Everyone Heads Home

Laxus clicked his tongue and plucked a guitar string, producing a short, muffled sound.

"Aren't you blondie too?"

He raised his chin and pointed at Riyao's hair with the tip of his chin.

"I have blonde hair!"

Riyao patted his hair, raising his voice by half a beat.

The people nearby were speechless.

Lucy looked at Riyao's hair, then at Laxus's hair, turning her head left and right twice.

Mirajane rested her forehead on her fingers, her lips twitching.

Levy pushed up her glasses, leaned closer to examine it more closely, then stepped back and muttered something under her breath.

Lisanna couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Erza was still eating her strawberry cake, not even looking up.

Do you two have different hair colors? Is this some kind of double standard?

Lucy subconsciously touched her hair, twirling her fingers around the ends.

Levy noticed this, her eyes lit up, and she grinned as she leaned over and put her hand on Lucy's shoulder.

"Hey, little blondie."

Lucy's smile froze on her face, then she slowly turned her head, her eyes narrowed, and the curve of her lips changed from a smile to a dangerous one.

You blue-haired bastard!

She reached out with both hands and precisely pinched the soft flesh of Levy's waist.

Levy out a scream, then started twisting and turning wildly, laughing so hard she couldn't stand up straight, and fell onto Lucy.

"I was wrong, I was wrong!"

Levy patted Lucy's hand, her voice broken and intermittent.

What am I?

Lucy stopped, but her fingers were still hovering around Levy's waist.

"Golden Retriever! Golden Retriever!"

Levy, panting, raised her hands in surrender.

Lucy nodded in satisfaction, let go of Levy's hand, and helped push her glasses back onto her nose.

Riyao glanced at the two idiots. "Golden Retriever, right?"

The group decided to watch their performance.

Riyao and Mirajane stood in the front row, Lucy and Levy stood beside them, and Lisanna and Elfman stood in the back.

Erza sat on the bench next to her, a strawberry cake on her lap, with a spoon still stuck in it.

Riyao silently reached out and covered Mirajane's ears.

Two hands reached out from behind, palms pressed against her ears, fingers slightly bent, completely covering her ears.

Mirajane paused, looked up at him, Riyao shook his head at her.

The next second, Gajeel spoke passionately into the microphone.

"Shoo-bi-du-bi."

The sound came from the microphone, was amplified by the speakers, and exploded across the square.

That was a sound that transcended the realm of human understanding.

The surrounding air seemed to freeze for a second.

The crowd that had been gathered in the square began to slowly retreat a second later.

Some people put their phones down, some withdrew their hands from taking pictures, and one parent holding a child picked the child up and quickly left the scene.

Goodness, this is amazing!

Riyao grabbed Mirajane's hand and turned to leave.

Mirajane was pulled along by him, and she stumbled a couple of times, but she didn't resist; in fact, she quickened her pace a little.

Lucy and Levy a glance, then simultaneously took off after them.

Lisanna grabbed Elfman's arm and followed.

Erza stood up, closed the lid of the strawberry cake, and walked at the very back at a leisurely pace.

Laxus closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and stopped his fingers on the strings.

You'd better not open your mouth.

"Is my microphone really that good?"

Gajeel looked puzzled, glancing down at the microphone in his hand and then up at Laxus, his face filled with genuine confusion.

He was completely unaware that his singing was the problem, and instead blamed everything on the microphone.

In the square, people continued their stroll to digest their food.

The evening breeze picked up, and it felt cool on my face.

The streetlights cast long shadows on everyone, intertwining on the paving stones.

Lisanna was walking in the middle of the crowd when she suddenly felt someone pat her on the butt.

"Oh, little bunny, still so bouncy."

Lisanna was startled, took a step forward, then whirled around, her hands already outstretched.

"Oops, you scared me! Cana!"

She grabbed Cana's face and pulled it to both sides.

Cana's face was distorted, her mouth stretched into a slit, but her eyes were still smiling.

Cana was wearing a brown leather jacket over a white T-shirt, and she smelled faintly of alcohol.

"You stood me up yesterday!"

Lisanna pulled and shook the object, and Cana's head swayed from side to side following her hand.

"Oops, I accidentally drank too much."

Cana's voice was distorted and mumbled.

"Was that an accident? When have you ever been careful?"

"Hahaha..."

Cana scratched her head sheepishly, then realized that Lisanna was still pinching her face. So she patted the back of Lisanna's hand to signal her to let go.

Riyao nudged Mirajane's arm and gestured with his chin toward Cana.

"Is this the person who stood Lisanna up last night?"

"Mmm."

Mirajane nodded, lowering her voice slightly.

"She also wants to become a live streamer, and she's Lisanna's live streaming partner. Apparently, she also does tarot card readings, and they're said to be quite accurate."

Riyao became interested and raised an eyebrow.

He had just taken a step toward Cana when a muscular figure blocked his way, completely obscuring Riyao's view.

Gildarts was wearing a floral shirt, with only the bottom two buttons fastened, revealing a large portion of his chest. His beard was not cleanly shaved, and there was a layer of bluish stubble on his chin.

He crossed his arms and looked down at Riyao, his eyes filled with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Hey kid, are you trying to hit on my Cana?"

His voice was deep and carried a natural sense of pressure.

Huh? What?

This completely stumped Riyao.

He looked down at his hand, which was still holding Mirajane's; their five fingers were clearly intertwined, and Mirajane's small bag was hanging from his wrist.

