Hi!

Here's another chapter!

This one's going to be a sort of mix between plot and relationship, so I hope you enjoy!

Important for only this chapter: This is gonna sort of be mixing past and present because I'm having a bunch of interactions with Garou, which took place during Saitama and Tatsumaki's date, which, you know, is from last chapter.

Initial release date: November 12, 2020


"Well, well! Demon Cyborg! Took care of whatever you had to deal with?" The Hero Hunter asked me, his tone sinister, yet held a different tone of what most humans would consider frightening.

"Indeed, Hero Hunter," I confirm, nodding. "Do not fret further. Tareo is safe." I notice his eyes soften at that, and his stance becomes a bit looser.

"I suppose I should thank you," he nods his head in a form of respect. "You know what? Maybe you're different from some of those other heroes. Why'd you become a hero, anyways?"

What a random question. We're pacing back and forth in a circle around each other, waiting for somebody to make the first move. I believe it would be best to let this conversation drag out for a little bit longer. It seems best, for Silver Fang and Bomb may be arriving soon.

"In reality, I didn't even plan to become one. I was simply looking to become stronger, and my Sensei has been giving me advice along the way," I admit.

"So you never looked up to heroes all your life?" Garou prompts, a somewhat shocked appearance manifest on his countenance. It augured little from what I know thus far, though I frankly can't care about his opinion of me.

"Never. Ever since I was 15, I think, I'd only been focusing on avenging my village. A rogue cyborg burnt it all down, and most of me is still cybernetic, ironically. Justice is irrelevant," I declare. "Whatever people think is good or bad is up to them, but me? I'm simply trying to live my own life."

He smirks, a somewhat admiring glint in his eyes, "Damn, it's a shame I'm going to have to turn you into scrap. So you never even paid a single bit of attention?"

"I didn't even know that the Hero Association was a thing until a few months ago."

"Tsk, what a waste of metal...I guess you're just using the place as a way to find more things to fight and get stronger?"

"I suppose," I nod, his logic making partial sense to me. "However, I find that protecting the people I care about is also beneficial."

"Right, right," he nods, his pacing slowly coming to a stop as he puts a hand on his chin. "Just like when you took that acid shot for the girl against that Deep Sea dude."

"Indeed," I nod. "You must have done your research. Smart."

"Course!" He smirks with pride, almost pounding his chest. "What sort of dumbass doesn't try to get every edge he can? That's just stupidly clinging onto your pride, you feel?"

He sighs before we can keep the conversation going, "Look, I'll admit, I don't think we gotta fight. Your ideology lines up with mine pretty well, even though there's a bit of change. You're strong, honest, and I respect that you're trying to avenge your family. Your loved ones. Don't wanna seem like I'm spilling my emotions, but I gotta say you seem different than someone like the Tank Top crew. You're humble, I think."

His argument is convincing. I sigh, knowing that he is correct. What he does, while affecting my job, does not affect anyone else around him. It's his battle, nobody else's. He fervently protects the citizens, keeping kids safe while keeping their innocence intact while trying to impart his own sense of knowledge and justice wisely.

"You are correct, Garou," I address him using his real name, believing that I know enough about him. "However, I believe we must still fight. I apologize for not trusting you, but I cannot risk the possibility that you could go rogue and hurt a citizen. I must do what I can to put you down now. I trust you understand."

He sighs, scratching the back of his neck, "Yeah, I get it. Nothing personal. Just business. I'm cool with that." He clears his throat, getting into a battle position. "Well, you better not hold back, Demon Cyborg!"


"So you want me to think of this as just like a business explanation?" Saitama raises his eyebrow, incredulous. "Sorry, Tats, but that just sounds plain stupid. Nothing personal? Tats, you're my girlfriend."

"How else am I supposed to tell you about this? Just spill my emotions?" Tatsumaki scoffs, rolling her eyes as she crosses her arms. The two of them were in Tornado's home, in her living room. They'd talked about a few things in there before, but nothing of this caliber.

"Um. Yeah," The Baldy nods, not really sure what else to say. "You can take it at your own pace, and if you want to, you can just stop completely. I won't rush you."

Tornado gulps, her throat a little dry, "Thanks, Saitama."

"Still not used to you not insulting me by name," Saitama muses in response, leaning back in his chair.

They'd been sitting facing each other since there was just a coffee table in the middle, which they'd used for tea rather than coffee. However, considering how it was practically midday that they decided to actually talk about this, it was somewhat convenient for the two of them to have nothing going on. Besides, with Elder Centipede destroyed and Garou missing at the moment, it wasn't like there was much going on until something that Saitama'd been planning on joining in place of Charanko: The martial arts tournament.

