Wierdo and Wierdo

Threat Level God

She knocked carefully on the apartment door, after waiting and psyching herself up for a whole minute after she landed. Tatsumaki had managed to sleep through to the afternoon, then woken up, gotten dressed, and had paced nervously around her living room while trying to figure out what to do.

She didn't end up thinking of anything.

She had just flown over, hoping for the best.

Genos answered the door and looked at her, then stepped out and closed the door behind him. It was getting dark outside, and the abandoned quarter by the apartment was eerily silent. The green-haired woman looked away from the cyborg's stare and wrung her hands.

"I noticed you waiting outside. Saitama-sensei is not here right now."

She bit her lip, and the young man sighed. "If you're here to apologize to him, I will allow you to come in. Otherwise I'll run you off myself."

She nodded. "I just want to talk with him. You don't need to make threats."

"Good." He opened the door and gestured for her to come in.

As she sat down at the small table and looked around, Tatsumaki reflected that it had not been terribly long since she was here last, but sitting there, it felt like a very long time.

Genos did not offer her coffee, or tea. He just returned to doing the dishes.

When he was finished, he came to sit down across from her.

"I have been observing Saitama-sensei for a few months now," the cyborg began. "Throughout that whole time, you've been around him. Sometimes you were terse, or rude, but you seemed to be at least a genuine friend. I even thought you two were together."

She said nothing.

"After learning from him for all this time, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what sensei was like. I was continually amazed by his equanimity. Nothing ever seemed to phase him. Nothing bothered him. One day I happened to mention the Hero Association's emergency threat levels to him, and he didn't even know what they were. After I explained them, I joked that they didn't matter to sensei, since they were all the same to him." Genos looked at her seriously. "Do you know how he replied? He told me 'Of course not! If heroes run away, who's left to help?'"

He paused a moment, then took a deep breath before continuing. "Master is a real hero. He doesn't care about rankings, or acclaim, or even strength. I believe that is how he became as powerful as he is today. But I realized after what happened with you, and then with the Sea King, that I did not really know him at all. He is willing to let others hate him. But it is not because he feels nothing."

Genos stood up and looked down at her, then tossed a folded piece of paper on the table. "Read that. It came in the mail for Saitama-sensei today. I'm going out for the evening. Master is already headed this way, and at his current speed should arrive in less than a half hour."

He paused at the door for a moment when she spoke up. "Thanks, Genos. You know... I'm glad you're Saitama's disciple."

He made a soft smile at that. "I am as well. Good luck, Ms. Tatsumaki."

....

"Hey Genos, I'm back," Saitama called as he closed the apartment door behind him. "I already had dinner so..." His voice fell away to nothing.

Tatsumaki was sitting at the table. She was staring at that hateful letter from earlier. When she looked up at him, he could see that she was trying desperately not to cry.

She floated up and extended her hand over toward him, but then stopped, her arm folding back against her chest.

"I'm so sorry, Saitama," she said softly.