2 Merging

2900 words. Enjoy!

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Early in the morning, the sun gently shone. The light parting the cloud and marking the start of the day.

The light of the rising sun, gently stroke the face of the waking Kotei.

Opening his eyes, he sat on his bed and looked at the sky through the windows of his room.

He stayed like this from a few minutes before he stood up, and stretch his limbs.

"I feel like this day... Will be a great one." He said quietly, his voice reverberating through the whole room.

-*-*-*-

A few minutes after declaring this, he was seen still inside his room. He was doing handstand push-ups.

His figure was a little weird, considering that his whole body was covered in muscles, not the bodybuilder type but the athletic type. Why was his figure weird? He was visibly trying hard to push his body up, but a strange strength was forcing his body to stay down.

Yes, he was augmenting the gravity around him while he was training. His body's muscles were hugely condensed inside his lean form, it could be said that his body adapted to the superior gravity surrounding him and evolved.

His strength was surely equal to more than ten men! The last time he tested, his punch could make a dent in the metal, and he didn't even use his quirk, which resulted in his hand to be slightly injured. Even if he is stronger than the average person, is body didn't have the resistance of the people having a strength-enhancing quirk, which means that using his body's strength without the support of his quirk would be dangerous to him.

Fortunately, it was soon going to be a resolved issue.

After taking a shower and wearing casual clothes, he left his room.

On the road towards the garden of the manor, he greeted, he wasn't a talkative man, but he sure had proper manners.

"Hello, Kotei-sama." "Good morning young master!" They said, receiving a nod in return or some lucky ones a simple reply. "Good morning."

Walking by the kitchen, he received a smoothy from one of the maids. They were accustomed to his morning habits, he rarely stopped to eat a full breakfast. It is why they were always ready to give him something which will give him enough nutrients to last until lunchtime.

He continued to walk towards the garden, stopping at the scenery.

The garden was a place of wonder. It was a beautiful garden, filled with diverse flowers, bush sculptures, and exotic trees.

Even if it was something which was enough to make anyone forget his purpose for coming here, Kotei was already accustomed to it and focused on his goal.

Walking by the majestic plants, he quickly arrived under a giant tree, whose leaves were giving enough shade for the two old people seated there.

They seem deeply immersed in their conversation, so much that they didn't remark his presence.

Greeting them first, he stopped by their table.

"Hello, grandfather, and...?" He asked, looking at the old woman.

"Come here, my big boy!" She said, forcing him in a hug.

"She is your godmother Kotei." The old man said, looking at the two figures.

"Shut up Kashi! I am meeting this sweet boy for the first time, don't waste this beautiful moment with your rough voice!" She said, reprimanding him.

'I guess that she is the one who will improve my quirk. He said yesterday that the person would come today.'

"Come here my boy, let's talk about what we missed." She said, making him sit near her.

"Since when?" He asked.

"Your birth." She replied, very serious.

'God no...' The two males thought, understanding that there was no chance of them finishing the meeting quickly.

-*-*-*-

Nearly three hours later, they finally finished their 'little talk'.

For once, Kotei was really dumbfounded by the woman's capabilities. He finished talking about him in the first thirties minutes, but the woman kept asking questions after questions, talking about the past, and even narrating parts of Kotei's life!

Kotei was way too shocked at the fact that she can talk for so long, and without any precise topic. She just said whatever was on her mind, and kept this topic until she found another one.

"Are we finally done Ika? I think that Kotei is almost dead from boredom." The old Juryuko said, his head on the table.

Contrary to Kotei who's mind and emotions couldn't be seen on his face, he didn't bother with trying to hide the fact that he was tired of this woman.

"Nonsense! My sweet boy couldn't be tired of me!" She exclaimed, looking very vexed that he could think that.

"Isn't it true little Kotei?" Turning her head to him, she asked, looking closely at any change of expression on his face.

He didn't wear a mask today, so it was easier to tell what he felt.

"How can I be tired of you?" He rhetorically asked. A small polite smile taking place on his face.

Nobody is stupid enough to not go in a woman's way when she is your godmother and has something that you want.

"Ah! You see that stupid Kashi?!" She said, turning to mock him, receiving a low growl from the old man.

"But for once, I think that he is right. I monopolized you enough for today, and I think that a handsome young man like you has plenty of projects!" She said, refocusing on what she came for.

'Well yeah, I have one. But I don't think that procrastination is what she thinks I will do.'

