Chapter 26: what were those spheres of light?

By nightfall, Kai was sitting on Keiko's lap. At some point, she had kidnapped him and was unwilling to let him go, so the blue-eyed boy had no choice but to accept his fate while sipping some fruit juice Nemuri had given him.

However, when Keiko learned about his new project, she offered to provide him with a good set of high-quality, properly labeled, and audited training data. So being pampered by a woman of divine beauty and an explosive body was a small price to pay for such a favor.

Meanwhile, little Momo and Nejire were sleeping in one of the mansion's empty rooms, completely exhausted after trying out the gym when they learned Kai had been training there, although they only lasted a few minutes.

“Oh, by the way, Kai, All Might contacted me to say he’ll be waiting for us outside the city in two weeks. He already sent me the location,” Nemuri said with a smile as she took the empty glass from Kai's hands.

“Wow, did he really remember his promise? I’ll be looking forward to it.”

“Didn’t you think he would, Kai-chan?” Yumiko asked curiously, to which Kai casually nodded and replied.

“Well, [promising costs nothing] after all, so I didn’t have high hopes.”

“Alisa always had the best sayings,” Keiko commented melancholically while hugging the boy lovingly.

“Yes, they’re the best…”

After chatting for a while, Yumiko and Keiko got back into their cars, holding their little ones who were sleeping like angels. But not before showering the blue-eyed boy's face with kisses, promising to come back and play soon.

...

...

...

One morning, like any other, Nemuri woke up very early and, to her surprise, found Kai still in bed, hugging her and using her chest as a pillow. This brought a smile to her lips, feeling a rush of sweetness from how adorable he looked.

After giving him a gentle kiss on the head, Nemuri hugged back the little bundle of cuteness that was Kai and closed her eyes again, letting time pass while feeling warm and peaceful inside.

After a while, Nemuri felt Kai moving in her embrace. Soon after, the boy opened his eyes, sat up in bed, and slipped out of her arms, whispering,

“Good morning, Onee-chan.”

Nemuri thought Kai knew she was awake and was about to greet him back, but to her surprise, he immediately got out of bed, changed into a sports outfit, and ran out of the room.

Feeling a bit curious, Nemuri decided to spy on the little one's training to see if he was sticking to Chatora’s teachings, who had offered to train Kai. Given how agitated the media were, it was better to avoid involving strangers who might leak information.

But being a busy professional hero, Chatora couldn’t always be with Kai, so he usually trained alone, following Chatora's teachings, supervised by Nemuri for the first few days. However, since Nemuri didn’t have super strength like Kai or Chatora, it was hard to know if the boy was overexerting himself. Although, based on the latest medical check-ups, Kai’s health was impressive, which was a relief.

Soon after, Nemuri stealthily arrived at the gym, only to find it closed, which confused and worried her a bit. She quickly started looking for the little one everywhere, but after a while, she spotted a light among the trees, so she quickly headed towards it in alarm.

When she arrived, Nemuri was stunned by what she saw. In the middle of a small clearing in the forest, Kai was sitting on the ground with his eyes closed, while five tennis ball-sized spheres of light floated around him.

“Kai, Kai! Kai!!”

A bit worried, Nemuri quickly approached the boy, calling out to him, which seemed to wake him up. He opened his eyes and looked at her in surprise as the spheres of light vanished into the air.

(Damn, I was so focused that I didn't even notice her presence. This is dangerous. I've always been proud of my ability to concentrate and disconnect from the world, but now it seems to be a serious problem. If I'm not focused, someone might approach me without me noticing, even with ‘Haki.’ Though, well, I remember that was also a weakness of Haki in the original work…)

“Good morning, Onee-chan. What are you doing here?” Without showing his inner thoughts, Kai greeted with a smile as he got up from the ground.

“Kai, what were those spheres of light just now?” Nemuri asked, both worried and curious, only to receive a surprised look from Kai, who quickly asked,

“You can see them?”

“Of course, there were five blue light spheres the size of tennis balls.”

“So you could really see them… well, I don’t know how to explain it, but a few days ago I realized I could do more than just strengthen myself and sense presences with my quirk.”

(Aura constructs aren’t supposed to be visible to those who don’t use Nen… Could it be that I'm unconsciously using conjuration? Or maybe, is it because my aura is different from the Nen in the original work? Hard to say…)

“Things like that sphere.” Listening to Kai, Nemuri commented with a mix of surprise and understanding.

“Yes.”

“And what can that sphere do?”

“Something like this.”

Kai extended his hand, and a small blue light sphere formed above it. After forming, it shot out and struck the thick trunk of a nearby tree, leaving a deep mark and even moving it slightly.

“That’s impressive, Kai. I had my suspicions, but your quirk is definitely a singularity,” Nemuri commented thoughtfully, to which Kai asked, clearly surprised.

“A singularity?”

“Yes, sometimes a child is born with a modified version of their parents’ quirks, but much more powerful. We call that a singularity.”

