One Punch Man: Heroics Start with Dual Kamui

Chapter 144: Tatsumaki’s Rumored Love

Although it seemed somewhat unbelievable, Miss Tatsumaki's reaction was clearly obvious. The two women exchanged glances, each seeing the same dilemma reflected in the other's eyes. They hesitated, unsure whether to question Miss Tatsumaki about it directly.

After hesitating for a long while, they could not resist the burning spirit of gossip.

"Um... Miss Tatsumaki!"

"What is it?"

Seeing the two women so serious, Tatsumaki felt a sudden unease.

"Miss Tatsumaki, could we... ask, are you already dating Mr. Kamui?"

They went all in and asked her outright.

"...Wha…"

Tatsumaki froze for a moment, then her pretty face flushed. "Huh?! What are you imagining? Who would date that guy?!"

Her response was loud and fierce. The commotion from the men's side, where Metal Bat and the others had been making noise, was interrupted by Tatsumaki's outburst.

"What's going on over there? Why do they sound louder than us?"

Metal Bat had been ready to pick a fight with Flashy Flash, but Tatsumaki's voice grabbed his attention.

"Sounds like they're talking about 'dating' or something..." Child Emperor hadn't paid much attention, since that kind of topic was still too early for him.

"No way. Tornado of Terror dating someone? Hard to imagine..."

Atomic Samurai stroked his chin and thought for a moment, then turned his gaze toward Kamui. "Could it be... Miss Tatsumaki's romance is with you?"

The moment those words came out, everyone's eyes naturally focused on Kamui.

After all, they all knew Tatsumaki's personality somewhat; cute but very headstrong. That made the whole thing intriguing.

"??"

Shinji removed the towel from his eyes and felt everyone staring at him. He instantly looked puzzled. How had this strange topic suddenly been dragged onto him?

"Obviously not. Do you really think Tatsumaki would casually fall in love given her personality?" Shinji immediately protested.

"True enough. Honestly, I can't picture what kind of man she'd even like..." Atomic Samurai nodded slowly, finding that reasonable.

"Ahem... It's not polite to keep gossiping about others." Bang reminded them.

"Master already has a woman. He's not interested in that little runt." Genos said flatly.

"Wait... where did that rumor come from?"

Shinji was a bit stunned.

Just then, a wooden bucket fell from above.

Clang!

It struck Genos' head, though it didn't hurt him. He took the bucket off, confused. "Who is throwing things from above? That's dangerous."

"It looks like it came from the women's bath next door..." Child Emperor said.

"Genos, I guess your 'little runt' comment was overheard by Tatsumaki," Shinji said with a laugh.

"But I'm telling the truth. Does Sensei really like that hot-tempered little brat?"

Perhaps because of the flying bucket earlier, Genos deliberately kept pressing Tatsumaki's sore spot.

"She's clearly a little brat, yet her temper is anything but small."

Right after that...

From the women's side of the hot spring, all sorts of things came flying over—buckets, stones, brushes, and even a couple of bath towels.

"Kyahhh!"

"Miss Tatsumaki! Please calm down! Our towels are flying away!"

The two female attendants screamed.

"Hey! This is dangerous!"

Metal Bat, nearly struck on the head by a rock, immediately stood up and shouted.

"Good grief..." Bang quietly slipped to the edge of the spring and let out a sigh.

Flashy Flash appeared to be sitting completely still, but in reality, his speed dodging falling objects was so fast that no one could see it.

Expressionless as ever, he muttered while dodging, "Utterly boring."

Even after being hit by several rocks, Pig God's hands never stopped moving as he continued eating without pause.

Watchdog Man crouched silently in the water with a blank face, sitting in his usual dog-like posture.

'So terrifying!'

At that moment, King was trembling in a corner.

His Emperor Engine suddenly roared to life.

"This is bad! Mr. King has entered battle mode! Tatsumaki, calm down or King will kill us all!" Hearing the engine, Superalloy Darkshine shouted in a panic.

"That's enough. Stop now."

At this point, Shinji stepped in to stop Genos.

If Genos kept talking, once Tatsumaki truly lost control, the entire hot spring inn would be reduced to rubble.

In fact, Tatsumaki was already restraining herself quite a lot. If she wasn't soaking in the hot spring, she would have smashed through the wooden wall separating the men's and women's sides to personally teach Genos a lesson.

No matter what, Tatsumaki was still the strongest esper, essentially the "peak of the Dragon-level."

Anyone below "Above Dragon" would stand no chance against her.

Even Black Sperm wasn't a match for her at full strength. Full-power Tatsumaki held the advantage.

"Understood..."

Genos also realized things were getting out of hand. He obediently shut his mouth and stopped provoking her.

On the other side, Tatsumaki gradually calmed her anger, and the hot spring pool that had nearly been thrown into chaos finally quieted down.

"We're so sorry! Truly sorry! We should never have brought up Miss Tatsumaki's affairs without permission!"

"It was our mistake! Please forgive us, Miss Tatsumaki..."

After seeing firsthand why Tatsumaki was called Tornado of Terror, the two female attendants were thoroughly frightened and hurried to apologize.

"Don't worry. I'm not angry at you two. It's just a certain loudmouth next door..." Tatsumaki instantly reverted to her usual strong aura, veins bulging on her forehead, still clearly holding a grudge.

"That's... a relief..." Both attendants let out a long breath.

Although they didn't dare to ask further about Miss Tatsumaki and Mr. Kamui, Tatsumaki's heated reaction just now had already given them the answer.

Even if Miss Tatsumaki and Mr. Kamui hadn't officially started dating yet, it was obvious she liked him.