The Neighboring Aarya-san who Sometimes Acts Affectionate and Murmuring in Russian - Volume 6 - Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Honestly, it was tempting.

What if you got home and you were greeted at the door by your classically beautiful childhood friend, who was sitting on her knees, perfectly positioned in a traditional bow, with three fingers from each hand touching the floor? What if you lived alone, but you were welcomed home by a cute maid when you walked in through the door? Either way, a healthy, nerdy male would be thrilled, and Masachika was no exception.

“Welcome home, Master.”

“H-hey…”

Therefore, at a glance, this appeared to be any nerd’s dream come true. Almost immediately after opening the front door, he was greeted with a graceful bow by a beautiful maid, who also happened to be his childhood friend. Her long, shiny black hair hung over her maid outfit like a veil. She was the ideal Japanese woman. However, all that charm went out the window when she decided not to bow like a normal person.

“…What are you doing?”

Her forehead was rubbing against the floor with her palms flat on each side, far from anything traditional. Just how long had she been waiting like this? Even Masachika was weirded out.

“While it may have been a competition between two rivals, I must apologize for the countless—”

“Stop. Do you seriously think I want to listen to you explain yourself, with your forehead pressed against the floor? Lift your head up, at least.”

“No, I must apologize first—”

“I can’t take my shoes off with your head in the way. Isn’t it a maid’s duty to welcome their master home, first?”

Masachika decided to question her manners as a maid in order to force her to lift her stubborn head…but his childhood friend’s response went above and beyond what he could have ever imagined.

“Please imagine that my body is but a doormat for you to make use of.”

“Let’s keep our fetishes to ourselves, okay? You shouldn’t treat people like doormats anyway.”

“Are you suggesting I should be some other kind of mat instead?”

“No,” he promptly replied with a straight face. After letting out a deep sigh, he squatted, purposely tried to put on the coldest glare he could, and called out to her with a serious voice.

“Ayano.”

“…!”

She hesitantly lifted her head, as if she could tell by his tone that he was upset. Masachika then peered deeply into her eyes and quietly asked:

“What kind of maid gives orders to her master?”

“…!”

“Get up.”

“Yes, Master!”

Once Ayano sprang to her feet, Masachika was finally able to take off his shoes and step out of the entryway.

“If you’re trying to apologize about the trivia show, then don’t. We were up against each other, and we played by the rules. Now, if you went easy on me for some reason or another, I would be angry.”

“I—I would never…”

“Right? So don’t apologize.”

He lightly patted his maid on the shoulder while she took his bag for him.

“Hey, uh… About your invisible chi bla—”

“Never bring that up again.”

After promptly shutting her down before she could reopen the old wound and pour salt into it, he swiftly escaped to the bathroom sink, where he washed his hands and gargled water. Once finished, he proceeded to head back to his room, but Ayano was by the bathroom door, holding out a basket with a damp towel in it.

“Please use this to wipe off your sweat.”

“Oh, thanks.”

He then went to his room, took off his school uniform, and began wiping his body with the damp towel. It was right as he had finished changing into his loungewear that there was a knock at the door.

“Come in.”

“Pardon my intrusion.”

The maid bowed before stepping inside to swiftly collect the basket containing the damp towel and Masachika’s dirty clothes.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that…”

“I was already on my way to the laundry room.”

“Really? Thanks.”

“Your praise is more than I deserve,” she replied, casually checking the pocket of his dirty collared shirt to make sure she wouldn’t accidentally wash anything important. A few seconds went by until her right hand suddenly froze before pulling out a single piece of paper…or what appeared to be paper. However, it was actually the picture he took with Nonoa at the maid café earlier that day.

“Oh, that’s—”

The instant Masachika realized what it was, he instinctively tried to explain himself. Before he could even finish his sentence, however, Ayano had flipped the picture around to the front side, and immediately, her eyes opened wide and her pupils dilated.

“Whoa…?!?!”

Her expression was blank, and it was hard to tell if she could even see what was in her hand, what with her unfocused gaze. The only thing that was clear was that Ayano was so shocked by what she saw that her pupils had enlarged to twice their normal size. The eerie sight sent an alarming chill down Masachika’s spine.

