Chapter Text
“I am home!” Saitama announced as he struggled to get through the door with several huge bags of groceries. “Genos! Help a man out!” Saitama shuffled around, trying to not accidentally crush the contents in the bags.
“Sensei! How was your-” Genos hurried over from the kitchen, and stopped for a moment to take in the sight of the sheer amount of produce Saitama tried to get in the house. He did not dawdle for too long though, as he quickly went to relieve his sensei from some of the bags on him.
“I thought you said you had a low budget.” Genos wondered out loud as he carried several bags to the kitchen, Saitama following after him.
“I did, but they had an amazing sale on! And the best part was that all my coupons were valid, and some of them could even be combined! You should have seen the deal I had on detergent. I had a coupon that made it half price, and another that gave me a third one for free if I got two. So basically I was able to get three detergents for price of one! And that's not even all of it. I had another coupon that gave me a free dish wash for every detergent I had!” Saitama rambled on excitedly, almost not paying attention to Genos at all. When he finally laid the bags down in the kitchen and turned around he noticed Genos stare at him. His disciple had a surprised look on his face, and Saitama couldn't resist straightening his back out a bit.
“I bet you are awed. I would be too. All this for less than a quarter of the original price.” Saitama went to close the door to the apartment as he had been unable to do that before with all the groceries on him. When he got back he noticed Genos follow him with his eyes. Genos brows were knit together with wonder.
“What's with that look, Genos?” Saitama asked as he got back to the grocery bags and started putting everything away. Saitama dearly hoped that he had enough space in his fridge and closet for all of this.
“This couponing thing.” Genos wondered out loud, and Saitama hummed noncommittally as he held the melon in his hands and considered sharing it with Genos as dessert today. “You really seem to like it.” Genos said with a small smile, and Saitama shrugged as he looked up at the other.
“Uh, yeah. Sure I do. You save a lot of money and get to bring back all this food.” Saitama explained, and put the watermelon away so that he could finish unpacking the rest. “Genos, wanna help out here?” Saitama asked as he noticed that Genos was still just standing there. It seemed to bring Genos back to the present as he started unpacking all the detergents.
“Sensei. What I meant to say is that you usually don't seem this excited about anything. The smile suits you.” Genos had his head almost buried in the grocery bag as Saitama glanced at his direction.
“Erm, Yeah. Right. So uh, what do you want for dinner?” Saitama turned back to filling the fridge, and and every time he emptied a shopping back he shoved it into the cupboard that they had designated for that purpose solely. Why buy new when you can reuse the old?
“We do have all the ingredients for Sukiyaki.” Genos suggested before he went away to store all the detergent in the closet. “Are you hungry?” He asked Saitama, who shrugged. “I could always eat.”
Genos folded the empty bag into a neat triangle before putting it away. Sometimes Saitama wondered how he found the will to be bothered by such a task, but Genos had always been a neat person.
They finished putting away the rest of the groceries in silence, and only when they were done did Genos speak up again.
“Sensei. this couponing seems important to you. I would like to learn it too. Could you please teach me?” Genos really did seem eager to learn, and Saitama lifted his arms up as if to tell him to wait a moment. The kid could become so passionate over such small things.
“Eh, you really want to learn it? You haven't really been paying attention to things you buy before.” Saitama wondered out loud, and remembered all the times Genos would come home with expensive meat or such treats. As an S rank hero Genos had way more money than Saitama ever did, so the kid didn't even need to be frugal to scrape by. Genos didn't really even seem the kind who went to second hand stores and hunted for sales for fun. Saitama didn't even want to think about the price for the clothes he wore currently.
“Please, Sensei, I wish to understand couponing too. You seem to enjoy it.” Genos seemed determined, and Saitama almost felt taken by it, but the feeling was so fleeting he barely registered it. If Genos really wanted to learn how to save up money, who was Saitama to deny him. Besides, he was his sensei, wasn't he. He could barely teach Genos fighting, but at least he knew how to coupon.
“Eh, yeah, I guess I can.” Saitama said, and took a step back to escape into the living room, only to find that Genos had followed him.
“Right now?” Genos asked eagerly, and Saitama thought about it for a second.
“Can we eat first? I am sorta hungry.” Saitama said as he scratched his cheek. Genos was always so eager that Saitama had to wonder where he got his energy from.
“Of course, Sensei! Let me do the cooking, you can teach me all about it after we have eaten.” Genos said and whirled around to get the stove on. Saitama almost wanted to protest that the teen already did so much around the house, but decided to let it slide.
No-one had ever asked him to explain couponing. He wondered if he was any good at teaching that either, but he should try.
