"I'm glad we went to the geek street!"

"Yes! At this rate, we'll win in the B.C. Extras as well!"

At Yuuya and Hiro's comments, they earned the attention of the others. At Ran's inquiry, the blue haired boy explained about the tournament being held around the area. Jessica strode over, confidently stating that she would win easily, before she read over the rules.

"To own an LBX, to have a group of two people, and... to cosplay?!"

Ban took a step back. "Cosplay, huh? I think I'm okay..."

"I'll refrain from this one." Jin stated.

Ran agreed. "Same here..."

Jessica turned away, seeming to cringe. "I'll pass. Who'd want to enter this thing?"

Hiro's spirit however, wasn't the least bit wavered by their comments. "I'm going to enter as Senshiman!"

Yuuya walked up to him with a grin. "Our goal is victory! I'm ready, master!"

All eyes went wide as Jessica and Ran let out a yell in surprise. Ban thought he was hearing things, and Jin and Eva could barely bring themselves to comment.

"'Pile courage into these bright red fists. Give rise to a hot explosion like the big bang!'" They both posed as the rest stared in disbelief. "'Galactic Hero Senshiman! Crossing the galaxy, here I am!'"

~~~~~

"Is this how you...?"

"Eva, come on! Do you really not know how to put it on?"

"I'm not exactly used to..."

"Just hurry up already! I want to see you in your new look!"

After several rounds of yelling back and forth, the door finally opened to reveal Eva dressed in a far more casual outfit than before. Her white blouse was switched for a sweater shirt of the same color, and she was given a maroon cardigan in place of her vest. Somehow, she had managed to convince the two to let her keep her capris.

Even when their eyes sparkled, she still seemed unsure. "This doesn't feel... right."

"You look great!" Jessica commented. "Only..."

"Only...?" The other blonde nodded and the red head got behind her. Immediately, she felt the weight on her head come lose. "Wha-?! Hey!"

"Perfect!" Ran giggled. "You look so much prettier with your hair flowing out, just like last year's Artemis!"

"Last year, my hair was shorter than this..."

"Does that really matter? You look cute and that's that!"

She shook her head. "I didn't think you two would go crazy about dressing me up after commenting on Hiro's event like that." Her words fell on deaf ears as they continued to gush on her new appearance.

"What's going on here?" A familiar voice came from the other side of the corridor and she immediately felt all the color draining from her face.

"Jin! Perfect timing!" Jessica cheered and waved him over.

He blinked at her before his eyes landed on the blonde behind them. Seeing him raise an eyebrow, and Eva being unable to speak, Ran answered for her. "It's her new makeover! Jessica and I bought them just for her!"

Eva bit her lip before sighing in defeat. "Well? What do you think?" She was prepared for anything at this rate.

"It suits you."

Anything but that.

She blinked once. Twice. "...Really?"

He gave her a nod before leaving for wherever he was originally heading to. Jessica and Ran both had wide grins on their faces as Eva stared after his back, dumbfounded by his simple, yet pleasing comment.

Only because we were apart for one year. Something she was used to now felt like something surprisingly new. Still, she found herself smiling at the thought.

It wasn't a bad feeling.

~~~~~

"Wow..." Ran had her mouth hanging open as she stared around the stadium. "Everyone really is in cosplay."

"It seems pretty crowded!" Hiro said excitedly. Among the group, his eyes were sparkling the brightest.

Yuuya's were close after. "This is Big City Extras..."

Jessica on the other hand, seemed worn despite not having done anything yet. "B.C. Extras for short..."

They headed in and could only stare at how small the actual arena was. Ban was first to comment. "Do you battle on that stage?"

"In cosplay." Jessica sighed before turning towards the hallway.

"Huh? Jessica?"

She stared back at the blue haired boy with soulless eyes. "I'm going back. My head feels light..." Without letting them respond, she left.

Ran had a half smile on her face. "Well, I can understand how you feel."

~~~~~

They took their seats and waited for the event to start. The commentator appeared and explained the rules, before showing off the grand prize. The Meister X3... and a cosplay set.

"Even the prizes include cosplay..." Ran muttered. "Hey, Yuuya, are you seriously gonna do this?"

"It looks fun." The boy replied with a smile. "And maybe I'll find a new sort of me in this tournament."

If she wasn't confused before, she was definitely in a maze now. "I think you're looking in all the wrong places..."

As the emcee finished off his opening speech, Hiro and Yuuya went on their way to prepare for the tournament.

Ran turned to the other three beside her. "What should we do?"

"Cheer them on!" Ban smiled. "Those two looked really enthusiastic about this, after all."

Ran's face fell at his words, but she could only comply. Jin cast a glance at the brunette before turning to Eva with barely a nod, to which she only gave a wry smile in reply.

Soon, the emcee began reading out all the registered teams. All kinds of cosplay were shown, with all kinds of people too. Though what surprised them most was to find Hiro and Yuuya suddenly being on different groups.

"I wonder if something happened between Hiro and Yuuya." Ban said worriedly. "Hey, Jin-" His eyes went wide when the pair beside him were no longer present. "Huh? He and Eva aren't here?"

As soon as the words processed in her brain, Ran's eyes fueled with anger. "They got away?!"

~~~~~

"Is it really okay to just leave them like that?" The blonde asked as they made their way out of the stadium.

"I just needed to find the bathroom." He said blankly.

"Hm?" Eva blinked at him before realizing what he meant. "Oh, that's right. I needed to go too. But we didn't know the way back, and instead, found the exit by accident."

"Getting lost would've caused trouble for the others." Jin continued. "So we'll be heading out to somewhere familiar."

She nodded. "And we'll be on alert for Detector activity in the area as well."

"It's not our fault."

"It's not our fault."

They exchanged knowing glances as they headed down town. At a café, they met up with Jessica and stayed there to watch the tournament from a screen across the street. At the end, they smiled proudly at Yuuya's victory, though the joyful air didn't last long as they got a call from Otacross, telling them about another Detector attack.

~~~~~~~~~~

I used the Picrew website to redesign Eva :)

Original DanSen Eva (before she switched the dress to pants):

And now W Eva: