Chapter 321: I’m a smart man, not a dumb one

When Kellen and Rhys came back out to join the group, Kellen’s eye was a little red and puffy but only because he’d held himself back. He was holding onto Rhys like a lifeline, and anyone who glanced at Rhys and his eery brown eyes could tell he was fighting back his deep pleasure. He was a man who loved that his buff fiance found comfort in him, but he knew that Kellen would not appreciate him laughing at him.

Even if he wasn’t smiling or laughing at Kellen, he wasn’t an idiot. Rhys knew he was feeling sensitive and prickly right now. He loved his fiance too much to poke the bear, plus, there was too much that needed to be done as well.

Aunt Dina, Kellen’s parents, Elder Ellis and the others were still gathered where Kellen and Rhys had left them, only now Brent was here as well and Sergei was standing next to him so awkwardly that even Kellen winced.

The man clearly wanted to show affection for Brent, and Brent was soaking in the awkwardness of his partner’s reaction. The other S Classes, who hadn’t seen Brent and Sergei in their full glory were curious, while those who had seen how much Sergei loved Brent were smirking to themselves.

Brent saw Kellen, saw his features and the way he was clinging to Rhys and looked like he was going to tease him until he paused.

"Are you alright?" Brent asked, causing a few of the others to look towards Kellen. Kellen felt his Dad’s eyes on him but Kellen did not look at him. Instead, he nodded, sighing softly at Brent’s question and astute observation skills.

"I’m better now." Kellen admitted. He didn’t see any point in lying, not to Brent. "Rhys helped." Kellen said and Brent frowned.

"I’ll ask you about that later, but I feel like I’m the one with prediction powers because I think I’m going to be mad." Brent said, his green gaze narrow, and Rhys snorted. That brought Brent’s attention to him and Brent paused. "Wow. I had no idea you had such pretty brown eyes, Rhys. Is that why you hide them? You should keep them a prize that only Kellen gets to see." Brent scolded and Rhys tugged Kellen closer. A near impossible feat.

"Awe, Kellen isn’t that jealous, Brent. He likes showing off his work more than he doesn’t want others to see my eye colour." Rhys said. Kellen’s face warmed at how easily he was being called out.

"You two should focus on what they’re talking about." Kellen grumbled while Sergei watched on, a smile in his eyes.

Turns out, the group really needed a bit of comedic relief in the form of Brent, Kellen and Rhys. They were handling the difficult conversation of where to put all of these reformed E.A.G. members and the reality that some of these people might be lying. That led to Captains not wanting them in their Guilds because they could hurt their people. Then it brought up the question of where to hold them and while several options were handed out, like how this city was dealing with corruption on a large scale, most of the other cities were dealing with the same as well.

Kellen couldn’t even argue, since the D.E.C. hadn’t been pulling their weight in this endeavour because of Uncle Tom. Sergei and Rhys had been explaining how they, plus Sakura had taken on a lot of the joint work that they should have all been doing. Not with complaints, of course, since Sergei liked doing it, but it was a serious observation.

Uncle Tom hadn’t interfered with them stopping the E.A.G. until the end before he ran away.

Theirs were minor compared to some of the horror stories that Kellen was hearing and Kellen, ever the practical man, decided that maybe they shouldn’t go after the big targets first. That’s maybe what they were thinking Kellen and the others would do.

Target the city because that was where Brent was focused and the James family. Why don’t they instead focus on the smaller cities. Help them get cleared up, spread out those who are willing to help, go by population to make it fair, and then they just slowly tighten the rope around their neck until they couldn’t breathe or, they acted out and made it tighter?

That hadn’t been entirely proposed, but something similar had been suggested. The Esper who had suggested it was one of the original Espers who had come close to surging while they had made their way here. Captain Winnie Gordson. She was quite surprised that Kellen had backed up her idea in any way, and Kellen was glad to see that outside of when she was surging that she was competent and thoughtful.

There were still a few Espers that didn’t think that was enough, and Kellen shrugged. There were enough of them that no one had to fully agree. They didn’t have to work as a united force in every action or step they took, they just needed to come to an agreement and get started.

