Pandion (Genera #1)

Chapter 2

A fter that shit show of a linking process, Harumine exited the building with his head held low and his new working partner in tow. Mind now disappointingly firmly linked to the dumbass, he didn’t need to look to know the man was genuinely apologetic, but it did nothing to ease this seemingly never-ending humiliation. Either Kagesawa’s side of the link was as weak as predicted, or he was willfully oblivious of Harumine’s shame and consequent scorn. Whichever the case, he seemed unperturbed.

“Don’t worry about it, OK? It happens. I live close by if you want to… um, freshen up a bit.” Kagesawa’s voice was ear-grating despite him making an effort to speak softly.

Harumine had hoped to not have to resort to dampening so soon after establishing the link, but subjected to this hangover and annoying lack of concern, it felt justified. Even with his expert link control skills, he couldn’t turn the link off entirely, but at least it was now muffled enough to ignore. Yet, despite effectively shutting the man out of his mind, with the lingering stench of his regurgitated breakfast still following him around, Harumine couldn’t afford to decline Kagesawa’s offer.

“It’s this way.” Kagesawa guided Harumine away from the EA office building toward a quaint little park, beyond which towered some bleak-looking apartment complexes.

Harumine’s family wasn’t exactly rich, but he was originally from the peaceful, picturesque countryside of Hokkaidō. He’d stayed at the school dorm the past seven years, but it was a prestigious school with modern housing paid for by the scholarship he’d received. Compared to what he was used to, Kagesawa’s apartment building was seedy enough to avoid after dark. Calling it a dump was kind.

“It’s on the top floor,” Kagesawa noted. There was a lift, but Harumine feared for his life having to use it. He was in no state to climb the stairs, so, forced to ignore all of his instincts’ howling objections, he boarded the thing. It made some highly concerning creaks and clunks, and started moving. The slight sway made Harumine want to hurl again.

Once upstairs, Harumine forwent all the customary niceties, ignored Kagesawa and made use of his facilities.

The bathroom and toilet were conveniently right next to each other within the same room. While washing himself and the stains on the front of his shirt, Harumine took frequent breaks to expel the little that remained in his stomach. Thankfully, the protective bodysuit had taken the brunt of the damage, and the smell lessened considerably when he removed and washed the shirt.

“Look, if you want to take a bath, be my guest. I can lend you some clothes,” Kagesawa offered from the other side of the door. “There should be a fresh towel in the— no, wait, maybe not. I have one here.” Harumine located what he presumed was the shelf for ‘fresh towels’. There was only a wrinkled hand towel left. Dust covered all of the shelves save for the one with Kagesawa’s daily things scattered across it. It was by no means any cleaner, just not as dusty.

Yep. The state of this apartment matched the chaotic vibe Harumine sensed through the link. He could detect some redeeming qualities in the mess that was Kagesawa’s mind, but they were hardly a cause for celebration. Maybe once the hangover subsided, he’d be able to tell how dire the situation really was, but at present, he couldn’t muster a fuck to give.

“I’ll leave the clothes and the towel here for you. Do you want something to eat?” Kagesawa asked. Harumine responded to this by hurling. How much did one have to drink to feel this shitty, anyway? And pray tell, how was Kagesawa still functional? What the hell.

“Ah, I’m sorry about all this. I didn’t think you’d be so sensitive… I’ve been too busy lately to read your file, and with my track record, I wasn’t expecting a first-timer. Can I get you something?”

“Can you please shut up and let me be for a while?” Harumine struggled to keep civil, so managing to use the word ‘please’ was an achievement.

“Certainly. Let me know if you need anything.”

Harumine emerged from the bathroom feeling only minutely better. Seeing the rest of the apartment was enough to put him back in a foul mood: it was by far the messiest, most cluttered and run-down space he’d ever seen. None of the dorm rooms had ever been this bad. This was an outright disgrace, a disaster area, a means of torture.

“Why is it like this…?” he mumbled out loud.

“I don’t know.” Kagesawa laughed sheepishly. “I try not to make a mess, but it just ends up like this. Do you live on your own? Any tips?”

The first tip that came to mind was to burn it to the ground. The second? ‘For crying out loud, clean up after yourself, you filthy piece of—’ Harumine bit his tongue and sighed. He grabbed the memory stick on top of a pile of clothes on the sofa and handed it to Kagesawa. It bore the logo of the Empaths’ Association and looked less stained and battered than the rest of the sticks he’d spotted so far on the floor and different tables around the house. It wasn’t too big of a leap to guess it contained Harumine’s file.

“I suggest you do some reading.”

“Oh, right.” Kagesawa took the stick and inserted it into the stick jack of the scuffed-up palm reader he’d pulled out of his pocket. Then he extended the connector cable and plugged it into his neck port so he wouldn’t have to read the document from the tiny screen on the palm reader.

Harumine pushed the pile of clothes to the other side of the sofa and made some space for himself while Kagesawa read the file. It didn’t contain much, so it was a bit of an insult Kagesawa hadn’t bothered to read it. His face twisted into a frown as he read.

“Shit,” he said. Indeed. After a long silence, he added, “I suppose you want to do the synchro exercises by the book then.”

“Yes, preferably.”

“And the calibration?”

“Yes.” These were mandatory, but evidently this was a non-issue for Kagesawa.

“Ah, what a pain. I haven’t done those since… I don’t even want to remember. Do you have a place nearby?”

“No, I just moved out of the dorm. I thought I’d check into a hotel for now.”

“You could stay here! Or not. I guess it’s not up to your usual standards… You really graduated from the SEU?” The man scrolled through Harumine’s CV and the lengthy list of extracurriculars, and his confused discomfort was blatantly obvious even without the link.

“Yes, that’s what it says, doesn’t it?” You can read, can’t you?

“Did you just…?” Kagesawa frowned. Oh, so, he did catch at least fragments of what was projected through the link?

Harumine had received perfect marks in most subjects, projecting included. The link would have had to have been utterly subpar for him to not manage to send something through, but in these conditions, anything was possible. He slumped over the side of the sofa, exhausted. “I don’t want to move.”

“All right.”

“Do you mind if I stay?” The place was a garbage heap and having to ask was about as dreadful, but the thought of walking all the way to a hotel was even more petrifying.

“No, not at all.”

“We’ll start with the exercises tomorrow. Does seven sound good for you?” Harumine looked up. He was sure as hell not going to get anything done before he was rid of this headache, and he desperately wanted to sleep it off.

“Make that, um, closer to nine,” Kagesawa requested.

To Harumine, who normally woke up at half-past five, this seemed like half a morning wasted. Then again, a slight delay would not eat away at him now that he’d nearly completely lost his morale. He knew he would much rather meditate by himself in the morning, preferably with his eyes glued shut and the link dampened to not be reminded of this miserable situation.