She had also thought that Hachiman was called away by the teacher to do something earlier, but after seeing that arrogant scene with Iris and Hachiman, she realized where the life energy he lost each time was going.
Today he was indeed called away by teacher Kirisu Mafuyu, but since he still hadn't returned by now, he was probably dragged away by Iris again.
Based on past experience, probably… he wouldn't be back until an entire class period had been escaped from.
"Hehe, Honami, you don't know yet, right? Our little Hiki gets along really well with the elf princess from another world. He's probably with Iris now," Gabriel felt embarrassed to talk about Hachiman's whereabouts, but Yuina and the others didn't feel any embarrassment and whispered the reminder to Ichinose Honami at once.
"Goodwill ambassador, the elf princess? I know she's in this school too. Though she mostly only appears in official media, in some circles, her popularity even surpasses the mermaid nation's national idol group," Ichinose Honami blinked in confusion, looked at Yuina, and softly asked.
"But… are Hikigaya-kun and the elf princess lovers?"
Even though she knew their relationship was very close, as the new transfer student, she had to pretend to be unaware.
"Of course not, little Hiki likes another girl," However, the answer Yuina gave caught Ichinose Honami completely off guard.
"Another girl? If not the elf princess, then who does Hikigaya-kun like?", Ichinose Honami was stunned, hesitating as she spoke.
Even though she hadn't met the elf princess Iris in person yet, and it was her first time seeing Hikigaya-kun today, she truly believed the two of them were a couple.
If they weren't, how could a dignified elf princess from another world have such a deep relationship with a completely ordinary person like Hikigaya-kun, who had no background?
If not for Iris placing value on Hikigaya-kun's opinions, the parliament members from the Ichinose family wouldn't have specifically come to her house and asked this barely-related relative to come build a good relationship with him.
Now that she had learned the elf princess and Hikigaya-kun were not in that kind of relationship and that the girl he liked was someone else, she couldn't help but grow curious. Just how attractive must the girl be, to win over Hikigaya-kun, who wasn't swayed by the beauty and status of the elf princess?
"This…", Minami and Rin's gazes fell on Gabriel. Seeing that they weren't hiding it anymore, Yuina could only helplessly smile at Ichinose Honami, not refuting or stopping them from exposing who Hachiman liked.
Indeed, they should take the chance while little Hiki wasn't around to help express his feelings. Who knows what kind of relationship Gabriel and little Hiki would end up in otherwise?
Last class, the new transfer student Ichinose Honami actually sat between Gabriel and little Hiki?
How could that be allowed.
"You mean… Tenma-san?", Ichinose Honami followed the gazes of the three gyaru and looked blankly at the small, cute blonde-haired figure beside her, eyes filled with shock.
'So Hikigaya-kun likes Tenma-san?'
Smooth, dazzling golden hair, a cute and delicate pinkish face, soft snow-white skin. It made one sigh at her angelic aura just by looking at her…
Hmm… although she hadn't seen the elf princess from another world in person yet, she believed even if the elf princess was beautiful, she couldn't possibly outshine Tenma-san by much.
If Hikigaya-kun truly wasn't tempted by wealth and power, then choosing the fellow human Tenma-san over the elf princess or the angel-like deskmate would be completely understandable.
"...", Watching as the three gyaru and Ichinose Honami openly discussed her, Gabriel's expression turned a bit subtle, and her mood became extremely complicated.
Last night, after Raphiel brought up that bold speculation, she had wanted to investigate the real reason for Hachiman's fall from grace. She wanted to see if he was truly so outrageous. To the point of thinking she was too perfect, that he didn't deserve her, and thus wanted to fall into depravity.
She didn't expect… that she'd already confirmed it not long after arriving at school today.
In fact, with that in mind, earlier this morning when she saw Yuina and the others chatting with Hachiman while occasionally glancing at her, she already vaguely suspected it, just hadn't dared to believe it.
Now that Yuina and the others had taken the initiative to tell Ichinose Honami and even hinted right in front of her that she was the girl Hachiman liked, she couldn't pretend not to see it anymore.
