Humans were strange creatures at a first glance, they seemed to favor emotion over rationality and they often chose to go with a more complicated approach to a problem instead of an obvious simple one. These were but two of the many thoughts that filled Geryuganshoop's mind as he laid on the couch staring up at the ceiling. To be fair though he had been thinking a lot more recently due to the nature of his situation, the range of his contemplating went from humans and their societies, the unique and diverse cultures and customs they had, the variety of engaging items like art and orchestral ballads, and of course his home. And while most of his comparisons and confusions of humans did come from what he and his people did on his world, he still found it quite interesting how chaotic things seemed to get for no real logical reason at a moment's notice.
A perfect example would be in this very moment, as sooner than he expected he could sense Tatsumaki coming back to the room from the elevator and from just a light peek into her mind he could tell she wasn't too happy.
"GOD!" She shouted as she came in while slamming the door behind her.
"I take it dinner wasn't as pleasant as you had hoped?" He asked her as she went to the kitchen.
"OF COURSE IT WASN'T!" She replied as she opened the fridge "The FIRST THING those IDIOTS asked was whether or not Saitama and Fubuki ever had sex!" She told him as she slammed the door shut.
"And this was a problem for you?" He asked causing her to slam whatever she had taken from the fridge onto the counter.
"OF COURSE IT WAS! THOSE MORONS WANTED TO KNOW IF HE WAS BANGING MY LITTLE SISTER!" She shouted only to wince.
"You shouldn't be shouting it'll only worsen your headache." He advised as she walked over "And if I may, why does that bother you? you know they aren't more than friends." He asked.
"Because she's my sister! and I don't want anyone thinking that she's going around having sex!" She answered as she sat down in a chair next to the couch, some leftovers from their lunch earlier present in her hand.
"She is an adult you know." He pointed out causing her to glare at him.
"I KNOW she's an adult smartass." She told him as she took the foil off of the plate "And it's not like the idea of her being in a relationship is what bothers me, it's when people go around making things up about her that pisses me off." She explained as she began lifting the food from the plate to her mouth with her esp.
"Ah, so you just don't like rumors." He clarified earning a nod in approval.
"Yes exactly, Fubuki can date anyone she wants and even sleep with anyone she wants, so long as they're not weak..." She said muttering that last bit beneath her breath "But when people go around talking about MY sister and her sex life just because they're pathetic and have nothing better to do, THAT is when I get mad." She explained as she put another bite into her mouth.
A brief silence came between the two as Geryuganshoop seemed to contemplate something, which Tatsumaki noticed.
"What's wrong?" She asked wondering why he suddenly became quiet.
"I'm debating whether or not it's wise to ask you the question I currently have in mind." He answered causing her to raise a brow.
"What are you going to ask me to get naked or something?" She asked causing him to look at her wide eyed.
"What?! NO!" He replied causing her to shrug.
"Then you can ask me anything." She told him as she crossed her legs "You should know that by now, since we've done nothing but talk to each other since we've met."
"I suppose you're right." He admitted as he looked back at the ceiling "But still I think this question is one you'd want to avoid answering."
"Try me." She challenged.
"Alright, speaking purely in a hypothetical sense, what would your feelings be if Fubuki and Saitama actually did form a relationship beyond friendship?" He asked.
Another silence came between the two as the question had admittedly caught her off guard, and as a few seconds turned into a minute and ongoing, he worried he might've overstepped his boundaries.
"I...don't know." She spoke as she looked down towards her lap "I mean, I wouldn't be angry or upset about it, at least not to the point where I'd hate them or wouldn't want to talk to them, but at the same time I guess I would be kinda disappointed." She admitted.
"Because you would still want him to be with you?" He asked earning a simple nod in response "Tell me, what do you think of him? I know you, Fubuki, and everyone else respect him and even admire him, but is there more to your affection than that?" He questioned.
"Well yeah of course there is, if there wasn't I'd be no different than a fan girl." She told him with an eye roll.
"So what is it?" He inquired.
"For starters he's the only person I know who's completely genuine, as in you always know what he's thinking because he never lies to you or tries to put on some kind of act to fool you, what you see is what you get." She explained.
"And you find that attractive?" He asked.
"I find it comforting." She answered as she too now looked towards the ceiling "People always have some kind of agenda or motive to doing something, even heroes do good deeds for the most part because they can get paid for it and get famous too, but Saitama never does something because there's some grand scheme to it or because it'll get him something, he just does it to do it and that's that." She explained.
"Anything else?" He asked curious to know more.
"He's very simple, which a lot of people might think is a bad thing but it's actually not, because he just likes to do things that are generally enjoyable and he doesn't need to constantly do something that requires a lot of effort or thought in order to pass the time or have fun." She went on.
"That's a little ironic coming from someone who cares so much about strength." He told her.
"How?" She asked.
"Because you're praising his ability to be content and satisfied with things that most people would call mundane and basic, and while you're not some gaudy hero who flashes her wealth you do still care about things that are better than those kinds of things, such as the strong to the weak." He explained.
"Yeah but he's not like anyone else I've ever met." She admitted as she closed her eyes "For me I had to be strong, that was the way things were and if I wasn't I was dead simple as that, and while I did go out into the world with the hope things might be different the fact is they weren't, the strong are better than the weak and that's shown to be true constantly everyday especially with heroes." She explained
"But not Saitama?" He asked.
"No, and that's what really shocked me the first time we ever met, I sent him straight down into the earth's core and yet he shows back up two seconds later without a scratch on him, and so I'm just standing there stunned and horrified wondering what he's going to do to me, and he just pats me on the head and tells me I shouldn't fight with my sister, then he left." She answered.
"So he was nice to you." He said.
"No...he showed me mercy." She corrected as she reopened her eyes.
Upon hearing this Geryuganshoop fell silent once more as he now realized the truth behind her feelings, and he honestly was baffled he hadn't realized it before now. Tatsumaki's whole belief is that you have to be strong no matter what, for only the strong are worth anything while the weak are not. And while he had some opinions about that he knew that she of course had her reasons for believing in such a philosophy, and they were most likely due to her never having been shown mercy before Saitama came into the picture. Which is why when confronted with someone who was equal or perhaps greater in power than she was and instead of being hurt or killed she was shown mercy, she saw in that moment something in him that she had never seen before in anyone.
She saw kindness and decency, which was far rarer that it should be.
"I see." Was all he had to say before he looked to her "Well, I guess you're going to head to bed now huh?" He asked as he pointed a tendril at the now empty plate she held.
"Hm? oh yeah I guess." She replied before a thought came to her "Wait...didn't I tell you to get the chess board ready?" She asked.
"Well yes, but I figured since you had an unpleasant dinner you wouldn't want to-"
He wasn't able to finish his sentence as within the blink of an eye Tatsumaki had put her dish in the sink, brought the board which had been prepared from the kitchen table to the coffee table, and set the pieces up all with her esp.
"Oh no you don't get off that easy, not after those lies you said earlier, so get your butt up and let's play." She told him as he got into an upright position.
"Can't I still lie down and play? I am a telepath too ya know." He asked with a bit of sarcasm causing her to roll her eyes.
"Stop whining and make your move." She replied as they began to play.
(A/N: this arc is going to be longer than anticipated as these surprise chapters just come to me in the moments when I'm writing, so I apologize in advance for that, so until next time, peace)