If this were a cartoon, Jerry probably would have needed only a few seconds to finish the cake in front of him, which was about as big as he was, and then his belly would have swollen to the same size as all the food he had eaten.
But in reality, Jerry had used every ounce of strength he had. Although he still finished the entire cake, his belly had not swollen quite so dramatically.
Still, seeing him only able to stand with the support of a fork, Miyauchi Hiyage could not help worrying that the little guy might choke to death on the spot.
Fortunately, Jerry had decent recovery abilities. After lying down to rest for a few minutes, he was lively again.
At the same time, there was something strange in his eyes.
He seemed to be wondering why such a small cake had been so difficult for him to eat.
It seemed that after leaving the world of Tom and Jerry, the "traits" of a gag character on Jerry had been weakened somewhat.
Who knew whether it was because the rules of this world were different or for some other reason.
Thinking this, Miyauchi Hiyage found a ballpoint pen nearby, removed the refill, cut it in half, and handed it to Jerry.
Jerry held the refill and poked around with it a few times to test how it felt, then began writing on the sheet of white paper Miyauchi Hiyage handed him.
"Thank you, generous human. This is the first time I've eaten such delicious cheesecake."
What surprised Miyauchi Hiyage was that Jerry had actually written in Chinese.
"You know Chinese?"
"Then do you know Japanese and English too?"
Jerry blinked. There seemed to be some confusion in his large eyes before he nodded and continued writing on the paper.
"I probably didn't before, but after coming here, it seems I learned them."
After writing that, he hesitantly glanced at Miyauchi Hiyage and continued writing.
"I feel like it might be because of you."
"Because of me?" Miyauchi Hiyage froze for a moment.
This time, Jerry wrote much more decisively.
"I feel like I should know a little bit of everything you know."
Looking at Jerry's writing, Miyauchi Hiyage inexplicably felt a sense of familiarity.
Miyauchi Hiyage began asking probing questions.
"Can you play the piano?"
"Probably a little."
"Do you know shooting?"
"I know a little American Iaijutsu."
"Do you know fencing?"
In response, Jerry picked up a toothpick from beside him and immediately began making gestures in front of Miyauchi Hiyage.
Watching Jerry's convincing movements, Miyauchi Hiyage stroked his chin.
Everything he had asked about had been an ability Tom and Jerry had displayed in the cartoon. It seemed Jerry had brought those skills with him after all.
But when he asked about the witchcraft and magic that occasionally appeared in Tom and Jerry, Jerry's expression turned confused, as though he did not understand what Miyauchi Hiyage was talking about.
It seemed this Jerry had never encountered such things.
"What else can you do?" Miyauchi Hiyage intended to keep asking, to see just how many skills Jerry had mastered.
Then Miyauchi Hiyage saw Jerry ponder for a moment before suddenly snapping his fingers as inspiration struck.
Then he began seductively twirling his hands, followed by a social shake dance.
"???"
Miyauchi Hiyage was absolutely certain that Tom and Jerry could not possibly have featured something like that.
"Wait, who taught you those hand moves?"
Then he saw Jerry point at him.
It meant he had learned it all from him.
"So, you can do everything I can?" Miyauchi Hiyage's mouth twitched.
Fine, although Jerry's "traits" had been weakened quite a bit, it now seemed that they had not exactly been weakened.
Could this be Jerry's real ability—binding himself to a "Tom" and always remaining evenly matched with him?
What kind of Star Platinum nonsense was that!?
If this Jerry went to the Harry Potter world and bound himself to the real Tom there, Dumbledore would probably kneel and beg him to become the Chosen One.
After Miyauchi Hiyage's careful questioning and testing, he finally confirmed it.
The Jerry standing before him now was an absurd little mouse who would consciously perform a backflip whenever he said, "Come on, Jerry, give everyone a show."
He had no Stand, but he could see Yellow Temperance. Perhaps he simply had not found a way to summon his own Stand yet.
Miyauchi Hiyage could not help suspecting that once Jerry gained Stand abilities in the future, he might summon the Tom Cat from his world as his Stand.
Second, because of Jerry's physique, he was temporarily unable to cultivate Ripple Breathing.
But according to Jerry, he could feel that Miyauchi Hiyage's breathing rhythm was familiar. As long as he studied Ripple Breathing a bit, he should be able to develop a Rat Breathing style unique to himself.
Miyauchi Hiyage had no doubt that once Jerry developed Rat Breathing and awakened his Stand, his strength would catch up to Miyauchi Hiyage's current level immediately.
No, with all the skills he had learned in his original world, Jerry might become even more versatile than him.
Thinking of that, Miyauchi Hiyage, feeling a bit of pressure, wiped his forehead.
Although Jerry currently lacked the especially outrageous skills he had in the cartoon, in a sense, the Jerry bound to him now was indeed the helper he needed most.
Miyauchi Hiyage instinctively thought that when he was at school in the future, he could have Jerry take over his work and continue researching Ripple Chi Kung and the principles of the Camera Obscura.
Whatever rewards he obtained in the future, as long as Jerry could continue synchronizing his attributes, he could keep being a hands-off boss.
Leave the work to Jerry and keep life for himself.
What a perfect combination.
But Jerry was, after all, an independent little mouse with thoughts of his own. He definitely had to make these matters clear to him first.
Fortunately, Miyauchi Hiyage and Jerry's first encounter had left an excellent impression on him.
