Page 3 of Pandion
“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 himselfin the morning, preferably with his eyes glued shut and the link dampened to not be reminded of this miserable situation.
Chapter 3
The following week was a harrowing combination of perpetual frustration, elusive motivation and sheer despair to force the bare minimum out of the ever-so reluctant Kagesawa, who was quick to lose interest and started procrastinating as soon as Harumine turned his attention away for a fraction of a second.
While waiting for Kagesawa to finish whatever side-quests he branched off to, Harumine had cleared the kitchen area and most of the living room. This meant that there was now space to prepare the meals and do the mandatory synchronisationexercises seated at an actual table with minimal clutter as distraction.
Ideally, Harumine would have wanted to spend the week anywhere but here, but he’d yet to find a hotel or an apartment with a reasonable commute that he could have afforded long term. He had an unpleasant suspicion he’d have to live with Kagesawa until something opened up, however long that took.
“Can you please pay attention?” With Kagesawa drifting off from the task at hand again, Harumine wondered how much longer he’d be able to withstand this level of frustration.
“We’re nearly done. Can’t we do the rest tomorrow?” Kagesawa yawned.
“I was hoping we could start the week with an actual work assignment.”
The synchronisation exercises and link calibration data needed to be submitted for an assessment before they could receive their empath’s licences. They needed a success rate of at least sixty-five percent to qualify. Harumine was aiming for something well above ninety as this would be marked on his so-far pristine record.
An excellent record meant better work assignments and higher pay. A properly established and nurtured link also increased their working efficiency. He absolutely needed this to be the best score possible to salvage the situation.
“What’s the rush? It’s not like there’s a shortage of assignments. We’ll probably have a score of over eighty percent with your effort alone, and I’ve made do with as low as sixty-eight before.” Kagesawa was toying with a piece of paper.
“That’s hardly something to be proud of.” Harumine sighed.I was projected to reach ninety-eight percent in my last exam, so you’d better get your shit together and not drag me down.
Although Harumine tried to stick to his usual polite output while speaking out loud, he couldn’t resist venting through the link.
Kagesawa glanced at him, frowning briefly, but instead of commenting, he merely shrugged. He could definitely hear the words, but perhaps because the tone was decidedly different from Harumine’s usual mild manners, he was choosing to ignore it. He’d also yet to project anything back, so, either he lacked the skill or didn’t care.
Do you want to live in this dump forever?With a score of over ninety, Harumine would be able to afford to buy an apartment within the year instead of renting for the rest of his life.