Saitama went to fish out the receipt from his previous shopping trip, and also found the folder he used to store all the coupons he found, and set them on the coffee table. Once that was done he picked up a manga and flopped on his back on the floor. He would just wing it like everything else, he assumed, and started reading.
The sound of Genos cooking was a comforting background noise as Saitama read. Sometimes he wondered how well Genos had managed to worm himself into Saitama's life, and solidify his place in it. It was a small blessing that as far as roommates went, Genos really wasn't the worst choice.
Hm. Who knew that punching monsters connected people.
Saitama shrugged to himself, and let the matter slide completely in favor of his book.
“Food is ready.” Genos stated as he placed two plates on the coffee table. Saitama hadn't even noticed the time fly. He had almost made it to the end of the book. He wondered briefly if the main character could defeat such an intimidating foe, but considering the plot so far, he probably would find a way. Heroes always seemed to thrive in comics. Saitama closed the book and pushed it aside. He hated it when comics got predictable. It soured the whole experience.
Saitama got up and turned to the table.
“Thank you, Genos.” Saitama reached to take the chopsticks the other offered, and dug into his food. He went straight for the meat, and groaned happily at the taste. For a discount meat this sure was grand, especially when compared to the cheap stuff he usually ate. Another perk to couponing, perhaps.
“Can you believe this meat was like, fifty percent off when I bought it? I don't get to eat beef all that often.” Saitama said, and glanced at Genos who was mid bite, staring at Saitama. His stare felt almost penetrating. He wondered why the cyborg was staring at him so intently.
“Do I have something on my face?” Saitama reached to swipe chin and mouth.
“It's nothing, Sensei.” Genos finally seemed to shake from his stupor. “Is this a result from couponing too?” Genos changed the subject, and Saitama nodded.
“Yeah. I had a coupon for meat, and since it was already in discount, I managed to get a pretty nice deal.” Saitama said, and dipped the vegetables in the egg before taking another bite.
“Not that ingredients matter too much. It's the skill of the chef that really brings out all the flavor.” Saitama quoted from a TV show, completely missing how Genos was holding his chopsticks almost tight enough to break them.
“You seem to get better at it every time you try. I usually wing stuff and add a bit of this and that from the fridge, but you have more temper to master the ingredients for something better than that.” Saitama munched on his food. Genos is the type to follow recipes and always try new ones to make the best meal he can. It was nice having someone to cook for him. Especially when they could eat seasonal food whenever they wanted.
“It's nothing Sensei. I am glad you like it. I am happy to cook for you.” Genos said, and Saitama paid no heed to the hitch in his speak.
“Cool. I appreciate it.”
Saitama slurped the broth from his cup and sighed contently. He could hear the quiet whir of Genos' fans humming in the background.
Saitama was pretty used to the sound. It was like the humming of an air conditioner on a hot day. Familiar and sort of soothing to know that it was working it's best to expel the horrible heat. Although, the last part was not true in Genos' case. Having him around made hot summer days even worse.
“Are you done eating soon?” Saitama asked Genos, and glanced at his still half finished bowl.
“Yes, Sensei.” Genos suddenly started to eat with gusto, and Saitama tried to tell him to slow down, but Genos seemed adamant to finish in record time.
Genos laid his bowl down with a loud thud. His eyes were on Saitama immediately after.
“Can you please teach me now?” Genos asked as he sat straight with his hands on the table.
Saitama shrugged. “Sure. Let me just put the bowls away first.” He didn't want stains on his coupons.
Saitama took them into the sink as Genos waited patiently by the living room. They could wash the dishes after the couponing lesson. Even Saitama could tell he other was too excited to learn to bother with dishes.
“Okay, so how do you want to go about this?” Saitama asked, and resumed his seat by the small coffee table.
“However you want, Sensei.” Genos said patiently as Saitama took the receipt and the coupons next to him.
“I can either explain the coupons and such, or I can show you what I did at the store today.” Saitama scratched his head. He was really bad at this whole teaching thing.
“Why not both?” Genos reached for his notebook, and Saitama felt slightly uneasy knowing the other would probably quote pretty much everything he said.
“Erm. Okay. So, let's see.” Saitama shuffled around, trying to piece together a plan of attack for this.
“I will try and replicate what happened, I guess. So can you come over here so you can see the receipt?” Saitama asked, and Genos eagerly got up to walk over. When he sat down next to Saitama he was close enough for their arms to brush against each other, and Saitama moved to the side a little to give them some more distance. He didn't even notice the dejected look on Genos' face.
“There's a lot of store policies to take into consideration but you can read those yourself. It's too tedious for me to teach” Saitama groaned, and straightened the bill.
Genos nodded, and Saitama dug out some coupons out from the folder he had. They had been shorted by store, expiration date, and subject.
