The fireworks had long burned out, leaving a faint smell of gunpowder in the air.
In the sky, there was only a faint crescent moon, and the distant lights of a few homes couldn't reach this dim corner.
The two of them squeezed together silently, neither speaking. After an unknown period, Rhode suddenly exhaled a long breath.
Mira's movements stopped, and she buried her flushed face in Rhode's embrace.
Her mind was a mess, and her heart was pounding.
Rhode buried his face in her long hair, holding her for a moment before releasing her.
"I…"
He wanted to say 'I'm going to take a shower,' but Mira was already too preoccupied to listen, jumping up like a startled rabbit.
"Don't follow me!" She tugged at her tank top and nimbly jumped off the rooftop, fleeing in a panic.
Not chasing was impossible, but he couldn't just chase like this.
Rhode first went downstairs to the bathroom.
The warm water sprayed over him from the showerhead, calming Rhode's excited heart slightly.
He was eerily calm now.
Carefully analyzing… analyze my ass.
As boyfriend and girlfriend, and already discussing marriage, helping with something like this should be normal… right?
It's just a bit quirky in method.
He used to think 'leg play for a year' was a joke, but now it's hard to refuse when faced with it.
The important thing is what Mira thinks.
There's no experience to reference for something like this, so Rhode turned the shower colder, trying to calm down again.
In the night, under the dim streetlights, Mira ran quite far.
It wasn't until she reached near her home that she stopped, clutching her chest and gasping for breath.
She couldn't just go back like that.
Mira tidied her top, let her hair down and tied it again, then bent down to adjust her long socks.
When her fingertips touched that white zone, Mira suddenly remembered that peculiar sensation from earlier.
The blush that had faded reappeared, and a wave of shame flooded in uncontrollably.
She wanted to cover her face, wondering what she had just done.
...
Rhode turned on the fan at home, summoned Warm, and took out a cake for it to eat.
Warm eagerly pounced but missed, looking at its master pitifully.
"This is Mira's birthday cake," Rhode said, holding the plate, "Come on, say happy birthday to Mira."
"Hoo-loo-loo?" Warm gave an innocent look, as if to say, can I speak?
"Forget it, the thought counts." Rhode set the plate down, patting Warm's head, "Stay home, if she's angry later, I'll summon you over."
"Hoo-loo~~" Warm indicated that as long as the food was good, anything could be discussed.
Rhode gathered his courage and thick-skinnedly went to Mira's house.
From downstairs, he could see the light on in Mira's room, clearly she hadn't slept yet.
Rhode tried knocking on the door.
No answer, but when he knocked again, a small window on the ground floor was pushed open, and Elfman stuck his head out.
Rhode waved to him: "It's me, open the door."
"Sister said, if you came, I can't open the door." Elfman leaned on the window, curiously asking, "Did you fight with sister?"
Rhode shook his hand: "No… it's a bit complicated, what did she tell you?"
"Nothing, she was just a bit weird when she came back." Elfman thought for a moment,
"She seemed angry but not really. I asked once and got scolded. Anyway, I can't open the door, do you want to come in through the window?"
Rhode felt relieved.
If it had been the old Elfman, he might have been already fighting him, but now he was providing intel and offering to open the window.
"No need, if I go in, it won't be through this window." Rhode raised his head, waving, "You rest first, so you won't get implicated."
Elfman closed the window, thinking that if he's worried about implicating me, how could he not have fought with sister?
He couldn't be bothered with their affairs.
Rhode backed up two steps, jumped gently off the wall, and his hands grasped Mira's window.
Climbing in through the window seemed not quite right?
Rhode hesitated for half a second, deciding he'd blame it on learning from Natsu.
He applied a little force, poking his head through the window.
But suddenly a pillow came flying with a swooshing sound, hitting Rhode's face.
The immense force actually knocked him down.
Could a normal pillow hit with such power?
Rhode felt a pain on his face as he fell, though the force didn't really affect him much.
He held the pillow as he landed, thought for a moment, lay on the ground, covered his face with the pillow, and stayed silent and still.
Mira waited for a while but didn't see the expected response.
She peeked out, then hurriedly jumped down, but realized it wasn't right as soon as she was out the window.
Liar.
Mira huffed, walked over, snatched the pillow, and saw a goofy face beneath it.
She angrily smacked the pillow on Rhode's face again: "I told you not to follow!"
Rhode feared that if he didn't come today, he might never need to come again.
He brushed off the dirt and stood up: "Actually, Warm didn't have enough of your birthday cake, so I came to see if there's any left."
"There isn't!"
No one believed his nonsense, Mira turned to go back, tossing a 'Go rest, come tomorrow' before entering the house.
That night, Rhode slept soundly and was full of energy the next day when he went for breakfast.
But it was Elfman cooking again, and when Mira came down, she was yawning, looking a bit off.
Rhode was about to ask when Mira shot him a warning look, perhaps meaning to say that if he mentioned it, he would regret it.
If he didn't bring it up, he wouldn't, and it would be better once she was more comfortable.
Rhode thought he needed to save up quickly and propose soon.
For that goal, the guild needed to be built quickly.
So there was one more hard worker at the construction site.
Rhode wasn't the only one working hard; as they approached completion, everyone's enthusiasm grew.
Near the end, many stopped taking jobs and came to help with the guild every day.
By the end of the month, Fairy Tail's new guild headquarters finally topped out.
"Dong~~~"
The guild's top clock chimed for the first time, with Makarov shouting with the bell: "Fairy Tail, completed!"
The Fairy Tail members below cheered together: "Oh!!!"
Rhode and Mira stood among the crowd, waving their hands excitedly, shouting with everyone: "Fairy Tail!"
"Completed!"
Rhode's first home in this world, the place most important to him, had finally been rebuilt.
Though the interior wasn't furnished, and the outer scaffolding hadn't been removed, the new guild was already thrilling.
Nearby residents, hearing the bell, came to look as well.
Makarov waved a large hand: "Banquet time! Everyone come along!"
"Oh!!!"