He raised his hand, held their clasped hands in front of Gildarts, and waved them.

I'm still holding my girlfriend's hand, aren't I? Which eye of yours saw me trying to flirt with her?

Cana strode over and kicked Gildarts in the shin, the tip of her boot striking his shinbone precisely.

"Dad, what are you doing? Didn't you see she has a boyfriend?"

Gildarts feigned a cry of pain, bent over and rubbed his calf, but the expression on his face looked more like a smile.

"Oh dear, shouldn't we be even more cautious?"

He straightened up and raised an eyebrow at Riyao.

"What if he's a player?"

Riyao's lips twitched, he took a deep breath, and raised his voice by half a tone.

"Hey, I'm suing you for defamation! How am I like a playboy?"

He glanced at Mirajane, then turned back and stared into Gildarts' eyes.

"I'm absolutely loyal to my Mira, okay?"

Mirajane couldn't suppress the smile anymore; it kept turning upwards until finally she let it spread across her face.

She looked down at their clasped hands and gently stroked Riyao's hand with her fingers.

Levy and Lucy simultaneously gave Riyao a thumbs-up, their movements perfectly synchronized.

Lisanna walked over, stood between the two groups of people, stretched out her hand, palm outstretched, and began to introduce herself.

"This is my sister Mirajane and my soon-to-be brother-in-law Riyao."

She pointed to Riyao and Mirajane, then turned to the other side.

"This is Cana, who is also my livestream partner. This uncle is Cana's father."

Riyao reached out and poked Lisanna's head, gently tapping her temple with his finger.

Remove the word "accurate"!

Lisanna covered the spot where she had been poked, took a step back, and shrank her neck.

"Okay, okay, stop poking Lisanna's head."

Mirajane reached out and pressed Riyao's fingers down, her tone carrying a gentleness unique to older sisters.

What if she gets stunned by being poked?

Lisanna immediately turned to look at Mirajane, her eyes filled with gratitude.

Then Mirajane added another sentence.

"He was already stupid enough."

The gratitude on Lisanna's face shattered instantly.

She clutched her chest, her mouth agape, looked at Mirajane, then at Riyao, and then pointed at the two of them.

"Sis, you're not helping me?"

Mirajane shrugged, a smirk playing on her lips.

I'll side with what's right, not with my own family.

Lisanna let out a mournful cry and collapsed onto Cana.

Cana caught her, patted her head, and laughed so hard she almost fell over.

Gildarts stroked his chin, looked at Riyao and Mirajane holding hands, and then at Riyao's confident expression just now. A meaningful smile appeared on his lips.

"Quite like me back in the day."

Riyao rolled his eyes at him.

Cana kicked Gildarts again, this time hitting his other leg.

How dare you say that?

"Hahaha..."

Gildarts chuckled, rubbing his calves, and took a step back.

I couldn't control myself this time, and I made a huge blunder.

Cana grabbed Lisanna's arm, pulled her off her, and patted her on the shoulder.

"Come on, come shopping with me."

After saying that, Cana dragged Lisanna towards the mall.

Do girls really love shopping this much? Lisanna has been shopping all day and still has the energy to go shopping again.

Erza looked at the strawberry cake in her hand. Through the transparent plastic lid, she could see water droplets starting to seep from the surface of the strawberries inside.

She stood up, pulled the spoon out of the cake, wiped it with a tissue, and then solemnly hugged the cake box to her arms.

"I'm going back now."

She nodded to everyone, her expression serious.

"If we don't go back soon, the strawberry cake will melt."

After saying that, she waved her hand, turned around, and left.

Lucy and Levy glanced at the time on their phones; the numbers on the screen jumped.

Levy yawned, her mouth wide open, then covered her mouth with her hand and patted Lucy's shoulder.

"We'll be going now, see you next time."

"Bye-Bye."

The light from the streetlights spilled onto the paving stones, casting a warm yellow glow.

The mall's large screen in the distance was still playing advertisements. Lucy's face flashed on the screen for a moment before the next advertisement appeared.

A breeze was blowing, a little cool, but not cold.

Riyao opened his arms and pulled Mirajane into his embrace, wrapping his arms around her waist, resting his chin on the top of her head, and leaning his entire weight on her.

Now it's just the two of us.

Mirajane let him hold her, leaning back against his chest, feeling his heartbeat coming from behind her, steady and slow.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then patted his hands that were wrapped around her waist.

"I want to go back and take a shower."

Her voice was muffled, with a hint of drowsiness.

"I feel sticky all over."

"Then we..."

Riyao buried his face in her hair, his voice muffled.

Then a cough came from the side.

Elfman stood two meters away, hands in his pockets, shoulders slightly hunched, his expression somewhere between awkwardness and helplessness.

He cleared his throat and coughed again.

"Um, I'm still here."

Riyao lifted his face from Mirajane's hair, turned to look at Elfman, his expression calm, his eyes clear, and his lips moved as he uttered four words.

"You haven't left yet?"

Elfman's eye twitched, his lips pressed into a thin line, and his entire face froze.

Mirajane peeked out from Riyao's arms, waved at Elfman, and made a perfunctory gesture with his fingers.

"Brother, you should go back by yourself."

Elfman felt a sudden chill.

Heartbreak is never expressed through loud arguments.

Riyao took Mirajane's hand and left.

Mirajane leaned on Riyao's shoulder, her steps slow and light.

The two figures grew smaller and smaller until they disappeared at the end of the square.

Elfman was left alone in the cold wind.