All this time, she'd wanted to save Hachiman from his descent, once even thinking he was tempted into it by Vignette. She had even considered Iris or some hidden demon as the culprit.
But she never expected that the true reason for Hachiman's downfall… was her?
Because he liked her but felt unworthy, he wanted to give up and spiral downward? If she hadn't seen this with her own eyes, she would've never believed something so ridiculous.
Ding-ling-ling~
The class bell rang. Rin glanced at the overwhelmed Gabriel, who was finding it hard to accept that little Hiki liked her, and patted Ichinose Honami's shoulder, whispering: "Honami, join our 'Tenma-san Capture Support Club' and help support little Hiki's love story."
They had previously wanted to pull Vignette into their support club too, but didn't succeed.
Now they had to get Ichinose Honami on board. After all, she sat right next to Gabriel. If Ichinose was one of them, they could assist little Hiki's romance anytime.
"Uhh…", Ichinose Honami was excellent at academics, but when it came to love, she truly didn't know what to do.
She had come here to build a good relationship with Hikigaya-kun and Princess Iris, so how had she suddenly gotten swept into Hikigaya-kun's love story with his angelic deskmate?
Now she even had to help him pursue Tenma Gabriel?
She wasn't sure whether Princess Iris's relationship with Hikigaya-kun was really just friendly, without romantic involvement.
Princess Iris treated Hikigaya-kun so well, she could very well have feelings for him too.
If Iris wanted to become Hikigaya-kun's lover, should she support the princess or the angel deskmate?
Ichinose Honami was conflicted, but Rin and the others didn't need an immediate answer. After speaking, they just returned to their seats.
The three gyaru pretended to pay attention in class while secretly passing notes to discuss how to rope Ichinose Honami into their support club.
They had thought about pulling Miura Yumiko in as well, but they didn't get along very well with her. Plus, if she noticed they had once tricked her, what if she retaliated?
Now that they had Ichinose Honami, the newly transferred student, there was no need to pull anyone else.
"Sigh…", Watching Yuina and the others quiet down and return to their seats as class began, Gabriel flipped through the notebook she and Hachiman used to chat. Looking at the handwriting and hand-drawn emoji faces, she sighed silently.
'When exactly did Hachiman start liking me? I don't think I have done anything special for him…'
She'd ask him after class, once he got back. If he really did fall into despair because of her...
However, shortly after class started, she received a message from Iris and the others.
[Gabriel, the dragon race's Urusla is causing trouble for the president in the Service Club. Please keep an eye out. We might need your help.]
[Okay, I'll keep watch over the Service Club.]
"Service Club…", Gabriel saw the message on her phone and couldn't help but reply with a bit of confusion. They had just moved tables and chairs from there earlier and hadn't noticed anything strange.
'Could it be that Urusla and Hachiman went to the Service Club right after we left?'
But since Iris said so, then Hachiman not returning to class wasn't because she dragged him away.
'Hmm…'
Gabriel hadn't decided whether to accept Hachiman's feelings, but thinking of him liking her while still helping Iris felt a bit weird.
She kept attending class while quietly sensing the movements around the Service Club.
Although there was a barrier, if a fight broke out, the barrier wouldn't hold. She could step in anytime.
But judging from the still-untouched barrier, Urusla and Iris hadn't started fighting in the Service Club.
Probably just a tense standoff for now.
Gabriel didn't think much of it and continued attending class while waiting for Hachiman to return.
However, class ended, then restarted…
She neither sensed any situation at the Service Club that required her help, nor did Hachiman return.
"Don't tell me… they're already fighting?", Gabriel glanced at the empty seat beside her and couldn't hold back anymore. She stopped relying solely on her senses and actually pierced through the soundproof barrier to investigate the details inside the Service Club.
If the soundproof and invisibility barriers were in front of her and Vignette, they could easily ignore them.
But for remote observation, she couldn't directly bypass them, she had to be more serious.
'Hm? This—?'
'Where's the promised battle? What is this?'
