The Days of Living Together

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the year. Today, heavy snow fell.

"Aibo's house... it's changed quite a bit."

Gray arrived at the entrance to Little Garden, scratched his head, and let out an astonished sigh.

It had been over a month since his last visit. Back then, it had been an inconspicuous little house, yet now it had somehow become a gigantic "cake."

If the top floor of that "cake" did not still somewhat resemble the old house, Gray would have suspected he had come to the wrong place.

Aibo's home had gained another floor. Each higher floor was smaller than the one below it, and after its outer walls had been covered in snow, it looked from afar like a huge cake sitting on the ground.

"This private residence... it's almost half the size of a guild. Won't anyone complain?"

Gray sighed. The moment he stepped into the yard, a line of text appeared in the air:

[Only those bearing the Fairy Tail emblem may enter and leave without triggering the alarm]

"What is this? Did Aibo learn another new kind of magic?"

"It's a magic formula, a type of text magic, though much more complicated. I've been practicing it lately."

"Aibo? When did you get here?!"

Gray jumped at Aibo suddenly appearing beside him. Ever since this guy had become proficient in teleportation magic, he had grown increasingly elusive.

"I noticed as soon as Gray came in. What brought you over to visit my house?"

"Ah, Fairy Tail's annual S-Class Mage Promotion Trial has started. All the adults have gone somewhere, the guild is too quiet, and I had nowhere else to go, so I came here to hang out."

"Oh, right, I forgot about that. It doesn't have much to do with us. Come inside first."

"You finally decided to put a door on the first floor... Whoa, cool! Your house is this warm?"

Gray took off his coat as soon as he entered. Just as he was about to take off his inner shirt too, his whole body suddenly froze.

"E-Erza?! Why are you at Aibo's house too?!"

Half of the first floor of Aibo's home had been turned into an indoor training ground. Inside, Erza, dressed in training clothes, was practicing swordsmanship against a dummy.

"Yo, Gray. Welcome."

Erza stopped practicing and walked over to answer him.

"As for why I'm at Aibo's house, naturally, it's because I live here."

Erza looked at Gray in confusion, her eyes plainly asking, What's wrong with that? She did not understand what was so strange about it.

"Erza used all the money she earned from requests to buy weapons and equipment, so she was having a little trouble paying rent. And the girls' dormitory didn't have room for all her stuff either, so she decided to stay here until she earns enough money."

Aibo shrugged as he explained.

"To store all of Erza's equipment, I added another floor. The second floor is practically turning into an equipment exhibition hall now."

Gray twitched at the corner of his mouth. He only felt that Erza had become more and more absurd. There was no chance of catching up to her at all.

"...The requests you've taken these past few months are almost catching up to mine. Erza, stop pushing yourself so hard. Leave the rest of us a way to survive."

"No matter what you do, you must give it your all! Gray, with such laziness, you will never catch up to me."

Erza took a towel and wiped away her sweat, then invited Aibo to bathe with her.

"I'm tired. I'm going to take a bath. Aibo, want to come with me?"

"Er! Za! How many times have I told you?! Girls can't invite boys to bathe with them! That's extremely improper behavior! If you keep doing this, I'm kicking you out!"

A satisfied smile appeared on Erza's face as she watched Aibo, his little face flushed red, continue scolding her.

Ever since she had discovered that this younger brother, who seemed so mature in every respect, could also become "less than calm" over certain things, she had loved teasing him with it.

After all, an "angry" Aibo was an extremely rare sight.

"What a pity~ Your big sister has always wanted to scrub Aibo's back."

"I-I never thought you were this kind of person, Erza! Shameful!"

Gray was frightened as well. Blushing, he stood beside Aibo as they united against their common enemy, fiercely condemning Erza one after another.

"Shameless!"

"Disgraceful!"

"No morals!"

"Mother ape!"

Erza paid them no mind and headed up to the second floor with a smug smile.

Only after Erza had gone far away did Gray, still red-faced, put an arm around Aibo's shoulders and mutter quietly.

"That Erza really dragged you in with her... huh?"

"Don't mention it. That idiot didn't have any common sense about this before! I even had to teach her about a girl's modesty. And now she obviously understands everything, but she still keeps teasing me. She doesn't treat me like a boy at all. Sigh, my heart is so tired."

Although Aibo liked being close to pretty girls, he had his limits. He could not bring himself to deceive an innocent girl.

Of course, more importantly, he was only seven years old. He could not do anything at that age anyway, and getting himself upset did not benefit him in the slightest.

"Ahem, brother, it hasn't been easy for you either."

Gray sympathetically patted Aibo on the shoulder. Living with that freakishly strong mother ape Erza was bad enough, and he even had to endure all kinds of teasing. His little brother had truly suffered too much.

"Hm? Aren't we taking the stairs?"

"Let's take the lift. The first and second floors are Erza's territory now. We're going straight to the third floor."

When they reached the third floor and stepped out of the lift, Gray immediately spotted Cana sprawled across the sofa like a worm. He could not help remarking, "Can I say I'm not even a little surprised to see you here? Cana, don't tell me you moved in here too, just like Erza?"

Cana waved a hand and answered weakly, "Don't mention that horrible woman Erza to me. I've already cut ties with her!"

"Huh? That serious? Isn't that a bit much?"

"Cana lost another duel. This was the twenty-ninth time, right? They cut ties for a few days after every duel. I'm already used to it."

Gray could not hold it in and burst out laughing.

"Pfft! Why did you go challenge Erza too? You've dueled her even more times than I have."

"What do you know?! This is a duel fought in the name of being the big sister! Only the strong deserve a little brother! Hmph, just wait. Sooner or later, I'll defeat Erza and drive her out of this house!"

"...If you really want to move in, I wouldn't refuse."

"No, I'm going to drive Erza out! Sob, sob... I was here first. I'm Aibo's big sister. That hateful female bandit! If I'd known, I never should have let Aibo go comfort her! I'm so stupid! Really, sob, sob, I'm so stupid!"

Watching Cana roll around on the sofa in a tantrum without a shred of dignity left, Gray truly could not keep a straight face.

"What... is wrong with her?"

Aibo sighed.

"She drank fake alcohol."

"Huh?"

"It was a drink I mixed while practicing potion-making. I thought it was pure fruit juice, but I didn't expect it to have a drunken side effect. It tastes pretty good, though. Want some?"

"No, no, forget it. But Aibo, when did you start learning potion-making?"

"I've been studying it on and off for a few months. Unfortunately, I've only scratched the surface. This stuff is much harder to learn than magic."

"I think you're learning too many different things. How can anyone have that much energy? Can you really keep up with all of it?"

"It's fine. Actually, I gave up on a lot of magic after only just getting started. I just seem like I know a little more than most."

"You're too modest~ Little Brother Aibo is a true genius, unlike ordinary people like us~"

Only then did Gray notice that someone else was sitting at the other end of the room reading a book.

"Levy, you're here too? No, have you all started treating Aibo's place like your own home?"

"Hehe, it's our secret base, after all~ I only come here occasionally. Today, I'm here to act as the witness for their duel."

Gray understood at once, then shot Cana a contemptuous look.

"Erza went straight back to training after fighting, while you're drinking here after losing. No wonder you can't beat her."

"What did you say?! Damn you, Gray! I might not be able to beat Erza, but you think I can't deal with you? Die!"

"Come on, like I'm afraid of you!"

"Wait!? If you two want to fight, get out and do it! Honestly! Teleport!"

Little Garden was as lively as ever today.