The Whole World Was Celebrating You

The moment the clock's minute hand passed midnight, the sound of fireworks and firecrackers filled all of Magnolia.

The date had become January 1, X781.

The fireworks outside crackled on and on. They were supposedly going to keep going until dawn, but they didn't disturb Noah's deep sleep in the dormitory in the slightest.

As a lazy couch potato, the most important thing was being able to adapt to your surroundings,

otherwise, how could you slack off?

Unfortunately, someone chose that very moment to open Noah's door, stroll right into his dorm room, sneak into his bedroom, and reach for the blanket covering the soundly sleeping Noah...

Such bizarre behavior made it hard for Noah not to notice.

How dare someone steal my blanket while I'm sleeping!

The nerve! Get ready to face the wrath of the King of Shut-Ins!

He opened his eyes and, with lightning speed, grabbed the intruder's arm as it touched the blanket. He yanked hard, throwing the intruder off balance and onto the bed.

Then Noah rolled over and straddled them. He pinned both their arms with one hand and clenched his other hand into a fist, ready to teach this ignorant intruder a lesson.

The moonlight streaming in through the window revealed the intruder's face to Noah.

"Huh?!"

"E-Er... Erza!!"

Her crimson hair was swept up high. Her short black maid top left her toned stomach and slender waist exposed, and beneath her impossibly short skirt was a pair of legs wrapped in white stockings.

Noah's sudden attack had knocked one of the girl's high heels off her dainty foot.

Their eyes met.

A blush crept across the girl's delicate face.

Noah's anger at having his sleep disturbed had turned into pure awkwardness.

In the middle of the night, a beautiful girl in a revealing maid outfit sneaks into my room and reaches for my blanket... Could she be trying to take advantage of me?

"Erza, I'm not that kind of guy."

"Of course, if you're going to force yourself on me, I'll just have to give in."

Erza punched the man straddling her and sent him tumbling off the bed, her face flushed with embarrassment and anger. "You filthy shut-in, your mind's full of dirty thoughts. Don't push your luck!"

Noah had completed a request that Rena had posted at the guild for three years, and Erza had come to fulfill her promise to be his maid for a day.

The holiday rush and celebrations had kept Erza from visiting Noah right away during Christmas and the end of the year.

After finishing the guild's New Year's Eve celebrations with her friends, Erza had immediately changed into a maid outfit and gone to Noah's dorm to fulfill her promise.

Erza had put on high heels she rarely wore, so Noah hadn't recognized her footsteps. Thinking that Erza, who had just tucked him in, was up to no good had caused the misunderstanding.

Noah had long since gotten used to Erza opening the door to his room without a problem. In fact, after a few of her violent outbursts, the lock had broken ages ago.

Showing up in the middle of the night to play maid was one thing.

But in that maid outfit, with its sky-high "sexiness," it was hard not to think she was planning to do something that wasn't suitable for children.

Speaking of R18, Noah remembered that the girl in front of him had just turned eighteen this year. "Erza, what's your birthday? I'll make sure to prepare a present for you."

He'd thought it was a friendly question, but Erza's expression, which had just started to relax, turned a little sad. With a hint of dejection, she said:

"I... don't have a birthday. I've never celebrated one."

Noah's heart tightened. Although he had originally been created as an artificial human meant to be a "weapon," Faust had never missed a single one of his birthdays.

During the first eighteen years of his life, Noah had never known a mother's love, but his adoptive father had spoiled him enough that his life could still be called "happy."

Quite a few of the guild's younger members had lost their families and become orphans, but they all remembered their birthdays.

But Erza...

A child with no birthday. How much she must have envied the other children.

As if realizing that her emotions were showing, Erza quickly hid the trace of sadness on her face behind a smile.

She sat up on the bed, hooked the fallen high heel with her toe, and put it back on. Then she grabbed Noah's hand and dragged him out of the dorm against his will.

"How can you sleep at a time like this? Come on, let's set off some fireworks."

Noah wasn't keen on going out, but considering Erza's mood a moment ago, if fireworks could cheer her up, then going outside wasn't such a big deal.

Besides, he'd get to see the fireworks too.

"You call that thing a firework?!"

At Magnolia's designated fireworks launch site,

Noah's eyes nearly rolled back in his head when he saw the cannon-like heavy equipment Erza had pulled out. He suspected the girl wasn't planning to set off fireworks so much as bombard Magnolia.

But Erza seriously aimed the cannon toward the sky. When she went to light the fuse, she realized she hadn't brought a flame, so she turned to look at Noah, who had taken cover nearby and was peeking out with half his body.

"It's just a firework. What are you so scared of? Do you have a light?"

Noah couldn't help it. She might be dressed as a maid, but Erza's tone made it sound as if she were the master.

After repeatedly confirming that Erza wasn't planning to attack Magnolia, and before she could get impatient with him asking questions, Noah put on his Blast Gauntlets, switched them to fire, and snapped his fingers at the Fireworks Cannon.

A spark lit the fuse. Erza's face lit up with excitement. "Noah, cover your ears!"

Noah had already covered his ears without waiting for her to say so. He was also thinking that if the Fireworks Cannon went wrong, he'd grab Erza and run for it.

A thunderous boom shot into the sky. A dazzling firework climbed higher and higher, each ring igniting after the last, until it became a "Dancing Fireworks Fairy," making all the fireworks blooming over Magnolia pale in comparison.

"Look, Noah! Macao and Levy made these fireworks with so much care. They're beautiful!"

But even the most dazzling fireworks eventually faded. The guild's custom-made firework soon overlapped with the others launched across town, then gradually went dark.

Fortunately, Erza had prepared plenty more. She kept pulling all kinds of fireworks out of her magical space, and their designs were every bit as impressive as the Fireworks Cannon.

Bazooka Fireworks...

Gatling Fireworks...

Wait... what's that Landmine Fireworks thing doing there?!

Don't light it!

One firework after another burst into bloom. The girl tugged the boy along, her face alight with the excitement of a child, cheering and hopping around, looking happier than ever.

After about an hour, Erza had finally used up all her ammunition... I mean, all the fireworks she'd prepared.

But the girl suggested that Noah go for a stroll around the market with her, and he didn't refuse.

Since it was New Year's Eve, even the whooshing sounds of fireworks couldn't drown out the bustling market that stayed open all night.

Though Erza in her maid outfit drew plenty of attention, the passersby were more focused on the family and friends they'd come out with.

Along the way, Erza bought lots of cute-looking souvenirs, along with an assortment of snacks and treats.

What happened to your maid duties?

You only have me as your master for one day, and you're really making me carry everything?

With bags weighing him down, Noah followed behind Erza, grumbling to himself about how he'd suddenly become her pack mule.

Then he stopped in front of a little cake stall. He glanced at Erza, who hadn't noticed, and made his first purchase of the day with a Payment Lacrima.

After another half-hour of strolling, Noah was finally granted permission to return to the dorm by his maid.

"Get some sleep, Noah."

Erza was holding a set of bedding and was about to lay it out on the dormitory floor. She'd promised to be a maid for a day, so naturally she had to stay at her "master's" house.

But Erza didn't hear Noah reply.

Had walking around with me tired him out? Or hadn't he heard her?

Erza took off her high heels and quietly pushed open Noah's bedroom door.

The bedroom was pitch-black, with only a little moonlight filtering in through the window.

He'd even turned off the lights. It looked like he really was asleep.

Just as Erza was tiptoeing out and closing the door, the lights in the room suddenly came on. Noah leaped out from behind the door, holding something in his hands.

"Surprise!"

Erza wasn't startled. She just looked curiously at the cake in Noah's hands, with a single candle stuck in it. "So, is this your New Year's present for me?"

Noah shook his head and said something that astonished Erza.

"Erza, this is your birthday present."

Erza froze as she looked at the beautifully decorated cake.

She knew she'd been born in X765, but she didn't know the month or the day. She was an orphan who had never met her parents, raised in a small village on food shared by the whole community.

As a child, Erza had always envied other kids who got to celebrate birthdays, because they got to eat sweet cake.

Her childhood had then been full of upheaval and hardship, but Erza had never forgotten that childhood wish.

After joining Fairy Tail and earning her first pay through hard work, Erza had rushed straight to a bakery and bought the birthday cake she'd once only dreamed of having.

It had been delicious and sweet.

But something had been missing from its taste.

Erza knew why. A birthday cake without blessings was incomplete.

After that, Erza had never looked forward to birthday cakes again. With no family and no birthday, what reason did she have to hope for someone to say, "Happy birthday"?

Although Master Makarov and many of their guildmates would surely have been glad to give her their blessings, Erza didn't want to trouble everyone because of her.

So whenever Makarov asked when her birthday was, Erza would act as if she didn't need one, saying she'd grown up and didn't need to celebrate such a childish occasion.

The guild had so much to deal with that Makarov never asked again.

But Erza still longed for it deep down.

Looking at the birthday cake in Noah's hands, neither too big nor too small, Erza shrank back. Her voice even faltered. "D-Don't make fun of me, Noah. You know I don't have..."

"Then let today be your birthday."

Noah smiled and firmly cut off the girl's downcast words. "Who says you can't celebrate a birthday just because you don't know your date of birth? I think today's perfect."

"From now on, the first day of every year will be Erza's birthday. Look, all of Magnolia—and even many places across the world—are celebrating for you."

"Happy birthday, Erza."

For the first time in her life, Erza heard those words.

So this was what having a birthday felt like? She was so happy.

But... why did she feel like crying so badly?

Tears welled in her left eye. Erza tried hard to hold them back, but a moved tear still rolled down her cheek.

Noah understood how she felt, but gently urged her on anyway. "You should make a wish and blow out the candle now. If the candle burns out, your wish won't come true."

Though she knew wishes were just a trick for little kids, Erza still hurriedly closed her eyes, pressed her palms together, and sincerely made a wish in her heart.

May Fairy Tail always be happy.

May Grandpa Makarov live a long and healthy life.

May Noah be happy.

May...