The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 280: Family Dinner

With all the studying he had to do, Lane completely forgot about one thing: that is, talking to the Allens about ending their deal, and the new path in life he was about to take. Well, ’forgot’ perhaps wasn’t the best word - the Allens were always stuck somewhere at the back of his mind, and sometimes even at the front when Damien mentioned it. It was just that... He didn’t have time to deal with it, because he had to study.

Yes, that was it. He had to study to finally pass the exam and get the Esper license. It absolutely wasn’t that he procrastinated by poring over Damien’s notes (meaning: falling asleep spread on the coffee table in Damien’s living room).

As he was doing right now.

"Don’t sleep," Damien lectured, as he stepped from the kitchen to check up on Lane. Wearing that pink frilly apron Lane had bought him, but with other clothes underneath. What a shame. "Try to finish at least the paragraphs about the unauthorized emergency use of abilities during dungeon breaks before dinner. My sisters will be here soon."

"Yh..." Lane groaned, rubbing his eyes, tired from staring at the letters on the screen. He was never much of a reader, but the laws and regulations were the dreariest thing one might possibly have to ever read... He would like to apologize to all of his subordinates for ever finding any of their reports boring and only skimming through them. Now he was convinced that he had never truly understood the meaning of ’boring’, not until now!

Damien shook his head with a sigh, as well as a hint of a helpless smile, and returned to the kitchen. He had pots and pans on the gas, so he couldn’t watch over Lane now!

Stretching his back, Lane let out a yawn, and tousled his head, trying to wake himself up a little. Then, he focused his eyes on the screen again...

But try as he might, each time he started reading a paragraph, he lost his focus before he even reached the middle of it, and had to start all over again, no longer remembering what he had just read.

So when the knock on the door arrived, he immediately shot up from where he sat on the living room floor, and rushed toward the door. He had never expected he could be so welcoming of Clara’s arrival!

"Finally!" Clara scoffed as soon as the door opened in front of her. "What took you so long? We’ve been ringing the doorbell for like ten minutes!"

"Five," Eloise corrected her sister, earning herself an angry glare.

"Same difference!"

"What? You’ve been ringing the bell?" Damien asked, popping out of the kitchen. "We didn’t hear anything."

"...What?"

"Ah."

Clara and Lane spoke at the same time, Lane’s sigh of understanding quickly attracting everyone’s attention to him.

"Hehe," he laughed, scratching his head. "I miiight have muted it a while ago, when Clara was ringing on it like crazy after I politely escorted her out. I completely forgot about it, sorry!"

"...Politely escorted-" Clara was about to start arguing, but Eloise grabbed her by the shoulders, and pushed her inside.

"Now, now, it’s not a big deal, just an honest mistake. Let’s take off our shoes and sit down, alright? Do you have any spare slippers?" she turned to Damien.

"Yes, in the cupboard. There’s a pair for each of you."

"Great!" Eloise smiled, pushing one pair into Clara’s hands while giving her a pointed look. They came to visit Damien for a nice family dinner. They were meant to bury the hatchet, not for Clara to start arguing with Damien’s boyfriend before even crossing the threshold! "Do you need help with anything?"

"No, it’s fine. Dinner is almost ready. I just need to take the casserole out of the oven and set the table..."

"Let Clara help you with the table, then," Eloise decided.

"Why can’t his amazing boyfriend help him-" Clara wanted to protest, but Eloise cut her off again.

"Because his amazing sister will."

"I can help out, though," Lane joined in.

Only for Damien to shake his head, "No, there’s no need."

"Why? Are you afraid he might break the plates?" Clara smirked. "Can’t he even do something so simple on his own?"

"That’s not it." It wasn’t that Damien was afraid that Lane would mess it up... But rather, that he would transform ’something so simple’ into a show of unauthorized ability use! Which, judging by the smile on his lips and the flicker in his grey eyes, was precisely Lane’s plan.

"Then what is it?" Clara was not giving up, paying no mind to Eloise and Samantha who were tugging on her clothes, trying to get her to stop. "He seems like someone who has been spoiled ever since he was a child, if you’re going to treat him as if he’s made of porcelain he will never learn..."

"There. I’ve already done it myself." Damien let out a sigh, placing the plates and the cutlery on the dining table. "The table is set, so we can stop arguing about it now, alright?"

Clara still wasn’t satisfied, but noticing how deep Damien’s frown was, and how serious his tone had gotten, she decided it was best to let it go. For now. She didn’t mean to argue with her brother, it was just that this boyfriend of his truly pissed her off! He was like an itch, that was bothering her so much, that he just couldn’t help but scratch it, even though she knew it would be better to just leave it be, and let it heal (meaning: let Damien realize that Lane wasn’t a good enough partner for him on his own, and break up with him, ending this whole disaster of a relationship) on its own, in its own time.

Still angry and frustrated, she stomped to the bathroom to wash her hands, before plopping by the dining table and pouring herself a glass of mint and lemon water from the jug.

In such a tense atmosphere, Lane’s ’first’ family dinner with Damien’s sisters began.