The white cotton fabric in his hand was still warm—faintly scented, too.
Catching the moment when no one was looking, Hayashi Maki met Vignette's eyes just as she glanced over, and he felt instantly awkward.
He might be a bit lewd, but he wasn't about to fiddle with a girl's panties in public. That's the kind of thing only that pervy degenerate Kazuma from that "KonoSuba" would do!
Going by the philosophy "if I'm not embarrassed, someone else will be," he broke eye contact with Vignette, gave a couple of fake coughs, and calmly stuffed the warm, sweet-smelling fabric into his school uniform pocket.
Vignette just stared, stunned—her cheeks tinged pink.
Inwardly, though, she griped: That's definitely Gabriel's!
Honestly—she told her to come to school, and Gabriel sent a pair of panties in her place.
Also, for a human, Hayashi Maki is way too sharp—he even snatched them right out of the air…
If they'd been hers, Vignette felt her brain would've gone blank from instant mortification.
Ugh, now what—she was coming down with a severe case of secondhand embarrassment for Gabriel.
When afternoon classes ended, Vignette headed straight back to Gabriel's place.
As for how she got in—easy. She'd made herself a spare key. Gabriel had called it a crime, but hadn't really tried to stop her. Obviously, Gabriel actually liked having a friend who looked out for her like Vignette.
An angel and a demon becoming friends—this world just kept getting stranger.
Seeing a suspicious bump under the quilt, Vignette rubbed her forehead with a helpless sigh.
"Gab, even if you don't want to go to class, this is a bit much. Don't tell me you plan to send your panties to school in your place from now on?"
At that, the slightly reclusive Gabriel flung off the covers and jumped out. "Of course not! Who would even think that?"
Eyes squeezed shut, her face burned bright red—mortified to the max.
"Vigne, it's over. My panties made a glorious debut at school! Ugh, how am I supposed to show my face there again? I should just die!"
Watching Gabriel spiral, Vignette gave her a sympathetic look and waved a hand.
"It's not that serious. If you don't say anything, who would know they're yours?"
Gabriel pulled a long face. "Of course they're mine! They appeared right on my seat—who else could they belong to?"
Vignette's mouth twitched. "Er… I do feel for you, but it's already happened. No amount of regret will undo it."
Hearing that, Gabriel tossed the quilt aside, hopped off the bed, pulled out a golden horn, and wore a completely unhinged expression.
"Damn it! If that's how it is, I've only got one option!"
Vignette jolted. "Hey, what are you doing? Isn't that the horn that proclaims the end of the world? Are you trying to wipe out humanity?"
Gabriel raged, "At this point it's the only way! If I silence everyone who saw, I won't have to be embarrassed!"
Vignette hurried to stop her. "Calm down, Sloth Angel. Blowing that horn recklessly will have way worse consequences!"
Why was a world-ending horn in the hands of an angel like this? Don't the angels have any oversight?
"Uuu… but I'm so embarrassed, Vignette. I can't face anyone."
Gabriel set the horn down, shoulders slumping, shamefaced. Vignette patted her head to comfort her.
"Okay, it's really not that bad. The situation was special—your panties appeared and Hayashi Maki grabbed them immediately and stuffed them in his pocket. Other than me—since I'm sensitive to spatial ripples—he's the only one who saw."
Hearing that, Gabriel's eyes lit up and she sprang to her feet.
"Hey, Gab, where are you going?"
"Obviously to silence him. My panties are still with him, right? I'll kill him and then no one will know!"
Vignette grabbed her around the waist to stop her.
"Stop thinking about killing people! Are you a demon or what? And Hayashi Maki is a friend—a friend! You could actually bring yourself to kill him?"
Gabriel's face went from red to white and back again. She couldn't, of course—Hayashi Maki was one of her few male human friends, and like Vignette, he looked out for her at school. Even as a slothful angel who cared about little beyond enjoying life, Gabriel still knew who treated her well.
"Ugh, why did it have to be him?"
She slumped to the floor in defeat, cheeks blazing. How was she supposed to face Hayashi Maki now? And how was she supposed to get her panties back? If she went to ask, wouldn't that expose that she was an angel?
Vignette pouted. "You should be grateful it was him. Good thing he's quick—if anyone else had seen, you'd be even more embarrassed!"
"Tch, whatever. I'm done thinking about it. I'm going back to my game!"
Throwing in the towel, Gabriel booted up her PC and cheerfully started gaming again.
Vignette was even more speechless. Why did I rush over to comfort you, exactly? Still, seeing Gabriel refrain from recklessly blowing the horn, she felt relieved. This lazy angel—she really was impossible to leave unattended.
Even as she numbed herself with games to dull the embarrassment, Gabriel's heart wasn't calm. After spending time online lately, she'd learned a few things about humans. Human men could be pretty lewd.
So that guy Hayashi Maki, with her panties in his hand… he wouldn't do anything weird with them, would he?
Elsewhere, Hayashi Maki wasn't doing anything strange at all. He simply put the unexpected item into a box under his bed as a keepsake. He figured Gabriel wouldn't ask for it back anyway, so collecting it was the only option.
…
Watching Gabriel hammer away at her keyboard, Vignette sighed and shook her head.
"Gab, you skipped today's math quiz—that's really bad for your evaluation, isn't it? You angels must have some way of tracking your performance on Earth, right? If you're too lazy, you really will get sent back to Heaven!"
At that, Gabriel's shoulders trembled. She didn't care about scores; she just didn't want to be sent back. Deportation meant she'd be grounded and never allowed down again.
The thought of a future with no games, no snacks, and endless courses on 'bringing happiness to everyone' made her physically ill.
"What a pain. Fine, I'll go to school tomorrow. Vigne, we've still got time—how about you game with me? It's really fun!"
"No way. I'm not rotting my brain. You lazy angel—falling from grace and trying to drag this demon down with you."
Vignette shook her head hard. Looking at Gabriel's slouch, she had zero interest in games at all.