Chapter Text
Reo hums a tune from a recent upscale concert. Nagi’s breath is coming out in calm, slow puffs on Reo’s neck as the sloth naps on his back. He deserves praise; he only complained a little bit when Reo woke him up bright and early for their appointment.
Reo would usually let him sleep in a little, but today is special, not their regular checkup. No, today is the day that they finally find out their match rate! He’s been dreaming of it ever since he dragged Nagi out to their first dungeon expedition, an examination by his father.
Reo was preparing his things, intent on dragging along some random high-performing esper, when he saw an impressive flash of power gently catching a mobile phone. Nagi wasn’t even a contracted esper, he was bumming around the Mikage Agency office as a simple recordkeeper, which, as Reo has since observed, mostly involved him napping at his computer.
Nevermind that, as a starry-eyed guide looking to be the first to defeat the most difficult dungeon— the World Dungeon—, he snatched Nagi up and carried the lazy esper through their very first dungeon, giving him gentle guiding pulses the entire time.
The other espers and guides looked at him like he was crazy. Yet predictably, Reo’s efforts paid off when at a flick of Nagi’s arm, a sea of monsters were reduced to dust. Nagi’s lazy movements only grew more destructive as Reo continued to guide him.
With Reo’s callouts and quick evaluations— as a guide, though he did not have any offensive magical capabilities, he had a much better sense of the field—, and Nagi’s quick and clever esper strikes, they worked together exceedingly well. They swept the dungeon in record time, far ahead of the Dadada team. He’s never felt so utterly matched with another person, ever.
“Let’s do this, Nagi! Let’s become the best in the world!”
The adrenaline thrumming through his veins never went away, as long as he was with Nagi. So, Reo can’t blame himself for the excitement he feels at the prospect of their match rate.
“What are we up so early for, Reo...” Nagi groans into Reo’s shoulder.
“Eh? Nagi, I’ve already told you five times! We’re gonna find out our compatibility rate,” Reo exclaims proudly.
“Sounds like a hassle,” Nagi mutters.
“Don’t be like that! You know, if we have a 95% match rate, that means we can do some insane combos! Like Noa and Ego, in their prime,” Reo rattles off, “If we have 85%, I can learn how to guide you at three times the efficiency... Even at just a 75% match rate, we can do some nifty tricks~” The potential is like a melody to Reo’s ears. He’s eager to devour whatever new training regimen maximizes their esper-guide relationship. “Seriously, once we know, we can specialize, and then these dungeon monsters will seriously have to watch their backs!”
“Wow, sounds cool, Reo~”
Reo eventually arrives at the match rate specialist’s office door. Mikage Agency shells out a lot to keep the most efficient and accurate experts on hand. Esper-guide relations, after all, are critical to maximizing esper power.
“Come in, Mikage.” Reo beams, entering and gently settling Nagi on the chair like a carefully placed plush. When Reo sits down beside him, Nagi conveniently slumps back onto his shoulder.
“So, what do you got for us, doc?” Reo rushes out excitedly.
The specialist’s eyes dart around nervously. “Well, we successfully calculated your and Nagi Seishirou’s rate...” She holds out a folded piece of paper.
Reo takes it, jumping back into happy humming. His heart is beating fast in anticipation, so fast he’s sure Nagi can feel it.
He opens it, and with bated breath, he reads—
34%?
He scans it once, twice, three times. The number never changes.
“Huh,” Nagi utters beside him. His eyes are uncharacteristically stretched open, dialed in on the paper.
“Th— there must be something wrong,” Reo says shakily. 34%?
“We ran the test multiple times,” the specialist provides. Her hands are fidgeting in her lap. “I know it may not be what you expected, but I can assure you of my expertise and accuracy.”
“Just... give me a moment...” Reo breathes out. Despite a screaming desire to protest otherwise, he knows that this specialist is top of her field. This is truly his and Nagi’s match rate. Reo can scarcely believe it. A match rate of 34% is so incredibly low, it means... it means...
