"How strange."
"Yeah, really strange."
"What's so strange?"
"It's just too quiet today."
"Isn't quiet good?"
"Well, it is, but this is the Fairy Tail Guild."
Outside the guild, at the open-air seating, guests chatted curiously.
The normally bustling Fairy Tail Guild was eerily quiet today.
They wanted to see what was going on inside, but the doors were tightly shut.
If there was anything different about today... it was said that Rhode and Mirajane had returned from their trip.
And they immediately knocked out a pink-haired boy and dragged him inside roughly.
What on earth was happening?
...
"What on earth was happening?" Rhode and Mira sat by the table, teacups in front of them, "Can anyone tell us?"
Across from them, Elfman, Lisana, Gray, Jubia, Lucy, Wendy, Carla, Hapi, Marcus, and others stood in several rows as if being inspected.
Only Natsu was still lying down.
Apart from Natsu, everyone caught by the couple's gaze looked away guiltily.
Finally, Mira looked at her cute sister: "Lisana, why don't you be the one to explain why our house is like this?"
"This, this is... a gift!" Lisana hugged Mira's arm, acting coquettishly, "Hasn't Sister Mira always wanted a house like this?"
Mira pushed her sister's head away, not letting her snuggle, and questioned: "But for such a big renovation of the house, how could you not consult us at all?"
"Because you and brother-in-law were on your honeymoon, you know these things can affect the mood." Lisana tried hard to cling to her sister, "Besides, surprising someone loses its meaning if you say it out loud."
Everyone nodded along behind her.
Mira sighed and looked at Rhode: "What do you think?"
Lisana looked pitifully at him.
Rhode laughed: "Since Lisana says so, let's trust her."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"But..."
The group's hearts tensed up again.
Rhode looked at them, confused: "If it's a gift from Lisana, why are you all so nervous?"
Marcus led an awkward laugh: "Hahaha... How could we be..."
Gray, standing neatly, forced out: "Not nervous at all."
Lucy followed: "I was just worried Lisana might get scolded by you. Ha, haha..."
"Oh! It's definitely not because we broke your..."
"Hapi!" ×n
A bunch of people rushed in to cover Hapi's mouth, colliding into a messy pile.
It was too late to say anything more at this point.
Lisana had no choice but to confess.
"Actually, a couple of months ago, Alzack and Bisca wanted to have a birthday party for Asuka.
"They said their house was too small and wanted to hold it at the guild, but everyone said Asuka was already growing up at the guild, so there was no novelty. Then..."
Lisana hesitantly covered her head: "Then I suggested we could use our house, since the living room's spacious and the yard's big enough..."
Rhode looked at Lisana in shock.
Turns out the sister-in-law liked Asuka so much she didn't mind letting trouble in the house for her!
He could more or less guess the outcome, inviting these folks over to the house couldn't end well.
Sure enough, Lisana continued: "And everyone unanimously agreed, the party was smoothly held at our place, and everyone had a great time. Only later..."
"Later on, people had a bit too much to drink and got a little rowdy..." Elfman felt he should finish the latter part for his sister but still chose his words carefully,
"Sister, you also know that our house was long out of repair, although we tried fixing it before your wedding, it wasn't as sturdy as the guild, so then..."
Judging by the expressions of those in the back, that seems to be the case.
Held a party and the house ended up gone.
Rhode and Mira both smiled after understanding that, siblings or comrades, they really outdid themselves.
Lucy shivered and immediately apologized: "I'm sorry! It's all our fault, so we worked hard to help rebuild."
Lucy spoke with heartache; it had been few months where the accident rate of her teammates declined and she managed to save a little, only to contribute it all.
Others were much the same, spending money and effort, rushing to rebuild the house.
"We're sorry!" the group apologized together.
Lisana added: "I organized Sister Mira and brother-in-law's things; none of the important stuff was lost. The clothes and photos are all there, and brother-in-law's books, information, and notes are intact."
Rhode looked at Mira: "Shall we just leave it at that?"
Mira helplessly said: "What else can we do? However, let's return the money to everyone, after all, it's because Lisana invited everyone over."
"Yeah." Rhode nodded; having comrades run wild at home and end up with a new house for free seemed a bit unfair.
He said: "Lisana, you still have the account book, right? We'll refund the money everyone spent."
Natsu shot up: "No way! We were the ones who caused the damage, so it's on us to pay!"
Damaged belongings must be compensated; Fairy Tail has always operated like that, regardless of whether it's a comrade's possessions.
-- Lucy occasionally being an exception, Hapi never compensated for tearing her wallpaper.
Mira thought for a moment and said: "Then we should return some of it since Lisana and Elfman also hold some responsibility."
Elfman and Lisana wilted under Mira's gaze: "Yes..."
Rhode casually flipped through Lisana's accounts, noticing the expenses were less than he expected.
He asked curiously: "Why did Natsu spend so much more money?"
Lucy accused: "Because he caused the most damage, of course."
"Ah hahaha!" Natsu laughed heartily, "See, I'm the strongest after all!"
Lucy sighed: "Don't compete for 'strongest' in situations like this..."
Rhode and Mira sipped tea to quench their thirst, deciding to go home first to check out and tidy up.
As the two walked out, the doors shut naturally behind them, and a burst of cheers erupted inside the guild: "We survived!!"
"Hooray!"
"Let's celebrate!"
Outside, Rhode suddenly stopped, pulling out a stack of documents with a mischievous grin, reopening the door: "Um..."
The cheers abruptly stopped.
"I forgot to mention, I brought back some 'specialties' from the Council; we'll have a good chat about them later."
Many showed a "this can't be good" expression, having a vague idea of what trouble they'd caused.
Judging by Rhode's demeanor, seemed he had been reprimanded by the Council because of them?
Rhode thought a moment more and added: "Natsu, don't rush off; either this afternoon or tomorrow, let's pay the Council a visit. So, see you later."
The door closed again, and the guild stayed quiet for a while.
"Rhode's going to lock me in prison!" Natsu looked as if the sky had fallen, jumping up and dashing for the back door, "Run, Hapi!"