“Basically you find out what you need, and then find out the coupons for the products. Then you find out which store to go based on which store has better coupons.” Saitama explained, and straightened the coupons so that they could be seen better. “Waiting for sales is smart too. If you find a product with better price per weight ratio, go with that one.”
Saitama watched as Genos went through the coupons, and Saitama was sure that he was speed reading through all of them as if it was his mission to know them by heart. He couldn't blame the teen for slacking off.
Once Genos seemed to be done with whatever scanning he was doing to the coupons, Saitama started to go through the shopping list, trying to find coupons that had the same or similar sale. “I know some of these coupons wouldn't work at the store, but at least it's the same discount. Like this coupon, it's expired. I should throw it away. And this one wouldn't work in the store I went to, but it's still a good coupon.” Saitama explained, and once he had covered most of the price with whatever coupons he had, he let Genos go though the process.
“Was there a sale to cover the rest? You saved way more than these coupons let you.” Genos asked, and finally leaned back, apparently confirming Saitama's math.
“Yeah. I think it was called the “crazy sale” or something. Usually you have to keep your eyes up for holidays and events.” Saitama said, pretty much done explaining everything in a nutshell.
Genos then started to plan a new shopping trip with the coupons, and occasionally Saitama would correct him. For example, there was a similar coupon with a lesser discount, but it did allow you another product from the list for free. He also needed to remind Genos that not all coupons were valid in the store he planned his imaginary shopping trip to take place at.
Over all Genos did pretty well, after all, couponing wasn't that difficult. Saitama still congratulated Genos on it as he took away the coupons, and missed how Genos seemed to perk up at that.
“Oh, and I forgot! Product prices are usually seasonal. Like summer gear is cheap in winter, and visa versa. Pretty much all is cheaper after Christmas, and especially during the new year's sale.” Saitama said as he put away the folder, and sat back down.
“January is for winter clothes and clearance after the holiday sale. February is for household items. March is when companies compete over spring stuff, so luggage and garden stuff is on sale. April is for Easter and men's ties and suits. May is for light clothes and cleaning stuff. June is for the big stuff like TVs, fridges and whatever home improvement stuff. July is for summer stuff, like clothing, sports, and I got my last air conditioner then on a good sale. August is for school stuff and getting rid of summer stuff before the winter season starts. September is for school and garden. October is for fishing and selling us silverware for the hols. November is for keeping warm. And finally December is for toys and gifts and all that Christmas hype.” Saitama finished, and finally noticed Genos staring with a his mouth open. The kid looked so confused., mixed with what Saitama would call a surprised look.
“Sensei really knows a lot.” Genos finally uttered, making Saitama feel slightly uncomfortable getting all this attention.
“It is rare of you to go over twenty words. This couponing must mean a lot to you.” Genos wondered out loud, and once again tried to place himself next to Saitama, who was sure to keep at least some space between them. Genos had his notebook with him, and he was soon scribbling so fast Saitama almost thought the book would start smoking with this rate. Genos seemed adamant to write down everything he had said, and only took a pause to ask Saitama something, waiting to jot it down too.
“Sensei, what do you love most about sales?” Genos asked eagerly as he looked at Saitama like he was about to confess the secret to life and universe.
Saitama had to think about that for a moment. He never really thought about why he liked couponing, it was just so convenient for a poor single guy. He crossed his arms over his chest in though.
“Well, I guess it's nice to save money. Then I can do all these other things I couldn't afford to do otherwise.” He wondered, and glanced at Genos. He wondered if Genos was pleased with the answer, or if he was looking for some deeper insight.
“I guess it does have its own kind of thrill.” Saitama continued. Genos seemed to keep quiet so Saitama felt like he was waiting for something more from him. “Like when fighting with monsters you get excited about the fight, and wonder if you can defeat it. Nowadays just one punch is all it takes, but with couponing you never know. You get to look at the price go down, and if your coupons don't ring up you might have to put things back. And if you can't afford things that means you can't eat. I like eating.” Saitama stated. “Besides, if I save up a bunch of money then I can do things just for fun, you know. Kind of like rewarding myself for a job well done.” Saitama felt a small smile tug at the corner of his mouth. “Like that time we went to the bath house.” That had been a nice trip. He enjoyed warm water and he always felt refreshed after the visit. This apartment was poor on the water front. The water was usually merely lukewarm, and the water bill was a murder.
“We should go to a bath house again, Sensei!” Genos sounded excited. Saitama noticed the other quickly scribble down some notes before pushing the notebook away safely.
“Whaat? But those places are expensive.” Saitama whined. Yes, it was always nice to enjoy the luxury, but he really couldn't afford that.
