One Punch Man: Heroics Start with Dual Kamui

Chapter 148: Teasing Tatsumaki

"I'd gain nothing by telling anyone. By the way, you're already awake, huh..." Shinji lowered his voice as he replied.

"I just woke up. Also, about that... did I really sneak in here by myself?" Tatsumaki asked with flushed cheeks.

She cared a lot about this. It was hard for her to believe that she had done something so shameless.

"Yeah. I already had you put to bed in the girls' dorm, and even Miss Nakai knew about it. Who would've thought you'd end up sleepwalking~." Shinji said playfully.

"How am I supposed to know that? I don't remember a thing!" Tatsumaki's face flushed with shame.

"Shh... Keep your voice down. You don't want the others to find out, do you?" Shinji reminded her quickly.

If the others woke up, it would be troublesome. Not explaining would make it worse, but explaining clearly was almost impossible.

"Mm...!" Realizing this, Tatsumaki quickly covered her mouth.

"This only happened because you were drunk. And yet earlier, you kept insisting you weren't." Shinji teased her again.

"Arg…!"

Tatsumaki had no comeback.

At least being drunk gave her an excuse for doing something so shameless. Otherwise, it would mean she had climbed into Shinji's bed fully aware of her actions.

Both outcomes were bad, but admitting she had been drunk seemed slightly better.

"Do you want me to take you back now?" Shinji asked.

"No. I don't want anyone to notice!" Tatsumaki refused immediately.

"But Genos already noticed..." As Shinji expected, Boros probably did too.

"...Then I'll just erase that memory with force," Tatsumaki muttered, eyes going dark.

"That won't be necessary. Don't worry." As he spoke, Shinji silently transported them back, placing Tatsumaki precisely onto her own bed.

In short, it was a transfer from one blanket to another.

Afterward, he returned to his own spot.

"Um... than, "

Tatsumaki was about to awkwardly thank him, but before she could finish, Shinji suddenly disappeared.

"Ugh...!" Her face stiffened, and she looked annoyed.

Since the girls' dorm only housed two ordinary Association staff members, there was no chance of being discovered.

The night passed without further incident.

....

The next morning.

Everyone woke up one after another.

"Come on, let's go for a morning soak." Atomic Samurai led the group to the hot spring.

Tatsumaki had already stepped out of the girls' dorm as well. She looked refreshed, since she had gone to bed earlier than everyone else the night before.

"Morning." Shinji greeted her.

"Hmph~!" Tatsumaki gave him her usual cold shoulder.

But when the others had gone ahead, she quietly slipped closer to Shinji's side.

"You didn't tell anyone about last night, did you?" Her voice was low and uneasy.

"Of course not. I'm not that bored." Shinji replied casually.

"Good." Satisfied, Tatsumaki drifted toward the hot springs.

....

After the morning soak, everyone went to have breakfast.

The gathering was supposed to end this afternoon, so everyone was determined to enjoy both breakfast and lunch to the fullest.

Breakfast had already been eaten, and now lunch had turned into another drinking session.

This time, however, Tatsumaki obediently drank orange juice, not even touching the draft beer.

She clearly feared another repeat of last night's embarrassing incident, as it had been far too shameful.

"Miss Tatsumaki, won't you have a drink? It's really good,"

Sitch suddenly came over and offered a toast.

"Um… I…"

Caught in a tough spot, Tatsumaki didn't know what to do. On one hand, she didn't want to be treated like a kid, but on the other, she didn't want another embarrassing night like last time. So, she was stuck between a rock and a hard place: drink and risk another embarrassing incident, or refuse and come across as someone who could only handle juice.

"Mr. Sitch, Miss Tatsumaki drank too much last night and hasn't fully recovered. I'll toast with you instead." Shinji came to her rescue.

"Oh, I see. In that case, I'll drink with you! Cheers!" The two clinked glasses and drank it down in one go. Sitch didn't approach Tatsumaki again and moved on to toast someone else.

He didn't think much of it, since getting drunk last night and still feeling it today was perfectly normal.

Seeing Sitch sidestepped by Shinji, Tatsumaki finally let out a slight sigh of relief.

Still, she didn't soften toward Shinji. "Who asked you to butt in?"

"No one~." Shinji smiled quietly, rolling his eyes.

He knew Tatsumaki was a classic tsundere. What she said didn't always reflect what she truly felt. With tsundere types, you often had to listen in reverse.

"But… thanks anyway," Tatsumaki suddenly muttered softly.

"What did you say?" Shinji had actually heard her, but he pretended not to, wanting to tease her a little.

"Than—"

She tried to repeat it, but saw Shinji's mischievous smile and realized she had been caught. Her cheeks flushed bright red, and she exclaimed in embarrassment and anger, "Forget it if you didn't hear! Hmph!"

Shinji laughed heartily. Teasing Tatsumaki like this was actually quite entertaining.

Seeing him laugh so openly, a flustered Tatsumaki floated behind him, lightly punching him with small fists.

It was more like tickling than an actual attack, barely even a massage-level tap.

"..."

Genos, drinking quietly with his usual expressionless face, thought to himself that this must be love. Even though he didn't understand it or have experience with it, maybe this was the secret to his teacher getting stronger.

"Silver Fang, what exactly is the relationship between them? You know Shinji pretty well, right?" Atomic Samurai asked Bang with curiosity.

"I don't know either, but you can tell… it's definitely not ordinary."

Bang stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, a troublemaker like Tatsumaki strangely suits Shinji."

After all, Shinji had seen his fair share of "problem children" around him.

Of course, at Bang's age, almost everyone could be called a "child," so it wasn't that he was deliberately treating Tatsumaki like one. Even if he did, there was nothing wrong with it.

...