That he and Nagi are incompatible.
Reo is willing himself not to panic, taking deep breaths to ward off the tension constricting his body. It mostly fails, and he can feel sharp pinpricks of pain from his own nails digging into his palm. His vision is blurring in and out of focus, trained on the number written on the paper.
With the fragility of glass, he turns to look at Nagi. Nagi stares impassively back at him.
The match rate came as such a shock to Reo it was shaking his entire foundation. Nagi seems almost unaffected. Reo’s stomach sinks; he loves guiding Nagi, it makes him feel alive. Turns out, Nagi has been merely tolerating Reo’s guiding.
This entire time, Reo thought their partnership was special; for Nagi, Reo might have been just the most convenient source.
“What does 34% mean, Reo?” Nagi asks suddenly, voice soft.
Reo’s throat is dry. “It means,” he chokes out, “that we’re...mismatched. Our abilities conflict with each other more than they...support each other.” The words are acrid on his tongue.
“Oh,” Nagi replies. The response makes Reo’s heart drop. Nagi really doesn’t care.
“We ran both of your wavelengths against other members of the agency,” the specialist continues. “We found an amazing match for Nagi Seishirou.” She unfolds another paper. Reo wants to get up, to leave before he sees it. “He has a 91% match rate with another guide named Isagi Yoichi. That’s fairly rare, so it’s exciting.”
Reo is struck with an overwhelming wave of jealousy, the name Isagi Yoichi burning into his mind. That paper was supposed to have his name. Not some other guide.
“Oh, that short guy,” Nagi comments. Reo bristles. Nagi even knows who he is?
“You should try transferring over to his team,” the specialist recommends. “You could grow a lot.”
“Are they good?” Nagi follows up. It’s the most interest Reo has ever seen him express in esper-guide activities. The spark in Nagi’s dark eyes is beautiful; it makes Reo want to puke.
“Here are some of the dungeons they’ve defeated,” the specialist answers, showing Nagi the records on her phone.
Nagi straightens up. It looks strange on him, since he’s always slouching. “Okay, then. I want to transfer.” Reo jolts at the statement, staring at Nagi with wide eyes. Nagi doesn’t return the look.
The specialist and Nagi discuss how team transferring will proceed, Reo effectively fading into the background. He’s still in the damn room and Nagi has already forgotten about him, quick to scurry off to a better venture.
Their promise, easily discarded just like that. Nagi didn’t even have to think about it.
Did Nagi ever actually mean their promise in the first place?
Reo feels like he’s burning under his skin. He jerks up, dropping his and Nagi’s match rate file to the floor. Nagi crooks his head at him.
“It’s alright with you, right, Reo?” Nagi inquires, eyes sparkling.
That look makes the fire inside Reo blaze hotter. “Yeah. Whatever. I think I should go,” Reo pushes out, his heartbeat hammering against his ribcage. The specialist shoots him a sympathetic look. Nagi stares at him with a gaze he can’t read.
Reo nearly trips as he scrambles out of the office, leaving the two of them behind.
Reo types away on his PC, organizing files and expedition data, the clacking sound boring and monotonous. It’s been a month since he was out on the field, and a month since he’s spoken to Nagi.
Conflicted emotions have whirled inside him since. He decided that he couldn’t handle the pain in his heart, and elected to take a hiatus from dungeon expeditions which his terrible father sure was excited about. His old man always found Reo’s penchant for dungeons childish and unnecessarily dangerous. Reo’s responsibility was supposed to be in managing Mikage Agency, and how was he supposed to do that if he was knee deep in monster guts?
So now, he spends his days analyzing boring data. It frustrates Reo, even though he’s still recovering from the colossal hit he’s taken to his emotions and worldview. He can’t believe his father wants him to do this mindless drivel for the rest of his life.
At least, it’s an easy way to make sure Nagi is still fitted out with the best tech a Mikage esper could receive. It also gives him time to turn on the TV and wistfully watch news of Nagi and his newfound crew defeating impressive dungeons.
