Natsu frowned as he listened, then immediately waved a hand.
"What are you talking about?"
Yukino froze.
Natsu carried Happy on his shoulder, looking as if it were only natural.
"I never liked those guys from Sabertooth to begin with!"
"Especially that Jiemma. Every other word out of his mouth was trash, loser—listening to him made my fire flare up."
Happy nodded too, his little paws clenched tight.
"That's right! Natsu isn't angry because of you. He's angry because they went too far!"
Natsu grinned.
"So you don't need to apologize!"
"When we at Fairy Tail do stuff like this, we don't call it trouble."
Yukino stared blankly at Natsu.
She had never heard an answer like that before.
In Sabertooth, failure was a sin.
Being expelled from the guild was proof that she had no worth.
But Natsu said it so naturally.
So naturally it was as if this was never something that needed hesitation.
Yukino's eyes reddened at once.
"But, but..."
"No buts."
Lu Chongwei walked up to her and reached out to steady her by the shoulders.
Yukino's body trembled slightly. She instinctively wanted to step back, but he held her steady.
"Stand up first."
His voice was not heavy, yet it gave her no way to refuse.
Yukino stared up at him in a daze.
Lu Chongwei looked at her tear-streaked face and sighed softly.
"Yukino, you don't have to keep your head lowered."
Yukino's lips trembled.
"Mr. Lu Chongwei..."
"You were humiliated in public, forced to erase your guild mark, stripped of all your dignity and all the admiration you held."
Lu Chongwei looked at her and said, enunciating every word, "If it were anyone else, they would break down, they would be angry, and they would feel wronged too."
Yukino's tears finally fell beyond