The Main Cast Assembles

Luke was fixing his Kelp Man's hairstyle when someone knocked on the door.

He hurriedly closed the tank and ran to open it. Mitarai Fubuki stood outside.

"Fubuki? What brings you here?"

People didn't come calling for no reason. Luke figured Fubuki had new instructions for him.

"I'm here to help you move," she said with a straight face.

Move? Move where?

Seeing his baffled expression, Fubuki added, "To my place."

Luke was startled. "Wouldn't that be a bit much?"

The word cohabitation sprang to mind.

Luke wasn't conservative, but things were moving awfully fast.

"I don't want this either," Fubuki said helplessly. "But you don't want Homelander showing up at your door, do you?"

"Homelander?" Luke asked, puzzled.

Fubuki told him how Homelander had come to her home and gotten beaten up.

Her account gave Luke two useful pieces of information.

First, Fubuki had an older sister.

Luke was thrilled.

By rights, an older sister should be more mature and sexier than her younger sister.

And Fubuki was already like this...

Her sister must be out of this world.

That alone was enough to make Luke accept Fubuki's generous invitation.

Nothing in the world could be more delightful than spending his days and nights in the company of two stunning beauties.

Second, Fubuki's sister sounded powerful.

Powerful enough to defeat Homelander.

Defeating Homelander might not be especially hard for Luke, but the fact that a woman could do it stirred his curiosity.

Mature, sexy, cool, and powerful.

I'm done for.

She hit every one of Luke's weaknesses.

"So Homelander might come looking for me next?" Luke asked, a trace of worry on his face.

The worry was an act, of course.

After hearing Fubuki's story, Luke had turned the situation to his advantage and set himself a little goal.

That goal was to move into Fubuki's home and use the opportunity to win over Mitarai Fubuki—or her sister.

"Exactly. You need to stay at my place until things blow over." Fubuki nodded.

"All right, then," Luke agreed, as though reluctantly.

"Then hurry and pack," Fubuki said.

Less than ten minutes later, Luke stood before her with a suitcase.

"You're done?" Fubuki asked in surprise.

Luke nodded.

With as few possessions as he had, moving didn't take much effort.

Luke followed Fubuki downstairs and found a rather luxurious car parked outside.

He didn't know much about car brands, but it looked expensive.

As Fubuki and Luke emerged, a rear window rolled down.

A young man with slicked-back hair waved to Luke from inside.

Luke took a closer look. It was Serizawa Masao, and his heart sank.

Fubuki had picked up Serizawa before coming for him. Didn't that mean Serizawa ranked higher in her affections?

"Put your suitcase in the trunk, then sit up front," Fubuki said.

Luke walked around to the back. The rear was bare except for an emblem: a winged circle with the letter B in the middle.

Fubuki pressed the B lightly, and the trunk slowly opened.

Luxury cars really are different, Luke thought. Even their trunks open differently.

He took the front passenger seat with a reluctant look. A driver in a suit sat behind the wheel.

As he opened the door, Luke noticed a little Girl sitting in the middle of the back seat.

He remembered Serizawa mentioning that he had a younger sister.

"Hello, Bald Uncle," Serizawa Yoshiko greeted him at once.

"Just 'Uncle' is fine," Luke replied awkwardly.

The "Baldy" part could go.

Once everyone was seated, the car headed for the Mitarai Mansion in Frieza Heights.

When they arrived, Luke and Serizawa—neither of whom had seen anything like it—stepped out and froze.

Luke stared at the lavish garden mansion. "Fubuki... this is your home?"

He had known Fubuki was well-off, but he'd never imagined she was this rich.

Serizawa's mouth went dry too.

He had never dreamed he would live in a house like this.

Even if he worked ten jobs until he was seventy, he doubted he could afford a villa like it.

Sometimes the gulf between people was wide enough to make you despair.

Fubuki led them to the entrance, and the heavy metal doors slowly opened.

Between the front door and the living room lay an entry hall, its walls carved with exquisite murals.

Beyond it, they passed a Japanese-style screen before the enormous living room finally came into view.

The open space covered hundreds of square meters. The living room's soaring ceiling offered a view of the entire three-story mansion. A spiral staircase wound along its edge all the way to the third floor, while a magnificent crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling to just above head height.

