I should've known better. Noriko was walking down the street, staring at the cellphone in her hand. It had been a week since the incident in City G. There had been no word from Kenta and no announcements of other rat monsters. I don't know why I thought he'd call. He must know what happened to Fat Rat so he doesn't really have a reason to call this number. Or maybe he's waiting for us to call him? She tilted her head and examined the phone for the tenth time since obtaining it. The phone itself was of cheap quality and flipped open or closed. The buttons were faded and a little worn down. It's just lucky we found a charger for it.

She stuffed it into her pocket and sighed. The weather was getting colder so she was dressed in a grey sweater that was slightly too big for her and a pair of black leggings. Looking down at her scuffed sneakers, she frowned. I need new shoes. I've had these since I left City G and that's been about two years. But I don't really want to throw these away…they were my mom's. A figure brushed past her on the street and her ears perked forward, eyes lifting and then narrowing. Sonic was acting completely oblivious to her presence. This again, hm? Like he's trying to taunt me. That pervert. I'll never forgive him for groping me in front of everyone!

The girl walked behind him at a distance, though she was unsure of what she would do. The possibility of turning away did cross her mind, but at the same time she craved revenge. She could feel her heart racing as she stalked him. He seemed to just be casually out, walking around town. Her tail swished back and forth slowly, ears back like a cat hunting a mouse. I don't think I can really call him a mouse though.

He stopped abruptly and looked over his shoulder at her. Of course, he had sensed her following him. She stuck out terribly and even if she did not, it was still quite obvious that she was watching the man. The other people on the street walked around him, not giving him a second glance. When his grey eyes met her green ones, he saw her reach for one of her swords. He turned to face her and held up a hand, smirking. "We're not doing that today."

"Wh-what?" Noriko froze in her actions, surprised by his words.

"I'm not fighting you when you're still recovering, idiot."

Her fangs bared in anger. "Who are you calling an idiot?! I'm not the one that…groped a girl in front of her boyfriend…like he didn't realize what would happen afterwards!"

Sonic crossed his arms, a deep frown taking form. "It wasn't even your boyfriend that attacked me. It was Saitama."

"It doesn't matter! I'm here to get my revenge now!"

"I said that I'm not fighting you. What kind of monster do you take me for?" He held out a hand, his frown gradually fading. "Come here."

She shoved her hands into her pockets and leaned on one hip. "I'm…not falling for a trap," she stated simply. "And if you won't fight me…I have better things to do." Noriko turned and started walking in the direction of the apartment. He was quickly in front of her, blocking the girl's way. "Wh-what? Just what is it that you want if you don't want to fight?"

He smirked and leaned in close to her, making her take a step back. "There are plenty of things I want. Give me your hand."

"Hn." The girl was reluctant to do so, but obeyed. His fingers laced with hers and his palm felt warm against her own. Color rushed to her cheeks and she bowed her head. "S-so why did you want this?"

The thought had occurred to him before, but only recently had it begun to annoy him. Saitama and Genos were always around her. They knew her much better than he did. He hardly knew anything about the girl and had managed to push that to the back of his mind until the incident in City G. It was still unclear to him what exactly had transpired there. He did want to know. He wanted to know more about her. He wanted to be closer to her than them. It was difficult though. Worse, he did not want to admit that that was what he wanted. Admitting something like that would make him look weak. "I saw you do this with that boyfriend of yours. What? Are you not used to human hands holding yours?" he taunted.

"Sh-shut up. It's just weird." Noriko found herself walking down the street beside Sonic, her heart hammering in her chest. I was furious when I saw him. I was ready to tear him apart. So what happened? Why do I feel like this? Nervous? Am I just afraid of someone seeing this? She was glad that no one seemed to be looking their way. The people around them were focused on where they were going, what they were doing, and paid no mind to the ninja and catgirl. "Er…I read the letter you sent."

He saw her face turning red and grinned evilly. "You like what you read?"

"That wasn't a love letter."

