Hi, mates, it's time to get to the duel! So, I know that I ended the last chapter pretty oddly and I do not regret my decision!
Anyways, this is the duel! I'll be moving back to plot and then just keep going from there as I plan!
Initial Release Date: August 20, 2020
"Oy, Genos, didn't you wanna spar today?" I hear Sensei's voice from afar, though I'm far from on guard. Doctor Kuseno had installed me with the ability to wake up as normal humans do, as if not equipped by my cybernetic enhancements properly until I was fully awake.
Unfortunately, my desire to feel a bit more human had only hindered me further, and I was quickly smacked with reality and the realization as to why people loved coffee so much. Within the first three days, I instantly understood why Fubuki was so crabby when I had woken her in the wee hours of the day; alarm clocks had not worked, but oddly enough, ringtones of calls do.
I still have not convinced her to just use the same ringtone of when I call her as she does for her alarm clock. She insists that her alarm should be something gentle when it doesn't even wake her up. I find it odd.
Regardless, I hear Sensei's voice from afar, and I wonder what in the world occurred for him to not only have woken up before me, but to put in genuine effort of waking me up. I had certainly heard him say words, but I simply had not registered it yet. In fact, I hadn't even opened my eyes as my systems had just now begun to boot up.
"What time is it?" I mumble, finally being able to open my eyes. Luckily, I had not requested that Doctor Kuseno give me the full experience that included being instantly blinded by any amount of light, and he had not done so. I had heard that it was quite annoying, and considering how much it could annoy Miss Tatsumaki and Sensei, I don't think I would choose it in any circumstances, especially considering how strenuous the current experience was.
"5 A.M," Sensei responds, looking at his clock while getting back up. Another thing that I am glad that was not in this human process of waking up? Muscle fatigue. I could deal with not being on guard or being fully awake at once, but having my limbs feel like wet noodles? That would genuinely just be pathetic, I believe.
"You...are not usually up this early, Sensei," I say as I get up. "What prompted this?" As I dust off myself, I head to the closet to pick out my daily outfit. I honestly don't care what I wear, especially as all of my outfits have virtually no aesthetic difference to them. It makes me wonder what I must have done to gain a fan following.
Whatever the cause of the fan following, that is currently irrelevant as Sensei reminds me, "Didn't you wanna spar? You kept bringing it up but we were pretty busy."
The memories come flooding back. My fight or flight sense gets triggered right then and there. By god, I had never been so irritated at the flow of a day and at being interrupted so consistently, but it was likely one of the most irritable days of my life. Second most irritable day, though.
"Ah, you're correct. What time is okay for you for our sparring match?" I ask, and he stretches a bit, heading into the bathroom.
"I dunno, any time works. That's sort of why I woke you up so we could go whenever," he explains loudly as the bathroom door shuts. Makes sense, I suppose, but I find it inconvenient that both of us find any time convenient and thus are somewhat plagued by indecision. However, the earlier, the better, I suppose.
"I think it would be best if we were to do it sooner rather than later. Perhaps after breakfast?" I suggest, and he's alright with the time. Luckily, it's a weekday, so afterwards, I'll probably be able to either go hunt for some monsters or think of ways to improve my battle tactics. A spar against Sensei may also show me what I could improve on.
"Oh, Genos, you don't have to make breakfast today," Sensei calls out, and I'm a bit confused as to why. "Remember yesterday when Fubuki called you?" I try to remember what she said, then eventually do remember what occurred.
"That's right, her and Miss Tatsumaki are supposed to come over in the morning; thank you for reminding me, Sensei," I gratefully thank, and he takes it casually, as he always does.
As if on cue, I hear the doorbell ring and stroll over there, opening the door to meet the sight of Miss Tatsumaki and Fubuki, with the former greeting me somewhat rudely, "Wow, not sure I've ever seen you in the morning before you change into or out of your pink apron." I roll my eyes as Fubuki does the same, but hers with a bit more amusement to them.
"And this is the first time we've even seen each other before 6," I remark, making way for them to come in. "Why are you two even this early in the first place, let alone bring breakfast along with you?" The two were carrying multiple plastic bags that I know could not have been from Tetsuya's; his restaurant opened around seven A.M and closed around 9 P.M. As they walk in, I notice they aren't even physically holding the bags but just keeping them in the air via their powers as they start setting it down on the table.
