"The next floor is…what element?" Saitama asked when they got to the elevators. It was actually decided for waterbeds to be done on the first floor with the ultra-soft mattress topping, and he was quite curious if he could get the same type of bed. But then he decided not to as he would have to choose between that and his treasure bed. Nope! Not giving up my treasure bed! Maybe a side bed, though. Or half the bed? Maybe that can work…
"I think we wanted plant theme next. But what else are you thinking of?" Mitsumi asked him.
"Oh. I want a waterbed, too, but I don't want to give up the treasure bed. Maybe we can have two sides to the bed?" he grinned.
"We'll see about that," she chuckled and let him kiss her. "Oh! I was thinking of an awesome idea. At the end of each hallway, would it be possible to build a large, circular room on each floor for specialized events on those floors?"
"We can rent those out for two thousand yen a day. Or if a raffle is won. Or something. We'll see," Saitama nodded. "But it would be a very nice idea."
"And each room should have a larger version of the element display, too, for a central piece," Mitsumi said with a touch of excitement. "We can totally make those rooms amazing and very suitable for events of all kinds! Even have one of those sparkling disco balls above each display!"
"Like party rooms? I never even thought of that! I can remove some of the parking space to set that up," Metal Knight chuckled. "Hmm. We'll need at least five thousand square feet to suffice for this to ensure there will be plenty of space. Then again, we may need ten thousand square feet for major events. I'll get on that now, and the rooms will be added per floor at the end of the hallway. There are emergency stairs, too, and those will be near the entrance to each event room. Hmm. I'll also include a set of stairs by the elevators."
"Yeah, that's something needed for sure," Garou nodded. Lily leaned into him and sighed. "You okay?"
"Just tired," she said and yawned. He nodded and lifted her up to carry her.
"If you fall asleep, it's fine," he said and smiled at her gently. She snuggled into his shoulder and sighed with exhaustion.
"How is she tired?" Bane asked.
"Oh. She's, eh…pregnant. With my kid," Garou chuckled. Bane stared at him with complete shock. "I know. I know. I'll be there for her. And I bet it happened when we agreed to become life partners. So…I'm fine with it."
"Or the first night at Mitsumi's original home…?" Lily asked with a grin.
"Yeah. That, too," Garou sighed and laughed softly.
"My daughter, I need to set the floor for my element now. Zenchu just told me that I'm needed at home. He feels the eggs will be hatching sooner than we thought. What floors are needed for myself and Starlight?" Wind Crane asked. "He is far too concerned that the eggs will hatch without my presence."
"Oh! Um…" Mitsumi frowned.
"Make your floor the third floor. Starlight can be the fifth floor. If we need more designs from you after you set the floors, Cold Snap can ask for you," Saitama nodded. Wind Crane sighed with relief and was quick to carry Starlight to the elevators.
"Sister…?" Starlight frowned.
"She will come back home later," Wind Crane smiled warmly. "We will have to tend to new brothers and sisters soon. We even have another egg to look after! We will see everyone again."
"Oh! Okay!" Starlight beamed and waved at Mitsumi.
"I'll see you later at home," Mitsumi beamed back and waved at her sister. After they went into the elevator doors, Saitama was quick to move Mitsumi to the end of the hallway to the newly created recreation room for events. The entire room had matching opalescent floor tile with gold streaks. The walls were set with the same, ocean blue coloring, but a solid, bold streak of gold lined the center of the wall all the way through in a horizontal line.
Stable Rock looked at Blue Ripple to start setting up a type of disco ball. As molten gold streamed off his shell, Blue Ripple focused to start forming it into a ball shape riddled with holes. Fire Flight stood by with Shenjou to show she was ready to help if it was needed. Bright Bolt was quick to help with some lighting designs, and Cold Snap made the ice diamonds needed to ensure the light would refract perfectly. It was carefully spun around to ensure it sparkled and glittered in full. It was a beautiful effect.
"Can we get one of these in each event room like this? This is perfect," Tacki said while examining the thousands of tiny ice diamonds set in a golden sphere. "Also, the ball should spin while events are going. Like a slow spin to make the room really sparkle. Maybe have a light inside it to do this? As well as outside lights to focus on it."
"I can set that up," Metal Knight said on examining the hollow fixture with his hovering robot. The dimensions were quickly gleaned and transmitted. Even Genos was studying where the glittering sphere would hang down from the ceiling.
"Would it be possible for us to have a few of these for Hero Association use?" the first board member asked.
"I will want to inspect where they will go," Cold Snap said carefully. "And I don't want others to see how we make them."
"This would be an awesome way to sell to hotels and spy on people…" Saitama mused. Stable Rock blinked at the idea and had Cold Snap remove a few hundred of his tiny diamonds. Replacement diamonds from Stable Rock were now set in all over for easy room monitoring, and it was decided to have a few of his tiny diamonds set into the walls to further secure the area against intruders. Cold Snap suggested to line them with the golden line on the walls to be a sparkling border, and it was a perfect place to set them. "We should get a few of these loose diamonds into the security room. Tsuruga can watch them all. Remember that Stable Rock's gems are like cameras for us?"
