Chapter 2: More about my species

Saturday morning, the weekend was something Shoukichi always liked. The day always went off with watching his favorite saturday morning cartoons, watching the newest episodes of anime online, and just relaxing for the whole day. Nina would come over and play video games with him, sometimes his Dad would play too, mostly because it was his job, but he still had fun with them; this day wouldn't be any different... or so Shoukichi thought as he woke up to greet the morning. "Ah Satuday, how I missed you. I wonder if Mom made any breakfast today, maybe some bacon, sausage and why does my belly feel bigger?"

Shoukichi could feel the difference, and he could definetly see it, his belly had gotten bigger, he was basically thin, but now he was instantly chubby; that wasn't all that changed, both his hands had four fingers, with pad like things on each tip. If it wasn't any crazier for him, he realized that his ears were curved and pointed on the top of his head, and he could feel something long and furry under him... matter of fact, his whole body was furry! "So it wasn't a dream after all, I really am a furry."

He looked at himself in the mirror just to get a good look, even his face was furry, it was more dog like than human. "Weird, but I actually kind of like this look... I always was an animal person, and now I am one, or I always was apparently. Screw it, if I've always been an animal, then I just have to live with it. Besides, I'm not gonna let this ruin my Saturday!"

So after that, Shoukichi got out of bed, but stopped to see the tail that moved from side to side; it was cool, and without even knowing, he ended up trying catch catch it. "What am I doing right now... it's actually fun, no wonder dogs do this."

Putting that aside, Shoukichi went out to the livingroom, there was no one outside, but that was completely normal; since it was a Saturday, his parents usually slept a little longer, so Shoukichi just laid on the couch and watched his cartoons in peace. "Weird, I've done this for as long as I remember, but thinking about it now... I feel like I was born to slouch around lazily."

"Morning, Shoukichi."

That voice came from Shoukichi's Mom, she came into the room with bed head and a sleveless black nightgown that went down to her waist. "Are you hungry, I can make breakfast if you like?"

'Wow, even when mom wakes up she looks laid back, though she does look happy for some reason.' Shoukichi thought. "Morning Mom, are you okay?"

"Oh I'm fine, last night was great wasn't it?" She asked

"Great... it was pretty crazy, but I guess it's not bad knowing what I am." Though that's not what Shoukichi's mom was talking about.

"Oh, your Dad wanted me to tell you that he's out in the backyard," Lizzy explained. "He's ready to teach you how to transform now."

"Really, can we do it after I finish watching my shows?" 

Shoukichi was always like that on Saturdays, he didn't do anything until his shows were done. So his Mom would always take charge, this time by pulling his new ears. "Shoukichi, you're not gonna make me ask again are you?"

"Ow, mom that hurts, seriously le-ah..." It was pretty quick as Shoukichi's mother's pulling turned into rubbing. "Oh, that kind of feels good."

"Just like your father, always love it when I massage his ears," Lizzy teased. "Now will you please go to your father, I'll stop if you do."

'Maybe I shouldn't go, this feels great," Shoukichi thought, but he came out of it when the pulling came back. "Ouch, alright I'll go!"

After his Mom released his ears, Shoukichi got off the couch but was surprised from looking at his Lizzy while standing; back when Shoukichi thought he was human, he was taller than his Mom by three inches, and his Dad was at least one inch taller than him. But now that he was a tanuki, he was about the same height as his Mom's waist, his Dad was the same height of him, but he still had an inch ahead of him. 'Why am I so short?'

"Something wrong?" Liz asked

"N-No, but if you don't mind me asking Mom, how did you get used to this?" Shoukichi asked. "I mean, getting used to having a husband that's of a different species?"

"Hm... you know, I never thought about it," Her answer was pretty surprising. "But, after all the times I got to know your father, knowing that he was a tanuki wasn't even surprising at all. Matter of fact, I loved him even more for it."

Lizzy couldn't help herself, she grabbed Shoukichi's cheeks and gently pulled them. "I loved his chubby cheeks, and how he could play drums on his belly. His paw pads are so soft to touch too, I love everything about his species."

'I guess Mom's where I got my love for animals from.' Shoukichi thought. "Okay, can I have my face back now?"

