Page 66 of Pandion

Satoru did look rather nice in a suit. Kagesawa hadn’t appreciated it before, but to be completely honest, he hadn’t really paid much attention to anything Satoru had worn when they’d first met. He’d subconsciously avoided even looking at his face.

Ah, damn. This would be challenging. He fetched his port extension from the bag he’d given Satoru, inserted it, tried to clear his mind from indecent thoughts and prayed none of that would affect the diagnostic data in an identifiable manner.

Chapter 25

Harumine had been fairly confident about being able to arrange temporary lodgings for the night on campus, but once Kagesawa’s identity as the mysterious benefactor had come to light, Hase-sensei had taken care of everything with such enthusiasm that, for a brief moment, Harumine felt a pang of jealousy.

It wasn’t as if Kagesawa hadn’t earned that respect. It was good that he was getting some recognition for the impressive body of work he called a mere hobby. Perhaps this recognition would help with his self-esteem?

Kagesawa seemed distracted. Harumine had tried to give him a tour of the campus and the dorm on the way to the guest accommodations to drop their bags, but he’d barely been listening.

“Is it boring?” Harumine asked, reminded of his earlier conversation with Yajima. Granted, the student living room and shared kitchen weren’t the most riveting areas, even if the SEU was famous for its fresh and frequently modernised living facilities. Yajima was still trailing behind them, periodically stifling a yawn.

“Huh?” Kagesawa at least responded to the question. Harumine didn’t bother pressing for an answer.

“I suppose since Hase-sensei was kind enough to arrange for the VIP badges, we could go get dinner at the cafeteria.”

They’d skipped lunch, busy at the lab. Hase-sensei had wanted to tag along to chat with Kagesawa, but since Kagesawa looked distracted and tired, Harumine had suggested they take their leave for the day. Since he knew the place, there was no need to appoint a guide, and the professor no doubt had other duties to attend to.

Apparently, Kagesawa’s mood was independent from the professors’ company. Perhaps he was grieving for Takazaki? In the middle of all of this, there hadn’t been time to process that properly yet. The life within the SEU campus seemed so deceptively normal to Harumine, it was easy to push everything else out of his mind. It was probably not as easy for Kagesawa.

It could also be Yajima’s presence bringing back unpleasant memories? With Kagesawa dampening so well and his face giving away so little, it was impossible to tell.

He was so good at making himself unnoticeable, Harumine periodically forgot he was there and only realised he’d fallen behind when he wasn’t even within sight anymore. This, of course, startled Harumine and made him double back in amild panic until he found Kagesawa some ways back randomly staring at something or otherwise lost in thought.

“Can you at least try to keep up?” Yajima snapped after the third time. Kagesawa gave him his signature apologetic look. Chastising him about getting distracted was not going to help. He was likely tired from having had to focus on the diagnostic tasks at the lab.

“Could you stop dampening? It would help to be aware of where you are,” Harumine said.

“Oh, ah, didn’t I mention? Fujitani-sensei recommended I dampen and keep it as passive as possible until they figure out what can be done.”

“What?” Harumine experienced a surprisingly visceral stress response to not knowing when he’d be able to feel the link again. He felt out of breath like he was about to have a panic attack. What was this, PTSD?

“Yeah, they said something about it not being good. Uh, I’m sorry, I kinda zoned out midway.”

“Figures.” Yajima gave him some side-eye and walked over to the nearby cafeteria ticket machine to choose his dinner.

“Sorry,” Kagesawa repeated. “I su—”

“Let’s just get something to eat. I’m starving.” The knee-jerk apologies only made it worse, so Harumine tried to push through by moving on. He followed Yajima, selected a ticket for his usual favourite, katsudon, and watched Kagesawa struggle to make a choice.

“Yaki udon with shrimp, maybe?” Harumine suggested based on Kagesawa’s past preferences. Kagesawa accepted the suggestion without comment, and they moved over to wait in line. This early at the start of dinner service, they didn’t have to wait for very long.

On their way to a vacant table, they passed a group of students chatting. The conversation was still audible when Harumine, Kagesawa and Yajima had taken their seats.

“The EA has started planning for mass evacuations for empaths from the larger cities. Where do they think they’ll go? Everywhere’s the same,” one of the students said.

“I’m heading back to Kochi to help my parents next week. I hear it’s safe there for the time being if you don’t actively make it known,” another one added.

“I wish I could do that. Fukuoka is a complete cesspit after the SAI event yesterday attracted a lot of foreigners and out-of-town nut-jobs to flood the area.”

“I can’t believe I got this far in my studies, and it’s practically all for nothing. I was about to graduate ahead of schedule at the end of May. Why did I even bother with Link Dynamics? They’ve stopped matching links. There are no jobs. Seven years down the drain.”

“I guess it’s a blessing to not be linked yet. Imagine being stuck with someone unemployed. Are they still doing link removals? Or has that stalled as well?”

Harumine tried to concentrate on enjoying his katsudon, but the gloomy atmosphere was getting to him. Kagesawa was in his own world, ignoring everything. Yajima was reading something on his palm reader while he ate.

Harumine tried to make sure he had Kagesawa’s attention before he spoke.

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