The Winter Tyrant-Chapter 89: Green Light

Dean literally had no explanation for the sudden onset of Yuki’s metamorphosis. Or why it had manifested itself as active camouflage.

But the fact that the tyrant’s ledger had instantly clocked it meant that it was somehow related to the change he went under right before he died and regressed.

Now that he thought about it, his ability had manifested right before his death for the first time. And that was several months into the long winter.

The ledger had used the term evolved individual to describe Yuki. Did that mean all of humanity was evolving? Or it was something limited to random chance that only a small percentage of survivors would undergo?

Dean couldn’t even begin to comprehend what had just happened. He simply pulled Yuki aside and sat her down. He didn’t know much, and though she trusted his word, he needed a way to explain why he knew she was okay, despite the very real changes that were happening to her.

He took a deep breath, formed his thoughts, and then sighed.

"Yuki... for quite some time now, I’ve had the ability to... let’s say... analyze people and certain inanimate objects, to a limited extent like some kind of background text. Frankly speaking, I thought I was slowly going insane."

Yuki didn’t crack a joke at Dean’s expense, like she normally would. She didn’t mock him, call him insane, or deny what he said was somehow invalid. She simply intertwined his hand in her own, and nodded.

A simple gesture, but a reassuring one. One that caused Dean to break out into a smile as he continued with his story.

"But clearly that’s not the case. The fact that you now have some kind of strange ability leads me to believe that something is happening beyond our comprehension. But as far as I can tell, you have not had a single side effect to your health. You can just sort of.... Blend in with your surroundings."

Yuki thought about it for a few moments, she had literally seen what Dean described. But it honestly sounded like something out of a comic book, not real life. And then it suddenly hit her, a question Dean hadn’t thought about.

"So... if you can analyze people and identify these changes. Have you seen anyone else with them?"

Dean shook his head and smiled as he petted her dyed blonde hair. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"So far, it has only been you... I’m not sure why that’s the case."

Yuki reflected on this for a few moments, what could possibly have made her distinct? And then it hit her... She grew flushed, so much so that her active camouflage began to activate again. Her skin turning into leopard print pattern to match her undergarments.

Dean stared in shock as her eyes shifted beneath the patterned skin.

"Dean... is it contagious? Is this because we sleep together?"

His first instinct was to deny it outright. The idea that he had some kind of strange STD that caused people to evolve was absurd....

But so was a sudden shift in a climate without any warning. The erasure of contact with satellites... And of course the appearance of superhuman abilities like the tyrant’s ledger and active camouflage.

He sat there with his mouth agape and his finger raised, catching himself mid protest as he shut his mouth and thought about it for a long while in awkward silence. Yuki not even recognizing that she had leopard spots.

Then he smirked and cracked a joke, one that he thought would backfire spectacularly.

"Well.... I mean... It’s unlikely, but there’s only one way to find out, right? Shall I go find Broke and fulfill our marriage?"

Yuki did not blush, she did not get angry, if anything she seemed unusually calm, broken out of her embarrassed state, her skin returning to its normal huge as she thought about it for a few moments.

"Honestly... It wouldn’t hurt?"

It was Dean who ended up sitting there flustered when he heard such a shameless comment come from the young woman’s mouth.

"I’m sorry, what? Aren’t you the least bit agitated by the notion that I said I’d go sleep with Brooke to test the hypothesis?"

Yuki however didn’t seem the least bit frustrated by the bluntness of the question, and instead shook her head, speaking in a perfectly measured tone.

"Why would I be? I have already come to peace that sooner or later the two of you will. In fact, at this rate, I’m willing to bet Katherine will be in our bed before long...."

This comment seemed to have completely broken Dean’s train of thought. Causing him to sit there and stare at Yuki with suspicion. And she could practically tell he was using the Tyrant’s ledger to analyze her, which finally prompted a scornful glare.

Dean, of course didn’t care, he was trying to get to the bottom of this matter, interrogator her with a sharp tone.

"Who are you and what have you done with my Yuki?"

Yuki once more responded with a gesture Dean didn’t expect. She scoffed and rolled her eyes. Shaking her head and saying something in her native tongue before instantly switching back.

"Baka Gaijin... Dean, it’s the end of the world, I don’t exactly have the luxury of jealousy, now do I? I’m not going to waste both of our time and sanity being jealous and risk losing you in the process.... You matter more to me than old world norms."

Dean wanted to say something, he wanted to say this was absolutely a trap. But the tyrant’s ledger informed him otherwise.

---

Analyzing speech....

Analyzing speech....

Analyzing speech....

No lies detected. Emotional state: mildly irritated. No hostility detected."

---

Dean sat there for a long while in silence. Before finally scoffing in disbelief.

"I’m... not going to do that... We’ll have to find some other way to discover what this is...."

Yuki’s eyes widened in disbelief. He had expected him to rush down to Brooke or Katherine and attempt to immediately improve his relationship with them the moment she gave him the green light.

But he hadn’t done so, it was unexpected, to say the least. I mean what sort of man would say no to a harem of three beautiful women?

And though Yuki suspected Dean was simply hesitant because his relationships with Brooke and Katherine weren’t to that point yet, and that he was deeply suspicious of her acceptance. She was happy nonetheless that he had made such a choice.