Chapter 7: Accidents Happen
Gabriel's room, though quiet as ever, was changed slightly in that the angel was laying awake on her bed instead of in front of her computer.
"Nope." The failangel said, resolutely staring at the ceiling instead of her alarm clock. "I don't wanna go to school."
She grimaced, blushing and burying herself in her covers as the events of the night prior came rushing back.
How am I supposed to talk to her after all that!? She fumed. It was already awkward before she knew what was going on... now we can't even look at each other!
And yet, once again she was forced to ask... what exactly had happened yesterday?
Rolling onto her stomach, Gabriel thought, Vignette's always been kinda... touchy-feely. And waaay too worried about other people. It's not like she's been treating me that different.
She pays a little more attention to me, she couldn't help but add, but that's just because I'm her 'best friend'.
Before she could ruminate any further on these unpleasant thoughts, she was interrupted as she often was by knocking at her door.
For a brief moment she considered getting out of bed, but considering who had likely come calling, the desire quickly faded. Instead, she pulled the covers over her head once more and clapped her hands over her ears.
Silence filled her room, and as the seconds ticked by, Gabriel couldn't help but think, sounds like they're probably gone. A part of her wanted to sigh in relief, and another couldn't help but feel inexplicably disappointed.
Neither feeling lasted long, however, as an instant later she felt the covers on her back being ripped away and her hands being pulled off of her ears (lazing about had done her no favors in the athletics department) as a familiar purple-haired demon said, "Gab, it's Monday and class starts soon! What are you doing still asleep!?"
Gabriel opened her mouth to reply but was unable to force any words out as she realized that, in grabbing her by the wrists, Vignette had left only a few inches between them. Meaning, in turn, that their faces were only those scant few inches apart.
Apparently realizing this at the same time, the ordinarily reserved demon let out a squeal of surprise and released her friend. Hopping away, Vignette coughed-doing a poor job of concealing a slight blush-as she said, "a-anyway, it's time to get up."
Taking a moment to calm down after the close encounter, the failangel ignored Vignette's statement and instead asked, "how do you keep getting in, again?"
"Spare key, remember?" Vignette answered, holding up the article in question as she turned and stepped out of the room. With her back to Gabriel, she added, "I, I'll go, um... start some breakfast for you, alright?"
This is gonna be our whole day, isn't it? Gabriel wondered with a sigh.
...
Walking to school side by side as the usually did, the lazy angel groaned internally as her prophesy came true. The air was thick with a strange, awkward tension floating between them. The pair jolted apart whenever their elbows would accidentally touch, allowing their gazes to drift in the other's direction only to glance away when they thought they'd been caught looking. Each felt obligated to offer some kind of remark to break the tension but upon searching for an appropriate quip came up frustratingly short.
Keenly aware both of their own lack of subtlety and of each other, the pair took little note of their surroundings. If they had, they might have noticed a small flash of red visible over the top of a nearby bush.
"Don't you ever get tired of stalking people!?" Satania muttered to her companion, desperately holding back a yawn that threatened to erupt and reveal their location.
Tutting softly as she peered over the bushes, Raphiel replied, "Why of course not! It's quite engaging to observe people at their most vulnerable... and, if it ever failed to hold my interest, I always have you, Satania-san!"
As she said this, the sadistic angel leaned over and threw her arms around the demon, prompting Satania to flail and complain as she attempted to push her assailant away. Ultimately forced to recognize that her struggling was pointless-the angel was deceptively strong despite her genteel, upper-class demeanor-the arrogant demon lay down in the early morning grass, taking Raphiel down with her.
"Why do you insist on doing this sort of thing, you demonic angel?" She asked, the demon angel in question having taken the opportunity to rest her head on her captive's shoulder.
With a soft titter Raphiel answered, "Why, it's because I so admire and adore you, Satania-sama!" Then, releasing one of the redhead's shoulders, she reached up and began to toy with Satania's hair.
Silently allowing the girl to do as she pleased, Satania instead closed her eyes and enjoyed the early morning sun as she said, "Foolish angel. You truly believe I will be deceived by the same lies over and over? I may not know your true purposes, but I know that you aren't to be trusted!"
She heard Raphiel hum playfully next to her as the silver-haired angel say, "But it's the truth, of course! I simply love spending time around you! You're endlessly amusing, and I adore watching you and your reactions! I'd never leave your side if I were able! Surely there must be some way to prove my intentions are sincere?"
