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Disclaimer: I don't own Tokidoki Bosotto Roshiago de Dereru Tonari no Alya-san or any of its characters...

"I never thought you'd actually accept my request, Kuzecchi. I'm honestly surprised."

"You approached me out of the blue and asked if I could help you trek through this place. You, of all people, asked me for help. No way was I going to ignore this."

Masachika sent a knowing look at his companion for this time, who happened to be one of the most polarizing figures in their school, Nonoa Miyamae.

Originally, he was planning to spend his morning helping out Alya, Masha, or Chisaki as he had always done, but Nonoa approached him after breakfast and asked if he could accompany her to the forest.

As much as wanted to, he couldn't refuse her while Chisaki was there, because the latter would definitely question him for his reasons why.

And that could only mean that she chose the perfect time to approach him.

Nonoa raised an eyebrow, "Did you expect me to do this on my own, Kuzecchi? I thought we were all about helping each other so we could get home?"

"That's true, but you also could've gotten someone else to help you that's not me."

"Aren't you supposed to be the one who handles most of the physical labor? As if I would choose someone else to help."

"I sincerely doubt that exploring the forest even requires physical labor on my part, Miyamae-san. Why don't we skip the pleasantries and go straight ahead to why you asked me to help you out?"

After a few moments, Nonoa sighed as her shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Fine… it was fun while it lasted."

"I don't think anything about this can even be considered as 'fun'…" he sweat-dropped.

Throughout their time being stranded on this island, the young man actively kept his distance from Nonoa… not because he disliked her or anything, but because of how alluring she is.

Despite their alarming situation, the girl didn't let it bother her and continued to act like how she normally does.

In most circumstances, this attitude would affect the entire group in a negative manner but fortunately for everyone, Nonoa had enough sense of responsibility to treat this dilemma seriously. She complied with orders that were given to her and toned down on the playfulness whenever she had to, and that was enough for everyone.

But he knew deep down, he can't keep his guard down around her. Especially now when they were alone.

Masachika was well-aware of this girl's nigh-irresistible charm, because there were several instances in the past where Nonoa tried to lure him into her game using her own body.

This girl knew that she was attractive and took advantage of it by playing with other males' perception of her. She makes them think that she's a cute gyaru who can make for a hot girlfriend but in actuality, they were only experiments for her.

Nonoa was a girl who had no problem being uncomfortably close to boys because in the end, those people were nothing more than playthings in her eyes.

Masachika was aware of this, and so he avoided her as much as he could while they were here. But he could only do it for so long, especially when he's the only guy around here.

Even if he tries to steer clear of her, it would only cause Nonoa to shift her complete attention towards him once she notices what he's doing.

The last time he was with Miyamae was when he went foraging with her and Taniyama, which was over a month ago. But even that wasn't perpetrated by the blonde, as it was Sayaka who asked for his help that time.

This time, however… Nonoa was the one who approached him, which could only mean that she was planning something…

"I'm sure you know by now that Sayacchi's too much of a tsun-tsun to be upfront with her feelings, so I'm just here to speak on behalf of her."

"I had a feeling this was going to be about her," he remarked.

"Oh? Were you expecting this talk to be about something else~?"

"Not really. From the start, it was obvious that you were going to bring her up. You made sure to ask for my help only when Taniyama-san left to handle the laundry this week, which means that this is something you don't want her to hear."

"I should give you a medal for that, because you hit the nail right on the mark," she winked at him. "I don't think Sayacchi would like it if I talked about this with you."

"Talk about what exactly?"

"You know how Sayacchi's been kind of spiteful towards Kujou-san lately?"

"Of course I've noticed. It's actually funny, because I can still remember what Taniyama-san said about not holding any kind of personal feelings against Alya and yet right now, she's the only one who continues to prolong the problem. Is Taniyama-sama at least aware of the fact that she's being a hypocrite?"

Nonoa shrugged, "Honestly speaking, no. Sayacchi doesn't think she's being hypocritical. She thinks she's justified in being distrustful of Kujou-san. According to her, Kujou-san has been given too many chances by now and she fumbled in all of them."

"Who actually didn't see this coming?" he rolled his eyes while looking to the side. "So what is this about? Are you going to defend her actions and say that your friend is right?"

"Nope. While Sayacchi has her own feelings on this matter, it doesn't involve me. I just wanted to tell you about it."

"Why tell me? You could have just told Alya instead because she's the one affected by this."

"You and Kujou-san are really close, right? Even when she attacked you out of nowhere, you still forgave her. And then after she apologized to everyone, you two were back to being really close as if nothing happened," Nonoa pointed out. "I'm honestly interested in how that came to be."

"Okay, so what? That doesn't explain why you'd tell me about this thing instead of Alya herself. She'd tell you what you want and more," he retorted, while making a mental note to warn Alya about this girl if she ever gets any ideas to approach his pet next.

