'Vignette and Gabriel are both so kind and considerate, the silver-haired girl who can be their friend must be about the same too, but for some reason the club president is hesitating.'
"It's not that I'm unwilling… never mind, they have more seats over there, let's go eat lunch together," Hachiman looked at the corner where Raphiel and the others were. It was still quite empty, and there were no people at the surrounding tables, so he decided to go over and have a meal together.
With so many of them needing to sit together, it was really hard to find empty seats.
Now that Raphiel and the others had seen them, not going over would be even more troublesome.
Gabriel and Vignette were fine, but if any exaggerated action was done on purpose, it would instead draw Raphiel's attention.
Although Raphiel, this fun-loving angel, was also pretty good. Black-bellied but kind-hearted. Her pranks for fun weren't too excessive.
It's just that he really didn't want to become Raphiel's source of fun.
Unless Raphiel became the fun, otherwise he really didn't want to play with this person.
"Then let's go over," Seeing that Hachiman agreed to go over, Iris called Aegis, Sakurase Shino, and Elliot to go over together.
However, although they had quite a few people, most didn't really like to talk and were quite quiet.
The more lively and talkative idols Elusi and Ayla, in this kind of public place with people coming and going, had to maintain their idol image and couldn't act as unrestrainedly as they did in the Service Club activity room.
"Good afternoon, everyone," Hachiman brought Iris and the others to the table where Gabriel and the others were. He and Iris sat beside Gabriel, and Aegis sat beside Vignette on the opposite side.
One table couldn't fit so many people, so Elliot, Sakurase Shino, and the others sat at the next table.
"Good afternoon, Hachiman… ah," Vignette looked at Elliot and the others who came along behind Hachiman. She opened her mouth wanting to ask how Hachiman knew them, but the words got stuck in her throat.
There were some things she knew but didn't want to say. Staying silent was fine. But knowing yet pretending not to know and asking, that was a bit difficult for her.
Especially now that she saw Elliot, Elusi, Ayla, and the others being so quiet, completely different from the fleeting glance she had of them before. She couldn't help recalling, imagining...
If it weren't for her having power and seeing it with her own eyes, just by appearances, she probably wouldn't ever know how outrageous the girls beside Hachiman could be in private.
"Where's Honami? Gabriel, aren't you eating with her?", Hachiman noticed Vignette's hesitation to speak, but he pretended not to see and instead proactively asked Gabriel about Ichinose Honami.
Today, Ichinose Honami had just transferred schools. It seemed like she didn't bring a bento, so he thought Gabriel would eat with her in the classroom.
He originally planned to skip class in the afternoon to avoid Gabriel, but unexpectedly bumped into her in the cafeteria.
"Honami went to eat with her relative, Ichinose Ayano. Just so happened I hadn't eaten at the cafeteria before either, so I came with Raphiel and Vignette to try it," Gabriel shifted her gaze vaguely, avoiding eye contact with Hachiman, and explained in a low voice.
Her coming to eat in the cafeteria with Vignette and the others was partly to avoid Hachiman and discuss something with them, and partly because Honami didn't need her company. Otherwise, she would've waited until evening to call Vignette and talk.
Though she hadn't expected Hachiman to bring several demi-humans from the Service Club to the cafeteria, and Raphiel, who wasn't familiar with Hachiman, even actively waved them over.
"Rather than that, shouldn't you, Hikigaya-kun, explain to little Gab and the others where you ran off to all morning? She was really worried about your safety, her head full of you during class," Raphiel, after enjoying the awkwardness between Vignette and Gabriel, finally spoke with a teasing smile.
"What do you mean, head full of Hachiman. Raphiel, don't make things up!", Gabriel's expression stiffened slightly, 'Raphiel purposely called Hachiman over. Isn't it just to tease me?'
Her head full of Hachiman during class was definitely impossible. But she did keep watching Hachiman and Iris during class and breaks.
Vignette could shy away, but since she had promised to support Iris, she had to always be ready to help. Just in case the powerful Ursula suddenly lost control and hurt Hachiman.
Although Ursula, the dragon clan leader, kept her word and only had a simple match with Hachiman without getting angry over losing face in public, in the end, she just threw some harsh words and ran away.