"Wow, now that's what you're focusing on," Tatsumaki dryly laughs. It helps, though.

"Well, what did you wanna talk about?" Saitama smirks. "You seem a bit more comfortable to talk about it now, don't you think?"

"Damn it," she laughs off, a little more lighthearted. "You planned for that, didn't you? Well, it was a simple plan, but it worked."

Tornado starts, her hands clasped together as she stares at the ceiling for a moment, "So...let's start where I can remember earliest. My parents. Did I start off with that when I was drunk?"

"Nope," Saitama mutters, trying to remember the path she took herself. "You started from high school and then jumped back to Fubuki then went to now then back to your parents, I think. Something like that. Then you told me about the experiments."

"Course I did. So I probably missed some other details," Tatsumaki sighs, this time to herself as she stretches a little bit.

"So...my parents. Honestly, before everything happened, I don't really remember too much. It was...weird, honestly. For as much as they impacted my life, I barely remember them saying anything to me at all other than to protect Fubuki," Tornado recalls, scratching her head. "They were nice. They got us gifts for Christmas, helped us stay safe and gave us some basic advice on how to be a normal human being. Even though that worked like shit."

"Do you remember what made them give you guys away to the...scientists?" Saitama asks, choosing his words carefully. He didn't exactly know what to call the guys who experimented on Tatsumaki, and frankly, he doubted they were legitimate scientists in the first place.

"Money."

Her tone turned...remorseful, almost, like she regretted being naïve then. But Saitama knew better than that.

Because in the end, even though it was years ago, even though she knew that it wasn't her fault, even though she had no reason to believe that her parents would ever do something like that at the time...

She couldn't help but shake the knowledge that her parents valued money over their own two daughters.


"Gotta, say, cyborg," I start. "Turns out your scrap ain't too bad. Sorry to say this, but whoever is your repairman's gotta be spending a lot of money on you. Don't you think?"

I try twirling his arm like one of those cheerleaders. Turns out, it's a lot more flimsy than you'd expect. Not the metal. I just meant the joints didn't really work out as well. Well, didn't really expect too much, right? A flexible piece of metal for fighting vs. a piece of metal used for cheering squads? Come on.

"Impressive," he grunts, panting a little bit from the fight. Weird. I thought cyborgs didn't need a respiratory system.

Wait a minute. He's using it to help himself cool down...and he's going to try something out!

"I didn't think you'd be able to switch styles so quickly," he admits.

Well, after getting my ass kicked by that dog in city Q, what was I supposed to do? Not use his fighting style? Of course not! It's perfect for fighting against humans, first off, and it's perfect for fighting monsters who are used to human fighting styles.

Man, Watchdog Man's really a genius, isn't he? I gotta thank him for giving me this one day.

Wait a minute.

Hm.

Tch.

This is what he was going for, wasn't he?

"Well played," I scoff as the arm instantly turns blazing hot, pinning me against the tree. I didn't think it had its own mechanism, since most robots work from one cell, or at least, here they do.

"Didn't think you had that ace up your sleeve, cyborg," I admit, narrowing my eyes at him. Damn it. He looks so goddamn stoic and normal and like everything a 'hero' would represent. Dashing figure, strong stance, powerful, sharp eyes.

That's the weird thing about him.

He's the exact thing someone would think of when someone thinks of a hero.

But he doesn't even want to be a hero.

No.

He's out on a rampage, just like me.

Just...a little more patient.

It's beautiful, I think.

"We have resources that we cannot waste on the likes of you, Hero Hunter," Genos regains his breath, standing proud and tall again as he walks towards me. "Such as the Monster Association. You are allied with them, yes?"

I scoff, coughing up a bit of blood, "Hell no. They're trying to rule the world. What good does that do for anyone? Besides, in the end, their leader's just gonna kill them all in the end...they may want to recruit me as one of their own...but I work on my own...a lone wolf, y'know?"

He raises an eyebrow, before nodding in understanding, "I see. You're doing this because of something else." I nod, and he continues. "Very well. I will not push into your methods. Besides...a warrior thug like you deserves better."

I chuckle, a grin making its way onto my face as he raises his other arm to blast me to hell.

"Yeah, no," I answer, breaking the tree apart with my legs as I quickly escape the blast, jumping up to the top of the already shot-up barn.

