Chapter 019 - Eyes Up Here

I sit in front of the coffee table and touch my neck. I lay my other hand on the table and press my breasts on top of it. I raise my chin and look down at Lily who is taking pictures of me.

"Kyaaa!" she squeals. "You are so pretty, Miss Fubuki!"

I remove my arms from my neck and ask, "Really?"

"Really! You are very pretty! More, please!"

I place my hand back on the side of my neck and do a couple more poses. We are in Saitama's apartment and the two men are not here so, I invited Lily in. We plan to put into action the seduction plans that she and I concocted. I am not sure if it will work though. It all sounds stupid.

"Ah! I know!" Lily exclaims as if she is more excited about the picture taking rather than the reason why she is here. She goes out of the apartment and I wait. I sit up straight and look around the room. It is clean as before. No unwashed dishes. The futon is well placed on the side. No dirt can be seen, unless on the veranda. This apartment is clean, perhaps, it is even cleaner than my unit.

The door opens, and Lily comes inside while pulling a chair into the room.

"Let's use this as props!" she excitedly exclaims. She wipes the chair and pats it. "Sit here. Sit here."

I frown. She is really too excited about this. Yet, I patronize her.

"Sit sideways. Place your hands on the back. Lean your chin. Cross your legs. Look here. Kyaaa! That's perfect!" she squeals and proceeds to take more pictures.

The door suddenly opens and both Genos and Saitama come into the room.

"What?! You are here again?!" Genos grunts his disapproval.

"I live here now, little boy."

"Where did you find the chair?" Saitama asks.

He stands before me and looks at the chair—and me. I blush at the blatant gaze. I know what I should say, but somehow, it is so hard to let it out, especially after that confession on the beach.

I glance at Lily, and she is urging me to say the words. We had a list of those cringe-worthy phrases. I look up at Saitama. His eyes are not on my face, rather he is still evaluating the chair—and hopefully, me as well.

With my heart thumping so hard against my ribcage, I say, "My eyes are up here, honey."

I wince. My tone sounds so assured, but I can feel the warmth on my cheeks. His eyes go up my face and stay there for a while. Under his gaze, my courage starts to shatter. I can feel it crumbling and I want so much to hide from him.

He places his hand on his chin and asks, "What are you doing with the chair, Fubuki? It's too bulky. Take it out." Then, he looks away and goes to the kitchen, probably to keep the food he is carrying for later consumption.

I collapse on the chair. I exhale heavily and I realize I forgot to breathe earlier.

Lily goes to me. "Are you okay?" she asks.

"I am. But I am exhausted."

Genos smirks. He is now wearing an apron. I am not sure when and where he took it. "Fubuki, you are living here now, but ask your visitor to leave. It will be lunch soon."

"We brought food. So, you don't need to prepare."

"There's pork stew here. Did you guys bring this in?" Saitama interjects. He carries the pork stew and places it on the coffee table.

"Meat?" Genos asks.

Saitama opens the cover of the food containers and confirms, "It is meat."

"Saitama-sensei, it's your favorite. It also has some cabbages."

Then, Genos looks at me and says, "For now, I will forgive you. Be thankful that this is Saitama-sensei's favorite ingredient."

"But Fubuki, take the chair out of the unit," Saitama orders.

I grimace. I stand up and take out the chair. I leave it outside, just beside the door, I place my hands on my waist and take a few breaths. I need to recharge if I am going to look for openings in the conversation. Lily advised I need to say some of those embarrassing phrases.

Once I calm down, I enter the unit again. The instant I close the door, I hear Lily arguing with Genos.

"Stop being a crabby, old man!" she says.

"I am not an old man," Genos responds. "Besides, you are older than me."

She waves her hand at him. "You are a man though. And so, I will call you an old man. Half-truths can pass as truth."

That logic is full of holes. Should I really trust her for these seduction strategies? It even left Genos lost for words. It's obvious he doesn't know how to respond to it.

"That's stupid," he finally says.

"Said by the stupid," she retorts.

I sit with them and take my plate. Lily made sure that everyone has their utensils.

She shifts her attention to me. "Let's have another pictorial tomorrow!" she proposes.

"If you do more of these activities rather than training, then you will stay as weak as you are."

Lily ignores Genos' taunts and instead, she suggests, "Genos and Saitama, you can watch us. I had a lot of pictures earlier. I will give you some."

"Hey!" I complain but Lily just winks at me.

"Why would we watch that? Besides, Saitama-sensei will be out tomorrow for work. He's a busy man."

Lily points at his chest. "You are not busy. You can watch."

"S-class are called from time to time. Especially now that there is a rise in monster activities."

"Then, Saitama can stay. He's a B-class. If we are free, surely he is free as well."

"No," is Saitama's curt reply.

"Too bad. But I know you'll have time to watch it. Besides, we plan to do this every day! Right, Miss Fubuki?"

My mouth hangs open. Every day?!

"We plan to create a calendar of sorts and sell it. The profit will be for the progress of Blizzard Group."

"You-You will sell my pictures?"

She winks at me and I feel relieved. She's kidding, thankfully. I am not yet ready to be on a calendar. I know I am pretty and sexy, but it's something that I need to prepare for.

"We will!" Lily lies. "So I will be here every day."

"You are overextending your stay, Fubuki," Genos comments.

Saitama finishes his food and says, "Just leave the dishes on the sink. I will wash them later."

"I thought Genos do the dishes?" I ask.

"No, we alternate."

"Then, include me in that. Since I will live here for quite a while."

"Well, at least you have decided to become useful to Saitama-sensei, Fubuki. But you won't be as useful as me to him."

Saitama crawls towards the TV and turns it open. Genos stops midway. There is a whirring sound coming off his body. Then his gaze goes outside and whispers, "Murderous intent detected. A quarter of a mile from here."

Lily's mouth made a huge 'O' while I perk up. I feel the same intent, but it's not… technically a monster. Genos gears up for a battle and Lily tenses up. Saitama, on the other hand, is unconcerned, or probably, he can't feel it, being B-class and all.

"I am sorry, but that aura is not from a monster." I place my bowl of soup on the table and add, "That's my older sister, Tatsumaki."