“You might be right, Onee-chan. My quirk could be a singularity.”

(A singularity? I don’t remember that term appearing in Boku no Hero Academia, which is actually a good thing, hehe. Although, well, it could have appeared later, and I just never knew.)

“Yes, and now I understand a bit of your sudden interest in blacksmithing. It must be another of your abilities, right?”

Hearing Nemuri's words, Kai began to reflect on whether he should tell her about his abilities. It would be a significant risk for him, after all. Not only could she betray him, but who knows what mind-reading quirks are out there? Her knowing would increase the chances of his secrets being discovered and measures being prepared against him.

(Damn it, to hell with being the paranoid loner I was in my past life. Onee-chan has been very special to me, has always been there for me, and even sacrificed her dream of being a hero to stay by my side. She has earned the right not only to know but also for me to take the risk of her betraying me. New life, new mentality. Besides, I can always seek protections for her mind.

Not to mention that trying to develop my abilities while hiding them would be quite complicated, if not impossible. The cat's already out of the bag, and who knows what might happen later if she doesn’t at least have a clear idea of my capabilities and limitations.)

Meanwhile, Nemuri let Kai think in silence. Although it hurt her that he hesitated to tell her, she understood. After all, he had gone through a traumatic experience that could erode his trust in people.

Besides, she was the adult here, and as Onee-chan, it was her duty to help her little Kai heal his wounded heart. They would have plenty of time in the future for him to learn that she would never try to hurt him, but her thoughts were interrupted when Kai started to speak.

“No matter how much I think about it, I can’t find a way to explain it to you, Onee-chan, so it’s better for you to see it with your own eyes.”

(Phew, good thing I thought quickly. This definitely would have damaged my relationship with Onee-chan, judging by the expression she was making.)

A beautiful smile formed on Nemuri’s face, one that seemed to shine with happiness. At the same time, she felt a heavy burden in her heart, one she didn’t know was there, being lifted, making her feel light and at ease, while a deep sweetness filled her.

Kai closed his eyes for a moment after speaking, and when he opened them, there was a scalpel in his hand that looked a bit ghostly and ethereal. He used it to cut a tree as if it were butter, leaving a deep cut in it.

“What was that, Kai? Why did a ghostly-looking scalpel appear out of nowhere in your hand? How were you able to cut that tree?” Stupefied, Nemuri asked as her gaze wandered between the cut on the tree and Kai’s small hands.

“So, you can see it too. I call it conjuration. It allows me to materialize something I'm very familiar with out of thin air, and as you can see, it’s more powerful than its real version.”

“So that’s why the blacksmithing. You want to produce things yourself to become more familiar with them and be able to materialize them…” Nemuri commented thoughtfully, to which Kai nodded.

“Yes, that’s the idea.”

“But why are you so surprised that I can see it?” Nemuri asked, confused. Kai replied with an innocent expression.

“Well, I thought they should be invisible. After all, when I hit the tree, no one said anything about what was covering my hand, and after doing it several times during the bath, you didn’t mention anything about it either, Onee-chan.”

“Is something covering your hand?”

“Yes, right now it’s covered. Can you see anything?”

“I don’t see anything, Kai. It’s just your normal hand.”

Nemuri looked at Kai’s extended hand as she responded, but she couldn’t see anything beyond his small, cute hand.

“Well, look at this.”

Kai lightly punched a nearby tree, easily destroying it, greatly surprising Nemuri. However, having been prepared by her conversation with Shino, she quickly recovered.

“You never saw anything on my hand, Onee-chan?”

“No, your hand looks perfectly normal to me. What’s covering it, Kai?”

“It’s like it suddenly turned black, though it’s a bit faint and ghostly. I can still see it.”

“Just like the scalpel, so that’s why you assumed they were invisible,” Nemuri commented thoughtfully as she took Kai’s small hand in hers, looking for any damage, but it was in perfect condition, soft and smooth.

“Yes.”

“And what other abilities do you have, Kai?”

“I’ve only tried a few things, but I can make myself stronger and faster. Like this, look.”

After separating his hand from Nemuri’s, Kai suddenly disappeared from view and reappeared a few meters away. But he didn’t stop there; he approached a not-too-tall tree, hugged it while his fingers dug into it, and, squatting to gain momentum, uprooted it and lifted it over his head as if it were nothing.

“That’s like Jiro-san’s Force Control.”

“Yes, and I can also use it for defense,” Kai replied as he set the tree down, leaving Nemuri almost hypnotized by her little baby’s abilities.

“Incredible… it took your father years to do that.”

“But I can do more things. Stretch out your finger, Onee-chan.”

Intrigued, Nemuri stretched out her finger, and Kai did the same, bringing his finger close to hers. When the distance between them was less than a centimeter, a small bluish electrical spark appeared. An instant later, a strong jolt ran through Nemuri’s hand, making her quickly pull it back and grasp it with the other hand, looking at Kai in surprise.