“You saved a lot of money today, Sensei. I would like to treat you for that.” Genos said confidently. Saitama didn't even have coupons for a bath house. They never had special prices other than the fixed ones for kids and such.
“I can pay, Sensei! Let me treat you, for once.” Genos said confidently when he picked up Saitama's reluctance. Genos looked really determined as he braced himself on his knees.
“No way! I will pay. Can you even enjoy a bath properly? It would be unfair to go just for my sake if you are the one paying.” Saitama protested. Genos was always so kind and generous to him, but Saitama had his limits. He couldn't let the other treat him everywhere, especially when Genos was practically running this household as it was. Saitama tried to keep his own on the living front, and it bothered him how often he needed to rely on Genos for additional support. Even if Saitama had not used the money Genos had given him when he initially moved in, he had saved it for a rainy day. To be honest he just didn't dare to spent that money. He hated feeling indebted.
Considering all the work Genos did around the house he was clearly the one who worked harder around here.
“I can enjoy a bath.” Genos protested, but seemed to deflate a little. “Well, not the same way you do, Sensei, but I still do enjoy it. I can still process the temperature and humidity, and the water seeps in between the plating and washes the hard to reach places. I still remember what it was like to go to a bath, and the memory makes it even more real. Doctor Kuseno says it's some sort of placebo effect-”
Saitama whipped his hand up to silence him. “I get it! You enjoy a bath. That's cool. Really. So you still want to go?” Saitama asked, and Genos was nodding adamantly.
“I am still paying tho'.” Saitama mumbled as Genos brightened up. He had no idea that the kid wanted to go so badly. Maybe he should try and arrange bath trips more often. Genos was such a bright kid, and even Saitama had noticed that Genos enjoyed spending time with him, it was hard not to when the kid lit up like a Christmas light every time Saitama agreed to do something with him. Genos' happy mood sometimes got caught on Saitama himself, and he often found himself smiling along with him. Genos was usually so stoic, but sometimes when they were just the two of them he let himself enjoy the smaller things of life. Saitama just wished he could do more for him. Genos was already doing all the household chores and insisted on doing all the more menial stuff as well as a good disciple should, which were Genos' words, but Saitama felt bad dumbing all his dirty work on him while all he did was laze around and read Manga. He should be glad that he had such a good friend as Genos. It was clear that the kid would do anything for him, so the least he could do is to treat him for a relaxing bath.
“You want to go right now?” Saitama asked with a sigh. The excited “Yes, Sensei!” dug a tiny smile on Saitama's face.
“Okay. Just let me get the towels.” Saitama said as he got up. Who knows, maybe a bath was just what he needed. Not that it had been particularly rough this week, the opposite, in fact. He had been bored out of his mind lately, so a bath started to sound like an amazing idea.
Saitama got the toiletries as well as his wallet, keys and such, and met up with Genos who was already waiting by the door.
“Wanna race there?” Saitama asked. Usually he liked walking on his own leisure, but the water felt best on warm muscles.
“Sure, Sensei.” Genos said as they walked down the stairs. Once they were down on the yard, they both dug their feet firmly on the ground. It was something they had gotten used to doing, so when they counted together, they were in good sync.
The race was over when the first to arrive hit the wall of the bath house, which had been Genos. Saitama didn't really care much for competition, but it made Genos ridiculously happy to be the first to get there, not that Saitama had been far behind, he had just gotten distracted by a nearby flier.
“Great job, Genos.” Saitama congratulated with a thumbs up. Genos as always thanked him, and they both made their way into the bath house, noticing that the counter didn't have any line. If they were lucky they could be just the two of them. Genos always gathered attention with his cyborg body, and people were overly curious over it. Only rare few would say anything, but he sure gathered a lot of looks. In a way Saitama felt bad that the other always had that effect, but on another hand Genos seemed ready to answer any questions given him, and on a completely different note at least it gathered the attention away from Saitama's own bald head.
“Okay, so two adults.” Saitama mentioned as he started digging his coin purse.
“May we have a Hero discount.” Genos asked, and Saitama looked at him from his coin purse.
“There is no such thing as a hero discount. Look.” Saitama pointed his finger to the small plate which listed the prices, and there was no discount of such title.
“But I have a card.” Genos said as he dug it out from his pant pockets. Saitama took it from him to look at it. It looked kind of like a student card. It had a picture of Genos, his rank, and signature, as well as some sticker saying it was valid. When Saitama turned it around there was huge abundance of logos as well as the magnetic stripe and Genos' neat signature.
“I don't have one of these.” Saitama mumbled. “I haven't even seen one before.” He gave the card back, and watched as Genos gave it to the register. The woman took a look at it before giving it back, but Saitama did not notice a drop in price.
“What did it do, Genos?” Saitama asked, almost questioning the authenticity of the card.
