"Kaguya-sama, it's time to take a bath."
Inside the Shinomiya residence at night, a maid with long golden hair slowly walked up behind Kaguya and spoke in a calm tone.
"Mm, I know…"
Standing by a window on the second floor, Kaguya gave a light nod, her reply sounding somewhat distracted.
As a servant who had accompanied Kaguya for many years, Hayasaka Ai could tell that Kaguya was carrying heavy worries right now.
And she also knew exactly what her young lady was worrying about.
Or, to be more precise, she knew which person was at the root of this entire series of changes.
Takahashi Takumi.
A man whose background was almost completely blank—someone who seemed incapable of doing anything other than staying at home, a shut-in with virtually no social connections, a transparent person.
Last month, Kaguya had suddenly become involved with this man and had met with him privately several times. And it wasn't only Kaguya—Shijō Maki, the eldest daughter of the Shijō family, had also gone even further. She had nearly crossed the line with that man, coming dangerously close to letting things go all the way.
Then, just two days ago, Fujiwara Chika, the second daughter of the Fujiwara family, had also come into contact with him, and her level of intimacy had even shown faint signs of surpassing Maki.
Unbelievable.
Ai simply could not understand this situation at all.
Such a man—one who showed no sign of possessing anything remarkable at all—why did he suddenly, within the span of just a single month, attract the attention of Kaguya, and draw the notice of both the Shijō family and the Fujiwara family?
Such a situation was simply far too abnormal. No matter how one looked at it, it was impossible to understand, impossible to believe.
Who exactly was he? Why was it that for such a long time before, he had been as if nonexistent, leaving behind not the slightest trace of presence, yet now he had suddenly become so high-profile, effortlessly capturing the hearts of the daughters of so many prestigious families?
And moreover… why was Kaguya unwilling to let her continue investigating him, as if her persistence would lead to some kind of undesirable outcome?
Ai felt deeply unsettled.
But her unease was not caused solely by Kaguya becoming entangled with that strange man.
Another source of her anxiety lay in her secret identity. She was, in fact, a spy planted by the elder brother of the Shinomiya family's current generation, Shinomiya Oko. She had been arranged to grow up alongside the Shinomiya family's youngest daughter, Shinomiya Kaguya, serving her at all times—yet in reality, she was also continuously monitoring her, reporting every action and movement to the faction under Shinomiya Oko's command.
Previously, when she reported Takumi's situation to her superiors, those people had merely instructed her to remain still and continue observing. However, over the past few days, after learning that the daughter of the Fujiwara family had also become involved, those people seemed to have begun forming new ideas. They appeared to believe that Takumi possessed exceptionally formidable social skills, which was how he had managed to bewitch so many people. As a result, they began considering having Ai attempt to make contact with Takumi, in order to ascertain his true circumstances more concretely.
This was precisely the kind of thing that Kaguya had warned her about several times, explicitly stating that it was something she must never do. Although Ai herself did not know the underlying reason, based on her understanding of Kaguya, she could naturally grasp that Kaguya was doing this to protect her—to tell her that she must not become too deeply entangled with Takumi, or else she might very well encounter danger.
It was just that this order was something she was probably unable to obey.
Amid her surging thoughts, Ai suddenly came back to herself and realized that Kaguya had not moved at all, still standing where she was, gazing out at the sky beyond the window.
"Kaguya-sama?"
Today, her worries seemed to weigh particularly heavily.
Ai took a step closer and called out to Kaguya, who was lost in thought.
As if suddenly startled awake, Kaguya lifted her head, turned to look at Ai, then hesitated for a moment before finally opening her mouth to speak.
"Hayasaka… I have a question I want to ask you."
Kaguya's expression was incomparably solemn.
"I'm here."
Seeing Kaguya show such an expression, Ai knew that she must be about to say something important, and she likewise adopted a serious demeanor.
What could it be?
