"Omniscient?" Kurumi frowned, staring at her in disbelief.
"That's right, just like the word sounds. Rasiel can tell me everything that exists in the world. What's happening anywhere in the world, what anyone is doing— even your backgrounds… I can know it all~"
"What? That's impossible!" Kotori was stunned by Nia's explanation.
"Hahaha~"
Nia laughed. "Otherwise, how do you think I know so much about all of you?"
"Then… do you know Phantom?" Kotori couldn't help asking.
"Phantom? Oh, you mean the First Spirit, right? Sadly, because my power came from her, I can't search for any information about her," Nia replied helplessly.
"You can't search her? Tch, and you call that omniscient?" Kotori sighed in disappointment.
"Can't be helped~ The First Spirit exists outside my omniscience."
"Then it's useless," Kurumi said, shaking her head with a hint of contempt.
With Sawa at her side, she didn't care much about the First Spirit anymore. As long as she could play vigilante, she was satisfied.
And vigilantes go with the flow— they didn't need to hunt things down on purpose.
"Eeeh— my Rasiel can do more than just that, you know~ It can also help you do things you want to do but are too embarrassed to act on."
"What do you mean?" Kurumi asked.
"For example…" Nia said, taking the pen from her headpiece and starting to write in Rasiel.
"What's she doing?"
"Can you actually write in that?"
"All done~" Nia put away her pen contentedly.
"What did you write?" Kotori asked.
"You'll see, little-sis-chan. It's going to be fun~"
"What do you mean, fun—"
"Eh?" Tohka suddenly yelped.
"Tohka, what's wrong?"
"I feel like… I can't control my body."
"What?"
"Eh? Why am I walking on my own? What's happening?"
Tohka started moving like a stiff little robot, walking straight ahead— toward the kitchen.
Kurumi and the others immediately followed her.
Once Tohka entered the kitchen, she made a beeline for Shichen. Before he could understand what was going on, she'd already tackled him, pinned him, and kissed him.
Wearing her Astral Dress, Tohka looked much taller— only a little shorter than Shichen now. She cupped his face and kissed him with full focus.
"Wait, that's weird. I only wrote 'a single touch'…" Nia commented playfully. "Why are you still kissing Shichen, Tohka?"
"What?" Tohka snapped out of it and pushed away from him. Her face instantly turned bright red as she bowed her head, flustered and unsure where to put her hands.
Shichen finally understood what was going on. He rubbed Tohka's head soothingly and looked over at Nia with helpless exasperation. "That was you, wasn't it?"
"Hehe~ I was just showing off my power~ Little-sis-chan and the others wanted to see it."
"That doesn't mean you can tease Tohka like that."
"Does it? I thought Shichen would be very happy."
"…That part is not wrong."
"Mm…" Tohka let out a tiny sound, burying her face even deeper, even more embarrassed.
"What did you just do?" Kurumi stared directly at Nia.
"It's simple. I drew Tohka kissing Shichen," Nia said, showing them the pages of her Angel.
They were a series of panels— a short comic strip— depicting Tohka walking into the kitchen and kissing Shichen.
"What… is this supposed to be?"
"Rasiel is indeed an omniscient Angel, but it can only 'pull out' the information I request. It can't predict the future, and it doesn't automatically warn me of danger. It's more like a high-performance search engine. Whatever is written in it is fact. So if we flip it around… whatever I write becomes reality."
Nia explained proudly.
"So that's how it is… But why draw it? And so well, too," Sawa asked.
"Because drawing gives me more inspiration~"
"What's that even mean?"
"No need to explain everything. Anyway, that's my power. Want to give it a try?" Nia asked, winking playfully at Kotori and the others.
"We…"
They all glanced at each other, then sneaked a look at Shichen without saying a word.
"Thought so— too embarrassed to do it yourselves~"
"Alright, alright. Go outside and play, don't get in the way while we're cooking," Shichen said, shooing them out.
"Eeeh~ but we're all in our Astral Dresses. Shichen, you don't want to look at us a bit longer?"
"Nope. If you don't get out, no lunch."
"Cold as ice, Shichen~"
"Let's go out first. Don't bother Shichen," Tohka said, leaving the kitchen first, her face still bright red.