Miss Tatsumaki seemed quite irritable as she rolls her eyes, "Because Fubuki woke me up at 4:45 with takeout in arms and said that you'd probably want to get this over with as fast as possible. I got 6 hours of sleep and I haven't even had coffee yet, but she wanted to stop by someplace that for some god-awful reason didn't have any and now we're here at 5:30. Now, cyborg, could you go wake up the baldy?"
Muffled noises come from the bathroom, something akin to "Uerhm alreaeeahdeh erwerk." The message still got to the three of us, shocking the Psychic Sisters heavily, and for good reason; Saitama-Sensei usually never woke up past 7:30 without assistance, let alone before 5.
"Wow, he's up," Miss Tatsumaki dryly remarks, sitting down on the futon that Saitama slept on. "Cyborg, I'm surprised you aren't already prepared or something. Don't you have a whole spiel or something?"
Fubuki tries to diffuse the situation created. I can tell it's an attempt, but done extremely poorly. I don't think I have the heart to really explain what she did.
Luckily, Saitama-Sensei diffuses the situation by getting out of the bathroom with his hero outfit already on, before forgetting that he somehow caused a puddle of water on the bathroom floor. The sudden slip and fall was enough to make the tension in the air vanish as well as Miss Tatsumaki to instantly perk up, snickering at his misfortune.
Now, while he's the strongest person I've ever seen and have the honor of being mentored by, it still astounds me how events like this can occur.
They occur surprisingly often.
"Baldy, why are you even up this early?" I ask as he hands me a cup of coffee. Genos and Fubuki had started chatting to themselves and catching up, even though they talked every day, meaning he made coffee for me in place of the cyborg.
"Cause I thought Genos would be up already," he explains as he sits down next to me. "Thanks for bringing breakfast, by the way." He gestures to the takeout we brought, even though none of us had opened it yet.
"I-It wasn't my idea to get you food," I deny. "It was Fubuki's." It was in fact, but that stutter certainly didn't fuckin' help.
"Fine, fine," he lets up. "I'm hungry. Let's eat." He quickly moves down to the table, and then quickly remembering he forgot to make some tea. Getting up to boil some water, I start setting up the table with plates and all that.
God, why couldn't the cyborg do this stuff anyways?
Regardless, as I start putting the plates down, it looks like Fubuki and Genos finally finish their conversation and join me at the table. A few minutes later, Saitama does the same, but with a pot of tea and a bunch of tea kettles that he...stacked on his head. Weird.
"Oh, so you can stack four tea cups on your head and be fine, but the moment a puddle of water's on the floor, you lose your sense of everything?" I raise an eyebrow and chuckle a bit, getting Saitama to roll his eyes.
"Hey, this time I'm trying to keep my balance, okay?" He says in mock defense/anger, but his expression and nearly slipping up again makes me crack up a bit more, as it does to Genos and Fubuki.
"Sensei, make sure you don't break them," Genos sighs but can't tear his amusement away from it, before continuing with a bit more mischievousness to him. "I doubt the supermarket will sell this during bargain day at an affordable price...for you."
"Hey! I'm not that cheap!" Saitama jokes, handing out the cups of tea and setting the kettle down in the middle of the table.
Honestly, it looked like a far cry from what was a normal meal, but I don't think any of us are 'normal' enough anyways, so it all balances out. Right?
And another thing. The cyborg...god, he's becoming even more insufferable. Fubuki's really rubbing off on him, isn't she? I mean...I guess Saitama's rubbed off on me, so I can't really speak. Whatever.
"Where'd you get this from, Fubuki?" Saitama asks, picking up his chopsticks and quickly pouring himself a cup of tea. "Looks pretty good, and you kept it warm somehow. How'd you do that?" Honestly, he reminded me a bit of a child in wonder of a magic trick.
"Saitama," she drawls, trying to slowly make him get the hint with weird hang gestures. "Both Tatsumaki and I have telekinetic powers beyond this world. We're just keeping the heat in with a barrier. Not that hard."
"Well, in his defense," Genos speaks up, scratching his head a bit. "It's a bit ingenious to an outsider. Perhaps a bit intuitive to you two, because you've been surrounded by this your entire life, but I've always found your psychic powers fascinating." I can already feel another entire speech come up, and I sort of tone him out but listen in as I start to eat.
"Would it be fine if we talk about it over breakfast?" He suggests, and Fubuki nods. I just start eating my rice so I don't seem like I'm paying attention, and it works for the most part. Fubuki and Saitama notices, but Genos seems oblivious to my hesitance to pay attention.