After the celebration banquet ended, everyone went their separate ways.

Shinji took Genos and the others and transported them straight home.

Saitama sat in the living room drinking tea. "These past two days at the hot springs were really relaxing. If there's another chance, I'll do it again."

"When that time comes, we can handle it ourselves. It's not that expensive anyway," Genos replied.

Though he couldn't really enjoy hot springs or food due to his full cybernetic body, he still appreciated the experience in his own way. As for the expense, they were S-Ranked heroes, so going on vacation once a month won't be a problem.

"It was indeed a nice experience," Boros nodded slightly.

While they chatted, Shinji opened his phone, which had been left at home throughout the trip.

Since it was a vacation, he hadn't brought it. Normally, the phone's main use was just to receive messages from the Hero Association.

Upon opening it, dozens of messages popped up, but all from a single person.

He opened LINE and tapped on Lily's chat.

Most of them were mundane topics. Even though Shinji hadn't sent a single message in the past two days, and all her messages remained unread, Lily had kept sending plenty.

Some were about school, others about the Blizzard Group.

[This midterm was really tough, especially the math multiple-choice questions, I got most of them wrong…]

[By the way, how was your math score?]

[Yesterday, Lady Fubuki looked so cool. She took down several B-rank criminals and bought a car for the Blizzard Group.]

[But there were a few minor incidents along the way. At first, we didn't realize Lady Fubuki earned that much by catching criminals and almost thought she… did something else.]

[Today…]

Recently, the Blizzard Group had been scrambling to get a proper car. Their old one was far too worn out and didn't match the group's image. However, their funds were limited, so buying a new car outright was difficult.

As a result, they had been hustling nonstop for nearly half a month, but still hadn't saved enough.

When Fubuki suddenly bought a brand-new car outright, the group mistakenly assumed she had "gone into business" in some unsavory way…

There were so many messages from Lily that Shinji didn't know where to start replying. He selectively responded to a few, a bit perfunctorily, but at least he didn't leave them unread.

Soon enough, Lily sent another message.

[Really? Your math is that amazing? Can you teach me?]

This was because Shinji's math scores were usually above 80% of full marks.

By domestic standards, 80% of 150 points is 120+ points.

It was true, though his strengths were mainly in math; other subjects were not as strong.

[How should I learn from you? Will you tutor me? When are you free? I'll come to you.]

[I'm basically free anytime.]

...

After Shinji replied that he was "basically free anytime," Lily really did come the next day.

She carried a backpack full of textbooks, exercises, and stationery. She wasn't wearing formal clothes or her school uniform this time.

After confirming the exact address with Shinji via LINE, Lily finally arrived at his front door.

She knocked gently. "Excuse me."

The door opened from the inside.

Lily had expected Shinji to answer, but instead, a tall figure appeared.

Not only did it have a single eye, but it also wore strange armor, and its skin didn't look human at all.

"A… alien…?!"

Lily was startled and instinctively took a step back.

At the same time, she felt that the alien looked familiar, could it be the same extraterrestrial who had invaded Earth before?

"..."

Realizing she was frightened, Boros silently turned and went into the living room without a word.

With Boros no longer blocking her view, Lily finally got a full look at the people in the room.

Besides Shinji, there were… quite a few others. Saitama, Genos, Boros, Loris, and Vaccine Man… and even King was now there.

Since the G4 mech incident, Saitama had met King, and Loris had gotten to know Shinji. King occasionally came over to play games with Saitama, which inevitably started his endless losing streak…

From Lily's perspective, everyone in the room was either an S-class hero or a monster, which only amplified her shock.

"I… did I come to the wrong place?" Her face turned pale.

"No, you're in the right place. This is my home," Shinji said, noticing her fear.

He stepped forward and gently guided her inside. With Shinji leading, Lily's tension eased slightly, though she remained cautious, keeping her gaze low and following quietly behind him.

"Master, is this your friend?" Genos asked.

Saitama and King, engrossed in their game, didn't notice the conversation.

"Yes," Shinji replied. He remembered that Lily was indeed his friend, as they had promised to be friends some time ago.

"I… I'm Lily, also a professional hero with the Hero Association…"

Lily introduced herself, her voice slightly stammering from nerves. She recognized Genos as well, the S-class Demon Cyborg. Any professional hero could identify S-class members, as they were the pinnacle of the field, currently only around thirty in number.

"I'm Genos, Master Shinji's disciple," Genos introduced himself in simple manner.

Gathering her courage, Lily tried to address the remaining "people" in the room.

Besides Saitama and King, who were still playing games, the others all looked like monsters. The first one was Boros, whom she noticed.

"You… you must be the former extraterrestrial overlord who invaded Earth, right? Have you joined the Hero Association recently?"

Now calmer, Lily recalled that this being seemed like an S-class hero. She had just been startled at the door and hadn't been able to think straight.

"Yes, by your standards, I'm now a professional hero," Boros nodded.

"And this one…?"

Not recognizing Vaccine Man, Lily asked.

Vaccine Man immediately began chanting dramatically, "I am the embodiment of Earth's will, the messenger of the planet…"

Before he could go on for another hundred words, Shinji interrupted him.

"This one caused a Dragon-level disaster previously. His name is Vaccine Man," Shinji briefly explained to Lily.

"Oh, Vaccine Man, nice to meet you," Lily said politely.

Finally, there was one last person.

Looking at Loris, Lily noticed the third eye on her forehead, which made her appear unusual, yet a closer look revealed a genuine beauty, dressed stylishly and elegantly.

Lily couldn't help but take notice of this woman. She hadn't expected such a stunning female monster.

And… why was she at Shinji's home?

While Lily observed, Loris' gaze was fixed on her, studying her intently.