There was a loud boom and Sonic suddenly took off into the trees. He zipped and leapt from trunk to trunk, just barely missing Saitama each time.

"So? What do you think of this speed that beats sound? Of these shockwaves?" You heard Sonic brag through the blur. If you focused in on him, his image became clear though. Your vision was sort of like a camera that needed to be tuned to the right degree. "Can you even see me?"

"How can you possibly keep up with me?" Sonic continued to taunt as Saitama only stood there calmly. You were almost certain that he could see the ninja clear as day.

"Hey..." Saitama finally said as the assassin went in for the kill. But something unexpected happened. Or well unexpected for Sonic. Saitama turned his head just as Sonic was about to land his blow. "Can I go home now?"

You had to fight off a laugh as Sonic gasped hoarsely. Sweat poured off his face but he sped faster towards his target. "Bastard!" You heard him hiss as he spun and aimed his foot down on Saitama. "Wind Blade Kick!"

But the hero was quicker, much, much quicker. Saitama swiveled out of the way and raised his fist. "Checkmate."

This time you couldn't help gasping. You were surprised that they didn't hear it but then again what was going on was probably more traumatizing.

Sonic's foot went past Saitama but his groin didn't. You heard the crunch of his fist making contact into the poor ninja's manly parts. But that wasn't what made you wince, it was how deep the punch had reverberated the area.

"Oh, sorry," Saitama apologized as Sonic retracted and landed back down on the ground. "That wasn't on purpose. I meant to stop before hitting you, but your momentum carried my fist into your...."

The look on Sonic's face was a mixture of severe agony and internal screaming.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please wait a moment while your author continues to laugh her ass off. She will be with you shortly. Thank you for reading. Please stand by.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I've undertaken every job from assassin to bodyguard. No ninja is more deadlier. I am Speed o' Sound Sonic!" Sonic declared. "But I will postpone my work for a while. Now that I've found such a formidable opponent, I will dedicate myself to training. What is your name?" No matter how tough Sonic tried to seem, his voice was still laced with pain.

"It's Saitama," He replied.

"Saitama!" Sonic breathed unevenly as he shook where he stood. His knees buckled while he pointed at Saitama. "Next time we meet will be your demise!"

"Okay," Saitama peered at the ninja oddly.

"I, Speed o' Sound Sonic, the ultimate ninja, will bring you down without fail!" He yelled almost forcefully. Sonic's grey eyes were large as he stared Saitama down.

But the hero only nodded. "Right, goodluck."

Sonic gulped and waddled away awkwardly. Once he was out of the area, you turned your back from the scene and covered your mouth to try to stop your giggles. You didn't do a very good job of doing so because as you were laughing so hard that it attracted attention. More specifically, a bald man's attention.

"I knew it, were you back here the whole time?" Saitama questioned as he folded his arms. Now that you were discovered, you were free to burst out in giggles. "Oh my god! Dude, you just busted his balls!!" You heaved in between breaths. "Hahaha!!!"

"I'm glad you find this funny. You know that really hurts for a guy?"

"I know...Poor dude," You chuckled, wiping the tears out of your eyes.

"What are you even doing here?" Saitama asked.

"I was going after the Paradisers, but they've already been taken care of," You replied. Well, Hammerhead had gone missing but that wasn't that big a deal. He learned his lesson.

"Oh. Well, let's go home," Saitama said, offering you a hand up.

"Home..." You repeated. "Oh yeah, I still haven't found a new job and that's the whole reason I came out!"

"You're fine," He smiled slightly as he ruffled your hair.

"No, I'm not. How am I going to pay rent?"

"I mean, you didn't pay to begin with..."

"Which is exactly why I need to," You affirmed.

Saitama sighed. "Alright, just promise me that if you do get a job, it has nothing to do with short, maid dresses."

"It's not that short," You grumbled with a pout.

"Whatever, just nothing that ends up getting you into trouble. What if I'm not there then, huh?"

"I can defend myself," You argued. "You and Genos just happened to be there when all that went down." Your phone buzzed in your pocket. You took it out and were pleasantly surprised. "Huh, speak of the devil, it's Genos."

