Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

To have an inner voice that was totally different from you was weird, but to have an inner voice that also supported you with your one–sided love was weirder. Genos never thought he’d be in such a position, but there he was, hearing SG give him advice on “how to seduce a man who has no clue about love”.

The current situation started almost two months ago, when Dr. Kuseno had the brilliant idea of installing a new update on him, which was SG, an artificial intelligence that would help him as a program on whatever problem he could have, and it seemed as if love was also included in it. He was starting to regret saying yes to the doctor’s suggestion.

“I’m only saying that you should probably be more direct when you try to show him how you feel. That man has no clue about what’s going on in your head as I do, don’t you get that? Seriously, Genos, think about it” , said the voice while he was cleaning the dishes left after dinner. 

A dinner shared with his teacher. A lovely dinner with lovely candles and lovely flowers set on the table and a romantic atmosphere, which Saitama passed completely by.

“That was a great dinner as always, Genos” he had said, patting his shoulder and then going to the bathroom to take a shower, completely oblivious of Genos' seducing skills. 

“He can be the strongest human on Earth, hell even the Universe, but you have to admit that he’s a bit– no, a huge dumb when it comes to love.”

—Don’t call him dumb—, replied Genos by instinct, then sighed—. It’s because Saitama-sensei sees me as a student, almost as a friend. His intelligence is unbelievable. 

“I was just about to say the same thing.”

Genos frowned, stopping what he was doing. He was really tired from this sarcastic voice, always saying bad things about his master, treating him as if he was stupid when he, of course, wasn’t. On the contrary, Saitama-sensei always told him quotes that would help him in battle and make him feel as a real human being. Genos was so grateful for him, for everything he’s done for his sake; however, the love he felt was beyond admiration and friendship, he knew that for sure, thought about it for months and decided to make a move at the very first chance he could have, but before he could do that, a monster had appeared and destroyed almost his entire body, so he had to wait for a whole week to see him again. Even so, he couldn't make a move at first; SG was now with him and obviously realized his feelings for his sensei as soon as he saw him and his system started to go highwire.

Dr. Kuseno should’ve told him about the program being almost like a big brother who would bother him because of his crush. He wasn't ready at all for that thing to laugh at him when his teacher received him at the front door and many thoughts came to his mind at once, thoughts about how handsome and lovely and friendly his teacher was. So, of course, SG laughed and he was so surprised he almost turned around to see if there was someone else in the room, but then the charismatic SG told him it was it, the program. Saitama-sensei had looked at him as if he did something weird so he calmed himself down, doing as if nothing had happened.

So his teacher knew nothing about this problem and Genos wanted to keep it like that like, forever, if he could. Talking about the program without remembering the jokes about his unreciprocated love was absolutely impossible and would be so embarrassing that he didn’t feel ready to deal with it yet. He sighed. 

“Can you stop sighing and finish the goddamn dishes so we can wait for him on his bed and finally tell him you want him to draw you as one of his french girls?”

Deciding to ignore the voice for the fifth time that day he continued to wash what was left and took off his apron when finished, sitting in front of the TV while waiting for his teacher to finish his relaxing bath –which Genos also decorated with candles so he could relax as much as possible–, and hoping he would finally get a clue.

“You do know there’s 0.5% a chance that’s gonna happen, don’t you.”

—Shut up. 

—I didn’t even say anything—, a playful voice said behind his back and Genos jumped a bit from the surprise, relaxing as soon as he saw it was Saitama, but then tensing again as he realized that his teacher thought he told him to “shut up”.

—I was talking to myself!—, he screamed. It wasn’t technically a lie, but he still felt bad for not telling him the entire truth.

—It’s okay, dude. Chillax—, he said while smiling and looking for his pajamas in the closet, which gave him the chance to admire his perfect body.

“Yeah, “admire”. More like “eat with the eyes” lol.”

Did the program just say “ lol ”? Whatever, he didn't want to waste his time thinking about it, better to focus on his teacher.

—Was the bath relaxing, Saitama–sensei?—, he asked with his hands in fists firmly on his knees, excited to hear the answer, hopefully with something else that could give him a clue if his methods worked.

—Oh, yeah, sure—, he answered while putting on the shirt—. Thanks for the candles by the way, it was a nice detail.

