Chapter Text
It was another average day. An average day for Genos and Saitama, at least. It was almost like they were following a schedule; Saitama and Genos were at home cleaning and cooking, when Genos gets a call from HA about a monster attacking some distant city. Naturally, he invites Saitama, who's dying of boredom as usual, Genos gets to the monster first (or they get their at the same time and asks Saitama to give him a chance) and loses at least one limb and a quarter of his face. Today, all four of his limbs had been ripped off, and half his face was missing. The obligatory low-ranked hero-of-the-week tries their best but takes a serious blow to their body and ego, and as expected, Saitama swoops in at the last minute and saves the day with one punch. And like every "adventure", the victory is tallied in Genos's favor.
Saitama walked with metal limbs in hand past the monster guts and screaming fans (not his, of course) to Genos, who was totally immobile.
"Hey. I'm gonna head home. Uness you need help getting to...?"
"No need, Sensei. The HA knows my doctor, you know. Their emergency transportation team will take me there."
"Really? It seems it could be faster if I just took you myself..."
"No, no, that's fine, Sensei! Don't bother yourself with such trivial matters..."
Trivial matters.... As if Saitama thought this was a mild inconvenience, like a toaster malfunction!! Although, technically it was, Genos was pretty durable. But come one, the guy was making it out like he didn't care about his own "student"/roommate's well-being!
"C'mon, just tell me where to go."
"N-no, I told you, it's fine! You should focus on dinner, its' almost seven!"
Saitama sighed. He was too hungry for this, and Genos knew exactly where to hit when he wanted to turn the conversation around.
"Fine... I'll go... Whatever it is you're hiding from me in that lab of yours, I can ignore it for another day, I guess..."
"I'm not hiding, Sensei, it's just.... I don't want you to see me in a state even weaker than I am now..."
"If you insist.." Saitama replied weakly.
Saitama could hear the HA travel bots pick Genos up as he walked back the way he came.
The next few days were cripplingly lonely. Of course, this was sometimes part of the routine Saitama and Genos had lived, but Saitama could never get over it. It was hard, feeling empty and alone for three years, suddenly making a friend that helped him feel less numb, getting accustomed to his face and suddenly being lonely again for days. It was like he'd been on some extreme vegan diet his whole life, rewarding himself with a trip to the steakhouse, and going back on the diet almost immediately. Genos was his BFF, dammit!!!
Yes, he allowed himself to admit it. Genos was the only person who'd gotten close enough to Saitama to deserve the title... "Best friend". Genos was recording his words and trying to study his power, sure, but the two of them had a certain bond born out of pure loneliness. Genos had been fascinated by Saitama's casual, calm demeanor and humble attitude towards his own power. Saitama in turn had been fascinated by Genos's over-emotional outbursts, often showing more humanity than his master despite being 90% artificial. They were polar opposites, but they couldn't be closer.
"Gotdammit, Genos, come home soon..." Saitama mumbled. He was on the futon in his room, wearing the same pajamas he wore last night. Whenever Genos was gone for too long now, Saitama became a complete bum. Not because he depended on Genos to do house chores, but because he realized he had no one to clean and cook for. He could usually force himself out of bed and get some housework done some days for the sake of it, but these past few days, he'd been feeling especially unmotivated. He lazily watched the infomercial on TV that was selling some kind of exercise equipment. Saitama took a swig of his lukewarm beer and scratched his stubbly face. Shit, he'd have to shave soon. And maybe take a shower. Or twelve. A knock on the door interrupted him from his thoughts.
"Genos!!!" Saitama greeted as the cyborg let himself in.
"Se-... Sensei?" Genos made a beeline to Saitama and took in the sight around him, "Sensei, you look terrible!!"
"Eh... Thanks." Saitama grumbled.
"Are you feeling... Depressed?" Genos asked awkwardly.
Saitama sighed. A while back, after a few months of living together, it was only natural since he had someone to vent to, and Saitama had confessed to Genos how numb he'd felt for three years. He didn't just regret it because his only rug had been stained with Genos's tears of oil, but because the cyborg had become very.... Concerned. It wasn't like Genos was doing anything wrong, but Saitama simply wasn't used to anyone caring about his well-being like this. When he'd first learned about depression when he was twelve, he'd gone to his mother, who'd simply told him to "buck up", and his father had said... Well... Whatever he tried to say drunk during the two times he'd seen him on Christmas. Genos was lucky the only organic part of him wasn't infected with this garbage.
