TatsuKing

TatsuKing is the het ship between Tatsumaki and King from the One Punch Man fandom.

Chapter 32
Superalloy Darkshine asks King’s opinion on what to do with the gigantic spaceship in the sky, but King answers that he can’t do anything while it’s in the sky as he can’t attack it. He then tells that they should use this chance to call Metal Knight. However, Tatsumaki thinks he is pathetic (and people call him the “strongest man on Earth”). She then decides to take on the ship by herself.

Chapter 95
The S-class meeting in the Hero Association’s HQ has started and King arrives a little late to the party, escorted by two other HA staff members. When Sweet Mask questions why he looks so dirty, smells weird and where he has been, King simply tries to truthfully tell that he didn’t get back to his home to clean up before he was escorted here, and that it seems “they left these stains”, implying the hotpot gathering the other day where he lost his consciousness in a “serious battle” to get the first hotpot portion. This resulted in him sleeping the whole night on Saitama’s floor, and the whole hotpot ordeal stained his shirt.

However, the others in the S-class meeting doesn’t know this, nor the HA staff members who escorted him there and they start to tell their version of a story (that they had misinterpreted before from King’s situation) where King had been battling vicious monsters all night all by himself in the Z-city. They continue to tell that King’s clothes are stained from monsters’ blood and that due to the “overwhelming numbers of the monsters” King decided to retreat temporarily and recover some stamina which is why they found him.

This confuses King and he quietly wonders why on earth are they telling such tales and misinterpreting everything always, but everyone keeps talking over him and he doesn’t even try to correct them anymore. However, the story impresses Sweet Mask, and Tatsumaki who had been watching this whole thing on her chair at the long meeting table. She clearly is smiling at King and tells him it’s impressive.

Chapter 109/113 (online)
Tatsumaki dealt with Gyoro Gyoro, ripping his hands and legs apart and left him bleeding on the floor as she interrogated him. Earlier he had been trying to call Orochi for help – the monster king – but he hadn’t answered to his call. He has then, with his psychic powers, send one of his spying flying eyeballs to investigate where Orochi is and found some of his remnants on one of the floors. He is absolutely surprised and wonders who would have done this and then hears the King Engine, recognizing it.

King was left alone to wander in the Monster Association’s base. He had been trying to calm down from his anxiety, but then he notices one of Gyoro Gyoro’s flying eyeballs in front of him and starts to run away from it in panic. He suddenly falls down through a crack on the floor and injured Gyoro Gyoro thinks King disappeared as he didn’t see him fall. Saitama then appears behind the eye and smashes it between his hands, destroying the flying eyeball and surprising Gyoro Gyoro. He falsely thought that King was the one who appeared behind the eyeball and destroyed it. He then also falsely believes that King defeated Orochi and calls him a monster, because of it. Tatsumaki once again smiles and thinks it is as expected from King. That he does his job just right.

Chapter 128 (online)
Tatsumaki was injured by “Psykorochi” (Psykos and Orochi’s fusion), as she couldn’t use most of her psychic powers before someone saves the kid (Tareo) in the base. After King announces, through the transmitter that Child Emperor had given them before the mission, that he had the kid under his protection and they were heading towards the surface, Tatsumaki again praises King as she expected him to succeed. She then can use her power more freely and not hold back when they know where the hostage kid was.

Chapter 133 (online)
Tatsumaki has managed to bring “Psykorochi” to the surface, but is now dodging her shots as Tatsumaki also looks around to determine the next action she can take. She notices King, who is running away with Tareo, and she thinks King had left the battle to her after he had considered the compatibility with the enemy and the battleground. Which she thinks was a good decision.

Chapter 155 (online)
When Saitama finally shows up and King gets to talk with him for a moment, also telling him how Genos risked his life in protecting Tatsumaki from the harm, which was truly admirable to him. Saitama praises Genos for it, and then Saitama and King briefly check on an injured and unconscious Tatsumaki.

Chapter 156 (online)
It’s shown how King has laid his jacked over Tatsumaki’s body for protection. The “God” entity tries to trick Tatsumaki to accept His power by pretending to be Blast, but she sees right through Him and He leaves. Then the real Blast appears and is happy to see how she has grown as she didn’t fall to His tricks. King notices Blast near Tatsumaki and is wondering who he is, but Saitama reveals its Blast and King is surprised.

Blast then asks if King is who he is and he confirms this. Blast then leaves Tatsumaki to King, holding her in his arms and giving her to him. Blast leaves to help his mysterious companions while King is holding Tatsumaki in his arms, his jacket still protecting her.

Chapter 160 (online)
King is still holding an unconscious Tatsumaki in his arms and trying to keep her safe. Fubuki arrives with her “New Blizzard Group” which includes unconscious Bang and Zombieman, conscious Bomb, and Tanktop Master who is carrying those three. Fubuki is also healing a half dead Nichirin. His disciple, Spring Mustachio was holding onto him. Upon seeing her badly injured sister in King’s arms, she runs towards them and starts sharing part of her energy with her, despite Spring Mustachio’s concerns for her health as she was already healing Nichirin also.

Soon the aircraft carrier that was earlier in danger of getting destroyed by Evil Ocean Water, until Saitama saved it and started surfing on it, arrives fast and they all notice that they are in danger. Tanktop Master decides to lift them all up and do something to get them to safety, and all this time King is holding Tatsumaki still in his arms. King does, however, notice that Saitama was on the aircraft carrier, so he commands them all to just wait there instead and not to worry. Saitama manages to change the aircraft carrier’s position and then stop it right in front of them. He then jumps off it to somewhere else. The water from the ocean returns with vengeance, but the aircraft carrier, and soon the Sage Centipede’s carcass also that drops on top of the carrier, protects them from the heavy hit of it.

The joy of surviving it does stop when the massive water wall starts to surround them and comes in fast. However, Pig God comes running and saves them all by swallowing them whole. King was still holding onto Tatsumaki despite everything.

Chapter 165-166 & 169 (online)
King keeps protecting Tatsumaki and when Awakened Cosmic Garou keeps killing everyone around him with his radiation, King tries to protect both Tatsumaki and Fubuki despite being unconscious like everyone else. Even after the time was reverted and the catastrophic ending was avoided, and there were heroes beating an injured Garou up, King steps up after learning that Garou was the “Uncle” the kid, Tareo, was talking about before who saved him several times. King was still holding Tatsumaki in his arms.

Fanon
TatsuKing may not be one of the biggest ships within the One Punch Man fandom, but it is beloved despite its status. The later chapters in Monster Association Arc did show King’s care to keep her safe from everything despite what happened after he met Blast. Tatsumaki has also occasionally shown her appreciation towards him, even though misplaced sometimes (in situations that would actually involve Saitama). Still King and Tatsumaki as a couple does interest people and the shippers do think that they would be very cute pair. Jokingly their dynamic can be considered as “girlboss” and “malewife” in the fandom, and the characters are around the same age which can make them also very comfortable to ship.

The ship has 20+ fics on AO3. It rivals with ships such as SaiTatsu, GenoTatsu and KingSai.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

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