Chapter 4: Disrupted Morals, Disrupted Emotions

"Yo, Ryogo. Did something happen between you and Mio-chan?"

At Ayato's words, I nearly dropped my croquette bread.

I frantically looked around. The classroom was overflowing with the usual lunchtime noise, and it seemed no one had overheard his deeply unsettling question.

"Something...? What are you talking about?"

"Heeh~. Hit the nail on the head, didn't I?"

Ayato smirked. My obvious panic had tipped him off that something definitely happened.

"Did you make a move on her?"

"No, it's not like that..."

"Then what is it? Spit it out."

...As if I could say it. As if I could tell him that yesterday after school, I was playing a panty-color guessing game with Fuyutsuki in the Disciplinary Committee Room, and Mio walked in on us.

"More importantly, how did you even know?"

"Hm~... Just a feeling?"

Right. This guy possessed a completely useless, top-tier ability to read the room.

"Well, if you want a reason, it's 'cause both of you look gloomy as hell."

"...You saw Mio?"

"Yeah. Earlier, when I was heading to the bathroom. Usually, she's got this super bright vibe, but today her whole aura was just dark... kinda depressed-looking, y'know?"

As I feared, Mio was deeply affected by what happened yesterday.

...Well, of course she was.

There was no way Mio wouldn't be hurt after witnessing something like that.

—After that incident.

Mio had let out a quiet, eerie laugh before leaving the committee room.

I frantically chased after her, but for some reason, I couldn't find her anywhere. She left all my LIME messages on read and wouldn't answer my calls.

It seemed she had come to school normally today, but I still hadn't seen her in person.

"I did something to hurt Mio..."

"Uh-huh... Like what?"

"I can't tell you that, but there's a huge misunderstanding... I'm sure it was a massive shock for her."

As I let out a heavy sigh, Ayato let out an even heavier one.

"In that case, stop sitting around whining and go clear up the damn misunderstanding."

"...Eh?"

Ayato stared at me with an unusually serious gaze.

"If you hurt the girl you like, fixing it is just common sense. Am I wrong?"

"...You might not be wrong, but..."

...Look in the mirror before you say that.

You're the guy who cheats, gets cheated on by your girlfriend, and then brags, "I banged three different girls over Golden Week!" out of spite. You're the absolute last person I want lecturing me about "common sense." Which mouth was he even using to say that?

"Come on, go! Hurry!"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it..."

There was a lot I couldn't accept about Ayato saying it, but his actual point was completely correct.

So, I reluctantly got up from my seat.

† † †

Mio's class was 2-A. I went to check, but she wasn't there. Instead, one of her friends told me, "If you're looking for Mio, she went to the Chapel."

I hurried to the Chapel located at the far edge of the school building and pulled open the heavy doors.

Light streamed through the stained glass windows, pouring over the space in front of the altar.

In the center of that light—Mio was completely alone, kneeling with her hands gently clasped in prayer. Bathed in the glow, her back looked so divinely beautiful that I felt hesitant to even approach.

But I couldn't just stand there doing nothing.

"...Mio!"

I called out, but she didn't turn around.

However, she tilted her head just a fraction, letting me know she was aware of my presence.

Feeling somehow saved by that tiny gesture, I took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry... about yesterday. But, could you just listen to me for a second?"

Mio remained silent, but I didn't interpret it as rejection.

"There's absolutely nothing going on between me and Fuyutsuki. That was... just this weird test to judge my aptitude as the Disciplinary Committee President..."

Even as I said it, I felt completely pathetic.

But regardless of how it sounded, I needed to clear up the misunderstanding.

No—even if she didn't fully believe me, I needed her to know this one thing.

"Fuyutsuki isn't normal. She casually says things that make it impossible to tell if she's joking or serious, and she enjoys toying with me... her true nature is like a demon—"

"Ryo-chan, you're wrong."

Mio's voice was quiet, yet it echoed through the entire Chapel with crystalline clarity. She slowly stood up and looked at the cross.

"There's a demon living in everyone's heart. Inside you, Ryo-chan, and inside me, too."

I involuntarily held my breath at her words.

"God is trying to save us equally in our weakness. It's not just one person who is bad. It's not just one person who is impure. We are all equally sinful."

