Breaking the Barrier (Saitama x Tatsumaki)

Honesty

"You are correct, Garou," I address him using his real name, believing that I know enough about him. "However, I believe we must still fight. I apologize for not trusting you, but I cannot risk the possibility that you could go rogue and hurt a citizen. I must do what I can to put you down now. I trust you understand."

He sighs, scratching the back of his neck, "Yeah, I get it. Nothing personal. Just business. I'm cool with that." He clears his throat, getting into a battle position. "Well, you better not hold back, Demon Cyborg!"

~~~

"So you want me to think of this as just like a business explanation?" Saitama raises his eyebrow, incredulous. "Sorry, Tats, but that just sounds plain stupid. Nothing personal? Tats, you're my girlfriend."

"How else am I supposed to tell you about this? Just spill my emotions?" Tatsumaki scoffs, rolling her eyes as she crosses her arms. The two of them were in Tornado's home, in her living room. They'd talked about a few things in there before, but nothing of this caliber.

"Um. Yeah," The Baldy nods, not really sure what else to say. "You can take it at your own pace, and if you want to, you can just stop completely. I won't rush you."

Tornado gulps, her throat a little dry, "Thanks, Saitama."

"Still not used to you not insulting me by name," Saitama muses in response, leaning back in his chair.

They'd been sitting facing each other since there was just a coffee table in the middle, which they'd used for tea rather than coffee. However, considering how it was practically midday that they decided to actually talk about this, it was somewhat convenient for the two of them to have nothing going on. Besides, with Elder Centipede destroyed and Garou missing at the moment, it wasn't like there was much going on until something that Saitama'd been planning on joining in place of Charanko: The martial arts tournament.

"Wow, now that's what you're focusing on," Tatsumaki dryly laughs. It helps, though.

"Well, what did you wanna talk about?" Saitama smirks. "You seem a bit more comfortable to talk about it now, don't you think?"

"Damn it," she laughs off, a little more lighthearted. "You planned for that, didn't you? Well, it was a simple plan, but it worked."

Tornado starts, her hands clasped together as she stares at the ceiling for a moment, "So...let's start where I can remember earliest. My parents. Did I start off with that when I was drunk?"

"Nope," Saitama mutters, trying to remember the path she took herself. "You started from high school and then jumped back to Fubuki then went to now then back to your parents, I think. Something like that. Then you told me about the experiments."

"Course I did. So I probably missed some other details," Tatsumaki sighs, this time to herself as she stretches a little bit.

"So...my parents. Honestly, before everything happened, I don't really remember too much. It was...weird, honestly. For as much as they impacted my life, I barely remember them saying anything to me at all other than to protect Fubuki," Tornado recalls, scratching her head. "They were nice. They got us gifts for Christmas, helped us stay safe and gave us some basic advice on how to be a normal human being. Even though that worked like shit."

"Do you remember what made them give you guys away to the...scientists?" Saitama asks, choosing his words carefully. He didn't exactly know what to call the guys who experimented on Tatsumaki, and frankly, he doubted they were legitimate scientists in the first place.

"Money."

Her tone turned...remorseful, almost, like she regretted being naïve then. But Saitama knew better than that.