"Alright, now hurry to the back." The way Lizzy talked made Shoukichi sweatdrop in amazement, even after she happily walked back to her bedroom.

'Wow, Dad sure knows how to pick them.'
												

Leaving that situation for another time, Shoukichi walked out the back door, his Dad was nowhere to be found, but something else was; a large panda with a white T-shirt and blue shorts was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed, Shoukichi had no clue who this person was, but he looked at him like he knew him for a long time. "Shoukichi, are you ready to learn?"

'Why is Po from kung fu panda in my backyard?' There had to be a good answer. "Dad, is that you?"

"Aw, how'd you know it was me?" Eiji pouted, turning back into a tanuki.

"You wear that outfit as pajamas." Shoukichi pointed out.

"You shouldn't talk, you're the one with the heart pajamas." He retorted

"Hey, at least they're on fire." Shoukichi shot back. "So, are you gonna teach me or not?"

"Yes, but before we get into that." Eiji went into the garage and came back with a blackboard with japanese artwork with four animals. "You first have to learn the history of transformation."

'Where did that blackboard come from?' That was never in the garage before.

"You see, transformations were always made by animals." Eiji explained. "The basic transformation, changing colors is done by chameleons, but the true art of transformation is done by foxes, tanuki's, and a few cats. Are you getting this?"

"About as much as I got the end of code geass." Shoukichi said bluntly. 'How does Johnny Young Bosh keep getting work?'

"Alright, do you have any questions?" Eiji asked.

"Now that I think about it, I remember there was a tanuki character in Inuyasha, and he transformed by putting a leaf on his head."

"Oh that, though that's true, only amateurs use leafs to transform," Eiji explained. "When you're as experienced me, you can transform without one."

"So what, you're a master or something?" Shoukichi asked.

"Kind of, I know more than my brother and friends, so I guess you can call me that," He answered. "Now then, I'll show you a transformation as an example."

"Okay then."

Shoukichi sat down and watched as Eiji formed a hand sign that was familiar to him, he realized it was the ram sign from Naruto. He jumped into the air, and right in front of Shoukichi's eyes, Eiji turned into a small tea kettle. "Whoa, uh Dad?"

Eiji didn't respond, he was exactly like a teapot, authentic and motionless. This made Shoukichi worry, he picked up the teapot to see if his father was alright, but he honestly had no clue how to tell. "Boo!"

"Holy crap!" Eiji's head appeared as the top of the teapot, it made Shoukichi jump and fall on his behind. "You freaking ass, what's the big idea of scaring me!?"

"Sorry, I just couldn't help myself." Eiji changed back into his normal form, stretching to make himself feel better. "Man, I haven't transformed like that for a while, one of the things about tanuki's, we love to play tricks! When transforming, you focus your chi to change your molecules and shift them to turn into a different person or object."

'So much biology in one thing, thank god I'm a good at learning.' Shoukichi thought. "Speaking of that, what else is there about tanuki's?" Shoukichi asked

"Oh, well we're mischievous, lazy, jolly, gullible, absent-minded, oversexed..."

'Lazy, no wonder why it like I was born to be a couch potato.' He thought. "Wait a sec, what about being oversexed?"

"Oh yeah, well... why do you think we have big balls," Eiji asked. "Besides, it's perfectly natural for our species."

"Question, how many times did you do it with mom before I was born?"

"Why ask that?"

"Just asking."

"Well, from what I remember, it was about a week before we learned that Lizzy was pregnant." Eiji explained. "Thoughout that week, and the times we went each night, it was the total of... thirty."

'Thirty!?' Shoukichi thought.

"Even after you were born, we kept going at it, yesterday it lasted ten hours."

Shoukichi had no clue how to answer. "Wait, I wouldn't think a person could do go that long without getting exhausted, but mom looked like she was full of energy this morning."

"That's Lizzy for ya, she may be human, but she's got a tanuki's stamina." Eiji laughed but stopped by Shoukichi's look of disgust. "Calm down, it's not like we do it with everyone we see, just the person we love."

"The person you love."

"Is there someone you love... like Nina perhaps?" He teased.

"What, no I... oh crap."