"...That's not true. You've... always been kind, and bright—"

Mio cut me off with a gentle, "No."

"I'm not mad about yesterday anymore."

"...Eh?"

"I was the one who pushed you to do your best, and in the process, you and Fuyutsuki-san ended up doing something so indecent... I think it was a trial given to me by God."

"God? A trial? Mio, what are you talking—"

"That's why..."

Mio slowly turned around.

With the stained glass light illuminating her from behind, her smiling face should have looked exactly like an angel's.

And yet, her face bore a Buddha-like smile of pure benevolence—the corners of her lips were turned up, but her eyes were entirely dead.

"I have to—thoroughly manage you, Ryo-chan."

A violent shiver ran down my spine.

Her delivery was cute, but the actual content sounded like a prison warden declaring they were putting an inmate under 24/7 surveillance.

"...M-Manage...?"

"From 'good morning' to 'good night', absolutely everything about you, Ryo-chan—"

Maintaining her benevolent smile, Mio took a step closer, then another. The sound of her heels clicked rhythmically against the Chapel floor.

I instinctively stepped back, but Mio closed the distance, stopping right in front of me and gently looking up into my eyes.

"Of course, since you're a boy, there are times when you just can't hold it in, right? When that happens—"

She delicately traced my cheek with the tip of her index finger.

"I'll help you take care of it ♡"

...Eh? Help me take care of it? Process my sexual urges... truly?

The instant I imagined it, the rationality server in my brain began blasting a [Libido Rampaging] warning at maximum volume.

"No, wait, wait, wait, wait... What are you saying—"

"I'll properly guide you so you don't rampage in the wrong direction, Ryo-chan. Because if I leave you alone, you'll just be tempted by demons, won't you?"

As she spoke, Mio's index finger trailed down my neck, over my chest, across my stomach, and finally down to my pants.

When she said 'guide', did she literally mean 'toward pleasure'?

"Wait! You're the one tempting me right now, Mio!?"

"No I'm not. This is your salvation, Ryo-chan."

Mio let out an enticing little giggle and pressed her large breasts directly against me.

"So it's fine. Just tell me whenever you want me to do it, okay? Whatever you want to do, Ryo-chan, I'll do it all for you—even sex."

...This is bad. My crotch was having a very normal, very intense reaction.

I could easily imagine exactly where things would go if I let myself be swept away. Probably—an incredibly erotic development. So erotic it would make porn and ero-manga look tame by comparison.

The Mio standing right in front of me was cute. Insanely cute. She had always been kind to me since we were little, she always cheered me on, she always laughed happily at my stupid stories—and now, this same Mio was actively seducing me. Honestly, it was nothing short of an ultimate reward.

In that case, maybe it was fine to just surrender everything to her.

With these massive breasts, these breasts, these breasts, these breasts... —Dammit!

I'm not Ayato, I'm not Ayato, I'm not...—

"N... No!"

By the skin of my teeth, my rationality claimed victory, and I grabbed Mio's shoulders, pushing her back.

"This is wrong! This isn't the kind of relationship I wanted!"

The Mio I knew wasn't the kind of girl who would invite someone to do indecent things like this.

Besides, this 'reward-like' relationship wasn't what I actually desired.

What I wanted was to have a "decent romance" with Mio—not something built on management, dominance, or drowning in lust and pleasure.

First and foremost, the Mio standing before me wasn't the angelic Mio I knew.

"What I want is a decent romance... I don't want you helping me process my urges, or managing me, or any of that..."

The expression instantly vanished from Mio's face.

"...Are you rejecting me?"

"No! I'm not rejecting you! It's just that you're acting completely different than usual...!"

Mio looked down. Her shoulders began to tremble in small, rapid spasms. She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"...Then, let me believe in you again, Ryo-chan."

"Okay... What do I need to do?"

Mio gently placed both her hands over my chest and slowly looked up.

"You know what you should do in a time like this, right, Ryo-chan?"

...Eh? A kiss, maybe?

A bright, beaming smile spread across Mio's face as she cheerfully offered me her right hand. "Yes."

"Eh? What's with the hand?"

"Your smartphone, Ryo-chan. Change it so it unlocks with my Face ID from now on, okay?"

"You're totally planning to manage me!?"

