I Knew That the Childhood Friend, Who Was Praised as a “Goddess” at School, Actually Had Another Side as a Arrogant “Demon God.” However, After a Girl, Who Was Praised as an “Angel,” Transferred Into Our Class and Started Getting Involved With Me, My Childhood Friend’s Behavior Became Strange - Chapter 8: Angel's Popularity

Chapter 8: Angel’s Popularity

As atonement for accidentally seeing Angel’s half-naked body, I ended up having to work as her servant.

I was a little anxious, wondering what kind of orders I would be given, as I crossed the entrance to the classroom.

“Good morning, Ogami-kun.”

“Ah, yeah. Good morning.”

Angel greeted me with her usual angelic smile, the “angel mode.” There was no trace of the demonic aura from yesterday.

She was pure, kind, and the popular girl everyone admired. The leader of the Angel faction, Akua Angel.

“You said you need help with gaining popularity… but what exactly should I do?”

I asked her in a low voice, making sure no other classmates could overhear while I moved my textbooks from my bag to my desk.

“The first period is… English, right? Then let’s have you work for me right away, Ogami-kun. Before the first period starts, you should dramatically act like you forgot your English textbook in front of everyone.”

“…Huh?”

Angel calmly answered in a low voice. I was confused because I didn’t understand the meaning behind her words.

What would come of acting like I forgot my English textbook in front of everyone?

“…You’re slow, aren’t you? When you act like you forgot your textbook, I will quickly say, ‘Ogami-kun, let’s look at my textbook together.’ That way, everyone will see me as a kind angel, won’t they?”

Angel explained with a bright, angelic smile. I finally understood her reasoning.

“…So you want me to stage this. But most of our classmates already think you’re a ‘kind angel,’ so isn’t this unnecessary?”

After all, other than me, who witnessed her true nature, and Hina, who is also a master of deception, everyone else thinks of her as a “kind angel.” It seems that this kind of act isn’t needed anymore.

“To increase the number of followers in the Angel faction, I need to either recruit people who are unaffiliated or pull people away from the Goddess faction. I have to keep showing everyone that I’m worthy of being supported. Otherwise, no one will want to join my faction. So, it’s important to keep promoting myself as the angel I am.”

“…I kind of understand.”

“From now on, you’ll work hard to help me gain popularity. Oh, by the way, when you talk to other classmates, make sure you casually praise me. People are more likely to believe what others say about someone than what the person themselves says. For example, if you tell your friends, ‘Angel is a wonderful person,’ the chances of them thinking the same will increase. This is called the ‘Windsor Effect’ in psychology. You just got a bit smarter.”

“…Yeah…”

She continued giving me detailed instructions to boost her popularity.

“…Well, for now, that should be it. Oh, the teacher’s here. Ogami-kun, I’m counting on you for the first period.”

Once she finished speaking, our homeroom teacher, Kaizuka, entered the classroom for the morning SHR. He stood at the podium and began calling the roll.

After that, the first period would begin. I prepared myself to “act like I forgot my textbook” to fulfill her request.

Suddenly, I remembered something.

Speaking of textbooks, when she first transferred, she had begged me to show her the “national literature” textbook because it hadn’t arrived yet. But I could have sworn she already had the textbook in her desk.

Why did she ask me to show her the textbook when she already had it?

I decided to ask her about it.

“It was also a plan to increase my followers. Boys are weak when girls rely on them, right? Especially when a beautiful girl like me asks them for help—they’d be over the moon. By gaining favor like this, it increases the chances they’ll become followers later on. My campaign for popularity started back then.”

In other words, it was a clever way to gain affection by using the boys’ feelings. I don’t know what her ultimate goal was, but I kind of admired her for it.

However, on the other hand, I began to feel a bit concerned about her.

“Hey, doesn’t that risk making some people misunderstand? I think you should avoid doing that too much…”

As she said, in today’s “fan culture,” some fans may use their feelings of affection to support someone.

But it’s a double-edged sword.

If handled well, they might become passionate followers. But if it fails, they could quickly turn into enemies and potentially harm her.

“I’ll handle it well. Who do you think I am?”

“…I see.”

Angel answered confidently. While I was worried about her, I decided to let it go for now.

◇◇◇

“Here you go. Cream bread and chocolate croissant. Is milk okay to drink?”

“Thank you. Yes, here’s the money.”

During lunch break that day, I was running errands for Angel. As soon as the fourth period ended, I was ordered to go buy lunch for her.

After purchasing what she asked for, I handed it over to her in the designated empty classroom. At least she paid me properly, which was a relief.

She probably chose the empty classroom to make sure no one could see us.

“Thank you for your hard work. It was really annoying having to buy from the crowded store. Thanks to you, Ogami-kun, I can escape that hardship♪”

She said, opening the package of cream bread and taking a bite. She scooped some cream that spilled from her mouth with her finger and licked it off.

Her appearance was that of a perfect beauty, and even such an act seemed cute, which was a bit frustrating. Inside, though, she was as dark as could be.

She used her cute appearance to lower people’s guard and deceive them. She was truly like a demon.

I sat down in the empty chair and opened my yakisoba bread, deciding to have lunch myself.

After finishing the cream bread, Angel reached for the milk carton and suddenly seemed to remember something, looking at me with a questioning expression.

“Oh, right. Ogami-kun, there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“Is it true that Unasu Hina has someone she likes?”

Cough cough

The question was so sudden that I nearly choked on my yakisoba bread.

“Ah, that reaction says it all. So, who is it?”

She stood up from her chair and came closer, looking up at me with an expectant gaze.

She had an undeniable determination to get this answer.

But I didn’t know the answer myself.

“Well, I don’t know who it is.”

“…I thought you, as her childhood friend, would know. How disappointing.”

“Just because we’re childhood friends doesn’t mean I know everything. Also, what are you going to do with that information?”

“As you said this morning, some of my followers might have romantic feelings for me. So here’s a question. What happens if your fan has someone they like?”

For people like that, “the fan = the person they like,” so if they found out their idol liked someone else, they’d be disappointed and likely stop supporting them.

Angel seemed to want to lower Hina’s popularity by spreading the word about who she liked to the other students.

But that method was far too despicable. I scolded her.

“You shouldn’t bring others down to boost your own popularity. It’ll come back to haunt you. I agreed to help you with your popularity, but I never agreed to help lower Hina’s. If you want to do something, raise yourself up instead of bringing others down. I’ll help you with that.”

“…Yeah, you’re right. I admit I went a bit too far. Forget what I just said.”

Angel accepted my advice and readily backed down. I was a little surprised because I expected her to push back.

Her true nature might be demonic, but maybe she knows where the line is… I thought to myself.

◇◇◇