Satania, though reluctantshe wanted to see Gabriel's embarrassing forced-cleaningcould only purse her lips and let Rei Ao tow her away under his warning look and Zelel's icy stare.
The three headed down the stairs, said goodbye to Raphiel, and reached the corridor outside. Only then did Vignette dare take a real, deep breath. Patting her chest, she sighed with lingering fear. "Whew saved."
"Gabriel's sister's presence is terrifying. I felt like I didn't even dare breathe in front of herway scarier than our school's dean of students!"
Satania immediately wriggled free of Rei Ao's hand. Hands on hips, she puffed out a chest that carried no intimidation at all, trying to reclaim the moment. "Hmph! What's there to be afraid of? She's just an angel! I, the great Satania McDowell, will be the Demon King one daywhy would I fear an angel!"
"I was merelymerely executing a strategic retreat!"
Rei Ao stopped at that, lifted a brow at the little demon whose bark exceeded her bite, and smiled with shameless teasing. "Oh? A strategic retreat? Funnybecause last night at the hotel, someone was so full of bravado, and then, not long after we went in, she"
"Ahhhdon't say it! Master, you're not allowed to say another word!"
Satania exploded like a cat with its tail trod on, her face and neck turning tomato-red. She shrieked, flailing as she leapt up to cover that wicked mouth before he could spill anything else mortifying. Rei Ao simply leaned aside and let her lunge past; she stumbled, and his grin widened.
Watching the familiar roughhousing, Vignette felt a flicker of curiosity at the word "hotel," but more than anything she wanted to shake off the pressure Zelel had left behind. Noting the sky deepening to indigo, she said, "Um it's really getting late. We should head home."
"Mm. See you tomorrow, Vignette." Rei Ao spared the nearly self-combusting Satania and gave Vignette a friendly wave.
Satania, cheeks puffed in embarrassed anger, muttered so softly it was almost inaudible, "Bye ca"
~~~
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Chapter 1,014: Yukinoshita Family
After parting ways with Rei Ao, Vignette and Satania walked side by side back toward the park. Vignette finally seemed to have shaken off the whole Zelel episode and her head was clear again. Something suddenly occurred to her.
She tilted her head, curious, and asked the girl beside her, "By the way, Sataniacome to think of it, you didn't come back to the apartment the night before last, did you? Where did you go? I remember you said you were going to challenge Gabriel."
Satania, who'd been looking down, froze like someone had hit pause. The bright red hair on her head practically stood on end. The faint pink that hadn't quite faded from her cheeks flared into a full, apple-red blush in an instantshe was practically steaming.
Her eyes darted everywhere but at Vignette. Both hands nervously twisted the hem of her school jacket. After squirming forever, she finally stammered in a voice as thin as a mosquito's buzz, like it might give out at any moment:
"W-well II was with Gabriel a-and Master at a h-hotel, we, um s-spent the night"
"A h-hotel?! Spent the night?!" Vignette stopped dead. It sounded like sheer fantasy. Her violet eyes went wide as she stared at Satania, who was about to curl up into a ball from embarrassment.
It felt like her brain had been split by an ultimate lightning spell straight from the demon realmblank. A disastrous, chaotic guess slammed into her mind like a runaway infernal train, shattering the peace of her pure little demon heart.
"W-what exactly did you do at the hotel?" Vignette's voice trembled on its own, shaking with shock and a hint of impending meltdown.
Satania's face was so red it looked like it might start bleeding. She wished she could bury her head in the ground. Her voice got smaller and smaller, barely more than breath: "J-just, you know, regular s-sleeping. R-really, we didn't do anything special"
The more she said, the guiltier she sounded, and the last words all but died in her throat. That "nothing to see here" act only smashed the last of Vignette's wishful thinking like a sledgehammer.
She felt like she might actually faint. It was too much information, too much impactway beyond the comprehension of a lawful-good little demon like her.
"Oh heavens by the Demon King" Vignette pressed a trembling hand to her woozy forehead. Even the street seemed to spin. She needed to calm downdesperately.
Elsewhere, after saying goodbye to Vignette and Satania at the corner, Rei Ao didn't head straight back to his own place. Instead, he strolled over to the neighboring Yukinoshita apartment.
Moving with easy familiarity, he rang the doorbell. A crisp chime echoed down the quiet hallway.
