“…If you two are going to have a heartfelt reunion, you can count that as my session and let me go. Should I clear out entirely?”
Rodeo, who had gone blank for a moment at the sound of laughter, barely managed to speak. Chalice caught himself and stepped back from Evan’s side — but the childlike smile still lingered at the corners of his mouth.
“I figured you’d be at the facility, but I had no idea you were doing counseling here.”
“Perfect place to put someone to work and keep an eye on them. Well — it’s a demotion, really.”
Evan glanced at Rodeo again and let slip another barbed remark. Rodeo, failing to catch the remark’s underlying meaning, narrowed his eyes as if ready to interrogate — and Evan, with an exaggerated gesture, gestured for Rodeo to take a seat.
“Please, have a seat — valued client.”
At that, Chalice burst out laughing again. Rodeo looked genuinely stunned, as if he’d just discovered for the first time that Chalice was even capable of laughing like this.
“Ah, sorry — I’m also the one who brought in said ‘valued client,’ so…”
“Are we seriously… holding a competition to see who can make a fool out of someone, right in front of that person?”
Chalice kept apologizing, but couldn’t quite hold back his laughter. Rodeo pointed toward the door and kicked the chair positioned across from Evan’s desk — it rolled slowly, the wheel sound fading, and came to a stop right in front of the door.
“Guard the door like a proper bodyguard — make sure no one’s breaking in.”
“Sure, that I can do — but bodyguards don’t exactly guard doors while sitting…”
“Then stand.”
Rodeo sprawled across the sofa and propped his feet up on the coffee table. Chalice caught Evan sighing and giving a resigned shrug, and turned away to hide his smile. When Rodeo snapped back with an I can hear you, Chalice managed a dry cough and went over to sit in the chair beside the door.
“You’ve come on time today, so I do hope you’ll engage with a little more sincerity.”
Evan sat down on the sofa across from Rodeo and flashed a grin as their eyes met. Rodeo sensed he was being played — yet couldn’t quite wipe the displeasure from his face.
✽
As Chalice and Rodeo walked side by side down the corridor — subtle stares following them despite the pretense of indifference — Chalice glanced sideways at Rodeo’s sulky expression, gave a small dry cough, and spoke.
“Do you always… answer like that during your sessions?”
When Rodeo whipped his head around with an expression that hadn’t shed a trace of irritation, Chalice tucked his chin, looked away in the opposite direction, and spread both palms open as if to say he hadn’t said a thing.
“What’s the matter. Does it bother you to see such a cherished ‘hyung’ treated that way?”
“It’s not that…”
“My apologies for overstepping.”
“…I’m not sure what you’re annoyed about, but… there’s no need to go that far.”
At those words, Rodeo’s mood soured even further, and he strode ahead with long, sweeping strides. Chalice watched his back for a moment, then matched his pace and scanned the area around the path Rodeo was walking. The occasional glance still trailed after him — his face was still quite a sight — but nothing that warranted real attention stood out.
“Rodeo, I’m still your bodyguard — it’s better if you don’t get too far ahead.”
Having swept a quick scan of the surroundings, Chalice moved in close behind Rodeo’s back. Rodeo turned his head at the sudden nearness with a slightly stiff motion, looked at Chalice, and gave a nod that he understood.
“I’m not saying this to criticize your attitude.”
“Hm?”
“I’m not trying to play parent either.”
Before Rodeo could find words to respond to the low voice practically at his ear, Chalice spoke again.
“Something like this has finally come along — try actually making use of it. You needed it.”
“Needed it — what’s there to need. I got along just fine without any of this.”
“Aside from me force-Guiding you every now and then when there was no other option — you call that getting along fine?”
Rodeo, who had been wearing the face of a sulking child one moment and a deeply serious adult the next, blinked rapidly — then closed his mouth with a faint flush spreading across his face.
“It would have been better if something like this had existed back when you were really struggling. You wouldn’t have had to suffer through it for nothing.”
In the silence, Chalice murmured it softly, his expression gentle — and at those words, Rodeo’s expression shifted in an instant, his mouth curling into something almost like a sneer as he replied.
“It’s welfare the Espers built for themselves after trampling all over Guides to climb their way up. What’s there to be grateful about from your position — acting like it’s something to thank them for…”
Before the flustered Chalice could even process those words, Rodeo’s mouth was already moving again.
“Ah, right — I suppose from your perspective, you could say Guides went through unnecessary suffering back then. Doing Guiding you wouldn’t have had to do if this kind of treatment had existed. So yes, it is something to be grateful for. If this actually works.”