"Come here, and give me your hands. I will use my quirk to improve yours." She said, waiting for him to move. The old woman didn't wait for long, since a few seconds after she asked him to do so, he already complied with her order.

Holding his hands in hers, she asked him something, even though she knew the answer.

"What is your quirk again? An old lady like me forgets a few things sometimes."

"... I can control the gravity around us. I can augment it, nullify it, reduce it. I can also change its direction but can't do it in multiple directions at the same time." He declared, waiting for her to finally activate her quirk.

Listening to his words, she didn't say anything else, but only nodded at him.

"Brace yourself, dear, I don't know how you will react, it is the first time that so much energy will be used on a quirk. Whatever you will experiment will only make you stronger."

"I am ready." He immediately replied. He was really excited to see his quirk be stronger.

At the side, the old man was looking at the scene with wide eyes. For nothing in the world, he wanted to miss what was going to happen.

"Improve!" She yelled, her hands glowing.

The light from her hands was transferred to the whole body of Kotei, forcing the two of them to close their eyes.

He continued to glow for a whole minute, before the light slowly disappeared, leaving Kotei still in his previous position, he hasn't moved a bit. He seems to be completely lost in his thought, like if he was in trance.

Kotei's godmother was left panting in the ground, she was supported by the old Kashi, who looked worried.

"Are you alright?"

Panting between each word, she still replied even though her eyes were glued onto Kotei's unmoving figure. "I... am al... right."

Seeing that it was only a little exhaustion because she didn't use her quirk for a long time, he reported his attention to his grandson.

A few minutes after, she looks to have recovered her stamina enough to talk normally.

"What is happening to him?"

"He seems to be absorbing the energy of my quirk. It will take a long time since his body must adapt to the quirk too.

"I see, it is only a matter of time then... I feel like I am waiting for him to be reborn." He said, looking at Kotei, each minute passing making the atmosphere heavier and heavier.

-*-*-*-

Inside Kotei's mind, something big was happening.

"?! Where am I?" Kotei said, very confused about what was happening. In one second he was transported from his garden to here.

"Is this the result of her quirk?" He asked himself, not finding another answer.

Inspecting his surroundings, he remarked that he couldn't see a single thing, expect a bright sphere not too far from him.

"What is this thing?"

He continued to observe it since it was the only thing he could see and do. Strangely despite the bright light it made, Kotei had no difficulty watching it so intensely.

A few seconds after, the light produced by the light slowly diminished until it completely disappeared.

However, it was not the end! The sphere collapsed on itself, and its size drastically reduced.

The now black sphere was shrinking again and again until a small ball was left alone in the void.

"Don't tell me..." Kotei began, his eyes locked on the anomaly.

He immediately felt a tug on his whole body. He couldn't grab anything in the void and was pulled toward the ball at a neck-breaking speed.

"... A black hole!" He said. Just before being swallowed by the stellar anomaly.

The silence of the place has been reinstated. After swallowing Kotei, the black hole shrunk even more, before taking human shape.

Kotei's features were slowly carved onto the black hole's figure. After a few moments, it was a perfect copy of Kotei, except that it was still a black hole.

Moving his arm before his face, Kotei looked at his black hole hand. He could feel that the gravity around him was crushing everything, be it the light or the very time.

"So... This is it?" His question has been replied with the emptiness of the void.

"My quirk evolved so much that... I merged with it.

... So much potential... so much power. Achieving perfection may not be that far after all." Grinning at what he was feeling, Kotei felt amazing, if he could control his quirk he would be infinitely closer to his goal.

"Time to go back." He said, closing his 'eyes'.

-*-*-*-

Almost ten minutes later, Kotei opened his eyes.

The atmosphere immediately became suffocating, not allowing the two old people to move from their place.

Rising from the ground, Kotei didn't talk but only stared at his hand. In his face a frown could be seen, it was really unusual since not a lot of things could make him in a bad mood.

"I... have less control than what I thought." He quietly said, but his voice travelled from the garden to the whole mansion, making everyone stop and be confused about where the voice was coming from.

"But it still is manageable." He said once again, this time his voice was as usual, not different than a normal voice.

The atmosphere was still a little heavy, but not as suffocating than earlier.

The two elders who were forced to bow their head under the augmented gravity could once again look up, at the figure of the youngest Juryuko. What they saw wasn't what they were used to see.

His complete silver hair had changed. The end of his hair was pitch black, so black that some could be confused about if it even was black. It was also defying the gravity as it was gently floating vertically, moving by the wind. His figure was even leaner than it was at the beginning of the day, it seems that his muscles as been condensed to the utmost limit.

