I had, without a doubt, gotten her addicted to me. But those feelings of wanting to destroy her unchanging daily routine, those feelings of wanting to discipline me — they were undoubtedly all there in her, deep down inside. If they weren’t, then she wouldn’t have looked like she was enjoying herself this much.
For her, someone who helped herself by helping others, what she truly desired was to selfishly indulge in sweet pleasures — to drown herself in it without consideration for anyone else. It felt so good, after all.
However, it wasn’t like anybody only ever wished for one single thing. Just because I uncovered one of her wishes didn’t mean I knew everything about her.
「Sera.」
She spoke so sweetly, as if entranced. It was a voice completely different from the one she used when calling out to Mutsuki, Yume, or anyone else — one dripping with pleasure. It was a voice that only I had the privilege of hearing, and I loved it.
「Are you enjoying the walk?」
「…Woof.」
She was pulling me by the leash inside my house. Today, we were going for a walk inside. I had asked her to come over as soon as school had ended.
My uniform was already off, and I was walking around the house like a dog in just my underwear. I couldn’t help but feel my chest tighten. I was shaking — not because it was cold — and my head felt all fuzzy.
Being someone else’s dog was so fun. I received as much gentle scolding as I wanted and was being pampered to my heart’s content. It felt so much better than I had imagined, and I never got bored of it no matter how much I did it. I was glad that I had asked Kurumi for this.
I’m sure she felt the same, because…
「Aha, so cute. Then let’s walk some more.」
It looked like it felt good for her too.
There was no trace left of the gentle expression I usually saw her wearing at school. It had been completely painted over with pleasure. Just seeing that made me lightheaded. It was a reminder that she was a beast just like me. I was sure that others would look down on what we were doing with scorn, but that’s exactly why this felt so good.
That being said, I had no intention of letting anyone else see Kurumi making these sorts of expressions.
The only one allowed to see it should be me. The only one allowed to know about it should be me.
I did put on an act in public to rile up her sadistic tendencies, but I was sure she knew that’s all it was.
As we continued to walk around the house, I suddenly started to shiver.
No matter how high I had the heating turned up, it seemed my body was getting cold.
「Um, Kurumi…」
Perhaps picking up on my intentions, she smiled.
It was one that radiated sadism.
「Do you need to use the toilet? Sure, let’s go.」
Taking me by the leash, she led me to the bathroom. She swung the door open and kept it that way.
「Go ahead. I’ll be watching.」
「…Huh?」
This was, of course, something that dogs would do in front of their owners. But I didn’t think I would go that far. Soon, however, even thoughts such as those became irrelevant. I was sure that if I did as she said, I’d receive lots of praise. I was used to that sort of thing, but what made me happy was when I got it from her.
Maybe I was starting to become a puppy in heart as well.
「Well? Aren’t you going to?」
She ran her long, slender fingers up my spine.
My body jumped in surprise.
「…I will.」
「Ahaha, you’re actually doing it? You really are a puppy, Sera.」
I sat down like usual. But this wasn’t usual at all.
My face was hot — not just from embarrassment, but also from anticipation. I stared at her as I reached for my underwear.
This was insane. And it was because it was insane that it felt so good.
Before I knew it, I was smiling.
「Say, Kurumi. Did something bad happen to you recently?」
I asked her this after I had gotten dressed.
Maybe it was because I had been getting pulled along by leash for a while, but my neck felt a little strange. The collar had left behind marks.
「Not really. Why do you ask?」
Her voice was flat. I wondered where the emotion it carried before had all gone.
Times like these were when she was the easiest to read.
「So you can stare at other people while they’re peeing, but you’ll hide the things that you’re embarrassed about yourself.」
「It’s just hard to say.」
「But I’m right, aren’t I?」
「…Well, maybe, I guess.」
Kurumi let out a small sigh.
I wasn’t particularly into breasts. I thought it was just instinctual to watch someone’s chest as it moved in rhythm with their breathing. That movement, which was a proof of life of sorts, somehow had a sort of appeal to it, or something like that.
I was such a pervert that I couldn’t say anything about Kurumi.
Rather, I was probably even worse than her.
「It’s about my family.」
「Your family?」
「…There’s some things that aren’t going well. My parents had been so busy with their jobs up until recently that it had always been just me and Mizuki at home. I felt so lonely, and really wanted them to have some free time for us.」
It was the first time she had said anything about this to me.
