Stalking Destiny chapter 1 rewritten | original post | AO3 link.
Author’s Notes: I hope everyone else is enjoying season two of OPM like I am! and I want to apologize to all my loyal fans waiting three years for me to return for OPM. alijsdfklksejfd.
I rewrote the first chapter to fix spelling and grammar errors - but also to match my current writing style since it has changed since 2016 and I didn’t beta read it when I first wrote it. All the content is the same, just better worded! I also rewrote this because I’m writing the second chapter (coming within this week) so I wanted the first chapter to flow well for it!
Again the idea for this fic was spawned by @wamaii , I’m finishing this soon my pal lol
Chapter 1: The Meeting
It had been three months now.
Three months of having to deal with the incessant stalking of the great villain, Saitama. It had taken him two weeks to first realize that the villain had been watching him and it wasn’t just a coincidence that he was seeing the villain out more often in the areas he frequented. He had happened to look over his shoulder while walking to school because he thought he heard a friend calling his name when he saw him. The bald headed villain sticking halfway out from an alley, acting like he was completely hidden as he stared intensely at the blonde. When the villain had realized they had locked eyes, he only moved an inch more into the alleyway, no doubt thinking that would be enough to hide his form. Genos at that point quickly turned around and quickened his pace to school.
At first, he had been frightened. Why would the villain known for dealing so much destruction be following him? It didn’t help that Saitama wasn’t exactly being discreet about it. Sometimes, Saitama had a hideous, cheap, brown wig on his bald head, struggling to keep it on on windy days. Other times he sat on a bench on the school campus, eyeing at him through two holes cut in a newspaper for his eyes. Eventually thoughts sparked up in Genos’ mind: ‘what the fuck is he doing? Who does he think he’s fooling?’ But, no matter where Genos went, that villain was sure to be there.
Progressively, his feelings had moved from fear to confusion to irritation. He was in college and he was trying hard to keep his 4.0 GPA up, something he prided himself in since middle school. Genos was a dedicated person when it came to school and he wanted to get his degree as fast as possible; and this villain was posing a threat to his perfectionism. Genos was losing his concentration. The unknown of why the villain Saitama was following him ate him up from the inside out. He couldn’t even hang out with his friends to relax and get his mind off things because he was always there. His limits were breaking from this annoying, bald headed freak who just wouldn’t stop watching him!
That day had been particularly hard on him.
He had to sprint just to make it to his first class of the day, nearly missing it. A teacher had called him out after class, worried that he wouldn’t make an A+ for the grading period which was highly unusual given Genos’ track record. In another class, he had gotten a C on a test; that Genos had to beg the teacher to let him retake. The cream of the crop? His favorite sandwich was out at the cafeteria. At this point the blond’s patience was diminished so low he had nearly nothing left to deal with the stalker hot on his heels as he walked home from school. Honestly, if the man was trying to stalk the blonde, didn’t he know he had to put distance between them and make it not noticeable? The villain wasn’t even five feet back from him - in that ridiculous wig! He was using the last shreds of his patience to desperately try and ignore the heavy footsteps behind him, clutching tightly to the straps of his book bag.
Something snapped in Genos and he just couldn’t take it anymore. He was the reason he was beginning to slip up in his studies! He stopped walking and spun around, finger already up to point at the man in the hideous wig - for fuck’s sake anyone could tell he was bald and had slapped a toupee on! Anyone could fucking tell who it was!
Saitama nearly collided into the finger that pointed accusingly at him, but managed to stop in his tracks. His wide eyes stared down at the blond, unable to believe he was face to face with the cute, freckled face Genos. Saitama thought he was so much cuter than that cyborg Genos, and a whole lot slimmer. Also, compared to cyborg Genos who had been his own height, Genos was much shorter than he thought he’d be. He was also a thousand times cuter up close than afar.
“Stop fucking stalking me, villain!” Genos’ bark of sharp words snapped Saitama out of his thoughts. His mouth flailed open and closed like a fish out of water.
“I… I… m-my name…” Saitama felt absolutely powerless in this moment. Why? Was it because he was faced with the one thing he had been searching for the last year since he had come back from the hero alternate dimension? Saitama attempted to swallow his nerves as the blond’s hot glare dug into him like a knife. “I-I am… E-Eggb-b-bert…” His voice sounded so deflated. Where was all that fire he had earlier when he had pepped himself that today was the day he’d finally talk with Genos? That was the whole reason he had tailed him so close today!
