Late at night in the Kujo residence, the air was quiet enough to hear the faint rustle of leaves beyond the paper windows.
Shintaro sat cross-legged on the tatami, his back soaked through with sweat. Beads of perspiration slid down his temples and dripped from his chin, darkening the woven mat beneath him in small, spreading circles.
"Steady," Joseph said, crouching in front of him with his elbows on his knees. "Don't force it. Follow the rhythm."
Shintaro set his teeth and adjusted — pulling the breath deeper, slowing it, letting it originate from the diaphragm the way Joseph had demonstrated. Not from the lungs, but from something further down, something more fundamental. The vibration was subtle at first, a tremor he could barely distinguish from ordinary tension.
Then —
A faint numbness crept into his fingertips.
His eyes snapped open.
Golden ripples of energy moved across the skin of his hands — faint as sunlight on shallow water, flickering and uncertain, but undeniably there. His pupils contracted as he stared.
"So this is..." He clenched his fist slowly, feeling the current of it moving through him like something alive. He let out a long breath — half awe, half something that came out sounding almost like laughter. "Before learning Hamon, I was really just breathing haphazardly."
"Of course you were!" Joseph sat back with the proud satisfaction of a man who has been waiting to hear exactly this. He jabbed a thumb at his own chest. "The person who taught me — my mother — was terrifyingly strict. I'm faithfully reproducing her Spartan teaching method."
"Spartan method?" A small black head poked out from Shintaro's shoulder, antenna wobbling with skepticism. "Isn't this just poking someone in the stomach with a finger? This old man's finger feels like an iron rod."
Joseph's face twitched. He pointed at the Black Sperm with genuine personal offense. "Shut up! What does a pitch-black little runt like you know about Sendo?! And don't call me old man!"
"You clearly are an old man," the Black Sperm replied without missing a beat. "If not 'old man,' what would you prefer?"
It made a face and slipped back into Shintaro's collar. Shintaro smiled awkwardly, caught between the two.
Just as the bickering settled into its familiar rhythm, the shoji screen slid open with a soft sound.
"Dad, Shintarou-kun — thank you for working so hard."
Holly stepped in carrying two cups of hot tea and a pair of towels draped over her arm. Her expression was the same gentle warmth it always was — the kind that seemed to knit frayed edges back together simply by being in the room.
She knelt and looked at Shintaro's sweat-soaked condition with quiet concern.
"Here — wipe yourself off a bit." She set the cups down and began to pour the tea. After a moment, she glanced up, pressing her hands together with a slightly hesitant look. "Dad... I was thinking. Even though Shintarou-kun has lost his memories, he seems about the same age as Jotaro. Staying cooped up here all the time probably isn't good for recovering them."
She brightened. "So — how about having Shintarou-kun go to school with Jotaro tomorrow? Seeing the school, interacting with people his age... maybe something will come back to him."
"School," Joseph said slowly, stroking his chin. "His background is still unclear, but keeping him where I can see him is definitely safer." He nodded to himself. "And frankly — Jotaro doesn't have a single friend at school. Having someone nearby wouldn't hurt."
He turned to Shintaro. "What do you think, kid? Want to experience Japanese high school life?"
Shintaro was quietly delighted.
This was almost too convenient. He had been carefully working out how to naturally follow Jotaro toward the encounter he knew was coming — and the opportunity had just walked itself through the door.
"Since Aunt Holly suggested it," Shintaro said, setting down his teacup with a well-mannered nod, "I'd be happy to. I'd like to try to remember something. And if Jotaro runs into any trouble, I'd be able to help."
"Oh! That's wonderful!" Holly clapped her hands together, already turning toward the corridor. "I'll find one of Jotaro's old uniforms right now — with a few alterations it should fit perfectly!"
Her humming faded down the hallway.
Shintaro and Joseph exchanged a brief look.
"Trouble?" Joseph's lips twitched slightly. "Didn't Jotaro just send an entire group of people to the hospital a few days ago?"
Shintaro scratched his head. "Just polite talk. Don't read too much into it."
The next morning, sunlight lay across the tatami in warm rectangles.
Shintaro opened his eyes feeling unexpectedly clear. None of his usual grogginess — the controlled breathing of Hamon had apparently done something useful to the quality of his sleep, smoothing the edges of it in a way that regular rest never quite managed.
After washing up, he put away two large steaks — a peace offering to the ravenous Black Sperm lords currently holding court in his internal space — and put on the black stand-collar school uniform Holly had altered overnight. The fit was good, the adjustments precise. It didn't give him Jotaro's oppressive aura, but it made him look composed, upright, and carried a particular kind of understated confidence — the look of a transfer student in a drama who is about to make things interesting.
At the entrance, Jotaro was already there, putting on his shoes.
That tall back still radiated a dedicated do not approach field.
"Morning, Jotaro," Shintaro said, lacing his own shoes. "From today I'm your temporary schoolmate. Please take care of me."
Jotaro stood, his shadow falling cleanly over Shintaro. He glanced at the uniform — clearly already informed by his mother — and tugged his hat brim down.
"Hmph. Mom's a busybody. School isn't a playground for an amnesiac to go hunting for memories."
"Don't say that," Shintaro replied lightly, adjusting his collar.
Jotaro didn't respond. He shoved the door open and walked out.
"Wait for me."
They hadn't gone far when hurried footsteps broke out behind them.
"Jotaro~! Wait for Mommy!"
Shintaro instinctively slowed down. The famous scene was arriving on schedule, and he had front-row seats.
Holly ran up, apron still on, hands pressed together, her smile bright enough to cause structural damage to anyone with less emotional reinforcement than Jotaro. She stared at her son with sparkling eyes.
"Are you leaving already? That — that — you haven't done that yet!"
She pointed to her cheek.
"Morning kiss! Kiss!"
Jotaro's brow knotted in profound irritation. "You woman — is your brain still foggy from sleep?"
"Eh~ Don't be so cold~!" Holly leaned in, utterly undeterred.
Then she noticed Shintaro.
Her eyes lit up and she smoothly redirected.
"What about Shintaro? Since it's your first day of school — can you give Auntie a goodbye hug? Do your best!"
"Ah?" Shintaro had been perfectly content as a spectator. Being pulled onstage was not the plan.
But he looked at Holly's sincere smile, and found he genuinely couldn't say no.
"...Okay," he said. "Thank you, Aunt Holly."
He stepped forward, gave her a light, polite hug, and spoke with quiet warmth. "We're heading out. Please stay safe at home."
"Ara! What a good boy!" Holly beamed, then turned on Jotaro with playful reproach. "You see?! Shintaro is so polite — you should learn from him, Jotaro! He even gives his mother a hug!"
The air went completely still.
Jotaro's face darkened instantly.
His eyes locked onto Shintaro with the flat, certain gaze of a man who has identified a problem.
This guy is one hundred percent doing this on purpose.
"Yakamashi!!" Jotaro's voice dropped half a register. "Shut up, you annoying woman! And you —"
He pointed at Shintaro.
"Stop doing unnecessary things. Let's go."
He shoved his hands into his pockets and strode off at a noticeably faster pace than usual, as if additional distance was the solution.
"So scary~" Holly stuck her tongue out at his retreating back, then waved brightly. "Be careful on the way! Jotaro! Shintaro!"
Shintaro waved back and hurried to catch up, his heart doing something embarrassingly warm.
The butterfly effect is genuinely fascinating, he thought. Jotaro's tsundere level has measurably increased. This is a development.
They walked side by side down the slope toward school.
Cherry blossoms drifted in the morning breeze, unhurried and soft.
Everything looked utterly peaceful.
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