Falling Together
Chapter 3: The Duel Prologue
"Wh-what do you mean, a d-date!?" Tapris cried, her face the picture of confusion. "Tenma-senpai and Tsukinose-senpai- go on a d-date!?" The innocent angel fell to her knees, beginning to redden and hyperventilate at the thought. "B-but angels and demons can't love each other! That's forbidden love!"
For a moment she continued to panic, but her breathing screeched to a stop when she felt a hand. Glancing over her shoulder, Tapris found Kurona slowly rubbing her back, concern filling what could be seen of the demon's face as she said, "Breathe, Chisaki..."
Pausing to sigh before leaning back into Kurona's touch, the angel began to take deep, slow breaths before saying, "Thank you, Kurona-san; I feel a lot better now..."
Watching with a nonplussed expression as the quiet demon nodded with a light dusting of color touching her cheeks, Satania asked, "So if a demon and an angel being together is forbidden love, then what are you guys are doing?"
Tapris turned to the haughty demon with her brow furrowed in conviction as she replied, "Me and Kurona-san aren't like that! We're not even friends!" Pausing to cross her arms and nod with a serious air, Tapris continued, "Kurona and I are merely have an unshakeable bond with one another forged both in heaven and hell! Nothing like that at all!"
As Satania opened her mouth to reply, her confusion only deepening as she considered this dubious line of logic, she found her voice silenced as Raphiel's hand closed over her mouth. "Not a word, Satania-san," the ill intentioned angel said, a dark shadow falling across her face. "It's more fun if they find out on their own, isn't it?" The demon merely squealed, her eyes filling with fear as she otherwise fell silent.
The demon now pacified, Raphiel turned her gaze to Tapris as she asked, "I presume we will have your support in this, Tap-chan?"
"Absolutely not!" The younger angel declared, crossing her arms into an 'x'. "There's no way I could support a romance between a demon and an angel!"
Cocking a mocking eyebrow, Raphiel asked, "Oh? But you still haven't told Kurona-san to stop rubbing...?" With a chuckle, the sadistic angel mentally added, well, I might have told Satania not to ruin it, but it's alright to play with them at least a little bit, yes?
Pausing to squeal and shake Kurona off of her, the excitable angel rose to her feet and asked, "Why are you trying to do this anyway!?"
With a malicious grin, Raphiel replied, "Well, you see..."
...
"...and thus, I came up with the 'Get Gab-chan and Vigne-san Together!' sche-excuse me, I mean, the 'Get Gab-chan and Vigne-san Together!' plan." The angel concluded, holding up an informative finger as she asked, "So... any questions?"
"Yes!" Tapris declared, her face a bright, flustered red as her hand shot up. "Why are we trying to get them together!?" Glancing off to the side, she quietly added, "I mean, I get why they could be, but... why are we helping them...?"
Raphiel smiled, a sharp glint in her angelic eyes as she answered, "I have been thinking, and as far as I can tell, we have two choices: either convince Gab-chan to fall in love with Vigne-san, or convince Vigne-san to give up on Gab-chan." Folding her hands as she closed her eyes in prayer, the manipulative angel asked, "And if the Lord should lay so easy a path to follow as convince Gabriel to fall in love with Vignette, have we any choice but to accept it with gracious and thankful hearts? After all, what He put together let neither angelic nor demonic hands pull apart, yes?"
Her blush dialing down just slightly as she glanced away, Tapris muttered, "Well, I guess when you put it like that, there's no real choice, is there...?" Lifting her gaze to Raphiel, the younger angel asked, "So what should we do, then...?"
Her smile stretching ever wider, Raphiel replied, "We'll have Satania-san take care of it, of course!"
"WHAT!?" Two voices cried out at once.
...
Satania and Tapris both kneeled speechless before Raphiel, their mouths agape and their eyes blank in confusion. After a moment, Satania shouted out, "Wait, what!? I am the great Satanichia Kurumizawa McDowell, the future demon king of all of Hell! My time is a valuable resource, not to be wasted on such petty things as arranging a date for my archrival!" With a quiet tch!, she concluded, "How dare you even consider wasting my time with such trivial nonsense!?"
"Oh? But it is exactly because you are the great Satania-sama!" Raphiel replied, raising her hand to hide her wicked smile. "Surely arranging something so trivial as a date is nothing for one as truly wise as you!"
Blushing slightly at the unexpected compliment, Satania glanced away as she muttered, "Uh... well... when you say it like that..." Pausing to collect herself, she began to grin once more as she lifted her face, saying, "Of course not! Nothing is beyond the power of a great one such as I, and a lowly request this simple would require but a fraction of my strength!"
Tapris's hand shot up, the angel's face a flustered, defiant mess as she blurted, "Absolutely not! Tenma-senpai and Tsukinose-senpai d-dating is one thing, but going on a date arranged by this wicked King of Demons!?" Shaking her head, she furrowed her brow in determination as she continued, "Absolutely not! As if I could ever allow such a blasphemous thing to occur!" Her face fell and a blush rose to her cheeks as she stammered out, "T-there's n-no telling what sort of messed-up things she could trick Tenma-senpai and Tsukinose-senpai into doing! She could get them to hug or hold hands or even kiss!" Her voice dropping to a murmur and her blush creeping further and further across her face, Tapris concluded, "And then, after that... they could get led astray down bad streets... and then they would go to bad places... but then they'd get caught up in the atmosphere, and then...!"
