It didn’t look like anyone had come home yet. There weren’t any shoes at the entrance, and it was completely silent. I took off my shoes and neatly set them down, and Sorahashi-san came up and lined up her pair next to mine.

     As I turned around to face her, our eyes met. A thought suddenly occurred to me, and I smiled at her.

     「Welcome home, Sera.」

     Hearing that, her eyes widened. And then, she returned my smile.

     「I’m back, Kurumi.」

     It was strange for me to be the one saying that to her. But even though this wasn’t even her house, I felt as though we had truly become family. As my heart fluttered a little, I led her to my room.

     Come to think of it, this was the first time I’d let her into my room.

     She curiously looked around.

     「It’s beautiful.」

     「I guess. …You can sit over there.」

     「Okay.」

     Sorahashi-san grabbed two cushions that were lined up on the floor and, for some reason, began sniffing them.

     「What…!」

     「This is probably the one you usually sit on.」

     Saying that, she put the cushions down on the floor and sat on one. Certainly, the one she pointed out was the one I used more often. …Did it really smell? Even though I regularly washed the cover?

     The reason why I had two is because Mizuki would come in quite often up until a year ago.

     The pink one was mine, and the yellow one was hers. I hadn’t specifically decided on that, but that’s just how it turned out. As a result, I rarely used the yellow one.

     And because of that, the yellow cushion looked a bit less worn out.

     I gently sat down on Mizuki’s cushion.

     「Would you like something warm to drink?」

     「No, I’ll be fine for today.」

     「Alright, then I’m turning on the heater.」

     「I’ll be fine without that as well. …It’s about to get hot in here.」

     She undid my scarf with a bright smile on her face. Then, she met me with an intense gaze. Encouraged by those eyes, I gently undid hers as well. Around her pale neck was a black collar.

     We were both wearing collars as we looked into each other’s eyes.

     I found myself wondering what on earth we were doing. The chilly air in the room pierced my skin and drew out a shiver. What had she meant by that? While I was lost in thought, she took a leash out of her bag.

     It wasn’t the leash she usually had. It had no handle — rather, there were metal clips on both ends. She attached one of those ends to my collar. There was a soft click of metal, and then I felt a slight tug at my neck.

     Then, she put the leash in my hands.

     I knew exactly what she wanted. But why? In the first place, she had made me her owner because she wanted to be a pampered, scolded dog. But lately, she herself had started being the owner, and I started to feel like I didn’t understand what was happening.

     And now, here we were. She was telling me to become a dog too.

     Her expectant gaze hurt. Just having a pet and owner relationship was already a quite perverted — or rather, obscene — relationship. I felt like if we were both to become dogs, it would truly all be over.

     「Didn’t you want me to discipline you, Sorahashi-san?」

     「Yes. That’s true, but… I think you want to do more than just that. Besides, no matter what we do, as long as we do it together, I’m sure it’ll be fun and feel wonderful. Am I wrong?」

     Her slender fingers traced over mine.

     I didn’t know. Just how far were we going to fall? Sorahashi-san came up with all sorts of strange things that I couldn’t even begin to imagine. And they were things that should have been difficult for me to take in, but…

     My heart, remade by her, easily accepted her suggestion.

     It was as if I had forgotten how to refuse.

     I took the end of the leash and brought it up to her collar. With a click, my collar had connected with hers. She playfully tugged at it, pulling my body towards hers. Seeing this, she giggled.

     「Did you know? Apparently, dogs greet each other by sniffing each other’s rears.」

     「Oh, huh. Hey, Sorahashi-san?」

     「No, that’s not my name. The two of us are just puppies now, aren’t we? …Woof woof.」

     She said happily, pushing me down. Then, she spun over and brought her body close to my butt. In turn, her legs moved next to my face. The leash twisted, making it a little uncomfortable.

     Sorahashi-san was a pervert.

     Doing something like this was insane. But even as I thought that, I suddenly found my hands on her waist. The skirt of her uniform swayed, and I could smell her scent. It was what laid beneath her artificial, refreshing notes — her natural scent.

