AN: This was totally going to start with Airi's POV, wrap up a few things and lead into Issei's latest reason for wanting to kill poor 'innocent' DIO... but then I felt the tone would be too jarring for what I had planned for both Gabriel and Airi, and before I knew it, I took one small idea and expanded it to a whole chapter. Warning: Pure Fluff Ahead...

Chapter 18

Gabriel had visited today after clearing up a considerable amount of work ahead of time.

"So you never had your hair done by anyone else? Not even by your sisters?"

"Mn, no? I don't recall anyone offering to style my hair, nor has it ever occurred to me."

"Well let's give it a shot then!"

After the usual massage session, I had decided to put my considerable skills in the arts to work in an attempt to make Gabriel look even more beautiful, well, she was already perfect just the way, so it's more accurate to say I was just providing her alternate hairstyles that could accentuate her beauty in other ways.

Having already pampered Gabriel's body in a chaste yet intimate fashion so thoroughly, it was only natural for me to move on to other parts of her, like her knee-length curly blonde hair.

Dear God, thank you for making this long, luscious golden hair!

I had always been aware of my 'preference' for blonde girls (both 2D and 3D), after all, that little quirk of mine was one of the main reasons why Airi had caught my eye back then.

I never expected to find my heart pounding even harder than it usually does with Gabriel (though I hide it by using a vibration canceling technique) when she gave me permission to have free-reign with her hair!

It was a more stressful endeavor than I initially believed it to be. Half of the blame could be attributed to myself, as I was second-guessing myself on whether or not I would ruin her beauty by messing with the natural order (her natural hairstyle) like this.

So I ended up defaulting on my backup options, that is to say, I was ripping off hairstyles from fictional characters and seeing if it would work well on her.

"Waah! It's like having front antennas! Well, for lack of better word, it's not as if I would know what antennas should feel like… maybe I should make a headband to try it? Ooooh, the ribbon is sooo cute! I love it!"

At least Gabriel liked the forward-shaped bangs and the large ribbon tied behind her, the former didn't quite fit her, while the latter accessory and adjustments did. Guess I can cross out Aerith's Wall Market dress and hairstyle in the Remake.

The next hairstyles we tried involved different kinds of braids, as before, Gabriel enjoyed them while I was still wracking my head at how 'imperfect' it appeared.

"If I spin my head then my hair could become a weapon!" She gestured childishly as if she was insistent that would be the case, "I remember brother Metatron had once spoke of the mentor of the main character from a Ninja anime called Barotu doing the same!"

I felt like coughing out blood at the mention of yet another of DXD's horrific franchise 'ripoffs. Please don't sully the memory of my man Jiraiya like that!

Ahhhh, noooo, it's too late… the knowledge of it has already been written into my perfect memory. I try not to sniff and cry in despair. There's a reason why I avoided reading manga and watching the anime of this world, and that is to avoid tainting my mind with these cheap knockoff fictional works.

"T-that's nice. Let's try some drill curls next."

Gabriel ended up looking like the nicest, prettiest princess ever. She adored the hairstyle and played with her hair, blissfully ignorant of the fact that I was already planning different ways to prevent her from using it often, as her appearance gave me strong 'hentai princess rape bait' vibes that made me extremely worried for her.

We ended up trying many different kinds of hairstyles. Thanks to my limited powers over time I could simply revert any changes back to her original head of hair if I ever trimmed or cut too much of her hair.

For the record, I had already gathered enough of her hair in secret for preservation and re- uh, inspiration purposes…

"Um, I know I said that I would leave it to you, but…"

"Don't hold back, ask and you shall receive."

"Oh you…! Well, I would like to try this hairstyle."

Gabriel showed me an image of her 'friend' Serafall and I quickly understood her intentions.

"Twintails huh? Hey, why don't we take it a step further?"

"What do you mean?"

"We just need to magic up a suitable matching costume… on second thought, let me introduce you to Kaleidostick Blue Diamond!"

Gabriel went through the whole magical girl transformation sequence, much to my pleasure, and then followed my instructions on posing so that I could take the best pictures.

Granted, they were the best SFW pictures… the true best images were all properly 'taken' by using [Unified-Realm, Divine Augmentation and recording every detail of what happened in this room into my memory.

That being said, my heart almost suffered critical damage from her wondrous appearance and how alluring she was with the initial reluctance at posing with the 'shameless' outfit.

"Hehe, Serafall is going to be so happy when I share these with her over the communication array."

Considering how Serafall is like… why do I get the feeling that Gabriel's 'friend' would be absolutely livid when she thinks that Gabriel is plotting to use her absence to replace 'Levia-tan' in the hearts of magical girl fans everywhere?

"This is so fun! Hehehe, I finally understand why human females of all ages enjoy this activity now. Though come to think of it, it's not just limited to humans…" Gabriel mused after giggling to herself.

"I'm just glad that you're enjoying this. I was worried that it was a waste of time since none of them turned out better, ah, you're just too beautiful by being yourself that I can't help but consider my skills to be lacking!"

I lamented dramatically, drawing a great deal of embarrassment and happiness from the angel.

