Gray didn't dare to eat the mysterious item, so Natsu took it.
Jubia pouted in the corner; she woke up early to make it specially.
"Oh~~ it tastes good! Delicious!" Natsu gobbled it up. After all, it was Gray's, so he asked, "Want to try some?"
"No, thanks." Gray glanced around, "By the way, I haven't seen Lucy all morning. Did she go out to work?"
Natsu mumbled through his food, "She should be at home, right? Maybe she hasn't gotten up yet, drooling all over the pillow or something."
Hapi suggested, "Aye, ask Mira and Rhode, and we'll know."
"True." Gray went to the counter to ask about Lucy.
Rhode put down his chopsticks for a while and said, "I think I saw her wandering in front of the bulletin board. Didn't she ask you to team up?"
"No, she didn't." Mira confirmed, "Lucy didn't take any job. She just looked at the notice board for a while and left."
"Yesterday, she said she didn't have the money to pay rent." Rhode thought for a moment, "Could she be stuck in a rut? Maybe she thinks everyone can't work properly because of her or something."
Gray frowned, "I guess I'd better go check her place."
Mira rested her chin in her hand, smiling, "Gray seems to care about Lucy a lot."
Gray's eyes wandered, "Because... Lucy's a newcomer and has been through a lot. It's right to care a bit more."
Rhode, siding with Mira, teased, "When I was a newcomer, I didn't see you looking after me like this?"
Gray retorted, "Wasn't Mira looking after you enough?"
"Well, enough…" Rhode waved Mira's hand in front of Gray, "Does this mean your wish to care for Lucy is the same as Mira's wish to care for me?"
"Definitely not!" Gray blushed slightly and made a hasty exit, "Anyway, I'll go check on Lucy first!"
Rhode shouted at his retreating back, "Put on your clothes before leaving!"
Gray ran back to grab his clothes and quickly left again.
"Gray really might like Lucy, you know." Mira said, brimming with interest in new gossip material.
"Where did Gray go off to?"
These people didn't want to let Rhode eat his meal in peace. As soon as Gray left, Natsu and Hapi came over again.
Rhode said, "He went to Lucy's place; seems worried something might've happened to her."
Hapi flew off without a second thought, "So sneaky, I want to go play at Lucy's too!"
Natsu plunked the empty lunch box on the counter and chased after him, "Wait for me, Hapi!"
"Where are you guys off to now when there's work in the afternoon?" Erza also ran after them.
"This development… could something really have happened to Lucy?" Rhode started feeling a bit uneasy as the main group seemed to spring into action over a little coincidence.
It really felt like the prelude to something big happening.
Mira looked at him, gently saying, "If you're concerned, why don't you go with them?"
"Well… should I go then?"
"Yes." Mira pulled Rhode's half-eaten lunch in front of herself and said casually, "I just remembered, Rhode really cares about Lucy too."
"Hmm?" Elfman slammed the table and was about to stand up, thinking, could Rhode be ditching his sister?
But just as he stood up a little, Mira pushed him back down.
"I did say there's a special reason…"
"Mmhm, just remembered." Mira fiddled with her tableware, speaking softly without any anger, sounding as if she had already come to terms:
"I remember the day we returned, you saved Lucy at the crucial moment and said she was cute, and then hugged her like that."
"Uh…" Rhode was flustered by her tone, and Elfman's eyes, like he wanted to cut someone, could hardly be hidden.
Mira interrupted him, saying, "And even earlier, you made a bet with me about Lucy."
"..." Well, now Rhode was sure Mira was playing him, "I lost that time, and our bet hasn't been fulfilled yet."
"Go on, you smell all sweaty." Mira made up any excuse to push away the Rhode who wanted to snuggle close to her.
Rhode surrendered, "Alright, how should you punish me then?"
"I'll add on two more penalties for you."
"...Fine."
Mira slyly smiled, "Then be ready for it."
Rhode resigned, "A bet is a bet, I'll honor my words."
"Good, the first task is to finish the lunch box. The second is to fetch my luggage from Lucy's place." Mira winked at him, "Is it too hard?"
"..." Rhode, resting his head in his hand, stared at her for a while before smiling, "I feel doomed already."
Mira, smiling warmly, pushed the lunch box back, "Hurry up and eat, or the warming magic will wear off soon."
Elfman scratched his cheek with a finger, looking between his sister and Rhode, what just happened?
Had Rhode really 'turned his back' on his sister? Was she really not mad?
...
When Rhode arrived at Lucy's home, the front door was wide open.
He saw Erza skillfully making tea with Lucy's teapot.
"Maybe she's taking a bath?" Gray said while about to walk towards the bathroom, looking a bit expectant, "Could something clichéd happen next?"
However, Natsu emerged straight from the bathroom, "Not in there."
"You're really quick!" Gray seemed to have taken on Lucy's role of teasing, "Why did you go straight for the bathroom?"
Rhode knocked on the open door, "You guys really aren't shy at all."
"Rhode, you're here too?" Erza brought the teapot and cups to the table, "Want some tea?"
Rhode nodded, "Yes, just had lunch and happen to be a bit thirsty."
Gray also sat down, "Aren't you being unreserved too?"
Rhode holding a teacup, nodded confidently, "Of course not, I had told beforehand I'd be coming... Where's Lucy?"
"Not home, we're looking for clues." Natsu looked around, suddenly pointing at a suitcase by the window, "That's suspicious, maybe Lucy's hiding in there!"
Gray snorted at him, "Who'd hide in a suitcase?"
Natsu, being action-oriented, decided immediately, "We'll know if we open it!"
But Rhode, with one hand on the table, performed an elegant gymnastic move, hopping over the table, over Gray, and kicked Natsu out of the window.
"Wah!" Natsu sprawled on the street below, limbs lightly twitching.
Passersby were startled, but upon seeing the familiar cherry-colored hair and emblem on his arm, they skirted around him.
It was obvious this was a Fairy Tail mage, thick-skinned and reckless; a mere second-floor fall wouldn't kill him even head first.
Natsu jumped up, yelling at the second-floor window, "What was that for, Rhode! Wanna fight?"
Rhode replied, "I was saving you. Moving that suitcase could kill."
Erza asked, "What's wrong with that suitcase?"
Hapi snuck over on tiptoe, driven by cat-like curiosity to see what was inside the suitcase.
"It's Mira's suitcase; she asked me to come fetch it for her." Rhode smiled at Hapi, "Want to try moving it?"
"Aye…" Sweat began forming on Hapi's face, "No, I'm good."
Rhode squinted and smiled, looking an awful lot like Mira.