Author's note: Damn, I feel like my fic is so weird in english. I mean, my writing style is basically a LOT of adjectives, and it sounds good in french, but when I translate… I cringe when a beautiful sentence suddenly becomes ugly. :'(
AmazonaVerde: Yeah, Genos is too adorably cute to be a creep XD Thank you so much for your review! I tried my best to respect Genos and Saitama's personality!
oOo
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His face strained with extreme concentration, Charanko kneeled in seiza and poured the tea into the three pottery cups. Sitting cross-legged and relaxed on the tatami, Genos silently watched him proceed, while Bang looked deep in thought. Steam rose in curls from the cups, exhaling a subtle aroma.
The dojo that once used to host hundreds of disciples was now dead quiet and empty.
When Silver Fang's disciple put aside the teapot, Genos took unceremoniously the fragile cup between his metallic fingers. Despite it's sobriety, the pottery was obviously finely worked and very valuable. The cyborg inhaled the aroma and took two burning gulps – the flavor was refined and subtle. Charanko glared at him, looking deeply offended by his lack of respect for Bang.
"Not bad. A maccha and genmaicha blend, right?"
Bang looked up and hummed approvingly as he took his own cup.
"Oh, so you're a connoisseur?"
Genos looked down at the green tea in his cup – his black and golden eyes were reflected on the surface. Charanko let out an irritated groan when Genos folded up a leg and casually dropped his arm on his knee. He was well aware he was offending the young disciple, just like himself would have been furious if anyone dared look down on Saitama. And that was the point. Last time, Charanko had been insulting and rude towards Saitama, so Genos had no intention to be polite until he apologized in due form. That brat was annoying, anyway.
"Sort of." Genos shrugged. "My parents owned a shop selling mostly tea and mochi. I used to help running the shop from time to time."
"I see. Then tell me what you think of those seasonal sweets. Charanko?"
Charanko reluctantly opened a cake box. He narrowed his eyes with a suspicious pout, and then pointed a finger at Genos.
"Master Bang! Don't you think it's a waste to give such expensive tea and sweets to a robot? It's no use to him!"
Genos stared at him threateningly, the gold in his eyes flashing.
"Charanko, be polite to our guest." Bang ordered sternly and frowned. "Genos is not a robot, he's a cyborg."
"It's the same thing! It's like offering food to a toaster!"
"The toaster's gonna roast your face off." Genos snarled between his clenched teeth, activating the reactor in his hand.
Charanko turned pale and rushed to go hide behind his master who was sipping his cup of tea, undisturbed.
"Quiet, children." the old man sighed, slowly shaking his head. "Genos, I'd be grateful if you refrained from killing my only disciple. As useless he may be, he's the only one I've got left, and if anything happens to him, It would be even harder for me to find new students."
"I understand." Genos soberly answered, switching off the blazing fire in his palm.
Genos grabbed a sakura flower shaped soft cake and chew on it. He swallowed and gulped tea to make it all go down his artificial esophagus to the stomach that immediately incinerated it all. Inside his chest, his core stored the produced energy. The cyborg put down his cup on the tatami.
"Enough time wasted on useless stuff. I didn't come to chat about tea and cake. I used a non-existent S class meeting as an excuse to get away from Saitama without him questioning it. But I don't want to leave him alone for too long. Did you think about the problem I informed you of when we were visiting the new HQ, Bang?"
"Mh. So you said Saitama-kun lost his sense of purpose and the holy fire of fighting? And you're on a quest to find him a new reason for living."
"Yes. I leave it up to your great experience due to your old age. Along with doctor Kuseno, you're the oldest human being I know."
"Hey, toaster! Are you insinuating master Bang is an old fart? Have some respect, or I'll recycle you!"
"Shut up, Charanko. You're embarrassing me."
The young disciple closed his mouth so fast his teeth clattered, and he lowered his head penitently. Bang stroked thoughtfully his chin, thinking hard. A drop of sweat ran down his cheek.
"Genos. Saitama-kun acknowledges you as his disciple, right?"
A smile lit up the cyborg's face as he bloated with pride – that was the greatest achievement of his life.
"Yes. He officially took me as his student when we passed together the Association's entry exam."
"I see. Reaching the highest level of one's art or strength might be considered the end of it, but in my opinion, it's only the beginning of a new purpose. A wider, nobler, selfless purpose. It's a never-ending source of pride and satisfaction to pass on everything I learned to a disciple and see them make progress day after day."
"Master Bang…" Charanko whispered, looking ecstatic and stunned. "Are you talking about me?"
Silver Fang dropped a rough hand on top of his disciple's bushy hair.
