A Missing Step

Weekly Assignment

"Oh, hey Tatsumaki. Come on in." Saitama stood at the doorway, leaning against the door. She walked inside, looking around. She was wearing a yellow short sleeve with a light blue skirt, meanwhile he was wearing a dark blue hoodie and gray shorts. "I told her to dress casual, didn't I?" He thought to himself as she stood still in the hallway.

Her eyes briefly met his, a small smile appearing on her face as she looked away. "Genos will be here in about 20 minutes with food." He stated, getting them drinks from the kitchen. She continued being rigid, even as he put her glass on the table. "So, do you wanna play video games while we wait? You have played video games before, right?"

He playfully arched an eyebrow at her. "Of course I have-" Tatsumaki thought back to her first visit. Her not knowing how the control worked ended up with his hands over hers. " haven't." She crossed her arms and huffed.

He went to set up the system, motioning for Tatsumaki to join him.

She walked and silently sat down next to him, a light blush on her cheeks.

Grabbing her controller eagerly, she waited for Saitama's instruction.

He held up his controller, facing it towards her. "So, to attack, you use these," he pointed at the buttons, "and you move your character with this." He pointed at the joystick. He put the controller back on his lap.

She internally groaned at his actions, but smirked. "I'm gonna kick your ass."

Positioning herself, she continued to grin deviously as the first round started on screen.

"Master! I brought supper."

"Thanks for killing the mood, cyborg." She mumbled.

Genos began setting up the table, Saitama pausing the game.

"Ready to eat, Tatsumaki?" "Sure."

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"So, what's the deal?" Saitama asked.

"Huh?"

"What he means is the reason for your visit, the 'improving relations'?"

"Oh." She pondered about her answer and replied, "The association figured that since I'm one of the most beloved heroes and you're the most hated, us being paired up would help your image, as well as take down higher level monsters faster."

"I see."

Genos raised an eyebrow , but did not say anything else.

"So, is it a long term thing?" Saitama asked, messing with his hoodie string.

"Only if you want it to be." She said.

He shrugged. "Sure. You did once mention to me that you wanted to fight, so we could look at each others fighting styles."

"You remembered that?" He nodded.

The three then ate their food in comfortable silence.

"So, I'll see you next week?" Tatsumaki asked, already out of the apartment.

"Sure?" He shrugged, waving at her before closing the door.

"So much for romance." She sighed before heading off to her apartment.

"Master, are you alright?" Genos inquired, for the bewildered look present on Saitama's face.

"Yeah, but I don't know man. I feel like I've done most of this before."

"The 'date' wasn't bad," She thought to herself. "But what can I expect, when we're practically acquaintances?" She looked at her phone wallpaper, a small smile flickering across her face.