“Cut the crap! I know it’s you, anyone could see, you’re the villain Saitama!” Genos was angry, upset the villain would even think such a stupid name and scheme would work on him like he was dumb.
Saitama opened his mouth to dispute Genos, but nothing came out. After a few silent minutes of nothing, a gentle breeze uprooted the wig from his shiny dome and sent it flying. Mentally he bid goodbye to the five dollars he spent on it from the tacky shop he had bought it from. His cover had literally blown away.
“I know that fucking bald head anywhere! You’re all over TV. And you’ve been stalking me for the past three months.”
Saitama felt like he had no strength in him; not even the strength to engage with his infamous, lame comeback that he wasn’t the bald one, but Genos was.
“I’m sick and tired of it. You’re ruining my life following me around!” Genos’ hands moved to stand firmly on his hips as his feet stood a shoulders’ width apart, his torso bent forward slightly as he was giving the villain Saitama a lecture for his life. “My grades are slipping; my friends don’t even want to hang out with me because you’re always around - I can’t concentrate anymore!” Genos felt like tearing at his hair as he glared daggers at the man. “Why the fuck are you stalking me in the first place? Do you have a problem with me?”
Saitama stared blankly at the man. “I…uh…um…” All words escaped him and he stood there, staring at the beauty before him. He was completely powerless, all thanks to a loss of words.
“Stop stalking me, or I’ll call the police!” Genos turned on his heel and angrily walked back home, leaving the villain in his dust.
When Genos got home he felt like punching a wall to let out all of his frustrations, but instead he did his best to focus on studying for the test he’d have to retake. When he failed, he did his best to sleep. Sleep didn’t come easy for him however, and he was suddenly wrought with the thought he could have died with the way he had talked to the very well known villain Saitama. He groaned into his hands as they covered his face. “What does he want from me?” Genos had never seen such a desperate look before. Saitama had looked at him like he had so much to say yet he had said nothing at all. He had looked incredibly weak. Genos let out a heavy sigh as he turned on his side, staring at the shades covering his window that was parted just enough to let a sliver of the moon peak into his room. That had not been the villain that was depicted all over the media…
Meanwhile, as soon as Genos had left, Saitama did not follow him back to his home like usual. Instead, he watched Genos’ figure retreat. His hand moved on its own, bunching his shirt into his fist as it rested on his chest, in a motion that almost seemed he was trying to clutch at his heart. “Damn.” His face contorted for a second into a scowl. “Is this what the hero me feels for the cyborg version?” Was he feeling happiness over Genos calling him bald, at talking so crudely to him, at finally coming face to face with the boy and talking to him? (Even if Genos was the one who had done all the talking.) He couldn’t even blame the kid for the outburst. He had been stalking Genos, and maybe he really wasn’t the best at hiding it.
This wasn’t his fault though! It was Genos’ fault. It was his fault for not coming to his side sooner. It was his fault for letting him become so dark. It was his fault for not saving Saitama. His mood progressively darkened and the people who were walking the streets took their time to completely avoid him. Yes. It was all Genos’ fault. “All your damn fault I’m like this.”
The poisonous depression rolled over him then dissipated until he felt nothing again. Like always, nothing and no one stopped him from breaking a few buildings.
All of a sudden Saitama was gone.
For two whole weeks he was able to relax and get his scores back up to his acceptable A+ status. Genos could have forgotten the villain had stalked him in the first place if the news would let him forget his existence. There were more recent sightings of Saitama destroying buildings and terrorizing people. As he watched the news each night, he felt some part of him that wanted to dispute it all. If he was such a villain, why had he been left completely speechless when confronted by a mere college student about his stalking? Was the villain in love with him or something? Genos scoffed at the idea, refocusing on his books and trying to refocus his mind. “That’s absurd… a heartless villain wouldn’t have such feelings.” His brown eyes gravitated to the television screen as they showed a close up of Saitama’s face from a traffic light camera. “...right?” Genos found the remote in his hand, clicking the pause button. He leaned his cheek into his other hand that had now forgotten he had been trying to write notes. He stared at the face on the screen in silence for a long time.
“He’s kind of handsome…”
His grades were back to normal and so was his mind. As a nice treat to release all the remaining tension caused from the three month long stalking trip, Genos had decided to go out one night with two of his friends to the arcade near the park.
They had been playing on one of the machines when their laughter and teasing was interrupted by the machine jolted on its own. They exchanged glances and looked back at the machine which was oddly silent. Genos reached out to touch it but the machine suddenly jumped up! Genos gasped, eyes wide as they all scrambled back.
