Veiled Secret.01: My Beloved

"This sucks~. Mio~, they're saying club's over for today 'cause of the rain~."

In the first-floor connecting corridor, my tennis doubles partner, Takahashi Reina-chan, came running up to me.

But I—Segawa Mio—felt a little flutter of joy, even amidst my slight disappointment. It just meant I would get to spend more time with Ryo-chan.

"Huh? You look pretty happy, Mio. You're totally smirking~."

"Eh? Do I? Am I smirking?"

It was a real problem. I was the type of person who simply couldn't tell a lie; everything always showed right on my face.

"Um, I promised to walk home with Ryo-chan after school... so I'm just a little happy."

"You're seriously so cute, Mio~! I don't wanna hand you over to Ryo-chan~!"

Reina-chan threw her arms around me. She was always teasing me like this. But she was a really good girl, and she always rooted for me and Ryo-chan.

—Ah, right. "Ryo-chan" is my precious childhood friend, Sawa Ryogo-kun... and the truth is, he's my crush.

"So, any progress with Ryo-chan lately?"

"Um, well... this Saturday, we're going on a date... kind of?"

"Ooh! Nice going!? Did he ask you out?"

"Um, it was actually me..."

"Mio finally makes her move! Still, personally, I wish he'd been the one to step up."

Reina-chan sighed, sounding just a little disappointed.

"Ryo-chan is a really serious person. Even though he's a second-year, he stepped up to be the Disciplinary Committee President for everyone's sake... My dad said it makes him a traditional, straight-laced kind of guy."

"Well, it's better than a total playboy, but is he really gonna take good care of you?"

"Ugh... Probably?"

"You gotta have a little more confidence there~."

Reina-chan gave a wry smile, but she was genuinely worried about me. She really was a wonderful friend.

"But you can't just stay like this, Mio. You're super passive by nature, and he seems pretty awkward, so you've gotta be the one to take charge, right?"

"Take charge... how do I do that?"

"Well, go link arms with him yourself, beg him for a kiss... and also, sex."

"S-Se—!?"

Reina-chan said it completely casually, but I was terrified someone might have heard us. I frantically looked around the hallway.

"Reina-chan, se—... indecent stuff like that is a no-no..."

"What's with that Mio-logic? A 'no-no 'cause it's indecent'... Listen, teenage guys naturally want to have sex with girls."

"I don't think Ryo-chan is like that, though..."

"Nope. Ryo-chan definitely wants to do it with you too. If you don't keep that in mind from the start, you might just panic and run away if he suddenly makes a move on you, y'know?"

Ryo-chan making a move on me—I couldn't even imagine it, but just the thought made me feel so embarrassed.

"Ryo-chan wants to... you know... do it with me, too?"

"Of course!" Reina-chan puffed out her chest with absolute confidence.

"But here's the thing: all guys have a raging dragon in their crotch. Basically, they're keeping an uncontrollable little dragon down there as a pet. Once Ryo-chan's dragon wakes up, if you don't properly comfort it and pat its head, it might just go rampaging all over the place, right?"

"Does that mean... he'd cheat on me...?"

"Exactly. To keep him from cheating, you've gotta properly look after his urges, yeah? Honestly, slapping a collar on him might be just about right."

"...A collar?"

"They have 'em for penises. It's called a chastity belt—you can even lock it with a key. It's meant to prevent cheating, but... well, some guys are into that kinda thing too."

"Is that so!?"

I had no idea something like that even existed in this world. Or that men had those kinds of hobbies... Reina-chan really knew everything.

"So, basically, Mio, you need to tame Ryo-chan's dragon."

"O-Okay... I don't know if I can, but... yeah! If it comes down to it, I'll do my best!"

After that conversation, we finished changing our clothes.

I checked the clock. It was right around the time Ryo-chan would still be working hard in the Disciplinary Committee Room.

"Well then, good luck, Mio~!"

"Yeah! Thanks, Reina-chan! See you tomorrow~!"

After parting ways with Reina-chan, I headed toward the Disciplinary Committee Room.

Originally, I was planning to message him after my club finished, but I wanted to secretly take a peek at him working hard.

—Would Ryo-chan be surprised if I just showed up?

Heart fluttering with excitement, I arrived at the room, but the frosted glass prevented me from seeing inside from the hallway. Left with no choice, I knocked on the door, but there was no response.

However, I could hear voices coming from inside. It sounded like they were doing something.

—What are they doing?

Feeling a little hesitant, I placed my hand on the handle and opened the door. And then—

"The color of your panties today is...—GRAY!"

Fuyutsuki-san had her legs spread wide, straddling right over Ryo-chan's face as he lay on the floor.

It made absolutely no sense, yet it was so incredibly indecent... honestly, I was completely bewildered.

Ryo-chan started making some kind of excuse, but when I saw the small glass bottle roll out of his pocket, my suspicions were confirmed.

"Poison Viper, Part 2... Writhe, Dragon..."

I see... I get it now... Ryo-chan was just a normal boy, too, huh? His dragon was rampaging, wasn't it? Did he want to do naughty things so badly he even drank this drink to make his dragon writhe?

—No. It's my fault. I can't shift the blame.

The truth was, even though Ryo-chan was so full of urges, he stayed with me—a girl who had zero interest in naughty things—and held it in, and held it in, and held it in—until he had no choice but to vent it with another girl, right?

Or... was it possible that he actually liked Fuyutsuki-san?

The moment that thought crossed my mind, I didn't even know what to say. I just heard the sound of something inside me snapping.

"...I loved him first."

Ryo-chan is mine.

Because we made a "Prowmise" to get married.

I won't hand him over to anyone. And Ryo-chan is begging for me to save him, too—that's what I believed.

...I haven't done anything wrong, right? Right?