Chapter Twenty Eight: Where were you?
Tatsumaki stared up at Saitama who held her wrist. She blinked at him. She hadn't seen him since the Monster Association raid.
"Run dude! While she's in shock!" One of Fubuki's little friends yelled. Tatsumaki would've snorted if she was able to. Even if she could hurt Saitama, she wouldn't dare.
"Saitama," Tatsumaki said, her voice small. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I was gonna try moving in today, but Fubuki said this was urgent. Still not sure what's going on though," Saitama grunted.
"You're moving here? Why?" Tatsumaki asked. Didn't he like his apartment? She did.
"Yeah, well your little tantrum in City Z wrecked my apartment," Saitama drawled. "Thanks for that."
Tatsumaki blushed, and one of Fubuki's friends exclaimed "Do you have a death wish!?"
"I'm so sorry Saitama!" Tatsumaki cried. "I promise it was an accident! I-I'll make it up to you!"
Saitama sighed. "Well I was pretty pissed, but it's hard to stay mad at you. Why don't we all calm down and we'll call it even, m'kay?"
"But they're weak! They're going to drag Fubuki down and put her in danger! Sooner or later they're all gonna turn their back on her! You can't trust anyone, you taught me that!" Tatsumaki exclaimed.
"I didn't teach you to hurt innocent people!" Saitama shouted back.
"Innocent! One of them poisoned her! They put drugs in her meds! They would've killed her for their own selfish weakness!" Tatsumaki death glared the group of her sisters' weaklings so hard that one of them fell unconscious from fright. "I am removing the threat to my sister. I won't allow her to be weak."
"There's more than one kind of strength, Tats," Saitama said.
"The only one that matters is the one that allows you to survive. Doesn't matter how strong you are if you lose," Tatsumaki said.
"But that doesn't mean you have to fight every battle on your own," Saitama countered.
"You do!" Tatsumaki cried.
"So what? Not everyone can be me," Saitama said. "And again, I can't do everything."
"But you can! You're the strongest person in the world! You can do anything!" Tatsumaki shrieked. Someone guffawed behind them, and Tatsumaki flicked her wrist sending them flying.
"I couldn't stop you from doing that," Saitama said.
"You probably could've," Tatsumaki said.
Saitama paused. "Yeah, you're right."
Something inside her twisted at his words. "But that doesn't mean I'm not strong! I am! I am strong, like you!"
"And that gives you a responsibility to protect the weak. Not hurt them," Saitama scolded.
"I'm protecting my sister from threats!" Tatsumaki cried.
"Friends are not threats!" Saitama shouted.
"Then they're liabilities! They can't be trusted with her safety!" Tatsumaki yelled.
Saitama sighed. "It's not your job to protect her from every little thing. People have to make their own choices."
That twisting feeling in Tatsumaki's gut went away as her heart plummeted like a stone. "Do you not think I'm strong enough to protect her?"
"No, that's—" Saitama tried, but Tatsumaki couldn't hear anything past the ringing in her ears.
"I am strong enough! I'm strong like you! I-I am strong!" Tatsumaki cried, ignoring the wetness in her eyes.
"Tats, that's not what I—"
"You don't believe me! You don't think I'm strong! But I am! Let me show you!" Tatsumaki yelled, unleashing a massive psychic blast point blank on Saitama. It carved a trench straight through this level of the Hero Association and the floor above and below. Her blast went on for a mile, then two.
Saitama sighed. "Tats. Stop this."
"No! I need you to see that I'm strong! I have to!" Tatsumaki exclaimed. She barely noticed the room collapsing around them, cracks climbing the walls and floor as her psychic output continued to increase.
"Fine. If you're so set on doing this," Saitama said, pulling her close to his chest. Tatsumaki felt a fierce blush creep onto her cheeks as she was pressed against his body. "Then we're doing it outside!"
Saitama jumped through the roof of the Hero Association headquarters, plowing holes through the concrete as they flew through the sky. As they approached the ground, Tatsumaki used her leverage to spin Saitama around in the air at close to supersonic speeds. Tatsumaki slammed him into the ground, instantly following up with a punch to his abdomen. Luckily, she wasn't stupid enough to think she could physically hurt Saitama. Her fist was packed with enough energy to run City Q for a month. And Saitama probably didn't even feel it. Tatsumaki was never one for close combat. If she was going to impress Saitama, she would have to get some distance. But how the hell was she going to get him off her wrist?
