Diary Of Service Club, Helping The Elf Princess

[T/N: New year BONUS chapter 🥳🥳]

The break between classes wasn't long. After some casual chatting, the preparation bell rang for the next lesson. Yuina decided not to bicker further with Rin, hopped off Hikigaya's desk, exchanged a few pleasantries with him, and then returned to her seat, laughing and chatting with Yuna and Rin.

Hikigaya lowered his head and pulled out the textbook for the upcoming class. Suddenly, his extraordinary senses picked up a gaze directed at him. He looked up and saw a tall, slender figure sitting in her seat. Just as he looked over, the figure turned away, leaving him with only a glimpse of her long black hair cascading down her back.

'Kotegawa Yui?'

Hikigaya was quite surprised as he observed the familiar yet "shameless" figure.

Kotegawa Yui, the famously stern disciplinary committee member from To Love-Ru, was someone he knew of, but since he always followed the rules, he had naturally never interacted with her.

Just like the popular crowd to his left in class, Hachiman wasn't a part of their world, nor did he mix with the anime and manga enthusiasts. Whether it was Miura Yumiko or Kitagawa Marin, he had no connection to either of them.

Gabriel was the only one who didn't care about such things and approached him directly. She even shared his desk, passed notes, and had meals with him without any reservations.

Hmm… Thinking about it, he suddenly felt guilty for planning to lead Gabriel astray.

The reward for the task to corrupt Gabriel—a Fallen Angel's Halo—sounded enticing, but he had no idea what its effects were. Corrupting the little angel Gabriel just didn't feel quite right.

Perhaps it would be better to ensure Gabriel didn't fall and see if he could gain something even greater.

Gabriel's sister, Zeruell, was so powerful, and Gabriel herself was the top student in the Heavens this year. If he waited for little Gabriel to ascend, wouldn't he be able to walk through life unchallenged as well?

However, he was merely Gabriel's classmate. He couldn't always stay by her side. If Gabriel fell while at home, he wouldn't be able to stop it.

Even if a task triggered and allowed him to teleport there, it wouldn't be appropriate.

When it came to ordinary people, if they were as simple and obedient as Hayase Saki, he wouldn't even need to explain himself.

But dealing with an angel like Gabriel was different. Teleporting into her home would not be something easy to brush off.

For the next two periods, Hikigaya pondered how he could protect Gabriel.

It seemed... protecting Gabriel would be far more challenging than leading her to fall.

After all, corrupting Gabriel merely required an opportunity. Once she fell, he wouldn't have to worry anymore. But protecting Gabriel would mean constantly preventing her from encountering anything dangerous. A single misstep, and all his efforts would be in vain.

.

.

.

Noon, during lunch break.

"Hikigaya-san, I prepared an extra bento for you today, and I even brought a new pair of chopsticks. You don't have to squeeze into the cafeteria today."

Gabriel moved her desk next to Hikigaya's, just like yesterday. She then pulled out two bentos she had brought and placed one along with a pair of new chopsticks in front of him.

Yesterday, Hachiman had refused to eat her food, worried she might go hungry, and had declined to use her utensils. So today, she had prepared extra just for him.

"Tenma-san... I will protect you."

Looking at the golden-haired, petite angel Gabriel, who had thoughtfully prepared extra food for him, Hikigaya seemed to see a faint holy glow around her. In that moment, he made a decision in his heart.

Such a little angel shouldn't fall.

"Ah? T-this..."

Hearing Hachiman suddenly declare he would protect her, Gabriel's snow-white, pure face instantly turned a charming shade of pink. Her soft, golden hair fell gracefully against her smooth cheeks as she fidgeted, unsure of how to respond.

'Why is he suddenly talking about protecting me?'

'All I did is brought him an extra bento, and now he is saying he wants to protect me?'

Not far away, Yuna, who had just picked up her lunch and was about to join them, exchanged a glance with her friends. They silently stopped in their tracks and returned to their seats, mischievously watching the scene unfold between Gabriel and Hikigaya.

'Protect me... protect an angel...'