"I just thought it'd be awkward if I told Kujou-san instead of you. She already knows that Sayacchi has issues with her. I doubt she'd want to know Sayacchi's true feelings regarding her."

He shook his head, "That's not true. No matter what Taniyama-san's feelings are towards Alya, she would accept it. She'd accept it and do her best to make Taniyama-san see differently. She did it before, and she can do it again."

"Even still, Sayacchi's not going to like it if she finds out that I talked to Kujou-san, anyway. As you can see, I didn't really have a lot of options on my end, Kuzecchi."

"Okay, she definitely has an ulterior motive behind this…" Masachika concluded in his mind, before shaking his head. "Whatever you say, Miyamae-san. I just think that it was a waste of your time to tell me instead of Alya."

"Eh? You look so annoyed, Kuzecchi. Did I do something wrong?"

After those words, Masachika stopped in his tracks and turned around, while hiding his face from her. He was annoyed at the fact that he just wasted his time walking all this way when Nonoa didn't need him to help her at all.

"I'm going to head back and help someone else. Clearly, you never needed my help in the first place and you just wanted me here so you can tell me all about what your friend thinks about Alya, Miyamae-san."

Before he could walk away, Nonoa was able to grab him by the arm and keep him there… for now, at least.

"Hey, that's not nice. I asked you for help and you agreed, Kuzecchi. Are you really going to leave me here on my own?" she asked teasingly.

"Yes," he said flatly, freeing his arm from her grip.

"Oh, come on. It was just a harmless talk. What are you so mad about?"

"I'm not mad. I'm annoyed. It would have been better if I was helping someone else right now."

"You don't mean that, Kuzecchi~ I'm not that bad of a person to be around with," the girl insisted. "Okay, I admit that we started off on the wrong foot, but we can still try and work together. That's what matters here, right?"

"I don't feel like it. You kind of ruined my mood today, Miyamae-san."

"All right, to make it up to you, you can treat this like a date between us. How about it?" Nonoa suggested with a smirk. "We're alone in this forest, aren't we? It's the perfect spot for a date."

"Bold of you to assume that I'd even go on a date with you."

"Well, it's not like you're in a relationship with anyone right now, right? Or are you saying that you and Kujou-san have finally stopped dancing around each other's feelings?"

"I fail to see how that's any of your business, but no. We're not in a relationship, Miyamae-san."

"Hoh? If you're not official with Kujou-san, then I guess there's no problem if I do this~"

Like a snake slithering along the ground, Nonoa secretly slipped her arm around his and hooked them together, catching the young man off guard.

"Hey, what the—"

She smirked, "You can calm down, Kuzecchi. I'm not going to do anything to you."

"That's not exactly what I'm worried about…"

"Just listen to me for a moment, 'kay?" she pulled him closer, and Masachika had to resist the urge to blush because of it. "I'm not planning to do anything to you. We can still work together to do this, can't we?"

He stared at her for a few moments, as if he was weighing the options in his mind. He was quiet the whole time and when he finally got to a decision, he sighed in exasperation.

"...if it'll get you to stop clinging to my arm like this, fine."

"I love how you can be reasonable, Kuzecchi. Come on, let's go deeper into this place so we can be done here, and then you can be away from me just like what you wanted."

Without another word, Nonoa pulled him along with her, keeping their arms linked the whole time, which only fueled his growing irritation.

"I literally just told you to let go of my arm, didn't I?"

"If I did, then you'd try to sneak away. Not gonna let that happen, Kuzecchi~" she grinned while blowing a kiss at him.

Masachika could only groan.

At the same time, the master-and-servant pairing of Yuki and Ayano were doing a weekly inspection of the lodge's solar panels, making sure that they were functioning properly and free of any dust that gathered on the screens.

"So how was the talk that you had with Masachika-kun yesterday, Ayano?" Yuki smirked as she performed a thorough observation of the cables under the panels.

"I am not surprised that Yuki-sama knows about my encounter with Masachika-sama," Ayano answered in her usual stoic voice, while she worked on cleaning the actual panels. "Our conversation was enlightening."

"It was obvious when you two returned to the house together," her master retorted. "Define 'enlightening' for me, would ya?"

Ayano nodded obediently, "Masachika-sama showed me how much he cares about everyone, and how willing he is to work hard in order to ensure our safety."

"Ha! That's my brother for you. It must have felt good to hear him talk about all that, huh?"

The maid's thoughts went back to the conversation that she had with him, and she could only agree with her master. It felt so gratifying and pleasing to hear Masachika say all those honorable and wise words that she actually felt herself getting wet at the time.

...yes, that's right.

It's the main reason why Ayano excused herself almost immediately from the talk that they had.