Despite them rarely being in the same room anymore, they do text. Very minimally; in the beginning, it was mostly Nagi halfheartedly asking him about simple esper things or where Reo placed something of his. Once, in a rare stroke of motivation, Nagi sent Reo a selfie of him on the field, and Reo could see Isagi Yoichi in the corner. Reo had replied ‘Nice!’ and then left to go fume in the bathroom for a little while.
Eventually, their texts faded away into an occasional ‘Good morning’, and that was it. A far cry from their previous exchanges, which had involved a lot of Reo happily flooding Nagi’s notifications and Nagi reacting with one-tap GIFs.
Speaking of which, Nagi just texted him.
Reo. Dungeon together?
The olive branch makes Reo’s heart rise hesitantly. The request is cute; it’s short and sweet, so Nagi. Unfortunately, Reo plunges straight back into dread when he realizes that if he were to accompany Nagi, Isagi would definitely be around. The image of Nagi and Isagi in action right before his very eyes is too sickening for him to bear.
Sorry Nagi, work is too busy right now. Of course, Reo has already completed all his tasks for the week and then some. But Nagi doesn’t need to know that. Reo sits back in his chair and sighs.
“You busy?” a voice asks behind him.
Reo spins around to face it. “Ah, Shidou. No, what’s up?”
Turns out, Nagi isn’t the only one with greener pastures. When Reo returned home from that horrible appointment, the specialist had emailed him that she found a better matched esper for him too. A match rate of 84%. Knowing that made Reo want to scream. He and Nagi really weren’t meant to be together.
Being cordial as he was raised to be, he did introduce himself to the esper, Shidou Ryusei. Shidou mostly ignored him at first (which Reo had no issue with), but apparently at some point he found something in Reo that he liked, so they’ve been friendly ever since— in the special Shidou manner at least.
Surprisingly, he hasn’t pushed Reo to guide him at all; mostly, he just grumbles and complains about Mikage bureaucracy. In return, Reo strictly does not offer his guiding.
Sometimes, in his throes of resentment, Reo gets the urge to prove something to that whiny baby by forming a brilliant esper-guide relationship with someone else. It stays as an indulgent thought; no matter what, Nagi would be the only esper he would ever guide.
“I’m itching to go out on the field, but that bowlcut bastard won’t let me without a guide,” Shidou grits out tersely. “So, what do you think, should I break his spine or crack his skull open?”
Reo sighs. “Neither. Why don’t you take Igaguri? Or Kurona?” Shidou has a reputation among the guides; he’s violent, unpleasant, and has deathly high expectations. Guides are supposedly safer with an esper around; it’s often the opposite with Shidou.
“I’m gonna crack his head open like a chestnut,” Shidou seethes. He’s sure Igaguri did something so characteristically pathetic Shidou’s opinion of him is soured forevermore. “Braids is out with another esper already, some Nana guy. Don’t you call the shots, purple bun, can’t you tell four-eyes to go fuck himself?”
“It’s company policy, not Ego policy,” Reo comments. “Why don’t you get some emergency guiding? If they see you recently received guiding, they might let you out solo.”
Shidou recoils at the suggestion. “Hell no~ you know I hate guiding, purple bun. I prefer to feel my esper powers naturally. Guiding just mollifies your explosion.”
Without guiding, esper powers quickly start corrupting. Such a state may increase sheer power output, but it severely limits the control an esper has. That corruption grows until it decides to violently escape its vessel, leading to incidents of mass destruction. The incident may be so explosive that it can, and has, levelled cities. It’s no wonder Shidou likes to live dangerously close to that edge.
Reo ponders for a bit. He has been horribly restless as of late. “I’ll come with you then. Just let me get ready.”
“Oho~ What an unexpected change of pace, purple bun,” Shidou chimes, delighted. “Though, don’t expect that I’ll let you guide me. I really don’t care what your numbers say~”
Reo grins. “Don’t worry, I don’t want to either. I just want to get out of this stuffy agency.” His refusal to guide espers right now is an understandable dealbreaker for most. It works out quite well that Shidou refuses to be guided.
