Observing her friend's red face and hesitation, Hana sensed there was more to the story. With a big grin, she leaned closer.
"Miko, spill the details! Who exactly is this Rei Ao-nii? Come on, tell me."
""
Miko felt embarrassed. But indeed, she wanted someone to confide in about how to proceed. Who better than Hana, who trusted her completely? After a while, she began her explanation.
At first, Miko tiptoed around the biggest secretslike the group chat and crossing worldsgiving only a vague, edited version. But Hana's skill in prying out gossip was formidable; bit by bit, Miko ended up divulging the main points (minus the truly unspeakable parts).
"You actually gave up yourfirst time?!" Hana exclaimed in shock.
"Ughy-yeah" Miko mumbled, hanging her head shyly.
"Gulp." Hana's eyes gleamed with curiosity. Her "gossip soul" had now fully awakened.
"Miko, tell mewhat was it like, your first time? I'm sooo curious!"
""
Miko couldn't bring herself to say a word about it.
"Ugh, we'll be late for class! Let's go!"
Miko fled.
"HeyMiko!!!"
With that, Hana hurriedly gave chase.
Time marched on, and the next day or two were relatively peaceful. Furuhashi Fumino and Ogata Rizu had settled on coming to Rei Ao's place in the evenings to study.
By now, Mafuyu Kirisu didn't bother supervisingthey were plenty motivated on their own, and the sessions were going great. Each time they finished, they still wanted more, enthralled by the sense of really absorbing knowledge.
Meanwhile, it wasn't unusual for them to see Rei Ao engaging in lovey-dovey behavior with various girls in the house. It confused them at first, but they had the good sense not to bring it upjust watching from the sidelines, cheeks burning whenever they witnessed a kiss.
"Thank you for having us!"
Just like always, Furuhashi Fumino and Ogata Rizu finished up, bowed in thanks, and said farewell at the door. The two had barely left when someone emerged from next doora disheveled figure clutching a laptop. It was Gabriel. She waddled over to Rei Ao's doorstep with deliberate slowness, feigning composure.
She asked, "Those girls who just leftwho were they?"
"My classmatesthey come here for tutoring," Rei Ao answered briefly, eyeing her with amusement. "But you're not here just to ask that, right? Don't tell meyou're here to borrow money again?"
"Tch!"
Gabriel stomped her foot, cheeks reddening as she glared at him. "You pervert!"
He'd uttered "borrow money," and that look in his eye told her he was imagining what sort of "interest" he'd demand. In Gabriel's mind, Rei Ao equaled a shameless lecher!
"Heh heh. So why are you here? Or is it just that you need more money?"
Rei Ao folded his arms, smiling mischievously at her. Gabriel's behavior obviously meant she wanted a favor.
""
"II was wonderingcould I stay over at your place tonight?"
~~~
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Chapter 263: Angel's Feet
"Gulp, gulp"
Gabriel drank down the tea.
Only then did Rei Ao ask curiously, "Your own place is right next door, so why specifically come here to crash?"
" "
Gabriel's eyelid twitched; she mumbled evasively, "I just felt like changing environments all of a sudden. Staying in the same place all the time can be bad for you, you know?"
"That I understand," Rei Ao agreed at first, then smoothly changed his tone.
"But for you, Gabriel, as long as you have your video games, doesn't the environment not matter at all? You're lying."
"I"
Gabriel tried to explain, but Rei Ao simply chuckled.
"You're a fallen angel right now, so don't pretend angels never lie."
"Ugh"
Cold sweat broke out on Gabriel's forehead. She really had wanted to use that excuse to slip by.
"Oh well."
Caught out, Gabriel stopped pretending. She slumped lazily onto the sofa, grumbling in annoyance, "Raphi kicked me out."
A few minutes earlier:
Raphiel had been doing her usual cleaning. Everything was perfectly fineuntil a cockroach crawled out of Gabriel's room.
" "
Raphiel's expression went dark. She disposed of the roach with magic, then forcibly dragged Gabriel out of her room, sternly warning, "Gab, there's another cockroach in your room! Until I finish cleaning, you can't stay here tonight!"
And so Gabriel was kicked out. She hadn't dared challenge Raphiel at that moment, so she came knocking at Rei Ao's place for help.
"Ah, seems like you never learned your lesson," Rei Ao teased, recalling the last time Vignette had blown up in fury at Gabriel's sloppiness.
"I have been cleaning, okay?! I have no idea where that roach came from!" Gabriel yelled indignantly. She was lazy, but she did try to keep the place tidy enough to avoid a meltdown.
