Genos paced through sensei's small apartment, a short letter written on pale pink paper clutched tightly in his hand. It had been in sensei's mailbox, and the envelope had been closed with a heart sticker, of all things. His jaw tensed; he hadn't liked all the hate mail that sensei got, but he'd been able to deal with it, mainly because he always disposed of it before sensei saw it. This, though… this wasn't hate mail, and as much as he wanted to destroy it with the rest, he wasn't sure he could.

Sensei never acted upset over all the disdain people showed him, not really, but then Sensei never really acted upset over much, even if he had the right. Still, watching his sensei read such disparaging, untrue letters every day bothered him, so he'd taken to preemptively getting rid of them every morning, before sensei woke up. He gripped the letter he held a little more tightly; he should've been glad that sensei had gotten this, that someone had seen that sensei was a true hero, but he wasn't and he couldn't understand why.

Was he becoming bitter towards sensei for always seeming so impossible to match? That didn't really seem to make sense, though; he'd have certainly noticed that happening. Maybe he was just worried that the letter would turn out to be some sort of ruse, a way to make him let his guard down so he could be attacked. That Sonic guy who claimed to be sensei's rival seemed low enough to do something like that; after all, he had been stalking sensei since they met. The letter didn't even ask him to meet someone somewhere, though; the closest it came to a request for contact was a phone number scribbled in tiny, unsure handwriting at the bottom of the page.

Nothing suggested that the letter was anything more than a small thanks from a girl who admired him. Genos tore it to pieces. He needed to talk to Dr. Kuseno very badly; he would be able to tell him what was wrong with him, why he'd been unable to stop himself from doing something so cruel to sensei. He needed a distraction desperately, so he went to the kitchen and started making breakfast for sensei, practiced enough that he hardly even had to look at what he was doing. Sensei had said more than once that he liked his cooking, and even then that made him smile.

He was sensei's disciple, his only one, even though he was sure that the ninja thought differently. Maybe License-less Rider did too; he had been the one to send the other thank you note sensei received. Neither of them were worthy of being sensei's students, though; he was certain that neither was capable of beating even him, and sometimes he thought that possibly he wasn't good enough to learn from sensei either. He was devoted, though, and sensei had accepted him; he wouldn't dream of giving up his place unless sensei asked it of him, and sensei wouldn't ask him. He smiled to himself, plating the meal and wandering easily into sensei's room to wake him.

Sensei was a very heavy sleeper, but Genos had had plenty of practice shaking him awake since he'd moved in, even if at first he hadn't been brave enough to do it. He'd only tried it the first time after sense expressed a desire to start having breakfast earlier, and sensei hadn't minded, so it had become a habit. Sensei smiled at him when he woke up, yawning and stretching; he seemed so normal in the mornings, so touchable where he was normally unreachable, and Genos heard the fans that kept him cool whirring a little faster than they should've. He shifted a little, but sensei was at least too distracted by the smell of food on the table to really notice.

Actually, he probably did notice and just didn't mention it; Genos was almost sure that sensei noticed a lot more than he seemed to, he was just good at staying quiet when he needed to. Genos appreciated it, since he didn't think he could answer whatever questions sensei might have, especially not in few enough words. Honestly he wasn't even sure he could explain it to himself, and he stared down at his hand. Sensei was a good person. He really shouldn't have gotten rid of that letter, and he opened his mouth to tell sensei about it, but he was already in the kitchen and Genos lost his nerve as he followed.

It hadn't been a very good letter anyway; it was obvious whoever wrote it didn't know sensei at all, kind of like the fan letters he received himself. It had been filled with plenty of admiration, plenty of praise, but it was all vague, beyond the few references made to his appearance, and sensei deserved better than that. Genos smiled to himself as sensei thanked him for the food, then settled himself at the table to watch him eat, wondering if anyone else had ever cooked for him. He never mentioned a family, after all, or a girlfriend from before he became a hero, and as far as Genos could tell, he'd been living alone in his apartment for a long time.

Genos could admit that he had wanted to take care of sensei for almost as long as he'd wanted to learn from him; after all, a few household chores were nothing compared to what sensei had done for him already, and someone like sensei shouldn't have to do such menial things anyway. Genos enjoyed it, enjoyed making sensei happy, but sometimes he wondered if sensei really wanted his help or not. He kept telling Genos that he didn't have to do everything he did, sometimes even insisting that he not do something, and sensei actually liked License-less Rider, didn't he? He often went to dinner with him, anyway.

"Ah, is there something on my face?" sensei asked, pointing at his cheek, face as flat and unreadable as ever, and Genos shook his head.

"No, sensei. I only…," he paused, thinking of what to say so he wouldn't waste sensei's time, and sensei watched him patiently. "Do you really want me as your disciple, sensei?" Sensei laughed, loud and long, shaking his head; his eyes were crinkled at the edges and Genos knew he would remember that face forever.

"You wouldn't be in my apartment if I didn't want you around."

"I know that, but that isn't what I asked. Would you rather teach someone else? Someone stronger?" Sensei shrugged, still smiling a little, but not as broadly as before.

"You're strong. I like you. If you want to leave, I won't stop you, and if you want to stay, I won't make you go. I still don't know why you think you need me as a teacher, and I don't think I've been able to teach you much, but I'll keep trying if you do." In some ways, Genos admired how blunt sensei was, and sometimes Genos could imitate that, though never to sensei himself. His core felt warm, though, almost hot, and he tipped his head down, smiling at the table.

"What if someone else asked you to teach them too? It might help your reputation, if you helped more heroes, and then you would be praised more, like you should be, sensei."

"That's what this is all about? People praising me? I've already said I'm not a hero for the recognition, I'm a hero because I want to be. I don't care if people like me or not, and I don't care if I get praised. I like things the way they are, okay, Genos? Besides, if other people started talking about me like you do, I'd get a big head." Genos grinned without really meaning to, and even though he wanted to disagree, because sensei was too humble to become overconfident just because people told him the truth, but instead he only nodded, likely feeling more prideful then than sensei ever had. Sensei was happy with him. He was enough.

"Okay, sensei."

"Jeez, man, what'll it take to get you to just call me Saitama?" he grumbled, though it was far from the first time he'd said it, and Genos just kept smiling.

"Sorry, sensei." His sensei rolled his eyes, very quick, probably too fast for anyone else to notice, before his expression faded back to apathy.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna go to Y-City and try to find some monsters, since it's been so quiet here. You stay; I'll be back tonight, or early tomorrow." That would have made him nervous, if sensei hadn't said what he did before, but as it stood, Genos only nodded. It would give him a good chance to go see Dr. Kuseno, anyway.