She spoke with an innocent look on her face.

     In my hand, I held a pale pink collar.

     She was serious about having to be collared.

     「Come on, Master.」

     She whispered into my ear. This had been a normal outing between friends, but I had felt unsettled ever since she invited me into her home. And soon after, I had been handed a collar. I began to doubt whether or not this was reality, but I knew from the tangible weight of the collar in my hand that this was nothing but real.

     I couldn’t say that I wanted this to stop.

     If I refused, then she might go find someone else. That she wanted me made me a little happy — just ever so slightly.

     The fact that I thought that way was why I was now involved with her. It would have been great if I could just leave others be, but after all, that was impossible for me.

     I could feel her breath. My hands shook at her expectant gaze.

      「Your hands are trembling, aren’t they?」

     I didn’t know why. Maybe it was because what we were doing wasn’t normal. Maybe it was because I was scared that my normal everyday life was beginning to change. Or maybe, it was something else.

     I took a deep breath.

     「…Alright. I’m putting it on now.」

     I was an ordinary person.

     I was born into an ordinary family and lived an ordinary everyday life. Even now, I ordinarily passed my days with my friends by my side. I’d never thought those days were dull, and I dearly cherished every single one. That’s how it should be.

     I felt her pale neck.

     The belt wrapped around it with more ease than I had imagined.

     This was foolish, I thought — to be doing something like this to a classmate that I barely even knew. As I securely fastened the collar’s clasp, she laughed.

     It didn’t suit her.

     A collar on the girl who was always the center of attention in class, who always shined as bright as a star.

     As I assured myself of that, I felt a chill run down my back.

     「…Woof.」

     She said, invitingly.

     Just hearing that sent stronger shivers down my spine, and I felt like I was going to say something weird. But I shouldn’t. It’s true that I had become Sorahashi-san’s master, but I had no intentions of doing anything strange beyond that.

      「You’ve collared me, but that’s all you’re going to do?」

     Even if she said that…

     I knew she wanted to be disciplined. It must have been why she bit me on the escalator, and why she kept getting her mouth dirty during lunch.

     No.

     I was happy that she was leaning on me. I was also worried that she would ask someone else to be her master if I refused. Even so, it was impossible for me to train her like she was a dog.

     I felt like I had to do something, though.

     Unless I did something master-like, Sorahashi-san would…

     After deeply thinking over it, I finally managed to squeeze out some words.

     「P-paw?」

     Hearing my best efforts at being master-like, Sorahashi-san’s eyes widened. She glanced between my outstretched hand and my face before finally placing hers over mine.

     「…Is that all?」

     She said, sounding a bit bored. Without any clue of how much she wanted me to do, I shook her hand.

     Her palm felt cool and smooth.

     It was a little relaxing.

     「Good job. You did well.」

     「…That’s great, but if you don’t train me properly, I’m going to become a twisted puppy, you know?」

     「A twisted…」

     「Wanna find out?」

     She spoke with a smile. Things were already complicated enough, but it would get even more convoluted if she were to become twisted. I had difficulty just putting the collar on her, so her suddenly asking me to do even more as her master was troubling. It was troubling, but…

     My chest felt strange. Being given her hand like this, being looked up at like this — there was nothing particularly special or fun about what was happening, but still, there was that strange beating in my chest.

     My heartbeat quickened, and a shiver went down my spine. I knew this wasn’t me, but my heart wouldn’t slow down.

     「…You can discipline me even more, you know? I want to be a dog that’s obedient to my master.」

     Her sweet voice caressed my ear.

     As she got closer, the surprisingly hot breath that escaped her lips tickled my ear.

     Urged on by her breath, I felt words begin to rise up my throat.

     Before I could let them out of my mouth, she stood and spoke.

     「If you don’t want to, I won’t force you to. …For now.」

     Those words made my head spin. The words that I had just stopped were still stuck in my throat, and I felt like they could spill out at any moment.

     Right now, she had given all of herself to me.

     I felt that intensely as I gazed at her collar. I said “paw”, and she really gave me her hand. She had whispered to me in that sweet voice that it was okay to train her. I knew this was strange, but the beating of my heart covered up that thought.

     If I stayed silent, she would go back to the Sorahashi Sera that I knew. That was for the best. It was for the best. It should be, but…

     「—Sera.」

     Huh?

     「Sit, Sera. I didn’t say you could stand, did I?」

     What was I doing?

     「…Woof.」

     Her livened voice. Her delighted expression.

     It was bizarre. There was something strange about Sorahashi-san.

     What was I, then?

     「I still haven’t scolded you for messing around on the escalator earlier. And during lunch, you kept dirtying your mouth on purpose. You’ve been a bad puppy, Sera.」

     Thump. Thump. Thump.

     The sounds of my heart became awfully loud.

     Even though those words came out of my own mouth, they didn’t feel like my own. Even so, Sorahashi-san was obeying that voice.

     It was like reality had flipped upside-down.

     「Now, lick me as an apology, will you? A dog should be capable of that, yes?」

     I put my hand over her mouth.

     She gazed up at me and slowly began to lick my fingers.

     Her tongue moved as if it was licking at a candy. Something moist wrapped around my fingers, wetting the gaps in between them. I had never really given much thought to the sensation of saliva, but right now, I felt it so intensely that it hurt.

     I felt a shiver. Not just down my back, but through my whole body — through my heart.

     She made noises as she licked and sucked on my fingers. Occasionally, she would gently bite them, her breathing growing heavier and heavier.

     「Have you reflected on your actions?」

     「Woof, woof.」

     「I see. …Then that’s enough. If you do something strange again, I’m going to punish you just like this.」

     She smiled sweetly.

     It was a mysterious expression, one that seemed both innocent and impure.

     「…Ahaha. You’re my master after all, Kurumi.」

     Saying that, she stood up.

     「Wait here. I’ll bring over some snacks.」

     I took a deep breath. My heart was still pounding.

     My gaze fell to the right hand that she had just been licking. It was wet with her saliva, a feeling that was dreadfully out of the ordinary.

     There’s no way that licking another person should be enjoyable. But from start to finish, she seemed to enjoy it all.

     I was about to bring my right hand up to my mouth — and then I stopped. If I did something like that, it felt like I wouldn’t be able to turn back. But why was I even trying to do that with this hand, which was covered in saliva? I shoved the question down into my heart and placed my hand over my chest.

     It’s okay. Things were still okay.

     I was just a normal person, and I was just going along with the weird things that Sorahashi-san was saying.

     Maybe it felt good to see her in a collar obeying my orders. Maybe it excited me. No, that shouldn’t have been the case.

     It shouldn’t have.

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