"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Lady Boros screamed as violently and loudly as she could, while unleashing a barrage of blows to her surroundings.
Out of all the emotions that were stirring inside of her the one she felt most attuned to was rage, for while she had never been too emotional at any point in her life the heat and intensity it brought with it was similar to all of the battles she had ever fought. But even as she tried her best to ignore her other emotions and focus solely on her anger as it was the one she understood the most, there was another emotion that was just as powerful and was quickly overtaking the former. The emotion was sadness, for where her rage felt like a burning star on the brink of going super nova the other felt like a tidal wave so massive and heavy even she would be helpless against it. Yet with each passing strike of her fists and feet against the mountainous landscape she had landed upon after flying away, her rage and all of her other emotions were steadily suppressed by her despair, until finally she fell to her knees unable to keep it away any longer.
"God...damn it..." She choked out as her tears began to flow "Why...why couldn't I have just told him myself...why couldn't I just look him in the eye and tell him how I truly felt?..." She questioned while slowly balling her hands into fists "But now...he must think of me as strange...he more than likely believes me to be some kind of stalker or worse..."
At that point she could no longer maintain what little composure she had, she let the emotion take full control causing her to break down into an uncontrollable sob, never before had she felt such a horrid pain like this, and more than anything as she began gripping her chest do it she wanted it to end. This would go on for a few minutes as she let it all out, but even in her broken down state where she had not even the strength to stand, she was still able to hear a pair of footsteps approaching her from behind. But as she just barely peaked over her shoulder to see who it was, expecting fully to see one of her elites who had followed her to ensure she was alright, she was instead surprised to find it was Bang who drew near.
"Forgive me Lady Boros, I did not mean to disturb you." He apologized once his presence was known.
"B-Bang?" She replied, still unable to do anything else other than look at him "W-What're you doing here?" She asked.
"The mountain range you are currently on is the same that my dojo resides, after you took your leave from the rest of us we all went our separate ways." He answered.
"B-But still, how did you know I was here?" She questioned.
Instead of answering her with words Bang instead gestured to their surroundings, as there were bowling ball sized craters everywhere she had struck.
"O-Oh, right, I suppose that would draw attention..." She admitted.
"Indeed, it was as though a series of rapid small earthquakes were shaking the mountain." He replied as he looked to her "Tell me Lady Boros, why did you come here when you flew away? why not go some place farther from where Saitama lives?" He asked.
"I couldn't, I tried to keep flying but my emotions were making it too hard to concentrate, I just saw this mountain range here and decided it was the best place to land." She explained.
"I see." He said simply, before walking up beside her "So, you have feelings for Saitama hm?" He inquired, even though he already knew the answer.
"What interest is it to someone such as yourself?" She asked in return, dragging an arm across her eye as to wipe away her still present tears.
"Admittedly I am curious as to why this has you so distraught, when I saw both you and Saitama tackle the meteor together you were composed, focused, and were clearly using only a small amount of your full power, but now you are the complete opposite, and seeing as how you did disrupt the normally quiet atmosphere of my home I'd like to know why." He answered.
"Because...Saitama is...the only person I've ever loved..." She revealed as she looked towards the ground "But where as love was so simple, a wonderful passion that made me feel warm and happy, all of these other emotions have begun appearing as well, and all of them together at once is near impossible to manage." She explained.
"That octopus looking fellow did say you haven't felt anything for centuries, it makes sense after having no emotions for so long that you'd be overwhelmed once they returned." He reasoned.
"It isn't that simple Bang, even before I became cold and completely incapable of feeling I rarely felt ANYTHING, even the most basic of sensations such as fear, anxiety, and even excitement quickly eluded me more and more as I grew in power, but so far in the short amount of time I've been on this world I've felt more than I ever have in my entire life, and it's just...it's so much to try and deal with without any experience..." She admitted.
"Then perhaps we could help each other?" He suggested.
"How?" She asked simply, unsure as to how he could help her.
"Although you have lived longer than me I have far more experience in controlling my emotions, as a master of martial arts I've learned how to keep myself calm and focused even in the most dire and stressful of situations, I can show you how to do the same so that way you are not overwhelmed and they are no longer a weakness, but instead a strength." He answered.
"But why? you and I know very little of each other, why would you want to help me?" She questioned.
"Ah, that is where your part of this deal comes into play Lady Boros, for you see although I am a well known hero and martial artist my dojo unfortunately is lacking in pupils, so if you would agree to become a disciple of mine and perhaps even try to convince Saitama to join as well, then that would be sufficient compensation for me helping you." He explained.
