[ES!] Zodiac – Senpai Turned Into A Dog!?
- Digging for Better Fortune
- Doggie Senpai
Chapter 1
This story has brief mentions of animal euthanasia in Chapter 2.
Season: Winter
Location: Garden Space
(Sigh… I’m sooo depressed~… I wanna die…)
(Everything feels so exhausting… Both physically and mentally… I want something soothing…)
(Like Anzu-san’s mascot characters, or Master Artist’s drawings… Or even a calming event where you get to play with small animals…)
(How does everyone put up with this exhaustion…)
(They’re all just doing whatever interests them, so maybe they don’t have to worry about it so much…)
(I still can’t completely reach that mindset… I need some kind of reward…)
(Well… I’m starting to enjoy the activities in Ryuseitai…)
(But it uses up all of my energy and willpower…)
(I don’t have the motivation to do anything else afterwards… So I end up putting off all the annoying stuff I don’t wanna do by telling myself I’ll do it tomorrow…)
(Then that day comes and I wonder why I didn’t work on it just a little bit every day… That’s the situation I’m in right now…)
(Ughhh… I was supposed to carry a bunch of vegetables to the school’s cafeteria every day…)
(But I started skipping out on it ‘cause it’s such a pain, and my parents got mad at me for it…)
(Now I have to spend half of my entire day just carrying all the boxes of vegetables that piled up…)
(And it has to be on my day off, too… I was hoping I could lie around inside with the heater on all day…)
(Ehhh… Complaining won’t get me anywhere, though… And if I put it off any longer, my brother might offer to do it for me… I have to get this done on my own somehow…)
(Just three more trips should probably be enough for today…)
(…Hm? I think I hear some drumming sounds from the gym…?)
(I’m pretty sure the Basketball Club has today off, though…)
(Hmm…? Am I remembering things wrong…? Maybe I should double-check when I’m done, just in case…)
(Since Morisawa-senpai gets really annoying when I skip out on the club…)
Location: Gym
(Hmm…? Huh? There’s no one here…)
(But I thought I heard some dribbling going on a second ago…)
(Did I just imagine it…? I mean, that kind of sound lingers in your ears…)
(Mm… But there’s a ball and a uniform lying on the floor for some reason…)
(Someone must have been doing some solo practice until a second ago…)
(Hmm~… The number on the uniform is four…)
(Which means this is Morisawa-senpai’s, I guess… But he’s not really the type to just go home without tidying up after himself…)
(Maybe he just went to the bathroom…?)
…Eeek!!
Wha— Huh? What just…? A-A dog?
(A dog came right out of the uniform!?)
Eeek…! W-What’s with this dog…? Don’t come near me…
I’m fine with fictional mascots, but real dogs are alive and can move around—I don’t know how to deal with them…!!
Don’t mooove… Don’t get attached and cuddly with me, I’m not your owner…
(What do I do now…? Where’d this dog even come from… I feel like I’ve seen it before… ‘Cause it’s someone’s dog, I think? Maybe I should check for a collar…)
Eeek!! Sorry, did that tickle you? Please don’t make a weird noise…
(Uuu… Now that I think about it, I’ve been seeing a lot of dogs around school…)
(I kinda remember an announcement saying not to feed the dogs, ‘cause if it gets any worse than it already is, they’ll have to get rid of them by calling over the health department…)
(Sengoku-kun said something like that in one of the lunchtime broadcasts…)
(Eeep!?)
W-What is it, doggie…? You’ve got something in your mouth…? Are you… giving that to me…?
Oooh~… Getting a gift from a small animal feels like a fairytale…♪
Hmm… This is some student’s notebook… The handwriting is super cluttered… Whose is this…?
Geh— This is Morisawa-senpai’s notebook…?
(Umm, what…? Why did this doggie give this to me… Now it’s looking at me with a serious look on its face for some reason…)
(I-Is it trying to tell me something…?)
Umm… Are you telling me to give this notebook to its rightful owner…?
Eeek—? I-I’m wrong? Don’t bark, okay…?
(I don’t get what it’s trying to tell me… It’s starting to hit its paws on the notebook’s photo of Morisawa-senpai for some reason…?)