     「Woof.」

     She couldn’t be stopped. Lifting my skirt, she stuck her nose against my thigh. Following her example, I did the same. Her scent grew stronger.

     「…Woof, woof.」

     I had no need to act like a dog, but I found myself drawn to it by her. I didn’t know what she thought of my meaningless barks, but she started licking my leg.

     My body jumped in surprise.

     Every time her small tongue slid over my skin, I felt more and more restless. It was chilling, disgusting, and pleasurable all the same. I wanted her to feel like this too, so I started licking her legs as well.

     It tasted salty.

     I noticed a slight reaction from her legs. As I ran my tongue over them, her legs began to tremble even more, and she let out an especially loud bark.

     「Woof…!」

     It sounded like she was melting with pleasure.

     「…Woof.」

     What sort of emotions did real dogs communicate to each other through their barks? Ever since we humans had acquired language as a form of communication, our senses had dulled to nonverbal gestures and were no longer able to understand much from them.

     But one thing was certain — both she and I were incredibly aroused.

     Before we knew it, we had forgotten to even make any noise as we continued to indulge in each other’s bodies. We licked, sniffed, and occasionally bit each other — behavior that went on way too long and was much too perverse to be any sort of canine communication. And yet, our tongues moved together without any shame.

     This was far more embarrassing than warming each other up naked.

     After we finished licking each other’s legs, we slowly returned to our original positions and once again locked gazes. As the twisted leash also returned to its original position, my once-labored breathing became relaxed. I felt the fog of pleasure that had been clouding my head begin to clear.

     Her eyes — which might be blue, green, or perhaps even some other color — carried my reflection.

     They resembled the sea. I could faintly see myself floating in them, as if I were drowning.

     Her face came close to mine, and our noses touched.

     As if continuing a greeting, she pressed her nose against me, changing angles several times. It was beautiful, with a straight, well-shaped bridge. Feeling her breath on me, I couldn’t help but stop breathing myself. She licked at my lips with her tongue, as if encouraging me to inhale.

     It was hot. So, so hot. Even though it was supposed to be cold, I felt like I was melting.

     Feeling her breath on me, I became afraid to feel my own. Surely it was hot — just as hot as hers, if not more. But I couldn’t hold it in forever.

     Unable to even breathe through my nose, I started panting through my mouth like a dog. As I did so, she took my lips as if she was consuming my breath.

     It felt so soft.

     But because I felt so tingly, I didn’t really have time to take in her touch. My entire body, now hypersensitive, reacted to everything she did to me, blending all five of my senses.

     It felt hot, sweet, and smooth, tickling my ears and brightly shining.

     The boundaries between those five senses began to blur, and all I could feel was Sorahashi-san herself. Was it her lips that were sweet, or her breath, or her scent? I couldn’t understand any of it at all.

     We melted and blended together, making me no longer myself. It wasn’t just my senses — even my very existence was mixing with hers. When I put my hands on her waist, for some reason, my body jumped. It was as if everything I had been given was jumping back over to her.

     She filled the void within my spinning head.

     Saliva — whose, I didn’t know — stained my skirt. For a moment, I wondered why I was here.

     「Se, Sera.」

     「Woof. Woof woof. Woof.」

     Were we two humans, two beasts, or one singular mass?

     I didn’t know — and yet, I did. Somewhere deep down, we were connected.

     The sound of something dripping echoed along with the lengthy noise of running water. By the time her face moved apart from me, she had stolen all my senses.

     「…Aha. Kurumi, you’re melting apart. Such a naughty expression.」

     I didn’t even feel like objecting. It was probably true, after all.

     Perhaps I was surprisingly full of emotions. I hadn’t realized it, but maybe I’d shown all sorts of expressions to others. If so, what kind of person did those around me think I was?

     「This has nothing to do with dogs anymore.」

     I said, catching my breath.

     Sorahashi-san laughed.

     「There’s no need to worry over the details. It felt good for you too, didn’t it?」

     「That’s… not wrong, but… you pervert. Where did you learn to do these sorts of things?」

     「Perhaps I’ve known ever since I was born.」

      「There’s no way that’s true.」

     My voice was remarkably sharp. Even I was surprised that I could make such a voice. But Sorahashi-san, seemingly unperturbed, simply chuckled.

