What's That Coming Over the Hill? - Saitama and Desdemona -

It had been a month or so since she had started working side by side with Saitama and Desdemona had to admit that she had loved every part of it. The man she called her mentor and friend was so laid back that she didn't get stressed about displeasing him as she would have worried about if she were learning under another hero. In all the time that she had been living beside him, studying with him, the only times she'd seen Saitama angry were when something sale related hadn't gone his way.

Desdemona had dressed herself and was currently pottering about the small apartment she had next to Saitama's. Genos lived with him now and while she could hear the two of them sometimes shouting she knew that both of them thought very highly of one another. They were a little dysfunctional group but she wouldn't have it any other way. A part of her was worried that when their training together ended that would be the last that she saw of Saitama, despite their friendship.

He wasn't after all...the most...together person. He was quite forgetful. While Desdemona hoped that she wouldn't be forgotten, because of their friendship and her other feelings for the bald hero, she was ready to embrace the loss of contact whenever their time together had to come to an end.

The news switched to an emergency alert, there was a threat level demon currently in Z city, apparently some of the major players in the Heroes Association had already tried to take down the individual but had ended up incapacitated. Frowning slightly, she waited for the beast to be shown and was surprised to see the culprit behind all of the destruction - it certainly wasn't something she'd ever seen before.

A large skeletal figure, dressed in nothing but a black loincloth was cleaving down buildings with a massive scythe. No doubt he was trying to go for the 'death' angle. It wasn't anything new.

Desdemona hurried out of her flat, locking it behind her and knocked on the door of Saitama and Genos' flat.

"Ah, Saitama-sama, Genos-kun, have you seen the news? Maybe we can go and lend a hand?" she asked through the door.

Desdemona was his neighbour and that was a lot better than sharing the apartment with her - he was already sharing his apartment with Genos after all. Thankfully he was often away nowadays as the S Class heroes were out more often to keep up appearances of strength since the alien invasion. Saitama was glad that Genos was enjoying his work to be honest - mainly because it meant the cyborg wasn't constantly trying to pester him for training or for the 'real' secret to his strength.

If he didn't want to believe him then whatever.

Desdemona hadn't tried to take up his training methods however, she was better suited to working on her flexibility to better improve her current style. Or at least that was what he thought - he actually had no idea. Saitama had planned on training his body first and then learning some super martial arts... of course by the time he was 'ready' in his body it was already too late. He was beyond pretty much anyone on earth or in the universe even so martial arts on top of all of that was hardly needed.

He was thinking about taking a bath when Desdemona knocked on the door, Genos opening to admit her. The cyborg frowned slightly at the form of address,

"I have been Master Saitama's student..."

"Hey! Don't call me master!"

"For longer than you. And I am a higher rank than you, Desdemona-san." he corrected her lightly, "You must refer to me as sempai - it is only right."

Saitama lazily turned on the news and read the headlines about the monster that had managed to take down from A and S rank heroes. Was this going to be the Sea King all over again? He hoped not, that guy had been a real let down. He waved at Desdemona and Genos as he got up, stretching slightly,

"You guys go on ahead." he told them cheerfully, "My suit is in the tumble dryer."

Desdemona was a little surprised by the icy greeting that she received from Genos-kun.

Honestly she hadn't been referring to their positions in regards to working with Saitama, given that she knew how uncomfortable that made him, rather she had been addressing him based on their ages. He was younger than her and someone she considered a close friend, so kun had been an appropriate greeting for him - but if he wanted to act funny about things then she would call him whatever he wanted and be done with it.

Still, it upset her a little bit, considering the first words out of his mouth wasn't a 'hello' but chastising her for something that really didn't need to be said. A frown appeared on her features, a rare sight as normally she sported more gentle expressions when dealing with her two boys.

"And I am older than you Genos-sempai. Kun is an appropriate greeting based on that but seeing as you want to be professional, fine." she stated, waving a hand at the man as she turned on her heel and made to make her way towards the scene of the destruction on City Z. "Hai, Saitama-sama. We'll make sure that we don't incapacitate it before you get there." Desdemona added with a shy smile in her mentors direction.

