Chapter 166: Ch 166: Staying Together - Part 2

"What a disappointing end result. I truly wanted you to shine brightly as an SSS-Class guide. But I guess we cannot all get what we want. Everyone, dispose of this useless guide."

The head researcher commanded, and the others around him flinched as one.

"Sir, you want us to get rid of him? But the development of the other two depends on him—"

"And that’s why we need to cut the rotten bud before it becomes a problem. Would you rather see Subject E-001 and G-002 become even more dependent on him or become independent? The choice is yours to make. I will take him from now on as a test subject."

The head researcher reminded the people, and they flinched at his words. Then, they looked at Noah and reached for his face.

"Sorry, kid. This is nothing personal, but this is what has been decided by the higher-ups. We have no say in this, alright?"

The scientist told Noah as he reached for his face, and Noah could not help but feel like it was all over. He closed his eyes and almost accepted his fate when the scientist was thrown back.

And now only him, everyone here was thrown back by an unknown force except Noah and the head researcher.

This force made the head researcher look behind Noah, and he did the same, only to see Alan glaring at everyone else while positioning himself in front of Noah.

"No! No taking Noah!"

He firmly spoke as he placed himself in front of Noah, and Daniel also stepped forward with a determined expression.

For a minute, their expressions collided before the head researcher let out another sigh of regret.

"Fine. I’ll leave the kid in your custody for now. But don’t forget that Subject S-001 is only alive due to my influence. He is mine in essence."

Those words triggered Alan even more, and he ended up trying to use even more power against the head researcher. But it was all useless. All he got for his effort was a head pat from the head researcher before the man left.

"I don’t like that person. You should also not associate with him."

Alan’s words were crisp and clear, indicating that this was an order the esper was giving him. And Noah could not help but let out an amused chuckle at that order.

This was no laughing matter, but Noah still could not help but feel amused.

"Don’t worry. I will stay by your side."

He assured him, and only then did Alan calm down and ease his grip on Noah. He was making Noah feel almost as if he had abandoned him. Luckily, that was not the case, and Noah was able to calm Alan and Daniel down with head pats.

The scientists who watched this could only sigh before they looked around and started to get the situation back under control.

Noah and the others were taken back to their enclosures and allowed to rest.

That night, Alan slept while being clung to by the duo beside him.

...

A few weeks passed the same way, but the possessiveness the duo felt toward Noah did not lessen. At the same time, Noah also began to care for the pair as if he were their mother.

He looked after their meals, made sure they were clean, and also comforted them when they were upset. It almost felt like another full-time job.

But there was one problem—these two who were supposed to get closer to each other kept trying to fight over him. It was distracting, and Noah was starting to get annoyed by this.

So he sat them down and decided to try and get them closer to each other. But he ended up sitting in the middle of the pair as they clung to him on either side.

sigh

"Alan, are you not going to let go of me? You should play with Daniel as well."

Noah called out to the newly named Alan. They had only gotten their official names the day before, and hearing them had made him even more sure that the future he saw must be real.

But Alan only pouted at his words and turned his head away. His eyes looked at Daniel before he looked back at Noah with a teary expression.

"But I don’t want to play with Daniel. I want to play with you. Are you not going to play with me?"

Alan was a drama queen who was just acting right now. Noah could tell that he mostly did this to irritate Daniel. And even right now, Daniel let out a scoff at Alan’s words and tugged Noah closer himself.

"Don’t play with him. He’s a meanie. Instead, play with me. I will give you anything you ask of me. I am better as well since we are both guides..."

Daniel did not have much to offer either, but he tried to entice Noah under the guise of being similar. But that only served to trigger Alan more.

"But an esper and guide are supposed to be together. Noah is my destiny, and I will claim him—"

"No! I will get him. He will be happier beside a guide like me—"

Once again, Noah was tugged, but he was too used to this at this point. He did not mind being the object between the esper-guide pair.

But he noticed that the scientists were coming to get them, and that meant there was another round of testing that was about to start. The esper-guide pair noticed this as well and went quiet.

The scientists noticed this, but they chose to ignore it and instead focus on the experiment they were here to conduct.

"Hello, kids! Are you ready for the next round of shots? We will also test your abilities today, and you will meet the other kids. Get ready to make a lot of new friends."

The scientist cheered, but Noah only felt a sense of dread inside his heart. After all, he did not feel like they were ready to meet the other kids yet.