The machine was turning into a monster! All of a sudden it was warping into a hideous mix of the skee ball machine and a humanoid figure. It was a massive, twisted result of machinery and man.
“I AM SPAWNED FROM THE TERRIBLE TREATMENT FROM YOU HUMANS. YOU TREAT US MACHINES LIKE DIRT, AND KICK US WHEN YOU DON’T GET YOUR WAY. I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL FOR THE TREATMENT OF MY BRETHREN AND MYSELF.” The machine howled in anger. The howl seemed to ‘wake’ the other machines as they began to glow and jolt just as the skee ball machine had done.
People were already screaming all around the arcade and beginning to run. The fun arcade games were turning into monsters! Genos look to his friends and shouted over the deafening noise of so many machines whirring to an impossible life, “We have to get out of here!” They joined the late night crowd in running to the doors of the arcade. Genos struggled to keep up with his friends who were ahead of him, and a quick glance over his shoulder confirmed the increased volume of clunking was the machines beginning to give chase. As they reached the doors he glanced around at the chaos, so many running for their lives. This had to be terror that he was feeling - and it propelled him to run faster.
“Keep going!” He shouted to his friends as they reached outside, pointing down the sidewalk. “Run, I’ll try and distract it!” As much as the terror shook his body, these were his friends.
“Genos! What the hell are you talking about?”
“We can’t just leave you behind!”
He had to protect them; no matter how stupid it was to act like a hero when he wasn’t a hero.
“Just go!” Genos yelled, eyes bright with determination as he began to run across the street. He glanced over his shoulder as the arcade’s automatic glass doors broke with the machinery monsters breaking out. Thankfully his friends had already began to run down the sidewalk.
“COME BACK HERE. LET ME SHOW YOU THE SAME TREATMENT THAT YOU SHOWED US.”
He was relieved they didn’t purse his friends or other fleeing patrons - but now they were giving chase to him. His breath caught in his throat as he turned back towards the park and sprinted towards it. Maybe he could lose them in the trees or get them to somehow fall into the pond. He wasn’t sure what he could do, but at least he knew his friends were safe.
Genos’ lungs burned as he ran through the park, panting, as he tried to lose the monsters. He was honestly terrified. He wasn’t sure what would happen to himself, but he knew people died every day that a monster appeared. His eyes burned at the thought that he would be in that statistic. He was thrown out of his thoughts literally as his ankle was caught and twisted painfully in a tree root, sending him flying forward and flat on his face. He cried out in pain and rolled onto his back, gasping for air. His chest heaved as he tried desperately to catch his breath and quiet himself. He could hear the rustling of the machines in the distance. He could guess they must have split up to cover more ground. They would probably look for other teenagers who might be in the park. Once it quieted down he could get up, escape the park, and run home to safety.
“FOUND YOU.”
Genos shrieked as the machine came into his line of sight a few feet away. He scrambled into a sitting position and tried to pull at the root which seemed to tighten its hold on his ankle. It hurt. He was scared. Genos could feel hot tears falling down despite his stubborn and scowling face. He didn’t want to cry when he was about to die, but everything he still wanted to do was flashing before his mind while he tried to still break free from the root. He hadn’t done a damn thing in the world. He hadn’t done anything memorable! He had only kept his nose stuck in a book his entire life!
The machine raised its fist as it screeched out in revenge, “I WILL DESTROY ALL YOU HUMANS.” He’d be crushed underneath the machine’s fist. Feebly, with the last ounce of protection he could give himself, he raised his arms up over his face. At least this way he wouldn’t see when the fist came down. “STARTING WITH YOU!”
Was this his death bed?
“Oi.” A deep, gravely voice thrust itself into the mix. Genos moved his arms at the voice and only caught a blur of black and red. His body was pushed back by a sudden gust of wind, landing back on his elbows. He gasped with his wide eyes staring in disbelief at the glint from the moon atop a shiny, bald crown.
“Saitama!” It was like a huge wind was knocked out of him at the name. Where had he come from?
There the villain stood, holding the machine up by, what was supposed to be, his neck. Saitama’s eyes were a dangerous red glare at the face of the monster. Genos could see the waves of anger rolling off of him in the same way his cape billowed out behind him.