Gabriel took a deep breath, calming herself. She suddenly realized that Hikigaya likely didn't know she was an angel.

Even though this world was connected to several other realms, and she could sense some abnormalities in Hachiman, he still appeared to be a regular human.

"Why are you saying this all of a sudden, Hikigaya-san?"

Gabriel smiled her usual gentle, healing smile at him, regaining her composure.

"Because Tenma-san, you're just like an angel. Also, you're as delicate and cute as a porcelain doll. I feel like I should protect you."

Hikigaya couldn't exactly say his goal was to prevent her from falling, so he leaned into what he could observe about her.

After all, the other girls in the class said similar things about her.

Gabriel was petite, angelic in demeanor, and truly exquisite.

Gabriel's height, figure, and appearance were indeed angelic, but she was also undeniably petite.

Most people couldn't bring themselves to feel "that way" about Gabriel. Instead, they were either healed by her presence or overwhelmed with a desire to protect her.

"If I'm an angel, shouldn't I be the one protecting Hikigaya-san?"

Hearing Hikigaya's explanation, Gabriel's sweet and healing smile revealed a hint of helplessness, but she also subtly let out a sigh of relief.

As expected, her deskmate only thought she was a good person. She had almost misunderstood.

Guardian angel? That's not something to joke about. However, since Hikigaya was an unaware human, she couldn't refute him even if he said it.

"I also want Tenma-san to be my guardian angel, but unfortunately..."

Hikigaya shook his head and trailed off without finishing his sentence.

In truth, compared to Gabriel, this petite angel who was easily misunderstood, he felt that her older sister, Zeruel, would be a better fit.

But that was even more distant and unrealistic.

"Guardian angel..."

Hearing this phrase, which could easily lead an angel to misunderstand, Gabriel smiled without diminishing her cheerfulness and winked at Hikigaya.

"Aren't we already good friends? If you need help with anything, you can always come to me."

As an angel, even though she couldn't freely use her powers while training on Earth, she could still provide significant assistance to ordinary people.

"Really? That's great. I hope you won't reject me in the future."

Looking at Gabriel's sweet and healing smile, Hikigaya suddenly came up with an idea he wasn't sure was good or bad.

Right now, Gabriel was still the helpful good angel. If he were to slack off completely and let little angel Gabriel take care of him, like Vignette did in the original story, wouldn't that prevent her from falling into sloth?

However, this might slightly affect his career dream. After all, those memories from so many years weren't fake—he genuinely wanted to find a wealthy black-haired beauty and become a househusband.

Seeing that Hikigaya and Gabriel seemed to have finished their conversation, Yuna and her friends exchanged glances before walking over.

"Tenma-san, Hikigaya, want to have lunch together?"

Yuna waved the bread and milk in her hand. Behind her, Yuina and Rin also carried things like cake and drinks.

Unlike Hikigaya and Gabriel, they hadn't brought bentos, but they had bought bread and milk in advance for lunch.

"I don't mind..."

Gabriel hesitated and glanced at Hikigaya beside her.

Yesterday, when Yuna and her friends took Hikigaya's desk, he went to the school cafeteria to eat alone. But based on today's interactions, their relationship didn't seem that bad, so she wasn't sure what Hikigaya thought.

She guessed it was highly likely that Hikigaya didn't want to eat with them.

Although Yuna and her so-called gyaru friends didn't seem bad—they were just a bit crude and direct—Hikigaya clearly appeared to be a straightforward and honest person. He didn't even resist when Yuina took advantage of him earlier. It wasn't surprising for such an honest guy to feel resistant toward overly enthusiastic gyarus... right?

Thinking about how Hikigaya was sandwiched between Yuina and Rin earlier, Gabriel felt it didn't quite look like helpless resistance.

"Of course, we can. I brought a bento today too; we can share and try each other's food."

Hikigaya, seeing everyone looking at him, nodded and took out his bento from his shoulder bag, placing it next to the bento Gabriel had given him.

He had guessed that, based on Gabriel's current personality, after being politely refused yesterday, she would bring extra food today. So, he had specially prepared a bento himself.