"Yeah... Sorry," Saitama answered after a moment of silence, "I'm such a shitty..... I'm bad at this teaching thing, you know?"
"No... With power like yours, there's a price I can't understand myself. Saitama-Sensei, I may not be able to carry your burden, but I can help carry you through it!"
Saitama snorted.
"What?"
"Nothin'. Genos, you ever see Lord of the Rings?"
".... No?"
"Hah. Figures you're just naturally Sam."
"What??"
"Nothin', nothin'."
Genos took Saitama's pop-culture references as a sign of heavy intoxication and picked up the beer bottles around him before heating up some tea.
"I wish I could be strong like you, Sensei," Genos began, after distributing the tea, "On your level, and maybe you won't feel so lonely anymore.."
Saitama groaned as he sipped his tea.
"You're too thoughtful, Genos. Why'd you wanna waste what you have now, just to make me feel a little better?"
"What I... Have?" Genos replied weakly.
"I mean, yeah, have you seen videos of yourself fight? You're so cool!" Saitama gestured wildly with his hands.
"I... Appreciate the compliment, Sensei, but I don't think you know what you're talking about. I just came home from repairs that lasted almost a week. I... I hate being this vulnerable."
"Appreciate the thrill of a fight now, if you ever become as strong as me, you'll never feel it again. Unless you hold back and fool yourself."
"Sensei... Do you... Want to be as weak as I am?"
"I'd want the thrill of a battle, if that's what you're saying..."
"You couldn't possibly wish this on yourself, Sensei..."
"Oh, I wish it upon myself!"
Genos suddenly turned his head and gasped.
"A shooting star!!! You've done it now, Sensei!!"
"Done what? I don't believe in that hokey superstition bullshi-"
Saitama cut himself off as he watched the star grow bigger and bigger.
"Oh-! Now I have to punch this thing. Hey, Genos, you believe in things. Pray that the city won't get destroyed again and the people won't blame me again..." Saitama grumped.
"KYUUUU-HYUUU-HYUU-HYUUUUU~!" The star laughed.
"The star laughed??" They said in unison. In a flash, the star broke through Saitama's wall and grinned devilishly at them. Great, another monster who thinks they can break through my house like Wall Maria, Saitama thought.
"I am CWYWF! I-"
"Quih-yuu-iff?" Saitama interrupted.
"No, CWYWF. It's an anagram!" The star beamed, "It stands for 'Careful What You Wish For', because I grant wishes! But not just any wishes! Mixed blessings! Because-!"
"Yeah. The catch is fighting you."
The star was silenced with a punch, and blackish-purple glittery goop covered the interior of the apartment.
"Great. Now my house looks like a hipster's Instagram poetry." Saitama lamented.
"Sensei! Why didn't you let him finish?" Genos complained.
"Oh, now I'm the rude one? He destroyed my wall! You just finished fixing that last week!" Saitama groaned. Behind him, the star-goo reformed into an ominous looking slime monster.
"Sensei?" Genos tried to get Saitama's attention.
"I mean, come one! Why does everyone think they can bust into my house? Don't they see how bad it is already?" Saitama rambled on.
"Sensei...?" Genos tried again.
"I mean, it was bad enough that.... 'Kool-Aid' man gave us a visit! Remember what a bitch that was, scrubbing juice out of the wood floor?"
"Sensei!!" Genos shouted.
Saitama looked around to see a nasty looking tentacle-monster that looked like it had the milky way tattooed all over it's skin. Saitama shrugged and reeled his fist back, waiting to deliver a quick punch, but gave a jolt as one of the space-tendrils went after Genos. Saitama abandoned the punch in favor of tackling Genos out of the way. Seconds later, he found himself embracing Genos in the middle of space, if space's colors were complimented by cheesy looking filters.
"I.. will not die.. a hipster death!!!" Saitama cried out.
Everything went black.