One Hit to the Heart

"Can't You See I'm Trying?"

***Part 2! This is a super special Saitama POV! But don't worry, this is still reader inserted! This may not make sense if you haven't read the chapter before(did you see how I made the two chapters questions to reflect each other? I think I'm so smart at 1am lmao) Enjoy! ≧◡≦***

He knows he shouldn't. In fact, he isn't sure why he says it in the first place.
"It's not important."
It really isn't. But to you it is.
"How can you say that?" You ask him, and he doesn't stop the next sentence from becoming coherent.
"It doesn't really matter anyway."
"Is that all our relationship has been to you?" You ask him, and he can tell how upset you are by the way you stand with fists clenched into the sides of your skirt.
"I don't see why you're upset." He asks, but he already knows. He knows he's in the wrong; knows he should apologize. But years of being emotionally stunted, of losing the ability to emote hardly at all, prevent him from saying what he should say, what he wants to say.
"Why I'm upset?! I'll tell you why I'm upset! Have you ever thought about how I worry about you? You leave for most of the day, never texting or calling, and when I finally see you again you never want to talk about it! Why do you hide your hero life from me? If it's so important to you why don't you share it with me?" You seethed, and the tears edged even closer to spilling. He hides it because it's dangerous. Because he can't bear to hurt you; or to let others hurt you. He can't let you become like Genos, who rushes in hastily and becomes hurt. You're not like Genos; you don't have spare parts. He picks at the fluff on the hero suit he's still wearing.
"What do you want from me?" He asks, because he'll give it you. He'd do anything you ask of him, even if he might not be able to meet to your standards.
"For once, I want you to act like an actual human being!" You yell, and it strikes a nerve. You must have realized it too, from the way you react to his face, which must be serious to stir up such a reaction from you and Genos, who had been silently standing in the corner of the room watching the encounter. It's a sore subject between the two of you. You were patient with him and his lack of sociability and you never once commented on how he should be like other people. You liked him because he was him. He knows it must be hard for you, loving an emotionally stunted man, but he tries his damned hardest to show affection. This is the first argument he's had with you, and he finds he doesn't like it. He thought you understood.
It makes him angry that you can't see he's trying.
"And what if I can't?" He replies, and it comes out much harsher than he wants it to. It makes you visibly flinch, and he wants to get up and hold you to him. But he doesn't, and instead watches your lip quiver as a sob barely escapes your lips.
"Saitama...I'm...I didn't mean...." You start, but he can't stand to see you look like that, and turns away to look out the window.
No more words are said, but there are louder sobs until finally your footsteps retreat away, the slam of the front door louder in the silence. Neither he nor Genos moves or even breathes as the tension in the air lays thick. It only disperses when Genos makes a move towards where you have retreated. He doesn't move from his spot, doesn't turn his head. He's too angry to.
"You should go after her sensei." Genos states and Genos is right. He should. But he finds he can't move.
"Why?" He doesn't know why he asks the question. Genos actually sighs at him.
"It's late. We can't leave her alone out there by herself." Genos tries to motivate him, but he's being stubborn. He knows he is, and he hates himself for it.
"I'll....go retrieve her." Genos finally states and leaves out the front door. He's alone in the apartment again. His heartbeat is beating hard and steady in his chest; a result of his anger. He's an idiot, he knows he is, but he doesn't want to lose this battle of wills. He wants to prove he is right to hide the danger from you. He wants you to understand how dangerous it really is being with him.
The moments stretch on and by the time he finally returns to reality it's half past five, almost an hour since Genos left. He finally moves to get up, but his actions are halted by the door opening.
"It's about time you two came ho..." He starts, but he finds Genos is out of breath, eyes frantic and more importantly alone.
"Sensei!" Genos calls, and the unnerving inflection in the tone makes a chill run up his spine. "She's gone."
His world grinds to a halt and he is up in an instant.
"What do you mean she's gone?" His voice is hard and on edge, and he knows he is about to lose it.
"I searched everywhere...all I found was this." Genos pulls out a little necklace that you had been wearing, the one he had gotten you because you had eyed it through the store window. A small and simple gold chain with a little magical girl pendant, because it's your favorite show. Genos hands it to him, and it feels heavy in his hands. The chain is broken, as though it had been torn.
"Take me there." He commands, and he and Genos are out the door the minute the last syllable is uttered. He arrives on the scene instantly. There are signs everywhere of a struggle; and his chest swells a little at the thought that you fought back so hard against someone who was clearly stronger. The fact that someone dared, dared, to lay a hand on you, brings him closer to the edge of no return. He grips the pendant in his hand tighter.
He finally tips when he spots your blood staining the concrete below his feet.
There's something like a thrumming that starts in his belly, and a single heartbeat echoes through his limbs and it's nothing but one thought that runs through his mind.
"Find her."
He must have said it aloud, because Genos is giving a look that could only be described as pained. Genos' cell phone rings, and almost immediately the ground begins to shake, as if there's loud construction going on nearby. He doesn't even care at this point what it is, he is too worried. You have disappeared, with no leads or any suspects to...
