Kai blinked down at Cana, his analytical brain pausing for a rare fraction of a second as he studied her expression.
She stood before him with her arms folded defensively beneath her chest, a fresh bottle of heavy liquor tucked against her hip, and a look in her eyes that was entirely devoid of her usual casual sarcasm. It was a serious look—the kind that carried enough weight that even he couldn't completely deflect it with a lazy hand wave.
"…You want to tag along with me on a deep-tier extraction?" Kai asked, pointing a thumb at his own chest as if checking to ensure she wasn't addressing a ghost standing directly behind him.
Cana nodded once, her jaw set with unusual firmness. "Yeah. So do you mind if I do, or are you going to make me sneak into the cargo car?"
Kai's response was instantaneous, a brilliant, thoroughly unbothered grin splitting his face. "Absolutely yes, my cute brownie."
Cana's left eyebrow twitched violently.
"Though I do have to ask," Kai continued, crossing his arms as he leaned slightly against the wooden doorframe, "why the sudden urge to play archaeologist? I don't recall you ever showing a shred of interest in ancient runes. Unless, of course, there's a mythic booze fountain hidden inside the burial chamber. Which, frankly, would explain an awful lot about your entire lifestyle."
Cana looked down, her thick eyelashes lowering as she stared at the worn floorboards. It wasn't a gesture of embarrassment; it was something far rarer for the card mage—a momentary flash of genuine hesitation. Vulnerability.
"Well… it's not actually about the mission," she admitted softly, her fingers tightening slightly around the neck of her glass bottle. "I have something I need to talk to you about. Somewhere away from... all of this."
Kai stared at her, his golden eyes narrowing slightly as he read the subtle shift in her posture. Then, his smirk returned, loose and deliberately teasing.
"Oh? Don't tell me my legendary charm has finally broken through that thick alcohol lining, Brownie. Are you secretly planning to drag me into the wilderness to claim my body after all this teasing?"
Cana choked on her own breath, her eyes widening in sheer startle. A vivid, hot pink tint flushed across her cheeks before she slammed her foot down, exhaling a sharp, flustered laugh.
"J—just shut your mouth!" she sputtered, aggressively waving the bottle at his nose like a blunt weapon. "Can I come with you or not, you absolute idiot?!"
Kai looked at her for a few silent seconds, long enough that she actually began to fidget under his steady, calculating gaze. Finally, he let out a dramatic, long-suffering sigh and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling.
"Fine. Tag along. It's not like it's the first time I've had to pull you out of a ditch after a bender."
Cana opened her mouth—unquestionably preparing to launch a highly colorful counter-insult—but Kai had already spun on his heel, muttering a list of raw logistical materials under his breath as he strolled out into the warm Magnolia air.
Realizing she would lose him to his absurdly fast walking pace if she delayed, Cana quickly swiped another unopened bottle from a passing tray—eliciting a loud, standard roar of protest from the poker-faced bartender—and dashed out through the heavy double doors after him.
"Kai! Wait up, you jerk!" she called out, her boots clicking loudly against the cobblestones as she ran with a surprising amount of athletic grace for someone who essentially lived on a liquid diet.
Kai didn't slow his stride, nor did he look back, but his right hand lifted in a lazy, backhanded wave. Cana caught up within a few paces, falling into a comfortable, rhythmic step right beside his shoulder.
— Inside the Guildhall
Behind the polished mahogany bar, Mirajane Strauss paused her rhythmic wiping of a beer glass, her blue eyes tracking the pair as they vanished down the bustling street. Her smile was soft, warm, and tinged with a delicate hint of wistfulness.
"Take care of each other... Cana, Kai," she murmured quietly to the empty air.
Neither of them answered with words, but as if sharing a single mind, two hands lifted simultaneously over their shoulders in a matching gesture of farewell before they rounded the distant street corner.
Mira's smile faltered just a bit, a gentle sigh escaping her lips. "Still... he really should have taken a nap before running off again."
Across the crowded hall, Team Natsu had thoroughly commandeered a large circular table near the wide bay windows. Plates of half-eaten food and empty mugs were scattered about in their usual structural chaos, but Erza Scarlet wasn't touching her strawberry cheesecake. Instead, she was staring intently at the empty doorway, her brow furrowed in deep, analytical thought.
