Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Saitama stepped out the wreckage of yet another foe, some large pig or other. He couldn’t care less what it was though; he was more concerned with how he found one of Genos’s legs in its mouth.
Having atomized much of the corpse Saitama slung the limb in question under his arm and set out to find the rest of his student.
“He’s far too reckless.” He thought looking at the metal strewn across the battlefield. “Does he even try to dodge?” his grip on the leg tightening.
As he rounded a pile of rubble he noticed a bolt of blond. “Genos” He called.
The blond head jerked and Saitama could make out a distorted “S-Sen-sei.”
His grip on the leg tightening, Saitama stalked over to Genos and silently tossed the rumble off of him. Saitama’s eyes travelled down to what remained of his student. Everything below the sternum was gone, replaced by a conglomeration of frayed metal and intermittently sparking wires. His arms were missing and his face had a bite taken out of it, taking his right cheek down to his neck.
Carefully avoiding the gouges in his body, Saitama lifted his student at arms length.
“Sen-“
“Genos” Genos closed what remained of his mouth. “What were you thinking?”
“The proximity alarm went off and you were busy so I—“
Saitama’s eyebrow twitched with annoyance. “I was at the grocery store!”
Genos blinked at him. “You had been waiting for that sale all month.”
“Some things are more important than sales Genos.” His brow furrowed. Sometimes he couldn’t believe this guy. Saitama cradled Genos closer to get a better grip. “Where’s your other leg?”
“It-It’s somewhere under that overpass.”
“Alright.” Saitama nodded, heading in the direction Genos indicated. “Genos we need to work on your defense. Believe it or not, offense isn’t always the best defense.”
Following a metal littered crash trough Saitama picked up the stripped remains of a hand. “You see this is what I’m talking about.” Waving the hand for emphasis before adding it to the pile in his arms. “You’re too reckless. Just because you act like you don’t care what happens to you doesn’t make you a more effective fighter.” Saitama shunted a boulder over and got the leg, sans a foot.
“Yes sensei”
“Now where’s the rest of this arm?”
“In the tree behind that building.”
Finding only the shoulder and another assortment of scrap, Saitama turned to find the other when Genos quietly informed him that the other arm was destroyed.
“Then I better get you to Dr. Kuseno then.”
Genos quietly replied “Hai”
Shifting the pile, Saitama held Genos tightly to his chest and started off to the Doctor’s lab.
Saitama’s head pulsed with annoyance. “My god, I hate berate the kid but he’s just so rash. Does he even try to dodge?!” Saitama looked down at the student in his arms, his head was turned towards his chest and his cheeks were flushed, maybe just another symptom of his dismemberment. “But I guess that it’s also my fault. I don’t really have to dodge anymore so I haven’t been much of an example.” Saitama gritted his teeth and accelerate.
*~&~*
It took all night and into the next day but Genos was up and running again. The journey home was silent as was the rest of that day.
“He’s probably beating himself up about what happened.” Saitama thought as he lay trying and failing to get into an old manga of his. He sighed. “He really does take the things I say way too close to heart sometimes. Maybe if I just show him that I’m not upset with him.” Smiling at his plan, Saitama jumped from the floor and strode resolutely to the kitchen where Genos cooking dinner.
“Oi Genos.”
The boy stopped cutting the vegetables and turned to face Saitama. “Yes sensei?”
“Whatcha’ cookin’?” he asked walking over to where Genos was previously hunched over.
Genos stiffened. “Beef stew.”
“Need any help?” Saitama asked leaning on the counter.
“No sensei I don’t need any help. I’m nearly finished.” He said turning back to the cutting board.
“Yah but I want to. It’s been a while since we cooked together.” Saitama pressed, grabbing some spices from the cabinet.
Turning back to his disciple, he noticed that once again Genos was out of reach, having turned to put the chopped onions in the pot. Saitama shrugged and reached for a knife to get started on the celery when his hand touched warm metal.
“S-Sorry” Genos apologized pulling his hand back.
