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The party is being held at a rented beachside villa on the outskirts of D-City. It was planned by the members of the Hero Association and only S-Class and A-Class heroes were invited – some popular B-Class and C-Class heroes too, but they wouldn’t be an interesting gossip story to write about in the next day’s paper. Unfortunately, Saitama was not one of those heroes.
“Sensei, if you wish to come along, you can always come with me.” Genos offers, watching Saitama reread Genos’s invitation letter with a blank expression. “I have been told that we are allowed to bring friends along if we wish to do so.”
“Nah, its fine. It sounds kinda boring, but I guess it’d be a nice way to pass time.” Saitama rejects the invitation, waving his hand dismissively. “But you can go if you want, parties aren’t really my thing anyway.”
“I do not feel that I would enjoy myself without sensei’s company, so I will have to reject the invitation.” Genos says, and Saitama wonders if he should take that comment as a compliment that he’s good company to be around. “Although it’s a shame. I was told that there would be free food there.”
“Genos, we’re going to the party together.” Saitama says quickly, the prospect of free food – free fancy food (who knows what those Hero Association members can afford) – winning him over within seconds.
They arrive to the villa by the beachside fifteen minutes after the allocated time – only because it started to snow heavily around the outskirts of Z-City and it caused a huge traffic jam into B-City. Saitama shivers, his nose pink from the cold and fingertips numb. The grey, knitted gloves do little to keep him warm. He wishes that he had chosen to wear a thicker coat too – although he doesn’t think he owns anything warmer than the coat he’s currently wearing.
He glances over at Genos. The cyborg isn’t even wearing a proper winter coat – he doesn’t need it, since he’s able to heat his body to keep warm. Saitama tries to discreetly walk closer to Genos, enjoying the little warmth he’s able to feel emitting from his body.
“Are you cold, sensei?” His disciple pipes up, noticing how Saitama always glances at his arm, which is heating itself to keep the metal from becoming brittle. “Would you like to hold onto my hand to keep warm?”
“Yes.” Saitama answers immediately, the hint of a satisfied smile appearing on his features when Genos extends his arm out for him. He latches onto his hand, humming happily when the heat begins to travel to his body. “That’s nice.”
“I am glad to be of use to you, sensei.” Genos says with pride. He turns his heating up slightly and Saitama leans closer to his side. Saitama notices that Genos’s face begins to turn red and briefly wonders if it’s from the heat he is emitting.
The weather gets colder as they come closer to the beachside. The wave’s crash in the distance, but Saitama cannot see them in the darkness. Although it’s dark, the pure white villa could be spotted from miles away. Christmas lights decorate the exterior of the white villa, twinkling yellow, blue and green. Through the large windows, the guests who have arrived can be seen, conversing with each other and holding long wine glasses in their hands. Old, seasonal winter songs play from inside. The pair reach the front of the house, greeted by heroes whose names they don’t know.
The A-Class heroes gawk at the two as they enter through the double doors, open to all and decorated with two identical Christmas wreaths. Saitama merely ignores the heroes’ stares, but Genos glares daggers at anyone who so much as whispers anything about Saitama. The cowardly heroes shiver and freeze when Genos’s gaze catches theirs, shutting up immediately.
They remove their coats and hang them on one of the many coat hangers provided for the guests. Inside the living room, where the majority of the guests have piled into, it’s much warmer and cosier but a cold wind flows through the windows, kept open to stop the room from becoming too stuffy. A Christmas tree stands in the corner of the room beside the speakers where the music plays. It’s covered from top to bottom with lights, silver and blue baubles and a white star on top. The villa looks truly beautiful decorated so articulately and carefully.
Bang is the first hero to greet them when they arrive, King following close behind him. Genos notices how Bang glances down at their hands, but doesn’t say anything. Saitama claimed that he was still very cold, so Genos allowed him to continue holding onto him when they came inside. The elderly hero smiles knowingly, but Genos doesn’t seem to understand what it means and dismisses the smile.