Lucy Heartfilia noticed the heavy silence immediately, leaning forward over her arms. "Erza? Is it... really okay for him to just jump into another job so fast? I mean, shouldn't he be resting after navigating that terrifying Council hearing, destroying a giant flute demon, and fighting half the guild?"
Erza shook her head slowly, her crimson hair shifting over her steel pauldrons. "Kai has a entirely unique composition, Lucy. His mind is fundamentally drawn to ancient mechanisms and historical anomalies. For an academic of his caliber, a quiet exploration of untouched ruins isn't labor—it is a form of cognitive decompression. It is simply how he operates."
Gray Fullbuster stretched his arms lazily behind his head, leaning his chair back onto two legs. "Yeah, that guy doesn't know how to stay put anyway. He's always drifting off to some forgotten corner of the map to dig up old metal. Doesn't even need a financial reason half the time."
Happy floated up from beneath the table, a smug, incredibly annoying grin plastered across his blue face as he leaned toward the celestial mage. "Lucy's in looove~"
Lucy's face turned an immediate, violent shade of scarlet. She lunged forward, grabbing the cat by his torso and forcefully clamping his mouth shut. "Stop saying that, you stupid cat!" she hissed frantically, throwing a nervous glance around to ensure the entire guild hadn't overheard. She let out a heavy sigh, releasing the blue Exceed and looking down at her lap. "I mean... I suppose someone with his skills would be adventurous. It's just... in a matter of a few days, I got so used to him hovering around us. Even when I couldn't see him half the time, it feels weird knowing he's suddenly gone."
Natsu and Gray both paused mid-argument, glancing over at her with rare, quiet observation.
Then, Lucy felt two distinct hands drop onto her shoulders—one radiating a comforting, steady heat, the other a crisp, soothing chill.
"Lucy," Erza said, her voice dropping into a gentle, sisterly cadence. "They are merely executing a standard field mission. They will return within a week's time. There is no cause for melancholy."
Lucy nodded slowly, her shoulders relaxing. "Yeah. You're right."
Before she could offer another word, Natsu—who had been uncharacteristically quiet while inhaling a mountain of spicy noodles—suddenly froze entirely. His fork hovered inches from his mouth as his pupils shrunk to pinpricks.
Thump!
The Fire Dragon Slayer stood up so violently his wooden chair slid halfway across the floorboards.
"WAIT A MINUTE!" Natsu screamed, his voice rattling the rafters. "I didn't get my rematch with him! Or my fight with Erza! And the bastard already left the building?!" He sprinted toward the window, throwing it open and leaning out into the street. "Oi! Kai, you lying coward! Get back here and face me!"
His outrage echoed magnificently off the neighboring shops.
Lucy slapped a hand over her forehead, completely exasperated. "Natsu, he's blocks away by now. He literally cannot hear you."
Happy floated down to the table, casually swishing his white-tipped tail. "Aye! And even if he could hear you, Natsu, he would just call you a localized nuisance and ignore you completely."
Natsu's magical energy burst to life instantly, bright orange flames licking up his forearms. "Why you little—!"
"Besides," Happy added with a mischievous wink, "you can always just fight Erza right now."
The entire table went dead silent.
Lucy's eyes went wide. Gray slowly lowered his chair back to four legs, his expression turning into one of pure, unadulterated dread. That was a mistake. A massive, structural error.
Natsu slowly turned his head back toward the inside of the hall, the flames around his shoulders roaring to life like a localized volcano about to breach its crust. "YEAH! Erza! You promised me a real match before the Council ruined everything! Come on! Right here, right now!"
Erza Scarlet slowly set her silver fork down on the table. She rose to her feet with absolute, terrifying poise, casually dusting a few stray crumbs off her polished armor before looking Natsu dead in the eyes.
"I did indeed give you my word," Erza replied, her voice smooth, level, and entirely devoid of fear. "And a knight of Fairy Tail always honors her commitments."
Natsu grinned with the unhinged, joyous ecstasy of a child handed a birthday cake stuffed with live dynamite.
Gray clutched the bridge of his nose. "Here we go again... standard operating procedure."
Lucy held her head in her hands, her soul practically leaving her body. "We are going to be billed for structural repairs before sundown. I just know it."
"Aye," Happy chewed contentedly on a raw fish.
