"It's good to do good, is my reasoning. I know I won't win a lot of battles or get a lot of fans, but that stuff...it doesn't matter to me. What about you, miss Tatsumaki?"
Tatsumaki looked up at the ceiling wearing a contemplative expression. As Saitama and Genos were taking some udon challenge thing that she wasn't familiar with, she decided that it might as well strike up some conversation to avoid dying from boredom. As King was stoic as ever, she decided to ignore her fellow S-class hero in favor of...the C-class. Today was an odd day.
But it wasn't like she was expecting anything romantic to come out of this date with Saitama anyway. Not that it was a date. Not that she was actually expecting romantic things to happen. Not like-
"Um, miss Tatsumaki? Are you...alright? Your face is reddening to an unhealthy degree."
Damnit, how many times has this even happened today?
"I-It's fine, geez! But yeah, I...I guess. To endanger yourself every day for the people alone...you just don't get a lot of heroes just like that nowadays, huh?"
License-less Rider chuckled, taking a sip of his water. Maybe right now would not be a great time to bring up Tanktop Tiger.
"Gahhhh! You cheater!"
Feeling the table violently shake, the rest of the group looked over to where Genos and Saitama were sitting for their challenge. Saitama, head buried into his arms groaning, was currently muttering vague curses to Genos, who was slurping up the rest of the soup in the bucket. Finally getting up, Saitama walked over and greeted the small party.
"Sorry for taking so long, I feel like a bad host now..."
Saitama sat down closely next to Tatsumaki, causing her to jolt and squirm. It didn't go unnoticed, and King gave her a knowing smile.
"H-Hey, idiot! What are you smiling at?!"
"...You know."
Tatsumaki stared at King for slightly longer before her face exploded into red. King's smile only broadened, leaving Saitama to scratch his head, confused.
"Is there something I'm missing...?"
"N-No, nothing at all! Ah, um...d-did we order any food?"
Letting out a small 'ah', Saitama nodded with little hesitation.
"Yeah, I just ordered basic dishes for everyone. Rider, you've never been to this place, right?"
Looking up from his phone, License-less Rider shook his head.
"They have free drinks after...oh, about an hour now."
"O-Oh. I'm not really a drinker, though...sorry, Saitama."
Shrugging, Saitama leaned back into his seat and stared at the ceiling.
"Nah, it's okay...how about you, King?"
"...Have to keep a clear head. You know how it is."
Nodding, Saitama turned to Tatsumaki, expression eager.
Gulping, the esper weighed her options. Unknown to everyone except her sister, Tatsumaki couldn't hold her liquor if her life depended on it. Probably due to her small physique and psychic specialization, she grumbled. Nevertheless, it was a social outing, and it would look odd that she didn't at least have one drink.
"Didn't know you were a drunkard, bal - ah, S-Saitama. But, maybe just one..."
Grinning, Saitama patted her on the head.
"No need to push yourself. If you're really not up to drinking, it's ok, you know?"
Competitive side flaring up, Tatsumaki got up and brought her face up close to Saitama's, ignoring the budding shyness bubbling up.
"Oh please! If you think one drink can down me, then you'd better be prepared for one hell of a-"
*SNRK*
Saitama stared at King and License-less Rider with the most deadpan expression that came natural, both desperately trying to hold in their laughter.
It had literally only taken one drink before Tatsumaki had become completely plastered, and with that came an entirely different side of her. Lovingly clingy and surprisingly bold, Tatsumaki would often whisper sweet nothings to Saitama right in front of King and License-less Rider. Saitama, of course, wouldn't call it 'sweet nothings'. More like 'Weird embarrassing stuff that we'll be regretting tomorrow'.
"Saitamaaaaa...p-pay attention to me, damnit...come oooooon..."
Tatsumaki pouted as she pushed her head up into Saitama's chin, not unlike a child wanting the attention of their parent. Sighing, Saitama wrapped an arm around her waist and looked back up to see King taking a picture, causing him to panic and try to futilely grab at King's phone. Tatsumaki, on the other hand, gripped his arm with both hands happily.
"H-Hey, that's going to lead to a lot of misunderstandings! Quit it, King!"
"...Uploaded. Now you'll finally have a fanclub, Saitama."
License-less Rider at this point gave up trying to be modest, howling and slapping the table as his phone started buzzing with the notification. With King's amount of followers, it wouldn't be a surprise if most of the citizens and heroes throughout all cities got the picture within minutes.
"WHAT?! YOU BASTAAAAARD!"
Giggling airily, Tatsumaki turned to fully press her body up against Saitama's, slightly propping herself up to touch noses with him. Saitama, trying to suppress a heart attack, truly noticed Tatsumaki in this moment; the scent of alcohol on her breath, the curves of her body, her brilliant green eyes...
It was annoying and embarrassing him to no end.
"Don't worry...that jus' means everyone knows you're mine..."
Grasping both of her shoulders and gently pushing her back, Saitama took a deep breath.
"W-What do you-"
"You know what I'm talkin' about, Saitama..."
Hearing an 'ooh' and some giggles from King and License-less Rider, Saitama looked over Tatsumaki's shoulder with an annoyed expression.