The four talk without mentioning Genos and Saitama’s clasped hands. Saitama and King discuss an unbeatable level in some game that Genos has forgotten the name of while he listens to Bang talk about his dojo. Eventually as more and more guests begin to arrive, the food is brought out and Saitama finally remembers why he had agreed to come along to this party in the first place.
“I’m gonna go and find something to eat.” Saitama mutters, gaze fixated upon the food with names he would never be able to pronounce. He glides to the long white table covered in various dishes, mouth beginning to water as the smell drifts through the air. Genos stays behind to talk with his fellow S-Class heroes. He smiles unconsciously at the sight of his teacher’s eyes gleaming with delight at the sight of food. Something inside of him feels warm and fluttery when he sees Saitama happy – Genos isn’t sure what it could possibly be, but he doesn’t mind the feeling.
“I’m happy to see that you two are a perfect match together.” King comments, bringing the S-Class hero out of his thoughts. Genos raises an eyebrow in confusion. What does he mean by that? Does he mean that Genos and Saitama make an excellent fighting duo?
“I’m sorry, King, I don’t seem to understand what you mean.” The hero replies politely, glancing at Saitama who is picking up a tiny lemon tart in his hand in wonder.
“Well, you two are together aren’t you? As in, you’re a couple?” King elaborates. It takes Genos a minute to comprehend what the proclaimed strongest hero meant when realisation hits him. Genos feels the heat rising to his face, turning his synthetic skin red like a human’s would when they’re hot or embarrassed. Genos can feel himself fumbling for words which doesn’t help him in this dilemma at all.
“N-no, King, you’ve got it wrong.” Genos stutters. King doesn’t seem convinced. “Saitama-sensei and I are not a… a couple!”
“You don’t need to deny it, Genos, it’s quite obvious that you two are very much in love.” L-love? Do they behave in such a manner that others perceive them as lovers? Well, it is true that they do almost everything together; they live together and eat and sleep together. They go shopping with one another and fight together (or, they arrive to kill the monster together at least, Saitama deals with them all pretty quickly). Genos loves to see Saitama happy – even over little things like cooking his favourite meal for dinner or complimenting him whenever he can (Saitama always says he doesn’t like getting praised, but Genos can see the faint hint of a smile after all of Genos’s compliments).
It’s true that Genos may feel something more for his teacher than just platonic feelings, but the chances of Saitama returning his feelings are as likely as Saitama meeting an enemy stronger than him. His sensors get close to overheating every time Saitama touches him whether it’s accidental or a little poke on his nose. Performing domestic chores such as cooking and cleaning is not something that Genos thought he would be so willing to do until Saitama came along. Presenting Saitama with gifts – little things that he pointed at while they went out into town – makes Genos happier than defeating any weird monster they come across in the week, just because it makes him feel like he’s soaring when he sees the genuine, grateful smile on Saitama’s lips and sometimes, Saitama would pat his head. Oh, how Genos would love to kiss him…
All right, so Genos might really, really like Saitama…
“Of course, if you’re keeping your relationship private, I completely understand and I promise not to tell a soul.” King brings Genos out of his thoughts once more. Genos doesn’t try to deny it any further, seeing as he most likely won’t be able to convince his fellow hero that he and Saitama aren’t together.
“Keep what private?” Saitama returns, carrying a large handful of tiny cakes and pasties in his hands, his mouth already full of food. He looks between the two S-Class heroes curiously.
“N-Nothing, sensei, it isn’t anything important!” Genos quickly changes the subject, moving on to any random topic that he could think of off the top of his head. Thankfully, he manages to divert the conversation to something else.
Mumen Rider appears later, greeting Saitama and Genos excitedly. He had come alongside one of the A-Class heroes who invited him to the party. Genos has noticed that Mumen Rider and Saitama seem to get along very well together and the Mumen Rider is very thankful for Saitama saving his life all those months ago which makes Genos happy. He’s happy to see that Saitama has people who appreciate his work, even though very few people do.
