Chapter 83: A Certain B-Class Hero
Bang's purpose in coming here was straightforward: notify Tatsumaki about the Hero Association's emergency meeting.
What he hadn't anticipated was finding her in the middle of a reunion with "friends."
Well… "reunion" might not be the right word. More like catching up with old acquaintances.
Admittedly, some of these friends were unusual. The talking wolf that stood upright like a human, for instance—that one absolutely looked like a monster.
But "monster" wasn't necessarily the right call either. The Hero Association itself had members who didn't look particularly human. Take S-Class hero Zombieman, for example. Plenty of people questioned whether he was truly human at all, given his "undy body" — he could be hacked to pieces, head included, and still regenerate at absurd speed. Like an actual zombie, only more so.
Someone that inhuman was nevertheless an S-Class hero in good standing.
So Bang's assessment of Wolffy carried no real prejudice—just a trace of professional wariness. And even that dissolved the moment Tatsumaki confirmed they were friends.
Bang trusted Tatsumaki. Among all the S-Class heroes, there were a few whose personalities he could never quite read. But Tatsumaki? Her, he understood. Even if Bang himself were to consort with monsters, Tatsumaki never would.
* * *
"The meeting concerns the recent surge in monster appearances. S-Class heroes in attendance will include myself—Silver Fang—along with Drive Knight, Flashy Flash, Puri-Puri Prisoner, Metal Bat, Atomic Samurai, and others. I'm told it's a major incident."
Bang paused, cleared his throat, and added:
"There's also a B-Class hero sitting in on the meeting. Though that fellow's actual strength is… considerable. At least, this old man believes so."
After hearing Bang out, Tatsumaki's brow gradually furrowed.
She could tell this meeting was genuinely important.
The problem was: the entire chat group—Admin included—was right here.
Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have minded attending. Her daily life was boring enough that a meeting counted as entertainment.
But this was a special situation.
Tatsumaki shook her head:
"I have guests to host. I'll skip the first session. You should head back, old man."
* * *
"Gurararara! No need to neglect your real-world responsibilities on our account, little Tatsumaki. A meeting about monsters, you say? This old man wouldn't mind sitting in. We're here sightseeing anyway—doesn't matter what we do."
Whitebeard laughed easily, leaning his back against the cool metal wall. The size reduction to just over two meters was still taking some getting used to. But it was better than accidentally punching through the ceiling—his original height was close to seven meters. What kind of room had seven-meter ceilings?
Ryū shrugged:
"In gaming terms, I'd say we've stumbled into a main-story cutscene. If there's an important meeting, go ahead, Tatsumaki. It won't take long."
Tatsumaki blinked at the suggestions from Admin and Whitebeard, then nodded:
"In that case… Old Man Bang, I'll attend the meeting. But my friends are coming with me."
Bang visibly startled. He'd heard Whitebeard and Ryū's remarks clearly.
He hadn't expected little Tatsumaki to actually take someone else's suggestion. That was… wildly out of character.
The old Tatsumaki was famously willful. She listened to virtually no one's advice, ever.
And yet today, for the first time, that pattern had broken.
This alone told Bang something significant about Tatsumaki's strange new friends: not a single one of them was ordinary.
* * *
"Letting them observe shouldn't be a problem—provided they're not monsters, and provided nothing from the meeting gets leaked."
Bang had barely finished speaking when Tatsumaki added:
"Admin-dono—I'm sorry. This might eat into your time a little."
Hearing little Tatsumaki deliver a sincere apology, Bang's eyes nearly popped out of his skull.
He was seriously questioning whether the woman in front of him was the same S-Class hero Terrible Tornado he'd known all these years.
This wasn't just "out of character." This was a full 180-degree personality reversal.
The old Tatsumaki would never have apologized. Not for anything. And yet here she was, expressing genuine remorse over a minor scheduling inconvenience.
If he weren't afraid of getting pummeled, Bang would've reached out and checked her forehead for a fever.
Specifically the kind of fever that fried your brain.
Bang's reaction said everything about how "abrasive" Tatsumaki's personality had been before. But since joining the Dimensional Chat Group and getting to know the other members, that sharp edge had softened. Just a little.
* * *
Ryū paid no particular attention to Bang's shifting expressions. Important supporting character though Bang was in One-Punch Man, Ryū had no personal connection to him. No reason to fixate.
To Tatsumaki's apology, he simply shook his head and smiled:
"We're here for sightseeing. Getting a front-row seat to an anime's plot unfolding in real time? That's actually pretty great."
Yukari chimed in with a light laugh, flicking her fan:
"A Hero Association meeting, is it? Admin-dono mentioned this organization before. This one is rather curious to sit in as well."
Kaguya added: "Wherever Admin-dono and Yukari-nee-sama go, I go."
Bang: "…"
He couldn't follow half the jargon these people were using—"cutscene," "anime," "Admin-dono"—it was all gibberish to him.
But one thing Bang could say with absolute certainty: this group was not to be trifled with.
From several of them, he sensed a dense, unmistakable aura of threat—the same feeling he got facing a Dragon-level monster.
Some of them felt even more dangerous than that.
Whether that was his imagination or not, these people were anything but simple.
"Well then… friends of little Tatsumaki, please follow this old man."
Bang gestured for them to follow. If Tatsumaki insisted on bringing her friends to observe, he wasn't going to object. After all, the meeting already had a B-Class hero sitting in.
As long as the meeting's contents stayed confidential, it was fine.
And even if something did leak… well, that wouldn't be his problem.
Besides, Bang trusted Tatsumaki's judgment. If she'd befriended these people, they were likely dependable. With her standards for human interaction, she'd never associate with anyone unworthy—let alone consider them close friends.
At least, that was how it looked to Bang. Whatever bond this group shared, it was clearly a genuine one.
☆☆☆
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