"Love?" Mitsumi whispered several hours later. It was finally nearing sunset, and his power had taken him over multiple times. They were barely able to eat and drink some much needed nourishment. Saitama was clearly at his limit.
"I need…rest…" he muttered and had her lay on top of him.
"I need the bathroom," she frowned. "Can we try?"
"Ugh…yeah. Me too. Okay. Quick. Five minutes," he mumbled and forced himself to sit up. She was quick to rush over, and he was just as quick to use it after her. He gave out a gasping cry of relief the moment he rejoined with her in the treasure bed after she reapplied the helpful gel ointment. He lay back again with her on top of him and grimaced from the fiery sensation that seemed to eat at him.
"Rest love," she whispered and ran a finger over his cheek.
"Still glowing the red crap?" he mumbled.
"Yeah," she said and lay down on him fully to let him hug her tight.
"This really does suck," he sighed.
"Do we want another baby after this?" she asked.
"Ah…I do. I know I do. If this happens again, well…we'll put up with it. I'll be prepared and know what to expect. I know, for a fact, that I would never hurt our baby if we need to care for it. We'll keep it close, and I'm sure it may not even see what I'm all about with this red crap. Just…instinct talking. I guess," he seemed to shrug.
"Not until it's old enough?" she smiled.
"Yeah…" he mumbled and closed his eyes to finally fall asleep with her on him. She reached over to get the headset and unmute it.
"Hey. He's sleeping," Mitsumi said softly.
"Ah! Miss Mitsumi!" Genos said.
"Hush, Genos. Keep your voice low," she said. "I want him to sleep. I'm a bit awake, but I'm not leaving his side. Not only did I promise not to, but the last thing we want is for him to relentlessly search for me on a rampage."
"Agreed. That would be most unpleasant," Metal Knight said on the live chat. "I was hoping for Siren to leave now for the mansion."
"That's fine. Keep in touch with anything found, please?" Mitsumi said.
"Lady Mitsumi! Yes. I can do that. Metal Knight patched my ring in to the live chat. We can stay in touch this way. So, I have four presses on the ring to join the live chat when it's active," she chuckled in her gravelly tone. "I can head there now. I'll let you know when I get there."
"Miss Mitsumi, I'd like to ask something. Is it possible for me to see if I can evaluate Master Saitama's readings?" Genos asked.
"I don't know," Mitsumi said. "I don't want him to attack anyone. If he's sleeping, I don't know if his body will move on its own from the power coursing through him. Do you really want to risk that?"
"I…" Genos paused at this.
"I mean…if you want to try…well…come in from the balcony. Not the main room in case he attacks," Mitsumi said. "We don't want him to hurt anyone. It would…crush him. You know this."
"Risky," Kamikaze said lightly. "Very risky."
"I understand the risks," Genos said.
"Please don't do it ," Kamiko said next to him. "I mean…if anything goes wrong, I could see if Dr. Kuseno could repair something, but…you could be obliterated! I just…please…"
"I'll be cautious," Genos promised and kissed her softly.
"With Kamiko like that, I need to prepare Saitama. It's for safety," Mitsumi said now. "Think of her needs for your safety, Genos."
"Thank you, Lady Mitsumi," Kamiko said.
"But…well…I see. Okay," Genos agreed.
"Saitama…" Mitsumi whispered to hear him groan lightly with protest. "I know, love. I know. But I need you mildly awake right now. Genos…he wants to try and read your body signals while you're like this. He plans to come into the room from the balcony shortly. I had to let you know."
"What?!" Saitama now looked at her with his fiery gaze and pulled the microphone over. He was fully awake now and pissed. "No! Genos! Don't you dare! I have no idea how I'll respond! Don't even try it!"
"Master Saitama, this is important!" Genos argued.
"Well, if you're going to ignore me, then let's do this. If Kamiko says no, it's no," Saitama said sternly.
"Ah…but…well…" Genos grimaced.
