(Third Person POV)
Kai woke up in the couch, he felt especially groggy since he wasn't used to sleeping anywhere.
'I have to convince mom and dad to do some camping together, perhaps that way I'll be more comfortable sleeping anywhere.' Kai thought as he got off the couch.
He quietly made his way to his parent's bedroom to see if they were awake, they were asleep, but that wasn't important, Kai decided to make them breakfast to cheer their morning up.
He took a tomato and an onion out alongside some eggs and sausages, and of course some rice. He chopped the vegetables and sausages in cubes, beat the eggs with a pinch of salt and pepper and rinsed the rice before putting it in the cooker.
While the rice cooked, he stir-fried the vegetables with the sausage, once everything was cooked he spread them all evenly before adding the eggs and let them fill the pan a little bit over half.
Kai lowered the flame and placed a lid on top to keep the steam cook the surface. Around 4 minutes later he swiftly flipped the egg tart and let it get some color on the other side.
After some time, Kai took the egg tart, placed it in a big plate and placed it in the table near the TV, opened the rice cooker and placed it on the table with the wooden serving spoon, to drink he took out some milk, placed it in a jar with ice cubes and added some sugar to it, took some smaller plates with chopsticks and organized the last side of the table.
A simple delicious breakfast done in less than an hour. Which meant that it was time to wake his parents up, after all the earlier they all get up, the more they could enjoy the day before the boring gala.
'Wait a minute, what time is it?' Kai suddenly remembered. He looked at the clock and it says that the time is 6:50 AM.
'Oh...that makes sense, wait, that means I overslept?!' Kai realized.
'I mean, it makes sense, I didn't put the clock and neither slept that comfortable anyway. Oh well, what am I going to do about it?' Kai decided to eat his portion while saving his parent's.
He turned the TV and starting eating while watching the news.
"In other news the hottest scientific gala, the I-Expo, will be held today at 8:00PM at the Central Tower." A blonde newswoman reported.
"That's right, though the whole event has been on fire for the last few days, today's the day in which researchers from all over the world can show their newest, mind-blowing, innovative inventions have to offer!" The brunette newsman continued on.
"That's right! from everyday life inventions to hero gadgets, this seems to be a promising year."
Kai then changed the news and instead watched some cartoons as he was getting tired of the same cycle of the I-Expo.
It wasn't anything interesting to Kai, right now he was more focused on having a good time, but overall? He would rather rely on his physical prowess more than any gadget any day.
He didn't underestimated nor looked down on this world's technology for various reasons, I mean, it was several decades more advanced than his previous world. The issue was that Kai wasn't some 200 IQ genius that could come up with blueprints for crazy-awesome tools in the blink of an eye.
Sure, he was smart, mostly due to his future education, but even then he's always been hardworking when studying, the issue was that he was dedicating most of his time researching various training methods that wouldn't be harmful for his growing body.
Alongside his studying of chemistry and toxicology his entire schedule was busy for the foreseeable future, maybe if he finds an easy subject he could give the gadgets some thought but until then he'll continue with his current plans.
'I feel like I'm forgetting about something important...…what was it?' Kai started thinking about yesterday.
Before he could think further, he heard the door opening and saw his father and mother entering the room.
"Morning mom, morning dad!" Kai greeted them.
"Morning Kiddo." Masaru.
"Oh, you did breakfast? What a considerate boy you are~" Kaia immediately launched a pampering assault.
Unable to pry himself out of his mother's embrace, Kai simply resigned to his fate.
"Thanks for the breakfast." Masaru and Kaia said before they started eating.
"Excited about the I-Expo?" Masaru asked Kai.
"Yeah, can't wait to see the awesome gadgets!" Kai replied.
"Now hold on…" Kai cut them off. "Kai-kun still has to do his homework, don't tell me you were planning to do it tomorrow mid-flight?" Kaia asked Kai with a motherly gaze only a child could fear.
"No..." Kai said as he sent a small pleading glare to his father.
'Sorry, we almost got caught yesterday and she's been all suspicious.' Masaru said through his gaze as he showed Kai a glimpse of the folder with his homework.
