Just before the first afternoon period, Hayashi Maki finally let go of Yukinoshita Yukino's slender waist.
"Alright, class is about to start. I, the great Demon Lord, will spare you for now. Yukino-chan, you're welcome to come challenge me again next time."
As he said that, Hayashi Maki pecked her on the cheek, straightened his uniform, and left the rooftop.
Yukino glared at him through gritted teeth but didn't say anything more.
With her cheeks burning, she hurried to tidy her uniform skirt and the bow at her chest that had been mussed.
"Pervert… scumbag, shameless! Always bullying people—what a pathetic demon!"
After muttering a few insults, Yukino forced down the strange thrill in her chest, glanced around, and quickly left the rooftop as well.
Once the two of them were gone, a cool-looking beauty with a high ponytail and a captivating tear mole on her cheek slipped out from a corner.
Rubbing her calves—numb from squatting—Kawasaki Saki couldn't help grumbling to herself.
"What kind of people go to the rooftop just to make out?"
"And who's so free that they even dragged a bench up here?"
Saki had already been on the rooftop eating lunch when Hayashi Maki came up. Her lunch was simple: a few rice balls she'd pressed together that morning, with a small box of sauce she'd brought from home.
Not much, but tasty all the same.
What she didn't expect was that just as she was about to leave, a certain familiar-looking guy showed up.
Not wanting to go yet and not wanting to be bothered, Saki decided to sit quietly in the corner for a short nap.
Right then, a beautiful girl—none other than the school celebrity, Yukino—walked over.
To avoid trouble, Saki could only crouch deeper into the corner and wait for them to leave before slipping out herself.
In the end, those two, who on the surface didn't seem to get along, ended with Yukino obediently sitting on the guy's lap.
And Saki was forced to witness their whole affectionate scene.
Saki felt she really shouldn't have come to the rooftop today. She was still a pure girl who'd never even dated a boy.
Why did she have to be subjected to something that stimulating?
Hayashi Maki was handsome—far easier on the eyes than that famously fake-smiling Hayama—and Yukinoshita Yukino was fair-skinned and stunning, a perfect aristocratic young lady.
A beautiful boy and a beautiful girl together—it looked like a scene straight out of a big-budget film.
Saki's breathing quickened as she watched, and her cheeks flushed red before she knew it.
And then her suffering began.
The two of them just kept going—hugging for a while, then kissing again.
To avoid being discovered and dragged into trouble, Saki could only huddle even further into the corner.
Back in class, Saki had no intention of talking to anyone, much less telling anyone what she'd seen.
Right now she was more worried about how to lighten her family's burden while earning her own tuition.
Hakuo Academy's tuition wasn't cheap. She'd worked hard to get in because she wanted a good education.
But she hadn't expected that her choice would make life even harder for her already not-so-well-off family.
Her mother had left to work with her father and only came home once a year.
There were still a younger brother and sister at home, and as the eldest, Saki felt crushed by responsibility.
So she didn't want trouble and naturally wouldn't spread anything about Hayashi Maki.
As for Hayashi Maki—did he really not notice Saki's presence?
No—he knew she was there. That was what made it exciting.
It would also give her a little shock, so she'd remember him.
Whether the impression was good or bad, for a demon like him it was all profit.
If he left a deep impression, a bond could form.
And once a bond formed, he could slowly get closer, sign a contract, and gain a new follower.
Worth mentioning: at lunch, Vignette and Gabriel ate their bentos with their new friends, Shiina Mahiru, Miura Yumiko, and the others.
Chatting about topics only girls talk about while enjoying their food—now that was youth.
As for the idiot demon girl, Satania—who was acting cocky on her very first day—she ran off to some deserted spot to eat alone.
Even with her thick nerves, she noticed that an entire morning had gone by and no one had spoken to her. She'd been isolated!
But Satania-sama is a future great demon! She won't be beaten by something so trivial!
"Eating alone, having no friends—I can still eat just fine. I'm not jealous at all, not even a little… uuu…"
In the end, all that tough talk ended with Satania hiding in a corner where no one was around, crying as she ate her bento by herself.
When she returned to the classroom, she put on a super-energetic, proud look, as if she'd just gone out with friends to eat.
The first afternoon period was English. Gabriel and Vignette looked completely at ease—apparently schools in Heaven and Hell also teach various languages.
