[BL]The Hero and his Party Won't Let Me Go

Hisss.

Shuu’s hand yanked the esper back before he could get himself killed. The esper let out a terrified yell as soon as he felt the monster brush past him. But it did not look back to check where its prey had gone.

"A-Are we still alive?"

The esper asked in a terrified voice.

He was only seventeen, but he felt like this whole situation was way out of control. He was an A-class esper, and usually espers near his rank should not have any trouble getting through something like this. But he was too young and inexperienced to handle it all.

"W-We are both going to die. I-I am too young to die. I don’t want to die."

The esper whispered as he held his breath. The monsters were too close now, and he swore he could sense their presence drawing even nearer.

"Calm down. Hey, don’t panic like this. It will be fine. You just have to trust me."

Shuu reminded the esper, but the more he tried to reassure him, the more he felt the esper shiver.

This was not good. They would both die at this rate, so Shuu decided to take matters into his own hands.

He grabbed the esper’s face and forced him to look at him. It made the esper gasp as his eyes met Shuu’s.

"First, take a deep breath and calm down. Do you feel better now?"

Shuu asked, and the esper nodded.

Gradual guiding flowed out from him and toward the esper. That slowly calmed the young man down, and he blinked in relief and shock.

Shuu pretended he did not notice what was happening and kept the flow steady. Once he was done, he decided to pull back and give the esper an overall glance.

"Are you feeling better now? Can you tell me your name? My name is Shuu. I would like you to know my name at least, in case I do not make it out alive."

Shuu had no intention of dying, but he also wanted to leave something behind in case he did.

His confident words made the esper tighten his hold around Shuu’s hand, and the esper decided to introduce himself as well.

"I am Kris, an A-class esper. A-And I want to promise you that we won’t die. I won’t let you die here all alone."

Kris’s eyes shone as he made this promise.

Shuu could not help but think of him as a cute younger brother who seemed a little too enthusiastic. But something about that look in Kris’s eyes made Shuu uneasy.

He had a feeling that he might have ignited a flame he should not have.

So Shuu subtly tried to pull his hand away once more; he was sure that the esper was stable now. But Kris did not allow him to pull back.

Instead, Kris tightened his hold on Shuu’s hand, and that made alarm bells ring louder and louder inside Shuu’s mind.

’Fuck... this is not right. Did I do something to make Kris hold me this tightly? I need to pull back...’

Luckily for Shuu, the world seemed to be on his side. A monster suddenly roared loudly, forcing the pair to turn around. They separated just as the monster jumped between them.

It turned toward Shuu first and lunged at him. But Shuu was ready to dodge. He rolled to the side just as Kris decided to use his powers.

A powerful blast of fire struck the monster, and it roared in anger before retreating into the air.

"Let’s get to a safe place. We will need a plan to deal with the boss as quickly as possible. I don’t think we have the food and water supply to last longer than that."

Kris declared before pulling Shuu along with him.

They reached a cave and took shelter there.

Shuu took out the safety stone once more. But just like before, it did not work, forcing them to give up for now.

"I have a map of this place, but I don’t know if it’s accurate or not. Do you think we should follow it?"

Kris asked in a tense voice as he took the map out of his inventory. It was another gadget Shuu had been given but had no real use for at the moment.

Shuu looked down at the map with tense eyes, but without the basic knowledge of how to read it, he was lost.

Thankfully, Kris was far from confused and decided to help Shuu understand it.

"We are currently here. According to the information I have, the boss monster should be somewhere here. We can try to reach it quickly through this route, but I don’t know if we will encounter a lot of monsters along the way."

Kris pointed at several spots on the map, though they might as well have been random locations to Shuu.

Still, Shuu did know one thing-the sooner they got rid of the monsters, the sooner he would be able to return to Rin’s side.

"Do you think you will be able to kill the monsters blocking our way?"

Shuu asked, and Kris paused to think about it.

He looked hesitant at first, but then he quickly shook his head and gave Shuu a determined look.

"Whether I can get past them or not doesn’t matter. We have no choice but to try. So let’s get ready to move."

Kris still looked worried, but his expression soon hardened with determination.

"I will try my best. But I don’t know when I might run out of guiding and need your help. I will depend on you when that time comes."

Shuu wanted to tell Kris not to do that. But that earnest look made him pause and reconsider his words.

He... did not want to reveal himself as a guide. But Shuu was willing to do anything if it meant getting out of this place alive.

And that included supporting Kris-even if it meant exposing his secret.