It wouldn't feel right to eat someone else's food for free. Sharing and exchanging seemed more appropriate.

"Can we really eat with you guys? Won't we be intruding?"

Rin, noticing Hikigaya taking out his bento and glancing at the two bentos Gabriel had brought, suddenly realized something.

Hikigaya and Tenma-san's relationship didn't seem too distant if she was already bringing him food.

To get so close to a transfer student in just one day, Hikigaya must be pretty amazing.

"We're all good friends, aren't we? Why not eat together? Besides, Tenma-san brought too much food. If we can't finish, isn't it great if you can help out?"

Hikigaya glanced at the late-to-realize Rin.

Was there any point in saying this now? If he really liked Gabriel, these teammates would've driven him mad. After finally getting a chance to eat together, did they need to come over and act as helpers?

Thankfully, he didn't like Gabriel. He just thought it was a pity for a little angel like her to fall into laziness. Otherwise, he'd definitely make these three suffer.

"Hehe~"

"Well, we'll shamelessly mooch some food today."

"I still have a bottle of banana milk. I'll bring it over for you."

Yuina and Yuna realized they might indeed be intruding on Hikigaya a bit. But since they'd already come over, leaving now would look even more suspicious.

"Mhm, you should try my bento. Let me know if there's anything I can improve."

Seeing them pull chairs over and sit around the table she and Hikigaya had joined, Gabriel opened her bento and shared it with everyone.

Her bento contained tempura, fried shrimp, cola-flavored potato croquettes, and small tomatoes and broccoli for color and to balance the grease. It was a pretty classic bento menu.

Taste aside, the presentation and appearance were great. For these gyarus, who were too lazy to make their own bento, Gabriel's effort was worth praising.

"Tenma-san can cook too? That's amazing~"

"Too bad Tenma-san isn't a guy. I'd totally marry her if she were."

"Didn't you say that yesterday too?"

"Go ahead and try it. Hikigaya-kun also made a bento. I wonder what's inside?"

Hearing Yuna and the others' exaggerated praise before even eating, Gabriel felt a little embarrassed and quickly changed the subject.

"Nothing much, just eel rice."

Hikigaya opened his bento. Inside were a few slices of eel, along with some tamagoyaki, nori, and imitation crab sticks.

"Eel rice? So extravagant."

Yuina was shocked to see the sliced eel in Hikigaya's bento.

Eel, tender and flavorful, was a favorite for many people. But it was also quite pricey, making it relatively luxurious for students.

"This is homemade, so it's cheaper. Each of you can have a piece; there's not much."

Hikigaya handed them the extra chopsticks Gabriel had prepared, letting them help themselves.

Initially, he had planned to reward himself after completing a task and earning some good rewards. But with Yuna and her friends joining, most of the eel was likely going into their stomachs.

"Little Hikigaya, I love you."

Yuina was the first to grab a piece of eel with her chopsticks and stuffed it into her mouth, mumbling joyfully at her successful freeloading.

"You guys eat too; don't hold back."

Hikigaya picked up one of Gabriel's cola-flavored croquettes and took a bite, smiling at Gabriel, Yuna, and Rin.

He was getting used to Yuina's lack of filter and didn't let it bother him much anymore.

Compared to Rin, Yuina was slightly better, as Rin's words often carried a hint of sarcasm.

"Then... I won't hold back either..."

Seeing Rin and the others start eating, Gabriel hesitated briefly before picking up a small piece of eel with her chopsticks and gently biting into it.

She remembered her sister mentioning during her training on Earth that eel rice had always been quite expensive.

For an angel living on Earth's training stipend, eating such an expensive meal would mean starving for a long time. Even as a top student with a stipend 40% higher than average, she couldn't afford to be so extravagant.

"Little Hikigaya, did you just get friend-zoned?"

Yuina, after eating one piece of eel, opened her bread and inserted a straw into her milk carton. Sitting beside Hikigaya, she leaned close and whispered.

Although Hikigaya and Gabriel didn't seem to have a conflict or awkwardness, the transition from tension to calm made her feel like Gabriel had friend-zoned him and returned to being just friends.

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