Sonic was transported to City M soon after to be lost in his own thoughts. When he was safely gone, Inichi nodded that all would be well for now.
"He is a dangerous adversary," Genos frowned.
"Well, I know when he's coming before he knows he is. I will be keeping a close eye on that one," Inichi vowed.
"That is fine. I think...I need to try and sleep," Mitsumi yawned again and let Saitama carry her up to the apartment complex.
"Genos," Saitama said calmly.
"Master?" he asked.
"See how many apartments we can bridge together safely. We may need to...move in with them. Maybe..." Saitama said with a casual look.
"What...?" Genos paused at this. "Ah...should we...wait a bit?"
"Why?" Zenchu asked Genos now.
"I see it like this," Saitama said when he was let into Mitsumi's apartment. "I won't be wanting to leave her alone. Her family won't leave her alone. I doubt you will want to leave me alone. So...we should just move in. We can also protect them even better this way, right?"
"None of us would object," Kianna chuckled. "In fact, Kamiko was already marking walls that could be torn down. Then we just take out the doors and make it into a solid wall."
"Who would be responsible for that?" Genos asked.
"I would!" Tacki giggled and walked over. "I love cleaning and reconstructing things. I used to be a very famous redecorator. That was before I became a monster. Then, when Lady Mitsumi woke me up, it all came back. I vaguely recall becoming a monster, though. I'm not sure how it happened. I remember cleaning out an old room. I came across an urn of a very old stature. I cleaned it and fixed it up...then blacked out and woke up like this."
"She was the second one that Lady Mitsumi freed," Zenchu nodded. "She was causing chaos in a grocery store saying that everything was dirty and disorganized. She was only a monster for two days before she encountered us. When Lady Mitsumi woke her up, we went back to where she last remembered her transformation. It turns out that the urn she was told to clean and repair was from a famous archaeologist. His urn actually held some kind of a curse. For one to become what they were inside."
"Yes. She was always very cheerful and had such a wonderful, flighty personality, apparently. So, she now appears as a beautiful peacock of sorts that brings joy to the eyes! But...when it came to that curse...it was only to be activated once a year. Who knows how long it was when it was last touched? When we discovered how it transformed Tacki, we were able to remove some of the runic curse marks. We hope it rendered it useless," Mitsumi shrugged. "We don't know if we'll ever be able to change her back, though."
"That's...weird," Saitama admitted and moved to sit on a couch with her in his lap. "Anyways, if I do move in, um...where do you sleep?"
"Oh...usually in the back room," Mitsumi nodded. "Why? Wait. You don't plan to sleep with me, do you?!"
"Where else would I be?" he asked.
"You want kids with her already?" Zenchu mused.
"Ah...well...no..." Saitama found himself pausing at the thought.
"You know how kids are made, right?" Kianna asked.
"I know!" Saitama said and looked away with irritation. "She and I just slept together before. It was nothing bad."
"I was an old lady, though," Mitsumi sighed. "I'm young and...restless at times. I may do...odd things in my sleep..."
"Ah..." Saitama blinked at how her finger traced down his neck.
"So...you should sleep out here. Hmm?" she smiled softly. "We should only fully sleep together should we get much closer. Or even married."
Zenchu was trying to keep a straight face. Inichi was just cringing with laughter at the thoughts he was sensing from Saitama. He is so confused!
"Okay...I just don't get it..." Saitama started. Inichi now popped a few visions into his mind to help explain things. That had Saitama's eyes go wide with shock. "I'm not gonna do that!"
"Perhaps not. But...one will never know," Inichi said calmly. "Your emotions are incredibly severed from yourself. You say you feel nothing. This is true. But with Lady Mitsumi? If they return to you unexpectedly in the heat of a moment...well, I honestly wouldn't mind a little one running around. Maybe you should try just sleeping with her and see what happens."
"Master Saitama?" Genos asked when he saw his master cringe with irritation. "Ah..."
"What...Genos...?" Saitama grounded out.
"You've never...been with a girl?" Genos asked now.
"I never found the time!" he finally admitted with a wide eyed look. "Looking for a job before. Then training hard. Why would I even think of it?!"
"If it's fair, I never wanted to be with anyone either," Mitsumi frowned. "Ajito...he wrongfully tried to make me his own..."
"Did...did he touch you?" Genos asked. Zenchu hissed with the others at this thought. Now she trembled and shook her head. Saitama quickly snapped out of the mood he was in and studied her.
"He...knocked me out...took parts from me...who knows...?" she whispered. "He...he could have touched every part of me that he wanted..."
"I can check something," Kamiko said softly. "But it would need to be done privately. You would think the age reversal could have locked her original youth down to make it so that she was never touched. But...I know how to make sure. I studied in a lot of the medical arts. All over the world.
