"Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings In Russian" Was Originally Envisioned As An Isekai Story

Interesting bits of an interview with the series author. So, instead of Russian, it was meant to be that the female main character was isekai'ed. From the article:

In this version, the reincarnated heroine would speak Japanese to the protagonist, feeling confident that he couldn’t understand her.

The twist would be that the protagonist was also a reincarnated person who could understand Japanese perfectly. This humorous misunderstanding was meant to form the core of a short story.