The delicious cheesecake had directly raised Jerry's affection for Miyauchi Hiyage to the level of a close friend.
When he heard that Miyauchi Hiyage intended to hire him in exchange for all the cheesecake he could eat, Jerry happily accepted without a second word.
Before, he had always worried about his next meal after finishing the last one, and he had to spend every day battling wits and courage with that Tom Cat.
Now, food and lodging were included, his life was secure, and Miyauchi Hiyage had even said he could find him a bunch of beautiful female mice, or even female cats, to keep him company in the future!
Wasn't it just work? He would do it!
Lured by the grand promises painted by the capitalist Miyauchi Hiyage, Jerry, who had only just arrived in this world, quickly became a working mouse with nothing but cheese and work in his head.
Miyauchi Hiyage would not make Jerry work 996 or 007, of course. He was not some devil.
He still had to get alternating weekends off.
"Besides, Jerry's abilities aren't limited to research work," Miyauchi Hiyage said, stroking his chin. "As long as I make sure he's safe, wouldn't it be much more convenient to have him interact with those heroines than for me to disguise myself and go over there?"
And when Jerry learned that he could go outside and mess around as he pleased, he immediately excitedly did another backflip in front of Miyauchi Hiyage.
Fine, he had nearly forgotten. In the cartoon, Jerry had never been a particularly well-behaved little mouse to begin with.
The more miserable Tom was, the happier Jerry was watching from the side.
Thinking about it, it really was no accident that he and Jerry got along so well.
That evening, Miyauchi Hiyage went out again, bought Jerry a set of handy tools, then contacted Koshigaya Suguru over at Asahigaoka and asked him to make several furniture models and send them over.
As Miyauchi Hiyage's number-one lackey, Koshigaya Suguru did not ask why at all. He simply asked about the required dimensions and said he would deliver them by the weekend.
Before going to sleep, Miyauchi Hiyage even made a rare free addition to the diary: a notice that stirred up the girls, who had spent all night researching You Know Who's identity and were just about to sleep, all over again.
Ahem, here's a temporary announcement:
Today, I took in a new little brother from another world.
Going by seniority, since I'm your teacher, when you meet him in the future, you should call him Uncle Jerry.
Below is what your Uncle Jerry looks like.
You don't have to like him, but if you happen to run into him while he's out for a stroll, I hope you'll give him a deep bow to show your respect.
Also, @Kashiko Kasumi, starting tomorrow, get ready for an experiment. It should only take two or three days, so don't worry too much about it.
If I Were My Little Brother, I'd Have to Kowtow to Myself
Shinomiya Kaguya, who had been repeatedly studying the side profile of "You Know Who" on her phone, felt awful when she saw the diary's sudden extra update that night.
A mouse from another world had somehow become their "uncle."
The sheer absurdity of it made her stare intently at the anthropomorphic mouse image You Know Who had uploaded.
Was You Know Who joking when he told them to bow upon seeing this mouse, or was he serious?
The thought that she might have to pay respects to a mouse in the future made Shinomiya Kaguya feel stifled.
But her reason also told her that since You Know Who had chosen to take a mouse as his little brother, that mouse must have something extraordinary about him.
And judging from You Know Who's words, perhaps he intended to use this little mouse as his "spokesperson"?
So this mouse from another world might possess intelligence close to that of a human, along with some special abilities?
Shinomiya Kaguya made a calm assessment.
You Know Who's identity was still completely shrouded in fog.
No suspicious target had been found for the completely unremarkable side profile he revealed today.
After discussing it in the group, everyone had unanimously concluded that this guy must possess some kind of ability to change his appearance, which was why he dared to openly appear before them.
If he continued appearing around them through similar methods, even Shinomiya Kaguya could not think of any good solution.
For instance, although she had already told the guards at Shuchiin Academy about it, instructing them to let any unfamiliar repairman carrying a stepladder enter in the future before notifying her.
But what if You Know Who disguised himself as someone from the school?
She could not exactly act like some police officer who had spent over a decade chasing Kaitou Kid, pinching everyone's face to confirm their identity whenever she saw them.
Compared to that, perhaps this mouse would be easier to deal with?
With that thought in mind, Shinomiya Kaguya actually began looking forward to meeting the mouse.
It was only a bow. If it could get her a clue about You Know Who's identity, even making her perform a dogeza would be no problem.
Whenever she closed her eyes now, all she could see was that picture saying, "I want to be a photographer."
"Damn it, what exactly happened in between!?"
The more she thought about it, the harder it became for Shinomiya Kaguya to fall asleep.
At the same time, Kasumigaoka Utaha was even more frustrated than Shinomiya Kaguya.
No, if you wanted to take a mouse as your little brother, fine. At worst, I'd bow to him when the time came. But why did you have to drag me into this too?
She had already caused a huge scene this afternoon. By tomorrow, the entire Toyonosaki Academy would probably know that she had pinned a first-year girl against the wall after school.
What did you mean, "You don't need to worry too much about it"?
If you wanted me not to worry, then don't say it out loud!
Now that you've said it, I'm even more worried, okay!?
Although that mysterious person had said on the first day of writing the diary that she and the second daughter of the Yukinoshita family had been extremely popular heroines in his previous life, so receiving some extra attention did not seem strange...
But he could not just keep picking on her alone!
What about that Yukinoshita? Since they were supposed to be the twin jewels of their generation, he had to turn up the pressure on her too, right?
Before you continue