Shidou crooks his head in agreement. “Ah? Then let’s go already. I’ve been getting pale, time to tan.”
It’s strange, being out on the field again. The last time he went out, he was with Nagi, indulging in the elation of sweeping through dungeons with ease, made possible only by their impeccable partnership. Or, what Reo thought was impeccable. It’s truly embarrassing. If only that stupid baby had told him he was just tolerating Reo’s guiding, maybe it would’ve saved him from some of this pain.
He uses his Mikage brain— akin to a textbook— to map out the dungeon fields and help direct Shidou around. His thoughts about Nagi fade, as he shifts back into the exciting routine of defeating monsters and picking up samples he remembers the scientists around the agency chattering about. For what it’s worth, Shidou has a fascinatingly unique fighting style. Reo watches it like a fireworks show, making well-placed callouts when needed.
The routine causes him to get a bit too complacent, a rookie move in dangerous dungeons. He cuts open some bird-like monster, watching the feathers turn darker. And darker.
Ah, shit. There’s something falling on him. He springs up to avoid it, when a brilliant, gray arrow pierces the mass— a monster corpse, sending it flying in another direction.
Reo doesn’t need to see the arrow’s author. He knows who it is, like he knows his own breath.
Ah, damn. He should’ve checked to see if this was the dungeon Nagi’s team was assigned to.
Reo looks up to see Nagi floating in the air, elevated by his esper powers (damn it, has he always been able to do that?), and gazing down at him with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Hope about what, Reo’s not sure.
“Reo,” he calls out, almost quietly.
“Nagi,” Reo responds.
“That was pretty sick, but,” Shidou begins, “I already casted that to explode right before it fell on you, purple bun!”
Reo sighs. “Uhh, gross.”
“The most that would’ve fell on you was blood and guts~” Shidou says, delighted, like he wishes it were him.
“Who are you?” Nagi asks, eyebrows furrowed. Isagi treks up behind him, looking around with concern. Reo nearly forgot about him. Seeing him, next to Nagi, stings.
“Hm? None of your business, death esper,” Shidou sighs. Nagi glances at Isagi momentarily, and Isagi shrugs.
Reo despises seeing it. The easy communication between Nagi and Isagi. Jealousy burns in his chest. What made Isagi better than him? Were numbers, even ones as high as 91%, really that important? “He’s my esper,” Reo bites out. Nagi winces from the harsh tone. Shidou looks back and forth between them, mouth forming a small ‘o’.
“Oh, I see. You two are friends~ Yep, I got him to come guide me,” Shidou sings.
“But…I already asked you to go with me,” Nagi mumbles. He’s confused, sort of like a baby rabbit. Reo is ashamed to admit that it makes him want to stretch his chubby cheeks. It also makes him want to snap, because Reo is allowed to do whatever he wants, stupid Nagi.
Still, though. He supposes for both his and Nagi’s sake, he maybe should’ve checked beforehand to avoid this exact scenario. “Sorry,” Reo apologizes, “I didn’t realize you would be here.”
“Oh,” Nagi says. Reo feels a pang in his heart when he watches the hope in Nagi’s eyes die out.
“Guys!” a voice calls out. The other esper on Nagi’s team, Chigiri Hyoma. His guide, Bachira Meguru, skips behind him. “Come on, let’s go! I want to take a shower!”
Reo expects Nagi to leave with his team, and for him and Shidou to stay behind doing whatever the hell Shidou wants. To his surprise, Shidou moves to follow. “C’mon, purple bun, I want to see what these espers and guides have in them~” Shidou lilts, gaze predatory.
“Sure,” Reo says, down for anything. He can feel Nagi staring hotly at him, and Reo pointedly looks anywhere but him.