"Wow... Are you feeling good Kotei?" The old man asked, examining his grandson with great caution.

"I feel different... heavier and lighter at the same time. It is a strange feeling, it also feels like if..." Kotei replied, looking at his hand.

"Like if what?" He asked noticing that something was bothering the young man.

"... No. It is nothing." He finally said, after a few seconds of hesitation. He couldn't tell his grandpa that he now was feeling almost ethereal, can he?

He knew that it was only because of the sudden gain in power, in a few days it will dissipate. He also knew that it was but a little drop in the ocean of his new potential, be it his body or his quirk.

"Besides your newfound power do you feel that another part of your body changed?" The godmother asked, herself interested in the improvement of her godson.

Looking at her for a few seconds, he remained silent until he suddenly removed his shirt.

Seeing the scene on his torso, they couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"Are you alright??!" "Does it hurt?!!" They kept asking him these questions until they calmed themselves.

If it was hurting him, he would have said it much earlier, and he wouldn't be standing there looking at them as if they were just poor crazy people. Kashi could swear that he saw pity in his eyes for a second.

On his torso, more precisely where the heart would have been, only a swirling black hole could be seen.

"Excuse me for making you worried about my condition. I am perfectly alright, in fact, I almost didn't remark it. And I fell like it is not harmful at all, at least for me." He then justified his words by putting his hand inside the hole, up to the elbow but it surprisingly didn't reappear behind his back.

Pulling his forearm out the miniature friendly family black hole, he showed them his hand, still unharmed.

"See?"

"It really is prodigious..." His grandfather said, looking through the hole, but no matter how he was looking, he couldn't see a thing. He only saw the swirling hole from where not even light could go through.

"I am extremely grateful to you Obaa-chan." Kotei said, bowing to the older woman.

"Hihihi, no need for this sweetie, now go rest I am sure that you are tired from controlling your amazing quirk." She said, moving her hand to acting like a fan.

"In fact, I don't feel tired a-" Before he could have the time to say anything else, he got interrupted by her voice, not so gentle anymore.

"Go. Rest. Now. Sweetie." The smile she had on her face made the two males shivers a little.

"Now that you say it, I am really tired. I will go now." He said, wearing back his shirt and walking towards where he is coming from.

When he was going to disappear into a corner, he turned around to look at the old man, he was writing frenetically inside his book.

"I almost forgot. I don't need the regeneration quirk anymore grandfather." He said to the now wide eyes grandfather.

"What?! Why?" He asked he was really confused to hear that. He was writing some theories about how the quirk would affect the now mutated body of Kotei.

"I feel like it would only slow my progress. And to be honest, I don't feel like achieving my goal with someone else quirk." He said, his grandfather calming down.

"I see, if it is your will then I can only accept it."

"Thanks." It was all he said before he walked back inside the manor, leaving the old person to their own devices.

On the road towards his room, a few maids crossed him and remarked about the changes he underwent.

It was not only his looks who became more sharp and handsome or his dancing silver and pitch-black hair, but the very aura surrounding him was also more mature and mysterious. Mesmerizing the younger maids and making them fall for him more than they already had. The older ones were only looking at him with more admiration.

Once in his room, Kotei went to see his appearance. He was leaner, more handsome, and stronger than before, not only his quirk evolved. His body seems to have evolved to adapt to the quirk. Making his hair defying the gravity as if he was underwater. His body's muscles condensed and became sturdier than before. He could actually train his body way more than previously.

The last change he looked at was the swirling black hole where his heart was supposed to be.

He was feeling completely fine, even if he couldn't feel his heartbeat.

"I still can't control this newfound power..." He whispered, looking at his hand.

"It doesn't matter, I have ten months until Yuei. It means ten months to train. Even if it is not enough, I would have enough control to not kill my foe unintentionally."

"I was a big talker today wasn't I? Maybe it is this fusion thingy with my quirk... For now, it doesn't matter. I have bigger issues." Laying on his bed, he couldn't help but remember the periwinkle-haired girl who harrassed him each day since they first met. If she saw his changes, there was no chance that he wouldn't drown under her continuous wave of questions.

Sighing at this person's behavior, his phone rang and the same girl's name was displayed onto the screen, with big letters.

Sighing once again, he asked himself how she did it for feeling that he was thinking of her.

"How can I help you... Nejire?"