For but a moment she was silent as his words fell unto her ears, but after a few seconds passed of both of them being quiet and still she felt a smile slowly come to her face, before she erupted into full blown laughter.
"Wow! THAT is...certainly a new one." She stated as she looked back to him "You have the dominator of the universe at your feet, completely vulnerable and at the mercy of her own emotions, and all you want is for me to help promote your dojo?" She asked.
"Well...when you put it that way it seems rather silly, but I suppose that is what I want." He replied, causing her to laugh once more.
Finally able to get back to her feet as his words had managed to dispel her sadness and replace it with joy, she then extended her hand out to him.
"Thank you." She said with a smile still present on her face "I am fortunate to have met someone who is just as kind and compassionate as my champion." She complimented, causing him to smile as well.
"Oh please, you're too kind to such an old man." He replied humbly as he took her hand and shook it "But be warned, as a sensei I am not as nice, in fact I've been told by a few of my former disciples that I can be quite intimidating." He warned.
"I'll keep that in mind." She said as they soon ended their handshake "Oh, I'm also sorry for having made so many craters..." She apologized, as now with a clear head she was able to look around and see just how much damage she had actually done.
"Don't worry, I'll have my student fill them in later." He assured "Speaking of, would you care to see my dojo since you are now my disciple?" He asked.
Responding with a simple nod they would then take their leave, both of them content with how things had worked out. Even so, as they walked Lady Boros couldn't keep herself from thinking about Saitama, and how he must be dealing with everything that had transpired.
"She's in love with me." Saitama said aloud, as he stared wide eyed at nothing.
Karma, a force described by man as being the universe's way of bringing balance, if someone has done you wrong with no just reason then they will get due punishment in some form at a later date. Or in many cases Karma acts rather quickly, sometimes even within the same instant as the wrong doing in question, which is exactly what happened to Geryuganshoop. You see after his lady took off into the sky on the brink of tears, he and everyone else looked to Saitama to see what his reaction would be. But to their astonishment the normal stoic faced unfeeling hero had the same expression upon his face as a deer in the headlights, all the while saying "she's in love with me" over and over again every few seconds.
To make things worse, due to his absurdly powerful nature he was basically an immovable object, even with the combined might of Genos, doctor Genus, the workers, and Bang all doing their best to make him budge he moved not even a centimeter. This in turn left them with only one option which of course the blue skinned alien dreaded, in order to move him anywhere he was going to have to lift him from the ground with his telekinesis and move him himself. And seeing as how he was in a deep state of shock from what had just happened everyone including doctor Genus deemed he couldn't be left alone, so in the end he and his fellows elites returned to their ship with a stunned stiff Saitama in tow. As of now the three of them are currently standing in front of the wide eyed human in their lady's throne room, looking at him with quizzical gazes admittedly baffled by how this was the thing to shake him to his core.
"So...what do we do now?" Groribas asked.
"I brought him here under everyone's request, as far as I'm concerned I'm done." Geryuganshoop commented "Speaking of, why didn't either of you defend me?" He asked.
"You made lady Boros cry." Only one of Melzalgald's heads spoke, as both he and Groribas looked at him coldly.
"No, HE did!" Geryuganshoop argued as he pointed to Saitama "If he wasn't such an empty headed simian then none of this would've happened, even with our objections if this idiot had so much as one functioning brain cell he would've noticed our lady's CLEAR signs of infatuation and responded!" He reasoned.
"Still, you knew how sensitive the lady was about this topic." Another of Melzalgald's heads rebutted, causing him to sigh.
"ALRIGHT, I admit it, I did upset our lady and when she returns I will do everything in my power to try and earn back her favor, I truly didn't mean to upset her but this whole situation was going nowhere." He replied.
"She's in love with me." Saitama repeated, causing the other to shut his eyes out of frustration.
"Okay, we HAVE to shut him up otherwise I'm going to send him into the stratosphere..." Geryuganshoop groaned as he began to rub his temples.
"Well, we've tried speaking to him and that hasn't worked, Melzalgald even tried slapping him and that did nothing, there is ONE more thing we could try, though you're both going to want to leave so I can do it." Groribas warned.