"I would fully agree!" Genos said quickly.
"We shall…work…on that…" Stable Rock nodded. He focused on the center of the room for a stalagmite to appear riddled with holes. A stone circle with intense depth appeared for Blue Ripple to fill it with pristine water. Then he focused to have the water filter up and through the holes to make a majestic fountain display. The water monster did notice a rather large, central hole on all sides of the stalagmite. On looking at Stable Rock, he paused at the massive, foot round diamond with blue flashes that fell from his shell.
"So…a form of temptation and to make others think it is not real. Nice," Blue Ripple snickered and moved the diamond into the central spot with a blue glow. Stable Rock secured it to be immovable. Saitama was trembling with excitement at the sight of it.
"All…displays…in these…rooms…will have…this…" Stable Rock nodded. "With…matching colors…of course…"
"I just had a very mean idea," Saitama said. Stable Rock looked at him and laughed at what he mentally heard.
"Yes! That…will…be…mean…!" his pet snickered wickedly and swooned at the head scratching. Overgrown Rover whined and got scratched next.
"Oh…" Inichi blinked and cringed in laughter. Fubuki looked at him curiously. "When one reaches the main hallway for Lady Mitsumi and Mr. Saitama, the diamonds used here will also be displayed on either side of their hallway before the bedroom entrance. And labeled that they are 100% real."
"And locked…down…" Stable Rock snickered again. "The…restaurant will…also…have…the same…decorations…behind…the main…entrance…"
"That would definitely show the intense wealth of the restaurant!" Kamiko blinked. "We would need more security staff."
"The Hero Association can assist with that," the third board member said.
"You forgot that I can also create robots to look like the surroundings," Metal Knight chuckled. "I am creating a chamber below the restaurant for interrogation, stock piling and quick travel. This will be done for all of the buildings we make. We do need to figure out where a centralized hub station of sorts should be, though…"
"May I propose to have it under the Hero Association in City A?" the first board member asked. "All of our supply drops start there and get distributed to other areas of the association. This includes sorting, boxing and shipping. If anyone tries to intervene, they would have to breach our association first. Of course, we'll still have security measures all over in each localized hub."
"Hmm…" Stable Rock mused. "Maybe…in separate…segments…"
"What do you mean?" the second board member asked. Stable Rock grumbled and completely withdrew into his shell. Then his form shifted and changed into his human one. He stood up tall and leaned slightly on his gold and jewel encrusted staff to regard them. He looked down at them all from his ten foot tall height, and he shifted the cloak on his back. Mitsumi smiled warmly at him and got her arm squeezed in a brotherly way.
"It's easier to talk like this for now," he said and blinked his glowing amber eyes. "I don't think it's wise to have all of our shipments going to one place. For emergencies, we will need things fast. I know we can do it with our teleporting skills, but I do understand that we do need one primary hub for basic needs. However, for more important needs that require absolute discretion, we should have hidden depots all over."
"I see…" the first board member frowned.
"Unless you have City Z be the primary drop off site for more extreme needs. Think about it. All of my wonderful pets and family can easily retrieve and disguise such things. Regular needs like food, water and supplies? That can go to City A. But weapons? Rare items and materials? City Z should be the main distribution point for this," Mitsumi said. "If anyone tries to steal something, they have to deal with my family."
"And no one wants to get zapped!" Bright Bolt whinnied and tossed his head. "I'll happily zap anyone that tries anything stupid!"
"Or get frozen solid," Cold Snap grinned.
"This would actually be one of the best ways to move supplies," Metal Knight agreed in full. "There were a few times where our supply stores had attempted hijacking. Some of the hijacking we let happen just to track where the intruders went. Then we swarmed in and took out their base of operations."
"Clever," Stable Rock mused. "Anyways, I have said my peace. I shall revert back now."
"Actually, I think it's needed for you to be like this a bit longer," Mitsumi said. Stable Rock looked at her curiously. He studied her thoughts and frowned hard at what he heard.
"You feel one may arrive for you as one did for Saitama?" he asked.
"What?" Saitama looked at her.
"It always seems to happen," Mitsumi frowned. "That one girl appeared earlier. I fear someone may arrive to try their luck for me."
"Nope," Saitama said and hugged her closer to his chest. Overgrown Rover huffed and whined to get picked up. Inichi walked over to let the monster dog get held by Mitsumi, and Tangled Vine jumped up to rest over Saitama's shoulders. Then Tangled Vine sniffed around Saitama's ears and started to lick him. Mitsumi found herself giggling like mad. The bald hero gave an annoying side glance and said, "Stop that."
