Seducing the Guideverse With My System — Raising an Anomaly [BL]

"President Josiah." Ambrose quickly wore a polite smile, placing his arms behind his back. "It’s an absolute pleasure to be seeing you again."

Yep.

The fucking president of the country’s damn Hunters Federation.

He pushed himself off the wall he’d been leaning against, those piercing eyes assessing Ambrose. The man pinched his moustache for a beat before speaking.

"I was thrilled," his voice resounded yet again as the principal and Augustus turned to Ambrose as well, "when I heard you’d made it out safe during the Purple Rift incident months back. And now look at you."

Ambrose tensed up as the man drew nearer and nearer with each measured step.

Somehow Josiah made him more anxious than even the Pantheon.

At least with the Pantheon he had one of their members by his side, and they already knew a bit of his secrets before he ever confessed the rest.

But Josiah?

The man and his fucked up Sovereign Tongue ability had kept Ambrose up at night for days, back when he was barely an A-Rank Aether Hybrid. Sometimes he’d close his eyes and see him lulling him with his silvery voice again.

Trying to get him to admit his deepest, darkest secrets.

"Well," Ambrose beamed, keeping his eyes locked on the president’s. "Thank you, sir. It was all thanks to Hunter Gabriel’s heroic efforts."

As these two men spoke almost like they were equals, Augustus watched from beside Principal Sullivan, brows crumpled.

"So you weren’t kidding." He mumbled. "That... C-Rank Guide is going to be by my side for this training class?"

Mrs Sullivan nodded. "I believe you’re familiar with Guide Ambrose. After all, he was a member of your Guild originally, correct?"

Augustus’ jaw tightened.

Although the poor S-Rank had no recollection of Loki’s torture back when the lord of chaos wished to confirm if he was possessed by the Void Entity... there was still a hint of unease in his chest when he stared at Guide Ambrose.

Loki may have erased his memories of the torture and their identity. But that creeping feeling wasn’t going to disappear anytime soon.

’Why does he feel so... different?’ He thought, watching the way Ambrose chatted casually with Josiah. ’He couldn’t have changed much in a few months.’

Just when he was considering looking away—

—Those silver orbs cut to him.

Augustus’ blood ran cold.

He couldn’t explain why, but when his eyes met Ambrose’s, it was like gazing into an abyss that was going to pull him in if he dared look any longer.

So he quickly turned away, clearing his throat. "Yes." He responded to Mrs Sullivan’s original inquiry. "He indeed was a member of Phoenix Flight."

"You’re too humble." Josiah chuckled across the hall, still eager to keep a conversation with Ambrose going. "You know, when I heard of Blue Diamond’s new initiative on Esper and Guide children... I had my doubts."

The carefully practised smile on Ambrose’s face faltered.

Still, Josiah went on.

"Aether blockers are already being pushed across the nation. The Federation has communicated with the International Hunters Council and ’The Awakened Rights Organisation’. It’s been mostly agreed that at least before college, they’re an innovative tech for protecting our youth and the general public."

’Who did I offend in my past life to be hearing this patronising bullshit?’ Ambrose bit his gum, squeezing out another smile.

"But your idea?" Josiah patted Ambrose’s shoulder. It took every ounce of restraint not to shrug the man’s hand off. "It’s indeed interesting. And I can’t wait to see how you and your team implement it."

All Ambrose could say was a quiet ’thank you’.

The second Josiah stepped out of the hall, however, the forced smile on Ambrose’s face turned into an ugly scowl.

’That son of a gun.’ His fists balled. ’Of course he’s one of the idiots pushing for aether blockers in schools.’

[Sweetheart, relax. Don’t let his words get into your head.]

’No. Because it’s so easy for him to talk when he probably doesn’t have any kids with Orion’s situation.’ Despite saying that in his head, he managed to wear a calm mask outside. ’I’ll show him. If schools in this country decide to go crazy with aether blockers, I won’t mind pulling my baby back into homeschooling.’

[That’s the spiri—wait, no. Orion really loves schooling normally.]

Before either of them could argue about that, he picked up approaching footsteps.

Mrs Sullivan and Augustus strode to him, the former’s lips stretched in a welcoming smile.

"Good morning, Mr Hale." She greeted. "I hope you weren’t too taken by surprise with the presence of the Federation President. His visit was impromptu and—"

"It’s fine." Ambrose gave a reassuring wave, attention already fixing on Augustus. "Hunter Augustus." A nod. "What are you... doing here?"

Augustus took one unconscious step back. "We’ll be working together, Guide Ambrose." He announced plainly. "I hear you’ve already picked out a team of teachers for these special classes."

He brought out a hand for a handshake.

Ambrose looked at that hand. Then he looked at the principal before finally dragging his eyes back to the S-Rank’s face.

A small smile tugged at his lips as he reached forward and accepted the handshake.

"Likewise, Hunter Augustus." His grip was firm without trying to dominate. "I sincerely hope things run smoothly between us."

Augustus gave a nod. "So do I."

The moment their hands parted, something made him hesitate.

It lasted barely a heartbeat.

Just long enough for him to swear he’d seen wisps of shadow curling around Ambrose’s wrist before disappearing beneath his sleeve.

His brows knitted together.

...His imagination, perhaps.

"Wonderful." Mrs Sullivan clasped her hands together, visibly relieved. "I’ll leave you two to settle in. If either of you needs anything, my office is always open."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, the principal quietly excused herself, the large doors clicking shut behind her.

The training hall suddenly felt much larger.

Ambrose slipped both hands into his pockets.

"I’ll go gather the teachers I selected for the programme." He nodded toward the empty rows of training equipment. "Thought we’d have a quick debrief before the students arrive. You can also see if they’re good enough."

Augustus shook his head almost immediately. "That won’t be necessary."

"Oh?"

"I trust your judgement."

Ambrose blinked once before a teasing smile slowly spread across his face. "Even though I’m just a C-Rank Guide?"

Augustus paused.

His eyes lingered on Ambrose for a moment before he answered.

"It... doesn’t matter."

That answer almost made Ambrose laugh. "That’s surprisingly flattering."

"It wasn’t intended to be."

"Oh, I know."

Still smiling to himself, Ambrose pulled his phone from his pocket and began scrolling through his contacts.

"Well, humour me anyway. It’ll only take a minute to gather everyone."

As the phone rang, he stole a glance at Augustus from the corner of his eye.

If merely standing beside him was enough to make the man second-guess himself... then watching Augustus slowly try to make sense of everything over the coming weeks might just become Ambrose’s newest favourite pastime.

’This is going to be fun.’

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