The rain kept falling.
Hina clenched her fists. The fear in her aquamarine eyes was still there, but now it was joined by a glimmer of struggleand a resolve to seek change.
While Hina spent a rainy night in another world, her heart roiled by the truth of her fate and her exchanges with visitors from many worlds in the chat, night had already fallen in Rei Ao's comparatively calm world.
A thousand lights outlined the city. In the warm Kato family dining room, soft light pooled on the wooden table where a family of four sat together for dinner. The air was full of the aroma of home cooking. It should have been an ordinary, cozy scene, yet there was a barely perceptible undercurrent.
Mrs. Kato, a gentle, refined woman, was serving her husband more rice when she glancedseemingly casuallyat her elder daughter, Hiromi Kato, and asked with concern, "Hiromi, you didn't come home the night before last, did you? Were you working late at the office, or out with friends?"
Hiromi, who had been sipping miso soup, paused almost imperceptibly. Her fingers tightened slightly on the spoon. On the face that resembled her younger sister Megumi Kato's, though more mature and alluring, a fleeting trace of panic flashed and was quickly covered by her usual easy, slightly languid smile.
"Ah mm. Yeah. I met up with a friend I hadn't seen in a long time. We talked too late, so I just stayed over at her place."
Her gaze drifted; she didn't much dare to meet her parents' eyes. And of all people, the one Hiromi least dared to look at was her younger sister, Megumi.
Chapter 1,001: Both Kato Sisters in Bed...
Sitting across from Kato Hiromi, Kato Megumi kept that same placid, water-calm expression, quietly eating as if she had no interest in the conversation around her.
But the instant her older sister finished speaking, Megumi's fingers paused ever so slightly on her chopsticks. She then picked up a piece of grilled fish as if nothing had happened and gave a small, deliberate cough.
That faint cough was like an invisible signal.
The Kato parents were perceptive people. Seeing their elder daughter's evasive answer and their younger daughter's "none of my business" demeanor, they guessed there were things young people found hard to discuss with their parents. Thoughtfully, they did not press further.
Mr. Kato adjusted his glasses and steered the topic toward recent news, and the atmosphere at the table soon returned to a surface calm.
After dinner, Megumi helped her mother tidy up the dishes, then went straight upstairs to Hiromi's room.
"Knock, knock!"
She rapped on the door and, without waiting for a reply from inside, pushed it open.
Hiromi was sitting at her vanity, absentmindedly brushing her long hair. Seeing her sister in the mirror, a flicker of tension crossed her face.
"Megumi? What is it?"
Megumi quietly closed the door behind her and walked over. She didn't beat around the bush.
In her usual even tone, she asked directly, "Sis, the night before last you didn't come homewere you with Rei Ao?"
"Pfftcough, cough!"
Hiromi choked at once, coughing hard. Her cheeks flushed scarlet, the color spreading to the tips of her ears. She put down the comb and turned around, looking at her sister in mortified panic.
"M-Megumi! How did you I"
Seeing that reaction, Megumi was sure. She showed no anger or blameonly tilted her head slightly, those clear eyes that seemed to see through people resting on her sister. Her tone stayed calm but carried a strangely soothing power.
"You don't have to be so nervous, Sis. I don't mind."
"But Megumi, Rei Ao he's still your"
Hiromi's voice grew smaller and smaller, her face full of guilt and confusion. That one uncontrolled moment of intimacy had weighed on her like a boulderespecially when facing her sister. She knew Rei Ao was Megumi's boyfriend; what she had done was undeniably a betrayal.
Megumi shook her head gently, stepped forward, and smoothed a stray lock of Hiromi's hair with a light touch.
"Rei Ao is special, isn't he?" she said softly, as if stating a simple fact. "And you don't seem to dislike itif anything, you looked a little happy."
Called out so plainly, Hiromi wanted to sink through the floor. She truly couldn't deny it. That night, though sudden, had left an indelible markpart guilt, part secret thrill.
Rei Ao's mysterious, compelling pull, and the way he could be tender one moment and domineering the next, had shaken this mature womanaccustomed to a crisp professional life and almost blank romantic historylike nothing before.
"I"
She opened her mouth, but no words came.
Just then, their parents' voices floated up from downstairs.
"Hiromi, Megumi, we're going out to a moviejust the two of us. We'll be back later!"
It was Mrs. Kato's smiling voice.
