"That's strange."
"Yeah, really strange."
"What's strange about it?"
"It's too quiet today."
"Isn't quiet good?"
"It's good… but this is Fairy Tail."
Outside the guild, customers sitting in the open-air café area murmured among themselves.
Fairy Tail, normally noisy enough to shake the walls, was unnervingly silent.
They wanted to peek inside, but the main doors were shut tight.
If anything was unusual today, it was the rumor that had spread through Magnolia:
Rhodes and Mirajane had returned from their trip.
And according to witnesses, the moment they arrived, they'd knocked out a certain pink-haired young man and dragged him inside.
What on earth had happened?
Inside the guild, the answer was… complicated.
Rhodes and Mira sat calmly at a table, teacups before them, while the entire guild stood lined up across the room like students awaiting punishment.
Elfman, Lisanna, Gray, Juvia, Lucy, Wendy, Carla, Happy, Max, and the others were all standing in several uneven rows.
Only Natsu was still sprawled on the floor, unconscious.
Every time Mira's gentle gaze swept over them, their eyes darted away in panic.
Finally, she smiled sweetly at her sister. "Lisanna, why don't you tell us why our house looks like that?"
"Th-this is a gift!" Lisanna blurted, rushing forward to hug Mira's arm. "Mira-nee, you always said you wanted a house like that!"
Mira pressed her palm to Lisanna's forehead, gently pushing her back. "And for such a big renovation, you didn't think to ask our opinion first?"
"Because you and Brother-in-law were on your honeymoon!" Lisanna said in a pleading tone. "It would've ruined the surprise if you knew. A surprise only works when you don't tell people about it."
The others behind her all nodded frantically.
Mira sighed and looked at her husband. "What do you think?"
Lisanna clasped her hands together, eyes full of innocent hope.
Rhodes smiled. "Since Lisanna said so, let's believe her."
A wave of collective relief swept through the guild.
"However…"
Everyone froze again.
Rhodes tilted his head. "If Lisanna wanted to surprise us, why do you all look so nervous?"
Max burst into awkward laughter. "Hahaha, what? Nervous? Us? Never!"
Gray tugged at his shirt collar, his tone far too stiff. "We're not nervous at all."
Lucy laughed in forced cheer.
"Ha, ha, yeah! We're just worried you'll scold Lisanna! Definitely not because we broke your..."
"Happy!" several people shouted at once.
A dozen guild members lunged to cover the Exceed's mouth, only to trip and crash into each other, collapsing into a tangled pile on the floor.
The damage was already done.
Lisanna sighed in defeat and stepped forward. "Actually… it's because, the month before last, Alzack and Bisca wanted to throw a birthday party for Asuka."
Rhodes and Mira exchanged a look. Oh no.
"They said their house was too small," Lisanna continued timidly, "and the guild wasn't new enough to be exciting. So I thought… our house has a big living room and a yard, so… why not hold it there?"
Rhodes stared at her, speechless.
His dear sister-in-law had risked their entire home for Asuka's birthday party?
He could already imagine how that ended.
Sure enough, Lisanna went on, "Everyone agreed right away, and the party went really well. It was so lively! But later…"
Elfman took over, trying to sound careful. "Later, everyone had a bit too much to drink and got a little rowdy. You know how it is, Sis....our house was old, and even though we reinforced it before your wedding, it was never as sturdy as the guild."
Looking at the expressions of the group behind them, that must have been it.
They'd had a party, and the house was gone.
Rhodes and Mira just smiled after realizing the truth. Whether it was their younger siblings or their guildmates, they were truly capable.
Lucy trembled and blurted out, "I'm sorry! It's all our fault, so we worked hard to help rebuild it!"
Just mentioning it made her heart ache. After months of finally lowering her team's "accident rate," she had actually managed to save a little money, only to see it all go into the reconstruction fund.
The others weren't any better off. Everyone had contributed money and labor, throwing themselves into rebuilding as fast as possible.
"We're sorry!" the group chorused.
Lisanna stepped forward, wringing her hands. "I organized all of Mira-nee and Brother-in-law's belongings. Nothing important was lost! Your clothes and photo albums are safe, and Brother-in-law's books, documents, and notes are all accounted for."
Rhodes glanced at Mira. "How about we just let it go?"
Mira sighed helplessly. "What else can we do? Still, we should return everyone's money. Lisanna was the one who invited them to play, after all."
Rhode nodded. Their friends had destroyed their house, and ended up gifting them a new one for free. The whole thing felt awkwardly generous.
"Lisanna," he said, "the ledger should still be around, right? We'll refund everything everyone spent."
Natsu suddenly sprang upright like he'd been hit by lightning. "No way! We're the ones who wrecked it, so of course we should pay for it!"
Fairy Tail's rule had always been simple: if you break something, you fix it. Even when it belonged to your own guildmates.
Well, except for Lucy. Happy never paid for clawing her wallpaper.
Mira considered for a moment. "Then we'll refund part of it, since Lisanna and Elfman share some responsibility, too."
Under Mira's calm gaze, the siblings instantly wilted. "Yes, ma'am…"
Rhodes picked up the bill Lisanna handed him and leafed through it, raising an eyebrow. The total was… surprisingly low.
"How did Natsu alone spend this much?"
Lucy groaned. "Because Natsu caused the most damage."
"Ah-hahaha!" Natsu puffed up proudly. "As expected of me, the strongest!"
Lucy sighed. "Don't compete over this, you idiot."
Rhodes and Mira took a sip of tea to cool their tempers and stood up. "Let's go home first," Rhodes said. "We can check the place and tidy up a bit."
They walked to the door. The moment it swung shut behind them;
"WE SURVIVED!!"
Cheers exploded inside the guild.
"Hooray!"
"Let's celebrate!"
The celebration lasted exactly three seconds.
The door creaked open again, and Rhodes stepped back in with a wicked smile and a stack of documents in hand.
"Um—" he said mildly.
The room froze.
"I forgot to mention," he continued cheerfully, "I brought a little 'gift' from the Council for everyone. We'll have a nice chat about it later, okay?"
Dozens of faces went pale. They all had a pretty good idea of what that meant.
Judging from Rhode's tone, he must have been scolded by the Council because of them.
Rhodes turned as if remembering something. "Oh, and Natsu, don't rush off anywhere. Come with me to the Council this afternoon. Or tomorrow. We'll see."
He smiled, waved, and closed the door behind him.
Silence.
Then;
"Rhode's gonna throw me in jail!" Natsu wailed, bolting upright like the sky was falling. "Run, Happy!"
"AYE, SIR!"
...
Bonus @400PS
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