For the first time in my entire life, I screamed a retort directly at Mio.

"What about my privacy!? And more importantly, that'd be insanely inconvenient!"

"It's fine, Ryo-chan. If there's love, privacy isn't necessary, right? And you don't need to contact anyone besides me anyway, do you? You can if you want, but you have to show me everything."

"That's straight-up dictator logic!"

"Well then, I guess I have no choice but to put a chastity belt on your penis, Ryo-chan..."

"S-Scary! You don't plan on trusting me even a single millimeter, do you!?"

...Heavy. She was so cute, but the terror was winning out. Was this how freedom was systematically suppressed and controlled?

Mio was still entirely off-kilter. But the fact that she ended up like this was ultimately my responsibility. If I had just taken a firmer stance against Fuyutsuki—

Consumed by regret, I quietly looked up at the cross.

...God, what am I supposed to do? Please, tell me. How do I turn Mio back to normal when she's offering to process my sexual urges and threatening to lock my penis in a chastity belt? Please, tell me, God—

† † †

"I am Segawa Mio, the Disciplinary Committee proxy from Class 2-A. It's a pleasure to work with you all."

Mio's bright, cheerful voice rang out through the Disciplinary Committee Room after school. Flouncing her skirt as she stepped inside, she wore her usual, radiant smile.

—However, to my eyes, it looked as though she was draped in a thin, pitch-black veil.

Even this overly formal greeting seemed to ooze an ominous aura.

If I had to describe it, it was "Combat Mode."

To begin with, Mio had said, "work with you all," but Fuyutsuki and I were the only ones in the room. And the fact that she was staring Fuyutsuki down with slightly narrowed eyes while pointedly using the plural "you all," made me think she really could have just said "Fuyutsuki-san."

"Welcome, Madam Proxy. I am not entirely opposed to welcoming you."

...Whoa, she actually accepted the challenge.

I didn't know what Fuyutsuki's goal was, but she fired back lightly, matching Mio's combat mode perfectly.

"I'll be splitting my time with my club duties, but starting today, I'll be supporting the Disciplinary Committee... mainly, I'll be assisting the President, Ryo-chan, okay?"

As Mio delivered her declaration with a beaming (benevolent-looking) smile, Fuyutsuki shot me a gaze that clearly asked, "What is the meaning of this?"

I shrugged my shoulders and struck an "I know nothing" pose, but the truth was, I knew exactly what was going on.

—It was a compromise.

Mio wanted to trust me. But she couldn't verify my relationship with Fuyutsuki inside the closed-door environment of the committee room. Thus, she utilized the loophole of the proxy system to successfully infiltrate from the inside.

Furthermore, the person who had originally taught her about the proxy system was none other than myself. ...I dug this grave entirely on my own.

From my perspective, I wanted to ensure transparency and ease Mio's anxiety.

If Mio simply came as a proxy whenever I participated in the committee, she could watch over me, which would prevent any weird misunderstandings. As a bonus, it would also suppress Fuyutsuki's abnormal behavior.

It was two birds with one stone. In theory, it was a near-perfect plan.

—However, every time you take a step forward, you inevitably leave something behind.

In this case, that something was my mental peace.

"Supporting Sawa-kun is my job as the Vice President. You do not need to be so enthusiastic, Madam Proxy."

As Fuyutsuki spoke without so much as a twitch of emotion, Mio's plastered-on smile noticeably twitched.

"No, I've known all about Ryo-chan since we were kids, so I've got this. You should just focus on your own duties, Madam Vice President."

That was when I remembered: despite her cheerful demeanor, Mio possessed a fiercely competitive streak.

"My duty is assisting Sawa-kun. Because I am the Vice President."

"I will be taking over that role starting today. So you're relieved of your duties, yes? —Goodbye."

"You have your club, do you not? Please do not overexert yourself. You do not need to come. —Goodbye."

...What is wrong with these two, they're terrifying!

Their tone was perfectly polite, but what they were actually engaged in was a verbal street fight. Whoever said "goodbye isn't a sad word" was full of it. They were trading incredibly heavy left hooks over here...

I wasn't a referee or a cornerman, but I was the only one who could intervene. While my stomach fired off full-auto waves of stabbing pain, I forced a smile.