(Yeah yeah~… Get ‘im~ Punch him real good~…♪)
(No wait, this isn’t the time… I really do feel like this doggie’s trying to tell me something…)
(I know stuff about plants and vegetables, but I don’t really know what an animal could be saying…)
Chapter 2
(Hm… The doggie slipped into Morisawa-senpai’s uniform and started playing with the ball… Looks like it’s having fun…)
(It kinda reminds me of someone I know… Wait— Could it be…?)
Um… I honestly doubt it, but… are you Senpai…?
Ahhh—! I told you not to bark! Was that a “yes”…?
No way… That kind of magic doesn’t exist in real life… Then again, a book I borrowed from the library had a story like that…
But… Ehhh…? Ughh~… I guess it could exist…?
Um… Tell me if I’m right, okay…?
Morisawa-senpai, did you transform into a dog…?
Hey! What are you doing here!?
—Fweeeh!?
There are going to be exam students here for a meeting this afternoon, so the gym is off-limits!
If you’re here to help out with preparations then be my guest, but if you’re not, then leave immediately! Otherwise, you’ll only be getting in the way!
Ah— Uuu…?
Hm? Is that you, Takamine? You’re from Ryuseitai, right? What’s wrong? Why are you just standing there? Where’s your club captain, Morisawa?
U-Um… I—Uh…
(W-W-W-What do I do!? The Vice President is here…! I’m scared…!!)
(I’m pretty good about following the rules, so thankfully I don’t ever come face-to-face with him…)
(But he gets super angry at any first years who break the rules…)
(Seeing people get angry at someone else makes me anxious…)
(I think we managed to make small talk back in Scroll of the Elements, but on a general basis, it’s hard for me to interact with him…)1
(Uu~… I wanna get out of here before something bad happens…)
…? What are you hiding in your clothes?
Huh? Uh, um, nothing…?
(Crap… I just stuffed doggie Morisawa-senpai into my cardigan without thinking…)2
(It’s struggling around for air… The Vice President is gonna get suspicious…)
Umm, I ate way too much and gained weight! So, uh, my belly’s gotten bigger…! That’s all!
…You’re going to get sick if you don’t take better care of your health.
Well, it doesn’t matter. You’re a pretty earnest student, and you didn’t really do anything wrong…
So just put the ball back in its place along with the uniform and go home.
Y-Yes! Understood…!
…By the way, this has nothing to do with anything…
But since the meeting is coming up soon, the health department is coming over to seize any stray dog that’s around the school.
We can’t have any of those dogs injure the exam students from other schools, after all.
If the department gets hold of any dog, they’ll likely be euthanized.
There’s Akehoshi in your club who owns a dog, right? Probably leaves him around without a collar…
So if you find his dog anywhere, keep it safe. Otherwise it’ll be swept away with the rest.
(Ehhh…? The health department is coming…? No, this is awful timing! They’ll euthanize doggie Morisawa-senpai if they find him…!?)
(No, that’s just too much…… I have to save him…)
E-Excuse me! I’m going home now!
Ah—Hold it! Hey!! You didn’t clean up after yourself before leaving!
I-I’m not the one who left them lying around…! Please excuse me, sorry!!
Location: Shopping District (New Year)
Huff… Huff… That was exhausting~… It feels like it’s been ages since I ran that hard…
(I think I should be fine here… The Vice President wouldn’t chase after me, right…?)
(T-That was a ridiculously heroic rescue scene just now…)
(And I didn’t even save a cute heroine or anything, it was just a dog… This whole situation’s so weird…… Ughhh, what am I gonna do now…?)
Hm…? What’s wrong, doggie Morisawa-senpai…?
You sound like you’re whining… Are you… worried about me…?