“When you pay full price for the entrance, you get to sauna for free.” Genos said as he pocketed the card.
“Whaaat?! There actually is a Hero card! C'mon, I want one too.” Saitama complained. He couldn't believe that he would still have to pay the full price, and even more since he actually liked to sauna.
Saitama frowned. “I want to go to sauna as well.”
He groaned as he surrendered to the thought of having to pay extra just to get there. Genos had already paid himself in, and Saitama didn't want to be left alone in the bath while Genos was living it up.
He swore, with all the fan letters and perks and stuff, he had never been more jealous of Genos and his stupid hero card before.
“Maybe it's just an S-class thing. Don't worry Sensei. You'll get yours in no time.” Genos praised, and Saitama pouted. He would get to the S-class if only to get those discounts. Had that been a logo of the super expensive fancy restaurant in the back? Oh man, he wanted that card.
“It's okay Genos. Let's just enjoy the bath.” Saitama said as he put the exact amount of coins on the table to cover them both, including the sauna. Well, at least Genos was already picking up on saving money, Saitama thought.
Once they were past the counter Genos started to explain the fundamentals behind the discount card he used. Saitama did not really pay him that much attention, but what he gathered was that the companies were able to support HA and their heroes without a monthly money donation. The idea behind it was noble.
They left their shoes at the shoe locker, walked to the changing rooms together, and picked up a locker to store their clothes in. Saitama's thoughts were already on the hot spring.
He glanced around the place, and noticed that there was barely anyone out at the moment. There were just a couple of old dudes washing up, and Saitama felt sort of glad for that. He wanted to relax in relative piece and quiet.
He opened up a locker and started to strip down his clothes. Genos might have the patience to fold his clothes neatly into his closet, but Saitama did not. He just threw them in in a haphazard manner, which was probably a part of the reason why he was done before Genos was.
Saitama held the small bucket with their towels and shampoos in it, and wondered if he should wait for Genos, but decided that he would catch him up at the showers.
“Where do you want to go first?” Genos asked, as he finally locked up his closet and took the key with him for safekeeping.
“Hot springs, definitely.” Saitama said, as he poured water into his bucket. He handed Genos a towel to wash with, and with his metal body Genos seemed quite out of place, not that Saitama minded.
Instead he started to soap himself up, while Genos rinsed himself and brought out a bottle brush to reach into those hard to reach places.
Without hair Saitama was quick to wash up, and he felt a lot better once he got to wash off the old sweat.
“Want me to do your back, Sensei?” Genos asked, and Saitama shrugged: “Sure.”.
He turned around to let the other at it, and the soapy towel felt surprisingly nice against his back. Saitama suspected Genos was aiming for a light massage rather than just the plain old soaping up, because Genos had a heavy and firm press on his back as he did circles on his back with the towel.
“That's nice.” Saitama sighed, and rolled his shoulders. Genos seemed precise and made sure every bit of Saitama's back was taken care of.
Saitama could really get used to getting his back washed. He and Genos had only been to a public bath house once before, but back then Genos had not offered to do his back, but Genos seemed to be really good at what he was doing. It seemed like Genos was going an extra mile to make Saitama as clean as he could, while simultaneously massaging his sore muscles. Genos even got his other arm up on Saitama's back to find out kinks and tight nerves on his shoulder, which he then proceeded to massage with his thumb and the heel of his palm. Saitama could swear he would fall over if he didn't concentrate on keeping himself upright. It was just so relaxing.
He did not even notice that Genos had stopped using the towel in favor of massaging him with both of his arms.
Saitama couldn't help the small moan which escaped him as Genos found an especially tense muscle on Saitama's shoulders.
“Aaaah, Harder.” Saitama moaned, and for a second Genos made a full stop, before fully digging his thumbs into Saitama's back. Saitama didn't notice the way the other almost stopped breathing, and how Genos seemed to heat up. Only thing he did notice was that Genos warm hands felt heavenly on his back.
“That's the spot.” Saitama sighed, and he once again rolled his shoulders. He could feel how much lighter his shoulders felt already.
“Thanks Genos, that was great.” Saitama said with a smile, as he turned around. Genos' hands were still up, as if he wasn't done yet.
“Do you want me to do the rest of you?” Genos asked in a hopeful manner, and Saitama had no idea that the other's fingers were figuratively itching to do just that.
“Nah, Genos. I'm already clean. I can do yours though.” Saitama rinsed his back and picket up the towel Genos had dropped.
“You- You would, Sensei?” Genos said, sounding hopeful. Saitama just motioned with his arm for Genos to turn around. “Thank you, Sensei! That is very thoughtful of you.”