Remember yesterday when Masaru had already made a fake homework so Kai could enjoy this weekend without any issues? Well, that plan almost fails since when he undressed yesterday to put his pajamas on, the folder fell, alerting Kaia.
He swiftly hid it under his pillow but as Kaia is a master at knowing when her husband/child are lying to her, she got suspicious, the entire first half of the night was just her trying to snatch whatever Masaru was hiding, which didn't stopped once she woke up.
As to how Masaru hid the folder so well, it has some metal clips on it and he could move it around with a thin metal thread he tied to his pinky toe, a convoluted trick all to not get caught by his wife.
"Aww...bummer." Kai slumped on the table "heartbroken".
"Don't worry champ, the expo starts at 8, we just have to enjoy this day before then, you do it super quick, and then we're all happily returning tomorrow." Masaru.
"Fine…where are we going today?" Kai asked as he went to the bathroom.
"Well, Tokio just texted me, he wants to see if we can have a little outing today." Masaru answered as he looked at his phone.
"Oh dear, I hope we aren't taking time from their business." Kaia.
"No problem, most stores are closed anyway since they're participating in the exposition, so there's really no harm done." Masaru explained.
"Alright, then that settles it. Thanks again for the breakfast Kai-kun, I'll do the dishes." Kaia.
"No problem mommy." Kai answered as he entered the bathroom with his towel.
After some time, the entire family left their hotel room to meet with the Hatsume family. They met at a near park under a large tree and with a mantle underneath the shadow, everyone was wearing their casual clothes but now Tokio was accompanied by a woman with long all the way to her toes pink hair that's braided with a headband around her forehead.
What really caught Kai off-guard was how she wore a bothered expression with her teeth crunching on a lollipop.
"Yo~ You arrived early." Masaru greeted them.
"Well, we wanted to get a good spot before it gets crowded." Tokio got up and immediately shook hands with Masaru.
"Hi~ I'm Daimon Kaia, nice to meet you." Kaia decided to greet the woman of the family but she got ignored.
"...humph…" That's all that came out of her mouth before she slumped back to the ground.
Needless to say that said behavior was more than a little rude.
"Sorry about that, she gets kinda grumpy when she leaves her lab." Tokio apologized.
"No—no problem." Kaia replied calmly, but the veins in her face contradicted her feelings.
"Allow me to present her, she's the head inventor, designer, engineer, etc. of our humble little shop, Mei's mother and the cutest wife I could ever ask for...Bachiko Hatsume!" Tokio excitedly presented his wife.
"Sup~" She replied before shoving another lollipop in her mouth.
"Mommy makes a ton of babies every day! Very few people in this island can match to her." Mei chimes in to glaze over her mother.
"If she's that great, then why doesn't she work with the staff of the island?" Kaia asked "innocently" but there was some spite in her tone.
Bachiko picked up on her pettiness and decided to answer. "I don't get along with those guys, it's complicated stuff a SIMPLE housewife like yourself shouldn't concern with."
"Oh, dear, is that so?~" Kaia.
Kai couldn't see anything like auras and stuff but he could swear that if he could he'd see some in his mother and Bachiko.
"Nice weather we're havin', right?!" Masaru tired to change the subject.
"Yeah! Good weather like today's doesn't come by often!" Tokio followed suit.
"Psst, Kai. What are they talking about? The weather's the same as yesterday." Mei obliviously asked Kai.
"No idea, did you bring any toys to play with?" Kai.
"I brought a boomerang and a frisbee." Mei.
"Cool! Throw both of them and I'll catch them!" Kai immediately ran to make distance.
*FWISH* *FWOOSH*
Mei threw both at the same time, Kai jumped and caught the frisbee but the boomerang was already going back to Mei.
'Thunder Breathing: First Form…' Kai prepared himself as he firmly touched the ground.
*BZZIU*
In a flash, he was already in front of Mei and caught the boomerang.
'..Thunderclap and Flash.'
"Hehe~ I caught them!" Kai triumphantly commented as he looked at Mei.
