryu notices Saitama's interest in going after the monster and respects it, but advises to do it with the other heroes and the police and set traps because the monster is really strong. The hero still decides to go after the monster by himself and Suiryu panics. He tells him again how strong Gouketsu is and that he was an elite martial artist. Suiryu shouts that Saitama will die if he faces him, but Saitama decides to leave anyway.

However, Suiryu tightly grabs Saitama's leg and says he can't let his savior throw his life away. He begs Saitama not to go, but Saitama leaves wordlessly. Suiryu yells as Saitama disappears into the horizon, blaming himself for letting the true hero he finally met die like that because other people will need him in the future as well. Suddenly, a massive smash is heard in the distance and Suiryu knows that the battle has begun. Soon the sounds stop and Gouketsu's head falls from the sky directly in front of Suiryu. He is speechless again. Saitama returns only to ask Suiryu to keep his participation in the tournament under an alias a secret. Suiryu doesn't know what to say, so he instead asks if Saitama thought Gouketsu was strong, to which he simply says he doesn't know since it still took one punch. Suiryu then asks Saitama if he can become a hero too, but Saitama just says he doesn't know. However, he adds that if he can get this strong, anyone could. Suiryu thinks that sounds good and finally asks if he can become his disciple, which Saitama refuses.

Fanon
SaiSuiryu is a rare pairing in the fandom since Saitama is mostly shipped with other characters such as Genos, Fubuki, Tatsumaki, or King. However, their interaction during the Super Fight Arc fascinated shippers, as Saitama was part of the reason for Suiryu's change in attitude towards heroes. On AO3, there are only 4 fanfics written for the ship which mostly contain other Saitama ships as well.

Fandom

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