"Everyone says for me to think of the safety of others. Yeah, I could care less at times. I don't get hurt. But like this? I won't be held responsible for people I know and protect to get hurt by me. Screw that. You want to play daredevil? Okay. But if Kamiko freaks out over you, that messes up Mitsumi. Hard pass for me. I won't see Mitsumi get upset. That will piss me off," Saitama said.
"So, you will not allow me entrance to safeguard Miss Mitsumi more than yourself?" Genos asked with confusion.
"Damn straight. Because if she panics, I go after the one that made her panic. And that's you," Saitama said sternly. "I know I'll see you as a threat. Even though you don't mean it intentionally, I'm saving your life this way."
"Oh! I mean…" Genos found himself at a loss for words.
"As curious as I am about the readouts, do you really want to chance if I'll outright attack you like this? Before my power went psychotic, I was able to be brought a soda as a peace offering. Right now? You could try bringing me one, but I don't think I would be able to let you just stand there and try to read my body. So, unless you have something that can do a split-second scan, don't try it," Saitama said with complete warning.
"I think I may have something like that! Tell me this. If it is able to sit quietly, no noise, and just scan…would that work?" Metal Knight asked.
"I don't know," Saitama said. "But if it stresses out Mitsumi, I'll crush it. I honestly think you all should just leave me alone with Mitsumi, let me work this crap out as we've been doing and leave it at that."
"I second that," Zombieman said.
"Yeah," King agreed.
"And who the hell is coming up to our main gate?!" Saitama asked with complete irritation. "Who is it?"
"You can hear that far out?!" Kamikaze asked with shock.
"Yeah. I can. I always could, but I never cared to announce it. With my power like this, I'm just…protective. So, who is it?" Saitama asked again.
"It appears to be the rest of Fubuki's faction," Genos said on studying the camera feeds. "She has over thirty lesser heroes under her."
"WHAT?!" Saitama shouted. "Get her on the microphone! Now!"
"I thought you were tired?" Mitsumi smiled warmly to get Saitama to pause and look at her. He trembled at the gentle caress she gave him.
"I am. But I have to get some answers first. I need to," he said and squeezed her to him with a harsh sigh. "I know. I get it. Everyone is concerned about me. I'm more concerned about them putting strain on you. I could care less about myself, but I do because I don't want to hurt you, Mitsumi. You are first before me. That's how it is now. It's how it has to be."
"Saitama…" she sighed softly and pressed into him to keep him calm. "Don't shout at Fubuki. It's like I said before. They will be hired by me to protect the grounds. If they get too curious, they will be slapped and reprimanded. I told Inichi to put it in the contract a bit ago. Rendor had made several drafts and is finalizing it now. Inichi will read the finished contract out to all of them. All of them will need to sign it. Whoever doesn't want it…he may suggest for them to leave Fubuki's group or go back to their main headquarters."
"Hmm…" Saitama mused. "Okay."
"I love you," she said and pressed a warm, passionate kiss to his mouth.
"I love you, too," he said and lay back to let her cuddle into him.
"Hey! You wanted to talk to me?" Fubuki said over the headset.
"Yeah. I do," Saitama said in a calmer tone. "If it wasn't for Mitsumi, I'd be screaming at you. Do you really have over thirty people coming over to live here? Seriously?"
"Ah…well…" Fubuki gave a nervous chuckle.
"Okay. I have some ground rules," Saitama said carefully. "If any of them do not sign the contract, they can't stay here. They go back to the original place they were from. If any of them have a problem after signing the contract, then it is null and void to them. They can go back to the original place they came from. Also, if any of them reject anything the contract states at any given time after signing that contract…I slap them hard and send them out of the grounds."
"It should all be in the contract, too," Mitsumi said. "I'll be paying them a rather substantial paycheck. Or we can do a funding plan for you, and you can budget out the costs for them."
"Can we do both?" Fubuki asked. "Paychecks for hire per hero and a funding plan for my group?"
