Just as dawn was breaking, Mirajane had finished packing her luggage. She tucked the desserts she bought for Elfman and Lisanna into the innermost layer of her cloth bag, her fingertips lightly brushing over the wrapping paper, her eyes sparkling. "I really want to go back and see them soon. I wonder if Lisanna missed me."
Riyao walked out of his room in a daze, responding vaguely, "What's the rush? The train leaves in half an hour. I guarantee we'll be in Magnolia before noon." He reached out and pinched Mirajane's puffed-up cheek, then naturally tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
On the train, the early morning sunlight poured over the two through the window. Mirajane leaned against Riyao's shoulder, and before long, her eyelids grew heavy with sleep, and her breathing became steady.
Her soft hair tickled Riyao's neck. He quietly adjusted his posture to make her more comfortable, then slowly closed his own eyes. With the faint floral scent from her hair lingering at the tip of his nose, he soon fell asleep as well.
A passenger sitting opposite them watched this sappy scene, their fingers tightening around their phone screen and their brows furrowing into a knot.
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and muttered to himself, "They're siblings, they're brother and sister, they're the Gold and Silver Horn Kings... As long as I don't acknowledge it, no amount of PDA can feed me dog food..." As he spoke, he pulled an eye mask out of his bag and put it on, yet his fingers still couldn't stop trembling.
With a "clunk," the train pulled into a stop at a station along the way, and many new passengers swarmed in when the doors opened. Riyao was woken by the noise. Just as he rubbed his eyes, he heard a familiar complaint drifting over: "Ugh, riding the train is so boring! Happy, fly me back!"
"Aye! Natsu is too heavy! I can't fly far!"
Riyao jerked his head up, his neck feeling a bit stiff, and saw Natsu carrying Happy, squeezing through the crowd while sweating profusely, his pink hair a mess.
Mirajane also woke up slowly. Before her eyes were even fully open, she groggily grabbed Riyao's sleeve and wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth.
"Yo, if it isn't the idiot Natsu and Happy." Riyao called out with a smile. His voice cut through the noisy crowd into Natsu's ears, nearly making Natsu jump in excitement.
Natsu immediately pushed through the crowd and rushed over, grabbing Riyao's arm and shaking it until it went numb. "Riyao! Quick, give me a blast of that anti-motion sickness magic from last time! My head is about to explode!"
Happy fluttered his wings and flew above Riyao's head, his little paws grabbing Riyao's hair and shaking it. "Aye! Riyao! Cast the magic on Natsu!"
A faint golden magical light lit up at Riyao's fingertip as he cast [Troia] on Natsu. The moment the magic enveloped Natsu, his brows smoothed out instantly, and he patted his stomach, shouting, "Much better! I'll never get train-sick again!"
After saying that, he plopped down opposite Riyao, nearly knocking the self-hypnotizing passenger to the floor. The passenger shrugged helplessly, picked up his bag, and went to find another seat. He didn't need to eat this dog food anyway.
Happy perched on Riyao's head. Suddenly his eyes widened, and he pointed his little paw at their intertwined hands, his voice trailing off mischievously with a rolled tongue: "They're a thinnnnng~"
Mirajane's cheeks instantly turned bright red, and she reached out to flick Happy's forehead.
Happy clutched his forehead and groaned in pain, "Riyao! Look at her! Say something!" Who knows where this little cat learned to talk like that; he was a natural drama queen.
Suppressing a laugh, Riyao gently plucked Happy off his head and tossed him into Natsu's arms. Then he put his arm around Mirajane's waist, intentionally burying his head in the crook of her neck, his voice soft and slightly coy. "Happy, I'm already Mira's man. It's impossible between us."
Happy immediately put on a heartbroken look, burying his face in Natsu's chest, though his tail wagged quite happily.
Natsu scratched his messy hair and spoke with a dazed expression, "Riyao, did you really become Mirajane's lackey? Does that mean you have to listen to her from now on?"
Riyao and Mirajane rolled their eyes in unison, and even Happy, buried in Natsu's chest, secretly rolled his eyes.
The pink bubbles were practically smacking him in the face, and this idiot actually thought he was a lackey?
Mirajane suddenly felt a bit of mischief. She intentionally put her hands on her hips in a big-sister stance and said with a smile, "That's right. Riyao is my number one lackey now. If I give the order, he wouldn't dare go west when I say east."
Natsu was stunned, his eyes showing three parts surprise, three parts confusion, and four parts daze. He counted on his fingers and thought seriously for a long time before his eyes suddenly lit up. "So Mirajane is even stronger than Riyao? You have to fight me once we get back!"
Riyao shook his head and sighed helplessly. Mirajane stopped teasing him as well, leaning back into Riyao's arms with a smile and closing her eyes to continue her nap.
