Does Spring Come Even for a Dying Esper

“What?”

Iberis widened his eyes in surprise at the unexpected news. Not approved, not rejected, but postponed? It was an ambiguous term.

“Why? Didn’t you say that headquarters would likely approve it since we met the minimum requirements?”

“That’s what I thought too…” Lucas mumbled in a noticeably deflated voice. He looked very displeased.

“So is the pair formation cancelled?”

“Rather than cancelled, the committee suggested temporary activity instead of formal pair approval.”

“Hm? You mean you and I will form a temporary pair?”

“Yes.”

Lucas frowned deeply, recalling his phone conversation with Winfried on the way here. He had been uneasy from the moment the call came earlier than expected, but now his worry had become reality.

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t expect this outcome. The neutral committee members suddenly opposed…’

‘What was their reason for opposing?’

‘They all know about our close relationship, so they suspect we’re trying to draw the Major into the reform faction through official pair activities.’

‘What…’

‘As you know, the Major hasn’t engaged in any political activities until now. So…’

‘Outwardly, the Major belongs to the neutral faction.’

‘That’s right. The public perceives the Major as a neutral figure with friction against the conservative faction. It seems they didn’t like the idea of him getting close to you, known as a reformist.’

‘Sigh… So what happens now?’

‘The committee did acknowledge the necessity of you exclusively guiding the Major. They can’t ignore the significant progress made in just a few months. So they’ve allowed you to form a temporary pair, with the condition that you increase your matching rate by the end of the year.’

‘Meaning they’ll dissolve the pair if we don’t meet the condition.’

‘Correct. Conversely, if you achieve an 83% matching rate by year-end, you’ll get official pair approval.’

‘83%?’

Lucas’s brow furrowed deeply upon hearing the condition for official recognition. There was a reason for his reaction. It’s because raising the matching rate becomes difficult from 80% onwards.

The reason why 85% is called the most effective figure for guiding, and why rates above 90% are called dream matching rates, is that the compatibility between the esper and guide must be extremely good to reach these levels.

‘Why 83%?’

‘Apparently, the average matching rate for espers and guides working as pairs in the Defense Force is 83%. Since forming a pair means you’ll only be guiding the Major unless there’s a special case… it’s a loss from the Defense Force’s perspective. So the committee’s stance is that they can only approve if you exceed the average figure.’

‘That’s ridiculous. I’m already exclusively guiding the Major.’

‘It’s the difference between exclusive and dedicated. That’s why you wanted to become a pair with the Major, right?’

‘I understand for now. Thank you for relaying the news quickly.’

Lucas took a deep breath after ending the call with Winfried. However, his anger didn’t subside easily. He felt like going to the central headquarters and turning everything upside down.

“…ck, Luke!”

“Ah.”

Startled by the hoarse voice hitting his ear, Lucas blinked, awakening from his unpleasant reminiscence. As his vision cleared, he saw a face looking at him with concern.

“I’m sorry, I was just…”

“It’s okay. Anyway, the committee’s decision is to form a pair, but temporarily, right? Then it’s not a failure, is it?”

Iberis carefully asked, observing Lucas’s stiffened face.

“What I applied for was an ‘official’ pair. When it’s temporary, the leadership can interfere and ignore the Major’s and my wishes. And if we don’t achieve an 83% matching rate by year-end, the pair will be automatically dissolved.”

Lucas explained why he was upset. He didn’t like the fact that headquarters could order him to dissolve his pair with Iberis or guide someone else at any time.

“83%? Hmm, we need to raise it by another 8%… If they’re going to allow it temporarily anyway, why not just give approval? Why make it so troublesome?”

“It seems they’re doing this because it’s hard to handle us as they please once we become a pair. They probably think it would be problematic if I completely side with you, Major. And they’re likely concerned about the opposite scenario too.”

“So in the end, the approval was postponed due to political games at the top.”

Iberis wore a tired expression. Despite trying to stay away from factional fights as much as possible to avoid getting tangled up in complications, people kept interpreting his actions as they pleased and attaching meaning to them.

