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I think I know Genos better than anyone.
Now, I don't mean to say that in an arrogant way, but it's true. I've seen every side of him. How many people can say that they get to see that? I bet not a lot. That's why it makes me so mad when people don't listen to me. 'I know about him more than you! Shut up!' I'd yell that a lot. People are thick sometimes. They haven't seen Genos like I've seen him.
I remember the first time I saw him cry.
It was a Tuesday. Sunny, No clouds at all. Genos had gotten a call out for S-Class hero's to take down some monster in City Y. I offered to go with him since I needed to stop by the store anyways, but he turned me down. Said it "Isn't worth sensei's time."
A couple hours later I was beginning to think it was taking him too long, but there were some times when Genos was out late. It was usually whenever he got himself beat up real bad. That logic is what made me go and check on him.
On my way to the area of destruction, I passed by a couple of S-Class hero's leaving. Bang was the one who told me the monster was defeated, and when I asked him about Genos he just shrugged. "He's a teenager. Let him roam off."
I rationalized that to myself. Genos WAS his own person, he didn't have to report to me or anything. I guess I'm just so used to him being around that it's a little weird if he isn't. If that thought wasn't weird enough, I was still going towards the site of the fight. Just in case.
When I got there, of course he was gone. But he could still be close-by. I looked around the area until I heard some shrieks a couple of streets down. When I got there, I watched Genos take down some stupid fish-monster that had kidnapped a child. He made quick work of the thing and returned the child to his parents. The kid was small and blonde.
When the parents got their child back they thanked Genos and hugged the kid, walking away and probably going home. Genos just... stood there. He stood there for a solid two minutes before oil began to drip down his face.
'He's crying' I thought to myself, the pitiful and saddening feeling settling down in my lower stomach. I stood there and watched the only person I really talked to break down for once. I thought about how that blonde child probably reminded Genos of himself. I thought about how other people looked, but just ignored him and kept walking. I thought about how I was just standing there, watching him cry.
That night, I returned before him and watched him come home. He looked perfectly fine, the only thing noticeable being the little oil smudge on his lower right cheek. Something I wouldn't have ever noticed.
I looked at him differently. I knew at that moment that he was still human. He felt and hurt and needed. Genos was just a person.
That was one side. The next is one of my favorites.
It was Wednesday. Overcast. Winter time. Genos was making tea and I was just watching the snow out the window.
I remember it came down very slowly, little flakes of pure white that seemed undisturbed by our shared warmth. I enjoyed it because it didn't have purpose or pattern, it was just like me.
Genos had returned to my side without me having to look. We had both just sort of become... aware of the others presence.
He gave me my tea and sipped his own, and for a few minutes it was just the two of us. No other person to exist in the world.
And in those few minutes our eyes met. They had several times before, but this time was different. The way he looked at me.... made me feel like I was everything in the world. He looked at me with such adoration that I couldn't hold the ache in my heart. Genos's eyes glowed dimly in our living room light, making his face shine in a way I'd never seen before.
A few months later, he made me feel something new.
A few months later in spring our strawberries had grown. Genos had brought them home after saving a wildlife reserve, rewarded with life itself.
They bloomed despite the wintertime thanks to Genos keeping the apartment temperature warm. Once spring came we had lush red strawberries.
He cut them off and washed each, making sure they were 'optimal for my eating pleasure.' I could only laugh and call him a weirdo, but he laughed too. That laugh I only got to see once in a blue moon. The light chiming sound that sparkled in thin air.
Before I knew it, we were both laughing like maniacs. I was out of breath and panting while Genos steamed up the room. It seemed like forever before we could let our giggles die out but when they did, it was filled with the best kind of silence.
The silence of two people together. A welcome quiet that made living feel like a blessing, and the company of the other like paradise.
Ah yeah, but I could never forget the most important look.
The look of being in love.
"I had always thought it was when two attractive people stared each other down with some weird sexual tension." I said in distaste. Cliche movies were fun to watch sometimes, but I didn't always enjoy the romance.
Genos smiled down at his cup of tea. I remember the air in the room got still, and all other noise was cancelled out. There was only his voice and his voice alone, and what he said made my heart twist in a new way.
"No sensei, the look of someone in love isn't shown in lust. It is shown on their everyday faces. Like when you come home to find the other person just... there. That's all they need, is the other person, and then they are truly in love."
That was when I knew that it was him. Genos.
He was the look of happiness when I came home. He was the smile when I asked what's for dinner. It was the way his metal shine in the summer sun, heat bouncing off like fire. The way he made me feel like I was Number One. Like I was someone worthy to be loved.
He made me feel like I had never felt before, even when I was weak.
I will never forget. So when people say they know Genos better than me? I'll have to disagree. They're all bullshit. I've seen the real him, the more human, more amazing and beautiful person that makes up Genos. I see him, and I love him.
I love him so much.