Even though his face showed no emotion at all as he replied “You’re welcome, sensei”, he was totally screaming on the inside and SG laughing as loud as it could, trying to say “told you so” in between, but failing. How was it possible for it to laugh in his head he didn’t know, but in his next visit to the doctor he would make sure to ask him to remove that.

Moving to the side he grabbed the futon and settled everything so they could sleep, all the time while still screaming internally, cursing his poor seducing skills and promising himself he would try harder next time. Maybe he should buy him that coat he saw him looking at a clothing shop window, and add a card with a nice and romantic quote with it.

“Oooor maybe you should just straight tell him! Haha, got the joke? Straight? No?”

He sighed.

“It was a good one, you’re just too serious and have bad humor.”

Saitama yawned, stretching his arms up over his head and showing a bit of his stomach. Genos quickly looked to the other side, feeling a bit of steam leave his body.

—I’m really worn out and can barely feel my legs, you going to sleep yet?—, his teacher asked, and he immediately nodded—. Then good night, Genos—, he said while yawning again and making himself comfortable in the futon. Genos rapidly did the same.

—Good night, Saitama–sensei—. he replied softly, hearing the already calm and steady breathing of his teacher.

“So, you ready for a boys chat ‘bout how to catch a man?”

Genos closed his eyes and wondered if it would be that terrible to hurt himself and blame the program so it could be removed.

Better to shut down for the night and fix everything in the morning.

Chapter Text

He could not fix everything in the morning.

Even though he tried to add some details that may seem romantic in every chore he usually did, his teacher still wouldn’t get a clue, and SG would laugh at it, giving him advice that were far too flirty, or sometimes even dirty, for him.

This situation kept happening for at least one week, and Genos was starting to feel frustrated and sad about it. Did his sensei actually realize about his feelings and was just pretending not to, so he wouldn’t be hurt by rejection? Or was he actually giving him incorrect signals? Maybe he should change the way he addressed him. Would his teacher be disgusted or bothered if he called him darling or something like that? Those were the kind of questions that kept him thinking all day and night, and almost made him lose a battle with a monster that wasn’t really powerful. So this situation was starting to feel like a big problem that couldn’t be solved easily, which made him distressed.

“Okay, serious talk now” , spoke the voice in his head when he was walking back home with Saitama after buying some things they needed. “Are you listening?”

He closed his eyes for a moment while still walking and then opened them.

“I’m guessing that’s a yes, but just to be sure, could you possibly do it again?” He did. “Was that a blink? Do it again.”

Genos suppressed a frustrated sigh and accomplished. Then SG chuckled.

“Sorry man, I know I said serious talk and stuff, but you’re just too funny” , said the voice and he couldn’t avoid but to grunt softly, trying not to call his teacher’s attention. “Fine, calm down. Geez.”

Genos rolled his eyes mentally and looked at his sensei out of the corner of his eye. The last soft rays of the sun covered him in an orange glowing halo, and the autumn leaves were falling all around him very gently, blown away by the calm wind. He turned his face completely to him and, if he would have had the need to breathe, now he wouldn’t be able to use it. It kind of felt like falling for him all over again.

“Wow.”

...What?

“That was a super gay thought.”

Genos frowned. For a moment there he thought that SG… no. Better not to think about that just in case he can’t filter his thinking again.

Saitama got distracted by a store they were passing by and his eyes immediately focused on the big signboard that announced a 60% discount on every summer shirt.

—Hey, Genos. I think I’m gonna give it a look, you coming?—, Saitama asked him with his eyes still glued on the placard and already moving to the store entrance.

—I’ll wait here for you, sensei. Take as much time as you need—, he replied. That’d give him some time to talk with the program.

Saitama nodded and entered the store with a pleased smile, probably thinking it was his lucky day just because of a discount. That was really cute, Genos thought. It was this kind of simple things that made his teacher happy, and it was very lovely, also one of the reasons he fell for him. He couldn’t wait for the day in which he could finally make him happy only by standing by his side, just as he felt when it happened the other way around. But, first, he had to take care of something.

—Why is it that sometimes you can read my thoughts, but when I try to talk to you with my mind you seem unable to hear it?—, he asked with a bit of anger slipping through his voice, frustration getting into him and starting to feel hard to deal with.

“Hey, calm down. I’ve no idea, I’m learning on the way just like you’re doing. Doctor made me to help you out, but I think that not even him knew what was going on. I’m kind of an experiment so… yeah, don’t think I can help you answer that. Not yet, at least.”