Walking down the corridor, Desdemona checked her various pockets to see if she had everything she needed, when she was sure she sped up to a light jog and reached the bottom of the flight of stairs before breaking out onto the street beyond. Placing her hand on her hip she waited for Genos-sempai to join her, calling out to him;

"Come on then Genos-sempai." she emphasized with a small sigh "Let's get going, just thinking about what this thing might be doing is making me worry. Maybe you'll need to give me a lift, we'll need to get to the scene as fast as possible after all."

Allowing her gaze to briefly change from the young cyborg to the flat where Saitama was getting changed into his suit, Desdemona's thoughts wandered slightly from where they should have been, giving her a flush to her cheeks while she waited for Genos' reply.

Seemed that his 'students' were going to be disliking each other for a bit based on that little interaction. He would have to remember to laugh at Genos' reaction in the future - it had to be done. After all, Genos was being rebuked like he had just offended his girlfriend and yet had done none of the cool things that would make up for having to put up with being rebuked in such a way. Maybe Genos was gay and not interested in women like Desdemona like that?

Maybe.

Not like Saitama cared... but rumours might start about the two of them sharing such a small apartment if that was the case! But, wait... did Genos even have sex organs? He was a cyborg from the neck down after all. Meh, not something he could really do anything about and best not to dwell on it. He waved off Desdemona's concerns,

"Ja re, Ja re." he chided her gently, "Have a good fight if you sort it before I get there."

Genos nodded briskly to Saitama,

"Hai Sensai!"

Genos raised an eyebrow at the emphasis that Desdemona had put on his title and how she now seemed to be looking at the flat with rather a lot of interest. He turned to follow her gaze for a moment before turning back to her with the eyebrow still raised,

"Desdemona-san, you seem to be seeing something interesting." he replied, "Care to share?"

After a moment of the 'affectionate teasing', that the doctor assured him was part of the whole 'student' experience, Genos nodded, helping Desdemona onto his back, securing her legs with his arms. His feet began to change until rockets appeared on the base of his feet, allowing him to fly towards the threat with Desdemona on his back,

"Desdemona-san, what kind of challenge do you believe this monster will present?"

Desdemona squeaked in surprised when Genos drew attention to the fact that she was staring up at the flat where Saitama was still busying himself with getting ready. Honestly she hadn't thought that he would pick up on it, considering that he seemed so non-aware of things like romance and crushes - not that he didn't have a fair few girls crushing on him if his weekly pile of fan letters was any indication anyway. Catching her blushing while looking up at the flat Saitama lived in, wasn't a good thing for Desdemona, with Genos' to the point attitude he might just come out and say what he'd seen if he thought it was worth it.

Waving both of her hands in front of her face, Desdemona shook her head in answer to his question;

"Ah, no no." she replied with a bashful expression at having been caught "I was just thinking about Saitama-sama and if I had left the stove on in my apartment by accident. Nothing interesting to see or that I was thinking at all Genos-sempai."

As she was helped onto his back, Desdemona got as comfortable as possible when she was sitting on several chunks of cold metal which were digging into strange and uncomfortable places on her body. Hugging her arms around his neck to further secure herself, she tucked her head into his neck when he began to fly off to where the monster was causing it's distress.

She could hear the whirr of Genos' circuits and feel the skin like texture of his cheek against her own face as she kept herself tucked in away from the wind that would cause her eyes pain if she weren't to tuck herself in like this. Given that she was so near to his ear, she didn't shout as she answered him.

"I think that we need to be careful about the weapon he possesses, it has a long range and could be difficult to avoid, at least for me as I can't move as quickly. We need to get me up on it when we arrive so that I can push it's pressure points and disable it as quickly as possible." Desdemona suggested.

The sounds of destruction had only grown greater and the monster was now in sight. It was roaring out harsh swear words which made her blush to hear them as he went about continuing to knock down buildings. Worrying her lower lip between her teeth, Desdemona activated her sight and began looking for pressure points that she and Genos could attack.