Unsure at first as to what he meant, it didn't take long for them to figure out what his plan was and so they immediately ran out of the room. For you see while Groribas was most widely known for his acidic attacks those were not the only things he could create, he could produce a wide variety of different acids as well as poisons, toxins, and gases. And one such gas known by everyone even Lady Boros herself as simply "Fumigation" was quite possibly the most RANCID smell in the whole universe, the closest approximation to something here on earth would be a pile of rotting festering corpses the size of mount everest, and all of the corpses are covered in sewage. To be fair though it did serve an ACTUAL purpose besides just smelling horrid, it was very useful for suffocating and nauseating their enemies when they had them trapped in enclosed spaces, in short Groribas was biological warfare incarnate.
Which is exactly why after but ten seconds of having left the room and standing outside the massive doors that led in, both Geryuganshoop and Melzalgald suddenly heard Saitama shout "OH GOD!" before the sound of running footsteps could be heard coming towards them. Sadly before they could open said doors to let him out he simply punched a massive hole in them and ran through, causing the gas to start seeping out. Thankfully quick with his wit Geryuganshoop erected a barrier to keep it from coming out, thus containing it to the throne room and leaving Groribas to deal with it while they dealt with Saitama.
"Good to see you're back to your senses human." Geryuganshoop greeted him, as he was busy on his knees coughing and gagging from the gas's odor.
"We have much to discuss." "Such as your plans with our lady." "How do you feel about her now?" "Think carefully before you answer." Four of Melzalgald's heads said to him.
Continuing to cough for a few seconds longer just to completely get it out of his lungs, Saitama then got up to his feet and faced them so he could reply.
"So...you said our first fight right?" He asked, and from the tone of his voice they knew he being as serious as he could be.
"Indeed, after you bested her and spared her life she fell in love with you, and don't bother asking me how that's possible because believe me we still don't understand it ourselves." Geryuganshoop answered.
"But she didn't come here with that in mind right? like that was never the plan?" He asked.
"No." "As she told you when you first met she had come here looking for a challenge, a fighter who could surpass her own power." "But because all she and we have ever known has been bloodshed and death, she was not expecting to live after the encounter." "The fact that you showed her kindness and compassion in the face of certain victory was all that was needed." "And although it may seem strange to us and you to her it isn't, she is certain beyond doubt that she loves you." Melzalgald answered.
"So that just leaves the question, what're you going to do now that you know this?" Geryuganshoop asked.
Crossing his arms and closing his eyes so he could focus only on answering that question, Saitama's expression changed to be as serious as either of them had ever seen. Even before he was bald, before he lost his emotions, and before he became fairly isolated from most people due to the ghost town like nature of his district, Saitama besides not having any friends NEVER had any love interests at all. Sure he had a few crushes growing up but they never went anywhere, not because he didn't ever think to pursue them or ask the girls he was interested in, but because any time he ever found someone he might've wanted to try and be with they always ended up with someone else. By the time he was in high school he pretty much lost all care in things like dating and romance, choosing to focus entirely on what made him happy rather than the alternative.
But now he was being faced with a VERY delicate situation, for he fully acknowledged the fact he appreciated Boros's company and did see her as a friend, but the idea of being in a relationship with her was something he would have never considered before now.
"Could I even be in a relationship?" He wondered, drowning out all sounds and stimulus around him to focus on nothing but his thoughts "I can still be happy, I have moments where I even laugh, they're rare but they happen, but if I were to start something with Boros, which would be the first time in my life I've ever done that with anyone, could I even feel the same way she does? or would I just keep losing my emotions despite it?"
He continue to contemplate the question for several more minutes, which the other two understood as this was nothing to be taken lightly, but after a full ten minutes of waiting for him to finish thinking he finally opened his eyes and looked back at them.
"I..don't know." He told them, as a heavy sigh escaped him "I've never gone on a single date before, I've never even been in love, so I don't know what to do or what to say to her." He explained.
"But what does that mean? are you going to reject her feelings or are you going to give it a chance?" Geryuganshoop asked.
"I do enjoy spending time with her that much I know, but up until now I thought we were just friends hanging out, I don't know how I should treat her if I do decide to give it a chance." He answered.
"You don't have to treat her any differently! all you need to do is just show her that you don't hate her nor that it could never happen, she sees you as the only person in the ENTIRE universe who she is meant to be with, so whether or not you know what to do or say is irrelevant, just TRY." Geryuganshoop told him.
"Yes." "Just try." "That much will surely be enough for the mistress." "For now at least." "That is good." Melzalgald added.