"I guess so. You interested, Saitama?" Fubuki answers, then directs at the baldy, who's practically fully immersed in his meal other than his subconscious, probably. Unfortunately for me, his senses are both extremely sharp and unbelievably dull at the same time, and you (or at least me) can never tell when.
Case in point, the tea kettles vs. the water puddle. I honestly can never tell whenever he's alert other than his facial expression, which rarely changes because he doesn't take anything seriously in battle. And don't even get me started out of battle. This is sort of me forcing myself to think so I don't include myself in the conversation; Genos' endless rants about how he finds things interesting or just rants in general really get to me.
Look. He's my boyfriend, and I'm trying to get to know him better. Hell, for whatever reason, and somehow, I'm trying to open up to him a bit more. He knows about my past, but we haven't really...talked about that. And I hope we can, eventually.
But I digress. Either way...I still don't know too much about him. But one thing I do know?
His instinct works really weirdly. Like, really weirdly. I've seen him trip and accidentally let go of twelve plastic bags when we've gone grocery shopping on bargain day, but somehow catch all of it in a perfectly stacked pile in both hands so that it's all in practically pristine condition...
I've also seen him around a mosquito. God, that was amusing. Not just the time we met Genos, either.
I really didn't expect myself to end up with anyone at all, let alone this herculean powerhouse of a goofball. Yet, I realize something.
I do eventually have to open up. It doesn't have to be instant. I could take it slow, like he said. And...maybe become more open-minded about stuff.
So I decide, it wouldn't hurt. I start to listen into the conversation, occasionally making comments in the middle. Can't help to contribute, right?
It's just the four of us in an apartment, somewhat cramped but there's still enough room. And I'm slowly starting to talk more...normally. Like a normal member of society. I'm still the Tornado of Terror. But maybe I can find a place to just be Tatsumaki outside of with the Baldy, and at Tetsuya's.
Yes, I don't have parents, and the only remaining technical family member I have left is Fubuki. I'm not even too close with her, but I'm trying to repair how badly I admittedly messed up when I was younger.
Who said that family has to stop at blood relatives, though? Nobody, that's who.
That's why, in its own dysfunctional and unorthodox way, these guys? Fubuki, Saitama, Genos? It's not a big group.
But they're probably the closest thing to family I have. To me? It doesn't matter how many people. Because, and I'll probably never admit this out loud; all of them'd probably tease me about being sappy forever; they're probably the only sort of family I'd ever want.
"Tats, why are you looking around like that?" I ask. She's looking around where Genos and I are supposed to spar with a really curious look on her face. Curious isn't the right word, actually. I could just tell she had a serious case of déjà vu. We had just flown to the outskirts of the city, which was only a few miles from City Z. It was a bit closer to City X and W than Z, though.
"I'm looking for something...oh, there it is!" She points at a giant crater in the ground. "Did you hear about the Dinosaur King or something like that a month or two back?"
"Yeah," Fubuki pops up. "Wasn't it just something like the Air King before the alien stuff and got killed really quickly?"
"Mhm," Tats confirms. "That crater's cause of me. I brought a meteor down on the thing."
"Then why couldn't you stop the meteor coming on City Z?" I ask, as I just jump off the cliff edge I've come to. I think it's better to fight down there so that I don't have to fall later during the spar. Probably easiest.
"I...don't know, actually," she admits, a bit confused herself. "What's weirder, I don't think I've gotten any more strong, but I could still pull the meteor from outer space. Who knows?" She ponders a bit for a bit, and I can tell she's gonna keep thinking about that later.
"Genos, what do you plan to do later?" I hear Fubuki ask while Genos, her, and Tats start descending their own ways. Genos with his arm thrusters, and the sisters with their psychic powers. God, it must be so cool to have some sort of awesome power like that.
"Honestly, not much. Saitama-Sensei's been thinking of eating at a new place. There's apparently this new fancy restaurant that's supposed to open up in City R. I'll be heading over there with him likely after the duel, " Genos' voice comes, a bit louder. They're finally starting to come close to the ground since I already landed a moment or two ago.
"I suppose I'll join you. How about you, Tatsumaki?" Fubuki nods, looking in Tats' direction. She nods.
"Yeah, I don't see why not. It's a bit early for lunch, so we can probably just do some other stuff or hunt some monsters in the meantime," she crosses her arms and suggests.
"Sure," I go along. "Not like I've got anywhere to be."
