The SSS-rank Guide Doesn't Need Saving

The moment she heard that voice, Aisha’s body reacted quickly without hesitation.

Her elbows snapped back hard into whoever stood behind her, aiming for their ribs. In the same breath, she pulled the hand off her mouth, twisted her body free from the arm around her waist, and spun around with her fist already flying toward the figure in front of her.

But—

Her fist didn’t land.

A hand effortlessly caught her fist mid-air.

Aisha’s eyes narrowed when she finally saw who it was. Under the dimly lit alley, that silver hair was unmistakably easy to recognize. Crimson eyes gleamed faintly with the reflection of light coming from the opening of the alley.

"Not bad," Nykos said, examining her still-clenched fist in his hold. "For a guide, you know how to throw a punch. Your form is almost perfect, too. Hard to think you’re a guide if I hadn’t met you before."

"Let go." Aisha bit out.

"Mm, in a minute."

Nykos didn’t let go.

Instead, he lifted her fist slightly, turning it over in his palm like he was inspecting a rare object, before pressing his lips against her knuckles.

"!!!"

Aisha froze.

Her widened eyes met his, which never stopped looking at her.

"You’re shameless."

She tried to free her hand from his grasp, but he did not let go, unlike the time in the restaurant.

"Is that a compliment?" A slow, dangerous smile pulled at his lips. "Because I can assure you, honey—I haven’t even started trying to earn that title yet. We still have a long way to go."

He made a point by staring a little too intensely at her lips. Aisha felt her blood rush to her cheeks despite herself.

She wanted to argue that whatever happened inside his mental landscape was nothing but what was necessary for guiding. Earlier too, she knew he deliberately drank from her cup and precisely sipped from where she had. But arguing with him felt like she was making a big deal of it.

His grip on her loosened. Before she could pull away, he tilted his head down and pressed his cheek against her palm, closing his eyes for a moment as if savoring something.

Aisha felt something within her open. She could feel her own guiding energy slipping from inside her and being absorbed by him. She hadn’t meant to do that, didn’t even think of using her energy to guide, yet it started moving on its own, creating a connection between them.

She pulled a plug on her energy immediately.

She didn’t forget to take this opening, swinging her other hand toward his face, aiming to slap him.

But her palm met empty air.

Nykos, who was standing right in front of her, was gone.

A heartbeat later, warmth pressed against her back. He was close. Too close. She could feel the heat radiating off him and the faint musk that was coming off his body.

"So eager," ignoring her protest, his voice curled around her ear. "If you wanted to touch me that badly, you only had to say the word."

"I wasn’t—"

"Shhh."

Her ears burned. She could feel the heat crawling down her neck as well.

Nykos noticed how her nape had turned red.

Suddenly, he felt compelled to dip his head lower. A desire to feel her skin against his lip started to bloom inside his chest—

A blur of light shot through the alley, striking toward him with the speed of lightning.

Nykos vanished from behind her in an instant that Aisha almost stumbled forward by the suddenness of it.

A man stood at the mouth of the alleyway.

He had long, pale hair catching the dim glow with sharp and handsome features. He wore a crisp white and gold uniform adorned with intricate golden chains, high dark boots, and leather gloves.

He radiated a powerful and undeniable presence.

Aisha recognized the pendant on his long necklace. It was the same symbol the Association had.

Nykos reappeared several steps away from her, brushing invisible dust off his sleeve with an elegance that was different from the other man.

"That was quick of you," he said, glancing toward the man with a narrowed glare.

"What are you doing here, Nykos?" The man’s voice was calm, didn’t even waver before the commander of a criminal organization.

"What do you think?" Nykos chuckled. "I’m on a date with this lovely lady."

The man didn’t respond to his nonsense. Instead, he stepped further into the alley, positioning himself between Aisha and Nykos.

"Stay behind me," he told her when he reached her. "He’s a dangerous man. You shouldn’t get involved with someone like him."

It sounded as if the man half-believed and half-doubted what Nykos told him. But he still told her that to ensure she knew what she was in for showing up in this place with him.

"I wouldn’t dare," Aisha replied dryly.

"That wasn’t what you said when you kissed me, little bird."

Aisha flinched at the endearing title he gave her. And the man in front of her went rigid as well.

He was now unsure how to proceed. If this was just a rendezvous between lovers, he had no right to come between them.

"I did it to guide him," Aisha revealed, not wanting anyone to get the wrong idea about her relationship with Nykos.

She shot Nykos a glare, who looked as if he was about to say something before she did.

"You guided him?"

Surprisingly, the man was more concerned about this than what was happening. His voice carried a trace of disbelief he didn’t bother hiding.

Was it wrong for her to reveal that?

Should she have held back instead?

But it was too late for her to take back what she said.

Besides, a situation like this might happen again in the future. With Nykos chasing after her for unknown reasons she didn’t bother to find out, it’d best to make it clear she had nothing to do with him.

"I didn’t have a choice."

Aisha added meaningfully.

The man fell quiet, seemingly not hearing her last reply. He wondered if she was lying, but seeing Nykos seeking her out so blatantly told him that everything she said was true.

"Did he end up hurting you?"

The question sounded strange, but she still hesitated before shaking her head.

The guiding she’d done that day had nearly drained her whole. But that was because she wasn’t only battling to suppress his compressed energy but also the miasma tainting his mental sea.

The man sank into his own thoughts, growing silent for a moment, until Nykos suddenly made his move—

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