"Hey Sho, are you there?"

The voice came from the front of the house, it was Nina knocking the front door to visit. "What's she doing here?"

"It's Saturday, Nina always come to visit," Shoukichi replied. "Mom's gonna open the door any minute, I can't let her see me like this."

"Stay here, I'll tell her that you went for a walk." Eiji assured.

"She won't believe that, especially since I slouch around on Saturday." He muttered. "I'm just gonna try transforming."

"That won't work, it takes time to learn how to do a prefect transformation, you only had an exam-"

Eiji couldn't believe his eyes, Shoukichi repeated the same procedure he did before, his fur began to rise up with energy, and as soon it began, it ended with him turning back into a human. "Are you coming or not?"

Eiji was still surprised, he didn't expect Shoukichi to master the technique so quickly. 'He's a prodigy, and he didn't even know about this until yesterday. I don't know if I should be proud... or jealous.'

Nina knocked on the front door again, waiting for someone to open. "Hello, is anyone there?"

When the door opened, Nina was surprised to see Shoukichi's mom, still wearing the same nightgown from before. "Oh Nina, how are you today?"

"Um fine, is Shoukichi here?" Nina asked

"He's in the back with his father, but they're busy doing-"

"Wait a second, I'm right here." Shoukichi answered.

"Sho, what happened to you?"

Shoukichi almost freaked out, did he do the transformation wrong, is Nina going to think of him as a freak? "Your hair, it got longer."

"Huh?" She was right, his hair was at least shoulder length and had a few bangs in his eyes. "Oh, I didn't even notice it, I guess it grew when I was sleeping."

"You gonna let me in or not?" She asked

"Yeah sure, we can go play some games."
												

(Shoukichi's Perception)

That was close, for a second there, I thought Nina would look at me and say I was a freak, if she did... I don't know what I would do. Me and Nina have always told each other secrets, we even promised to never keep secrets from another. "Hey, you should put that hair in a ponytail."

"A ponytail?"

"Yeah, it'll make you look a little cooler, or at least like a modern samurai." I have to admit, Nina always thought of ways to make things positive.

"Thanks, I'll think about that."

"So, do you feel any better?"

"About what?"

"Remember, you said you didn't feel good yesterday."

"Oh yeah, I took a nap and felt better, turns out it wasn't much." I hate having to keep this a secret to her.

"Good to know, now let's see if you can beat me in blazblue."

"You know I will."

Maybe this is for the best, after all, Nina his her own secret. I guess I should explain, Nina lives with her mom a block away from my house, we invited each other over all the time, but I never saw her dad there; I remember that I asked her where he was once, but she said that she didn't know. I was always good figuring people out, and I could tell from her face that she was lying. If she doesn't want to tell me, then I understand, so I won't tell my secret either. "Hey Dad, you want a go for the usual?"

"Alright, but I'm not losing this time." 

Too bad Dad never wins, I was always better at video games than him, kind of like the student surpassing the master. This is why I love Saturdays, me and Nina play games with Dad, and everytime we beat him in a new game he gets, he pays us half of what he gets paid for testing it, I think of it as my allowance for the week. Nina usually hangs out with us until five o'clock, when time came, she was ready to leave. "See ya at school, Sho."

"Or tomorrow, if you want." Nina was always busy on Sunday.

"Sorry, Mom and I are going to the mall tomorrow." She waved goodbye and finally left.

"That was close, at least she didn't expect anything." The sigh of relief I made was almost too relieving.

"I'm proud of you Shoukichi, you were able to do and stay into a perfect transformation." Eiji said happily.

"Thanks Dad, but what do you mean by stay-" It was strange, I suddenly felt a large amount of exhaustion envelop me. Without even knowing, I changed back into a tanuki. "Whoa, why am I so tired?"

"Transformations always use your energy, especially turning into humans." Now he tells me? "But usually it takes an hour or two before fatigue kicks in, you held it till the afternoon, which is pretty amazing. Maybe it's because of your human half."

"Yeah... maybe it's that." I was seriously tired.

"Who wants hot dogs?" Lizzy suggested

And now I'm not. "I do!"

"Same here!" I think I'll ask dad if being a tanuki means always being hungry later.