When Ayaka came downstairs, there weren't many people left in the dining room. Gray and the others who had gathered there earlier had all left. Only Naoki remained, sitting alone on the sofa, eyes closed as if asleep.
"Is he sleeping?"
Ayaka sat down beside him. And whether it was the movement that woke him or not, Naoki suddenly opened his eyes, looking at Ayaka who had just taken her seat.
"Ayaka? Already changed clothes?"
"Ah... yes, just finished. Sister helped me."
The maid uniform Ayaka now wore was the same as the one Rei wore—only without modifications. Ayaka's uniform was completely unaltered. It was a very standard maid outfit.
As she adjusted a few parts of her clothing, Ayaka asked shyly, "So… what do you think? Do I look… bad as your maid?"
After being outshone by her own sister, then by Merry earlier, Ayaka now felt defeated twice in a row. She was truly lacking in confidence.
After a brief pause, Naoki said, "No, you look good. Very fresh. Well, Rei's maid uniform is also great, but that might just be my personal bias. I feel she has more captivating qualities. This is the first time Ayaka's worn a maid uniform. That pure, innocent feeling is wonderful. I really like it."
"U-uh~~, r-really? If you like it, that's good…"
Being directly praised by Naoki, Ayaka's cheeks instantly flushed red all the way to her ears. Unlike Rei, who had high offense and low defense, Ayaka was typically low offense and low defense. She only became high offense and high defense when pushed to her limits. Right now, she was clearly not under that kind of pressure. Therefore, she had absolutely no strength to resist Naoki's direct attack.
"Then, as Miss Merry said earlier, from today onward, I am your personal maid, Naoki. So, if you… if you need anything, just tell me…"
After calming herself, Ayaka imitated the mannerisms of a maid she knew and spoke to Naoki.
Seeing her half-hearted attempt at being a maid, Naoki couldn't help but laugh. "Ayaka, you… don't need to be so stiff. I'm not some noble with a terrible temper. You don't need to act like this."
"Eh… but Sister advised me to…"
"You don't need to listen to Rei. She takes her role too seriously—though of course, I love her exactly like that. But you don't have to copy your sister, do you? Not anymore."
"Y-yes, that's true." Ayaka patted her chest. Because it had been so long since she last saw her sister, and because she had just arrived and wasn't familiar with the place, she had become shy again.
After returning her mindset to normal, Ayaka looked at him. "Then, I'll be your maid, Naoki. But I'll probably be very unskilled, so I might not do a good job."
"I don't mind. Besides, there are already plenty of people taking care of me. If there are even more, I'll truly turn into a lazy good-for-nothing."
One Gray, one Rei, occasionally Merry reverting to her old job, and Riddell determined to maintain her position—these four had already pampered Naoki into near helplessness.
"By the way, Ayaka, are you planning to stay here for a long time? Don't you need to return to that parallel world?"
Naoki asked another question.
Ayaka's main reason for following Naoki to London had been to find Zelretch, so the other party could send her back to the parallel world. But judging from her actions now, it seemed Ayaka didn't plan to return.
Meanwhile, Rei nodded under Naoki's gaze. "Yes, I don't plan to return there for now… I feel that if I go back, when I come again, there might be several strangers by your side, Naoki. I'd feel left behind and unable to catch up."
"You're overthinking it."
"Maybe. But at least for now, I still want to stay here."
Ayaka said as she shifted her position slightly closer to Naoki.
Hearing Ayaka's confession, Naoki sighed resignedly. Without thinking, he wanted to reach up and ruffle her hair, but he quickly realized Ayaka wasn't Gray. He pulled his hand back awkwardly.
"If that's what you want, fine. It doesn't matter how long you stay here. I can have someone arrange your identity documents."
"Okay, thank you, Naoki." After saying that, Ayaka paused briefly. "By the way, where are Gray and the others? Why is everyone gone?"
"Merry went back to sleep. Ciel too. The others have their own work. Artoria and Souji are currently teaching at the Clock Tower for me. Tomorrow, when they return, it'll be my turn to teach. Gray went to wake up Tohsaka."
Tohsaka?
(It must be Rin-senpai here, right? I remember this world is a few years ahead of mine. That means Rin-senpai is still studying at the Clock Tower now.)
Recalling the earlier conversation, Ayaka suddenly said, "So, in this apartment, besides you, there aren't any other men?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Nothing. Just thinking… you really have a lot of relationships with women… Are they all your lovers?"
"…"
After a few seconds of silence, Naoki's expression turned slightly awkward. "Eh, why is Ayaka asking such a thing?"
"Because Sister said you have many lovers. And besides the ones here, you also have lovers in Japan, right? So I was wondering if everyone in this apartment is also…"
"No, no! Of course not! Don't just say things like that! Gray especially is definitely not!"
"…"
"Don't look so disbelieving!"
(How can I believe that?)
Facing Naoki's defense, Ayaka refused to believe a word. In her opinion, Gray was the most suspicious one—back in the parallel world, she had seen glimpses of it. Sometimes, Gray's gaze toward her older brother was a little strange. A purely sibling relationship like that must have shifted slightly by now.
Perhaps it only needed one more trigger to change completely.
(But if the situation is like this, then my chances… hmm, there should be some. Just not yet.)
For now, Ayaka wanted to maintain things as they were.
"Naoki."
"Yeah? What is it?"
"From now on… no, perhaps… [I'll be relying on you for the rest of my life]."