Saitama frowned. "You have his number?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know," He shrugged unsure of what to say. "I didn't expect it I guess."

"Well you're the one who should have his number in the first place. He is your student," You pointed out.

"Hey, I haven't taken him under my wing just yet," Saitama defended.

"Sure." You unlocked your phone and read Genos's text message. "He wants to meet us at the apartment."

"Good thing we're headed there now." But Saitama was feeling a bit unsettled by how connected you were to Genos.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once you two were home, Saitama excused himself to go change while you whipped up some tea. This was almost a routine for you for whenever Genos came by. You thought it rude if you didn't offer him anything so you always ended up making something on the spot.

"(y/n)?"

You jumped and almost dropped the kettle. You were so lost in thought you didn't hear Genos come into the kitchen. "Oh, hey, what's up? I'll be right there in a second. Sorry if I'm taking too long," You apologized.

"No, that's not it. I....have a question," The cyborg settled on his choice of words.

You frowned, but looked at him curiously. "Oh, for me?"

"Yes....It's a rather personal question," Genos continued unsurely.

Your eyes widened slightly. You tried to play off your surprise by casually drinking some tea from your cup. "Uh, how personal?"

"It's about your sexual romantic life." You choked on the hot liquid.

"W-what?" You coughed profusely.

"Are you alright?" Genos asked, a bit alarmed.

But you ignored him. "Repeat the question for me again, I think I heard you ask about my sex life."

"I did, well not that exactly."

"Why are you asking me this?" You looked at him bewildered.

"I-I just want to be well informed," Genos explained. "Are you romantically involved with Saitama-Sensei?"

"What?" You asked again.

"Yo, what's going on?" Saitama announced his presence.

"Um, I don't know honestly," Your eyes were still on the cyborg. "I think Genos thinks I'm screwing you on the side."

"What!?" Saitama turned to the embarrassed cyborg. "Why!?"

"Well you and (y/n) seem close so I thought—"

"But we're not—OH MY GOD, this whole time you thought—"

"—That we were sleeping together?" Saitama finished.

Genos nodded, but he appeared relieved by your guys' responses. "I thought you two were romantically involved so yes that occurred to me, but judging by your guys' reactions that's not the case?"

"NO!!" You and Saitama shouted.

"We're friends, Genos. Just because I live with him doesn't mean I'm dating him," You said.

"Yeah, why would you even think that?" Saitama questioned.

Originally, this hadn't come to him. It was more Dr. Kuseno's. "Just a miscalculation," Genos muttered.

"You tend to do that a lot," You raised an eyebrow, remembering that time he roasted you up.

"I apologize for my mistake," He bowed shamefully.

"Stop that!" Saitama stood him back up.

"Yeah, come on, now that we've resolved this situation let's go to living room," You said, motioning with the tray of tea in your hands. Both males were relieved at the release from the awkwardness.

Saitama still burned with embarrassment. How could Genos suggest something like that, with you? He was unsure of how he felt about you but this only confused him more. Actually, no. He knew exactly how he felt. Every time you would laugh or smile he could feel his heart begin to beat a little faster.

But to imply that your friendship would ever go that far was so other worldly to him.

Genos on the other hand felt an enormous weight lift off his shoulders. He was so happy that the doctor was wrong about you and Saitama. He liked the thought that you didn't belong to anyone, it just seemed right to him. He reassured himself that these protective instincts derived from repaying you for all you had done for him.

As you guys talked and drank your tea, the topic of today's events came up. Genos became interested in the strange group that had showed up but was even more curious about the male you and Saitama both encountered.

"Speed o' Sound Sonic?" The cyborg questioned. "What a redundantly repetitive a name. Who is that?"

"Dunno," Saitama shrugged. "He suddenly appeared, declared we were rivals, and took off."

"But not before you punched his nuts," You laughed out loud. "Ah, but I do feel kinda bad for him. He's actually kind nice though, if you get passed his cockiness." And cute, Your brain reminded you. Shut up.

"How do you know him?" Saitama asked.

"He saved me a once while we were fighting Hammerhead."

