Annie's little house had gained another guest, and there was no doubt about who it was: Tornado's older sister, Tatsumaki!
She had no choice but to stay.
She was injured. After pulling out all those tiny cactus spines, she had spent several hours suffering from the poison and excruciating pain. At last, she couldn't take it anymore and fell into a deep, naked sleep. Her younger sister, Fubuki, treated and disinfected her wounds, then used her psychic powers to carry her to a room to rest.
After all, not everyone had the incredible pain tolerance of a certain bald man, who could get pricked all over his head with poisonous needles and still wander around as if nothing had happened.
Fortunately, the poison from Cactus Shooter Ball's spines was mainly meant to stimulate the nerves and make pain feel more than ten times worse. It had no other side effects, so even though Tatsumaki had been pricked thousands of times, she didn't need to worry much about any lasting harm to her body.
As for having another person in the house, Annie didn't mind. This standalone garden cabin was over three hundred square meters, after all, and had several rooms. One more person just meant more company, and she couldn't be bothered to fuss over it.
So Tatsumaki stayed there, skipping dinner entirely and sleeping straight through until the following morning. By dawn, she had mostly recovered.
"Hello?"
"Yeah, it's me..."
"What? You still haven't gotten everyone ready?"
Early the next morning, Tatsumaki sat in the living room, ravenous as she waited for her sister Fubuki to make her a hearty breakfast. That was when she got a call from the Hero Association.
"..."
"You're asking where I am?"
"I'm in the Z City ghost town, taking... taking care of