"Is this middle school or something to you two?!"
Genos, noticing the commotion, broke off of his conversation with a rabid fan to rejoin his friends. As he was previously seated behind Saitama, however, he didn't see Tatsumaki in her dangerous positioning.
"Hey, Saitama...lezz'go back to your place..."
"Ah, no. No no no. We're still having dinner with friends, remember?"
"Ah, d-don't...*snnk heehee* don't worry about us, Saitama. M-Me and License-less Rider can always catch up later."
Rider, wheezing for air yet still giggling, nodded and gave a thumbs up towards Saitama's general direction. Saitama, opening his mouth to reply, stopped at the sight of Genos intently staring at him, expression torn between wondrous and impressed.
"...hey, Genos. How...how you doin'?"
"I...Master. Is this...is this what they call the ship 'setting sail'?"
A warm smile creeped onto Genos' face, which for the first time in his life made Saitama contemplate dying.
"Master, I am proud to witness you and Tatsumaki intertwining your hearts. In a purely metaphorically sense, you two are indeed sailing the seas of love to a brighter futu-"
"SHUT UUUUUUUUP!"
The small udon shop was filled with raucous laughter as Saitama ran out, clutching Tatsumaki tightly and running so fast that the incredibly reinforced concrete itself was splintered from his feet.
"Guh...ah...running after a big meal...haaaah..."
Setting down an oddly quiet Tatsumaki near the table, Saitama took off his hoodie and jeans to reveal a plain white tank-top and shorts. Sitting down on the futon, he buried his hands into face and groaned.
"I told you about getting drunk. You didn't even eat anything before drinking, did you? Gahhh...the guys will never let it gooooo..."
Letting out another groan as he fell back onto the futon, he grunted as he felt another body flop onto his. Taking his palm out of his hand, Saitama stared blankly at Tatsumaki gripping his waist like he'd disappear if she didn't.
"I really love you, you know...? You never...n-never leave my mind ever...don't leave me again. So please, d-don't..."
She let out a shaky breath, tears welling in her eyes.
"Don't pretend like this didn't happen!"
"Ah, I...T-Tatsumaki..."
Looking away, Saitama experienced the second biggest existential crisis in his life. Not only was it Tatsumaki, the most unlikely candidate, to confess her love to him, but it was his self-consciousness that made his mind freeze. Was he good enough to be in a relationship with someone with such prestige as Tatsumaki? Sure, it wasn't like he cared about his own reputation, but even though he was steadily climbing the ranks, how would be able to deal with the Association's reaction to this? The public's? Would Tatsumaki get reprimanded for this? Hell, was this even allowed in the first place?
...
Screw it.
Brushing her hair off of her forehead, Saitama placed a soft kiss on it. Tatsumaki, surprised, quit her sniffling.
"Hey, uh, I don't know a lot about this relationship stuff. I did play a few of those dating sims with King though, so I think I know what to do. In any case, um, I do wanna try it out. With you, I mean. So come on, don't cry midg...err, Tatsumaki."
Wiping away her tears with his thumb (and then wiping it again due to the fact that it didn't accomplish much besides smear it all over her cheeks), he shot her a confident smile.
"Because if you do stumble and fall, I'll be there to catch you."
Staring at him, Tatsumaki broke into a warbling grin as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Thank you so much...I'll...I'll treat you right. And, to return the favor, if anyone gives you trouble..."
Tatsumaki glowed a brilliant shade of green to illustrate her point, giving Saitama a sly grin. Of course, being drunk didn't improve her focus and they heard something explode in the distance, but they shrugged it off for the sake of the moment.
"I'll make sure they don't, sim...s-simply put."
Lying down, Saitama closed his eyes. Wrapping an arm around Tatsumaki, he pulled the covers up so that it comfortably covered both of them.
"Bath tomorrow morning...tired right now."
"Mmmm...this place is a mess...I'll clean it up with you sometime, Baldy..."
Grinning, Saitama gently flicked her on the forehead.
"What's with this bald business again? Are you making fun of when we just got together?"
Tatsumaki yawned, gently laughing.
"More of an, uh, affectionate nickname...I mean it..."
Saitama believed her.
Sonic was not having the best of days.
Not only could he not find Saitama anywhere, not even the threat of wanton violence drove him out of his little hiding spot. All it landed him was an embarrassing defeat of some Superalloy Blackluster and another visit from Pri-Pri Prisoner. Thankfully, he escaped before nothing happened, but now...well.
How do you explain just exploding? Simply walking home after a long day and spontaneously exploding?
Sonic let out a long, irritated sigh as he shot a venomous look towards Saitama's apartment.
He just knew it was all that caped baldy's fault. Somehow.
A/N: There is going to be an epilogue, and then a proper story for these two. I don't have a schedule, but it will happen very soon.
I saw all the hype from the reviews, holy shit guys. I'll admit, Genos/Saitama isn't my cup of tea, but I didn't know that a lot of people wanted this pairing. I'm glad to provide, and glad to know that people enjoy the stuff I write. That's awesome as a writer, know what I mean?
Alright, see you guys soon.