Wait… Is this like a wife finding the business card for some sort of hostess bar in her husband’s clothes?

It reminded him of something he probably saw in a soap opera, so he tried to remain as calm as possible while he explained himself.

“Ohhh, that? Yeah, Class D and Class F were doing this café together. I was only planning on stopping by for a little lunch, but my stupid good luck struck again, and I had to take this picture.”

It was strange. He was telling the truth, and yet it felt like some sort of pathetic excuse, and the more he talked, the more pathetic he sounded, so he just stopped talking instead. Regardless, Ayano didn’t even seem to react. It was hard to tell if she was even listening to his explanation.

“…Okay,” she mumbled, her pupils still dilated.

“Come on, stop that. I’m sorry. Really. Hearing someone just say ‘okay’ with their eyes like that is even scarier that hearing them repeat ‘Why?’ because you know they’re not okay!”

“No, it is okay… You simply weren’t satisfied with my services,” she replied in an emotionless, matter-of-fact tone, not even glancing at his panicked expression.

“No, seriously. Listen to me. I wasn’t cheating on you with some other maid, and it has nothing to do with your services, either…”

Ayano slowly shifted her gaze in Masachika’s direction. At the very least, he was relieved to see that she had calmed down enough to listen to him, so he decided to explain the difference between maid cafés and real maids, such as herself, and of how she shouldn’t get the two mixed up.

“…And that’s why they’re not even close to being the same thing. Got it?”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Really? Good.”

Seeing her slowly nod back at him filled him with relief…for but a mere second.

“I made my master feel so guilty that he even tried to cheer me up… I have failed as a maid!”

“Are you even listening to me?!”

But in spite of his pathetic cries, Ayano curtsied, and with that odd look in her eyes and a detached tone, she pledged:

“Tonight, I will do everything in my power to please you and leave you satisfied.”

Having a cute maid tell you she was going to service you was like a nerd’s dream come true and would make any guy’s heart race…but Masachika got goose bumps and the hairs on the back of his neck stood straight up.

“…”

“…”

“…Oh, a new video’s been uploaded.”

“…”

I can’t concentrate like this!!

Despite having access to the entire World Wide Web on his computer, he was far more focused on the person behind him than what was on the screen. Hearing her claim that she was going to “please” him and leave him “satisfied” terrified him at first, but Ayano fortunately hadn’t done anything that he would consider crossing the line…yet. She stood silently in the corner of the room…and she had been doing this the entire time. Just standing.

It was impressive yet unsurprising that he couldn’t feel her presence, let alone feel her looking at him, but there was no way he could relax while knowing she was there. And, as if things couldn’t get any worse, if he turned around, all he would see were these dark black eyes staring back at him. What was this? Some kind of horror movie?

I—I seriously can’t relax like this…! Is this how it always is for Yuki? I can’t believe she’s fine with this…

He trembled with fear just imagining how strong her nerves must be, but he almost immediately had a change of heart.

Now that I think about it, I used to be completely fine with it, too. I guess you just have to get used to it. They grew up together, after all.

Ever since moving out of the Suou residence, Masachika quickly adapted to living alone. Besides, even if they were childhood friends, Masachika and Ayano were still two members of the opposite sex going through puberty. Even though that didn’t bother him most of the time, he couldn’t completely let himself get comfortable like he did around Yuki.

I don’t mind it when Yuki’s hanging out in my room… It doesn’t help that Ayano’s only here to work and has no interest in doing anything together, either…

Masachika didn’t have the shamelessness one would need to casually read comic books on the bed while their childhood friend just waited in the corner all day. Therefore, his only other option was to get her to take a break, but…

“Hey, uh… Ayano?”

“Yes, Master?”

“Just standing there without anything to do must be boring, right? I’m not really doing much, so you’re free to go off and do whatever makes you happy, you know?”

“This makes me happy.”

“Oh… Okay…”

She had been like this ever since he had gotten home, so there was no way he was going to be able to change her mind now.

“Then let’s talk about this whole ‘Master’ thing…”

“…What about it?”

“Like, uh… It just makes me a little uncomfortable,” he hesitantly replied, making Ayano’s eyes widen.

“But…you made all those other girls call you ‘Master.’”

