"You're not going to spar? I wanted to see you fight, Nya-chan."

"Hn. I'm fine with just watching." Noriko crossed her arms, settling on the ground with her tail swishing behind her. He keeps calling me "Nya-chan". Like he's mocking me. She glanced to the food beside her. The scent drifted to her through the plastic of the bento boxes and she could feel her stomach growl. The pork bun from earlier had been tasty, but far from filling.

Genos looked down at her briefly before shifting his gaze to his mentor. "If you would like to spar with me when I am done with Master Saitama-"

"I'm fine," she repeated. "Just…start."

The match began faster than she had expected. There was no hesitation on the cyborg's part; he rushed at the caped hero and began striking. The catgirl watched his movements intently, her tail twitching a bit in excitement. His body moved with speed and grace that she was not used to seeing in cyborg heroes. Some of them could be rather clunky and awkward, but he seemed to be far superior.

What really caught her eye was his facial expression as he fought to try to land a hit on Saitama. His mouth was twisted into a determined frown, his eyes narrowed as he concentrated. Noriko could feel a faint blush rising to her cheeks as she watched him pursue the older hero. He's…actually…kind of cool, she thought as his arms seemed to change shape. What is that?

Flames burst forth and it was clear that Saitama had avoided the blast, but it amazed Noriko nonetheless. It was difficult for her to keep a straight face. She wanted to smile. She wanted to see more of what he could do. The catgirl drew her knees to her chest and tilted her head, one ear twitching as she heard something in the distance behind her.

Twisting into a crouched position, she unsheathed both of her swords and turned away from the heroes. Her pulse raced and she let her lips curl into a half-grin. A monster was charging at them from the wilderness surrounding the barren plain where the heroes sparred. Without a word to the other two, Noriko sprinted toward the beast.

It was almost like a chimpanzee, but with two extra arms sprouting from its shoulder blades. All four arms flailed wildly as it galloped toward her, a screech issuing from between its jagged teeth. The closer it got, the more monstrous in appearance it seemed to become. Blood matted the hair on its chest and around its face as well coating its arms from fingertip to elbow. When its lips drew back to bare its teeth, they gleamed crimson.

What is this thing?! Are there more of it? Noriko brought her blades up to block it swinging both fists down, digging shallowly into its arms. It threw its weight forward to try to knock her onto her back and she planted her feet firmly, steadying herself. She could feel her battered sneakers skidding over the ground as it pushed her back a few feet, bringing a frown to her face. "Hn! I'm not…going down that easily!"

With a few quick movements, she dislodged her swords from its arms and twirled, bringing herself to its side and then back. The first blade slashed into its side and the second thrust through its back with ease. Blood splattered the ground in front of it and she grimaced. I thought it would put up more of a fight. This is a little disappointing.

That was when she heard a roar echo from the wilderness behind her. She turned and felt her pulse accelerate again. A group of around five more of its kind were running toward the catgirl, a gorilla behind them that was at least twice her size. Her tail flicked side to side and she could feel her hips swaying with it. "Hn…that's more like it," she muttered, licking her lips.

She ran to meet the chimpanzees, her swords ready at her sides. The girl twirled and slashed with practiced grace, easily able to take on such monsters. They seemed less intelligent than normal chimpanzees. They fought with no logic and no regard for their own wellbeing. Noriko was soon surrounded by a ring of blood and found it splattered all over her t-shirt and shorts.

Shift P.O.V

He had never seen her fight before. He had watched her on her runs through the ghost town, but had never seen her fight. Whatever he had expected, it was not this. Noriko was slender and feminine in build. Thus why he was so amazed when she began to twirl and deal such lethal damage.

Genos had been in the middle of his sparring match when he saw her run off toward the monster. He wanted to reach it first, but Saitama told him to hold back so they could see what she could do. Now she was twirling in a circle, a ring of blood around her sneakers and all over her clothes. It dotted her face, crimson on her pale skin. Her expression was fierce when she finally came to a stop, her violet fur bristling on her ears and tail.

"Nya-chan's pretty intense," Saitama remarked. His own face had not changed, but he had stopped in the sparring match to watch her fight. "She's kind of like that one comic book hero. I don't remember what he was called, but…he had two swords and moved kind of like that. She heals pretty fast, too, right?"

"Yes. Noriko-san seems to heal quickly." He focused on the injured monsters. They were all bleeding profusely. Some were now missing fingers or even limbs. Where did she learn to fight this way? Did she spend her childhood training to fight? She said that she needs to get stronger to take down Grey Corporation.