"Both of you, that's enough... we're all comrades working together from today, so let's get along, alright?"

Mio replied with a bright, "Yes!"

"Of course! If you say so, Ryo-chan, I'll get along with her! —Right, Madam Vice President?"

I was absolutely certain there were terrifying gradations to her definition of 'getting along'—her dark smile practically guaranteed it.

"I will interact with you appropriately within the necessary scope of our duties as Disciplinary Committee members."

Fuyutsuki, true to form, replied in a complete monotone. Her eyes, however, screamed, "I have absolutely zero intention of talking to you."

—And then.

Mio fluttered her skirt as she walked over to Fuyutsuki and smoothly offered her left hand.

Fuyutsuki paused for a fraction of a second before offering her own left hand in return... wait, why the left hand?

—This was something I learned later.

In many cultures, a left-handed handshake is, as a rule, something to be avoided.

It represents battles, wars, parting, and saying goodbye, and is universally interpreted as an act displaying disgust toward the other person.

"I look forward to working with you, Madam Vice President?"

"Yes, likewise. Madam Proxy."

The two girls locked their left hands in a firm handshake. ...Actually, wasn't it a bit too firm?

Not a single muscle in their faces moved, yet their arms were trembling violently from the shoulders down, and the backs of their hands were already turning purple with bulging veins.

—Well, whatever the case.

I managed to ease Mio's anxiety (probably).

I managed to put Fuyutsuki in check (I think).

As the price for those victories, a couple of massive holes had been bored into my stomach, and I had the sinking feeling they would only continue to multiply from here on out... but that was fine.

—There was just one unexpected development.

I was genuinely surprised that Fuyutsuki displayed such an excessive reaction toward Mio.

I had always thought Fuyutsuki was the type to be completely apathetic toward others, someone who never formed attachments to anyone. So what exactly possessed her to bare her fangs exclusively at Mio?

...Does Fuyutsuki really like me?

If she did, the future trajectory of this situation was glaringly obvious—

"Ryo-chan, which feels better, my tongue or her hand?"

"Me, obviously, right?"

"I'm asking Ryo-chan!"

While bickering with each other, the two of them lick my left and right nipples while simultaneously stroking my shaft with their hands.

"Sawa-kun, you are trembling... are you about to finish?"

"I'd love to say you don't have to hold back, but... boop ♡"

Mio squeezes my shaft tight, bringing me to a grinding halt right on the edge.

"I feel sorry for Sawa-kun."

"This is management. After all, Ryo-chan wants to finish in a place that isn't a hand, right?"

"Then I will go first—"

"Ah! Wait... no fair! I'm first!"

As they argue, the two of them begin to fight over "who gets to go first."

—Normally, this is where I would instantly deny the fantasy with an "Absolutely not," but... this time, it felt disturbingly plausible.

This was bad. Depending on my choices, I felt like I could actually reach that ending...

No, it wasn't like I would actually go through with it, but theoretically, I couldn't completely rule out the possibility of a full-blown, mind-melting harem scenario developing.

If it actually came down to that—.

It would be even further removed from the "decent romance" I had been searching for.

...I really need to figure out how Fuyutsuki feels, and why she's so competitive with Mio.

Does she like me—or does she have some sort of personal grudge against Mio?

Now that I thought about it, Mio had mentioned Fuyutsuki before.

"Yeah, I know her. I've never talked to her, but I've always thought she was really pretty."

In reality, Mio and Fuyutsuki had almost zero points of contact. Even though they were in the same year, they were in different classes last year and this year. They really were just two people who occasionally passed each other in the hallway.

Which made Fuyutsuki's reaction all the more inexplicable, leaving behind a profound sense of dissonance.

On the flip side, if you asked me if Mio was the type of person to earn someone's grudge, I highly doubted it.

In the end, Fuyutsuki's true intentions remained a total mystery. I didn't get it, but there was one thing I understood perfectly well—

"Sawa-kun, let's go to the faculty room together," Fuyutsuki said, pulling on my right arm.

"Ryo-chan, stay here and help me clean up," Mio said, pulling on my left arm.

—This wasn't a cute tug-of-war over a boy they liked. This was the medieval European torture method known as drawing and quartering.