“It’s alright.” Saitama said slowly, taking a knife and slicing the celery. While Genos picked another and distractedly cut the carrots, his eyes hazy as though lost in thought. “There he goes flinching again.” He thought. “Did I really scare him that much?”
When Saitama had finished cutting the 3 sticks he looked over to Genos again who was still in the middle of cutting the first carrot. “Here,” Saitama took the other two. “I’ll cut the rest of these. You can put the others in the pot.”
Genos’s eyes refocused. “I understand.”
Saitama couldn’t help his jaw setting a little at that that. “Still with the short answers I see.” He thought as he quickly chopped the remaining vegetables and looked back at Genos who was staring intently at the pot, or rather intently not at him. “I will get more than a sentence out of you.” Saitama thought decisively.
“Here you go.” Genos took the cutting board with a quiet thanks as Saitama walked behind him. ”So how much longer do you think?” He asked curling his head around Genos’s shoulder to look into the pot.
From above Saitama could feel the man stiffen. “I-I-It should be ready in a-about an hour. Excuse me sensei I have to attend to some things in the bathroom!” Genos blurted before rushing to the bathroom and locking the door.
Saitama stood frozen in place, looking out into the hall. “Well that certainly wasn’t what I was aiming for.” He sighed. “Maybe it’s just a teen thing; no amount of pressing is going resolve it.”
*~&~*
And so Saitama waited. Genos didn’t mention the interaction after dinner, or even the next day, and things stayed the same. Whenever they were doing hero work he acted relatively normal, same with when they were with others in public, but when they were alone – as soon as Genos crossed the threshold into the house – they were back to this. It worried Saitama a little, but he knew that prying wouldn’t help the situation. He figured that they would talk when they would talk, though he couldn’t say he was looking forward to it.
It had been a week since the incident with the pig. Saitama lay on the floor of the living room rereading the second volume of Mob Psycho, when his mind wandered to the sale that the market was having on Wednesday.
“Do we even need anything? I know that we’ll need eggs since I forgot them last time. But was there anything else?...” Saitama lightly scratched his chin, when he noticed Genos come in.
“Oi Genos” The boy raised his head at the sound of his name. “Do we need anything from the store? They’re having a sale next week.”
Genos took his shoes off and walked into the living room. “We need eggs, cereal, and milk.”
“Ah, I thought I was forgetting something.” Saitama nodded and turned back to the manga.
“Sensei, may I sit down?” Now that was different. Saitama thought it was going to be another one of those days where Genos busied himself around the house away from him.
Trying to be casual, Saitama said “Sure” without looking away from his book. “This is progress.” He thought. Peeking around the manga to see Genos sitting looking at his hands in his lap. “Now I’ll just give him some time. It’s worked before… sort of.”
Saitama read another page and looked around the book again. Genos was in the same position as before. Saitama read another half a page and looked around the book. Genos hadn’t moved. Saitama stared blankly at the manga in the oppressive silence. “He’s not going to say anything is he?” Saitama chanced another look around the book and sure enough Genos was still there as statuesque as ever. “Well, time for damage control.”
Saitama sat up from his position on the floor. “Genos,” his disciple stiffened, coming out of whatever trance he was in. “about last week. I think that you were being too hasty. You neglected your own well-being and rushed into the heat of battle without studying your opponent or having any backup.” Genos shrunk into his seat; the poor boy looked as though he was bearing lashes. “I say this not only as your teacher but as your friend.” He looked up at that. “That aside I do believe that I was too hard on you last week, I was so worried that you had gone and gotten yourself killed that I had let my emotions get the better of me. And for that I apologize.”
