It was dark, pitch black. Then a splash of red accompanied by a sharp pain. Then darkness. A splash of blue accompanied by the pain of an impact. Then nothing. A splash of yellow accompanied by a horrible stinging. Then nothing. Splash. Nothing. Splash. Nothing. Splash. Nothing. Splash. Nothing.
Tatsumaki opened her eyes and squinted. A ray of sunlight poured in through the crack in the curtains, shining across her face. She turned her head and looked at her clock: 9:17 AM. The green-haired woman sat up and stretched before rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She was exhausted, feeling like she had barely slept at all, and quickly determined the reason behind her tiredness, as a light headache made its way forward. Not a headache. It was more of a constant, sharp pain that would throb every few seconds. Tatsumaki recognized that pain. It was Fubuki. And she was in pain.
Tatsumaki scrambled for her phone that was resting on her bedside table and opened it to see several texts from her sister.
"Hey sis, is it ok if I come over? We need to talk."
"Sis? Are you up? Look, I'm going home to clean up and then I'm coming over."
"I'm on my way. I'll be there around 9:30."
Tatsumaki let out a sigh of relief. Her little sister was safe at least, though Tatsumaki wondered what injuries Fubuki had that would cause her to feel it through their psychic link. Tatsumaki stepped out of bed and went to put on a pot of coffee while she rinsed off in the shower to help her wake up.
Once she was dry and clothed, Tatsumaki went to pour herself a cup of the fresh brew, and heard a knock at the door as she returned the pot to the machine. The short ESPer stepped out of the kitchen and opened the door, and was greeted by a cut and bruised Fubuki. Tatsumaki's eyes widened at the sight of her sister, whose face had several cuts and gashes held together with butterfly strips, with a sizable bruise on her cheek. Her hands were similarly damaged and she had a bandage wrapped around her right palm.
"Fubuki!" Tatsumaki shouted, "What the Hell happened to you!?"
"The Blizzard Bunch and I just got done with fighting a monster, threat level: Tiger," Fubuki responded as she stepped into her sister's abode.
Tatsumaki grabbed Fubuki's sleeve and yanked it up, revealing several more bruises and bandaged cuts. "Fubuki, you're injured! I thought I told that damn group of yours to protect you, but it looks like they're not up to scratch, just like I said. If they can't even handle a threat level ti-"
"Tatsumaki," Fubuki responded as she yanked her arm away and let her sleeve fall back down, her tone stern and serious, "they did handle it. WE handled it. And this one was stronger than any Tiger-level threat that we've faced before. They fought well. Even you would have been impressed with their performance."
Tatsumaki pointed her nose and crossed her arms at this, merely giving a "Hmph!" in response as she walked over to the sitting room and took a seat in one of the two gray, cushioned lounge chairs.
After removing her boots, Fubuki followed her sister to the sitting room and took a seat in the adjacent chair. Tatsumaki eyed her sister curiously as she sipped her coffee, wondering why her sister would choose to visit at 9:30 in the morning after apparently having fought off, and been injured by, a monster. Before Tatsumaki could ask for a reason, though, Fubuki spoke up, a slight apprehension in her voice.
"Sis, I-I actually came to ask you something relating to the Blizzard Bunch."
Tatsumaki merely raised an eyebrow in response, prompting her younger sister on. "Well," Fubuki began, taking in a slow breath before continuing, "why are you…okay…with the Blizzard Bunch, all of a sudden?"
"Okay with them?" Tatsumaki practically shouted, "I'm not okay with them! I've been very clear that I don't approve of that little group of yours. They can't protect you from other ESPers or weed out subversives, they can BARELY hold their own against threat-level Tigers!" Tatsumaki gestured at Fubuki's wounds, "and they sure as Hell can't hold their own against anything stronger! They're just holding you back. You'd be better off on your own."
"But see, that's just it…you don't believe that, or not anymore, at least."
"'don't believe that'? Of course I believe it, otherwise I wouldn't have said it! What the Hell are you talking about, Fubuki?"
"I'm talking about the fact that you've changed."
Tatsumaki furrowed her brow at this, confused as to what her sister meant.
"Whether you have noticed or not, over these past couple of weeks, you have been much more accepting of the Blizzard Bunch. When I bring them up, rather than giving me the whole spiel about not needing the group, you actually…encourage them? In your own way, I guess."
"W-well, that's just because you've proven to me that you're just not going to listen, so I'm taking the next best route. The lesser of two evils."
But see," Fubuki replied as she leaned forward, "that isn't it. And you know it."
