Chapter 41 Emberlucock

Emberlucock: to confuse; to bewilder

In which Wangnan and Beta get confused and Eve is utterly bewildered by the excuses of a so-called "date" fruit. But Khun doesn't miss the chance to ask her out on a date.

When Wangnan regained his consciousness, he felt like he was just pulled out of water. Groaning with a slight headache and feeling all too bleary. But the first thing that came to his dazed mind and blurry sight was, there was an angel. Sky blue locks framing her face perfectly, and the somewhat familiar blue-violet eyes staring down at him with worry although all he could hear was muddled voices. And Wangnan giggled, feeling extremely happy for some reason.

"Miss angel, are you here to heal me?"

Said "angel" suddenly froze up and Wangnan swore he heard bouts of laughter near him. He let out a small sad noise as the angel shook her head exasperatedly before pulling away from his vision. But he couldn't find the strength in him to stand up.

The other occupants in the room were laughing uncontrollably, thoroughly amused by Wangnan's deliriousness. Good thing Bam was still in an ignorant state, otherwise Wangnan would have another threatening glare right at him.

"Well, his wounds are healed but he looks like he's high now." Khun said with an annoyed frown as the blond mumbled incoherently.

"I think I messed up the Shinsu proportions a little… The effects won't last long though, 1 hour at most so it should be fine." The "angel" aka Evolet hummed thoughtfully as she referenced the medical book she got from Gustang. She'll have to practice more after this so that the techniques can actually be used in battles without the side effects.

A certain Researcher from the Workshop they brought from the Workshop nodded, agreeing with what Evolet said. "Yes, it seems like there's no problem. He'll regain full consciousness in about 30 minutes or so. Still… I've heard of it before but I've never actually seen someone capable of using healing Shinsu properties. Not only were the research papers hard to get, apparently you need an extremely refined Shinsu control to execute it."

There was a hint of blush decorating Evolet's cheeks at the compliment. Yunuen smiled fondly at that, patting her head to which Evolet replied with a grin. "Thank you, Sophia-san. It's really nothing much though, considering I'm still only a beginner. And in the case of Horyang-san…"

Her words trailed off, eyebrows furrowed as she thought back to Horyang's condition. The Devil in his right arm was gone, taken by Cassano and now he's in a comatose state because of that. They have no choice but to take the Devil from Cassano again.

Then all of the sudden the bluenette perked up again, this time looking at Beta. "Ah, but– I can help stabilize Beta-san so that he doesn't have to take the Workshop medicine anymore."

The blond frowned a little at the attention focused on him now, though Sophia looked pleasantly surprised and glad at the new information. Evolet had to admit that she wasn't actually surprised that Beta was with them now. The most they got out of her was a slight widening of her eyes before she smiled and greeted him like any other person would, introducing themselves.

Which led to where they are now. After a lot of convincing and a bit of help dragging him away, Bam reluctantly parted with Evolet after she promised him to cuddle afterwards and they left her alone in a room with Beta as she used the excuse of needing to "concentrate". He was sitting cross-legged on the floor with Evolet kneeling behind him, hands on his bare back after he stuttered like a young boy when she told him to take his top shirt off.

Though admittedly, he couldn't deny that she had great skills. The shifting Shinsu in the room, how it made itself apparent in the form of strings and swirling around them serenely. Something in him was no doubt changing, not forcibly but rather the bits of his Ignition coaxed to merge into one entity. It felt indescribably weird.

"So, why did you tell them to go away? It's not just about concentration, is it?"

Evolet let out a small hum, taking her time to answer his question. "Beta-san, please don't tell the others how you found me at the Archimedes."

He frowned, remembering the condition she was in back then. Following the odd flow of Shinsu only to find a girl in full blown panic, seemingly so weak and helpless as she struggled to even breathe properly. Feral amaranthine eyes like a cornered animal without any strength backing her up, a broken Workshop doll right beside her.

"Is it payment for this treatment then?"

A slight smile curled up on Evolet's lips at that. "You can think of it like that if you want to."

"Why?" He found himself asking out of curiosity.