Seeing as how he clearly didn't know how to go forward Saitama decided that taking their advice was the safest and best route, as he really didn't want to do or say something stupid to upset Boros even more. Speaking of Boros though none of them knew where she was at the moment, her elites had hoped she would have either come back to the ship or that she'd be back by now, but clearly this wasn't the case in either instance. And so, seeing as how there was nothing more to be gained from just standing around Saitama took his leave, hoping that it wouldn't take too long to find her nor that she would come back here as he was searching.
"I must say Bang, I am rather impressed." Lady Boros complimented as she, he, and his only present student all sat together on the floor drinking tea.
After arriving at his dojo Bang gave her a personal tour of the place, and in the process of doing so got a fairly decent laugh out of how his student, Charanko, reacted upon seeing her. But after he calmed down the frantic wild haired young man and informed him of who she was and why she was here, Charanko apologized for his rudeness and bowed to show respect. Then as Bang continued the tour Charanko went to work preparing tea for all of them to drink, as besides the fact she was essentially the queen of space she was also the first new student of the dojo in quite some time, all in all this deserved some celebration.
"Thank you Lady Boros, coming from someone whose seen as much as you have, that is a very welcome compliment." He replied.
"Call me Boros, while I appreciate the politeness it doesn't seem fitting since I'm going to be your student starting from today onward." She told him.
"True, Boros it is then." He agreed which caused her to smile.
However as she was about to take another sip of her tea she noticed out of the corner of her eye Charanko staring at her, and once he had been caught he immediately averted his gaze.
"Is something wrong?" She asked him, as he now had her full attention.
"Sorry, it's just, you're from another planet right? like that's not a joke or anything?" He asked.
"Nope, I am in fact an alien to you and your species." She confirmed.
"Then can I ask you a question about space?" He asked.
"Shoot." She said.
"How different is life on other planets? like are all creatures humanoid like you, or do some of them look more like animals or beasts but are as intelligent as people?" He asked.
"The short answer, yes, but to be fair what dictates how a species evolves on every single world out there in the universe is dependent on a mountainous number of things, so while there are many bipedal species, or humanoid as you put it, there are just as many who are not." She answered.
"Wow, that must be so cool getting to see all the different species!" He exclaimed.
"Eh, after the first few thousand planets you start running out of truly never before seen creatures." She admitted, as she then took a sip of her tea.
"So Boros, when do you plan on confronting Saitama?" Bang asked suddenly, causing her to choke on her tea.
"Are you okay Boros?!" Charanko asked surprised by her reaction.
"I-I'm fine." She coughed out, as she cleared her throat "Bang, why would you ask that so suddenly?" She questioned.
"Curious mostly, though it is a serious matter you're going to have to deal with eventually." He told her.
"Yes, and I plan to, but only after you help me gain control over my emotions so I don't have a meltdown as I've had thus far." She explained.
"Boros, given the unique case of you and your emotions there's no telling how long that may take, it could take weeks or even months before we get to a point that you're comfortable, do you really think you can avoid seeing him for such a long period of time?" He asked.
"...I have videos..." She muttered as she looked away, knowing very well he was right.
"Boros, before we can begin your training you need to get this whole mess sorted out with him, otherwise you'll only be distracted and won't be able to properly focus." He told her.
"I know that, but every time I've ever tried to really show my affection, especially as of late, I find myself locking up and unable to get the words out of my mouth." She explained.
"Maybe I can help?" Charanko suggested.
"You Charanko?" Bang asked, genuinely surprised by his pupil's notion.
"No offense, but how could you possibly help me with a matter such as this?" She questioned, INCREDIBLY doubtful of what he had to offer.
"Look, I may not be the ruler of space, but I have tried asking out a few girls before, and in this situation that means I have more experience than you." He reasoned.
Taking a moment to consider that both Boros and even Bang ended up agreeing with that, and so as strange as it sounded she decided to hear him out.
"Alright, I'm listening." She replied.
"When I first tried to ask a girl out I was just like you, nervous, couldn't talk, sweated like crazy, but then when I finally had enough of not saying how I felt I just walked up to her and said as loud as I could that I wanted to go out with her." He recalled
"And how did that go?" She asked.
"Not good, she slapped me, called me a creep, then took some pepper spray out of her bag and got me in the eyes with it." He answered "But my failure isn't the point, what is the point is that after that happened every time I tried asking a girl out I got calmer with every new attempt, because when you first try to ask someone to give you a chance you're all freaked out about the rejection and you think it'll be awful, and while yeah my first experience isn't the best example of it not being awful, the fact is that the worst he can do is say no, but seeing as how you two already seem like friends then there's no way he'll hate you or anything extreme like that." He explained.
