~Chapter 2~

"Sensei, I'm back." The cyborg called into the seemingly empty apartment as he pulled out the key from the door and closed it behind him.

His words were left to hover in the air with none to answer them.

'Did he leave..?' He thought to himself, confused as to why his master didn't say anything regarding where he was going.

Genos simply shrugged and moved to the kitchen, where he started pulling out the contents of his plastic bag onto the kitchen counter before him.

His eyes stopped on the special tea, which was the reason he came to that specific branch of the supermarket in the first place.

Lifting the product closer to him, he stared at it for a few more moments.

"Ah, Genos! You're back." Called his master as he entered through the balcony door, holding a green, elephant-shaped water can.

Genos quickly put the special tea back on the counter.

"Sensei." He said, surprised that he failed to notice his master was simply watering the plants outside.

Saitama stepped all the way to the kitchen and stood next to his disciple.

"So? Did they have it?" His eyes were filled with excitement as he scanned the entire counter before him.

Genos smiled.

"Yes, the item you've requested is here, sensei." He said proudly, lifting the special tea in his hand and presenting it to his bald master.

Saitama simply took it out of the cyborg's hands and examined the box for a few moments.

Suddenly, his expression turned disappointed.

"Genos, it's the brand, yeah, but this isn't the flavor I wanted.." He sighed, causing the cyborg's eyes to widen, "Ahh.. Never mind, this will do."

He smiled at his disciple and patted him on the back.

"I failed.." Genos let out a disappointed sigh as he clenched his fists.

Saitama simply laughed.

"Aw, c'mon dude, don't be so hard on yourself. It's only tea." His master tried comforting him.

But Genos was suddenly filled with new motivation.

"I'll exchange it for the flavor you wanted, sensei." He declared, his expression determined.

Saitama's eyes widened.

"You sure? I said it doesn't really matter.." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

He wouldn't admit it to his disciple, but he really, really wanted that tea.

"It's no problem, sensei, the store isn't that far." He said, then quickly turned on his heel with the problematic product in his hands, stepped to the door and opened it, "I won't fail this time." He then left the apartment, and closed the door behind him.

His bald master was speechless for a few moments, then let out a quiet laugh.

"That guy takes everything so seriously.." He thought to himself, scratching his head.

Then, he blinked.

"Come to think of it, wasn't he a bit more determined than usua-" But his thoughts quickly stopped as he fixed his eyes on whatever was left on the counter before him, his expression turning to pure happiness.

"Ohhh! He bought snacks!"

'How stupid of me. Simply pathetic.' The cyborg thought to himself while walking, disappointed that he failed to complete such an easy task.

Now he had to return the store and exchange the item for the right one.

He let out a deep sigh.

'I need to make sure something like this doesn't ever happen again, if I can't even tell the right kind of tea sensei asked me to bring, I can forget about getting stronger in battle.' His brow furrowed.

Before he noticed, he had already reached the supermarket's doors.

Clenching his fists, the cyborg stepped inside, and moved right to the counter, which was, unfortunately for him, full of people.

'What's going on over there? This line is huge.' He wondered to himself, trying to see past the customers.

His eyes then discovered a small gap between the people, and he could finally see the cashier.

It was an old woman, who was apparently just extremely slow.

'So that girl had already left..' He thought to himself.

Realizing he was standing in a rather strange position simply to catch a glimpse of what was going on behind that counter, Genos quickly straightened up.

Confused by his own actions, he simply brushed the strange feeling off and proceeded to the aisle that contained what he wanted.

As he was making his way around the corner, his eyes suddenly widened as he saw her.

The girl was pricing the new products that arrived and putting them efficiently onto the shelf before her.

Their eyes met as she noticed his presence.

"Oh," She started, her expression surprised, "You came back?"

Genos simply stepped forward.

"I accidentally bought the wrong flavor." He explained, lifting the product in his right hand in the air, "I need to exchange this for a different one."

Lily simply stared at him for a few moments.

Then, her mouth broke into an amused smile.

"Here. There's only two flavors for that tea, so this must be the one you want." She said, reaching for the right product between the pile and presenting him with it.

Genos stared at her gesture for a few moments, then took the special tea out of her hands.

"Thanks." He said, examining the product and comparing it to the wrong one he previously bought.

"No problem." She said, then continued in what she was doing, "Do you need anything else?"

The cyborg kept quiet for a few moments.

"How long do you still have to work at this place?" The question somehow completely slipped his mouth, and he realized what he was asking far too late.

The girl's expression shifted to surprise as she once again stopped what she was doing, and turned in his direction.

Genos swallowed hard.

'Why did I ask her this? It's completely none of my business.' He tried not to let the confusion show on his face.

"For as long as I need in order to collect my share of the money, I guess.." She answered, staring up at him, "Why do you ask?"