"I may not know your true intentions," Satania began, "but I have grown into the wisdom suited to a Great Archdemon, and so I know now that-"
She fell into a stunned silence as she felt something soft, wet, and warm brush against her lips.
Rocketing to her feet in an instant, her face turning into a carpet of red and her eyes flying open, she sputtered out, "W-what is the meaning of this, you-"
It was then that she noticed that Raphiel had propped herself on her side, petting a familiar white dog sitting alertly before her, his tongue hanging out as he panted.
"Isn't it wonderful, Satania-san?" The cruel angel asked, "your loving familiar came for you!"
Her mind slowly piecing together what appeared to happen, Satania's embarrassment turned instead to disgust as she began furiously wiping her mouth before running away with a cry of, "I've been kissed by a dog!" and assorted coughing and gagging.
Waiting until the gullible demon was gone, Raphiel chuckled to herself, saying, "While some may compare me to a dog, I doubt I'm that bad!" Taking another moment to ensure that Satania wouldn't return, she said aloud, "You may come out now, girls!"
With this, Tapris and Kurona emerged from the bushes, themselves looking deeply flustered and all together red. Tapris was a burning wreck of mangled language, and even Kurona was beginning to resemble a cherry tomato at the display she'd just witnessed.
"Thank you for retrieving her faithful familiar, girls!" Raphiel said. "I don't know how I would have passed that off without him. Satania-san is ever so delicate sometimes..."
Tapris nodded, picking up the dog once more as she asked, "Um... Raphiel-senpai... why did you do that?"
Leaning towards her junior with a mischievous smirk, Raphiel replied, "Because I really wasn't lying, of course! I do so love spending time with Satania!"
"Oh." Was all the young angel could say, casting small, furtive glances at Kurona-who, the older angel noted, had been doing the same.
Brushing herself off as she rose to her feet, Raphiel said, "Now, shall we resume our trip to school?"
Nodding silently in agreement, the trio once more ventured off to school.
...
Once again finding herself cornered in the hallway by her supposed friends, Gabriel couldn't help but sigh as she leaned against the wall, bracing for her interrogation.
"So~? How did it go~?" Raphiel asked in the entirely too sweet voice she used when she was being intentionally insufferable.
Gritting her teeth, Gabriel replied, "How'd what go?"
Raphiel smiled gently, clearly aware that she'd gotten a rise out of the disheveled angel. Pausing to savor Gabriel's irritation, she said, "why, the date, of course! Surely you've uncovered Vignette's true feelings?"
With a grunt of annoyance, the failangel replied, "You probably got the story from Vignette already anyway, right?"
"Why, whatever could you be talking about?" The sadistic angel replied evenly, her face a mask of benevolent ignorance.
Her eyes narrowing at Raphiel's feigned ignorance, Gabriel instead swept her gaze over the others before her, from Kurona's unreadable mask to the fidgeting, nervous sweating and whistling of Satania and Tapris. I could probably get it out of one of those two, she thought, but it's too much trouble.
Instead she sighed yet again, saying, "...she said she was my best friend."
"Oh?" Raphiel said, "And is that all she said?"
"Don't have to rub it in," the slobbish angel cryptically replied before turning on her heel. "Whatever, I have to get back to class." With this, she shuffled into her classroom, eliciting a gleeful smile from Raphiel.
"You really should be more honest with yourself, Gab-chan!" The meddling angel said, causing Gabriel to pause and glance over her shoulder.
"Whatever." She replied before once more turning and trudging over to her desk.
"...likes her." Kurona muttered, causing the other three to turn in surprise at the typically silent demon.
Eventually recovering from the shock, Tapris finally said, "Erm, your voice is too soft, Kurona... what was that?"
Nodding in understanding, the unflappable demon cupped her hand over Tapris's ear and leaned close-eliciting a squeak from the high-strung angel-before beginning to whisper something.
At first, the angel looked vaguely confused. Soon, her face reddened, her eyes grew wide and shocked, and she slowly pulled her muffler until it covered almost all of her face. Finally, she pulled it down, sputtering, "B-but that would mean-!"
"Oh?" Raphiel asked, raising a finger to her face in curiosity. "What did our quiet friend say?"
Tapris swallowed, making no mention of the fact that Kurona now clung to her arm and instead saying, "Well... Kurona thinks that Gabriel's started to really like Vignette herself. And maybe they'll be together soon. Which means we won!"