"Then that means it was Vignette who had her head full of Hikigaya-kun during class?", Raphiel blinked and shifted her fun-seeking gaze to Vignette beside her.
"Eh?", Vignette froze. Hachiman wasn't even someone she liked, how could it be dragged onto her?
"Ahem, Shiraha-san, don't tease Gabriel and Vignette. They're good students, they wouldn't slack off in class," Hachiman looked speechlessly at the grinning Raphiel. He knew this angel-written demon-read person didn't have good intentions.
He knew Gabriel and the others' identities and personalities, how could he believe Raphiel's nonsense?
But he also couldn't explain clearly what he was doing all morning.
Simply saying he skipped class didn't account for the mermaid idols Elliot and the others with him… hmm… mainly, he didn't expect to bump into Gabriel in the cafeteria, since she usually ate her bento in the classroom.
Originally, he planned to keep skipping class in the afternoon, then say he left early when he got home. Gabriel wouldn't expose him, just think he had fallen astray.
"Hikigaya-kun, you should call me Raphiel. Then I won't tease Gabriel and Vignette anymore," Raphiel looked at Hachiman with an undiminished smile and blinked playfully.
Hachiman was calling Gabriel and Vignette by their names, but only used her surname, this unfamiliar relationship made it inconvenient for her to guide him further.
"...Alright, Raphiel-san," Hachiman felt a headache at the smile on Raphiel's face—this was the smile of a devil.
But he couldn't deliberately do anything to make her dislike him, so he could only keep some distance.
"Hachiman-kun, I look forward to working with you~", Seeing Hachiman's unwilling expression, Raphiel's smile grew even deeper.
'He actually didn't accept my goodwill, how interesting.'
Clearly, she was also an angel, whether in looks or aura, she wasn't inferior to Gabriel. In terms of figure, she completely outclassed Gabriel.
'Hmm? Could it be…'
Raphiel looked down at herself, then glanced at the flat-chested Gabriel across from her, a flash of realization in her eyes.
Gabriel suddenly felt Raphiel's gaze and looked at her, only for Raphiel to quietly shift her gaze away.
Whether Hachiman had love at first sight or lust at first sight, whether he had special interest in Gabriel or not, right now, as long as he liked Gabriel, that was fine.
As an angel, she naturally couldn't go against others' wishes, but giving Hachiman some convenience, a little help, that was okay.
Although she still thought the possibility of Gabriel falling for Hachiman was low, giving Gabriel some trouble and making her training on Earth as the top angel more meaningful wasn't a bad thing.
"Sorry, it was because Elliot and the others had something to ask the president this morning that took so long, making you worry."
Seeing that Hachiman didn't explain clearly about the morning, Iris glanced at Elliot and the others at the next table who were slowly eating lunch without intending to speak and smiled as she shifted the blame to them.
Though the blame wasn't misplaced, it was indeed because of Elliot and the others that it took so long. But the whole morning, Elliot and the others only drank soup, most of the results were taken by the fleeing Ursula.
"What kind of thing needed to ask Hikigaya-kun for so long?", Raphiel smiled at Iris and pressed on relentlessly.
"It's about idol matters. Elliot and the others are not only students but also very famous idols. Now that they've transferred to Sobu High and want to continue their idol careers, they came to our Service Club after hearing about it to ask whether we could help them balance school and idol work," Iris calmly answered, her gaze drifting to Elliot and the others at the next table.
"It's just that we don't really understand idol stuff either, so we spent a lot of time discussing and researching," To make it more convenient to help Elliot and the others in the future, they had to find a legitimate reason.
Just right, Elliot and the others were idols. If the president went out for idol work with them, she and Aegis could also follow and not be restricted by school rules.
"Mmhm! Iris is right! We've recently reduced some idol activities and now need the president to be our manager to help us continue idol activities," Elusi, who had been silently paying attention, quickly nodded hard after meeting Iris's gaze, her pink twin-tails nearly falling onto the tray.