"I know the details can be ironed out later, but…okay. For each month your group successfully patrols, reports and keeps track of things, I can evaluate it and deposit funds of a certain amount. We will have a payroll done, and Genos can help keep track of it. Being a cyborg, that's easy for him. Metal Knight and Child Emperor may also want to help out. It's up to them. In fact, if any want bonus pay, you can give them the option to work at Neutral Grounds, too," she suggested.
"Oh! That would be interesting," Fubuki mused.
"And I'll give this one warning," Saitama said. "If any of them try to push their luck around me or Mitsumi…I will slap them and throw them out of the grounds. I won't tolerate it. Ever."
"Can you give a one strike warning and bring it to my attention first?" Fubuki asked. "I can have Inichi ensure it won't happen, but this way I can get in their face and make them see what they did wrong."
"Hmm. Fine. One warning. After that, done," Saitama agreed.
"Thank you," Fubuki said.
"Miss Blizzard! Who are you talking to on that headset?" Eyelashes was heard asking from the main room.
"It's Saitama. He's in the bedroom. It's the safest way to speak to him right now. Why?" Fubuki asked. Kamikaze was now dying with laughter and Zenchu was joining him.
"Hello?!" Eyelashes said over the microphone.
"Who the hell are you?" Saitama asked. Fumio was now heard laughing.
"This is Eyelashes! Why aren't you out here?" he asked.
"Ah…did you already forget that my power berserks out right now?" Saitama asked with a form of bored confusion. "I mean, if you want to chance coming in here and hope I don't blast you into particles, by all means. Come on in. Through the balcony, though. I don't want to rip a hole in my home."
"Ah…" Eyelashes seemed to gape.
"Bring in any others, too. I might just think you're all attacking me and just…" Saitama started before Mitsumi sighed. "What?"
"Saitama, my love, you are absolutely hilarious," she chuckled.
"Well, I'm dead tired and was sleeping just fine until the super powered monkey club was allowed to move in and…what?" Saitama asked when the others started laughing in the chat.
"I am not a monkey!" Eyelashes said.
"Hmm? Oh. Saitama, you need to fix your gatherers. They ran out of resources," King said.
"Who's this?" Eyelashes asked.
"I'm King and you're in my live chat," King said calmly. Now Eyelashes gaped and gave the headset back to Kamikaze.
"I'm fixing them now!" Saitama said and was quick to move the remote to bring the game up on the screen. "I wanna go back to sleep after this."
"That's fine. Um…did you want dinner?" Mitsumi asked.
"Oh. Hmm. Zenchu can get in and out fast, eh?" Saitama asked. He stayed focused on fixing his gatherers while Zenchu moved swiftly with a platter of various meats, vegetables and biscuits to set down for them. Water bottles in a chilled bucket of ice was next to be set down and he vanished away with the shadows. Saitama looked over and nodded. "Thanks, Zenchu."
"Sure. Oh, Garou is, eh, checking out Lily," Zenchu snickered over the microphone. Saitama found himself laughing softly at that.
"Really?" Mitsumi laughed. "Well, I hope it goes well for him."
"This is really good," Saitama said and fed her a piece of seared in, teriyaki glazed fish. She swooned from the flavors and went to the headset.
"Can Orotsu put some of this teriyaki fish into a takoyaki ball? It would be amazing!" she said. Orotsu gave a nod to Zenchu to confirm it and got to work.
"Might be good for the possible new sous chef. If that one agrees," Saitama shrugged. The idea was passed on to Orotsu, and he started to make a recipe list of ideas to share. Then Mitsumi realized something and was quick to grab the microphone. Inichi was already nudging Fubuki to be ready to talk back.
"Oh! Fubuki!" Mitsumi said quickly.
"Yes, Mitsumi? I'll need to greet my group soon," Fubuki said.