Beta tilted his head back slightly, looking back to Evolet who had an almost distant gaze. The edges of her blue-violet iris were tinted scarlet, giving it an otherworldly yet haunting look. Just like that time he first met her on the Archimedes, on a lesser scale.

"...I don't want to put a burden on them. Besides, it's something that happened in the past. They won't be able to help even if they knew about it."

Then something had slotted into place in him, similarly to a last piece of puzzle that finally fits in. Evolet's hands pulled away from his back as Beta stared at his own hands, flexing it experimentally. Almost as if there was one steady stream flowing inside of him instead the overflowing sensation. Something had changed in him, to a controlled state rather than his usual berserk one. His Shinsu flow was more stabilized compared to before.

Beta snapped out of his thoughts when he heard footsteps, Evolet walking to the door and putting a hand on the doorknob before looking back at him. He didn't fail to notice how her eyes had gone back to normal. "You can do Full Ignition now, but I suggest you practice until you fully master it. Then, please keep your promise, Beta-san."

Just like that, she opened the door and left with the hint of a smile that he was quite honestly getting used to seeing. He couldn't tear his gaze away from the closed door, wondering how much her teammates actually knew about her.

Compared to her state back then in the Archimedes, he could clearly sense what he found odd with her. Her Shinsu was calm and protective, the flow almost akin to a serene dance. But there was another underlying flow beneath it, resembling a turbulent stream that was ready to burst out at any given time. Almost as if she was two different people at once.

There was danger lurking in her small figure, a far cry from what he first saw and certainly not human. And considering her reaction to the Workshop, most likely she had an unpleasant connection with them. But well… he supposed he did promise to not tell the others anything.

After she had exited the room, there was yet again another round of persuading Bam to stop hugging her for a little while more so that she could wash off her hair dye. His first reaction was to blink confusedly a few times, eyes now locked on her sky blue hair as he sobered up from his recharging state.

"Eve, since when did you have blue hair?"

"Pft–" The whole living room erupted into cackles and Yihwa collected the points she betted with the others, a smug look on her face.

Evolet breathed out a sigh of relief when she finally washed off the blue hair dye. Don't get her wrong, she loved parading around as Muse to a certain extent. But she preferred her natural but she still preferred her light lavender hair better. She liked the color blue on Khun more anyway, blue as the boundless sky and deep as the ocean that always gave her a sense of safety.

With Bam being deprived as he is, he didn't waste any time to practically jump on Evolet the moment she exited the bathroom. While team Sweet and Sour was already used to this kind of development, the others weren't. They could guess Bam had this sort of clinginess to others since he did climb the Tower in search of a certain someone, but they never knew this side of him. It was almost like he was a koala. Evolet almost choked when Endorsi tried to pull Bam off of her but he wouldn't let go at all.

Wangnan woke up just before dinner started, walking around and complaining he was starving as if he hadn't been critically injured not long ago. Yihwa only rolled her eyes, telling him to sit down and that food will be ready in a few minutes. Dinner was supposed to be a simple and fast affair since they were all tired from the fight.

...or at least that was the plan until somebody spoke about meat. Then the next thing they knew, there were already a few grills out and it turned into a barbeque party complete with bottles of Soju and Sake all around. Bam, Novick and Hatz ended up cooking the meat for them. Evolet cooked up the odd dishes that some of them requested while helping Yunuen prepare desserts at the same time. Anaak doesn't know how Evolet managed to cook a chicken pot pie on a grill, but she's willing to stab anyone who dared to ask a taste of it. Shibisu instantly became one of her victims.

The party lasted long into the night, but at least they somewhat settled down not long after. The cleanups are always excruciating, as you can see from the amount of people grumbling while they do it. Though there are some people who aren't willing to help at all, take example a certain Princess of Jahad who dragged Bam away to coerce him into a date tomorrow.

Evolet looked at the the curiously as she sat on the sofa not far from them, clueless as to what a date means. Yunuen did a great job of keeping her dense about these stuff, that's what. Though the teal eyed man was fast asleep in one of the guest rooms and a certain Lightbearer did not miss that fact when Evolet unknowingly wondered out loud. "What's a date like…?"

