[One Punch Man] Warped

Chapter 6: Anger

1505 words, 6 minutes

Despite the fact that the wretched scene was far away from them now, Genos was still distressed as he and Saitama walked through the forest once more. Saitama senses Genos' silence and—on a deeper level—his anguish.

"It's for the best," he finally says. Even after saying that, he frowns, mentally cursing at himself. Who was he kidding? He felt like a bad teacher. Genos wasn't worthy of being his disciple. He deserved someone better...

Genos looked at Saitama's back. "You think walking away from something like that was 'for the best'?" he claimed.

At the start he was quiet, but it didn't take too long for him to start going off on Saitama. "Sensei, we could have stopped Black Plague! Those people wouldn't have needed to suffer and fear! You SAW their faces! Fear isn't something even a skilled actor can fake! It doesn't matter that you read beforehand that they would run away! AS PROFESSIONAL HEROES, IT'S OUR JOB TO ELIMINATE THREATS LIKE THIS IMMEDIATELY!"

When Saitama said nothing, Genos continued, huffing. "WHY WOULDN'T YOU SAY THAT BACK WHEN WE WERE WITH ALBERT?!" he cries.

"Because he wouldn't have understood my reasoning!" he protested.

"AND YOU THINK I'LL UNDERSTAND?!" retorted Genos.

"Genos, look where we are right now." Saitama gestured around with his gloved hand. "Even if you were to do something to Black Plague, you would have most likely ended up torn apart limb from limb."

Saitama turns to face his disciple. "If that happens, there's no one around who'll be able to help fix you. You'll die here. And as your teacher..." He feels guilty saying that. "...I don't want that."

There was a moment of silence before Saitama continued. "I saw what you look like when you're all torn apart, Genos. It's not a pretty sight, and I'm sure you know this better than anyone. Even me."

Needless to say, Genos is touched by Saitama caring about him, especially since he doesn't admit it that often, but still... he clenched his fists, standing where he was. "Well... you should know better than anyone that I'm ready to die if it means I'll save at least one person."

"That's very selfless of you, Genos, and it's the one feature I find stands out the most in you, but how will you save people in the future? In our time? Why save one life when you have the potential to save so much more than that?"

Saitama was getting this from another manga, but it was true advice, even though it made him balk since he never considered it before and it made him feel shameful... but no matter how much he wanted to deny it, it still applied, especially now.

Genos, however, is silent, quietly pondering what his teacher just told him. Saitama gives him more to think about.

"Heroes need to be selfless, but they also need to know when to walk away."