Chapter Text
Nebula moved before he could think. He immediately dragged the esper away from the gate before kneeling next to him to check on him. Airway, breathing, circulation. Still alive, he noted as he felt the man's carotid moving, albeit concerningly slow. He moved a hand over his heart to start emergency guiding while the other reached to his belt for the radio.
"Gate TLW-32, S-Guide Nebula speaking. One B-Esper out but unconscious. Currently giving emergency guiding," he calmly informed after turning the device on. "Medical attention required. Esper is extremely unstable. Over."
The speaker crackled. "Received," a monotone voice on the other line responded. "Med personnel on the way. Over."
"Understood. S-Guide Nebula out," he finished, and turned off the radio, stuffing it into his pocket. He moved his now-free other hand over the esper's chest and continued guiding. Quick footsteps pattered on the ground behind him; Nebula didn't turn around to see who they were.
"Shit!" One of them moved to the other side of the esper and dropped to the ground. A guide. She took one of the esper's hands and started guiding as well, albeit with more panicked breaths and shaky hands.
"Are you his exclusive guide?" Nebula asked her. When she nodded, Nebula slowed down his guiding as he prepared to stop. Emergency guiding was an exception, but it would be better if the fallen esper was guided by his guide. They were likely to be more compatable than Nebula.
"What the hell happened!?" another exclaimed. "Is it just him?"
"For now, yes." The esper's breathing quickened, now breathing at a normal rate. Nebula removed his hands off and stood up. He brushed off invisible dust off his pants. "The others may come out soon, so be prepared."
The gate, as if waiting for this moment, spat out three more espers. This time, none of them came out responsive.
Nebula watched as more guides rushed over to start emergency guiding. The people from the on-site medical team had heard the commotion and hurried to the scene as well. Espers had natural self-healing abilities, so they would normally be able to hold on on their own, but if they were close to rampage the ability wouldn't work as well.
The real medical team arrived when almost all the espers had come out of the gate. Many of the B-Class espers were in critical condition, and there were more espers than guides, so Nebula had his hands full trying to guide the ones who didn't have dedicated guides already.
"Nebula-ssi." Someone tapped him on the shoulder. Nebula turned around to see Eldar, an A-Class guide. They turned back to look at the esper Nebula was guiding, blond hair following their every action. "You should rest now. More guides are on their way. I don't want you to overexert yourself."
"Alright. Thanks," he replied curtly. He stood up from his position next to one of the A-Class espers and let Eldar take over. His legs were starting to ache from kneeling in the dirt.
As Eldar started guiding, they asked, "I heard Esper Hegemonia-ssi was one of the people clearing the gate. Is she okay?"
Nebula looked at the gate. Still swirling, still buzzing. Like it wasn't a possible threat to half of the city if it erupted. "I don't know," he said eventually. "She's still in the gate."
Another cold breeze passed, carrying the wails of the ambulances that pierced the quietness of the sky.
Nebula opened the door. It didn't slam against the wall, but the sound the collision made made it obvious that he didn't just open the door normally.
Hegemonia was sitting on the couch inside the guiding room with her head leaned back. At first glance, she seemed to lay there perfectly still, which wasn't normal as she couldn't usually sit still to save her life. But now, as her head turned slightly—just enough to meet Nebula's gaze—he immediately noticed that her condition was worse than he thought.
Her eyes glowed a bright amber, a telltale sign of her instability. As Nebula moved closer, he could see the tremors that racked her hands. She was trying to suppress it, he knew, but it was too late. Her breathing was also abnormally slow—another symptom of an esper close to rampaging.
Upon seeing him, Hegemonia stood up. "You're here," she said, voice low. "Took you long enough."
"Are you crazy?" Nebula disregarded her words with a frown as he took Hegemonia's hand and immediately started guiding. He closed his eyes. "Where were you?"
"Mm." Hegemonia didn't answer the question directly. "I was in the hospital for a bit. Had a nasty gash to my abdomen that would be a pain in the ass to wait out."
"Why didn't you get guiding?"
"Thought I could hold off for a bit," Hegemonia said casually. "Didn't think it was that bad until the rampage symptoms got worse."
"You should have gotten emergency guiding. You're too overconfident."
"You weren't there."
"Now isn't the time to be stubborn," Nebula almost snapped at her. "What happened to your hatred of rampaging?"
"Still there." She shrugged, earning an order to stay still from the guide. "Besides, you're here now."
After more guides had arrived, Nebula had to take a rest from guiding. Even as an S-Class, guiding so many B-Classes and almost all the A-Classes had admittedly left him exhausted. He might have either fallen asleep or passed out for some time, because when he woke up again people had already started packing up and leaving. The gate had disappeared, a sign that all the espers were now back and had successfully cleared the gate. He never saw Hegemonia, but assumed she was already out and doing fine. After all, she had never been seriously injuried before since awakening as an esper.
He later learned that Hegemonia had refused all guiding, even when offered by other guides. He contacted her, and they agreed to meet up here, in one of the Guide Association branches.