"I'm helping her laugh," Tangled Vine mumbled in his ear. "She needs to laugh right now. Trust me."
"Ugh…" he sighed. Then he paused at the healthy, sloppy lick Overgrown Rover gave his cheek. "NO! That's just…no!"
Mitsumi was in tears laughing now and could just barely help clean off his face with the rag Tacki gave her. Tangled Vine now gained an idea and moved to carefully climb up on top of Saitama's head. Then he curled up to look like a hat. While the others found themselves snickering and laughing, Saitama found himself deep in thought about it. Tangled Vine looked down at him and said, "I think I like this position. What do you think?"
"If you don't fall off…huh. We'll test it for a while," Saitama smirked.
"Such a good kitty!" Mitsumi smiled. Tangled Vine started to purr to get her laughing at Saitama's glance up at him.
"Nice…" Saitama sighed and shook his head with a chuckle. "Next floor is plants. So…get some ideas ready."
"I have a wonderful rainforest theme planned. I'll need some areas for soil, though. Especially for the bonsai centerpieces I plan to do for the elevators and the party room. As for the walls, hmm. Unless I do those air plants…but they grow best on vines. I'll still need soil with adequate moisture. It's unavoidable," Tangled Vine said and looked at Stable Rock.
"Let's go," the humanoid earth monster said.
"What about furniture?" Mitsumi asked while they walked to the elevators.
"I was thinking nature wood theme. I know we want all the furniture to look the same, but let's face. Tacki is correct that it would all be boring. A single set of furniture is good for the basic rooms. Such as a couple desks, a bed, a couple tables and several chairs. Maybe a plush chair for reclining in. More furniture with couches and such are good for the better quality rooms. I'm glad we found a way to make those couches for the luxury rooms, though. Still an ocean-type theme and colored the same as the walls in the hallway. We did go with pearl white coloring for the bedrooms, right?" Tangled Vine asked.
"That we did," Sweet Mask chuckled. "The ceiling fans are of the same design as the chairs and table."
"And it's awesome that we put small fountains on each balcony," Mitsumi chuckled. Saitama nodded and let the button get pressed for the second floor. The moment the doors opened and they walked out, Tangled Vine focused on the area in front of them. Stable Rock nodded and shifted the ground to raise up slightly. Then he walked over to touch the base of the circle he made to fill it with rich earth. Blue Ripple trotted over to hydrate it fully.
"Stable Rock, can you have my level below be able to help water this area? As this floor is right above mine, we can make small vents to help," Blue Ripple chuckled. Stable Rock grinned and focused to do just that. Then the water monster said, "Another idea. Make small paths for water to travel through the whole building. My fountains can easily provide all the base water needed for each floor, and this can even include drinking water. Bath water and such can be done by the human's piping systems. Except for the last two floors. I can handle those just fine for everything."
"That is awesome," Saitama grinned with complete approval. Stable Rock moved to touch a wall and already had the complete layout of the building in the form of a mental blueprint. Metal Knight was speechless when his robots reported the intricate piping now constructed from the building material already there.
"You can pretty much work with any metal?!" Metal Knight had to ask.
"Of course. Metal comes from earth. I am earth, itself. There is nothing concealed to me when it comes to all forms of earth. Even when metals are combined, it's still earth. I know there are strong monsters that work with metal directly, but I can do the same just fine. It's hard to explain, but I'm sure you understand," Stable Rock nodded. "We are currently…experimenting…with making others like ourselves with combined elemental powers. These others may help make fans that Mitsumi can pass down to her children to help future heroes."
"If that does happen…" the first board member mused.
"What do you have planned?" Sweet Mask asked. Tajima was also paying close attention to this.
"If there are a specialized set of heroes that come to pass…they should have instant S class ranking. Or even high A class depending on what they can do," the board member said. When Mitsumi coughed and winced, Saitama was quick to take her to the stone ledge that held the fertile earth to sit on it. He soothed her and rubbed a gloved hand over her belly.
"What happened?" her husband asked her gently. Tacki frowned and looked at Kamikaze to show she was ready to help in any way.
"There was…a bit…of pain…" Mitsumi winced. Kamiko walked right over, and the protective pets let her through. Her belly was carefully felt to find out what happened. Kamiko clearly had a look of worried irritation.
"He grew?" Saitama had to ask.
"Yeah. He's been growing all this time. I think her womb finally had to stretch to accommodate for him. Was it like a hard, random pinch, Lady Mitsumi?" she asked. Mitsumi nodded to show it was what was felt.
"His inner fire has definitely expanded. This will happen constantly until birth," Fire Flight sighed and shook her head. "It still grows rapidly even now."
"Is something wrong with her pregnancy?" the fourth board member asked.
"My son is going to be stupidly strong like me. Apparently…he's growing fast. Like…very fast. To a point that she may be giving birth to him in a few months," Saitama sighed. That got practically all of them that didn't know this to pause with shock. "Yeah. I'm not happy about it, but it is what it is."
