"Wh-what? 'Puppy' means... you want me to literally become your dog?"
"Yes! You'll become my dog in the truest sense♡"
A gentle smile played on her lips, but the demand she made was brutally outrageous—impossible to imagine from that face.
The look in her modest eyes somehow resembled Rui's.
(You too... you're one of those people—the S side...)
"If Ryouta-senpai becomes my puppy, then Rui-senpai's scandalous photos get deleted, and everything's resolved, right?"
Completely ignoring the guy who's supposed to become a dog—what do you mean "resolved"?
I had no clue what treatment awaited me, and being ordered to turn into a dog anyway? That was straight-up humiliating under normal circumstances.
But even in a mess like this, if I reframed my thinking, there had to be upsides.
For instance, as a dog, pretty much anything would be fair game "in a sense." That meant I could lick her hands or feet like a good boy... right?
Himesaki's... hands... or feet... gulp.
"What's wrong, Ryouta-senpaiii? Too humiliated by the demand to speak?"
Whether becoming her dog lets me lick her or not.
And which parts exactly would be okay to lick.
I couldn't turn down becoming her dog—not if it protected Rui. So in that case, a little reward like that would be perfectly reasonable, wouldn't it?
"Hey, how long are you gonna stew over it? Decide already, or that photo with Rui-senpai—"
"Ah—enough! Fine! Fine, so just let me lick you already, damn it!"
"Eh, l-lick⁉︎ Gross!"
Sh-shit. Overthought it again and blurted out something dosukebe like always!
Now it sounds like I'm only becoming a dog to slobber all over Himesaki! (My fondest dream!)
"I-I didn't ask for anything inhumane like 'lick me'! A puppy just means you'll come running when I call, obedient as a dog, and keep me company."
"...Sigh, what a buzzkill. If I'm turning into a dog anyway, I figured it'd be confinement play or supervised peeing in front of you or something."
"C-confine...? P-peeing...? Um, hold on. What exactly have you been rambling about, Ryouta-senpai?"
"Sh-shit...! Damn it! Blame yourself—you're pulling this villainous act but only dishing out these tame R14-level kid stuff! 'Keep me company'? Come on, demand something dangerous (lewd)! You're messing with my head!"
"Eh, ehhh..."
I was geared up for something hardcore if I had to do it... What the hell's wrong with this underclassman? Total disappointment.
"I have no idea what you've been going on about, Ryouta-senpai... but anyway! You'll become my puppy, right?"
"N-no choice... huh. At this point, to kill any weird rumors, I guess it's unavoidable."
Her puppy—a super cute underclassman beauty's...
Th-this was all for Rui's sake, and with her holding leverage over me, I had no option but to swallow the terms.
Not like I wanted her petting my head dog-style or taking me on walkies or anything! Absolutely not!
"Oh my. Ryouta-senpai, accepting it so readily... You're an interesting one."
"What? Still more?"
"No, no—more importantly—"
Himesaki extended the photo toward me, then held out her smartphone too.
"I'm giving this photo to you, Ryouta-senpai. And for proof, go ahead and check the pics on my phone."
"Wh-what? Letting me peek at your phone photos for real? If—if there's a Lewd Selfie you snapped in a moment of weakness, I'm just gonna look, okay!"
"E-Ero⁉︎ Selfie⁉︎ What's that!? Naughty pics? I don't have anything like that!"
Himesaki flushed beet red, denying it at top volume, spit flying my way.
Lick... yep, tastes like a lie...
But at her age, no clue about Lewd Selfies...? She blanked on confinement and peeing too... Failure of the education system, huh.
"Whatever—just hurry up and check."
"R-right."
Peeking into a girl's gallery felt kinda sleazy... but for Rui, I'd verify the contents.
I opened her photo app and scrolled through.
(Lemme see... oh, huh.)
All food shots from spots like Snoto.
The rest? Selfies with tourist backdrops or mirror fashion snaps of her outfits. Shockingly, zero pics with anyone else.
Huh? Himesaki's as popular as Rui among first-years, right?
Yet no friend photos...
"...Thanks, Himesaki."
A nagging unease lingered, but I handed back the phone once done.
"She might have backups on her home PC, but at least it's clear the phone's clean."
"Rude much, senpai?"
"Don't wanna hear it from a snoop! Anyway, whatever your deal is, you're happy as long as I play dog, right?"
"Yes!"
That sleazy smile after her sleazy demand.
No slouch compared to Rui—she's pure S-side.
Gotta steel myself for real. No joking.
"Alright then, Ryouta-senpai. You're my puppy from now on, so obey my orders properly, okay♡"
And just like that, my days of getting tossed around by my underclassman began.