A Missing Step

Waiting

"Master, I have a question." Genos was behind Saitama as he was reading a manga. "What is it?" "Have you ever been to Tamaki's place?" "No." He stated, not looking up from his reading. "Is it because she hasn't invited you?" "Dude, I'm not gonna force Tats to show me her place." He chuckled dryly.

"My apologies, I didn't mean to across that way, but aren't you at le-" Genos furrowed his brow. "'Tats." He meant for it to come across as a question, but it came out as an affirmation. "Oh. Thought you knew." He moved the book down temporarily to look at Genos.

"We have a date this Saturday, so I'll get this week's groceries tomorrow." He brought the book back up to his face and flipped a page. Genos nodded, and began walking away, understanding that Saitama didn't want to elaborate further.

"If it doesn't bother him, there must be a reason why he won't say anything." He thought to himself as he looked over various of his own journals. "I wonder if he knows why she did it."

He felt he knew the exact reason why Saitama wouldn't tell her, and it was because of one word he didn't think his master could ever be.

"Looks like I just need to head to one more store and I'm done." Saitama thought to himself, calmly walking through the semi-deserted streets. He noticed Tatsumaki flying nearby, but looked away when she turned to face him. He stole another glance at her, feeling a slight tug against his bag. Making sure she wasn't looking directly at his gaze, he loosened his grip on the bag, and saw a bright green glow around it. He looked up to be met with Tatsumaki's teasing grin as she twirled his bag around. "Hey Tats!" He saw her startled face, which made him grin before he continued on. "What's up, besides you?"

She playfully stuck her tongue out before hugging his bag close to her face as she began descending. "Hey." Now standing on the ground, she look upwards. "I'm down here, and I was just looking around the neighborhood." She let the bag hang loosely in her hands.

"And give my bag back?" He leaned down, looking at her directly in the eye. She brought the bag up to cover her face, although he could catch a hint of pink on her cheeks. "Here." She mumbled, as he gently tugged the bag back.

"Hey." She said suddenly. "Can I walk you home?" She looked up for a response.

"Thought we weren't going out till Saturday." He thought to himself before replying; "I'm actually not going home yet." "Oh." "But you can come with me to finish shopping, if you want." He reached out his free hand temporarily, before shoving it back in his pocket.

She nodded and he motioned for her to follow him.

"Hey, would've been back earlier but I ran into Tats." Saitama said, closing the door behind him. Genos looked up from his paperwork momentarily. "Did you go to her place?" He asked, shuffling through another page. "Nah, she helped me get the rest of the stuff." He tilted his head toward the doorway. "Are you sure you don't have anywhere to go?" Genos heard Saitama ask her, and he heard a muffled reply before hearing two sets of footsteps walk towards the kitchen.

He heard the rustling of grocery bags before rapid footsteps ran out the door. Looking up, he was surprised to see Saitama standing near an open fridge, and his hand on his cheek.

"Master did she?" " Yeo, Oh, crap!" Saitama ran towards the still open door, Genos quickly closing the fridge.

Saitama quickly returned and shut the front door behind him. "I'll make dinner." He said quickly, motioning for Genos to move from the fridge.

He detected her nearby, but remained silent as he walked back to the table to continue with his paperwork, the sound of boiling water drowning out the sound of his papers shuffling.