Tatsumaki gulped and opened her mouth to respond, her finger pointed in indignation, when Fubuki cut her off.
"Ever since your fight with Saitama, you've been different."
At just the mention of the baldy hero's name, Tatsumaki tensed up, knowing that whatever Fubuki was about to say was going to out her in some manner.
"Sis, after your fight, and after the Blizzard Bunch and I had our 'battle', you…listened to him. I mean, you said so yourself. That's on top of the fact that you chose to participate in making a commercial for the Hero Association, which I never could have imagined you doing. And for the life of me, I can't figure out why…" Fubuki paused for a moment. "What did he say to you, after your fight? What made you change?"
Tatsumaki had no idea how to respond. All of these deep-seated questions being asked so suddenly, seemingly unprompted, by her younger sister was almost shocking. But she had to spit something out, otherwise her sister would read even deeper into the whole situation.
After a moment's pause, Tatsumaki carefully responded, "The baldy recommended I let you and your group be for the time. I was too tired to deal with you and your group's bullshit anyway, so I took his recommendation. That's all there is to it. Don't read too much into it, Fubuki."
Tatsumaki, arms crossed, tilted her head and stared back intently at her sister. She hoped Fubuki would buy it, but wasn't holding her breath. Fubuki was smart and calculating. She could read people like a book, and throughout all their years together, Tatsumaki could never fully hide her thoughts from her sister. Her bluff was convincing enough on its own, and would fool just about anyone, but the short ESPer had let too much slip already; at the fight and over the past couple of weeks. Fubuki had been picking up on all of the clues that Tatsumaki hadn't even realized she'd been leaving. Fubuki's gaze softened before she looked away and leaned back in her chair. Tatsumaki sat back in her chair too, a tiny smirk at the corner of her lips, happy that she was able to shut down the conversation.
"Well," Fubuki started, "it's been…nice…having your support." Tatsumaki's smirk quickly disappeared. "And whatever advice or suggestion Saitama gave you, well…I think you should keep following it. Who knows? You may like the change that it brings." Fubuki gave her sister a simple smile before standing up and making her way to the door.
Tatsumaki scrambled after Fubuki, doing her best to sputter out an argument before her sister left. "W-well, hey! What do you mean–a change?! Fubuki, you have no idea what you're talking about! I'm fine how I–I'm not changing-for anyone!"
Fubuki, after pulling up her boots, responded simply, "Alright big sis. I'll talk to you later." She then proceeded to open the door, walk out, and close it behind her, leaving Tatsumaki alone, staring at the door, frustrated, confused, and oddly, lonely.
Tatsumaki slowly made her way back to the chair and slumped into it, a scowl on her face, thinking about all that had just been said. Fubuki was right. No matter that she denied it to Fubuki, no matter how hard she tried to deny it to herself, she had changed. Over the past few weeks, the short woman had been far more tolerant of Fubuki's cronies than she had ever been. She had been trying to interfere less in Fubuki's affairs. She even agreed to do that stupid commercial for the Hero Association! But it was no mystery as to why she had changed, to her or to Fubuki.
Tatsumaki pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, gazing absently at the floor as she thought about what he had said to her:
"You value human relationships too lightly." "…I couldn't even beat a level Wolf." "no one can tell where their limit is."
Those words had been echoing in her head for weeks. They would make their way to the forefront of her mind each time she heard about Fubuki's exploits, each time she saw some Class-C Heroes fighting, each time she was about to criticize someone's strength. Those words didn't always stop her. She still arraigned the Blizzard Bunch, still interfered with other heroes' work and criticized their strength. She just did it…less frequently, less harshly.
As Tatsumaki let her thoughts wander, she absentmindedly looked around her apartment. Despite all of the comforts, and all of the space, and all the amenities, she couldn't help but feel a strong sense of emptiness. Or, maybe not emptiness, per se. She felt…lonely. Even in the short time that Fubuki had been there, and despite the fact that she spent it prying into her feelings, Tatsumaki wished she would have stayed longer. It's something the ESPer had been feeling more often the past couple of weeks: the desire to be around people…No, not people. Tatsumaki didn't care for the company of people. Rather, she desired someone. Someone who understood her, respected her, loved her. During her time as a professional hero, Tatsumaki had seen and saved countless families, couples, groups of friends, and she wished she could have something like that. She had Fubuki of course, but their relationship was…complicated, at best. She desired company more like her. Someone strong who she wouldn't have to constantly look out for. Someone she could relax with without being judged or praised like a god or feared like a demon.