"It was in the jungles that I was given a charm that made me into this when I stepped back onto my home soil. The charm disappeared when it happened. I was warned that if I left the jungles, I couldn't leave the lands with the charm. I thought I left it there...but it was in my bag. The moment I stepped off the plane and stepped foot on the runway, I blacked out and reformed into this. It was seven months ago that Lady Mitsumi freed me when she saw me scaling a building. Anyways, I can check on her. Lady Mitsumi? Can I help?"
"I...yes," Mitsumi nodded. "I'll be right back, Saitama."
"Okay," he nodded and finally let her move from his side. He watched her follow Kamiko to the back room and shut the door.
"If he did do whatever he wanted with her...and her body reverted back..." Zenchu snarled at the thought. "He died too quickly..."
"I know," Saitama frowned. The air was now thick with the tension of waiting. I won't be able to sleep until I know what happens! It was five minutes later that Mitsumi walked out with Kamiko.
"Okay," Kamiko sighed. "She's pure."
"Oh, thank you...!" Zenchu sighed with relief. Rendor and Tsuruga also let out heavy sighs with the others.
"But, it could be as she said. Each transformation fixed her back to how she was before. The venom made a form of blueprint. So...we don't know if he did anything with her or not..." Kamiko trembled with a bit of rage. "Anyways, he's dead now. That's what matters."
"Right," Saitama nodded and rose up to yawn. "Okay. Where are we sleeping, Mitsumi?"
"Well...if you want to try sleeping," Mitsumi blinked in thought. "Okay. Um...do you have sleeping clothes?"
"Back at my apartment above. Oh..." Saitama blinked when Genos produced a suitcase with his clothing. "Ah...thanks."
"I will be helping to move things in slowly," Genos said. "I don't really need sleep at all. I can still guard and remain busy."
"Okay," Mitsumi smiled. "Let me change first. Then I'll come out so you can change into your bedclothes next, Saitama."
"Alright," he nodded. She moved back into the back room with Tacki and Kianna to help her. Saitama now pulled out his vertical striped dark green and light green pajamas. He glanced over at Zenchu when he snickered. "What?"
"Stripes?" he asked.
"They work," Saitama said and set them aside. "It's hard to find decent sleeping clothes, anyways."
"We can make them for you," Kamiko winked.
"Can you?" Saitama mused. At her nod, he now thought about it. "Okay. Make me some new clothes."
"Let me get your measurements," she said.
"Get me a list of what you like to eat," Orotsu said from the kitchen. Fumio was quick to help Kamiko with sewing supplies and fabrics. Richoo was ready to help keep things tidy. He and Tacki were now the main cleanup team.
"Did you want me to work on your costume?" Kamiko asked after noting down his measurements.
"Oh. Hmm. Let's wait and see if I go up a rank. I would say...if I make S class...I may consider that," he nodded. When he saw Mitsumi walk out, he paused at the sight of her. She was now wearing a long sleeping gown of deep red with golden embellishments. A soft, white robe encompassed her while she walked around. Her hair was down and coiled back up loosely to keep from tangling around in her sleep. She is so beautiful... "Wow. They made that for you? I like it!"
"Oh. Yes. They insist on it," Mitsumi smiled and blinked her brown eyes slowly. "It's your turn to change, hmm?"
"Ah...yeah," Saitama said and grabbed his striped pajamas. When he left to change, Mitsumi looked at Zenchu.
"I need you to be on alert. For me," she said softly. "I don't know what will happen around sunrise."
"Right," Zenchu nodded.
"If I can't sleep, I should have an outfit ready in case I just need to walk it off. If I can get through the next 24 hours, then I know I'll be fine," she sighed.
"Hey, Genos," Zenchu said to get the cyborg to nod at him. "When you went through those emails, did you see anything about this?"
"Hmm..." Genos thought and scanned through his files. "All that was reported was that the venom only lasted as intended. One venom would work for age, and the other would rule out for youth. It was as though the snake gave an antidote each time the body went old. So, from what we know, she was given the antidote for the age. He knew exactly what that snake did. It was no coincidence or botched experiment."
"Wait a minute!" Zenchu gaped. "You mean that snake cured her?! At sunset for her to be youthful?!"
"Recall the eyes of it. They would flash lighter for day. Then darker for night. It was switching what it had to do around. It was a living monster. Every time it bit her, it fed off her to survive," Genos said with a form of quiet rage. "Of course, she would heal from it and the bite with the transformations."
"That...I..." Mitsumi gasped. Inichi was quick to summon for Saitama to reveal what was discovered. He was soon bolting out with just his pajama pants on to pull her into his arms. She was in hysterics now, and he simply lifted her up to cradle her. He sat down to hold her better and now looked at Genos.
