"Sherwin!!! You idiot! Die, meow—!!!"
Early in the morning, Sherwin was jolted awake by a piercing roar.
However, he had only just opened his eyes and hadn't even figured out what was going on when a pitch-black thing had already pounced onto his face, gnawing and scratching at him nonstop.
"What? What? What going on here?"
With a completely blank expression, the Hunter only managed to fully wake up after taking several rounds of cat punches and bites, shaking off the haze of just having woken up…
There was no helping it. Last night, using the excuse of leaving Totto Land and setting sail once more, Suika Meow had dragged everyone into holding a banquet and poured quite a bit of alcohol into Sherwin.
While he hadn't been drunk to the point of losing consciousness, his reactions right now were still noticeably slower than usual.
Sherwin first tried to get up, but just like always, he failed because other cats were pressing him down.
He could only struggle to pull his hands free and lift up the little cat that had pounced onto his face…
And then he became even more confused.
Because this little black cat in front of him—flailing its limbs wildly and twisting its head, trying its hardest to bite his palm—was not any of the cats from the Commission.
"Seijuro Meow? No, he a long-haired cat, and bigger than this… wait! This biting strength… Haibara Meow?"
Finally, through the familiar sensation of being gnawed on, Sherwin confirmed the other party identity.
As for why he was so familiar with it…
Well, that was another sad story altogether.
"Wait… did you get sprayed by an octopus or something? How did you turn yourself into the same state as Seijuro Meow… pfft, pfft, pfft…"
Looking at the pitch-black little kitten in front of him, Sherwin couldn't hold back the schadenfreude welling up in his heart and burst out laughing.
"Wasn't this your doing, meow?!"
(=◣皿◢=)
The newly appointed "little black cat" bared her fangs and roared wildly.
"What kind of stupid nonsense are you talking about…" Sherwin pointed at Klee Meow, who was rubbing her eyes on his chest, and at Shermie Meow, who was stretching lazily on his belly.
"Every time I sleep, I get completely suppressed by you little guys. Where would I even get the chance to change your color?"
"Huh? Big sister Haibara Meow has become the same as big brother Seijuro, meow! Hahahahahaha! Big sister Haibara Meow, you look so funny like this, meow!"
(=`=)σ
Klee Meow, who had also just been woken up, pointed at Haibara Meow being held up in midair by Sherwin and laughed so hard she rocked back and forth, eventually slipping and tumbling off him by accident.
Even so, the little Palico didn't stop laughing, continuing to roll around on the bed while cackling uncontrollably.
"Hehe~ actually, this color suits little sister Haibara Meow quite well, meow~"
After finishing her stretch, Shermie Meow spoke the honest truth while licking her paw.
Indeed, Haibara Meow, that little schemer, really did suit black quite well.
Sherwin and Shermie Meow exchanged a perfectly tacit glance…
Then he suddenly froze.
"What wrong, meow? Sherwin?"
(ω=)
Shermie Meow, who was licking her paw and washing her face, looked at Sherwin in confusion, not understanding why he was staring at her with such a strange expression.
"Uh… before you laugh at Haibara Meow, you'd better take a look at yourself first."
Sherwin reminded her with a helpless laugh.
"Meow hahaha! Big sister Shermie Meow face is so funny too, meow!"
After finally catching her breath a little, Klee Meow collapsed back onto the bed, laughing all over again.
The beauty-loving little forest cat quickly pulled out a tiny mirror, only then realizing that at some point she had been given heavy makeup…
Long eyeshadow stretched all the way to her ears, a bright red circle smeared around her mouth, and even two patches of blush added to her cheeks.
The overly exaggerated makeup not only failed to make Shermie Meow prettier or cuter, it actually made her look even more ridiculous than the pitch-black Haibara Meow.
"Meow—!!! Which bastard did this?! I'm going to electrocute him into charcoal, meow!!!"
∑(=`Д=)
Shermie Meow was so angry that all the fur on her body stood on end.
Haibara Meow, who had been furious just moments ago, instantly felt much better after realizing she wasn't the only victim—and was even a little happy…
At the very least, she hadn't been painted this ugly.
"Jinx! Was it you, meow?!"
The enraged Shermie Meow slammed her paw down on the little blue cat who was rolling around on the bed together with Klee Meow.
It was normal for her to suspect this, because aside from fighting and making weapons, Jinx also had a hobby of graffiti.
From time to time, she would draw street-art–style images on the ship, and she had even "done makeup" on Klee Meow figurehead before…
In the end, the little ragdoll cat was furious, and Sherwin, together with her—the real culprit—had to coax her for a long time before she finally calmed down.
