“I…” Lirina saw that Kasa had absolutely no intention of helping her figure out what to do, and panic overtook her—she burst into tears.
Kasa hurriedly turned back. “Hey, hey, my little princess, don’t cry! When you cry, my head starts hurting… Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry! Alright, I—I’ll think of something, okay?”
Lirina sniffled and stopped crying, rubbing her eyes as she looked at Kasa.
Kasa paced back and forth. “Let me think… hmm… alright, for now, do this. Go out and ask that angel what’s really going on. From what I can tell, she’s definitely not a combat-type angel.[1] Angels have very clear roles. I’ll go out with you this time—I’ll stay invisible, so don’t worry.”
Lirina nodded. Kasa hopped onto her shoulder, muttering something under his breath. A flicker of dark shadow flashed—then he vanished.
“I’m right here,” Kasa’s voice echoed faintly. “Don’t worry about being polite or not. Right now, she’s basically your prisoner.”
Lirina pressed her lips together and opened the door.
In the living room, Anya had managed to move herself about five centimeters.
Hearing footsteps, she paused—and then saw Lirina walk in and sit back down on the single sofa.
Anya quietly watched her, waiting.
After a long moment, Lirina spoke. “H-hello… my name is Lirina Hayur.”
A self-introduction?
Anya felt puzzled but stayed silent, waiting for what came next.
“…C-could you tell me… why you came to attack me…” Lirina spoke haltingly. It was clear she was terrible at questioning others. “You also said just now… that you were taking over the job of an exorcist angel…”
“Taking over an exorcist angel’s job… was just a whim. I thought about it just now—it really wasn’t necessary at all,” Anya replied immediately. “I’m truly, deeply sorry for the trouble I caused you.”
—Yes, she had figured it out.
She had already run away from Heaven, so why was she still doing things expected of an angel? No matter how she thought about it, it was pointless. The more she considered it, the more foolish the whole day felt.
“Eh—” Hearing such a sincere apology, Lirina froze again—then suddenly flinched as her ear was tugged.
“Ow…” she whimpered softly. Anya looked at her, confused.
“Um… then, could you tell me how you came to the human world?” Lirina asked again.
Anya paused, then turned her gaze toward the ceiling.
Lirina waited for a full minute. Just as she felt Kasa’s beak tugging at her ear again and began to panic, Anya turned back.
“Why should I tell you?” Anya frowned slightly, her eyes not meeting Lirina’s.
Though her tone sounded a bit blunt, Lirina caught a trace of loneliness in her expression.
“I—I want to know!” Lirina blurted out instinctively.
Anya looked up, puzzled. “You… want to know, so I have to tell you? Why?”
Lirina choked on her words. After several seconds, she remembered what Kasa had told her.
“Y-you have to tell me! Because… because you’re my prisoner right now!”
Anya looked at Lirina, whose face had turned bright red, and sighed. “Let’s say that’s true… but what if I just don’t want to tell you?”
Lirina froze again. She thought hard, then suddenly stood up.
What now, running away again? Anya thought, but before she could finish the thought—
“If you don’t tell me, I won’t give you breakfast tomorrow!”
Anya blinked—then burst out laughing. Even her laughter sounded weak.
Lirina’s face turned even redder. After a moment, when the laughter subsided, she added, “Then… after you eat, you should leave my house right away!”
“…I can’t do that.” Anya smiled helplessly. “Thank you for helping me, but I can’t leave. Like I said before… I don’t even have the strength to sit up right now. And… I twisted my right ankle when I first attacked you.”
“Eh?” Lirina froze, then realized it was true. When she had dragged Anya onto the sofa earlier, she had already felt how weak she was.
“…Once I recover, I’ll leave and stop troubling you. Until then, I’ll have to impose on you,” Anya said, looking back at the ceiling. “You really are a strange demon.”
“Um… please don’t call me that! I already told you my name!” Lirina protested. “You keep saying ‘demon, demon’—that’s so rude! You must not have many friends!”
Anya froze—then laughed. This time, the smile was bitter enough to make Lirina go still.
“Yeah, yeah, I don’t have many friends. And now I’m being told that by you… I really don’t have any! I’ve always done everything they told me to—was that wrong?”