"Isn't City R where Sweet Mask usually is?" Fubuki wonders out loud, before scoffing with a sour expression. "He's really...incorrigible. He's always got like thousands of fans around him and it gets so loud."
"Jealous?" Tats teases. And in what felt like two seconds, the two were already arguing about stuff and all that. Happened often.
"Oy, Genos, this place seem fine?" I ask.
"Indeed, Sensei. I believe we have optimal space to spar without potentially hurting anyone. Here, we have enough space to not be interrupted or halted by environmental factors, similar to Carnage Kabuto's chamber in the House of Evolution," he explains. "Please wait here."
"You know, Genos," I call out as he starts going, "It's been a long time since you wanted to spar in the first place. Wasn't it when Tats and I got called out at that market or something?"
The memory pops into my head, as it probably does for both Tats and Genos, and the former snickering at my lack of punctuality.
He quickly flies towards the other end of the open space, and instantly I find a pretty big inconvenience.
"Tats, why did you make such a big crater?" I complain. "The ground's all messed up."
"Hey, I didn't think you two were gonna spar at this exact spot!" She bites back, and I give in. It makes sense.
"Sensei," Genos calls out, interrupting the argument that didn't even start.
"Yeah?" I call out, even though his voice is far better amplified than mine; robot voices are cool, man.
"Thank you for granting me my request," he explains. "I am surprised you were so willing to do this as to get up earlier than me." He stretches a bit. I don't know why. Do robots need to stretch? Well, I guess I should too. Makes me look like I'm taking this seriously.
"Well, I did say that I'd be your teacher. Other than give you a bit of advice every now and then, haven't done much," I admit as I see Tats and Fubuki head to the top of the cliff to watch. They're talking to each other, but I don't really pay attention. It's in the back of my mind, but whatever.
"You discredit yourself, Sensei," he assures. "Regardless, I can tell what you are going to say. It is written in the concern on your face." There's concern on my face? Tats tells me all the time that there is literally no emotion on my face. Like a fish, she said once.
"What do you mean, Genos?" I prompt, seeing him have a more determined, focused look in his eyes.
"You do not plan to fight me seriously," he states, and I nod my head, agreeing. "However, I wish for you to take this as seriously as possible. While I may be nowhere near your level, I will do my best to make you take it seriously."
"Meaning?" I ask, crossing my arms. He seems to think for a bit, choosing his next words. Even from this distance, I can tell that his shoulders are tense. Everything about him is right now.
"I will show you through battle. Now, please, let us begin," he takes a true battle stance, and silence fills the air for a bit. I can tell he's waiting for me to strike.
Well, I just won't, then. Right now? I can tell that Tats is waiting. So is Fubuki. Genos, too. They all expect me to make the first move, don't they?
I wish I could, honestly. But if Genos wants to get stronger, he probably needs to do it himself to see what he can do. It makes sense to me. Plus...as much as I want it to be, I don't think I could take this seriously enough to make the first move.
Either way, Genos blasts himself towards me in a fiery blast, and I dodge at the last moment. It didn't occur to me that he got faster. Nice.
Wait, didn't he get those cool upgrades from that one robot? That must be it.
Watching him whiz by me, he goes way past me before turning himself around with his hand cannon things. Landing, he sticks an arm out and I can already tell where this is going.
Maybe I should make a mental note of just stuff he can fix. Number one? Probably talk a bit less.
And just as expected, a blast of fire comes right towards me, but with how telegraphed it is, I just sidestep it and watch it blast by me. If I had hair, I imagine it would be blowing backwards. My cape is.
As he goes in for a dropkick, I quickly dodge, but am nearly caught in another fiery blast. Honestly, did not expect that. I reflexively jump out of the way, and surprisingly, he doesn't move his firepower to follow me. In fact, he's still firing before he realizes that I'm in the air.
"That was close," I lament as I land, staring at the aftermath of his blast. "My clothes almost got burnt."
"Hey, cyborg! Watch it!" I hear Tats call out. "You almost hit us!" As the dust starts to set, I see Tats and Fubuki protecting themselves with a barrier.
"Genos, don't you remember that we're right here?" Fubuki lectures, and I just know she has her hands on her hips. Well, that's one thing that they have in common.
In response, Genos scratches his head apologetically and bows before saying sorry. Despite this, I know he's getting ready for another attack.
Well, here we go again.
"Where is Genos punching?" I ask Tatsumaki, while we both float. For some reason, neither of us decided to relocate to somewhere on another part of the cliff instead of just continuing to float.