Genos sighed and tried to calm himself down. All this was very confusing, and tiring, and he didn’t know where to start to figure out how to behave with the program the Doctor installed, or how he should take it as. Was it really a program? Because it certainly neither felt nor acted like one.

“Look, I know it’s frustrating, but you should try to relax and just accept it, otherwise you’ll end up losing your mind... and we don’t want that, do we? You wouldn’t be able to see your sensei anymore.”

Was the last comment necessary? That only made him feel embarrassed, not relaxed.

—Ah, by the way—, he remembered the conversation earlier—. What did you want to talk about before? You said “serious talk”.

“Oh, yes! Totally forgot with all those gay thoughts around” , Genos frowned as it was becoming usual. “It’s about them, actually.”

—Spit it out already—, he demanded, his master could return at any second now and they wouldn’t be able to keep chatting.

“Fine, fine. Dayum, hold your horses, it’s only been a minute” , he rolled his eyes. “Geez, I only want to give you some advice. And one that you should take seriously, because I believe there’s no other way to make Saitama fully understand your feelings. And it’s by telling him. The absolute and undeniable truth. Straight to his face. Hell, scream it if you want! Or not, yeah, no, better not, that was a bad idea. Don’t scream.”

Even though he didn’t want to, he found himself unable to fight down a small smile that slowly made its way to his face, and after that he could only shake his head trying to compose himself. SG could be funny when it wanted, and its advice was actually entering his brain as an option. Since nothing seemed to work and his hopes were starting to fall, what else could he do? He had made his decision and changing it was out of the question, so their relationship staying as the way they were was not an option anymore. It was time to make his feelings clear.

Chapter Text

Back home they started making dinner together and enjoyed it while watching the TV, his sensei’s favorite anime on the screen. SG had been bugging him for a few minutes by now and Genos couldn’t be more anxious. He knew he had to tell him, but couldn’t find the right time to do it.

“C’mon, he’s ready. You just ate dinner, watched a kid’s cartoon and he’ll soon feel so tired he’ll want to sleep. Tell him now”. Easier to say than doing it.

Genos sighed and turned around so he could face Saitama directly. He’d been preparing himself the whole afternoon to do this, but first he needed to know a few things just to feel safe by saying it.

—Saitama–sensei, I want to ask you a few things—, Genos said while clenching his hands on his knees with his back straightened. Saitama sighed tiredly and changed his position of laying on the floor to face the cyborg.

—If it’s related to hero’s stuff… can’t it wait until tomorrow? I’m feeling really sleepy now—, he said the last words between a yawn while scratching his head.

—Oh, no. It’s about something else.

—Well, then… you look more serious than usual, you alright?—, Saitama asked with a frown.

—Yes, sensei. I’m just… I’ll ask you now—, his teacher nodded—. If… No, what do you think of people who like the same gender as theirs?

—You mean gays?—, he replied with an eyebrow raised.

—Yes.

—I don’t think anything—, Genos opened his mouth with a frown to ask what he meant, but he started speaking again immediately—. I mean, it’s their business, I don’t have anything to do with it.

—But if a boy– no, a man told you they love you… what would you think?—, he insisted.

—Why are you asking me this?

Genos froze. He tried to say something but nothing came out of his mouth and he started to panic, his internal gears moving erratically as his software threw code after code into his digital view. 

“Genos, calm down” , he blinked and realized SG hadn’t been speaking since he talked to his teacher. He had almost forgotten about its existence with so much nervousness.

—Has a male confessed to you?

What?

—What?

He looked at Saitama wondering why he had come to that conclusion.

“Is he seriously that oblivious? What am I asking, of course he is.”

—I… why do you think that, sensei?—, he asked instead, avoiding answering directly.

—Well—, he raised both of his eyebrows—. You asked me what I think about someone confessing to the same gender, and you usually ask me things you don’t know how to deal with, so… Is that the case? Did a man confess to you?—, he inquired with a serious semblance.

—Not… really. I...—, how was he supposed to tell him now? His teacher technically answered the question, but when it was meant for somebody else, not if it happened to him, so how would he know if his confession would be received as a good or a bad thing?

Saitama seemed relieved when he replied that, and his usual smile was back to his face, then he turned to the television again as if everything was resolved, but nothing was.