"I thought you wanted to see me at my full strength! Come on, let me show you how strong I am!" Tatsumaki cried at Saitama's buried body.
"I wanted to have a civil conversation," Saitama replied.
"Like I'm gonna run if you let me go," Tatsumaki said.
"If I let you go, are we going to be able to talk like adults?" Saitama asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"Yes! Hmph, don't you trust me you egghead!" Tatsumaki snapped.
"See, when you say things like that, it's hard to think you'll behave," Saitama said. Tatsumaki pouted at him, and Saitama relented, freeing her hand. "Ok, now that—"
Tatsumaki made a shoving motion with her hand, blasting Saitama away with the force of a bullet train. Her power carved another trench through the earth. Tatsumaki flew after the bald hero, the earth tearing in her wake, the waves of dirt gathering behind her to form a tidal wave of earth. Tatsumaki halted as she neared Saitama, the tsunami of stone crashing into him. Saitama didn't even flinch as it crashed against him, millions of pounds of stone parting around him like waves crashing against a cliff. Tatsumaki cupped the earth into a fist behind Saitama, and brought it down on him with the force of a meteor. Saitama barely evenly looked at it as he brought his fist up over his head and smashed it to pieces.
"Listen Tats. Can we just not do this? I still have to move in today, you know," Saitama said, brushing himself off. Was that all she was to him? An annoyance? No! He would see that she was strong! Strong enough to stay at his side!
In response, Tatsumaki created a vortex around herself. The hurricane winds spun fast enough to tear the flesh off the bones of any normal person. Tatsumaki pulled rocks from the earth, spinning them around her at supersonic speeds. She could imagine Saitama sighing to himself, "Throwing rocks? Really?"
Tatsumaki smirked, tossing boulders the size of skyscrapers at him like they were pebbles. Saitama moved, darting from rock to rock in the air, getting closer and closer. Tatsumaki raised her arms, pulling all the stone and debris higher and higher into the atmosphere. Soon they were floating in the thermosphere, earth's gravity a mere suggestion. Saitama floated upside down through space, arms crossed as he glared at her. Tatsumaki smirked and shrugged at him. Saitama rolled his eyes, landing on one of the rocks Tatsumaki brought up with them. With a flick of her wrist, another boulder smashed into the one he was on. Saitama jumped away, only for another rock to slam into his back, sending him tumbling through space. Saitama twisted, preparing to land on another rock, but Tatsumaki flicked it out of his way. The surprise on his face was hilarious as he kept going, spinning around in perpetual freefall. Tatsumaki flicked a dozen boulders at him, slamming into him and propelling him through space.
A shockwave rattled the air and all of the boulders exploded into bits and hurled into space. Tatsumaki braced against the shockwave of Saitama's punch, feeling his power wash over her and threaten to shatter her barrier and cast her into the recesses of space. Tatsumaki held her ground, or space rather, as the aftermath of Saitama's fist receded.
Tatsumaki looked for him, and saw him hurtling down towards earth at breakneck speeds. If he hit the ground, he'd probably obliterate H-City. He probably wouldn't be happy with her if she allowed that. From her spot in the thermosphere, she pulled one of the city parks from its roots and hovered it in Saitama's path. He slammed into it, shattering it into thousands of pieces. Luckily, Tatsumaki had erected a barrier around it to prevent the debris from raining down on the city. Tatsumaki raced towards him, the wind breaking against her barrier. By the time she reached him, Saitama had already gotten into a fight with some random gang dude.
"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing!? We're having a fight ya know!" Tatsumaki shrieked.
"Tell that to them, they're the ones attacking me!" Saitama yelled back, glaring back at her as he absently punched a gang member in the face. With a thought, Tatsumaki slammed every gang member to the floor, knocking them all unconscious. "Thanks Tats, they were getting annoying."
"Don't thank me yet!" Tatsumaki yelled, blasting him with a push of psychic power that sent him flying through the far wall. Tatsumaki rocketed off after him, assaulting him with burst after burst of psychic energy that slammed into his chest. Saitama was knocked through building after building, and in one instance the head of a large monster. Tatsumaki blasted him into the sky above H-City, before summoning her power into tens of thousands of tiny psychic bullets. Tatsumaki shot them at Saitama, lighting up the sky with streaks of green vapor. Saitama avoided most of them, but was still hit with hundreds of psychic bullets, tearing his clothes to shreds.