Saitama laid the towel on Genos back, and took a couple of experimental swipes before he noted that the grooves and crannies in Genos' armor truly did collect grit. He reached his hand around Genos' back, and lightly tapped him on the side a couple of times. “Can you give me the bottle brush?”
Genos eagerly showed the bottle brush on Saitama's open palm, and brushed their fingers together as he did so.
“Thanks man. I'll get your metal shining in no time.” Saitama did a weak smile which Genos didn't see. He started to brush the joints in Genos' back with the brush, and noted that Genos probably had hard time reaching there himself. There was small dirt jammed between the plates, so Saitama had his work cut out for him.
It was enough of a reason for Saitama to actually pay attention to what he was doing. Genos had done such a great job on his back, he should at least return the favor.
With all this dirt Saitama had to question if they really had fought such messy monsters lately. Saitama had to rinse Genos' back several times to wash off the dirt so that he could once again see what he was doing. It was only on the third rinse that Saitama noticed that the water evaporated rather quickly off the other's back.
“You okay there, man? You are running pretty hot right now.” Saitama stated, and Genos jutted his back straight in a snap.
“I am sorry Sensei! I will turn on the fans right now!” And with a loud hiss of steam the fans groaned to life. Saitama didn't mind that one bit. He was used to Genos having to cool down every now and then, the bath house was pretty warm after all.
Saitama finally felt like he had gotten off all the grime from the joints, and laid down the brush in favor of doing long circling motions with the towel, and he wasn't afraid to scrub off the stains with a bit more effort. A proper polish could really do wonders for Genos. He shouldn't really be so surprised when he saw his own face reflect from Genos' plating, and Saitama gave an approving nod.
“All done man.“ Saitama stated, and scooted backwards a little.
“Already?” Saitama might have imagined the slight disappointment in Genos' voice. “Thank you sensei, that felt great.” Genos said as he turned around to face Saitama.
“No problem. Hey, is there something wrong with your arm?” Saitama said as he pointed at Genos' hands. Genos looked like he had a death grip on the other fist, whereas the other hand seemed a bit shaky, almost like nervous twitching.
“It's nothing Sensei.” Genos assured, but Saitama frowned at that.
“Show me.”
Genos looked a bit surprised at Saitama's request, but as Saitama held out his hand, waiting for the other to hand it over, Genos complied.
Saitama thought nothing of the fact that Genos could barely look straight at him.
Once Saitama had Genos' hand in his hold, he started to examine it over. He ran his fingers over each of Genos' fingers, and then ran his fingers between the plates of his palm.
“You might have been right. No, wait. There's a pebble here. See?” Saitama pointed at middle junction of Genos' ring finger.
Genos took a careless look at it. “You are correct, Sensei.” The other agreed, and Saitama tried to wiggle it loose with his fingers, but the pebble was too small to get a hold on. It was slightly jutting out, but not enough. It was really tight in there since Saitama couldn't shake it loose.
“I can take care of it. Don't worry about it Sensei.” Genos tried to assure, but Saitama shushed the other silent.
“I can get it. I just need a good grip.” Saitama wondered how he could shake it loose. It was surprising that the pebble remained there even if he used a bit more strength. He didn't want to ruin Genos' hand though, so he tried to be careful. It was a really stubborn pebble, Saitama gave it that. Maybe they'd need pincers to get it out. Too bad they didn't bring those with them to a bath house.
“I can almost get it. I wish I had pincers. No, wait, I got an idea.” Saitama finally figured it out, and brought the hand up to his mouth to pull the pebble off with his teeth. He missed the first two bites, only managing to nibble on Genos' finger. He angled his mouth to dig his fang into the joint, having his lips around the finger to give him some more space to work with. He finally felt the pebble, and he bit on it rather hard to pull it off.
“Sensei!” Genos exclaimed, and with a loud whine Saitama heard the fans turn on full blast. It almost sounded like the fans were stalling and groaning at the task.
“I got it!” Saitama spat out the pebble, and looked up at Genos who was was absolutely steaming.
“Shit, dude! Are you okay? That didn't hurt, did it?” Saitama asked in concern. Genos was holding the hand to his chest, and seemed utterly shocked, until he finally managed to pull himself together.
“No! I mean. no. It didn't hurt Sensei. Thank you. It feels-” Genos sounded like he had to reset his voice box to continue. “It feels fine now. Thank you Sensei.”
“That's cool. I wouldn't want to hurt you on accident.” Saitama sounded a bit apologetic. He didn't mean to be so rough, but the pebble was holding on tight to it's previous home.
“Are you ready soon?” Saitama asked offhandedly, eager for a bath.
“Just a second, Sensei.” Genos stood up straight, and walked to the shower to fill a bucket with cold water. Saitama stared as Genos lifted the bucket over his head and tipped it over himself. The hiss of water evaporating was loud, and the steam was copious. Saitama had to cover himself to not get to splashed with cold water.