What an asinine person. He knew Hegemonia was a headstrong person, but not so much that she would put her selfish life in danger of self-destruction.
Rampaging was when an esper lost control of their powers. In lucky cases, it was only their powers. Espers most commonly lost their sense of reason as well, unable to think for themselves until their damaging actions either make them self-destruct or they were guided properly—all while they caused varying degrees of property damage and civilian casualties, depending on how high their class was.
They both knew Nebula wasn't wrong: Hegemonia hated rampaging. It wasn't out of compassion for people around her, nor was it because she cared about the city buildings. She hated not being in control of herself, which is why Nebula couldn't help but be taken aback at the state Hegemonia was currently in.
Hegemonia shifted her weight onto one leg as she stared at Nebula's face, still concentrated on guiding. Noticing that Nebula didn't respond, she changed the subject. "Are we going to keep holding hands forever?"
Nebula lets out a small sigh. "That depends. Also, stop trying to use reverse guiding on me. You'll only prolong the amount of time it'll take to guide you."
Hegemonia blinked, then clicked her tongue in frustration, evidently noticing her control starting to slip. Her fingernails dug into Nebula's palm as she reined herself in. "Hey," she started.
"Make it quick. I'm guiding."
"Come closer."
Nebula opened his eyes. "For better efficiency?"
"Just holding hands isn't going to solve the problem. You know this."
And unfortunately, Nebula does know. Very well, in fact.
Nebula has only ever guided others through hand-holding. He never took things further with anyone because there really was no need to. As an S-class guide, he easily guided A-Classes and below without breaking a sweat. Hegemonia had never overused her powers to the point where Nebula had to go further, either, or at least until now.
He stepped closer.
Hegemonia, already impatient, yanked him by the arm and embraced him tightly. "You're too slow," she said through gritted teeth. "Stop hesitating."
Nebula didn't reply. He forced himself to relax into the unfamiliar touch, but it was less uncomfortable than he was expecting. His arms looped around her torso as he closed his eyes. This was a guiding session, after all. He could feel his guiding pouring out at a faster rate than before with the close proximity, but it still wasn't enough; Hegemonia felt like a bottomless pit constantly draining his energy.
The reverse guiding flared up again. Like an invisible leash tied to him, Nebula was unable to cut off his guiding powers even if he wanted to. It felt like his insides were dissolving from its corrosiveness. Nebula sucked in a sharp breath to keep himself grounded.
"You're still reverse guiding," he reminded the esper uselessly. He knew that she wouldn't be able to control it until she was fully guided back to stability.
Hegemonia let out a puff of air. Her grip felt like they were going to crush Nebula's arms into his body. "…Shut up," she mumbled. "And hurry up."
"It's not going to get any better than this right now."
"Then what? Are we going further?"
"You mean—"
"Yeah," Hegemonia said bluntly. Their close proximity made the conversation more awkward. "What do you think?"
Right after Nebula had walked in and saw Hegemonia's state, he would be lying if he denied any thought of going all the way to completely guide her. Sex wasn't something romantic in this line of work—it was just business. And work. Nebula wasn't completely repulsed by it, per say, but he didn't particularly like it either; consent tended to be dubious at best, and there were more than a few trashy espers or guides who tried to satisfy their desires under the guise of guiding. Not even Nebula had been able to avoid those kinds of people completely.
He didn't know where Hegemonia's thoughts lied on the topic, but he would guess that she had a similar line of thinking.
Nebula opened his eyes. He contemplated on what he was going to say next, as if his next words were going to change everything. He breathed in. Out. Then, "…only if it's absolutely needed."
"Wow." Hegemonia pulled back just enough to look Nebula in the eyes. She tilted her head, watching his reaction. "I didn't think you would agree to that so easily."
"It's just guiding, anyway," Nebula dismissed. He loosened his grip on Hegemonia.
"Right."
A tense silence followed.
Nebula became painfully aware of his surroundings as his senses grew more sensitive. Hegemonia's piercing gaze that always seemed to worm a hole right into his brain. Her hands that had moved to grip Nebula's shoulder. Her breath barely ticking his skin. Her clothes under his hands. Her reverse guiding was less forceful than before but still there; it acted like a looming threat that could tip at the slightest push.
Her, her, her. Everything circled back to Hegemonia. Every step he took, every thought that formed, every nerve that hummed with guiding power—it was always Hegemonia at the end of the road, as if he couldn't escape her influence.
The guide couldn't take his eyes off of the esper.
And the esper stared back and waited. Patiently, tracking every move he made. Like standing right in front of him as he slid closer and closer to a cliff. Silent, unmoving, not bothering to reach a hand out to him for rescue.
Ah, the guide distantly thought. This is...
He moved closer. He didn't take his eyes off the esper. Blue eyes met amber unflinchingly.
Closer.
A foot stepped off the cliff. It hovered in the air, buoyant on the tension.
He closed the gap.
…Concerning, Nebula finished belatedly.
And then the esper thought: Too late.