「…Hehe. You care so deeply for her. I’m a little jealous.」
Her sweet voice rang out in my head.
「Sorahashi-san.」
「Call me Sera. Otherwise, you’ll end up calling me by Mizuki-chan’s name on accident.」
「…Sera.」
As I said her name, I instinctively assumed the role of her master. But because she didn’t have a collar around her neck, I suddenly wasn’t quite sure of how to treat her. Should I act as her master? Or just be normal? Hesitantly wavering between the two, I began to speak.
「You’re still awake.」
「Mm. I had a hard time sleeping. Would you like something warm to drink?」
「No, that’s okay. …I’m going back to my room.」
Although it may have been true that I couldn’t talk to Mizuki about much of anything, it wasn’t like I couldn’t share a room with her.
As I started to head off, Sorahashi-san firmly gripped my hand, stopping me in place.
「I did my best to prevent Mizuki-chan from finding us out earlier, didn’t I?」
「…Yeah, you did.」
「And since I put in so much effort, I ought to be rewarded.」
「A reward…」
「Say, Kurumi. I’ve been a good puppy, so won’t you give me the reward I deserve?」
Sorahashi spoke as she placed something in my hand.
Without a doubt, it was a collar and a leash. It wasn’t her collar, though. This one was dyed in a vibrant white that was visible even through the darkness — the collar that she had given me as a present.
That collar, which I always kept in my bag, had a leash attached to it.
I blinked.
She had treated me like a puppy just a while ago, but now, it seemed like she couldn’t think of anything other than becoming one herself. She was so shameless, and so adorable. Whether it was my family, my home, or myself, I stopped caring about it all when she was with me. As long as we could indulge in pleasure together, I didn’t need anything else.
Disgusting.
I was disgusting.
「…Aha.」
Before I knew it, I was setting that white collar around her neck. It suited her so well that it could have easily passed as a fashion statement.
「Sera.」
Now, I was able to properly call out her name as her master. My voice, free of any hesitation, resounded through the hallway so loudly that it surprised even me.
「Master. Puppies don’t need clothes, do they?」
She said seductively.
I smiled.
「My puppy wants to go off and say whatever she likes, does she now? I’m starting to think you don’t know your place.」
「…Woof.」
「Pervert. If you want your clothes off that badly, I’ll strip you myself.」
I reached for her pajamas, undoing the first button, then the second, then the third… and then, I noticed something was off.
As I took off her pants in disbelief, she flashed a sweet smile at me.
「…Your underwear. It’s…」
「I’m not wearing any. See?」
「Since when?」
「Ever since I left the bath.」
Simply by having her pajamas removed, she had been left completely naked.
What an absurd sight.
After bathing, the three of us had shared some more tea and continued chatting. It hadn’t looked like anything was out of the ordinary at the time, but it turned out that she had gone without underwear in order to surprise me later. The thought of that made my heart race.
How much deeper would we fall?
Oh, how disgusting we were. How despicable. How unsightly. How insane.
All sorts of words drifted in and out of my head. And in the end, the only words that remained were the ones telling me how much I wanted to discipline her. With my own two hands, I wanted to punish this good-for-nothing puppy that kept acting against my will and doing whatever she wanted. In this moment, that was my one and only wish.
「You really are such a pervert. Why do you keep behaving like this, I wonder?」
「Woof, woof.」
「So you’ll be a good puppy when it’s convenient for you. …What is it that you’re hoping for?」
At some point, she had gotten on all fours as a dog would. I gently pet her on the back. She reacted in an amusing fashion, turning her gaze up at me. Her beautiful eyes were clouded with desire. I knew I couldn’t let ourselves be seen like this by anybody, but a dangerous curiosity arose in me as to what would happen if we were.
「I’ll give you a reward, just like you wanted. Now, what do you say?」
「Woof.」
Her cries of happiness were adorable. My stomach, my chest, my heart — it all ached at her cute, shameless appearance. Just like that, I began to walk her around the house. Even though she was out naked at this cold of a temperature, she seemed to be enjoying herself so much that it didn’t matter.
