Chapter 94: Chapter 94: Mafuyu Kirisu messy lifestyle
"Master is really impressive," Satania boasted proudly. "Not only can he help us become stronger, but he also teaches us how to earn more allowance, right, Vigne?"
"...Yes," Vignette nodded reluctantly, her face slightly flushed. Now, thanks to his advice, she had significantly more spending money—enough to comfortably cover her rent and bills without having to scrimp on food.
"More allowance?" Gabriel's eyes lit up. Lately, there was one thing she needed desperately—money! She had even begun looking for part-time jobs to make ends meet.
"How exactly does he teach you to earn more?" Gabriel asked, eager for details.
"Oh, it's…" Satania's cheeks flushed, ready to brag, but Vignette quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, stopping her from revealing too much.
"Um?" Gabriel and Raphiel both gave her a curious look.
"It's...just some unique ways to earn money," Vignette stammered, her face red. She shot Satania a look, silently warning her not to say more.
"Really?" Raphiel raised a skeptical eyebrow, while Gabriel's expression showed she was already forming some ideas.
Vignette, eager to shift the conversation, said, "Anyway, shouldn't we focus on finding that strange lifeform?"
Raphiel nodded, "Yes, let's split up to search."
"Alright."
…
The next morning, in a cluttered apartment, Mafuyu Kirisu, dressed in a tracksuit, got up and headed to wash up. She was determined to make a change, starting with her surroundings. Cleaning her apartment was her first step!
At school, Mafuyu was known for her cool, untouchable demeanor, earning her the nickname of the "perfect teacher." But at home, she was more laid-back and utterly clueless about daily chores; she didn't even know how to do basic housekeeping. Determined to change, she thought, *Maybe if I start cleaning...*
But as she looked around at the mess of bottles and random clutter, her resolve started to waver.
"Maybe... maybe I'll start by making breakfast," she mumbled, backing away from the daunting sight of her messy living room and heading to the kitchen.
In truth, Mafuyu had always relied on takeout or dining out, so this was her first real attempt at cooking. *Let's see... I'll add this... and this... maybe a little of that too?*
After half an hour of experimenting, her breakfast was ready.
"Perfect!" Mafuyu gazed proudly at her plate of bright, colorful food. "I didn't know I had a talent for cooking."
With excitement, she took a bite of her creation. "Not bad!" she thought, pleased, and began eating heartily. But before long, she felt a sharp pain in her stomach and her vision started to blur.
"What... what's happening to me?" Mafuyu's mind raced as her body weakened. *Did I… accidentally poison myself?*
In desperation, she staggered towards the door, needing help, and managed to open it.
"H...help…" she gasped, collapsing unconscious in the doorway.
Within seconds, a figure appeared at her doorstep, noticing her lying there through the slightly open door.
"Mafuyu Kirisu-sensei?" It was Rei Ao, looking down at her with surprise.
…
Roughly half an hour earlier.
Rei Ao woke up in Megumi Kato's bed. As he hugged her from behind, he asked, "Megumi, should we get up?"
"Mmm… Rei Ao, please let me sleep a bit more. I'm so tired," Megumi mumbled, barely able to keep her eyes open. The reason for her exhaustion was obvious—Rei Ao's endurance had been… considerable.
"All right, sleep a bit more," Rei Ao said, cupping her face softly before getting up. He was utterly enamored with her; it was clear she'd studied specifically for this day, even trying techniques that Mai hadn't used yet, albeit a little clumsily. That, he thought, made her all the more endearing.
Before long, after getting dressed, Rei Ao headed out and ran into Megumi's older sister, Hiromi Kato, who was also on her way out.
"Um…" Hiromi's face went red as soon as she saw him, while she awkwardly scratched the ground with her toe. She realized she was likely the only person who had ever overheard her own sister's… private life. In the awkward silence, she couldn't even think of what to say.
"Megumi seemed… comfortable?" she blurted out without thinking.
"!!!" She immediately regretted it. *What in the world am I saying?*
Rei Ao was just as taken aback for a moment but managed a smile. "Yes, very comfortable."
"???" Hiromi felt like dying from embarrassment. *Did he have to actually answer?!* Even though she'd overheard her sister's… reactions last night and could understand, saying it to his face was something else entirely.
"Ahem," Hiromi coughed, desperate to leave. "Well, my parents are coming back from a trip around noon. You know what I mean, right?"
Rei Ao nodded. "Yes, I'll be gone soon."
"Great. Well then, I'm off to work. See you!" she said, turning quickly to leave, afraid that lingering any longer would cause her to explode with embarrassment.
Once she was gone, Rei Ao also didn't linger. With a leisurely stroll, he started walking back to his apartment building.
"Help…"
"Hm?"
On his way up the stairs, he heard a faint, familiar call for help. He followed the sound and found Mafuyu Kirisu, collapsed on the floor.
"Ugh…" Mafuyu moaned softly as she opened her eyes, disoriented.
"What… happened to me?" She sat up, taking in the unfamiliar room. "Where am I?"
"Kirisu-san, you're in your own apartment," Rei Ao said, coming over with a bowl of congee.
"My… apartment?" Mafuyu looked around, startled by how clean everything was. For a moment, she didn't even recognize the place.
"Wait, why… why are *you* here?" she stammered, finally noticing him. She recognized Rei Ao, of course, but if this was her home… why was he here?