"Oh. That's not good."

Saitama's words made Genos snap out of his thoughts and focus on Noriko again. The injured chimpanzees had moved away to make room for the gorilla. It bounded toward her at a high speed, taking her by surprise and grabbing the catgirl by the tail. She released a loud cry of pain as it lifted her off her feet and spun in a circle, swinging her in the air. The catgirl was slashing frantically at its arm to try to free herself, but it seemed to have found her weakness and her aim was a little off.

"Master Saitama, I'll-" Before he could even finish his sentence, he saw his mentor suddenly appearing in front of the gorilla. A fist drove into its gut and as it fell backwards, Noriko's tail was released. She soared through the air and Genos moved quickly. The boosters in his shoulders activated, lifting him up to catch the catgirl against his chest. An arm quickly wrapped around her and he lifted his free hand, palm facing the remaining monsters.

Shift P.O.V

She flinched when the blast left his hand, her body momentarily pressed tighter against his. Between the monster fight and the strange occurrences with the blonde cyborg, she found her heart racing yet again. "Th-thank you."

"Are you injured?"

"My tail…hurts a little, but it should be okay," she replied. Noriko looked down at the mess of where the chimpanzee monsters had begun to circle the gorilla. The ground was painted red with their blood and the gorilla had a fatal dent in its chest. She looked straight down and realized that the beast had hurled her nearly fifty feet in the air.

As they came back down to the ground, the catgirl remembered that her back was pressed against his hard metal chest. She was glad to be released, but stumbled a bit when he set her down. The swords were sheathed and she bit at her thumbnail. In the distance, Saitama was blankly staring down at the gorilla's remains. She remembered the moment before she was sent flying through the air. He had appeared so suddenly that she almost thought it was her imagination until he casually drove a fist into the monster's abdomen.

I only saw it for a brief second before I flew, but he definitely punched it. He punched the gorilla in the chest…with that bland look on his face. He did so much damage without even blinking. Literally. He made eye contact with it and punched it. Noriko saw him look over and give a dopey sort of smile. "Hn…thank you for helping me."

"I thought it was going to rip your tail off," he stated simply. "That would've been pretty bad, right? I'm pretty sure that would mess up your back."

She stared back at him and felt her left ear twitch. "You're…different."

"Huh? Yeah, well, you're kind of weird, too."

"Hnn. So…what are you? A genetically altered humanoid?"

"What? Uh, no. I'm a normal guy; I just trained really hard to become strong." His smile turned smug as he heard her stomach growl. "What? Does the smell of blood make you hungry or something?"

"It isn't-!" Noriko was about to snap at him, but stopped when she saw Genos approaching the food he had brought with them. "…maybe a little…"

"Okay, let's go eat, Nya-chan." Saitama reached over with a red gloved hand and ruffled her long violet hair.

She reluctantly walked with along behind him, not about to take her eyes off of the man. He's really strange and he just keeps getting weirder. He said he's human, but should I really believe that? Noriko settled on the ground near the food and was more than happy to accept some from Genos. Her tail lifted a little in contentment, curling at the end.

"Noriko-san, I enjoyed watching the way that you fight," the blonde spoke up. He saw her cheeks flush pink before she looked away and shrugged. "Where did you learn how to fight? Have you trained since childhood?"

"I was…trained by Grey Corporation. Since I was around twelve. Before I was a hero…I was a freelance assassin and bodyguard. Before that…I was a secret soldier for Grey Corporation…doing whatever they wanted me to do so that I could stay alive." She chewed her onigiri thoughtfully and looked off toward the city. "…I'm not the only one, either…"

"That's kind of rough," Saitama remarked.

Her gaze shifted to him and she raised an eyebrow. "So…what kind training did you do to get that strong?"

"What? You want to try it?"

"No. I just…hn…I was curious." She looked down at her shirt and shorts, grimacing. I'll have to change and get a bath. It's not too late in the day…if I could just find a river or a stream…I could just wash this off. Without thinking, she licked a splash of blood from the back of her hand and winced at the strong metallic taste.

"Noriko-san, I want to spar with you next."

"Hn? Um…r-really? I'm not that strong." Her eyes met the cyborg's and she felt her face heating up. She was still unsure of why he affected her this way. "I guess…if you really want to spar, we can try it."