"What are you even thinking, Fubuki? That guy is clearly trying to… are you really just going to let him get his way?"
Tatsumaki bit her lower lip, unusually hesitant as she confronted her sister.
Kizaru had her fuming—if she were more confident in beating him, or less worried about fighting and upsetting Fubuki, she would've already gone at him full force.
In truth, both sisters knew exactly what kind of "plans" Kizaru had in mind. But in a world as unstable as One Punch Man's, attitudes around that kind of thing were arguably looser than even the world of pirates.
Neither Tatsumaki nor Fubuki had any prior relationship experience, mostly due to their high standards—and the fact that Tatsumaki kept too close an eye on her little sister.
Put simply: if you couldn't court Tatsumaki, you had no chance with Fubuki either.
On the flip side, if you could win over Tatsumaki, there was a good chance you could land Fubuki too—as long as your looks met Fubuki's standards and you were strong enough to avoid getting crushed by Tatsumaki.
"Sis, Kizaru's really not that bad, is he? Aside from being a little too tall…"
Fubuki was no longer shy—instead, she was even trying to defend Kizaru. But before she could finish, her gaze drifted involuntarily toward Tatsumaki.
Compared to her sister's height… yeah, Kizaru really was quite tall…
"What are you looking at!? So what if he's tall?! Like I'd be scared just because of that!"
Maybe it was because her younger sister was much taller than her, but Tatsumaki had a hair-trigger when it came to any look related to her height—even Fubuki wasn't an exception.
Now fuming, Tatsumaki completely forgot about warning Fubuki. She was dead-set on finding Kizaru and proving that she wasn't afraid of him—especially not because of his height.
Meanwhile, Kizaru had just finished running his bath. The villa's luxurious bathroom setup was no joke—eight faucets running simultaneously.
No need to worry about the bathwater cooling down before the tub filled.
Just as he was settling into the oversized tub, the door slammed open with a loud bang.
Most people would've been startled, but Kizaru's Observation Haki was so advanced he could maintain it 24/7.
"Here to help scrub my back, Miss Tatsumaki?"
Most people would feel awkward being caught like that, but Kizaru just leaned over the edge of the tub with a smile and gave her a casual wave.
"Y-You… You have no shame!"
Tatsumaki's face flushed red. She had originally come to make Kizaru stand up, then float higher than him to prove she wasn't afraid of his height.
But seeing him sitting in the tub, even she could guess what would happen if she did tell him to stand up.
And she knew this shameless man would absolutely do it the moment she asked.
"That's really unfair, Miss Tatsumaki. You barge in here to peep on my bath, and now you're calling me shameless?"
Kizaru sighed dramatically, shaking his head as he bemoaned the decline of societal values. An S-Class hero from the Hero Association peeking on someone bathing—and trying to shift the blame.
"Sis! You shouldn't—mmph…"
Fubuki, chasing after her sister, burst into the bathroom just as Kizaru leaned back against the tub's headrest, his well-defined, muscular chest on full display.
Just one look made Fubuki's pale cheeks go red again. Men liked good-looking women—but the reverse was just as true.
Over the years, Kizaru had used his mastery over Life Return to maintain the handsome face of his youth and sculpt a physique with muscle lines that could only be described as perfectly proportioned.
For Fubuki, that kind of appearance was devastatingly attractive—even Tatsumaki, mid-rant, couldn't help but sneak a couple of glances.
Unfortunately, just as Kizaru was about to invite the two beauties to bathe with him, Tatsumaki snapped out of it and dragged a wide-eyed, unblinking Fubuki out of the bathroom.
Had they stayed any longer, with his looks and body, Kizaru could have easily won over Fubuki, who was already showing clear signs of a budding crush.
After the bath, it was about dinner time. The two sisters didn't show up for some reason, but Kizaru didn't mind. He calmly enjoyed the meal prepared by the villa's top-tier chef.
He had always lived by the rule: don't initiate, don't refuse—but if the moment was right, he'd definitely flirt. A seasoned player, through and through.
While Kizaru enjoyed his dinner, the two sisters were holed up in their room. After a long, soul-searching conversation, they finally reached a shaky agreement.
"Have you really thought this through, Fubuki? That greedy, insatiable guy is nothing but a womanizer—he'll never give you the happiness you're imagining!"
Even now, Tatsumaki couldn't give up on making one last attempt to stop this. Kizaru was just too infuriating.
If only he weren't so damn good-looking—tch—no, if only Fubuki hadn't fallen for him, Tatsumaki would never have compromised so easily.
"Are you backing out now, sis?"
Fubuki let out a sigh and gently squeezed Tatsumaki's hand.
She had finally worked up the courage to come clean to Kizaru—there was no way she was letting her sister chicken out now.
"Don't be ridiculous. I just don't want you to regret it later!"
Tatsumaki scoffed, but as they got closer to Kizaru's room, her steps grew visibly stiffer. By the time they reached the door, it was practically Fubuki dragging her in.
Fubuki's reasoning was simple: she was already head over heels, so she might as well pull in her sister, who clearly had some feelings for Kizaru too.
That kind of logic might've seemed insane in Kizaru's past life—or even in the pirate world—but in the context of One Punch Man's society, it wasn't that far-fetched.
Especially considering Tatsumaki and Fubuki weren't ordinary girls. Both had been treated as research subjects by labs since childhood, and their personalities and thinking patterns were far from typical.
From Fubuki's perspective, it was better to "gift" her sister to Kizaru than let her live the rest of her life alone.
After all, men who could stir her sister's heart were almost nonexistent. Without Kizaru, who knew if there'd ever be another man who caught her interest?
Though the two of them fought like enemies half the time, Fubuki genuinely wanted to remain sisters for life.
