Chapter 5: Fubuki

Tatsumaki rose again with the sun. Perfect. But sleep was so much more tempting. She dipped under her covers and tried to go to bed again. The sun did not agree. She rested her head against the pillow and stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling. Did her light always look like that?

"Tatsu?"

Fubuki?

"Tatsu! Oh my god. You're awake! You're alive!"

Fubuki rushed to embrace her sister. Tatsumaki blushed a deep red.

"Mmf!" Tatsumaki happily murmured into their hug. "Stop sis."

Tatsumaki tried to playfully push her sister away. Her hands touched nothing. A chilly wind blew through the air. She looked at her arms. Long-healed stumps sat just after her elbows. She slumped back onto the bed.

"I see."

Fubuki stood in silence.

"How long have I been out for?

Fubuki looked down.

"40 weeks. 280 days."

Her hospital bed was surrounded in IV drips. Various monitors adorned the walls.

"What'd I do this time?"

Fubuki smiled slightly.

"Let me show you."

The door suddenly opened. Genos stood at the door, out of breath, holding a cup of water.

"Teacher Tatsumaki!"

"Oh, Genos! I forgot to tell you, Tatsu, but he's been here with me ever since they put you in. He's been in the room longer than I have, but at least I'm always awake."

"That is incorrect, Fubuki. Instead, I have been undergoing lower-power modes which only resemble…"

Tatsumaki started to laugh.

They walked to B-City. Titanic bones littered the streets. In the distance, the three saw countless cranes busy at work in the city. They stopped at a long and skinny bone sticking up into the sky. Tatsumaki, disguised, walked up close to it. It seemed to have a slight green tint.

"Did I do this?"

Fubuki nodded.

"Do you want to see pictures, sis?"

"No thanks."

They stood there for a while, until an old woman approached them.

"Are you three from around here?"

Fubuki was wearing a short summer dress. Tatsumaki wore a pink hoodie. Genos wore a turtleneck.

"Kind of," Fubuki responded.

"I'm sure you have your stories about the Titan, no?"

"Oh, yeah. My friend over here was able to escape." Fubuki motioned at Genos.

"I guess we have something in common, then. I think I was one of the last to escape. The traffic was really bad that day. I still feel guilty about what happened to Terrible Tornado. I don't know why they insisted on saving a couple of old geezers like me," She chuckled and placed a small flower at the base of the bone. "But she really was a hero, don't you think?"
Fubuki looked nervously at Tatsumaki, but the pink hoodied girl just stared into the distance.

"We took the liberty of keeping your apartment neat," said Fubuki. "Genos refused to enter your room, though."

"Do people think I'm dead?"

"Yes, Teacher Tatsumaki. The Hero Association kept details about your condition private to the outside world, and so rumors spread. You remained the S-Class Rank 2 Hero, however."

Tatsumaki sighed. "Thanks, Genos. Any other changes?"

"Blast has remained the S-Class Rank 1 Hero. Bang is after you. Atomic Samurai is after that. Child Emperor—"

"Aaaaaaaa, I don't care anymore."

Fubuki glared at her.

"Fine," Tatsumaki grudgingly spoke. "What rank are you?"

"I've taken a temporary leave from the Hero Association, so I am unranked."

Tatsumaki puffed out her cheeks.

"Ok. Um, I suppose it's been a long time coming. You've been waiting a year. Let's go train."

"What? No, you are absolutely not going to train, or whatever. You need to rest." Fubuki scolded. "You've been in a coma." She softly added.

Tatsumaki brought her arms up, and then lowered them in resignation.

"Why do you want to train all of a sudden? You've always been appalled at the idea."

Tatsumaki looked away and tried to ignore her sister.

"Because, I… I want to play some board games."

Fubuki relented.

"Ok, fine. Genos, do you want to play?"

"Of course, Ms. Fubuki."

"Alright, help me find the," Fubuki thought. "The chessboard."

Fubuki entered Tatsumaki's room and fumbled through her closet.

"I can't enter."

"Genos, you can go in my room." Tatsumaki flatly called out from the couch. Genos nodded.

After a bit, the two produced a chessboard and some pieces.

"So, Miss Grandmaster Tatsumaki," Fubuki playfully asked. "White or black? Or wait, Genos, would you like to play first?"

"Sure."

"Are you good?" Tatsumaki eyed Genos.

"I am rated around 2200, according to Dr. Kuseno."

"Hm. Alright. Let's play. Let me be white."

Fubuki went to place the pieces on the board. Tatsumaki lifted up her arms to help, but her pink sleeves dangled before her elbows. She exhaled sharply.

"You don't have to do anything Tatsu," started Fubuki.

"No. I'm going to learn to do this with just my mind. Fubuki, let me see your palms."

Fubuki opened her hands reluctantly. They were covered in scars. A realization dawned on Tatsumaki.

"Did my coma have to do with my…" she looked down at her missing hands. "Of course it did. I knew it was a crutch. Fubuki! From now on, there will be no using your hands to direct your telekinesis. Same with me."

Fubuki had no choice but to agree.

"Well, sis, can we start easy? With just some chess pieces?"

Tatsumaki started arranging the pieces. She hung her arms by her sides and squeezed her eyes, trying to concentrate her psychic energy directly from her brain. This simple task felt agonizing, but finally she finished and opened her eyes.

Fubuki moved a missing pawn into place. Tatsumaki slumped back onto the floor.

"Tatsu! That was pretty impressive! Don't feel bad."

Fubuki moved to sit next to her sister and started rubbing Tatsumaki's forehead. Tatsumaki had to admit that it sort of was. She remembered struggling to lift up cups and forks with just her mind years ago, but giving up. It was going to be a long journey.

"C'mon, let's start. You're like the best chess player I know." Fubuki propped up Tatsumaki on her lap. "Genos, don't take it easy on her."

Tatsumaki vs Genos (2022) began. Tatsumaki willed her e pawn to move. Genos played the Sicilian. They played some opening theory into the Open Variation. Tatsumaki liked her center and her piece activity. By move seven, she had formed an aesthetically pleasing 'V' of pawns and knights, ready to thrust toward the king. Genos just had a haphazard wall of pawns a single developed knight. Tatsumaki castled, her rook and queen stacked on the D file. Genos played knight to d7. Tatsumaki sacrificed her knight for a pawn. +2 for Genos. She took back the pawn. +1 for Genos. And then she took another. The material evened out again. Soon enough, a conspicuously large absence of pieces lay in the quadrant of a5 to d8. Tatsumaki attacked Genos rook that now sat on f8, but a hint of disappointment lay behind her steady eyes. She didn't have enough pressure to continue to the attack. Genos took one of her rooks. Then he pushed his queen down the board and the two dueled in a whirlwind of plastic pieces. All that was left by turn 30 was a bishop and queen versus rook and queen endgame. Tatsumaki was up one point of material in reaped pawns, but she lay back on Fubuki and closed her eyes. A few moves later and Genos perpetually checked her.

"Draw." She said.

"Agreed. You are quite good, master. Did you play a lot when you were younger?"

"A decent amount."