Only to realize that her, his parents and Mei's parents were looking at Kai in awe. Thin it clicked Kai, this was the first time he'd ever shown his parents his forms, not that he was hiding them on purpose, aside from the harmful Sun Breathing none of the other forms were perilous to him.
"Kai…what was that?" Masaru asked.
Innocent kid mode: ACTIVATED.
"That? Hehe~ That was my super-secret technique for speed!" Kai proudly announced as he posed like a hero.
Everyone just stared as Kai's face unnoticedly got redder and redder.
'So…freaking...EMBARRASSING!!' Kai was mortified in his mind.
"Hoh~" Bachiko carefully fixated her gaze on Kai.
"How long have you been able to do that?" Masaru asked.
"Eto...a year ago? I think. But I was really slow back then and my body ached a lot." Kai.
"Ached?" Kaia.
"Yep! Like I would feel really tired and had to sleep." Kai specified.
"Hey kid!" Bachiko interrupted. "Enough with the useless details, what else can you do?" Bachiko looked at Kai with an expectant gaze.
"Well, I mean, I would but I train with my swords." Kai.
"Swords?" Bachiko.
"A toy sword and a broom stick he has at home." Masaru quickly clarified.
"But didn't you just did it without swords?" Bachiko.
"Yeah, but that was footwork. My super techniques are for fighting." Kai.
"Oh? And pray tell, what are these "super techniques" of yours?" Bachiko.
"I breathe!" Kai said, as if that explained anything.
Bachiko got a tick mark. "More than that…"
Kai didn't say anything and just looked confused.
Before anyone could say anything, the braids on Bachiko's head start moving like tentacles and start inspecting Kai.
"Whoa!" Kai reacts as a braid of hair starts poking his arm.
"What are you doing?" Kaia.
"I'm just checking this kid out, quite the special kid you two spawned." Bachiko commented as she took out a pair of goggles.
[Bachiko Hatsume, Quirk: Medusa Hair: She can control her hair follicles like independent limbs, the major deficiency is that she has to control each follicle INDIVIDUALLY. As a response, the bandana she wears is actually a brainwave enhancer that allows her to control up to 12 braids of her hair at the same time without any issue, cept for the side-effect of her burning through her body's sugar like crazy.]
[Gadget, X-Ray Goggles: Pretty self-explanatory, can see through flesh, muscle, and bones.]
Bachiko wore the glasses and started analyzing Kai's body structure.
"Hm...this is odd…your whole body is on a whole 'nother level!" Bachiko commented as she analyzed Kai layer by layer.
Bachiko adjusted the goggles and stared for several long seconds.
"...This is impossible."
"What is?" Masaru asked.
"His muscles." She zoomed in. "They're much denser than they should be."
Kai blinked.
"Kids normally have plenty of empty space between muscle fibers while they're growing." She frowned. "Yours don't." Her braid poked Kai's arm.
"It feels soft from the outside..." She squeezed a little harder. "...but underneath it's like grabbing tightly wound rope."
Kaia looked worried. "Is... is that bad?"
"No." Bachiko answered immediately. "That's the weird part."
She changed the lens.
"The connective tissue is adapting alongside the muscles. Tendons are thicker than expected, ligaments are unusually resilient, even the cartilage around the joints looks healthier than it should." Bachiko looked increasingly confused.
"Normally one system develops faster than the others. Not here." She pointed toward Kai.
"Everything is improving together." The goggles' lenses shifted to his skeleton.
"...You've got to be kidding me." Bachiko commented in disbelief.
"What now?" Masaru asked.
"Bone density." She rubbed one eye before checking again.
"A healthy child shouldn't have bones like these." Bachiko commented as she looked at Kai's insanely dense muscles.
Masaru frowned. "Are they broken?"
"The opposite. They're reinforcing themselves." She tapped the side of the goggles. "I'd expect to see this kind of remodeling after years of intense athletic training."
She looked back at Kai.
"Not in someone who's barely started elementary school."
Kai smiled sheepishly. "I do train every day." Kai cockily added.
"...How much is 'every day'?" Bachiko inquired.
"I wake up. I breathe, I run, I swing my sword, I breathe more, I eat, I breathe while I eat, I sleep, I repeat. Though I guess I do breathe a lot"
"..."