"And with the Secret Skins also gathering around that time…" Mitsumi frowned. The board members looked at each with complete concern on this.
"We'll keep track of the timelines," Sweet Mask said.
"That we will," Metal Knight agreed and was heard typing on a keyboard. "I can also help keep track of the growth. I can work with, ah, Genos's companion on that. He likes to remain as anonymous as I do."
"That will be beneficial. Thank you," Genos nodded to the hovering robot.
"Let's get the rest of my floor done," Tangled Vine said and focused on the rich soil. Saitama lifted Mitsumi up to hold her, and Cold Snap was already giving her an iced over ginger cookie.
"Can I get one of those?" Tacki asked. Tatsumaki now looked over with a touch of hopefulness. The cookies were quickly summoned and dispersed. Garou even had one given to Lily just in case. The cookies were consumed with relief and then the next project was looked at.
"You said you wanted to do a bonsai?" Mitsumi asked and reached up to scratch Tangled Vine's head. He purred and nuzzled her hand back.
"Yes. So, let's see…" he mused and turned his glowing, emerald green eyed gaze at the spot of fertile soil. A small, strong trunk that twisted slightly in a coiled way formed. Sturdy branches and emerald green leaves formed next. What should have taken several years to cultivate and grow now only took place within a couple minutes. The two foot tall, fully mature tree was beautiful, elegant and full of grace when gazed at.
"What type of bonsai is it?" Mitsumi smiled with fascination.
"It is a form of Chinese Elm," Tangled Vine nodded. "I think, for the main decoration for the party room…a bonsai made from the Dragon's Blood tree."
"Those are so rare!" Tacki gasped. "I could totally use some of the sap!"
"I can make a giant one at home," Tangled Vine winked at her. That got her to squeal with excited delight.
"You should create a few bonsai decorations. Like the old man sitting underneath it to show scale," Bane chuckled.
"Why don't you sit under it?" Garou asked. Kamikaze slapped a hand over his mouth to hide his bark of laughter.
"Garou…" Mitsumi sighed and laughed softly. Lily gave her life partner an odd look to get him shrugging at her.
"To be fair, Zenchu would have said something far worse," Tacki pointed out. Saitama thought about it and nodded slightly. Tangled Vine snickered with the others and focused on the floor. A strip was left bare for a robot to deliver deep green carpeting to run down it. The floor now resembled a forest floor with small stone pathways to each room. The walls sprouted with vines, colorful flowers and vibrant moss like an enchanting jungle scene. Bright Bold and Cold Snap made the lighting again, but this time there were enchanting firefly-like lights that floated around in the air.
"This is awesome," Saitama grinned. He watched the doors look like small tree trunks, and the handles were changed to gold with emerald gems in their centers. Blue Ripple added an eerie mist to coat over the floor as most jungles would have. Fire Flight was thrilled at all of it, and she whispered to Shenjou that this was much like how her original home looked long ago.
On walking into the party room, the walls were quickly made into a matching design from the hallway, but Stable Rock included small diamonds hidden throughout the walls. The diamond sphere was made quickly now that the design was already set in place. The center floor had another circle raise up, and it was filled with hydrated earth. Tangled Vine focused to have a long, tall stalk raise up a foot high before branching out into the web-like branches in a perfect, mushroom cap-like formation.
The leaves looked like spiky green fuzz all over the top of the branches. The entire Dragon's Blood bonsai tree was a good three feet tall, and Kamiko walked over to study it. She smiled and said, "Can we harvest a little sap? It's very good for aromatherapy and other needs."
"I have a vial," Genos chuckled. Tangled Vine was still on top of Saitama's head, and he watched how a small section was scratched to retrieve the precious, red drops of sap. He healed the tree after and yawned with contentment. Stable Rock did study the roots and had Tangled Vine make a section between them hollow. He focused on his staff and aimed it at the empty section to have a massive diamond with flashy green tones nestle neatly and securely for all to see.
"Let's make a sample of the furniture here. We still have a lot of work to do," Metal Knight said. "As long as I have the prototype structures, I can do the rest of the work with no issues."
"It's been over an hour. But…this is important," Mitsumi sighed.
"Those Secret Skins monsters aren't gonna do anything," Saitama said calmly. He smiled at her when she snuggled into him, and Overgrown Rover huffed before turning to stare at the main hallway door. "What's up, doggy?"
"It hears something, Dad," Cold Snap frowned. "Mom was right that she might get looked for."
"What?!" Saitama growled. Stable Rock looked at Tangled Vine with a small smirk. The powerful plant monster snickered and focused. The sounds of surprised screams came about, and the group was quick to investigate. Dangling above the ground by vines right in front of the elevators was a young man with black hair and eyes in basic civilian dress.