“I think you might have a chance” , the voice sounded a bit strained, but Genos couldn’t focus on that now that SG just told him something he was desperate to know.

—Sensei—, he tried again, hesitant. Saitama looked at him expectantly—. You haven’t answered my question—, his teacher seemed confused, tilting his head to the side—. What would you think if a man confessed to you?

—Ah! Yeah, I didn’t answer that… Mhm, well, if I have to be honest I wouldn’t think it’s disgusting, those are feelings yanno, every feeling of love is precious if the person feels it from the bottom of their heart, so I think I would accept them, but… probably wouldn’t be able to reciprocate them—, he finished with a carefree smile.

Genos looked at the floor, realizing his hands were clenching his pants a little too hard on his knees and were starting to make holes in it, so he freed them.

“If you ask me I’d totally tell him now. Even if he doesn’t reciprocate your feelings at least you’ll feel better with him knowing, right? Tell him.”

—No—, Genos whispered, closing his mouth in a thin line after saying it.

I don’t want to ruin the friendship we have now, it took me long enough to achieve it, I’m not going to lose it just because I couldn’t avoid falling in love with him , Genos thought loud enough for the program to hear it, his feelings of love, fear, sadness and determination helping him reach it. SG finally understood why he could hear him sometimes.

“Fine, fine. It’s your life after all, not mine” , said the program with a gloomy voice. “You can do whatever the hell you want, I give zero fucks.”

Genos almost gasped at how rude SG was being. He never heard it said such a bad word before, not with anger at least, so it was quite a shock.

SG didn’t say anything after that and Genos let it go, hoping it’d be fine once the program truly understood him. What was the doctor thinking when he added it to his software? Genos shook his head, he’d really have to pay him a visit soon.

Chapter Text

Days passed and SG remained silent after their discussion, and Genos couldn’t bring himself to go to Dr. Kuseno’s place to talk about it. Everything felt so uncomfortable in his own mind that he barely noticed a change in Saitama’s behavior towards him.

If he thought about it, he’d realize it also started after that fateful day. In the morning, Genos switched on to wake up with his sensei’s arm touching him all the way from his shoulder to the hand on his side, with his face merely a couple inches away, his teacher's left leg laying on his own while the foot rested on his other leg. He was literally sprawled all over him.

Genos almost jumped at the sight. Fortunately, his body wasn't working properly just yet, so he didn't actually move, although he did gasp, and that woke up Saitama-sensei anyway, who acted as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening and smiled at him while saying "good morning" just like every other day.

Then, after lunch and while Genos was washing the dishes, Saitama came up from behind him, startling him and asking if he needed any help, to which Genos obviously replied that he didn't, but then his teacher insisted, so he told him he could dry the dishes if he wanted. And he did, so they worked on it together for a few minutes, side by side, elbows, shoulders and hands touching every now and then, both in silence, with a very calm and warm atmosphere surrounding them. Genos felt the happiest he's ever been since his plan of seducing Saitama started, and wondered if it was finally working or if his sensei was only bored and that's why he asked to help. Anyhow, Genos was blissful, and he didn't even feel SG anymore, which only added to his happiness.

Later on, when they heard a monster scaring people close to the apartment, Genos jumped from his seat in front of the TV, next to Saitama, and rapidly went to help the remaining citizens, even though the creature seemed a level wolf. Then, while he was busy getting a few people out of the way by carrying them in his arms and shoulders, Saitama-sensei appeared by his side and took them in his own arms, smiling at him and telling him to go and destroy the monster. Without thinking twice, Genos did as told and killed the thing with a simple but hard kick.

That wasn't the first time they worked as a team, but it did feel different. Something about the way Saitama looked at him –and talked to him and stood by his side– told him that something had changed between them, but couldn’t really grasp it in his hands, unable to figure out what it was, what could have made him change, as if he was somewhat… softer, if that made any sense, towards him.

Behaviors like that kept happening on a daily basis, making Genos question himself and the situations a thousand times, reflecting about them every second he had free from his teacher’s presence and making him shut down close to dawn. That’s why he never noticed anything weird from the program inside his mind, which could see and feel everything Genos saw and felt.

