An Angel Descends! Again?

"Ah, Ange. I forgot you were there…"

Life is already hard enough with one humanoid rabbit, but the world had to throw a second one into the mix. Her outfit is a white blouse and skirt, not unlike her floppy-eared rival. Instead of a purple choker, Ange's clothing features a large orange ribbon situated in front of her chest.

"How rude! You even asked me to help Droopy Ears with her homework!"

"S-Sorry…"

Ange places hands on her hips and puffs her cheeks out in frustration. I'm about to bow my head apologetically, but a sudden realisation occurs. The truth before my eyes reignites the flames within.

"Hold on, this is also your fault!"

My mind returns to the scene from maybe one hour ago.

"Noaaa, my head hurts…"

Mira hobbles into the apartment, slipping her sandals off at the entryway before collapsing onto the couch. I'm still holding the door as our particularly orange guest follows after her.

"I hate to agree with you, but I'm beat…"

Ange drops to her knees and leans against the couch as if her presence is nothing out of the ordinary. Together, the two rabbits groan in agony.

""I hate exams!""

"You won't find many people who like them…"

I leave the kitchen with a tray containing two glasses of a beverage that has come to become a staple of my apartment. Setting the tray on the one space of the couch not occupied by rabbits, the two exhausted students begin to stir.

"Apple juuuuuuice…"

Mira is the first to grab a glass, dragging her body upwards so that her tongue may claim the goblet of liquid gold.

"Hmph! I suppose your mediocre drink can at least stave my thirst."

Ange crawls in front of the TV to grab the remaining beverage. She makes it sound like a compromise to enjoy something that Mira likes, but I can see the light returning to her eyes as she takes a sip. One sip soon turns into a large gulp that she downs before slamming the half empty glass against the tray.

"Seriously, what is with that old man! We just had exams and he already gave us more assignments!"

"He's so mean! Why can't we sit at home and nap for once!?"

Mira tightens the grip on her glass as she pouts with flushed cheeks. The two of them proceed to drain the rest of their glasses and let out a loud sigh. They grumble for a moment before a pair of glasses are thrust towards me for a refill.

"What are you two, a pair of drunks…"

The two of them somehow get along horribly and perfectly at the same time.

I should also be tired from an entire day of exams, but seeing the two of them blissfully sipping away removes some of my own fatigue. Compared to a couple of rabbits having only just recently begun study, I shouldn't be so worried about my own score.

"I guess I should get started on my own assignment…"

Dread attempts to return, but I manage to make it to my desk thanks to the peaceful sighs on the couch. Might as well start working if I made it this far.

I boot up my laptop and begin typing away at a report assigned quite a while ago. Something has to distract me from the scores to be released tomorrow, else I'll spend all day sitting on the toilet in a painful anticipation. It wouldn't hurt for the staff to spend a little more time grading, until Monday at the very least. Would be a shame if everybody had their Friday ruined with a report card to show their parents.

"Mmmmm…heavy…"

On the couch, Ange and Mira are piled atop each other in a sleepy power struggle. The host already had the territory claimed with her body, but that doesn't stop the guest from attempting to stretch across the warm cushions herself. Those efforts resulted in the current orientation, with Ange atop Mira with their cheeks pressed together.

"Hngh!"

A strange sensation strikes my body and attempts to knock me to the ground. My mind becomes fuzzy. The muscles in my hands lose their strength above the keyboard. I feel a warmth radiating out from the couch that makes this winter evening feel like a summer afternoon. Voices in my head are calling towards me.

"Join them and nap."

"You deserve a long rest."

"Just shut your eyes for a bit."

Terrible temptation grips at my heart, arms reaching out from the peaceful snores of two young girls. My body wants the same warmth. My head wants to forget everything else.

"I can't handle this…"

The battle is fierce, but I narrowly manage to wrest control from my desires.

One could probably stare at them cuddled like that all day, but that would keep all of us from being productive. Somebody has to be the bad guy and interrupt the picturesque scene behind me.

"If you sleep now, you'll have trouble sleeping tonight."

My light shaking of Mira sends a tremor up the stack that reaches Ange as well.

"Five more hours…"

"Don't…stop me…"

They try to resist with tightly sealed eyes and annoyed grunts. Unfortunately, this isn't just about them. I can't possibly get any work done if I let them fill the room with such a tranquil atmosphere.

"Come on! You guys need to get to work as well! We can relax all we want this weekend!"

""Grrrr…""

Even the way they growl is the same. Maybe that serves to only double my guilt, but I push through and manage to get them to the dining table with their stationary. Mira is in an obviously poor mood.

"Why must we do homework…"

"It can't be helped, Droopy Ears."

To my surprise, Ange doesn't seem particularly upset by the turn of events. If anything, she just looks bored as she opens her textbook.

