.

Yodie

Senpai walked toward Yoshi with his phone tucked behind his back. He took a seat beside her and asked, "Is Odie ever nervous around people?"

"Are you kidding? Odie is the friendliest pup in the world. He's way too busy loving people to ever get nervous."

"You must treat him well. I've heard of people who treat their pets so bad, they run off anytime a stranger shows up. Or else they go to the other extreme and bark and bite."

"Dogs and humans aren't that different in the abuse department. When you love your dog, he knows it, and he'll love you back twice as hard."

Senpai nodded his agreement. "I always see dogs peeing and pooping up the grass at the park and they don't seem to have a care in the world."

"Oh, that's nothing. There's this girl puppy that shows up now and then, and she and Odie—"

"Whoa." Senpai raised his palm. "I get the picture." He rested his hands on his lap, phone screen down. "So, here you are. Your outfit's color matches his fur. You've got his paws, tail, and ears. Why don't you pretend to be Odie?"

"Sure, but how do I do that? After all, I am who I am."

"But you could pretend to be Odie for a little while, right?"

"I couldn't be Odie no matter how hard I tried. Odie is a boy dog."

Senpai scratched his chin. "Why not pretend to be a girl version of him? You could be Yodie."

A sly smile formed on her lips. "Then you'll pretend to be the boy version of Odie, like at the park."

Senpai's eyes bulged. "What? No." He waved his hand. "I'm the artist, remember? I paint pictures."

"Just messing with you. Hayacchi is right. You're an easy guy to fluster. So what to you have in mind?"

"Have you ever been hypnotized?" He showed her the phone screen.

She glanced at it for a moment then quickly looked away while shielding her eyes. "You've got Toshi's app, don't you? Hyacchi told me about that too."

"Is there anything she doesn't tell you?"

"Judging from the paintings you've made of her, there's a hell of a lot she doesn't tell me. But, yeah, she told us how she pranked you. Anyway, she tried the app on Gamo and Sakura, but it didn't have any effect."

"Did she try it on you?"

"No way. I'm ultra-sensitive to that type of thing. I went to my cousin's birthday party a while back and his parents hired a professional hypnotist to entertain us."

"Did this person hypnotize you?"

"Yeah, I think he did. I don't remember anything. Supposedly, I did a ton of silly things."

"How would you feel about me hypnotizing you into thinking you're Yodie?"

"Just so you can paint me, right?"

"Yep, just that."

Her smile widened. "I think that might work. Do you promise not to take advantage of me when I'm hypnotized, that is, if it takes?"

"Trust me. I'll keep my distance."

"Why? Don't you think I'm attractive?"

Hell yes, you're attractive. He cleared his throat. "I think you'd make a great puppy cosplay model, maybe even a sexy one, like you said, but I've got a girlfriend now."

"I wasn't implying anything improper. You know, this whole model-slash-artist dynamic makes things super confusing."

Tell me about it. "You're right. Maybe we shouldn't do this."

"Maybe not." She broke off eye contact and glanced at the easel. "I'd still like you to paint me, though." She met his eyes. Then she glanced at the phone. "Okay, let's do this."

"All right. I'm no hypnotism pro, but here goes." He raised the phone screen and held it to her eyes. "Look deep into the swirl. Focus on it and let it take you deep within yourself."

Yoshi nodded as she focused intently at the swirl.

"As it draws you in to the void, relax your body and open your mind." Although he didn't have a clue what he was doing, he fell back on his memory of the many manga he read where the guy hypnotized the pretty girl with a swaying watch, a magic ring, or a special phone app.

She nodded and her shoulders relaxed.

"Yoshi is receding," he continued. "You are becoming Yodie, the cutest girl puppy in the world."

Her breathing slowed, as did the frequency of her nods.

"Let yourself go. Let Yoshi go. Let her fall. Let Yodie rise to the surface." Damn, I'm really laying it on thick, but she's playing along. "Picture yourself becoming the girl version of Odie… an uninhibited puppy, full of love, never afraid, never nervous."

Her eyes turned glassy as her visage softened. Something's going on in there.

