Author's Note: This story was written years ago and I'm just slowly making adjustments so I can post it up

Noriko had been living with Saitama and Genos for about a week before the first incident. It was embarrassing for only one of them and she hurried to cover her eyes, but it was too late. Her face red, she carefully backed out of the bathroom and promptly collapsed onto the floor. What the hell?! Did he just forget to close the door? Is he really that absentminded?

"Are something wrong? I heard a sound and-" Genos approached from behind quickly, but then froze for a moment before pulling the bathroom door closed. "Are you alright?"

"Er…y-yeah, but why is he…?" She shook her head and pushed herself to stand. "I…um…I think I should go out for a bit. Do you want anything from the convenience store?"

"I'll go with you. I prepared a grocery list."

"No, I just…er…well I need some time to myself." Noriko bit her thumbnail and her feline ears went back, tail swishing in agitation. I can't believe Saitama forgot to close the door when he got in the bath! That image will forever be burned into my memory! She held out her hand and accepted the list from Genos before setting off.

The past week had been chaotic for her. Upon returning home from the sparring match, her wound was tended to and she changed into clean clothes. She received no news about Koneko over the past days, but she had witnessed so many odd things related to Saitama that she doubted she would have had time to notice if Koneko had been spotted. She had gone out with him and Genos separately over the course of the week, helping wherever she could. Her least favorite thing so far had been scouring the city with a desperate Saitama who needed to defeat at least one monster by that day's end.

"There you are. What are you doing outside by yourself? I thought Saitama didn't let you leave alone." The unfamiliar voice called from behind her.

Noriko paused in the middle of the street and turned to look at the speaker. He was taller than her and dressed mostly in black, his black hair tied up and away from his face except for a number of stray locks. A smug expression graced his features. "I'm sorry. I think you have me confused…" She frowned as he frowned. "What?"

"Saitama. You're his girlfriend. I know you are. I saw him carrying you!"

"I was injured…" Though Noriko wondered how he knew about that, how had seen it and how long he had been watching them. "Saitama is just letting me stay with him for now."

"So if you're not his girlfriend, what are you?"

"His friend…?" She stared back at the young man for a moment before taking a step back. "I need to get groceries so…"

"You're his disciple like that cyborg then!"

The girl raised an eyebrow and her tail began to twitch subtly. "No. I'm not his disciple."

It was now that he noticed the twin swords strapped to her back. "Are you a ninja?"

"Samurai." She saw his gaze instantly darken. "Samurai Catgirl," she corrected herself as her ears perked forward in alertness. "And you are?"

"Speed o' Sound Sonic. If you're supposed to be a samurai, then show me what you've got!" He reached to the katana sheathed behind him, mouth twitching slightly at the corners.

What is he doing?! We're in the middle of the street! Citizens could be hurt if we fight here! Noriko took a step back, her frown growing. "Sonic. I don't want to fight you."

"If you won't put up a fight, then you're going to die!" He quickly closed the distance between himself and the girl. She was shorter than him, which made this situation even more dangerous for her. As he got closer, he was able to take in her appearance better. She looked even more delicate up close and as he thought this, a grin spread across his face.

She moved both of her swords just in time to block his attack. His eyes widened, but the grin remained intact. It sent a chill down her spine. Why is he doing this?! And why is he grinning like that? Noriko gritted her teeth. "So…damn…creepy!" She put forth all of her strength and shoved him back, putting distance between them again. "Why are you grinning like that?! What's so amusing?"

"I've never seen a samurai with a build like that. You look like I could snap you in half," he taunted, watching her carefully. She looked irritated and her ears went back to show this. "You say you're not his girlfriend. So are you dating the cyborg then?" He moved in to attack again, but she blocked once more.

"I'm not dating either of them!" she growled, pushing away from him.

Sonic quickly pursued her until the girl backed herself into the side of a building. She braced herself for his next attack, her jaw muscles clenched and fear was evident in her bright green eyes. He moved past her blades, chest pressing against her soft bust, and leaned in close so that his face hovered above hers.