"I know, but this is important and it must go in the contract. Inichi is paying close attention, too. Your group needs to remember that City Z is to become a monster rehabilitation center in my home grounds. If ANY of your group shows any form of dislike to the monsters here, they need to go. I won't tolerate it at any point in time. Even if they signed the contract. We worked too damned hard to help monsters wake up just for them to feel slighted and unappreciated. It may not cause reversion, but I won't stand for it.
"Also, no monster is to be attacked on my home grounds. If it's a new monster that appears, I must talk to that monster first unless we know it's a true monster. Before any attacking is done, we have to evaluate it. Inichi can cage it away like he did with Siren. So, if anyone gets the idea to just attack before I can talk, they leave. No exceptions. If it happened once, it can happen again," Mitsumi said with a small edge in her tone to show she was serious.
"Ahh! Yes, I see. Okay. This is important," Fubuki fully agreed.
"Master Saitama, I know you are exhausted, but if you can stay up a bit longer, I plan to patch my live feed into your television screen. This way you can evaluate the heroes while Inichi reads the contract agreements. Rendor is finalizing everything right now. He had to add in Miss Mitsumi's crucial details last minute, but he was still working things in," Genos said.
"Huh. Okay. I'm actually a bit awake now, so that's fine. I know this is important, so I'm alert. It deals with protecting my home and keeping Mitsumi happy. How's the weather outside?" Saitama asked. "I can't hear any more rain."
"You are correct to surmise that the rain has stopped," Genos said. "We are setting a cloth tarp over the seating area outside now in case it starts again."
"Is it dark out there? Maybe we should wait until morning for the contract details so everyone can see," Mitsumi thought aloud.
"No. It needs to be done now for my peace of mind," Saitama said. "And if the rain stopped, can we open the balcony back up? It's getting too warm in here."
"Focus on your game," Zenchu said. "You'll ignore me."
"Or I can do it?" Tacki chimed in.
"Tacki. You'll be fine," Saitama said. She was quick to dart in, open the balcony window door and did a quick cleaning sweep of the room before darting back out. Saitama had fully ignored her from her pregnancy condition. When the bedroom door close, he chuckled in the microphone. "Thanks."
"Sure!" she chuckled back.
"Everything good, Dad?" Fumio asked.
"Yeah. I have more control, but I'm still glowing the red crap. I'll have to see how I am through the night. Anyways, are the super powered monkeys out there?" he asked to get barks of laughter all around.
"They have assembled," Inichi chuckled over the microphone. "I shall go out there with Fubuki now and read the contract details. Floodlights have been installed and actively working to perfection."
"Good. And if any of them have it out for our family, get rid of them," Saitama said sternly. "Not only will it save their life from me, but we won't tolerate it at any point."
"Of course, Mr. Saitama," Inichi agreed.
"Master Saitama, I am activating your television screen now with the live feed recording," Genos said. Saitama reclined a bit more with Mitsumi snuggled into him to watch the proceedings. She ran a gentle hand up and down his chest to keep him calm and focused. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and watched the screen with rapt attention.
"Where's Master Saitama?" Suiryu said when he managed to walk into the main floor. Zenchu was sitting in front of the bedroom door and looked over.
"He's in the bedroom. Don't disturb him. He'll fuck you up right now. Any of us. He won't get out of there for another day or two. If you want to safely talk to him, we can see if we can get you a gaming console and a headset to live chat through a game they've been playing with others. Inichi can help with that. For now, just don't bug him," Zenchu said with complete warning.
"If that is Suiryu, please send him to my apartment room," Genos said over the live chat. Zenchu gave the message over for Suiryu to quickly head out.
"Your attention, please," Inichi said from the center of the small circle of arena seating. He sent out a mental thought for silence and attention. A microphone was handed to Fubuki for her to speak with to address her group.
"Hello! Yes, I've been a bit absent here and there. But not without cause," Fubuki chuckled. "I still have The Blizzard Group's interest in mind. In fact, even more so with a way to give a paycheck to all of you equally. And this can include funding for our group and housing here, too, for us to have another place to reside while we are here."
"Are you really dating a monster?!" one of the men asked.
