A Breathing Style Study! Total Concentration Breathing!

It's been about a week since school started, we weren't doing a whole lot of Hero Work or Quirk Training yet. As I sat in my desk, I was suddenly pulled into the Seventh Plane!

"W-Woah! Great Grandpa? What are you doing?" I asked.

"You haven't been practicing your Total Concentration Breathing, have you?" He responded.

"Uh... Well... No?" I nervously laughed.

He looked at me he shook his head, "Shame! Shame on you!"

"H-Hey! What's that all about? It's kind of hard when you're dealing with the stuff I am!" I countered.

He handed me my Nichirin Blade, "Woah... How'd you get this?"

"I made sure to grab it before I pulled you here. Now, I have someone I'd like you to meet." Great Grandpa Tanjiro told me.

A woman walked towards us, she had pink-lilac eyes, and her hair was fastened by a pink and green butterfly. I stood up and she softly smiled at me.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Great Grandson." She greeted.

I bowed, "It's a pleasure to meet you as well. I'm assuming you're my Great Grandmother?"

"That's correct! My name is Kanao Tsuyuri, or now, Kanao Kamado. You definitely aren't like your Father; you've grown to be quite the polite young man." She smiled.

"Where's Aunt Nezuko? Isn't she normally with you, Great Grandpa?" I asked.

"She's currently taking a nap. I figured I should truly teach you about Total Concentration Breathing." He replied.

[6 Hours Later...]

Now that we're really getting into it, Total Concentration Breathing is quite difficult! I guess it's because I hadn't practiced it in so long!

"There you go, nice and steady, don't break that focus! Now, stand up and keep going!" Great Grandfather instructed.

I stood up and he handed me back my sword. I held it out in front of me and closed my eyes.

"𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘮, 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦." I muttered.

I moved around with immense precision as I mimicked the movement of waves. I was starting to get used to the feeling again! After I practiced my Water Breathing, Great Grandmother Kanao taught me the movements for another breathing style, Flower Breathing.

"See, now you try it! Remember, say 'Fourth Form: Crimson Hanagoromo'." She reminded me.

I nodded and kept up my Total Concentration Breathing. I turned away from them and held my sword out in front of me once more.

"𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘮: 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰!" I repeated.

I moved with precision again, this time creating a sword slash that curved and twisted. I landed back down on the ground, this was rather fun, it wasn't so difficult anymore!

Great Grandmother clapped, "Look at that! You're a rather quick learner, aren't you?"

"Well, he does have my blood in him!" My Great Grandfather smiled.

We both looked at him, "What? I'm not wrong, am I?"

"Alyx! I didn't know you were here!" I heard Aunt Nezuko shout.

I turned around and saw her and Uncle Zenitsu! I ran over to them with a huge smile on my face. I gave both of them a hug.

"Glad to see you guys again! It's been a while, hasn't it?" I laughed.

"It has! I take it you're practicing your Breathing?" Uncle Zenitsu wondered.

I nodded in agreement, "Yep! Great Grandma just taught me how to use Flower Breathing!"

I showed them everything new and old that I learned! Aunt Nezuko looked super impressed!

"How'd he learn them that fast...?" Uncle Zenitsu muttered.

"Well, I still have quite a way to go before I actually master them. I could definitely do better than what I am now!" I responded.

After practicing some more and having some tea, I returned back to the real world. I finally woke up, the entire classroom was empty, but at least I had my sword with me! I kept up that Concentration Breathing as I hurried out of the classroom. They wouldn't be at lunch, so they must be in one of the gyms, right? I looked at one of the clocks, it read "15:45." Everyone must've gone home already!

[2 Hours Later...]

I practiced for what felt like hours! All these forms really make you tired after a while!

"Darling! Dinner's ready!" Momo called out to me.

I nodded and stopped my training; I wonder how difficult maintaining Total Concentration Breathing would be while I'm eating?

"Yo, why are you sitting up straight like that? Does your back hurt or something?" Kaminari asked.

"Nope, it's called 'Total Concentration Breathing', it increases my physical capabilities beyond that of a regular human being. It expands my lung capacity which allows oxygen to reach every single cell in my body. In order for me to master it, I have to keep doing it every single day, even while I'm sleeping." I explained.

Kaminari tried to imitate was I was doing, "W-Woah, how are you doing that? That seriously doesn't feel right at all!"

"It just takes a lot of practice!" I chuckled.

Once dinner was over, I went up to my room, I noticed that something was laid out on my bed. It was a light blue kimono with a cloud pattern. I placed my sword back on its mantle before changing out of my gym uniform.

"Alyx, I was wondering-" Momo stopped talking.

I turned to face her as I was grabbing another shirt, "Oh, hey! What's up?"

Momo put her hands together, closed her eyes, then took a deep breath in.

"Must you tempt me, darling?" She muttered.

"Huh? Did I do something wrong?" I wondered.

