Author's note: Translating is fun but so much time-consuming! Not sure I'll do that again any time soon. Hope you're enjoying it though! ^^

oOo

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Genos hadn't felt that nervous for a long time. Probably since the day he gathered his courage, butterflies in his artificial stomach, and knocked on Saitama-sensei's door to ask him to take him as his disciple. That was almost seven months ago, but the cyborg never dreaded speaking his mind to his teacher before.

Even if he came back walking from N city after the lava hydra was defeated – and he walked very slowly because he was deep in thoughts – he still didn't find out how to sum up his problem in less that twenty words. Until now, his best attempts were 28 words long and he couldn't make it shorter.

Tatsumaki and Bang's wise words echoed in a continuous loop in his mind. The old man too encouraged him to be honest and blunt with Saitama.

Genos took his decision. He closed his fists, his face hard with determination, and walked faster.

The sun was starting to dive behind the buildings when he entered Z city. People in the streets became scarce, and disappeared totally as he walked into that deserted and destroyed area. It was pitch black when his foot walked in a puddle. And there had been no rain for days.

Genos sharpened his senses and looked down. His night vision confirmed it was not water. It was a black and thick fluid. He narrowed his golden eyes and crouched to touch the liquid with the tip of his fingers – it was sticky and smelled very bad.

Some sort of organic oily fluid.

He scanned the ground all around. There was other puddles, and human footprints heading straight to Genos and his teacher's neighborhood. He flinched and stood up abruptly when he recognized that foot size and exact print of shoes – those were Saitama-sensei's sneakers. The same ones he saw him put on this morning, when they left to go round the sales in C city. And judging by the space between the steps, it definitely was his teacher's running stride.

"Sensei…!" Genos breathed, worried sick, and then rushed as fast as he could to follow the footsteps.

No doubt here, they were heading to their apartment.

Did Saitama-sensei have troubles when he was away? Genos had to leave to answer the HQ's urgent call about N city's volcano monster. Saitama had seemed very determined to rummage frantically into sales clothes next to hysterical women, so Genos didn't worry too much about leaving him alone.

The footprints faded as he came near their apartment. They were just dirty marks when he leaped up the stairs, his eyes flashing in the dark. He rushed so brutally into the apartment he almost ripped the door off it's hinges.

"SENSEI!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Ah, Genos."

Hand still gripping the door handle, Genos blinked when he saw his teacher bent above the sink, elbows deep into foamy water. Bare-chested, Saitama glanced at him dispassionately above his shoulder.

"Why did ya scream like that?" Saitama sighed, focusing back on whatever he was doing. "You scared me."

Feeling better, Genos carefully closed the door and came closer to his teacher. Frowning, the hero was scrubbing energetically what seemed to be his hoodie soaked into the sink. The water was almost black and there was more and more bubbles as he clenched his jaw and scrubbed harder.

"I saw your footprints on the street." Genos briefly explained. "What happened, sensei?"

Saitama grabbed the soaked and foamy cloth and took it out of the water to show him, looking discouraged. It was indeed his OPPAI hoodie he was wearing this morning when they left the apartment. And dark stains soiled half the cloth.

"After you left, some sort of giant spider with lipstick showed up and started devastating the mall and stealing stuff. It stole everything I bought, so I ran after it before it could flee, and kicked its ass. Except it mucked up my hoodie, my jeans and my shoes with it's blood. I've been scrubbing for hours, but it won't disappear! It was my favorite hoodie, for fuck's sake!"

Clicking his tongue angrily, Saitama plunged back the hoodie into the foaming water.

"I couldn't even get back the stuff I bought. That fucking spider swallowed it all and it was already dissolved by its gastric juices when I punched it dead. Shit, I had bought so many great and cheap stuff! Fuck it!"

His anger was thick in the air. Genos felt a pang of remorse for not having been there to help him. He should have come back faster to his teacher, instead of dreaming on the way back.

"I'm sorry, sensei. If I had been with you, I would have done everyting in my power to protect your purchases and your clothes."

Oddly enough, Saitama relaxed. His movements became softer, and his facial expression more serene.

"Meh, it' no big deal."

"Hold on, sensei, let me do it. To make those kind of stains go away, soap is not enough."

Saitama blinked and glanced at him, but moved away to let the cyborg take his place. Genos pulled out a special stain remover and liquid detergent from under the sink. Watching his disciple proceed, Saitama wiped his hands and crossed his arms on his bare torso, leaning a shoulder against the wall. He looked thoughtful now, Genos noticed from the corner of his eye as he poured the liquid on the black stains.

"But you know what was the worst part?" Saitama said, stroking his chin. "That giant fugly spider was a former sales addict like me. She loved special offers so much she started killing people who bought what she wanted and she turned into a monster. It's scary, y'know? I could become like this too if I'm not careful!"

Genos scrubbed the cloth in the water.

"You are indeed fierce when you go round the sales. It reveals your fighting spirit in all its splendor."

Genos always watched in rapt attention, holding his teacher's bags as Saitama quarreled with anyone who dared trying to take the items he was interested in, and it wasn't rare that he snatched clothes from a woman's hands and was beaten with a handbag in retaliation.

"Ah, you think so too!"

"… but you will never turn into a monster." Genos said softly as he washed the foam from the hoodie. "You are a true hero at soul, and I know better than anyone how good and pure your heart is. Here, the stains are gone now."