"Oi! My jacket!" Saitama yelled. "If you're not careful you'll ruin my clothes!"
Despite his words, Tatsumaki couldn't help but feel proud. For him to consider her a threat, even to just his clothes, meant he thought she was strong. But just pushing him around wouldn't be enough for him to acknowledge her. She rarely ever used techniques besides telekinesis and barriers, because most opponents were so far beneath her they wouldn't survive beyond the first attack. But Tatsumaki had more than one trick up her sleeve.
Tatsumaki chased after Saitama's falling form. Saitama flipped in the air, kicking at seemingly nothing. Then, to Tatsumaki's utter amazement, he started running in the air. Tatsumaki smirked as she accelerated to keep up with him. Only Saitama could do something so incredible.
Tatsumaki kept blasting psychic blasts and bullets at Saitama, but somehow he managed to dodge most of them. Before long, Saitama's destination came into sight. Tatsumaki smirked. The middle of the ocean just might be the one place Tatsumaki could really cut loose. Saitama dropped to ocean level, and Tatsumaki summoned geysers to splash Saitama. He landed on one, diving feet first through it. Tatsumaki scowled, pushing the water around him up to spit him back to the surface. Saitama was spat from the water, but he landed and kept running. Once they were a few hundred miles from any semblance of land, Tatsumaki waved her hand, parting the seas for a few miles in front of Saitama. As he fell into the depths, Tatsumaki pulled the water back towards him, crashing into him from all directions. Saitama jumped up, escaping the pull of the ocean, only to be met with Tatsumaki's fist, packed with the power to launch him across a continent. As Saitama flew away, skipping across the surface of the sea, Tatsumaki gathered psychic energy in her eyes. With a yell, Tatsumaki unleashed beams of psychic energy from her eyes, cutting a swath through the ocean until they hit Saitama. Her beams instantly vaporized any water they hit, and Saitama's shirt fared no better. Two identical burns cut Saitama's shirt in half.
"Oi! Stop messing up my clothes!" Saitama yelled, his voice a distant whisper in the wind.
Tatsumaki grinned with pride. "You'll have to make me!"
A line of white water on the horizon caught Tatsumaki's attention. Saitama was running towards her, an unidentifiable emotion on his face. Glee lit up Tatsumaki's face, and she responded by sending a tidal wave at Saitama, 120 feet tall and 2 miles wide. As the water engulfed him, Tatsumaki drew the heat from the wave. In a matter of moments, there was an iceberg as big as a dozen city blocks floating in the ocean, with the world's strongest hero at the center. Tatsumaki was starting to pant now. She hadn't fully recovered from the Monster Association Raid, and using techniques other than telekinesis and barriers always drew more power than she expected.
The titanic sound of ice shattering drew Tatsumaki's attention back to Saitama. She raised her hands to the sky and pulled them down, pulling jade lightning from the clear blue sky. Hundreds of lightning strikes slammed into the iceberg Tatsumaki had created, blasting it to bits. Saitama jumped up off the iceberg, dodging lightning as it arced across the sky. Once he reached the peak of his jump, Tatsumaki created a circular barrier around him. Saitama put his hands against it like a mime trapped in an invisible sphere. Tatsumaki smirked as she generated lightning inside the barrier, viridescent discharges of electricity striking him rapidly, searing even more holes in his already tattered outfit.
Her barrier shattered like glass when Saitama stomped on it. "I thought I told you to stop ruining my clothes!"
Tatsumaki smirked. "And I told you to make me, you baldy!"
"Oi, now you've done it, you midget!" Saitama yelled as he fell back to the ocean. Tatsumaki scowled and rocketed after him, blasting him with a burst of psychic power. Tatsumaki dove into the ocean with a mighty splash, swirling her finger to summon a whirlpool around Saitama. The vortex sucked Saitama to the bottom of the sea. Then she dissipated the vortex, letting the weight of the sea come crashing down on Saitama. Tatsumaki rushed at Saitama, using the water to push Saitama back. Blast after blast of frigid water struck Saitama, smashing into him and forcing him back. With a flick, Tatsumaki pulled the water under his feet towards her, flipping him upside down. Tatsumaki grabbed the back of his head and slammed it down into the seabed, and rushed off, dragging him across the seafloor.