"No, I'm just amazed at the spectacle in front of me." Momo smiled.

I blinked a couple times, "I'm not sure how I'd be much of a spectacle, but alright!"

She entered my room and sat down on my bed.

"How's that Breathing training coming along? It sounds rather difficult." Momo questioned.

"It's actually not as bad anymore as it was about 3 hours ago. The only challenging part is doing it while I'm asleep. You might have to help me out with that part." I replied.

"Hm? How would I do that?" She wondered.

"Simple! You just wangdoodle me right on the stomach! It should help out!" I beamed.

"Wang... doodle? Do you mean hit you?" Momo asked.

"Yeah huh! That's the idea!" I replied.

[4 Hours Later...]

I laid down in my bed with Momo next to me. Laura was sleeping in a bed that I made for her, with Hatsume's help, a few feet away. I closed my eyes and continued my Total Concentration Breathing. I eventually drifted to sleep after a while.

"GAH!" I uttered loudly.

I quickly woke up and resumed my breathing again. Gee, this was gonna be a sleepless night, I could already tell. I rested my head against my pillow and closed my eyes once more. Instead of trying to fall asleep, I used my thumb and gently rubbed my stomach. It took me a few times of being hit by Momo before I finally got it down! I felt her snuggle up close to me before I finally drifted asleep.

[The Next Morning...]

(I.R.P.: Listen to "Voice from the Past" from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba)

I decided to head out to the Wisteria Tree outside to continue my training. I placed my back up against the tree as I sat cross legged.

"Moshi Mosh!" I heard Ms. Shinobu call out.

I turned my head and saw her peering out from the side of the tree. I sometimes wonder if this is like a gateway between the Seventh Plane and the real world for them.

"Ms. Shinobu!" I smiled.

"I see you've finally taken up Tanjiro & Kanao's training. You're doing quite well, might I add." She noted.

I nodded at her, "Yes ma'am! I didn't realize how useful this stuff is, I feel 100 times different! I feel a whole lot stronger!"

"Well, that's the point of Total Concentration Breathing, silly! Were you even listening?" She smiled back.

I still could feel subtle anger behind that gentle, positive looking smile. It's kinda scary knowing that she can somehow look so happy when she's irritated or upset! I closed my eyes and took in the gently flowing breeze.

"Ms. Shinobu, how come you guys haven't come back to life like Laura?" I questioned.

"It's better to be at peace with the ones you love than to be searching for that same feeling with a different soul, Alyx. Having to find those feelings again would truly be a pain." She responded.

"Oh, I see. How's everyone else doing?" I asked.

I heard her sit down next to me, "They're doing quite well. I'm sure they'd be delighted to see you again sometime, unless they visit you instead."

I nodded once more and focused on my Concentration Breathing. I think a couple more days of this should help me master it. I heard someone else walk towards me.

"Hey, how's it going?" Deku questioned.

"It's going rather nicely; I'm really getting the hang of it." I replied.

He sat down next to me, "That's great! Listen, I think I should tell you this, we're heading out first thing in the morning tomorrow. We're heading to this place called 'I-Island' for I-Expo! Mr. Aizawa told us that while you were off in another world the other day. But only a select few of us are able to go, unfortunately."

I-Island? That's honestly an interesting name for an island, it's probably because it's I shaped, maybe? That's my guess, but an I-Expo? I wonder what that's all about. I went back inside with Deku, as I did, I decided to look up what exactly I-Island was. It's apparently this huge island where some of the world's top researchers conduct their studies on Quirks. The island itself looked beautiful! I returned inside with Deku and sat down in the Common Room next to Mina. She was laying down on the couch as I sat down next to her. She looked up at me as I turned on the TV.

"Hey... Uh..." Mina spoke up.

"Hm? What's up?" I wondered.

"You need to move." She replied.

I looked down at the couch then back up at her with confusion, "Why exactly do I have to move?"

"Because there's not enough space for my giant, dumptruck ass! You're taking up way too much space! Moooooove!" She argued.

She kicked me with her feet, "Make me move! I'm not moving for nothin'!"

We both narrowed our eyes and puffed our cheeks out at each other. Kirishima made his way into the Common Room.

"Um... What are you guys doing?" He asked.

"Not now, Eiji baby, we're Couch Fighting." Mina responded.

"C-Couch... Fighting?" He questioned.

I nodded my head, "Yep, I haven't lost not a single time!"

"Why don't you two just sit on the couch like this? I don't think Alyx minds it if you have to put your legs on him, Mina." Kirishima suggested.

"Oh... Why didn't I think of that?" Mina replied.

Mina and I adjusted ourselves to a proper couch sitting position before Momo came over and plopped down onto me.

"Studying multiple algorithms all in one go is rather exhausting, have I ever told you that?" Momo tiredly smiled.

"There's a reason why I never take the hard route in Math, probably because I would lose my damn mind, but I don't study." I noted.