Chapter Text
Saitama woke up to the sun in his eyes, birds singing and the smell of breakfast coming from the kitchen. Even after years of this as his morning routine he still had the troubling feeling that it was all a dream. That any moment he would be back in a tiny apartment in City Z, broke and alone. He found the feeling hard to shake with the other side of the bed growing cold.
"Genos!" He called, trying to keep the urgency out of his voice and landing somewhere in the area of a whine.
"Breakfast is almost ready," Genos called from the kitchen. Their home was modest, an unassuming nest set a comfortable distance from it's neighbors on a quiet street. Genos had said they could get something grander, something deserving of the man who'd saved the world, but sometimes it was uncomfortably large.
"Can we have it in bed?" Because the bed was warm, because it would mean a few more minutes of rest, because Saitama was pushing fifty and he could not just ask his partner to come cuddle. There were a lot of things Saitama had learned to say over the years, but there was a line.
"You're so lazy," Genos accused, fondly. "Is this the sort of thing you teach your kids?"
"Hey, those kids need to learn the importance of naps!" Besides, they always put the most energetic kids in his class because he was laid back enough to deal with them.
A few minutes later he entered the bed room with a tray in each hand.
They ate in cozy silence, Saitama inhaling his food and Genos picking at it while he read the news on his phone. Unfortunately for Saitama this meant he was the one who was free when the doorbell rang.
"Ugh, who would visit now!"
"It's almost nine, and Ms. Moto said she would stop by sometime today. She knows I'd be up at least."
Saitama bit back any more complaints. The old woman was like a grandmother to the both of them, and while it was a bit annoying that she couldn't accept that they were fully capable of looking after themselves, she worried and tutted with such care and joy there was very little they wouldn't do for her. She had been the first one to reach out to them, introduce them to the rest of the village, she kept them stocked with fresh produce from her garden and invited them to her home on holidays. On one memorable occasion she had hoisted a malfunctioning Genos into her old truck and driven him through a blizzard to get repaired. If she wanted to come barging in at dawn she could.
Saitama opened the door with a grin, ready for an armful of zucchinis and crys of "Look how skinny you are!", but was not greeted by Mrs. Moto's belligerent affections.
Instead there was a rail-thin child with scuffed knees and sneakers falling apart at the seams. He looked straight up at Saitama, eyes full of fire and determination, and proclaimed, "I'm here to see Demon Cyborg!"
"Hey, Genos!" Saitama called into the house, "You have a fan!"
"What's the threat level?" Genos sounded genuinely frightened, but Saitama would be too if he'd had to deal with some of Genos' "admirers". It had been a couple years since they'd had to call the cops on anyone at least.
Saitama looked at the kid. He wasn't from the village, unless he'd moved in very recently. Between parent gossip and chatty four-year-olds Saitama heard about almost everyone in town. No adults around either, he'd had to have taken a long bus ride by himself. "Oh, at least dragon, maybe higher!" Saitama chuckled.
"Don't talk about me like I'm not here!" The kid exclaimed, "And who the hell are you, anyway!"
"That's not a nice word," Saitama said on reflex, "And I..." He paused for dramatic effect, "Am Saitama, the greatest hero you've never heard of."
Saitama expected the kid to scoff, but his eyes actually lit up, "I have heard of you! Demon Cyborg saved you from the mosquito queen! Are you his butler now? That's so cool that you're a hero butler!"
"That's not exactly what happened," but before he could clear up the story Genos showed up and the kid completely forgot Saitama existed.
“Demon Cyborg! I can’t believe you actually live here! I mean, you’re names on the mailbox and the book said you lived here, but you’re actually here and…” He caught himself and bowed, “My name is Hiro. It’s an honor to meet you.”
Genos shook off a dazed look and bowed back, “Genos, the honor is mine.”
There was an awkward silence as Genos straightened up and looked around, apparently reach the same conclusion Saitama had, “Did you move here recently?”
“No, I live in City Z!” He grinned proudly, “But if you’d let me I’d like to be your disciple!”
Genos looked at Saitama with eyes pleading a silent, “This is a child, why is there a child, please take care of this child!”
Saitama, meanwhile, thought Hiro, and his effect on Genos, was the best entertainment since that time the old man up the street had decided to take his 14 cats for a walk.
“It’s a long trip from City Z to here, you must be hungry,”
Genos thought Saitama was giving him an out, “Exactly! I’ll go make you something!”
“Genos! He came all this way to see you, I’ll take care of the food,” Saitama shoved Genos lightly and shut the door behind him.
And that was how Genos ended up trapped on his own front lawn with an ecstatic eleven year old and a silent vow of revenge against Saitama.