Before long, the door opened from the inside. Standing there was Yukinoshita Yukino. She wore a simple house dress with a cardigan tossed over her shoulders.
When she saw Rei Ao at the door, a clear flicker of surprise crossed her exquisitely cool features, but it faded quickly back into her usual composure. "Rei Ao?" she asked in her clear, cool voice, head tilting slightly. "Coming by at this hourdid you need something?"
"What, I can't drop in just to see our adorable Yukino-chan?" Another voicemore lively, teasingfloated out from behind her. Yukinoshita Haruno leaned out with a smile, her bright eyes lighting up the moment she saw Rei Ao.
Without so much as asking, she slipped her arm through his and, half tugging, half guiding, drew him into the warm apartment. "Why are you standing in the doorway? Come on in! Perfect timingMom's home today too. She was just talking about you!"
Watching her sister practically drape herself over Rei Ao, Yukino's fine brows knit by the faintest degree, a soft blush creeping up the edges of her ears. But she didn't say anything. She simply stepped aside, leaving more than enough space for the two who were practically joined at the hip to come in.
Haruno all but towed Rei Ao into the living room. The Yukinoshita place was arranged with an elegant coziness now, full of lived-in warmth. The scene in the room added a strangely harmonious touch: on the wide, comfortable sofa, Mabel lay sprawled like a lazy cat, blissfully using their mother's lap as a pillow.
Their mother's smile was gentle enough to melt snow as she ran a delicate wooden comb slowly, tenderly through Mabel's long blue hair, glossy as moonlit ice.
"Ah, it's Rei Ao," their mother said when she heard them, looking up. Seeing Haruno leading him in, her smile softened further. "Welcome."
Haruno pouted at the sight of Mabel melting into their mother's lap, jealousy plain in her voice.
"Honestly, Momthese days you only have eyes for Mabel. You treat her better than your own daughters. Look at hershe's about to start purring!"
Their mother chuckled and, with her free hand, gently pinched Mabel's cool, soft cheeks. "She's so adorable, and she's our honored guest. Of course I'm going to dote on her a little." Mabel let out an even more contented little "mii~~" from deep in her throat and nuzzled against her lap.
Yukino watched quietly from the side. She didn't speak, but something like a faint warmth flowed through her cool gaze. Ever since their mother had moved in, the house that used to feel a bit too austere and rule-bound had gained a kind of lively bustleand, yes, more noise (mostly whenever Haruno and Mabel started bouncing off each other). But it had also brought much more warmth.
Chapter 1,015: Night in Yukinoshita Household, Mabel, and Alice!
Rei Ao naturally took a seat on the empty side of the long sofa.
Yukino, moving with quiet grace, poured him a cup of green tea.
The tea was warm, its fragrance curling up in delicate wisps.
Rei Ao accepted it with a word of thanks.
He began chatting casually with the Yukinoshita family.
The conversation wandered far and wide, and eventually drifted, as it would, to the current state of the Yukinoshita family businesses.
Their mother lifted her teacup and took a light sip.
A look of genuine relief and contentment softened her face.
She glanced at Rei Ao, gratitude in her eyes.
"To be honest, we really have you to thank for making the introductions and setting things up."
"Ever since we began gradually transferring our holdings and letting Miss Kaguya Shinomiya from the Shinomiya family manage them, everything's run like clockwork. Things are actually steadier and more prosperous than when I was handling them myself."
She set down the cup, her tone full of praise for their partner.
"That young Miss Kaguya may be young, but she's decisive and sharp. Her instincts and capability far outstrip her peershonestly, even many veterans of the business world can't measure up."
"Leaving things to her puts me completely at ease."
Her words carried the lightness of laying down a heavy burdenand a very high regard for Kaguya Shinomiya's ability.
"Exactly," Haruno chimed in at once.
Sitting close beside Rei Ao, she grinned. "That young lady really is something."
"With her taking care of those troublesome businesses, Mom and I can finally free ourselves up to do the things we truly like and want to do."
As she spoke, she gave Rei Ao a playful nudge with her shoulder and shot him a "you know what I mean" look.
Yukino kept to her usual "silence is golden,"
but at the mention of Kaguya, she gave a slight nod to show she agreed.
Her own ambitions lay elsewhere,
yet she still acknowledged Kaguya's remarkable efficiency and skill.
The living room was steeped in the scent of tea, the atmosphere warm and easy.
Outside, the last afterglow of sunset had long since yielded to night.
