Chapter Text
Kohane was 25, and she owned a puppy cafe. It was normal. A lot of people and tourists would visit often, and it wasn't much money, only 5,000 yen. Kohane was the only worker there, with others being volunteers. Because who wouldn't want to volunteer there? You get to pet and feed dogs for free.
Most of the dogs were nice, though, one of them, only one. Would bark and try to bite others. Akito, a male Akita. His name was sorta a pun, but it did sound like an actual name. He only would be nice to Kohane. Not even the volunteers who had been there for years. He only liked kohane for an odd reason, that's why he was not up for adoption like he should've been, there can't be too many dogs, so some of them get up for adoption. Akito was supposed to be one of them, but he was sorta aggressive. So it went to another dog, a Samoyed that she gave to a friend after her old one had passed away.
But anyway.
Kohane went in today, she unlocked the door and went in. There were plenty of dogs waiting for her. Though they stayed quiet, as they probably were as tired as her, she filled up their food bowls. Apricot, another dog, was really the only one that woke up, and barked as loud as she could when she saw kohane.
"Apricot! Stop it!" Kohane yelled, closing her muzzle with her hand. Then she let go, and
Apricot barked again.
"Stop! You're gonna wake the other dogs. Go over there, I know you're hungry, but I'm still filling up the food bowl!” Kohane yelled again.
One of the dogs had barked loudly, Akito to be more specific. It's like he was agreeing with her.
Kohane finished filling the bowl and Apricot immediately ate most of the food, it was fine though as most people who came were able to feed dogs, and also eat food themselves, as it was a ‘cafe’
Kohane opened the cafe, and business started.
.
The day ended quickly, Kohane made maybe a few thousand Yen. It wasn't much, but it was something at least. She went to her room (which was inside the cafe as she couldn’t bare leaving animals alone at night.)
Then, she heard barking. It sounded like some of the dogs were fighting. Kohane went to check out what was happening.
She saw that it was just Akito trying to get out of his cage.
“Akito, stop making so much noise.” Kohane said quietly
He looked at her briefly and pawed at the cage door.
“Fiine.. I’ll let you out.” Kohane said,opening the cage door.
Whenever he was let out, Kohane was blinded by a bright light. It quickly went away, but what was standing before her was no longer a dog, and instead a guy, with bright, almost neon orange hair, and fluffy dog ears on his head. He was wearing a light-ish tan coloured polo sweater. Also wearing brown-ish pants. He also had an orange tail, as fluffy as his ears and hair.
“Soo uhh…” He said.
“W-What..?!” Kohane exclaimed, mostly out of shock.
“I’ve been meaning to uh… show you this… Hey..?” He said, waving at Kohane.
“A-are you..? Akito?” Kohane asked. Still shocked.
“Yeah. It’s kinda confusing, right?” Akito said, sitting on the floor.
“Yes.. Uhmm. What are you.?” Kohane asked.
“I.. don’t really have an explanation for that, I don’t think y’all have a word for it specifically.. Think of me as a.. How do ya say it? Shapeshifter? Except only for dogs, and only for one specific breed of dog, AND my human form still has dog ears and a tail, and I can’t take them away.” He explained.
“Okay, sooo.. You're like.. a dog, but you can turn into a human with dog ears?” Kohane replied.
“Something like that, but we still speak the same language as you, all dogs can learn languages actually, they just can’t speak it.” Akito said.
“Oh, okay… Does Apricot know that she’s not supposed to eat her food when I'm still refilling the bowl?” Kohane asked.
“No.” Akito replied quickly.
“Can you tell me something about all of my dogs?” Kohane asked enthusiastically.
Akito nodded as a response, and began to answer everything Kohane asked. He seemed to really like her.
“Uh.. Do you know the names of dog breeds?” Kohane asked Akito.
“No, I mean if other dog shapeshifters are trying to call out for each other they just say ‘The orange one’ or ‘The black one’. We don’t really use names, I guess we never thought of them.” Akito said.
“Huh.. So is Akito your actual name now?” Kohane asked.
“Yeah.” Akito replied.
“Huh… Do the dog shapeshifters like you go in groups?” Kohane asked.
“Usally only when we’re young, when we turn like, 15, we split up.” Akito said.
“Do you have any siblings then?” Kohane asked again.
“Yeah, but she went missing or something.” Akito replied, looking sad for the first time.
“Ah, okay. Oh, I forgot to ask this, how old are you?” Kohane asked.
“Uhhh.. what month is it? Actually, what year is it?” Akito asked.
“You guys have the same calendar as us?” Kohane questioned.
“Yeah, that’s like, the only other thing we’ve got from humans.” Akito replied.
“Okay, well it's September, and the year is 2025.” Kohane said.
Akito made a face as if he was thinking hard.
“Okay so I was 15 in ‘15… I'm 25 I think..” Akito said.
“Oh! Me too!” Kohane replied.
“Oh, nice.. Anywho, I’m tired. Ima sleep.” Akito said.
“Uhh.. You can sleep in my room with me if you don’t mind.” Kohane suggested.
“Erm.. Okay.” Akito replied. Turning into a dog again and following Kohane into the room.
Kohane went to her bed and Akito followed, jumping up to the bed.
‘Hopefully, I can finally have someone to talk to.’ Kohane thought before closing her eyes and falling asleep.