'Wasn't it said only the elf princess needed Hachiman's help? Why are there also mermaids and dragons now?'
Gabriel "saw" in the Service Club, Hachiman was being pinned on a chair by Urusla. Several mermaids were supporting the scene, while Princess Iris stood to the side watching. Her snow-white, delicate face instantly turned red.
'What the heck! This is way too depraved!'
'No! I absolutely can't let Hachiman continue sinking like this!'
Today, she had to talk with Raphiel and Vignette, to figure out how to stop Hachiman from falling just because of her.
'A dragon… a weak succubus… three mermaid idol singers… and two elf princesses…'
'How could Hachiman possibly handle this! Even without falling, his life energy might already be drained completely!'
Gabriel stopped "watching" the shameful scene in the Service Club that would make anyone blush, and quietly picked up her phone to send a message to Vignette and Raphiel, asking them to meet up for lunch.
Vignette had also been asked by Iris to watch over the Service Club, so she must've noticed the mess by now too.
"Hm… Looks like Tenma-san really does like Hikigaya-kun too…", Ichinose Honami sneaked a few glances at Gabriel, saw her blushing while bowing her head, eyes occasionally drifting to Hachiman's empty seat, and suddenly understood everything.
She didn't know if Iris liked Hikigaya-kun too, but now that Tenma-san and Hikigaya-kun clearly liked each other. It was just that neither had confessed.
If Iris liked Hikigaya-kun, and she wanted to gain the princess's favor and attention, didn't that mean she had to help Iris? Make Hikigaya-kun fall for someone else, and break up him and Tenma-san?
Thinking of her hardworking mother juggling several jobs, and her little sister who didn't even have money for a birthday gift, the gentle-hearted Ichinose Honami fell into silence.
———
[Service Club Room]
"Haahhhhhh!!!!!"
Urusla lay limply across the table, weakly panting with her tongue out, cooling herself down. After a long rest, she finally recovered and stared daggers at the smiling Iris beside her.
"Despicable elf… You used that indecent magic again!"
"You were already at your limit. Isn't a perfect ending experience better?"
Iris gently twirled her fair, slender fingers, shimmering magical light gathering at her fingertips. Seeing Urusla's furious glare, she couldn't help but chuckle softly.
It's not like she used it during an official match. This was just club activity time. Using that spell to slightly torment Urusla was nothing.
"What part of that was perfect?", Urusla slowly got up from the table, looking at Hachiman, who was surrounded by the trio of very different mermaid idols, Elliot, Elusi, and Ayla. Completely overwhelmed and unable to speak. She huffed and stormed out…
"Just you wait! I'll be back again!"
Sure enough, she still had to find some obedient demi-humans to help her out. Otherwise, she would always be getting tricked by that sinister and despicable elf princess Iris.
"Is the club president satisfied today?", Retracting her gaze from Ursula's petite back as she shouted threats and fled in a panic, Iris looked at Hachiman, who was surrounded in the middle by the three mermaid songstresses, with a smiling expression.
"Satisfied, I suppose. But Ursula ran away again. Judging from her look, she's still not convinced," Hachiman gently pushed away the dark-skinned, big-breasted mermaid Ayla, who had a gyaru style, lifted his head and took a breath, speaking somewhat helplessly.
Actually, he wanted to find a chance to teach Ursula a good lesson so she'd completely behave.
But right now, there were too many people around him and too many things to deal with, so he simply didn't have a chance to discipline Ursula.
He hadn't even seen what Ursula looked like in her enlarged form yet, possibly because there were too many people around him and not enough space.
Mhm, unlike the elves or mermaids who had fixed appearances, Ursula, as a dragon, had her true body in the form of a giant dragon. Her current appearance was just a humanoid size she transformed into. She could freely adjust her size.
Currently, she was a dark-skinned little female demon, but in the blink of an eye, she could become a large female demon.
Although he had only experienced the internal pressure adjustments of Ursula's body so far, he hadn't truly enjoyed the hearts of a large female demon.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.
https://discord.gg/bYAfGyp98y