One Hit to the Heart

"The Apartment was Cheap, so I Moved In."

You stepped off the train station just as the doors slammed shut behind you. Already you were being pushed around by the dense crowd as you made your way down the flight of stairs that took you to the main street. A lot of things had changed, you concluded, as you looked around the vaguely familiar settings. You shouldn't have been surprised, it had been almost three years since you had stepped foot in City Z. The city seemed more crowded than before, but you knew that was due to the outskirt suburbs being almost barren. Monsters had been almost unbearable as of late, and with the recent destruction of City A, it only seemed to have gotten worse. You had been on your own for almost a year, leaving your stifling grandparents at their home back in City C. City Z was your home, and you felt a strange sense of nostalgia as you walked some of the more barren and cracked streets, remnants of the past meteor, to your landlord's place. Your conversation was brief as he handed you the keys.

"Not sure why a young thing like you wants to go live in the ghost town. There are a lot of monsters who hang around those parts." He said, the fat on his chin starting to sweat due to the heat of the room.

"I'm sure I can handle it. This is the cheapest place around." You shrugged. The landlord seemed to eye you for a moment before grunting.

"That's exactly what he said too." The man grumbled.

"He?" You asked.

"I didn't tell you? There is one other person in the complex. Been living there for the last three years, as I recall. Don't see him much except when he comes to pay the rent."

You were a little disturbed by the gate that blocked your way into the ghost town, but as you finally neared the complex you sighed in relief. It looked normal enough, and the sight of someone's laundry hanging from the second story balcony made you feel almost giddy. So there really was someone living here! You made your way up the flight of stairs, happy that the landlord had the boxes and furniture moved for you. After a few hours, you had your basic furniture in place, the futon on the floor, and the groceries you had picked up earlier in the fridge. You placed your most treasured photo on the table in front of you. This was the reason you were here. You had a promise to keep.

You realized you would have clean this place up later; you could see the dust literally lining the cupboards. But right now, you were extremely curious of the resident beside you. Why hadn't he moved? What kind of person was he? After milling about the room, making up excuses for randomly knocking on your neighbor's door, you finally left your apartment in frustration and hesitantly knocked. At first, nothing happened, and you realized glumly that he might not even be home. You made to turn around just as the loud footfalls from the other side of the door made you freeze. The door handle shook as it was unlocked, and a blonde man wearing a pink apron was suddenly in front of you. You did a double take for a minute as a million questions flooded your mind. Why the hell was he wearing an apron? Were those metal arms? What happened to his eyes?

"Can I help you?" He asked. You were surprised to find he sounded human, despite his metal appearance.

"Uh, yeah, I'm the new neighbor and...," you paused, just as the guy started to narrow his eyes, "...and I wanted to greet you properly and all since I'll be living here for a while." You said bowing lowly in embarrassment. Why was this so hard?

"Genos, who the hell is it?" Another voice spoke up from the background. The blonde turned to look back into the room that you couldn't see.

"She says she's our neighbor." He, Genos you concluded, stated.

"Well don't just leave her out there. She is my first neighbor after all." The voice commanded, and the blonde opened the door wider to invite you inside.

You stepped into the room, noticing just how male it was. It wasn't dirty in the slightest, actually it was pretty clean you surmised, but it did have that certain clutter that only a man could have. You noticed instantly the red rubber gloves that hung in the open space in the kitchen, over a pot of what you assumed was cooking noodles. You passed the yellow bathroom through the entrance hallway, and then stood in the small living room. A computer to your left, a large TV (obviously the most expensive thing in this apartment), a bookshelf lined with mostly manga next to the window, and a futon resting to your far right against the wall. They were all nicely spaced, making it feel less small than it actually was.

In other words, it was normal. Well, if you didn't count the figure that had one foot relaxed on the small table in the middle of the room and was reclining back on the futon. The figure in front of you wasn't even paying attention; his nose was in a manga book. You studied him closely, noticing that he was already wearing pajamas despite it being so early in the evening. The most noticeable thing however, was his bald head.

"Sit." The figure commanded you. You sat slowly, not taking your eyes off of his head.

"Genos, I want some tea. Some for her too, I guess. You like tea right?" He said. You turned to the blonde, ignoring the man who sat at the table in front of you.

"Tea is fine. Thanks." You said.

"So, uh, you're bald huh?" You could have smacked yourself. You sounded like an idiot.

The man peeked one eye over the book in his hands, a noticeable twitch in his eye.

"Something wrong with that?" He asked. He sounded pissed.

"No! No! It's just from what the landlord told me, it was a younger guy living here." You explained. This seemed to rile him up even more and you could hear a snicker from back in the kitchen. The figure suddenly slammed his book down on the counter.

"I'm 25 damnit! Not my fault my hair fell out on its own!" He yelled, his face suddenly filling your vision. He looked...oddly familiar.

"What are you staring at huh?" He said, this time in a more monotone voice. His face never changed; it looked almost bored.

"I'm sorry! It's just," you began to feel yourself smile even under his bored glare; "you can't blame me really. It's kinda funny." You giggled now.

The tea was set in front of you just as the tension in the room seemed to rise.

"So Genos was it? Why are your arms metal?" You asked. He seemed baffled.

"I'm a cyborg. I'm also a hero." He stated,

Hero? The word swam in your mind. Cyborg. Hero. A hero cyborg. It suddenly clicked.

"Wait, you mean S class rank 14 Genos, aka, Demon Cyborg!" You exclaimed. The bald guy in front of you seemed to look gloomier suddenly.

"It seems you're still as popular as ever Genos." He said. Genos looked over to him.

"In time sensei, people will acknowledge your greatness as well." Genos stated.

"Sensei? Are you a hero too?" You asked.

"Class B ranked 7, Caped Baldy." Genos answered.

"Call me that again Genos, see what happens."

"Sorry, Saitama-sensei."

You froze. You must have misheard. There was no way. Your tensed form seemed to have attracted the attention of the arguing males.

"Hey you okay?" Saitama asked.

"S-Saitama?" You stuttered. You suddenly felt tears at your cheeks.

"Hey what's wrong?" He continued. He didn't know how to deal with crying girls.

"Saitama? Seriously?" Your voice shook as you spoke. You grabbed his sleeve, effectively cutting off all his movements. He seemed to stare intensely at you for a few minutes. It was dead silent in the apartment. You felt his fingers suddenly grip the hand that had his sleeve. He tightened it gently.

"Y/n?" Saitama he spoke softly.