Maybe that showed just how much she trusted me. If so, then I was glad.
「Last year, the both of them got different jobs and started being able to come home earlier. That changed a lot of things around the house.」
I barely had any complaints about my life at home. My parents both always made time for me, doted on me, and bought me anything I wanted.
Well, I thought they were a bit excessive with that last thing. If they were unlucky, I might have grown up to be even more selfish and arrogant than I was now.
「Sometimes, I wonder if I’m no longer needed. …If that’s really the case, then I wish I could have stayed alone with Mizuki forever.」
Maybe the reason why she so excessively sought to help others was because she was desperate for a role, desperate to feel like she had a place to belong. If that were the case, then I thought it was a little sad.
「I’m the worst, aren’t I? It’s for the best for the whole family to be together. Maybe this is why Mizuki told me I’ve changed.」
「Is that really so bad? Everyone has something they dislike about their family.」
「Even you, Sorahashi-san?」
「Yes, even me. Sometimes I feel like they might be a little too overbearing with their affection. I’m grateful that they’re allowing me to live alone like this, though.」
It was impossible to spend a significant amount of time with anyone without harboring absolutely zero negative feelings towards them. Even if they were family, they were still their own separate people, so there were inevitably going to be some things we didn’t see eye to eye on. That being said, I was someone who relied on my family quite a lot, so I wasn’t really in a position to say that.
Both my parents would casually tell me things like how I didn’t need to work if I didn’t want to participate in society.
I wished that they wouldn’t say such corrupting words to their own child, but… I supposed it was nice to hear.
「…I see.」
「Mm. I don’t dislike it when you get serious like that. Nor do I dislike it when you’re not.」
I grinned.
Seeming a little embarrassed, she tried to look at me. There were some emotions I could only see from her when she was acting as my owner, and there were some I could only see when I spoke normally to her like this.
So what sort of emotions could I see if I did this?
Suddenly getting an idea, I gently pushed her down.
「Sorahashi-san? We’re already done with…」
「We are. With the walk, that is. So consider this just the two of us playing around.」
「Huh, wai…」
「Nope, not waiting!」
She was very aggressive whenever she was playing the part of my owner, but I thought it was cute how at times like this, she could be quite pliant.
I giggled and placed a kiss on her neck.
I noticed an unfamiliar scent coming from where her scarf had been. It was a refreshing scent, similar to lemon tea. Kurumi liked more planty smells like forests and flower fields, but that shouldn’t have included fruity aromas. Since this scent didn’t fit her tastes, someone else must have put it there.
It might have been Futami-san.
Or unexpectedly, covertly spraying perfume on her might have been Nakamura-san’s way of sharing things with her. She was a little difficult to understand, after all.
Even so, I was the only one who was able to bring my lips to her neck like this. As I licked it, I began to touch her chest. I felt a faint hardness, and beneath that, a more definite softness. As if to signal that this wasn’t just friendly skinship, I slowly ran my fingers under her sweater.
Unbuttoning her blouse, I inserted my hand through the gap.
I felt the warmth of life, something different from the warmth produced from the house’s heating. And it also felt different, carried a different warmth than from when she had her clothes off.
「…I wouldn’t call this just “playing around.”」
「If that’s what you think, then touch me too, Kurumi. If it’s one-sided, then it’s no different than playing with a dog.」
「That’s not where I was headed.」
「Then from here on, it is.」
「I don’t think that’s how this works.」
「Don’t worry about the little things.」
She was usually carried along by the mood quite easily, but this was what happened as soon we took the roles of pet and owner out of the equation. That was fine with me, though.
I felt her underwear.
As I slipped my hand under, she let out a soft sigh.
「You’re not resisting?」
「…It doesn’t look like you’d let me.」
「Ahaha, you’re right.」
I wanted to know more. I wanted to feel more. More, even more.
The reason why my emotions were so out of control was because of Kurumi herself. I’d been thinking for a long time about what the true nature of these feelings was. Maybe the answer was quite simple. Maybe it wasn’t all too difficult to give them a name.
For now, though, I’d leave them as they were.
「Let’s feel even better, Kurumi.」
Kurumi remained wordless. She didn’t even nod.
But she showed no resistance, and that meant everything.
Ave Lilium Translations 