Chapter 22: What is this mini-self?

"Well, Kai-kun, that was a great fight. You learn very quickly. Do you plan to learn martial arts?" "I hadn't thought about it, but it's actually really fun to do, so it could be considered," Kai responded, still on the ground with his limbs sprawled out. "I'm glad to hear that, Kai-kun. For now, you can rest a bit while we do some sparring." "Alright, then I'll lie down under that tree." From his position on the ground, Kai pointed to one of the nearby trees, to which the Pussycats nodded in agreement. With some effort, Kai walked over to the tree he had pointed out and lay down, while the Pussycats began sparring in different groups. Intrigued, Kai closed his eyes, wanting to get more familiar with the feeling of sensing intentions. After all, for now, it required too much concentration, and he could only do it for one person at a time. (Well, knowing that I can indeed predict intentions, it's almost certain that this is Observation Haki. That leaves Armament and Conqueror's Haki. There's also something that's been bothering me since my fight. If I hit someone with aura, will they develop aura too? If my aura is exactly like the [Nen] from my memories, then the answer would be yes. But my aura is a bit different, so I hope not. After all, I don't want to go through life giving powers to others. But let's leave that for later and focus on Armament Haki for now. But the question is, how do I do it? Somehow, my Aura and Observation Haki have been almost instinctive to me, like moving an arm or a leg. Also, how do I differentiate Armament Haki from Enhancement with Nen? Mmmm, I suppose I should concentrate on the differences I feel when using Aura and Observation Haki. Even though they are more or less the same, it's like Aura is my arms and Haki my legs. They are just as easy to use, but at the same time, different.) Kai stopped trying to sense the intentions of the Pussycats who were still in the middle of their sparrings, and instead tried to find his own 'voice,' as he could easily sense the voices of others, but the same did not apply to his own. After a while of concentrating completely on himself and trying different approaches, he finally managed to sense his ‘voice.’ Although the feeling was quite faint and fleeting, Kai couldn't help but get excited, but he quickly refocused, trying to feel the strange sensation more clearly and understand it. As Kai tried to understand his ‘voice’ on a deeper level, as he had done to sense the intentions of others, a blurry image of a small energy ball suddenly appeared in his mind. Curious, he focused all his attention on it. After some time, the image began to clear more and more, to the point where Kai could see the inside of the energy sphere. There, to his surprise, there was a version of himself in a fetal position, surrounded by what seemed to be an aura. (Am I imagining this, or is it real?) Despite his surprise, Kai was a bit confused about the meaning of the image. But for some reason, his ‘instincts’ told him that it was not only real, but that the small version of himself he could see in his mind was a very important part of him. While Kai oscillated between confusion and curiosity, he somehow couldn't stop paying attention to the aura surrounding his mini self. So, after considering it for a moment, he decided to focus all his attention on it. The more he tried to analyze the aura of his mini-self, the stranger it felt to Kai. Although it was similar to the aura he usually used, it also felt different. It was a very strange feeling, but after thinking about it a lot, the aura of the mini-self started to fluctuate. Surprised by the event, a curious Kai tried to move the aura of the mini-self as he normally did with his [Nen], and it began to fluctuate more intensely, which for some reason excited him. He tried to intensify it, and after a few minutes of furious fluctuation, Kai suddenly felt a click in his mind. Along with the click in his mind, Kai quickly noticed that the strange fluctuations of the mini-self’s aura were slowly calming down. At the same time, he felt he had somehow gained a certain control over a small portion of that aura, which made him lose himself in his thoughts. (What is this mini-self? Is it my soul? A hallucination? My Haki? It's hard to say. The feeling it gives me is a bit different from Haki. It's strange, but more importantly, what do I do with the mini-self’s aura? Is it the same as my aura? Well, there's only one way to find out.) After trying a few times to move the mini-self’s aura in his mental image, Kai began to imagine that aura forming a small armor around his right arm. However, although the mini-self’s aura fluctuated a bit, he didn't feel anything special in his body. (So, it was a hallucination... what a waste of time, and now I feel even more tired...) With a sigh that combined disappointment and exhaustion, Kai casually struck one of the exposed roots of the tree he was lying under, which was right next to him, as if trying to express his frustrations. A loud sound took the Pussycats by surprise, who immediately assumed combat positions and looked in the direction of the noise, only to find Kai staring in shock at a shattered root of the tree he was lying against. “What happened, Kai-kun? What did you do?” Shino, followed closely by the others, quickly approached Kai, who seemed to have