Rin's Surprise

***

Both standing before their art piece, Rin covered in paint, held her chin and nodded with a smug smirk.

Griseo just stared blankly at the her–Their work. She noticed the "Colours" around it, they were a lot more vibrant than usual.

'Rin.' She remembered her partner and noticed the girl's messy state, prompting her to look down at her own dress that was also covered in paint.

"Ahem. Griseo." From behind them Ato stepped forward with Blanca seeing the two had finished and called for her attention.

"Ahh!" Rin shrieked, she stumbled back and slipped on some stray sheets of paper, barely missing the painting on her way down.

–Thud–

"Ow…" Rubbing her head Rin looks up at the familiar voice.

Griseo's lips curved upwards ever so slightly, unnoticeable to those around her.

"Uncle Ato!" Scampering up, Rin gets up and rushes over to him, and he in turn opens his arms. "Aunt Blanca!" Rin immediately changed direction, running into Blanca's arms instead.

"Rin." Blanca wrapped Rin in a hug, she also noticed how Ato had frozen in place and giggled to herself.

Griseo noticed how the colours around her father turned shades of blue.

"H-huh?" Still shocked, Ato only snapped out of it when he noticed Griseo patting his head. She could do so as he had kneeled and everything for the hug.

"Sad." Griseo said softly, soon after she pulled back and proceeded to clean up her art supplies, taking very good care to organise it all perfectly.

…

Rin did give Ato a hug after she saw his state, though he let out a tear thinking it was just a pity hug.

Mid-speech, Rin paused.

"Wait! Why are you two here? How do you know Griseo?"

The two parents turned to each other and Ato shrugged and Blanca walked over to Griseo.

Rin stared as Blanca pat Griseo on the shoulder and the girl in turn followed Blanca to a chair as she was then pulled into her mother's lap.

"She's our daughter." Ato said.

"Really!? That's… So Coool!" Rin was excited, 'This means I can see her more right? A friend.'

"Oh and I should mention, while she does look and act like a child, she turned 23 last month." Blanca cut in, pushing her cheek against her daughter, who kept her blank expression.

–Thunder–

"WHAT!" Rin shouted, 'B-but then, d-doesn't that make me… the youngest still?' She puffed her cheeks and crossed her arms. 'I'm an adult mentally hmph.'

Both Ato and Blanca were amused by her outburst.

***

Mei was at her computer, utilising Prometheus as best she could without them being able to use the core of reason to power and control it.

"If I change the parameters here… maybe use an alloy instead?... Nono, that won't work… Should I ask Thor? I wouldn't want to bother him."

Mei was so invested in her work that she didn't even notice Kevin enter the room with a covered plate.

Kevin gave Mei a warm smile, a rarity to see on Kevin these days, but nonetheless he put the plate down next to her and took off the lid letting the aroma spill out to her.

And just as silently as he entered, he left, leaving Mei with her scrumptious dinner.

Mei also thought of Thor for a moment before eating, thanking him mentally for the care he provides for all of them despite his limited free time.

***

"Are you sure Ein?" They could always wait until another time before testing them now.

"Do we even have the time to wait? A Herrscher could appear tomorrow and all we have are 7 operatives, and one of those is currently trying to control her Honkai energy." Einstein gazed upon her creation, since her arrival here, they did everything they could to help her, they all saw the benefits in these drones or ELFs as Ein named them.

Even Mobius was all for it, knowing that they can't all be everywhere at once so these ELFs can take off some of the pressure.

"Imagine it, Vill, legions of these guys, all capable of dealing with Chariot-Class Honkai with ease. I know that power source is a little rare."

Vill stared at her, her gaze boring into the back of the woman's head, 'A "little" rare. We only have a couple tons of the material available, and finding more is incredibly difficult. Finding even a single kilo of the stuff is harder than winning a lottery.

And these ELFs would take 10 kilos of the stuff each.'

