Gasper stared at the cat he had just detained for trespassing in his sanctuary, holding Shiro up by the armpits like a criminal caught red-handed.
Shiro stared right back, completely stunned, his back legs dangling helplessly. His mouth hung open in sheer disbelief at the audacity.
He hated being held like this and gasper knew that.
How dare he!
'OH, THE HUMANITY!'
Shiro's mind practically screamed as he dangled there, indignation radiating off him so hard it might as well have been a visible aura.
While Shiro silently raged, Gasper's thoughts were spiraling in the opposite direction.
'Why is there a cat in my room?… WAIT-could it be… what was her name? Kuroko? Krakoua? No-Kraken! Yeah, Koneko's sister Kraken!'
Gasper's expression hardened with sudden seriousness as he squinted at the dangling Shiro.
'…Wait, no. That makes no sense. Isn't she a black cat? If I remember right… yeah, she's black with yellow eyes usually. So it can't be her right?'
He narrowed his eyes further.
'So maybe it's Koneko? …Nah, no way. She hates the whole cat thing.'
A beat of silence.
'…Could it just be a normal cat?'
Gasper let out a long, defeated sigh.
'Well… whatever. It's not my cat.'
With the casual resignation of someone giving up on understanding .he walked over to the open window, holding Shiro at arm's length.
He set the cat down on the sill and patted him once awkwardly.
"Alright, little buddy," Gasper said, completely missing Shiro's look of utter betrayal. "Off you go."
'Man… Gasper is an idiot today.' Shiro thought.
Instead of leaving, he turned around, plopped himself down on the open windowsill, and stretched out like he owned the place. The breeze rolled over his fur, and he let it blow through him.
Gasper stared at him with a deadpan expression.
'…Well, whatever. It'll leave eventually.'
Turning his attention away from the cat, Gasper stretched for the first time in well, however long he had been inside that blue stuff.
His body felt stiff, tight in places he didn't even know could get tight.
CRAAACCKK!
His entire spine popped like a row of fireworks, a wave of relief shooting down to his toes.
"Ahh…" he sighed, blissfully unaware of how horrifying that noise sounded.
Gasper stepped in front of the mirror, finger-guns ready.
"What's up han-"
He stopped dead in his tracks.
His eyes shot open. His mouth hung wide enough to reach the floor.
"W–WHAAAT THE HELL!?"
That… that wasn't the body he remembered.
The scrawny, soft, noodle-limbed frame he remembered was gone. In its place was something you'd expect from a beginner who'd been grinding the gym for at least a couple of months, lean definition, faint lines of muscle, and a body that actually looked like it belonged to someone who could do a push-up without dying.
Gasper blinked, stunned.
'DAMN, THE JOESTAR BLOODLINE IS A CHEAT!'
Now that he thought about it, even his voice had sounded a bit deeper. And, he checked again, yeah, he looked at least two inches taller.
He inhaled deeply.
"DAMN, that felt good."
Even breathing felt better.
But before he could reveille in these changes.
[ QUEST GIVEN ]
BECOME STRONGER WITH KNOWLEDGE, YOU BONEHEAD! BKB YAAAA!
Objective: Learn Hamon
Time Limit: None
Reward: 1 Gacha Pull
Gasper stared at it.
Then blinked.
"…What the hell does BKB even mean?"
But the quest reminded him of something.
He thought for a moment, and it appeared, the Hamon manual he had gotten from the ten-pull earlier. Lisa Lisa's.
He picked it up and had to admit, he was impressed. The cover felt smooth to the touch, sturdy and well-made.
He opened it and scanned the pages. A whistle escaped his lips. "Okay… so breathing, and the Way of the Hermit… This is going to take a while, isn't it?"
*****
(2 day later, august 25th, night time)
Gasper lay on his couch, reading his Hamon guide for beginners, while Shiro rested on his chest, purring as Gasper stroked his fur. Diving into the theory felt strangely familiar, it was almost like being back at school… wait a minute.
Anyway, Shiro had started coming back every day after Gasper woke up, so he decided it was fine.
'Actually… now that I think about it, I never gave the little guy a name.' He set his book aside and looked directly at Shiro. Noticing the cat's white, almost silver fur, he placed a hand gently on the feline's head and said,
"I'll call you Archer."
Shiro lifted his head, staring at him with a look that clearly said, Really? And then Shiro thought, 'Is he okay in the head? Why does he think I don't already have a name?'
Seeing the look, Gasper winced internally.
'He doesn't like it, does he…? But his fur looks almost like Archer's hair… Maybe Shirou would be better?'
"Okay, so not Archer," Gasper said aloud. "How about… Shirou?"
Shiro blinked. He didn't hear a difference at all. '…That's literally my name, you idiot.' he thought, but at least it seemed like Gasper finally stopped playing whatever naming game he was trying.
With a small huff, Shiro lowered his head back onto Gasper's chest, deciding that a nap was far more important than dealing with this.
Seeing this, Gasper thought, 'Alright, Shirou the cat it is.'
*****
(2 day later, august 27th)
Gasper was sitting cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed, looking almost like he'd fallen asleep. But if someone listened closely, they'd hear a rhythmic and controlled breathing.
"I can feel it… I'm ready to break through to the Nascent Soul realm and advance in the search for the true da- I mean, my Hamon training!"
Shirou, who was sprawled out on top of his head, didn't even bother reacting.
Then gasper took a deap breath and he felt it.
A heat in his chest roaring to go so he let it
SSSHHHK!
His body began to glow with a faint yellow aura, pulsing in rhythm with his breathing.
Shiro, who had been sprawled across his head like a fuzzy hat, suddenly felt heat rush through his body. His eyes snapped open in shock.
"MEOW??"
A strange energy was flowing from Gasper straight into him.
Gasper's eyes shot open, blazing with excitement. "Can you feel it, Shirou? This… IS MY HAMON!"
The aura flared,
VWOOOM, BZZZT-TZIK!
shining brighter for a moment before Gasper exhaled sharply.
In an instant, the glow vanished.
So did the Hamon that had been accidentally blasting straight through Shiro, leaving the cat's fur puffed up and staticky, like he had just licked an electrical outlet.
Gasper beamed with pure pride, chest puffed out.
"Pretty impressive, right?"
Shiro, still perched on top of Gasper's head, did not share the sentiment. His fur was still slightly puffed, his eyes wide, his soul halfway out of his body.
'WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!'
'AND WHAT THE HELL EVEN IS HAMON?!'
←–TO BE CONTINUED—