"Mm, got it. Have fun, Mom and Dad."
Hiromi answered quickly, seizing the chance to cover her embarrassment.
With the sound of the front door opening and closing, the large Kato home was left to the two sisters. The air seemed quieterand subtly more charged.
Hiromi let out a breath and was about to say something to change the subject and break the awkwardness when the doorbell suddenly chimed"ding-dong, ding-dong."
"At this hour who could it be? Did Mom and Dad forget their keys?"
Puzzled, she stood, smoothed the wrinkles from her loungewear, and headed to the entryway. Megumi followed at her unhurried pace.
Hiromi peered through the peepholeand froze as if struck by a binding spell. Her heart kicked into a wild gallop.
It wasn't their parents at the door.
It was the very man who had been at the center of their conversationthe one who unsettled her soRei Ao.
Why was he here? And right after their parents had left!
Heat rushed to Hiromi's face again. Her hand hovered on the knob; for a moment she didn't dare open the door.
"Who is it, Sis?" Megumi's even voice came from behind.
"Uh it's"
Hiromi took a deep breath, trying to steady her racing heart.
"See for yourself"
In the end, she turned the knob and opened the door.
Rei Ao stood there casually in simple street clothes that still couldn't hide his otherworldly poise. At the sight of Hiromi, a faint, almost imperceptible flicker of surprise crossed his eyes. Then his gaze moved past her to Megumi, and the corner of his mouth softened into a warm curve.
"Good evening."
His clear voice carried a reassuring calm.
"G-good evening" Hiromi stammered, instinctively stepping aside to let him in, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks again.
Rei Ao walked in naturally. His gaze lingered for a beat on the red tips of Hiromi's ears; the smile in his eyes deepened, but he didn't comment. He looked to Megumi. "Megumi."
Megumi came to his side and looked up at him. On her tranquil face a faint, almost invisible softness appeared. She didn't ask why he had come; in her characteristic, matter-of-fact tone, she said quietly:
"Rei Ao, Mom and Dad aren't home tonight. They said they're having some couple time and will probably be back tomorrow."
The sentence was a clear signal, plainly conveying that the Kato house was "empty"along with a certain tacit permission and invitation.
Rei Ao paused, then looked down at Megumi's calm yet meaningful eyes. He glanced at Hiromi, who, thanks to her sister's words, was even more flustered, nearly tucking her head into her chest. He understood at once.
His smile turned a shade playful, tinged with knowing ambiguity. His gaze traveled between the sisters and finally returned to Megumi, his voice low with a touch of delight.
"Oh? Is that so?"
"Then it seems the Kato home tonight is our 'three-person world.'"
The words seemed to carry a spell; the air in the entryway warmed at once.
Hiromi felt her heartbeat spiral out of control; even breathing became difficult. Megumi remained composed, offering only a soft "Mm," which amounted to consent.
The lights were gentle, and the night was deep.
~~~
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Chapter 1,002: Nakano Quintuplets and Zelel White!
Just as the Kato household's night tipped into a warming, ambiguous "three-person world" with Rei Ao's arrival
in another corner of the same city, a different home was shrouded in gloom.
In the Nakano family's spacious but slightly messy living room, five nearly identical, adorably delicate faces were all scrunched into matching little grimaces.
They were the Nakano quintuplets:
the mature, languid eldest sister, Ichika Nakano;
the stylish and forthright second sister, Nino;
the quiet, reserved third sister, Miku;
the lively, sunshiney fourth sister, Yotsuba;
and the earnest, hard-working yet perpetually inefficient fifth sister, Itsuki.
The five sisters sat around the coffee table.
Spread out before them were textbooks, study guides, and exam papersdensely packed notes and red X's silently telling the story of their shared academic plight.
"Ugggghnope! I don't get any of this!"
Nino cracked first, flinging her math book onto the table and collapsing into the sofa.
"Why does math even exist? It's a crime against humanity!"
Yotsuba drooped as well. The usual bright smile vanished, replaced by dejection.
"Classical Japanese in language class is hard too I can't remember those grammar rules at all"
Miku stared at her test paper in silence, fingers tightening on her headphones.
"The character relationships are so complicated" she murmured.
Itsuki hugged a thick world history tome, brows knit, muttering under her breathtrying to brute-force it through rote memorization, with predictably poor results.