"Yes. It was reassuring to hear Masachika-sama's words yesterday. I feel safer and more hopeful that we will be able to get through this precarious situation, Yuki-sama."

"Onii-chan still has that effect on you, huh?" Yuki stood up while puffing her chest with pride. "Glad to hear it. Looks like it was a good idea to push him towards you, Ayano."

"Push Masachika-sama towards me?"

"It's nothing big. I just told Onii-chan that I had a feeling something was off about Ayano, so I asked him to talk with you for a bit."

Ayano blinked in surprise, while her complete attention was directed to the words that came out of Yuki's mouth.

Of course, while she wasn't exactly telling the truth, Yuki wasn't telling a complete lie, either. She told Masachika an entirely different thing regarding Ayano, but she never told him to talk to the maid himself. He did that thing on his own, although it's exactly what she intended to happen.

"I wanted you to see that Onii-chan cares about you as well, Ayano. It doesn't matter whether you're a maid or not, he cares about you either way. And if I'm guessing correctly, that's what my brother told you when you two talked."

"Yes," Ayano nodded. "I couldn't help but feel aroused and excited when he spoke about how he cares about a servant like myself. I needed to excuse myself afterwards."

"...o-of course you'd feel that way," Yuki sweat-dropped at her maid's bluntess. "But just so we're clear, you're not in love with my brother, right? That's what you told me back then."

"Yes. I idolize Masachika-sama, but I would not ask to be his lover. Simply being his tool would be enough."

"Well then, I guess the idea to throw you at Onii-chan is out the window…" Yuki sighed while his thoughts conveyed something different."Time to give this another try."

Ayano couldn't help but take note of that remark, as she remembered something from yesterday that sounded closely related to what her master just said.

"Is this about what you wanted me to do yesterday, Yuki-sama? That I should become intimate with Masachika-sama?"

"No, no, not really…" Yuki folded her arms and shook her head. "But even in the hypothetical situation that I did ask you to seduce him, I doubt something will actually happen. Onii-chan is too noble and good-willed to do anything like that, especially to you."

"I understand why you would think Masachika-sama would refuse to do anything with me, but I can certainly try. Only say the word and I will do it, Yuki-sama."

"Hoh? What's this?" the Suou heiress smirked. "You just said that you don't see Masachika-kun in that way, yet I see you are quite eager to make love, Ayano. I'm kind of confused. Care to explain~?"

Ayano opened her mouth to say something, only to surprise when she couldn't get anything out at all.

Deep down, there was a part of her that wondered what it would be like to be have an intimate night with one of the people that she looks at in the highest regard, and a smaller part of her actually wanted to find out for herself.

At the same time, this desire clashed with her standing as a servant and the image that she strived to uphold as one.

"I… cannot deny that I feel a certain desire to do this, but only if you tell me to, Yuki-sama. I am your servant, after all."

Yuki's smirk widened, as she decided to push the maid's buttons a little further. "Are you hoping for me to give you that order, Ayano?"

"What I feel and what I desire are irrelevant to the matter, Yuki-sama. As long as I comply with your orders, I am satisfied."

"Is that really what you think, Ayano? You're not thinking or hoping that I actually tell you to go seduce and have sex with Onii-chan?" she probed.

It actually took Ayano a few seconds before she felt that she could respond, as though she was having a moment's hesitation.

"...yes. I am certain."

Yuki observed her expression for a moment, while taking note of Ayano's body language at the same time. "Hmm… well, you don't have to worry. You've complied with everything I've asked you to do so far."

"But you have not told me to do anything yet."

"I asked you several questions and you answered all of them honestly," she shrugged and began to laugh in amusement.

Though she didn't quite understand her master's point, Ayano nodded nonetheless and decided to leave the issue for now.

"I see. If it is alright, can I ask you something important, Yuki-sama?"

"Hit me with it."

"Is something happening with Masachika-sama that is causing you to ask me these questions about him?" asked the maid, noticing the strange pattern of questions that her master was asking her… which were all related to Masachika in some way.

It was normal for Yuki to talk about her brother, yes… but it was different this time. She was being brought into the conversation for some reason, and it made her curious why that is.

"Haha… I guess you could say that. It hasn't happened yet, but I fear that it might actually take place very soon."

"Is the toll of our situation finally getting to him? Is Masachika-sama in need of comfort and sexual relief? Is this why you wish for me to seduce him? If so, I will gladly provide it for him by offering my body. You need not even ask, Yuki-sama."

As if to prove a point, Ayano brought out several packets of condoms and held it up between her fingers, causing Yuki to widen her eyes in shock upon seeing them.

"Do not worry about the possibility of pregnancy, Yuki-sama. I have prepared for this possibility beforehand."

"..."

MINASAN, YONDE KURETE ARIGATŌ! AISHITEMAAAAASUUUUU! *starts playing air guitar*

-Lance