"An aura?"
Rei Ao's hint made Gabriel frown. She reflexively focused her senses. As an angel, she was sensitive to certain kinds of energy fluctuations.
At first, she didn't think much of it. But when she carefully felt the faint, deliberately scrubbed-away traces clinging to the Nakano sisters, her expression changed in an instant.
It was a residue of energy that was pure and holy—shot through with light and order. Faint, yes, as if someone had tried to wash it off—but she could never mistake that essence.
"This is… the aura of holy light?!"
Gabriel's eyes flew wide. The laziness vanished from her face, replaced by shock and disbelief.
"And it's my sister's aura?!"
"You—you've met my sister?" Her voice pitched up with excitement, drawing more curious stares from around the hall.
Satania was stunned too, looking from Gabriel to the quintuplets, totally lost.
The Nakano sisters were startled by Gabriel's sudden outburst, but in their hearts they were finally certain. Yes—this was the sister Zelel-san had been looking for.
The truth had popped out in the most unexpected way, and the hallway suddenly felt theatrically charged. Gabriel's slip had frozen the air; the gathering stares made the quintuplets feel the pressure—and made Gabriel realize she'd overreacted. She reined in her expression, though the shock and a flicker of panic in her eyes wouldn't go away.
Her sister, Zelel—the angel academy's top graduate, known for excellence, diligence, and a near-rigid devotion to the rules—had actually descended to the human world? And already made contact with these new transfer students?
Gabriel's heart sank. She knew her sister too well. If Zelel saw her current state—slacking off, addicted to online games, phoning in her angelic duties—the consequences would be unthinkable. She'd be dragged back to Heaven for "re-education" on the spot.
Watching Gabriel's shifting expression only firmed the sisters' conviction. Ichika hesitated, then, remembering Zelel's urgency and worry, mustered her courage and lowered her voice.
"Gabriel… Zelel-san… due to an accident, she arrived at our house yesterday. She said she's here to find you. She's very worried about you…"
"S-She's at your place now?" Gabriel's voice sounded a little dry.
"She's staying with us for the time being," Ichika answered solemnly.
Confirmed. Her sister was here—and close.
A tingling numbness crawled over Gabriel's scalp. Her instincts screamed at her to find a place to hide, but reason said it was pointless.
By now, part of the quintuplets' attention had shifted to Rei Ao and Satania, who'd been observing the whole time. They noticed that neither of them looked the least bit surprised by words like "angel" and "sister," as if Gabriel's non-human identity was old news.
Ichika couldn't help asking, "You two… don't seem surprised?"
Rei Ao's mild smile deepened a shade. Calmly, he introduced himself. "Formally: I'm Rei Ao, a friend of Gabriel's."
"As for her…" He pointed to the redhead, who was a little miffed at being ignored. "Kurumizawa Satania McDowell—as you can see, a demon."
"A demon?!"
The quintuplets gasped in unison, eyes even wider. It was all too much to process—angels, demons, and they were classmates?
What was happening to the world?
Yotsuba suddenly remembered something and pointed at Rei Ao, stammering, "W-wait! Rei Ao… are you the legendary straight-perfect-scores, every-subject, every-exam super honor student—Rei Ao-senpai?!"
Rei Ao nodded casually. "Mm. If there isn't another Rei Ao at this school, that should be me."
A legendary academic prodigy… who also seemed to know—maybe even be acquainted with—angels and demons. Just who was this Rei Ao?
The quintuplets stared at him with even greater curiosity.
Gabriel, meanwhile, couldn't care less about honor students. Her head was full of one problem: how to face her sister. She raked a hand through her short blond hair, then sighed.
"Fine. Got it. After school, I'll go with you to see her."
Things had gone too far to run from now. She could only hope her sister would go easy on her for owning up.
…
After school, at the Nakano home.
When Gabriel finally dragged her feet into the living room behind the quintuplets—Rei Ao and Satania in tow (the latter purely there to enjoy the show)—Zelel, who had already sensed her sister's aura, rose to her feet at once.
"Gabriel!"
Zelel's voice carried a barely noticeable tremor of excitement—but more than that, an assessing edge that promised looming severity. She strode forward, eyes sweeping up and down her sister like a precision scanner.
Wrinkled school uniform. Tousled short blond hair. Shifty gaze. An aura that all but broadcast laziness and indolence. She was nothing like the little sister in Zelel's memories—mischievous at times, yes, but fundamentally earnest and hardworking.
"S-Sis…" Gabriel hung her head, voice as tiny as a mosquito's buzz, not daring to meet her sister's eyes.
"Gabriel!" Zelel's tone snapped to strict, haloed with the authority of a seraph. "Look at the state you're in! Sloppy clothes, listless spirit, not a trace of the radiance or sense of mission an angel should have! Is this what your training in the human world has come to? Those 'helping humans' and 'spreading kindness' items in your regular reports—were those all…"