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The moment a loud collision rang out, everyone in the guild turned toward the source of the sound. When they saw Natsu and Gray lying on the floor with bumps on their heads and spirals in their eyes, they immediately looked away as if nothing had happened and resumed their conversations.
There was no helping it. A scene like this played out in the guild almost every day, and the mages had long since grown used to it.
Not only the guild's mages—even Noah was used to it. After letting out a habitual sigh, he casually greeted everyone.
"Good morning!"
"Good morning!" The people in the guild returned the greeting one after another.
"Good morning, Noah and Lisanna!"
Three girls around Noah's age made their way over from the crowd.
One wore cold-looking armor over a simple dress.
One wore revealing leather clothes, looking like a delinquent girl.
The last wore a simple plaid dress, her long black hair tied into a ponytail.
The one in the cold armor was naturally Erza.
The one in revealing leather was Mira.
As for the girl with the black ponytail, her name was Kana—Kana Alberona. She had joined Fairy Tail even earlier than Noah, Erza, and even Gray.
"You really never learn your lesson!" Erza stood with her hands on her hips and sternly criticized Natsu and Gray as they lay on the ground.
"If you want to defeat Noah, you should at least prepare more thoroughly. Rushing in like that is just a sneak attack. Even if you win, it doesn't count as real strength!"
"E-Erza..." Natsu shuddered all over, clutching the bump on his head with tears in his eyes.
"Don't stop me! I'm definitely going to defeat Noah today! Then I'll prove I'm stronger than Gray!"
"Who are you saying is stronger than me?" Gray clutched the large bump on his head and curled his lip disdainfully.
"The one who defeats Noah will definitely be me! You stupid flame could never do it!"
"But Noah took you down in an instant," Kana said worriedly, glancing at Gray, who was wearing nothing but shorts.
"And Gray, where are your clothes?"
"Crap!" Gray was finally startled.
"Say, Noah, did you have Lisanna wake you up again?!" Mira looked at Lisanna, who was hiding beside Noah with a beaming smile, and immediately got angry.
"Don't just order my little sister around like she's a servant! You're just Noah!"
"First, Lisanna waking me up wasn't because I ordered her to. Lisanna came on her own." Noah rubbed his aching forehead.
"Second, Mira, what exactly do you mean by 'just Noah'?"
"Noah is very strong!" Erza also spoke up to refute Mira.
"Mira, are you insulting Noah?"
"Tch." Mira crossed her arms and spoke with great disdain.
"What's it to you, tin can?"
A vein instantly popped on Erza's forehead. She looked at Mira with a smile that did not reach her eyes.
"Are you insulting me, belly-button girl?"
"Want to fight?" Mira grinned viciously and cracked her knuckles.
"Perfect. Today, I'm definitely teaching you cold-hearted brat a lesson!"
"Oh?" Killing intent appeared on Erza's face as well.
"If you think you can do it, then come and try!"
At once, the gazes the two girls exchanged seemed to turn into tangible currents of electricity, crashing violently against each other. They radiated an aura like vicious demons, making everyone shudder.
"S-So scary..." Natsu and Gray shamelessly hugged each other.
"No way..." Kana also took several steps back.
"Are they fighting again?"
"This isn't fighting anymore. It's just causing trouble." Noah felt his headache growing worse.
"Why do these two dislike each other so much?"
"Isn't this a good thing?" Lisanna watched Mira, who was tangled up with Erza, with gentle eyes.
"Compared to how Mira was before, isn't she much brighter now?"
When Mira had first arrived at Fairy Tail, she had been almost exactly like Erza used to be. She neither spoke to others nor smiled, merely hiding alone in a corner beneath a cloak, as though her very existence did not matter.
However, after Lisanna and Elfman also learned Take Over Magic, Mira gradually accepted the power of the demon residing within her and stopped being so withdrawn.
Furthermore, as Mira grew more familiar with Take Over Magic, her demonized arm returned to normal. Before long, she became the genuine delinquent girl she had been when she first met Noah.
Unfortunately, perhaps because Noah had privately told both Mira and Erza that they had acted very similarly when they first joined the guild, the two had begun to dislike each other.
And so, Fairy Tail's second pair of bitter rivals was born.
Incidentally, the first pair was Natsu and Gray.
At that, Noah's expression softened somewhat, though his headache did not lessen at all.
"Isn't this a little too bright?"
"Ahaha..." Lisanna laughed awkwardly.
"Honestly, Mira is obviously very gentle, but she refuses to show it. She always puts on such a tough front. Won't that make it impossible for her to get a boyfriend?"
"Whether she's gentle or not is still up for debate, but isn't it a little early to be thinking about boyfriends?" Noah said, somewhat embarrassed.
"Mira is only thirteen, just like me, right?"
"Girls start thinking about such things when they're thirteen..." Lisanna raised her head slightly and met Noah's eyes. In that instant, her gaze became like a clear surface of water, rippling gently.
"Actually, eleven-year-old girls are the same, Noah."
Hearing Lisanna's meaningful words and seeing the rippling light in her eyes, Noah began to feel uncomfortable. For some reason, his heart skipped a beat, and he could not help looking away.
But at that moment, Noah suddenly felt a soft little hand slip into his own and clasp it tightly.
Noah jumped in surprise and instinctively looked toward Lisanna again.
Lisanna was still looking up at him, her eyes full of passion.
Naturally, the hand that had slipped into Noah's and tightly clasped his was Lisanna's.
Faced with Lisanna's behavior, Noah could only avert his gaze.
This was not the first time Lisanna had done something like this.
Even Noah himself did not know when it had started.
He only knew that sometimes, especially when they were alone, Lisanna would occasionally reveal this highly aggressive side of herself, as though she were launching some kind of attack against Noah, repeatedly leaving him at a loss.
Surprisingly, Noah could not bring himself to dislike Lisanna when she was like this, though feeling awkward was unavoidable.
So Noah could only bring out the weapon he always used in moments like this.
"What are you talking about?" Noah placed his free hand on Lisanna's little head and vigorously messed up her hair.
"You're just Lisanna. Don't act like you understand everything!"
"Wah!" Lisanna struggled wildly.
"Noah, you're awful! You do this every time!"
"You're always teasing me, so you deserve some punishment!"
"I'm not teasing you! Noah is an idiot!"
"You actually called me an idiot? Take this..."
"Wah! Wah!"
"Damn you, Noah!" Mira, who had been grappling with Erza, flew into a rage. Abandoning Erza, she pounced toward them.
"You're not allowed to bully Lisanna!"
"Are you running away?!" When Erza saw Mira abandon her, she got angry too and pounced after her.
"Ohhh! I'm fired up!"
"A fight? Count me in!"
Natsu and Gray charged over as well, full of fighting spirit.
"Get lost!"
Then the furious Erza and Mira each sent one of them flying with a punch.
In an instant, the whole place descended into chaos.
Before you continue