"The hotel is not yet open. Who are you?" Inichi asked with intense scrutiny. "And you had best answer truthfully."
"He's gonna lie…" Cold Snap muttered.
"Indeed," Stable Rock narrowed his glowing amber eyes.
"I just…I was hoping…to talk to Fan Dancer!" the man said while struggling against the entangling vines.
"For what?" Mitsumi asked. Saitama didn't put her down at all. Overgrown Rover was still being carried by her, and it growled sharply with mistrust. "Just know that my husband is holding me. If you lie to me on what you want, he will gladly slap you while my wonderful pets turn you into a chew toy."
"Can I just zap him?" Bright Bolt asked.
"Not yet," Saitama muttered under his breath.
"I should have Stable Rock encase that one in earth so I can make it a molten mass of lava," Fire Flight snorted with distaste.
"And how did you know what floor I was on? How did you even access the hotel portion?! This is now considered trespassing," Mitsumi said with a hint of rage. Tangled Vine let the vines constrict a bit harder.
"No thorns," Saitama said. Then he regarded the man before looking at the stairway entrance. "Ah. That's how you got in. Eh, Metal Knight, you made the stairs, but you didn't secure the door."
"On this floor, I didn't. I am correcting that now," the hovering robot sounded out. "All other floors are locked down until we are ready to use them."
"Wait! Someone is using the elevators!" Siren said. She pointed out who it was to Bofoi for him to chuckle softly. This is going to get interesting…
"I'm here," Tsuruga snorted when he arrived from the elevators. "Tanktop Girl is in the security booth. Inichi sent for me. I'll escort this one out."
"But…" the man seemed to pout.
"If you are hoping to be with my wife, it's a no," Saitama grounded out. "Didn't I see you outside when I chewed out that other girl?"
"This one is new, Master Saitama," Genos said on scanning the man.
"Ugh. Thirty seconds to tell me what you want from my wife. Go," Saitama growled. "And don't you dare ask her to leave me for you."
"Ah…" the man paused. Saitama looked at Stable Rock.
"It was as you surmised," Stable Rock grunted. "I'd turn him into a golden statue, but I fear that would be wasted."
"I'll gladly chase him out the way he came in," Tsuruga growled and tossed his horns. "Drop him?"
"Just…one date? I mean…" the man paused and started to panic at Saitama's glare. His pupils started to become burning coals of rage.
"My husband is one of the strongest S class heroes alive," Mitsumi started to fume. Her fans had never gone back into the fan belts, and they were quick to go on the offensive. "Apparently my fans don't like you. Hmm. What do his arms look like? Is there a bump?"
"Bug infested?" Garou smirked.
"What are you talking about?! I have perfect hygiene!" the man argued.
"He's clean," Inichi said after gleaning the man's thoughts.
"Wait. I do know you," Mitsumi said with a hint of disgust. "You are one of those men that always tried to convince me to date you at those horrible social events! You're not even wealthy. You snuck in with every crowd to avoid getting seen. Then you'd give off horrid ideas of scams to try and leech off anyone that would look your way. But when you saw me…"
"What did he do?" Saitama asked. Not once did he drop his glare on the man. "I need to know what he tried to pull."
"Father wouldn't let him do anything. But this man had the gall to try and follow us home one night. It took him a couple tries, but eventually he succeeded. The gate kept him out, as well as the entry staff, but then he tried to break in through a window. Daiki actually caught him and brought him before Father. I was in Father's study at the time to help with some documents for him, so I was in the same room when this man was brought over.
"I was just reading some notes off for Father to type up, though. Nothing major, but, anyways, this very man saw me and begged me to date him! Father was outraged and had the security team escort him out with a beating. Huh. Now that I think about it, this guy would track down every event I ever went to just to find me and beg for my affections," she said with a grimace.
"Is that so?" Saitama muttered and returned his attention to the guilty man. "She's my wife. She's not available. Get it through your thick skull. If you pursue her again, I'll slap you and throw you over to the next city before you can even blink!"
"No one is that strong!" the man argued back.
"Ahh…" Garou started before Lily shushed him.
"Yeah. He's dead," Kamikaze smirked. Tacki was back on his shoulders during the pursuit, and she was already clucking her tongue.
"Is he so simple that he already forgot that he is entangled with my vines?" Tangled Vine mused. "Are you sure I cannot constrict him at all?"
"What can I do to gain your favor, Miss Takashi?!" the man finally said.
"So, you know she's an S class hero by calling her Fan Dancer. And you know who she is, too. I don't like that," Fubuki said with her own heavy frown. Tatsumaki studied the pathetic man, but Rendor whispered to ignore him.
"That is Mrs. Takashias Saitama took my last name as his own! Stable Rock, is there some form of impossible mission you can give him to do on my behalf to keep him away for a long time?" Mitsumi asked with a small grin.