Besides, those little fur cats who had drawn on Sherwin face back then had included her as well… she had a prior record!
However, Shermie Meow soon let Jinx off the hook, because Jinx own face had been drawn into an absolute mess—looking even worse than her own heavy makeup.
"Ahhhhh! They actually dared to prank me! Who on earth was it, meow?!!"
(=益)
After Haibara Meow and Shermie Meow, Jinx—the little mad cat—also exploded.
In truth, the little blue cat quite appreciated the street-art–style graffiti on her face.
But appreciation was one thing it didn't stop her from wanting to give a ruthless beating to whoever dared to prank her.
After a bout of total chaos, everyone who had gathered on the deck discovered that this time, the victims weren't limited to just Haibara Meow and the others.
Originally, the little black cat Seijuro Meow was probably the least affected of all the cats—he only had a crescent moon drawn on his forehead, cosplaying Judge Bao Meow for a bit…
Well, Sherwin had naturally told the cats plenty of detective stories before. But with Haibara Meow around, Conan wasn't easy to talk about, so he told them stories about Young Justice Bao instead.
Link Meow situation wasn't serious either. Since he mostly communicated through expressions, he only had a big black "X" painted over his mouth.
Sanji Meow had a pair of peach hearts drawn over his eyes, with extremely exaggerated "drool" smeared around his mouth.
The little alcoholic Suika Meow had several spiral circles added to her head, probably symbolizing how she was drunk all day long, along with blush on her cheeks carrying the same drunken implication.
Aside from the cats, the crybaby Shirahoshi had two strings of teardrops painted on her face, while Robin had gained a pair of "glasses" that suited her temperament perfectly, as well as a small flower on her forehead representing her Devil Fruit ability.
All in all, although it was a prank, that mysterious individual was not just scribbling at random.
"So that means only Sherwin, Klee Meow, Purah Meow, and I weren't pranked, meow?" Huamei rested her chin on her paw and pondered.
"I can understand not drawing on me, but why weren't the three of you drawn on either, meow? Were you trying to confuse everyone, meow?"
The other victims, bristling with anger, surrounded the three of them, clearly intending to conduct a thorough interrogation.
As for Huamei, no one thought she would do something like this, so she was the first to be eliminated as a suspect.
"Talk! Which one of you did it, meow?!"
(=`Д=)
The "little black cat," with her fur standing on end, shouted as she questioned them, her gaze mainly locked onto Klee Meow—the little troublemaker with a prior "record"—and Sherwin, who had once been drawn into a big mess of a face and thus had a possible motive for revenge.
"It wasn't Klee," the little ragdoll said, waving her paws repeatedly and shaking her head in denial.
"If Klee did something that would definitely get her locked up, she would for sure drag companions along to share the punishment, meow, and she would definitely draw on Brother Sherwin too! Just like last time, meow!"
(ω≡ω)
"I'm still right here!"
Sherwin knocked lightly on her little head with an annoyed look.
Although the little ragdoll reasoning sounded somewhat childish, everyone accepted her defense with surprising ease.
As a result, Sherwin immediately became the target of everyone suspicion again.
"I already said it—if I had done it, you guys lying on top of me would definitely have noticed," Sherwin shrugged.
"And besides, if I were getting revenge, how could this little one Klee Meow possibly escape?"
Klee Meow immediately answered Sherwin with a decisive kitty punch.
In the end, everyone looked toward Purah Meow, but honestly, just like Huamei Meow, no one really believed that the usually well-behaved little Devon Rex would do something like this.
Purah Meow, however, said, "I wouldn't be that stupid. If it were me, I'd definitely draw a few strokes on myself too, just to clear suspicion, meow… Come to think of it, could the culprit actually be among you, meow?"
As soon as she said that, the cats who had been pranked immediately began glaring suspiciously at one another.
"I think I might know who it is…"
Just as the cats were falling into mutual suspicion, Sherwin suddenly understood why the four of them hadn't been pranked.
He gently tapped the deck beneath him and said, "It was you, wasn't it? Dodo Advance."
"What kind of stupid nonsense are you saying, me—meow—!!!"
Haibara Meow, her face full of irritation, was cut off halfway through her words and jumped three feet into the air in shock.
Because a Felyne none of them had ever seen before was cautiously peeking out from behind the mast directly in front of Haibara Meow, sneakily sticking out her fluffy little head.
|ΦωΦ=)