"Hnn. Can you…just leave me alone?" Noriko slouched at the table, keeping her head bowed. Her wounds had been cleaned and bandaged, but the cyborg was now worrying over something else. Why can't he just go to the kitchen or something? It's embarrassing enough to be seen in my feral cat mode; I don't need him to bring up my fight with Sonic.

"Are you sure that you do not want me to pursue him?"

"…yes…I'm sure, so…just…" To her further irritation, she felt metal fingers running through her long violet hair. It was both frustrating and oddly soothing. She closed her eyes, enjoying the warm metal fingertips trailing gently over her scalp. The catgirl subconsciously began to purr, her tail curling in contentment.

When she felt that she was being watched, she refused to open her eyes. Her cheeks burned with a blush, but she was not about to look across the table at Saitama. He was undoubtedly wearing that unsettling, slightly dopey, smile. She leaned back a little and felt her hair being gathered into a hair tie. Her lips twisted into a frown and her blush intensified as Genos went to the kitchen.

He was just trying to pull my hair back. Of course. She half-opened her eyes, trying not to look over at Saitama. The girl's shoulder and forearm were stinging fiercely from being stabbed and cut, but it was nothing that she could not handle. She was used to these minor pains from her time as an assassin. It was nothing compared to what she endured at Grey Corporation.

"Hey, so…what happened to you? You look pretty messed up," Saitama finally spoke up.

Her sharp green eyes darted across the table to the man and then quickly looked away. How can he just sit there without a shirt on? And how can a guy with a face like that have a body like that? It doesn't match at all! She bit her thumbnail and her tail flicked at the floor behind her. "Speed o' Sound Sonic."

"What? He challenged you to a fight?"

"He…ambushed me…when I was rinsing off some blood."

"Did you bite him?" He raised an eyebrow, leaning forward a little. "You've got blood all over your face. It's pretty gross."

"Hn. I did bite him, but…he also smeared his blood on my face when he ambushed me." She wiped at it with her sleeve, but it had dried and came off in dark flakes. The smell was still there and she forced herself to hold her breath as she tried to get it off.

"Just lick your hand and get it off. Cats do that with their paws, right?"

Her eyes narrowed upon him and she snarled. "I'm not a cat."

"You're half cat, right? What's the difference?"

"I don't like the taste of blood and this isn't even mine! Do you really think that I want to lick a stranger's blood off of-?!" Noriko tensed, her tail puffing up as Genos gripped her chin from behind and tilted her head back. She stared up into his gold and black eyes as he wiped away the blood with a wet cloth. "Th…thank you."

"I had forgotten that you had blood on your face. I was preoccupied with taking care of your wounds," he apologized. The blonde stared down at her, his fingers lingering near her lips when the blood had been wiped away. When he tentatively traced over her bottom lip with his thumb, he saw her face turn a soft pink. "Noriko, I-"

"Hey, when is dinner going to be ready?" Saitama interrupted.

"It will be a few minutes, Master Saitama."

Noriko watched Genos return to the kitchen and frowned. She glanced to the bald hero across from her. He was now watching the news, but seemed to only half care what was going on. He reached for a book behind him on the shelf and fell onto his back to start reading. The catgirl carefully pushed herself to stand and followed the blonde cyborg into the other room.

He was working diligently at the stovetop, tending to a bubbling pot on one of the burners. Of course, he immediately knew that she was there. Genos looked over his shoulder at her and then turned back to the food. "Dinner will be ready soon, Noriko. You do not need to trouble yourself."

Her ears turned back and she leaned against the counter beside him, biting her thumbnail. "I just…wanted to be near you," she murmured. This is embarrassing. I do want to be near him, though. I don't want to be alone with Saitama. It's awkward. A heavy sigh left her lips, drawing his attention back to her.

"Is something wrong?"

"N-no. It's…it's probably nothing, Genos." She jumped a little when he set down the ladle he was using to stir the food and her tail puffed up again. "Hn? Ah…Genos…?" Noriko found his eyes shifting to hers and she tensed. The blonde was soon in front of her, a hand planted on the counter to either side of her. The catgirl's heart raced as she subconsciously tilted her head to be able to look up into his eyes. "Genos…?"

