One Punch Man: My Inspiration

Chapter 17: A New Day Is Dawning

I ran for what felt like an eternity, through every tree I came across I darted past them. Once I finally came to where I assumed I was running I saw someone I was not expecting to see. Standing with their back to me was none other than Fubuki. "Fubuki?" I said, reaching out to her. She turned her head slightly to where I could only see the side of her face. She gave me a look of disgust. I recoiled in surprise. She turned all the way around, keeping that same look on her face. She mouthed what I assumed was words but no sound came out of her mouth, and if there was sound then it was too faint for me to hear. It looked like she was chastising me. "Fubuki, I can't hear you." I tried to get her to speak up. She stopped moving her mouth and a malicious smile came over her face. "Prepare." Was the only word I heard from her before I was brought back into reality.

I sprang up on the couch I was sleeping on, my breathing was extremely quick and my heartbeat was audible. "What was that dream?" I asked myself. "Something the matter?" I turned to the side to see Tatsumaki looking at me with a concerned look. "It's... It's nothing, Tatsumaki." I lied. 

She frowned at me and hovered over me, laying down in mid-air. "Sen, come on, don't lie to me." She said with a matter of fact tone. The two of us starred at each other for a moment before I caved. "Well... The truth is, I had a dream about Fubuki." I said to the side. Tatsumaki was visibly shocked. "That's interesting I guess, what happened in your dream?" She asked. I tried to recall what had happened. It felt like I had just gotten out of that dream but the details were already becoming hazy. "I think I was running through some kind of forest... And then... I remember seeing Fubuki. She didn't look like she was happy to see me... The only thing I can recall her saying was, prepare."

Tatsumaki took a moment before floating off to her room. I heard the low hum of her powers as she returned with a small notebook. "Here, take a look." She handed me the notebook. I unlatched the buckle and opened it up. "Flip towards the back." She pointed to the page she was referring to as I flipped to the back of the notebook. On the page detailed day after day what dream Tatsumaki was having. Each one resembled the one I was having. "That's odd to say the least..." I said scratching the back of my head. "That's what I thought." Tatsumaki said with a huff. "I've experienced those dreams for the past month now." She said. "At first I was distraught just by seeing Fubuki but now... Now I'm just worried what these dreams mean, especially since you're having the same dream as me." Tatsumaki had now lowered herself to the floor and began tapping her foot.

I pondered it for a moment before getting off of the couch, letting out a large yawn as I did. "Well, there's nothing we can do right now so we shouldn't worry about it too much." I said, walking past Tatsumaki, heading towards a small closet to pick out my outfit. "Okay, then what should we do instead?" She asked. I changed out of my pajamas and put on my regular clothes, eying my new set of weights that the association sent me. "What we have been doing since the last big event." I held up my weights. "We train." I said with a smile. Tatsumaki sighed but a smile came over her. "Fine, let's get to it then." I returned the smile as the two of us headed to the door. "You can feel it too right?" Tatsumaki asked to the side. I grinned. "Yep, it's the dawn of a new era." I said as we exited the apartment.

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Tatsumaki hurled boulder after boulder at me, with much haste I dodged each one. One after another they came at me with startling speed, one almost clipped me and I was forced to smash the boulder with a punch. Tatsumaki stopped her assault on me and gave me a smug look. "I win~." She said extending her words as much as she could. "Yeah, yeah... I don't remember your psychic powers being this strong..." I said to the side.

Tatsumaki floated over to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Look, if I'm being honest I haven't really gotten all that stronger." I turned to her. "What? Then why am I having so much trouble keeping up with you?" I asked. She gave me a light strike to the head. "Because, knucklehead. You were out of commision for over a month. You were bound to get rusty." She said with a matter of fact tone. I sighed. "I guess you're right. My physical strength may not have lessened that much..." I looked to my new weights. I was still wearing the same amount of weight as before, I frowned. "I guess my fighting prowess has just gotten worse." I tightened my fists. "But that's what we're out here for right? I need to get back into fighting form as soon as possible." I pumped my fist.