My question was valid, though. Saitama's just standing there, watching Genos punch the edge of the cliff.
"Maybe you haven't fought someone this fast, but do you remember how Saitama talked about that ninja dude? Genos came across him one time," Tatsumaki begins. "Have you ever heard of afterimages?"
"I mean, I guess," I admit. "But those were only in shows or anime. Why do you ask?" As the two of us float towards a secure edge of the cliff, Genos seems to finally stop punching and turn around, hovering for a bit.
"They're real. Genos said that ninja could have up to ten afterimages if he went fast enough," she keeps explaining as Genos lands again, finally spotting Saitama. "So if Genos could go against that ninja..." she trails, letting me make the connection myself.
"Wait, Saitama made his own afterimages?" I ask, a bit shocked. I knew he was fast enough to make afterimages, but it didn't even come to mind!
"Yep...don't know why Genos even wanted to spar with him in the first place...I have a feeling, though," Tatsumaki goes off, but her voice goes quiet, and she's nibbling on her thumbnail a bit. "Fubuki." Her tone's more serious.
"Yeah?" I start following her as she starts flying to another area. Why? It seems unnecessary, plus the other angle was good as is.
"I got a feeling something's about to happen," she answers simply, landing on another spot of land.
As I land alongside her, I notice that Genos blasts another incinerating arm cannon blast, as the public called it. It was stronger than this time, the flame having a more orange-white mixture to it. It's getting stronger. He must've found Saitama and tried to shoot at him point blank.
Where's Saitama? I try to find him myself, but with the range in front of me, it's like a Where's Waldo search despite there being only one thing I'm looking for.
"Oh, right behind him," I realize out loud as I see Genos throw a punch directly at him, only to miss. Even though he missed, he threw a punch to the point where he caused a minor explosion around him, lighting the ground on fire.
"Sensei," Genos calls out as Saitama lands. "Did you forget the rules of the fight? Fight without holding back. Dodge what you can dodge. Do not worry about my condition. And most importantly...fight until I am immobilized!"
There's a moment of silence. Only enough for what feels like a heartbeat.
And then literally before I notice, Saitama's already thrown a punch. Right towards where Tats and I were. It didn't land, but it caused what looked like a gigantic shockwave, kicking up more dust than all of Genos' attacks combined.
It didn't even hit Genos.
"Gotta give it to you. Nice instincts," I compliment, starting to fly down since the sparring's practically over now. Tatsumaki seems smug as she smirks, before she notices something and her eyes widen slightly as she lands. Her eyes aren't on me, and her expression is slightly shocked. What's she looking at?
I turn around to see that the dust is gone.
The cliff that Tatsumaki and I were standing on?
Gone. Reduced to atoms, practically. It was as if half of the entire cliff had been eradicated in one fell swoop, a clean circular cut.
God, I know that I saw him fight and split the sky, but that felt surreal in its own right.
This?
It was just downright monstrous to someone like me.
"Oy, y'all down to eat?" Saitama asks the two of us, and also probably Genos. "I think that place is supposed to open up now!"
"Sure...let's..." Genos whispers, still staggered by the impact of the punch. "Fubuki, Miss Tatsumaki, would you like to come with?" He's still taking in what just happened, as if the mere shockwave short-circuited his thinking process.
"Yeah, sure, I don't see why not," Tatsumaki shrugs. I nod along, holding Genos' hand. He doesn't seem to realize the warning glare my sister sends his way, before Saitama holds Tatsumaki's hand and makes her flush.
As she realizes that she just got...well, in a sense, got, by Saitama, she flushes a bit more and lectures him. To no avail, I might add.
As Genos catches up to me, finally having taken in everything and seeming to have a reflective look on his face, I plant a kiss on his cheek. He blushes a bit. Honestly, I didn't know robots could blush. That nice doctor who fixed him up probably helped him out with it.
"Good job, Babe," I compliment. He smiles a bit, still a bit caught off guard by the sudden affection.
"Thanks," he whispers as we catch up with Tatsumaki and Saitama.
Man, life is good.
Oh yeah, backtracking cause I completely forgot about this or just thought I wouldn't do it and changed my mind! Let's go!
Either way, I'm probably gonna connect back to more plot and later on go to more of my original writing. I hope you guys enjoy what's comin' up, mates.
And as always, if you have any new feedback, whether it be grammatical or plot-wise or whatnot, please let me know!
Sincerely,
SpiritBloodDragon