"Haha~ shy Tohka is really cute," Nia teased as she followed her out.
Kurumi and Kotori exchanged a look.
This power of Nia's Angel was way too useful.
Why hadn't she used it on them?
The two of them walked out of the kitchen, both feeling a little regretful.
Sawa was the last to leave, her expression unusually heavy.
It wasn't that she minded Nia's prank hitting Tohka instead of her; what really bothered her was something else.
She'd just noticed that in this house full of girls, she was the only one who wasn't a Spirit.
Sure, she'd once transformed into one alongside Kurumi, but right now she was just an ordinary human.
Could she really make someone like Shichen fall for her like this?
He wasn't exactly a normal person either.
"Why's there a nun in the house?"
Sawa walked back into the living room and saw that Kaguya and Yuzuru had come out of their room.
The two had skipped breakfast entirely and slept straight through to now. Incredibly lazy.
Yet for some reason, both of them looked… very radiant.
"Oh, that's Kaguya and Yuzuru. Come on, you two change into your Astral Dresses too," Nia said, lighting up when she saw them and running over.
"You are…? And why do you know us?" Kaguya narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Nia.
"Question. Are you also a Spirit?" Yuzuru asked directly.
"Yup~ I'm Honjou Nia. This is my Astral Dress, by the way. Everyone else already changed into theirs— want to join us?"
"What are you even doing?"
"Shichen wants to see us in our Astral Dresses. But he's cooking right now, so once he's done, we'll give him a good long look," Nia said.
"Onii-chan absolutely does not want that!" Kotori snapped back immediately.
"Little-sis-chan, how do you know that? When he saw us earlier, his eyes definitely lit up~"
"That…"
"I see. In that case, since Shichen wants to see, this lady shall oblige," Kaguya said, fully accepting Nia's words.
"Agreement. Let's change as well," Yuzuru nodded.
"Elohim Gibor, Eighth Form."
The two of them transformed at the same time, their clothes replaced by those very revealing restraint-style Astral Dresses.
"See? Kaguya and Yuzuru's outfits are way lewder than mine!" Nia crowed immediately.
"L-lewd?" Kaguya froze, then suddenly realized— their outfits were pretty lewd.
"No problem. It just means we'll help liven things up for Shichen," Yuzuru said calmly.
"Oooh~ As expected of someone who's become a real woman," Nia said.
"Become… a woman?" Tohka tilted her head, confused.
"Aiyaa~ That might be a bit early for you, Tohka-chan."
"What does that mean?" Tohka turned to the others for help.
But no one answered. Kurumi and Kotori both just stared holes into Kaguya and Yuzuru instead.
They understood exactly what Nia meant.
Those two had already gone that far.
The mood grew awkward and tight, only easing a bit when Yoshino came out.
Then Shichen and Reine finished cooking and called everyone over to lay out the dishes and eat.
Shichen didn't really understand why everyone was still in their Astral Dresses at the dining table, but he had bigger problems: why was everyone so quiet?
Lunch felt weirdly subdued. Only Yuzuru was behaving like normal, gently picking food into his bowl.
But that just made Kurumi and the others even more agitated.
After clearing the dishes and washing up, Shichen walked back into the living room and found everyone sitting in their own spots, still silent.
This wouldn't do. They were supposed to be family— why did it feel like a room full of strangers?
"Seriously, what on earth is—"
He didn't finish. He suddenly froze, frowned, and turned his head toward a certain direction.
"Shichen!" Tohka stood up too, face suddenly serious.
Kurumi and the others felt it as well.
From the direction Shichen was looking, spiritual power was boiling wildly— shockingly violent.
A Spirit had appeared.
But… there had been no spacequake.
"I'll go check it out," Shichen said, and vanished from the spot.
"Shichen…!"
Leaving the house, he teleported straight to the source of the spiritual disturbance— and then he saw someone who absolutely shouldn't have been there.
A girl with short white hair floated in the air in front of him, dressed in a white gown that resembled a wedding dress, with a coronet-like halo perched above her head.
She looked like an angel.
"Origami…?" Shichen couldn't believe it as he spoke her name.
~~~
Thank you for reading!