     「Who knows? Humans are strange creatures.」

     「It’s not humans that are strange. It’s you, Sorahashi-san.」

     「Me? But I think you’re even stranger…」

     「In terms of what?」

     「Everything.」

     With that, she stood up. Then, she picked up the phone that was on my desk and began to do something with it.

     Had she changed phones? Or rather, since when had this phone been on my desk?

     On a closer look, I realized I recognized it from somewhere. I thought a little deeper and then knew in an instant. A light blue, wallet-style case. It was the one I had given to Mizuki last year. I remembered picking it out because I thought that having an IC card^[1] case would be convenient.

     But why was her phone in my room?

     「Mizuki-chan and Futami-san really are quite obsessed.」

     「…What do you mean?」

     「I’m talking about how everyone loves you so much.」

     Love.

     That word made my heart ache a little. Certainly, up until last year, Mizuki would often tell me she loved me, hugging me with a big smile on her face — completely different from how she looked at me now.

     When our parents had just started to come back at more reasonable hours, she still let me dote on her. But I think about a month in, she suddenly changed.

     Even though I knew this was something necessary for her growth, Mizuki was everything to me, so it made me sad. …As long as I had Mizuki by my side, I didn’t need anything else. Not our parents, not the world, nothing at all.

     I had only realized this recently. Thanks to Sorahashi-san digging up my desires, I had come to realize what I truly wanted. No, rather than realizing, I had just remembered. For a very long time, I had been a greedy human.

     Even as I longed for Mizuki, I also sought out a place to be selfish. Rather than words of kindness, I sometimes found myself wanting to yell all sorts of selfish things at people.

     I wasn’t a good big sister at all.

     「Hehe. But you know, Kurumi? You belong to me. And nobody else.」

     「…Sorahashi-san.」

     She tugged hard on the leash. Naturally, my body was brought closer to her, and her confident gaze came into full view.

     I took a deep breath.

     I had nowhere else to return to. No, perhaps the one and only place I could go back to was by Sorahashi-san’s side.

     「…Aha. You look so happy. Just like a puppy.」

     「…Woof.」

     As I took her hand, she smiled and stroked my head. I felt like I really had turned into a dog. But why did having my head pet like this make me so happy? I had gone crazy.

     After staying like this for a while, she handed me Mizuki’s phone.

     「It seems like Mizuki-chan left her phone in your room. You should give it back.」

     「Yeah.」

     Why was it in my room? She hadn’t been coming into my room as of late, and our parents never came in without our permission. Maybe she had come in after I left and accidentally left it here.

     Who knows?

     But it’d be a bit of a hassle for her to be without her phone, so it was probably better to just go leave it in her room.

     「I’m just going to go put it in her room.」

     「Of course.」

     She smiled, taking the collar off my neck. Feeling a little lonely, I headed towards Mizuki’s room.

     When I opened the door, the room was warm. I supposed she had forgotten to turn off the heating before leaving. Thinking that it was pretty unusual for her to forget to do something like that, I set the phone on the table next to her bed. In that instant, I felt something touch my wrist.

     I let out a gasp.

     The marathon had finished earlier in the day, so it wasn’t even nighttime. There was no way that a middle school’s extracurriculars could have finished yet.

     Mizuki, who shouldn’t have been here, crawled out of bed. She was wearing the same clothes as when I had left the house. Maybe she hadn’t gone to school today.

     「Mizuki…?」

     「Hey, Onee-chan.」

     It had been a long time since she’d called me that. Well, she’d said it exactly once the other day, and then went back to “Kurumi” without any honorifics.

     The nostalgia I felt surrounding that word just made me sad. It had once been just another piece of my routine, everyday life.

     「I don’t feel well today. …So could you not let anyone into the house?」

     Mizuki said expressionlessly.

For some reason, I sensed something unusual in her gaze.

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^[1] A type of card that one can load with money to pay for public transport, as well as for general use as a prepaid card. Very common in Japan, both in physical and digital forms.

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