"Oh, there's plenty. Such as climb the tallest mountain with a sack of gold bricks on his back. Live on the outskirts of a city for twenty years, even…" Stable Rock seemed to grin. "I wouldn't want him to go on any real quests, though. Such a thing would be…unfeasible."
"You don't know that!" the man growled. "I'll do everything I can to prove my worth to her!"
"Like what? Why even do that?" Mitsumi asked with a puzzled look. "I'm not impressed by that. That actually makes me pity you for your stupidity. You need to let me go and find another girl."
"I vowed to only be with you!" he said.
"Not gonna happen," Saitama said. "We're wasting time now. I'll just slap him and send him away."
"Should give him the quest to become an S class hero," Sweet Mask mused.
"No. Because then he'll think he'll have a way to get to my wife. I'd say he should write a script for Inichi, but I don't think he has the capability to think. Much less write," Saitama grunted out. Inichi died with laughter. Sweet Mask coughed out his laughter at this, and Saitama continued, "It's clearly obvious! He keeps chasing after my wife, of all things! Even while I'm holding her! He's clearly brain dead."
"Saitamaaa…!" Mitsumi groaned and rolled her eyes. "Can you just slap him so we can finish redecorating now? I'm starting to get hungry, too, so we need to finish this up. We have too much to do right now."
"How's my son?" he asked seriously and gave her a loving gaze.
"So far…I'm doing okay," she smiled. "No feeling of growth that I can tell. I know it may change later."
"What?" the man asked.
"I'm pregnant with his growing son," she said with a small glare. Her fans were still out and ready to attack. She was just grateful that they stayed in their sets of ten for space. Then she looked at them and said, "You all can rest now. There's plenty here to help me."
They vibrated for 'no' to show they were completely on defensive guard. She sighed and saw the man struggle against the vines again. Then he shouted, "I'll be a better father to that kid than him!"
"What?!" Saitama spat out.
"He's dead," Garou said and pursed his lips together.
"Very…" Lily grimaced.
"Seriously?!" Fubuki blinked with shock.
"Lady Mitsumi, pay that one no mind," Kamiko said softly.
"Yeah. He can't hit as hard as Saitama, anyways," Tacki grinned.
"Master Saitama should not waste even a breath of air on this one," Genos said adamantly. "It's as though this one knows when to not back off."
"Don't even think of trying to challenge Mr. Saitama," Inichi said to cut the man off completely. "He is S class and rank 3. He was almost rank 1. You have no chance. And don't think that challenging him, anyways, will impress Lady Mitsumi. She'll just find herself even further disgusted and creeped out by you."
"Men like you always creeped me out," Mitsumi wrinkled her nose.
"Let me out of these vines! I'll challenge any of you to show I can win!" the man said courageously. Stable Rock stepped forward now to give a small nod.
"I am a GOD monster of earth," he said and set his sold gold staff with gems next to him. It stood on its own to show it was perfectly balanced. It was also lightly welded into the floor to keep anyone from attempting to take it. "I accept your challenge."
"Is this allowed?" the second board member asked.
"He is also her pet in true monster form," Metal Knight reminded him from his hovering robot. "In human form, he is her older brother. So, he is protecting family. I'm sure he won't kill the man. Hopefully."
"It would be a waste of strength to end his life. I will only reprimand lightly. Even then, it may not do much. But that is all I will do," Stable Rock nodded. He blinked his glowing amber eyes and watched Tangled Vine release the man. Tsuruga stood in front of the only way out and snorted loudly.
"Yaaah!" the man screamed and rushed forward to punch Stable Rock. He found himself hitting a slab of rock instead. Now he yelled with surprise and started to nurse his fist while the others struggled hard to keep from laughing.
"My turn," Stable Rock grunted. He focused for the rock slab he summoned up to shift forward in such a way that it flung the man into the back wall. Stable Rock had his arm stretched out with his palm open to show how he shoved the rock into the man. The board members were shocked. The pets were snickering. Cold Snap was clinging to Saitama's leg and laughing hard into it. "Looks like I win this challenge. A noble, yet futile attempt."
"Indeed," Inichi sighed. Stable Rock had the slab crumble back down into the floor. Sweet Mask was in complete shock with the board members at what he saw. Bane and Garou were coughing from holding in their laughter. Kamikaze was already thinking of a possible sparring match.
"Okay. Get rid of that guy. What? Doggy?" Saitama looked at his monster dog after it huffed. Overgrown Rover jumped down from Mitsumi, trotted over to the man and left a gas bomb on him right after that. "Yeah. I approve."
"Nice!" Garou snickered and kept holding Lily.
"That wall smack was almost as hard as your punch…" Rendor mused.
"Eh…I can likely punch that easy. Not gonna, though," Saitama chuckled.
"Hmm…" Stable Rock mused. "Try it."