Pinpricks of starlight and the distant neon of the city filtered through the windows,
casting a hazy, dreamlike shimmer over a scene that blended homely warmth with a hint of otherworldly fantasy.
Rei Ao sipped his tea at leisure.
His gaze swept over their mother gently combing Mabel's hair, Haruno who kept teasing and flirting with him, and Yukino sitting quietly to the side like a snow lotus
soaking in the peace and warmth far away from turmoil and chaos.
It was a sharpand frankly amusingcontrast to the storm-tossed, nerve-jangling chaos he'd just experienced in Gabriel's room.
The last warmth of sunset slipped completely below the horizon,
and sparse stars began to dot the inky-blue sky.
From the Yukinoshita entryway came the faint rattle of a key,
followed by the soft sound of the door opening.
A tall, graceful figure slipped in, carrying a trace of end-of-day fatigue.
Her smooth brown hair gleamed under the lights.
It was Alicia, who had recently found a job at Emilia Corporation and was working hard to adjust to life in the human workplace.
She slipped off her slightly formal low heels,
moving gently, careful not to disturb the quiet of the house.
There had been faint conversation from the bedroom side earlier, but now it seemed to have settled.
Alicia checked the timelate already
and guessed that Yukino and Haruno had probably turned in.
Even Aunt Fuyuka and lively Mabel had likely gone to their rooms.
"It's unusually quiet tonight" she thought, as a wave of fatigue washed over her.
A whole day of sitting, processing documents, dealing with all kinds of people
it was draining work for her.
What she wanted most now was to wash the day away and crawl under a soft blanket.
On tiptoe like a graceful cat, Alicia glided down the hall straight to the bathroom.
Before long
shhhh
Warm water flowed over her,
washing away the weariness and letting her thoughts unwind.
A moment later,
she stepped out wrapped in a bath towel.
Alicia felt refreshed, and even sleepier.
Towel-drying her damp hair, she headed straight for her room.
Her room was right next to Yukino's.
But as she passed Yukino's bedroom at the end of the hall, she noticed the heavy wooden door wasn't fully closedthere was a thin gap.
What really caught her eye was the warm, hazy light seeping throughnot the usual overhead lamp, but more like a bedside or wall lamp.
And from inside came the faintest, most indistinct sounds
not quite voices,
more like the whisper of movement.
A strong curiosity, mixed with a vague, nameless premonition, quietly seized Alicia.
She stopped.
Almost against her better judgment, she leaned her cheek closer to the crack,
her green eyes intent as she carefully peered in
and with just one glance,
she froze as if struck by invisible thunder.
Her mind buzzed and went blank.
What did she see?!
Inside, the lights had been deliberately dimmed,
leaving only two warm yellow sconces by the bed to create an intimate, private mood.
And on the wide bed with plain sheets was a scene utterly unlike the quiet rest she had imagined for Yukino.
She saw Yukino
the young woman who was usually as cool as a snow lotusher pretty face flushed, eyes misted.
Her usually immaculate black hair hung a little tousled over her shoulders.
She seemed to want to keep her distance, yet her body wasn't quite obeying.
~~~
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Chapter 1,016: Happiness Tonight and Sadness of the Sunshine Maiden...
Alicia also saw Harunothe sister who was always so bold and warm. Right now she was practically half-lying on Rei Ao's other side.
The collar of her school uniform was askew, revealing a delicate collarbone. Grinning, she twirled a lock of Rei Ao's hair around her finger, her eyes full of mischief and a certain eager spark.
She even saw Aunt Fuyukathe gentle, poised matriarch of the Yukinoshita family. At the moment she sat at the edge of the bed in just a thin silk robe, a faint blush on her cheeks, her gaze flitting away in fluster.
What made Alicia's pupils contract most was the sight of Mabelso familiar to herand, of course, Rei Ao himself, lounging there with that lazy smile that seemed to say he had everything under control.
Alicia simply couldn't process it. The cool, distant Yukino, the passionate Haruno, the tender, dignified Aunt Fuyuka, even Mabel how could they all be like this?
The shock and the overturning of everything she thought she knew crashed over her; her mind blue-screened. She even forgot to breathe.
And in that instantwhile she stood frozen in utter disbelief, unable to reactRei Ao, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, suddenly turned. His gaze cut cleanly through the narrow crack of the door and locked onto the panicked, bewildered green eyes outside.
