Watching television brought no news of Noriko's sister, which made him sort of happy. The thought of her running off to murder her sister and then kill herself was something he wanted to avoid. He was sitting on the floor, trying to decide what to do with his day. Going out to fight monsters and bad guys sounded appealing, but he still had a few days before his deadline. A yawn escaped him and he scratched his stomach, casually following Noriko with his gaze as she crossed the room with a basket of wet clothes. She was wearing a pair of blue shorts and a grey t-shirt that clung to her chest a bit too tightly. "How's the weather?"

"…not bad…" She strung up a clothes line and grimaced when she was unable to reach the securing point. The catgirl stood on the tips of her toes, tail twitching in anxiety. "Hn."

"I can do it for you." Genos crossed the room and went to her aid.

Saitama raised an eyebrow and watched the two interact. When did they get so close? Settling back into watching the news, the thought was beginning to bother him. Since the day Noriko had been kidnapped, Genos seemed to be watching her more closely. He had confided in Saitama that he had been truly worried about the girl, which in turn made Saitama question how he really felt about her. He saw Noriko return to the task of hanging up the laundry and caught the way that Genos looked at the catgirl. He loves her, doesn't he? When did that happen?

The cyborg crossed the room again and paused at the apartment door. "I need to go do something. I will be back later."

"Okay, have fun." The door opened and closed, leaving just Saitama and Noriko. Glancing back over at her, he saw her hips swaying in a slow, subconscious sort of way in time to music playing in the next apartment. "So what are you doing after that?"

"…not sure yet…"

"Do you want to go out or something?"

She looked at him over her shoulder, a stray lock of purple hair hanging over one eye. "Saitama. I think…I want to try strength training."

The announcement took him by surprise. Just earlier that morning, he had seen Genos sleeping beside her and putting most of his weight on her. She's sturdier than she looks and she's already pretty tough. Why would she want to do strength training? He located a clean shirt and pulled it on, already wearing sweatpants. "Are you sure? I mean, I'm all for getting stronger, but I'm telling you that you're fine the way you are."

"I just…I don't want a repeat of what happened two days ago."

He would never admit it, but the incident had affected him more than he let on. He had put on a brave act in front of Genos, saying that she would be back soon because she was strong. On the inside, he had panicked and wanted to run out to find her. She had become a fixed point in his life now. A pleasant, fixed point that was constantly in jeopardy of being ripped out of his life. "You really want to get stronger so you can fight Sonic?"

"It's not completely about him…"

Shift P.O.V

She ran alongside him down the streets of City Z, ignoring the way people looked at them. Her eyes were focused on the road ahead of her as she thought about the last two days. Genos had refused to let her out of his sight; insisting on accompanying her whenever she left the apartment. It's not as if I hate it, but it makes me feel anxious when he does that. I need to show him that I can take care of myself! I need to be able to take down a monster on my own, too! If I fight a bad guy, I can usually take them out without help. It's how I made it to Class A. But he treats me like a Class C hero. No. Not even like a hero; like a regular girl!

"I think Genos loves you."

The words made her stumble, slamming face-first onto the concrete. Saitama paused in his steps and waited patiently for her to get up, wiping blood from beneath her nose. "Wh-what makes you say that?" she muttered.

The smile he wore was somewhat sheepish. "The way he looks at you. You didn't notice how he watches you?"

"It's just…he's just…I mean, he treats me like a normal girl!" she argued.

"Isn't that good though?"

"I don't know!" Noriko attempted to sprint to get ahead of him, but he easily kept pace with her. "…and anyway…he shouldn't…I'm not a good person…"

The two were approaching the ghost town portion of the city and, though she hesitated at first, she followed him in. "How are you not a good person?" he challenged her.

She bit her lower lip, feline ears drawing back. "I'm selfish. And I get jealous easily. And I mean…I plan to kill Koneko."