As the innocent angel squealed, covering her face in shame as she knelt down once more, Raphiel stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "As fun-I mean, dastardly-as that would be, you won't have to worry about it at all, Tap-chan!" The sadistic angel said, a bright smile on her face. "I knew you wouldn't be alright with this arrangement, so I devised a contest!"
"A contest?" The innocent angel repeated, starting to rise from the ground. "What kind of contest?"
Her smile stretching into something far more sinister, Raphiel replied, "Why, the great 'Gab-chan and Vigne-san Date of a Lifetime!' contest, of course!" Folding her hands in excitement, she explained, "Both of you will take turns setting up a date between Gab-chan and Vigne-chan, and whoever designed the date they like the best will be declared the winner!" With a wink and a raised index finger, she added, "I'll be working with Satania-san to make sure that she doesn't take things too far, so to keep things fair, Kurona-san will be helping you out, Tap-chan!"
"A contest, eh?" Satania said, rubbing her chin with a smug grin. "Well, I hope you're prepared for the shame I'm about to visit upon you, foolish angel!" She punctuated her statement with a wicked cackle, turning away before concluding, "This will end the same as any other time, so look forward to it!"
This said, the demon began to saunter off with Raphiel in tow. Glancing over her shoulder at the younger pair, the angel called out, "We'll speak again when our plans are completed! I wish good fortune upon you all!"
Gritting her teeth, Tapris silently swore to finally defeat Satania in this contest before turning to Kurona, surprised to find the demon's lone visible eye sparkling. Slightly flustered by the typically reserved demon's excitement, Tapris stuttered out, "A-anyway, lunch break will be ending soon, so we had better go find Shinohara-san."
Nodding in response, Kurona followed Chisaki in her search for Shinohara; although it may have been a trick of light, passers-by would have sworn she was skipping after her friend.
...
Gabriel's gaze zipped around the lunchroom, seeking any oddity or object of passing interest that would keep her from looking at Vignette. The demon in question was not being particularly conductive to this goal, however; she sat across the table, staring intensely at the angel's face with her brow wrinkled in concern, not moving her own gaze for a second.
Geez, Satania, Gabriel fumed, screwing her eyes shut to avoid catching a glimpse of Vignette. Where are you when I really need you, huh!? I told you this was your fault, but you just rush off at the first chance you get! With a heavy sigh, she concluded, I knew that demon was useless, but this is a little much, isn't it?
Finally finding the awkward silence unbearable, Vignette began, "So... what happened this morning, exactly?" With a frown, she added, "I know I already said this, but my being late this morning wasn't your fault, alright?"
Gabriel sighed as she answered, "Look, I already said that's not what it is. It's just..." For a moment she sat silent once more, still refusing to look at Vignette. Finally, she opened her eyes and turned to the demon, something uncertain and insecure in her gaze as she said, "It's just... Listen..." Pausing again, she seemed to steel herself and call forth all her courage before continuing, "Hey, Vigne... what do you think of me?"
Blinking, the demon cocked her head, confused at the angel's sudden shift in attitude and the unexpected question. After mulling it over for a moment, she replied, "Well... you're my friend, right? Sure, you're kind of a lazy slob who can't really take care of herself-" Gabriel winced at this, nevertheless nodding in agreement as her friend continued, "-but none of that changes the fact that I care about you. I want to see you happy and doing well, and sure, that means I worry about you a lot, but..." Scratching her cheek in uncertainty, she concluded, "All of that just adds to your charm, I guess?" Glancing away in embarrassment, she said, "Geez, making me say all those embarrassing things... What's this about, anyway? You're not starting to worry about you being an angel and me being a demon or something, right?"
The angel shook her head, an inscrutable expression on her face as she said, "Nah, of course not. Y'see, it's... y'know what, nevermind." Glancing away from Vignette once more, she continued, "We should probably get out of here; it's almost time for the next class."
Vignette said nothing, simply nodding her assent before standing up and following the angel out of the lunchroom.
...
Rubbing her temples in frustration, Gabriel said, "Explain just how me going on a date with Vigne improves this situation at all."
The angel found herself standing outside her homeroom, having been cornered by Satania and Raphiel after class. With Vignette still talking with the teacher about a piece of homework she was having trouble understanding-a piece of homework which Gabriel herself had neglected to do-Raphiel had decided that now was the perfect time to explain her plan to the slothful angel.
With a cheerful smile, the sadistic angel answered, "It's obvious, isn't it? We think Vigne loves you, but we need to be sure! Humans use dates to assess how someone feels about them all the time, so with this, you'll quickly be able to uncover the truth!" Her smile shifting to a sadistic smirk, she mentally added, Of course, if this works correctly, you'll be forced to realize how you feel about Vigne-chan! Hugging herself in delight, she continued, That will be so much fun! And I even managed to convince Tap-chan and Satania-san to compete over this! It's the perfect plan!
Watching her begin to giggle maniacally, Gabriel frowned, an otherwise deadpan expression on her face as she asked, "You're thinking of something stupid, aren't you?" With a sigh, she continued, "Whatever. It's not like it's gonna cause me any trouble, I guess, but don't go overboard, alright?"
"Don't go overboard with what?"
The trio turned with surprised, guilty eyes to find Vignette watching them, polite interest in her face.
After a moment of awkward silence, Gabriel cleared her throat before answering, "It's nothing, don't worry about it." As Vigne's eyebrow shot up in suspicion, the angel coughed again, saying, "Anyway, we should get ready for the next class. See you later, Raphi." Then, without waiting for a reply, the lazy angel turned and rushed off.
After a moment passed, Vignette asked, "I know she doesn't always show up, but... she does know the next class is right here, right...?"