During this period of time, she had always been able to sense that Kaguya was hiding something from her. Was she planning to say it now?
With a heart full of unease, in the next moment Ai heard the words that Kaguya spoke.
"Hayasaka, do you know… how to make a man fall under your spell?"
With a faint blush rising on her face, Kaguya tangled her fingers together, her tone sounding extremely awkward as she spoke.
"Huh?"
The expression on Ai's face stiffened at that very moment.
And Kaguya—who had finally mustered the courage to seek help—took a large step forward and reached out to grab both of Ai's hands.
"So, Hayasaka, do you know any way to make a man completely lose himself?"
"This is very, very important to me. The only person I can think of around me who could help me is you."
"Please, Hayasaka, do you have any ideas? Hey, help me, Hayasaka."
How could an underage girl who has never even been in a relationship possibly have that kind of method!?
Hayasaka wore a smile on her face, but inside she was screaming.
And while the mistress and servant on this side had begun discussing some rather discordant topics, on the other side, over at Takumi's home, the situation was entirely different.
"Ta-da, it's ready."
Placing a bowl of egg fried rice onto the table, Chika said with a cheerful smile toward Takumi, then pulled out a chair and sat down beside him.
"Thanks—clearly you're the one visiting my place, yet I still ended up making you cook."
Takumi, whose culinary skills were nothing to boast about, looked slightly embarrassed. His original plan had been to just reheat last night's leftovers in the microwave and order some takeout to get by. He hadn't expected Chika to be waiting at his door, and after learning that he hadn't eaten dinner, she had volunteered to cook, frying him a plate of soy-sauce egg fried rice.
"No need at all—the one who should really be thanking someone is actually me. After all, without Takumi, there's no way I would have been able to leave that cave alive. Compared to that, something as small as cooking doesn't count for much. Alright, alright—hurry up and eat it while it's hot, and you're not allowed to complain that it doesn't taste good."
The girl lifted her head and spoke with a very serious expression, her two feet swinging back and forth.
"How could I possibly complain? Then, I'll dig in."
Picking up the chopsticks, Takumi quickly finished the bowl of fried rice. Due to the effects of enhancement and blessings, his physical condition had been greatly strengthened; his appetite and digestive ability were far superior to those of ordinary people. As a result, this large bowl of fried rice was easily taken care of in less than three minutes, and even after finishing it, he still felt that it was slightly not enough.
At this rate, it feels like even eating meals might become a troublesome issue in the future.
While making this quiet lament in his heart, Takumi had just set down the bowl when Chika beside him handed over a napkin. Takumi paused for a moment, then took it and wiped his mouth. Immediately afterward, Chika took away the bowl and chopsticks and walked into the kitchen to wash the dishes.
"There's no need to go that far…"
Being taken care of so attentively made Takumi feel a bit restless, so he walked into the kitchen, intending to wash the dishes himself.
"Hehehe, for today, just let me take care of Takumi a little, okay? Indulging in a bit of willfulness like this shouldn't make Takumi dislike it, right?"
The girl in an apron only laughed playfully at Takumi as she spoke, showing no intention of yielding her spot.
"How could I dislike it? I'm just not very used to it, that's all…"
In the end, Takumi was still shooed back into the living room, sitting restlessly on the sofa as he waited for Chika to finish tidying up the kitchen and come over.
So what exactly was going on here?
Takumi fell into deep thought.
After Maki, this was already the second time a girl had come over to his place as a guest. But unlike the situation back when Maki had visited, Chika was acting even more like the owner of the house than Takumi himself. Instead, Takumi felt more like the one who was visiting. This point was truly strange.
"Hey, hey, Takumi, can you show me around your place? There shouldn't be any kind of secret room that girls aren't allowed to see, right?"
While he was thinking, a girl's voice suddenly reached his ears. Takumi turned his head and saw Chika standing behind him, wearing a slightly mischievous smile.
"How could there be a room like that? Well then, I'll give you a tour."