"Nope. I'm in our hotel," he said. He blinked when a slab of rock appeared in front of him. He sighed, held Mitsumi with one arm and flicked his fingers at it. Stable Rock watched the slab crumble down with disbelief. "Yeah. Eh…I punch holes through mountains. Blue Ripple saw that happen."
"I did…" Blue Ripple chuckled.
"He also destroyed that monster with all we made," Fire Flight reminded him. "Did you forget so soon?"
"Were you just testing how strong he was with a normal punch?" Mitsumi asked with a small smile. Stable Rock sighed, took up his staff and reverted back into his monster form. Now he got a rewarding scratch between his ears by Saitama to make him swoon with complete delight.
"Can I static cling?" Bright Bolt asked when Tsuruga tossed the now smelly man over his shoulder. Saitama gave a small nod. "Sweet! Tsuruga won't get hurt, though. Just that guy."
"Thanks," Tsuruga grinned and hauled the whimpering man out.
"I'll…still find…a way…to her heart…" the man whispered.
"And I'll be there to gore you open," Tsuruga growled with a blink of his glowing red eyes. "She is lost to you. She disliked those events, too. She wanted nothing to do with them. And I doubt you would have let her do as she wished outside of the social circle."
"I just…wanted to be…someone noticed…" the man admitted lightly.
"Then challenge yourself. Prove to yourself that you can do more. Stop chasing a fantasy. Improve yourself to no end. Sweet Mask mentioned to become a hero. Maybe that can be your goal, hmm?" Tsuruga grunted out.
"I…well…huh…" the man blinked now. Inichi whispered to them all, and Saitama was just pissed.
"If he tries to do that just to get to my wife…" Saitama started. Then he looked at Mitsumi. "I might end up killing him. Fair warning."
"All in self-defense?" she smiled and kissed him passionately.
"More than likely," he mumbled and kissed her again.
"We need to finish the floors," she whispered when the kiss got heavier.
"Is my penthouse done?" Saitama asked the pets. "I know we need to get through another eight floors…and finish the furniture here…"
"If we have no further interruptions, then we can get through all of this within an hour," Blue Ripple said.
"Yep! We can do it!" Cold Snap grinned. The bald hero sighed hard.
"Love?" Mitsumi frowned.
"I just…I want my at home day now," he mumbled to get her smiling softly at him. "I know. We need to finish this…"
"How do you want the floors set? We have water and plant done," Blue Ripple said calmly. "What should the floors be?"
"Wind was the 3rd floor, so that should be taken care of. I was thinking fire for the 4th floor. Starlight was going to handle dreams on the 5th floor. The 6th floor…let's do lightning. Cold Snap can handle the 7th floor. Just, don't make it too cold, okay?
"Of course, the 8th floor is earth. That is a luxury floor. The same is the 9th floor, but I wanted everyone to decorate that. Only two rooms would be available on that floor for elite people. Then our floor is the 10th floor. That can be decorated twice as awesome as the 9th floor. Think we can remember that?" Saitama smiled lightly.
"Wind Crane will return with Starlight for the 9th floor. When we get there, that is. We agreed on wood themed furniture, so we could do a rustic, cabin style with cut logs and polished tops for tables. The chairs can be polished wood with roughened legs. The bed could be an ultra-soft mattress with forest coloring for the sheets. We should keep the room walls to an off white to contrast the room. Such as the pearl white as the primary room wall color," Inichi said and chuckled at Fubuki's squeeze.
"We should see about getting professional pictures of various elements to hang in the rooms. Like a beach with waves for the water level. Even the ocean, or deep waterfalls. Then we can do various forest themes for plants. We can make it so pretty!" Mitsumi beamed. "And for wind, we can get windmill pictures and windy trees. That could work!"
"We can get right on that. Let's finish up our hotel. Um…Genos? What's that look for?" Saitama asked his disciple.
"You're not going to believe this…but…" Genos took up a portable laptop he had and flipped it around to show him. "I created an added site for the hotel to our restaurant site while we were doing the furniture creations and such. This included a calendar that people can click on for the floors for reservations with a warning that pricing may change before finalizing decisions. I put that we are still under construction, but that we are allowing rooms to be available for stay the moment the hotel was ready.
"We are now booked solid for the next three months! On all floors save yours for the 10th floor. This includes the 9th floor, and those rooms are booked by exceptionally wealthy civilians for a week each at seventy-five thousand yen a night. The longest rented time for those rooms is a week at a time, and that's how it is for most of those reservations. Emails and phone numbers were left to send confirmations with pricing for acceptance and pledge booking times. I am…shocked at how quickly the booking started. To say the least."
"What?!" Mitsumi gaped with shock.
"That's just nuts!" Saitama blinked.
"We'll have to make those two rooms extra special! Oh! Maybe for those decorations…we could make living landscapes!" Bright Bolt said with giddy excitement. The other pets were all for it. Cold Snap was already getting ideas with them in a mental conversation with Fire Flight.