Genos wasn't someone who really dealt with a lot of 'typical' behaviour patterns. He was a nineteen year old cyborg who had spent most of his life upgrading himself in preparation for a final duel with the evil cyborg who had killed his entire village, leaving him as it's only survivor. His education had been geared almost entirely towards killing his nemesis but he was open to new things that he noticed in the world.

He had never heard about women being the ones to watch the people they deemed important in their life. Was his research lacking in a crucial area? He hummed a little bit,

"Desdemona-san..." he started seriously before continuing, "How long have you been a practicisoner of the art of 'peeping'? My research suggested it was an almost entirely male-based activity. Do you enjoy peeping on Saitama-sama?"

He flipped out a notepad,

"If you do, I already have detailed notes on his schedule..."

Of course now wasn't exactly the time for all that. They were flying towards danger after all - an opponent who was absolutely not to be underestimated. He agreed with Desdemona though, they needed to get her to ground level so she could cut the distance between her and their opponent. Genos was coming in for a landing when he noticed the attack coming,

"Rough landing!"

Genos bucked Desdemona from his back, letting her fall a few feet to the rooftop of a nearby department store, the scythe cutting through the air where he was with the pressure of it's swing, the force slamming him into the side of the same building. Genos gritted his teeth,

"I shall act as distraction! Come down!" he barked at Desdemona, "FIRE!"

Genos' fire canons opened fire even as he fell to the ground, though their opponent seemed to, literally, be laughing at the flames as they licked his skin.

Desdemona was still reeling slightly from the question that Genos had asked her about peeping on Saitama. She had never peeped on him whatsoever - sure she might have gotten an eyeful of him without a shirt on when they had been training but that wasn't peeping when he was openly showing it off for her! Perving on Saitama didn't sound like a bad way to spend an evening, she had to admit with a furious blush on her cheeks, but Desdemona had never invaded his privacy like that.

When this fight was over she was going to have to make sure that Genos understood that fantasising about someone was not the same as actively going and peeking through their windows at night like he seemed to suggest.

Landing on her back on the building top she was dropped onto, Desdemona rolled so that she was standing up with minimal injuries. If she had landed on her feet she might have been out of commission before the fight had even begun. Watching Genos getting beaten into the side of the building always worried her, even if he was extremely durable. Compared to Genos and Saitama, Desdemona really didn't have a lot of ability to take hits.

Slowly she took out her grapple gun from her outfit pouch and aimed it at the creature before her. While it was busy with Genos she fired the gun, watched it attach and made her swing across the gap. In a few moments she was on the large males body and clambering up to where his first pressure point was she wanted to attack, the crook of his neck. It was a fair climb and he seemed to be aware of her presence.

Swats came at her thick and fast but she dropped down and climbed up the skin on the man as she needed to, no doubt pinching him as she did but that was the least of his worries.

Gasping in surprise when his hand brushed her, almost catching her, Desdemona lost most of her ground as she allowed herself to fall back down to the top of his loincloth where she caught her breath and focused herself again. She needed to reach that pressure point. Gritting her teeth she began to climb her way back up - assessing as she went the risk of hitting the pressure point in his arm first to disable his movement with his scythe. Doing so would expose her though, even more than she was now. She would be easier to take out.

Genos had to admit that he was surprised that Desdemona had managed to get onto the monster so quickly but he was going to have to do his best and get her enough time to actually get to work shutting the man down. If it even was a man. It looked like a giant man painted in black and white paint - he looked like he was going to try and look like a skeleton to be honest. With the scythe as well... was he trying to act like Death or something?

Well he certainly seemed to have the destruction angle down at least.

Catching the monster's attention, Genos baked the skin of the monster's right foot, causing the man to glare down at him and swig his scythe down at him as quickly as possible. Genos gritted his teeth, managing to evade the slash itself but still being thrown back by the force of the swing. He growled, charging up his main canon and firing, the fiery blast lancing through the ankle of the monster's right foot easily.