You’re always like this, aren’t you… Even though you’re the one who’s in hot water here, after turning… transforming…? into a dog…
You’re always, always worrying and fussing over other people all the time…
That’s why I think it’d be terrible if something bad happened to you… Um, like… I can’t put it in words well, but… It just wouldn’t be fair…
Chapter 3
It’ll be okay… I’ll do something about this, so don’t worry… For now, I’ll keep you safe at my house until the health department’s gone…
I’ll also ask Shinkai-senpai or Anzu-san for help… Shinkai-senpai seems like he’d be pretty good with weird stuff like this…
I’ll do something about this and turn you back to normal…
Back to your silly, peaceful daily life…
So don’t look so anxious… Everything will be okay… There, there…♪
Uhya— Ahaha… Please don’t lick me just ‘cause you’re a dog now… The moment I remember it’s actually Morisawa-senpai in there, it starts to feel really gross…♪
Heheh, I’m feeling hungry after running all the way here… It’s noon by now, so it’s time for some lunch anyway…
You’ll have eggplants for lunch, Morisawa-senpai… Just kidding~♪
I’m kidding, I’m kidding… You hate eggplants, after all…
(…? Huh…? Doggie Morisawa-senpai is happily sniffing the eggplant… and licking it…?)
(That’s weird… He always freezes up at the sight of eggplants…)
(Maybe turning into a dog made his taste buds change…? Huh…? I feel like I might have made a huge misunderstanding right from the start…?)
Heeey, Takamin! Yahoo, yahoo, yahoo~! ☆ (waves)
Eeep…! Huh!? Akehoshi-senpai…?
Welcome~ Are you here to buy something for lunch?
There’s some good corn that just came in today…♪
Ahhh, no no! Takamin, you took care of Daikichi for me, right?
The Vice Prez said something like that at the gym!
Huh…?
Ah, there you are, Daikichi! Come over here~! Your owner’s here to pick you up~♪
Daikichi… Ahh, that was the name of your pet dog, wasn’t it…? So this dog’s yours, then…?
Yep! His name’s Daikichi! It’s a good name with a good omen to it!
Wait, have you never seen him before?
Sigh… Um, so this dog really isn’t Morisawa-senpai, huh…?
…? Why’re you bringing up Chi~chan-senpai? I don’t get what you mean, but this here’s Daikichi!
We were raised together like brothers, so his interests are the same as mine, I think!
Whenever I’m practicing basketball, he comes over to play with the ball!
But his paws are usually dirty from the mud, soo~ He left footprints everywhere in the gym.
The place looked really bad, so I had to go and get the mop and dust cloth!
By the time I got back, I heard you’d taken him away, so that’s why I came all the way here for him!
B-But he had Morisawa-senpai’s notebook and uniform for some reason…
Ahh, Chi~chan-senpai was also practicing with me! Actually, we’ve been there together since this morning! It just happened naturally!
I bet Daikichi had Chi~chan-senpai’s uniform in his mouth when you saw him, didn’t he?
He’s a clever dog, so he tends to bring back stuff to its owner~
Takamin, you smell like Chi~chan-senpai, so he might’ve thought it was yours…?
I smell like that guy…? N-no……
Well, don’t you? Since he’s always hugging you!
A dog’s sense of smell is two million times stronger than a human’s… Wait, or was it just twenty thousand? Well, basically he can identify even the faintest smell!
Anyway! Chi~chan-senpai’s mopping up the gym right now, and I wanna go help him, so could I have Daikichi back?
The health department’s coming soon, so I’ll be taking him home.
……You took good care of Daikichi for me, Takamin. Actually no, thank you for saving him~♪
No, I didn’t really do anything… I just misunderstood what was going on and started running all around for no reason…
Gahh, I feel like a dumbass… This is so embarrassing, I just wanna die already…
Eh, wha—? What is it, umm… Daikichi-kun, I think? Please don’t rub against me…
Ahaha~ Daikichi’s also saying thank you~♪
No, no… There’s not really anything to thank me for…
Well, whatever… It’s really embarrassing that I went through that misunderstanding, but… it would’ve been awful if he was taken away and euthanized…
In the end, the number one important thing is that nothing bad happened… No, actually… Peace is what’s number one…♪3
Translation Notes
- ↑ Scroll of the Elements is an Akatsuki and Ryuseitai story.
- ↑ In Japanese, Midori says Morisawa-senpai (rashiki inu), meaning “Morisawa-senpai(-looking dog)”.
- ↑ “Peace is number one” is a phrase Chiaki has said before in both Supernova and SS (2018 kiseki series, main story). As an extra note, the SS story was released alongside this scout story, just a day after. You can read SS here (Chiaki appears in Effort 12 and 13).