As Satania opened her mouth to interject, Raphiel shushed her, saying, "Well, that does seem to be the case. However, you forgot something: the contest doesn't end based on Gabriel and Vignette liking each other, or even if they get together!"
Blinking in surprise, confusion, and worry, the naive angel replied, "It wasn't?"
With a small shake of her head, Raphiel continued, "the contest was about which date they liked more, remember? Thus, we won't know who won until we've done both dates!" With a small chuckle, she added, "And if they like each other, well, I suspect Satania may be closer to success~!"
Pausing at the sight of both Tapris and Kurona's faces falling, she sighed, patting both on the head as she added, "well, then again, they might find they enjoyed yours more given the chance to reflect on it! Don't give up yet!"
Satania shot a rather incredulously raised brow at Raphiel but said nothing as the younger pair, looking slightly cheered by this reassurance, turned and returned to their own classes.
"How could they possibly plan to compare to a date plan devised by the great Satanichia Kurumizawa McDowell, future Archdemon of Hell?" The arrogant demon declared.
"Oh yes," Raphiel replied with an indulgent smile, "especially considering what I-that is to say, we-have planned for them~?"
...
As Gabriel slumped over to her desk and flopped into her chair, Vignette turned to her with a mix of curiosity and concern in her eyes.
"What did they want?" The kind demon asked, turning in her chair to face her friend.
Shrugging carelessly, Gabriel said, "They told me they wanted to say sorry for missing out on yesterday but were too afraid to say it to your face."
Glancing away with the slightest hint of a jealous pout on her lips, Vignette said, "I wasn't mad or anything... they could've talked to me... besides, we had a fun time even if they weren't there, right?"
The nonchalant angel offered a nonchalant shrug, prompting Vignette to add, "I really did! I enjoy spending time with you, Gab, a lot! Even when no one else is around!"
Realizing what she'd said, Vignette turned to face the front of the room as their teacher entered-and to hide her blush. This meant she couldn't see Gabriel forming a small tint of red in her own cheeks, and as the straightforward demon fell into the rhythm of class, she failed to hear Gabriel mutter, "I like it, too... a lot."
...
Splayed across her desk, her cheek pressed firmly against the cold plastic top, a palpable cloud of despair seemed to cling to Tapris. Even after all that, I still lost to Kurumizawa-senpai... it's so frustring! ...I-I mean, frustrating! She thought, running her finger over the desktop in listless circles.
She blinked in surprise as she found a small, black piece of paper suddenly land on her desk. Turning in the direction it came from, she saw Kurona clasping and unclasping her hands. Taking this to mean that she should open the note, Tapris turned to the tiny piece of distinctive stationary.
It'll be fine, she read. I know this wasn't how you wanted it to end, it'll be fine. Because we still can win. Because we did good. And I think that it'll be fine. So, it'll be fine. Cause I said that it'll be fine.
To be perfectly honest, the content of the note itself wasn't actually all that reassuring. However, there was something about it that still put a smile on her face. Turning to the unreadable demon with a smile and a small wave, Tapris turned to the front once more as she reflected on her relationship with the inscrutable girl.
Kurona has always been kind of hard to understand, I guess, she thought. We didn't exactly start on the right foot to begin with, and she was always kind of unpredictable. But in a way, I really like that about her. She's really sweet and innocent, and maybe kind of naive, but she's always honest with her feelings.
Surreptitiously glancing at her friend, she added, She's always trying to help me, even when I don't really get it, and she never leaves me even if I get mad and try to chase her away. She blushed slightly, turning away as she internally added, And, even if I act annoyed when she clings to me... I kind of like it...
She sunk into her seat once again, adding, she really does treat me like her best friend.
Thinking this, Gabriel's words about being 'Vignette's best friend' resurfaced, and her blush began to deepen. It's not like that! She internally protested. It's not like I think about her or anything! Definitely not in that way!
As she considered this, she sighed and sank deeper, thinking, Well... even if I did... IF! Only IF I did... it's not like an angel and a demon could be friends... or anything...
Suddenly, the brief moment she witnessed between Satania and Raphiel that morning came rushing back, and she saw in her mind's eye Satania sprawled out in the grass, and Raphiel suddenly leaning over the defenseless demon, and how from her angle how she was just barely able to make out the moment their lips-
Tapris fully fell onto the table, overheating just from coming into contact with the memory. After taking a moment to cool down, she began to think, Kurona and me... we're not like that with each other... right?