"Noriko. Are you jealous of the attention that I give to Master Saitama? I must pay attention to him because he is my mentor. He is teaching me how to be stronger. I must watch him whenever possible and I must learn from him at every opportunity. In order to maintain a good relationship with Master Saitama, I must make meals for him. If this makes you jealous, then-"

"I'm not! Hnn. I mean…I'm not jealous…of Saitama. I don't care that you pay attention to him." Her voice dropped to a near whisper as she averted her gaze. "…even if it is a little excessive…" She winced when he leaned down, bringing his face closer. The cyborg's stare became intense, one hand gripping her chin as he pinned her in place with his metal frame. Did I make him mad? What is he going to do? Her eyes closed tightly as he closed the distance between them.

A gentle kiss was pressed to her lips, their texture satisfyingly soft against his own artificial flesh. He felt her body tense beneath his and wrapped his other arm around her, his left hand pressing against her back. The catgirl's hands hesitantly moved to grip the front of his shirt, purring as she kissed back. When he finally broke the kiss, he let the hand on her back trail up to rub behind one of her feline ears. "I apologize if you feel neglected, Noriko. I will make time for you from now on."

"Don't…worry about it, alright?" Noriko could easily recall the recent incidents where he had followed her, thinking that she was unaware of it.

"I will make time for you," he repeated firmly.

"Hn. A-alright." She bowed her head when he returned to his task and another sigh left her. The second that he turned in her direction, she shook her head. "Sonic…knew about my feral cat mode. It's been bothering me. No one outside of Grey Corporation should know about it."

Genos paused in his task, his mouth turning down at the corners. "Do you suspect that he may have spoken to someone from Grey Corporation?"

"Or…someone sought him out. If that's the case, then they probably know that I'm in City Z." The tip of her tail flicked against the counter behind her and she frowned deeply.

"If you are afraid that they will come for you-"

"The last fight that I had at the laboratory ended with my opponent almost dying. If they want to take me, they will have to take a corpse," she growled. He patted the top of her head and she grimaced.

"They will not take you. Between myself and Master Saitama-"

"I'm not part of this," Saitama called from the other room.

"I will not let Grey Corporation take you, dead or alive," Genos promised.

Noriko looked toward the other room, her left ear twitching. Saitama has pretty good hearing. Her attention was dragged back when a warm metal hand caressed her cheek. A soft meow left her lips and she bit at her bottom lip. "Genos…?"

"What is the worst thing that Grey Corporation could use to try to bring you back to their laboratory?" he inquired.

She crossed her arms and shook her head. "…that woman…with the grey hair…or maybe that creep, if he ever woke up from his coma…"

"Hey, what's taking so long?" Saitama spoke from the doorway. Immediately, Noriko moved further away from Genos and blushed pink. "Huh? Were you making out or something?"

"That was a few minutes ago," Genos bluntly replied.

"I'm…going back to the table," the catgirl announced. She returned to her seat, flopping onto her back on the floor and closing her eyes. The bandages on her shoulder and forearm were wet. The cyborg's kiss had made her blood pump faster and it leaked through the gauze. What am I going to do? If Grey Corporation knows where I am, I'll never be able to take them down!

Her thoughts shifted to the blonde's kiss and it inevitably reminded her of the encounter with Sonic. The brief kiss that he had given her. She scowled and let her wounded arm rest over her eyes, blocking out the light from the window. The taste of Sonic's blood still lingered on her tongue and she found herself wondering what might have happened if Genos had not interfered.

"Uh…you okay? Did you pass out from blood loss?" Saitama asked.

She moved her arm and stared up at the hero now standing over her. "Hnn. Girl stuff…" she muttered.

"What? Are you having dirty thoughts about Genos?" He flashed that dopey smile of his when she blushed. "So are things getting pretty serious?"

"No. Hn. I mean…I'm not having dirty thoughts…and I don't know how serious things are…between me and Genos."

Saitama crouched down, absently reaching to stroke behind one of her feline ears. "You look like that grouchy cat that was popular a few years ago."

"…you look like an egg…"

When Genos returned to the room, he found Noriko snarling and his master holding her by the back of her neck. Her body was limply lying across the table, her fangs sliding free of his other hand as she met the cyborg's gaze. He stared down at the two for a long moment before approaching the table with three plates of curry and rice. The plates were set down before he hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her back so her bottom made contact with the floor.

Saitama shook his hand, trying to dispel the stinging sensation, and frowned at Noriko. "That was rude, Nya-chan."

"What happened?" Genos look between the two as they began to eat and soon realized that neither wanted to explain their actions to him. "Noriko?"

Her eyes narrowed on Saitama and she bared her fangs. "He touched my stomach."