"...Hikigaya-kun, is there something strange on my face?"
Tenshin Gabriel tilted her head slightly, her sky-blue eyes blinking with mild confusion as she pulled a neatly packed bento box from her bag. She had noticed Hikigaya Hachiman staring at her—again.
"There's nothing strange," Hachiman replied, shaking his head lightly. "I just thought… you really do look like an angel."
"Thank you for the compliment~"
Gabriel smiled sweetly, the corners of her lips lifting with effortless grace. She had already lost count of how many times people had compared her to an angel since morning, yet she still accepted it with that same serene politeness.
Watching that smile up close, Hachiman found himself sighing internally.
When he'd only watched her through a screen back in his previous life, he hadn't felt much. But now that he was living in this world—seeing the pre-fall Gabriel with his own eyes—he understood just how genuinely pure and radiant she had once been.
The hardest part about this "make-the-angel-fall" mission wasn't the act itself.It was accepting that he was supposed to corrupt someone like her.
The "Ring of the Fallen Angel" the system promised as a reward came with no description, no stats, no clue about its actual effect. For all he knew, it could be useless… or terrifyingly powerful.
Either way, it made him uneasy.
He watched as Gabriel clasped her hands together, eyes sparkling. "Then, Hikigaya-kun, shall we have lunch together?"
Hachiman blinked. "You're… serious?"
He had already stood up, planning to head to the cafeteria. Normally, he brought lunch for himself and Komachi, but since she was out eating with her friend Murasaki Asougi today, he hadn't bothered to cook this morning. Even his breakfast had been something Komachi reheated before she left—toast and milk.
While he did aspire to be a househusband someday, he had to admit… if not for Komachi, his motivation to cook was pretty much zero.
Sōbu High's cafeteria was decent anyway, and with everyone else eating in groups, a lone meal there meant he could at least blend into the background rather than stand out as that guy who eats alone in class.
But just as he walked past Gabriel, she tugged lightly at his sleeve.
"Wait—Hikigaya-kun! You said you'd have lunch with me."
He paused, glancing back. "That's your own bento, right? You only have one pair of chopsticks."
Gabriel lifted her lunch box, smiling softly. "My appetite's small, and I brought a spoon too."
Sure enough, she held up a tiny soup spoon as proof, then held out her chopsticks to him like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"...I'll pass. That's barely enough for you," Hachiman muttered, waving her off.
Even if she really was an angel, wasn't this level of intimacy a bit much for lunch between classmates? Sharing food from the same bento? That crossed a few boundaries.
He couldn't help suspecting she was playing him somehow. The way she carried herself—calm, polite, socially graceful—it was hard to believe she didn't understand how men and women were supposed to interact.
"In that case, next time I'll bring a bigger lunch! And an extra pair of chopsticks!"
Gabriel didn't seem discouraged in the slightest. Her bright tone made it sound like he was the reason she hadn't prepared enough this time.
"..."
Hachiman didn't bother responding. He simply waved a hand behind him and walked straight out of the classroom.
That girl… was impossible to read.
He couldn't tell if her current self was genuinely that pure, or if she was simply acting.
Tenshin Gabriel. Her name suited her perfectly—pure, innocent, clear as glass.
Back in the anime Gabriel DropOut, it had all seemed like a goofy slice-of-life comedy. The characters were charming, sure, but he couldn't quite remember the exact point when Gabriel had "fallen." Maybe she hadn't actually fallen right away after descending to the human world. The show hadn't gone into much detail.
But now, here he was—with the task of making Heaven's top graduate fall from grace.
Right after being told to "assist the Elf Princess," the system had tossed him this absurd mission.
"Corrupt an angel." Seriously?
And yet, that reward—the Ring of the Fallen Angel—called to him. It had to be valuable. The only problem was, would it still count if Gabriel fell on her own? Or did he have to be the one to make her fall?
That was the real question tormenting him.
Part of him wanted to see her fall—just so he could claim that ring and grow stronger.
In a world this chaotic and unpredictable, he needed every advantage he could get just to survive.
But after spending a few hours around her—after seeing that unguarded kindness firsthand—he didn't want her to fall anymore.
That gentle, warm feeling of being quietly cared for... he couldn't bring himself to destroy it.
In the anime, Gabriel's "fall" hadn't even been that bad. She'd just gotten addicted to online games, became a bit of a slob, skipped class. Not exactly a moral apocalypse. Even then, she had remained trustworthy at her core.
If that was all it took...
Then maybe...
For the sake of the Ring of the Fallen Angel, Hikigaya Hachiman decided—grimly but firmly—that he was willing to bear the sin of tempting an angel.
Let's just hope that ring is worth it.
He sighed, made his way to the cafeteria's automatic ordering kiosk, and selected a bowl of udon. After finding an empty table, he ate quietly, the noodles disappearing in minutes.
Once done, he returned his tray to the counter and began wandering around the school grounds, his "Hawkeye Vision" activated.
Kaede and Suzuka had invited him to eat with them, but since they were usually surrounded by friends—and because he'd been using his ability to scout for "minotaur" targets lately—he had declined.
Through his enhanced vision, a red silhouette appeared in the bustling courtyard below—an enemy mark. A tall, blonde delinquent from the second-year swimming club, named Miwa.
Miwa was heading toward the old, isolated special-use building.
That was odd. Hardly anyone went there except for labor duties—moving instruments, cleaning the biology lab, or sorting books in the library. In short, grunt work.
So what the hell was that idiot doing there alone?
Could he be planning to cause trouble for the Service Club?
The club had only been officially formed two days ago. Hachiman hadn't even told anyone about it besides Hiratsuka-sensei, Yukinoshita Yukino, Hayase Saki, and a few members of the student council.
Still, something felt off.
He opened the "Romance List" interface and tapped on Hayase Saki's name. Her location marker blinked—near the special building.
A soft digital chime echoed in his mind.
"Ding~ Mission update: 'The Swimmer's Girlfriend.'""Would you like to teleport to Hayase Saki's location?"
Hachiman's expression twitched.
That big-chested, small-brained girl… don't tell me she actually went to meet that blonde moron alone?
He let out a long sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
If that was really the case—
Then, yeah.
He was going to have to give her a proper education.