"It seems Kirisu-san's memory isn't the best," he teased lightly. "I heard your cry for help, so I came over and found you with what seemed to be food poisoning."
He'd taken care of her food poisoning easily enough, though he'd also discovered the source: a chaotic blend of ingredients she'd apparently thrown together in a pan, resulting in a highly questionable culinary "experiment." There was no doubt she'd made it herself.
"Food poisoning?" Mafuyu's face turned red as she realized the likely cause, feeling deeply embarrassed. And to add to the embarrassment, Rei Ao set a bowl of congee down in front of her.
"Kirisu-san, your room was so messy there wasn't even anywhere to sit, so I took the liberty of tidying up," he said. "I also made some congee for you—something easy on the stomach."
Mafuyu's face flushed bright red. *This is the end!* Now her student knew that she was a hopelessly lazy and disorganized mess.
But there was no way she could admit to it. Flustered, she lied, "Oh, it's actually… well, the mess is because I hosted a, uh, gathering here yesterday. So that's why."
Rei Ao only smiled knowingly, choosing not to challenge her excuse. He wasn't particularly concerned with the details.
It turns out Mafuyu Kirisu also lived in this apartment complex. Rei Ao, seeing this as a perfect opportunity, was set on making an impression on her. For a beautiful yet hapless woman with no life skills, like Mafuyu, the best approach would undoubtedly be to appeal to her weaknesses and, most importantly, her appetite.
Seeing that Rei Ao didn't press her about the state of her messy home, Mafuyu breathed a sigh of relief. With a complicated look, she said, "Thank you, Rei Ao, for saving me."
Then, she picked up the bowl of congee he'd made and took a cautious sip. Her eyes widened.
"This is… delicious!"
She'd been living on takeout for so long that she hadn't tasted a home-cooked meal in ages. And considering the disaster she'd almost cooked herself into that morning, this was practically heaven.
"Well, if you're all right now, I'll be going. By the way, I live just upstairs in 402."
"You live here too?" Kirisu asked in surprise.
"Yes, I just moved in recently."
With that, Rei Ao left her apartment. Only after the door closed did Mafuyu realize how genuinely grateful she felt, holding the warm bowl with a rosy glow on her cheeks.
Mumbling softly, she said, "What a… nuisance."
...
Rei Ao returned to his place only to find himself surrounded by a group of girls. Mai, Gabriel, Raphiel, Vignette, and Satania—all five of them were there.
Before Mai could say anything, Raphiel spoke up. "Rei Ao, we have something very important to discuss with you."
"Oh?" Rei Ao replied, intrigued, and listened as Raphiel explained the situation. With every word, his mind pieced together a plausible theory.
"Rei Ao, we're hoping that if we encounter this potential enemy, you can help us at least hold it off. The forces from Heaven and Hell should arrive as backup."
They were uneasy, knowing they might be facing an enemy as powerful as Gabriel's sister. Rei Ao shook his head.
"Is that a no?" Vignette's face fell, but Rei Ao wasn't rejecting them.
"Actually," he said, "I think you may be worrying too much. I suspect this being isn't an enemy."
"Why do you think that?" Raphiel asked, curious about his confidence.
"Because I saw this 'powerful lifeform' with my own eyes—last night, in fact."
"Wha—?"
The girls looked at him in shock.
"It's a dragon," Rei Ao continued. "A huge dragon."
"A…dragon?!"
They exchanged glances, remembering that the other world, connected to theirs, was indeed home to dragons.
"Isn't that extremely dangerous?" Vignette asked, frowning. She knew that in the other world, dragons were often chaotic and powerful.
"I can't speak for other dragons," Rei Ao replied, "but this one, at least, owes me its life. It promised not to cause any trouble."
"It…owes you its life?" they echoed, clearly surprised.
"Rei Ao, do you know where it is now?" Vignette asked.
"Unfortunately, after I saved it, it flew off," Rei Ao said with a shrug. "But it did promise to behave."
A little disappointed, they nonetheless trusted Rei Ao's judgment.
"Master is so powerful, even taming a dragon!" Satania exclaimed with admiration.
Rei Ao chuckled. Taming a dragon was one thing. But in the future, he was definitely going to try his hand as a dragon knight, as well as a demon knight, and an angel knight.
"In that case, this situation is a bit less urgent," Raphiel said, smiling. "But we should still try to find the dragon and conduct a little negotiation."
With that, Raphiel, Gabriel, Vignette, and Satania each left one by one. Only Gabriel lingered, slipping a note into Rei Ao's hand on her way out. When he opened it, he found her request: "Rei Ao, could I borrow 10,000 yen? It's for…saving the world."
Mai, who hadn't been snooping, finally asked, "What did Gabriel say?"
Rei Ao smirked. "She asked for a loan."
"…A loan?" Mai said, eyebrow raised, finding the idea of an angel borrowing money from a human rather odd. She dropped the topic quickly, though, glancing downwards with a hint of annoyance.
"Rei Ao, you spent the night at Megumi's, didn't you? I'm guessing things went…pretty far?"
Mai already had her answer, but hearing him admit it—
"Yes," Rei Ao replied simply.
He then settled back into the couch, beckoning her with a playful grin. "Come here, Mai. I can tell you want to make sure the scent is…completely gone."
"Hmph!" Mai scoffed, though her face betrayed a faint blush. *Who's trying to remove a scent, really?* But she was always straightforward and honest.
She decided right then that she was going to make this rogue pay.
~~~
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