Chapter Text

SG never felt like a program, if it had to be honest, but more like a mind trapped in someone else’s body. It didn’t exactly feel like a human either, but a robot was out of the question as well. Perhaps it was more like Genos than what it originally thought –wanted to believe–, and that only made it angry. How was that even possible if it was a program? How could it feel anger, sympathy, jealousy and attraction if it was supposed to follow rules and not emotions? Because it knew it felt all of those more than once, and it completely confused it at the beginning, but since it was better at handling its emotions than most humans did, it didn’t pass more than a day for it to realize that first: it was totally envious of Genos’ freedom to live as he pleased. Second: it felt sorry for how the monsters had to live in this society. And third: it was totally attracted to Saitama’s power and strength and body. So didn’t that make it more than just a software? Didn’t that also make it just a goddamn copy of what Genos is?

Maybe… maybe it was made to be like that, but why would doc do such a thing? It didn’t make sense, so what SG had to do now, instead of behaving like a freaking 4 year old kid who’s giving its brother the cold shoulder because he gets to have the toy it wanted, SG should go get some answers and solutions to this madness from the creator himself, and finally give it some rest from this situation. Therefore, its next move to be free is to go to Dr. Kuseno’s lab without Genos knowing, which was going to be a little difficult. But SG isn’t the kind of program that has a go back option if an idea has already been formulated, so it will try anyway, and since the only moment of the day in which Genos is partially oblivious to the world is when he shuts down, the plan will have to start at night.

The only problem left is the dumbass that can’t turn off his own mind until the beginning of dawn. That's why it's difficult.

Truth be told, if SG had a body of its own, it would totally slap its forehead and sigh in misery for a whole minute, but since it doesn’t, SG will just have to wait until Genos realizes he gets nothing out of it by thinking about the same thing for the hundredth time, and that not shutting down will only wear his gears out. And so it does, waits while watching the same roof Genos has watched the whole week for hours, and waits while counting the same little humidity stains decorating the walls that Genos couldn’t take off when he cleaned the entire room a month ago. But then, by some kind of magic or miracle, Genos decides to shut down earlier that night and SG goes into plan mode immediately.

Turning off the alarm in Genos’ software was pretty easy, since SG was the program supposed to make it better, among other stuff, but to take possession of his body it had to hack other programs, which took a while, but when it finally succeed, SG didn't waste any time and stood up from the futon, looking down at Saitama’s figure on the floor, watching him for the first time by its own willingness and not because of Genos.

SG thought Saitama was at his best while fighting, looked the most handsome, felt the most powerful, and while he slept… the cutest, warmest, but too vulnerable, and SG didn’t like that at all, because it meant he could be harmed, defenseless to the world… It meant he was human. That was a word SG was starting to see as an equal to weakness.

Humans needed protection, heroes to save them from everyday problems, from other humans, from monsters. Monsters who were rejected by society and now had to live by hiding, protecting each other the best they could, but always failing. How could heroes kill them when they were obviously weaker than them? SG knew there were powerful monsters, qualified as threats level god even, but they still lost the battle to heroes, Saitama and Genos themselves. SG also knew monsters had killed humans, but weren’t they the ones who made them do it? By making them horrible creatures with little to no brains, only thirsty for blood and animal instincts when it was obviously the contrary. Most of the monsters did have brains and could think of strategies very quickly, SG had seen it through Genos eyes, and they also didn’t kill to feed, only a few of them did, but they mostly fed of human’s sins, so they needed them to grow, but could also live without them, right? Technically, humans were the race that didn’t want to live among other races, but were totally unnecessary to the world, always ruining the ecosystem in different ways and killing everything in their path. That’s another reason SG doesn’t like them.

Looking at Saitama for the last time through Genos’ eyes, SG walked to the door, stopping with Genos’ hand in the door handle for a few seconds, doubting if this was actually the best option. But there were no other options, not if he truly wanted to be free, so it opened the door and departed with one single place in mind.

SG hoped Dr. Kuseno would agree right away. He didn’t want to hurt him.

Chapter Text

Genos started the process of waking up by feeling disoriented. There were fluorescent lights on the ceiling, which was clearly not the ones in Saitama’s house, and strangely familiar mechanic tools everywhere.

Rapidly, he sat from what seemed to be a repair table, like the one in Dr. Kuseno’s lab… exactly the place where he was, if the GPS was working properly now.

