Chapter 131: Ch 131: Between you and me

Noah could not help but smile at how shamelessly clingy Daniel had become. The once-reserved guide was snuggling up to him like a small animal seeking comfort.

"You were the one interrogating me a moment ago, and now you are acting like this."

"I was worried about you. And that was not an interrogation. Please don’t call it that."

Daniel’s voice came out muffled against Noah’s stomach, making Noah chuckle softly.

"And now that you know I am fine? Do you still want to continue investigating me?"

"I told you that it was not an investigation. Also, I still want to stay like this just a little longer."

Noah shook his head, but he did not force Daniel to move. There was something strangely comforting about having someone care this much about him.

For a moment, he forgot about the mansion, the labs, and everything else that had been bothering him since they left the academy.

His fingers continued to run through Daniel’s hair while his thoughts slowly became quieter.

’This is nice.’

It felt nice to spend some time with Daniel like this and have the other guide be soft with him. Usually, their company was accompanied by extreme factors that they could not control.

They remained like this for a little while, and Noah’s legs and lower half started to fall asleep. He had a feeling that it was going to hurt to move once Daniel got off him. But it was still hard for him to tell the other guide to move.

Resigning himself to his fate, Noah leaned against the bed, and Daniel followed.

But unfortunately, they did not get to enjoy this time for too long before someone knocked at their door.

"Daniel, someone is here."

Noah told the other guide, trying to shake him off so that he could open the door and check who it was. But Daniel only wrapped his arms around Noah tighter and kept him down.

"It’s fine! The person outside can come back later. I am not in the mood to deal with them right now."

Daniel confirmed without even moving an inch. He seemed to have no intention of checking who it was.

"What if it’s Alan? He might break down the door if we don’t open it quickly."

Noah pointed out, and Daniel scoffed.

"If that esper wants to break the door, then he will have to break the door down. And if he does, we can file a complaint against him and block him from ever coming closer to us. Not that it would stop that bastard—!"

"You...really don’t like Alan, do you?"

Noah asked with a heavy heart, and Daniel looked at him as if he was shocked that Noah had just figured out the truth.

"Of course I don’t like that esper. Not only is he rude, but he does not know what boundaries are. More importantly, I still recall how he used to act before. You even broke your leg because of him. How can I ever like him?"

Daniel asked, and Noah felt his headache worsening.

’Darn it! Does that mean that I already ruined the chances of Daniel and Alan getting together because of my actions? No, wait! That is not true. They might not be together officially, but the system has not failed me yet. It means that I still have a chance...maybe I can become a bridge for now—’

knock

The knocking at the door was still loud, and it snapped Noah out of his thoughts and made him look at the door.

By now, he was sure that it was not Alan who was outside since he would have broken down the door by now. But it could not be any normal person either since they would have given up by now.

Noah felt stumped trying to think of who it could be, and finally, Daniel got fed up as well and decided to leave Noah there and opened the door.

"Can we help you—"

"I would appreciate it if you opened the door sooner for me next time, Student Daniel. I don’t appreciate being made to stand out here like this for a long time."

It was Erin who had come to their room, and Noah immediately straightened his back to take a look at his bird.

Erin’s blue hair looked less bright and much duller compared to before. Even his face looked grim and had lost its youth. His eyes had dark circles underneath, indicating that he was far too exhausted.

Overall, he finally looked like a tired youth of today and not a fairy that had descended on this earth.

Seeing him like this made Noah’s heart hurt. He felt like a parent who was watching his kid go through a hard patch in life.

"Professor Erin, do you want something? As far as I know, teachers don’t usually come to students’ rooms. Especially not esper teachers. You can get into trouble for this."

Daniel pointed out, and he sounded unhappy. But Erin just shrugged and looked back at Daniel.

"If you want to report me, then go ahead and do so. But all you would do is add more workload to our already heavy schedule."

Erin pointed out, and this was his way of telling Daniel that he would just make the teachers hate him if he tried to retaliate against Erin.

Daniel was smart enough to understand the hidden meaning of these words, and it made him feel annoyed.

He gritted his teeth and looked at Daniel once more. The good mood from earlier had drained away by now.

"So, what brings you here, Professor?"

He asked, and Erin looked behind him and at Noah. He was making it clear what he was here for.

"I am here to get Noah. There are a few things that we need his help with. Since he was the link between the different year groups, we need him to identify some things for us. Please don’t wait for him either, since this is going to take some time to untangle."

Erin sounded exhausted, and Daniel’s grip tightened around the door immediately.