“He’s mine.” The villain raised his other hand into a fist, and just like that - the monster was gone. Genos stared in awe. He had taken the monster out with just one punch. One punch… It brought about another fact to marvel at: Saitama had just saved his life. “Easy…” He heard the villain mumble to himself before he turned to Genos. Genos felt his body go rigid as Saitama walked over to him before he knelt down at his feet. Easily, the villain tore the root off of Genos’ ankle. Genos felt frozen as he stared at the villain. “Ah, you might’ve twisted your ankle with that fall. ...was kind of funny seeing you fall.” No smile accompanied his words. Had Saitama been watching him this entire time? Saitama looked up at Genos with relief before his eyes widened in slight shock and he reached out with a gloved hand.
Genos pulled his face back from the outreached hand and the villain rethought his action, bringing his hand to his own face. He scratched a little underneath his eye with his gloved finger. He was giving him a look like he expected him to know what he was trying to say without words.
“Huh?” Genos was confused, but brought a hand to his face to touch his fingertips just beneath his eye. “Oh.” How embarrassing! There were fat, wet tears still falling from his eyes. Quickly, he yanked his sleeve down over his hand and rubbed his eyes till the tears ceased. He couldn’t believe the villain had seen him crying! Saitama had to find it deplorable, laughable even. The villain said nothing, and simply stood to his feet. After a moment of awkwardly standing there, he extended his hand to Genos. Genos stared at it. “What?” His voice was quiet. Saitama jolted his hand to get his point across, unable to look at the blond. The dots connected and slowly Genos took his hand. After taking it though, he squeezed it. The squeeze caused Saitama to stop before he could pull the boy up off the ground. “Why?” Genos looked at their hands, eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.
Saitama stared down at the boy and used his free hand to rub the back of his neck. He didn’t say a thing and just pulled the boy up as gently as he possibly could.
Genos could only go with the motions as he was pulled back onto his feet. However, as soon as he was up, he winced and a soft hiss left his lips from the pain that shot from his right ankle up through his entire leg. The pain was horrible (and Saitama hadn’t let go of his hand) so he went crashing forward into the villain’s chest. Saitama was the one who went rigid next, still as Genos used him for support. Genos knew he wouldn’t be able to put any weight on his hurt leg.
Saitama swore to himself he was about to let out a very strangled, strange sound and so he turned abruptly, nearly pushing the kid off. Genos was surprised and was about to move back, but Saitama hadn’t let go of his hand yet. Instead, Saitama had turned his back to him before he crouched down to the ground.
“What are you doing?” Was there a hint of pink on the villain’s cheeks or was the moon playing tricks on him?”
“Don’t make me say it.” His voice was gruff, but Genos could hear no malice in it. As if to elaborate, Saitama yanked his hand so Genos was forced to lose his balance and brace himself against the waiting back. Finally, Genos wrapped his arms loosely against the villain’s neck which prompted the villain to let go of his hand so he could loop his arms underneath his knees. He couldn’t believe Saitama was offering him a piggyback ride.
As soon as he was settled, Saitama began the walk out of the park and back into the city with Genos on his back. As they walked out of the park, Genos noticed there were strewn mechanical parts littered everywhere as if a tornado had blown through the area. Had Saitama defeated all the machines? Genos looked at the back of the bald head before slowly he noticed their surroundings changing. He knew the route very well. The villain was taking him back to his home. It didn’t surprise him that he would know the way given he had stalked Genos for so long. Honestly, it would’ve been more surprising if he didn’t know the way.
His heart pounded in his chest as Saitama walked, and he could only hope that Saitama couldn’t feel it against his back. Genos was more confused than ever before. First, the villain stalked him. Second, he didn’t say a word when Genos confronted him and could only blub his mouth around like a fish. Third, he just disappeared out of nowhere except for being shot on television for destroying cities. Fourth, he showed up out of the blue after two weeks of nothing, and saved Genos. What was with this guy?
“You’re a villain,” It was a fact he stated out loud that he knew Saitama had heard but it didn’t garner him a response. “So, why did you save me?” Genos stared at the cape he was resting his cheek against, focused on the way the muscles beneath the suit began to relax as if he had let out a rather long exhale.
“You’re supposed to save me.” Genos nearly didn’t catch the soft spoken words. He tilted his chin up so he could look over Saitama’s shoulder, staring at the profile of his face. Genos’ eyes softened considerably. Handsome… Genos didn’t understand the villain’s words, but he squeezed his arms around his neck a little tighter and pressed his face into the back of his neck. He allowed himself to close his eyes and relax in the strong grip that kept him up.
Happy birthday to the wonderful @wamaii!!! Since you love all things creepy and mysterious, I mixed up some of your favs! hope you had a fantastic day♥