“What? Is that really something to be upset over?” asked Masachika with a straight face, but she didn’t reply… But when he strained his ears, he actually did hear her mumbling something to herself under her breath. She was too far for him to actually hear what she was whispering, but there was something undeniably terrifying about an expressionless, beautiful doll-like girl with black eyes mumbling to herself in a dark corner. It looked almost as if she were chanting a curse, prompting Masachika to quietly face forward once more.

Sigh… I’m never going to be able to relax.

That was the only thing he could think of as he casually rotated his shoulder…until all of a sudden, he felt a presence right behind him, sending an alarming chill down his spine.

“Master.”

“Y-yeah?”

The voice was coming from so close behind him that he awkwardly turned his head in her direction while his right shoulder was still mid-rotation. Unsurprisingly, he saw Ayano staring right back down at him with pitch-black eyes and a strangely intimidating presence.

“Shall I give you a massage?” she quietly asked.

“…A massage?”

“Yes, your shoulders seem stiff, and you have been extremely busy lately, so I thought you could use a massage.”

“O-ohhh… Right.”

She was offering a shoulder massage to loosen up her master’s exhausted shoulders. Normally, this was something he should be grateful for and accept, but…

Yeah, something feels dirty about this.

The fact that Ayano said she was going to leave him “satisfied” earlier was worrying his nerdy side. Alarms were going off in his head, telling him that this wasn’t going to be just any ordinary massage.

“Well, uh… Hmm… I guess…”

“I give Lady Yuki a massage every day, which is always very well received.”

Masachika reconsidered her offer, since this might be the only way he could satisfy her urges to please. Besides, there was no way she would massage Yuki in any sort of lewd way…

“Shall we get started? Do you think you could lie down on the bed for me?”

My incoming smut alarm is going wild.

The sudden thought almost slipped off his tongue.

“You’re just going to massage my shoulders, right? I’m fine sitting here…”

“I think we should loosen up all of your tight muscles.”

“O-oh? All of them, huh?”

“Yes. You are all knotted up. However, I guarantee you’ll feel a lot better once I help you rub one out.”

“Okay. You’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you?”

“…? Doing what on purpose?”

Masachika stared hard at the maid, and he could easily imagine a question mark over her head, but her blank expression made her impossible to read. Even her eyes, which were the only expressive things about her, were now somehow empty, making it impossible to guess what she was thinking.

Again, she’s scaring me. Ayano, why are your eyes pitch-black? What emotion makes your eyes that dark?

The thought of what could happen if he refused made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, so although wary, he lay facedown on the bed.

“Pardon me,” she promptly apologized while straddling his back, making his entire body tense up.

I-it’s fine. I don’t care if she weirdly presses her body against mine or touches me anywhere funny, either! I don’t care even a little!

He fired himself up for whatever horrors were to come, but in the end…it actually turned out to be a regular, wholesome massage. Ayano didn’t even touch him more than was necessary.

“Phew… That felt great.”

“I am glad to hear that.”

“Thanks. I really appreciate it. Oh, and sorry for being a degenerate nerd.”

“…?”

Despite her bewilderment, Masachika refused to explain any further, since he knew that nothing good would come from telling her that he actually believed she was going to offer to relieve his stiff…lower body, too.

“Now that you’re feeling better, I’m going to start preparing dinner.”

“Oh… Thanks…”

“Not at all. I will call for you when it’s ready.”

Masachika lay on the bed lazily while watching Ayano, from the corner of his eye, silently leave the room. His massaged shoulders and lower back still possessed a comforting warmth, robbing him of any will to move, and before long, he gradually gave in to the blissful warmth as it spread throughout his body, weighing down his eyelids…

“…ster. Master.”

“Hmm?”

He opened his eyes to two pitch-black voids peering right into his soul as his shoulders were being softly shaken.

“…Aya…no…?”

“Yes, Master. It’s me, your Ayano.”

“…Sorry. I must have dozed off.”

“You must have been exhausted. Are you ready for dinner? Or would you prefer to take a bath first? Or—?!”

“Dinner,” he said, cutting her off.

“…Very well.”

An ominous premonition motivated Masachika to spring out of bed and sent him straight for the living room, where he found the table already set with various dishes lined up.