Even Ichika, who usually looked most at ease, was rubbing her temples.
"At this rate, we really might all flunk the year together" she sighed. "Dad's reaction is one thing, but that new Academy we transferred tothe classes are even tougher"
At the mention of the new school, Itsuki's eyes suddenly brightened.
"Isn't there a legendary top student at our school?"
"That senpai named Rei Ao!"
"I heard he gets perfect scores on every single examnever missed once!"
"Perfect in every subject?!"
Nino snapped upright, incredulity written all over her face.
"No way. That's gotta be a lie. Is he even human?"
Miku looked up too, curiosity flickering in her eyes.
"Mm I've heard about him. He's mysterious and rarely comes to school, but he shows up for every examand the scores are unbelievable."
Hands clasped, Yotsuba gazed dreamily.
"If only we could borrow just a little of his study skills!"
Ichika sighed with a self-deprecating smile.
"That kind of genius world is probably beyond us mere mortals. Let's just hit the books the old-fashioned way"
Just as the five sisters were lamenting their courseworkboth admiring and finding the legendary upperclassman Rei Ao impossibly out of reach
something strange happened.
Without warning, a soft yet utterly pure, unlookable holy radiance bloomed out of thin air in the middle of the living room! It wasn't blinding, but it carried an ineffable majesty and sanctity, sweeping away every trace of gloom and defeat in an instant.
"W-what is happening?!"
Nino practically sprang off the sofa.
The other four froze, staring dumbfounded at the light.
The glow swiftly drew in and condensed, finally taking the shape of a slender figure that alighted lightly on the carpet.
A girl with cascades of brilliant golden hair.
She wore a gown of immaculate white, its hem floating, untouched by dust.
A pair of white wings folded slowly behind her, shedding a faint glow.
Above her head, a golden halo shone.
Her features were so exquisitely perfect they seemed inhuman.
Sapphire eyes as clear as the purest skyand within them an otherworldly aloofness, a cool, detached gaze from above.
A serene yet exalted aura wrapped around her.
It was the distinguished angel from the heavensGabriel's elder sister, Zelel White!
"!!!"
The five Nakanos were utterly stupefied.
Mouths agape, eyes round, minds blankthey simply couldn't process what they were seeing.
An angel?
A real, living angel was standing in their living room?!
After a brief, stunned silence, the most guilelessand often a bit scatterbrainedItsuki reacted first. Joy flared in her eyes; she clasped her hands and blurted out:
"A-an angel! You must have heard our wish to do better in school and descended to help us! Right?!"
Her voice brimmed with expectation and certainty, as if that were the only possible answer.
The others were swept up by Itsuki's conclusion; for a moment, they looked to the golden-haired angel with a mix of skepticism and hope.
But under the gaze of five almost identical pairs of eyeswide with shock and expectation (and perhaps a touch of silliness)a rare, distinctly out-of-character expression surfaced on Zelel's flawless, doll-like face embarrassment?!
Her fine brows knit slightly; a flicker of confusion crossed her blue eyes.
"Odd. The coordinates should be correctGabriel's locationso why is there such a massive deviation in the descent node? Directly manifesting inside an ordinary human residence?"
She murmured, her cool, melodious voice carrying clearly to the five sisters.
Sensing the space around her, she quickly detected an invisible yet overwhelmingly powerful barrier enveloping the areaone that was interfering with the normal passage between heaven and the human world.
"This barrier is no trivial thingit can actually warp an angel's descent trajectory"
She lifted her gaze to the five girls before her and confirmed they were as human as could be.
Revealing an angel's true form before ordinary humans was a serious violation of the heavenly codeespecially for her, the angel academy's top graduate known for excellence and rule-keeping. A twinge of vexation and urgency surged in her chest. She had to address this mishap immediately.
With little hesitation, Zelel made the judgment befitting her station and duty. Looking at the Nakano quintuplets, she spoke in a cool, unmistakably authoritative tonelike stating a predetermined protocol:
"According to regulations I should erase their memories now, shouldn't I?"
"!!!"
The words weren't loud, but they struck the five sisters like a bolt of lightning.
Chapter 1,003: Erase Memories?
Erase our memories?!
Itsukiwho had just been basking in the sweet dream of "an angel come to grant wishes"froze mid-smile, terror spreading across her face.
The other sisters snapped back to reality as well, their complexions blanching in an instant.
