The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]

The training lasted for another three hours before Damien called out for everyone to stop and gather around. He gave a short briefing about the inspections they were going to conduct the next day, after which they were all finally dismissed for the day.

Seeing as some of his new teammates were headed to the cafeteria, Lane decided to tag along.

"Haah… I'm so exhausted… Thank God it's finally over…" Arlo, one of the Espers from the team, let out a heavy sigh, placing his tray on the table and dropping down on the chair.

"I know, right?" Eric, the C-rank Guide, agreed. "I don't think I could last a second more…"

"Is it always that bad?" Lane joined in on the conversation. "Cause I don't think I would have lasted even half the time if I had to take part…"

"Noah, right?" Arlo turned to Lane. "Yeah… If you haven't signed the contract with the Association yet, I'd advise you to run. Run away as fast as you can. Cause once you're in, you likely won't have a say in which team you're in."

"Hahah, it's a bit too late for that," Lane shrugged his shoulders, letting out a helpless laugh. "I'm already signed. I thought a job at the Association would be easy, as we rarely get to raid high-ranking dungeons… I didn't expect my Team Leader would be so strict he'd make training worse than a raid."

"Yeah. My condolences."

"Hahah… Was he always like that?"

"Well, I'm not too sure, as I've only joined the team two weeks ago, but… I've heard that he's always been strict, although not as much as he is now."

"It's all because of that incident," Eric glanced around, before leaning forward and lowering his voice. "You've heard about it, right? The A-rank dungeon break. Team Leader Lennox's team was among the first responders, and they suffered heavy casualties. And among the ones who died was Team Leader's Guide."

Oh?

"His Guide?"

"They were lovers," Hallie, a B-rank Esper, let out a sigh, shaking her head sadly.

Lane almost choked on his drink. 'Excuse me, what?'

There was only one person giving Damien Lennox the guiding in the month preceding the incident, aside from 'Evan Greene' - Zoe Parker. Zoe was not dead, however - not to mention, while her relationship with Damien was good, it was strictly professional.

But Damien and 'Evan Greene' were not lovers either. The most they did was exchange a few kisses during guiding sessions, in the private guiding rooms at the Association. While some of their teammates were aware that 'Evan' was pursuing their Team Leader, Damien never showed any signs of reciprocating - especially not in public.

Could it be that there was someone else that Lane was not aware of? But then how come they kissed…

Soon enough though, all of Lane's doubts were clarified, when Cora, the B-rank Guide from their team, joined in the gossip.

"That wasn't even Team Leader's main Guide. Their compatibility was extremely low, or so I've heard…"

"So it wasn't about the obsession some high-rankers have with a matching rate?"

"Yeah. It must have been true love then…"

"I've heard more! Apparently, they were about to get married!"

"No, I think that's just a rumor. From what I know, they haven't been dating for long yet. But, it was definitely headed in that direction."

"Tsk, so what if it hasn't been long? Sometimes, when people find their true love, they can get married in a flash!"

"But someone as stern as Team Leader Lennox?"

"Yeah! Especially! He might be unbearably strict at work, but a completely different person when it comes to love!"

"I suppose… Now that I think of it… I can totally see it… A contrast like that, it's kind of hot…"

"Right? I bet he's super passionate…"

"Eh… Now I feel bad for him… Having lost his soulmate in such a tragic way…"

Lane listened to the chatter, having more and more difficulty keeping his face straight.

What sort of bullshit was that? Really, people's imagination knew no limits! To come up with a story like that… What would they think of next? That 'Evan' and Damien had already adopted a kid together?

He took a sip of his drink, suppressing his desire to laugh, before rejoining the discussion. As entertaining as it was, rumors as detached from reality as those wouldn't help him learn anything useful at all.

"Ahem, since we're on the topic of Guides, I've been wondering… How are you managing Team Leader's guiding?" he turned to Cora and Eric. "No offense, but… Even if you have high compatibility, with your rank difference… Isn't it a bit too difficult?"

The two Guides exchanged glances.

"Well, actually… Neither of us ever gave Team Leader any guiding," Cora explained. "We haven't even had our matching rates tested. We are here only for the rest of the Espers on the team. Team Leader Lennox… doesn't want any guiding from us."

"But then who is giving Team Leader guiding? S-rank Esper can't possibly go on without a Guide."

"I don't know the details, but I've heard that one of Team Leader's relatives in a high-ranking Guide. She's still in school though, and only works part-time at the Association, so she cannot join the team."

"Is that so?" Lane raised his brows.

It wasn't surprising that Damien's relative would be a high-ranker. It was rather common, actually, for several people of similar rank to awaken within the same family. There were speculations that the awakening potential depended on person's genetics - although it was yet to be scientifically proved.

What was surprising, however, was that Damien would chose a part-timer as his main Guide, relative or not. As an S-ranker, he should be accompanied by his Guide whenever going on the mission. Was the Association truly unable to provide him with another reliable Guide? Even if they were already a part of a different team, guiding an S-rank Esper should be a priority!

Could it be that because Zoe broke her contract and left, Damien found it difficult to trust a stranger, only accepting his family as his Guide? 

That was the only possible reason Lane could think of. It still felt a bit weird - for a high-ranking Esper, Damien had always been strangely disinterested in guiding, only treating it as a necessity, more like one would treat getting an IV rather than something enjoyable. Things have slowly started to change during his sessions with 'Evan Greene', but his general attitude remained more or less the same…

Soon enough though, Lane pushed all of those thoughts away. Regardless what was the reason behind Damien's unusual choices, it had nothing to do with him. 

As long as Damien didn't go on a rampage and killed them all, Lane didn't really care.