"You see...I know you think I'm just an ordinary thug...but I swear, I'm not. You guys are out there blindly looking for the threat to spend your resources, your money, your fighters on..." I mock, realizing that he's simply blindly following the Hero Association as a tool to find his own end to his journey.

"But...I'm standing right here!" I laugh wholeheartedly. "Why are you so worried about the Monster Association when your greatest threat is standing right here?"


"Tats, we call those assholes 'thugs,' you know," I deadpan, interrupting her in the middle of her explanation of how ugly some of the brutes were. Apparently, after she was sold away to the guys who experimented on her, they simply called themselves C.R.A.W. Don't know why. Sounds stupid, in my opinion.

Anyways, the guys who carried her away were brutes, and these guys were annoyingly muscular. Yet, they still held some sort of psychic power.

It was like the entire organization was filled with espers. Yet, Tats seemed to have, as she put it, the most...potential out of them. Like her natural psychic power was unlike anything they'd ever seen before.

Hell, apparently, before they ran experiments on her, her psychic power was still the strongest the organization had, and without the restraints, they could barely do anything to stop her unless they all worked together.

"But...they had the restraints. I remember...getting shocked," she whispers, a hand coming up to her neck in reminiscence. "It wasn't like a dog collar, where the owner chose when they got shocked. It was...a constant sort of...red electricity. I can't remember it perfectly."

Her hand on her neck starts shaking as she recalls, "They...tied me down to a table...like you'd see on a autopsy table, you know? They had...needles, and drills, and so much more...but the weird thing is that they never used them."

I blink, "Then what did they use?"

"They used a syringe. They never used any of the things right above me, staring me in the eye...they usually just held out my wrist and injected something into me. You know...my hair wasn't always green. I actually used to have brown hair."

I raise my eyebrow as she continues, "Yeah, my hair used to be...brown. That was before everything happened. When they first stuck that weird ass syringe into me, I didn't see anything happen. But soon, the roots of my hair had this sort of faint green to it...keep it up for a few years...and hey...this is what you get, you know?"

She sighs to herself, playing a little bit with her locks of her, "That's also why I'm as short as I am. The weird ass chemicals they put into the thing messed me up in more ways than one, but I doubted they expected me to be as strong as I was."

"Hold on," I interrupt. "I thought that your hai-"

"Yeah, I was drunk. I remember. Apparently I told you that I ate something that stopped like growth hormones or something. That was sort of a cover. I doubt I'd want to remember what really happened to me, even if I was drunk at the time," Tats shudders, gulping a little bit.

Honestly...I know that a lot of people think of Tats as this deity, this unbreakable powerhouse, this goddess. And not the merciful type.

I was a stupid kid, but I remember that there were always gods out there, or at least, that's how the stories painted it. My favorite was surprisingly Janus. I don't know why, but it just sort of fit with me.

Anyways.

Where was I?

Oh right. Tats being like a god to the people or something.

I never knew what that really came from. Other than robots, I thought everything had some sort of emotion. Including monsters.

The thing is, I didn't really envy them for having emotions. Not even now.

What was that thing I learned in politics...or was it ethics...something...utility-whatsit. I don't care about what it was called. The good of the majority over anything. Something like that.

That was somewhat what I believed in, but without the incest story. I heard that a ton.

But...why just consider a person a god all of a sudden? Power isn't anything. Even now...with all the strength I have...who's to say someone isn't stronger?

I just...maybe it's just me, but I don't get why someone just loses feelings because they have power.

I guess I'm a huge example of that, aren't I?

Well...I guess I mean to other people, why does it seem that way?

Are they just...so stuck in the illusion that they're just different to the point where they aren't humans?

I guess that doesn't matter right now.

I notice her blink. It's slow. Like she's fighting to keep going.

"Hey, Tats, you wanna keep going or do you want to take a break?" I ask, gently grasping her hand.

"Just...let me keep going," she insists. "I need to talk about this. Don't I?"

"Yeah, but you shouldn't just...let yourself break down because you think you need to," I argue. "Much as the people think you are, neither of us are gods."

She rolls her eyes, "Pretty sure I am, but okay." She has a little bit of amusement on her face, and I can see the tiny upturn on the ends of her lips.

"So...anything else about the experiments?"


"Man, here you were, thinking the Monster Association was all that, when you got a God standing right in front of you!" I hear his voice. It's distant, but still there.

I nod, signaling towards him, "It is time."

Bomb strokes his beard, his eyes slightly narrowing, "I must admit, I am slightly curious how powerful your student has become. If he was strong enough to defeat your comrades in battle, I doubt it would be wise to confront him head-on."