"How exactly do you breathe?" Bachiko asked.
"Like this." Kai straightened his posture before taking a slow breath.
Unlike the specialized Breathing Styles he used in combat, this was merely the foundation—a neutral breathing pattern designed to maximize the body's efficiency (Let's call it Neutral Breathing). It wasn't meant to excel at anything in particular; its purpose was to serve as the transition point between every other style. By returning to this neutral state for the briefest instant, Kai could seamlessly shift from one Breathing Style to another without breaking his rhythm.
This was a breathing technique that was given by Kai when he was reborn, given that he'll have to rely on his breathing techniques, specializing in one technique alone could be counter-productive and limiting, which is why this Neutral Breathing is the one Kai uses the most 24/7, or at least tries to.
Bachiko watched through her goggles. Kai inhaled. His ribcage expanded smoothly, followed by a deep descent of his diaphragm. His lungs continued expanding and expanding.
"..." She blinked.
"...That's a lot of air." Bachiko commented as a bead of sweat slid from her cheek.
Kai slowly exhaled. The breath flowed out in one continuous stream. One second. Two. Three. Four. His breathing never wavered.
"...Again," Bachiko ordered.
Kai repeated the process.
The result was identical.
"No..." She adjusted the goggles. "...Your lungs shouldn't be able to expand that much."
"What?" Masaru asked.
"They're operating almost at full capacity with every breath." She continued observing. "And he's doing it without straining. No excessive movement, no shaking, no signs of oxygen deprivation. He isn't forcing the breath...This is just... normal for him."
She switched scan modes.
"...Your diaphragm..." Her eyes narrowed. "It's much thicker than expected. The intercostal muscles between your ribs are unusually developed too."
She followed the motion down to his chest.
"...Your respiratory muscles have adapted to make breathing almost effortless."
Kai tilted his head.
He was really confused, although the Breathing Techniques DID allow humans to accomplish extraordinary feats, they couldn't impact one's body THIS much. If that were the case then why did Shinobu Kocho never gained the strength to even behead a simple demon?
The answer was because of her weak body, but if the effects of the breathing techniques were as miraculous as they are being, she would've been strong enough to use Flower Breathing a long time ago.
'What's happening? Is it because Humans here are different to the ones of the DS universe? It'd make sense...despite the similarities, this IS a different world, we could be different up to a molecular level and never know…' Kai started to think deeply.
"Is that bad?" Kaia asked with concern.
"It's incredible." Bachiko shifted her focus again. "...Your heart's enlarged."
Masaru immediately stiffened. "What?!"
"In a good way." She quickly clarified. "The walls are thicker, but healthy, it pumps significantly more blood with every beat than it should."
She scanned deeper.
"...Your blood vessels are wider. The capillary network around your muscles is incredibly dense."
She stared silently for several moments.
"...That's why..."
Everyone looked at her.
"I couldn't understand why every part of his body was developing so evenly." She pointed toward Kai. "Muscles, tendons, bones, etc. They all require enormous amounts of oxygen and nutrients to adapt."
She looked back at the scan.
"His respiratory and circulatory systems are supplying exactly that." She slowly lowered the goggles. "...Whatever training you've been doing...it's forcing your body to become more efficient and every time your body adapts...It makes the next adaptation possible."
She folded her arms. "It's like Virtuous Cycle: Your breathing improves, so your heart adapts, your heart improves, so your muscles can work harder, your muscles improve, so your bones reinforce themselves and then the entire process repeats."
She looked at Kai with genuine fascination.
"...You're not just getting stronger kid...your body is rebuilding itself in ways that it shouldn't be scientifically possible!" Bachiko added the last part with excitement.
Kai scratched the back of his head.
"Is it really that good?" Kai asked, half acted, other half genuinely curious.
Bachiko could only let out a small laugh as she looked at the "naïve" kid in front of her.
"...Kid. If you keep this up for another ten years..." Her eyes locked at Kai's child form before a shadow grows larger and larger behind him like an Olympic flame. "...I honestly don't think anyone can predict what you'll become."