Utaha decided to let it go.
After all, it was undeniable that the cat-calming technique Akira had almost completely copied worked wonders on her too—and judging by Kuro's blissful purring, it clearly felt great.
It even made her think... Maybe being a cat wouldn't be so bad.
To avoid overthinking, she hugged the bag with her laptop and headed upstairs.
Meanwhile, Nanami finished preparing dinner and stepped out of the kitchen.
As she put on her gloves to return to her "complete form," she asked, "Has Miss Kasumigaoka arrived?"
"She's upstairs," Akira replied, opening his mouth to call out—since there were cat tunnels everywhere in the house, the soundproofing wasn't great, so a loud shout would surely reach.
But Nanami stopped him.
"That would be too impolite, Ogiwara-san. Miss Kasumigaoka is a guest today. Please allow me to go instead."
The shout stuck in Akira's throat.
Watching Nanami head upstairs, he suddenly felt something was off.
Wasn't this obedient maid a bit too quick to "correct" her master?
...
"The so-called obedience does not mean absolute submission in all circumstances.
When a master clearly makes a mistake, the maid has the duty to advise and stop him. To watch silently as he falls into ruin is not loyalty—it is negligence and indulgence."
Recalling Hayasaka Ai's teachings, Nanami went upstairs and knocked on Utaha's door.
"Miss Kasumigaoka, dinner is ready. You may come down to eat now."
There was a moment of silence inside. Then came hurried footsteps. The door opened the instant the sound reached it.
Looking at the girl before her—completely unfamiliar aside from the face—Utaha was visibly shocked.
If not for the familiar tone in that calm and polite voice, she would have thought Akira had hired a new maid.
Even seeing her face to face now, Utaha's doubts only deepened. Her first reaction was: Does Nanami have a twin sister?
"Miss Aoyama?" Utaha asked, uncertainty addressing the elegant maid before her.
"Yes, it's me." Nanami gave a slight nod.
"Nanami?"
"Yes, Miss Kasumigaoka."
"Wait, what's with this change? Were you traumatized or something yesterday?"
Utaha had seen Nanami before during a previous visit. She knew Nanami was undergoing maid training and had already noticed her posture and manner improving noticeably.
But this—this wasn't just a rapid improvement or a major transformation.
This was a mutation.
To bring about such a radical change in such a short time, Utaha could only think of one reason—she must've been emotionally shaken.
Did something happen at the fireworks festival last night?
As she pondered this, Nanami gave a response filled with its own doubt.
"It's merely the result of my maid training. And speaking of yesterday, wasn't it you who accompanied Ogiwara-san?"
"...Huh?" Utaha froze.
Seeing her reaction, a faint shift appeared on Nanami's normally calm face. "Wasn't it?"
At nearly the same moment, Utaha asked in return, "Wasn't it you?"
They stared at each other in silence for a moment. The atmosphere instantly turned awkward.
"Where are they? Aren't they coming down for dinner?" Akira called from downstairs.
Utaha quickly grabbed Nanami's hand and called back, "Just a minute, I need Miss Aoyama's help with something!"
Nanami said nothing, silently allowing the lie, and let Utaha pull her into the room and close the door.
"Hmm... let me think," Utaha rubbed her forehead, her wine-red eyes half-lidded.
"Yesterday, he thought I wouldn't show up, so he made other plans. I assumed it was with you, but he never answered directly—so I guess technically he didn't lie."
Nanami began realizing things might not be as she imagined. "Other plans? He originally invited you?"
"Yes. Watching the fireworks was the price I paid for something. But when that thing fell through, the payment was nullified, so he figured I wouldn't go."
Now Nanami understood what Akira meant when he said "a twist of fate." "So yesterday, Ogiwara-san went with someone else…"
Utaha rested her chin on her fingers, thinking for a moment before saying, "No, I actually suspect he went alone."
"Why?"
"If he were the type to just ask anyone, he wouldn't know the loneliness of watching fireworks alone. But lately, has he been seeing any other women frequently?"
Nanami thought about it and realized—not really.
Over time, she'd come to understand Akira's daily rhythm. He usually didn't get up until noon, and she got home around four in the afternoon.
That didn't leave much time for going out. And when she left in the evenings, he never looked like he had plans to go out later either.
Going out for a date that late would be strange.
"But if that's the case, then why tell Miss Utaha he already had plans?"
"What else?" Utaha gave a disgruntled hum. "It must've been another of those 'what's the price?' things. Your master can be very stubborn about some things."
"Mm...?"
Nanami didn't fully understand that, but in her mind, Utaha—already a published light novel author—was clearly someone impressive. Her words naturally carried weight.
"Of course, there's still a chance he went with someone else. It's just less likely," Utaha added, then shook her head.
"Anyway, what does it have to do with me?"
Hearing that last sentence, Nanami began wondering—did it have something to do with her?
According to Miss Hayasaka's teachings, a personal maid should be very familiar with her master's private life.
Sometimes, she might even have to stand guard for him.
Though for some reason, Hayasaka had never told her exactly when such a thing would happen—but… at the very least, she should understand it, right?
Seeing Utaha turn to leave the room, Nanami followed behind.
So when the two of them finally came downstairs, Akira could vaguely sense… their gazes at him were a bit odd.
"What took so long?" he asked.
"My computer had some issues, so I asked Miss Aoyama to take a look at it," Utaha replied without batting an eye.
"Got it working?"
"Yes."
Akira didn't quite buy it. After all, the way they looked at him coming down felt off. And he hadn't put anything weird on Utaha's laptop...
Given her past finances and schedule, he doubted she was particularly tech-savvy.
"You know how to fix computers?" Akira asked Nanami.
On that point, she could answer honestly. "Yes, Miss Hayasaka taught me. She said as a maid, I should know how to assemble my own PC."
The moment Hayasaka's name came up, Akira had no more questions.
With her all-purpose skills, she could probably do anything—even hacking wouldn't surprise him.
Nanami returned to the kitchen, brought out the dishes one by one, laid out the utensils, and sat down herself.
While a maid usually wouldn't dine with her master, the rules in this house were clearly different.
Then she thought, since a maid had such a close relationship with her master, and Akira was someone straightforward, she shouldn't beat around the bush.
If she wanted to ask something, she should just ask.
So she asked directly, "Ogiwara-san, who exactly did you go to the fireworks festival with last night?"
As Utaha looked on with great interest, Akira's hand twitched, and the food he was picking up dropped back into the dish.
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