"Dad will take away my snacks if I don't get this done, so best to do it quickly."

"Grr…"

Mira finally joins suit, but the process doesn't seem to be going smoothly. She stares with a look as blank as the lines of her assignment for what feels like minutes. After thoroughly reading the entire page, Mira digs into her hair in frustration and leans back in her chair. Her animation ends with a few minutes staring into the ceiling's texture.

"The difference in their time as humans seems to really make a difference…"

Either that or simply a difference in talent. Regardless of how likely that reality may be, I would rather believe that Mira will catch up with time and won't be left behind her peers. How is Ange doing so well? They started school at exactly the same time, but Mira still seems to struggle with most subjects whilst Ange seems just fine.

As I watch our guest scratching away at the paper, an idea pops into my head.

"Ange, can you do me a favour?"

The orange rabbit jumps in her seat and looks up with obvious confusion. You would think that her heart had flown out of her chest, but she seems perfectly stable barely a second after landing back against the raised wooden platform.

"What kind of favour?"

"I need you to help Mira with her assignment."

"Huh!?"

I had assumed Ange to be the disgruntled one, but that sentiment first comes from a wild sway of blue hair.

"Noa! Why must I be taught by Old Man Beard!?"

"Because I can't have you failing your classes and being held back. You all are doing the same assignment, so it should be easy for you two to work together."

"But—!"

SNAP

A piece of pencil lead flies into the air as Ange's mechanical pencil stabs into the white pages.

"You are a fool, Noa. Why would I ever help out a dying enemy? Let the lop fail! I would find that much more entertaining!"

"I purchased some sugar cookies at the supermarket the other day. It feels like a bit too much for just the two of us to eat…"

Click Click

"The first problem is a basic substitution. Here, let me show you."

A new piece of lead appears and Ange is now leaning across the table to Mira's handout. The bribe was taken without a second thought.

"Thanks, Mr. Mark…"

With Mira's survival guaranteed at the cost of $6 from the grocery store bakery, I let the rest of the world disappear as I continued my own assignment. Everything should have gone smoothly from that point. However, the present has rather annoying news for me.

"I left you to keep an eye on her, yet you're over here sleeping on the couch as she eats her homework!"

Mira ducks when my voice is raised once more. In contrast, the target of my rage just yawns and shrugs.

"Droopy Ears was too slow, so I just finished mine and took a nap."

"How is that supposed to be helping her!?"

Ange tilts her head to the side, brown eyes flashing with all the innocence a living thing can muster.

"No clue."

"This girl…!"

I ball my hand into a fist as the orange rabbit leans back without a care in the world. The line between her stomach and skirt is visible for a moment as she stretches.

"Ah! That's right!"

Ange trots around me to the kitchen and begins digging through our cabinets.

"Where are the cookies? We don't get sugar cookies too often, so I can't wait to experience such sweetness again!"

Her hands continue to prod around until either by luck or intuition, the wooden door swings open to reveal her prize. It's a small tin whose lid contains a floral design fit for a special occasion. Looks really can be deceiving, as these cookies are made year round and often sit out for days before purchase.

"Found it—"

SLAM

The rabbit could bear witness for only a brief moment before I put my foot down. Specifically, I planted my foot against the door and forced it shut.

"Not so fast! You didn't hold up your end of the deal!"

"Now now, Noa."

Ange gets to her feet with arms crossed and head shaking side to side.

"It isn't healthy to hoard all of the sweets for yourself."

She waves a finger around as if lecturing a young child.

"Don't you know about cavities? You'll ruin your teeth with so much sugar."

Considering her youthful appearance and the fact that her line of sight only reaches as high as my chest, the image of a teacher doesn't suit her. It doesn't help that we are easily 16 years apart in terms of time spent on this Earth.

"Or even worse, you could end up with diabetes and die at a young age. I'm sure you would find that very unpleasant."

That knowing smirk only serves to push me towards my limit. I want to strangle this girl so bad, but I can't in fear of something far worse than a prison sentence. If I could get away with just some time behind bars, my hands would already be around her neck.

Ange ignores the vein popping from my head and holds out her arms as if preaching to the masses.

"Therefore, it would be in your best interests to share the cookies out. For example, with yours truly!"

"And why would I share them with you?"

"The reason is simple…"

She rotates her neck to look up into my eyes. Those pools of brown are filled with limitless confidence, prepared to unleash an ability that she no doubt tested against her father. Ange then points at her cheeks and winks with a wide smile.

"Because I'm cute!"

"You brat!"

"AH—!"

I almost tackled her to the ground, but I managed to at least grab something. Between my fingers are two plump cheeks that have grown red from the force I apply.

"I gave you one job! I'd rather die before giving you those cookies!"

Her squishy face is stretched to its limit as I pull outwards. Given the difference in strength between us, Ange's struggling doesn't yield her favourable results.