"I am. He used to be human once before. In fact, he's right here. He's incredibly strong, too. Just like my older sister. So, please, show him the respect he deserves. Also, if any of you do not appreciate the other monsters here, let me know now. I will have to dismiss you from the group to let you go about your way. Or we can let you get sent off to see if you change your mind later. The monsters here no longer wish to attack, and they protect this area. They also work at Neutral Grounds," Fubuki continued.
"It's true," Eyelashes said from where he sat.
"As hard to believe, I, too, know this," Mountain Ape nodded.
"It's all true," Lily said and smiled at Garou. "Right, Garou?"
"Yeah, my mind was trashed. But I got woken up. I'm fine now," Garou shrugged. He had introduced himself to her after showing her the area, and she was finding him rather pleasant to be around so far.
"You're a monster?" another lesser hero asked.
"Yeah. What of it?" Garou asked.
"Garou, easy now," Inichi said with a chuckle before addressing the small crowd. "I am Inichi. Fubuki has been…dating me to a point. This is true. I was human once. I remember those days and times. We have a contract that she has signed already. However, we need the signatures of all those here, too, to make it binding to the rest of you. I shall go over the details…"
"I'm not signing a monster contract!" a hero sneered.
"Then you can leave," Inichi said in a point-blank manner.
"Ah…what?" the hero blinked.
"To be here is a privilege. Same for getting a substantial paycheck. Yes, you will be working for other heroes and monsters. Lady Mitsumi, also known as Fan Dancer, will be your employer. This whole section of walled City Z is hers. She bought all of it to help monsters regain themselves and to live in safety to help others. If you do not like the idea of working alongside monsters, then you can leave."
"Where do I sign?" Lily asked and was quick to walk over to sign the contract. "I know what it's about. I've seen a lot. I know things will be fine. I also have the chance to be taught something amazing by a monster, too! And that monster taught Fan Dancer! I'm not going to pass up this opportunity!"
"Same," Eyelashes said and moved up with Mountain Ape.
"How much is the pay?" a female hero asked.
"Five hundred yen an hour. Plus bonus pay for various things. Also, if one does well enough, that one may be gifted with a car," Inichi said. "Also, as Lily has stated, there is a chance to even advance your skills here with a dojo that is being built. There is much potential. It's even in the contract.
"However, if anyone goes back on their word, slights those around them, breaks the contract…well…you get slapped by Mr. Saitama. That's Caped Baldy. And he's now S class and ranked at 3. Furthermore, you will also have to deal with Fan Dancer and the other monsters here. Needless to say, she will not tolerate anything that will disturb the peace of her home."
"Send me back," a hero said. "I don't care about the pay. I won't work with monsters. I'm leaving."
"I'll help you," Inichi said and was quick to bubble him to shock him and escorted him to where his home was in his thoughts. "I sent him home. Any others? And if he comes back, we will test him one more time. If he still refuses, then he will not be allowed anywhere near this city property. Everyone gets one final chance to change their minds."
"Do you really trust this, Miss Blizzard?" another female hero asked.
"I do. I witnessed so much. I feel no evil here at all," Fubuki nodded. "Everyone is amazing! It's hard to put into words. Inichi can give you some visions to see, but you really need to see things for yourself to judge. If you just judge them because they are monsters, then you don't see the truth."
"She's right," Tsuruga said when he charged over and chuckled at the shoulder pat she gave him. That got bits of awe at the sight of that. "We don't like to mindlessly attack anymore. It's a waste of time and energy."
"Considering that Saitama can just kill us anytime he wants," Shenjou chuckled and appeared next to nod to them all from his tall height. He flexed out his cobra hood and rattled his tail lightly to announce he was there.
"It's true," Masaki said and kept his stinger tail up high to be non-threatening. "I'm still thinking about getting cured of my monster form. I'm only thinking about it, though. I have some pretty intense venom! As it was, I was hoping to be a teacher when a scorpion stung me! I barely remember anything! Lady Mitsumi woke me up. I still can't believe I called myself The Pincher of all things! Ugh! So stupid of me!"