“You seemed very tired, so I decided to make chilled pork tonight.”

“Oh, awesome. Today was pretty hot for October, too, so this is perfect… I’m sure cosplaying as a wizard didn’t help with the heat, either…”

There was just one thing bothering him.

“…Why is there only enough for one person?” he asked, after noticing there was only a plate for him.

“A maid mustn’t eat at the same table as her master,” she replied without missing a beat.

“Come on, eat with me. We always eat together.”

“I am not your usual maid tonight.”

“I don’t know what that means, but it sounds cool, at least.”

“…It would take far too long to boil more pork, so please do not worry about me and enjoy,” she advised while pulling out a chair for Masachika, giving him little choice but to sit. She then promptly headed back into the kitchen. “How much rice do you want?”

“The usual amount.”

“As you wish.”

After gracefully and gently scooping rice into a bowl, Ayano speedily returned to the living room, placed the rice on the table, and even poured him a glass of water. But after that, she remained standing diagonally behind him, as if that was where she belonged.

“…Thanks again.”

“Enjoy.”

The main dish was chilled pork over a generous portion of vegetables sprinkled with ponzu vinegar—all of which he included with his first bite. The crunchy vegetables and chilled pork were really brought together with the ponzu vinegar, but it was the steamy white rice that created the perfect collaboration in his mouth.

“…This is really good.”

“Thank you very much.”

It was, without a doubt, a delicious meal, and yet he couldn’t completely relax with her standing behind him. Suddenly, a hand towel and some seasoning seemingly appeared out of nowhere with exquisite timing. And he never needed to ask for a water refill or more rice. Furthermore, right after he finished eating, the maid artfully carried away his dirty dishes. The service couldn’t have been more perfect…and yet Masachika couldn’t focus on his meal.

Mmm… I’m sure this was normal back when I lived at the Suou household…but I guess I’m too much of a peasant nowadays to be comfortable with it.

Right after coming to that conclusion, she suddenly called out to him.

“Master, would you like me to clean your ears for you?”

“C-clean my ears?”

“Yes. Would you like that?” asked Ayano, despite already taking a seat by his side without even waiting for an answer.

“Here,” she said while patting her lap.

Uh… I feel like I’m kind of being forced to do this?

Seeing the darkness in her peering black eyes made it clear that refusing was not an option.

“All right… Thanks…,” he replied while timidly laying his head in her lap. The soft sensation was accompanied by a wonderful gentle smell tickling his nostrils.

Err… Having my ears cleaned by a girl wearing a maid outfit makes me feel like I’ve wandered into some sort of sketchy shop…

Right as the thought made his entire body tense up, Ayano announced she was going to begin, as the ear pick slowly entered Masachika’s ear.

Oh… But this actually feels kind of nice…

It had been years since the last time someone had cleaned his ears for him, and it felt far better than he could have imagined. Her delicate fingers brushed against his head and cheeks while he felt a slightly ticklish yet pleasant sensation inside his ear. Although a slight chill almost crept up his spine at first, the sensation gradually became more pleasurable until he never wanted it to stop.

Ah… That feels so good… I feel so safe…

Masachika was slowly mesmerized by the warmth of Ayano’s body touching his cheek and the pleasant feeling of having his ear cleaned…when all of a sudden, her affectionate touch vanished.

“All done. Could you flip over for me so I can clean your other ear now?”

“Huh? Oh…”

Although a bit disappointed it was over, he nonchalantly flipped over and realized that all he could see now was her maid uniform. However, this was also the moment he came to a certain realization.

Hold on. I’m in a pretty interesting position here…

While it may have been hard to tell, due to the nature of her outfit, he wouldn’t need a detective to deduce that the tip of his nose was buried in her lower stomach region. Nevertheless, the instant he realized how dangerous a position he was in was, Ayano began cleaning his other ear, and the fairly ticklish, exceptionally pleasant sensation took over again, sapping him of his strength.

Ah…! Eh… Whatever…

Masachika gradually began to space out. He figured if it really bothered him, he could just close his eyes, and he ended up completely surrendering himself to Ayano. His cheek and the tip of his nose were buried in her warmth as he almost started to feel like she was gently holding his head in her arms. It was a moment of pure happiness.

