When they walked into the classroom, everyone's eyes went wide.
A chorus of "ooh~" rippled through the room.
Gabriel was dazzling today, and walking in hand-in-hand with Shiina Mahiru—two stunning blonde girls who looked like an angelic sister duo—turned heads everywhere.
Vignette and Satania stared, slack-jawed, at the sparkling Gabriel.
"Gabriel, did you take the wrong meds? What's going on today?" Satania blurted, charging up to confront her.
"I've always been like this, Satania," Gabriel replied with a smile, which gave Satania goosebumps.
Dead memories attacked. At times like this, shouldn't Gabriel be lazy, irritable, toss her a glare and snap back? What was going on?
Vignette immediately remembered the Heaven "inspection." Gabriel must've reverted to her original angel mode to pass. Rare sight—it had only happened at the start of the school year. Most of the time, that lazy look and messy hair had become her signature.
Gabriel's friendly answer and sparkly aura made Satania instinctively take a step back, assume a defensive stance, and glare. "What scheme are you plotting? Trying to act friendly so you can ambush me?"
Gabriel was speechless. This silly demon's inner monologue was too much. She'd just spruced up for the inspection—who had time to target Satania?
With a sweet smile, Gabriel waved her hand. "Don't be silly. I'd never do something like that."
She ignored Satania's twitching mouth and Vignette's stare, and took her seat. Classmates peered at the radiant Gabriel but weren't brave enough to approach.
Hayashi Maki, however, had no such hesitation.
As the student in front of Gabriel, he spun around to admire the angelic girl and reached out to ruffle her sleek blond hair.
"Hey… Hayashi Maki, what are you doing? You can't just touch a girl's hair," Gabriel puffed, pouting at him.
"Sorry, sorry," Hayashi Maki laughed. "You're so dazzling right now it doesn't feel real. I just wanted to confirm you're actually Gabriel."
Everyone—Gabriel included—gave him a look. If you're going to take advantage, at least don't use a bargain-basement excuse.
Envious boys hovered, eager to see Hayashi Maki scolded.
But Gabriel just nodded and said seriously, "I'm still me—no changes. Just… don't touch my head whenever you feel like it. It stunts growth!"
Her playful line made the class both swoon and seethe with envy. Damn Hayashi Maki—how was he not getting roasted for that? She accepted that flimsy excuse?
Kakeru Tobe—long-haired, try-hard peacock—swaggered over wearing a greasy grin and reached for Gabriel's head.
Before he could touch her, a chill pressed in from all sides.
"Kakeru, what do you think you're doing?" Gabriel turned with a smiling squint.
Hayashi Maki touching her was fine—she actually kind of liked this gentle, warm-hearted guy who took care of her. But if Kakeru dared put a hand on her, he could kiss that hand goodbye.
Feeling the terrifying pressure, Kakeru instantly folded. Awkwardly he pulled back and mumbled, "Haha, n-nothing! Just… a mosquito, I was swatting a mosquito. Yeah, that's it!"
He slunk back to his seat.
Snickers—especially from the otaku row—rose around him, and Kakeru felt his face get ground into the floor. Head down, he shot a glance at Hayama Hayato, then flopped onto his desk.
He felt pathetic—but compared with groping a beauty, keeping his life was more important. Gabriel looked so sweet and gentle; how could she radiate something that scary?
"Hmph."
Gabriel let out the tiniest snort as Kakeru retreated. If you weren't listening for it, you'd miss it. An angel's head is not for just anyone.
She pulled out her text and focused. Truthfully, she was exhausted—she wanted to curl up and nap, maybe pull out a game. But she couldn't. For all she knew, her sister Gabriel (the archangel) was watching.
If she got caught slacking, she'd be hauled back to Heaven for "re-education." Heaven was boring—she didn't want a single second of it. So: play it cool. Pass the check. Then back to being Lazy Angel Gabriel.
As she resolved this, a warm hand landed on her head again. Hayashi Maki gently smoothed her hair and gave her an encouraging look.
"Do your best, Gab. I'm on your side."
"Thanks. I will."
Gabriel smiled, eyes squinting into crescents—apparently forgetting she'd just told him not to touch her head.
Seeing that blatant double standard, Kakeru's heart shattered anew—and his jealousy of Hayashi Maki burned hotter.
Hayashi Maki noticed Kakeru's envious glare. But a long-haired, flashy coward like Kakeru wasn't "Red Name" material—no need to care. Just ignore him.
Hikigaya Hachiman rolled out his dead-fish eyes again and muttered, "May all normies explode."
He added a mental note: never let Hayashi Maki meet his sister Komachi. With that walking charm engine and "slayer of pretty classmates," Komachi would be charmed and stolen away in a heartbeat.
And, to be fair—Hachiman wasn't wrong. Hayashi Maki was eyeing Komachi. Given the chance, he'd absolutely make a move.