Chalice, finally catching on to where Rodeo’s prickly words were aimed, gave him a look that said here we go again — and answered in a firm voice.
“Just as you can’t stand the injustice of today, I didn’t exactly enjoy the injustice back then either. Your pain at the time wasn’t your fault — it was pain inflicted by Guides standing on top of Espers.”
Chalice echoed Rodeo’s own words back at him as he spoke. His expression was entirely serious — the face of someone anyone could trust — but Rodeo narrowed his eyes, stared at him for a moment, shook his head, and spoke.
“…That’s a lie.”
“What?”
Rodeo didn’t answer, and gave a quiet, dismissive laugh. His expression was noticeably colder than the softened manner he had been showing since today — or rather, since yesterday.
“Are you saying you lost sleep worrying about me back then?”
“……”
“It’s not like I don’t know you. There’s no reason to tell me pointless lies…”
Rodeo turned his head back toward Chalice as if to continue — but Chalice had stopped several steps behind him, and was simply standing there, staring at Rodeo’s retreating figure.
“Alright… fine. I get it. I won’t push it.”
The tone was half-hearted — and even after Rodeo promptly fell silent, Chalice still stood there, thinking something through, making no move to walk.
“What does it matter anyway. Whatever you were like in the past, whatever I was like. We’ve made a deal now whether we like it or not — and I’m an Esper with a dedicated Guide no matter how much my stability jumps around. Low stability isn’t a handicap anymore. Why would I need treatment.”
“…You were acting like you’d only ask when absolutely necessary — yet it seems you were already expecting to receive Guiding.”
“Guiding up close isn’t that taxing anyway. Using this thing is what’s miserable.”
Rodeo shook his wrist as he spoke.
“……”
“What. Is even close-range Guiding too much now?”
When Chalice didn’t open his mouth and only stared at Rodeo, Rodeo stepped closer and leaned in slightly, asking in something close to a whisper.
“Looks like I overlooked something. Honestly, Guide lifespans have always been so short… I didn’t really know — but if Guiding gets harder as a Guide ages, don’t push yourself. I won’t ask unless it’s an emergency.”
“That’s not it… never mind. Close contact or close range won’t strain me at all, so don’t worry about it.”
“Really?”
Rodeo asked again, looking at Chalice, who remained unmoved where he stood.
“Yes. Stop treating me like some old man about to keel over — and just work on stabilizing yourself.”
“Then why…”
“……”
“……”
Chalice stood with a deeply conflicted expression for a long moment — and finally, with a look of oh, to hell with it, opened his mouth.
“…Back then — it wasn’t enough to lose sleep over. But I wasn’t not worried.”
“……”
“At the time, I thought it was better if you didn’t know — but I’m not sure what difference it makes now.”
Rodeo blinked slowly two or three times. The eyes that had held a flicker of wariness cleared in an instant to something dry and blank — and then even that gaze was withdrawn.
“What I said earlier, I meant it. You don’t have to lie to me.”
“A lie?”
Chalice asked back, his voice sincere — but Rodeo, once again without a word, simply walked with long strides toward the cafeteria door. Even when Carousel, who had been waiting by the door, offered a greeting, Rodeo only responded with a scowl and nothing more. It was Chalice — still wearing a baffled expression — who returned Carousel’s greeting, and when Carousel asked with a glance what was going on, Chalice only sighed and shrugged.
✽
“First of all… the fact that you came here means the misunderstanding has been cleared up, right?”
Carousel spoke up just as he sat down and was about to start eating. Rodeo, seated next to him, had been frowning and silent for a while now, and Chalice had likewise settled into a neutral expression in the face of the ongoing stonewalling. Innocent Carousel tried steering the conversation between the two — tossing out topics like the weather or the food — but only Chalice responded, at least briefly, while the one who was actually his friend kept his mouth firmly shut and gave no reply at all, for reasons unknown.
“…Yes, I apologize for yesterday. I went without knowing what kind of gathering it was…”
“Ah, no. It was our mistake. Coming here must already feel uncomfortable enough, and we had you make the trip without any explanation at all…”
While the two exchanged politely with each other at length, the very cause of it all sat in silence, quietly stuffing food into his mouth.
“It’s all right. I’ve been given enough of an explanation now, and I’m prepared for what comes next.”
“Is that so… Honestly, I hadn’t been told everything about what happened that day either — so I was quite surprised, to be frank.”
Carousel swept back his red hair and let out a sigh. Chalice smiled faintly with an expression that said he understood the awkwardness — and Rodeo, who had been chewing through his food in sullen silence, found his gaze drifting, almost despite himself, toward the two of them in conversation.