been the cause of the event, and asked him with a voice tinged with curiosity and a hint of concern. “Well... the truth is, watching you use your quirks inspired me a bit on how to use mine, so I wanted to try it out gently, but I didn't expect this to happen.” “Your quirk is really powerful to cause so much destruction without trying… do you feel any kind of pain or anything like that?” Ryuko asked, with surprise written all over her beautiful face, as she looked at the shattered root. “No, I don’t feel anything at all, as if I hadn’t done it myself,” Kai responded as he got up from the ground, still feeling incredulous about what had happened. “Then you really have a very powerful quirk, Kai-kun... could you try it again, so we can analyze it better?” Chatora added, evidently curious. Equally curious about what had happened, Kai nodded slightly and stood in front of the tree, then repeated the exact same process. Curiously, this time it was not only easier but also faster; the process felt almost natural, like his Aura and Observation Haki. Since he no longer had to pay special attention to the mini-self's aura, Kai decided to closely examine his arm to see if it was a different color or if something had changed. But as usual, he saw nothing strange. So he quickly resorted to his old reliable, Gyo, and indeed he could see something similar to a very faint black stain covering his right hand. (It looks like Armament Haki!) After inspecting his hand a bit, a somewhat excited Kai decided to deliver a casual strike like before, without applying force. This time he noticed what happened: the area around where his blow landed sunk in and exploded, flying off in pieces, leaving a deep mark on the tree. (This power is crazy, I didn’t even use force. It was just a casual blow. What would happen if I applied all my strength to the blow and also used aura intensification? Could I blow away mountains with one hit? Probably not yet, but both systems have users capable of doing that, so using them together should be something beyond 1+1. But it's better not to test it for now, since I’m already getting dangerous looks.) The girls couldn't be blamed for looking at Kai with almost predatory eyes. Initially, the Pussycats believed that Kai had used all his power, but after seeing it for themselves, they realized that if the little boy used all his power, the consequences wouldn’t be as simple as destroying a tree. This led all the girls to have the same thought in their minds. (He's a mini All Might...) Shortly after, Shino recovered from her shock and spoke in a calm and composed voice. “Your quirk is truly amazing, Kai-kun, but it's also very destructive. You need to be careful with it and learn to control it well, or you could accidentally hurt the people around you.” “Yes, I thought so too. I'll have to test my limits a bit to see what I can do and then try to tone it down a bit.” “You’re a very smart boy, Kai-kun. You're absolutely right, but it’s better to do it later, as it's almost lunchtime and Nemuri-san should have returned by now.” When everyone returned to the base, they quickly noticed that Nemuri had indeed returned. She greeted them with a smile on her face before launching herself at Kai, lifting him up and showering him with affectionate kisses all over his face. “Kai, Onee-chan missed you a lot, but it was worth it because I have good news. I’m now legally your guardian, although it’s only temporary for now. Also, there won’t be any problems if we decide to live in the place we talked about.” “That’s good, Onee-chan. So, are we going to see it this afternoon?” Kai asked, a bit interested, to which Nemuri responded with a radiant smile. “Of course we are, right after we leave the hospital.” “Are we really going to the hospital?” Kai couldn’t help but ask skeptically, to which Nemuri responded with a firm look and an authoritative tone. “Just give in, we're going to the hospital today no matter what.” “Alright…” S~eaʀᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. With Kai defeated in Nemuri's arms, the group entered the base laughing and went their separate ways to their respective rooms for a good bath, with the blue-eyed boy once again being "kidnapped" by Nemuri, who bathed him cheerfully. After the bath, Nemuri carried Kai to the bed and proceeded to dry him thoroughly, then dressed him in a short-sleeved white shirt, dark blue jeans, white slip-on shoes, and an elegant dark blue jacket that matched the pants. Nemuri wanted to match Kai, so using the same color scheme, she dressed in jeans, a modestly low-cut blouse, and a jacket, along with comfortable low heels and stylish glasses. When she stood next to Kai, they gave the impression of a mother hen with her chick, which made her very happy. After reuniting with the Pussycats in the living room, who looked a bit amused by Kai and Nemuri's "uniform", they all walked to a large table already filled with many dishes of food and sat down to eat. After a calm and uneventful lunch, Shino asked Nemuri to accompany her for a bit, while Kai and the others watched TV to kill time before having to go to the hospital. “Nemuri, I wanted to talk to you a bit about Kai-kun.” “Did something happen to Kai during training?” *********************************************** An extra chapter as a thank you to Kris for joining my Patreon. Thank you very much for your support.