English class was laid-back. The bald foreign teacher went over some basic grammar and then had the students push their desks together to form small groups, with instructions to speak in English the whole time.
Hayashi Maki was speechless. He never thought he'd have to keep studying English even after transmigrating.
Annoyed as he was about having to keep studying, that didn't stop him from chatting in English with Kato Megumi and his new friend, the "True Angel" Gabriel.
From time to time he'd pull the two girls into a grammar discussion. In the end Vignette joined them too—she was a studious demon, and when she saw the good vibe over here, she drifted over.
She'd originally grouped up with Hikigaya Hachiman's bunch, but Hachiman was a clam, and Totsuka Saika was… well, very effeminate—clearly a boy, yet shy and bashful.
The other girls were just chatting away instead of studying.
So Vignette jumped ship.
Hayashi Maki quickly became friends with Vignette as well.
After class, he generously pulled out some cash to treat his friends to snacks.
Then he handed the money to Gabriel.
"Gabriel, could you run to the school store for me? I'm tied up with something for a moment."
"Of course!" Gabriel agreed cheerfully.
Vignette frowned and couldn't help saying, "I'll go help too."
The two girls walked out together.
Kato Megumi, meanwhile, gave Hayashi Maki a strange look, as if she were seeing him anew.
"Uh, Kato-san, why are you looking at me like that? Did I get even more handsome?"
Even the ever-composed Megumi widened her eyes at that level of narcissism.
With a helpless sigh, she couldn't help teasing, "I just feel like you're kind of picking on Tenma-san. You could have gone to buy the snacks yourself—why make up an excuse to send Tenma-san to run errands?"
"That's bullying, you know—bullying. Look, all the guys around us are staring at you with contempt."
Hayashi Maki turned to look—and sure enough.
Both the boys and girls were giving him resentful looks, clearly unhappy that he was "bullying" Gabriel.
Even Shiina Mahiru was giving him a scolding look, as if to say he shouldn't pick on the cute new girl.
Hayashi Maki, however, felt no guilt at all.
"I just wanted to see whether Gabriel would turn me down. Do you remember her self-introduction?"
He looked at Megumi and asked.
Kato had a good memory and replied right away, "Mm, she said she wants to make everyone happy. It's a really great dream—she sounded like a completely selfless angel."
"Yeah, it's an admirable goal. But it's hard, isn't it? How do you define 'happiness'? It should be defined by each person, so it's nearly impossible to make everyone happy."
"And people's definition of happiness changes from moment to moment. If Gabriel doesn't know how to refuse, she's going to be exhausted later."
"So I want to try helping her—help her learn to say no."
Hearing that, Megumi nodded to show she understood.
"But what does that have to do with sending her on an errand? Hayashi-san, bullying girls is pretty lame."
Megumi couldn't help reminding him.
Hayashi Maki rolled his eyes. So after all that, she was still stuck on the "bullying Gabriel" part?
No big deal.
He thought for a second and went on, "I'm just worried that if Gabriel keeps cheerfully agreeing to everyone's requests, she'll burn herself out."
"So I asked her for help first—let her 'work hard' for me—and then she won't have to take on everyone else's requests. First come, first served, right?"
"Also, I don't think she really understands how to make everyone happy."
"If she wants to achieve that great dream, I think she has to become happy herself first."
"Once she experiences happiness first-hand, she can empathize and work toward that dream better, instead of treating every request the same and rushing off to help anyone and everyone."
"Humans are complicated. Sometimes helping blindly just backfires. If we want to understand people's sense of happiness, we've got a lot to learn."
When he finished, Megumi nodded, half-understanding.
Not far down the hall, Vignette and Gabriel had unconsciously stopped walking, identical looks of realization on their faces.
"Vigne, humans really are complicated. Looks like I still have a lot to learn as an angel."
"And I've got a lot to learn as a demon. I thought he was just picking on you by sending you on an errand—but he actually wanted you to learn how to refuse."
Gabriel smiled gently, put her hands together in prayer, and seemed to glow with holy light.
"Yeah. Hayashi Maki is a pretty good human."
So the prerequisite to making everyone happy is to make yourself happy first?
She etched it into her heart.
And precisely because of that line, Gabriel later focused only on her own enjoyment… and became a lazy angel.