"Koneko is supposed to be evil, right? So wouldn't killing her be good? And everyone gets jealous. Look at Genos. Every time he thinks about that guy that kissed you, he gets into this weird mood." He saw her brow furrow and sighed. "Okay so what is it? Something's bothering you."

"It's awkward, Saitama."

"I could use a laugh."

She snickered and shook her head. "Genos told me that he thinks about other women…when he's alone. He said that he does think about me, but he thinks about other women, too. I don't know why, but just knowing that…it makes me so angry for some reason."

"Isn't that normal though? Getting mad about that." Saitama slowed and frowned. "We have company."

Noriko tensed and reached to one of her swords. Is it a monster? A big one? The thought made her pulse race. She wanted more than anything to have another chance to prove herself. Standing behind him, she waited for Saitama to elaborate.

"You won't be running away from our fight this time, Saitama!"

The voice was painfully familiar and made her fight back the blush that threatened to take over her face. What is he doing here?! She looked at Sonic from behind her friend, wishing that she could disappear. He was dressed for battle this time.

"Oh, there you are. I was hoping I'd get the chance to get revenge." Saitama smiled, but it was grim sort of smile that sent chills down Noriko's spine.

It was now that she stepped out from behind her friend, brandishing both swords. Her green eyes met Sonic's grey ones and for an instant they shared a look of surprise. Gritting her teeth, the girl forced a deep frown upon her face. "Saitama, maybe we should-"

"Even if you did want to fight, you didn't need to drag her into this. She has nothing to do with it."

Improvising, but slightly confused, Sonic smirked. "Clearly she's important to you. What better tool to draw you out?"

"Of course she's important to me! She means more to me than you could ever understand!"

Wait, what?! What is he saying? Noriko took a step away from Saitama, her tail curling slightly in confusion. "…Saitama…?"

"What exactly is she to you?" Sonic taunted.

"Nya-chan is my pet cat!"

Noriko began to shake. She covered her mouth with one hand and turned away, trying not to make a sound. Did he really just say that? What does that even-?

Sonic, meanwhile, took this a different way. Rather than take it for the way it sounded, he imagined a horrible scenario in which she was sleeping with his enemy. "Are you serious? What kind of messed up relationship do you have?" he asked with a disgusted expression on his face.

Completely oblivious to Noriko's trembling and fight to stay composed, Saitama chose to answer Sonic's question. "Yeah. I pet her ears and she purrs and we watch TV and eat together. Nya-chan is my pet cat." He said all of this in a serious tone, wearing a blank expression until he saw how horrified Sonic appeared. "What?"

The girl crumpled to her knees, still trying to smother the horrific sounds that were threatening to leave her. Why would you ever say that to someone?! Saitama, what even-?

The ninja was having an equally difficult time, but for other reasons. He looked at Noriko. She was on the ground, curled up in a ball of what he assumed to be disgust. The girl's presence was proving to be a distraction. He had seen Saitama enter the abandoned area of City Z, but failed to notice Noriko. Seeing her just two days after sleeping with her was drawing too many emotions to the surface. Trying to shake it off, he smirked at the two heroes. "You wanted your revenge? Then bring it on and don't hold back!"

"Huh? I never said anything about revenge."

"Yes you did! You said you wanted revenge just a few minutes ago!" Sonic argued.

"What? I did?" Saitama gave Noriko a questioning look and she nodded without saying a word. "Seriously? Okay, well I guess I could get revenge then. I needed to stop a bad guy today anyway. You're threatening Nya-chan, aren't you?"

Sonic glanced from Saitama to Noriko. His smirk grew. "If she means so much to you, I wonder how you would feel if I just took her from you? I could think of a few uses for her." At this, he saw the girl's face turn red.

She pushed herself to stand and try to observe the fight with a serious expression, but was still recovering from what Saitama had said. He didn't call me his friend or even his disciple. He called me his pet cat. Like I'm not even human. Noriko blinked and suddenly Sonic was face-down in a massive crater in the road. She tilted her head, fighting the urge to see if he was alright. Is that just how Saitama sees me though? As a cat?