"Haha, well, it's too late to talk about that now. You want to stay over, right?"
"Mm."
Gabriel nodded, then suddenly looked wary.
"Y-you're not gonna make me pay somegross 'fee' just for lodging, are you?!"
"Heh. I'm not that stingy," Rei Ao chuckled.
"I do have a guest room free for one night, so you can use it."
He wasn't so petty as to refuse her or impose harsh terms. Besides, if he really wanted "perks" from this now net-addicted, fallen Gabriel, it wouldn't be hard in the future. No need to rush.
Thus Gabriel got her wish for a place to stay the night. Naturally, "staying" didn't mean "sleeping." Once she shut the guest-room door:
Game on!
She launched into hardcore gaming mode.
"Gurgle~"
Long hours later, near midnight, Gabriel's stomach rumbled. She realized she was hungry. After a moment's hesitation, she decided to look for food. Surely, with so many people living in Rei Ao's home, the fridge would have something inside?
So, with that in mind, she crept out, heading into the dark living room, not even turning on the lights. Under the faint glow of the fridge's interior bulb, she did indeed see many snacks.
"Gulp~"
They definitely stirred her appetite, but Gabriel didn't immediately snatch anything. Should she let Rei Ao know first? It was after midnight; he had to be sleeping, right? Waking him now would be bad.
"I'll just take a little bit, that's all. That should be fine, yeah."
Consoling herself with that excuse, she grabbed several small cakes and snacks. But when she closed the fridge door
Click!
The living room lights came on. Someone had materialized on the sofa without her noticing.
Rei Ao wore a sly grin. "Gabriel, an angel shouldn't be sneaking food that doesn't belong to her. That stuff you're holding is Sora's favorite."
He'd sensed a stir in the living room, but didn't expect to catch such an amusing scene, especially feeling the waves of guilt rolling off Gabriel, which he found delicious.
"!!!"
She'd been caught. Gabriel froze, turning her head woodenly, forcing a nervous smile. "II thought you were all asleep, and I planned to tell you about it in the morning!"
"Oh?" Rei Ao pointed at her, teasing, "The moment you said that, the radiance around you dimmed a bit more."
She was falling deeper. Lying was making the fallen angel "fall" further.
" "
She was done for. Rei Ao's unique sight let him perceive holy light, so her lie was laid bare.
"S-sorry, my mistake, please forgive me!"
Gabriel immediately dropped to her knees in a dogeza apology pose.
"No problem. I can forgive youplus you can keep the snacks. I might even give you some money. But Gabriel, you have to do something to earn that forgiveness. Some real practical action."
Rei Ao's eyes gleamed suggestively.
"W-what do I have to do?" Gabriel asked, confused. She was feeling a wave of regret
Yes, she was addicted to gaming and had no desire to change that. But stealing food? That went beyond her usual lazy boundaries and made her feel sincerely guilty. It was a matter of principle!
"Remember last time, how you paid me?"
"Last time"
Gabriel glanced at her hands. Indeed, last time it had been with her hands. Startled, she lifted her head, eyes widening in shock. "Youyou can't mean you want my hands again?!"
She imagined he wanted a repeat. But Rei Ao shook his head with a small laugh, pulling her to sit beside him. Gabriel looked baffled as he reached for her socksremoving one to reveal her cute foot. Feeling his gaze, she curled her toes in shame.
"W-what are you trying to do?"
"Heh heh. This time we won't use your hands; we'll use these," he said, indicating her feet.
"Huh?!"
Gabriel immediately tried to pull her foot back. That was absolutely impossible. But then Rei Ao fished out an item that made her eyes go wide: a white panty with a small bear motif.
Rei Ao smirked. "This looks familiar. Must be yours, right?"
"How'd it end up with you?!"
Gabriel's face was that of someone who'd just discovered a perverted thief.
"What are you thinking? I never stole it. I'm not interested in your weird hobby."
He rolled his eyes. "This thing appeared on my face by itself one morning."
" "
That triggered her memory. It must have been the day her teleportation spell misfired!
"Seems you recall. So I'll return it nowunder one added condition. That's fair, no?"
Rei Ao leaned in, his voice tempting. "You've used your hands before; it won't kill you to use your feet this time, right, Gabriel?"
"N-no"
Gabriel still felt humiliated, wanting to refuse. But Rei Ao's next statement sealed her fate:
"I'll give you 20,000 yen to spend on your game."
"!!!"
"Gulp."
Gabriel swallowed. She did want to spend on her game. She was wavering. Plus, Rei Ao wasn't wrong: after all, using her hands last timewhat difference would feet make?
