To heal, I had to remember you

Ch. 1: Memories in Dreams

"Forgive me Fubuki... I miss you. If only that B-Class idiot hadn't appeared in your life, you'd still be with me" said a green-haired woman looking in the mirror as she took a pill from the blister pack, for the headache that persisted after her fight with the executives.

Since that time she felt so humiliated and hopeless because of all her defeats, both work and personal, because for a change Fubuki had become rebellious, and was not afraid to contradict her on certain occasions. In addition, Fubuki had decided to move out, so the loneliness was becoming annoying. Her problems with Fubuki kept her constantly depressed. She always thought she was saving and protecting her, as that was her mission as the older sister. However, lately, she saw how empty her life had become since Fubuki left. In their last argument, Fubuki expressed all the good and bad feelings she had for her. Tatsumaki missed her a lot. She had never cared to form connections with anyone else; Fubuki was her friend, her family, her everything, and that was enough. But now that she's gone, she truly feels the loneliness, and it hurts so much that she didn't want to be at home or even fight monsters. This is why she requested a few weeks off to recover.

To lift her spirits a little, she went to a fair and bought a caramel-coated apple. Unfortunately, it started raining. She saw a monster nearby and wondered what was causing the abrupt weather change, but she didn't feel like stopping it. She simply walked to the park and sat on an old bench where she felt something familiar, as if she had been there before, but she couldn't remember anything specific. She stayed there, gazing into emptiness, pondering scenarios where she apologized to her sister, but she dismissed them all due to her untamed pride. When the monster was defeated and the "rain" stopped, Tatsumaki flew back home. After taking a shower and changing into comfortable clothes, she decided to go to sleep. Even though it was early and she hadn't done anything strenuous, she felt very tired and just wanted to sleep to find some peace in dreamy worlds, where everything was as she wished.

In her dream, Tatsumaki returned to being 11-years-old and was crying in a seat of a park. She felt sad because she felt lonely, Fubuki had left with her friend which left her alone.

She then panicked when a boy sat down next to her, she was about to yell at him to leave when he sneezed and shivered from the cold.

"Excuse me, it is raining a lot!! It's cold and I am allergic." he told her with a shaky and slightly nasal voice.

Curiously, the little black-haired boy reminded her of her little sister, so she simply decided not to act aggressive. He looked at her and noticed that she was crying.

"Why are you crying?"

"It's none of your business, boy."

"I can't ignore someone who needs help."

"I don't need help from anyone, nobody truly wants to help... you're not a hero who can assist me, you're... not Blast" she said the last part so quietly, only to herself.

"Um, I'm not a hero, I don't have powers, that's true... but I want to help, and that's what a true hero does, help no matter what, even in small acts... besides, when I grow up, I'll be a hero, you'll see!!" 

"Hahaha! You? A hero?! You don't even have powers... you're sickly... and you're allergic, you couldn't even handle a mosquito" Tatsumaki said with laughter as she finished wiping away her tears that now replaced the bitter crying from before.

"But now you are laughing and not crying, I managed to help you" smiled the boy.

Tatsumaki stopped laughing and became a little bit serious. Hmph! She remarked and turned her face to the side opposite of the boy with embarrassment. "F-Fine, you made me laugh but I am still sad."

"Why?"

"You wouldn't understand, my sister and her friends are scared of my powers, but I use them because they always want to hurt us."

"You have powers emerald girl?"

"Hey, who gave you permission to give me a nickname? You will pay for this!" The boy got scared as a green light surrounded everything around him, and rocks and trash from the area started to lift up.

"Wait, wait... I'm sorry, it wasn't meant to mock you, I just like your hair, I've never seen that color before, I'm sorry" said the scared boy. The compliment made both blush, which in turn calmed down Tatsumaki.

"Hmph, it's fine crybaby. I forgive you."

"If you have powers, you should be a hero too... my mom says those of us with a gift should use it to help others. You can be a hero, like Blast... that way, your sister and friends could understand and admire you..." Then Saitama looked to the side of Tatsumaki and saw a woman waiting on the other side of the street. "I'm going, green girl, my mom's here. Good luck... and don't cry, you're strong, you'll be okay." He ran off, leaving Tatsumaki astonished, and she shouted after him "Thanks, little hero!!" He stopped, turned to smile at her, and waved goodbye.

Tatsumaki woke up from her dream, opened her eyes, and realized it was daytime. She tried to go back to sleep by closing her eyes again, but she couldn't. She lay on her back, placing her forearm over her eyes. Then, she smiled as she remembered the dream, which seemed to be a memory that brought some peace and warmth to her heart, something she had never felt before. "Little hero, Blast, Fubuki... I wish they were here with me." she whispered. With effort, she sat up on the edge of the bed, rubbing her eyes. Her phone rang, and as she picked it up, she saw that the caller was a member of the Hero Association.

"Hello? I hope you guys have a good reason for interrupting my day."

"Miss Tatsumaki, I'm... I'm..." Something like a slap was heard, Tatsumaki rolled her eyes. "I'm very sorry." Tatsumaki heard as the person on the other end sighed, and their voice sounded more serious and fluent now "We're calling to inform you that you have an urgent meeting today at 1:00 PM."

"Alright, I'll go... don't be scared, I dislike people who stutter out of fear... as long as you don't do something stupid or offensive, I won't do anything to you" she finished and hung up.

She looked at the clock and saw that she had less than 4 hours to prepare. 

"Damn it, how annoying..." the young woman got up, went to take a shower, and while she thought about her dream, she finished bathing, put on her usual dress, styled her hair, and finally slipped into her heels. She gave a last look in her mirror and smiled wryly. She knows she's beautiful, but even so, she would have liked to grow up normally and perhaps look more like her sister. Although she stopped caring about that a long time ago, these days she's been recalling all her wounds.