Confused, he looked around, searching for the doctor’s figure, which was nowhere to be found, so he stood, feeling like there was something missing besides the fact that he didn’t know how he got there at all, since when, and why. There was something in his mind that didn’t feel right, but neither bad, it was… strange. Empty.

Suddenly, one of the doors in the room opened and the doctor finally appeared, however, he wasn’t alone, and Genos’ instincts kicked right away, preparing him for battle, even though he couldn’t see what it was yet, but the doctor seemed calm, so he tried to relax while still being alert of whatever was behind him.

—Genos! You’re up—, Kuseno confirmed with a soft smile—. You’re probably wondering why you’re here—, he paused, waiting for an answer, but Genos didn’t even move, feeling as if something was about to happen, something he probably wouldn’t like—. You’ll see… about SG, I had to do something. He was bothering you, wasn’t he? And it seems that he didn’t feel comfortable intruding your mind either.

Why was the doctor talking about the program as a “he” when he himself presented it to him as “it”? Genos definitely wasn’t going to like whatever was going to happen now.

—What did you do?—, he firmly asked, not wanting to be rude, but still needing to know quickly.

Dr. Kuseno cleared his throat once while looking at the floor, then he stood to the side and let the thing behind him come closer to the light.

Genos couldn’t believe his eyes. In front of him was himself, but at the same time it wasn't. In front of him was a different Genos, a red one. Where he himself was gold, the other was red, and his hair black. What was this? A bad joke? Was his software failing?

—Hi there, Genos.

That was SG’s voice. But that couldn’t be. It was supposed to just be a program, something installed in his mind, a voice with no body.

Genos took a step back, his shock clearly showing on his face, which made the robot in front of him laugh.

—Don’t be so shocked, it was obvious it’d happen eventually, although I would’ve chosen a different appearance, but Doc right here did his best trying to find one that’d fit me—, he patted the doctor’s shoulder—. Actually, only stuff that belonged to you was left for me to use, but it's whatever. We’re totally like brothers now! Don’t you think?—, SG smiled showing all of his teeth, looking quite scary. He had definitely chosen those, the old shark teeth Genos had had once at a younger age, in his dark phase.

He didn’t know what to say. For the first time in a while Genos was speechless. The last time that happened he saw the word “death” in Saitama’s fist, directed at him but stopped a few inches away from his face. That was also the first time he realized he was in love with him. But the sensation then was nice in the end, the one he was feeling right now was far from being welcomed.

—The only thing that makes us different now is your brain, you know, since you’re a cyborg and I’m a robot—, he said while getting closer to him—. I think I’m cooler though, red is a powerful color—, he smiled while resting his arm on Genos’ shoulder—. Gold is… meh—, he giggled.

Genos frowned and walked to Dr. Kuseno, letting SG’s arm fall without paying him any attention.

—I don’t think this was a good idea—, he whispered. His body tense and his gears felt like burning from all the thinking he was doing while trying to control himself from executing anything horrible—. He’s not the kind of robot you want out there, Doctor.

—I didn’t have an option, Genos. He came here with your body, he was controlling it at his own will without you even knowing—, he whispered back, his eyes had worry reflecting on them, but it seemed as if he was also trying to hide it, since SG was still in the room, probably hearing everything. Genos looked over his shoulder and saw SG with his arms crossed, but when he noticed he was being watched he happily waved at them—. Don’t worry—, the doctor spoke again, making him turn his head to face him—, I didn’t install the best equipment on him. He has normal hearing, sight, and basic weapons, so he’s essentially an armed and armored human.

Genos sighed worried. Who knows what he did while using his body, but at least it wasn’t a threat. Not for him anyway, so if anything happened he’d be able to stop him. SG presumably didn’t know about this, he would’ve totally argued and tried to have improvements, but it seemed as if he was far too excited because of his new body, immersed in the freedom it gave him, that nothing else mattered. He could finally take control of where he wanted to go or what he wanted to do. He finally had his own body, so it probably didn’t even occur to him that he wasn’t actually the same as Genos when it came to strength and power.

—Just… take care of him, teach him. It seems like he doesn’t know what’s appropriate or the differences between good and evil—, Kuseno warned him, worry still present in his eyes.

—No, Doctor. He does know, he just doesn’t care—, Genos informed him. He knew SG was conscious of the meanings of these concepts, he had been in his mind long enough to know it, so he also knew he didn’t really care about “mundane” things like that. Now that SG was a robot, Genos feared he’d truly act as he pleased, not thinking about morals at all.