"He really has let the power get to him..." I sigh. "I can't blame him, honestly. What with his family and everything that happened in his life."

He raises an eyebrow, before backing down, "I will not pry."

"How noble of you," I chuckle, as we continue strolling through the trees. The faint scent of blood is still present, and I can tell its source from the various arrows and bullets that we've come across. "Always the warrior."

"But of course. He would have come for my dojo, anyways," he brushes off.

I roll my eyes, "You realize you could have become a far better warrior than I in the Hero Association, correct?" He was well aware of this fact, and while he was still a fighter on par, if not above my level, he still refused to join.

The world only needs one idol of martial arts. That alone strikes inspiration and hope in the people.

I remember his words, clear as day. That must have only been three years ago, given the Hero Association's formation.

You are still more deserving of the role. I insist that we discuss this further.

How naïve I was to think that he would ever change his mind. I doubt he regrets his choice today, though it is still interesting to look back and wonder if his choice had been different.

Then tell me why you take the role of leadership?

I suppose I had no counter to that then. Even if I were to dwell on it further, I doubt he would change his mind about his choices from the past.

"As if," he scoffs, rolling his eyes. As we hear some more sounds going off, I tense up. He's near. Closer than before.

I feel a tunneling from below...is it Elder Centipede? No...Saitama and King must have already taken care of it...I don't see its body anymore, so it has to be something else...

Garou isn't used to tunneling underground, and he has nothing to gain from it, especially from a combative perspective...it's something else.

"We must hurry," I insist, hastening my pace. It's not long until something happens that may cause problems to further rise.

I hear a blood-curdling cry. It's neither Genos nor Garou. It's a monster. I'm sure of it.

"Come! Garou must have called for reinforcements!" I infer, glancing at Bomb. He seems skeptical. I am too, in reality. I doubt Garou would want somebody to come along on his journey. He was always a lone wolf.

"Monsters!" I see a glimpse of mottled skin, and that is certainly something no hero on this journey had on their costume, or whatever they called their outfit.

"You are tired," I hear Genos declare. "So you resort to monsters. How uncouth."

"Huh?" Garou says absentmindedly, tilting his head. "Where are you guys from?"

"The Monster Association. We are wishing to recruit you," a flower monster hisses, as Genos incinerates an entire group of monsters. "We recognize your ability and would like your assistance."

"Yeah..." Impossible. Even Garou wouldn't accept such an offer so far beneath both him and his goals, correct? "No. Go to hell, kid."

It is just as I suspected. There was no way Garou would try to stray from his path of becoming a monster, because I recall his true intention. It was not to terrorize humanity. It was to break it apart to the point where they all had to unite.

"Your strength is astounding!" The flower monster hisses once again, this time his tone is insistent. "You would be rewarded highly by Lord Orochi!"

Lord Orochi? It must be their leader.

"Get out of my sight," Garou growls, crushing the monster with his foot easily. There was no remorse in his kill. It was like he wasn't on the side of the monsters nor the humans, almost. It was like...he was a whole separate party. A one-man army, if you will.

Well...at least we know we won't have to deal with monsters fighting us on his side.

He's honest like that. At least I was able to pass onto him something truly honorable.


This...

This was the most serious I'd seen Saitama...in a while. His back was straight, he was paying full attention to what I was saying...hell, his features seemed pretty serious, too, or at least as serious as he was going to get without being in a fight. There was a bit of sharpness to his face, though he hadn't the bit of anger there. It was tension, and a light resentment. I could tell.

"I'll admit, after Blast saved me and Fubuki," I blink, not sure how to explain it. "We sort of just...moved into somewhere in City Z. We didn't really go to middle school, but we were able to enroll into a high school near where we had bunkered down."

Saitama tilts his head a little bit, "Do you remember where?"

"No, no," I chuckle a little bit. "I was too focused on not being a damn freak out there. Fubuki got along well with the people in school. She was talkative, smiled all the time, and seemed like she got past her experiments well. I think it was cause of the potential stuff I had that they took it easy on her, you know?

I know it doesn't make any sense to him, but he nods along anyway, waiting for me to continue.

"I...I gotta be real, I didn't really think high school was too bad," I shrug. "Nobody really talked to me, but I was a recluse in the first place. I didn't resent that people didn't talk to me or feared me; that was my entire life, and even now, that's in my life. Doesn't mean it's crap, you know?"

This time, he nods again, but this time, in a more understanding way.