"It was a love letter. I wrote everything I would love to do you," he teased, leaning down to her cat ear. "Do you turn this red every time you think about it?"

"Hnnnn…." She felt a pleasant shiver run down her spine to the tip of her tail as he squeezed her hand gently. What is he doing? Does he think this will make up for what he did in City G? That was unforgivable!

"Maybe next time we're alone together, I'll leave a few marks of my own."

"Y-you can't-!"

"I won't leave them anywhere that those two will see them." He felt her shaking and raised an eyebrow. "What? Are you that afraid of them finding out? What's the worst that would happen?"

"…I don't want them to hate me…" She bit her thumbnail, eyes cast down as they walked. Behind her, the girl's tail twitched in anxiety.

"Don't you care what I think?" It was a serious question. One that had been bothering him for a while. This had started as something stupid. A simple ploy to kidnap her in order to draw out Saitama. Somehow, without his even really noticing, she had become important to him. It really irked him.

The girl looked over at him and was alarmed to see that his cheeks were faintly pink. "Um…I mean, I care, but…how do I put this? I'm always around them. So if they hate me, it would really hurt and…I don't know what I would do. N-not that it would be okay if you hated me! That's not what I'm trying to say. Sonic, did you know that you're blushing?"

The man frowned down at her, looking bitter. "I don't blush." He sensed that they were being watched and turned sharply to find Saitama in the distance, his gaze locked on them. He swore quietly, looked from Noriko to Saitama, and then put the girl over his shoulder.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" She locked eyes with Saitama over Sonic's shoulder and put on a frightened expression. I really am scared though! What the hell is happening?! Am I being kidnapped? The ninja sprinted a good distance and leapt to get to the roof of a short building. For a split second, she thought they might be safe there.

The moment was ruined by Saitama's appearance on the edge of the roof, staring at them both blankly. He was holding some grocery bags in one hand and was dressed casually, but everyone on the roof knew that even without his hero outfit, he would act to save her. No matter what it took. "I'm only going to say this one more time, okay? Don't drag Nya-chan into our fights. She has nothing to do with it."

Sonic grinned wickedly, facing the hero and keeping Noriko facing the other way. "What? You don't like me touching her?"

"No, I don't. Now put her down. I don't feel like fighting you today."

Don't antagonize him! Please just put me down and-! The girl jolted when she felt a hand on her bottom. Her face started to turn a bright shade of her red and she braced her hands against Sonic's back to try to raise herself a little. "P-put me down! Please!"

"She sounds cute when she begs, doesn't she? What are you staring at? Weren't you going to try to take her back?" His fingers trailed over her rear, warm against her skin even through her leggings. The girl's tail bristled in outrage. "What? Don't you want her back? Or maybe you're just enjoying the show?" he continued.

Noriko yelped when his hand drew back and slapped her bottom, hard. Her nails dug into his back as she fought to free herself. Damn it! Don't do this in front of Saitama! Just what do you expect to get out of this anyway?! By this point, she was certain that her face could not grow any redder. A fist pounded against his back, but she knew it was futile. He was having too much fun. Either way, she knew she had to at least try. "P-please put me down! Please! I don't…I don't know what you think will come of this, but-!" She tensed, feeling his hand move along the curve of her rear until it rested on the back of her thigh. What is he doing?!

He smirked and slipped his fingers between her thighs, hoping to elicit some sort of reaction from the hero in front of him. "You're being awfully quiet. I thought you didn't want me touching your pet cat, but now you're just standing there watching?"

Saitama tilted his head to the side. "Pet cat? No, you've got it wrong. I thought you knew by now. Nya-chan's my cat girlfriend," he said bluntly.

"Wait. What?" Sonic stared at him for a moment and then looked over his shoulder at Noriko, whose face was still red.

I don't know! What does my being a catgirl have to do with also being his friend? She squirmed again, driving her elbow into Sonic's back.