Yes!

Now it's movements would be... wait what?! Genos' eyes widened as the monster used his damaged foot just as well as if it were completely uninjured, stepping forwards and moving his scythe back across his body. Genos groaned as his left arm was torn from his body and he was sent flying, skidding across the rumble-strewn ground even as he cried up to Desdemona,

"DESDEMONA-SAN!" he cried out even as the other foot slammed him into the ground, "HIS BODY IS UNNATURAL! IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE A HUMAN'S!"

If he could use his foot fine even after having his ankle destroyed then he doubted he had the same pressure points as a human. And if he did then they still might not work in the way they should do.

Desdemona had her attention torn away from her climbing, making sure she didn't fall off and get squished as she made her way to the crook of his neck, by the shout from Genos down below. Blinking in surprise at what he told her, that the body of this monster didn't work as a normal humans would do, she wasn't sure what she was to do but continue to try her plan.

Hopefully her attack would still do something...this might be a delay tactic until Saitama could appear however, he would be able to take this guy out she had no worries about that.

Gritting her teeth she continued her climb and thanks to Genos being a good distraction, she reached the pressure point in the crook of the monsters neck in but a few minutes. She knew she needed to act fast because her friend was in pain down below and she wasn't sure how much longer he was going to be able to hold out for her to try her attacks.

"Hold on Genos-sempai!" she cried as she powered up her hands, large orbs of blue light appearing around her fingertips as she slammed them into the pressure point looming large in front of her eyes.

What she expected to happen didn't happen and instead of the man's body falling limp under her touch, she was picked up and held in a vice tight grip. Gasping in pain, Desdemona tried to wiggle herself out of the grip, punching all the smaller pressure points she could reach in an attempt to get him to let go of her, but to no avail.

Her head was tapped patronisingly by the large monster of a man before her by one lone fingertip before his grip tightened causing her to cry out in pain.

"No, let me go!" she pleaded "Why are you doing this!?" she demanded, although she was hardly in any position to.

Genos gritted his teeth even as his lower body was disconnected from his brain by the monster's foot smooshing him further into the ground, severing his legs from the waist down. The doctor would be annoyed at him for that he was sure but he was certain that he had acted like enough of a distraction for Desdemona to get off at least one attack - something that he hoped would actually manage to get some damage in on this beast of a monster.

They could defeat this monster without Saitama-sama, of that he was certain... but not like this. Not with him only a one-armed torso and with Desdemona's main attack unable to actually do any damage.

At least that's what he assumed when she screamed at the monster, who seemed to be in almost no pain. Genos blinked as the monster moved it's foot, letting him see the sun again. Of course he also saw the shattered remains of his legs and the denting on the lower parts of his torso as well. Gritting his teeth, he managed to move his remaining arm enough to point it at the monster's hands that were holding Desdemona.

Now he just needed to eek out enough power for the shot to actually work.

The monster sneered down at the two of them,

"Stop squirming ya bitch!" he declared with a boisterous laugh, "I'm sacrificing this entire city to the great god, Jashin! He is the only god in existence and he demands the blood of non-believers! And you two cunts... you're the worst kind of heathens! You're interfering in my holy business!"

"FIRE!"

Another burst of fire blasted out of Genos' palm, not hitting the monster's skin at all but instead hitting one of his eyeballs, cooking it to the point where it burst inside it's socket. The monster howled in pain,

"You heathen bastard!" He raised his foot to stamp upon Genos, "DIE YOU SCUM!"

The foot stopped a few feet from crushing Genos, much to everyone's surprise. It was then flung to the side, causing the monster to momentarily lose his balance and reveal Saitama, standing there with a rather blank look on his face,

"Ano Genos-san... you took it too far again huh?" he joked before blinking up as Desdemona, "Hey! Hey Desdemona! You got captured by this guy?"

