Hitomi stretched lazily, tail flicking back and forth as he sat up. His enhanced senses twitched — he could hear the faint hum of psychic energy thrumming through the air. Tatsumaki was definitely awake. Her aura was sharp, restless, and irritable, which meant she was either bored… or mad about something.
"Great," he muttered. "She's probably mad about something Fubuki said again."
He sighed, hopping off the bed and padding toward the door. His movements were oddly light — every step felt effortless, his balance perfect. The cat-like grace from his new talent was no joke.
As he stepped into the hallway, he felt it immediately — that overwhelming, invisible pressure. Like gravity, I had decided it hated him personally.
"Tatsumaki…" he said softly.
The living room was floating. Literally floating. Books, cups, pens — all circling the small, green-haired esper like a miniature psychic storm. Tatsumaki sat on the couch, her arms crossed, glaring at the television.
"Oh. Hey, Hitomi," she said without looking up. "You're loud again."
He blinked. I didn't even say anything yet.
Fubuki's voice echoed from the kitchen, calm and exasperated. "Tatsu, put the spoons down before you accidentally bend them again."
"I'm not bending anything! They're floating in perfect alignment!" Tatsumaki shot back, crossing her arms even tighter.
Hitomi smiled awkwardly. "Uh…" morning, sisters."
Tatsumaki turned her head lazily — and froze. Her eyes narrowed as her gaze landed on his ears.
"…Hitomi."
"Yes, dearest terrifying sister?"
She floated off the couch in an instant, hovering an inch from his face. "Why. Do. You. Have. Cat ears."
Hitomi looked to the side and scratched his cheeks. "Uh...I don't really know, I had a strange dream about a floating psychic cat from space eating me, and then I woke up like this..."
Hitomi technically was not lying. The Omniversal system was indeed a "cat" from space, and the simulation was a "dream."
Tatsumaki visibly calmed down. "Well, it's rare for a psychic to have mutations when they awaken their abilities, so I won't question you on that, but I would ask if you have any psychic potential or any other abilities."
Hitomi paused and then thought for a moment. "I can probably levitate two medium-sized or medium-weight things at the same time, and I can also try to increase the sharpness and hardness of my nails, I also have increased Agility and flexibility and also heightened senses but I can probably increase my psychic ability if I train hard enough and I have extra lives...probably?"
Tatsumaki pursed her lips for a moment and gently patted his head with a slight smile on her face. "Well, that's great, and you're even more cute than before."
If one were to witness this scene, they would be confused as to why Tatsumaki was patting a male version of herself and calling him cute because Tatsumaki and Hitomi almost look like one another.
Hitomi's face flushed crimson. "S-stop it, sis! I'm not a plush toy!" he protested, ears twitching furiously as Tatsumaki continued to pat his head like he was a particularly obedient kitten.
"Oh, come on," she teased, smirking. "You've always been cute. Now you're just officially adorable. Maybe I should buy you a bell collar."
"Wha—!?" Hitomi's tail puffed up instantly. "No way! I'm not wearing a collar!"
From the kitchen, Fubuki peeked out with a sly grin. "A collar would actually suit him. He's already got the tail and ears. Maybe add a little ribbon?"
"Fubuki!" Hitomi groaned, covering his face with both hands.
The sisters laughed — a rare moment of shared amusement between the two psychics. Tatsumaki finally floated back to the couch, the objects around her gently settling back into place. "Anyways, congratulations, I guess. What do you want to do with those powers now?"
"Eh, become a hero maybe, I heard the Child Emperor recently became S rank."
Tatsumaki raised a brow. "Child Emperor, huh? You're aiming high."
"Well, I am your little brother," Hitomi said, puffing his chest slightly, though his twitching tail ruined the seriousness of the pose. "Besides, it'd be weird if both my sisters were heroes and I wasn't."
Fubuki stepped into the living room, wiping her hands with a towel. "You're forgetting that most heroes train for years before getting anywhere near S-Class. Even with your talents, you'd need to work on control and endurance first."
Hitomi slumped onto the couch beside Tatsumaki. "Yeah, yeah, I know. But I've got something now. That's better than sixteen years of being the family pet."
Tatsumaki smirked, flicking his forehead lightly. "Correction — you're the family cat now."
"Same thing!" he shot back, rubbing his forehead.
Fubuki chuckled softly, setting down a tray of tea. "If you're serious about hero work, I can talk to a few people in the Blizzard Group. You could start with small-scale missions, gain field experience—"
"Wait," Tatsumaki interrupted sharply, turning her glare toward Fubuki. "He's not joining your little club. He's training with me."
Fubuki frowned. "Tatsu, don't be unreasonable. He'd learn teamwork and discipline with my group—"
"Or he'd learn how to take orders from a bunch of weaklings who can't even keep up when things get serious," Tatsumaki said, crossing her arms with a smug tilt to her head. "If Hitomi's going to be a hero, he needs to train with someone strong. Me."
Hitomi let out a fake cough and spoke. "Fubuki, are you going to try and take a 'break' from family again, I can see the annoyance on your face."
In the original story, Fubuki should have run away from home, trying to chase Tatsumaki's shadow, but in this timeline, she didn't and instead stayed for her brother though she did leave the house for countless days to get away from Tatsumaki.
Fubuki's lips twitched at my words, and she awkwardly smiled. "Ah no, Hitomi, Tatsumaki and I were just playing around... right?"
Hitomi watched the exchange with a distinct feeling of déjà vu. Every time their vastly different philosophies on hero work—and, crucially, their competitive streak regarding him—clashed, the living room tension felt thicker than Saitama's bald head.