He looked at the person in his arms, his fingers gently stroking her hair, thinking to himself: Igneel is truly strong to be able to teach Natsu Dragon Slayer Magic. It's a pity he didn't get a teaching certificate.
Afraid that Mirajane might drool again, he reached out and gently pinched her little mouth shut.
Mirajane hummed in dissatisfaction, swatted his hand away, and even opened her mouth to lightly bite his finger. The soft pressure didn't hurt at all.
Being a simple-minded creature, Natsu fell asleep against the back of the seat before long, his snoring thunderous.
Happy crawled out of his arms, fluttered his wings to fly beside Riyao, and whispered with his paw over his mouth, "Aye! Riyao, when did you and Mirajane get together? I'm going to tell everyone in the guild when we get back!"
Seeing Happy's gossipy look, Riyao couldn't help but pinch his little ear. "We'll talk when we get back. Mira needs to sleep." Happy immediately covered his mouth and nodded vigorously.
Riyao's gaze fell upon the sleeping Natsu beside them, his finger stroking his chin as he fell into deep thought.
The Celestial Spirit form of Life Mimicry was simulated using Virgo's biological information. In that case, theoretically, could it also simulate Dragon forms and Demon forms? When he touched Mira before, he did feel some biological information flowing into his body. But he had touched Natsu plenty of times, so why was there no movement? Was it because his Dragon force hadn't fully manifested yet?
Before long, the train slowly pulled into Magnolia Station. The doors opened, and Natsu jerked awake, hoisting Happy onto his shoulder and charging out. "Finally here! I'm going to eat grilled fish!"
The three people and one cat arrived at the entrance of the Fairy Tail Guild. Natsu kicked the door open and shouted at the top of his lungs, "I'm back!"
Mirajane's cheeks flushed as she tried to pull her hand away from Riyao's. She felt somewhat shy in front of so many acquaintances.
But how could Riyao let her go? Instead, he interlaced his fingers with hers and held on even tighter.
"Let go... I'll let you hold it later." Mirajane lowered her head, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz, the tips of her ears completely red.
Riyao leaned into her ear and said with a smile, "No. Unless you give me a kiss."
Mirajane gave him a shy, annoyed glare, quickly pecked him on the cheek, then turned and rushed into the guild, nearly crashing into Elfman who was just heading out. Riyao touched the cheek she had kissed and followed her into the guild with a beaming smile.
As soon as he entered, he saw Natsu and Gray brawling. Tables were overturned, and drinks were spilled everywhere. "Ice-face! You actually lied to me about having news of Igneel!" Natsu swung a fist at him. Gray sidestepped and threw back an ice shard. "Fire-breathing idiot! It's your own fault for being so stupid!"
Riyao scanned the chaotic hall and quickly found Mirajane and Lisanna. He walked over and ruffled Lisanna's hair, saying with a smile, "Lisanna, you can call me Brother-in-law now."
Lisanna's eyes widened. She turned to look at her sister. Seeing that Mirajane only blushed and didn't refute him, she immediately gave Riyao a thumbs-up and hopped around. "Hello, Brother-in-law!"
"By the way, Brother-in-law is here voluntarily, right?" Lisanna blinked, her tone full of curiosity.
Mirajane immediately reached out and pinched Lisanna's little face, kneading it messily as she threatened fiercely, "Lisanna, if you dare talk nonsense, I'll hang you up and whip you."
"Is there perhaps a story in here that I don't know about?" Riyao chuckled as he looked at Mirajane's crimson cheeks.
Lisanna blinked frantically, making muffled sounds as she couldn't speak.
Mirajane quickly covered her eyes and shielded her behind her back. Riyao circled around the two, reaching out to pull Lisanna, while Mirajane pulled her into her own arms. The three of them became a tangled mess of playfulness.
On the other side, Natsu and Gray's fight had already affected many guild members.
Cana, seeing her Ale knocked over, angrily pinched her cards and threw them out. "You idiots can go to hell!"
Levy, seeing her book soaked in Ale, also stood up and wrote words in the air: "Pay for my book, you bastards!"
Macao and Wakaba activated a middle-aged man's combo: "Behold our combo that's Hotter than Boruto!"
A Mage wearing yellow and purple clothing swung a greatsword and joined the brawl: "Light up the Dawn!"
A little girl in fiery red pulled a small bomb from her backpack: "Jumpy Dumpty!"
A big girl in fiery red also pulled out a large bomb: "Blow them all up!"
A handsome man in golden armor opened several golden portals behind him: "Zasshu."
Tables and chairs flew everywhere, and liquor splashed about.
The Fairy Tail Guild is as lively as ever.