"I was just freed," Zip said and moved to climb up on a building ledge. "I've never been happier!"
"Wow…" a hero blinked at how the monsters were. Now they saw Rendor come over with Tatsumaki hovering next to him.
"I'm Rendor. Part of the original monster group. I can still become a monster whenever I want. I only do that to protect now. Hmm? What, Tatsi?" Rendor looked at her. She whispered to him to have him laugh softly before becoming his massive monster form for her. She moved to sit neatly on his shoulder and pet his mane happily. Then he looked at the other heroes there and said in his gravelly tone, "I'm not going to piss her off. No thanks."
That got a few of them laughing at it now. Very slowly, more and more heroes lined up to sign the contract. They read over it, asked questions and got them answered. A few said they needed time to think about it and were escorted off by Inichi to head back to their homes. As the others began to disperse, a sudden shadow started to engulf the area.
"Master Saitama! There is a monster attacking!" Genos said through the live chat. The others in the chat groaned and contemplated on helping attack it.
"Eh…" Saitama grimaced and though to Inichi. :Is it friendly?:
:This is a true monster. It likely got lured in by the lights. Miss Tatsumaki is out here, though. We should be fine.: Inichi said.
"You know what?" Saitama muttered. "This is my home. It's under attack. I'm still glowing red and now pissed off. I'm gonna go and show everyone not to mess with me."
"Can you, love?" Mitsumi asked and watched the monster land heavily to roar with challenge from what the screen showed.
"Yeah. I'll be right back," Saitama said and took off the headset. He pressed a kiss on her mouth, grabbed a towel to wrap around his waist and was quick to head out to where the monster was. When my home and family are at risk, I feel fine. I need to burn off some of this red crap anyways…
"Ah…shit…" Garou said on seeing Saitama's glowing, dark red form appearing from the jump that was done from the balcony and landing right in front of the monster. The powerful hero's fiery eyes were locked on the intruding monster and ignoring everything else. All of the monster family there were quick to hide. Fubuki could just gape at the sheer waves of power that ebbed from Saitama now. Rendor had grabbed the contract to protect it, pulled Tatsumaki close to him and gestured for her to keep quiet and watch.
"You have two seconds to leave my home alone," Saitama said to the monster that leered at him. "One…"
The monster seethed and unfurled itself out to show it appeared to be a massive, winged humanoid with a long neck. Its head had two small eyes and a mouth of sharp teeth that prepared to lunge down and attack. It went still from the sudden red blast of a punch that Saitama gave out through its stomach. Then four more blasts appeared to fire holes through its massive chest to go straight out its back. Then a final punch was done with Saitama screaming to send out a massive blast of raw, unbridled power to simply obliterate the chest cavity. Its head and limbs were held together now by a single thread of skin and muscle tissue.
It crashed down dead. Saitama turned and glared at the watchers with eyes of flickering fire. He had one hand holding the towel around his waist and only needed one fist to deal the death punches. Saitama grimaced from being away from Mitsumi, and he looked at Inichi to let a bubble send him straight back to the bedroom. After he was secured, Inichi said, "This is why he stays in the bedroom. His power will normalize again, but only after he is done cementing on being a possible father figure to a pregnancy. That is about a day away now."
"He also plans to slap anyone that dares to go against the contract after it's signed. Come to me first, please, if there are questions," Fubuki said lightly. "This is also why we don't want him to get angered while his body is going through this. And we must think on this, too. If he wants another child…he may go through this phase again."
"True…" Inichi grimaced at the thought.
"That power…is just…" Lily said with awe.
"I know," Garou said. "He kicked my ass already, but not with that. Now I see why Zenchu knows he could kill him. Because he can. And he can kill me, too. Damn…"
"But…you're good now. Right?" Lily asked.