“Hey, careful with that!” Saitama exclaimed, not wanting to freeze his ass off.
“I'm sorry Sensei. I feel a lot better now.” Genos sounded out of breath, but still happy.
“Well, that's great.” Saitama said, sounding confused. He had no idea why Genos felt the need to have a cold shower all of a sudden. “Just get your hair washed, and we can go.”
“Yes, Sensei!”
They went out to the back to reach the hot spring. Saitama brought their bucket with them in case they needed soap. The womens side was separated by a wall, and Saitama could hear giggling from the other side, which only seemed to add to the mood. Out here there was rocky mountainside, and the nature and an occasional giggle seemed to mix well together.
Saitama was so ready to relax in the hot bath. He couldn't even believe his luck, for he still had a ticket to the sauna after this.
Saitama laid down his towel so that he could climb into the spring. The water felt heavenly, and he wasn't even fully submerged yet. Genos was quick to follow him.
“Faa!” Saitama sighed in content as he finally got to soak his shoulders in the hot water.
Genos mimicked Saitama's actions, and used his superior ear for music notes to sing the Fa key on note. Sometimes Saitama wondered if Genos could sing. He surely managed the notes all fine.
“You are still off note on the Fa, Sensei.”
Saitama groaned. “Don't you fucking start with that shit Genos.”
“I have no doubt that Sensei will master it eventually.” Genos tried to argue, and Saitama shook him off.
“Genos. The whole point of the word is to express your pleasure, not to sing a sonata.” Regardless of what Saitama said, Genos played the note for him again. It miffed Saitama. He didn't have the gift of music in him.
“Fuck you too, Genos.” Saitama grumbled as he thought of a way to get the kid to shut up. “Here is a proper Fa with some feeling in it for you to nitpick on.”
Saitama inhaled his lungs full of air, and used the most embarrassing, guttural, porn star worthy moan he could manage. “Faa-aa-aaangh!” He moaned, dragging the moan as long as he could, and just for kicks he tried to sound like a woman having an orgasm with a musical note.
Once he was done he stared at Genos with a down right evil look, hoping that he had caught the other off guard.
Genos looked stunned out of his mind. Saitama swore that the water wasn't supposed to be near boiling. For a moment he was worried he had fried Genos' brain with all the steam he was giving off.
Serves him right.
“That was-” Genos tried to force his mouth to form words. He even had to lift his arm to cover his face and reset his voice box. “That was pretty impressive.” He managed to force out, eyes still wide as saucers.
It took Genos another while to collect himself, and he seemed to struggle with words. In a way that was a pretty impressive feat for Genos, who always seemed to have a whole speech prepared.
“Sensei. Can you please do that again? Maybe a little bit deeper this time?”
Saitama almost choked on air. Was Genos still on about getting the note right, or was he seriously insisting he do all that again?
“What?! No way!” Saitama stuttered, and splashed some water on Genos.
Saitama almost felt a vein pop in his forehead when he noticed the damn record light going on in the side of Genos' eye.
“Dude! I am not letting you record that shit! You already have enough blackmail material to send me to hell and back.” Saitama felt genuinely angry.
It looked like Genos was about to argue, so Saitama had to put a stop to that. “No. No way in hell. For all I know it will be your next ringtone!” Saitama noticed the steam raising from the other's ears. That fucker was totally thinking about it right now.
“Nope. Not doing it. I hope you cherish that memory to your grave.”
Genos lifted up his finger, probably to say something witty, but Saitama covered his ears. “Nope. Not hearing you. The moment is over. Next topic please.” Saitama only stopped when the record light turned off, only to splash more water on Genos. “You and your damn need to record everything. You know that's totally weird, right?” Saitama mumbled, and submerged himself all the way up to his ears.
Genos seemed to be pouting. For a while Saitama tried to convince himself that he didn't care, but the other just looked so dejected.
“Fine. But I am going to half ass it, and that's all you are getting from me. Better yet, I'll do it only if I see you try first!” If Saitama would die of embarrassment for this, he would take Genos with him. “And you better record that too. I am going to play it back to you when you least expect it.” Let's see how Genos likes some of his own medicine.
Genos turned silent after that. For a moment Saitama felt relieved that the other had finally seen reason and dropped the subject.
“Maybe we could have the watermelon I got as a dessert today.” Saitama wondered. It would be nice to just relax on the futon and watch a movie maybe.
“I accept.” Genos suddenly said, and Saitama glanced up at him from where he was still chin deep submerged in water.
“You like watermelon?” Saitama asked, and got up just enough to to sit properly again.