Her voice suddenly rose, though it sounded weak from exhaustion.
“I didn’t want that either—I didn’t! But as the daughter of an outstanding Blessing Angel, I had to become one too! I didn’t want it! My entire childhood was spent locked at home studying, and at thirteen I was sent straight into the Blessing Division—I didn’t want that!”
Lirina stared at her, completely at a loss.
Anya stopped, breathless. Even speaking like this drained her. Her already pale face had turned almost white.
“I… I’m sorry. I’m really sorry,” Lirina apologized instinctively.
Anya steadied her breathing.
What did I just say…
“I’m sorry! I really said something awful!” Lirina suddenly stood up and bowed deeply.
“…I wasn’t right either.” Anya closed her eyes. “I’m sorry, Lirina.”
“…Oh.”
She was suddenly called by name.
But why did that feel… embarrassing? It must be because this person saw… and even… ah…
Lirina lowered her head and sat back down.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
Then, carefully, Lirina asked, “Th-then… Anya, what are you going to do now?”
“…Like I said, I’ll leave once I recover,” Anya replied. “I haven’t figured out anything beyond that. But I won’t trouble you again.”
“Ah…”
Lirina felt like she had done something wrong. The loneliness she sensed from the angel only seemed deeper now.
She glanced at the bowl of porridge on the table, hesitated, then stood up.
“Y-you can’t recover without eating… I—I’ll feed you.”
Anya turned in surprise as Lirina moved closer.
“W-wait… I can…” she started to say, but realized she couldn’t even sit up, let alone hold a bowl.
Lirina, face flushed red, helped her sit up.
“Wait… Li—Lirina,” Anya frowned. “In our angelic textbooks, succubi are described as creatures who deceive others’ love and desire, feeding on them for power. They’re supposed to be greedy and seductive… But you… you’re nothing like that. Why?”
Lirina lowered her head.
Did I say something wrong again…?
Before Anya could fix it, Lirina burst into tears.
“I—I don’t want to be like this either! But I don’t know what to do! When I get close to men, I feel scared and uncomfortable… and with girls, I don’t know how to do those kinds of things to friends! I—I’m just a useless succubus! A failure!”
…
Compared to herself—who drove others away by trying too hard—this girl… was simply too weak. No, too pure. That’s why she didn’t seem like a demon at all.
If all demons were like this, the world would already be at peace…
Looking at her, she was just an ordinary, adorable girl.
Honestly…
A miserable angel and a useless succubus.
“…Alright, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Don’t cry,” Anya tried to comfort her.
Surprisingly, Lirina was easy to soothe. Her sobs quickly quieted. Anya let out a small breath of relief.
“Honestly, I’m not in a position to judge you… I’m just an unhappy angel,” Anya said, looking into Lirina’s tear-blurred eyes. “I worked so hard to become the ‘excellent Blessing Angel’ everyone talked about—blessing others, giving them happiness… until I gave all of mine away. I’m not much better than you.”
Lirina looked at her, confused.
“…I ran away from Heaven. I have nowhere to go and nothing I can do,” Anya said. “Meeting you today was… well, never mind. I’ll leave on my own later.”
An unhappy angel…
Lirina felt a pang in her chest.
Being a useless succubus was one thing—just being weak. But happiness… that was important for anyone.
If Anya left, she would probably wander aimlessly. That didn't feel good…
So maybe…
“Th-then… if you really don’t have anywhere to go… would you like to stay… at my place? I live alone anyway… Ah, I said something weird—please forget it…” Lirina said, her face growing redder.
…
Anya looked at her—the succubus whose round, adorable face was still flushed red.
She had already run away from Heaven. By now, she wasn’t even worthy of being called an angel anymore. Those rules didn’t matter.
And this girl… was really just an ordinary girl.
She had nowhere to go anyway.
“…Then, if you don’t mind, I’ll be in your care.” Anya smiled. “Lirina.”
~~~~~~~~
A/N:
Anya: “No matter how many times I think about it, meeting Lirina was wonderful. Meeting my Lirina was truly wonderful.”
Lirina: “Anya… you’re saying embarrassing things again… um, me too, hehe.”
Anya: “Then let’s kiss—right now, immediately—”