There were two things Tatsumaki detested above all else: men who lacked actual talent but thought they were hot stuff, and anyone who treated her like a child.
She felt like she should be blowing a fuse right now. Yet, looking at the silly grin on Alice's dopey face, she figured there was really no point in getting worked up over a literal metalhead.
Suppressing the vein throbbing violently at her temple, Tatsumaki snapped in a thoroughly irritated tone, "No way! And besides, I'm nothing like you—I'm a reliable adult! Get it right through your head!"
With that, having no desire to waste another second on the tin can who had repeatedly pushed her buttons, she grabbed her bento box and floated straight back to her room.
She figured a brief flash of her temper would be enough to teach this bizarrely wired machine a lesson. Little did she know, the very next morning, the girl would raise the stakes all over again.
"Tatsumaki! Big crisis! Alice's hair is all tangled up!"
Tatsumaki, who was currently in the living room scraping together a makeshift breakfast, suddenly saw a figure resembling Sadako dashing down the stairs.
Actually, it was a stretch to call it a Sadako impression; even Sadako couldn't pull off an effect this dramatic.
The girl's hair was absurdly long, trailing easily across the floor. You didn't need to be a genius to realize that managing mane like that on a daily basis was bound to be a nightmare.
But... aren't you a robot? How can you mess up something as simple as this?
Tatsumaki desperately wanted to call her out on it. But at this point, complaining was just a waste of time. It was better to just fix the problem and get it over with.
With a casual flick of her finger, a green aura of psychokinesis rippled across the long hair. It was matted into a stubborn nest, courtesy of a terrible sleeping posture compounded by dampness.
While Tatsumaki usually relied on raw, unadulterated brute force during combat, that didn't mean she lacked a delicate touch.
She easily unraveled every single knot. Then, utilizing high-speed vibrations, she gave the long locks a thorough shake-and-dry treatment.
The excess moisture was drawn away by her telekinesis, funneled straight into the sink and down the drain.
The entire process took less than twenty seconds.
"Wow, amazing! It's dry and silky smooth again!" Alice exclaimed in delight, marveling at the results of the "Tatsumaki Hair Salon." "Psychic powers are so convenient!"
"Not just anyone can pull that off."
Tatsumaki took immense pride in her abilities. After all, she had trained relentlessly, day and night.
Ever since she was rescued from that laboratory, she had never once slacked off when it came to sharpening her power.
Unlike Tatsumaki, who considered a pre-packaged bento a perfectly fine meal, Alice still preferred fresh, home-cooked food.
Listening to the clattering sounds and catching the savory aromas wafting from the kitchen, Tatsumaki felt her newly restored peace of mind fluctuate once more.
Looking down at the instant food sitting on her own table, she couldn't help but feel a tiny bit slighted.
Before long, Alice reappeared in the living room. Seeing that the girl hadn't brought out an extra portion of food, Tatsumaki pouted.
Just as she was about to quickly scarf down the rest of her breakfast, the girl across from her suddenly spoke up.
"Alice wants to go out on her own daily hero quests!"
"Huh?! What kind of nonsense are you talking about? The whole reason you're here is so I can keep an eye on you, isn't it? If we separate, what was the point of bringing you along in the first place?"
Tatsumaki looked at her, utterly bewildered.
"But Alice has things Alice needs to do, too," she replied, completely unfazed by Tatsumaki's sharp tone. "Besides, flying high up in the sky was fun at first, but after doing it for so long, it's not that exciting anymore."
"Absolutely not. What if you take the chance to run away while I'm not looking?"
"Alice would never run away!"
"No means no. You're still technically a suspect."
"But Alice isn't a criminal."
"..."
The words caught in Tatsumaki's throat. It was true. Though she had been treating her like a suspect this entire time, the reality was that the girl hadn't actually done anything wrong.
Fubuki had clearly been experimented on, but that was the work of whoever created this girl, not the girl herself...
Wait, as a creation, shouldn't she naturally...
Shouldn't she bear some responsibility?
Applying that logic felt wrong no matter how she looked at it.
It was like trying to convict a knife for a crime. If she wanted to hold this robot criminally liable, she first had to acknowledge that the girl possessed an independent personality.
But... did she really? Surely not...
Because if she did...
Thinking back on how she had treated her and the things she had said, Tatsumaki didn't want to admit it.
She knew her sharp tongue offended plenty of people and left a bad taste in their mouths, but that was only because those people failed to do their duty. Alice's actions, on the other hand, certainly didn't warrant the claim that she wasn't doing her part.
If she were just a piece of metal running a pre-programmed script, it wouldn't matter. But if she was a person with a soul...
"Do... whatever you want. As long as you don't leave the range of my perception, I guess I can let you move around freely. I did promise Fubuki, after all. It'd be a pain if you rusted out from sitting around doing nothing, and I don't know the first thing about fixing machines."
Tatsumaki's voice went quiet, a clear indicator that her mood had taken a turn for the worse.
"Are you unhappy? Is it because of Alice?"
"How could someone like you ever make me unhappy? I just thought of something unpleasant, that's all!" Tatsumaki had no intention of explaining herself. Frankly, she couldn't quite sort out her own tangled emotions at the moment.
Not wanting to hear another word, she pressed on, "The cities we patrolled yesterday—you are only allowed to operate within that perimeter. If you cross the line, I'll know instantly."
Maintaining a perimeter that size was pushing her limits; it practically required her to drape her sensory net over half the continent. It was by no means an easy feat.
"Okay! Then when can Alice go back and see everyone?"
"On a day off... No, whenever I have time." At this, Tatsumaki's gaze sharpened significantly.
She looked at Alice with an unreadable expression. "Or... if your creator is willing to meet with me ahead of schedule, I wouldn't mind letting you go right then and there."
"The person you want to see is Auntie Herta, right? But Auntie Herta isn't Alice's creator."
"...Huh?"
"Alice doesn't know who created her either. The only reason Alice stays with Auntie Herta is because..."
"Hold on, I don't care about any of that background noise," Tatsumaki interrupted. "I just want to know one thing. This Herta—when can I see her?"
"Hmm..."
Alice glanced at her chat group, typing out a quick inquiry. After a brief pause, she looked back up at Tatsumaki. "In eight days."
"Fine. I'll give her eight days." Noticing that the girl seemed to be staring at something only she could see, Tatsumaki figured this was her method of contacting Herta.
Eight days. Not an unbearable amount of time.
The days slowly ticked away by Tatsumaki's count. The complex thoughts stirred up by their conversation caused her to actively avoid talking to the girl.
Fortunately, Alice had taken the initiative to spend her time outside, meaning the two of them only crossed paths during lunch and in the evenings.
While Alice couldn't take to the skies like Tatsumaki to zip across distances, her ground speed moving between cities wasn't slow by any means. It was just a bit more tedious.
Through her sensory net, Tatsumaki frequently caught glimpses of Alice engaging in friendly chats with ordinary citizens, and even going out of her way to help them with mundane tasks that had nothing to do with fighting monsters.
Unlike the somewhat isolated L-City, the residents of the bustling central districts were far more enthusiastic. She even witnessed scenes where the girl was completely mobbed by adoring fans.
These mental images only served to complicate Tatsumaki's feelings further.
She had braced herself to endure a tense eight days, but on the seventh day, the presence she had been tracking suddenly vanished.
Alice had dropped completely off her radar.
Was she running away?
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL