"That is totally different!"
Cana's face flushed red as she hurried to explain, then she could only feel helpless at how thick Erza's nerves were.
"I will just say it straight. If you like Kabe, then admit you like him. If you really do, then go tell him clearly and confess already. I am scared that if this keeps dragging on, Mira will snatch him first."
Hearing this, Erza was a beat slow, staring blankly for a moment.
Then she finally understood what Cana meant. Her face instantly reddened like a boiling kettle, steam practically rising off her cheeks.
"Y... you... what are you talking about? I only see him as a comrade, someone I fight alongside with and support. I... I never... never thought about him like that."
Her fierce rebuttal started out strong, but somehow, by the end, her voice lost its confidence and trailed off.
Erza suddenly began recalling the past two years she had spent with Kabe.
In her memory, Kabe was the most diligent and hard-working member in the entire guild.
There had been a time when she went on a job together with him.
And precisely because of that, after witnessing Kabe's unique way of traveling and even trying to learn it herself, Erza truly understood just how much sweat Kabe had silently put in behind that current level of strength.
Aside from that, Kabe was not stiff or overly serious. In fact, he was quite humorous and fun. He would even tell slightly dirty jokes to tease girls their age.
A boy who was this hardworking and earnest, yet still full of humor and warmth... any girl would naturally feel some fondness for him.
Cana's expression became one of "just as I thought." She immediately grabbed Erza by the shoulders and spoke with a serious face,
"That is exactly why you should stop hesitating. You are Erza. Charging straight ahead, never backing down, that is your style."
"I..." Erza opened her mouth, wanting to say something more.
But Cana did not give her the chance. She grabbed Erza's hand and started dragging her toward the door.
"Enough talk. Come on, let us get back to the apartment and make a plan first."
Erza: "..."
...
On the other side, Mira and Elfman carefully supported Kabe as they brought him back home.
After tossing the dead-weight Kabe onto the bed, Mira wiped the sweat from her forehead, then turned around with a serious face and said to her younger brother and sister,
"You two have had a long day too. Go back and rest."
"I..." Elfman opened his mouth to speak, but Lisanna's elbow jabbed his stomach with lightning speed, forcing the words right back down his throat.
Lisanna glanced over, smiling sweetly at Kabe, who was fast asleep on the bed, and at Mira, whose cheeks held a faint, inexplicable blush.
She very cooperatively grabbed Elfman and dragged him toward the door without the slightest hesitation.
"We will leave big brother Kabe in your care, Mira."
With that, the door slammed shut, leaving only the two of them in the room.
"Keep your voice down, idiot."
Mira muttered a curse under her breath, then carefully glanced back at Kabe's still-closed eyes. After confirming he had not woken up, she finally let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Next, she planted her hands on her hips and scolded the sleeping Kabe,
"Hmph, a little brat who has barely grown up, already learning to drink like an adult. You really know how to cause trouble for people."
"Hu... hu..."
Kabe only responded with calm, steady breathing. He did not react in the slightest.
That made Mira feel it all the more amusing. She tiptoed over to the bedside and squatted down.
Looking at his face, which somehow seemed even younger than her own, like a childish little doll, she could not resist reaching out to poke it.
"Huh? The way it feels is surprisingly nice."
Mira's eyes lit up, as if she had discovered a new world. She poked his cheeks a few times, then pinched his nose a couple more times.
She even grew bold enough to lift his eyelid, sticking out her tongue and pulling a funny face at him.
This was the same Kabe who always pretended to be so serious during the day, who would scold and tease her whenever she crossed a line even a little.
But now, he was completely defenseless, letting her do whatever she wanted. Mira's courage swelled bit by bit.
Her gaze slowly shifted downward, fixing on the tail that Kabe always treated like some precious treasure, carefully tucked under him.
In the past, Mira had asked several times to touch it, but Kabe had refused her firmly each and every time, hiding behind all sorts of excuses.
Now, with such a golden opportunity laid out in front of her, Mira did not hesitate much before reaching out her "evil" little hand.
She finally got what she had always wanted and gently wrapped her fingers around it.
She whipped her head toward Kabe's face again, staring intently at his still peaceful, sleeping expression. Only then did she relax, lifting the tail to inspect and play with it in her hand.
"Wow, now that I look closely, the fur color is actually dark brown, not black like I thought. And it feels really smooth and soft, he must be taking good care of it."
Finding it wonderfully novel, Mira kept stroking and squeezing the tail in fascination.
At that moment, Kabe seemed to finally feel something wrong. He let out a low murmur, frowned, then turned over onto his side.
Mira, who had been completely engrossed in her "research," jumped in fright and dove to the floor like a startled cat.
She waited a full two minutes. Only after confirming that Kabe made no further movement and was once again snoring softly did she carefully poke her head up from the side of the bed.
Seeing Kabe's back to her, his quiet snore rising and falling again, she pressed a hand hard against her wildly pounding chest and let out a long breath.
"Stupid guy, even asleep you still scare people."
She grumbled under her breath, but then her eyes were drawn irresistibly to his current posture.
The pants he wore had a little hole cut in them, just enough space left for his tail to stick out and move freely.
Mira stared, and a bold, mischievous guess popped into her head.
"Speaking of which... where exactly does this tail grow out from?"
Once the thought appeared, it took root in her mind.
With Kabe passed out drunk, this was undoubtedly the best chance to investigate that mystery and find the answer.
When he sobered up later, there was no way he would obediently tell her where his tail came from.
And who knew how long it would be before she got such a perfect opportunity again.
As she thought about it, the heartbeat she had just managed to calm started racing wildly again.
After repeatedly hesitating and struggling with herself, Mira still could not resist the temptation. Her small hand trembled as it slowly climbed up to Kabe's waistband.
Just as she was about to go a step further, the tail that had been lying there limply all this time suddenly moved.
It coiled around her wrist like a flexible serpent, locking her hand in place and completely stopping her next move.
"What do you think you are doing?"
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