The cyborg went completely silent at her question.

Why did he ask her that? That was stupid of him.

"Sorry, I was just wondering," He explained, looking away, "Sticking my nose into your private life wasn't my intention."

Lily giggled, causing him to turn in her direction once again.

"It's alright." She said, smiling at him, "You're very formal, Genos."

The cyborg's eyes widened.

"Am I?" He asked, confused.

He only made sure to speak with a certain amount of respect in his voice, even to his enemies. Was he really being 'formal'?

"Yeah, you actually remind me of someone I work with in the group, but he's really old." She teased.

His expression turned annoyed at her words.

"Oh, so I'm old, I see." He said, crossing his arms at her.

The girl broke into a sincere laugh.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, I was only teasing." She explained.

He only stared at her as she continued;

"Is the caped ba- I mean, your sensei as serious as you?" Her expression turned interested.

Genos lowered his hands back at each of his sides.

"Saitama-sensei is anything but," he explained, letting out a small sigh, "I wish he'd take his hero duty more seriously.. Most of the time I can't even tell what he's thinking."

Lily blinked.

"Oh, I know what you mean..!" She called, surprising him, "Miss Fubuki could be so nonchalant sometimes.. I really wish she'd show a little more concern for herself.." Her expression turned a bit sad, "She makes me so worried."

Genos simply stared at her.

To think that her leader was that kind of person.. That woman always seemed incredibly calculated in his eyes.

"Can I ask you something?" He suddenly said.

Lily nodded.

"Why do you stay with that woman?"

The girl's eyes widened at his question, but her answer was swift and confident;

"I have full trust in Miss Fubuki." She said, her expression determined, "I know that if I get into trouble, she will not hesitate to do whatever in her powers to save me. That goes for all of her group members. Miss Fubuki is a great leader, and she cares deeply for each and every one of us."

The cyborg kept silent as he processed her words.

"Sounds like you have a good relationship with her, that's good." He smiled.

The girl's eyes suddenly widened as she blushed as red as a tomato.

"Ah! No, not really.. I mean, She's our leader so all of us get along pretty well.. But I'm nothing special." She swallowed hard as she turned her shy gaze away from him.

Genos was confused at her reaction.

Clenching her fists, the girl was completely red, and her gaze was fixed on anything but him.

'What's with her?' He asked himself.

"Anyway!" She suddenly called, shifting her gaze back at him, and surprising him once again, "Why do you stay with your sensei, then?" She quickly changed the subject.

Genos blinked at her.

"I have full trust in Saitama-sensei as well." He answered.

Lily stared at him for a few moments.

"Are the rumors about him cheating true?" She asked, watching him closely.

Genos clenched his fist.

"Absolutely not." He dismissed entirely, his expression serious.

The girl kept silent for a few moments.

"Oh.." She said, raising her hand to grab her chin as she pondered his answer.

Neither of them said anything for the longest time.

"Lily!" A sudden raspy voice was heard from behind him, causing both of their attention to shift in its direction.

It was the old cashier lady.

"Switch with me at the counter, I'm going for a smoke outside." She called, stepping back in the direction where she came from.

The girl quickly put her price gun on the shelf and started stepping forward in the direction out of the aisle, stopping right next to the cyborg.

"Let me have those, I'll run them through the system for you." She said, smiling.

Genos complied and handed her the two products, then followed her as she quickly made her way to the counter, efficiently and quickly performing the exchange between them.

"Alright, you're good to go." She said, handing him the right kind of tea.

The cyborg took the product out of her hands and stared at it for a moment, then raised his eyes back to meet hers.

"There's another Hero Association meeting next week, will your group take part in it?" He asked.

Lily blinked at his words.

"I suppose so, Miss Fubuki always takes part in the B class meetings." She said.

Genos nodded.

"So we shall meet again, then, Lily." He said.

"Yup." The girl said, smiling, then watched the cyborg as he left her store, one again.

Walking his way back home, Genos suddenly felt incredibly refreshed.

Usually, whenever his master was worrying him, he either kept it for himself, or tried talking about it with Dr. Stench whenever he came for repairs, but Stench was always so into his own work, that Genos might as well have just tried talking to a brick wall.

Yet Lily was different; not only did she listen, she also related to his problems completely.

'To think that someone else was sharing similar concerns to mine about their own superiors..' He thought to himself.

Somehow, the cyborg found himself eagerly waiting for the next time they would meet.

A/N: I just realized Fubuki doesn't take part in the same meetings Saitama and Genos attend, silly me.

Oh well, in this fic, starting from now, B class have their own special meetings.

Please review! ^^

*PRrussiaGC - Thank you! I'm hoping myself Lily gets a little more spotlight. She's cute.

*finnjake - Yay! my biggest concern while writing a canon character is that they'll somehow end up completely off. Good to know, Thanks :)