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These past few days, mini Genos realized that Saitama often go out early and return late and always full of injuries. Mini Genos gets very curious so he salvage all of his and Saitama's free time to ask "Teacher why do you have to go out so often", every time, he will gets nothing but a laughing-off from Saitama - "It's adult matters you don't have to worry".
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Unlike Genos, mini Genos is very clumsy at housework. Like he can't smash an egg without messing it up or he can't reach the pole to hang the clothes after having washed them by hands (the washing machine has been broken since the monsters rampage). Because of this, mini Genos was very upset. He used to stand in front of the mirror, staring himself from head to toe and sighed a lot. He thought that it would be great if he could at least as responsible as Genos, and suddenly he realized Genos and other mini Genos hasn't come back from the shopping since two months ago.
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"Where's Genos and other mini Genos?"
One day, right after mini Genos and Saitama had finished dinner (with burnt eggs and salty miso soup) and both of them were soaking in the bathtub now, mini Genos had that thought in his mind and looked at Saitama, innocently asked so then obediently waited for awnswer.
"They went shopping, you don't remember?" Saitama replied, gave mini Genos a smile, gently reached out his hand to pat mini Genos' wet head.
"But it's been so long" mini Genos whispered "The store's only one neighborhood away. What makes them take so long?"
"They went to the other store" Saitama explained "Further, sell more and cheaper."
"Really?" mini Genos asked.
"Yeah." Saitama nodded.
"When will they be back?" mini Genos tilted his head.
"Tomorrow, when you wake up, I'll bring them back." Saitama said.
"Promise?" mini Genos sticked out his pinky.
"Promise." Saitama also sticked out his pinky, hooked mini Genos' metal small pinky and agreed to something he sured he could never fulfill.
-
Without Genos and other mini Genos, mini Genos was a bit lonely. Usually, when Saitama hadn't come back and Genos was still busy wiping the floor, to avoid getting in the way, the mini Genos would go to the vacant spot far away. In there, they could fully enjoy the spreading blue sky, they could smell the fragrance of every flowers and grasses, they could freely play around until they're out of breath, then they would return home, greeted with similar smiles of Saitama and Genos.
"Welcome back. Dinner's ready."
-
Like I said before, recently Saitama used to go out early and return late, hardly ever met mini Genos once and it seemed that he also skipped meal. At first, mini Genos didn't care much because he had never seen Saitama being ill so he just purely warned him. Until one day, when mini Genos was cooking dinner and suddenly he heard a big noise in front of the house, only then he realized that Saitama was nothing like before anymore.
"Teacher please have some porridge."
After having strenuously carried Saitama onto the mattress, mini Genos hurriedly cooked a small pot of porridge and made orange juice. He fed Saitama little by little, gently and tenderly, as much as possible.
"How troublesome" Saitama said as if he was out of breath, his body was soaked with sweat "I fell ill all of a sudden."
"Don't say that" mini Genos shook his head "You had worked hard, it's okay to rest for awhile."
"Really?" Saitama sighed, somehow felt lighter a bit "The porridge you cook is good. It tastes delicious."
"Yes" mini Genos felt so excited being praised by "I'm still not at Genos' level yet but I'll try my best."
"This is good enough" Saitama lowered his voice "You don't have to be like Genos. It's okay being like this." and for an unknown reason, mini Genos felt tears rolled down Saitama's gaunt face.
"Teacher, why are you crying?"
-
Days after that, when Saitama had gotten better, mini Genos didn't have to be alone like he used to anymore.
"Today I'll take you to a place."
On a beautiful autumn's day, while planning on the suit, Saitama said so to mini Genos then held his hand, slowly walk to the train station. It was the first time mini Genos went on a train, he was very excited. He kept pressing his face on the window glass, watching the changes of the view every seconds, innocently shout with laughter and being as cheerful as possible. They stopped at the third station, dropped by at the flower shop and then went to the graveyard. As Saitama was giving mini Genos the bouquet of lilies, he asked mini Genos to behaved nice, be quiet to not to disturb anyone, then strode there steps into the graveyard.
Mini Genos didn't understand what a "graveyard" like because all he could see are dark grey flagstones with carved words. Also, beside him and Saitama, he noticed that a lot of people went there with black clothes as well. But their faces, unlike his and Saitama's, are extremely sorrowful. He wondered why.
"Here we are." at the end, they stopped in front of a flagstone.
"Today is September 23th" Saitama saids "The day when we visit grave. I took you here to say goodbye to a very important person."
"Your acquaintance?" mini Genos asked.
"Yes" Saitama nod "Acquaintance."
"What should I say?" mini Genos queried.
"Anything you want." Saitama clasped his hand, closed his eyes, starting to mumble some prayers.
"If you say so" mini Genos frowned his eyebrows, thinking hard "Hi there, I'm mini Genos. I don't know who you are but if you're one of teacher's acquaintances, you must be very awesome. This is the first time I visited grave so I don't know what to say, please don't be mad at me. I don't know where you go but if you're going far, remember to keep healthy and don't forget to visit us okay. I want to meet you once too. Goodbye."
--End--
Note: September 23th is the day when people visit graves in Japan.