"Sensei. The hero association has called all S class heroes to action to take down a monster association here in the area." Genos says, and he kind of wants to punch him. You were missing. The most important part of his life was missing and Genos wanted to go and...
"They say they have hostages. Two of them." Genos finishes. It takes him a moment to get what Genos is implying. At that point, he doesn't need any more; he speeds off in the opposite direction towards the constant rumbling that's getting louder. He barely registers that Genos is following behind him, impossibly slow against his inhuman speed.
There are already S class heroes around the area. He watches a group of them split off into individual teams to search the building they're crowding around. Genos goes off in another direction, and he can't help but be grateful to the cyborg at that moment. If he could, he would punch the whole area away, but with no idea to your location, he is limited in his options. He has to be delicate.
Which was easier said than done, with this constant thrumming in his veins.
There are explosions going off in random parts of the building, and he can feel his worry inflate at the fact that you could be caught in the crossfire. He can hear whispers of monsters down the hall to his left, who has been scrambling among the chaos.
"Do we really need both of them? We could just keep the girl."
The words make him freeze and he backtracks a few steps.
"We could have fun with her before we kill her."
It's an afterthought, the fact that his clothes are stained with monster blood. He curses when he realizes that he should have gathered your location from them before they died.
But he couldn't allow someone to think that about you and live another moment.
He meets up with another hero, Flashy, or something like that. He honestly doesn't care, he is running on autopilot as far as interaction goes. It's when the whole building suddenly starts to float in the air does he become more frantic in his search. The whole area explodes into rubble, and he wants to smack whoever decides to uproot the entire underground base (he's sure it's Tasumaki at this point). He now has no idea of direction, no idea of how much time has passed, and no way to know if you've survived. The thought is enough to make him snap into action. The other hero protests, but he couldn't give a damn about anyone else but you.
When he makes it to the surface, it's a bloody battlefield. S class heroes are barely standing against the group of monsters. He has half a mind to help them briefly, but with a quick sweep over the landscape he notices you among the rubble. You are safe for the most part.
You're covered in blood and grime, but damn were you breathtaking.
He's far away from you, and he slowly advances in your general direction, before the sky becomes black and a menacing aura is encompassing the area. He isn't really concerned.
"I am going to kill that woman and that ugly child."
It's the monster hunter, Garou, who says it. The phrase completely stops him in his tracks.
An attempt on your life has been declared.
"Did you hear me heroes? I said I'm going to kill that woman and that ugly child. What are you going to do against this monster?"
Garou isn't in a right state of mind, but he isn't either, and he immediately turns to Garou and the whole atmosphere changes. One punch and the monster hunter is on the ground, but still alive.
It doesn't take him long to realize that his opponent is weak, and becoming weaker despite the more the hero hunter turns into a monster. Deep down, he knows he can't kill Garou, so he doesn't despite the protests of the other heroes. He can't bring himself to spill blood while you watch. He does however, take immense pleasure in beating the monster-human down, a punishment for going as far as to threaten what was his. He notices Genos is disassembled, almost near death on a cluster of rocks not too far away, and he makes a mental note to pick him up before returning home.
But there's something more pressing weighing down on him.
The fact that you are running towards him and he can't help but meet you halfway.
"Saitama!" You call as you collide into him, and he feels as though all the air in his lungs has returned. He can't help but cradle you to him, arms locked around your frame in an attempt to bring you closer than is possible. You're crying, he realizes, and the only thing he wants to do is bring you home and take you away from the trauma. So he does.
He returns Genos to the laboratory before taking you home, and it's nothing but silence as you clean up and come out of the shower. His head is in his hands, little golden necklace sitting on the table in front of him. He dreads your words, dreads at your reaction.
You finally stand before him, damp from the shower and towel around your shoulders. He doesn't look at you.
"I'm sorry."
You're the one who says it, and he slams his hands against the table. Finally, he is able to face your surprised face, a face he didn't think he'd see again in those brief moments of terror.
"No. Don't. I mean...Shit, I'm not good at this." He says, and he's not. He doesn't know what to say. But he wants to express his apology in a way you can understand.
"I didn't want you to get hurt." He finally says, and realization seems to dawn in your eyes at the phrase. He knows it's a bit asinine to be saying that now after all that's happened. Your lips part for a brief moment and his eyes flicker at the motion before you speak.
"You're an idiot." You say. He completely agrees.
"I want you to trust me. With everything." You explain, and he completely does. He'd do it five times over if it meant you never had to disappear like that again.
"I do." He expresses the thought and you pout at him a little.
"I think it scares me more when you don't talk to me about it. I'm more scared about that than anything that happened to me today." You murmur, eyes averted.
He realizes that he should have tried a bit harder to understand.
He pulls you into another tight embrace and he can't help but revel in the feeling of your soft body against his.
"I'm sorry."
You smile a bit at him in response.
"Me too. I know you're trying."