What he had wanted, what he had planned, was to defeat her in battle and kidnap her so that his real target would fight him. Seeing her up close was making it difficult to focus on that objective. Not to mention that she seemed almost offended when he asked if she was Saitama's girlfriend.

She froze in place, trembling with fear. His body was pressed against hers, pinning her in place against the wall. Even if she tried to stab him with one of her swords, the angle would be awkward and she would risk hurting herself as well. As her mind began to race with options, she felt the ninja's hand go beneath her chin, tilting her face upwards. This is it! He'll slit my throat and then-!

Her thought ended abruptly as his lips met hers. The kiss was tentative at first, as if to test her reaction, and soon turned strangely passionate. The girl's eyes widened when she felt his hips grind lightly against hers.

"You're lucky. You get to live another day. The next time I challenge you to a fight, be prepared to defend yourself!" Sonic pulled away and smirked before vanishing.

Noriko stood frozen for a moment, blinking in alarm. What the hell was that?! A ninja…some strange, random ninja that I've never seen before in my life…just kissed me! Why?! She took a few steps away from the wall and lightly touched her lips.

Her cheeks burned at the memory of his body pressed against hers. The girl's heart beat a little faster and her body seemed to heat up in an odd way. Shaking her head, she set off for the convenience store with the determination to hurry back to the apartment.

Grocery shopping went without incident and she set about cooking lunch without speaking to either of her roommates. It was easy because both had been called away on missions. Standing at the stove, she grimaced and tried again to process what happened.

Her first kiss had been with Kenta and it had been horribly unpleasant. There had been many more kisses after that, none of which contained love on her part. They had been sloppy and left her with a feeling of absolute disgust.

The ninja's kiss had started out soft, almost tender, and escalated quickly to something more. It had been forceful, but fiery in a way that made her blush once more as she recalled it. Speed o' Sound Sonic. Isn't that what he called himself? Why did he do that?

The door opened to admit a bored-looking Saitama and a mildly injured Genos. The cyborg was holding one of his arms, examining it as he walked into the apartment as if trying to decide if he could fix it himself. Saitama immediately began stripping out of his costume to change into jeans and a shirt, not even sparing her a warning. Noriko bowed her head and tried to focus on the hamburg steak she was cooking. Despite her best efforts, her thoughts kept wandering back to her encounter with Sonic.

"Hey, what's going on? Your face is all red," Saitama commented, suddenly right beside her. He stared down at the food longingly. "Are they almost done? I'm starving."

"Uh…yeah. Almost done." She glanced over, hoping that he would leave.

He continued to stand there, but his eyes shifted to her face. "Is the heat getting to you? Your face is still red."

"I-it's nothing!" she protested.

"Is it something you're thinking about?"

"I said it's nothing!" Noriko bared a fang at him, irritated when he smiled. "What?"

"It is something you're thinking about. Hey, Genos, Nya-chan is having dirty thoughts over here." Satisfied when her face turned redder, he moved off to sit at the table.

Her shoulders drooped, her ears turned back. What should I do? I need to find something to distract me from thinking about Sonic. Ugh! Why can't I stop thinking about him? She plated their food and brought it out to the table.

Genos was sitting with his arm, trying to reattach it. He spared her a brief glance before continuing his work. Saitama was staring at the television screen. Noriko tried to imagine kissing either of them, but simply could not. It was just too strange to think about.

Genos finished attaching his arm and finally looked over at his companions. By this point, Saitama had finished eating and Noriko was nervously poking at her food with a fork. "Is something bothering you?"

"N-nothing," she muttered in reply.

"You were blushing an awful lot while you were cooking," Saitama pointed out. "What were you thinking about? Something dirty?"

"Master Saitama, I do not think that Noriko-san would be having such thoughts."

"Everyone has those thoughts. Even you, probably. Right?" At this, both he and Noriko looked at Genos.