…
After a night of passion, Kizaru was up the next morning as usual—washed up and ready, already at the training grounds ahead of schedule.
That was the benefit of a strong body. Otherwise, even dreaming of a harem would first require asking whether your back could handle it.
Meanwhile, most of the heroes at the training ground had already heard through the grapevine that their training intensity was about to increase by fifty percent following the events in City J.
It was like a thunderbolt out of a clear sky—many of them were dumbstruck. Even a stamina monster like Captain Mizuki shivered involuntarily when she saw Kizaru appear.
"He didn't remember! He didn't remember! He didn't remember!"
Magic Trickster was muttering nonstop, desperately hoping Swift Flash had forgotten about giving them extra drills.
Unfortunately, what he didn't know was just how sharp Kizaru's sensory abilities were. No matter how quietly he muttered, as long as he made a sound, Kizaru could hear it all.
In fact, Kizaru hadn't even been thinking about increasing the heroes' training load—until Magic Trickster helpfully reminded him.
After briefly recalling recent events, Kizaru suddenly remembered the thing Magic Trickster was most worried about.
"Ahem. Honestly, I might've forgotten if you hadn't brought it up. So, thanks to our cap-wearing hero over there—what was your name again? Never mind, that's not important. What is important is that starting today, there'll be a few changes to your training plans…"
He flashed a smile that, to the gathered heroes, was pure nightmare fuel. And the one who suffered the most was, of course, the very hero Kizaru had singled out—Magic Trickster.
Even with his back turned to the rest, he could feel it—dozens of eyes stabbing into him like daggers.
"I'm screwed…"
Despair written all over his face, Magic Trickster couldn't help but let out a groan. He could already picture the hellish ordeal ahead.
If not for the need to conserve strength for the next wave of training, some hot-headed heroes probably would've already come to challenge him to a duel.
For a moment, he even considered running away. But that idea didn't last long.
After all, staying in the training camp at least meant he was under Flashy Flash's protection. If he left the camp now, he'd probably get jumped at the gate by someone furious over the increased training load.
"Same rules as before—start with an hour of kicking the wooden posts. If you think another hour still won't get you to standard, go ahead and begin your main training. Today's workload is one and a half times yesterday's. Don't slack off—I will know."
Kizaru handed out training assignments with his usual bluntness. Most of the heroes got the same regimen—he didn't see much point in customizing their plans individually since the differences in their abilities were, to him, negligible.
Only Mizuki, the main leader, and Flashy Flash received special treatment. Kizaru believed they were the only two with any real shot at mastering the Rokushiki techniques during the training camp.
They'd be the ones expected to teach the others afterward—but only the core techniques: Rankyaku (Tempest Kick), Geppo (Moon Step), Soru (Shave), Tekkai (Iron Body), Shigan (Finger Pistol), and Kami-e (Paper Art). As for Life Return—which required total mastery of all six styles—Kizaru had no expectations.
Not because he thought the heroes were less talented than the Navy or CP agents—but simply because the time was too short. To master the full Rokushiki and Life Return in just one month? Probably only Saitama the Baldy could pull that off.
And even then, it would be meaningless to someone like Saitama. If his power level was one million, then learning the Rokushiki might boost him by a few hundred or thousand at best—barely a blip compared to his original strength.
"…Why is that guy here again…"
Kizaru suddenly frowned, letting out a helpless sigh.
Kizaru had just finished sending off a group of heroes when his Observation Haki, always active, was triggered.
Even without looking toward the main gate, he could sense the presence of a formidable individual standing outside the training camp's entrance.
"Is this the place? You didn't get lost, did you?"
Standing outside the training camp's gate, Saitama, unaware that Kizaru had already labeled him an uninvited guest, peered inside, trying to spot the figure he remembered.
"According to Dr. Kuseno's instructions, this should be the place... Teacher, are you sure this will make me stronger?"
The handsome young man, his body marked by signs of extensive modifications, looked at the rather simple training ground with clear disappointment, his feelings almost written on his face.
Genos was always like this—he rarely considered other people's feelings when speaking, and he certainly didn't hide his true thoughts.
"It should work, right? Didn't the TV say it would? And that... God-speed light guy's power is really strong... Wahhh!"
Saitama, secretly poking a hole in the iron gate with his finger to try and peek inside, was interrupted before he could even get a good look when another pair of eyes appeared on the other side of the small hole.
Even Saitama, who was usually unshakable, jumped in surprise. Luckily, Genos had long since gotten used to Saitama's occasional startled reactions and didn't overreact.
"That's Swift Flash, the newly ranked S-Class, number 9. Teacher, is he really that strong?"
Genos asked curiously, this being the first time he had heard his teacher praise someone's strength like that.
"Not really, at least not stronger than the bald-headed cape guy standing next to you."
Before Saitama could respond, Kizaru, standing behind the door, opened it with an annoyed look and spoke.
If there was anyone Kizaru truly didn't want to see in the world of One Punch Man, it was Saitama.
Not only because Kizaru couldn't beat him yet, but also because Saitama's existence made Kizaru feel like his common sense was being challenged.
"Don't mention that code name..."
Saitama muttered gloomily. He had reluctantly signed up for the Hero Association's exam, thinking he might be able to make something of it, only to be ranked as a C-Class hero. To make matters worse, he was given the nickname "Caped Baldy."
In comparison, Kizaru's "Swift Flash" was just so much cooler. Even Genos, The Demon Cyborg, seemed better than his "Caped Baldy" nickname.
"What are you here for? And just so you know, no fighting is allowed."
Kizaru said disdainfully. There was no way he was going to fight this bald guy right now—doing so would be purely self-inflicted pain.
°°°
If you want to read ahead and access 20 advanced chapters, check the patreon
Link: Patreon/Moziel