That seemed to surprise others, but Rhys was all smiles behind his Guide, giving him the floor to talk. So were Kellen’s parents, pride radiating off of them as Kellen challenged the thoughts and plans that other S Class Espers put forward. The one thing that none of these Espers knew besides those who knew Kellen before his Class raised that last bit was that he could have pushed against them even as a C Class.

It was only a select few who knew, and they were all beaming.

Well, except Sergei. He didn’t beam at anyone but Brent.

Speaking of, Sergei was one of the people who was pushing back against Kellen’s idea. Not because he thought it was a bad idea, but because he believed that they needed a force in the city to push back against those who had been let to run free for too long. He was speaking up because Brent was his partner, but also because he was right.

Someone needed to protect the people of the city since the Guilds here weren’t. It wasn’t a diss against the Guilds, not intentionally, but that was how the Guilds in his city worked. They were friends, begrudgingly or otherwise, and while Sergei, Rhys and Sakura ran the biggest Guilds in the city, there were smaller ones that weren’t run by S Classes that Sergei knew and worked with.

That was not something that Kellen knew, but he hadn’t spent a lot of time in the city like Sergei and Rhys did. Sergei suggested that they should try to form bonds with the other Espers in the city. They had to also be fed up with their treatment by the city itself and by the E.A.G. Maybe they could find some common ground and form a temporary bond that would allow them to push back while Kellen’s and Captain Gordson’s plan was put into play?

Aunt Dina was skeptical it would work, but she didn’t discourage him from trying. If anyone could get people to work together it would S Classes from their city since every S Class was envious of their relationship. Rhys and Sergei scoffed, while it was Kellen who had the biggest laugh.

They didn’t know how many fights he had to stop on their travels here. Kellen was still pissed at them for that.

Of course, there were a lot more details to hammer out, but now that some progress had been made in how they were going to tackle the huge announcement that Kellen had made, it felt good. The air in the room was lighter, the mood was sweeter, and everyone felt like things had gotten resolved a lot faster than normal.

Was that because Kellen existed and just his mere existence meant that being around him, unimprinted, meant that they could think clearer? Maybe, but Kellen would never let them claim that.

He would rather say it was because they respected him as a person, and as someone who had planned and plotted while observing gates over and over and got Espers, civilians, and scientists out safely. Rhys would agree, but would also like to mention how nice Kellen’s ass was, and Brent would just give a thumbs up, nodding. Sergei would say it was because Kellen was firm in his beliefs, while glaring at Brent.

Either way, by the end of the day, groups were formed. Four, in fact. One was headed by Sergei since he wanted to be in charge of the group that would take care of the city.

That group was mostly composed of Espers who wanted to help in the city or were too close to the city. This included the Espers who stayed on the front lines of this city and were worried how they would be impacted. Kellen wanted to talk to them more now that he knew there were other Espers from other front lines here, but he held it in.

Of course there was. That probably applied to everyone here. He was just being silly for not thinking of it.

The other three groups were composed of the rest. Each team had those that were assigned to research and those that were assigned to be the muscle. Kellen was, surprisingly, not leading one of the teams.

He wanted to research, and as much as he wanted to be hands on, he knew better. Everyone looked at him, worried that he was going to ask to not be a researcher and to also be a leader, but Kellen wasn’t stupid.

He wasn’t at his best, he hadn’t tested his new body out properly yet, and he had very little control over his new powers. What if he had a vision while he was on the front lines and his reaction made him pass out? He was more intelligent then they gave him credit for, even after he suggested most of the plan.

No, the three leaders were Rhys, Kellen’s Mom, and Uncle Parker. Strange to make him a leader when he wasn’t here? No one else thought so.

He might not be an S Class, but he was very well respected amongst the Espers here, and he was personable and could help people at the same time. Plus, his powers also played a role in it. They had an Invisibility Esper as a head, Rhys who could predict the future, and then a Darkness Esper.

Stealth was the name of the game, and who better to lead the way?