ESPunch

Loneliness

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?"