Genos lowered his head again. “No sensei you were right. I was being careless and had foolishly gotten myself dismembered. If you hadn’t come in, all manners of things could have gone wrong.” Genos looked up again. “As you carried me I could see that much of your anger was directed at my own well-being. I began to realize how much you cared for me, leading me to think about how much I cared for you sensei. You took me in and offered to teach me how to get stronger to stop the evil cyborg who had destroyed my town. It was you who had given me something to look forward to, to work for in life. Who showed me that…”
As Genos spoke Saitama’s head progressively filled with static. “I should really be paying attention to what he’s saying. It seems important. God this is so rude,” Saitama’s forehead began to tense. “but he just won’t stop!”
“…even when I was still—“ Genos cleared his throat, and Saitama refocused trying to look as casually attentive as he could. “Sensei, what I’m saying is: you’re the best thing to happen to me, and, and that, I love you.”
Saitama sat stock-still for fear that the boy would see the turmoil in his head. “This kid can’t be serious! …Maybe he’s joking.” Saitama turned his gaze from boring holes in the wall to his disciple. Genos was sitting still, his posture screamed nervous but his eyes said determined. Saitama looked away again. “He’s not joking. He is not joking! Oh god what do I do. I didn’t plan on taking on a student, much less this!” Saitama looked back at Genos. It wasn’t that Genos was unattractive. He was sleek and strong, with gorgeous eyes and had a charming wit about hi—“What am I thinking he’s a kid!!!” He hardly resisted the urge to grab his head and scream. “This is probably just a case of hero worship gone horribly wrong. Yes, that has to be it.”
“Genos, I don’t think you know what you’re saying.” He said through a tight smile.
“Sensei I had thought long and hard about it. I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable, but I knew that I had to tell you.”
“Baka! You shouldn’t be running after old men like me.”
“…Sensei, I understand that your head is bald but that doesn’t mean that you have to lump yourself with that age group.” Genos said quite seriously.
Saitama hunched up like an angry cat. “That’s not what I meant!” Recomposing himself, he explained. “You’re 19. What about all of your adoring fans. I’m sure there’s some nice girl or boy in this case who’d be a better match.” Saitama said waving his hand from side to side.
“I highly doubt that.” He said unswayed.
“And why’s that?” Saitama arched an eyebrow.
“Because no one has shown me the strength that you have; not of the body but of the heart.”
“….Genos I don’t think that—“
“Besides why go anywhere else when I have all I could want right here. You’re selfless, giving your all for people no matter what they think. Even when everyone is against you, you continued to do what’s right. Yet you never flaunt it. You don’t have to show off because you know your own power and don’t doubt yourself. You take things as they come, and no matter what happens nothing deters you. You continue to be—“
“G-Genos!” Saitama could feel his face on fire.
Genos paused and smiled towards the ground. Then he looked Saitama dead in the eye. “I love you because of who you are, and there’s no place else I’d rather be, than at your side.”
Saitama stared at his student. “....Even if I say no, chances are he’ll keep trying.”
“Well,” He started slowly. “I guess we could try this.”
No sooner than the words had left his mouth Genos jumped to his feet, pure delight lighting his eyes. Saitama stared in surprise, and Genos recomposed himself. “Thank you sensei, you won’t regret it.” He bowed deeply and made his way towards the hallway.
Saitama rubbed a hand on the back of his head. “But you’re going to have to stop calling me sensei outside of hero work now.”
Genos stopped mid stride and turned to face him. His eyes widening as the plates of his chest glowed a warm yellow. “Okay sen- Saitama.” He said savoring each syllable of his name as a smile tugged at the corner of his lip. Genos turned on his heel and with a bounce in his step, he proudly marched to the kitchen.
“Yah, that’s going to take some time getting used to.” But Saitama couldn’t help the smile that creeped onto his face as he got ready for bed. “Will things change? Probably not, maybe only one or two things. Couples are like parents so things should be fairly normal.” Saitama rolled out his futon and lay back on it. “That age thing is still pretty weird though, maybe that feeling will just go away.” He lay in bed listening to the quiet bustling of the cyborg in the next room. “But the look on his face.” Saitama chuckled remembering how Genos had shot up from the floor. “If I can keep him looking that happy, then I guess it’s worth a try.”