"Yeah. I know he won't hurt me. He even told me this. It's just…seeing that! It's an eye-opener," Garou admitted.
"Hey, Garou!" Shenjou said and hefted up a large arm. "You want to help me eat any of this?"
"Nope! All you!" Garou said quickly to get small bits of gasps and laughter happening all over. Now he watched with shocked fascination at how Shenjou started to swallow down everything with his venom slowly melting things away as he chewed lightly. It took five minutes for the large monster to get consumed, and Shenjou let out a massive belch before moving to his small lair to rest.
"He's like Pig God!" a hero gaped with surprise at the whole thing.
"He could be," Fubuki chuckled.
"I have the contract. How many others want or need to sign?" Rendor asked and revealed it again. The rest of the heroes there had no other arguments and were quick to sign the contract. They would be calling the ones that declined or needed to think on everything to tell them what happened.
"What type of clubhouse did you want?" Tatsumaki asked her sister.
"Oh. Ah…well, maybe something like an abandoned resort hotel? I'm not sure if there's one here, though. We were going to put it in the center of this area to make it easier to travel around for security needs," Fubuki said. Tatsumaki floated up into the air and scanned around silently. Rendor found himself pulled up to her level so she could sit on his shoulder. He took out a set of binoculars and scanned around.
"Tatsi. There is a near-perfect structure north of us along the wall. Look," Rendor said and pointed it out. "In fact…it almost looks a bit like a dojo! Tatsi, can we bring that over carefully? Or is it too settled?"
"Hmm…" Tatsumaki studied it and brought them over. "We might need to wait until morning to really see, but you have a flashlight. You can go in and check? Let me know what you think. It does look like a pretty building."
"Yeah," Rendor mused and noticed it had the teal top shingles with faded red roofing that was curved upwards. With them exploring a new possible building to salvage, Saitama was recovering from the intense pain that was wracking his body.
"Easy, love," Mitsumi soothed and gasped when he finally locked himself back to her. He was shivering and trembling all over. He shouted out with intense relief while the fans safely covered over them both to block out the sounds. He had tears of pain from trying to move and recover from what he did when he first came back. He had failed miserably until Mitsumi was able help guide his movements back to the bed and wipe up his tears tenderly.
"This…sucks…so bad…!" he said through clenched teeth. She reached up and ran her hands over him to force him to relax. He almost collapsed on her from the sheer exhaustion that hit him now. She toweled him down when the sweat formed. She cradled his head into her neck to let him breathe in her scent. Very slowly, he started to feel the stress and strain finally let go.
"That's it," she whispered and pressed a kiss to his cheek and tenderly wiped away a forming tear. "Rest with me. You deserve it. You did very well! I'm so proud of you. Next time, I should be with you. To help you."
"Yeah…I can't…do that again. Not alone. Need you there. I know this…now…" he mumbled and started calm down. Within five minutes she heard him breathing evenly. She knew the others wanted to ensure that he was okay, so she reached out to Inichi. She didn't want to use the headset in case something happened. It was already muted and set aside.
:Is Mr. Saitama well?: he asked with complete concern.
:He sleeps now. He was a complete wreck. I can't let him do that again. I know he wanted to prove a point, but this was…it's like a relapse. A complete relapse. Instead of burning off the energy, it built right back up! He could barely move! He was in tears of pain! I mean…he was fine when my fans helped him before, but by himself? Without me there to help him?! I just…: Mitsumi stressed her complete concern.
:We won't let him do that again.: Inichi vowed. :Not unless you are with him to help. You are very correct that the fans assisted him in that crucial time.:
:Please don't let him do that alone again.: she seemed to beg. Inichi saw how haggard and out of sorts Saitama looked when he finally got back to her. He knew that, when it came to protecting the family and defending her, he was fine and in control. It was the moment that it was done that the pain and stress hits him. And it would vanish away if he was challenged for being weak. He is twice as dangerous in this state. No one will challenge him now if they wanted to keep their lives. I will never allow it if I can help it.