The next wave of monsters is hefty, all drawn to the hotspot of magic that was the three espers and three guides. As Reo isn’t doing any actual guiding, he mostly stays back, watching from afar as Isagi and Bachira engage actively in the battle.
Reo is instead logging data about the fallen monsters, genuinely interested in helping the researchers at Mikage Agency. The sooner Mikage can dominate the dungeon landscape, the better he (and Nagi) can become. He will admit, though, he also wants the distraction from Isagi and Nagi, even though everytime he glances up at them, it’s...strange. Isagi minimally interacts with Nagi, instead electing to attack the monsters with physical weapons enhanced by his guiding abilities, and occasionally assisting Bachira (which, damn, with the way he’s spinning on the monsters, you would think he’s an esper too). Reo sees Nagi falter momentarily and mentally scolds Isagi for not being there, even if Nagi recovers effortlessly.
At some point, Shidou disengages, suddenly extremely bored by the current monster, and drifts back down to Reo’s side. “What’s that, purple bun?” He loops an arm around Reo’s shoulder, pointing at a dead monster. “You think that would be good on a dinner plate~?”
“Ha,” Reo snorts. “If you like crapping uncontrollably for the next week, sure.”
Shidou sighs. “What a shame~”
Despite the topic at hand, Shidou isn’t looking at the dead corpse Reo is poking around at. He stares straight at the fray of espers, and Reo watches as a wicked grin grows on his face. Shidou jumps back up, barrelling back into the fight.
“Hah! I knew that would get you going!” he can hear Shidou crowing from the midst of the battle.
When he looks up, he can see Nagi and Shidou fighting almost rhythmically; Shidou unleashes some flashy ability, Nagi follows it up with double the power. Pink and gray violently whip around, competing, despite being on the same side.
It’s captivating. He hasn’t seen Nagi’s esper abilities in a while; he had forgotten how it steals his breath away. Even among Shidou’s explosiveness, or Chigiri’s speed, Nagi stands out, imprinted in Reo’s vision. That’s his treasure, after all. Or, used to be.
Ah. The thought pains him a little. Nagi isn’t his anymore; hasn’t been for a month now. He’s holding up strikingly well without Reo, even though Isagi doesn’t dote on him. Reo feels a hot flush of shame when he realizes that might be where his issues begin.
Reo’s guiding had been selfish. It molded Nagi into something only he wanted, directing Nagi everywhere, forcing the esper to go in only one direction. Hovering behind Nagi, always keeping track of his every need, his every detail. Reo was overbearing. And, of course, that overbearing nature held Nagi back.
Reo’s temperament is his inherent flaw. That’s why he will never be compatible with Nagi. Maybe that’s why he had a high match rate with Shidou; Shidou refused to be controlled, to fall victim to Reo’s whims.
Ouch. It hurts to realize that the flaws in his guiding start with his personality.
A particularly dicey monster roars, spitting acid and flashing sharp teeth. It rears back to strike, before suddenly pausing. Reo watches as the monster begins to gurgle, seizing before being ripped from the inside out by a skull gnashing its teeth.
The sheer power output of the attack winds Nagi, causing him to collapse gently on the floor. He shifts to look at Reo. “That was cool, right Reo?” he asks. Nagi is so cool. He’s even cooler, without Reo.
“Yeah, of course,” Reo says breathily. Nagi beams, eyes wide and mirthful.
“Awesome! I’ve never seen you pull that off before!” Isagi exclaims, shaking Nagi a little bit.
“Yep,” Nagi says plainly, akin to a bird puffing out its chest. Reo really hopes he’s not doing that for Isagi.
“I think that was the last of them,” Chigiri calls out. “Let’s get out of here. Ugh, my hair feels gross.”
Isagi chimes in agreement. Unfortunately for him, Bachira is currently playing with Shidou in the feathers of a fallen monster.
Nagi gazes at Reo, questioning. It makes Reo feel awkward.
“Let’s go,” Reo says. Nagi nods.
Reo makes sure not to go to the same dungeon as Nagi again. It’s way too awkward, even if he’s mostly accepted Nagi and Isagi’s partnership at this point.