"But we haven't figured out how the president can work part-time as our manager, we still need to discuss things like part-time hours, work frequency, and salary," Ayla also quickly agreed. They actually had a fellow mermaid manager handling idol affairs, but asking the president to be their manager wasn't about making him do everything.
They just needed him to be the point of contact and only care about them.
With their singing abilities, just one concert could earn a lot of money, supporting the president wouldn't be a problem.
"...", Elliot, blushing, lowered her head and said nothing.
She couldn't lie like Elusi and Ayla. When she lied, she panicked and easily got caught.
"So that's how it is. But Hachiman-kun is still a student. He should prioritize academics. It's not good to have too many part-time jobs," Raphiel glanced meaningfully at Gabriel and Vignette, who were both pretending to be clueless, and slightly curled her lips.
'This won't do, Hachiman's side is progressing so fast, but Gabriel hasn't offered any temptations. If he really changes heart, it won't be fun anymore.'
'Gabriel wanted to fake falling and temporarily avoid matchmaking, then let's try Vignette, who's supposed to look after Hachiman.'
'A demon falling for a human is interesting, and if an angel and demon both like a human, that's even more fun.'
"We'll think it over carefully. If we get too busy, we might ask Gabriel and Raphiel for help, hope you won't refuse."
Iris looked at both sides, each knowing yet pretending the other didn't, explaining here, believing there, and couldn't help but smile slightly.
She had already sent messages asking Gabriel and Vignette for aid. Of course they knew what she and the president were doing in the Service Club, maybe even Raphiel did too.
But now both sides were giving each other faces.
She had to admit, this was truly interesting.
Maybe she could try having Gabriel and Vignette assist again and see if they'd join in.
Suddenly, Iris met Raphiel's gaze. The two smiled simultaneously.
"Hehe~", Though Iris didn't know Raphiel was about to throw her teammates under the bus, and Raphiel didn't know Iris was generous enough to let Hachiman help other demi-humans, at this moment, they both seemed to have a tacit understanding, wanting to drag Gabriel, and even Vignette, into the water too.
"We still have P.E. class this afternoon. Let's hurry and eat lunch," Hachiman, seeing the atmosphere getting weird, quickly interrupted their eye contact and urged them to eat lunch.
He didn't expect Iris and Elusi to suddenly assign him a part-time job as an idol manager, and even give him a salary.
'Hmm... does this count as being kept by these few mermaid idols?'
Looks like he really is suited to be a househusband, very suited to being the man behind a successful woman.
———
The lunch break was about to end.
After finishing lunch, everyone didn't return to the classroom. They chatted and rested in the cafeteria, and only separated to go to class when it was almost time.
Hachiman and Gabriel went to swimming class, while Iris and Elliot returned to the classroom for their class. Vignette and Raphiel were not in the same class as Hachiman, so they also couldn't go to swimming class with him.
However, this had no effect at all on Raphiel and Iris's idea of dragging Gabriel down.
Because boys and girls don't have swimming classes together to begin with.
Sobu High strictly regulates impure heterosexual interactions. How could they possibly allow adolescent boys and girls to play together in swimsuits in the same pool? Even the swimming clubs are separated into an all-boys swimming club and an all-girls competitive swimming club.
Originally, Hachiman had planned to skip class, and Elliot and the other mermaids naturally would go back with him. Whether it was him, Iris, or Elliot and the others, they all had money, so renting a swimming pool to play was also convenient.
Only now that Gabriel was by his side watching, he couldn't skip class with Iris and the others anymore.
But it wasn't a big problem. If they couldn't skip class to play in the water now, they could just go play at the all-girls competitive swimming club's pool after school.
As the manager of the girls' competitive swimming club, taking Elliot and Iris and the other girls over there to have some fun shouldn't be a problem, right?
After school today, Tsukahara Hibiki should come over to request him to be the manager of the girls' competitive swimming club. Although Yukinoshita Yukino might not agree, the Service Club is very democratic, and Yukinoshita Yukino doesn't have veto power.
Hmm... counting it like this, he's both the manager of the girls' competitive swimming club and a national idol manager. Even though he just wanted to be a househusband, he unexpectedly ended up wearing many hats.
"Um... Hachiman..."
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