As Kisaragi Tomoe if to spite herself, like a woman who has been driven to despair, Ito Yoshita descended from the bus at several stops.
The cacophony of the crowd made her feel frustrated, as if her head was about to explode.
Just as she had arrived, she didn't even have time to catch her breath before she hastily rushed off to the supermarket to snag some bargains on food.
Carrying the spoils of war she had wrested from the elderly woman, Ito Yoshita trudged back to her rental apartment, feeling exhausted.
As approached the small park near apartment, couldn't help but collapse onto a chair for a brief rest.
---
The night sky was dark, and the lights had just begun to flicker to life in the distance.
In the park, the old streetlamp cast only a faint glow, while the dark foliage seemed to loom menacingly in the wind.
The rustling of dry leaves underfoot made an eerie sound, like the whispered words of an ancient incantation.
"I...master...my...master..." The words hung in the air like a whispered promise, as if the wind itself was summoning her to some unknown fate.
As Ito Yoshita pondered what to do next, she noticed a figure lurking in the shadows.
His face was obscured, but his presence seemed to draw her in, like a moth to a flame.
—————
The night was dark, but the moon was beginning to show its face above the clouds.
The silvery light struggled to penetrate the veil of night, casting only a pale glow over the landscape.
In the shadows, the forest seemed to come alive, as if it were breathing.
The trees creaked and groaned, their branches swaying ominously in the wind.
A figure emerged from the darkness, clad in a leather coat that accentuated its slender physique.
In the hand, gripped a supple whip, the tip glinting menacingly in the moonlight.
At the side, a delicate chain dangled, attached to some unknown entity that only the darkness could conceal.
Fujiwara Kyouko had been over the moon in recent days, for she had discovered a loyal companion, a boy who was tailor-made to her whims.
During her summer vacation after entering high school, Kyouko had embarked on a disastrous romance with a man she had just met.
He was her personal trainer, and he had taken her innocence without hesitation.
His brutal treatment of her had left her shaken, and she had promptly ended their relationship.
However, the emotional scars had yet to heal.
As a result, Kyouko had begun to notice that her taste in men was evolving, and she found herself drawn to boys with slender physiques and a delicate appearance.
Over the next three years, she went on to date over a dozen boys, all of whom were thin and handsome, but none of them were truly devoted to her.
This had left her feeling unfulfilled, like a queen without her subjects.
It wasn't until she became a social outcast, a young woman adrift in a cruel world, that Kyouko's prayer was finally answered.
Just a few days ago, she had encountered the boy she had been searching for, a boy who was everything she had ever desired.
As if fate had ordained it, Kyouko's eyes had locked onto Yamano Yuta at the moment he stepped off the bus.
She had turned to her cousin and whispered, "Look, a cute one!"
Her comment, "Look, a cute one" had sealed Yuta's fate.
Kyouko had decided, in that instant, to take him for herself.
When Yuta looked up at her, pleading for comfort, Kyouko's mouth began to water, her eyes flashing with excitement.
She was a woman on a mission, and nothing was going to stand in her way.
Over the past few days, Kyouko had been on a roll, pursuing her quarry with relentless energy.
And tonight, the stakes were higher than ever.
————
Today, Kyouko Fujiwara decided to further shatter Yuta Yamano's sense of shame, making it impossible for him to resist her.
To set the perfect scene, she carefully chose a time when the streetlight remained unlit, casting the park into darkness.
Additionally, she spent a substantial amount of money—saved over several months by Yamano—on various seductive items at an adult store, including leather outfits and whips.
In the shadows, Kyouko held one end of a chain, tugging Yuta closer to the flickering old streetlight.
"Yuta, my pet, tell me, what made you suddenly change your mind that day? How did you go from being reluctant to eager?"
Yuta fidgeted with the collar around his neck, a physical reminder of the woman who had pushed him into this master-servant dynamic.
Although there were moments of intoxication when he would call her names, being sober and addressing her as his master still felt entirely foreign.
"Kyouko, can't you just call me by my name?"
"Smack!"
A sharp sting erupted on Yuta's arm, leaving a vivid red mark that drew an involuntary cry from him.
He instinctively shrank back, appearing skittish.
"Hm… what should you call me?"
"Master, my master…"
"Well, don't keep me waiting!"
"I-I…"
"You better think carefully about this!"
Kyouko Fujiwara teased, flicking the whip she held in her hand.
"I—I saw my childhood friend…"
The mention of Natsuha Shinomiya made Yuta Yamano recall the moment she had thrown herself into someone else's arms.
But...
What perplexed him was that, at this moment, he didn't feel sadnessinstead, he felt a strange sensation from the searing whip mark, a tingling that coursed through his body like electricity.
"And then?"
Kyouko asked impatiently, waving the whip.
Yuta cast a hesitant glance at the whip, his fear evident, yet within his wary eyes lay an unacknowledged longing.
"I saw my childhood friend throw herself into someone else's arms."
Kyouko pondered for a moment and quickly realized the truth; it was because his beloved girl had turned her affections elsewhere that he was devastated and in need of comfort.
"Do you like her?"
"Um…"
Yuta nodded without hesitation.
Kyouko's mind began to swirl with ideas.
She concocted a plan to ensure that Yuta would become her pet completely.
"Yuta," she softly called his name.
"Here!" He jumped slightly, fearing she was about to punish him again.
"Yuta, do you want to get back at your childhood friend?"
"Hmm?"
"Didn't you and your childhood friend once have mutual feelings for each other?"
"Yeah, that's why I was so heartbroken that day—because Natsuha betrayed our promise!"
"There's a saying… how does it go? Ah, 'an eye for an eye'?"
"'An eye for an eye,'" Yuta murmured, recalling the phrase.
"Close enough! Since she betrayed you, why not betray her in return?"
"As long as you listen to me tonight, I'll give you ideas to exact your revenge on her! Doesn't your childhood friend still think you don't know she's moved on? If you can make her see you being taken advantage of… you can hit her where it hurts!"
In truth, Kyouko had no intention of actually helping Yuta get revenge on Natsuha Shinomiya.
Everything she was doing was to gradually guide Yuta and instill a certain notion within him.
That notion was… to make Yuta think that being played by her in front of Natsuha was:
In fact, a way to get back at her!
Her ultimate goal was to slowly lower his boundaries until, in the end, he became a pet who couldn't live without her.
Yuta felt a flicker of desire emerge within him, as if a faint glow shone from his hidden eyes.
"Will that actually work?"
"Of course!"
Kyouko said with confident assurance, though her eyes sparkled with mischief.
"Alright!"
"Then from now on, when we're alone, you must call me 'Master.'"
"I understand... Master." Yuta hesitated for a moment but eventually softly spoke the word.
"Ha-ha… hehehe…"