She insisted to herself that it wasn't for the money. Turning her face aside, she whispered, "J-just this once."
"Of course. You said once, so once it is," Rei Ao said with a grin. "Now, Gabrielgive me your feet."
~~~
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Chapter 264: Kei Shirogane
The next morning.
Gabriel had left Rei Ao's place early and returned to her own home. When Raphiel saw her come in, she wasn't too surprised: the day before, she'd said some angry words and kicked Gabriel out, but she knew Gabriel wouldn't actually end up sleeping on the street. Most likely, she'd gone to crash at Vigne's or someone else's place.
However, Gabriel's awkward gait and flushed expression puzzled Raphiel. Gabriel slipped past the entryway and darted into the bathroom.
"Hmm?"
Raphiel found her hurried, flustered manner suspicious. Stepping over to the entryway, she glanced at Gabriel's shoeswhich hadn't even been placed properlyand fell silent.
" "
In the shoes, she spotted some "unusual substance." At once, she realized something and covered her mouth in shock.
Gabriel didn't go to Vigne's houseshe must have gone to Rei Ao's!
"What did you do with Gabriel last night?"
On the way to school, Mai asked in a cold tone. She'd discovered in the middle of the night that Rei Ao, who'd been cuddling with her, had disappeared. He wasn't in the room, and there was nothing about it in the group chat, so she assumed the only possibilities were Futaba or Gabriel.
Rei Ao chuckled, "Mai, are you a parasite in my stomach or something?"
Mai rolled her eyes. "I'm not some mind-reading parasite, but once you know how much of a pervert you are, it's not hard to figure out what you've been up to. So, tell mewhat level did you reach with Gabriel?"
"It wasn't anything too big. I just 'admired' the angel's little feet."
"'Admired?' If that's all you did, sure."
Mai snorted lightly. She'd personally experienced enough to know full well what Rei Ao typically did when it came to these things involving body parts.
"You"
She was about to say more when suddenly
"Look out! Move!"
Someone shouted in alarm from behind. Before Mai could react, Rei Ao yanked her aside, switching positions so he stood in the path of an out-of-control bicycle that nearly crashed into her. He grabbed the bike, holding it firm as a rock. Though the bike was forced to a stop, its rider was flung off by momentum.
As Rei Ao caught sight of the terrified face, someone popped into his mindsomeone he recognized. Swiftly, he reached out to catch the flying rider.
"Waaaaaa!"
A silver-haired girl in a school uniform let out a scream, eyes squeezed shut in terror, clearly bracing for a painful fall.
"Hey, no need to scream. You're fine."
Rei Ao interrupted her shrieking.
"Eh?"
Not feeling any pain, the girl gingerly opened her eyes, locking onto Rei Ao's. She froze for a second, then realized she was being princess-carried by a young man. Before she could speak, Rei Ao gently set her down.
The girl's feet touched the ground, and she hastily straightened her messed-up skirt before apologizing again to Mai: "Sorrymy bike got out of control, and I nearly ran you over. Really sorry!"
Mai waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, I'm fine. I wouldn't have been hurt anyway," she said offhandedly, not mentioning her own enhanced physical conditionand Rei Ao had also protected her.
"But what about youare you hurt?"
"I'm unhurt. It's all thanks to this classmate here," the girl said, bowing once more to Rei Ao. "Thank you so much!"
"It was nothing," Rei Ao replied, glancing at her uniform. "You're a second-year, right?"
Blushing, the girl introduced herself: "I'm Kei Shirogane, a student in Year 2, Class 1. You two must be senpais?"
She recognized the style of their third-year uniforms.
"Rei Ao, Year 3, Class 3."
"Sakurajima Mai, Year 3, Class 2."
After their quick intros, Rei Ao turned to the fallen bike. Kei Shirogane looked troubled: "I don't know what happenedI was riding, and it just lost control."
"The chain's worn out," Rei Ao said, examining the broken chain. "It snapped."
"It snapped," Kei repeated, face clouding. Replacing a broken chain meant more expensessomething her family could barely afford. The battered, peeling paint and old condition of the bike spoke volumes about their financial situation.
"You can't ride it like this. Want me to help push it for you?"
"Eh? N-no, I don't want to bother you, senpai. I can manage"
Mai interjected, "It's fine. Rei Ao's stronglet him do it." Giving Rei Ao a glance that clearly said, 'This is your punishment for being such a flirtbe a dog.' Then she took Kei's hand and walked on. Sometimes Mai's little sulking habits made Rei Ao shake his head and chuckle.