As we continued to walk, we reached the front door. Sorahashi-san was a step behind, observing me closely.
Beyond this one door was the outside world. And then, suddenly, I thought of home.
There, I always felt like I was being blocked off by a transparent wall. On the other side of that pane of glass was my family. I couldn’t reach out to them even if I tried, and my voice remained unheard. I had always felt like I was trapped in a glass cage. But in reality, it might have been the case that I had chosen to enter that cage myself.
If so, then when did I begin to build that cage and shut myself away? The sights on the other side of that pane of glass were forever refracted, the voices forever distorted. I could no longer tell what the truth was. If I truly wanted to know what laid in reality, would I be able to remove that wall?
I didn’t know.
And remaining clueless, I suddenly found myself reaching for the front door.
First, the upper lock. Then, the lower one. And finally, I unlatched the door guard.
I held the doorknob in my hand, but I lacked the courage to turn it open. Maybe I wasn’t that broken. Or maybe, I was just afraid.
…No.
That door and my heart were not one and the same. I was probably just feeling off because of how late it was. Sighing, I tried to let go of the doorknob.
But at that moment, a soft hand wrapped around mine. Before I knew it, a wind blew threw the hallway.
The moonlight was unusually bright and strangely blue.
「Master. …This is fun, isn’t it?」
Sorahashi-san spoke.
Her voice was vividly clear, finding its way straight to my ears and touching my heart.
No matter the time of day, she always seemed like she was enjoying herself.
Her golden hair swayed in the evening breeze. Her knees had reddened from the walk down the hallway and looked a little sore, but she couldn’t have cared less, laughing merrily in spite of this ridiculous situation.
For some reason, even I began to laugh.
Even though I truly thought this all to be absurd.
If we continued to do these things, someone else would find out someday and it’d turn into a huge problem — but I couldn’t help but think that just maybe, that was okay.
Sorahashi-san was always taking me to a world that I’d never known. It was fun, painful, confusing, and disgusting — but it was also warm and pleasant. That was the sort of world that she showed me.
I was certain that there was nothing that could scare her.
I wished I could be like that, but ultimately, I was only me.
「…Sorahashi-san. Aren’t you afraid?」
「It’s fine. Very few people come around here. Would you like to try stripping too, Master?」
That startled me.
Even if the area was empty, it was still a bad idea. I quietly shut the door and locked it again. Thinking about it, more than it just being bad if there were people around to find out, it would probably be a serious crime.
We hadn’t been caught on camera or anything like that, right?
That worried me a little, but Sorahashi-san seemed to be thoroughly unconcerned.
「You’re closing it already.」
「If we kept going, we would’ve been caught.」
「Ahaha, you’re right. That would certainly be no good.」
「Yep. …You’re such a pervert.」
「But you were the one that tried opening the door first, Master.」
「Well, you’re right, but…」
「Master, it’s always during the strangest of times that you start acting sensibly.」
「It’s because I have morals.」
「Do you really? Even though you’re doing these sorts of things?」
She giggled, playfully whacking me with the leash as if it were a whip. She was right. Someone who treated her classmate like a dog, stripped her clothes off, and took her out for walks couldn’t possibly have the right to say anything about morals.
「Wait, aren’t you cold?」
「I am, but that’s okay. I’m having fun!」
「No, that’s not okay. Wait a moment. I’ll bring you your pajamas.」
「Hehe, if you say so.」
I had seriously been acting crazy up until just now. Lately, things had been getting out of control, to the point that I felt like they had become a problem. I picked up Sorahashi-san’s pajamas and handed them to her.
Naturally, she had no intentions of doing anything more, so she went back to her room. Suddenly feeling exhausted, I leaned myself against the wall in the hallway.
And then, suddenly…
A scent like lemon tea tickled my nose. I couldn’t tell if it was coming from me or Mizuki. Thinking that there was no way it could have been her, I returned to our room to find her peacefully snoring away.
「Mizuki. …I’m sorry.」
I patted her head, unsure of why I was apologizing. Then, I crawled into the futon on the floor and soon began to drift off. Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.
Ave Lilium Translations 