There was only one Hachiman, yet around Hachiman, so many demi-humans were eyeing him covetously…
"So that means, today you all didn't find a chance either, to confirm with this Hikigaya classmate whether he fell into depravity because he likes you, Gabriel?", Raphiel leisurely picked up some food with her chopsticks and ate it. Although it was also her first time seeing that kind of scene, she could understand it.
The surging, thick, and undisguised life energy of Hachiman was extremely enticing in the eyes of those demi-humans craving help. It was very normal for it to develop into the current situation.
The current issue was how exactly Hachiman had fallen to such a state. Only by finding the reason could they prescribe the right remedy and eliminate the root cause.
However, judging from Hachiman skipping class early in the morning, there probably wasn't much progress on Gabriel's side.
"Confirmed. Hachiman likes me," Gabriel, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke.
"Huh?", Vignette was stunned, and Raphiel's chopsticks paused as she was picking up food. Both of them stared straight at Gabriel.
"I mean, I've confirmed it. Hachiman does indeed like me," Seeing the two of them looking like they misheard her, not quite believing what she said, Gabriel, who originally felt awkward and embarrassed, suddenly felt relieved. After a light sigh, she emphasized and repeated it once more.
Since things had come to this point, she didn't want to keep hesitating or tangling herself up.
The focus now was on how to solve this problem.
"He really likes you, little Gab?", After confirming she hadn't misheard, Vignette suddenly turned to look at Raphiel.
This bold speculation Raphiel made yesterday—she didn't expect it to actually be true?
"He really fell because he likes you?", Raphiel blinked her eyes, her gaze also filled with some confusion and surprise.
She had just said it casually and didn't hold out hope that Hachiman liked Gabriel. She only wanted to mess with Gabriel a little and find some fun for herself.
Even if something were to happen, hadn't she not even started stirring things up yet?
But now it seemed, this matter didn't even need her to add fuel to the fire, it was interesting all on its own.
"I asked Hachiman's good friends and Komachi and the others. Hachiman's big changes are indeed related to me. Everything happened after I transferred in," Gabriel nodded. Naturally, she wouldn't just trust those flashy girls like Yuina.
But whether it was from Iris, the elf princess in need of help, or Hachiman's blood-related sister Komachi, adopted sister Shion, or the impressions of other classmates, she learned that Hachiman had only changed drastically recently.
And the timing of that change seemed to be right after she transferred to Sobu High and became Hachiman's desk neighbor.
"After we transferred in… there's no other reason? We had so many students transferring in together, it doesn't necessarily have to be because of you, little Gab," Vignette hesitated. Even as a demon, she still found it absurd for someone to fall into depravity just because they felt unworthy of someone they liked.
Especially someone like Hachiman, who was helpful and understanding.
"No. Among the suspicious transfer students from the same batch, besides the Satanichia you know, there's only one vampire who likes to stay in the library reading," Gabriel shook her head. She looked around and found that the people who usually came into contact with Hachiman were all kind-hearted.
None of them were suspicious, nor did they have the ability to make Hachiman fall. So, it could only be her.
Moreover, she had directly confirmed from Yuina and the others that Hachiman had fallen for her at first sight and had been secretly in love with her.
Thinking back carefully, when she first transferred in, Hachiman had indeed stared at her for quite a while.
And though Hachiman liked her, he usually just helped her like Vignette, with no further intentions. This completely aligned with Raphiel's speculation.
"Gabriel, what do you plan to do? Are you going to satisfy Hikigaya classmate's feelings?", Seeing that the reason for Hachiman's fall had been found, Raphiel couldn't help but continue asking.
Even though she saw Gabriel, who had better grades than her, being troubled by the reason behind Hachiman's fall, she didn't feel like helping. In fact, she vaguely wanted to add to the chaos.
But she didn't think Gabriel would be that reckless or stupid.
"I thought of another way," Gabriel shook her head. Although satisfying Hachiman was the simplest method, the consequences would be even more serious, and she didn't have such intentions.
Though angels wouldn't proactively tempt people like demons, they all had beautiful appearances and would naturally attract many admirers.
She certainly couldn't satisfy every person who liked her.
Even if Hachiman wasn't just simply liking her, but had fallen into depravity from over-liking her after getting to know her. Such a special case.
"What method?", Raphiel stared at Gabriel with great interest.
"Since Hachiman feels I'm too outstanding and thinks he's not worthy of me, resulting in self-abandonment and wanting to fall, then I'll just let him be disappointed in me," Gabriel slowly voiced the solution she came up with.
She couldn't satisfy Hachiman's feelings, so making him shift his affection to someone else would work.
"As long as you fall even worse than Hikigaya classmate, then he won't like you anymore, and naturally won't want to fall because he feels unworthy?", Seeing Gabriel calmly state her solution, Raphiel couldn't help but blink.
"Pretend to fall," Gabriel corrected her. As an angel, she naturally wouldn't lose her will like Hachiman and fall just because she wasn't worthy of someone she liked.
"This…", Vignette felt it was a bit weird, but also seemed not wrong.
"We can't let Hachiman continue falling like this. If he goes on like this, he might not live much longer," Gabriel looked seriously at Vignette.
The life energy in Hachiman's body was indeed very strong, and it could even recover slowly under normal circumstances. But the needs of so many people like Iris weren't fake. Being constantly and intensely drained like that would definitely lead to serious problems.
Even though she hadn't seen any signs of weakness in Hachiman. In fact, he seemed to be getting more energetic, the more he fought, the stronger he got. But she still trusted her judgment.
"Uh… that's true…", Vignette couldn't help but recall the scene that made her blush again.
