Gajeel's Mission

"Alright, alright. He only did all that under Jose's orders, and he's already been taught a lesson."

By "lesson," Makarov meant the beatings Gajeel had received from Rhodes a few times, which were mild, followed by much harsher ones from Erza and Mira. Not to mention, Gajeel had also been detained by the Magic Council and "reeducated" for over a month.

Makarov still believed Gajeel was redeemable.

He tried to calm everyone down. "As the saying goes, yesterday's enemy can become today's friend. Gajeel's not a bad person deep down. Let's give him a chance. Juvia's been doing fine with everyone, hasn't she?"

But Juvia was Juvia, and Gajeel was… Gajeel.

Leaving aside the fact that Juvia was easy on the eyes, she hadn't done anything truly unforgivable. She'd been captured by Rhodes and Mira before the conflict even started. Apart from that bath she gave Lucy, she hadn't caused any harm. In fact, she'd even shared helpful intel about Phantom Lord.

And she had sincerely apologized to Lucy afterward.

Her goodwill from the beginning made a big difference.

Over the past month, Juvia had stayed close to the guild. Except for her constant devotion to Gray, it was clear to almost everyone that she genuinely liked Fairy Tail.

Gajeel, on the other hand, had walked in with a scowl. His demeanor was cold, even challenging. The only ones he didn't glare at were Erza and Mira, and that didn't exactly win him any points.

But since it was Master Makarov's decision, no one could openly protest.

Rhodes leaned toward Makarov and whispered, "Master, have you thought about how Levy and the others might feel?"

"Good point," Makarov admitted, scratching his head. "How about I have him apologize to them privately? Let's give it some time."

He knew Gajeel's attitude was as tough as his Iron Dragon scales. Even if he felt some regret, it was hard for him to express it.

Rhodes nodded. "As long as Levy and the others are okay with it, I won't make a fuss. And if we're still upset, we can settle it with a few good rounds later."

At the counter, Lucy held Levy's hand and glared toward Gajeel. "Levy…"

Levy was trembling slightly but forced herself to speak. "I… I don't mind anymore."

She said that, but the moment Gajeel's eyes met hers, Lucy could feel her shaking even more.

Lucy shot Gajeel another glare.

Jet and Droy stepped protectively in front of the girls, staring him down with clear hostility.

Gajeel looked away, not eager to provoke a fight.

At Makarov's signal, Mira retrieved the guild stamp and pressed the Fairy Tail mark onto Gajeel's left shoulder.

It ended up just a little higher than the spot where Rhodes had his.

Gajeel glanced at the emblem, then turned to Makarov. "Can I go on a job now?"

Makarov nodded. "As long as it's a mission posted on the first floor, you're free to choose."

Without hesitation, Gajeel picked a request to take down a dark guild.

Makarov checked the target and gave a calm nod. "Be careful out there."

Gajeel gave him a surprised look, nodded, and left without another word.

Watching him go, Erza spoke up. "Master, while I trust your judgment, Gajeel isn't the same as Juvia. It might be wise to assign someone to keep an eye on him."

Makarov hummed thoughtfully, then turned to look at Rhodes.

Rhodes knew that look too well. "You're not planning to dump this job on me again, are you?"

Makarov smiled. "You always want to lead the newcomers, and you agree with my approach."

Rhodes replied flatly. "Every mentor wants their recruit to be a little more... obedient."

He recalled how, during the Lullaby incident, Makarov had told Kageyama that it was the duty of seasoned members to lead wayward youths back onto the right path.

But Gajeel just seemed like someone who deserved a good beating.

Still, seeing the concern in Makarov's eyes, Rhodes sighed. "If you really want me to, fine. I'll do it—for the sake of the guild."

Makarov chuckled. "Forget it. I'll make other arrangements. You've had your hands full lately. Don't push yourself."

In truth, Makarov had no plans to assign anyone to keep watch over Gajeel, because he had a much more important task waiting for him.

It wasn't convenient to have him get too close to Rhodes, and the same went for anyone else.

...

That night, Mira decided to head over to Rhodes's house, and she brought Elfman with her.

Good news: Mira was coming over to his house of her own accord.

Bad news: she brought her younger brother.

What was this situation?

Mira instantly read Rhodes's expression and knew what he was thinking.

"I'm just here to check if your place needs a deep clean," she said casually. "Things will go faster with one more person helping out. The Master left a bunch of stuff behind, and I haven't had time to deal with it all lately."

She just wanted to finish the cleaning quickly so Rhodes could finally get some rest.

"Oh... It's all the Master's fault. I knew I shouldn't have let him drink so much," Rhodes grumbled, rubbing the back of his head.

The alcohol ban was for Makarov's own health, not some kind of punishment.

This was Elfman's first time visiting Rhodes's house. It was a lot tidier than he had imagined.

He'd thought it might look like Natsu's disaster of a place.

But as Elfman looked around, something else caught his attention: there were way too many picture frames and photos hanging on the walls—and nearly all of them featured his sister.

Some were group shots, some were portraits, and some had clearly been clipped from old newspapers and magazines and lovingly pasted into large frames.

Honestly, it looked more like Mira's room than Rhodes's.

When did he even collect all these? And when had those group photos been taken?

Still... Mira looked really happy in every one of them.

If not for the fact that so many of the photos were from guild events and group missions, Elfman would've suspected Rhodes was either a crazy fanboy or a stalker.

And those paintings, those were unmistakably Reedus work.

Originally, Reedus had drawn them as fun snapshots of warm or chaotic moments in the guild.

But if you looked at them with Mira and Rhodes as the central characters, and arranged them in order, you could practically trace the entire journey from the moment they met to when they fell in love.

Elfman stared for a while, piecing it together.

He noticed it clearly now: the way Rhodes looked at his sister had changed over time. And so had the way she looked at him.

It hadn't happened all at once. They hadn't suddenly fallen into a relationship out of nowhere.

The scene where Rhodes blocked a wine bottle to protect Mira looked kind of cool, but Elfman still didn't understand why it had been framed and hung on the wall.

"It's not that messy, just needs a quick wipe," Mira called out. "Elfman, come help!"

"On it!"

In their own way, the three of them worked together and cleaned the place thoroughly.

Once they were finished, Rhodes walked the siblings downstairs.

Elfman, with a rather knowing look, quickly made up an excuse about needing to shower and rushed off.

Left alone at last, Rhodes and Mira looked at each other and hugged tightly.

Three..no, nearly four whole days apart had felt way too long.

They exchanged a few soft words that would've sounded unbearably cheesy to anyone else, and Mira was about to remind Rhodes to get some rest when he said:

"Will you come with me to meet some new friends outside the city in a few days?" He gently took her hand and leaned close, taking in her scent. "After that, I want to take a higher-paying mission."

"Of course," Mira answered softly, burying her face into his chest and quietly taking in the warmth of his scent. 

...

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