"So, afterwards, Fubuki just hung out with this group of friends she made in high school. They eventually formed the gang you know today as the Blizzard Bunch or whatever you wanna call them, and I went to college."

"Majored in French, right? Fubuki told me about that."

"Yep," I groan, cracking my back. "Since I am French, and all. Got a free ride, though I think that was from intimidation and the fact that they had a psychic goddess at their school more than my grades. Not like I use that major now, though."

"Can you speak it?"

"Yep."

"Speak."

"Bonjour, fuck right off," I roll my eyes, a little amused. "I haven't spoken the language in five years, you really expect me to know it? I still do know a bit, but I don't really care for it."

I take a swig of water.

"You know...thanks for letting me talk about this." It really...does a bit more...light on my shoulder.

He walks over to me, plopping down next to me. He's heavy enough to slightly bounce me, and I bounce. It's a weird couch.

"You know..." he wraps an arm around me. "You're really awesome, Tats." He pulls me in a little bit, and just like I always do, I curl my legs inward and lean a bit into his arm. "Your backstory's like an anime hero or something like that."

"God, don't remind me, Baldy," I roll my eyes, punching him lightly on the chest. "Thanks for letting me just rant about all that."

His serious features are still vaguely there, but I can see him smile lightly. He plants a kiss on the top of my head, and this time...it feels nice. Comforting. Especially in the silence between us.

I open my mouth, "I..."

I blink, realizing what I was about to say.

Was I just going to blurt it out like that?

God, talking about this really got to me, more than I thought it did.

"Hm?"

"...never mind. You're a cool boyfriend," I answer, clearing my previous thought.

Meh.

I'll probably say it to him eventually. It's gonna be something dramatic, definitely, who knows, maybe he finds a fight that he's actually excited about.

But I'm going to say it to him first.

I swear.

Probably.

God, I actually thought about saying it there.

Guess it's best to be honest to myself.

I kiss him on the cheek.

"And you're a great girlfriend," he chuckles, even though what we're saying probably doesn't line up with normal relationships. Does it? I dunno.

"You know, I know I talked about my parents a bunch, but you haven't told me about yours," I click my tongue in realization. We've been together for a while, but he's never talked about his past other than the fact that he was bullied in school, his friend, Tetsuya, runs a restaurant, and he spent a few years jumping job to job before deciding on training.

He hums, "Well, it's not much to talk about. I keep in contact with them every now and then, but from what I know, they wanted to be in a retirement home so that they could live an easy life. I'm not a very prideful person, or at least, I'd like to think so. I got it from them. They have no problem not being special or whatever."

"Do you?"

"Nope."

Don't know what I expected, honestly.

"Thanks for letting me talk about this, again," I thank. "I don't really talk about my past with anyone but Fubuki, and that's usually just dryly making fun of something in the moment."

"Don't gotta thank me," he shrugs. "But I am sort of tired. You wanna go to sleep for a bit?"

Ah, fuck it. We can talk a bit more about this in the morning.

"I don't see why not."

Even though we're planning on going to sleep, he grabs my hand softly, a little bit tense. There must've been some sort of thought that just hit him.

His tone is quiet, "I'm glad you...you trust me enough to tell me about all this stuff. I know I didn't tell you this before, but I am really thankful that you trust me enough to let me know."

I rub his bald head, snickering, "Jesus, Baldy, I'm dating you. I trust you a lot as is. I'll talk to you about your past later. I wanna sleep now."

"Wow, you seemed pretty uncaring about sleeping," Saitama rolls his eyes with a smile.

"You're lucky I really like you," I punch his arm as I kiss his cheek again. I find it somewhat comforting, and honestly, I don't find it something embarrassing. It's just nice, honestly.

I'm glad I get to be honest with him.

It's nice, knowing I don't have to hide anything from him.


Hi!

Did I shove the name of the chapter down your throats at the very end of it? Cause I'm pretty sure I did!

Well anyways. I hope you guys enjoyed it. With school just really running and all, I hope you guys are able to keep up with work, stay happy, find time to relax, and if you're like an adult or something (which is weird to me because like there are tons of works that are written better than mine in much higher quality), make sure to enjoy yourself and just keep pushing on!

And lastly, this is...what now, the 38th chapter?

Man, I did not think I'd really get this far with the story!

I'm just...really glad that I have the time, and that I'm blessed to have a decent enough schedule to not struggle and be constricted by time and everything in my life.

So, lastly, if there's something you wanna say about the story, anything at all, please tell me!

Sincerely,

SpiritBloodDragon