犬との生活(一種の) (life with a dog (kind of))

chapter 3: a lesson

"agggghh" i sound, the inhuman noise leaving my mouth as katashi chuckles at me slightly. "i warned you, you know." katashi says, smiling smugly at me. "shut up and quit fooling with me. there's no way there is another... whatever the hell its called at the end of all these words!" i exclaim, looking up at katashi angrily. "they're called tenses, dumbass. now, focus, please." katashi says. "but i can't write it! it's impossible." i say. "at least try." katashi says, trying to act annoyed but he had been very patient with me so far. he could be a good teacher. "it doesn't make sense. why would you use a different tense when... ahh! why is this so confusing?! how do you do this, katashi-kun!" i say, glaring down at the paper desperately, willing it to change into japanese so i can understand it. "ok, you know what? let's ditch the paper for now. we'll cross writing when we get to it." katashi says, taking the paper off our table in the kitchen and putting it on the counter. "so, what are we doing now?" i ask. "i'm going to teach you verbal english, for now. it's still hard, though. you still up for it?" katashi says, raising an eyebrow at me. "bring it on!" i say excitedly. katashi smirks slightly and chuckles. "ok, try saying 'hello'." he says, his fluency in english amazing me. "what does that mean? tell me so i know you won't make me say something derogatory." i say, looking at him skeptically. "jeez, have some faith in me. it's the same as saying hello." katashi says, leaning up against the counter. "oh, ok. ummm.. is it said like.. herro? heirr- what the-" katashi cuts me off with a fit of repressed chuckles, covering his mouth with his hand. "oi! i'm trying!" i say, flustered, blushing slightly. "ok, ok, ok. it's said like 'h-e-l-l-o'. you got it? 'hell-o'" katashi says. "helro?" i say. "no, close. 'hello' 'hell-o'" katashi says. "hell... o, right?" katashi nods to confirm. "he.. hello?" i say. "yeah." katashi says, smiling slightly at me. "wait, i got it?! i really did it! yes! yes! yes!" i exclaim, pumping my fists in the air excitedly and smiling widely, just proud i managed the simple english greeting correctly. "you've still got a thick japanese accent but it's not half bad." katashi says, still smiling at me almost proudly, a rare sight to be seen. a sight i've never seen, in fact. "i don't care! i did it!" i say. "whatever keeps you motivated." katashi says, shrugging. "how did you even learn english so well? my parents never taught me that." i say. "your parents? didn't you go to school?" katashi asks. i glance down at our hradwood floors for a moment. "no, only for university. i was homeschooled most of my life and niether of them knew english." i say. "oh. well, i learned it from the various places i've been. at the last place i stayed at, the guy traveled to america for work a lot and brought me with him since i was 'untrusted with his possessions'." katashi says, putting air quotes. "you've been to america?! that's amazing!" i exclaim, looking back over at him. "yeah. it was pretty cool." katashi says, smiling slightly. "what was it like? is it everything everyone says it is?" i ask. katashi thinks for a moment. "yeah, pretty much. there is burgers and meat everywhere. it's like there is an endless supply over there. it's very busy everywhere. well, from the view of new york city." katashi says. "new york? isn't that the capital of something?" i ask. katashi chuckles slightly. "no, no, no. it's just a very big city. almost like osaka." he says. "oh! that sounds really fun. it would be so cool to go to america and see what it's like." i say. katashi looks down slightly and his smile falters slightly. "yeah.. i haven't been there in ages." he says. "katashi," i start. katashi looks at me. "what happened?" i ask hesitantly, trying to watch my limits. "what do you mean?" katashi asks, tilting his head to the side slightly and his smile dropping slightly. "what happened with that man a couple months back? was he the one who took you to america?" i ask. katashi looked surprised and hesitated for a moment but sighed. "yes, i used to live with him. he wasn't the first one, though. it was just another idiot who though bringing me to their home was a good idea." he says. "why was he hurting you?" i ask. katashi's face turns into surprise and slowly morphed into annoyance and anger. "jeez, what is this, an interrogation?" katashi says. "um.. sorry, i was just asking because-" katashi cuts me off. "well, it's none of your damn business, dumbass!" katashi snaps. i fall silent and katashi walks off, into our room and shutting the door behind him. i sigh and rest my head on my hand. i just had to open my big mouth and ask. but, i really do wonder why he was hurting him that day. i wonder why he looked so scared. i wonder a lot about katashi. i thought i knew at least some about him but i've found that i don't know much at all. i want to find the reasons behind how he is. i'm curious about him and his life as the half human and half dog hybrid, or whatever species he is, he is. i take out my phone and type out 'dog that can turn into a human' and hit search into the search engine. i click on a website about cynanthropy and start reading.
Cynanthropy (sometimes spelled kynanthropy; from Ancient Greek is, in psychiatry, the pathological delusion of real persons that they are dogs and in anthropology and folklore, the supposed magical practice of shape-shifting alternately between dog and human form, or the possession of combined canine and human anatomical features, a form of therianthropy.
all this website talked about was myths and folklore but katashi is a real person. it describes him but it also doesn't. he has control over his forms, of the two i've seen anyway. could he have more than the dog? i think about asking him but then remember that he wasn't exactly happy when he shut himself in our room. i will just ask him later, after he's not pissed anymore. he wasn't like that all day, he actually smiled quite a bit when he was teaching me english, looking like he was enjoying it. i was surprised at his patience with me, since i was struggling so much and couldn't stop asking questions. but, then, i had to ruin it with my big mouth. i asked a question he didn't want to answer and, thinking of it now, i just shouldn't have asked. i should've thought before i spoke. i clean around the apartment, picking up the empty bento boxes and other things lying around. once i notice katashi still hasn't left our room, i decide to go out to a bar and maybe a store while i wait for katashi to come out. i might as well since katashi needs more clothes, only owning the baggy and dirty sweatpants and hoodie to wear as a human, making him look homeless. "i'm going out and i'll be back in a couple hours. don't break anything or burn down the building." i call out, getting no response. usually, he would give a snarky remark on my outfit or say something along the lines of 'no promises' and grin slyly. i find myself missing his antics, even though he can be extremely annoying. i missed his smirks, his constant need to make comments, his laid back personality, and even his jokes, sometimes. maybe katashi has grown on me these past couple of months. i take one last glance at the room door where katashi resided before opening the door and locking it again behind me as i leave.