Fubuki also joins their group of strange heroes, discreetly offering Saitama a place in ‘The Blizzard Group’ once again which Saitama denies not-so-discreetly. Unfortunately, she also drags along Tatsumaki, her older sister, and Tatsumaki continuously insults Saitama, claiming that he used Genos to come to the party and meet all the other S-Class heroes. This comment, of course, leads to an argument between her and Genos. While the two battle it out with insults, Saitama awkwardly stays at the side. Mumen Rider chuckles beside him and Saitama looks at him questioningly.
“Genos seems to care about you a lot, Saitama.” The C-Class hero comments. Genos glares at the short woman and if it was anyone else, they would flee in terror. “He’s very protective of you.”
“I suppose.” Saitama doesn’t really understand why the cyborg feels so obligated to protect and defend him. He can clearly see that Saitama can take care of himself when it comes to physical attacks. Verbal abuse doesn’t faze him either, not really anyway. It gets a bit annoying with how defensive Genos can become, but at the same time, it’s nice to have someone defending him – and also he doesn’t have the heart to ask him to stop anymore.
“You two are amazing, honestly.” Mumen Rider says with a wistful sigh. “Your relationship is something that many people wish they could achieve with their significant other.”
“Yeah… wait what?” Saitama blinks in confusion as he takes in Mumen Rider’s words too late.
“Yes, your relationship is something that even I envy.” Mumen Rider elaborates. “The amount of trust you have in one another, how much you love each other; it’s truly beautiful...”
“W-woah, hold up one second there.” Saitama cuts his friend off before he could say any more. “You think that Genos and I are in a relationship?”
“You mean to say that you aren’t?” Mumen Rider looks confused. Saitama is ready to say that ‘yes, they are not in a relationship although that doesn’t sound too bad but we are not’ when Genos returns, expression dark and ready to murder somebody. Tatsumaki is stomping off in the opposite direction, hair gravitating upwards out of anger. Saitama quickly changes the topic to avoid any awkward questions and also to avoid having Genos kill Tatsumaki out of anger because that wouldn’t be good at all.
They spend the rest of the night talking to various heroes and eating more food than they should be. People dance as the music becomes more upbeat and someone turns up the volume. Saitama and Genos opt to stand to the side. Saitama claims that he can’t dance to save his life and Genos says that he wouldn’t want to dance with anyone but Saitama. Again, Saitama wonders if he should take that as a compliment.
“Sensei, it’s getting quite late, do you think we should start making our way home now?” Genos offers, catching sight of the clock decorated with tinsel perched on the windowsill. It indicates that it’s just past midnight and Genos worries that Saitama may be too tired to run all the way to Z-City once it gets too late. Of course, he has nothing to worry about, but Genos doesn’t want Saitama to hurt himself because he isn’t paying attention to where he’s running from fatigue.
“You think so? Woah, is that really the time?” Saitama looks at the clock in surprise. “You’re right, we should start to make our way back. I want to wake up early tomorrow.”
Genos presumes that there will be a Christmas sale the next day, but most of the shops will be closed for the day. As they start for the front door, Genos briefly wonders if Saitama has something else in mind when somebody squeals loudly causing them to freeze in place.
“Look, they’re under it, they’re under it!” Someone exclaims, pointing at something above Saitama and Genos’s heads. Everyone stops dancing and turns towards the two heroes, whispering hurriedly and pointing at them in excitement. Saitama glances at Genos in confusion and the cyborg mirrors him. They peek up at whatever the guests seem to be pointing at above their heads and Genos’s eyes widen, his cheeks growing warm immediately.
Right above where Saitama and Genos stand, a single mistletoe hangs from the ceiling. The white buds shine in the light, the plant sways slightly from the chilly gusts of wind and its green leaves are covered in glitter, sparkling when they catch in the light. Genos is surprised that he had not noticed the little plant until now.
He looks back at Saitama who is still gazing at the mistletoe, an expression of surprise on his features as if he had also just noticed it. The crowd begins to clap, cheering “kiss, kiss, kiss!” in encouragement. Genos feels his entire face heat up as they chant.