"I have confirmed this on looking at the site! And the requested booking keeps going! Genos, allow me to assist with that. I can do automated assistance," Metal Knight said. "I'll gather up the emails and I can create forwarded responses once we have the finalized pricing and times ready."
"We'll need to set up a bank account for the hotel to be alongside the restaurant. Or a specialized dual account," Inichi muttered to Rendor. Rendor nodded at this and hugged Tatsumaki's excited form to him. Then Inichi said, "I'm sure we'll need some form of a contact number for people to call to confirm their bookings, too. We'll need to hire a group of customer service needs and create a system that can be accessed. The restaurant has one, but we should invest in a separate number for the hotel side."
"Actually, we can set up something with the Hero Association to help with that, too. We have a few empty rooms that can be utilized to help with support," the first board member said. "We can set up call center capability and create even more jobs for that. This can show that Neutral Grounds is a true partner with the Hero Association this way. As well as the Heroic Monster Association."
"This would also be a good way to set up reservations at the hotel other than the online site," Mitsumi smiled. "It will also be needed for room service requests. We'll need a few more sous chefs to help Orotsu and Anno."
"Maybe we can enlist Dr. Genus and Armored Gorilla?" Genos suggested.
"I can mentally ask when we are ready," Inichi chuckled.
"Damn. I wasn't the first one on the list?! I'm a week after?" Sweet Mask grumbled on looking at the site calendar on his phone. Tajima looked at him with surprise. He chuckled and said, "I have to try this place out at least once. I booked three days on the 9th floor for one of the rooms. And, yes, you're with me."
"Really?" Tajima blushed softly. Kamiko looked over at her and blinked at the somewhat glowing look that Tajima was giving off. She gave a small smile and mentally nudged Inichi.
"Yes. I wanted to experience how good this place will be to compare to other places I experienced," Sweet Mask nodded. "It would be required of me."
"Then you can't be with us when we design that floor," Saitama smirked. "You'll have to wait in the restaurant."
"What?!" Sweet Mask asked with a sense of disappointment.
"We are not posting pictures of that floor. Or the 8th floor," Saitama continued. "And we'll only post pictures of the rooms on the floors below them. From the 1st floor up to the 7th. That's it. Specialty rooms do not get pictures. None of the displays should be photographed, either. And with how I want the earth floor to look? That's the ultra-quality only floor. Those rooms can range from two thousand yen a night for the ultra-basic rooms and up to ten thousand a night from ultra-nicer to ultra-elite. I don't want people to try their luck to climb in or sneak in at any given time. If they take pictures, then fine. But they have to rent the room first in order to do it."
"I'm impressed!" Mitsumi blinked at her husband.
"I've been doing a lot of thinking on all of this. I do have this idea. See how much people want to rent the rooms for according to what they put in the calendar. We'll give it to them at that price with a little wiggle room. After that, it's the set price that we choose for everyone else unless we do special discounts and such. We can see them as testers for the new hotel. However, the 8th and 9th floors must be at the prices we want. That will need to be sent to those people to ensure they still want it. So, let's get to work! We have a lot of people wanting rooms, and we can't disappoint them," he grinned and kissed her passionately.
"I'm sure I can create some rare plant life for the 9th floor," Tangled Vine mused. He was still on Saitama's head, and he purred at the fond head scratching that Mitsumi gave him.
"Want us to start going up to our floors to meet up with you?" Cold Snap asked. "This way we can work on the displays."
"No. It's a precaution. And some displays may need the help of everyone to get them set right. We'll just continue to go as a small group. And you all. Eh…board guys. Go back down to the restaurant with Sweet Mask. Start up the call center. We'll need that fast. Get with Genos to let him get all the information together including a new service phone number," Saitama nodded. Sweet Mask paused that his name was actually used. Saitama gave him a look with a smile to show it was time to get busy. Tajima smiled broadly and quickly escorted him out with the board members to the elevators.
"You said his name…?" Mitsumi smiled.
"I did. Because Kamiko thinks that Tajima might be pregnant. Inichi just told me. She has that, eh…glowing look to her. We'll have your fans check her later to see if she is. And if she is, I want to see Sweet Mask's face," Saitama grinned widely and squeezed his wife to him. "Let's get moving!"
"Yes!" Mitsumi giggled and cuddled him. Genos was already patched into a call with Metal Knight, Child Emperor and several security staff from the Hero Association. They all wanted to get this hotel service running, and no time was going to be wasted from standing around and waiting. Master Saitama is quite correct! We cannot delay any further on this with the people wanting a room! And the count is still growing! I may need to block off the calendar until we set the final prices. But how do we reach those that are already booking…oh! Metal Knight stated that he was going to create an email system to reach out to the ones providing their information! We shall go over a budget listing and price the rooms accordingly from what Master Saitama suggests. This must be done now!