I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

Tenkuji Yuu was slightly taken aback, as if surprised, or perhaps unexpectedly delighted.

She chuckled and nodded, not as a boyfriend, but as a senior colleague, expressing her deep sympathy.

"Yes, it's really been hard on me. Taking care of you bunch of good-for-nothing juniors."

"They're not incompetent at all; please say that to the other members of the student council! Rua~"

Sticking out her tongue and making a face, Isshiki Hajime didn't wait for his reply before grinning and disappearing into the toilet.

Tenkuuji Yu shook his head helplessly and looked away: "I can't be bothered to talk about the others, it's just you two—"

The words that were about to come out stopped abruptly the moment he realized something was wrong.

He frowned slightly, instantly grasping the unusual end of the story, and silently pondered the clues it revealed.

The corridor was quiet, as if all the noise of the world had faded away from this space, making it the perfect place for him to ponder some complex and mind-bending matters.

For example, have they, Ayaha and I, truly forgotten someone who is very important to them?

For example, could it be related to his trial mission—namely, "finding the missing thing"?

Taking advantage of the silence around him and knowing that his girlfriend had gone to the bathroom and wouldn't be back for a while, Yuu Tenkuji calmed himself down and, using his earlier outburst, "It's just the two of you," as a starting point, began to ponder other things that were worth considering.

However, not long after, he suddenly realized that something was wrong.

"Wait, this is too quiet."

Tenkuji Yu raised his head and looked around.

Today is the graduation ceremony. Although the main event has long ended, there are still more people staying on campus than usual after school. It will probably take another hour or two for the students to leave completely and for the noise to subside.

But now?

The clean and empty corridor was completely deserted.

The once noisy and bustling outside the window is now completely silent.

It was as if I had suddenly stepped into a barrier separating two worlds; the only thing I could clearly hear was my own steady breathing.

This is very wrong.

With a sharp glint in his eyes, Tenkuji Yu squinted and left the wall. He first went to the side of the corridor and looked around to make sure that all the moving creatures on campus had disappeared at some point. Then he quickly walked towards the toilet.

"Has reincarnation arrived early, or..."

He wasn't sure yet; his top priority right now was ensuring his girlfriend's safety. Everything else could wait.

Just as Yu was about to bravely rush into the women's restroom and try to call out his girlfriend's name, someone walked out of it.

"Whew~ That feels so good~"

While wiping her wet hands with a handkerchief, she remarked without regard for her image—"Even though I've met countless people, I only know one girl like this."

"Gabriel?"

A junior colleague at work, who was also a junior from the same school, appeared in front of him for some reason.

"Hey! Sky Temple, what are you doing sneaking around in front of the women's restroom? If you're trying to peep, watch out for the holy light's punishment."

As if she already knew she would run into him here, the petite blonde girl greeted him with a cheerful smile, appearing to be in a rare good mood.

"I don't have that kind of disgusting taste."

Upon seeing an acquaintance, Yuu Tenkuji subconsciously relaxed her guard, rolled her eyes, and casually asked, "Why aren't you home yet? Aren't you the kind of person who avoids school activities if possible, but is always the first to leave when you have to? Is there some senior you want to see off?"

"Yes, I have."

Unexpectedly, she nodded.

The blonde girl gazed at him meaningfully, her hands in the pockets of her pink coat, looking like a pretentious charlatan, and slowly began to speak:

"Isn't it right in front of us?"

"what?"

Tenkuji Yu paused for a moment, his usual overly relaxed and casual expression gradually disappearing. He frowned at her with some vigilance and wariness, as if he was suspicious of something.

Nevertheless, he did not sense any danger from this delicate and easily pushed junior, so he maintained the current distance for the time being and did not intend to suddenly retreat three steps or put on a look as if facing a formidable enemy.

"Don't joke around. You won't even call me 'senior,' how could you possibly have the heart to wish me a happy graduation?"

"Oh dear, it's just that I'm afraid of the hassle~" Gabriel scratched her messy hair, seemingly a little helpless.

She thought for a moment, then suddenly snapped her fingers, instantly transforming her fluffy, lion-mane-like golden hair into smooth, shiny, long, straight golden hair.

Then, she put on a sweet and gentle smile, placed her hands on her lower abdomen, bowed gracefully to him, and said in a clear and sweet voice:

"Senior Tenkuji, congratulations on your graduation and may your future be bright! I have received a lot of help from you in the past. Although I did not prepare any other gift, please accept this heartfelt expression of gratitude that does not cost money!"

"..."

Tenkuji Yu stared at her silently, as if startled. This drastic change made the usually decadent otaku girl shine with an angelic brilliance. Even the obviously fake smile on her face seemed to be sparkling, as if she were wearing an angel halo.

After a long while, Tenkuji Yuu covered his face with one hand and sighed, "You're too normal. Please, don't be so abnormal."

“Great, I knew you’d say that.”

With a bang, his smooth, straight long hair seemed to freeze completely, and he snapped back into the golden lion king look.

Scratching her head, Gabriel said lazily, "You're not wrong. I didn't come here to give you graduation wishes. You're not paying me, so why should I do something so thankless?"

That guy is such a jerk.

Yuu Tenkuji silently complained, then said, "I didn't expect you to have that kind of intention... By the way, what was that all about just now? Was it magic? Or... sorcery?"

