"I will now start guiding." Ilyas held out his hand to Xain.
After completing the first gate, the group teleported back to District 3 Ability User Bureau building. They were allowed to rest for two hours before continue raiding one more gate today.
A special room for guiding was prepared, and the first to take guiding was Xain.
Ilyas closed his eyes. Guiding espers took a lot of mental energy for a guide, especially because some of the espers' emotions could flow to the guide and overwhelmed them.
Xain was such a case. His emotion consisted mostly of anger and jealousy, which made Ilyas – who felt that emotion – trembled in fury.
20-minute guiding session felt like hours to him.
'But a job is a job, I have to do it.'
Thinking of his debt that had been piling up, Ilyas gritted his teeth. If he wanted to live his life out of poverty, he had to do this.
"All done." Ilyas opened his eyes.
Xain grinned widely, "Your guiding is really the best one so far, how about becoming my personal guide? I guarantee you'll have the best session with me."
"Thank you for the offer, but I prefer not to work exclusively for one person..." Ilyas glanced sideways.
"What?! You'll really regret not working for an S-rank like me, you know!"
"I mean... You aren't the only S-Rank here..."
Ilyas unconsciously clenched his fist.
'Is he a kid?'
Xain had clearly overstepped his boundary, people with common sense would have noticed by now.
CRASH!
Xain abruptly stood up, making Ilyas flinch in surprise.
"What did you sa-"
"Stop it Xain, you're scaring him."
Ethan had somehow arrived inside the room and grabbed Xain by the collar, picking him up like a puppy. He diffused the situation just as quickly as he came in.
Hearing his familiar voice made Ilyas' tense shoulder loosen up. He glanced at Ethan and met his eyes. A gentle smile was on his face, "Cedric's next. Do you want to take a break first?"
'It's the same question he asked when we did the trial guiding.'
Ilyas always wondered how someone who needed guiding the most came last in the list. Xain and Cedric's accumulated impurities, though higher than average, were relatively stable, so it's easier for Elias to guide. But when he tried guiding Ethan, the impurities had piled up to the point of messing up even his guiding ability. Elias had to untangle it bit by bit to actually stabilize him.
And yet here he was, telling their guide to guide others first.
"Let's continue." Ilyas replied confidently.
Unconvinced, Ethan gave Ilyas one last look – reading his expression. But Ilyas put up the most convincing gaze he had. Judging that Ilyas wasn't uncomfortable anywhere, Ethan finally nodded and dragged Xain out.
"Phew."
Rubbing his chest to calm himself down, Ilyas looked down at his feet.
A new determination formed in his mind.
'I want to help him.'
Ethan had done a lot to help Ilyas, he even saved his life. As an esper who was hailed as a hero, Ethan saving someone might have already been a common sight, but who would save an esper like him?
That's why Ilyas made up his mind.
'Let's become the best guide he could rely on.'
With that thought, Ilyas' eyes were filled with fierce determination.
"Can we start guiding now? I still have a lot to do."
"Ah... Uh, Yes! Sorry for spacing out."
Cedric had sat down in front of him, extending his hand.
Noticing his expression, Cedric smirked, "Oho, what's this? Are you imagining something? What's that serious look on your face?"
"N-Nothing, I'll begin guiding."
Ilyas closed his eyes and channeled his wavelength to Cedric. After trying it for the second time, purifying the impurities and stabilizing the wavelength for these S-Ranks wasn't a hard task for him to do anymore.
Cedric's emotion flowed into him, though not as intense as Xain, emotions such as arrogance and unsettling bloodthirst could be felt.
Ilyas wouldn't mind Cedric being arrogant, but the psychopathic tendencies beneath his playful façade were what made him uncomfortable to be with.
'Maybe this is also the reason behind his fighting style.'
Cedric didn't immediately kill off his opponents, he made a show out of them.
Truly the opposite of their captain's fighting style.
"Are you thinking of someone else while guiding me?"
Ilyas opened his eyes, "Please don't talk to me while I'm guiding." He then raised his head trying to deny his word, "And no, I'm not thinking of anyone right now-"
But Ilyas flinched when he saw the murderous glint in Cedric's eyes.
"You better not, because I'm quite possessive of the things I enjoy-" He smirked. "And you're one of them."
Goosebumps rose on Ilyas' skin when he heard Cedric's low whisper. He lowered his head, trying to hide the fear rising in his heart, "The guiding is done, please leave."
Cedric stood up and waved his hand, "Sure, I'm looking forward to our next guiding session."
And the door shut with a click.
Ilyas rubbed his arm as he sighed, feeling a chill creep up his skin. Guiding these espers might make him go crazy.
"After I receive my paycheck, I'll save as much as I can."
'So I don't have to deal with these maniacs ever again.'
KNOCK KNOCK!
The door opened and Ethan popped his head in.
"Can I come in?"
"Yeah, come in."
Ethan looked around the room before sitting down beside Ilyas, frowning, "Don't you feel cold in here?"
Confusion filled Elias' face, "What do you mean?"
"Nothing." Ethan turned his head away while mumbling something along the lines of, "That Cedric needs better control."
Ilyas finally realized that the goosebumps he got was partly because Cedric lowered the temperature in the room with his skill. No... More like he unconsciously did it because his emotions fluctuated.
"I'll now begin the guiding. Can you lend me your hand?"
He held out his hand expecting the man before him to do the same. But contrary to his expectation, Ethan just stared at it.
"What's wrong?"
Ethan scratched his cheek and turned his gaze away, "Um, if I fall asleep mid-guiding, wake me up okay?"
Hearing Ethan's request made Ilyas' brain freeze for a second. In terms of appearance, while their build was roughly the same, Ethan was a half a head taller than him. So him, asking shyly made him look like a huge bear asking for a pet.
And for some reason, it looked… cute.
Ilyas chuckled at his own thought. He could see Ethan's confused look as he laughed.
"Sure, I'll wake you up."
Ethan nodded and held his hand. The rough but steady hand felt familiar to Ilyas now.
As Ilyas circulated his guiding energy, Ethan's emotion flowed to him.
Resignation, but a strong desire to live.
He seemed tired of everything in this world, but he kept on living.
Ethan had been in this constant state of emotion since Ilyas first guided him. Not a positive nor a negative emotion, which made Ilyas – who felt the glimpse of it – relate to his situation.
"Oh no."
Ilyas quickly caught Ethan's falling body. He had fallen asleep again.
Lying his head down on his shoulder, Ilyas brushed the hair strands poking out from Ethan's neatly slicked back hair. The dark circles below his eyes became more apparent from this angle.
His steady breathing indicated that he's in deep slumber. The peaceful sleeping face tugged a soft spot in Ilyas' heart.
"Sorry Ethan, I won't be able to fulfill my promise." Ilyas muttered silently as a gentle smile formed on his face.
For the next 20 minutes, Ilyas let Ethan slept on his shoulder without waking him up.