The next morning.
Cold sunlight filtered through the cracks in the curtains, scattering mottled light across the bed.
Erza stepped quietly into the room, ready to wake the lazybones still curled up under the blankets, only to pause mid-step.
In front of her, Shane had wrapped himself up like a cocoon, with only his head sticking out. There was even a goofy little smile hanging at the corner of his mouth.
"Dreaming about something nice?"
Standing by the bed, Erza blinked twice, a little amused, and reached out to poke his completely defenseless cheek.
Just last night he had been fuming over that magazine, so how had one night's sleep turned him into this… slightly silly version of himself?
"Mmm…"
His beautiful dream of joining forces with Erza to suppress the bad woman was rudely interrupted. Shane groggily opened his eyes and let out a couple of sleepy little grumbles.
But when his vision focused and met the clear, earnest eyes of the red-haired girl, he inexplicably felt a little guilty.
"…Morning."
He hurriedly climbed out of bed and started getting ready.
Since they had agreed with the guild to spend the few days before the exam at the guild hall, the two of them didn't stay at home for long.
The moment they pushed open the front door, a sharp wave of winter air rushed over them, clearing the mind instantly.
The sky was overcast, and fine little snowflakes drifted down without pause, laying a thin silver veil over Magnolia's red brick rooftops.
Even though neither of them was remotely bothered by that level of cold, they still put on thick sweaters and dark coats lined with warm fleece just to match the season.
The two walked side by side down the snowy street, the snow crunching beneath their feet while their white breath mingled in the air, adding a bit of lazy warmth to the harsh winter day.
Then they pushed open the guild doors.
The moment they stepped inside, Shane immediately spotted the person Gray had been talking about yesterday.
By the request board, Cana was bent over with absolutely no concern for appearances, practically pressing her whole face against the posted list.
"Shh—"
A playful mood came over Shane. He raised a finger to his lips, signaling Erza behind him to stay quiet.
Lowering his center of gravity, he was just about to sneak over with Assassin's Presence Concealment and give this girl—who had pulled more than enough pranks on him in the past—a proper scare.
But a hand suddenly reached over and accurately caught him by the back of the collar.
Shane turned around. Erza was gently shaking her head, signaling with her eyes toward the side of Cana's face.
Following the direction Erza indicated, Shane took a closer look.
That usually carefree little drunk now had her lower lip tightly bitten, her shoulders trembling slightly, her whole body giving off the sense of someone sunk in disappointment.
"She's this upset just because she didn't make the list?"
Shane was a little surprised.
After all, when Natsu and Gray got cut yesterday, they'd only howled dramatically for a bit before bouncing right back and immediately thinking up some other dumb plan.
He had heard that Cana had been working very hard lately for a spot in the exam, to the point where she'd barely returned to the guild for months.
But to be fair, her hard combat strength still had quite a noticeable gap between it and true S-Class level.
"Alright, fine…"
Shane shrugged and gave up on the prank.
After adjusting his expression, he and Erza walked over.
"Cana?"
Hearing his voice, the girl turned around a little flustered.
"Oh… it's you two. Morning."
"You're in a pretty bad mood, huh, little drunk."
Shane walked over, and once again felt that he was sometimes just too considerate for his own good.
"What, upset because you didn't get picked? Come on, I'll buy drinks today. As much as you want."
Normally, the second Cana heard the words "I'm buying," her eyes would light up and she'd throw herself around his neck cheering before charging for the bar.
But this time, she looked strangely unenthusiastic, her gaze drifting.
After a long silence, she finally asked slowly, as though gathering her courage:
"Um… Gildarts… isn't coming back this year?"
"Huh?"
Shane blinked, but answered honestly anyway:
"That lazy old man? The Master said he sent a message saying something like, 'Since Shane is handling things this year, I'm perfectly happy disappearing instead,' and then he vanished again."
He spread his hands. "At this point he's probably hiding in some warm little nest somewhere."
"…"
Maybe it was just his imagination.
But for one brief instant, Shane had the distinct impression that the way Cana looked at him had turned… resentful?
The strange bit of hostility came and went in a flash.
The next second, Cana looked away and instead fixed a vicious stare on the empty space by the guild doors, as though some bastard who had abandoned her were standing there.
"?"
Watching her strange behavior, Shane rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Come to think of it… you've always cared a lot about Gildarts, haven't you? Why?"
"That's none of your business!!"
Like he had stepped on her tail, Cana immediately snapped and shot him a vicious glare, finally returning to her usual fiery self.
"Hmph!"
She flicked her hair, clearly unwilling to stay on that topic any longer, and marched straight over to the bar.
"Bring out the most expensive liquor you've got! If you've got several bottles, bring all of them!"
Then she pointed at Shane behind her with complete confidence.
"He just said he's paying!"
There was no way she was going to talk to Shane about her personal business.
It wasn't that he would necessarily laugh at her, but with how well she knew him…
she could already imagine the horrifying scene of Shane listening to the whole story, then casually grabbing Gildarts by the shoulder and saying, "Hey, old man, did you know Cana is your daughter?"
She was absolutely not mentally prepared for something like that. No way. Never.
"Hey! That's a little too shameless, isn't it?!"
As one outrageously expensive bottle of top-shelf red wine after another was placed on the bar, Shane's eye twitched so hard it almost hurt, and he stormed over to pay through gritted teeth.
"When someone offers to pay, most people show at least a little restraint, you know?! This is robbery!"
"Tch. If a rich bastard is finally bleeding money, who else am I supposed to drain?"
Cana popped the cork and drank straight from the bottle without even bothering with a glass, completely unmoved.
Just as Shane was paying with a bleeding heart, while swearing internally that he would never again feel even a shred of sympathy for this bastard—
Erza walked over and sat down beside Cana, speaking in a gentle voice.
"Even though you weren't selected this year… you can still participate as an assistant."
"Do you want to come with me? You could get used to it in advance."
She had clearly seen Cana's disappointment and was trying, in her own clumsy way, to comfort her.
Faced with a girl as serious and sincere as Erza, Cana's attitude softened immediately. She wasn't nearly as harsh with her as she was with Shane.
She lowered the bottle and looked at Erza, gratitude flickering through her eyes, but in the end she still shook her head.
"Thanks, Erza. But forget it… this year's exam doesn't mean anything to me anymore."
"Is it because Gildarts isn't here?" Erza asked softly.
"Well…"
Cana hesitated, then finally let out a sigh.
"If there's a chance later… I'll tell you."
"Alright. Then I won't ask."
Erza nodded and thoughtfully stopped there, simply staying beside her for a while in quiet company.
Just as the two girls quickly reached an unspoken understanding, the guild entrance suddenly got noisy again.
"Hahaha! This is killing me!"
Before the person even appeared, Gray's gloating laughter had already filled the hall.
The moment he and Ur stepped inside, he couldn't wait to share the gossip.
"I heard Natsu really did go block Laxus at the station yesterday! And before he could even say more than a couple words, Laxus knocked him flying with a single punch!"
"To fall from that high up and still be totally fine…"
Ur couldn't help sighing in admiration from the side.
"The youngsters these days really are built different."
"Once that idiot sets his mind on something, he'll chase it to the end no matter what."
Shane wasn't surprised in the least and just shrugged.
"With Laxus's personality, he'll probably get so annoyed he eventually agrees just to make him shut up."
To Shane, the moment Natsu actually managed to track the guy down, the thing was already half-settled.
Just as everyone was still discussing Natsu's absurd durability, a second group entered through the guild doors.
"Big sis… t-this is way too weird…"
Walking in front was Elfman, wearing an expression like he wanted the floor to open up and swallow him whole.
"Ahaha… big sis, she… she just hasn't gotten used to this style yet…"
Beside him, Lisanna had a hand over her face, looking awkward and helpless, clearly unsure what to even say.
Then, under everyone's puzzled stares—
a figure finally crossed the threshold with all the confidence in the world.
Click. Click. Click.
The sound of high heels striking the floor rang out crisp and clear.
The eldest Strauss sibling—Mirajane—walked in with her head high and chest out.
The moment everyone saw her, they instantly understood why Elfman and Lisanna were wearing those expressions.
Mira had very obviously put a lot of effort into "dressing up" today.
Her signature silver hair had been arranged into a proper, elegant updo, and she wore a pure white dress with a simple, graceful design. The hem swayed prettily with each step she took.
If you looked only at her silhouette from behind, she really did have a bit of noble-lady elegance.
Of course…
that only worked if you ignored the punk choker still stubbornly hanging around her neck for some reason.
But the real disaster was worse than that.
In an effort to look "more feminine," she had apparently learned some truly horrifying makeup techniques from who-knows-where.
Across her originally beautiful fair face, she had smeared a thick layer of bright Barbie-pink lipstick!
The color was so vivid that, against the white dress and silver hair, it made her mouth look like some monstrous blood-red maw that had just finished eating a child.
"Hmph hmph."
Completely oblivious to how weird the atmosphere had become, Mira gave her skirt a dramatic flick the moment she came to a stop, then struck what she clearly thought was an absolutely stunning pose.
Her eyes swept confidently over the crowd before landing on Shane and Erza, and she gave them a "seductive" smile.
"Well, Shane?"
"Stunned speechless by my beauty, aren't you?"
"If you apologize right now for what you said yesterday… I might still be willing to forgive you."
The response she got was a long, painful silence.
Every single person in the room was staring at her with wide eyes and open mouths, utterly unable to form an opinion.
Even Cana, who had just been drinking in a sulk, jerked so hard in surprise she hiccuped.
"…"
Elfman and Lisanna had already quietly averted their faces and tiptoed backward into the deepest part of the crowd like two burglars trying not to be noticed.
They had already tried, with everything they had, to talk her out of this at home.
Lisanna had nearly cried from desperation.
But clearly… in the Strauss household, the two younger siblings still didn't have the right to overrule the eldest sister.
Meanwhile, standing in the center of the room, Mira saw the crowd's frozen expressions and came to a wonderful misunderstanding.
"Hmph hmph hmph!"
She puffed up even more proudly, chin held absurdly high.
"What?"
"Seeing me all dressed up just a little… has everyone been stunned speechless by how gorgeous I am?"