Khun stared at her for a moment, contemplating a few things before a smirk overtook his expression. Although there was a soft edge to it compared to his typical cunning ones. "Do you want to go on one then?"

"Eh?" Evolet had been the one to say it, but the members of team Sweet and Sour nearby all froze up.

"Do you want to go on a date with me tomorrow, Eve?" He asked again, the smirk ever present on his lips as he propped his chin on one hand. His cobalt blue eyes had a teasing glint to it, mixed with something unidentified as if he's testing the waters.

The surprise that overtook Evolet didn't stay long. Replaced with excitement in those blue-violet orbs as Khun was greeted by the brightest smile he's seen all day long from her. It was almost blinding. "I want to try it! A date with Khun-san!"

They completely disregarded the sound of plates and glasses shattering as Yihwa, Wangnan, and Prince dropped their stacks on the floor in complete disbelief. Ran looked up from his cup of yogurt briefly, an eyebrow raised at Khun before he shrugged and went back to eating the yogurt Evolet gave earlier. Shibisu looked like he was a cat that just got his paws on the finest jar of cream, his hand pressing the record function on his Observer.

Khun on the other hand, gained a hint of confidence in his grin as he leaned towards Evolet and gazed straight into her eyes. Deliberately speaking with a lower and husky tone than usual. "Then, it's a date. We'll meet up at 2.30 at the cafe nearby okay?"

As Evolet nodded, agreeing with her trademark gentle smile, some of them couldn't help but feel they just watched a scam happen right in front of their eyes. Khun walked away feeling rather victorious with a glass of coffee in his hands, it was in the middle of the night mind you. That was until Evolet frowned confusedly, turning to Novick who sat not far from her. "Novick-san, what does date mean?"

If Khun tripped on his own feet and fell face flat to the floor when he heard that, no one said a thing. Ran silently wished luck for the bluenette's sanity to deal with the oblivious purplette, though he wouldn't mind a sister-in-law if Khun actually did succeed in courting her. Novick was internally debating how he was supposed to reply to her as she stared at him with childlike curiosity. And from the looks of it, no one else was willing to answer either.

"It's..." He trailed off, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to think up a suitable answer.

Evolet was peering up at him with wonder, eager for a reply. "It's…?"

"It's a sweet fruit!"

"...huh?"

Ran deadpanned at what Novick blurted out, rolling his eyes exasperatedly as the ravenette launched into a lecture about date fruits of all things which only confused Evolet even further. Wangnan stared at him with a pitying look, fully knowing how it felt. Arkraptor was probably the only one in their team who'd be able to explain properly what a date is. Not that he'd ever clarify it with how Yunuen would threaten them all.

The others would most likely end up in the same state as Novick was in, coming up with some random explanation to cover things up. Yunuen smirked contentedly in his sleep. Yet again another day passed where Evolet's cluelessness was preserved.

Bonus scene (A happy fanboy)

:

"Please give me your autograph, Muse-sama!!!" Evolet blinked confusedly at the Scout bowing in front of her, his hands holding a small autograph board and a marker. His words registered in her mind before she smiled, gently taking both the autograph board and the marker.

"You don't have to be that formal, Dan-san. Please refer to me as Eve like you normally would. Even though we're not exactly on the same team, we are friends after all." Not that the ravenette was listening, completely lost in observing the bluenette in front of him with a dreamy look. After all when again would you get a chance to observe your favorite idol from close up?

Dan took the autograph with hands trembling with excitement, his eyes practically glimmering. Though he went still when Evolet grasped his hands, bringing it up slightly.

"Thank you for your continuous support, Dan-san." And she broke out into a bright smile, tilting her head slightly as blue-violet orbs shone with pure appreciation. He could've sworn the background was shining for some reason. Must be because of her smile then.

He was still for a few seconds with no visible response as his mind was thrown in chaos, screaming at whatever system was running his mind to save the moment. Then he promptly dropped to the floor like a statue, grinning crookedly like the fanboy he was as he muttered out something about the sun. Well, let's just say he's glad Khun kidnapped him to be on his team that day.

A/N:

The readers on chapter 41 while the author giggling as she writes Bam drunk on his love for Evolet on chapter 42 and 44 ( )