"It hurts, I'm tearing, it hurts, I'm tearing, seriously, it hurts...!"

But, thinking about it calmly, I brought this upon myself. This agonizing pain was likely divine retribution for indulging in erotic fantasies about these two girls.

...Well, in for a penny, in for a pound.

For the time being—Goodbye, "decent romance." Welcome, absolute carnage.

† † †

On the way home that day, Mio and I walked side-by-side.

The sun was sinking low in the sky, stretching our two shadows out long and thin. Normally, this time of day on the walk home should have been much more relaxed, but I found myself wrapped in a very different, highly unusual tension. Simply put, being entirely alone with Mio was filling me with overwhelming anxiety.

Suddenly, Mio broke the silence.

"Thanks for today, Ryo-chan."

Her voice carried its usual bright tone, which ironically only stoked my anxiety further.

"...Um, for what?"

"For letting me join the Disciplinary Committee."

"Well, it makes sense. I need you to properly trust me, after all."

"I trust you. I trust you so much. I really, truly do, okay? ...I trust you, really. You trust me when I say I trust you, right?"

...Yeah, she's definitely terrifying.

She was smiling, but every single syllable she spoke radiated pressure, an unnervingly high temperature, and a deeply unsettling possessiveness that practically screamed, "You know what happens if you betray me, right?" She was completely different from the Mio I used to know.

It was going to take a significant amount of time to return this version of Mio to normal.

"But you know, even though I trust you, I still feel anxious..."

Mio muttered quietly.

"Honestly, I don't know what Fuyutsuki-san is thinking. At first, I thought she was just simply aiming for you, Ryo-chan. But after talking to her directly today, I don't think that's all it is."

It seemed Mio had reached the exact same conclusion I had.

"What do you mean, 'that's not all it is'?"

When I asked, Mio slowed her walking pace just a bit.

"I think... she was testing me. Testing how serious I am about you, Ryo-chan... I felt like she was looking at me with those kinds of eyes."

If that was true, then Fuyutsuki was constantly testing everyone around her.

But she never let anyone grasp the true intent hidden beneath it all.

It was the same with those Shameless Games to test my aptitude as President. I couldn't believe she resorted to such extreme acts for a reason that simple. There was definitely an ulterior motive. And yet—the moment I felt like I was close to grasping it, her true intentions always slipped right through my fingers.

"But no matter what happens, I love you, Ryo-chan. I will absolutely never hand you over!"

...Is it okay that my heart just skipped a beat?

If it had been the old Mio saying that, my heart would have fluttered with pure, unadulterated joy.

But coming from the current Mio, the sensation was much closer to a sharp pang of terror. Her words carried a heavy, unspoken nuance of "If you betray me... you know what happens, right?", prompting me to choose my response very, very carefully.

"Thanks, I'm happy to hear you say that..."

"Yeah! So you can rest easy, okay? I'll be closely watching you!"

"...Don't you mean watching over me?"

Her smile and tone were as gentle as ever, but her word choice was purely that of a dominator.

But—the fact that Mio was now aggressively projecting these uncontrollable emotions onto me was entirely my fault. My sense of distance with Fuyutsuki, my stance as a Disciplinary Committee member—I had been half-baked in everything.

And that was what made Mio so anxious.

As a result, I had warped her kindness and her feelings for me into this.

—I want to restore Mio, who had fallen from grace.

The real Mio was supposed to be much gentler, far more straightforward, the kind of girl who would laugh and listen to anything I had to say. And I—I liked that Mio.

But the girl walking next to me now was a little different.

Her mental balance had crumbled, and what she felt for me was teetering dangerously close to domination rather than love.

If I chose to date her just like this, it would undoubtedly only make her even more unstable.

Therefore—I made my decision.

I would not waver. As the Disciplinary Committee President, and as a man, I would remain sincere.

By showing her that unwavering resolve, I would slowly guide Mio's shifted heart back to its rightful place.

After making that firm vow to myself, I glanced over and saw Mio staring at her smartphone, humming a troubled, "Hm~..."

"...So, what have you been looking up this whole time, Mio?"

"Hm~... I was wondering which one would look good on you, Ryo-chan."

"Oh, clothes?"

"Nope, a chastity belt ♡"

"Mio-san...!?"