“…That felt so good,” he instinctively muttered the instant he made it back to his room. Masachika took advantage of the fact that Ayano was eating dinner and allowed himself to become lost in the pleasurable sensation of having just had his ears cleaned. Time slowly went by as he relaxed…until he suddenly realized something.

Oh, right. I should probably take a bath now, while I still have the chance.

Ayano was probably washing the dishes right about now, so this would probably be his safest bet, since bath time was where he had to be most careful when Ayano was in Super Live-to-Serve Mode (phrase coined by Masachika). After all, he knew that there was an extremely high chance that she would offer to wash his back the moment he got in the tub.

The bath is probably hot and ready, too, so I can be quick and finish before she’s done washing the dishes.

Once Masachika made up his mind, he grabbed a change of clothes, hid them behind his back, then left the room while pretending like he was going to the use the toilet. After placing his change of clothes into the laundry basket, he turned around to close the door behind him, just in case, only to find Ayano right in the doorway.

“Whoa?!”

“Allow me to wash your back for you.”

“I knew it!” exploded Masachika, recoiling in surprise despite the unbelievably predictable outcome. “I can’t let you do that, though! We can’t! Think about it for a second!”

“I don’t see any issues. I am ready when you are.”

Ayano didn’t even raise an eyebrow to his harsh rejection while she began undressing from her maid uniform right there.

“What the…?! Stop—!”

But her maid uniform hit the floor before he could even utter another word…only to reveal the swimsuit she had worn when they went to the beach…and a weapon. A swimsuit, thigh-high stockings, a headband, and a weapon.

Mmm… Only a true degenerate could appreciate this.

Ayano proceeded to remove her weapon and take off her thigh-highs before stepping into the bathroom ahead of him.

“Hey, wait—!”

The door closed before he could stop her, and he froze.

“Uh… Am I just supposed to mosey on inside like this isn’t a big deal?”

Judging by Ayano’s behavior today, there was probably no way she was going to back down, no matter what he said. She was most likely going to wait in the bathroom for him all night if she had to.

U-uh… Well, uh… She is wearing a bathing suit…so I guess it’s okay? What was that bathing suit doing at my house anyway? Was it in Yuki’s closet or something?

But other than that one mystery, the fact that she was wearing a swimsuit made it seem as though even Ayano differentiated between swimwear and underwear. Put simply, maybe it was all in Masachika’s head, he was worrying over nothing, and Ayano wasn’t planning on doing anything indecent to him. Even though she may have exposed her completely nude body to him once during summer break, she was probably working hard to make sure that never happened again. In other words, maybe it was safe to trust her and let her do whatever she wanted…

Plus, to be completely honest, her massage and ear cleaning felt so good that I’m actually kind of interested to see how this whole washing my back thing goes, too.

For as long as he could remember, not a single person had ever washed his back for him. Moreover, he couldn’t help but wonder if it would be just as pleasant as her other services. Of course, that didn’t come without a little hint of guilt, but his curiosity got the best of him. He hesitated for only a few moments before undressing, then wrapped a towel tightly around his waist and stepped into the bathroom.

“Only wash my back, okay? Once you’re done with that, you’re outta here,” he demanded as calmly as he could to the maid squatting behind the bath stool.

“As you wish… Would you like me to wash your hair as well?”

“Hmm? Oh… Yeah, sure.”

Masachika lowered his rear onto the bath stool while doing everything in his power not to look in Ayano’s direction. Immediately, she squirted shampoo onto her hands, waited for the water to warm up, then began to wash his hair. It all started with the shampoo…

Whoa… Seriously? This feels so good…

It felt like having your head shampooed before a cut at the salon…except better. Ayano was applying just the right amount of force with her delicate fingers, running her fingers through his hair and stimulating his scalp, which felt heavenly.

“How does that feel? Too hard? Too soft?”

“Just right.”

He closed his eyes to focus on the sensation alone.

Does Yuki get to experience this every day…? Because I’d be genuinely jealous if she did. Lucky punk. But she has a lot of hair, now that I think about it. Must be rough for Ayano…

The euphoric experience went by in a flash, and once again, Ayano didn’t do a single thing he would consider indecent, which probably shouldn’t have come as a surprise anymore. After she finished washing Masachika’s hair and back, she promptly withdrew from the bathroom. There was no “Would you also like me to wash your—?” afterward, either.