Saitama was staring at him with a weird look in his eyes, but it shifted to surprise when the cyborg showed him the soaked hoodie that was perfectly stainless. Genos started drying it, using his palm reactors.

"Whoa! You rock, Genos!"

Flattered, Genos couldn't help smiling proudly as he handed the clean and dry hoodie to his teacher who slipped it on right away.

"By the way, how did it go with that monster in N city? You beat it off?"

As he was talking, Saitama turned on his heels and walked into the living room, probably heading to go watch tv or read a manga. Genos frowned and a spike of anxiety made his core whir when he remembered the decision he took.

"In fact, Tatsumaki did." he summed up. "Saitama-sensei, I have something important to tell you."

Saitama stilled and looked down at the metallic hand that grabbed his sleeve to stop him.

"Er… ok." Saitama said flatly, frowning confusedly.

"Please sit down." Genos asked sternly, pointing at the table.

Saitama blinked and tried to smile, but it came off as grimace. He looked uncomfortable.

"What's with the formal tone, all of a sudden?"

"If you please, sensei." Genos insisted, already sitting in seiza. "It's really important and I would like you to promise you will listen to me and not get angry or offended by anything I might say."

Saitama rolled his eyes but sat down in seiza, looking resigned.

"I'm warning you, if it's about my hair again, I…"

"It's not." Genos interrupted, narrowing his golden eyes. "It's something I should have told you a long time ago, but I only realized it recently. I didn't want to tell you about it and embarrass you, so I concealed what I felt. But I think now it's important that I tell you, that I let you know. Don't worry, I will try not to be too long."

"It's… not exactly what I'm concerned about right now…" Saitama mumbled, looking away.

"I will start now." Genos announced, fists clenched on his knees to give him courage.

He stared intently at his teacher until he finally looked back at him.

"Sensei. You certainly know how much I admire you since the day I met you. Becoming your disciple made me realize you're so much more than your strength. You've become the most important person in my life. I only wish for your happiness, more than anything in the world, and I realized a few weeks ago…"

"Ok." Saitama groaned, elbows on the table, looking haggard. "I think I know what you're going to say. I kinda suspected, to be honest."

Saitama had facepalmed himself, but Genos could still see between the fingers that Saitama's whole face was blushing. His bald head was shining, reflecting the ceiling's lamp.

"Let's get over with it, Genos. Spit it out."

Genos hesitated and looked down at his knees.

"You swear you won't be angry with me?"

"I won't be angry at you for something you can't help feeling. I swear."

That answer made no sense. Genos felt confused for a second, but he looked up bravely and met Saitama's gaze. His teacher looked nervous and uncomfortable, a drop of sweat sliding down his temple. Genos took a deep breath.

"I realized you're suffering from depression since you lost hope in finding a worthy opponent. I've done everything in my power to help you find a new reason for living, but I failed. I'm addressing the matter to you directly as a last resort. I don't know what to do anymore and I can't stand knowing that Saitama-sensei is unhappy."

"…"

Saitama was staring at him with his eyes wide open, taken aback. Genos bowed respectfully and added:

"That was a lot more than twenty words, I am aware. Please accept my deepest apologies, Saitama-sensei."

"Ah, no…" Saitama limply raised a hand. "I get it now. That explains everything. How weird you acted lately and the creepy way you stared at me all the time, even when I was sleeping…"

Embarrassed, Genos swallowed – so Saitama-sensei noticed when he was watching him at night, thinking about new ideas to make him happy? He was so sure he had been discreet, and his teacher seemed like he was in deep sleep.

"I was starting to wonder about you." Saitama shrugged.

Genos looked down in shame.

"I'm sorry you worried about me, sensei. I should have told you sooner what I had in mind."

"I should be the one apologizing, Genos. I got it all wrong. I really thought that you, that you were… er…"

Puzzled, Genos blinked when Saitama looked away and cleared his throat.

"Sensei?"

"I kinda thought you were gonna declare your love to me or something like that." Saitama admitted laughing awkwardly, scratching his bald skull. "I imagined things and I panicked for no reason all this time but I was totally wrong about what you wanted. Silly, y'know? I feel like a dumbass now."

Genos stiffened and his eyes widened. If he looked sort of calm and composed on the outside, in the inside the cyborg felt like he had been thrown away by a hurricane.

"…"

"Er, Genos? You're having another bug?"

Saitama's hand waved in front of him, but Genos couldn't move at all. His golden eyes and retracted pupils were staring at his teacher's now concerned face.

"Genos! Crap, you're burning!"

The cyborg realized his core was overheating so much it was almost melting, and his metallic body was letting out thick burning steam. His sleeveless shirt was catching fire as well as the table touching his arms. He didn't even have enough time to think about activating his cooling fans to regulate his temperature, that Saitama rushed to the kitchen and came back to splash a full bucket of water in his face. Genos finally snapped out of his stupor and blinked.

"Pfwah, that was close. A bit more and the apartment would have been burning too and we'd be homeless."

Dripping wet, Genos looked at his teacher who was holding the empty bucket.

"Thank you, sensei. I had a little ventilation dysfunction. I feel much better now."

Saitama sighed, shaking his head, then ruffled his disciple's synthetic soaked hair affectionately.

"Come on." Saitama smiled. "Let's go out for udon and talk about it, if you care so much."