"What else?" he asked with a narrowed gaze. "Inichi told me everything. What else is there?"
"There isn't much else to tell, Master," Genos frowned. "I'll go through everything during the night and compile what data I can."
"Fine," he nodded and let Mitsumi press into him.
"How...can this...be...?" she whispered. "I don't understand..."
"About what?" Saitama asked now.
"I did...nothing to him...and he..." she cringed.
"He's dead," he said calmly and squeezed her. "I know you've been through hell. We all have. But I'm not going to think about a dead man. Especially one that was so much of a coward that he felt he had to change himself to get stronger. That is what I hate about people. You work towards it. You don't take a magic drink and mess yourself up like that!"
"Huh. I think that's what I did, actually..." Zenchu paused with the memory. Now Saitama looked at him like he was crazy. "Yeah. I remember now. At last! So, I got tired of getting pushed around every day. I found a book and made a weird drink. Then I drank it and burned the book when I woke up so that no one else would make it to match me. I had most of my mind, but I was pretty messed up until the monster side just fully took over. Until Lady Mitsumi woke me up, as you already know."
"Do you remember the ingredients?" Saitama asked now.
"I don't. And like hell would I want you to get any stronger!" Zenchu snorted for Saitama to crack a grin. "You do plenty enough!"
"Saitama...you're not dressed...?" Mitsumi asked now.
"Huh? I have pants on," he said. Then he paused when she traced down his chiseled chest. "Ah...yeah...what are you...?"
"Sorry," she chuckled and moved to sit up slightly. "I was never held like this before. So...I like this..."
"Oh?" Saitama seemed to smile. Then she sighed and shook her head.
"No...it's too soon," she frowned and shivered.
"What is?" Saitama asked. Inichi sent him a small thought and got glared at. "You need to stop it!"
"It is what she is referring to. I am only trying to help," Inichi made a shrugging gesture with his thin arms and fingers.
"You mean...she wants...?!" Saitama blinked.
"It's why she said it was too soon," Zenchu chuckled. "Maybe you should both sleep separate tonight. Wait a month on it."
"We...should wait and see if we get married. We only just started dating, you know," she blushed softly. "It's late, anyways. I don't know if I'll become old soon. So...we should wait to make sure I don't."
"Ah...right. That would be a bit awkward," Saitama agreed a bit nervously.
"You're not comfortable with me?" she asked.
"It's not that! I just...never got this far with...a girl...is all..." he muttered.
"It's the same with me and a man..." she smiled.
"The first few steps can be nerve-wracking," Inichi agreed.
"Oh, I remember my first time. Man! I blew it before I could even touch her. It sucked..." Zenchu grumbled. "She was a good sport, though. It took me a couple hours before I could try again..."
"Not helping!" Saitama hissed at him.
"I wonder if some videos can help," Genos started.
"No!" Saitama scowled at him. Now Mitsumi found herself blushing at the thought of it and shook her head quickly.
"Definitely not! Okay. Let's just...try to sleep," she said.
"Right," Saitama nodded and rose up with her in his arms now. When they gazed at each other, Zenchu started to slowly chant for them to kiss. "Zenchu. Shut up. Please."
"Ah. You heard me. Okay," Zenchu sighed with disappointment. Saitama shook his bald head and managed to carry her into the bedroom to lay her on the bed there. It was just large enough for two people, and he was sure they would invest in a much larger bed the moment it was able to be done.
"Can you blame them, though?" she chuckled. "They're all just...happy that someone actually...likes me for who I am."
"Oh?" Saitama asked and finally put his long-sleeved pajama shirt on and buttoned it up.
"When you first saw me, I was an old lady. You didn't even care to see me, right?" she frowned. Saitama blinked at her and looked away. "It was when I was youthful that you...noticed me..."
"You were crying and I wanted to know why. Yeah...I knew you were beautiful when you looked at me. But I knew something was wrong. When I saw your transformation...that you were the old lady...I wanted to help you in any way that I could. No matter what it took. It...tore at me...that you were going through that. And it was every day. Twice a day. For two years?! And it was when you reached out to me to beg for my help after that transformation...I knew I was going to help you," Saitama admitted softly. "It may be true that I...gained intense feelings for you when I saw you sitting there with tears. I had never seen anyone so...beautiful and heart-broken before..."
"Saitama..." she winced.
"I saw beneath your beauty then. You are a courageous, amazing fighter, Mitsumi. It took me two years of self-training and discipline to be where I am now. I went through hell at times and became bald from it...but you lived it. And you didn't choose to do it like I did," he said and moved to sit on the bed to pull her close. "What happened to you was downright, absolute crap! And I'm glad I helped you out of it."
"And now?" she asked softly.
"Like hell am I letting you go," he muttered, tilted her face up gently and finally pressed a kiss to her mouth.