Even though she still dressed in that dark little delinquent style, Mira's tiny black vest could finally curve up proudly in the front.
Her hot pants were round and perfectly snug, setting off those long legs that seemed to go on forever.
And after who knew how many nights of Kabe's relentless begging, she had finally agreed to wear his beloved black stockings and black high heeled leather boots.
A Mira like this hit every single one of Kabe's fetishes from head to toe.
On the other side, Erza's development over the years was no less impressive.
She was still a bit smaller than her future self in some departments, but even now she was beautifully shaped, with curves in all the right places.
Thanks to Kabe's repeated persuasion, she had finally given up on wearing armor every waking moment and started trying out different clothing styles.
Right now she was in a very eye catching white lace top with cut out patterns, paired with a red high waist pleated skirt.
With figures like that, clothes like that, and two absolutely stunning faces sitting across the table...
Kabe felt like even with no side dishes at all, he could still polish off three bowls of rice in one go.
His blatantly hungry gaze was quickly noticed by all three of the girls.
Mira and Erza both felt secretly pleased, the corners of their lips rising in quiet triumph.
Lisanna, on the other hand, gave an annoyed little cough and deliberately straightened her chest.
Kabe glanced at her, then looked away without interest.
"Tch. Just a little lotus bud, nothing to see."
Lisanna instantly felt like she had taken a critical hit straight to the heart.
Furious, she started shoveling rice into her mouth and swore to herself that she would eat properly, grow properly, and one day shock Kabe so hard his jaw would drop.
Mira noticed Lisanna's little movement, but did not think too much of it.
To her, it was just a child's competitive streak, always wanting to compare herself to the "grown ups" in everything.
"Do not just eat rice. I worked hard to cook all these dishes for you, they are not just decorations."
As she spoke, Mira picked up a large piece of meat and dropped it into Kabe's bowl.
Kabe took the hint and finally stopped staring and started eating a bit more seriously.
After piling a few more chopsticks of food into his bowl, Mira also placed some for Lisanna and Erza, showing the attentive care of both a big sister and the lady of the house.
Erza seemed to understand the implication behind these actions.
Her shoulders drooped a little further, the very picture of a defeated hound.
Mira caught that, smiled to herself, and happily ate a bite of her own food, feeling satisfied as she let Erza off the hook for now and changed the subject.
"Speaking of which, Kabe, there is something I want your opinion on."
"Mm, go on."
Kabe nodded while gnawing on a big bone, signaling her to just say whatever she wanted to say.
Mira did not hold back and spoke directly,
"I have almost finished saving up what I planned, so I wanted to ask if you would be willing to buy this house together with me."
Kabe had not even had a chance to reply when Erza started coughing violently, nearly choking on her food.
After wiping her mouth in a fluster, she looked up at Mira with wide, stunned eyes.
*Buying a house? Shared property between husband and wife?
You sly woman, so this is your real ambition, Mira!*
What made it worse was that Kabe only thought for a few seconds before nodding readily.
"Sure. But this house is a bit old now. If we are buying, it would be better to get a new one."
*Wedding home. They are openly discussing their wedding home right in front of me.
They are acting like I am not even here!*
Mira, who did not like moving that much, hesitated.
Kabe leaned closer and whispered a few words into her ear.
When he finished, both of them unconsciously glanced at Lisanna.
"I see... in that case, a new house it is."
Mira's earlobes turned faintly red. She lowered her head and gave a soft agreement.
Lisanna: "...!!!"
"Hey, wait, hold on. Why did you both look at me just now? What is that supposed to mean?!"
"Ahem, Lisanna, you are already a big girl. Mira and I think we can live independently now."
Kabe explained in all seriousness.
Lisanna stared at him, shocked.
"You... you, you two... big sis Mira, did you not say that the three of us would always live together?"
"Well..." Mira's voice weakened a little as she tried to explain.
"We will still be in Magnolia. You and Elfman can come visit us anytime you want."
Before Lisanna could muster a rebuttal, Erza slapped her palm on the table and stood up. She could not hold back any longer.
"No. I disagree!"
She held everyone's eyes, then turned directly to Mira and declared,
"Listen carefully. There is no way I am going to let you keep hogging Kabe all to yourself.
I have savings too. If anyone is buying a house with Kabe, it should be me."
"You...!" Mira's finger trembled as she pointed at her apprentice, who had always acted so respectful not long ago.
"Erza, is that any way to speak to your teacher? From this moment on, you are expelled from my kitchen!"
Mira had thought this would stab right into one of Erza's weak spots.
Instead, Erza did not seem to mind at all.
"Do whatever you want. I already learned your cooking.
If it were not for the chance to spend more time with Kabe, I would never have put up with you bossing me around in the first place."
"What... did you just say?!"
The level of endurance and long term planning in that confession was so impressive it was practically the emotional version of "lying on firewood and tasting gall."
Even Kabe, shocked as he was, felt moved enough that he almost teared up.
He hurriedly stepped in to play peacemaker.
"Come on, do not fight. I will pay. I will buy a really big house, then the three of us can all live there together."
Mira and Erza shouted in perfect unison,
"Shut up!"
The dreamer was silenced on the spot.
Then the two women turned right back on each other, heads nearly touching as the sparks flew again.
"Impressive, Erza. You fooled me completely. That acting was quite something."
"Hehe, likewise. Were you not putting on quite the show yourself in front of Kabe?"
"Oh? You are saying I was pretending? Have you never heard of feelings that naturally deepen over time?"
"Feelings? Since when did you two have feelings?
It is clearly just your one sided wishful thinking and fantasies."
Kabe tried again, voice small and cautious.
"Um, actually, I do have feelings for both of you, so maybe we could..."
"I said shut up!"
"Shut up!"
Kabe: "..."