“Wait… what do you mean you used that to achieve your goal?”
When Chalice raised his voice to ask, a grin spread openly across Rodeo’s face — the smile of a child delighted with himself.
“I ran my mouth a little about how a ticking time bomb this unstable, with a matching rate this high, needs a dedicated Guide — and everyone seemed too scared to put up much of a fight against it. Well, I did get a tiny bit of help from Ink.”
It was a story Chalice hadn’t been able to hear at the facility — he’d thrown a punch and walked out before there was any chance to explain. Chalice fell silent, his expression complicated.
“I know it bothers you when I frame it as me doing you a favor — but don’t make that face. I’m doing this because it disgusts me to see people who suffered under the facility’s persecution pulling the exact same things. I’m doing what needs to be done, not throwing you charity or pitying you. You know by now, given how I’ve been treated, that I’m in no position to do that.”
“I thought that matter was already settled.”
“I never withdrew the application. So what exactly is settled? I’ve already set up the dedicated Guide connection through the Decorker.”
Chalice’s expression grew even more troubled. In truth, it was a good thing. He had challenged for this freedom over and over, and there was genuine relief in knowing he wouldn’t be pulled for Guiding back-to-back anymore. And yet — Chalice felt something uncomfortable, unsettling enough to turn his stomach.
In truth, Rodeo hadn’t mocked him, and now that Rodeo was at the point of insisting it wasn’t charity — Chalice’s pride was no longer the issue. The problem was this: the Esper who had once launched attacks against him without even a glance toward those above him had now exposed his own vulnerabilities, cornering himself in a place where he could be killed by his own allies. The fact that Rodeo had bet on something like this — invoking the long-forbidden nerve of Rampage — left Chalice feeling strangely, unpleasantly unsettled.
It kept prodding at something he had buried in childhood. The memory of a paralyzing helplessness — of being forced to lose someone he loved with no way to stop it — the memory of a child barely past ten years old.
“Shouldn’t you be glad? You still look pretty upset.”
“…You didn’t have to do that.”
Rodeo let out a sigh as though he were thoroughly tired of this, and continued.
“What do you mean I didn’t have to? If I’m going to be commuting to the Esper Academy, of course I need a dedicated Guide and a bodyguard.”
“I told you, the bodyguard thing is off the table.”
“I’m afraid that won’t work for me. I’m going to be using Esper abilities freely at the Academy, which means I’ll absolutely need to receive Guiding — and on top of that, I’m going to have the Espers receive instruction from Chalice.”
“What?”
Chalice asked again, but Rodeo only shrugged with a grin. The face of a young Rodeo — who had gone around pulling pranks, giddy after first learning to control his powers — surfaced right there, as though that same child had simply grown a body and was sitting in front of him. Chalice pressed him in a low, serious voice.
“Do you really think those kids are going to want to receive instruction from a Guide? They probably can’t stand being in the same room — how do you plan to—”
“What does that matter? I’m the one telling them to do it. Any Esper who disregards their instructor goes straight into disciplinary training.”
“…That doesn’t make sense. I refuse.”
“Chalice’s refusal is also unacceptable. I have a plan. I’ll need your cooperation.”
Chalice still wore an unsettled expression, as though lost in thought.
“Consider it repayment for the dedicated Guide registration. I won’t hear any more ‘don’t thank me’ from you.”
Rodeo’s tone was a complete reversal from his usual manner — playfully tacking on a request for repayment for something no one had asked of him — but Chalice no longer voiced any further objection to the dedicated Guide registration, and instead pressed his lips firmly together, gave a nod, and spoke.
“…Explain the plan first.”
The moment Chalice’s consent came through, Rodeo broke into a grin, lifted his chin, and spoke as though making an announcement.
“It’s nothing grand. Based on what I’ve seen and heard, my assessment is this — these bastards have either never seen a Guide in person, or it’s been so long that they’ve wiped the fact that Guides are ordinary human beings right out of their heads. Before we can even get to the point of remote Guiding being exploitation of Guides, we need to remind them that Guides are human.”
“……”
“I know it’ll be uncomfortable — that’s why I asked you to come to the facility. I’m sorry, but that level of spectacle was necessary, and going forward, that level of stress is something you’ll have to bear as well.”
It was reckless — but not without merit. Chalice knew full well that if this had been a mission, it would have been a plan he never would have devised himself — which meant he had absolutely no data on whether this plan would work or not.
A method of exposing one piece of bait to danger. As the subject in question, it was plainly not an ideal plan. Increasing the number of times he was exposed, even under the protection of being a dedicated Guide, wouldn’t improve the situation Guides were in. Even if he were to take part in instruction as Rodeo said — even if the perceptions of the Academy students were changed — whether that would truly spark meaningful change, or whether it was naive thinking, Chalice, who had long since let go of everything, found it difficult even to imagine, let alone calculate the odds.
But there was no other option. It wasn’t like him at all — a plan that required moving toward nothing but hope, without any staged strategy or calculation — and yet, strangely, Chalice wanted to follow it.