Despite how his response had started Lady Boros did feel relief come over her as it went on, it was true that even though they weren't romantically involved yet she did consider herself Saitama's friend, and believed he saw her the same way. So if she were to confront him about her feelings, and she were just open and completely honest, then maybe just maybe even if things didn't end up with them being together, they could still be friends and be in each other's lives. And as she thought more on it that's all she really wanted, while she did love Saitama she just wanted to be with him, even if they never came together in any kind of sensual or intimate embrace as long as he made her happy and she could do the same for him, then that's all that truly mattered.
"You're right, I should just go and talk with him." She decided as she got to her feet "Thank you Charanko, and thank you for your hospitality Bang, I promise once this is dealt with I will try to convince him to also join your dojo, as promised." She said, before slightly bowing to both of them and taking her leave.
Given how close Bang's dojo was to City Z and Saitama's district specifically, Boros who now had a calm and level mind was able to reach his apartment building via flight within a matter of minutes. Yet as she landed right in front of his door and was about to knock, she hesitated as a small bit of fear appeared within her.
"No! you are NOT going to be afraid!" She mentally shouted at herself, as she glared at the door "This whole mess shouldn't have gotten to this point, you should have corrected him yesterday, you should have just been upfront with him from the start, so now you are going to knock on this door and talk to him or so help me I will rip off my own arm and make it knock!" She threatened...herself.
Taking a long deep breath to dispel that small bit of fear she then proceeded to knock, doing so three times each with a fair bit of force to make sure he would hear her. However as she waited for a response she would be met with none, resulting in her to knock on the door several more times over the next few minutes just to be ABSOLUTELY sure he was not home.
"Come. on." She thought wide eyed, as she knocked on the door once more "If I have to stand out here all day and wait for him to come home I will, this ends NOW." She asserted.
"Boros?" Saitama's voice spoke from her side, causing her to jerk her head to look to her left.
As if the universe was also trying to finally bring them together Saitama and Boros now stood opposite of each other in front of his apartment, though unlike every single time they've met including the first, this encounter was filled with a very powerful tension from both sides. Neither he nor she said anything for a fair bit of time, not only because they both hadn't really thought about what words to use, but because they were both fearful of the other's reaction.
"...How about this." Lady Boros, being the first to break the silence spoke "Seeing as how all of this is because of me, you go first, then I will say what is on my mind after." She suggested.
"Yeah, okay." He agreed as he cleared his throat "So...Boros...you...apparently love me..." He began.
"And that is completely true." She quickly said, just in case he had any doubts about it.
"Right...well...the thing is Boros I've never had anyone love me...except for you know my parents...but even then that's different cause ya know family and everything..." He went on.
"I...can only assume." She replied, as her parents only took care of her until she was capable of fending for herself and that was it.
"So...to hear that someone who I've only know for two weeks, who came from outer space, and is an eight foot tall blue cyclops loves me is a little...jarring..." He admitted.
"Oh?" She inquired, while doing her best not to sound upset or disappointed.
"BUT!" He quickly responded, as he didn't want her to get the wrong idea "You are honestly one of the few friends I've ever had...like EVER...and as I've thought about it I do enjoy spending time with you." He revealed.
"O-Oh?" She inquired once more, unable to keep the nervous hopeful and somewhat shaky tone from being present in her voice.
"However there is a BIG difference between being friends and being a couple, and neither of us has any actual experience or knowledge of how to act when you're part of a couple, plus there's also the fact that I still can't really feel emotions as strongly as I used to, and it is getting harder and harder to feel them as time passes." He rambled.
"Saitama...what're you saying?" She asked, for even though she knew this was difficult for both of them the suspense was far too much for her.
"I'm saying that...while I don't think we can just go right into being a couple or anything as we have only known each other for a short time...I'm not saying that it's not possible...so if you want we could try and maybe work towards that and see if it could happen or if it could work, and even if it doesn't then we could still be friends." He told her as he rubbed the back of his head "So, what do you say?" He asked.
Without warning Saitama would suddenly find himself within her embrace, her arms wrapped around him as she hugged him as tightly as she could for there was no chance she could harm him. Startled by this he was about to say something, only to see as he looked at her the most genuine and biggest smile he'd ever seen present on her face.
"Thank you Saitama." She whispered to him as she held him closer "That's exactly what I want as well." She told him.
Feeling as though a huge weight had just been lifted from his shoulders Saitama returned the embrace, and while neither of them knew how if at all things would change, so long as they both were still welcomed in each other's company then that would always be enough.