Aya

Aya is a Living Painting girl who, like many other people, was drawn into the world of Arbatel by the magic of the Grimoire and was a third year student at the Grimoire High School for a time. While Kimihito and his household girls were trying to discover Arbatel's true identity, Aya, due to her connection to books, was one of the three Liminal girls (alongside Maika and Shii-Mii) they suspected of being Arbatel in transformation, although this suspicion was ultimately proven wrong.

Appearance
Aya is a young girl with fair skin and slightly darker hair that hangs long down her back. Unlike most other Liminal girls, Aya has no special characteristics to indicate that she is a Liminal, and as long as she is outside of her picture frame, she is virtually indistinguishable from a human.

Aya's picture frame is fairly plain and the canvas inside the frame is rather dark but still bright enough to see Aya clearly when she's in the frame. Objects that Aya brought into the picture from outside, such as her self-painted picture, can also be seen.

During her stay in the grimoire, Aya wears the usual school uniform, consisting of a seifuku with a plaid skirt.

Personality
Aya is a very kind and gentle person. She is also a bit shy as she reacted embarrassed and flattered by her girlfriend's compliments and got a shock when her girlfriend jokingly said that Aya might draw a picture of her as one of her "precious memories", which ironically is what she had been painting. While Aya is shy at times, she isn't insecure about that as she showed her picture to her girlfriend as a token of love.

As revealed in Aya's future dreams in Chapter 80, she later wants to become a restoration artist in order to work with cultural societies on the restoration and preservation of paintings.

Skills & Traits

 * Master painter: Aya is a very good painter. As shown in Chapter 79, she can paint a faithfull portrait of her girlfriend.
 * Living Painting Physiology:
 * Picture: As shown in Chapter 79, Aya can leave her picture frame, whenever she wants. She can also bring objects to her or from her picture, like her girlfriend's portrait. It's not known, if Aya could theoretically live independently of her picture, but any danger to the picture would presumably have a negative impact on Aya's health.

History
Aya was one of the numerous people whose consciousness was absorbed into the magical world of the Grimoire High School by Arbatel, although the exact circumstances of how this happened are unknown. Like everyone else, Aya was brainwashed by the enchanted school uniform and really believed that she was a third year student at Grimoire High School. Because of her interest in painting and drawing, Aya joined the school's art club.

Nearing the end of her education (although this was probably just an illusion created by Arbatel's magic), Aya fell in love with one of the female club models after just one look. But since Aya was about to graduate, she felt the pressure to confess her love to the girl, so she secretly began to draw a picture of her to capture an important memory of her time at Grimoire High school on canvas.

Plot
Aya was first mentioned in Chapter 78 when Kuroko Smith tells the three unnamed Liminal girls (a Werewolf, a Vampire and a Frankenstein's Monster) about the Living Painting girl and that they fell in love for one of the art club models after just on look. After Kimihito, his household girls and the MON-team suspects that the Grimoire Arbatel is a shapeshifter, Aya comes under their suspicion since she, Maika, and Shii-Mii, are the only three Liminal girls at the school with a connection to books. Rachnera and Suu agree to secretly monitor Aya to find out if she really is Arbatel in disguise.

Aya appears in Chapter 79, where she continues to work on her painting in the school's art room while watching the girl she is in love with, who in turn is painting a picture of Aya. Aya kindly tells the girl that she is very persistent as she also works on her picture, even if there is no club meeting. The girl happily says that Aya is also here, although Aya smiles and says that she is a painting after all and being here is quite relaxing. The girl thanks Aya for helping her keep painting like this, to which Aya asks why she comes every day. The girl explains that she is painting of Aya, and since Aya is about to leave the school as a 3rd year student, the girl wants to take the chance to finish the picture.

Slightly uncertain, Aya asks why the girl is painting a picture of her at all, since she would not choose another painting as the subject for a painting. The girl happily disagrees and says that a Living Painting is a still life that's also a living portrait piece, which is the best motive of all. Aya is touched by this, but she becomes startled when the girl suddenly asks what she is painting on her own.

Aya shyly says it's a secret, but when the girl asks again, Aya finally reveals that she's painting something that is very important to her, and that since Aya is about to leave the school, she wants to remember something important to take with her. The girl thinks about it and then says she thought that Aya might paint a picture of her. A remark that was actually meant to be funny, but which lead Aya blushing red with embarrassment.

The girl goes on to say that Aya is the most important person to her and that she thought it would be nice if she was also the most important person to Aya. She adds that artists often fall in love with their subjects. The girl then burst out laughing and says there's no way she could be one of Aya's precious memories since the two girls have only known each other for six months. However, while the girl is talking, Aya climbs out of her picture frame and presents her picture to the girl. It actually shows the girl with a warm smile on her face. As the girl blushes with love, the two girls are watched unnoticed from outside the art room by Rachnera and Suu.

Suu asks Rachnera if she thinks that Aya is Arbatel in disguise, but Rachnera admits it's hard to say. In fact, Rachnera isn't sure if Aya comes across as someone who pulled a ton of people into this world like Arbatel did either. She checks the messages from the other household girls with her smartphone, but realizes that they had no luck with their observations either. This worries Rachnera when it occurs to her that none of the three suspect girls may actually be Arbatel.

Rachnera's suspicions were finally proven correct as Arbatel was not Aya but Honma Shiori in disguise.

It is believed that Aya was safely sent back to the normal world after Arbatel released everyone's absorbed consciousness in Chapter 80. Aya may also have been among those who sent a petition to Arbatel, since she developed a relationship with her girlfriend thanks to the Grimoire.

Zoological Classification
Living Paintings are a type of Liminal that looks like a picture, but is able to move within it's canvas. While Living Paintings are connected to their frame, they are free to leave their canvas and walk around outside of it at any time.

Trivia

 * Aya is the third Liminal girl in the series after Draco and Gill who is revealed to be a lesbian.
 * Although Aya is a third year student, it is unknown if Aya's consciousness was actually absorbed by the grimoire three years ago. Since the cases of unconscious persons caused by the grimoire were only known a short time before Chapter 74, it is also possible that Arbatel, using false memories from the enchanted school uniforms, led Aya to believe that three years had passed.
 * If Aya's consciousness was indeed absorbed by Arbatel three years ago, this would have been shortly or at least half a year later after the introduction of the Cultural Exchange Between Species Bill, as this bill had already existed for three years at the time of Volume 1.