…Looks like I got worked up over nothing.

The awkwardness and embarrassment only hit him after he finished his bath and returned to his room. When Ayano said she was going to leave him satisfied, his nerdy mind had gone straight into the gutter. While he was still concerned about her void-like eyes and her calling him “Master,” she was probably taking care of him just like she usually took care of Yuki. In other words, she saw him more like a master and less like an individual of the opposite sex. That wasn’t to say that she didn’t see him as a man at all, since she did consider his feelings and had a bathing suit ready to go. At any rate, all Ayano wanted to do was serve him the best she could, since she was proud of her work as a maid, and yet this rotten mind of Masachika’s couldn’t help but expect something was going to happen…

“Yep. I wish I were dead. ☆”

The impish Yuki in his mind whispered:

“Be honest. You were kind of hoping she would do something, right? You little perv.”

After she kicked his corpse into the air, the angel Maria quickly interjected:

“Don’t blame him! He’s a boy! It’s natural!”

But her kind words felt like rubbing lemon on an open sore, which made him reflect even more on what he had done.

“Master, can I come in?”

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, making Masachika straighten and fix his posture in a fluster.

“Yeah, sure.”

“I apologize for interrupting, but I brought you some warm milk.”

“Oh, thanks. You’ve really outdone yourself today.”

After a single sip, the faint sweetness of milk and honey spread throughout his mouth, making him smile. It was as if the milk even warmed his heart, which unconsciously prompted him to thank her.

“Thanks, Ayano.”

“It’s nothing.”

“I’m not just talking about this… Thank you for always taking care of Yuki, too.”

“…?”

Masachika continued to gaze at the milk’s surface, not even having to look back at Ayano to know she was confused.

“You put everything into taking care of me today…and it made me realize how much you must care for Yuki, too. I bet you work so hard to look after her every single day…so I just wanted to say thank you.”

Masachika’s smile marginally twisted into a frown.

“It was my duty to take care of her, and yet…I failed her as a brother.”

“You didn’t—”

“I did. The reason why I did doesn’t matter, because the fact of the matter is that I pushed all of that nonsense onto Yuki and left her to fend for herself. And now I’m being compelled by some feeling that even I don’t understand to help Alya, not Yuki, become the student council president…so I probably don’t even have the right to thank you,” he confessed with a sweet yet pained smile as he looked up at Ayano.

“But still…thank you. You’re always there for her, and you always put her first, and that honestly makes me so happy. So…please continue being there for her and being the person she can trust the most,” he added, speaking from the bottom of his heart as he gazed straight into her eyes. It was as if a light had finally illuminated the darkness in Ayano’s wide-open eyes…and she smiled.

“You flatter me too much, Master Masachika.”

The powerfully emotional reply had his smile widening into a grin, and a relaxed air filled the space between them as Masachika took another sip of milk.

“This is really good, by the way. Does Yuki like this, too?”

“Yes, it is one of her favorites.”

“It is…? Now that I think about it, I don’t really hear you ever talk about Yuki unless I ask you to.”

“I can tell you countless stories if you wish.”

“All right, that might actually be kind of nice.”

They shared stories about Yuki after that. But around the time Masachika finished his warm milk, Ayano looked up at the clock, then stood up off the bed.

“It’s about time for bed.”

“Yeah, you’re right… Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day, after all. Plus, this drink you made me really warmed me up nicely, so I guess I could go to bed a little early tonight.”

“Really? I could make you another cup of warm milk if you wish.”

“I’m fine. Thanks, though.”

After taking Masachika’s empty cup, Ayano briefly paused, as if she had just thought of something.

“Master Masachika.”

“Hmm?”

“Would you like to use my boobs as a pillow?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!! Way to ruin the mood.”

“Lady Yuki loves to sleep on my chest.”

“Curse that stupid little sister of mine!”

After Masachika’s roar erased whatever good mood there was left, his smartphone vibrated with a single message from Yuki displayed on the screen:

Hey, uh… Sorry.

…Incidentally, he ended up turning down the boobies pillow. He was extremely tempted, but he still managed to decline, thanks to his iron will.