After My Childhood Friend Turned into a Cat and Tricked Me

[Revising the story! Updates are temporarily suspended! I'm very sorry!] ------ Story blurb below ------ Zero was a tree yokai who had lived for many years. His true form grew in Yomotsu Hirasaka. He was the only tree there, a cherry tree. It was his duty to guard the boundary between the underworld and the living world. He guided the souls of the dead and helped living people who had accidentally lost their way there return to the living world. For countless years, he had stayed here without ever leaving. Until one day, a cunning cat yokai barged in. Using friendship as an excuse, he tricked Zero into playing hide-and-seek, then took the treasure Zero had kept safe for many years. It took a great deal of effort, but Zero finally caught up with that thieving cat. He was just about to throw a left and right hook and beat him until he regretted ever being born when they encountered a spatial storm. The storm sucked both Zero and the cat yokai in, and they ended up in another world. Their souls also became bound together by accident, so they couldn't get more than three meters apart. The worst part was that the storm had carried his treasure off somewhere! As the most outstanding and dedicated employee in the Land of the Underworld, Zero had to choose between immediately returning to work at the company and looking for his treasure. Without hesitation, he chose the latter. And so he set off with the cat yokai on a marvelous journey through various worlds in search of his treasure. And then: A certain red-haired former hitman whose hobby was curry picked up a blond toddler, along with an all-purpose cat who had maxed out his housekeeping skills, could listen, speak, read, and write, and was great with kids. A certain black-haired former hitman, now a sushi chef, picked up a blond child, along with a kitten who could make sushi better than he could, fight, and serve as a mascot. A certain chestnut-haired former hitman boss, now a private school teacher, picked up a blond teenager, along with a teenage cat yokai who could help him look after the bunch of little troublemakers at the school. A certain silver-haired up-and-coming hitman, a future deadly killer at the waterworks, picked up a blond yokai so badly injured he was nearly dead, along with a cat-eyed young man calling himself Scotland and pointing a gun at his head. Jing and Zero: Why are they all hitmen? * Zero and the little cat yokai Hikari develop feelings for each other during their journey. Gradually, Zero starts to feel that compared to Hikari, the treasure isn't all that important. Zero: As long as Hikari can always stay by my side, I don't care where we go! Jing: Actually, I've always been by Zero's side, no matter when. * Pairing: Jing and Zero. Hikari is a cat yokai, and Zero is a cherry tree yokai~ * In a nutshell, this is Jing and Zero's crossover journey through different worlds. * Hagi, Matsuda, and Wataru will appear. The five cherry blossom petals must stay together wherever they are and whatever they become! (Very obvious hint, jpg.) * Lots of toddler Zero and kitty Jing in the early chapters. Please take note! * That's all I can think of for now. I'll add more if I come up with anything~ Theme: Childhood friends are the best!