The Neighboring Aarya-san who Sometimes Acts Affectionate and Murmuring in Russian - Volume 5 - Chapter 8.2

The instant he saw her otherworldly beauty, he could feel something burning swell in his chest, so he looked away.

“Like…anything. But it sounds like you’ve got everything under control, so forget I asked.”

“Okay?”

Argh! Dammit! Why is every girl in the student council way above average?! (*Belated realization.)

With the absence of the student council president and vice president, Masachika could see a different beautiful girl whichever way he turned his head. Although this would be a dream for most men, it was nothing more than a nightmare for a guy about to burst at the seams.

The only one I’m safe around is Yuki…!

“…? Masachika? May I ask why you are staring at me?”

When he turned his eyes to the girl on the opposite side of the table for help, she stared right back at him as if she were genuinely puzzled. Then again, who wouldn’t be puzzled if their older brother suddenly started staring at them like a desperate wild animal?

Phew… Yeah. Thank goodness. I feel better already.

Thankfully, he felt absolutely nothing when he looked at her…since feeling even faintly attracted to his own sister would have made him want to jump off a cliff. Although she was just as good-looking as both Alisa and Maria, he wasn’t remotely interested in her sexually, so all was well with the world as far as he was concerned. If anything, there was something strangely comforting about having his sister there, and it seemed like it was keeping the beast tamed as well.

Perfect. It looks like I’ll be okay… I just need to keep my eyes on my work, and if things go south—if things go north, then I’ll just look at Yuki.

He had finally come up with a plan to get him out of the hellish chaos born from that mystery drink. Unfortunately, his relief didn’t last for long.

“Ayano, I need to go look for a few old files. Do you think you could help me?”

“As you wish.”

His safety net had been swiftly taken away.

Noooooo!!

He sat in a daze while Yuki and Ayano withdrew from the room, leaving him alone with the Kujou sisters, which naturally reminded him of a certain incident.

…! Oh, crap! Nooo!

The paradise he had seen that day began to play out in his head against his will. A growing sense of urgency made him stand and try to escape before it was too late.

“Er… I’m going to go grab something to drink.”

He blurted out the first thing that came to mind, only for it to immediately bite him in the ass.

“I can grab you something to drink. I found a mistake on one of the receipts, so I was going to be heading that way anyway.”

“Oh, uh…”

“Are you fine with barley tea?”

“Yeah, sure,” replied Masachika before immediately regretting it. “Actually, maybe I should go with you…”

“I’m fine. I’m not a child.”

Unfortunately for him, Alisa casually turned down his offer and briskly walked out the door. Masachika’s extended hand was left to half-heartedly claw at the air.

“Uh…”

By the time he came to his senses, he realized that he was now alone with Maria. On one hand, this felt like it could be a good thing, but on the other hand, it also felt like being alone with her could lead to some issues.

“Alya seems to be very motivated lately for some reason.”

Meanwhile, Maria was clueless in stark contrast with the dangerous feelings in Masachika’s heart. She placed a hand on her cheek while innocently tilting her head at the door Alisa had just left through.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. She has been even more fired up than usual… She has been working really hard practicing with the band, too.”

Alisa had been constantly turning down his help lately as well…as she demonstrated only a few moments ago. However, there was a part of Masachika that was worried that she might be pushing herself a little too hard.

“Really? Oh, but now that you mention it, she has been practicing her singing at home a lot lately. ♪”

Maria nodded a few times, oblivious to the struggles of the boy nearby, who had wasted his opportunity to escape. He sat back down and tried to relax, but he was still unable to hide his tension.

“Kuze, are you feeling okay? You don’t look so good.”

Her eyebrows slanted with worry.

“Hmm? I’m fine.”

“Why won’t you look at me, then?”

Because I can’t. If I look at you now, these perverse memories of mine will take over.

But there was no way he could ever tell her the truth, so he kept his eyes on the files in hand and tried to play it cool.

“Sah! Look at me!”

Maria grabbed his cheeks with both hands and forced him to face her. Peering into his eyes was her unfiltered worried gaze along with a hint of anger born from her concern.

“Look me in the eye and tell me nothing’s wrong.”

“Uh… I…”

He was unable to get the words out as she held him as if they were going to kiss. The sensation of her hands touching his cheeks in addition to her lips being so close to his scrambled his already hardly functioning brain. Perhaps this was why Maria suddenly lowered her brows compassionately.

“Kuze, I understand why you would be confused after learning who I really was and hearing how I feel about you, and I feel bad for troubling you like this, too. But I don’t want that to be a reason for you to avoid me.”

“…”

“I want you to come to me when you’re in trouble. I want you to let me take care of you when you’re hurt. I want you to be vulnerable with me, even though I know you refuse to show Alya any sign of weakness. You don’t have to worry about giving me the wrong idea, and you don’t have to worry about getting my hopes up. We were childhood friends regardless of how I feel about you now…and I’m older than you, so I want you to depend on me more.”

“…”

What Maria was saying sounded very important and sweet, but unfortunately…Masachika was having a hard time hearing what she was saying because being in the student council room alone with her, with her hands holding his cheeks, was making his brain overheat.

She’ll take care of me…when I’m hurt? Would that really be okay? Does this mean she’d be fine if I threw my arms around her?

His somewhat dazed, heated mind started to push his thoughts into a dangerous direction. Even now, he was on the verge of throwing out all reason and diving straight into her chest.

“I’m back.”

As the door opened, Masachika wrenched his head away from Maria’s grasp. The momentum brought his gaze toward the door right as Chisaki stepped inside. With her hand still on the doorknob, she knitted her brow, then surveyed the room with a scowl.

“…What the…? It reeks of man in here.”

Although her anti-man radar seemed to have been activated for the first time in what felt like forever, Masachika still silently stood out of his seat and slowly approached her with the face of an angel.

“Chisaki.”

“Hmm?”

“I need a hard reset. You know what to do.”

“Now we’re talking.”

And just like that, both reason and desire were wiped clean with a hard factory reset.