“It seems we don’t have a choice, do we?” Saitama sighs, then steps closer to Genos. The cyborg tries to step back from his teacher, not wanting to force his teacher to do something he may not want to do at all but the B-Class hero grabs onto his arms firmly to keep him from fleeing. “Well, it’s not like I don’t want to anyway.”
With that, Saitama pulls Genos in for a kiss. Their lips press together softly and the crowd cheers wildly. However, Genos can barely hear them. All that he can focus on is his teacher, on Saitama. It takes him a moment to comprehend that Saitama is kissing him – he’s kissing Genos! Saitama’s lips are soft and slightly warm, fitting against Genos’s perfectly. Saitama kisses him so passionately that Genos feels his knees go weak – a feat that he was unaware could still happen to him as a cyborg.
They pull apart after a very short time of kissing – much too short for Genos’s liking. He wants to put his hands on Saitama’s cheeks and pull him back for another kiss, wrap his arms around the hero and never let go, but he feels like he won’t be able to stop himself if he does. The cheers and whistles are almost overwhelming now. Genos really wants to leave and be alone with his teacher. It looks like Saitama feels the same.
Saitama takes a hold of his hand and pulls him along into the corridor, grabbing their coats and throwing them on as they leave the beautiful, pure white villa for good. The crowds follow them to the doorway bidding them goodnight and merry Christmas. Some of their comments are so lewd that they cause Genos’s face to heat up and he urges his teacher to hurry up.
The whole way back home, they hold hands, never letting go until they’re at the door of their apartment and Saitama has to unlock the door.
Genos sits on his futon, thinking vigorously about what had transpired between him and Saitama at the party. The B-Class hero is taking a bath, so Genos has time to think of what he should say to his teacher when he comes out. What should he say? Are they together now, or did Saitama accidentally drink too much alcohol at the party? Was it just in the spur of the moment– or did Saitama genuinely mean the kiss? If the amount of passion that he conveyed meant anything, Genos would say that Saitama has romantic feelings for him.
Saitama comes out of the bathroom causing Genos to jump in surprise. He’s wearing his signature blue pyjamas but he shivers when he leaves the steamy warmth of the bath, scurrying to his futon to hide under the covers.
“S-sensei…” Genos trails off when Saitama lifts up the covers, gesturing Genos to join him. Genos hesitates but crawls under the covers with his teacher. Saitama hums as the heat from Genos envelops them both, snuggling closer to his disciple happily. They lay together in silence, but Genos’s mind is still running a mile a minute.
“Hey, Genos.” Saitama’s voice is a hushed whisper, as if he doesn’t want to disturb the silence of the night, as if he will scare Genos off if he speaks too loudly. “You know I like you, right?”
The confession doesn’t come as a shock to him. Genos doesn’t gasp or ask for his teacher to repeat himself. That was the final answer that helped Genos connect the pieces of the puzzle in his mind; Saitama likes him and Genos loves Saitama. They may still not feel this unconditional love for one another that everyone thinks they do, but they do have a connection to one another that urges them to stay and they’ll get there eventually; because Genos does not intend to leave Saitama any time soon and Saitama does not want Genos to leave.
“Merry Christmas, sensei.” And the two drift off to sleep together, arms wrapped around each other and legs tangled together and Genos could not have asked for anything more in life.
“Merry Christmas, Genos.”
The next morning, Genos wakes up unusually late, so much so that his teacher is already awake before him. He glances at the clock, its 10:34. Genos doesn’t remember the last time he woke up so late in his life.
“Oh, you’re awake, Genos.” Saitama’s voice is cheery and elated. He doesn’t sound bored or tired like he normally does which makes Genos happy. Genos turns to the kitchen and his eyes widen at the sight. Saitama has made them pancakes for breakfast. Flour is scattered all across the counter and some pancake batter has spilled onto the floor, but a beautiful plate of pancakes sits on the table, topped with fruit, whipped cream and sugar.
Saitama smiles lightheartedly and Genos couldn’t have asked for a better way to wake up on Christmas morning.