It was a new feeling, this desire, and it frustrated her, the way it made her stomach tight and pulled at her heart. Why was she having this feeling? What was happening to her? Why did she change all of a sudden? People had disagreed with her before. They would argue with her and try to get her to change her ways.
It was laughable. no one could change her. no one could make her, Tatsumaki, the Tornado of Terror, change her ways, her thoughts, her feelings!…no one but him. That shiny, bald, plain looking man. The man who had sparked such a focused anger inside of her. The man who had effortlessly withstood the full brunt of her telekinetic might. The man who had beaten her without breaking so much as a sweat…The man who had looked her in the eye, patted her on the head, and told her…that she was good enough. Who told her that she could be great. Who…
Tatsumaki lightly shook her head as she felt her eyes begin to turn glossy. She wiped the slight wet away with the back of her hand before taking a deep breath. Those were thoughts she could address later, or better yet, never.
As she stood from her chair to go pour out the now barely warm coffee, she perked up as she heard the familiar buzz of her emergency transmitter, and went to see what monster she'd need to take care of now.
There was a large monster emerging from the ocean just south of City-R. It was estimated to close in on populated areas in under two hours and evacuation notices were already being sent out. Any available S and A-Class heroes were being requested to report to the coast of City-R immediately.
Tatsumaki livened up, eager to shake away these strange feelings with a fight, even if that "fight" may be over in a matter of seconds; using her telekinetic powers was always a good stress reliever. Tatsumaki eagerly changed from her pajamas into her normal dress and flats before quickly taking off, using her powers to fly herself all the way to City-R.
—
Saitama laid on his futon, his head propped up on his hand, an empty cereal bowl resting on the floor. He was watching the news on the TV he had recently bought (thanks to his increased funding by joining Class-A), looking for a tougher something that would require his strength, ignoring the smaller monsters that the B and C-Class heroes could handle.
As he laid there, he couldn't help but feel a slight sense of longing. It was something that Saitama had been feeling over the last few months, but had really only become aware of in the last few weeks. It was a longing for company that only struck him when he was by himself. Given that King hadn't visited in several weeks and that Genos was currently out on a mission, it was no surprise that he was feeling this now.
It was a relatively new feeling. For the longest time, Saitama had been content with being alone, and spent years by himself in his apartment over in City-Z (before it was destroyed by Tatsumaki) without ever really feeling lonely. But now that he knew what it was like to have friends in King and Genos, as well as Bang to a lesser extent, and even Fubuki, in a way, Saitama was finding it increasingly difficult to be alone. It wasn't something he dwelled on much; rather, it just blended in with his already existing depression.
He had thought about going out and making some more friends, as suggested by King, but Saitama felt it would be too much effort for something he wasn't really invested in. He didn't feel the need for having a lot of friends; the few he had were all he wanted, which is why this feeling was so odd to him. He was content, sometimes even happy, with the friends he had, but there was just something missing.
"We are just receiving a report that an enormous monster is approaching City-R from the coast."
Saitama emerged from his thoughts and focused back on the TV as the news anchor began revealing some important-sounding news.
"The monster, estimated to be of threat-level Dragon, is predicted to reach the shore in under two hours. Any A or S-Class heroes that are available are requested to report to City-R immediately."
"That sounds a bit more up my alley," Saitama thought as he stood up and stretched. The bald man clicked off the TV and walked over to his hero suit which was hanging on a coat rack. He stepped into the yellow jumpsuit, zipped up the front, slid on his gloves and boots, and stepped out the door.
—
The rush of air felt good on Tatsumaki's face. Her green hair blew back as she soared through the sky, shooting like a bullet over the buildings below. Even this small amount of telekinetic exertion helped to relieve some pent-up stress and served to clear her mind. It took her right around an hour and a half to reach the coast of City-R, and from there, a few miles away, she could see the hulking mass of a monster. It towered 3 stories above the water, which meant that, given how far out it was, there was probably another 3 stories of monster beneath it. The monster was quadrupedal and seemed to have a layer of chitinous plating the color of barnacles covering its body. Tatsumaki smiled, thinking about the lovely 'crunch' that would sound when she crushed the thing with her telekinetic powers.
Just as the levitating hero was about to make her way out to the creature, a yellow and red bolt shot across the water, leaving a misty trail in its wake as it sped out toward the monster.
"What the Hell?" Tatsumaki muttered, bewildered. She could have sworn that that streak was a man. Another hero maybe?