"Ow…a-im…sowwwy…"

Seeing her wincing in pain, I tugged for a little longer before finally releasing the rabbit. She stumbles to the hard kitchen floor and holds small hands against her reddened skin.

"My goodness…"

I can only sigh.

Dealing with one rabbit is hard enough, and it doesn't help that the second one has developed some nasty habits. I'll have to be sure to file a complaint later.

"A-Are you sure you want to do this, Noa!?"

The orange mass has returned to her feet and threatens me with her teary eyes. She points a finger directly at me whilst balancing with unsteady legs.

"If Dad were to hear of this, you would face a fate worse than death!"

"Urk…"

A chill runs down my spine at her declaration. Words like these can normally be laughed off as any proper adult wouldn't resort to violence against somebody else's kid. However, Ange knows her old man well. Those words aren't simply a warning, they are a prophecy.

"Curse you, Mr. Mark…"

Once that man arrives, Ange need only show some tears and my life is naught but forfeit. The police will find me in ten different pieces across the lake, each part completely burned to a crisp. They would assume the fire to be an attempt to remove the evidence, but that assumption would be far from the truth. In reality, those burns were the sole cause of death.

"F-Fine! Let him know!"

Torture may await on the other side, but I have accepted it. Letting this rabbit have her way would leave me with enough shame to pass onto my grandchildren. If I die, then so be it.

"All I know is, you aren't touching those cookies!"

"Grrrrr! Then I'll take them myself!"

"I'd like to see you try—GAH!"

This time, it's Ange barreling into me.

Her head crashes into my stomach without giving me a moment to defend. At first I see a flash of orange, then the impact sends my body crashing to the ground several steps away. When the world stops spinning, I see Ange recoiling with a satisfied huff.

"The cookies are mine now!"

"Not…yet!'

I reach forwards and launch my prone form towards the cabinet. My hand barely reaches the door first, sealing the goods within for at least a little longer. It is only a short victory as a small foot plants itself atop my head.

"Move, Noa!"

My mouth is unable to let out a cry due to my face being pressed into the cold tiles of my kitchen floor. Ange attempts to tug my arm away from the flat wooden surface, but she lacks the strength with her slender arms.

With her struggling, I managed to twist my head from under her heel.

"Argh! Just give…up?"

I try to look at the face of the orange rabbit, but all my eyes can find is a world of white. Considering the location of her foot, I shouldn't be surprised that her skirt has formed a tent over my head. As such, I have the perfect view of two legs and a certain article of clothing in between.

"L-Lion print…"

A thin white fabric covers that which should not be seen. Sat along the front and back surfaces of Ange's undergarments are pictures of lions with smiling faces. I'm no expert on the tendencies of middle school girls, but I'm sure that most would have outgrown a pattern like this.

"Your old man has some interesting taste…"

"Got it!"

Distracted as I was, my hand loosened its grip on the treasure it was guarding. Not only does the wooden door slam into my head, but I can hear the shaking of baked desserts within a round tin.

"Crap!"

I try to grab onto something, anything that can bring me back into this fight.

"Ah—!"

The unfortunate item happened to be something soft with a hard edge on one side. I can feel life flowing with an excitable current as the bar rotates, sweeping a bare foot off the ground.

"Uh oh…"

Many sounds make their debut.

One is the clang of the tin falling from the ravenous hands of a furry creature. Another is the creaking of metal hinges aged with a history I was not fully, if even at all meaningfully, responsible for. The last is a gasp of a girl who has just recently had an undesirable run in with gravity. There were probably more, but I certainly can't hear them with the body of said girl slamming onto my back. My senses are too busy calculating the pain.

"GAAAH!"

First it was something soft yet firm, then the rest. The heat in my immediate vicinity turns up several degrees with a pile of wool on my back.

"Ouch…"

Ange is now facing the ceiling after her fall, head placed somewhere around my legs. She notices her current position and looks down at my pitiful state.

"Too bad for you, Noa!"

"Ha…"

"Hm?"

"Haha…"

My face is staring directly at the ground, but I can almost see the unease Ange is feeling.

"W-Why are you laughing!?"

"Because…"

Still kissing the tile, I point towards the shut wooden door.

"This is my win!"

"What…no…it can't be!?"

Ange finally realises the final result. In the whole mess, our two bodies have shifted to completely block the cabinet door from opening. No matter how hard she pulls, our combined mass will prevent her infuriating grin from surfacing again.

"AHAHAHA!"

"GRRRR!"

Apologies to the neighbours, but cries of victory and defeat are playing on loop. In our fighting, we almost fail to notice the front door opening only a few paces away. Ange's ears perk up, not literally of course.

A chill goes down my spine, and that glow in those brown eyes tell me exactly who our next visitor is.