"Hnn." Everything hurt and Noriko had to use a lot of willpower to make herself sit upright. She blinked in the dimly-lit apartment, trying to remember all that had happened. Right. I'm safe now. She sighed in relief as her feline ears perked forward. I'm safe. I'm still alive.
Feeling a warmth at her side, the catgirl looked down and felt a smile pull at her lips. Emiko had dozed off on the futon beside her and was still snuggled up close to Noriko. Unfortunately, seeing the little girl reminded her of a particular promise that she had made to Mumen Rider when he agreed to watch Emiko for her. She needed to get proper medical treatment.
First things first, she thought as she struggled to stand. I need to see how bad the damage really is. Remembering the way Sonic had tended to her wounds, she felt goose bumps rising on her skin. Her muscles still ached from his rough treatment of her while she was his captive and the wound on her back stung.
In the bathroom, Noriko was surprised to find that the electricity was working in her apartment. When she had moved in, it was not working properly so she had been making due with battery-powered lanterns and a hot plate for cooking. I don't remember having such a nice futon, either.
The mirror showed that the stitches on her back were actually very clean and expertly done. She sank a fang into her lower lip as she turned in front of the mirror with her shirt pulled up, examining the stitches. She was impressed with Sonic's skill, but at the same time she was still furious with the ninja. Her tail flicked at the tip as she put her shirt down again.
My wounds are clean; they just hurt. If I can get some painkillers, I should be able to go back out there and try to hunt down Kenta and…that woman. Noriko ran her fingers through her dark violet locks as she left the bathroom and froze in her tracks when her eyes fell upon a figure in the kitchen.
Her left ear twitched and she tilted her head curiously. Venturing forward a few steps, she tried to determine if the cyborg was asleep or awake. He was simply standing in the kitchen, completely motionless. He was facing her though, so it left her confused. "Hn? Genos?"
The cyborg's gold and black eyes fixed upon her as she approached and he seemed satisfied to see her walking around. "Noriko. While you slept, I took the liberty of fixing the electrical issue in your apartment as well as stocking the kitchen with food and replacing your old bed."
"Thank you." Noriko was unable to stop herself from smiling as she joined him in the kitchen. "How long have you been standing here?"
"I have been in your apartment for the past thirty-six hours without leaving," he bluntly informed her. "I did not want to leave while you were still resting so I turned down a number of calls from the Hero Association."
She frowned now and shook her head. "Please don't do that again. And…hn…I was asleep for that long?"
"Yes. When I brought you back, you immediately fell asleep." Genos noticed her frown now and leaned down closer to her. "I made sure that Emiko was taken care of while you were unconscious."
"How long did I sleep for?" Noriko was hesitant to ask. She was not sure that she wanted an answer. Her time in captivity had been nothing but pain and she had gotten very little sleep so she expected that she would be tired.
He reached out, the tips of his metal fingers gently tracing along her cheek. "I allowed you to sleep for as long as you need to. The total number of hours was seventy-five." Genos heard her begin to purr as she subconsciously leaned into his touch. It reminded him of something he had wanted to ask her. "Noriko, I have done some research on feline anatomy. Was your tail injured at any point?"
Upon hearing this, she felt her tail sway to the side. "Hn. It's fine."
"Are you able to move it without difficulty? You don't have any soreness in your tail? In my research, I read that if a cat's tail is damaged in some way, it can have negative effects on their nervous system."
The catgirl's heart skipped a beat and she looked away, trying to hide the warmth blooming in her cheeks. Being a cyborg, his voice had difficulty conveying emotion, but she could tell from his words. He was genuinely worried about her. Just the fact that he had gone through the trouble of doing research on feline biology made her feel warm and content.
Noriko's eyes half-closed as she continued to purr, her cheek instinctively rubbing against his hand. The smooth, chilled metal felt good against her bare skin. "Hnn. My tail…is fine…" she stammered, knowing that her face was turning red. She tensed for a second as his other hand trailed through her hair. When he began rubbing the back of her pointed, feline ear, she stepped closer to him and buried her face in the front of his shirt.
"Does this feel good?" His voice was soft, wary of the small child still sleeping on the futon in the next room. With her new position, he was unable to keep touching her cheek so he began massaging behind her other ear.
She nodded against his chest, her fingers grasping the fabric of his shirt as she closed the space between them. Noriko's tail lifted, curling at the end as she basked in the bliss that was overtaking her. All of the painful memories of her time in Sonic's company and her battle against Kenta were pushed to the back of her mind. The catgirl's back arched as she withheld a yowl, tipping her head back a little.