As she began to follow the supposed man out to the monster, she watched in shock and awe as a pressure wave rippled across the water, followed immediately by a resounding boom that emanated from the monster. Or rather, where the monster was, as it was now in nothing more than meaty chunks splashing into the ocean. The man looped around and made it back to the shore where he took a moment to kick the remaining water off of his red boots.
"Well, that was boring," said the man as he began to walk down the empty street.
Tatsumaki stared at the man. Now able to clearly see him, she immediately recognized who it was; there was no mistaking that bald head and goofy hero outfit. It was the Caped Baldy himself: Saitama, and he had just stolen her kill.
"Hold it right there, Baldy!"
Saitama turned to look at Tatsumaki as she flew over to him to hover at eye level. "Oh, hey, it's you. Tatsumaki, right?"
"Yeah, it's me, and what the Hell do you think you're doing?!" the woman demanded as she placed her hands on her hips.
"Uh, defeating a monster. I thought that was obvious."
"Defeating a- you stole my kill, you ass!"
"Your kill? I didn't know we could call kills. Is there some sort of 'dibs' system in the Hero Association. I figured Genos would have mentioned it if there was."
"There is no 'dibs' system! But I was already here and about to go take care of it! God, you have no respect for others, do you? If someone's already at the scene, you shouldn't take their kill! Some of us take pride in our work, not that you would know what that is!"
Saitama furrowed his brow as he stared at her. "Don't you swoop in and take people's kills? I mean, I'm pretty sure Fubuki gripes about you doing that all the time."
Tatsumaki paused for a second. He was right. She did swoop in and take over other Heroes' battles frequently. But it was different when she did it. "I-I take over people's battles when it's obvious they can't handle it. And given the abysmal state of the ranks, I'm forced to do it often. But I can handle myself, so I don't need you coming in to play hero for me! You owe me one!" Tatsumaki crossed her arms and pointed her nose as she finished, pleased with her rebuttal, and even more pleased that she now had a one-up on the bald man. She felt it put them on more even ground after their last meeting and, given how that went, even ground felt like a godsend.
Saitama groaned internally. He had planned to head out to lunch after killing the monster; one of his favorite restaurants was located in City-R, so it worked out nicely. Now, however, he had to decide to either argue with the bratty girl or let her have a 'one-up' on him, which would surely come back to bite him at some point (even if it was just to bother him). He thought for a moment and came up with a bit of a compromise.
"Look," Saitama began, "I'm sorry for stealing your kill. Why don't you let me make it up to you?"
Tatsumaki lowered her nose and gave him a curious look. "And how would you do that?"
"I was just about to head to lunch; one of my favorite food stops is in this city. Why don't you come with? I'll buy." Saitama wasn't terribly keen on inviting her along, as he preferred eating out alone, but this would hopefully make them 'even' and give him a chance to sort of check in with her. Ever since their fight, he had been paying closer attention to any news regarding the powerful ESPer. From what he had seen, she seemed to be getting better at not destroying other people's stuff.
On top of all that, Saitama figured it would be good for him to get out and talk to someone, since he didn't have Genos or King around to keep him company. He was already out here with the girl, after all, and he knew her better than he knew most of the other heroes, so why not invite her along?
Surprised by Saitama's offer, the short telekinetic momentarily dropped her indifferent expression, only to quickly regain it as she took a second in consideration. Despite her calm outward demeanor, Tatsumaki's heart began to beat faster at the offer. She wasn't particularly fond of the idea of going out to lunch with someone. In fact, if it were anyone else who had asked her (besides maybe Fubuki), she would have given an immediate "no", followed swiftly by beratement for asking her such a thing. But why was this man able to make her consider the question?
Who was she kidding? She knew why. As much as Tatsumaki hated to admit it, she was actually keen to accompany him. She couldn't let him see that, of course, especially since he had asked her so casually.
Tatsumaki swallowed and breathed out before responding with crossed arms and a pointed nose, "I suppose that would be suitable repayment. But," she scolded as she thrust a finger at Saitama, "don't you ever waltz in and steal my kill again, got it? Like I said, I can handle myself."
Saitama raised his hands in mock surrender as he responded, "Okay, okay, I got it."
"Seems like she's still as tightly wound as the last time I saw her. Just gonna hope this doesn't turn out to be a bad idea," Saitama thought as he dropped his hands.
"Well Baldy, lead the way," Tatsumaki stated expectantly.
"Alright. It's a ways inland, so it'll be a bit of a walk."
"For you maybe. I have my own ways of traveling, if you don't remember. And, since you took my kill, I didn't get a chance to 'stretch', so I'm feeling like moving swiftly. Try and keep up, won't you?