The hero was frowning now as he approached her. "What were we talking about before?"

Slightly impressed with his ability to change mindsets, she started walking back to the apartment with him. "Hn…I think we were talking about Genos."

"Oh, yeah! Just tell him how you feel."

"…right…" Noriko's tail was limp, her head down as she walked. Her right ear twitched as she heard Sonic move and relief washed over her. He's still alive. Good. But I'm still bothered by what Saitama said. I'm just a pet to him? Really?

"You still look upset. Is it Sonic? Did you want to fight him?"

"N-no!" She subconsciously reached to her bandaged upper arm, rubbing it. The wound had yet to fully heal and every time she saw it, she remembered her brief fight with the ninja. She had managed to catch him off-guard, but she knew it was only because he refused to put forth all of his effort. "…I just want people to take me seriously…"

He yawned and glanced over his shoulder casually at the empty crater where Sonic had once been. "Is it about what I said to Sonic? It's not completely like that."

Her ears perked forward and her tail lifted a little. "So, what is it like then?" Noriko hated that she was growing hopeful. Anything would be better than being referred to as a pet cat.

"It's complicated, okay? I don't know what our relationship is," he answered truthfully.

Genos was waiting for them at the apartment and immediately took notice of the weird mood they both seemed to be in. "Where did you go?"

"Nya-chan wanted to start strength training so I went with her." Saitama went to the kitchen and kept his back to them as he searched for a snack. "We ran into Sonic."

Noriko crossed the room to check on the laundry, her face pink as she thought of Sonic. It was weird seeing him so soon after we…did that. Even weirder to see him get batted out of the air like a fly by Saitama. Though she felt bad for him, she could still see the humor in it. Just two days prior, he had effortlessly killed three men who had accosted her.

The clothes were dry so she started taking them down to fold them, her back to the apartment. She could faintly hear her roommates talking behind her, most of their discussion drowned out by the neighbor's loud music. As she started to contemplate what she would make for dinner, Noriko felt arms wrap around her from behind. A hard, sort of cold body pressed against her back and the girl jumped a little. "Ah…Genos?"

"Master Saitama said that you wanted to talk to me alone. Is everything alright, Noriko-san?" He had been hesitant to ask her. After what had happened the last time she encountered Sonic, he worried about what could have happened this time.

"Hn…s-sort of…um…" She tried to glare at Saitama, but he had left the apartment again. "Genos. I…I know it's selfish, but…I don't like that you think about other women sometimes…and that you tell me about it." Not quite able to believe that she was having this conversation with someone, let alone a cyborg, Noriko started to shake. "I know…it sounds petty and selfish. M-maybe we should-?"

"Noriko-san, I have been meaning to speak to you about that. I wanted to tell you that I have not been thinking about other women lately." He felt her pulse quicken and frowned. "I realized it when you were kidnapped, but the feelings I have for you seem to be getting stronger."

"Genos?" The girl turned her face to look up at him over her shoulder. He stared back at her, eyes narrowed. She had intended to say that they should break up. After everything that had happened between her and Sonic, she knew that she had feelings for the ninja. Even if they could not be together the way that they wanted, Noriko knew that it was wrong to like him. He wanted to hurt Saitama. He was the enemy. Directing her attention back to Genos, she tilted her head. "What are you trying to say?"

"I am trying to say that I love you."

Her heart raced and she twisted to face him. "A-are you…serious?" She saw the corners of his mouth draw upward and she pressed her face against his chest. I wanted to break up with him. We hardly act like we're even dating. But how can I do that after he says something like this? Her arms went around his neck and she let her fingers rest against the cold metal. "Genos…why though? Why would you? I…haven't heard those words in years…not with meaning…" Noriko bit her lip when she felt his hips push against hers. "What are you…?"

"Master Saitama left so that we could talk, but I want to try something new. Do you want to try it?" He lifted her chin so that their eyes met once more. She nodded once, heart skipping a beat when he drew her into the apartment.