Appallingly, it was none other than Rodeo. Of all people, his plan.
“Not as repayment for the dedicated Guide registration — I’ll do it as settling a debt for making a mess of my face. It’s not often there’s something worth looking at, and you went and ruined it.”
“…Isn’t that just saying I’m good-looking?”
“Don’t go adding unnecessary commentary. I’ll cooperate — now let go and go home.”
Perhaps because they’d stumbled through quite a significant ordeal together, the atmosphere had softened considerably from before. Even Rodeo was engaging with Chalice in a playful tone, keeping the exchange brief — and as Chalice continued to yield, Rodeo dropped the stiff formality entirely and opened his mouth.
“Hey, …no, actually this isn’t really my place to say, but—”
“If you don’t need to say it, don’t—”
“From your perspective, it seems like you had a pretty legitimate reason for hitting me — so why are you apologizing for it? You’re not actually thirteen years old.”
“No matter how I think about it, it still wasn’t justif—”
“…So that’s why the perverts keep gravitating toward you. You’re surprisingly soft.”
At the slap-on-the-knee delivery of something so entirely unexpected, Chalice blinked rapidly. He had noticed the atmosphere rounding out — but he hadn’t anticipated things going this far, and his face began stiffening before he could stop it.
“I’m sure you’re not unaware of it yourself… or did you think I wouldn’t know?”
“…Know what.”
“The perverts — the sheer number that flock to you. They’re that blatant about it, so there’s no way you wouldn’t know.”
Rodeo watched Chalice visibly flustered and covering it with a dry cough, then shifted his tone and offered a word of warning.
“Since we’re on the subject. I don’t want any misunderstanding — even when I need Guiding, I won’t be using this. It’s frustratingly half-measures, and I don’t particularly want to cause you pain either.”
Rodeo shook his wrist, and the Decorker let out a clicking sound.
“In the event of a serious situation, direct physical contact may be necessary. I’ll keep it non-contact whenever possible.”
“…Sure, that’s fine.”
“The Chalice I know didn’t like that — so I’m telling you in advance. Though whether you’d hate this more now, I don’t know.”
“……”
“In case you’ve forgotten — my stability level is genuinely rock-bottom, so please don’t lump me in with the perverts or get the wrong idea.”
Chalice let out a bitter laugh, bowed his head, then gave a nod. His thick eyebrows were furrowed even as he smiled, unable to settle back into a straight line.
“Not something you expected to hear from a thirteen-year-old, was it?”
“No. I never imagined having a conversation like this.”
Rodeo released the grip he’d been keeping on Chalice’s wrist, got to his feet, and continued his explanation.
“Unfortunately, my schedule has no weekends for the next month — so you’ll need to spend three to four hours a day on my security detail. From nine to around one. If you end up taking on the instructor role as well, it’ll be ideal to have you dedicated solely to my security. If you have other security work going on, please wrap that up soon. The pay will reflect accordingly.”
“…Pay?”
Chalice looked up with a surprised expression.
“Did you think I was asking you to guard me for free?”
“I don’t want any misunderstanding either, but… what money are you paying me with? You were saying things like that at the facility too.”
“Ah, I didn’t know either — but when I woke up I found myself a wealthy man. Accident victim, and the facility tends to be generous with Espers.”
✽
Rodeo shut the front door behind him as though being chased, and drew a sharp, desperate breath.
Two or three snapdragon stems were clutched in one hand, completely disheveled, and the vase that should have been holding them was in the other.
Drip.
Water trailing down the stems dropped a few small beads onto the entryway floor — and Rodeo, as though he had no presence of mind to wipe it up, slumped against the door and slid straight down to the floor. He’d gone out without shoes in the first place, so he simply collapsed onto the floor, all energy gone. The empty vase rolled away beside him, and the snapdragons — several flowers scattered from being gripped too tightly — were tossed carelessly, still dripping wet, sprawled here and there across the floor.
“Thank you. I felt like I had to say that.”
When Rodeo had finally gotten up to leave for real and pulled a few stems of snapdragons from the vase on the table — grinning that this would do — Chalice had hesitated, stood up, and said those words.
Thrown at the most unexpected moment, the words sent Rodeo into a state of complete panic — as if he’d come face to face with a ghost only he could see — and he fumbled through something incoherent before bolting out of there.
“Ah.”
His feet felt cold — he looked down to find that the water pooled around his outstretched legs had soaked through his pants. The water trickling from the snapdragon stems scattered all around had made its way to his socks as well.
I should’ve left these in the vase before I ran…
An empty vase in one hand, flowers he’d snatched in a daze gripped hard in the other, and he’d gone tearing out in bare feet. Rodeo let out a groan and set the vase upright on the floor, then carefully gathered the stems one by one and slipped them back in. Once they were barely arranged into something resembling a shape, he felt all the energy drain out of him again. Rodeo pressed his palm to his forehead and exhaled one more long, heavy breath.