Within minutes, the confrontation naturally migrated to the sweeping dirt yard behind the guildhall. The ground, heavily scarred by years of reckless sparring matches, magical craters, and blunt-force impacts, served as Fairy Tail's unofficial colosseum.
Mages crowded the perimeter, balancing on empty ale barrels, perched along the wooden fences, and leaning out of the second-story windows just to secure a prime view of the spectacle.
Macao Conbolt and Wakaba Mine stood right at the front line, an embroidered leather money pouch already jingling heavily in Wakaba's weathered hand.
"Step right up, boys and girls! Place your bets!" Macao shouted into the crowd, his voice cracking with entrepreneurial spirit. "Five-to-one odds on Erza systematically wiping the backyard with Natsu's forehead!"
Wakaba nodded sagely, puffing on his pipe. "Yup. Cana's going to be absolutely furious she missed this line... she'd have cleaned out half our savings by the second round." They shared a brief, mournful sigh for their missing comrade before returning to the aggressive collection of Jewels.
In the center of the ring, Natsu cracked his knuckles, his boots digging into the loose earth as waves of heat distorted the air around him. "Erza! You better not hold back a single bit! Because I am officially ALL FIRED UP NOW!"
Erza faced him from twenty paces away, her calm intensity sending a literal shiver through the gallery of spectators. The corners of her lips curled into a faint, dangerous smile.
"I have no intention of sparing you, Natsu." Her voice was a steady, immovable anchor. She raised her right hand toward the sky. "Requip!"
A blinding explosion of crimson magic and high-yield heat burst around her form in a violent whirlwind. The distinct, metallic clink-clack of shifting heavy armor plates echoed through the light before the glare faded—revealing her clad in the magnificent, dragon-scaled contours of the Flame Empress Armor.
Even the heat-resistant wizards in the crowd winced, taking a collective step back from the sudden, spiking ambient temperature.
"Oh, man... Natsu is completely cooked," Max muttered, shielding his eyes.
"No kidding," Nab agreed, wiping a sudden bead of sweat from his forehead. "She went straight for the hard counter. She's taking this personally."
"He's got this..." young Romeo whispered from the sidelines, his eyes wide with hero worship.
Inside the quiet interior of the guild, Mira leaned against the bar counter, her hands clasped to her cheek as she smiled sweetly out the window. "Good luck, Natsu. Try not to break the support pillars."
Lucy looked over at the barmaid with a heavy sweatdrop forming behind her head. Mira was cheering for him with the absolute sweetness of an angel, yet she was already filling out the official magical damage property forms with the cold, calculated efficiency of a tax auditor.
Natsu, however, only grinned wider, the sheer heat of Erza's armor reflecting in his eyes. "Heh. Now that is what I'm talking about!" He slammed his flaming fists together, a shockwave of sparks erupting from the impact. "LET'S GO!"
—The Magnolia Marketplace
Meanwhile, across the stone bridges of Magnolia, the atmospheric conditions were entirely different.
Cana trudged through the crowded open-air marketplace, dramatically dragging her boots along the pavement like a prisoner marching toward a firing squad. She was trailing behind Kai, who was currently buried beneath an absolute avalanche of leather bags, specialized storage cylinders, and reinforced crates—all of which were systematically vanishing into his impossibly compact leather belt pouch the exact microsecond his fingers touched the latches.
They had been walking in and out of specialized shops non-stop.
Duration: Twenty-seven minutes.
Locations visited: Eleven distinct alchemy and metalworking shops.
Inventory secured: More obscure industrial items than Cana could name if her bar tab depended on it.
Kai was currently locked in an intensely pedantic debate with an elderly gnome-like shopkeeper, gesturing toward a sheet of refined copper alloy. "The conductivity ratio is completely unacceptable for a deep-vault seal, master artisan. If the ambient ethernano spikes beyond three hundred units, the rune stability will suffer immediate structural decay. I require the silver-tempered variant."
Cana tilted her head back, throwing the remaining contents of her bottle down her throat before letting out a loud groan. "Oi, Kai. Are we heading out to clear a dangerous ruin, or are you opening a competitive hardware franchise?"
Kai didn't even look back at her, simply elevating a single, commanding finger into the air. "Hush now, little one. The adults are discussing structural resonance."
Cana's left eyebrow performed another magnificent twitch. "Little one?! I am literally older than you by a few months!"