Dr. Kuseno sighed defeated, looking older than usual. Genos smiled at him, trying to give him some sort of comfort, and placed his hand on his shoulder.

—I’ll take care of him, don’t worry. He won’t become a threat—, Genos promised him, turning around after letting go of his shoulder and prepared himself to face SG—. Let’s go.

Chapter Text

Going home with a human newborn surely must be nicer than with a robotic one, crying included.

It was as if everything was new to him, even though he saw it all through Genos’ eyes before. He supposed it was a bit understandable; after all, he was seeing with his own two eyes this time. Still, couldn’t he keep his thoughts to himself? Did he really have to say everything that came to his mind out loud? There were people nearby that could hear them, and it wasn’t as if SG cared enough to keep it PG13.

—Should I masturbate when we get home? I asked doc for a dick but dunno if I’ll actually feel pleasure by stroking a hose.

Genos didn’t stop himself from slapping his hand onto SG’s mouth.

An old lady looked at them badly, probably judging them, so he made a 90º bow as a quick apology and then turned around to look at SG, who was shamelessly looking down to the inside of his borrowed pants. Genos frowned and went to take him by the arm, dragging him home faster.

—Hey, relax. I wanna go check the park and maybe buy something—, he gasped and stopped in his tracks—. I can eat ice cream!

Genos turned to him and spoke firmly without releasing him.

—First of all, no, we have to go home to talk and assert some things. Second, you have no money to buy anything and I’m not lending you any. Third, it’s winter, eating ice cream won’t help you unfreeze your gears more than it does walking in a weather like this, which is why we should hurry to get back. Do you understand?—, he knew that asking that last thing with a condescending tone was provoking him, but he felt angry and frustrated and, above all, worried, so he couldn’t bring himself to care just yet.

SG was an inferior robot compared to Genos, to the point that he neither had a software nor a hardware to help him with weather problems, but a very annoying one nonetheless.

He then stared at him with both hands on his hips for a few seconds before clicking his tongue and exhaling an exhausted sigh while dropping his head back, defeated. 

—Such a piss baby—, SG murmured under his breath and glared at the floor in a poor attempt to hide his pout from him, then looked up—. Fine! Fine, whatever. Let's go home see that sensei of yours. I kinda wanna see his reaction, actually—, his eyes lit up—. Do you think he'll like me better than you?

The question was asked in a very innocent tone, but Genos knew better and saw something he didn't like at all in these red eyes and angular face, so similar to himself and yet so different. 

He kept silent, but his expression revealed a very clear "I doubt it" that bothered SG, if his scowling was anything to go by.

—Let's go—, he persisted, and this time the robot followed without making a single retort.

This fact worried Genos a little, but as soon as they reached their district, he sensed the excitement from the other grow until he could almost see him vibrate by trying to contain himself. If it weren't for Genos paying close attention and sticking very close to him without touching him, he'd have probably run home to slam open the door. Luckily, that wasn't the case, and their apartment was finally on sight soon enough, at a good distance where he could use his infrared optics for thermal imaging, helping him see through his home and noticing Saitama-sensei wasn’t there. Could he be looking for him? Probably not. Surely he was aiding citizens by combating monsters or saving them from fires, or accidents or–

—D’you think Saitama’s at that marathon where they give you free water and snacks at the end of it?

Genos didn’t reply.

Once they reached the door SG couldn’t help himself and stepped in front of him to open it with as much strength as he could muster, which wasn’t enough to rip it off, but enough to make it leave a dent on the wall. He also screamed “I’m home!” to no one, but he couldn’t have known without infrared lenses, so Genos once again chose not to say anything and calmly closed the door behind him, trying to think of what could he possibly say to make the robot want to go back to being a program or, at least, behave himself, but both options seemed equally impossible.

He had to try though, he’d promised the doctor.

—Saitama?!—, SG screamed around while opening every door in the apartment, which weren’t many, so he went back to the entrance very quickly—. He’s not home—, he spoke to Genos with wide eyes, looking out of his mind, and if it wasn’t for the fact that he was a robot, he’d be breathless. 

Genos frowned.

—He will be back soon, probably. So while we wait for him we’ll establish some rules.