"Even a good-for-nothing with no talent whatsoever for martial arts like this one gives me a long-term goal to look forward to. Because no matter how talentless he is, he never gives up, he keeps trying, and he's the only one who remained loyal to me when all my other students left. That requires a bravery and a strong mind very few people have."
"Thank you, master Bang!" Charanko choked with emotion, barely holding back his tears.
"Although I wonder sometimes if it's not just stupidity…" the old man mumbled, glancing at his delighted disciple.
Bang cleared his throat and concluded sternly:
"Here's my advice, Genos: show Saitama-kun how much you progressed since you became his disciple. Impress him. There is no greater joy for a teacher than seeing his student become strong, don't forget that."
Genos nodded – was this the answer he was looking for? Indeed, he never asked Saitama for another training session since that day, so he never had an occasion to show him all his new improvements and increased power…
Determined, the cyborg stood up and thanked Bang for the advice. He opened the sliding door to exit the dojo. Silver Fang walked him outside and said more lightly:
"If it doesn't work, you could find him a hobby. Like fishing, for example. Personally, it always puts me in a good mood."
"I take note of it."
The old man patted his metallic shoulder as a good bye. Then, as he watched him walk away and vanish on the horizon, he smiled and murmured:
"You're a good disciple, Genos. Saitama-kun is very lucky to have you."
oOo
Shades of bronze and glowing red marbled the sky as the blue faded away. Far off, the sun was diving into the horizon, casting it's last rays on the devastated landscape. Steam rose from the cyborg's body in thick curls that blurred his sight. He was pinned to the ground, half buried into the ashes and white-hot embers that covered it all as far as he could see. He knew there was no use trying to move his heavy artificial body. His core was empty – there was hardly enough energy left to supply his brain with oxygen and maintain the activity of the hard drives and microchips linked to it.
The gold in his eyes had become dull. His field of vision was flickering, and a red warning flashed about his battery level being dangerously low – it was down to 0,001%.
The blowing wind sounded like a gloomy human voice. It made ashes dance and swirl around like silver dust. A few meters away, a cape's rustling and the loud thump of a body landing drowned out the faraway rumble of the raging forest fire. Saitama's familiar footsteps approached, along with the crunching sound of embers under his boots.
"Hey, Genos! You're still alive?"
When a gloved finger poked his cheek, the cyborg blinked and used the few battery energy he had left to look at his teacher. Crouched and leaning over him, Saitama let out a sigh of relief and smiled. Then, he sat down next to his disciple.
"Pfwah, you scared me for a second there. That was a lil' bit extreme. I've never seen you so motivated."
Saitama wasn't even out of breath, though. He didn't get a scratch and his brand new hero suit wasn't dirty or torn. But he did look genuinely impressed. He looked around and let out an amazed whistle. The smell of burning was suffocating and the setting sun painted the giant craters in red light. Far away, what was left of forest was burning in a blazing fire. The golden sun was turning red and orange and slowly dived into the horizon.
"You know you nearly razed the whole mountain to the ground?" Saitama said enthusiastically. "It surprised me! I had no idea you progressed so much! You're amazing, Genos!"
Bathed in the last golden rays of daylight, Saitama's face was glowing with a smile that took Genos' breath away and made his worn out core whir.
"I… did my best… sensei…" he managed to articulate with a weak smile.
Saitama looked down and leaned to watch him more closely. He raised an eyebrow, looking concerned.
"You sure you're okay, Genos? You kinda look woozy. You need me to take you to Kuseno?"
No matter how violent the cyborg's attacks were, Saitama never tried to fight back, not even once. All he did was dodge like an eel and block his blows without batting an eyelid. He did throw his colossally destructive punch twice, but Genos was perfectly aware his teacher did it slowly enough so he could deviate. The shock wave was enough to throw Genos hundreds of meters away, but Kuseno's upgrades prevented his limbs to be ripped off that easily now.
"There was no damage." Genos reassured him, trying to gather his strength to sit up, his whole body shaking. "My batteries are flat, I just need to eat something to recharge…"
"Whoa, wait, be careful! Don't move if you got no energy left!" Saitama panicked and embraced him with an arm to hold him and help him sit. "You should have told me before, I'd have brought something to eat with us…"
"I am… sorry… sensei…"
With no strength left, Genos leaned back against the arm, and his head fell on his teacher's warm shoulder. His battery level had reached a critical point, warnings flashed alarmingly in his sight, thing that hadn't happened to him in years. He struggled to keep his eyes half-open. The sun diving in the horizon looked like a blurred blotch.