Desdemona was glad of the last ditch attack that Genos launched against the monster, otherwise she would have well and truly been done there and then. As it was, the person, who was doing this all in the name of some religion that she had never heard of could have done two things with her when the attack hit and he did the one that she didn't want to happen, naturally. He could have loosened his grip and allowed her to wiggle free, but he didn't, instead he instinctively tightened it.

It only made her cry out in pain again as she felt her hips get squeezed a lot tighter than they were ever supposed to be, they were so close to being fractured she could tell.

Thankfully the voice she had been hoping she would hear wafted up to her from below. Gritting her teeth against the pain as the monster that held her loosened his grip to the state it had been before after regaining his balance. This lessening in pressure made her a lot less closer to passing out than she had been when the bruising pressure had been in use.

"Saitama-sama!" she cried out "My attacks don't work on him, help!"

After her signal to Saitama, Desdemona was shook like a little ragdoll in the grip of the monster, sending her head wobbling in a painful manner. Hissing with the hurt that rushed through her body, Desdemona continued to try her attacks on the hand that was holding her, but they weren't working whatsoever.

Right now she was pretty much at the mercy of the monster that was holding her, and he didn't seem to really like her all that much at the moment, even if he hadn't yet squished her for some unknown reason. She hoped Saitama would act quickly, as black spots swam in front of her eyes due to the pain her lower body was being put through Desdemona wondered how much longer she could hang on for.

Huh.

This didn't sound like it was a good time at all.

Genos was going to have to get himself fixed up and it sounded like Desdemona was going to need to take a relaxing visit to a hot spring after this. Wasn't there a trip planned by the hero association that was coming up? Yeah... yeah! It was a reward for taking on the alien invasion and both he and Genos were invited! He was sure that they wouldn't object to him bringing along the student they had forced him to take.

Even if she wasn't as bad as Genos could be,

"Oh... Desdemona-san!" he called out to her, "Do you like to visit hot springs? Would you like to join me, Genos and the S-ranked heroes at a really exclusive one after this?"

There was a moment of total silence where no one spoke and nothing seemed to move. He blinked a few times, glancing at the surprised look on Genos' face and the rapidly growing anger on the monster-man's face,

"Huh? Was it something I said?"

That seemed to snap the tension.

"You fucking... cock-sucking mother fucking heathen bastard!" the monster roared, "How dare you be so flippent?! You are in the presence of a GOD! Through me, Jashin-sama lives and Jasin-!"

"A god huh?"

Saitama looked at the man for a moment after interrupting him, grinning dangerously as all of his muscles tensed up,

"That might do it..."

With a roar, Saitama launched himself up at the monster, flying through the air towards him with a slowly growing smile. He really wanted to be able to fight someone who could last longer than one hit. A god? That might be the one he needed to fight! The scythe came flying towards him but Saitama's momentum carried him straight on through it, shattering the weapon that had casually torn through buildings with no effort at all,

"Show me you power... God!"

Saitama threw a normal punch at the monster's jaw... and watched in disappointment as the shockwave from his attack caused the monster's entire upper body to almost disintegrate into a fine bloody mist. Saitama sighed, even as he landed, catching Desdemona easily in his outstretched arms,

"Man... I thought maybe a god would be tougher..."

Desdemona swore she could hear a bird cawing in the distance when Saitama asked her if she would like to go to a hot spring after this. Honestly? She was thrilled that he was asking her to come with him and Genos, it made her feel included and a part of her thought that she could use this to her advantage. She would be able to show off her good looks to Saitama and see if she could provoke some kind of reaction from him.

If not...some of the S Class heroes were hunky, like King, and Zombieman.

"Er...I would love to Saitama-sama, but I'd like to...not be constricted by a giant hand first." she replied with a strained tint to her voice as she fought against the strong need to throw up because of the pain rushing through her body. She was going to have some intense bruising, hopefully that would clear up before she went to the hot springs thanks to some of this salve that she had purchased.

It was very good for healing bruising quickly. Now this would put it to the test.