Shidou’s been going out less and less, anyway, getting more aggravated and twitchy the longer he goes without guiding. Ego’s recently been electing to physically restrain him from doing expeditions (Shidou nearly gave another esper, Itoshi Rin, a concussion. Reo had a front row seat to that outburst), which does unfortunately mean less field time for Reo.
Shidou and Reo do occasionally spend time together outside of the field, though. Usually when Reo is doing paperwork and Shidou is stewing in his Ego-bound restlessness. Reo eventually ends up spilling about the whole Nagi situation to him, since he knows Shidou isn’t the type to go digging in Reo’s psyche about it (not like Karasu, another guide he’s gotten to know).
Reo even provides his theory about why he thinks their matchrate is so low, because of how controlling and manipulative Reo is. That makes Shidou give him a weird look.
It all comes to a head, because eventually Shidou does something so unstable and explosive it catches the eye of a particular, worldwide-known, powerful guide. Reo doesn’t see him after that, because Shidou has apparently been squirreled away to that guide— Itoshi Sae’s— agency. Apparently, he paid a generous sum to break Shidou’s contract with Mikage.
Reo initially feels apprehensive of the situation, knowing Shidou’s hatred of guiding. But, Shidou texts him later, describing how Sae’s guiding is unlike anything else, that it frees him instead of suppressing him. Reo’s happy for him.
It does mean Reo no longer has access to the field. He supposes he could just tag along as a third to an esper-guide pair (Chigiri has actually asked), but being around successful esper-guide pairs makes him feel bitter.
He and Nagi’s texts have slowed to a stop at this point. Reo still watches the news when Nagi accomplishes something impressive, Isagi always at his side. It makes their whole partnership feel just like a wistful memory.
So, Reo is woefully unprepared when he randomly bumps into Nagi while darting between rooms. Nagi has clearly just returned from a mission; there’s blood staining his white hair, and his Mikage-issued esper suit is scratched up.
Nagi looks at him like a pathetic kitten and Reo seriously resists the urge to change his wrecked suit for him and to go wash his hair.
Still, that’s not his responsibility anymore. Reo is about to nod in acknowledgement, and continue along his way when he notices that Nagi’s energy feels…off.
Reo is still acquainted with Nagi’s esper energy, even after all these months apart. It usually floats around lazily, just like Nagi, but now, the air feels staticky and erratic. Reo can even see Nagi’s limbs twitch unusually, like the power stewing inside him is just a bit too much to bear.
“Are you okay?” Reo asks, horrified— Nagi’s power is clearly off-balance. Has Isagi been neglecting him? And for how long now?
“Um,” Nagi says hoarsely. “I don’t know.”
Reo begins to type into his phone rapidly. “Isagi is in room 12B, down that hallway.” He gestures. “Go to him. Now. I’m serious!”
“Okay, Reo,” Nagi acknowledges, figure slumping. It alarms Reo, who rushes to grab Nagi before the esper potentially collapses. Nagi takes to it immediately, leaning his whole weight onto Reo. Just like habit, Reo crouches and hauls Nagi onto his back.
“Let’s go,” Reo orders, maneuvering Nagi down the hallway towards Isagi’s blip on the GPS.
“Reooo…” Nagi whines. He’s in awful shape, and clinging onto Reo like his lifeline. It makes Reo want to guide him. Really, really bad. But, with how low their match rate is, it could worsen Nagi’s condition. Reo shushes him gently, mentally willing for Nagi’s pain to go away, ushering him along as fast as he can. Seriously, should Reo cut Isagi’s pay?! How could he let Nagi get into such bad shape?!
“Reo…” Nagi whimpers. “Why won’t you guide me…? Aren’t I your treasure?”
The request makes Reo startle. “You’re not my esper anymore, Nagi,” Reo reminds him gently.
“Antenna-head is gone though… So why…” Nagi trails off. Reo murmurs soothingly at him.