Genos continued to give attention to her pointed, dark violet ears, but his eyes were drawn elsewhere. He saw the rosy tint in her cheeks and the way she sank one of her fangs into her lower lip to keep herself quiet. Leaning down, he pressed a careful kiss to the side of her neck. She started panting, her lips parting and fangs visible.
He had kissed her before, but it still amazed her how soft his artificial skin was. It felt real. From his kiss alone, Noriko never would have thought that he was a cyborg. Her grip on his shirt tightened as his mouth moved along the curve of her neck, drawing faint whimpers from the catgirl. Noriko took a step back when he tried to guide her to lean against the wall, but yelped when her body made contact with the solid surface.
Pain exploded in her back, brought on by the pressure against her wounds. She closed her eyes tightly, hands holding onto the cyborg's shoulders as she fought back tears. He reacted immediately and pulled her away from the wall with care. "Hn. I'm fine. It's nothing."
In the next room, Emiko was stirring awake. She sat up on the futon, rubbing her eyes and yawning. When she saw that Noriko was no longer sleeping next to her, the girl's thin shoulders drooped and there was a sniffling sound. "Neechan! Noriko-neechan is gone again!"
"Noriko is over here." Genos moved back a little when the child ran over, her arms wrapping tightly around Noriko's mid-section.
"Where did you go?! You went to look for the Grey lady and you didn't come back! You made me worry!" She heard the catgirl hiss and looked up at her with wide, watery eyes. "Neechan?"
"My back," Noriko reminded her. The child released her, whimpering like a puppy as she saw the pain in her mentor's expression. "Hn. Don't worry, okay, Emiko? I'll be fine. I'm just a little sore."
"But where did you go?! Did you find the Grey lady?"
Her ears flattened in frustration, her tail twitching. "I did. Hn. She brought someone with her so I couldn't get revenge, but-"
"Oniichan said that revenge is bad! He said that you shouldn't lower yourself to their level!" Her tail was wagging as she spoke now, clearly getting over any remaining sadness.
"Oniichan…?" Noriko blinked. "Mumen Rider?"
"Oniichan! He said you shouldn't think about revenge; you should plan for the next time to make sure they don't hurt people again!"
"Hn." Yawning, she looked to Genos. "My swords-?"
"I brought them and I have sharpened them for you. Noriko, I feel that you should take more time to recover before you make any more attempts at taking down Grey Corporation. Your wounds are healing faster than a normal human's would, but you are still injured and you lost a lot of blood. Master Saitama is currently watching the news for anything relating to Grey Corporation and if something should come up, then we will consider pursuing it. For now, I think that it would be unwise to go near their facilities and-"
"You talk too much! You're making Noriko-neechan bored!" Emiko growled.
"I am giving Noriko my opinion on what we should do next. You are a child so I cannot expect for you to understand our ambitions, but I can assure you that they are noble. We intend to destroy Grey Corporation and liberate all of the other test subjects."
"Hn." Noriko walked to the other room and skimmed the area. Her eyes settled on her sheaths. Settling them on her back, the catgirl paused to stretch a little. "Any word on Speed o' Sound Sonic?"
Genos had been in the middle of scolding Emiko for talking back and paused mid-sentence when he heard Noriko's question. Hands on his hips, he lifted his gaze to find the catgirl hero unsheathing a blade to examine the edge. "I was informed by the authorities that when they arrived at his hideout, he was not there. They did find spots of human blood on the floor and wall as well as mixed into the adhesive that I used to trap him so it can be determined that he forcibly removed himself from the adhesive in order to get free."
He was stuck in there so well though. The thought of the ninja literally ripping off part of his skin just to escape the sticky trap made her stomach churn. Sheathing the blade, she next looked for her shoes. The shirt and pants that she was wearing seemed to be clean so she decided not to bother with changing those.
Emiko stuck out her tongue at Genos and bounded over as Noriko found her boots. She watched her put them on, tilting her head when she straightened. "Where are you going, Noriko-neechan? Don't leave me here alone with him!"
"I'll be back. I'm just going out for a bit." She glanced toward the child and saw that she was extremely anxious about being separated. "I promise I'll be back. If I'm not back in three hours, you can send Genos or Saitama after me."
Genos followed her out to the stairs and frowned. "Noriko, what do you intend to do? You are in no condition to fight."
"Not fight. I just need the exercise. I need to be alone so I can…think about everything and what I need to do next. I'm just going patrolling." Noriko bid him farewell and set off to begin making her rounds of the ghost town.