Seeing Vignette nod, Haruto couldn't help but take a sharp breath.
From 9 AM to 1 PM… this girl was way too honest for her own good. Haruto felt that if it were him, he would have knocked on the door after two hours of no response.
Yet Vignette, standing right in front of him, didn't even seem to be holding any sort of weapon.
Could it be that she was planning to use her demonic powers to summon a trident and stab Gabriel to death?
At this moment, Gabriel was still lazing around at home, lying on the floor while waiting for her game console to load.
She had no idea that disaster was about to befall her.
Lifting her oversized T-shirt, she scratched her stomach and even let out a yawn.
The room was completely dark, with thick curtains blocking out all the midday sunlight. The only light came from the faint glow of the game console. Just then, a series of knocks sounded at the door.
Gabriel sat up from the floor, rubbing her messy hair in confusion.
As a hardcore gaming shut-in, she rarely had visitors at her apartment. Occasionally, someone would drop by, but that was always prearranged.
As she pondered, she suddenly remembered—oh right, she had plans with Vignette today.
'But it's still early, isn't it…?'
Thinking this, Gabriel lifted her head to check the clock.
And immediately realized—she had wasted too much time being a couch potato, and the agreed-upon hour had long passed.
'Maybe I should just pretend I'm not home and let this blow over!'
Her thoughts started turning sinister.
However, the knocking at the door stopped, only to be replaced by the sound of a key turning in the lock.
Gabriel: !
"Breaking and entering! That's illegal! A crime, a crime!"
Vignette pushed the door open, spotting Gabriel sprawled on the floor, and spoke in frustration,
"So you were home after all! We agreed to go shopping together, didn't we, Gabriel? If you don't give me a reasonable explanation, I can't guarantee what I might do!"
Busted, Gabriel frantically waved her hands, scrambling for an excuse.
Recalling Vignette's personality and how people always teased her about her lack of strictness, Gabriel had a stroke of genius.
She forced an awkward smile and hastily made up a lie:
"Uh… I got so caught up in cleaning that I lost track of time."
After blurting that out, Gabriel anxiously observed Vignette's reaction.
And then—
After a brief standoff—
"Oh, so you were cleaning? That makes sense. Your place does need a good cleaning."
Haruto, standing outside the room and watching all this unfold, twitched at the corner of his mouth.
Wasn't Vignette a little too easy to fool?
Forget the fact that using cleaning as an excuse was already suspicious.
Just look at Gabriel's room; it was littered with trash everywhere, pitch black, and in absolute chaos!
Did this look like a room someone had been cleaning?
And yet, Vignette—who was supposed to be a demon—was so kind-hearted that she just let Gabriel off the hook after waiting for hours.
Meanwhile, that so-called angel over there… tsk!
Haruto's disapproving clicks of the tongue caught Gabriel's attention. When she saw that it was Haruto, she instinctively shrank back.
To Gabriel, Haruto was an extremely dangerous individual!
"Vignette, why did you bring him here? I'm telling you, he's super dangerous!"
Gabriel whispered urgently to Vignette.
Hearing this, Vignette tilted her head in confusion.
"Huh? Haruto-kun? I don't think so. He's actually really nice."
Gabriel shuddered.
Oh no.
Her demon friend had already been brainwashed beyond saving. And right at that moment, Haruto landed the final blow.
"Gabriel, I know I dragged you to class before, but that was only because Miss Hiratsuka asked me to. And really, going to class is for your own good. Skipping school isn't a good habit."
Haruto said this with zero self-awareness, despite the fact that he skipped class all the time.
Vignette's gaze toward Gabriel became even harsher.
Gabriel felt like crying.
"Anyway, let's clean up first."
Vignette looked around Gabriel's room and let out a heavy sigh.
For a neat freak like her, Gabriel's room was worse than hell itself.
While the two of them started cleaning, Haruto wandered around the rest of the apartment. As expected, aside from the room Gabriel used, the rest of the place was basically abandoned.
Gabriel had some money, but she spent it all on gacha games.
She didn't have any spare cash to furnish the apartment properly.
With that in mind, Haruto considered a new idea.
Maybe he could buy this apartment from Gabriel at a low price.
He could let her have a room for free—no rent required.
While he was thinking, a sharp scream suddenly rang out from the room. Followed by Vignette's horrified shriek:
"Cockroach! There's a cockroach!"
Haruto's forehead throbbed.
Gabriel's place was so messy that it had cockroaches? That was just ridiculous.
Just then, he sensed a surge of energy from the room.
The next moment, an explosion of flames erupted.
The blast nearly demolished the entire apartment.
The door flew off its hinges, windows shattered, and flames licked the walls and floor, charring everything black.
A half-cooked Gabriel stared numbly at Vignette.
Vignette now had a pair of cute little demon horns on her head and was holding a hellish trident.
Her outfit had transformed into a rather revealing demon costume.
It was the kind of outfit that barely covered anything, exposing her fair thighs and soft stomach.
"Ehehe."
"Don't think acting cute will get you off the hook!"
"Well… at least the room is clean now."
Vignette averted her gaze guiltily.
But then she suddenly remembered, there was someone else in the apartment!
Haruto!
Unlike her and Gabriel, who had special constitutions, Haruto was a 'normal human.' Panicked, Vignette rushed outside to check on him.
Gabriel, however, wasn't concerned.
She already knew exactly what kind of existence Haruto was.
Sure enough, before Vignette even reached the door, Haruto casually walked back in, completely unharmed.
Not even a thread of his clothing was damaged.
Vignette sighed in relief.
"Haruto, I'm so glad you're okay!"
Haruto waved her off.
He had simply used his Kamui ability to phase through the explosion.
Honestly, even if he had taken the blast head-on, it wouldn't have hurt him in the slightest.
After the relief passed, Vignette suddenly realized something.
Her current form!
Angels and demons were forbidden from revealing their powers in the human world.
"Uhm… if I say I was cosplaying, would you believe me?"
Vignette asked awkwardly.
Haruto chuckled.
"Oh? So you're into cosplay? I actually have a few costumes myself…"
Vignette felt her soul leave her body.
But between humiliation and breaking the rules, humiliation was the lesser evil. At that moment, Gabriel interjected,
"Vignette, that guy already knows your identity. And it doesn't break the rules."
Vignette froze.
Gabriel continued,
"After all, that guy already stormed both Heaven and Hell and met the principals of both. Apparently, he even made some kind of deal. He has a full list of every angel and demon in the human world."
Vignette: !!!
She stared at Haruto in shock.
Stormed Heaven and Hell?!
Haruto just shrugged.
Well, the secret was out. No more fun keeping it hidden.
After capturing Gabriel, he had learned the coordinates of Heaven and Hell, which were actually just different realms attached to the main world.
Fortunately, Gabriel's Heaven and Hell were relatively peaceful, so things had gone smoothly.
He had made an agreement with both realms: they provided a list of all angels and demons in the human world, and in return, they got extra resources and human-world internship opportunities.
A mutually beneficial trade.
After hearing all this, Vignette's eyes sparkled with admiration.
Meanwhile, Gabriel sighed in despair.
"So… what do I do about my apartment?"
Haruto chuckled.
"Well, why not sell it to me? You can stay at my place for now. I'll renovate this place and connect both apartments into one. When it's done, I'll give you a room to live in. What do you say?"