Einstein ignored the piercing gaze and continued, "You know how much of a burden Thor carries, when was the last time he had a day off? What about your relationship? You still haven't gotten past the occasional hug right? Pretty soon he will be too busy dealing with all this Honkai stuff and have no time for anything."

"Y-you didn't need to say that, I'm trying okay! It's just hard when everyone is always around us…" Vill twiddled her thumbs and realised she was missing out. 'Even Aurora got him before me…' She felt her frustration bubble before settling on a decision.

Einstein waited for the woman to finish her internal debate. To occupy her for a few minutes she did some last minute checks on the ELF they will be bringing online, she knew they were going to be doing two tests, one with a solo ELF, the other with the hive-mind and five ELFs active.

But minutes turned into an hour, and before either knew, Vill had left and Einstein pushed the test back to a day when she could get the assistance of Vill, Thor, Mei or even Mobius for the tests.

***

1 Week Later -

–BAM–

–WHOOSH–

"..." Both Su and Klein were speechless at the fight in front of them. 'It's only been a few days right?' Their thoughts synced perfectly.

One of the two combatants uttered, "I thought you preferred a sword?"

Their opponent smirked, their pink ears twitching. "Miss Himeko's orders for Cocoon operatives. All must learn hand-to-hand combat in the case of being exposed mid-mission." They pulled their fist back from their opponents grasp.

Taking a few steps back she rests her palm on the butt of her sheathed blade. "But don't get me wrong Aurora, I am much better at using a blade."

Taking the challenge, Aurora also summons her blade, and holds it to her side, the blades form changes, growing longer and thicker. "Want to test that Sakura?"

(You're pretty motivated aren't you?) Alter commented.

'Just a little.'

Sakura getting into a stance was the equivalent of saying, "Of course."

…

The two observers debated internally if they should stop them, who knows if the dome will last. But before they could even think further, a purple aura exploded from Aurora's body, covering the dome.

Sakura returned in kind as a blue Aura burst from her body and pushed back against Aurora's. A clash of power formed from their Honkai energy, creating a contrasting image before them.

They both grinned in kind, Sakura gripped the hilt tightly, Aurora's sword became a chain-sword, she started whipping it wildly around herself.

Su and Klein were alarmed as both knew where this would lead.

***That's Enough You Two.*** Su had rushed to the intercom in hopes of getting the two to stop.

…

The two combatants quickly realise that they might have gone too far. The interior of the dome was a mess, floor tiles ripped up, cracks in the wall lining, all from them releasing Honkai energy, Aurora held back a lot, 'But I guess that was still too much.'

Both their Aura's immediately dispersed as they stopped releasing Honkai into the surroundings.

They soon heard Klein's tired voice come through the intercom. 

***Miss Aurora, Miss Sakura, please pay attention to your surroundings next time.***

Both Sakura's and Aurora's cheeks went a little pink, Sakura blamed herself for being reckless and Aurora–

'Alter! You should have told me!' She blamed her Herrscher persona.

(Why would I do that? You were having fun right? Who am I to stop that.) While Alter's reason seemed valid, Aurora swore she could feel the smugness and snarkiness in her tone.

Not believing her sheominously said, 'We'll see about that later.'

(Haha. I'm in danger.) Nervous, Alter started to think of ways to get out of a beat down under the guise of "Training."

***

Evening -

Just finishing up his latest project Thor had returned to base only to be greeted with Vill's presence at the door.

"Did it go well?" She inquired.

"Yep, now we can move to a new base at any time in the future, I've just got to run a few more tests before it's finalised." 

After his answer Vill gave a quick nod of acknowledgement, she then came to his side and linked one of her arms around his.

Raising a brow, he looked at her, noticing the slightly red face and her slightly faster breathing.

'So she mustered up the courage finally? Was it Elysia? Too forward, Himeko? Maybe.' It didn't matter to him in the end.

Suddenly, Vill started to pull him forward. 'I would have asked her next week anyway, but better late than never.'

He matched her pace as they walked down the halls of Moth.

***