From a demon's perspective, what Hachiman was experiencing wasn't extremely outrageous. There were many demons in the Underworld who also drained their partners, like the famous succubi.
Succubi came in both decent and indecent types. The Underworld was so big, and there were many types of succubi.
But clearly, right now, Hachiman was the one being drained.
Originally, they had only agreed to help Iris and Aegis, and once they got pregnant, that would be the end. So when Vignette saw Iris and the others having mutual feelings with Hachiman, she didn't interfere much.
But now it was different. Hachiman not only fell and skipped class, but he was also being eyed by so many demi-humans for his life energy. If this continued, she might have to send him to heaven before her internship on Earth was even over.
"Of course, I'm pretending to fall just to make Hachiman stop liking me and stop falling further. Simply falling might not make him disappointed in me," Seeing that Vignette agreed, Gabriel continued explaining her plan.
"I hope you can find someone more suitable for Hachiman than me, so that he'll transfer his feelings."
"You want us to find someone suitable for Hachiman?", Vignette stared blankly at Gabriel, 'What is going on. How did it come to helping Hachiman transfer his love?'
"Mm, I'll have to trouble you, Vignette, to take care of Hachiman during this time. After I pretend to fall, many things won't be convenient for me to handle," Gabriel placed her hands on Vignette's shoulders and seriously stared at her, earnestly asking.
Just like she couldn't ignore a fallen Hachiman, if she suddenly fell, kind-hearted Hachiman definitely wouldn't ignore her either. He'd try his best to take care of her and help her recover.
To prevent that, she had to make Hachiman fall for someone else.
But since she'd be pretending to fall and couldn't guide Hachiman to like someone else, now it was up to the also-next-door neighbor Vignette to step in.
"Ugh… taking care of Hachiman is fine. Even if you didn't say it, I would've done it… but finding someone more suitable than you...", Vignette looked at Gabriel's determined eyes and still felt it was absurd.
She herself hadn't even dated anyone. How was she supposed to find someone who was an ideal match for someone else?
Hachiman liked little Gab, and little Gab was an angel. How was she supposed to find someone even more ideal than an angel for Hachiman...
"No problem. Anything Vignette can't do, I'll help with. I'll definitely help you save Hikigaya classmate and make sure he doesn't fall further," Raphiel on the side smilingly took over for the hesitant Vignette.
A human who falls because he loves an angel too much, and an angel who chooses to fall to stop a human from liking her.
Just thinking about it was so interesting. How could she not take part and enjoy the fun?
Gabriel's plan might not be wrong. Without using power to distort Hachiman's will, making him disappointed in her, and then helping him shift his affections and rebuild his confidence to walk the path of a winner. That was a pretty good method.
After all, Gabriel was just an intern angel. No matter what, she couldn't just accept Hachiman's feelings because he liked her.
However, once Gabriel pretended to fall, the initiative in many things would no longer be in her hands.
Raphiel couldn't help but curl her lips. A joyful smile appeared on her perfectly beautiful face.
She couldn't wait to help Gabriel fall and find a suitable ideal match for this Hikigaya classmate.
"Hm?", Gabriel looked at the uneasy Vignette and the beaming Raphiel, her heart stirred, feeling as though she might've missed something.
But after thinking carefully, she couldn't figure out what was wrong.
Raphiel was the second-best student at their heavenly school, second only to her. Both her character and ability were trustworthy. Vignette, though a demon, was extremely kind and could be trusted like Raphiel.
Besides, she was only pretending to fall, not truly falling. If any unexpected situation occurred, she could still return to normal and think of another method to stop Hachiman from falling.
After making her decision, Gabriel continued eating while discussing in low voices with Raphiel and Vignette, refining the details of the "fall plan."
Pretending to fall and making Hachiman shift his affection was just the main idea, how to actually carry it out needed more thought.
For example, why she would suddenly fall, how to fall, and to what degree.
If she couldn't make the logic airtight and Hachiman found out she was faking it, that would be so embarrassing.
"Huh? Isn't that Hikigaya classmate? He came to the cafeteria to eat too?", While Gabriel was thinking about how to fall, she suddenly heard Raphiel's surprised voice.
She looked up at Raphiel, then followed her gaze.
In that direction, Hachiman was surrounded by the golden-haired elf princess Iris, the blue-haired mermaid songstress Elliot, and other demi-humans as he appeared in the cafeteria. The group had gotten their food and were carrying trays, looking for seats.
"Hikigaya classmate! Over here, over here! We have lots of seats here!", Raphiel suddenly stood up and waved at Hachiman and the others.
"Uh???", Gabriel stared with a face full of question marks at Raphiel who had suddenly called out.
They hadn't even finalized the fall plan yet, why call Hachiman over now?
Not to mention, the things they saw this morning in the Service Club still hadn't completely settled in their minds. It was still awkward seeing Iris and the others now.
"Here, here! Hikigaya-kun!"
"Shiraha-san?"
When Hachiman and Iris were looking for seats, they heard someone calling out to him. He couldn't help but look in the direction the voice came from, and unexpectedly saw the fun-loving angel waving at him on her own initiative.
'What's going on? This mischief-loving angel suddenly seeking me out, could there be some kind of scheme?'
He actually had a character mission to entertain Raphiel, but he had never wanted to get involved with Raphiel, so he simply ignored that mission.
He didn't expect Raphiel to take the initiative and come to him now.
"Doesn't the president want to go over and sit?", Seeing Hachiman hesitate a little, Iris couldn't help but ask quietly.
She didn't know Raphiel, but she saw Vignette and Gabriel sitting beside Raphiel, and instantly guessed that Raphiel was likely a friend from the same place as Vignette and the others.
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