The blonde dropped his gaze to his meal. "As you said, it's not uncommon to have those thoughts."

"See? Nothing to be embarrassed about, Nya-chan."

"I-I'm not having this conversation with you, Saitama-san!" She hated to raise her voice, but wanted desperately for this conversation to come to an end.

Though she knew he usually passed out after dinner, she knew that he would carry the discussion over to the next day and then the next. He was persistent when it came to something he might find amusing. Slouching, her ears went back and her tail curled at her side limply. Nervously biting her thumbnail, she looked away from the young men. "Er…something happened…when I was walking to the convenience store."

"Were you attacked? If the monster is still in the area, I will eliminate them," Genos declared, hands planted firmly on the table's surface.

"I don't know if I was attacked exactly."

"Then what was it? Did a guy at the store call you cute?" Saitama seemed entirely too amused with her discomfort now.

"N-not exactly. Um…he kissed me." She winced when she saw Genos stand, her eyes widening. "Wait! I mean, it wasn't like he tried to hurt me. I don't really know what he wanted. But…er…well it wasn't unpleasant."

Long locks of violet hair fell over her pale face as she felt both of them looking at her. I won't tell them who he is. After hearing what Genos said, I don't doubt that he'll try to find Sonic. I don't want to cause unnecessary trouble for anyone.

"Who was he?" There was a dark tone to the words as they left Genos.

"That's not considered an attack? You didn't even know him, did you?"

"I…didn't catch his name," she lied.

The two other heroes exchanged suspicious glances, but asked no further questions. "The next time you go out, one of us will go with you," Genos determined.

"I'm a Calls A hero! I don't…" She trailed off as Saitama stood and stretched.

He picked up his plate and went to the kitchen for a moment. "We don't want someone else taking away our kitten," he joked, ruffling her hair on his way back to his seat. His fingers inadvertently rubbed behind one of her feline ears and she issued forth a soft purring sound. He raised his eyebrows and snickered. "What was that sound you just made?"

Her face turned red and Noriko shook her head. She flopped onto her side on the floor and curled up into a ball. "I'm going to sleep now."

Shift P.O.V

The thought of her being accosted by someone was bad enough. The thought of this mystery man pinning her against a wall and kissing her made him seethe, his protectiveness over Noriko only growing. He wanted to know who the man was, but she seemed determined to not let his name be known.

Unfortunately, he began to dwell on the incident as he washed the dishes. Images filled his head of Noriko being pushed against a wall violently and a faceless man attacking her. The plate he had been scrubbing broke in half.

"Everything okay in there?" Saitama called from the other room.

"Yes. Everything is fine," Genos lied. His eyes narrowed on the plate, imagining that it was the mystery man's face. "Master Saitama, can you come here for a moment?"

The hero got up from his seat, careful to walk around the sleeping girl on the floor. She was out cold, which was for the best. The conversation could have escalated dangerously. "What do you need, Genos?"

"Are you bothered by what happened to Noriko?"

They both glanced over at the girl. She stirred in her sleep, moving onto her other side. "Huh? Yeah. I mean, I don't want Nya-chan to get hurt."

"It's more than that. Master Saitama, she refuses to tell us the man's name. What if he threatened her? What if he plans to do worse to her?"

Saitama tilted his head, his expression deadpan. "If that happens, we'll do something about it. No one's going to touch her and get away with it." He smiled faintly. "Remember that noise she made when I touched her ear?"

"Yes. Her creator must have given her modifications to make her more catlike. What if something happens when she leaves and she fails to return, Master Saitama?"

"We just can't let her go off by herself. That's all." He waved off Genos' look of surprise. "Look, it's not what you think. I just like having her around. It's like having a girlfriend without the pressure. So are we agreed?"

"Yes. I will not let her be alone for even a second."

Saitama looked at him with confusion. "I mean, you don't have to go that far. Just make sure she isn't alone when she leaves the apartment. If she isn't alone, he probably won't approach her. And even if he does, then we'll at least find out who he is, right?"