"You're a pain in the ass, y'know?" Saitama affectionately complained. "Imma have to carry you again. Come on, let's go home."
Sensations were dulled and barely reached his brain, but Genos felt more than he saw his teacher lift him like if he was as light as a feather. Saitama carried him on his back, holding his legs under his arms.
The cyborg's head weakly rolled and nestled against Saitama's neck. He was pressed against his back, the cape caught between them. It wasn't the first time Saitama had to carry his disciple, but Genos was usually in pieces then, all his sensitivity sensors deactivated to spare him from feeling pain – Kuseno made sure no more sensation would reach the brain if the level of pain became too high.
"Alright, let's go!" Saitama said cheerfully and started walking. "I'll buy ya somethin' to eat in the first combini we come across. I think I've got like six hundred yens or so. Should be enough to buy you a nikuman and one of those energy drink cans. You like Calpis, by the way?"
He could feel his teacher's voice vibrating through his metallic body and his spent core. Genos did the best he could to move his fingers, and managed to embrace with his arms his teacher's neck and shoulders, his nose pressed against the steady pulse of his jugular. The soft skin there radiated with Saitama's warmth and smell. Genos closed his eyes, a light smile on his synthetic lips. Saitama-sensei looked like he got his good mood and his energy back. Bang had been right.
Cradled by his teacher's walk as he went all the way down of what was left of the mountain to go back to the city, Genos opened his pale gold eyes. His metallic fingers clung on to the suit, just where Saitama's heart was beating. Surely he had lost consciousness for a few minutes, because now it was dark and Saitama was walking in a residential area's. His footsteps echoed in the night.
"It's thanks to you, Saitama-sensei…" Genos raised his head just enough so he could whisper against his ear.
Saitama shivered and his body stiffened. He glanced at him and Genos thought he saw a flash of uncertainty.
"Huh?"
"If I'm becoming stronger…" Genos explained softly. "It's thanks to you and your teaching that I progress so much and will someday be able to destroy the mad cyborg and avenge my family."
Saitama's face became blank as he stared at him out of the corner of his eye. There was no trace of smile or joy anymore, it was all gone. Then, he sighed loudly and straightened his hold on the heavy cyborg slowly sliding down his back.
"You need to cut that crap, Genos. I've got nothing to do with it and you know it. Surely you've realized by now that I don't know the secret of my strength and I've got nothing to teach you. You just became stronger thanks to doctor Kuseno and your work as a S class hero."
"Sensei… you are…"
Genos tried to protest, to tell Saitama everything he admired about him, everything he learned from his humanity and wisdom, but he couldn't gather the energy to articulate so many words. His head fell back on his teacher's muscular shoulder. Saitama's facial expression was hard now and he was frowning.
"I kinda feel like I'm taking advantage of you and pulling you back more than helping you progress, to be honest. You cook, you do the housework, the laundry, the repairs… If it wasn't for me, you'd live in a luxurious apartment in the HQ. I wonder why you want to be my student so bad. I'm no use to you."
Saitama's heart was beating against Genos' hand, the pulse speeding up when the cyborg struggled to move his synthetic lips and speak from the bottom of his heart:
"Saitama-sensei… you are the strongest… the most generous, kind, amazing man I've ever met. I… admire you so much and I'm proud to be your disciple. You made me want to excel… to… become like you…"
Against his lips, the warm skin had goosebumps. His teacher stared down at him with a strangely wistful look.
"There's nothing special to admire, Genos. I didn't become strong to save the world or avenge my family or protect innocent people. I'm just a guy who became a hero 'cause he was bored as hell, s'all."
Saitama looked away, his eyes shadowed as he walked through a dark spot between two vending machines shining in the night like beacons.
"I should be the one envying and admiring you, Genos. You're a true vigilante and you've got a precise objective. You know what you want and where you're going. While me, I…"
"Sensei…" the cyborg said between his clenched teeth.
"Ah, I see a combini on the corner of the street. Hold on, Genos, we're almost there!"
"Sensei…" Genos insisted, tightening his grip on his teacher's suit.
So that was a failure too. Watching his disciple make progress wasn't enough to give his teacher a new purpose in life.
But Genos wouldn't give up.
He opened his eyes again, determined.
"Let's go fishing tomorrow morning, Saitama-sensei!"
His teacher stared at him in disbelief and dismay:
"Heh? You having a bug or something? My laptop too does some weird stuff that makes no sense when the battery's almost flat, No idea if it's the same thing for cyborgs… Ah! No, wait, don't turn off, Imma buy ya somethin' to eat, hang on in there, Genos!"