In a matter of moments that feel stretched out long, too long, Reo finally arrives at the room Isagi is in. “Go! Isagi, get on it!” Reo shoves Nagi in, unlatching the clingy man who doesn’t seem to want to leave his side, and hears Isagi yelp out-of-view as he likely gets an armful of white-haired esper.
He gazes at the closing door with conflict in his eyes.
Reo returns to what he was doing before. He knows that Nagi is now being taken care of by Isagi, but he feels no more comforted by it.
Reo remains on edge for the next few weeks. At some point, he secretly installs vitals in Nagi’s esper suit, concluding that Reo’s nagging wouldn’t affect Nagi if he just didn’t tell him about it. He does so, so that he can check on Nagi when he feels antsy, hoping that it would calm him down. Mostly, it doesn’t.
At the very least, Nagi seems to be faring a little better than when Reo saw him last. It still doesn’t quell Reo’s concern. Isagi seems responsible enough to regularly guide Nagi so… why isn’t he doing well?
His anxiety about the situation bleeds into his work, and some of his higher ups scold him for mistakes (gently, of course, since he was the Mikage heir). Sometimes, he’ll stare at Nagi’s location on the GPS, thinking about how easy it would be to just go see him.
Reo decides to relax in a cafe for a bit to get his mind off things. It’s not like he can do much for Nagi now aside from ensuring his Mikage-provided diet is top-notch and that his after-expedition care is done with the utmost attention.
He orders a coffee, and sips on it peacefully. Ah. This is the boring, calm life Reo should strive for but hates. He indulges in it anyway.
Reo’s phone rings. His jaw tenses, thinking it might be his old man, gathering himself for a second before picking up.
“Reo! Reo! You need to come to Manshine dungeon, like, NOW!” Bachira’s voice rings out. Reo immediately bolts up, coffee spilling. “In— errr— Quadrant 4A!”
“What? Why?!” Reo blurts out, already bashing into his Mikage smartwatch to call for a personal helicopter.
“Nagi’s corrupting! It’s really bad! We need you to come guide him, now!” Bachira squawks out.
“Our match rate is only 34%!” Reo panics. “Why can’t Isagi guide him?! Or even you?!”
“He won’t accept any of our guiding, hasn’t for months!” Bachira exclaims. “He only wants yours! Get, get, he’s on the edge of rupturing!”
Rupturing. The case of an esper’s power corrupting beyond the ceiling level. The incident that destroys cities. Ability constricts and then explodes, like a big bang; a horrible nightmare, the reason why guiding is necessary for espers. Worst of all, at the forefront of Reo’s mind, the implosion will rip the esper from the inside out.
Reo swings into the helicopter. It’s a special one, exorbitantly expensive and developed by Mikage research scientists for years, which can take him directly through the dungeon portal.
“Be there in four minutes!” Reo calls out.
The phone shifts, changing hands, and Chigiri’s voice calls out. “Make it two!”
When he arrives, he sees Nagi crumpled onto the ground, with Isagi, Bachira, and Chigiri staring tensely at him. His power is whipping around him at a lethal speed, like a tornado, with Nagi as the eye. An enormous beast is laid beside him, almost curled around Nagi. The power used to defeat that monster must have been what set Nagi’s corruption off.
None the matter. Reo’s gaze focuses, like lasers, onto Nagi. All reason leaves his mind, all his doubts and struggles and numbers, as he dives in to be beside his esper. Nagi’s residual power parts just enough to welcome Reo in, then closes back in suffocatingly when Reo enters, like a violent shield encasing them.
Reo grabs the esper and squeezes the life out of him, guiding from every inch where his skin contacts Nagi’s. Reo’s crying now, and he can only think Nagi, Nagi, Nagi.
Nagi is still unresponsive, body twitching unnaturally. Reo isn’t guiding him fast enough. Fuck, Reo thinks. In his panic-addled mind, he recalls the methods to quicken guiding.
He hauls Nagi up, and smashes their mouths together.