A couple minutes and a few dozen miles later, Tatsumaki noticed something stalking them. It was big, maybe twice the size of the HA HQ. It was just off the coast off an island. With a devious smirk, Tatsumaki lifted Saitama off the seabed and flung him at the monster before shooting up to the island. With a quick scan of her psychic powers, she confirmed there was no human life on the island. It wasn't a big island, a little less than half the size of Q City, but it was big enough to impress Saitama.
She hoped.
Tatsumaki grunted, feeling the strain of her battle with Saitama as she bent the earth to her will. She only barely noticed the explosion of gore as the island lifted off of its foundation. With tremendous effort, Tatsumaki pulled the entire island into the sky, water and vegetation falling into the ocean. Heaving heavily, Tatsumaki threw/dropped the island on Saitama. It landed on him with an enormous splash, tidal waves bowling into the ocean in all directions. Tatsumaki sank to the island she had thrown, breathing heavily as rested on solid ground. Damnit! If only she hadn't been so worn out from her fight with Psykos. Then she would've shown Saitama what she was truly capable of. She would've shown him why she was Rank 2, below only him.
The ground quaked, and Tatsumaki staggered a moment before Saitama erupted from the earth. He shot out of the ground like a geyser and landed in front of her, his face impassive. It ticked Tatsumaki off. With everything she had shown him, was that really not enough to prove herself?
"Yo," Saitama said, snapping his fingers. "You good? You're looking a little pale."
"I'm fine! I can go on!" Tatsumaki snapped.
"You sure? Don't want you to get worn out. You're still recovering, right?" Saitama asked.
"I'm fine! Psychos was a weak bitch!" Tatsumaki yelled, waving her hand. A dozen glowing orbs appeared in the air around Saitama. He looked at them curiously. Tatsumaki snapped her fingers and viridian sparks burst into emerald flame, a blazing inferno that surrounded Saitama. "Not that you would know anyway."
Saitama clapped his hands and all the fires blew away. Tatsumaki grunted, holding her ground against the shockwave. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Tatsumaki jumped into the air, pulling rocks from the dirt up with her. "It means, I'm the one who fought and killed her little pet. All while you were underground doing fuck know's what."
"You're the one who dropped the base on me if I recall correctly," Saitama said, dodging bullet-sized bits of stone.
"So what? You can do anything! Being buried like that didn't even scratch you! You could've come to the surface anytime you wanted!" Tatsumaki yelled, flinging rocks, trees and hail at him. "But you didn't! You left me alone to fight all alone!"
Saitama stopped, and Tatsumaki dropped in front of him, summoning her psychic energy. Tatsumaki thrust her hands out at him, unleashing a massive psychic blast, sending trees flying like toothpicks and cutting a trench through the island big enough to be seen from space. But Saitama just stood there, an odd expression on his face.
"We needed you and you weren't there! Why the hell didn't you come back!? Where the fuck were you!" Tatsumaki screamed, salty tears scattered in the wind from the force of her output. And yet, Saitama was unmoved. Tatsumaki's blast dwindled, until it was nothing more than a slight breeze. Tatsumaki panted, gasping for air. And still, Saitama did not move.
With a cry, Tatsumaki ran at him, punching him in the chest with fists full of psychic energy. "You left us! We were relying on you to come save us, and you ignored me! What was so fucking important that you couldn't come and rescue me!? Why did you leave me!?"
Tatsumaki sobbed into his chest, her fists no longer containing any force. "I needed you, and you weren't there."
"Oh Tats," Saitama said gently, wrapping his arms around her. Tatsumaki curled into him, not caring that she wasn't talking about the Monster Association raid anymore.
"Where were you?"
Hey y'all, hoped you liked that. Anyways, for the next chapter I'm doing a few of mini-stories, like what I did in chapter thirteen. So far, the stories I have are:
Garou goes to a baseball game
Genos buys dog food
Saitama VS the IRS; Round Two: The Trial
I might do one or two more, but idk yet. Maybe something with stealthy Saitama, cause I like writing that its funny, or maybe something with Child Emperor or Sonic. If anyone has any ideas for short, self contained episodes you're more than welcome to comment and give your suggestions. Cheerio, and I'll see y'all next time.