With a simple "Okay," Saitama began running down the street, with Tatsumaki following suit.
While Saitama thought nothing of the run to the restaurant, Tatsumaki had a little something extra in mind for their trip. She knew Saitama was durable, at the very least, but she had yet to experience his strength or speed for herself, despite Genos' unrelenting assurance of such aspects of the man. Of course, she had seen him run in her 'test' of him weeks ago, but she was curious as to just how fast he could move. This was a prime opportunity to put that up to the test, and Tatsumaki intended to capitalize on it.
As they made their way through City-R, Tatsumaki slowly but surely began to increase her speed, going from being in stride with, to being ahead of him. Tatsumaki smirked as she looked over her shoulder, expecting to see the man chasing after her to catch up. Instead, however, she was surprised to find that Saitama was in perfect pace with her. She wasn't terribly fussed; he was merely keeping up better than expected, so Tatsumaki sped up once again, by a greater margin this time, but found that Saitama kept up without issue. Now the ESPer frowned as she bolted forward, getting worried that she may once again be outmatched by the bald-headed hero, as while she was pushing herself to move at this pace, Saitama seemed completely unphased.
"What the Hell…So he's extremely durable AND quick?" Tatsumaki thought as they raced downtown.
After a few miles at that pace, the flying ESPer growled, a rage fueled by a sense of pride bubbling up inside of her at her inability to outpace this man. She concentrated hard, propelling herself as fast as she could through the air, like a bright green contrail roaring through the sky. "Faster," she thought. "Faster! Don't let him outpace you! You can't let-'' Her train of thought was derailed as she realized that Saitama was no longer under her. She stopped mid-air and looked behind her; Saitama's trail of dust was miles back into the city. A wide smile sprung across Tatsumaki's lips, pride welling up inside as she caught her breath. She had done it. She was faster than him. She had won the race. With her hands on her hips in a confident stance, Tatsumaki scanned the area around her, waiting for the slowpoke to catch up. She hadn't been moving at full speed for that long, so he shouldn't have been far behind her. It was then that Tatsumaki realized that she couldn't see a dust trail anymore, which meant that he wasn't moving at all.
"Maybe he got lost?" she suggested to herself. "No, he was leading me…"
Tatsumaki backtracked a small ways, searching for the brightly dressed man (surely it would be easy to spot him in that outfit).
"Hey, Tatsumaki! Down here!" Saitama shouted from the ground as he waved to her.
Tatsumaki flew down to meet him. "Why'd you stop? Did I get too far ahead?" she asked with a cocksure smile.
"Oh, no, you're good. I stopped because this is the place," Saitama responded as he gestured towards the building in front of them.
It was a small place tucked into the side of a street block that displayed a large sign above the entrance that read 'Gipo's'.
"This place may be old, but they've got lots of great food, especially the soba."
The balloon of pride and confidence inflated within Tatsumaki quickly deflated at Saitama's quick explanation.
"Y-you mean…I didn't…I wasn't- I wasn't fast enough?" Tatsumaki muttered, more to herself than to him as she descended to the ground, her elated expression now replaced with one of disappointment.
"Oh, you were plenty fast," Saitama assured, causing Tatsumaki to raise her head to meet his eyes as he continued, "I could hear you flying from all the way down on the ground. I don't know how your mind powers work, but I can't imagine tearing through the sky like that's an easy feat."
He was doing it again. Recognizing her. Appreciating her. Respecting her. Tatsumaki couldn't help but avert her eyes as he praised her, and she wasn't exactly sure why. It was a strange feeling she was having: almost like embarrassment, but in a good way? Was it bashfulness? That didn't sound like her. And yet she felt it. And she wasn't upset or put off by it either. It was a nice feeling: to have the respect of someone she respected. In a way, she almost felt undeserving of it, but she knew that he wouldn't have said it if he hadn't meant it. Her stomach tingled at that thought and she felt her chest begin to tighten.
That was enough. This was not the time for those feelings. She could reminisce later. Now, though, it was time to have a pleasant lunch out.
Tatsumaki blinked the bashful expression off of her features and replaced it with her usual cocky indifference.
"Well, I'm glad I didn't lose you. You wouldn't have been able to make up for stealing my kill if I had," she said as she crossed her arms and walked past him towards the door.
"I know, I know," Saitama sighed as he opened the door for the short woman. "You won't regret coming here, promise."
And with that, they entered the quaint establishment, off to enjoy a nice lunch.