"Okay. I'm going to shut down this app and pat you on the head. When the screen goes blank, so will your memory of being Yoshi. When I pat your head, you will become Yodie, the cutest little girl puppy in the world. One… two… three…" He closed the app and gently patted her head between her puppy ears.

Yoshi switched her focus from the smartphone screen to Senpai's eyes.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

Yoshi threw off the blanket, raised her paws, and hopped forward onto Senpai, knocking him back. When his head hit the cushion, Yoshi pounced on top of him and licked his cheeks.

"Whoa, girl," he said. "Whoa, girl." He slid out from under her and dashed to the far side of the club room.

Yoshi, posing dog-like on all fours on top of the couch, tilted her head and smiled.

It took Senpai a few moments to regain his balance. "That was really good," he said. "You're really getting into it your role." He stepped up to the easel. "Is that how you want to pose?"

Yoshi didn't respond, but maintained her content gaze.

"Okay, let me get a picture." Senpai had learned from his sessions with Nagatoro that getting a young female model to remain still without tying her up was no simple feat. Pictures helped. And he had no intention of tying Yoshi.

He approached the sofa and picked up his phone, which had fallen to the ground. Then he stepped back and took some pictures. "Do your best to stay like that for as long as you can, okay?" He hustled back to his easel.

Yoshi maintained her pose.

Senpai drew the outline of his model. He had to admit, that cosplay outfit looked spectacular on the girl—the skirt clinging to her shapely bottom, firm thighs jutting out below, smooth skin leading to knee socks, dangling breasts straining against a flimsy cosplay top. He tried not to drool, but couldn't help himself.

Yoshi didn't seem to care, or else she was oblivious, just like a real puppy. After two minutes, she changed her pose, crouching with back straight, toes pressed into the cushion, knees spread wide, short skirt dipping down to cover panties, mitten paws up in surrender, wide puppy smile lighting up her face.

"Rowff." She emitted a very realistic sounding bark.

"That is excellent too." Senpai took a picture of the new pose. "We really should decide on one pose or the other. Or we could do something totally different. What are some other typical dog poses?"

Yoshi returned a happy but confused stare.

"Down girl," Senpai quipped.

She curled into a ball on the couch. "Rowff."

It's amazing how well she's getting into character. He recalled her state of mind five minutes earlier with the blanket wrapped around her body. He picked the blanket of the floor, folded it, and set it back on the arm rest. Then he took another picture, returned to his easel stool, and flipped through the three poses.

The begging and curl poses were nice, but "I think the one on all fours suits you the best," he told her. It looks ridiculously sexy, he didn't add. "Can you shift back to that one?"

Yoshi slid off the couch. Back on all fours, she crawled toward Senpai.

"Why not pose on the couch? It's the perfect distance and I'm used to the lighting."

She continued crawling. Upon arrival, she rose on her haunches and sniffed his pants. When her nose teased his package, Senpai looked down in shock. "No, Yoshi." When she licked him there, he jumped back.

"Rowrff." She approached.

"No, Yoshi. Don't do that."

She continued approaching.

He shuffled backwards until his shoulder blades pressed against the window. "Stop it, Yoshi." He paused. "Wait." A light bulb lit over his head. "Stop it, Yodie."

Upon hearing her puppy name, Yodie's eyes lit up.

"No." He bent forward and wagged his finger.

Yoshi turned and crawled toward the bookshelves. Though the mittens of her elbow-length gloves constrained her ability to grip things, she still managed to pull a few random books out onto the floor.

Senpai watched, amazed. Her cosplay is so authentic. He shifted his view to the lines he'd drawn on the canvas, estimated what he'd need to complete a decent painting, and picked up his brush.

A loud bang drew his attention to the center of the room. Yodie had knocked over a stool and was now pushing it around with her paw, rolling it across the floor like a toy.

He put down his brush. Something tells me this is going to be a memorable evening.

Author's Notes: Hey folks. Sorry for the hiatus. I wasn't sure how to proceed with the Yoshi arc because it had the potential to get really nuts. When someone posted a straight lemon that got a ton of favorites, I realized this was a Yarashi Senpai (perverted) kind of audience. So... will Yoshi pass her exam or won't she? Stay tuned to find out. — S.K.