“That too, but what I meant was that I will accept Sensei's challenge! This is obviously a challenge to see whether I would be brave enough to do a personal sacrifice! I will do my best to to make the most satisfied moan!” Genos' eyes were practically burning with passion that was only lit when Saitama assigned him with a new task or a challenge.
Genos couldn't possibly have taken this as a personal goal, could he?
“Eh?!” Saitama stared at the other in complete stupor. “It wasn't a challenge!” Saitama tried to wave his hands in a cross to get the other to stop whatever was going on in his head.
“I'll go first!” Genos said as he braced himself up with his hands resting against his crossed legs. The record light blinked on again as Genos straightened his back and opened up his airways.
“You can't! We are in public you'll get us kicked out!”
“Faa-a-a-aaah-aangh!” Genos moaned, sounding more like he was in between a grunt and a pant. For some reason the other sounded out of breath as he tried his best to get a sultry tone into it.
Saitama felt his ears burn with embarrassment. Genos had taken this way too seriously.
“Oh god.” Saitama groaned, hiding his eyes behind his hand as he rested his temples on it. He felt like he could die with shame. He had never thought that Genos would actually do it. He thought the other would give up.
“Does that mean you liked the sound?” Genos asked eagerly, and Saitama knew that he had to try and climb out from the grave he had just dug for himself.
“No!” Saitama put both his hands in front of himself with fingers wide apart and palms up as if to silently scream 'why?!?'.
“Do I need to do it again, then?” Genos seemed to be already taking in another breath, and Saitama almost punched the other in the mouth to silence him.
“NO!” Don't you dare do that!”
Genos reached up to lower Saitama's hand from his face. He had his brows knit in confusion.“Did I pass?”
“Yes! Whatever! Just stop, please!” Saitama was nearly mortified, as Genos was just smiling victoriously. “I am so embarrassed.” Saitama groaned. He felt like diving to the bottom of the pool and staying there.
“It's okay Sensei. My proximity sensors tell that there is no-one besides us outside in the hot springs anymore. And it's okay if it sounded erotic. I thought that was the goal.” Genos explained, almost worried when Saitama buried his whole face below the water level. His ears were still above the water level though.
“What!?” Saitama exclaimed as he pulled his head back up. “You did that on purpose!” Saitama groaned. Genos was trying to kill him with shame. Saitama should never have done that joke in the first place.
“Of course I did. It was part of the challenge.” Genos explained like it was the most obvious answer.
Saitama just wanted to escape this situation altogether. He should never have tried to bait Genos into giving up on a challenge. He could have worded himself so much better when he tried to get Genos to drop the subject.
Only other thing that added more shame to the fact that he had gotten Genos to moan in a public place was the fact that he was responsible for it. He was such an idiot. They could get into so much trouble for this.
“Your turn Sensei.” Genos words suddenly dug into Saitama's head, making the other stare at him with wide eyes. “What?”
“You said that if I went first, and recorded it, you would do it too. And I recorded it.” Genos said as he replayed the sound, almost making Saitama want to punch himself unconscious. Only thing Saitama felt when he heard that sound again was deep embarrassment with a side serving of shame.
“No.” Saitama groaned.
“It was your challenge.” Genos reminded, and for once Saitama didn't care as he groaned more in pure frustration to this situation than as a part of any game.
“Faaaa-aaack!” He groaned, and followed it with a frustrated moan, starting loud at first, but then his voice cracked, and what he was able to utter after that was a weak whimper and a loud pant for more air as he felt like he was running thin. What came after that was a defeated, choked, sob. He just wanted to curse himself to the lowest plain of hell.
It was silent between the two of them for a long moment.
The record light finally turned off on Genos' eye.
“Sensei won.” Genos stated, with a shadow cast over his eyes as he stared down. Saitama couldn't make much of that look. He hadn't even intended to participate. He just needed to vent for a second.
Once again Genos looked like he was nearly steaming.
“I need a cold bath.” Genos murmured as he got up, and finally Saitama could agree with him fully. He needed to jump into a lake or something. He just wanted to get out of this burning water and forget this had ever happened.
“Yeah. Me too.” Saitama almost tripped over their bucket of cleaning supplies as he ran back inside the bath house to find the cold pool. It was located right next to the sauna. At least he remembered to take the bucket with them.
He was really glad to find out that they were the only people in the whole place. He didn't even test the water as he vaulted straight into the pool.
Genos was not far behind him, and Saitama was glad he got in first. The moment Genos stepped in there was a hiss of water evaporating, and Saitama noted that the pool warmed up somewhat.
“We should stick with the normal Fa from now on.” Saitama pointed out.
“That would be for the best.” Genos agreed, and they both sighed as they sank deeper into the pool.