The World Is Mine For The Taking

Before I could argue any further, Ayaka walked out of the room, most likely intending to find Morofuji-san and Morishita-san so that she could bring them back here with her.

Honestly, I had absolutely no idea what Ayaka was planning anymore.

She had started with the idea of getting some rest, somehow turned that into a sleepover, and then apparently decided that inviting everyone else was the most reasonable thing to do.

I couldn't even tell whether she was trying to cheer us up or simply refusing to let the atmosphere remain depressing for more than five minutes.

Still, Leon, or even that maid who had been attending to us, had never specifically told us that we were required to stay inside our rooms at all times. That probably meant we had at least some freedom to move around, as long as we didn't wander into places we weren't supposed to enter.

After waiting for a while, Ayaka eventually returned with the two girls she had gone to find.

Morofuji-san and Morishita-san followed behind her.

Then I noticed someone else coming through the doorway.

Kashiwagi-kun had come along as well.

"I'm sorry," he said while looking slightly embarrassed about his sudden appearance. "I know this was supposed to be an all-girls thing, but having to sleep in such a huge room all by myself is making me feel really uncomfortable, and I honestly don't want to deal with that feeling all night."

I looked around the room again.

Considering how massive the room actually was, I couldn't really find a reasonable argument against letting him stay.

There was more than enough space for all of us, and nobody would have to sleep directly beside someone else unless they actually wanted to.

"Well, I guess that's fine," I said. "This room is big enough that I don't think having one more person here is going to cause any real problem."

Then I looked toward Ayaka.

"I still have absolutely no idea why you had to go through all this trouble in the first place, Ayaka."

"Come on, it's not like they're going to punish us for doing something this harmless," Ayaka replied while giving me a reassuring smile. "Besides, I think Amon-san and Maya-san are incredibly kind, so I'm sure they aren't going to care if we spend the night together."

"Is it possible that Leon is sleeping with them as well?" Morofuji-san suddenly asked.

The question came out so casually that it took me a moment to realize exactly what she had asked.

Ayaka immediately turned toward her.

"Why did you suddenly take the conversation in that direction, Yume?" she asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"I mean, it's not really out of the question, is it?" Morofuji-san replied while looking completely serious about the possibility.

"Well, I suppose it's technically possible," Ayaka admitted after thinking about it for a moment. "But can we please talk about something else instead of trying to figure out which women have slept with him?"

"I think it would actually be more interesting to know which women he's been involved with," Morishita-san said calmly.

"Not you too, Nazuna..." Ayaka muttered, letting out a long sigh as she looked between the two girls.

"Come on, Ayaka," Morofuji-san said with a grin. "Aren't you curious too? I mean, he's a man who seems to have a ridiculous number of women around him, which is the kind of thing that people from Earth would normally only get to see in fiction."

"Well, when you put it that way, it certainly is strange," Ayaka admitted. "Still, are we really going to sit here and talk about his love life right now? In this room? In this place? For all we know, someone could be watching us at this exact moment."

"Don't worry about that," Morishita-san replied in her usual calm manner. "I can tell that person wouldn't even bat an eye if we talked about him, even if he happened to hear everything we're saying, or even if he were standing right here with us."

"Morishita-san seems to know more about him than the rest of us," I said, becoming somewhat curious about the way she had spoken about him with such confidence.

"I have been observing that person," Morishita-san explained. "From what I've seen, he doesn't seem like the sort of person who would even be interested in something like that in the first place."

"Observing him..." I slowly repeated while looking at her.

Morofuji-san's expression suddenly became more curious.

"Nazuna, are you actually in love with him?"

The moment Morofuji-san asked that question, Ayaka, Kashiwagi-kun, and I all immediately turned our attention toward Morishita-san.

For a few seconds, she simply stared ahead as though she were trying to understand the question itself before deciding how she should answer it.

"Love him?" Morishita-san repeated while looking upward.

She placed one finger beneath her chin and tilted her head slightly, appearing genuinely thoughtful rather than embarrassed by the question.

"If I really think about it, I suppose I do."

That answer certainly gave me a lot to process.

Morishita-san was in love?

Of all people, her?

I honestly hadn't expected that answer at all, and for a moment, I wasn't even sure whether she was being serious or simply answering based on whatever thought happened to cross her mind first.

Then again, Morishita-san had always been somewhat strange in her own way.

She was quiet, observant, and sometimes said things with such a straight face that it became difficult to tell whether she was joking or genuinely making a serious observation.

Perhaps that unusual personality of hers had somehow led her to develop feelings for Leon without even realizing it herself.

"But when I think about it more carefully, I probably am not," she added after another moment of consideration.

"She immediately denied it?" I thought, still trying to process how quickly her answer had changed.

It was certainly a remarkably quick denial, although perhaps she wasn't actually denying anything so much as trying to figure out her own feelings while answering the question.

Morofuji-san looked like she wanted to ask something else, but Morishita-san continued speaking before she could.

"Still, I think the biggest reason I'm curious about that person is because..." Morishita-san paused, her expression becoming noticeably more thoughtful as she searched for the right words. "I feel like I've seen that cold personality somewhere before."

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