“I’d rather not be used as a chess piece…”

Iberis sighed, his words trailing off as he looked up at Lucas. In truth, he couldn’t understand why Lucas was so passionate about forming a pair with him. At first, he thought it was due to a strong sense of professional duty, but after spending a few months together, he felt it wasn’t simply because of his obligations as a doctor and guide.

There’s nothing good that can come from being involved with me.

The silver-gray eyes looking at Lucas darkened. Although Livio had been driven out, there were still those in the military who saw him as a thorn in their side.

Conversely, many wanted to possess an S-class esper as a weapon to strengthen their power. This pair approval issue was the result of these two desires clashing.

As long as Lucas stays by his side, he will likely continue to face numerous checks and hindrances in the future. It might be better to let go at this point. However, he didn’t seem to have any intention of doing so.

Was he relying on Winfried’s backing, or did he want to draw Iberis to the reform faction?

Iberis’s gaze on Lucas became complicated. In the past, Lucas had told him there was no need to join the reform faction. He said he had only come to treat him.

At that time, Iberis couldn’t fully believe Lucas’s words. He still couldn’t. But at some point, he found himself hoping those words were true.

“Well, it can’t be helped. We still have more than half a year until the end of the year. Even if it’s temporary, we’ve become a pair, so cheer up.”

“…Yes.”

Lucas nodded briefly. Despite his words of acknowledgment, his face remained stiff.

“Your words and face don’t match.”

Seeing this, Iberis let out an exasperated sigh. After a moment’s hesitation, he courageously raised his hand.

“…! Major?”

Lucas flinched as he felt a hand gently pressing against his furrowed brow. His body tensed instantly, his jaw tightening and shoulders stiffening.

“I told you to relax your expression. You’ll get wrinkles if you keep frowning like that.”

Iberis smiled faintly as he gently massaged Lucas’s brow with his fingertips. He wouldn’t have dared to do this with anyone else, but it was possible with Lucas. He now knew for certain that Lucas wasn’t bothered by the cold emanating from his body.

“You’ll only stress yourself out if you keep getting upset over something that’s already happened.”

Iberis cleared his throat softly as Lucas stared at him blankly. He had impulsively reached out because Lucas’s expression looked so gloomy.

“Anyway, cool down a bit.”

Iberis tapped Lucas’s relaxed brow as if playing piano keys before withdrawing his hand. It had been a long time since he’d touched someone else’s face like this first, and he felt quite embarrassed. But before he could fully withdraw his hand, Lucas grabbed his wrist.

“…Why don’t you cool me down, Major?”

“Huh?”

Lucas lowered his head and pulled Iberis’s hand towards him, pressing it against his forehead. Not satisfied with just that, he buried his cheek in Iberis’s palm.

Iberis’s fingers curled reflexively at the unexpected action. He froze awkwardly, neither pushing Lucas away nor caressing him in response. Even though he was wearing gloves, his heart beat erratically at the warmth he felt through the skin contact.

“It’s cool.”

Regardless of Iberis’s flustered state, Lucas gently rubbed his cheek against his hand. His lips curled up slightly, as if he was genuinely enjoying it. It seemed his mood had improved a bit from its rock bottom state after the call with Winfried.

“…You’re probably the only person who would call my hand cool.”

Iberis, who had frozen at the sudden situation, moved his lips. Then he slowly moved his fingers. As he brushed aside the silver hair covering Lucas’s forehead and eyebrows, brilliant golden eyes like dazzling sunlight were revealed.

“I-Is that enough now?”

Feeling a sudden chill down his spine, Iberis stepped back and pulled his wrist free from Lucas’s grip. The moment he met those strange, heated golden eyes, his hair stood on end and his nape tingled.

“Thanks for attending the meeting. I’ll go finish up the training for now. See you later.”

Iberis turned and headed towards the training ground, almost as if fleeing. Lucas’s persistent gaze on his back made the area below his ears feel hot and his heart beat strangely.