Genos and Saitama both frowned at this. "He saved you? You're sure we're talking about the same guy?"

"I know he tried to kill you and stuff but he's cool and a slightly reasonable guy. Besides, I know you can handle your own, Saitama," You said. You sighed and glanced down at the floor with a smile. "He's nice, in his own way....if that makes sense."

"He sounds like a nuisance. I can get rid of him," Genos offered, not liking the dazed expression on your face.

"You're bothering me too you know!" Saitama huffed tiredly. "Why are you here anyway? Go home."

"But Sensei, I must get stronger—"

"Aw shut up, would ya!? I'm in shock over a serious problem," Saitama said with a pensive look. "So please, leave for today."

"What problem?" You asked him not sure if he was being honest or it was just a reason to get rid of the cyborg.

"What could possibly bother someone as great as you? Please share with us," Genos urged with anticipation. You both waited in silence until the bald man spoke again.

"No one knows who I am." Genos gasped, but you were more perplexed.

"It's been three years since I became a hero. I've defeated countless monsters and evil organizations. I've never seen a hero do as much as me! Everyone should know me by now! I should have fans!"

"And what am I? Chopped liver?" You gesture to yourself. But Saitama was still transfixed in his trance.

"Do you know what Sonic said to me? 'I don't know you.'"

"Plus, all the townspeople thought I was a terrorist. When villains appeared I thrashed 'em but no one remembers!" Saitama continued.

'He's right,' Genos thought to himself. 'The news report didn't mention the role Saitama-Sensei, (y/n), or Speed o' Sound Sonic (heh heh) in defeating the Paradisers. Instead, the credit went to the hero, Mumen Rider.'

"Wait," A thought came across his head. "Sensei!"

"Hm?"

"Are you listed in the Hero Registry?"

"The Hero Registry?" You raised an eyebrow.

Genos pulled out his laptop and logged onto some website where it gave the summary for the 'Hero Registry'.

The Hero Registry lists the names of heroes who have taken physical strength and justice tests at Hero Association facilities around the country, met certain standards, and received permission to name themselves official heroes. Those recognized by the association as professional heroes may receive funds out of money donated to the association through its fundraising efforts. Heroes listed in the Hero Registry may also appear in ability and popularity rankings. The world pays great deal of attention to those heroes, and many of them have fan clubs.

Note:

What the world refers to as heroes are those professional heroes listed in the registry. Any unlisted individual claiming to be a hero, no matter how active, is viewed as askance and considered nothing more than a pervy freak spouting nonsense

"Well," You cleared your throat. "They're rather blunt."

"I didn't know," Saitama hung his head low.

"Professional heroes first appeared three years ago," Genos informed. "When a villain attacked the tycoon Agoni's grandchild, two passerbys offered help. He heard about it and devised this system using his own personal wealth to establish the Hero Association."

"Are you registered there?" You asked. He seemed to know a lot about it.

"No. I feel no need to," Genos responded.

Saitama brightened up at this. "Let's get registered! Register with me and I'll make you my disciple!"

"Let's go!" Genos agreed.

"Do you know what you're doing?" You muttered in Saitama's ear. "Last I heard, you weren't all that excited about having him as a disciple."

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine," He waved you off. You rolled your eyes. "Whatever you say."

The pair of males then went on to discussing when and where they would need to go for testing. You suddenly felt out of the loop as they talked of all the things the association offered their heroes.

"....pay a lot of money so you won't need to live in this meager ghost town..."

"Wait, they actually pay them!?" You jumped in.

"Yes, through donation," Genos nodded.

"That's it!" You cheered happily. "I can register too, and I'll be able to get a better, funner job!"

"As a hero?" Saitama said surprised. "When you said you wanted a job I didn't think you meant this kind of job."

"Well why not? It pays, that's all I need at this point. And I'll be doing good work so it's a win-win for society and I."

"It may be dangerous," Genos warned.

"So is half the other stuff I do," You countered with a chuckle. Then, you leaned closer into the two of them. "When do we go?"

I hate testing. But anywaaaaaays, hope you enjoyed! X)

Next Update: April 23, 2016