Closing her eyes an inhaling swiftly, Desdemona expected to be squished as Saitama all but flew into the monster and smacked it with his fist. Cocking one eye open when she felt the familiar sensation of falling, she gasped in sheer surprise when she saw that the monster had been completely disintegrated. Her mouth popped open in shock but no words could leave her lips as she was scooped up by Saitama and prevented from smacking into the concrete.

A light flush grew on her cheeks as she gazed up at Saitama, marveling in how strong he was and that he had just saved her from certain death. If there was any time for this, it was now. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Desdemona pressed a soft kiss to his lips motivated by her feelings and the adrenaline which coursed through her body.

"Oh, thank you, thank you Saitama-sama." she gasped softly "I'm so sorry I wasn't strong enough..."
[/b][/b]

Okay so the god monster was nothing but another flop... and he had been getting a little bit pumped up despite himself! God! It had been so easy to hope that someone who claimed to be a god would be strong enough to withstand even one of his normal punches. Maybe he had to get going to the home world of that Boros alien? With enough of them he might actually get to experience the rush of the battle again... but that was a long ways away.

And he didn't even know what direction it was in either!

He slumped a little bit, letting the tension drain out of his muscles a little bit as he just held Desdemona in the position that he had caught her in in the first place. When she kissed him and thanked him however he blinked a few times before adopting a goofy little smile,

"Ja re Ja re, it was nothing!" he assured her with a smile, "I'm a hero for fun - and it's no fun when your friends die now is it? If you say yes you might just be fucked up after all."

He set her down on her feet for a moment before turning towards the crater Genos had made,

"Genos! Hey Genos!" he gestured to Desdemona with his thumb, "I have my first fangirl!"

Genos managed to raise his single arm and give his master a thumbs up,

"Now only twenty three thousand, six hundred and seventy one more fangirls to go and you will be beating me in popularity amongst the female population Saitama-sensei!" he paused before adding, "Though I'm told most women are not attracted to bald men. Apparently it makes the man seem old."

Saitama twitched, before pointing at his student's half-destroyed body,

"Shut the fuck up! I'm bald and I'm still sexy and young!" he gestured back at Desdemona even while still shouting at Genos in annoyance, "Ask Desdemona! She thinks I'm sexy and she knows I'm bald!"

Desdemona sighed happily when she was set down on her feet and all seemed to be well between her and Saitama after that kiss that she had given him. While he hadn't reacted in a big way she didn't really expect him to given that he was as apathetic as anything most of the time. The sweet little goofy smile on his face after she had kissed him warmed her heart and helped her to forget the aching in her ribs and legs.

She was able to stand under her own steam which was good, it meant that she could walk back to their apartment without too much fuss or having to rely on the kindness of Saitama to get both her and the even more wounded Genos to the apartment.

Opening her mouth in surprise when he called her his first fangirl, Desdemona tugged on his jumpsuit sleeve with a baleful expression on her face. Just as she thought that she was getting somewhere, he takes their relationship in a completely different way to where she wanted it to go. Despite her feelings for Saitama, she really didn't know if he was...relationship material, if after kissing a girl he just labels her as a fangirl.

"Eh Saitama-sama." she began bashfully "I would like to think I wasn't just some fangirl. Normally that's not something that guys say after getting a kiss, you know it makes the girl feel bad."

The burn that Saitama received from Genos made up for the small hurt that she had gotten from being called a fan girl, she hid her laugh behind her hand as the two of them raged at each other in their usual playful manner. There wasn't any real malice behind their words and the both of them knew it. Their relationship was just too cute.

"Maybe I would have helped you Saitama-sama." she replied with a nuclear level blush "But I cannot confirm that I think you are sexy...because you upset me by calling me a fan girl. This is one argument you have to win on your own." Desdemona replied, turning on her heel and making her way to the flat, it was a fair walk away but she wanted to get home now. A hot bath was needed "Come on Saitama-sama, pick Genos-sempai up and let's get home."

Saitama looked between Genos and Desdemona a few times before a rain cloud appeared over his head,

"Why do my friends have to be so mean?"