"Wow, she's really good at accepting things... Well, it's just a dream, after all. And it's an abnormal dream." She muttered to herself, then raised her eyebrows and said, "It's not magic, it's divine magic."

"I, Gabriel, am, for the time being, an angel." After saying this, the blonde girl looked up at the sky, her lips twitching thoughtfully. "Those above don't seem to care. Dreams are so free, but unfortunately, this isn't my dream..."

"An angel?" Forgetting everything else for the moment, Tenkuji Yu asked in surprise, his suspicious gaze sweeping over her from head to toe.

Gabriel turned her head down, her face full of displeasure: "What? Is there a problem?"

“That’s a big problem.” Yuu Tenkuji nodded honestly. “I’d be more likely to believe you if you said it was a Sloth Angel.”

"Honestly, I didn't come all this way to explain something like this." Gabriel sighed, and suddenly reached down to pull something out from under her skirt.

"Look, seeing this golden halo should convince you that I'm an angel, right?"

After putting it on her head, Gabriel leisurely waited for the surprised and admiring expression on the other person's face, and for the person to bow their head and apologize for doubting them.

For some reason, instead of showing any change of heart, his gaze became even more peculiar, as if he wanted to laugh but dared not.

Puzzled, Gabriel took the halo off her head and looked at it in front of her eyes.

Then, instinctively, I blurted out, "F***! It's been sitting out for too long, I forgot to wipe it clean."

"With such a dark aura, you really are a Sloth Angel, aren't you?" Suppressing a laugh, Tenkuji Yu sighed speechlessly, speaking with an air of certainty as if confirming a fact.

"It was just a little accident... Anyway, you just believe I'm an angel, so there's no need to worry about it so much in a dream, right?"

Gabrielle was unusually embarrassed. After coughing twice, she didn't bother to show off her charm in front of him anymore and simply pretended nothing was wrong and stuffed the item back under her skirt.

"If you don't trust me, I can leave right now."

“…Let’s assume you believe it for now.” Yuu crossed her arms, her expression slightly complicated. “Then, why did you come to find me? Do angels really exist? And how do you know this is a dream…”

"Uh, I won't answer any more questions, okay?" She waved her hand dismissively, completely ignoring his puzzled and eager-to-explain look, and sighed as if it were too much trouble.

"I just wanted to tell you that I gave you an angel's blessing before, didn't I? Around May of last year..."

Yuu Tenkuji quickly remembered that such a joking conversation had indeed taken place.

"That's no joke."

Her casual expression turned slightly serious, and the blonde girl suddenly raised a finger, pointing it at his eyes. Then she murmured:

"In the name of Innocence White Gabriel, I grant you the power to see without seeing."

Tenkuji Yu stared at her in astonishment, feeling a slight burning sensation in her eyes, but no more obvious changes occurred, nor did she experience any mysterious power such as pupil power circulate within her body.

Does "seeing without seeing" refer to the ability to see ghosts? Or is it more than that?

He suddenly felt like taking out his phone to check if any strange patterns had appeared in his eyes.

"Don't make wild guesses. In reality, this is just the ability to see ghosts, it won't give you the Mangekyou Sharingan."

Without giving him any room to overthink, Gabriel directly shattered his illusions, saying calmly, "Of course, there are no ghosts in dreams, so what you can see are only things that you couldn't normally see."

One surprise followed by another, Yuu Tenkuji subconsciously touched her eye socket and murmured, "I couldn't see before... Could it be...?"

Just then, Gabriel suddenly clicked her tongue.

"Tch, they found out so quickly."

"what?"

Before Yuu Tenkuji could react, the door to the science classroom next to them was suddenly pushed open, and a silver-haired woman in a white lab coat walked out, slightly out of breath.

"I'm still wondering, who has the ability to set up a barrier within my jurisdiction and block my surveillance..."

She stood in front of Yuu Tenkuji, glaring at Gabriel with an unfriendly expression.

"So, how did you get in?"

Gabriel thought for a moment, then tilted her head and said, "Did you sleep in here?"

Chapter Sixty-Three: Unveiling the Tip of the Iceberg

"sleep……"

The silver-haired woman in the white coat was speechless for a moment, then glared at her angrily: "It's not that simple. Do you think this is some kind of business hotel where you can just pay to get in?"

Although this broken system is full of loopholes, it's not so broken that any blond middle school student could just break in!

“Even if you say that, the facts are right in front of you, and I don’t know how to explain it to you.” Gabriel shrugged, completely unconcerned about the other party’s aggressive attitude. “Anyway, I just went to sleep and woke up to find myself in this strange dream space.”

"Sleep?" She frowned, somewhat incredulous. "At a time like this?"

It's already afternoon in real life! It's time to get up from a nap, okay?

"What? Can't people have their days and nights reversed during winter break?" Gabriel raised her eyebrows, put her hands on her hips, and looked completely at ease.

"Is this the important point...?"

"You were the one who went astray first." Gabriel rolled her eyes, seemingly having exhausted all her energy for the conversation, and slumped her shoulders back to her usual lazy demeanor. "To be honest, I didn't intend to interfere in your affairs. I originally planned to help this guy and then wake up to play games—after all, my account wasn't inherited in this dream, and it cost me a lot of money on food."