Luke and Serizawa could only stare, slack-jawed.

The pleasures of the rich really were beyond their imagination.

Serizawa looked up. His expression changed, and he shouted, "Kid, don't sit there! That's dangerous!"

Everyone looked up. A little Girl with curly green hair and a black dress slit up the side sat on the third-floor stair railing, her chin propped on her hand as she watched them.

The Girl looked about thirteen or fourteen, with a delicate, adorable face. Her small feet swung back and forth in midair.

At Serizawa's shout, the Girl frowned. "Why are you yelling? Fubuki, your friend has no manners."

Having a younger sister himself, Serizawa was especially concerned about children. He turned to Fubuki. "Fubuki, tell her to come down. It's dangerous up there."

"Sister, come down," Fubuki said helplessly. "Your dress is showing too much."

Tatsumaki's expression shifted. She tugged down the slit of her dress, then floated through the air to the floor.

Serizawa was dumbfounded.

By "come down," he'd meant for the Girl to get off the railing. Apparently, both sisters had misunderstood him.

His worry seemed unnecessary, though. The Girl was apparently an Esper with Psychic Powers similar to Fubuki's.

Also, unless he'd misheard, Fubuki had called the Girl "Sister."

The Girl looked barely older than Yoshiko. How could she be the older sister?

Tatsumaki floated down and stopped in front of them.

"This is my older sister, Tatsumaki," Fubuki said, spreading her hands.

Now Luke was dumbfounded too.

You've got to be kidding. This is Fubuki's sister?

She was nothing like the mature, sexy woman he'd imagined.

"Your biological sister?" Serizawa asked in disbelief.

"Mm-hmm." Fubuki nodded.

Serizawa looked Tatsumaki up and down. She was every inch a haughty little girl. If the two sisters had switched places, it would have made more sense.

Tatsumaki bristled under his stare. "Keep looking and I'll slam you into the wall so hard they'll never scrape you off."

Serizawa looked away. He didn't believe she could do it; he'd simply realized that staring at her was rude.

Only Fubuki knew Tatsumaki really could slam him into the wall and leave him stuck there.

"And you, baldy."

Luke had been studying Tatsumaki too, still struggling to accept the gulf between reality and his lovely fantasy.

Hearing her call him "baldy," Luke snapped, "Huh? What did you say, shrimp?"

Luke hated being called bald. What he didn't know was that Tatsumaki hated being called short just as much.

Without the slightest warning, Luke went flying.

Fubuki pressed a hand to her forehead in resignation.

It looked like the house would need renovating again. That wouldn't be cheap.

Luke hurtled toward the living room wall, only to stop abruptly just before hitting it.

He still didn't know exactly what had happened, but the little Girl had to be behind it.

"What the hell was that, kid?" Luke demanded.

Tatsumaki studied him in confusion, then looked down at her hands.

Something's wrong. There's something strange about this Baldy.

Her fingers slowly curled. She looked up to see how Luke reacted.

"Sister!" Fubuki cried.

The others might not have known what Tatsumaki was doing, but Fubuki recognized it at once: she was getting serious with Luke.

To Fubuki's surprise, Tatsumaki ignored her. Her expression grew complicated as she watched Luke.

First her brows drew together. Then her pupils widened. Finally, her mouth fell slightly open in astonishment.

By then, her small hand had closed into a fist.

Just yesterday, she had used the same move to curl the powerful Homelander into a cooked lobster.

Yet under that terrifying force, Luke stood perfectly straight, as though nothing had happened.

To Fubuki and Serizawa, Luke's figure began to ripple like a reflection on water.

The space around him seemed to twist strangely.

Seeing Luke unharmed, Fubuki stared in disbelief.

No one knew better than she did how frighteningly powerful Tatsumaki was.

How was he doing this?

How could he remain so calm under her sister's power, as though nothing were happening?

To both sisters' astonishment, Luke began walking toward Tatsumaki, one step at a time.

Tatsumaki watched him approach warily. Green light flared around her.

A clearly visible green barrier enclosed her.

Luke pushed through the immense resistance in the air and stopped before her.

He slowly reached out a hand.

Pop. His hand slipped into Tatsumaki's green barrier with almost no resistance.

He ruffled her bright green curls. "Why so hostile? I'm Fubuki's friend," he said gently.