"Only chronologically," Kai muttered, his fingers tracing the edge of a brass coil. "Mentally, emotionally, and logistically, I am the ancient scholar who will inevitably have to utilize half of these advanced components to keep your beautiful ass from getting incinerated by an ancient defense mechanism."
Cana stared at the back of his leather coat, her breath catching for a split second. Then, she let out a dry, defeated sigh. "…I walked right into that one. But hey, at least I finally forced you to admit that I'm beautiful."
"I have never once claimed you lacked structural aesthetic value, Brownie," Kai replied smoothly, his tone entirely casual as he handed a stack of gold coins to the shopkeeper and stuffed a heavy bag of specialized screws into his bottomless pouch.
Cana felt a stubborn, warm flush creep into her cheeks at the unvarnished, matter-of-fact compliment. She quickly looked away, crossing her arms and remaining quiet until he finally concluded his transaction.
As they walked out into the street, Cana squinted suspiciously at the small leather pouch resting against his hip. "No matter how many times I watch you shove an entire blacksmith's inventory into that tiny leather flap, I will never understand the spatial mathematics behind it."
Kai paused, his lips parting as a wicked, teasing glint flared in his golden eyes.
Cana's hand shot up instantly, cutting him off before he could speak. "And don't you dare utter a single weird analogy about it being as vast and bottomless as my daily thirst for premium liquor."
Kai slowly shrugged his shoulders, looking genuinely disappointed that his prime comedic material had been preemptively neutralized. "I've told you before, Brownie. If you don't want to receive highly unconventional answers, you shouldn't ask me questions that require a master's degree in spatial distortion magic to explain."
Cana let out a genuine, hearty laugh, the heavy tension that had been lingering over her since the guildhall finally beginning to evaporate in the face of their familiar, easy banter.
—The Journey East
Within the hour, they reached the grand stone arches of Magnolia Station. The veteran ticket clerk offered them a familiar, tired nod as they bypassed the main queue. Kai casually flicked a small, silver token toward the counter; the metal piece whirred beautifully mid-air, spinning three times before dissolving into a neat, silent puff of violet sparks directly over the ledger.
"Was that flash piece entirely necessary?" Cana asked as they navigated the wooden steps.
"Of course," Kai said, claiming a window seat inside the plush, velvet-lined first-class compartment. "It's a traditional cultural practice known as generosity."
"It's an explicit legal infraction known as bribery."
"Pure semantics."
Cana dropped heavily into the cushioned seat directly opposite him, propping her boots up on the edge of the lower frame. With a massive, hydraulic hiss of steam, the locomotive lurched forward, its iron wheels clicking rhythmically against the tracks as it began the long, winding journey toward the eastern territories.
They sat in a comfortable, companionable silence for a few miles, watching the green hills of Fiore blur past the glass.
Finally, Cana leaned her head back against the headrest, letting out a slow, analytical breath. "Alright, architect. Lay it on me. Where exactly are we heading?"
Kai, who had already crossed his arms and closed his eyes to reclaim his desperately needed sleep, reached blindly into his breast pocket. He pulled out the neatly folded parchment flyer Mira had provided and tossed it across the small gap, landing precisely in her lap without him ever opening an eye.
Cana caught it, unfolding the stiff paper with careful fingers. Her eyes narrowed as she read the formal request aloud:
Location: The Runecrypt of Kaldors (Two days march east of Balsam Village).
Objective: Intercept and retrieve the localized research logs of the royal archaeological team; clear out any awakened autonomous entities to secure the perimeter for future excavation.
Reward: 800,000 Jewels.
Cana let out a low, appreciative whistle through her teeth. "Eight hundred thousand? Damn. That is a massive payout for a standard cleanup detail."
Kai shifted slightly against the velvet cushions, his voice dropping into a low, rumbling mutter as he drifted closer to sleep. "The payout corresponds directly to the mortality rate, Brownie. It's an ancient, pre-war containment facility. Deep-tier runes, unstable Etherious pressure, and automated defenses engineered to shred standard wizards. It is exceptionally dangerous. Trust me, you do not want to cross that threshold without proper structural preparation."
Cana's fingers paused against the crisp edge of the parchment. She looked across the small compartment, her dark brown eyes settling on his sleeping, relaxed face with absolute, unshakeable certainty.
"…Kai?"
"Mm?"
"I still want to go."