Scratching his head, Takumi stood up and led Chika out of the living room. For some reason, he always felt that the rhythm of his actions had already been completely taken over by her.
In any case, Takumi brought Chika along and began going through the house room by room.
"This is the guest room. Mm, there are three guest rooms in total at home, but the other two don't have carpets laid out."
Opening the door, Takumi pointed inside the room as he spoke.
"Oh, oh—if that's the case, Takumi's place can accommodate a lot of people."
Chika nodded seriously, touching her chin as she analyzed the situation.
Why did she choose "being able to accommodate many people" as the angle of analysis?
Takumi really wanted to ask that, but in the end he still didn't say it. He simply opened another door and continued with the introductions.
"This is the bathroom. There's also a large bathtub, though I've never actually used it."
"Oh, oh, it feels like two or three people could bathe in it together."
"This is the laundry room—there's a washing machine, a dryer, everything."
"It feels like it could wash a lot of people's clothes."
"This is the backyard. Right now it's all weeds. I haven't decided yet whether to plant anything."
"Mhm, mhm, it's a nice place. Everyone could have a meal together in the yard."
Why does this girl keep emphasizing a lot of people…?
Takumi couldn't help but feel that there was something behind Chika's words.
"This is the study, but I'm not particularly fond of reading. There aren't that many books in here either."
"Hehehe, are you sure there aren't any little h-books?"
At last, Chika stopped bringing up the topic of people in large numbers—though the new topic she switched to wasn't exactly comforting either.
"No. I'm an upright gentleman. I don't buy h-books."
Takumi answered with an extremely sincere expression.
"This is the game room. I put some game consoles and gaming equipment here."
"Not bad at all, but I can only play games after I turn eighteen. When that time comes, will Takumi teach me how to play?"
"Of course. If you want to play, you can even play now."
When they arrived at the game room, Chika showed a slightly yearning expression. However, it was clear that the girl herself strictly followed her family's rules. Although she did feel the urge to try playing, she ultimately shook her head and refrained from touching the game consoles.
The final place they arrived at was Takumi's bedroom.
"This is where I usually sleep. Uh, I haven't really tidied it up—sorry, it might be a bit messy."
It was only when he opened the bedroom door that Takumi noticed he hadn't folded the bedsheets properly, which made him feel somewhat awkward.
At the same time, however, Chika had already taken a step forward and thrown herself straight onto the bed.
"Wah—hey, hey, it's actually a soft bed."
She grabbed the pillow Takumi slept on and hugged it to her chest.
Just like that, Chika rolled over on the bed, then faced Takumi at the doorway and showed him a slightly silly smile.
"Ah… yeah, it is."
At the same time, however, Chika had already taken a step forward and thrown herself straight onto the bed.
"Wah—hey, hey, it's actually a soft bed."
She grabbed the pillow Takumi slept on and hugged it to her chest.
Just like that, Chika rolled over on the bed, then faced Takumi at the doorway and showed him a slightly silly smile.
"Ah… yeah, it is."
Takumi instinctively turned his head away.
When Chika had thrown herself onto the bed just now, her movement had been far too careless—careless enough that she revealed more than someone should while lying on another person's bed.
Even accounting for how open and overly familiar she was, that moment had clearly crossed a line.
This wasn't just friendliness anymore.
For the first time, Takumi realized he could no longer tell how much of that carefree smile was genuine, and how much of it was intentional.
"An opening!"
In the next instant, the girl clutched the pillow and suddenly sprang up from the bed, leaping toward Takumi.
Takumi instinctively wanted to raise his hands to block, but then realized something. He stepped forward, stretched out both arms, and Chika immediately fell into his embrace, while the pillow lightly tapped against the top of his head.
"Uwah—so it was a trap?"
Chika cried out softly. Her tone was as cheerful as ever, but the blush spreading across her cheeks had already completely betrayed her current state of mind.
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