"I-I don't know about that… but, hmm, how do I say this… it's not a bad feeling. Even if none of them really screamed 'me', I felt that was alright because it was the first time I felt as if I was a different person." Gabriel turned her head around and looked towards me with a lonely expression, "Does that make sense? It sounds strange to me. I never considered being anyone else but 'me' before, I never had a reason to, Father made me this way as he intended and so I continued on like this. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, yet… why do I feel relieved when I play around in such a manner?"

I gently patted her head and then planted my hands on her shoulders reassuringly.

"I think you just never had the chance to explore anything else outside of your duty. You obeyed as God commanded and acted in accordance to his will. When he passed on, your continued on and did your best to follow through with his wishes. When Michael passed on the throne to you, you accepted it without nary a protest. Throughout a passage of time unimaginable to mortals, your sense of responsibility never wavered. You even managed to find some time to read books, check up on mortals and keep up with new developments. You found a relatively good balance, all things considered, but you can't help but wonder what else is out there for you, whether you are missing out on something…?"

Gabriel met my eyes with an excited smile, "Yes! That's right! Metatron and many of my brothers have all explored and immersed themselves in worldly endeavors without falling. I did think about it, but by the time I did, Michael and the others sealed themselves with Trihexa…"

Her happiness at finding someone that finally understood her dimmed a little at the mention of the Beast, so I quickly moved to reassure her, "That's fine. There's no reason why you can't give it a try now."

"B-but I still have to manage the system…"

"You don't have to drop it and run off somewhere. Just work one or two fewer hours a day to find new things that interest you or something you would like to experience… preferably something that isn't illegal or damaging."

"There's no way I would do something like what you're thinking about! I-I'm not a rebellious teenage daughter or anything…"

… I don't even want to think about the kinds of stuff she's seen girls at that age get up to.

Gabriel blushed and looked away, poking her fingers together while musing on the subject further… I know she's not going to do drugs or have sex randomly, so maybe… she's thinking about music concerts and Christian Rock?

It would fit. After all, Gabriel has a wonderful singing voice that she never really got a chance to explore outside of worshipping in Heaven…

"Are you thinking about starting a band?"

"I-it can't be that hard…"

She was really going to do it?!

"Okay, I believe you. You're going to be the lead vocalist?"

Gabriel nodded shyly.

"It's a good idea to play to your talents. Who else do you have in mind for your band?"

"My Brave Saints. But Griselda is not... musically inclined-" What a nice way to say she's tone-deaf, "-and too 'blunt' so she might cause misunderstandings with any fans."

"I think you're jumping way too many steps ahead. Just think about setting up the band and what you want to get out of this first!"

Not that she was wrong in assuming that they would get fans. A band filled with literal angelic beauties would never lack in the fame (or notoriety, if they suck) department.

We ended up speaking for a long time as I did my best in brainstorming ideas for Gabriel to take back to her future girl group.

"Ah, it's almost time for dinner. Why don't you stay on and join us?"

"I don't wish to impose..."

"Then should I insist?"

"Hehe, I suppose it would be rude to refuse then."

Before I left for the kitchen, Gabriel stopped me by grabbing onto my shirt's sleeve.

"Thank you for hearing me out again. I feel as if I am always troubling you…"

"It's no trouble at all. I'm just glad that I could help a good friend out."

"Did you know that you're one of the few people to have acknowledged me as a friend? A real one. Even among my Brave Saints, only Griselda and Mirana have truly decided to treat me as a friend instead of just their superior. It makes me feel really happy."

"Well… it's not a hard thing to do. Gabriel, you're a lovely person, someone that I can't help but care for and want to help out."

"C-can I ask why?"

"Eh? Does it have to be more complicated than that? I did just say I liked you enough to the point where I want to help you..."

11/10 points for that smooth question dodge!

I wasn't going to admit that I intended to marry her this early as I didn't want her to think I was just like all the other men that offered their love to her, who did so mainly out of lust and bragging rights, instead of truly caring for her as an individual.

"Oh, yes! You did. My mind must have wandered…"

"But if there was anything I could add on to that… I guess it's safe to say I admired your steadfastness and how you've worked hard for such a long time without losing sight of who you are. As someone that's seeking a balance between a mortal's and immortal's mindset, I couldn't help but admire one such as you, for persevering for so long while adapting to the many changes over the decades so well."

Honesty is the best policy when it comes to angels, especially when I have so many real reasons that I could use in place of my less than savory ones.

Gabriel stood there stunned for a few seconds until she graced me with a look so full of love that I felt as if I took a brief trip to Heaven and back… only to realize that probably happened when I failed to track her movements and allowed her to press her lips against mine!

Her lips separated from my own after only a second's worth of contact, I watched as Gabriel brushed a finger over her own lips with an expression of wonder, before running off, leaving behind the lingering echoes of her melodic laughter with me.

My divine sense picked up a few words she mumbled out as she ran out into the garden, it seems like I have a few reincarnated angels to thank for giving her pre-emptive relationship advice.

It took me several minutes and a 'chef' clone yelling at me to notice that my face had been stuck with a dumb smile and I had been daydreaming for half the time I was cooking.