"Right," Tatsumaki agreed, but her tone was anything but playful. Her green aura flared momentarily, causing the tea tray on the coffee table to rattle slightly. "We were just clarifying that I will be handling the intense power training. Fubuki can stick to managing her weaklings."
Fubuki's eye twitched. "Tatsu, the reason I haven't left home is because I worry about your isolation and Hitomi's well-being! Don't use that against me."
Hitomi quickly stepped in, placing a hand on Tatsumaki's thigh (a risky move, as she could instantly launch him through the ceiling, but one he had perfected over years of being her pampered brother) and looking at Fubuki. "Sis your temper is as short as me, can you both calm down please."
Tatsumaki's aura immediately receded and her eyes turned towards the hand on her thigh and let out a sigh.
"Stop touching me, you idiot," she mumbled, though her voice lacked any real venom. She gave his hand a quick, almost unconscious pat, a rare sign of concession. "Fine. We'll stop arguing. But only because you asked."
Fubuki relaxed visibly, taking a deep breath. She glanced at the two of them—Tatsumaki still radiating protective irritation, and Hitomi, the new Cat-Boy Esper, effortlessly defusing the situation with a simple touch.
"Alright," Fubuki said, picking up her teacup. "Here's the compromise: Tatsu, you focus on developing his raw psychic power and control. Teach him the basics of high-level esper combat. Hitomi, you need socialization and field experience, which is something Tatsu doesn't prioritize. I'll arrange for low-level monster clean-ups and official Hero Association registration. He needs to start at the bottom, like everyone else."
Tatsumaki scoffed but didn't outright reject the idea. "Hmph. Waste of time, but fine. He needs to learn what real strength is first. We start tomorrow morning. Five AM. Be ready for levitation drills until your new cat ears fall off."
Hitomi gulped, imagining the grueling training regime. Tatsumaki's idea of a drill was usually equivalent to surviving a hurricane.
"Five AM," he confirmed weakly, his tail giving a nervous, tiny flick.
Fubuki smiled, a genuine, relieved smile this time. "Good. I'll make the calls later today. Now," she looked at both of them, "tea, and we need to have a serious conversation about keeping the new pet features a secret from the general public. Especially if you plan on registering as a hero, Hitomi. The Hero Association doesn't need to know you're an anomaly... or a Nekomata."
Tatsumaki leaned back, sipping her tea, looking utterly unconcerned. "They don't need to know anything. If anyone asks, I'll just tell them I gave him a temporary psychic mutation. They won't argue."
Hitomi shook his head, looking from one sister to the other. Despite the arguments, the overprotection, and the general psychic chaos of their household, he felt a warm, unfamiliar surge of contentment. He had powers now, and his sisters were finally united in training him.
"Thanks, both of you," Hitomi said genuinely.
He knew that with the combined training of the two most powerful espers on Earth—and his Nekomata survivability and Adaptable Mind—he wouldn't be the useless younger brother for long. The world of Solo Leveling had given him the spark; now, he was ready to face the world of One Punch Man.
The system chose that moment to chime softly inside his mind, its voice only audible to him:
[Simulation Cooldown: 20 hours, 45 minutes remaining.]
[Next World Choices: High School DxD, Naruto, and a new Random Selection.]
[Host is currently training under high-level mentors. Assimilation of Energy Affinity accelerated.]
Hitomi smiled inwardly. Bring on the five AM training. He had nine lives, and soon, he'd have the power to match his sisters.
And thus Hitomi, after eating breakfast, spent the rest of the day in his room staring at the ceiling while making his nails longer and shorter.
He was absolutely bored and had nothing to do, he didn't know if it was his normal behaviour or the cat like one making him lazy.
The hours ticked by with agonizing slowness. Hitomi lay sprawled on his bed, his back arched in a way that would have been painful for a human but felt perfectly natural now. Every few minutes, his hand would twitch, and a sharp, obsidian-like claw would slide out from his fingertip with a faint snikt sound, only to retract a second later.
Snikt. Snikt. Snikt.
"I'm basically a sentient fidget spinner," he groaned, watching his tail chase a dust mote in the air.
The Nekomata genes were definitely fighting his human brain for dominance. On one hand, he wanted to go out and test his new agility by jumping between skyscrapers; on the other hand, the sunlight hitting his rug looked incredibly inviting for a four-hour nap.
His boredom was interrupted by a sudden, sharp spike in the air pressure. A green glow seeped through the cracks of his bedroom door.
"Hey are you ok?." He heard Tatsumaki's voice from the door, she sounded a bit worried. "Usually when someone awakened their psychic abilities, they would be scared and panicked, I was checking if you were okay, you looked pretty calm earlier."
The door opened and Tatsumaki floated inside, her expression was not her usual one, there was worry on it.
He sat up. Seeing his sisters expression and the apparent worry she had for him, he felt touched. "Don't worry sis, I have a strong mental fortitude, my sister has the temper of a terrible tornado and you need a lot of that to live with her."
Tatsumaki rolled her eyes at the joke then floated towards him and sat on the bed next to him and gently placed a hand on his head. "Your joke was bad and I'm glad you're OK."
Hitomi's ears twitched at the sensation but he didn't tell her to let go. "You're awfully soft."
"Don't get used to it, i just don't want you to experience what I experienced, that is why I am not going to hold back in our training." Despite saying that in a gentle voice, Hitomi still felt a go up his spine.
He sighed and then leaned onto her touch. "Fine, I'll try my best and make sure to be the one to protect you."
Tatsumaki looked at him for a few seconds before letting out a laugh. "Hahaha, oh my weak little brother, catching up to me would take years and I may even die before that happens. Well anyway, I think I'll be going now, good night."
She stood up and this time did not float, she walked towards the door and Hitomi replied back. "Good night."
Tatsumaki stepped out of the room and closed the door.