When I reached the rooftop, Himesaki was standing alone in the center, just as she had been the day before.
I wondered what kind of command she was about to give me.
"Honestly, Ryouta-senpai? Don’t they say in Japan that you’ll be cursed for keeping a lady waiting?"
"Forget keeping you waiting; I’m only here because you called for me."
When I retorted, Himesaki’s expression shifted from a smile to a moist, serious gaze as she reached out toward my chin.
"Nuooh! Wh-what are you—"
Using her long fingers, she began to scritch the underside of my chin, exactly like someone taming a cat.
"Ohoh! S-stop it!"
"Just so you know, I like clever little dogs. If you’re as great as the Ryouta-senpai that even Rui Kuroki acknowledges, then you should have been able to predict I’d be here and act accordingly, right? ♡"
"I’m not a psychic. Don’t ask for the impossible..."
I let out a sigh, even as the tickling under my chin started to feel weirdly good.
"So, the fact that you called me out here means you have some kind of order, right? Should I just get down on all fours and become a chair? Or is it time for a morning licking session?"
"I told you, I won’t give orders like that! What on earth do you think I am?!"
"A junior who looks cute but is actually pretty annoying, who blackmails me mercilessly with a candid photo but somehow never gives any perverted orders."
"C-cute...!"
"Don’t just cherry-pick that one word! You’re trying to ignore the fact that you’re a total voyeur!"
"My, you’re a doggy who really holds a grudge over every little detail, aren't you? Why can't you just let the past be the past?"
Himesaki let out a grumble with a dubious look on her face.
I was only a "dog" because of that photo, so it wasn't exactly like the matter was settled.
"Anyway, back to my command... during today’s lunch break, let’s have lunch together, just the two of us. The rooftop is always so boring, so let’s go to the courtyard instead."
"Lunch? That’s the command?"
"Yes. Is there a problem?"
"No, but if you wanted to order me about lunch, couldn't you have just summoned me on LIME during the break? Why go to the trouble of calling me out here in the morning just to tell me that?"
"Th-that’s... well, if I called you during the actual break and Ryouta-senpai had already made plans with someone else, I’d feel bad, wouldn’t I? So I thought I should give the order in the morning. But I figured you might refuse if I just sent a message, so I wanted to tell you in person like this."
"I... I see. Is that so?"
Himesaki explained her reasoning at length.
For something she called a "command," she was being surprisingly considerate. At this point, her orders felt more like promises between friends than actual servitude. Did she actually have any intention of treating me like a dog?
"Well, I don't really get it, but the order is just to eat lunch together? If that's the case, I don't mind... but should I go fetch your food from the cafeteria or something?"
"I told you, what on earth do you think I am?! Quite the opposite—I’m preparing lunch for my doggy, so you don’t need to bring a thing, okay, Ryouta-senpai?"
"Really? Then I'll head to the courtyard at lunch."
"Yes, I'll be waiting."
Wait... this was some incredibly high-class treatment.
While feeling a sense of unease that the orders weren't nearly as harsh as I had imagined, I left the rooftop behind.