"Alright, this has been fun and all, but I'm getting bored now. Put Nya-chan down." He watched as the man finally obeyed, seemingly to be in shock by how Saitama had referred to the girl. When Noriko was safely standing on her own, her head bowed with strands of violet hair hiding her face, Saitama moved toward Sonic.

She was not sure what exactly happened to Sonic, but he was suddenly a few blocks away from them. He's…half-buried in that building. Her gaze shifted to the hero standing next to her and shivered. "S-Saitama…?"

He rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "Man. He's starting to really get on my nerves. Maybe you shouldn't go out alone anymore. I don't know what he was planning on doing with you, but I don't like the way he was touching you. He didn't hurt you, right?"

"No. I'm fine." Noriko tilted her head at the man as he surveyed the street below. People were looking up at them curiously. "Er…is Genos still at home?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Your phone rang while you were out and he answered it. The Hero Association wanted you to go fight some bad guys, but Genos told them you were still too hurt to go so he went instead. I don't know though. You feel okay, right?"

"Y-yeah. I'm fine."

He lifted her over his shoulder and jumped down from the roof, startling everyone below. Setting her down, he saw that her face was pink now. "What? Are you still embarrassed about what happened up there?"

"…who wouldn't be…?"

"I don't know why you're embarrassed. It's not like I haven't seen stuff like that before. You're turning red now." Saitama frowned. "How long was he holding onto you before I got there?"

"Hn…not too long," she replied. Truthfully, it had only been a few minutes. I wish I could have talked to him more though. That whole incident on the roof never would have happened if you hadn't appeared. Of course, Noriko could never tell Saitama this. She was certain that he would hate her if he knew about her and Sonic. Worse, if he finds out about those people I killed. I never want to face him in a fight.

Shrugging, he held up his bag triumphantly. "Well, I got stuff for dinner and something extra to celebrate your wounds healing. We'll wait for Genos before we start though. Wouldn't want him to miss out on the fun."

Walking behind him, she felt a little uneasy at his words. What did he get? And why do I have the feeling that this will end badly? A cold wind blew past her and she shivered. Wrapping her arms around herself, her thoughts went to Koneko. The younger catgirl was still living in the wilderness and doing odd jobs for an elderly female rancher. What will I do when it gets colder? She can't live out there when it starts to snow. She can't live in the apartment because she still hates Genos. I don't think I can trust her not to try to kill him. Maybe I should get my own apartment?

When they returned home, Noriko sat at the table and kept her back to the kitchen while Saitama settled the grocery bag on the counter. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, still recovering from her incident with Sonic. "…I can't believe he went that far…" she muttered, not completely aware that she said it out loud.

"Yeah. I've never seen someone go that far for a fight." He turned from the kitchen counter and saw her slouching at the table. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine. He didn't…hurt me or anything."

"Which is weird. Haven't you been hurt like every other time you've run into him? The only change I can think of is that thing that happened in City G last week. I still don't know what he was thinking when he groped you."

"…yeah…weird…"

Saitama sat beside her and yawned. "I think he has a crush on you."

"Wh-what?! Why?"

"I mean, he kept touching you."

"He sent me death threats in the mail just last week! He said he was going to slit my throat and watch me drown in my own blood! He said he was going to hang me with my own intenstines!" She stared at him, expecting some sort of realization that he could not possibly be right. I don't even think Sonic likes me that much! He does stuff with me, but it's not like he's ever said anything about how he really feels! We hardly even know each other!

The man blinked at her once before reaching over with a blank look on his face. His fingers stroked behind her feline ear, making her tail curl and forcing a purr from her. "So why didn't he just do that? This time, he didn't even threaten to hurt you. He just did that perverted stuff to you. It's pretty obvious he has a crush on you, Nya-chan." Saitama smiled when her cat instincts took over and she rubbed her face against his hand. She always looked happiest when she was like this. "It doesn't really matter anyway, right? I mean, you like Genos."

"L-love. I love Genos," she corrected him. Opening her eyes, Noriko blushed pink and wondered how she had suddenly ended up sprawled across her friend's lap. "S-sorry. I need to control my cat instincts better."